・↷ 𝙟𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙮, 𝙟𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙮. . . ₊ ˚.⁀➷ (hananene)

c h a p t e r 1 3

'You make me feel like no other.'

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧.
⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

Yashiro fought back tears as she walked to her classroom. Her mind was a mess, completely disarrayed and full of scattered emotions. She was so confused and lost in her own brain, unable to logically think about the previous moments.

"Yashiro, you're 15 minutes late." The teacher stated as she came through the door.
"Sorry." She mumbled, walking to her seat and sitting down.

Aoi looked over sympathetically at her friend, who was sat at the desk beside her. Yashiro's eyes seemed to be duller than usual. Aoi wasn't surprised, after the whole ordeal surrounding Itsuki.

Class flew by, Yashiro spending the majority of it lost in her own thoughts.

Had she made a mistake? She rolled her pencil across her palm as she thought. Hanako was one of her closest friends, yes, but was he anything more than that? They were bound together by a literal curse, and Hanako was in love with her, but could Yashiro say the same?

The fell into deeper thought. Itsuki made her feel nice, but not like how Hanako did. Hanako made her feel special.

Their kiss- their kiss was- indescribable. It was so quick, and unexpected, but seemed to end all to soon. Yashiro had enjoyed it, but maybe that was just because well, it was her first kiss. Or, maybe the sparks she felt in her stomach and the pounding she felt in her chest was due to something... else.

The ball rang, signifying the first free period. Yashiro was snapped from her thoughts, being brought back to reality, reminding her of what she needed to do.

〜♡〜

"Honourable number seven, you are an idiot."
"I KNOW THAT!"
"What are you going to do now?"
"I don't know! That's why I came to you!"
"I'm not a free therapist."
"Close enough!"

Hanako dropped his head into his hands, tears already forming. Tsuchigomori sighed.

"I'm on my break. This is not much of a break."
"I need help!"

Tsuchigomori sighed again, and placed the book he was reading onto the desk in front of him. He leaned back in his chair and intertwined his fingers with one another.

"So I'm taking it she doesn't like you back."
"...yeah..." Hanako mumbled.
"That's funny, I always had the impression that she did."
"You're making it worse."
"You want me to lie to you?"

The teacher rolled his eyes before starting again.

"You can stay friends with her, and work it out from there. Just don't kiss her out of the blue."
"I couldn't help it."
"Maybe work on your self-control skills."
"Why are you being mean to me?"
"Brutally honest, actually."

Hanako kept his head in his hands. This time he was actually sat on a chair, a rare occurrence.

"I know how much the girl means to you. Don't lose her again. Got it?"
"But-"
"You've fallen out before, but you became friends again despite your feelings. Give her time to get over Itsuki and go from there. You're bound together. Remember that."

Hanako took in Tsuchigomori's wise words. Maybe he was right. Hanako and Yashiro were friends, despite Hanako's feelings. Yashiro meant too much to him to let her go again.

〜♡〜

Yashiro walked into the cafeteria to get a snack from the vending machine. She pressed the buttons absentmindedly and inserted a few coins, the snack bar dropping down. She bent down and retrieved it, before opening it and turning around.

"Hey, Yashiro, why'd you ignore me earlier?" Itsuki asked. He was stood less than a foot away from her.
"Go away Itsuki." Yashiro tried to walk away.
"What's that tone for?" He moved, blocking her path.
"Nothing."
"You seem off. What's wrong?" Itsuki trailed. Yashiro felt her heart rate quicken as adrenaline rushed through her body.
"Nothing is wrong." She hissed.

Itsuki leaned forward.
"That's good then." He leaned closer, and Yashiro felt the blood drain from her face as he got closer and closer to her lips.

'No, not again. Not again. Not Itsuki.' She thought in her mind.

She didn't have time to brace herself before a hand pulled her away and out of Itsuki's way.

"Nene what are you doing?" Yashiro half expected the person to have pulled her away to be Hanako. But it was Aoi, staring at her with a concerned gaze.
"What are you doing?" She repeated.
"I-"

"Excuse me? What is going on?" Itsuki turned to look at the pair.
"G-get away from her! She- she saw you with Nakamura!" Aoi pushed Yashiro behind her, stumbling over her words in a desperate attempt to defend her best friend. She pointed at a girl in the cafeteria with short brown hair, the girl Yashiro recognised as the girl who Itsuki had ruthlessly cheated on her with. Nakamura lowered her head in embarrassment.

"What?" Itsuki's face turned pale.
"At the party! Y-you two were kissing! She saw it all!"

At this point, many students in the cafeteria had turned around to watch this unusual encounter take place.

"You- you're a horrible boyfriend! She's breaking up with you!"
Yashiro stared blankly at her friend, who turned to look at her. Yashiro snapped back to reality and glared at Itsuki.
"Yeah! I am!" Yashiro choked out.

"Yashiro- sweetie- it wasn't what it looked like!"
"Sweetie? What kind of name is sweetie?" Yashiro turned around.

There, stood leaning on the doorframe to the cafeteria, was none other than Hanako, his arms crossed. Yashiro felt her face heat up for some unknown reason.

"I came to watch." He stated, shrugging his shoulders.
"What are you-" Yashiro noticed people staring at her. She turned back to Itsuki.

"What do you mean it wasn't what it looked like!? You two were making out right in front of my eyes." Yashiro spat.
"Yashiro I love you!"
"No you don't."
"I do!"
"No you don't! You- you're going to leave me alone! Got it!?" Yashiro felt anger bubbling inside of her.

Aoi's mouth gaped open at her friend who had seemingly gained a boost of confidence.

"You don't love me, and I certainly don't love you!" She spat, before turning on her heel, giving Aoi a small smile, and walking out of the cafeteria, grabbing Hanako's sleeve on the way.

The students around them were deadly silent, staring as Yashiro left the room. They turned their attention to Itsuki. His face was bright red, a sign of clear and utter embarrassment after being broken up with in front of the whole cafeteria. He let out an angry groan before punching the vending machine beside him. The vending machine didn't break, as Itsuki probably hoped it would. Instead, his hand made an awful cracking noise, and he held his hand and cried out in pain.

"OWWWW!"

Yashiro and Hanako smiled, as Yashiro pulled his sleeve, the two of them running up the staircases. They needed to talk, and they were both more than happy to do so.

〜♡〜

(W/C: 1163) I told you it was gonna get better, didn't I? Anyway. Thanks for reading! -M <3