𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 | 𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘶

𝚜𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚎𝚗.

⊱ "𝐁𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆" ⊰

You could barely sleep that night, so when you went to school the next morning, your eyes kept closing without your permission. Thankfully, Kazuha offered to drive you instead of Childe. On the way home the previous night, he told you he needed space for a while, and you respected that. You still missed his expensive car, though.

Everything was so confusing, because once you walked into homeroom, Gorou immediately went up to you. Meanwhile, Kazuha walked to his desk.

"How was the hangover?" He asked.

You stared at him for a moment before blinking out of your trance and replying, "That... That was real?"

"Pfft, yes it was real!" He laughed. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine..." You lied, narrowing your eyes at him. "You're acting weird."

"What, I'm not allowed to check on you?"

You remained silent for a minute, still hesitant to believe that Saturday was real, before sighing.

"Thanks for helping me."

He looked surprised by your thanks. His ear twitched and he smiled, glad to be getting along with you. He was afraid you'd go back to insulting him and refusing to look at him.

"You're welcome."

You sat in your seat and noticed that Childe hadn't arrived yet. You partially doubted he'd show up at all. You gazed at his desk and let out another quiet sigh.

"Is everything alright?" Kazuha asked.

Your head snapped around to look at him, "Hm? Oh, everything's good." 

He knew something must've been off with Childe, considering he had to drive you to school and you were saddened because he wasn't there. He didn't ask, though. He was aware you'd refuse to admit something was wrong.

━━━━⊱✿⊰━━━━

After school, Kazuha took you and Gorou to Komore Teahouse for some more afterschool practice since you didn't get to do much aside from create set pieces that day. But despite the fact that you and Gorou were introduced to different sides of each other, you still found something to argue about.

"Okay, you don't get to tell me what to do, you started acting like two weeks ago."

"I just think you're overacting a little bit! It comes off really weird and cartoonish!"

"I'm pretty sure this is the appropriate amount of emotion for the scene. She's supposed to be in complete despair."

"Okay, well if you scream again, you're gonna get us kicked out-"

"I'm going outside to get some air," Kazuha said abruptly, interrupting you as he stood up. "Take a break and get to know each other, please."

He walked away, leaving both you and Gorou staring after him with confusion. You looked to Gorou and considered it. Perhaps there was more to him, even though he seemed to disagree with you just so you'd get angry and argue with him. Recalling the events of the party, you wondered if you could end up being friends with him. He did help you without any reason to, after all. And from what you remembered, there was no sign of an ulterior motive. It would've been obvious if there was.

"Getting to know each other, huh?" You muttered.

"Sounds like a good idea," he replied.

"Hm... Okay then. You first," you stated, leaning back against the booth.

"What?!" He exclaimed, his tail suddenly pointing upward. "Why do I have to go first?"

"Because you said it was a good idea," you said. "Do you like bones?"

"You're not funny."

"I don't think Kazuha would approve of you saying that."

"Kazuha's not here."

"I'll tell him when he comes back," you threatened. "Now go. Say something about yourself before I scream again."

"You wouldn't..." He said.

"I would."

"...Fine. Um... I take archery classes."

You weren't expecting him to say something so interesting, "Really? Are you any good at it?"

"I feel like you're interrogating me."

"I just wanna know," you rolled your eyes.

"I'm at the top of my class," he answered.

You gasped, "No way. I refuse to believe that."

"I'll have to show you sometime then," he smirked. "You go now."

"There's not a lot that you don't already know, it's not like my interests are very private..." You sighed. "Uh... I've always wanted to try chess?"

"To be honest, I'm not surprised," he shrugged. "Why haven't you tried it yet?"

"Well, I guess I did. I was ten, though, and it was so confusing. The only thing I know is what a pawn is. There were too many squares, and too many rules. My brain couldn't take it, and I never made another attempt to learn it," you responded. "Same thing with volleyball. I tried it and I absolutely sucked at it. I'm pretty sure the entire team hated me because I dragged them down so much."

He laughed, "I remember that. My mom forced me to watch one of your matches."

"Oh god, which one?" You cringed just thinking about it.

"I think it was the one where you accidentally got tangled in the net," he snickered.

"How have you never brought that up to make fun of me?" You whined.

"It was just too pathetic, I was more sad for you than anything else," he chuckled.

"Thank you for sparing me that extra embarrassment. Okay, that's all the thanks I'm giving you for this month."

"Wow, I appreciate it. If it helps you live the memory down, I had an accident like that in gymnastics before," he said.

"You did gymnastics?"

"Yeah, before you moved here. I stopped after I broke one of the bars just by hanging onto it. Everyone was making fun of me and calling me fat for a week until I quit."

"Oh my god, that's awful," you stifled a laugh. "To be honest, though, I would've been one of those people."

"I thought so."

Kazuha walked back into the building and looked over to your booth. He was about to walk over when he saw how positively you and Gorou were interacting. He smiled before going back outside to wait a bit longer. Finally, he could finish being the mediator for you and Gorou. He'd been longing for a break.

"I have a question," you stated. "What's your favorite season?"

"Winter," he responded.

"Oh, of course you would say that," you groaned. "I hate Winter."

"Then what's your favorite season?"

"Spring. It's not cold, like autumn or winter, but it's not too hot like Summer. Plus, I like seeing all the flowers," you smiled.

"Eh, I guess I can respect that."

"You guess?"

"Yeah."

"That makes it sound like you have something against Spring but don't wanna tell me."

"I don't, I swear," he chuckled.

"Uh huh..." You eyed him. "It's weird sorta getting along with you. Kinda nice, though."

"Agreed."