Call My Name | 𝘕𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘪

- 4 -

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𝓼𝓸𝓯𝓽 𝓼𝔀𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼

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Nobara learned that Maki Zenin might even be just as stubborn as she was. Maki, like herself, was not easily deterred by challenges. It seemed her words wouldn't discourage Maki from seeking her company. She was so confused as to why. Maki didn't know her, she didn't know anything. She definitely doesn't know the major secret at play here, so what was it?

Nobara knew there was no real backing whenever she told Maki to go away. Whatever she had said aloud, her mind had longed for the opposite. So maybe Maki didn't back off because she sensed that?

Maintaining the exterior of being unbothered and not taking anyone's shit wasn't hard. She really found it quite easy to push back against others who bothered her. Then she remembered it was quite lonely in this corner she's kept for herself. Defending herself until she no longer had anyone to share the space with. Not that there was anyone there in the first place.

Now came Maki. Someone who wants to share her space, and Nobara won't acknowledge there's enough room for the both of them. So she pushes away, remaining by herself. It's always safer being alone. But it was especially hard not to want friends even a little, especially when someone was trying this hard to be yours.

They have only a few classes together, and Nobara wonders what other classes Maki is in that don't have her in it. They don't have math together, maybe she's advanced in math or something because the math worksheets she would work on seem way more complex than the ones Nobara brings home. Not that she was looking or anything.

Maki wasn't a talker. Or maybe she was, Nobara didn't know. Since they didn't talk. Maki would stay though. She'd stay in one of the seats in the back of the class next to her, the one that was always left empty because no one wanted to sit next to her. Maki didn't talk, but she didn't leave either.

The same was for the library and the lunchroom. Whenever a seat was near her that was not being used, Maki would take it upon herself to use it. One might think they were already friends with how frequently they were in each other's proximity. Nobara doesn't say a word about it. At first thinking Maki was just sitting next to her because well there was empty space. But it happened so consistently. Maki had to be doing it on purpose. But she chose not to say anything. It's not going to bother her.

Maybe she doesn't say anything because she doesn't want things to change. She doesn't want Maki to leave. But it's not like she wants to talk either. She's so...interested. Just who is this person she's been thinking about for days on end. Making up stories in her head, scenarios they'd share. A named faceless person she doesn't know, the one who was meant for her. It felt so close. She was close.

Maki would sit doing her work silently. Though Nobara said not a word to acknowledge her existence, Nobara would sneak glances at Maki while she would work next to her.

She liked the concentration on her eyes as she wrote her numbers, solving the problems with relative ease. It was nice watching her, then she'd tear her gaze away when Maki's eyes would come up and they'd almost meet. Specks of gold would flash and she'd look away almost panicky when she did. She tried to avoid that as much as possible considering Maki's eyes were beautiful. Everything about her was really, but she thinks the eyes are a true weakness she needs to avoid. They make her want to say something dumb.

The continued silence that passed between them would shift, only slightly, almost as if both of them knew they wanted to talk to the other, neither saying a word. Nobara wasn't anything if not stubborn, so she wasn't about to let up. Maki wants to take that seat next to her, she can. It didn't bother her. Whatever, she wasn't going to say a thing.