Call My Name | 𝘕𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘪

- 7 -

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𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓯𝓮𝓬𝓽 𝓜𝓪𝓽𝓬𝓱

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Maki arrives at school with no particular feeling that it's going to be a good day or a bad day. She felt like the day would be all-around dull and not memorable in the slightest. Stale air and no sunlight, but maybe the clouds will shift, and the sunlight will be out later. She wasn't too optimistic about it though.

She saw Nobara and was about to say hello or wave just to be friendly. Maki was sure the other girl wouldn't reciprocate and wave back even if she did though. To her surprise, Maki is proven entirely wrong when Nobara is the one to say hello first making her dull morning a little bit brighter all on her own.

It's surprising considering that Maki had expected her to say nothing at all. The first sign that makes her think today might be not half bad.

"Hi," Nobara says, unprompted and strangely polite. Casual, as though they speak all the time. But her eyes never directly meet hers. They dart to and away from the vicinity of her eyes right before they can make eye contact for good enough time. Maki wants to tell Nobara to just look at her, that it's okay to meet her eyes. It's not like she'll burst into flames. But the girl's either nervous or just determined not to make eye contact with her. Either way, Maki doesn't question or push it.

"Hi," Maki says in return, hands in her pockets and rolling on the heels of her feet. She's pleased about this development and wants to keep it going. She doesn't want 'hi' to be the only thing they say to each other. "How was your weekend?"

"It was alright," For a split second that Maki catches, she looks surprised that she even answered. It's kind of cute. Why does Nobara not want to talk to her? It seems like she wants to. Or does she want to but is trying to force herself not to. Maki's quite aware of this silent game they were playing before, and probably now. Maki will sit near her, and Nobara will always manage to look at her at least once. Maki wasn't invisible, and she wasn't oblivious either. She figured that Nobara was just acting like this because she saw Maki as another threat until proven otherwise.

Maki had hoped she proved otherwise when she gave her the hoodie to borrow after what had happened. That maybe Nobara would see that she wasn't going to treat her like everyone else. She wasn't going to see all this shit happening to her and just turn the other way. If Nobara needed her help she was going to be there. Maybe she still needs more convincing?

"What about you?" She extends, and Maki doesn't really take a second to think about it, since her weekend here was also boring as hell. Gojo was gone the whole time, and Megumi seems to have gotten a friend because he was on a phone call with someone for once. She didn't care that she was basically alone, but it wouldn't be so bad if she could leave, and outside there would be stuff to do.

"I didn't do much," She says, shrugging, "I'm afraid there's not much to do around here."

"No shit," Nobara almost laughs, "There's nothing to do here. Don't know why you moved."

That makes two of them since Maki doesn't entirely know either. The unexpected vulgarity of the statement from Nobara makes her laugh. She doesn't want to go into class now, though it starts in a few minutes. She wants to keep talking. She feels like once they leave she won't have another chance. Though she knows that's not really rational, they see each other every day.

Maki's expression makes Nobara happy, her heart warms at the soft smile–now she's desperate to get out of the hallway, she thinks they have been talking too long already.