Hananene week 2023! July 1st-8th

Music

Nene hummed a popular song as she strummed the strings of the school guitar, practicing for honestly no reason. She was alone in the music classroom, and the sun was setting beautifully. Soon, the alarm that would tell children to return home would ring, but it'd be nice to just play for a little bit longer. She wasn't terrible with a guitar, not at all, she used to want to be in a band when she was quite a bit younger, just before middle school.

She heard a male voice start singing behind her, the lyrics were a bit off and out of tune, but still pleasant. She turned around slowly, and her fuchsia eyes traveled to meet Hanako's. A small smile found her lips as Hanako continued singing the song that her fingers continued strumming. It was off-key, sure, but this was a side of the boy she rarely got to see. They sat together, alone in the music classroom, Nene humming the beat and playing the instrument, and Hanako singing and messing up the lyrics.

Hanako started to play with Nene's light hair midway through the song, and she could tell his attention span was slipping. Before she knew it, her hair was in a long and messy braid. It was really beautiful, in Nene's opinion.

Their song ended, and they sat in a comfortable silence. Nene extended her hand out and placed it on Hanako's head, her fingertips brushing against the top of his velvet hat. Hanako looked up at the girl curiously, the tips of his ears dusted a bright red. "Hanako-kun, I've wanted to ask.. how come you like braiding my hair so much?" "It's nice.." He trailed off, as if there was something at the tip of his tongue, but couldn't escape his lips. Nene simply hummed as a response, and continued to pet the boy's head, only flustering him further. 

The silence slowly started to grow more and more uncomfortable, and Nene shifted awkwardly. Hanako lifted his hand and pet the top of Nene's head as well. She smiled with contentment. "Want to do another song?" "I don't know many. Bits and pieces of what I hear in the hallways." "What about from when you were a kid?" Once again, Nene was prodding at Hanako's past. Hanako instantly tensed, and put up the walls in his heart that she'd grown to know. "I.. don't think I knew any." Hanako lied through his teeth, and it was honestly quite obvious. His tone was weak, and he had curled up, hugging his knees into his chest. 

Nene didn't want to wait to learn more about Hanako's past then she had already, but she had to. Comfortingly, she rubbed Hanako's back as a way to tell him that she understood. She understood that it was hard to tell someone like her about a past as violent as it was. 

The silence was broke by Hanako humming again, a few words coming out of his mouth as actual words, but mostly just mindless humming. Nene would admit, she had no idea what he was singing, but she still listened kindly.