This Warmth Of Yours

Chapter 25 - Did I make you proud?

"Kyo, for this scene, can we suspend this in the air over me? It'll make me look like a witch that can actually lift a tree with magic!"

"Haru, don't be stupid. Aki told me it might snap, I don't need to tell you how dangerous that is. Our tree prop's might not be that heavy, but you could still get hurt."

"It's towards the end! If it snaps, it'll be realistic to the scene anyway, and I'll dodge if it actually falls! There's nothing to worry about!"

She gave him two thumbs up. "Nothing will happen to me. Trust, okay?"

He sighed, clutching his forehead. "Alright, if you insist. You have to jump out of the way, alright? I'll warn the other actors too."

Haru giggled. "Yes, mom!"

Kyoya began patting her head like it was an impulse he wasn't able to control. It seemed that she was the perfect height for this kind of thing. Haru inferred that from the countless amounts of times other people have casually put their hands through her hair.

Yuki popped out of nowhere. "Hey, you can stop now. How's she gonna practice in costume if you mess her hair up?"

Haru grabbed Yuki's shirt. "Ah, Yuki."

He turned to her, smiling. "Yes, Haru?"

She paused as he said her name. "Um, you don't have to walk me home today. I plan on going somewhere else on the way home, and I want to do it on my own."

"Huh? Ah, alright. I'll see you tomorrow then, Haru. Don't get yourself into trouble like the night we met, okay?"

She nodded, giggling.

Kyoya looked at the two of them, realising that he had faded away from their world. He sighed, wondering how they met in the first place, completely unaware of the fact that he was involved in their first meeting too. He had no idea she was present the night he and Yuki had a one-sided tussle.

...

I'll make the best food a maid cafe could ever ask for!

"Kana, you look like a zombie, are you sure you don't need any help?" Rika asked.

She shook her head vehemently, bloodshot eyes as she was preparing food that needed more time to cook. It was the morning of the school festival, the moment she had been waiting for all along.

Mom and dad are coming. I have to prove to them that they made the right choice. I have to prove to myself that I'm capable.

Rika watched her friend descend into what seemed to be utter madness. "Uh, alright. I'll leave your maid uniform here, don't die..." she said, plopping the outfit on the counter.

Rika sighed as she shut the backstage door behind her. She had to stay up all night to make all the costumes too, and since she never received those frill classes from Kyoya due to her deliberately avoiding him, she had to teach herself how to do it properly on her own. She was lucky that a whole team was assembled for the costumes, for she was sure she would pass away from the time constraints placed on her.

Kyoya paused as he was walking by in front of her. They merely looked at each other as if they had just seen a bug on the wall, something you want to look away from but also absolutely impossible to ignore.

Just then, Yuki seemingly materialised out of nowhere, throwing himself onto Kyoya. "My nerves are getting the better of me, what if everyone ends up getting scared and leaves? Heck, what if I end up getting scared and leaving?"

"Please don't do that, I would hunt you down and kill you," Kyoya joked to lighten his mood.

It failed to do that. Yuki's legs were wobbling even more than before.