𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥 || 𝕂𝕪𝕠 𝕊𝕠𝕙𝕞𝕒

I've Been Better

How many days in a row had she come to this park to sit there and just wait? Five? Maybe six? Perhaps it had even been over a week.

They normally met up here every other Saturday. But he hadn't shown up on Saturday, so she came back again on Sunday. And when he didn't come back on Sunday, she came back after school on Monday. Her uncle was busy with work, and he didn't particularly seem to mind her being out.

While she was sitting there, she let her mind come up with a long list of potential reasons for why he wasn't there. Maybe he forgot, or maybe something more important had come up. Maybe something happened to him, or maybe he decided that he didn't want to see her.

Whatever the reason, she still waited there until sunset. For however five, six, maybe seven days, she waited for hours.

Admittedly, she was a little surprised when he did show up eventually. She was sitting there on the swing by herself when he approached her. And when she saw him, she smiled bigger than she could ever remember smiling before.

"Kyo!" She beamed. "You're here!"

But the smile he wore was significantly smaller than she was used to. And she didn't miss that, nor did she miss his silence and failure to return her greeting.

Her smile faltered. "Is something the matter..?"

His orange eyes didn't meet her blue ones. "I'm sorry that I didn't come when I was supposed to."

"That's okay!" Her beaming grin returned. "I'm just happy to see you again!"

When he spared a hesitant glance in her direction, his cheeks had a slight pink blush to them. But the look in his eyes was anything but happy. He almost seemed ashamed. He seemed...terribly sad.

"I'm really sorry." He gripped his bag straps tightly. "I don't think...we should play together anymore."

The smile on her face couldn't have vanished any quicker.

"...W-What..?" Her voice was softer than a whisper. "I don't understand..."

"...I...think it's better if we stay away from each other."

Her eyes were already filling with tears. Upon seeing that when he glanced up at her, Kyo was quick to look away again. He looked even more sad and guilty.

"I...I should go home." He spoke quietly. "I just wanted to tell you so you wouldn't keep coming here for no reason."

"Kyo..."

She was left to watch as he turned to walk away. "I'm sorry."

"Kyo..." She called after him helplessly. Before she knew what she was doing, Hiyori stood up to follow him. "Kyo, please wait -- !"

They came to this park all the time. Just in front of the swings, there was some uneven pavement that she never failed to forget about. She never failed to trip on it.

Perhaps Kyo realized that this time would be no different. Perhaps that's why he glanced over his shoulder. And when he saw her running after him, he turned to face her completely.

"Hiyori, wait -- !"

She shrieked as she tripped and fell. But she didn't hit the ground; instead she was caught by a pair of arms that tried to stop her from falling.

A cloud of orange smoke enveloped them. The arms that caught her were suddenly gone, and she ended up falling to the ground anyways.

When the smoke faded away, she groaned where she lay on her stomach. When she realized that she had fallen on top of him, she squeaked in panic and quickly sat up with a bright red face.