Bittersweet (Honey X Reader)

Chapter 26: Elsewhere

"[Y/N]! Pay attention!" You snap your fading attention back to [B/F/N], who was sitting in front of you and helping you revise for your upcoming maths test. You blinked before humming your reply, trying to say that you were still with her, but she only sighed and leaned forward, placing down her notebook and looking you straight in the eyes. Other students didn't notice- they were too focused on revising for the test to bother with a SEP (Somebody Else's Problem) (A/N: Only true nerds/geeks shall get that reference, and until then, I shall be a patient anti-soiciallist and wait). "[Y/N]... What's wrong..." She sounded like your mother- overly worried.

"What are you talking about [B/F/N]? I'm fine!" You say, laughing a bit at the end and sounding a little too enthusiastic. She raises an eyebrow and her face falls into one of even more worry.

"Seriously, [Y/N], what's wrong? I don't like seeing you lie to me- especially when I already know that something's wrong." Her words and tone made you shiver, and you look around subconsciously.

"It's Reiko..." Her facial expression falters into one of relief before curiosity.

"Who's Reiko?"

"Oh, uh, she's the new girl I went to pick up yesterday- remember?" She nodded and you went back to explaining the situation. "And, well, we bumped into Mitsukuni and Mori..." You trailed off a bit near the end, and she bit her lip, probably jumping to conclusions you thought to yourself. "And when they left, she said..." You inhaled. "She wants to steal his soul." You left your eyebrows cease in worry- something to let out the anxious energy you had been harbouring since yesterday. "Mitsukunis'- not Moris'" You add, just to clarify.

"You're freakin' kidding, right?" She was borderline yelling, but no one seemed to take much notice- they were all used to this by now probably. You do get used to [B/F/N]'s enthusiasm quite quickly. You shook your head solomnly and she threw her hands up randomly. "What does that even mean, though?!"

"I don't know, but I'm worried. She seemed..." You look to the ceiling in an effort to find the right words to describe her. But how do you describe Reiko? Confusing? No, she wasn't quite confusing... Borderline confusing, maybe. Scary? Sort of, but not psycho (the original version) worthy. Unsettling? Yes, quite so... But it was more her intentions that were unsettling. "Troubled? Maybe? A bit unsettling... I'm just worried for Mitsukuni." She nodded like she completely understood.

"Yeah, I get it..." A few seconds of silence enveloped you both as you fiddled with the pages of your notebook, anxious energy filling up steadily inside your stomach. "But, well..." She began, tentatively, like she knew this was a rocky place to go. Your anxiety peaked at her tone.

"What? Well what?" You proved her, and she only looked even more hesitant, but decided to comply with your request anyway.

"Maybe... Maybe you're just nervous about nothing..." Your mouth opens and she looks away for a second. "I mean, you've only just met her, and you've got a lot on your plate... Maybe it's just your stress getting to you, [Y/N]."

No. That was not it. Yes, you've been stressed, but you knew that was not the reason you were worrying over this. Anxiety, although it has been something you've had frequent contact with (when you were right you were 'diagnosed' with intrusive thoughts, which you thankfully (thank God) have gotten past), was something you had complete control of (most of the time), and you knew (you knew) that stress was not the cause of these worries. There was definitely something about Reiko that didn't seem right- not to say that she's a 'danger to society', just that... You didn't want her near Mitsukuni.

Something about the way she looked at him- eyes sparkling, lips smiling ever-so-slightly, hands twitching... Something about Reiko put you on edge, and regardless of whether or not it was because of your stress, you weren't just going to sit around and let this anxiety consume you. Too many years of that has brought you to this conclusion.