Sweet and Sour [An OHSHC Fanfic]

Chapter Seven

A/N: The picture is our genius pretty-boy Subaru~!

The tour finished up rather soon after that.

By the next day of school, I'd yet to come to a decision regarding whether I wanted to go, let alone whom I'd take. As a result, I didn't bother sharing the information with Elias. After all, he would say that we should go and make friends. Despite all appearances, he wasn't fond of my more antisocial tendencies following my father's death. I understood his reasoning, truly, but for some time I'd only felt comfortable with him by my side. There'd been the feeling that he was the only one that understood.

This sort of group outing... it was Elias's cup of tea. Perhaps that was a reason in itself to agree-- he would probably enjoy himself if I decided to take him with me.Sure, he probably wouldn't leave my side given his role as my bodyguard, but even then... I knew what sort of rides Elias would like.

Such thoughts kept my mind occupied through the majority of my lessons, earning myself a scolding from Sensei when I couldn't locate our position in the textbook. I simply responded with a sheepish smile that turned grateful when Tamaki whispered the first line under his breath, giving me a chance to find it before Sensei got too worked up. Once I'd finished reading the passage aloud, I requested a trip to the bathroom, to which Sensei rolled her eyes and waved me on.

Out in the hall, I allowed my thoughts to wander once again. Perhaps I should invite others? Friends... I had met a few people since arriving. If I was to sooth Elias's concerns, then perhaps inviting some of them would be more beneficial than simply going with Elias alone. I wasn't against the idea. This was supposed to be a new start, so such an out of characteristic move for me might be a good idea. But who? Inviting the entire club would be rather... overwhelming and I doubt Subaru's friend wanted me to invite so many hot boys.

The matter was stolen from my mind as I stepped into the bathroom to find a rather familiar girl standing at the sink and cursing under her breath. It only took me a moment to recall her name-- Nao-- and to realize that the water pooling in the bottom of the sink she was using happened to have a rather pink tone to it.

"Nao-senpai?"

Nao jumped, cursing as this caused her hand to hit the faucet. I apologized and she waved me off, only shooting me a short, curious glance before looking back to her hand.

"Are you okay?"

She snorted.

"Perfect."

I hesitated.

"Let me..." I said, drawing closer.

She frowned, studying me for a long moment before giving in with a sigh. She stepped to the side, giving me the chance to take her hand in my own to study it. The skin of her knuckles had been broken, blood swelling up in the cuts despite her having rinsed it off. Given the display of temper I'd seen her give upon our first introduction, it wasn't hard for me to imagine that the state of her fist was the result of her punching something.

Oh. Perhaps that was the solution I'd been looking for.

"Let's go to the nurse's office," I suggested. "You'll need a bandage on this if you don't want to get blood everywhere."

Nao hesitated.

"If the nurse is there, we can leave," I suggested, guessing her problem. "If not, I can bandage it myself and no one has to know you visited."

She seemed to mull this over for a moment longer before nodding with a reluctant sigh. "Thank-you... Castro-san, was it?"

"Cande," I corrected. "You're older, there's no need to be so formal."