Timeless

How to cry

"I'm really sorry, Tomori-san, but I probably won't be able to lend her my eyes this time...", Ashiya sighed. Disappointment can be seen on his face as he stands in front of the school. He has been thinking about it for a while and while in the previous timeline he gave his vision temporarily to her, it took him more than a week to get them back.

Although, he does have an idea of how it works and possibly how to make sure he gets it back quick. He doesn't know if he should risk it. This time, he can't ask for anyone's help, not Abeno-san's or Yahiko or anyone at all.

And so, instead of that, he walked to a temple he very familiar of after school. Last time, he did a not-so-cool entry into the temple and it was his second job. Now, he plans to make a better first impression instead of being thought as a thief.

"Excuse me...?", Ashiya nervously asked as he made his way into the temple. This is supposed to be his first meeting with Zenko, but for Ashiya who has casually been here and even asked to become an exorcist in the temple, he is still not quite sure with how he's supposed to act.

"Hello. Is this your first time coming to our temple?", Zenko walked out from the storage room, showing a usual solemn, quiet demeanor.

"Ah, y-yes. Nice to meet you, I'm Ashiya Hanae.", Ashiya forced himself to smile awkwardly and introduce himself, making a slight bow while saying those words.

Please let me sound natural.

"What is that cute name. I am Fujiwara Zenko, nice to meet you, too. If you are planning to pray for your school's success there's the offering box.", Zenko pointed to the direction of where the box is usually located. Ashiya had memorized by heart about it and while he followed where she is pointing, he's starting to regret his decisions.

I'm pretty sure Abeno-san will be able to get this job done without a problem. So, why am I here and make my presence a suspicion...

Suddenly, a loud laughter could be heard across the temple. Ashiya knows this laughter very well.

"...I'm sorry about this. My father, the head monk of this temple, has been bedridden from an illness.", Zenko explained while her eyes are fixated to where the source of the laughter comes from.

"I-I'm pretty sure someone will come and help you, Zenko-chan.", Ashiya stuttered, but sound less confident about it with every word he speaks out. Those words only granted him glaring from Zenko-chan. But it quickly became a sigh. Ashiya realized how tired Zenko-chan must have been trying to take care of his father, the temple and keeping up with school at the same time.

"Do you want me to help you, Zenko-chan?", Ashiya asked.

"What do you mean, Hanae?", Zenko-chan was curious with the suggestion, most probably because a random stranger suddenly offered to lend a hand in a temple.

Ashiya stumbled with his words, trying to explain himself, "No, I just think that... you might be tired with everything you are dealing with right now and to add cleaning the whole temple every day. I just thought maybe I can help a little bit with that sin-"

"What do you mean every day, Hanae?", Zenko's eyes are wide open. There was certainly nothing wrong with what Ashiya said, but that's where things went wrong.

Crap!

"Uh, no, I mean, you seem to love this place and you were cleaning the temple just now, right? Look there are fallen leaves on your hair!", Ashiya managed within split seconds to make up excuses for what sounded like the unintended confession of a stalker.

"I knew it, Ashiya-san...", Zenko's low voice was definitely terrifying. Ashiya is expecting her to grow super suspicious and know who he is.