Making You Smile [Misaki x Kokoro/Misakoko]

Chapter 2

It was a normal day at Hanasakigawa Girls' High School. Misaki, as usual, was sleepy; she had gone to sleep at an unreasonable time due to composing more music for Hello, Happy World.

Who could stop anyone from sleeping in class, though? It's rational not to, but that doesn't mean a student can't just cross their arms on the table and rest their head as comfortably as possible in them. And so, Misaki took the initiative to.

Sure, school was important for Misaki. But how could she pay attention when her eyelids dropped to the point where she couldn't even keep her eyes open at will?

Well, Misaki had no time to think of that. All she wanted was to have a nice, refreshing nap.

"Misaki, can you start where we left off?" The teacher glanced her way, watching as Misaki picked up her head and sighed to herself.

Great.

Misaki picked up where the class left off, with the sleepiness in her voice as easily evident as it was. To begin with, she barely had an idea of what was going on in the classroom, but apparently, they were reading about the anatomy of a bunny.

As soon as she finished the paragraph, she could hear students whispering to one another either about how cute bunnies are, or something that was rather unexpected—Kokoro.

Kokoro was simply sitting in her seat, smile as wide and fresh as it could ever be. Students usually described her as "The weird blondie" because she was always glowing with a rather unhealthy amount of energy.

That's what made Kokoro so different, too. But being different wasn't always the best—Kokoro would most likely be crowned as one of the loneliest people in the school due to her unique personality and energy.

And for that, Misaki felt a pang of guilt. Kokoro's intentions were solely to put a smile on everyone's face. Her energy was tiring, but it didn't change the way Misaki felt about students saying repulsive remarks about Kokoro, or laughing at her for being the unique girl she was.

Before she knew it, the bell rung. Everyone in the class headed out, trying their best not to cross paths with Kokoro.

As Misaki was about to leave, she heard a familiar voice call her name.

"Misaki, look at what I drew!"

Misaki spun around to see Kokoro standing there, and as always, a huge smile was present on her face. And to that, she silently wondered if Kokoro had even heard what people were saying about her in class, or if she could even comprehend it.

Kokoro began unfolding the paper she held in her hands, which was a bit crumbled. As soon as it was completely unfolded, Kokoro had stuck it about an inch away from Misaki's face.

"Woah, back up Kokoro, I can barely see it.." Misaki sighed, and Kokoro simply tilted her head to the side.

"Oops, I thought you would be able to see the details in it if I put it closer!" The shorter, blonde girl chuckled, putting the paper at a reasonable distance from Misaki.

The paper was completely obliterated with colors. Pinks, yellows, blues, every single color anyone could think of. It had everyone from Hello, Happy World drawn as stick figures with rectangular hair proportions. There were fireworks, rainbows, and sparkles all around them too. Drawn to the side was also a stand. A croquette stand, to be exact, which read "Croquettes!"