𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗩𝗘 𝗕𝗘𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗗『𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘂𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗮𝗸𝘂』

🌆-𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘥-🌆

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗜'𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂
𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻
𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱

𝗔 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞 was all it took for Yaku to find out everything about her. Ever since their encounter at the infirmary, the female had been avoiding him. Even at the apartment, Yaku never saw a glimpse of the girl. However, the usual noises of shattering glass and violent slams on the wall remained. The boy spoke to a lot of students having any relationship with her.

Some say that she was just a weird person, most of them said that Hanabi is a very creepy girl. She would constantly talk to herself and would wave her hands around her on a whim. Her previous classmates claimed that the girl spoke to them once. Telling that their friend had been cursed and that she's being followed by a ghost. It weirded them out when that person suddenly died because of stress. Since then, rumors spread about her being a witch, and that she would curse anyone who tries to get on her bad side.

Yaku had that strange feeling that Hanabi wasn't as horrible as they spoke of. Maybe she was just trying to be helpful in her own way. Maybe she's just hiding a very sensitive secret from everyone else. But he didn't care. Yaku never wanted to know her secret. He just wanted to be some of help to her. He always had the urge to protect her, even when they just met. And now he's eager to do so.

Today marks the 7th day in which Yaku attempted to cheer the girl up. As soon as he bent down to place his everyday gift on her doorstep, the door creaked open. Yaku's eyes met with Hanabi's violet orbs. "The flowers the other day, all of those were from you, right?" she asked, eyeing the bouquet in his hands.

Yaku scratched the back of his head awkwardly, cursing himself all because he got caught. "Yes. I'm sorry" the boy sighed, "I'll be going then Koizumi-san" Yaku turned his back dejectedly, only to get pulled back.

"I never told you to leave" she mumbled, surprising the boy. Slowly, Yaku faced her, finally getting a good look at her. "Thank you for the flowers. I loved it" she gave him a small smile.

Silence ruled in between the two as they both fidgeted with their fingers. Hanabi knew from the start that the flowers came from him. Every day she would wake up and stumble upon a beautiful bouquet. It didn't change the fact that her morning would usually be ruined upon seeing unwanted spirits scaring the life out of her, but his gesture indeed made her happy.

Hanabi felt guilty, knowing how harsh she was with her words. She contemplated a lot of times, torn whether to say sorry or just leave it be. The female didn't want to involve him any further. It was enough for her to know that he was a caring person. She lied when she said she didn't want anyone's help. Hanabi just didn't want to burden anyone. She brought this upon herself and so she has to deal with it.

But strangely, unlike the others she pushed away, this boy kept on coming back, trying to comfort her the best he can. Even when the spirits around screamed and yell at her, even when her fresh wounds and bruises hurt a lot, Hanabi would find it in herself to smile because of him.

"I wanted to say sorry for what I said, Morisuke-san" she started saying, feeling the guilt wash over her again.

Yaku shook his head violently, "N-No! I should be the one saying sorry! I seem to have gone too far. And you were right, we just met, I shouldn't have touched you so casually. It was too conceited of me to think that I could be of help to you—" his hastened mumbling got interrupted when Hanabi's laugh erupted.

The girl had a big smile on her face, as she laughed heartily at his remarks. Yaku could only sigh in relief, seeing such a rare sight of the girl. "I'm glad I managed to make you smile," Yaku said subconsciously.

Hanabi on the other hand bowed, "Thank you for all the things you've done for me Morisuke-san. Please tell me how can I repay you" says the female, eager to pay back the kindness he's shown her.

Hanabi's ankle suddenly felt cold, she shivered at the feeling. She saw an old woman holding on her ankle, as an instinct she kicked her off making a loud thud on the floor. A sound Yaku knew all too well. "Um, please excuse that. There's just um—"

Yaku chuckled, "You don't need to tell me, Koizumi-san. It's all good" says the boy a toothy grin on his face. "About the payment, is it okay if I ask two things?" he awkwardly asked the female.

Hanabi felt glad that she didn't have to explain herself, and was even more glad that Yaku's the one she's talking to right now. "Sure. I'll do anything within my capabilities" Hanabi replied.

"Then my first request is to call you by your first name. Is that okay, Koizumi-san?" surprisingly, his wish is rather simple. As expected of this person, he was a simpleminded boy, who's just genuinely kind.

Hanabi nodded, "Nice to meet you again, Yaku-san" a smile immediately formed on the boy's face.

"Yaku is fine, Hanabi" for some reason, Hanabi liked the way he said her name. And of course, Yaku felt the same.

"So what's the second one, Yaku?" Hanabi asked.

"Um...." the boy hesitated, unsure whether he should continue or not. But the eagerness to be there for her got the better of him. "Can we hang out sometimes, Hanabi? I mean, let's go out and eat or play games at my place. You know, the usual things friends do together?"

"Friends?" Hanabi mumbled.

"I promise I won't ask anything. I won't make you uncomfortable. You can be yourself when you're with me. You can let go of the restraint on yourself Hanabi. I won't force you to tell me anything, I promise. So can we hang out?" Yaku gazed at her, seeing how she trembled softly.

"But why?" the girl asked. Hanabi couldn't understand why someone like Yaku wants to be friends with her. He surely has so many friends, to begin with, what difference would it make if he befriend a weirdo like her?

Yaku smiled, taking both of her hands in his, "I don't know, but for some reason, I want to protect you. I want to be a shoulder for you to cry on. I want to be someone you can rely on. I want to be the reason why you smile and why you laugh. I can never understand why, but you give me a whole new feeling of peace whenever I'm near you."

Slowly tears fell from Hanabi's eyes. It was a first, that someone told her those kinds of things. She was used to insults and hurtful words, but hearing kind and sincere words made her happy and giddy. Her heart clenched inside her chest, feeling his warm touch again on both of her hands.

Ah, she was right.

———𝗛𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻.

𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗲, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 '𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻
𝗜'𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗮𝘆, "𝗜𝘁 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱, 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱
𝗠𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱, 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗱"

—𝗘 𝗡 𝗗—