The Golden Pear [YA - Featured]

♫~Notes 92~♫

 Much later, Freya snuck outside, heading to mama-cat. Her legs carried her through bushes and over tree roots as she hurried. Leaves embedded into her hair as branches carved her skin. Shortening her breath, her throat burned.

Reaching her destination, she hid behind a tree. Her chest billowed as she swallowed air, not having enough for a full minute. Watching from afar, she narrowed her eyes to spot Ueno with the cat and her kittens.

She let out a deep breath. 'Guess I worried for nothing.' Taking out a leaf from her hair, she closed her eyes, letting the wind cool her face.

"Hey!" Ueno's voice startled the ginger-haired student that she staggered back, falling on her butt.

Raising her eyes from the ground, Freya witnessed tears flowing down her cheeks and shaking fists ready to crush stones into dust.

"What's wrong with you?" Her shouts mixed with hiccups. "Are you screwed in your head?"

Freya observed her wiping the stream of salt tears. She folded her legs, trying to stand up. Only if Ueno didn't burst once more.

"Why can't you just hate me? Dang it!" Ueno's knees collapsed under her, sending her into the dirt. "I cut you! I bullied you! I pushed you around! So why?"

'Is this... because of my last message?' Racking her brain, she pictured it word by word, finding no problem. Yet her words caused Ueno great discomfort, to the point she wailed in front of her.

The younger girl crawled next to her sniveling senpai, hugging her.

'I guess it's easy to hate. No need to worry about other's feelings.' Wind soothed them as it whispered among leaves. 'But how can I turn away from a crying person?'

As Ueno's weeping calmed down, she pushed Freya away but not more than an inch. Without asking, she tossed her phone into Freya's lap, awaiting her response.

Taking a few minutes to formulate her thoughts.

"Yeah, you bullied me. Yes, it hurt. Yes, I disliked you." A wave of relief and gloom filled Ueno. Those were words she wanted to hear and those she feared the most as well.

Ueno slid the screen, getting to the next part. "But that was yesterday. That's not tomorrow or today. We didn't connect. Maybe we can now. Not close friends. But we can talk, laugh, or cry together. Life is too short to fill it with hatred."

The older girl, the once proud and arrogant daughter of the headmistress, hugged her chest. Despite being two inches taller than Freya, she lowered her head, reflecting the size of her mindset.

"But why?" The lost girl asked. "Why don't you just ditch me like others? What you gain from hanging out with me?"

Freya sighed, understanding the question, but struggling with finding the answer.

Who asks such stupid questions anyway?

Taking the phone back, Freya tried to capture her feelings.

"I dunno. Abandoning a person is sad. Can't two be simple friends? Why the need to gain something? Apart from a soulmate? To not be alone? Does one need a reason to help?"

Ueno's eyes shot open when the last sentence hit the spot. Her father used to say something similar. Going his way to walk from work or pretending to be a normal person to chat with common folks wasn't far from his ideal form of relaxing.

For a long time, Ueno loved how people around her stiffened upon hearing her surname. It gave her a sense of superiority and protection. Nobody could touch her. All of them were too afraid.

Both girls leaned away as a fluffy ball emerged between them. Taiga decided to break the awkward moment by asking for pets and pats, rubbing her now flat belly awarded them with purrs and smiles. Upon hearing her kittens asking where the lunch was, the cat sprinted into the hut.

Freya dusted her knees as she stood up, offering her hand to Ueno. This time, the older girl didn't slap it. She watched in disbelieve as if it could bite her. Reaching for it, Freya waited for her to find the courage to press her hand.

Their skins connected, filling each other with heat. Energy surged into Ueno's body, jolting her onto her legs. Holding their hands, the older girl looked away, but they approached the hut, joining the kittens.

\\_(''>_<'')_//

Later, Ueno paced through the hallways, and without knocking, she entered the council's office.

"Who dare—!" Nobu Mori yelled, sitting behind table reading hardly a magazine suitable for a respected member of the council.

Ueno shut him with a glare.

"U-Ueno-san! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—"

"Where are the Garden Parade results?" she interrupted him, bending down as she placed her hand onto the desk and the other on her hip.

"But we have already picked you, per you—"

"Do I speak Chinese?" she barked, losing the little patience she had with her peer.

His face darkened and twitched, but he kept his swearing private.

"We keep all the entries in this folder." He stood up, closing the magazine, and strolled to another table with papers. "I would scrap the rest, but we have to keep it archived for three years. What a load of bull-crap."

Ueno didn't listen to him, watching him with narrow eyes. Shuffling the papers, he found the folder with all the entries. "Here it is."

She took it without uttering a word, opened it, and started to list the entries one by one.

Nobu Mori stayed, observing her. It was decided her design would be the winning one, so what was her deal now? Her features softened a tad as she found her design, only to harden in the next heartbeat.

Raising his eyebrow, Nobu's jaw dropped once Ueno ripped her entry in half. "What are you doing?" he yelled.

"Withdrawing." Tearing the paper in small pieces, she crumbled the pile into a ball. "Find proper winner this ti—" She paused. "No, I'll do it." She packed the papers into the folder and left the dumbfounded boy inside.

From behind the door, a muffled crashing sound reached her ears as Nobu kicked a chair. Strolling into her club room, she locked it from inside and went into checking the entries.