Chapter Text
「雨音窓を叩く
空から私のような悲しみ降ってる
とめどなく今を濡らして」
Zeroth
“Chika! You’re going to be late!”
Waking up to Mito’s voice had become a regular occurrence in recent times but it always entailed a stressful morning. And that was because… Chika slowly cracked open her eyes, hoping the voice had been part of some dream. Hesitantly, she grabbed her phone and swallowed before clicking the screen on.
Friday, December 20th. 8:27.
Her eyes grazed over the time before widening. “Ahhh! Why!?” She jumped up from bed, setting a personal best at getting in uniform. Before Mito could complain again, she had her teeth brushed, bag in hand, and was already on her way down the stairs. Mito shot her a look when she snatched up a piece of toast which she practically swallowed whole. “It’s because it’s close to Christmas,” was all she could offer.
With breakfast out of the way, she was on her way. Sprinting out from her house, she went over the bus schedule in her head but there was no way she could wait for one anymore, she would almost be there by the time another one showed up. She looked at her phone again and noticed she had several missed texts from both You and Riko questioning her whereabouts. Chika sighed loudly and sent them quick texts asking them to put in a request to borrow Mari’s helicopter.
Of course, though, that wasn’t about to happen, so it was up to Chika to leg her way there. Luckily for her, all their practice as school idols had done wonders for her stamina and she found herself approaching the school with just some sweat and slightly heavier breathing. Before, that would have left her as a panting mess. “Victory!” Chika yelled as she passed through the gate. More than a bit pleased with herself, she checked the time on her cellphone.
8:38am.
“Huh. That’s weird, maybe my phone broke.” There was no way she was that late after all the effort she put into that sprint, right?
“Takami-san!”
Well, if the angry voice and heavy footsteps of that teacher approaching were any indicator, she was, in fact, very late. Chika spent the next ten minutes getting chewed out which just made her even later to first period which just made Muroda, her Japanese Literature teacher, that much more pissed off. By the time all was said and done, she already felt exhausted. She unceremoniously plopped in her desk, wishing that she could just go back to sleep and pass this day by without incident.
But no, she realized as she fished around for her textbook. She could never be afforded such a luxury as a fine day. “Ah… I forgot it.”
Muroda, of course, noticed immediately. “Again, Takami-san?” He let out an exaggerated sigh that had half the class rolling their eyes. “Yuda-san, let Takami-san share with you for the day. Anyways, as I was saying, if you turn to page 80…”
Chika snorted and sent an apologetic look towards her neighbor. “Sorry, Yuda-chan. Just for today!”
“Ehe, it’s quite alright, Takami-san. Here.” She scooted her desk closer, but in the action sent her eraser bouncing to the ground near Chika. “Ah, sorry, can you grab that?”
“No problem!” Chika scooped up the eraser, handing it over just as Yuda finished bringing their desks together. Despite actually having a textbook to look at now, Chika still paid barely any attention to the class. She instead opted to play with her pencil, rolling it back and forth until Muroda tried to chew her out for not taking his class seriously. But, as her first stroke of luck for the day, the bell rang right when he began his rant.
As soon as he exited the room, Chika ran over to Riko’s desk, throwing herself over it. “Riko-chaaaan~ How could you? I thought you were better than this!”
“C-Chika-chan? What are you talking about?”
“How could you let me oversleep like that? I thought we had something special!”
Riko’s gaze fell flat. “And what exactly is that something special?”
“… You wake me up and I share my lunch?”
“If by ‘share your lunch,’ you mean picking from both mine and You-chan’s lunches, then maybe you’re half right.” Riko’s lips turned up in just enough of a smirk for Chika to notice.
“Riko-chaaan!”
“Now, now, Chika-chan. You know you can’t blame Riko-chan just because you overslept. If you would stop staying up so late, maybe you would make it to school on time every day.”
Chika tilted her head. “Is that your Dia-san impression?”
“Pfft.”
All three had a good laugh at that but You shook her head. “But really, one of these times you’re actually going to get chewed out by Dia-san. And then you’ll come to us like, ‘Oh, my dear friends, how could you not have warned me about such a tragedy that awaited me!?’ Or something like that.”
Even though Chika thought she was probably right, she waved off the comment. “It’s the world’s fault if I oversleep! Or my bed’s, maybe. If we have to get out of them, why make them so comfy?”
“Did you just become an advocate for stone mattresses or something? I think you’ll have a hard time getting into that niche market.”
Chika perked up at that. “No, no, You-chan, you’re thinking on too small of a scale. Selling mattresses? That’s not the Chika way. I’m going to change the world! No more mattresses!”
“That’s nice and all, Takami-san, but do you mind getting through this next class before you start your revolution?” The three turned to see their next teacher already at the podium and every other student already in their seats.
“Eheh… Right…”
For the next few periods, Chika drifted off into a half-sleep, perking up only occasionally when a teacher raised their voice for no reason. By the time lunch came around, she had pretty much caught up on her missing sleep.
“Hnng!” She loudly stretched one arm above her head before racing over to her two friends with her bento. “Finally! I’m starving! Where do you guys wanna eat?”
Riko shrugged. “It’s been a while since we ate in the courtyard. And the weather’s nice today, so why not eat outside?”
“Sounds good to me.” You said, swiping up her own bento. “Last one there has to buy drinks! Ahaha!” She bolted from the room, leaving Chika and Riko to exchange looks before racing after her.
“No fair, You-chan!” Chika voiced her complaints, but it was quickly offset by her laughter. With how athletic You was, there was zero chance of her catching up. Unless… “Takami Secret Exit #3!” Chika veered off from her path with Riko, heading down the hall instead of turning at the stairs. She pushed through the crowd moving against her and opened the Geography prep room door. It wasn’t actually used for anything besides storage, so boxes and dust comprised most of the contents. But Chika had discovered something during her first year.
Chika threw open the window towards the back of the room and began the process of climbing out. Since she was on the second floor, she took enough time to make sure she wasn’t being reckless, but fast enough that she thought she could still beat You. She grabbed the metal rung of the fire escape ladder that led down from the roof and used it to bring the rest of her body out. After that it was just a matter of climbing down. Though it placed her on the side of the school, it was still much faster than pushing through the lunch crowd that You would have to get through.
Well, it would have been faster but as soon as she was down and rounded the corner, she ran straight into another student, causing said student to drop several folders and a bunch of papers.
“Eh? Oh! I’m so sorry!” Chika began grabbing up the papers but paused when the other student got up. “Dia-san?”
Dia’s head snapped towards her and she sighed. “Oh, it’s you, Chika-san. I should be surprised, but for some reason I just can’t bring myself to be.” She joined Chika in scooping up the papers. “Even if you’re outside, please do remember that this is still a school. You shouldn’t be running around like that.”
“Ahaha… sorry, sorry. I was racing You-chan.”
“Racing? Where is she?”
“Ah, wel―” Realizing she was about to incriminate herself for climbing out a second story window, Chika closed her mouth, pretending to mull over it. “I-I guess she was just that far ahead of me? You know, You-chan’s on the swim team and all and always goes for runs so she’s a lot faster than me.”
If Dia didn’t buy it, she did a good job of not showing it. Once they had everything picked up, Chika weighed the stack in her arms before handing it over to Dia. “That’s a lot of papers. You’re not doing all of those alone, are you?”
Dia shrugged it off as she began walking, Chika following behind her. “Paperwork is part of my responsibility as the student council president. If anything, it’s my fault for letting this much build up.”
“Build up? Does that mean it’s because of other things?” Chika paused, a slightly guilty look coming over her that failed to escape Dia’s notice. “It’s because of Aqours, isn’t it? We practice a lot, so you probably don’t have as much time after school. We can always―”
“No. We will not cut down on practice.” Chika deflated slightly. “And it is not because of Aqours. I would not have joined if I didn’t believe in my ability to handle both Aqours and my student council duties. Besides, we don’t have practice today. I’ll have all of this done before tomorrow.”
They arrived at the student council president office, Chika opening the door for Dia since her hands were full and following her in. “All of that though? By yourself?”
A sigh escaped Dia’s lips as she dropped the stack of papers on her desk. “I’m not able to just pick and choose what work I wish to do, Chika-san.” She turned to regard Chika and glanced back at the papers briefly, a little eager to get started so she would have less work after school. “Were you not racing with You-san?”
“Ah…” Chika grabbed her phone and quickly glanced at her messages. One message was from You, telling her what drinks she and Riko wanted. And the next two questioned her whereabouts. “Well… looks like I lost?” Her sheepish laugh brought a small smile to Dia’s lips.
“Well, go ahead. Don’t keep them waiting.” Chika nodded but stayed where she was, just glancing towards the door. “Chika-san, while I appreciate your worrying, I told you. I will be fine. Go and join You-san and Riko-san.”
Chika mulled over that, placing a hand on her chin and squinting hard as if the answer was just trying to hide from her. But the thought that her friends were waiting for her followed by the growling of her stomach convinced her. “Fiiine.” She hopped over to the door and waved a quick goodbye before sprinting down the hall.
By the time Chika reached her friends, they had already bought drinks and were partway through their lunches. They both looked up as she Chika slammed her bento down next to them.
“Sorry I’m late… phew…” Riko offered Chika her bottle of water and Chika gratefully took a large gulp of it. “Ahhhhh. That really hits the spot. Thanks, Riko-chan. Sorry about that, I kind of ran into Dia-san and got distracted.
“Ah, probably about our race, huh?” You shrugged. She tossed a piece of chicken in the air and gracefully missed it, the chicken hitting her forehead and falling to the ground. “Not a good day, is it? Well, whatever. All we can do is do it again and hope she doesn’t care.”
“That’s probably why she cares though…” Riko ventured, picking at her own food.
Chika nodded and began digging into her own food. “I know she cares and she’s the student council president, so she has to tell us off, but you know, we’re just trying to have fun?”
“Why did that come out as a question?”
Riko’s stare had Chika laughing and she shrugged. “Fun is fun, Riko-chan~ Besides, you were running with us too.”
Not batting an eye, Riko scooped up a tomato from her bento and pointed it at Chika. “I just got caught up is all.” She smiled at Chika’s pout and popped the tomato in her mouth.
-
-
By the end of the day, Chika felt thoroughly exhausted. After a mishap during math wherein she slept through a pop quiz, she was just ready for the day to end. And when it did, she jumped up in excitement when You mentioned getting ice cream on the way back since they had no practice. She headed to the shoe lockers, blabbing on about what flavour she should get and ‘why does it have to be so expensive to just get every one?’
But she was given pause as she opened her shoe locker. A small folded piece of paper rested on her shoes. She glanced back at You and Riko, thinking maybe it had been a prank from one of them, but they weren’t paying her any mind as they put on their shoes. Chika turned back to it and tilted her head. She poked at it as if it was going to jump at her and when it didn’t, she picked it up and began reading.
Please come to the roof after school.
That was it. Simple and to the point. And it cleared exactly zero of the questions Chika had concerning the note. She squinted at it, turned it over, but nothing.
“What’s wrong, Chika-chan?” You called out.
“Eh? Well, uh.” She held up the note and the other two shared a look before walking over. “Somebody wants to meet me on the roof apparently.”
You stiffened a bit and Riko gave her a weird look. “Well,” Riko started. “this is a lo―”
You nudged Riko who coughed from the impact. “Yeah, I wonder what it could be.” You laughed awkwardly and gave a slight nod in Riko’s direction as Chika examined the note once again. “Why don’t you go meet them and see what’s up?”
“Yeah, I guess I will but… it’s just weird, don’t you think? It couldn’t be…” You and Riko leaned forward. “A letter of challenge!?”
“What year do you think we’re in!?”
Chika shrugged and stuffed the note in her pocket. “I guess I’ll go see. You guys don’t have to wait up for me. We’ll get ice cream another day!” You saluted her and she returned it before running off.
“So, I assume you know what’s going on?” Riko asked, eyeing her friend.
Shrugging, You turned to the school entrance. “Maybe. You already know what it is though, right?”
“A love letter, right? Somebody’s going to confess to her. Why else would you call somebody up to the roof like that instead of just confronting them or texting them normally?”
You nodded. “Right, right.” She said as they exited the building.
“So? Who is it? If you know, then it has to be somebody from Aqours, right?”
“Who knows~?”
“You.” Riko deadpanned, elbowing You.
A devious smirk crossed You’s face as she finally turned to regard Riko. “Well, if we’re talking about our love lives, then how about we talk about yours?”
Riko looked put off, a small red tint coming to her cheeks, but she quickly retaliated. “If we’re talking about love, then when are you going to confess to Yocchan?”
You staggered, but just for a second. “That’s good coming from the girl who has a crush on the richest girl in the school but hasn’t confessed yet~” You laughed and ran ahead when she sees Riko’s face heating up.
“W-Wait up!” Riko started as she gave chase. “I-I don’t have a crush on Mari!”
-
-
Chika’s heart pounded as she walked through Uranohoshi’s halls, loud enough that she was sure any lingering students would hear it. Why? Because she knew. She knew exactly what that letter had to be. As much as she wanted to deny it and had looked to You and Riko for some kind of denial, she knew what it was. Pretending wouldn’t help. It was her first time receiving one, but Chika had, no doubt, received a love letter.
What was she supposed to say? How was she going to reject her? Wait, why did she already have the idea of rejecting her? Well, Chika wasn’t in the market for a girlfriend really. Or, at least, she had nobody in mind that she liked that way. She began to mull it over but was interrupted by a voice before she could get any further along that line of thought.
“Chika?” Yoshiko tilted her head. “What are you still doing here?” Hanamaru and Ruby stood on either side of her, both with curious looks of their own.
Chika debated just lying but she figured if she could trust anybody not to talk about it, it was probably the first years. She held up the letter and gave a sheepish shrug. “It looks like I got a love letter.”
If Yoshiko had liquid in her mouth, she would have spat it out. “A l-love letter!? Those wretched cursed tools used to forever ensnare―!”
“Who’s it from?” Hanamaru interrupted, receiving an annoyed look from Yoshiko in return.
“Is it somebody we know?” Ruby was scooting closer, sparkles in her eyes. Chika had to wonder if her love life was actually that interesting. Probably not.
She shrugged. “I’m not sure. They didn’t leave a name on it. I’m going meet them right now.” Chika smirked and scooted in. “It looks like it wasn’t any of you though. What a shame! You’re all so cute, I would have accepted a confession!” She hugs all three, Hanamaru and Ruby laughing, Yoshiko struggling to get free.
“Good luck zura!” Hanamaru said once they were freed. “Maybe it’ll be true love~”
“T-True love…” Ruby stared off somewhere wistfully.
With a shake of her head, Yoshiko turned away. “You mortals and your quest for love. Do you not realize how meaningless such a desire is? For one of such descent as me has no desire for such a relationship.”
“Is that why you haven’t confessed to You-chan yet?” Yoshiko’s face flushed and she turned on Hanamaru ready to yell but ended up stuttering when she saw the smirk. “Bingo, right~?”
“Z-Zuramaru!”
Chika laughed and nodded her thanks to them. Hanamaru waved her off while Yoshiko was busy going off on some tangent. But Chika had other things to think about. Slipping away from the group, she crossed off those in her head that she had seen. It couldn’t be You, Riko, Ruby, Hanamaru, or Yoshiko. Dia was probably out of the question as well. That left Mari or Kanan. It could also be somebody she just doesn’t know, she figured, but that might even be worse. There was no way she was going to accept a confession from somebody she barely knew.
Before she could come to any conclusion, she found herself outside the door. Well, whatever’s going to happen is going to happen, she figured and opened the door. She took a few steps out and sucked in a breath. Well, one of her guesses had been right. If it was a 50/50 between Mari and Kanan, then she’d hit the nail on the head. Kanan sat on the edge of the roof, looking back towards her, a calm smile on her face. She stood as Chika walked over to meet her.
“Kanan-chan. So, this letter was from you?”
“Mm. That’s right. I thought this was something better done with just the two of us around, you know?” Kanan shifted from side to side, her eyes occasionally darting away before refocusing on Chika. “I’m sorry to call you out so suddenly.”
Chika felt her heart banging against her chest. This wasn’t like Kanan. She wasn’t acting like herself. This is definitely… Chika swallowed and focused on keeping her voice steady. “It’s fine. But what did you want to talk about that it has to just be the two of us? If you’re telling me secrets, You-chan should probably…” She trailed off at the serious look on Kanan’s face.
“Chika.” Shit. Chika tried her best to prepare herself for it but when the words came out, she found herself sitting there with her mouth wide open. “I like you, Chika. I have for a long time.” Kanan paused to gauge her reaction but Chika doubted there was anything but shock present on her face. “I want to go out with you.” Another pause and this time, Kanan’s voice came out uncharacteristically meek. “I-If you’re fine with someone like me.”
In what felt like hours but was surely only a few seconds, Chika’s brain ran through millions of possible responses, sorting them into “stupid as hell” and “maybe,” but that was as far as she could get. No answers that came to mind felt right. She had never considered Kanan in a romantic light. They were childhood friends, so she was more like family to her than anything else. But what was she supposed to say when Kanan was standing there looking, Chika dared say, somewhat vulnerable? And hell, she did say she liked Chika for a long time, so she must have held in those feelings from fear of rejection. And now Chika thought she was about to make that fear a reality.
“I-I…” She started without confirming in her head what she was going to say. There was one thing she knew: she didn’t like Kanan that way. But how was she supposed to tell her that? Chika had never received a confession before much less rejected one, especially from one of her closest friends. In her head, their friendship could very well hang in the balance. Kanan patiently waited, biting her lip as she observed Chika’s struggle. Normally being straightforward was the Chika way, but she found herself straying from an answer. “Me? Ahaha, there’s… no way, right? Wouldn’t you rather You-chan or somebody, I don’t know, more interesting? I don’t really…”
“Chika.” Chika flinched but met Kanan’s eyes again. “No matter what you think, I know you’re special. You’re an amazing person, someone who’s capable of bringing smiles to everybody around them, somebody who’s not afraid to rush into the things she believes in. I… I really love that part of you, Chika. I love every part of you. And I’ve been around you long enough to see all those parts. The good and the bad. I’m so glad that I could grow up alongside you, that we could share our happiness and sorrow. I treasure all those memories, I wouldn’t change a single thing.”
Chika relaxed a bit and nodded, a real smile replacing her nervous grin from before. “I wouldn’t either, Kanan-chan.”
“So, please. No matter what happens, it’ll be alright so… just give me a genuine answer without worrying.”
A genuine answer? Chika nodded slowly, already knowing what that answer would have to be. She didn’t love Kanan. Not like that. No matter what, she couldn’t change her own feelings and there was no way to spare her friend’s. She stared at the ground for a minute, hoping she would find some answer in it, a prediction of the future, a reassurance that everything would be alright, that they would be able to just go back to being friends the next day. But she found nothing. There was no easy way out and she knew that. Chika took a deep breath and steeled herself. A genuine answer. She owed Kanan that much at least.
“I’m sorry. I really, really love you, Kanan-chan. It’s just...”
“You can’t like me like that, right?” Chika looked up to see Kanan smiling, but she could see the tears welling up in her eyes. “It’s fine. I thought it might turn out like this.” Her chest raised and fell with a large sigh. “I just… didn’t want to graduate without telling you. I thought I would regret it for the rest of my life if I didn’t at least try.”
Chika sheepishly rubbed her shoulder, avoiding eye contact. Even though Kanan said it was fine, she was still beating herself up over it. The look in Kanan’s eyes… “I’m sorry…”
“Ah, what’s with this atmosphere!?” Kanan suddenly shouted, making Chika jump. “This kind of thing really doesn’t suit us at all, huh? Come on, Chika, don’t look so down. Even after this, we’ll still be friends, there’s nothing to be sad about.” She smiled but Chika felt like she could see right through it. The small cracks that showed in her façade seemed so large to her then.
“Mm. Of course we will be.” Chika said anyways, hoping, praying that it would be true.
“Well then, now that that’s over with…” Kanan stretched one arm high above her and walked towards the door. “I should probably get going for now so things don’t stay awkward. But let’s treat each other normally tomorrow at practice, okay? Don’t want the others worrying for nothing, right?”
Chika nodded slowly. “Mm…”
“Then, later!”
Kanan’s footsteps were normal until she passed the door, where she must have figured Chika couldn’t hear her. Then Chika could hear her sprint down the stairs, a choked cry breaking her heart. She blew out a low sigh, not sure what to think of the last couple minutes. For a long while, she wasn’t sure how long, she stood there mulling over it, but the sun was dipping below the horizon when the sound of her cellphone made her snap out of it. A text from You, asking how it went. Chika shook her head and sent a quick text back saying she would talk to her later about it and she exited the roof.
Normally she would run through the halls after school, eager to return home or hang out with friends but today she walked. It felt strange, having such a serious situation weighing on her mind but at the same time, she felt like nothing. It should be over and yet there it was, nagging at her, telling her how stupid she had been. But what else could she have done? She wasn’t going to accept Kanan’s confession when she didn’t feel the same way. There was really nothing else for her to do. So… why did she want to beat herself up so much?
Chika shook her head, determined to push those thoughts away. If she couldn’t act normal around Kanan tomorrow, then it would only be her fault. Even if Kanan wasn’t fine, she would just make it worse if she started avoiding her because was overthinking the situation. Then again, she had just broken the heart of one of her best friends. No, no. Chika shook her head again. She needed a distraction. Something, anything.
As she looked around for one, she remembered something from earlier and turned on her heel, this time running through the hall. She was so desperate for a distraction at that moment that even working seemed a better alternative. And, for Chika, that said something. After a minute, she found herself outside the student council president’s office. Surely Dia had already left though, right?
Chika knocked on the door, fully expecting to hear silence in return.
“Come in.” But no. Chika frowned at that and opened the door. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the stack of papers on the desk. Had it gotten bigger? Dia was penning something on a piece of paper when she walked in. “I’m sorry, just give me a moment, please.” She finished up with that paper and added it to the noticeably smaller stack to her right. “Alright, how may I he―?” Dia paused, looking her up and down before rolling her eyes. “What are you doing here, Chika-san? Should you not have gone home by now?”
Even though she was tempted to blurt out, “Kanan just confessed to me and I rejected her so I was hoping you would be able to distract me from this crushing guilt,” she couldn’t bring herself to. Instead she just shrugged.
“I was just hanging around still.” She moved over to the desk. “You’re still doing paperwork? Have you been doing this since school ended?”
“I believe I told you earlier that I intend to have it all done with tonight.”
“Tonight? How long do you plan on staying here? Look how much is left!” Chika gestured to the oppressively massive pile of papers to Dia’s left. “There’s no way you’re going to finish all that tonight!”
Dia finally left herself place the pen down and leaned back in her chair. “And? Once again, I told you earlier that I am not able to decide what paperwork I do and do not want to do. It’s all given to me and it’s my responsibility.”
It was Chika’s turn to roll her eyes. “Just because it’s your responsibility doesn’t mean you have to do it all yourself.” Before Dia could question what that meant, Chika grabbed about half the stack of papers and plopped them down towards the front of the desk.
“What are you―?”
“Just tell me what I have to do! I’ll help. You don’t want to be here all night, right?”
“Chika-san, this is ridiculous, you don’t need to help me with these.”
Chika tried to give her a smile, but she could feel it wavering. “Come on, let me help. I want to. Besides…” She reached over and grabbed the pen from Dia’s hand. “I, well, don’t really want to go home right now.” It was true. The idea of being alone with the memory of that rejection made her nervous. If she was alone, she was just going to worry all night.
Dia looked ready to say something but shut her mouth, instead staring Chika down for a solid minute before giving up and reaching into her desk for another pen. “Just watch me and copy what I do. They’re not all the same, so when you have a question just ask.”
And just like that, they set to work. Chika struggled at first, asking Dia a question every minute or so but after a while, they settled into a comfortable rhythm. Instead of feeling overbearing, the silence felt comforting. She was so focused on the papers, the rejection only popped into her head a handful of times and it was out just as quickly.
After what felt like no time to the now busybody Chika, she noticed Dia had taken a paper from her pile and peeked over to Dia’s. Dia’s pile was already gone however, making Chika more conscious of her own pile. She had gotten through a decent chunk, she thought, but it was less than what half of Dia had managed to do in the same period of time.
“Don’t worry about it.” Chika’s head snapped towards Dia but she didn’t elaborate any further. Chika shook her head and with pen on paper got back to work.
It was only when Chika reached for another paper and found that there were none left that she breathed her sigh of relief. “Finally done!” She cheered, standing and stretching. How long had they even been there? Not that it mattered much to her, but she had gotten so lost in the work that time just escaped her.
Dia stood and placed a hand on the stack of finished papers, nodding. “Indeed. Thank you, Chika-san.” Chika perked up at that. “Though I did not ask for it, your help made this take significantly less time. I appreciate it.”
Chika laughed and waved off the thanks. “I really didn’t do much. You still ended up doing so much more than me after all…”
“That’s not the point.” Dia smiled and pat the stack. “Even getting through a small chunk helped me a lot. Paperwork is not a quick task but, I will admit, it was much more bearable with another person helping me.”
At that, Chika broke out into a huge smile and gave her You’s signature salute. “If you ever need help, Takami Chika is always available!”
“Don’t say that, I might just take you up on that offer.” Dia chuckled and Chika just blinked in surprise as she watched her gather her things. She had expected Dia to outright refuse the offer with her usual serious tone. Seeing the more honest, joking side of her relieved Chika a bit. It brought some sort of validation to the work Chika had put in, even if she was just using it as a distraction.
Once they had everything put away and their bags ready, they exited the school together. The sun had long since set and the sky was pitch black save for the moon and dotting of stars. Chika glanced at her phone: 9:57pm. “Geez. That really did take forever…”
Dia shrugged. “Much of it is due tomorrow so it had to be done. It is my fault for putting it off. I’m sorry to keep you so long though.”
“No, no! That’s not what I meant! I didn’t mind helping, it just really didn’t feel like it took that long!”
“Well, time does tend to pass quicker when you are concentrating on something.” Dia took out her phone and started dialing before pausing to look Chika’s way. “Would you like me to have our driver drop you off as well? I don’t mind the detour.”
“Nah! Don’t worry about me!” Chika ran forward a few steps. “I think taking a night walk might be nice.”
Dia opened her mouth to say something but shook her head instead. “Very well then.” They chatted until a black car pulled up sometime later, the window lowering to confirm that the man was there to bring Dia home. She nodded and opened the car door.
“Then, I will be on my way. Please be careful on your way home, Chika-san.”
“Mm! No problem! Thanks for dealing with me today!” Chika waited for her to get in the car but Dia stood there, staring down Chika, making her squirm a bit. “Um… Dia-san? Is something wrong?”
“No… It’s just…” Dia glanced away before straightening herself and tightening her grip on the door. “If you ever need somebody to speak to, please do not hesitate to come to me.”
“Huh? Where did that come from?”
“I-It―” Dia cleared her throat, brushing off her uncharacteristic stutter. “It just seemed like something was bothering you today. I apologize if bringing this up makes you uncomfortable, but I had presumed you have not spoken to You-san or Riko-san about it since it seemed to be troubling you so. I know that we may not be as close, but as a member of the same group and the student council president…” Dia shook her head. “As a friend, I am always hear to listen and offer what advice I may. Just, do please keep that in mind.”
It took a few seconds for Chika to answer, but when she did, she blurted out, “Mm. I will. Thank you, Dia-san,” before she could consider whether Dia was somebody she could even confide that in. Well, it didn’t hurt to have somebody willing to listen, she figured.
“Then, once again, please make sure to be careful on your way home. I will see you tomorrow at practice.”
With that, Dia finally hopped in the car and it was off, leaving Chika alone to reminisce on the events of the day. Even though there had been plenty that sucked about today, it wasn’t the worst. The main issue… yeah. Now that she was alone, the conversation with Kanan swam its way back to the forefront of her thoughts. Something about it still bothered her. The thought of speaking with Kanan the next day had her stomach swirling with unease.
Chika came to no conclusion by the time she reached her house. But she didn’t entre. Instead, she turned to the beach and took in a deep breath.
“Somebody tell me what to do!!!” Undoubtedly, Riko and her family probably heard but that was lost on her as she let out a louder than necessary sigh. “Geez, I really don’t want to know what’s going to happen tomorrow…”
That night, she acted like a completely different person, she thought. Enraptured by her thoughts as she was, she wouldn’t respond to half of the questions or comments directed her way which only led to teasing by Mito which she promptly ignored as well. The cycle continued until she finally lay in bed, alone with her thoughts once again. Though she wasn’t sure that she preferred that to being around her family.
After an hour or so of staring at her ceiling, thinking through possible scenarios that would occur the next day, she finally felt the pull of sleep and damn was she grateful for it. Sleeping on the subject was the only thing she could think of to help. As she closed her eyes, finally letting sleep take her, she only hoped that the next day wasn’t going to be as bad as her mind told her it was.
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First
“Chika! You’re going to be late!”