>>bochangHahahaha~ That song is growing on me~
I love it too much~ waaaaaay too much~
And gaaaah, if only Non was that tiny bit older~
Then I wouldn't feel like one too xD
And it's okay, bochang-san~
Whether bochang-san comments or not (ofc, it would be incredibly nice if bochang-san did)
as long as bochang-san enjoys what you read,
I'm happy (^^)
>>flameeyesHahahaha~
Good, you better not do it again, flameeyes-san~
It's bad, and if I find out you did it again,
I'll..... I'lll.....
Stop writinghide in a hole and not come out until the end of humanity.
And btw, must I say, I love your use of emoticons~
I love seeing these monkeys and the onion guy (he's an onion right?) xD
Just love them.
>>yukofanA KumiNon shipper!
>>pen-pen-chiiCaptain Sakiko is Rena's cousin?
I dunno, *grin* you will have to read on and find out xD
And I seeeeeee you~
Thank you for the +1 meow~
And I too also added you on Gugutasu meooooooow~
And sure, I guess~
Oha-chan is good (^^)
Just don't accidentally call me oba-chan~
Considering the "h" key and the "b" key are right next to each other xD
>>Pwoper48Pwoper-san is welcome~
I'm glad you liked it~ (^^)
>>EveryoneExam is OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVER~~~~~
So tired and so happy at the same time!
Though next week would be horrifying, since we get our results back...
And I did miserably in my exams~ (except for Japanese and... and..... science?)
But yeah~
Anyway, it's an update!
I finally got an update done on AGP!
WOOHOO to myself meow!
It's 2:40am according to the time on my laptop,
and I'm still all hyper from the face that Imade Mai have a twitter account now.
Allow me to repeat,
IMADE HAVE TWITTER NOW!Anyhoo, here's the update~
Hoped you guys liked it~
Next update, TPB~
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The ringing of the lunch bell snapped Airi back into reality, where she was supposed to listen to the teacher talk about the important test that was coming up next week. Lazily, Airi threw her books into her bag and made her way out of the door, not even noticing Rena staring after her.
Ever since this morning, after breakfast, Rena had already started to notice something wasn’t right with Airi. Though she haven’t quite figured out what exactly was wrong yet, but Rena kind of have an idea that it might have something to do with something that Airi wanted to say before while the two of them were standing outside the dining hall. During class the whole morning, Rena couldn’t focus in class, just like Airi. One minute she was worrying about Airi and the next minute she was worrying about her own stiff back which still had a small throbbing pain. Ignoring the back pain, Rena quickly packed her bags, avoided the big crowd that was surrounding Jurina and Akane and slipped out the door, following after Airi.
Airi took her time walking to the boarding facility, not worrying about the long line that will be lining up at the dining hall if she was late. She had much more things to worry about, for example, Rena. When she decided to tell Rena this morning about what happened yesterday, she was fully determined to get it over and done with. But when Kanako came and interrupted, Airi found that the confidence she had at that time to tell Rena was all lost. After breakfast, Airi spend the whole morning in class, spacing out, trying to think of the best way to apologize to Rena without her getting mad. But of course, as usual, Airi could never think of any good ways.
“Airin! Wait!” A voice shouted after her.
Airi’s eyes widened at the familiar tone of the voice and jumped when she felt a hand grab onto her shoulder, restricting her from moving any further. “Re-Re-Rena-san?” Airi looked at the girl who now had one hand on her knee and was bending over, trying to catch her breathe. “W-What are you doing here?” Airi asked.
Rena stood back up when she felt like she could finally breathe a little again. Running was still after all, one of the things that Rena was the worst at. “Are you okay, Airin?” Rena asked as she looked at Airi.
“Huh? What do you mean am I okay? Shouldn’t I be asking you that? Why did Rena-san run after me?” Airi asked, confused at the question being asked. Why would Rena ask her if she was okay when Rena was the one who just ran from the class to catch up to her and was now still trying to breathe normally again?
Rena placed her other hand on Airi’s other shoulder and turned the girl around to fully face her. Airi froze at the sudden extra contact and her mind immediately tuned into the two hands that was firmly holding onto her shoulders. “You know what I meant, Airin,” Rena sighed, “I saw you in class today, everyone did, you have been spacing out during class the whole time. What’s wrong? Although I’ve only been in this school for a few days, I see that you are always listening to the teacher closely during class and you never lose focus during class. You didn’t even realized the teacher asked you a question until I poked you with my pen.”
Finally understanding why Rena was here, Airi couldn’t help but mentally slap herself. Was this thing troubling her so much during class that even Rena, who was new to the class, could tell that something wasn’t right? “Rena-san... I...” Airi’s determined mind to apologize to Rena blanked out as Rena’s concerned eyes looked at her, waiting patiently for her to continue. The words were stuck in Airi’s throat. Seeing how Rena was so concerned about her made Airi felt million times worse. At the same time too, Airi didn’t want Rena to stop caring about her after she tells her what she did. So doing the simplest thing, Airi shook her head and tried her best to force out a smile, “N-Nevermind! I’m fine. Just a bit tired, that’s all.”
Rena’s grip on Airi’s shoulders refused to let go when Airi wanted to turn away. Rena looked pleadingly into the girl’s eyes and said, “Airin, maybe it’s because I’m new here and isn’t that close to you yet and maybe that’s why you don’t trust me enough yet, I don’t know. But what I do know, Airin, is that I know something is wrong. It doesn’t matter if you don’t tell me what is wrong, but can you at least tell me if something IS wrong?”
Airi quickly shifted her attention to objects behind Rena, looking everywhere but Rena’s eyes. “I trust you, Rena-san! It’s not like that! It’s just... Nothing is wrong! Really! I’m fine!” Airi waved her arms around, trying to emphasize her point.
“Airin,” Rena called, stopping all movements of the girls with a single word. Seeing that Airi once again have her attention to her only, Rena continued, “Can you really look at me in my eyes and tell me that nothing is wrong?”
The lies refused to come out, as she stared at Rena. She wanted to tell Rena what was troubling her, really, she does. But Airi is so scared of what will happen afterwards that she just want to lie to Rena and tell her everything is fine. Even though Airi felt like it wasn’t right to make Rena worry like that, she couldn’t afford to lose Rena, someone who could make her heart jump out of her chest every time just by calling her name.
“I just want to help, Airin. That's all,” Rena whispered as she slowly dropped her arms back to her side and backed away. Seeing that Airi still wasn’t speaking, Rena assumed that perhaps Airi just didn’t trust her enough to tell her of her problems.
“It’s not that, Rena-san. It’s not like that. You don’t understand,” Airi frowned at the lost contact with the warmth of Rena’s hands.
Rena looked up, “Then tell me, Airin. Tell me what’s wrong so I can understand. Tell me what’s wrong so I can help you.”
“You can’t help people that are feeling guilty towards decisions that they shouldn’t have made!” The words slipped out of Airi’s lips in a tone that somewhat sounded like an angry shout. Airi clamped her hand over her own mouth as she realized what the tone of her voice sounded like.
“Airin feels guilt?” Rena looked at Airi, confusion spread across her shocked face. “Guilt to who?” Rena asked as she tried to recover from Airi’s voice that suddenly increased in volume. Perhaps Rena really was annoying Airi too much by pushing her to tell her something that she didn’t want to talk about. But Rena was so worried about Airi, she didn’t even think she would annoy her. Not to mention Rena never thought Airi would be the type of girls that could actually be annoyed, considering how Airi is always so nice to everyone. Even to some of the annoying girls in the class who picks on her just because Airi spends three quarters of her school day in her own little 2D world instead of the 3D students around her.
Airi stayed silent for a while and had a mental conversation with her mind when she realized what words had slipped out of her lips,
’The words are already out. I might as well as tell her right....? But... wouldn’t Rena-san stop talking to me if she knew I left her behind to be beaten just because I was too weak?’ Gathering her courage, she said in a really small voice, “You.”
Rena stared and blinked. Completely lost at where the conversation was heading. “M-Me?” Airi nodded, her head hanged low, afraid to meet Rena’s eyes. “What do you mean? What did you do to me that made you feel guilty? I don’t recall you doing anything wrong at all!” Rena exclaimed.
“It was my fault that you got hurt yesterday by the girls,” Airi did a 90 degrees bow to Rena and apologized, “I’m sorry!”
Rena stared at Airi in surprise, “What do you mean?”
’She’s going to get mad... She’s going to get angry...’ Airi’s mind kept repeating the same phrase over and over again inside her head..
“What do you mean, Airin?” Rena repeated, seeing that Airi wasn’t answering her. Why did Airi feel guilt? Why would she ever feel guilt? Airi never seems like a girl who would do something so bad that she would feel guilty about it. Or at least in Rena’s eyes, that’s what Airi seems like. “What do you mean it was your fault that I was hurt? What are you talking about?” Rena asked.
Praying in the back of her mind that nothing will happen to the friendship between the two of them, Airi took a deep breath and started explaining, “Yesterday, when you were in the hallway surrounded by the girls, I saw you and Akane-san. I knew the moment I saw the girls, that they were going to hurt you two. I knew it! A-A-And I could have helped you! I should have stopped them before they started hurting you guys! B-B-But I was too scared! I didn’t know what to do!” Airi flailed her arms around.
“A-Airin...” Rena whispered as she watched glistening drops started to gather in the corner of Airi’s eyes.
“I wanted to help! B-But I didn’t know how! S-S-So I went out a-a-and looked for Jurina... and then asked her to c-come and help you. I’m sorry! I s-should’ve helped you! I shouldn’t have gone off! If I helped you the m-moment I saw you, then you wouldn’t have suffered those injuries! I am so sorry...” Airi trailed off as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Rena stepped forward and held Airi’s face. Wiping her tears away with her thumbs, she said with a small smile, “Is that what you were worried about the whole time?” Rena’s hands worked like magic against Airi’s tears, instantly putting them to a stop. Airi sniffed and nodded in answer to her question. Rena let out a small giggle and looked at Airi directly in the eyes as she smiled, “It wasn’t your fault, Airin. None of this is your fault. It was just unlucky of us two to run into the girls on our way back. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“But I-“ Airi started to speak again only to be cut off by Rena’s fingers on her lips.
“Shuuuuu, let me finish, Airin,” Rena shushed the girl with her fingers and continued to speak when Airi’s lips stayed sealed, “Don’t you dare feel guilty about that unfortunate thing that happened to me and Churi. You did nothing wrong. In fact, you did everything right. You helped, even when others students didn’t even bother, and that’s all that matters. Having Airin helping is more than I could ask for. To be honest, I’m glad you didn’t come help and went to look for Jurina. Though I think it would’ve been a better idea to call a teacher instead. Because I don’t think I can bare to see Airi get hurt for helping me. Now that, would make me feel guilty.”
Airi slowly looked up at Rena and as she felt Rena’s hands on her own cheeks and listened to every word the taller girl was saying to her. Airi was shocked. Not only was Rena not mad, she was actually happy? This was way beyond what Airi thought Rena’s reaction would be. “So... Rena-san doesn’t want me to get hurt... But you don’t mind Jurina-san getting hurt?” Airi asked, thinking that Rena had forgotten that Jurina was actually the one who helped them.
A soft giggle escaped Rena’s lips, sounding like bell chimes to Airi’s ears. “That’s not what I meant. I just don’t need to worry about Jurina considering she is strong enough to protect herself, as everyone can see,” Rena pointed out as her mind flashed back to Jurina’s angry face in the dining hall on her first night at school and then the scene of Jurina holding the girl up against the wall appeared again. Rena shuddered at the memory. “Anyway, really, Airin, you have to stop worrying about things like these. You can’t let small things like these distract you from your classes. Would I be correct if I say you probably don’t even know we have a project due next week?” Rena asked when she saw Airi’s face deep in thought.
“But this is Rena-san we’re talking about! People hurting Rena-san is not small...” Airi mumbled. Then, as if a lightning bolt suddenly struck her, Airi jumped and her eyes widened, “WHAT!? WE HAVE A PROJECT DUE NEXT WEEK!? B-B-BUT NO ONE TOLD ME!”
Rena laughed again at Airi’s reaction to the news, “The teacher explained it just then, Airin. Just before the lunch bell rang.” Rena couldn’t help but pinch Airi’s cheeks when she saw how cute Airi looked even when she was frowning, “Aaaaah, how can Airin be so cute even when she’s frowning? Don’t worry, Airin, I copied an extra set of notes on the project, you can have it if you want,” Rena pushed the two corners of Airi’s lips upward and smiled at the girl who looked slightly happier now, “Now, turn that frown upside down and smile.”
Airi jumped again when she felt Rena pinch her cheeks. It wasn’t a very hard pinch, in fact, it felt quite different from the pinch that Kanako used to do to her cheeks before she asked the girl to stop.
’No, it wasn’t a hard pinch at all... It felt... kind of nice, to be honest... Pinch me again, Rena-san! That felt so nice~ Pinch me ag- What the heck am I thinking!?’ Airin mentally facepalmed herself as she pushed away those thoughts. Finally, for the first time that day probably, Airi gave a small smile.
Seeing a small silence has developed around the two of them as they walked slowly to the boarding facility, Airi decided to speak up again, “S-Say Rena, san...”
“Hai?”
“Where did that girl go?”
“What girl?”
“T-The girl that um... hurt you yesterday...” Airi scratched the back of her head, trying to come up with a way of describing the girl exactly mentioning her. Although Rena seems to find no problem with what Airi did about the event yesterday, Airi still couldn’t get over the fact that she could’ve helped.
“Oh. Her.” Rena stopped walking.
Hearing no more footsteps alongside of her own, Airi stopped and looked backward. Then she started panicking and questions started to fill her head. Did she say something wrong? Why wasn’t Rena walking or talking anymore?
“I’m not sure really. I didn’t see her this morning at breakfast,” Rena thought for a while then looked up and continued to walk when she realized she had stopped. When Airi caught up, Rena continued, “However, I do remember Jurina saying something to the girl yesterday. Something about reporting her to kouchou sensei or something. I don’t know. Jurina was quite far away when she said that so I couldn’t hear properly. But who knows, maybe the girl is just too scared of Jurina and didn’t come to school,” Rena shrugged at the last few words, showing clearly no sympathy to whatever happens to the girl. Anyone who hurts her friends deserves to suffer. Perhaps, if the girl apologized, Rena could at least feel a little sympathy for the girl. But unfortunately, the girl hasn’t. And it sure doesn’t seem like she will be doing that anytime soon, if she is still in this school that is.
Airi nodded and silently breathed out a sigh of relief. It was good to know that there won’t be anyone at school anymore that will want to hurt Rena. And as long as nothing happens to Rena, Airi is fine. But since when have Airi cared so much about things like this? Why did she care about Rena so much? Why is it that her heart skips a beat whenever her hand brushes past Rena’s hand while they’re walking? Airi has still yet to figure out the answer to it. Then out of the blue, Airi whispered again, “I’m sorry, Rena.”
Rena sighed and stopped, making Airi look back at her. There was a small frown on Rena’s face, and Airi didn’t like it. “Airin, can you please stop apologizing? Stop saying sorry when you didn’t do anything wrong ok? It’s not your fault,” Rena repeated for the nth times that day.
“B-But”
Rena placed a finger on Airi’s lips again. “No buts. You didn’t do anything wrong. End of story. Now stop apologizing and don’t you dare to ever think about this ever every again. Okay?” Airi slowly nodded and felt her mind spin slightly from the small contact. Suddenly, a loud grumbling sound rolled across where the girls were standing. Rena felt her cheeks burned up as she clenched onto her stomach. This was the second time her stomach has protested in public. “Airin, what do we have for lunch today? I want to eat something that is good enough to stop my stomach from embarrassing me in public any further.”
“I think...” Airi’s fingers went up and stroked her imaginary goatee, “Melonpan? Or was it yakisoba pan? But yeah, it’s some kind of bread. That’s all I remember.”
Rena’s eyes lit up in an instant. “Melonpan!? I’m hungry, Airin. The line is going to be long isn’t it? Let’s go get there before everyone else does! Can’t have everyone taking all the melonpan away!” Rena squealed in joy as she grabbed Airin’s hands and ran towards the boarding facility, suddenly remembering exactly how to get there.
Airi just smiled and watched as Rena’s face suddenly brightened. No, that was not a metaphor. Airi actually saw Rena’s face brightened. As if someone shone a torch on her face. That happy face that Airi saw on Rena when she mentioned melonpan, it was a face Airi don’t think she could ever forget. That smile, those eyes, that voice. It was all too unique and beautiful for Airi to ever forget. No 2D characters on a page could ever match that face of Rena. Airi registered every little detail into her 2D-filled mind as she followed after Rena, feeling the warmth of Rena’s hand in hers.
As the two girls ran to get their lunch, Airi could swear she feels her heart jumping out of her chest. Perhaps it was from the fact that she was running. Or more likely, it was probably because she could feel Rena’s hand holding onto her own. Or perhaps it was just because the soft sweet scent of Rena was brushing past her face like wind as Airi ran behind her. Airi didn’t know for sure. But for now, all she knew was that Rena didn’t get angry at her and was still happy to stay friends with her. That alone, was enough to put a smile onto Airi’s face for the whole week.
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Was it okay?
Sorry this update took so long...
I was so stuck on how to write this chapter......
Anyway, that's done now~ And there's more to come meow~
There, hopefully, should be an update tomorrow, after I wake up.
And now, I shall finally sleep in peace~
It's 2:50am now~ The house is so quiet lol~
Except for me singing out loud to keep myself from falling asleep xD
Anyway, jyane~~~
See you all for tomorrow's update~
And please comment meow~
I'm looking forward to everybody's comments~
But if you don't comment, it's okay lol~
I'll just have to make sure my next update is so good that it can drag any lurkers to out into the sunlight and comments xD
Hahahaha~ Not like that's ever gonna happen though~
But yeah, good night~