Tomorrow, I’ll Still Tread Between Reality and Dreams

Mizuki had to be dreaming.

She had gotten home around 1 that afternoon, completely numb, so she tried to sleep it off. It was better than her other alternatives.

Now, she was supposedly waking up, the sun was already disappearing behind the horizon, and fingers that were far too feminine to belong to Rui.

There was exactly one other person on the planet who made a habit of playing with Mizuki’s hair. Well, technically two, but Yuuki was in France, so obviously, she was out of the question.

Mizuki lifted her head the slightest bit off her pillow, just enough to confirm her suspicions.

Oh my god.

Mizuki was right.

Ena was sitting next to her on the edge of the bed, fingers carding through Mizuki’s hair ever so gently, like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Actually, maybe it was. At least, it was for Mizuki. She could spend the rest of eternity right here, in this moment, basking in the warmth of Ena’s touch.

“Hey.”

Her whisper was so soft, so gentle, it was almost difficult to believe it was Ena. She was so used to the snarky, sarcastic tone she always used, whether they were with others or alone. Her voice was almost unrecognizable like this, but Mizuki didn’t mind.

“Did Rui tell you where the spare key is, or…?”

Ena shook her head with a small smile.

“Nope. Akito told me what happened, and there’s no evening classes today, so I just dropped by. Your mom’s home, so I didn’t have to resort to breaking and entering.”

“Ah.”

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, not that either of them were bothered by it. Mizuki leaned into the other girl’s touch, almost subconsciously, and if Ena noticed, she didn’t comment on it. Her eyes never left Mizuki, though, staring at her with a reverence that Mizuki felt wholly undeserving of.

“Akito said when you left the library, you said you were going to go find Rui, but he said you never showed up. Toya said you disappeared after your test. Your location expired a while ago, so nobody knew where you were.”

Right.

The consequences of her actions.

She ran off in the middle of the school day, turned off her phone, and didn’t tell a single person where she was going.

Rui was probably worried sick.

An definitely blamed herself. She’d be worried sick, too.

Akito and Toya as well, probably.

“Yeah. Sorry…”

Mizuki brushed her bangs out of her eyes, reaching for her phone.

Ena kept playing with her hair. Mizuki didn’t have to ask.

4 Missed Calls: Rui Kamishiro

1 Voice Mail: Rui Kamishiro

11 Messages: Rui Kamishiro

9 Messages: An Shiraishi

5 Messages: Toya Aoyagi

3 Messages: Akito Shinonome

29 Messages: Suzuki hate club!!

The guilt was really sinking in now.

“How much did lil bro tell you?”

Judging by the look on Ena’s face, she hadn’t heard much about it yet. Akito must’ve been pretty vague.

There were two reasons he would’ve left the details out: Either he was giving her room to tell Ena on her own time, or he simply forgot.

As much as Mizuki wanted to believe the latter, that there’s no way Akito, or anyone, could pay any mind to such a small boundary, she was slowly beginning to believe the opposite.

“He just said Suzuki was being a dick, he wouldn’t tell me anything else.”

Was the first option really true?

Mizuki hummed in agreement, opening the screenshots Rui had sent her.

Only when her phone was in Ena’s hands did she realize that the screenshots included the pictures Suzuki had sent.

“How did he even get these pictures?”

“No clue. People taking pictures of us back then… wasn’t exactly uncommon. It could’ve been anyone, really.”

Ena’s expression shifted to a disconcerted frown at Mizuki’s response, which only deepened as she swiped through the other screenshots.

“Kamishiro-san is right. He’s fucking disgusting.”

“Oh, that’s not all. There’s more.”

Mizuki switched over to the Messages app, which lagged slightly upon opening. A moment later, she passed the phone back to Ena, with the messages she received from Suzuki open. Mizuki knew that the texts she had gotten were markedly worse than the ones he had sent Rui, but Ena’s reaction slightly surprised her all the same.

She looked about as offended as Mizuki felt, if not more.

“Jesus…”

When Ena passed the phone back to Mizuki, she noticed that she was… unusually tense.

Then she heard Mizuki’s shaky breathing.

That could only mean one thing.

“Hey, it’s okay…”

Those words alone made Mizuki let out a choked sob.

Since Mizuki had sat up while Ena was reading the texts, she didn’t have to move much when Ena pulled her closer.

“I know he— he’s just saying those things to— to get under my skin, but— does he really think that? That I— I only have friends ‘cause I— ‘cause I’m sleeping with all of them?”

Mizuki buried her face into Ena’s shoulder, wrapping her arms around the other girl and holding on for dear life, as if she feared that if she let go for just a second, Ena might leave her. Ena, in an attempt to soothe her, ran one hand up and down Mizuki’s back, the other combing through her pale, pink hair as she whispered quiet words of reassurance.

“And how— how many other people think of me like that? How many people just— just think I’m a— a worthless whore?”

“Nobody thinks that, Mizuki. Nobody worth your time or energy thinks that.”

Every time Mizuki tried to speak, tried to breathe, she’d just start sobbing harder. Again, Ena pulled her closer, and at this point, they were basically in the same position they had been in at the sleepover. Not that that was a bad thing, of course.

“And I feel like— like shit, because now this— all this is everyone’s problem. An, and— and Toya, and Akito, they— they didn’t ask for this, and it’s— it’s my fault they got dragged into this.”

“Shhh, it’s alright. It’s not your fault, you didn’t do anything. Suzuki did that all on his own, you did nothing wrong.”

No matter how many words of comfort Ena whispered, Mizuki couldn’t stop, couldn’t calm down. She was completely inconsolable. Ena didn’t back down, though, she just let Mizuki get it out of her system.

“And I’m just— I’m so scared that you and— and everyone else, you’ll get sick of it— of this, and— and you’ll decide that I’m— I’m not worth it, that— I’m not worth being around, and I’m not— not worth the trouble, and you’re— you’re all better off without me. I should— I know you guys aren’t like that, and— and I should be able to— to trust you guys, but— but still…!”

Every single word that came out of Mizuki’s mouth broke Ena’s heart into tiny little pieces. The fact that she could hardly even comfort the poor girl was like rubbing salt into the wound, it hurt Ena more than words could ever explain.

“You’re okay, Mizuki, I’m not going anywhere. None of us are.”

“I know that, but— I don’t know if I’ll— if I’ll ever believe it.”

Every now and then, Mizuki would seem to be calming down, and something small, like another quiet ‘it’s okay’ would send her spiraling back into tears. Hell, even Ena was starting to feel tears well up in her own eyes.

Mizuki just cried, and cried, and cried, until the tear ducts in her eyes had nothing left to give. Even then, she was taking in shuddering breaths, accompanied by the occasional hiccup or sniffle.

Ena, in a thoughtless attempt to comfort her, pressed a tiny, chaste kiss against Mizuki’s shoulder. It was a tentative, fleeting gesture, but it was there nonetheless.

The amount of time it took Ena to actually realize what she had done, in any other situation, would’ve been laughable. Again, the action just came so naturally to her, it just completely flew under her radar.

When reality did set in, though, it almost sent Ena into a panic.

Mizuki would hate her.

Mizuki would push her away, tell her to leave and never come back.

Right?

Wrong.

Mizuki relaxed a little bit, melting into the soft, gentle touch. Her breathing was slowing down, too, and Ena couldn’t tell if it had anything to do with her little display of affection.

Experimentally, Ena pressed a couple more light kisses against her skin, and sure enough, the space between Mizuki’s quiet sniffles grew longer. Her breathing continued to even out, and her lashes fluttered as her eyelids fell shut.

Ena was about to continue, but instead, she pulled away a bit. She glanced down at Mizuki, whose face was nestled into the crook of the other girl’s neck.

“Is this okay?”

Briefly looking up at Ena, Mizuki nodded, a little quicker than she had intended. It didn’t take long before she was burying her head into Ena’s shoulder again, letting out a meek giggle.

“Yeah. Definitely.”

Ena continued peppering little kisses over Mizuki’s shoulder, murmuring sweet words of comfort in between pecks.

Maybe Mizuki had just tired herself out crying, but she was strangely calm, considering the circumstances. Back when she and Rui were dating, it took literal months for her to be able to kiss him without freaking out.

Not now, though. Mizuki could fall asleep like this, if not for the thousands of butterflies rattling around her insides. With a contented sigh, she held onto Ena a little tighter than before, holding her closer, as if trying to fuse their atoms together.

Ena, still toying with Mizuki’s hair, was about to make some sort of comment about her ability to breathe, or lack thereof, when her phone started ringing. Luckily, it was sitting right next to them, so neither girl had to move.

“Who the hell— What does Akito want?”

Ena groaned, rolling her eyes before putting the phone up to her ear.

“What do you want?”

“You’re at home, right?”

“No…?”

Ena’s answer received an exasperated huff from the other line.

“An says there was a staff meeting today, so clubs and evening classes were canceled. Where the hell are you?”

“I went to go check on Mizuki. Y’know, make sure she’s alive and well?”

There was a moment of silence from Akito’s side of the call, and something occurred to Mizuki.

She had an opportunity.

Just to get back at Ena, she pressed a couple featherlight kisses to the side of her neck.

“So you’re at Akiyama’s house?”

“Yeah. You, uh— you still at practice?”

“Uh-huh. Tell your not-girlfriend I said hi.”

Surprisingly, neither girl rejected the epithet. Mizuki left one last kiss on Ena’s neck before pulling back to lean towards the phone.

“Hi, lil bro.”

Another moment of silence from Akito. This time, though, it was more like hesitance.

“Ena, do you have me on speaker?”

Ena scoffed, narrowing her eyes at the question.

Said annoyance faded pretty quickly when Mizuki resumed her trail of kisses on the other girl’s neck.

“No, what— what kind of question is that?”

“Then how’s Akiyama so close to the phone?”

Oh, of course he could hear that.

“What’s that supposed to mean? I just passed her the phone—“

“Am I interrupting something?”

It was a joke.

Akito’s words were a joke. His flat, sarcastic tone made that abundantly clear.

Yet both girls immediately started sputtering, stumbling over words and letting out nervous little laughs.

Akito definitely knew.

“Oh. Okay.”

“Jesus, Akito, it’s not like—“

“Sure, it’s not. Have fun making out with Akiyama.”

Ena didn’t even get a chance to respond before Akito hung up on her.

“God damn it, why is he so— Now he’s going to go tell his whole group about it!!”

Mizuki knew it wouldn’t matter, not really. It wouldn’t mean anything that they didn’t already know about.

If only she could tell Ena that.

Bzzt.

Ena was right.

Not even a minute had passed since Akito had hung up, and An was already texting Mizuki.

Messages:

An Shiraishi: What was that call about??

Mizuki Akiyama: We didn’t do anything?

An Shiraishi: Akito would beg to differ

An Shiraishi: What did he mean by ‘interrupting something’??

An Shiraishi: WHAT DID HE MEAN BY ‘HAVE FUN MAKING OUT’ HELLO?!

An Shiraishi: SPILL!!

Mizuki Akiyama: Uhh

Mizuki set her phone to ‘do not disturb’ before tossing it back onto the bed.

“Who was that?”

“An.”

“Of course.”

Mizuki snaked her free arm back around Ena, letting her head fall forward onto her shoulder.

“I told her not to worry about it. She probably won’t listen, but at least I tried.”

“Yeah.”

Mizuki had to do a double take of her phone screen before it went dark.

How the hell was it already seven??

They had not been laying there for an hour.

…Had they?

“Ena, it’s kinda late…”

Mizuki murmured softly, leaving a couple more kisses at the juncture of Ena’s neck.

“You’re gonna miss dinner…”

“I’ll be fine, I think. Mom won’t start cooking until one of us gets home, and Akito said practice was running late today.”

Sure enough, both girls stayed put until Akito texted Ena again, nagging her about when she was going to leave.

Mizuki had never opened her Messages app as fast as she did when Ena shut the front door.

Messages:

Mizuki Akiyama: Ruiiiiiiiiiii

Mizuki Akiyama: Ena came over and I have a question

Rui Kamishiro: Oh?

Rui Kamishiro: Ask away.

Mizuki Akiyama: In what situations can neck kisses be platonic?

Rui Kamishiro: Excuse me?

Mizuki Akiyama: Just answer the question

Mizuki sat there, retyping the same sentence for what felt like ages. There was no good way to answer the second question. Absolutely none.

Unless…

Messages:

Mizuki Akiyama: < 1 Attachment >

Mizuki Akiyama: I don’t feel like counting

Rui Kamishiro: Oh my.

Mizuki Akiyama: So is this still platonic or what

Rui Kamishiro: There’s this river in Egypt, Mizuki.

Mizuki Akiyama: It’s not THAT gay

Rui Kamishiro: Rooftop.

Ena pounded on Akito’s door so incessantly, it sounded like she was about five seconds away from kicking it down. Eventually, Akito opened the door, and Ena was met with an indignant glare.

“I’m home, you dramatic bitch.”

Akito, letting out a dramatic sigh, raised a brow.

“That’s it? That’s all you wanted to tell me?”

Ena’s nails dug into her palms, and gave up on trying to mask her irritation.

“No. I don’t know what you think I was doing at Mizuki’s house, but you better drop that shit.”

As Ena spoke, Akito eyed her up and down, head slowly tilting to the side as his gaze paused at her neck, eyes narrowing.

“And so help me god, if I find out you ran to your little friends and told them—“

“You missed a spot.”

Ena’s reaction was slightly delayed, but her words slowed to a halt.

“What?”

Akito stared at her for a moment before reaching out, poking the side of her neck with a quiet scoff.

“I said, you missed a spot. Right there.”

With a slow, forcibly steady exhale, Ena swiped her thumb over the spot. She glanced down at her finger, and sure enough, there was a familiar shade of pink left behind.

God damn it.

“…Fuck.”

“What, not even a ‘thank you’? I could’ve let you walk around like that until mom or dad asked about it, y’know.”

Ena, who had already turned and started walking towards the bathroom, paused. After a moment, she spoke, almost too low to hear.

“Thanks, asshole.”

She was embarrassed as all hell, but at the same time, Ena was grateful. Not only did he tell her, but he didn’t give her shit about it. At the very least, he was saving the ‘people don’t kiss their best friends’ spiel for another time.

Ena would sooner die and rot in the deepest pits of hell that show her appreciation, though.

English was agonizingly awkward. Mizuki had considered skipping it, not wanting to take the last few days before her friends left for granted, but lord, she wished she had come in late.

Akito was giving her the silent treatment, which could mean anything, and every other word that came out of An’s mouth was just constant begging for more details.

Thank fuck Toya was acting normal.

Mizuki didn’t dare say anything about the situation in second period for obvious reasons. The people in their third period were loud enough, and minded their business enough, for Mizuki to bring it up without worrying about someone eavesdropping.

“I think your boyfriend hates me.”

Toya’s pencil stopped moving.

“Why do you think that?”

Desperate for some sort of distraction, Mizuki kept writing as she spoke.

“He’s been giving me the silent treatment all morning.”

Toya sighed, watching Mizuki for a moment before pulling her pencil out of her hand.

That effectively got her attention.

“How does that equate to Akito hating you?”

Mizuki gave him a petulant glare, leaning back in her seat.

“I don’t know, it just does.”

The deafening silence in place of conversation, the brief sideways glances, the way he walked away just a little too quickly, it was all vaguely familiar.

Too familiar.

She couldn’t explain it, so she didn’t try to.

She didn’t have to, either.

She didn’t know how, and it wasn’t the time to ask, but Toya knew what she meant.

Not only did he know what she meant, but he understood it.

“I think you two are close enough that he wouldn’t be that bothered by something this small. I could ask him about it, though, if that would help.”

Mizuki got her pencil back, so she continued with the last question on her paper.

“You don’t have to do that, I’ll—“

Mizuki froze.

“Close? Did he say that, or…?”

She flinches, cringing at the tone her voice takes.

“Do you not think so?”

“It’s not that, I just…”

Why did it surprise her?

Sure, Akito was by no means a sappy person, he wasn’t the kind of guy who’d send random paragraphs of appreciation or explicitly declare someone a close friend of his. On the other hand, though, it wasn’t like he’d never done anything for Mizuki. He covered for her when people spread rumors, he respected her boundaries, he treated her like a friend. The worst Akito had ever done to her was call her gay, and in his defense, Mizuki had been cuddling with his sister, in his sister’s bed, so one could argue that his response was justified.

So why did it surprise Mizuki to hear it out loud?

Mizuki never finished her sentence, just shrugged and moved on. Partially because she didn’t know how to, and partially because the bell rang.

Mizuki barely got two steps out of the classroom before someone suddenly pulled her backwards by the handle of her bag.

“What the fuck—“

Oh.

Just Rui.

“Rui! What was that for?”

“My apologies. I’ll warn you next time.”

Mizuki turned around to see if Toya had ever stopped walking. He was already talking to Tsukasa.

Rui and Tsukasa in the same place, at the same time. What a shocker.

Rui must’ve noticed where Mizuki was looking, because he nudged Tsukasa a little bit.

“You two haven’t had time to catch up in a while, have you? Why don’t you two go ahead, and Mizuki and I will catch up later?”

Toya gave them a small nod, while Tsukasa stared blankly at his boyfriend for a full five seconds before a little lightbulb appeared over his head.

“Oh! Is this about the thing with Shinonome-san—“

Rui promptly planted two hands over his star’s mouth, turning to give Mizuki and Toya a sheepish smile.

Mizuki didn’t believe that expression for a second.

“You told him? Really, Rui?”

“Of course not, I—“

“I am going to forcibly shove lettuce down your throat.”

Toya let out a stifled chuckle, and Rui gave Mizuki a scornful pout.

“I will not be joining the Me Too movement over a bundle of lettuce.”

Mizuki silently raised a brow, reaching up and smacking him in the forehead.

“That is not what I meant, you freak. Let’s go.”

Rui obliged, one kiss on his star’s cheek and one wave to his junior, and the two headed off to the rooftop.

“She was just trying to comfort me! It probably meant nothing to her.”

“Twenty-seven.”

Mizuki paused, brush halfway through her hair, turning to face Rui.

“You actually counted?”

“Yes, because I knew you’d say something like that. If I were comforting someone I wasn’t romantically interested in, I might give them one kiss. On the forehead. But even that’s a little bit sketchy.”

Mizuki groaned into the palms of her hands, pacing in circles.

“It wasn’t even really kissing. You and Akito are acting like I had my tongue in her mouth or something!”

“Again, I remind you, she kissed you twenty-seven times. On the neck. You might as well have had your tongue in her mouth. By the way, how is Shinonome-kun involved in this?”

Mizuki ran her brush through her hair a couple more times before she set it down, pulling her hair back into her usual side-ponytail.

“He called while Ena was at my house. I said hi, and for whatever reason, he brought up how close I was to the phone.”

Rui put his phone down, turning to impatiently watch her fiddle with the hair tie on her wrist.

“And?”

“He jokingly asked if he was ‘interrupting something.’ Honestly, I blame Ena for freaking out when he said that.”

“He kind of was.”

The comment earned Rui a petulant side eye, lasting the duration of the silence until Mizuki continued.

“Akito may or may not have seen my lipstick on Ena’s neck, as well.”

It had been months since she heard Rui sigh as heavily as he did upon hearing that second part.

“What, did Ena need comforting, too?”

Again, Rui received another glare, paired with a huff.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s gay. I get it. He just looked at her for a minute, then told her she ‘missed a spot.’”

It was impossible for Rui not to giggle at that. Unsurprisingly, Mizuki did not find it funny.

A few minutes passed of Rui contemplatively staring at the sky before he quietly gasped.

“Did I ever tell you that Nene met Suzuki once?”

Mizuki glanced over at him, wrapping her signature red ribbon around her ponytail.

“No? Should I add her to the group chat?”

“I’ll ask her about it. Knowing her, she’s certainly on her phone, so her response should be quick.”

Sure enough, there wasn’t even a minute’s delay between the time he sent the message and the time Nene responded.

“She said yes.”

Group Messages:

Suzuki hate club!!

Rui Kamishiro added Nene Kusanagi

Rui Kamishiro: Welcome, Nene.

Nene Kusanagi: Oh my god.

Nene Kusanagi: You all know this guy??

Mizuki Akiyama: More or less

Nene Kusanagi: Holy shit

“I’m surprised he didn’t say anything worse to her, honestly. Not that I wish harassment or violence upon anyone, but knowing Suzuki…”

Mizuki, looking up from her phone towards Rui, gave him a halfhearted shrug.

“He did say he doesn’t hit girls, and that I don’t count because I’m, quote unquote, ‘not a real girl,’ so…”

Rui hummed, rolling his eyes.

“Asshole.”

Group Messages:

Suzuki hate club!!

An Shiraishi: “I’m not offended that they kissed, I’m offended that I have to live with the fact that Suzuki probably had it backwards.”

An Shiraishi: @Akito Shinonome

Mizuki Akiyama: NAHH

Ena Shinonome: AKITO.

Akito Shinonome: Oh god

Ena Shinonome: I’m going to shove a two foot long carrot so far up your ass that you can only speak in ‘Popipo’ lyrics.

“Traitor.”

Rui looked up from his phone, and he was met with a sly grin.

“What? It’s not like I said anything.”

“No, Nene said it and you agreed with her.”

“That’s what you get for telling your boyfriend about me and Ena.”

Rui opened his mouth to protest, but found nothing to say.

Mizuki, as an apology for ditching Toya earlier, decided on grabbing the two of them drinks before class started.

The second she got to the vending machine, though, she just about turned around and left.

One of Suzuki’s asshole friends was there. More importantly, one of the guys from the rooftop after the festival was there.

Well, comparatively, he wasn’t that bad. Between what she had seen firsthand, and what Ena and Toya had told her, he was usually the voice of reason between his friends. The worst thing he had really done was hang out with Suzuki and his friends.

“Hey, Akiyama.”

Fuck.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck—

She was most definitely staring.

Something about his tone caught Mizuki off guard, though.

It was unexpectedly soft. There wasn’t a hint of malice, not a single drop of mockery.

Just a normal greeting. Nothing more.

“…Hi, Katsura.”

Katsura reached into the machine, grabbing his drink, and his sleeve fell back a little. If Mizuki had blinked, looked away for just a second, she might’ve missed it, but he had a bracelet on his wrist.

The bracelet itself wasn’t surprising, though. It was the colors of the beads on the bracelet that got Mizuki’s attention.

Two pink beads, one purple bead, and two blue beads, in that exact order.

Katsura glanced back up at Mizuki for a moment, and didn’t take long for him to realize what she was looking at. He didn’t say anything else, just pulled his sleeve back down over the bracelet and walked away.

It could’ve been a coincidence, Mizuki figured. Maybe the colors didn’t mean anything. If they did, why would he still hang out around deeply homophobic people?

Mizuki still couldn’t shake the possibility, though. The way he covered the bracelet with his sleeve, the way he looked almost startled when he realized she had seen it…

Something about it was just so off.

She picked up her phone and started typing.

Messages:

Mizuki Akiyama: Remember how you said one of the guys who talked to you after the festival was trying to keep his friends from saying anything?

Ena Shinonome: Yes?

Ena Shinonome: What about him?

Mizuki Akiyama: He may or may not be wearing a pride bracelet

Mizuki Akiyama: It *could* have just been very conveniently placed pink, purple, and blue beads, but he hid it as soon as he saw me looking at it, so…

Ena Shinonome: I mean

Ena Shinonome: It’s not entirely impossible, I guess

As much as Mizuki wanted to spill the tea to anyone who’d listen, she kept her mouth shut.

Not even Rui knew.

Mizuki didn’t find out anything else until after her last class. Just after three-thirty, she was about to shut her locker when a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Akiyama.”

Mizuki must have jumped a little, because as she turned to face the person, she received an apology.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

It was Katsura. Again, his tone lacked any ill intent, just as soft spoken as before.

“It’s alright. Can I help you?”

He rocked back and forth on his heels, staring at the ground. It hadn’t ever really occurred to Mizuki how shy he came off when he was alone. It eased her nerves a little bit, in a strange way, it made him seem a lot less intimidating.

“I know you saw it earlier.”

Katsura made a vague gesture to his wrist. The bracelet wasn’t visible, but the point was made nonetheless.

Mizuki nodded, curiosity lacing her otherwise neutral expression.

“What about it?”

Sighing warily, Katsura’s eyes finally met hers.

“Don’t go around telling people about it, alright? Not the wrong kinds of people, anyway. Please.”

He couldn’t hold eye contact for very long, and he kept fidgeting with the cuffs of his sleeves or the rings on his fingers. His voice was so quiet, Mizuki could easily lose track of it amongst the sound of the crowded hallway.

Mizuki could recognize that look from miles away.

He was scared.

“I get it. Your secret’s safe with me.”

Mizuki smiled, shutting her locker, and just as she’s about to walk away, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Akiyama?”

She turns back around, and she’s met with a small, genuine smile.

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

Mizuki nods, and just for a moment, she forgets who she’s talking to.

A moment later, when Katsura’s gone, Mizuki gets a notification.

Messages:

Akito Shinonome: I had a headache earlier, by the way

Akito Shinonome: I wasn’t mad at you, and I most *definitely* don’t hate you

Mizuki Akiyama: Really?

Mizuki Akiyama: You aren’t mad?

Akito Shinonome: Nope

Mizuki Akiyama: Not at all?

Akito Shinonome: Not at all