"Seiko… Ple-please don't fight over this, I don't want to see anyone hurt from something I did…"
She… she did do something…? to make him angry…!?
"Wh-what is happening here Chie?"
"You see… he has every right to be angry at me…" why is she lowering her head!? Is she actually guilty of something!?
"Huh!? What did you do!?"
"Wait, angry?" The punk says with a very puzzled look in his face looking at her.
"Eh?" She says, raising her head with an equally as confused look as him. "Yo-you're not angry at me…?"
"N-no, why would I be?" He responds back, looking a little to the side.
This really awkward silence fills the air, I have no idea what is happening now, I need to say something.
"Wha-what is going on here, I'm so super confused!"
"Uh, well… I thought he was upset at me because of the pink button in his blazer…"
Pink button? Oh, he does have a very bright pink button, completely different from the other black buttons on the uniform. On closer inspection, his uniform has a bunch of stitches as well… Wait, what does that even have to do with her!?
"I'm sorry Chie, I'm lost on all this. What does that have to do with you?"
"Ah, right, you don't know the entire story. I'll tell you everything."
"Wait, everything!?" He objected to her, a little agitated.
"Ye-yes… sh-she's my friend, it-it's no problem if she knows it." She said, albeit, feeling a little scared.
He turns to me and we exchange stares before he says "Fine! I guess you can know, since she trusts YOU."
"Well, thank YOU for allowing it."
"We-well, this all started last week. During lunch break, I was searching for a place to sit, away from the crowded places at the school. I ended up sitting down right beside the door to the garden, no one ever visits the labs, or the garden during lunch break after all, and the nice breeze from the garden made it the perfect place to relax."
That's true actually, the wind here is very calming and peaceful. Maybe I should sit around here, instead of the cafeteria.
"While enjoying my time, I noticed some voices coming from the garden, so I decided to secretly take a look at what was happening. It was two students stomping on the poor defenseless flowers, making a huge mess, and destroying the garden as whole."
"I really wanted to stop them, but I couldn't find the courage to say or do anything… so I could only watch…" She says lowering her head a bit.
"But then, he appeared, I was so focused on what was happening that I didn't even notice him in the hallway. When he saw what was happening, he instantly ran to the scene and scared those two students by yelling at them, he looked really angry."
"Oh, he protected the flowers?" I said, staring at him.
"Stop staring at me!" He said, turning his head opposite to me after getting a little red.
Huh…
"Yes, he did! After he scared them off, he took care of the flowers, and cleaned the mess they left in the garden, even after the bell rang. But, while taking care of some bushes with prickly flowers, he ended up losing his balance and falling inside one."
"He quickly got out, but it felt like it hurt a lot, and his uniform was torn in many places, even one of the buttons was taken by the bush. Despite being hurt, he continued to take care of the flowers in the garden. It was then that I gathered enough strength to run to the nurse's office and call Miss Oshare. She's the only one that can treat his wounds."
"So it was you who called her, I was so confused as to why she appeared out of nowhere yelling."
"Well, she has a tendency to appear out of nowhere, yell, and strike poses. It's normal behavior for her."
"It's… normal…?"
"I-in any case, I still wanted to help in some way, but I couldn't find the courage to ask him…"
"Can't blame you, the way he speaks, and his appearance aren't the most friendly out there." I said while crossing my arms, staring at him.
"I don't want to hear that from you, bird brain." He said after doing the exact same, is he copying me to make fun of me!?
"Uhm…" Chie said, a little nervous from the fizzle our staring caused.
"Lu-luckily for me, the opportunity came later when he left his blazer on his desk after being called to the nurse for another check-up after-school. I made the decision right then and there to take it home-"
"YOU STOLE!?"
"I didn't have any other chance! But it wasn't for a bad reason! Let me continue the story!"
"Oh, right, sorry for overreacting. Continue on with the story"
"Once I got home, I asked my mother to help me fix up the blazer and figure out the missing button issue, she's really good at that stuff. We spent the entire night doing so. Both us stitched all the holes shut, but problems arrived when I realized we didn't have a black button, only pink ones. I didn't want to keep his uniform for more than a day, so we did what we could."
"I see…"
"Wait, your mom didn't question why you brought home a boy's uniform?"
"Well… She did. I said to her that I was doing this to help someone, after that she didn't question anything, and had a smile all the way through. I think she was happy that I was doing a noble deed for a friend…" She said, as her face got a little red.
"An-any way, the next day, I got up very early and ran to directly school-"
"And after that, you went to my classroom and left the blazer at the same place you found it."
"Ah… Ye-yes… that's what happened after…"
An awkward moment of silence lingers in the air for a bit after that reply. I really should say something, but I don't know wh-
"I-I'm sorry, for taking your uniform without asking, and I apologize for the pink button." Chie said looking down from the guilt she felt.
"Huh!? Yo-you… don't need to apologize…" he said, a little flustered. "I wanted to thank you for fixing up my uniform, and apologize for scaring you, I have… trouble expressing myself... I also don't mind the button at all."
"Oh, so the punk is a good guy after all, huh~" I said, teasingly while looking at him.
"Hmph." He expressed, looking away from me.
"I also apologize for barging in to all of this, and from fighting you earlier. I had the wrong impression of the situation."
"Actually, what is your name? We've been this long here, and still don't know your name."
"...It's Hiroshi, my name is Hiroshi."
"Oh, that's an… interesting name." I guess it does fit him, deep down.
Extending my hand, I say "So, Hiroshi, I'm sorry for thinking wrong of you. I don't want any bad blood between the both of us, so how about we put our fight behind us."
Hiroshi, although a little reluctantly, likely from his big ol' red face, still shook my hand, and I gave a smile back to him.
Hm? I'm hearing someone snuffl-
Chie is crying!?
"Wha-what happened to you?"
"Is everything okay Chie!? Wait, is it your wound from earlier acting up!?"
"No, no, no…" She replied, still crying with a smile "I'm just happy that both of you made peace with each other and became friends."
"Fri-friends!?"
"Oh, come on, you are our friend now, you don't need to get all red like that~"
"Sh-shut up."
Both of us extended our hands to help Chie get up from the ground.
DING DONG
"Oh, that's the sound of the school bells. Wait, we have been skipping class this entire time!?"
"Well, there's not much we can do about that now."
"Yeah, he's right. It's better for us to head back to class, and act like we didn't skip the previous one."
"I guess so… Oh well, come on, let’s go! If we run we can still make it in time!"
“Alright, alright.”
“Yeah!”
“Go, go ,go, Forward!”
Hehe, I made not one, but two friends today, and they are good and funny people too!
I thought today was going to be another boring and sad day, but, just like the weather right now, the gloomy dark clouds of the sky are gone, and the shiny sunny rays fill the blue sky. I can finally look forward to the future!