𝗢𝗢𝗚𝗢𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗔𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗗────── k. aren x original character

𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩

"kokomi. . . i'm not really in the mood to talk."

three periods of free time.

three.

if kotoe had known that she would have gotten three period of self study before their first break, she wouldn't have hurried to class that morning. hell, she would have taken the longer way to class. she would have stayed home, even, in hindsight, even if she was supposed to be spending time with kuboyasu, the event that occurred that morning was just enough for her mood for the rest of the day to be ruined.

kusuo had really showed her his regret by not engaging in any conversation with her that morning — leaving her alone, basically, where he often used her to get away from kaidou and nendou's leering attention, he had absolutely left her alone.

kotoe was glad.

maybe.

the truth is, she didn't know what to think.

her mind, instead of wandering to kuboyasu, or her eldest brother, or anything else, wandered to her middle school boyfriend. and she once again found herself wondering if he had changed all that much since they last saw each other.

toritsuka reminded her a little too much of him. in a way that is more bad than good.

kokomi had taken the seat before kotoe, sighing loudly the moment kotoe declined her invitation to start a conversation.

"kotoe-chan," she whined, throwing her arms in the air becote mimicking the way kotoe had her cheek on her arm, laying flat on her desk. "are you feeling alright? you're acting differently."

there are times when kotoe would doubt kokomi's true intention with her. aside from information from kusuo's mind reading, it's quite evident that kokomi has an obvious crush on him.

it's so obvious. so obvious to the point where it's almost embarrassing — where it's almost painful. kotoe recalled a lot of times when kokomi insisted on hanging out in her house instead of theirs, and only wanting to visit after she developed her crush on kusuo.

while kotoe was aware that she shouldn't feel so petty over something like this — kokomi does like kusuo. and people who have crushes on others would want to garner their attention too. kotoe knows the feelings all too well — it still felt. . . annoying? what's the right word? vexing?

kotoe shook her head, not wanting to see one of her best friends in a negative light anymore.

"i'm just tired, kokomi," kotoe mumbled over her arm, burying her face even deeper.

kokomi whined again, poking kotoe's arm with the back of a pencil to beg for her attention.

"what happened this morning?"  the tone in kokomi's voice suddenly experienced a dramatic shift as she drags the chair she was sitting on closer to where kotoe was. "i saw that you came in the class with kuboyasu-kun — mhmm? what's up with that?" she nudged kotoe's side slightly.

if it was any other time, kotoe would have turned red.

on her arms, her face was already flushed; the fact that someone was teasing her with a guy that she might potentially like. . . anyone would be embarrassed. but kotoe didn't have the energy to let kokomi in the fact that she and kuboyasu. . . might have a thing with each other.

god. even the thought of it was embarrassing.

"kokomiiiii—" kotoe whined, this time sounding a little more blythe.

kokomi giggled and scooted over even closer.

"you didn't tell me at all about him," she pouted, "what's going ooonnnn— tell me tell me!"

finally, kotoe let out a tiny laugh, swatting kokomi away with her hand. "noooothing!"

"nothing?" kokomi raised an eyebrow, "i bet he's staring at you right now, kotoe-chan."

kotoe rolled his eyes. "he's not."

just to prove her points, kotoe sat up straight — fixed her bangs and hair for a moment, to make sure she looked nice — and glanced back to the rowdy direction of kusuo and the rest of his friends.

what greeted her was the sight of kusuo looking half-dead, with nendou and kaidou surrounding him. and just in front of him, kuboyasu turned his head away at an instant, obviously spending his time looking at her direction.

flushes began to creep up her cheeks, but kotoe managed to convince herself that he was staring at kokomi. everyone stares at kokomi, after all. she's pretty — she's perfect. and while kotoe found herself to be cute at times, why would you choose the average girl when the beautiful one is right there?

and just right there, another wave of insecurity invaded her. it was always her. her and her own thoughts.

kotoe felt her shoulders slumping, turning to look back on her arms, nail clanking against each other as an attempt to distract herself from the ugly voices in her head.

"see," kotoe muttered. "he's not. he's hanging out with his friends."

kokomi rolled her eyes, and huffed, linking her fingers in between kotoe's, not offering her words of consolidation that kotoe never asked for.