— in which Amane makes a mistake, and he realizes he really likes candy.

- - -

"Hello. . ?"

Amane blinked rapidly, the tears falling non-stop on the tiled floor. He's reminded of how pathetic he is at the sight of a puddle forming made by his own tears. Trembling, he lifted his phone and placed it near his ear. "H-Hello. . ?" He asked back shakily.

He heard rustling on the other line. Then silence.

"Hanako-kun?"

Ruefully, he nodded. But then realized that she can't see him and just grunted. "Yeah," he croaked out. He immediately regretted calling her.

Stupid, stupid. What if she was asleep? You selfish idiot.

"Are you okay?" Yashiro asked, her voice quiet and careful. She yawned, sounding like a cat. Amane would've smiled and cooed at how cute she is, but he's wallowing in self-hatred and remorse.

Amane bit his chapped lips. He really needed take care of himself properly — but what's the point of doing that? "I'm sorry, did I disturb you? I can hang up now—"

"Hanako-kun," was Yashiro's stern reply. "You didn't disturb me. I can hear you crying. What's going on?"

Amane cursed. Then he cursed again, until Yashiro finally had enough and insisted an answer. "I was just, you know, sad. It's nothing serious, really, I can just hang up now a—"

"Hanako-kun, if you hang up, I won't chat with you anymore."

Well, that was clearly effective, because Amane just froze and paused from spouting his half-baked excuses — Yashiro is smart enough to see through lies.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Yashiro asked, her voice no longer soft but demanding. It was nice to know that Yashiro was genuinely worried about him, at least. "You're not hurt, are you?"

Even though that's all he'll ever get from her.

Amane glanced down on his arm, bandages clumsily wrapped around in desperation to hide the bruises. "Y—" he stopped himself. "No. I'm fine. Really." Though, the ache he's feeling in his arms are saying otherwise.

"Are you sure?"

The boy gulped. "Yeah."

"It is serious when you're sad, you know. You're my friend now, like it or not!" Yashiro added a huff. Amane laughed, imagining sparkles surrounding the faceless stranger he absolutely adored.

"I'm just. . .thank you. I just needed to hear your voice."

Yashiro giggled softly, the sound making Amane smile — a lovestruck kind of smile. If anyone saw him now, they would tell him you're gross. He won't blame them. He's in for it bad.

"You're welcome. You can call me anytime you need, don't hesitate at all, okay? I won't guarantee I'll pick it up because I might be sleeping, but still, there's a 99.99% chance of me picking up — don't waste that!"

They bid each other's goodbye's and hang up.

Amane's smile disappeared and was replaced with an uneasy one. He curled himself into a ball and tried to remember the warmth he felt when Yashiro was talking to him, but he could only feel the cold of the bathroom floor with smudges of blood that gave off a metal taste in the air.

Amane sniffled and closed his eyes.

- - -

Yashiro walked through the halls of Kamome, her head throbbing painfully. Bad mood — she's in a bad mood. It's because of the sudden call last night (she wasn't able to sleep properly), but she doesn't want to blame Hanako for anything. He sounded like he was going through something awful.

Hanako must be going through a lot and it's Yashiro's job to cheer him up!

"Nene-chan? Are you alright?"

Yashiro snapped out of her daze and looked at Aoi in surprise. "Ah! Aoi! I'm sorry, I must've spaced out." She waved her hands dismissively.

Aoi sweetly smiled and shook her head. It's the same smile boys would kill for, go through hell and back — it's the charm of a popular girl, the queen of all hearts. Aoi's the princess of Kamome for a reason. 

Yashiro hated the envy that blossomed in her heart. She didn't hate her best friend; she hated how perfect Aoi is, and how awful Yashiro is compared to her.

Of course, unsurprisingly, Aoi already has her soulmate. And, surprisingly, it's her childhood friend, Akane. Akane loved her as if she was the only girl in the world. (It gets a bit worrying sometimes because it can get borderline obsessive). He means no harm, though.

Yashiro couldn't help but wonder, what if she had met her soulmate when she was young?

Ah, what if she never meets her soulmate at all?

"Go away bad thoughts!" Yashiro whispered to herself, lightly slapping her cheeks.

"Nene-chan, you're spacing out an awful lot, you know," Aoi told her, her usually cheery face morphed into a frown. She placed a hand on Yashiro's cheek. "Nothing is bothering you, right?"

Yashiro nodded slowly. "Yes. I'm fine. Please don't worry too much."

"Oh, what the. . ."

Both of the two girls' attention were caught by Akane, who was furiously swiping on his phone as if there's no tomorrow. It almost seemed comical.

"Akane-kun, is there something wrong?" Aoi asked before Yashiro can even open her mouth.

Akane showed them his phone, and holy—

94 notifications!? Whoever was messaging him must've had an emergency. And to imagine that all happened overnight; if Akane slept through it all, he either muted his phone or just slept through it all. Yashiro was almost impressed.

"Ugh. Now I feel bad," Akane groaned, typing something quickly — a message to apologise, probably. "I just can't believe it happened while I was sleeping."

Aoi hummed thoughtfully, a pout on her lips. "Are they bothering you, Akane-kun? You can just tell them to stop if it's bothering you."

Akane gave Aoi a bright smile, a blush dusting his cheeks. "Ah, don't worry, Ao-chan! He's. . .a good friend of mine." His eyes then lingered on his phone screen, lost in thought. "It must've happened again to him."

"I hope your friend is alright, Akane-kun," Yashiro said.

Akane stared at her for a moment, then smiled gratefully. Yashiro felt seen with how his eyes gleamed with an unreadable emotion. "Yeah. I bet he'd be happy if he heard that."

"Yashiro-chan!"

The three simultaneously turned their heads to the source of the voice. Fuji. He was waving his arms around, his infamous charming grin on his face. He stared at Aoi, then at Akane, then his eyes eventually landed on Yashiro.

Yashiro blinked. "Oh, hi, Fuji-kun!" She smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes.

She could've sworn she saw Aoi and Akane glare at him, but it was quick to disappear.

"Aoi. Akane," Fuji acknowledged, bowing a bit. "I'm sorry, but can I excuse my girlfriend for a while? It'll be quick, I promise!"

Yashiro turned red at the mention of her status. It's the first time someone has called her that. The brunette held her wrist and then walked away from the two without any word.

Fuji chuckled and slowed his pace at Yashiro's nervous smile, a hand placed on her chest. "Hey. I'm sorry, was it bad to excuse you?"

Yashiro quickly shook her head. "No, no! It's fine! I was just. . . surprised, that's all."

Fuji nodded and continued walking. "That's good. I was planning to introduce you to my friends."

Yashiro couldn't exactly decline. "Right, okay."

Unbeknownst to the two, Aoi and Akane were whispering to themselves, exchanging worried glances at each other. Akane sighed and stared at their backs, a knowing glint in his eyes.

- - -

"Hey."

"Oh, uh—" There was a sniffle. Akane's stomach dropped at the sound of it. "Akane. Hi."

"What happened?" Akane asked. There were so much more questions, so, so much, but he can't seem to voice it out. He's bad at comforting people, anyway. "There were a lot of notifications."

"Ah." Amane chuckled, forced and upset. His voice was hoarse and scrambled as if he was caught between yelling and crying. "Sorry about that. You were the. . .only one I could take to last night. Did I bother you?"

Akane huffed. "Always so thoughtful, Amane. I called because I was worried about you, stop changing the subject." Amane has always been like this. He hated it when people worry about him, because he absolutely hated it when he gets pitied at.

The first time they met wasn't fun, either. Amane was apparently his number neighbor and Yamabuki had told him to go chat with him. He was calculative and cold, but they eventually warmed up to each other since their personalities fit well. Akane had learned a lot about Amane even in such a short time, they became friends who can talk to each other as if they're the other's diary. An annoying diary, Akane thought.

"Did he. . .hurt you again?" Akane asked meticulously. "Tell me the truth, okay?"

"It's nothing," was Amane's frantic reply. He responded so quick that it was obvious by now. Akane sighed. "Akane, I told you, I can't— he's—"

"Your brother, I know," Akane said. "But I told you already, if things get out of hand, just text me and I'll call, okay?"

". . .Yeah."

"Good." Akane smiled and plopped his head on his arm. 

"Thanks, by the way." Amane stopped briefly, before adding, "for, you know, looking out for me."

"You're my friend. I have no choice," Akane grumbled, but he knows that Amane won't take it the wrong way. "I'm stuck with you, and you're stuck with me. Simple."

"Aw, how romantic!" Amane cooed. Akane could imagine him dramatically swooning, fanning his cheeks. Akane almost puked at the mere thought. "Akane, you flirt!"

Akane scrunched his nose up. "Gross. I have a girlfriend." Akane instinctively glanced at Aoi, who still had her lampshade on, doodling on a notebook with a grin. Akane softly smiled.

"Ah, Ao-chan, right? What's her hair color again?"

"Uh— indigo. At least, a hint of that."

"What does indigo look like?" Amane asked, genuinely curious. "I want to know."

"Oh. Sure." Akane discreetly stared at Aoi, trying to translate his thoughts into words. Her hair gently flowed as Akane studied it. "It's like. . .deep midnight blue — you know what blue is, right?" Amane hummed. "I heard that indigo conveys sincerity and integrity. Can you imagine that?" Amane hummed again. "Yeah, you probably can't imagine it right now. What brought this up, anyway?"

"It's 'bout the girl I told you about."

"Ah, the girl you met online?" Akane felt himself smirk. Amane had told him this "mystery girl's" name and Akane already knew what's up. Then his smile faded when he remembered Fuji.

"I'm just trying to imagine what she can possibly look like."

"Creep." Akane snorted.

"Shut up!" Hanako babbled, but he's laughing, too. Akane felt better knowing that Amane was feeling better. "I just— I don't know! She's like candy hearts."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I've only ever tasted it. Sweet." Amane hesitated. "Actually, yeah. That's a good one, better than a radish."

"Huh. That's interesting. You're slowly turning crazy. Are you agreeing with yourself again?"

"Stop!" Amane cried out. Akane can tell he's embarrassed even just from his tone. "I'm hanging up!"

Akane laughed, then tried to be quiet because it was late at night and even Aoi might wake up. "Okay, okay. Night."

"Goodnight, Akane!"

The line ended.