The touch was very light, like a probe, or perhaps a confirmation.
She kept her head down and didn't move, so the poking came a second time, then a third, the force slightly stronger, carrying a hint of playfulness.
She slowly turned her head.
Yukishiro Rin was standing right behind her, tilting her head as she looked at her.
Those azure eyes reflected her appearance at that moment—her eyes rimmed with red, her eyelashes damp, like a puppy that had lost its owner.
Seeing her turn around, Yukishiro Rin reached out and gently pinched her cheek, starting to pull it left and right, as if kneading a piece of dough, not stopping until it couldn't be stretched any further.
Tōjō Reina finally moved.
She turned her face, and before Yukishiro Rin could clearly see what kind of expression was on that tear-streaked face, she felt a heaviness in her chest.
Something had crashed firmly into her arms.
The weight wasn't very heavy, but it clung very tightly.
Two arms wrapped around her waist, overlapping behind her back, as if trying to squeeze her entire body into her embrace.
It was a little hard to breathe; it felt like some large dog was desperately rubbing against her.
"Ugh…"
A very low sound, muffled by the fabric, like the whimpering of a wounded small animal.
Pitiful.
Yukishiro Rin thought this, then she raised her hand and gently, pat by pat, stroked that head.
"There, there…" Her tone was uncharacteristically gentle, but she quickly returned to her usual calm demeanor. "People around are watching."
The head in her arms first froze abruptly, then, as if electrocuted, instinctively sprang up and stood at attention.
Tōjō Reina's tear-streaked face was finally revealed, eyes red, nose tip red, with undried tear stains still hanging on her eyelashes—a complete mess.
She froze for a second.
Then, even faster, she buried her face back into Yukishiro Rin's embrace.
Can't see me… Can't see me…
[Ms. Rin, you are so gentle]
[Wow, this is exactly what I wanted to see]
[Feels like Treasure Rin has already secured the championship]
[Take off! Never had such a wonderful opening!]
[As expected, the 'new arrival' trope is the most correct one]
[Strictly speaking, Yukishiro Rin doesn't count as a 'new arrival', right? Weren't they already desk mates?]
[I am doing something greedy…]
[Mommy]
[?]
The corners of Yukishiro Rin's mouth twitched slightly; she struggled to shift her gaze away from those two characters and back onto the ostrich-like head in her arms.
"Why are you crying?"
She asked, her voice very soft.
Tōjō Reina didn't speak, just buried her face deeper.
Because I was worried you were angry, because I was afraid you would never talk to me again, because I discovered I might care about you more than I imagined?
How could she possibly say those words out loud?
"Are you worried that I'm angry?"
…A straight ball as always.
"I'm not angry," Yukishiro Rin continued. "In fact, if you really want to see—"
She took her phone out of her pocket, unlocked it skillfully, and kept the screen on the Line chat page. At the very top of the page, in the remark column, a line of text lay quietly.
"Do you want to see?"
Tōjō Reina instinctively wanted to lift her head, and then…
"No no no no no—"
She immediately shook her head like a rattle-drum and waved her hands desperately; that panic, like being caught red-handed doing something wrong, overshadowed the lingering tear stains on her face.
"Fine, don't look then."
Yukishiro Rin took her phone back and put it in her pocket.
"It's just a wish," she said. "Even if it truly becomes impossible to realize after being seen, it doesn't matter."
"Because I care about you more."
Tōjō Reina's movements stopped.
"I'm sorry for what I did earlier," Yukishiro Rin continued, her tone still flat, yet inexplicably making people feel she was serious. "I just wanted you to learn to respect."
"Don't do to others what you cannot accept yourself."
"That is disregarding other people's feelings."
"Just like what I did to you earlier, not caring whether you would be sad, and just walking away on my own…"
Tōjō Reina didn't hear a single word of what followed.
She just stood there blankly, that sentence echoing repeatedly in her mind.
"…Did you understand?"
Yukishiro Rin looked down and saw a face that had completely crashed—eyes wide open, pupils unfocused, mouth slightly agape, as if struck hard in a vital spot by something.
…It was obvious she hadn't understood.
But it didn't matter; those words were just excuses anyway.
She didn't intend to say them a second time either.
"…I understand."
Having regained her senses, Tōjō Reina nodded subconsciously, her voice as soft as a dream.
"Mm."
Yukishiro Rin took something out from behind her back: a small, exquisitely wrapped gift box with a pale blue ribbon tied on it.
"Don't be sad anymore. Have a candy."
She shoved the gift box into Tōjō Reina's arms, and reached over with her other hand, her fingertips holding a candy coated in powdered sugar.
It was the kind used for store samples.
She offered it to Tōjō Reina's lips.
"…Ah."
Tōjō Reina unconsciously and obediently opened her mouth.
The first bite didn't catch the candy; it bit into Yukishiro Rin's fingertip, the soft, warm sensation flashing across her lips.
The second bite finally took the candy into her mouth.
The sugar powder melted on her tongue, the sweetness slowly spreading—very sweet, but just right.
Not knowing if it was because Yukishiro Rin's fingertip had been coated in sugar powder, Tōjō Reina, holding the candy in her mouth, thought blankly:
Both of them seemed to be sweet.