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69 CONCEPTS

To feel absolutely and indefinitely ready to become one with them. To be intimate and feel nothing but pure joy. To find love—you believe it is to find yourself.

To everything that will, and will not stay the same—you will find yourself.

˖*⋆｡˚𖦹࣪˖ ִֶָ⋆｡°✩

Kyouka walks beside you, silently. Her footsteps do not even make the slightest of noise—something you're sure she is intentionally doing—and she surely does not attempt to break the silence.

It is incredibly uncomfortable. You're not sure why.

You've never been the best at making conversation—a fact widely known—but you couldn't say you did not try. You asked about Reo, Nagi and Chigiri. She replied meekly, blankly, and shortly. It was clear she did not want to talk.

You're not sure why.

You don't think you've said anything bad to Kyouka (perhaps it is the fact you had not said anything at all—you're just so caught up with everything, and you hope your friend does not feel malice towards you because of it).

Even when you two had first met and everything had been incredibly awkward—even when you two were alone together in a bath and sharing your feelings like this was nothing but a silly romance show—it had never felt so uncomfortable to be around Kyouka.

Maybe you said something? Not to her, but maybe she heard something she didn't quite approve of being said to Mariele. Maybe even Kaiser.

You wrack your brain trying to think about what you could have possibly done to incur such a blank, particularly cold response from your dear friend.

"Kyouka..." The sound of her name falling from your lips seems to garner her attention—finally—and she peers up at you through her thick brown bangs. "Are you upset with me?"

You've been praised by some for your inability to beat around the bush, and berated by others—you find nothing comes easier to you than to just simply ask. There is no logical point in stalling—Kyouka recognises this, and if this were any other situation, the familiarity of you would make her smile.

Now, all this does is make her—to put it in better words—mind spiral.

Is their logicality truly rubbing off on you, [name]? Are you really spending that much time together? "N... no. I'm fine. I was just..." Excuse. Excuse. An excuse. What is my excuse? "... Thinking about the game coming up."

Kyouka thanks her unusually quick thinking and inner wit when you seem to believe her half-hearted excuse. It makes her feel slightly worse when you do. You trust her. Kyouka truly is a terrible, cold-hearted woman.

A small—clearly forced—smile is plastered onto your lips. You suddenly stop walking, and the rhythmic sound of your heeled shoes clacking against the marble is paused, so Kyouka halts to a stop too. "You look pretty worried for somebody who's only thinking about a soccer match."

Kyouka makes a face—or so she assumes, because your smile drops into a concerned expression in an instant—and you continue talking, a little quicker than before, "But... that's a good thing. I'm glad you think of our team so highly. I'm excited to see the others again, too... that's why I'm glad you are here."

Her heart pathetically bumps at your words. Just as always, she is a loveless fool.

She practically forces the words out of her mouth, "I'm glad you're here, too. Everything feels so much more normal with you here."