Closing up the distance...

“I… was the reason that Ayane-chan was bullied in school…”, he tightened his grip, out of frustration and anger.

This was the first in a long time that Kanako was angry. And his anger is very dangerous. He rarely gets angry, but when he does, he is unstoppable.

“Why aren’t you not separating from him!!! Sharing lunchboxes… walking to school together… what do you think you are doing these things with him????!?!!”, Hanabi pushed her to the wall as she said that.

“Ahh… I knew it… It was happening all over again. Haha… I got optimistic because of Kanako-kun. He is amazing… making a pessimistic person like me hope for the future…”, she closed her eyes, accepting her fate, as Hanabi, Miyako, and Fuyuki extended their evil hands to torture Ayane again.

They all were grinning, except Ayane. She was helpless and began to cry even before they started to do anything.

“Oi oi oi. Why the heck are you crying for, huh?”, they pushed her again, making her tears fall to the ground.

But, before her tears even fell, they were horrified at the person standing before them. It was Kanako, but he was angry… very angry… he was so angry that he looked like a completely different person altogether…

###

“Don’t… you dare touch her…”, a voice called out amid her helpless environment. Did help arrive?

She opened her eyes with the hope that Kanako had shown her. And she was not disappointed. The back of Kanako stood between her and the girls, giving her protection.

“Then I will support you.”, that voice of his, on that fateful day, echoed in her head.

“So… you came.”, she said, smiling and crying at the same time. She felt relief, and free of the torture.

She unconsciously grabbed the fabric of Kanako’s back with both hands, closing up the distance between them and sharing some of her weight with him.

She cried for a few moments and wetted Kanako’s shirt. Kanako paid attention to her and ignored the girls in front of him, giving her mental support.

“Sorry, I couldn’t hold onto the promise I made with you that night.”

Hanabi, Miyako, and Fuyuki were shocked. Them? At night? Promise? What was happening between them? They wondered.