shots shots shots

“Not like they’re wrong? Mikan-chan! You shouldn’t let people bring you down like that! Who gives them the right to treat you in such a barbaric way by calling you names? How immature!”

"B-But... Ah... Th-The right was given to them... Um... Wh-When I was born? Th-That sounds about right..."

Resting his head in his arms on his desk, the boy let out a soft sigh. He wasn’t his usual cheerful self today. He was sulking. He was drowning in his own thoughts.

'I'm weak.'

Chihiro has accepted this long ago, but it still hurts him deep inside. He is pathetic. Simple as that.

'Weak weak weak weak.'

He’s been desperately trying to train, but he can’t even lift any heavy weights. Just the weak, small ones. With his stupid, low stamina, he doesn’t train for much long. His head started to pound from the crying he did. He removed his head from his arms and leaned back again his chair, closing his eyes. He secretly adds ‘crying easily’ to his list of why he is weak.

He felt his tears roll down his already wet cheeks as he shakily breathed in, now trying to calm himself. Luckily he is in his dorm, where he is alone. He straighten his posture and wiped his tears with his sleeves. He needs to distract himself before he starts crying more. However, the pain in his heart is still lingering.

'I… have to think of something. To make me strong.'

'Training is still an option… but I don't want to ask anyone for help. I'll bother them… and it'll be tough to hide my secret. So… is there maybe… a faster way?'

There must be a faster way. Or, just a boost. Suddenly, the infirmary popped in his head. Now why would he think that?

'I guess it's related to health… Maybe they have something in the infirmary?'

He got up from his desk in a rather fast, suddenly having determination. The infirmary. There must be something there. With this in mind, he walked out of his dorm, his pace quickening.

It didn’t take long when he got the infirmary, and his pace slowed down once he reached the door. With no second thoughts, he shyly opened the door.

He was about to step into the room, but stopped when he saw dark purple hair. It turned out to be Mikan, and she looks like she is cleaning. The programmer was rather surprised to see her here. He stood in the doorway, watching her clean, his courage escaping. He was hoping that no one would be in the room. Quietly, he fully stepped into the room.

Mikan hit the floor with a rather loud thud. She cried out in pain as she made contact with the floor, tears starting to form at her eyes while she laid there, not noticing that her skirt just so happened to be uplifted. Her outstretched legs showed off her white panties quite nicely to whoever had entered the infirmary. Once Mikan realized this, she attempted to sit up quickly, which only caused her head to hurt from the sudden rush of movement. She grabbed at it with both hands, completely forgetting about the state she was in and closed her eyes in pain.

"I...I'm sorry..." She addressed the person, opening her eyes, allowing Mikan to see a timid-looking girl looking at her from across the room. Mikan tried her best to smile once the ache in her head and back subsided, figuring that someone as innocent-looking as Chihiro Fujisaki couldn't be there to cause Mikan any trouble. "D-Did you need the nurse? Sh-She stepped out for a minute, so I'm in charge for now..!"

Kyouko nodded gently at the girl’s words, finding herself agreeing with them. Human beings are confusing, even if their motives and actions weren’t too difficult to understand. In her own line of work, she had to deal with such things each day. Motives… Actions… How people work… It was something she learned more and more of every day, and something she studied profusely.

"L-Like when people are nice to me. When they’re mean, I can understand that it’s because I’m just a p-pig or something, but when they’re nice… I-I can’t help but try to guess their ulterior motive…"

Her head snapped up at that comment, though she knew it was only natural for the girl to hate herself. Just looking through her actions, her own mannerisms and behaviour, she could see the girl was heavily bullied. At least to the extent of self-loath and emotional instability. She was about to retort to the Nurse’s words, when she continued quicker than expected.

"N-Not that I think you have one, Kirigiri-san..! I-I actually feel like you’re being honest! W-Wait, I mean..! Oh, I’m sorry!"

"Tsumiki-san…"

"Ahh..." Mikan stared in shock at the detective. No one had ever given her such praise and encouragement. It was so foreign to her that the poor girl didn't know whether crying or blushing would be a more appropriate response to it. She coughed a bit in order to clear her throat so it wouldn't sound as if she were about to cry. "K-Kirigiri-san... Truly is a kind person... I...I want to believe what you're saying, b-but..."

"Well of course. Why would I think you’re a pig or—"

"I-It's not one person... I-It's more, well... Everyone from my past schools..."

"I-If you really mean that... Th-Then I'm very happy..!"

The girl seemed to light up when the detective asked about her books, the topic seeming to be one the girl could talk about without trouble. Kyouko made sure to pay full attention to the nurse as she spoke, her eyes only flickering away when she had to check that she wouldn’t accidentally run into anything.

"I decided to study a bit…for fun. I was reading up on anatomy before I…f-fell asleep."

Studying for fun… A term she hadn’t really heard of before. Not many students studied ‘for fun’… Let alone Fukawa-san and Togami-kun. She nodded slowly at the nurse, waiting for her to inevitably continue. Not that Kyouko really minded, she wasn’t much of a talker.

"Anatomy is, well… The only way I can understand humans. Ah..! I-I’m sorry for saying something so strange all of a sudden…"

She chuckled quietly at the sudden reaction to her own words, Kyouko shaking her head to notify the nurse that she didn’t mind at all. The other girl’s reactions made her think of another friend of her’s, one she was quite close to. And strangely enough, that had relaxed the sleuth.

"Th-They are pretty confusing, aren't they..? S-Some of their actions and motives are pretty easy to understand, but people as a whole...they confuse me. L-Like when people are nice to me. When they're mean, I can understand that it's because I'm just a p-pig or something, but when they're nice... I-I can't help but try to guess their ulterior motive... N-Not that I think you have one, Kirigiri-san..! I-I actually feel like you're being honest! W-Wait, I mean..! Oh, I'm sorry!"

He smiled at her, “it’s all right, Tsumiki-san, really. You have a, really sweet laugh, as a matter of fact, don’t be afraid of showing it off!” He went through his coat pockets, tapping with his hands on the outside before he reached into a pocket on the inside, taking out a few tissues and handing them to Tsumki. “Here, use these. And I’d love it if you showed me around. Thank you!”

Very well, then. 

It wasn’t an arrangement he hadn’t preferred, but the heir strides to the door with his drink in hand anyway, the half-prepared cocktail still in its holster as a free hand juggled to answer the timid voice that waited outside. Someone he had anticipated to be Tsukimi MIkan. And he wasn’t disappointed with his intuition. 

—

Opening her eyes upon hearing a male's voice, she looked at the source of it in front of her and gulped. Not sure of what to say, she stammered looking for the right words. "I-I...I'm Tsumiki Mikan, yes..! I-I'm sorry for coming unannounced..! P-Please forgive me for not telling you I would be coming... I-I-I could come in! O-Or stay out here! Either is f-fine by me..!"

"Wh…What were you doing in the library, Kirigiri-san…?"

Ah… What was she doing in the library earlier? She could barely remember… Oh. That’s right. Nothing important. She was just using the space as somewhere quiet to hang around. The violet detective shrugged her shoulders in response, her hues flickering over to meet the nurse’s before giving a verbal response.

"I decided to study a bit...for fun. I was reading up on anatomy before I...f-fell asleep." She chuckled at herself a bit before looking at the hallway ahead of her. Her eyes shifted to look at the girl next to her before focusing on the path ahead of her once more. "Anatomy is, well... The only way I can understand humans. Ah..! I-I'm sorry for saying something so strange all of a sudden..."

"I-It's not that..." Deciding to be honest with Komaeda, she spoke slowly but surely, "I...I was just worried you had...well, ill intent... B-But I don't think you'd b-bully me, so I'll go...!"

"Do you have anything to do right now? Because I don’t, and I’d love to spend some time with you, you seem like a nice person!"

"Ahh...?" Mikan paused before a worried look spread, involuntarily, across her face. Why did he want to spend time with her? She was grateful that he took interest in her, yes, but what if that interest led to bad things? He didn't seem like the type to bully people, but there was always that chance... "Well..."

Figuring that if he turned out to be a bully, Mikan could just tolerate anything he would do. She did her best to smile despite her fear of being tormented by someone she had just met. She looked at his eyes - they seemed honest enough - and spoke, "N-No... I-I don't have anything to do."