Hange Zoe Short Story Collection

Line Without a Hook (Part 4)

"It's a curse and it's growing. You're a pond and I'm an ocean..."

The shrill sound of the bell snapped (Y/N) out of her daze and she sat up in her chair, eagerly reaching for her backpack. Today was Friday. Her favorite day of the week, the day that she got all to herself (after she was finished with school) and could relax without worrying about homework or tests. It was also the day she and Hange did their weekly movie or show marathon. This week they were going to watch a sci-fi show about mutant superheroes.

It took forever for the bus to drop her home, and the second she stepped off the bus, she ran straight towards Hange's home. The two were that close—both of them could enter the other's house uninvited. The door was open, and she helped herself in, climbing the stairs up to Hange's room.

"(Y/N)?" Hange blinked as she entered their bedroom. Their nose was red, their eyes a bit swollen. Hange had stayed home for the school day because they had been sick. It was a common cold, nothing to worry about, but it had caused them to become much more quieter and passive.

"I'm here for our marathon!" (Y/N) chirped, throwing her backpack onto their chair. Her mother probably knew she was at Hange's—this was a regular Friday ritual.

"You shouldn't be here, you can get sick too," Hange insisted, getting up from their bed to lightly shove her out the door. Their eyes were watery, their nose bright red.

"But our marathon!" (Y/N) protested, turning around. "I was waiting all week for this! The last episode was left on a cliffhanger and—"

"If you get sick, you won't be able to go to scho—" Hange sneezed into their elbow, frowning afterward. They looked absolutely miserable, with their watery eyes and runny nose.

"I don't care if I get sick," (Y/N) said softly. She walked closer to Hange, slipping her hand in theirs and tugging them towards the bed, reaching out for the laptop as she did so. She firmly pushed them onto the bed while throwing a warm blanket over their body.

"But—"

"I already barely saw you these past few days. Let's watch this show together, okay?" (Y/N) pleaded. "And then I'll tell you all about school...which sucked by the way. It's so boring without you."

Hange sighed, unable to resist the pleading puppy eyes (Y/N) was giving them. "Fine. But only two episodes, okay? And don't worry, I'll be back at school in a day or two!"

"Okay!" (Y/N) grinned, snuggling into the pillows next to Hange.

The classroom was chilly, probably because Mr. Shadis hadn't turned on the heater. Even though it was now October, he insisted on keeping the air conditioning on and that resulted in (Y/N) shivering the entire time she was supposed to be getting tutored by Hange. Of course, that meant she wasn't able to concentrate on the topic at hand either.

"(Y/N)?" Hange asked, placing their pencil down. "Are you alright? You haven't been really focusing this entire time..."

"Yeah, I'm fine," (Y/N) cleared her throat. The tutoring sessions with Hange were going well. She'd arrive in the evening, they'd greet her politely, and the two would immediately begin with the material. There was no other conversation, no mention of their shared past...and (Y/N) tried to forget about the dare as much as she could. She had decided that there was no way she would do that. Sure, she wasn't a great person, but she would never humiliate Hange like that. Instead, she'd figure out a way to get rejected by them. The plan was brilliant, really. She'd pretend to like Hange while giving them reasons to dislike her—like acting mean to others, being petty, stuff like that—and on the day of the winter dance where she was supposed to publicly dump them, she'd confess her feelings. By then, Hange would hate her enough to say no and reject her instead. Nanaba would feel bad for (Y/N) and her crushed heart and would just forget about the dare.