"To Lola, From Bugs" || Momiji

Chapter 9

The next few days, Anzu was driven to school by Hatori. He said Akito was busy, but she knew because of the incident, distance was needed. The female would wear jackets to hide her bandage and continued her tutoring sessions, however she avoided outside people in case Akito happened to pop up. By the time she realized what she was doing, she could barely recognize herself. No matter what, Akito's harsh words from dinner still seemed to circle her brain.

Anzu had been laying under the covers in her bed for a while. Other than surrendering to her urge to get up and use the bathroom, she hadn't left the perimeters of her bedroom. There had been a couple knocks on the front door, however she couldn't find the energy or the will to see who it was. Time seemed to play a different tune so she didn't know how long she'd been laying there. but all she wanted to do was go back to America and start over.

"Anzu... Are you in here?"

Realizing who's voice it was, the crimsonette pushed her blankets away to see Tohru standing in the doorway. There was someone else standing behind her - a young girl with golden yellow hair and amber colored eyes.

"Who is that?" Anzu asked, eyeing the newcomer. The girl peeked around Tohru's frame and studied her features, including the bandage on her right arm. When she caught her staring at it, Anzu immediately used the blanket to try and hide it.

Tohru smiled as she walked in. "Oh, I didn't know you've never met her before. This is Kisa Sohma and she's the tiger of the zodiac. I ran into her when Momiji was walking me here."

"...There are other girls in the zodiac?"

"Yes." Kisa's voice was very soft and delicate. It was honestly very soothing to hear.

Tohru sat down on the edge of the bed and faced Anzu seriously. She was concerned about her, but that was nothing compared to the male in the other room. "Momiji's really worried about you. He said he tried to come by a few times but you never answered. You can talk to me if something happened."

Anzu's eyes welled with tears but her mouth couldn't seem to formulate the words caught in her throat. Cradling her right arm, she laid back down and turned her back to Tohru. So much happened... Where could she even begin? Honestly, she never wanted the female to see her like this though. Tohru told Kisa to get her some tissue and once the female was gone, she turned her attention back to the crimsonette.

"If you prefer to be quiet, that's o-"

"I want my mom."

Tohru's eyes widened as she heard Anzu begin to sob uncontrollably. She kept repeating the same sentence over and over again. Feeling her chest tighten with emotion, Tohru let her cry and laid down with her, wrapping her arms around the girl to comfort her. This she could truly empathize with. In the end, Anzu cried herself to sleep in Tohru's arms.

° ∆ -------- ••• ------- ∆ °

"Are you sure you still want to go?" Hatori asked as he pulled into the parking lot of Kaibara Municipal High School. "I can take you back home."

"I want to go." Anzu replied, zipping her jacket up. Today was the day of the school trip and she wasn't going to let her opportunity pass by. Watching the other second years board the buses, she let out a deep breath before moving to get out the car and grab her bag.

"You don't need to push yourself, Anzu." Haru reminded her. "You can-"

"I got it." Anzu smiled at him as she grabbed her overnight bag. "Thanks for helping me. I'll see you when I come back."

Stuffing her bag under the bus with everyone else's, Anzu glanced around at the other students who were talking and laughing with their friends. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that maybe she hadn't made the best decision, but she didn't want Hatori to be right so she boarded the bus.