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***
Soon, the girls too began noticing your behaviour and how you tended to avoid them. They were worried they'd offended you, and so, they decided to create a safe space for you to speak with them. The only problem was that it was hard to create a safe space with these girls.
"Yukie," said Kaori. "I think it's best you don't talk at all." "What?!" Yukie asked all offended. "Why?! I'm great at comforting people!" All the managers gave Yukie a doubting look that forced her to surrender. "Fine," she huffed.
The managers planned to speak with you in the evening when everything was mostly still and calm. They figured they'd wait for you to finish bathing before approaching you about the matter.
"Should we light candles?" Yachi asked. Kaori smiled jokingly saying, "are we trying to seduce her?" "No seducing my child!" Yukie said. Kaori rolled her eyes. That's when you entered.
At first the girls were startled and screeched before all calming down. Kiyoko patted a spot for you to sit and you took it. "Are we holding another seance?" You asked. "NO!" All the girls shouted at once. "Ok," you said flatly.
Kaori was the first to start. "We just wanted to apologise for looking through your journal." Kiyoko carried on. "It was a breach of privacy and unacceptable. We want you to know you're allowed to be upset at us."
Yukie encouragingly nodded her head. "Exactly!" She said. "Yell at us! We deserve it! Pull out hair! Rip out our uterus's, remove—." "Yukie," said Kaori. "That's enough."
Yachi spoke next after Yukie was put in her place. "Point is, we're really sorry and we want you to know you can tell us when we've done something wrong. We could tell you might be a bit upset, but we just wanted to make sure..."
"So," said Kiyoko. "What do you think?" She asked you. The whole time, you'd remained still and stoic. The girls didn't know what to expect, but it definitely wasn't you to start crying.
At once, all the girls began freaking out. Frantically, Yukie ran to get some tissues and tripped over in the process. Kaori was yelling at anyone to get you some water as the tears fell down your still face.
Kiyoko shuffled over to you during the chaos and placed her hand on your shoulder. She rubbed it and brought you into a hug. The other girls soon joined, all gathering in a big group hug. And then they were all crying with you, upset that you were upset.
"Thank you," you whispered. "For what?" Kaori asked. "Talking to me." The girls cried more and patted your head and made sure you were comforted.
From down the hall, a few of the boys' who were awake wondered if you were all okay. "The fuck are they up to?" Iwa asked. "Maybe they're watching 20th century girl like me," said Makki who was blowing his nose, eyes all red and puffy from the tears. "Go to sleep, Makki."
***
After the crying session, you calmly and flatly explained to the girls how it had upset you, but for reasons they hadn't been aware of. You mentioned how you were afraid that they didn't like you and were doing this to make fun of you.
You also mentioned your anxieties regarding Ennoshita. Would he think you were weird if he were to see the drawings? But the girls reassured you he wouldn't. "Ennoshita isn't like that," said Kiyoko. "And if he was," interrupted Yukie. "We'd grab him by the balls and—." "I don't think we need the details Yukie." Kaori was there to save the day once again by stopping Yukie.
"Why don't you show him?" Yachi suggested. At first, the idea was preposterous to you. "He's a really nice guy and I'm sure he'd appreciate it, b-but don't force yourself to show him because I said so!" Yachi laughed nervously.
"I think that's a good idea," added Kaori. "Just don't show Yamamoto or Lev because they would bawl their eyes out." The girls laughed as you furrowed your brows and tilted your head. The girls looked back at you confused before Yukie's jaw dropped open.
"Do you not know Yamamoto and Lev totally have a thing for you?!" Yukie asked. "No." You shook your head. "I thought they were joking." "Oh baby," said Kaori. "We really gotta do some inner healing if you can't recognise when people actually like you or are messing with you."
"Has that happened before?" Yachi asked. You nodded your head. "But I don't get it," said Yukie. "I saw your old photos when we hung out and you've always been pretty!" "People can bully you for anything," said Kiyoko. "It's usually out of jealousy. They don't like seeing pretty people so they make them feel as bad as they do." The group "aaa"d in union with the wisdom shared by Kiyoko.
***
In the end, it had worked out and the girls were able to make you feel safe which you were very excited about. You'd never had friends who were girls before or friends in general. It was a nice change.
