𝕂𝕆𝕀 ℕ𝕆 𝕐𝕆𝕂𝔸ℕ {Tadano Hitohito}

『𝕀𝕔𝕖 𝕊𝕜𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕊𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝔻𝕒𝕪𝕤!』

⟦ℂℍ𝔸ℙ𝕋𝔼ℝ 𝟙𝟠⟧

Katai was shaking. Nothing Kagami did seemed to dissuade his fears, so it continued, even through greeting Shouko and Tadano as they approached. Kagami did her best to keep a pleasant smile on her face even as Katai turned around and leered down at the written plan the pair had created together.

Silently, she grabbed him by the back of his jacket and dragged him onto the train so he wouldn't get left behind. He didn't even flinch, eyes staring a hole through the paper. Kagami dumped him in a chair and sat down next to him, Tadano and Shouko following.

While Katai and Shouko trembled and exuded dangerous aura's, Tadano and Kagami chatted happily between them. Other people on the train gave them odd glances, but they were much too focused on their conversation, or on their nerves.

The other passengers on the train let out sighs of relief as the quartet got off the train at their stop. The air felt clearer without them there, and they could finally let themselves relax.

Tadano announced their arrival at the rink, allowing both Katai and Shouko to finally perk up instead of being gloomy. They approached the ticket window for their tickets, but it was Tadano who did most of the talking, as Kagami was unable to communicate with the teller properly, and Katai and Shouko were both far too nervous.

Kagami sat down on a bench between Katai and Tadano, with Shouko on the other side of Tadano, all of them tying up their laces. When Kagami finished with her, she glanced over to see that Katai seemed to be having some trouble with his. His fingers were trembling and the laces kept slipping through his fingers.

She knelt to the ground in front of him, gently pushing his hands away and began to lace his skates for him with careful precision. As she did this, Shouko watched on, feeling relieved.

Shouko had been worried for a while. Now that she understood her feelings for Tadano, she had begun to pay more attention to him. In that time, she had noticed how he treated Kagami differently from any of his other friends. They spent more time together, sometimes even alone without the group, he was one of the few people Kagami could communicate with at a normal pace instead of the painstaking process of writing everything down.

Worse still, he was always... blushing around her. They had even shared a kiss at the Christmas party, though it was part of a game and not of their complete volition. Yet, Tadano had given her the option to back out, telling her it was okay if she was uncomfortable, that she didn't have to go through with it. And Kagami kissed him anyway.

If that wasn't bad enough, he had gone after her when she ran off. Shouko hadn't followed them, and she had no idea if anything more had transpired between them. Still, she reminded herself that Kagami had come to the party with Katai, and she had also come with him to go skating.

That's right. Kagami came with Katai-kun to go skating, not Tadano-kun. She's tying Katai-kun's laces, not Tadano-kun's. Kagami must like Katai-kun. And since she likes him, that means that even if Tadano-kun likes Kagami, I still have a shot. Truly, Shouko could see why Tadano liked Kagami.

Kagami was a force to be reckoned with. She stood up for what she believed in and wasn't afraid to voice harsh truths. But she was also soft, always gentle with her friends, doing her best to make them feel safe and loved. It was something she excelled at. There was never a time that Shouko was uncomfortable with Kagami around, but that didn't stop her from comparing herself to her best friend.

Kagami struggled to communicate like she did, but she got along better, despite having a bigger hurdle to overcome. Kagami was more confident than she was, even though she still got nervous and cried sometimes. It was honestly a miracle that she wasn't held to the same level as Shouko was at school.