Kindergarten Bully [Oikawa Tooru] | ✔

Another's Burden

There is nothing more beautiful than someone who goes out of their way to make life beautiful for others.

— Mandy Hale

xXx

The world moved faster than she could keep up and that was saying something. Naoko blandly shook the warm hands of the Takahiro brothers' during a congratulatory handshake before moving on to Cho, who tucked the large cheque for half a million yen underneath her armpit to receive her handshake.

To the side, Sumire's face was filled with color as she exchanged quite a hearty handshake with Yuu and Haruto, no longer looking so terrified of the piano prodigies.

We won, Naoko thought numbly as she accepted the cheque with a dip of the head. Cho smiled and returned the gesture. There was a bubbling feeling rising in her chest as she smiled for the cameras, Sumire standing dutifully beside her.

Sumire's hands moved; they were now both sharing the burden of holding such a huge piece of cardboard paper.

This feeling... Naoko could feel her cheeks hurt as she smiled again. ... Is wonderful. At that moment, all the weight she carried on her shoulders evaporated. She straightened, feeling lighter than she had been in a long time. It was an intense beam of light directed to the soul and warmed her bones.

"Nee-chan," Sumire squeaked, her face red as reality crashed down upon her. "We... we..."

"Won," Naoko finished for her, her voice filled with a calm joy as she regarded her sister, who was in total awe of the situation. "We won, Sumire-chan."

Was happiness really just temporary satisfaction?

Or something more?

Naoko opted on the latter.

"Hey, nee-chan...?"

"Hm?"

"I wanna go home." Sumire struggled to stifle a yawn. "I'm so sleepy..."

Naoko chortled quietly. "Of course you are." She scanned the crowd, her eyes eventually landing on Oikawa.

Thank you for coming. For supporting me, even though you didn't have to.

xXx

It was a familiar scene that Naoko welcomed with open arms. School: Monday morning. It felt like she had been away from Aobajosai for far too long; the weekend had been a total drag after the Sendai Standoff so the excited buzz and chatter of the students were certainly a comfort.

As she swapped to her indoor shoes, Tadashi doing the same at his own locker (which was opposite hers), someone tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hi there. You're the winner of the Sendai Standoff, right? Makoshima Naoko?"

Naoko blinked, unused to being approached by anyone really, seeing as she had no friends in her grade. "Yes, I am. Did you need something?"

The girl blushed. "N-not really. I just wanted to congratulate you on your win. Goodbye!"

"Huh? Ah, bye."

Besides that small incident, the entire day was blissfully uneventful until the last class. The bell rang, indicating that students were allowed to go to their club activities, just as Naoko finished the rest of her classwork. Packing up and in no hurry, she made her way down to the drama clubroom.

She arrived just as Tachibana was calling the students to order.

"Good afternoon," Tachibana chirped to Naoko.