𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗧𝗘𝗫𝗧 ; ʜᴀɴᴀɴᴇɴᴇ ✓

𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡, 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝 𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜

— in which Amane makes a mistake, and he realizes he really likes candy.

- - -

"Hello. . ?"

Amane blinked rapidly, the tears falling non-stop on the tiled floor. He's reminded of how pathetic he is at the sight of a puddle forming made by his own tears. Trembling, he lifted his phone and placed it near his ear. "H-Hello. . ?" He asked back shakily.

He heard rustling on the other line. Then silence.

"Hanako-kun?"

Ruefully, he nodded. But then realized that she can't see him and just grunted. "Yeah," he croaked out. He immediately regretted calling her.

Stupid, stupid. What if she was asleep? You selfish idiot.

"Are you okay?" Yashiro asked, her voice quiet and careful. She yawned, sounding like a cat. Amane would've smiled and cooed at how cute she is, but he's wallowing in self-hatred and remorse.

Amane bit his chapped lips. He really needed take care of himself properly — but what's the point of doing that? "I'm sorry, did I disturb you? I can hang up now—"

"Hanako-kun," was Yashiro's stern reply. "You didn't disturb me. I can hear you crying. What's going on?"

Amane cursed. Then he cursed again, until Yashiro finally had enough and insisted an answer. "I was just, you know, sad. It's nothing serious, really, I can just hang up now a—"

"Hanako-kun, if you hang up, I won't chat with you anymore."

Well, that was clearly effective, because Amane just froze and paused from spouting his half-baked excuses — Yashiro is smart enough to see through lies.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Yashiro asked, her voice no longer soft but demanding. It was nice to know that Yashiro was genuinely worried about him, at least. "You're not hurt, are you?"

Even though that's all he'll ever get from her.

Amane glanced down on his arm, bandages clumsily wrapped around in desperation to hide the bruises. "Y—" he stopped himself. "No. I'm fine. Really." Though, the ache he's feeling in his arms are saying otherwise.

"Are you sure?"

The boy gulped. "Yeah."

"It is serious when you're sad, you know. You're my friend now, like it or not!" Yashiro added a huff. Amane laughed, imagining sparkles surrounding the faceless stranger he absolutely adored.

"I'm just. . .thank you. I just needed to hear your voice."

Yashiro giggled softly, the sound making Amane smile — a lovestruck kind of smile. If anyone saw him now, they would tell him you're gross. He won't blame them. He's in for it bad.

"You're welcome. You can call me anytime you need, don't hesitate at all, okay? I won't guarantee I'll pick it up because I might be sleeping, but still, there's a 99.99% chance of me picking up — don't waste that!"

They bid each other's goodbye's and hang up.

Amane's smile disappeared and was replaced with an uneasy one. He curled himself into a ball and tried to remember the warmth he felt when Yashiro was talking to him, but he could only feel the cold of the bathroom floor with smudges of blood that gave off a metal taste in the air.