Arcane | Wind Breaker |

One Step

Kotoha turned her head when she heard the door to the cafe open, just to see Haruka fall face flat to the floor with an elderly woman on his back.

"Goodness, what's the matter, dear?!" The elderly woman asked.

"Huh?! Sakura?! What?!" Kotoha exclaimed before running to Haruka's side, "Whoa... Are you okay?! Feeling sick?!" She asked.

"Did I gain weight...?" The elderly woman asked herself.

"...It's nothing," Haruka replied as he lifted his head, "I just...tripped."

"You look terrible," Kotoha states as she places a cup of coffee and a plate of food in front of the worn-out boy who took a seat at the counter, "Not getting enough sleep?"

"N-No..." Haruka replied as he blew at the coffee to cool it down.

'I... Can't tell her...' He thought.

"I'm just doing what I can. That's all there is to it." Kaji's words flashed in his head from the conversation he had with him yesterday.

'...that I spent all night thinking about what I can do...and before I knew it, the sun started rising...' Haruka trailed off.

"By the way, did your class decide on a captain yet?" Kotoha asked, surprising Haruka with the unexpected question.

She quickly grabbed a towel and held it out toward him.

"Whoa! Yeah, you're really sick, aren't you? Oh...wait, is this because... You're the new captain?" Kotoha questioned.

Haruka cleaned his face with a towel that had been given to him, his face flustered.

"Sorry that it's so unexpected," Haruka mumbled as he shifted his eyes.

"Hm? Why'd you say that? I think it's great," Kotoha says with a smile on her lips.

Haruka's eyes widened a bit as he stared at the girl in front of him before narrowing them at the counter in front of him.

"Nothing's great about gettin' a leader... Who doesn't even know what he's supposed to do," Haruka tells her.

"You don't know what you're supposed to do?" Kotoha asked, "Well, just do what you can that's all you need to do," she replied.

"But that's exactly what I'm..." Haruka tried to say just to gasp and turn his head away, "Th-This... Has nothing to do with you."

"Hmm... You're always like this... Sheesh... So, hey," Kotoha sighed as she placed a clean plate onto a rack.

"Haah?" Haruka questioned as he took a bite out of his breakfast.

"You know the names and faces...of everyone in your class, right?" Kotoha asked.

"Huh?" Haruka stared in confusion, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Oh, what?! Wait, you don't?! Goodness, how rude of me..." Kotoha laughed a little as she turned to look at the boy eating.

"Urgh..." Haruka grumbled.

"You know, just learning someone's name is something you can do. And once you've got their name down, you have to start using it. Calling someone by their name...is a declaration of acceptance...that you are seeing them for who they are," Kotoha held up two fingers just to point them at Haruka.

Haruka's eyes widened in realization.

'Now that I think about it... Have I...ever called anyone by their name?' He wondered.

"For me...I've never heard you say my name before, either," Kotoha teased.

"Wh... Wha?!" Haruka exclaimed.