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Yashiro leaned against the mop she was washing the floor with, taking a little break, and looked out the window of the girl’s bathroom. It was pouring outside. She could see some students walking out of the school gates. A few lamp posts barely lit up the road down from Kamome to town.
Hanako called out to her several times, but it didn’t seem like she heard him. It's not like he had given her a reason to ignore him. He didn't think so at least.
Yashiro continued staring out the window until lightning struck close to school. Yashiro made a small ‘eep’ sound, barely audible.
Hanako floated over to where she was standing and put his hands on her shoulders. She jumped at the sudden touch like she wasn’t aware where she was or who she was with.
He slipped his hands off her shoulders and floated around to face her, with his hands behind him, curious to see the face of his assistant.
“Yashiro~, were you-” Hanako started in his usual cheeky tone, but when he came to the side of her, he stopped dead in his tracks. Yashiro’s eyes were shut and her brows were furrowed, a single tear snaking its way down her cheek. It was easy to see that something was bothering the girl.
Lightning struck once more and Yashiro practically jumped into Hanako’s arms. He felt her hands clasp tightly onto the back of his uniform. The flash quickly subdued, but she didn’t pull away, even though he could feel her face heat up. Hanako reluctantly wrapped his arms around her, a little surprised by her sudden actions.
It took only a few moments of silence for the rumble to come. The sound of the old lamps in the bathroom subsided and so did the light they were emitting. A power outage. That made everything more dramatic.
“Hmm,” Hanako started carefully, afraid he would spook Yashiro. “You’re scared of thunder and lightning?” he then gently asked. All that she responded with, was a sniffle. Hanako presumed that was a yes.
The fact was a bit surprising to him actually. You would think that after everything that had happened to Yashiro - trapped in boundaries, fighting supernaturals and even finding out that she was dying - that something like lightning and thunder wouldn’t faze her. But that wasn’t the case.
Meanwhile, Yashiro was pondering on how she would get out of this situation without making it too awkward. It wasn't uncomfortable for her, not at all, but she doubted Hanako would ever let her forget this. At the moment, he didn’t seem to have anything to say about it though.
There came a few more strikes but quieted down after a minute or so. All while Yashiro hid in Hanako’s arms.
With the silence hanging above them like a storm cloud, Yashiro felt like her heartbeat was connected to a speaker. It was thumping against her chest and she could hear it loud and clear in her ears. Except for that and her breathing, the bathroom was completely quiet. A vast change from how it usually was with the static of the old lamps, talking and the Mokke hopping around, planning their world domination.
Neither of them wanted to take the initiative to break the silence. That was until Hanako picked up Yashiro, gaining a surprised noise from her. He floated over to the corner and settled with his back against the wall.
Yashiro was still close to Hanako, her hands now up to her own chest. Hanako still had his arms around her, cradling her close to himself.
Hanako was glad Yashiro wasn’t currently looking at him. He could feel his face flaming up more by the second. If he was still alive and had a beating heart, it would most likely be punching and kicking its way out of his ribcage.
But the fact that he was flustered, Yashiro too, didn’t matter at the time. What mattered was calming Yashiro down. Or at least to get her mind off the lightning and thunder. That was the most important, Hanako decided.
Yashiro let her eyes flutter shut when Hanako started combing her hair with his fingers. It was a nice feeling. He hummed nameless songs to her while continuing to play with her hair. She felt as if though she could fall asleep in his arms.
A flashing light caught her attention from the side of her vision. The effect of the lightning was more extreme with the power outage than what it usually would be. He put one hand over her ear and beckoned her head closer to him. This way he could still hold her and block out some of the noise.
She tried to forget about the impending racket by focusing on Hanako’s proximity. It came faster than last time, indicating that it was closer. She paid it little mind though, she felt safe in his arms, she always did.
While Hanako resumed playing with her hair, Yashiro cuddled even closer to him. To them, there was no such thing as personal space in this scenario.
Without giving it any thought, he positioned her head in a more fitting manner and pressed a soft kissed on top of her head. Yashiro just giggled a little nervously. Her breath tickled his skin through the fabric of his jacket.
She buried her head in the crook of his neck. She felt a little afraid that Hanako’s cold skin would get burned from the heat of her face. Especially after what she said next.
“I love you,” Yashiro mumbled.
“Hmm, what did you say?” he lied, pretending he didn’t hear her.
“I said, ‘thank you’”
“Ah... You’re welcome, Yashiro.”
He could feel her burning up, but he was no better right now.
Oh God, he loved her.