Welcoming Death - Hololive Fanfiction [ONGOING]

CHAPTER 3: FEARS ARE MEANT TO BE OVERCOME

"Ina! There you are!" Kiara giggled, waving at Ina to join her, Gura and Amelia as they went to the class they all shared. She smiled, looking at Ina expectantly to come over and join them. They all even slowed their paces so Ina could come to them easily.

Just when Ina was about to run up to them, Mori passed with her hair waving in the wind just like before. Almost dizzyingly, Ina trudged towards the girl until jogging up to stay in pace with Mori's large strides. "C-Calli!" Ina called out, catching up to Mori on the next day. She walked side-by-side to Mori, fitting comfortably next to her. Mori even seemed quite happy to see the girl.

She smiled, gratefully as she was happy to get some nice company. "Hey... are you sure you wanna go with me?" Calli spoke, doubtful of Ina's decision to stay with her.

"I just wanted to talk to you for a bit! I won't stay for long...", Ina spoke quickly, in fear she might actually be intruding on Calli. 'She wouldn't be insisting on me going with Kiara if she really wanted me here...', In her mind, Ina had already summarised why Calli was so on edge about her walking with her.

The corner of Calli's mouth twitched upwards until returning to her usual expression. "So, what is it?" Calli's eyes darted up towards Kiara's group: Amelia stared at Calli long and hard, Gura with a softer expression but terrified nonetheless and Kiara who looked downcast at the sight of Ina and Calli. "Make it quick, since I think your friends have a problem with me."

Ina looked between Calli and Kiara, sweating. 'If Mori got close to the group, maybe Kiara can feel a little better.' She felt as if she'd regret this, however...

"Join us during lunch today... i-if you want! I know you're scared but I'm sure they'll get along with you." Calli's eyebrows furrowed at the thought.

"Does that mean that I'll hang out with you too?", Ina thought back on what Calli said so pitifully before. She knew Calli was quite scared of Kiara, added with how hostile the other two looked toward her so... If Ina were to...

"I'll be there too so... yeah." At that, Calli's expression gently softened at the idea, looking at Ina fondly. When Calli didn't answer straight away, Ina spoke further, "I mean like, we're not close but like... I think it'd be nice to have you around since you were quite nice to talk to." Ina's face reddened at the admission, looking down at the ground.

"We'll see." Calli spoke nonchalantly, looking off to the classroom's general direction. "I'll see you around, Ina." She waved without looking behind and walked off without a single word after. Her hair and jacket moved in tandem with her steps.

As Ina looked closely at the small details that made Calliope Mori, the three girls walked over and stared with her.

Amelia spoke first, "Mori, hey?" With a dubious tone, she nudged Ina with a suspecting glance. "I thought we addressed the fact she was bad news."

"She's not! Did you see how she talked to Ina?" Kiara spoke in turn, turning to Amelia.

As Kiara and Amelia bickered, Ina glanced down at her notebook. Gura couldn't help but follow her eye, sighing. "She's that good, huh?"

...

Lunch came quickly, but not for Ina. She impatiently waited the time to pass for Calli's debut in their friendship group. So much so, her book was filled up to the brim of Calli's portrait. Many angles from her face to her back. There were so many details that Ina liked about Calli's figure. Mainly how Calli would often brush her bangs away because of how overgrown they had become. It was a small but beautiful occurrence that Ina had filled one page just drawing her brushing off her hair.