"friends" -a tokomaru fanfiction-

friend. -toko-

"You're my best friend, Toko!"

"You're the greatest friend I've ever had, Toki."

"That's what friends are for!"

Who knew such a nice gesture of kindness could feel so, so bittersweet.

Why does Toko hate it when Komaru calls her a friend? She doesn't know, but her mind decides for her.

"Greedy."

"Snobby." 

"Pig."

"God, you should just be grateful she even likes you."

Toko has promised herself she would never love again, so why does this sensation feel so familiar?

No. Not love. Not after last time.

Still-

"Ahem." A voice from somewhere in front of her booms. Toko nearly leaps out of her skin, pushing up her glasses in a panic and almost breaking them in the process. A long, thin finger taps on her paper, which is not even halfway done.

"I hope you know this essay is due tomorrow, Fukawa." The teacher stares at her with a snake-like gaze. "5 paragraphs." Toko nods solemnly.

"I know." She meets the teacher's gaze. "You know p-perfectly well how quickly I can get that done." She retorts, narrowing her eyes at the older woman.

"Don't test me." The teacher snaps, slithering away.

Toko exhales. Was she holding her breath? She slowly zones out again.

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

"S-Sorry!" Toko yelps on instinct, tense. Her shoulders relax as she realizes it was only the bell. She gathers her things and shoves them into her bag. As she gets up to leave, a hand taps her on the shoulder.

"I didn't mean to!" Toko cries on instinct, again. She recognizes the voice before she even looks to see who it was.

"Oh, sorry, Toki. It's just me." Her voice is airy, and light as a feather. Toko instantly lets out a sigh of relief and turns towards her. Komaru Naegi, her best friend, and the person who has been with her for what feels like forever. Toko gets lost in her eyes, green, striking. She studies her face. Has Komaru always looked so pretty? A minute goes by in silence. 

"Uh. Toki?" Komaru gives her an awkward smile that looks scarily like her brother's. Toko jumps. Oops. 

"Sorry." Toko says, pulling her eyes away. God, Toko. Have you always been this hopeless? No, no. It doesn't matter. You're just friends. Komaru clasps her hands together with a loud clap. 

"I found a really good spot to eat lunch in!" Komaru is grinning her head off. Toko gives her a rare smile. Small, but still. Toko flinches backwards as Komaru reaches out to grab her hand. Komaru instantly understands and walks off, leading the way.

A cherry blossom slowly drifts down and lands on top of Toko's head, nearly getting tangled in her messy hair. Toko inhales lightly. Komaru had always smelt slightly like the petals mixed with a bit of honey, but now the scent was much more apparent, and slightly overwhelming. Toko rubs her eyes. Great, more distractions. She marches over to a spot on the grass with some small purple and green flowers and sits down, taking out her notebook and beginning to write.

Komaru instantly sits next to her, leaning over and plucking the blossom out of her hair. Toko holds her breath, her heart pounding so hard that she wonders if Komaru can hear it. She shoves her face into her book and starts writing. The silence is nice, honestly, but Komaru finally breaks it.

"Hey, Toki?"

Toko nearly drops her book and runs away. Komaru is so close to her that she can hear her heart beating nearly as fast as hers. She can feel the other girl's cold breath against her ear. Toko tightens her grip on her pen and tries to ignore her glasses fogging up.

"Yeah?"

"Sorry if it's rude of me to ask... you don't have to answer but-"

Toko bites her tongue.

"Why don't you ever eat? I don't think I've ever seen you eating before, now that I think of it."

Toko remains silent.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked." Komaru says.

They sit in silence for a few minutes. Once Toko's glasses unfog she realizes that her pen has broken and the shards of plastic are stabbing her hand. Blood trickles down onto the page.

"I have to go." Without thinking, Toko gets up and scurries away.

Leaving her book and the bloody pen laying on the grass.

end of chapter one

word count: 700.