Kanao Can't Communicate

•~chapter forty-seven: too sweet~•

"N... aah, it's just one juice. Okay." Sayuri said, smiling brightly amidst a cold look of disapproval from Ayaka.

"Okay... let's try this again. My brother's company is going in debt. Can you give me 100,000 yen?" Ayaka asked again.

"Debt?!" Sayuri asked in panic. "I'll do my best!"

"Noooo." Ayaka groaned, slumping forward onto the table where she ate.

"How about we light fireworks on the roof?" Yoimiya wondered.

"I know you love fireworks, but not at school, Yoi." Ayaka said, but then she had to yell over Sayuri's reply of 'Okay!' again.

Ayaka went red in the face, and Sayuri looked at her in concern.

"Lots of business meetings with your brother are taking a toll on you. Do you want a glass of water?" Sayuri asked the now silent Ayaka.

When Ayaka didn't respond, Sayuri giggled nervously and asked, "Doesn't it make you guys feel good, when you do things for others? That's just why I can't say no..."

"But if you say yes to everyone, you'll end up getting tricked one day." Ayaka argued. "Being kind is good, but if you spoil people all the time, they'll become hopeless fail-"

"Hey, Hamamoto-chan, pass us that ball!"

"Okay!"

"I was in the middle of a sentence!"

✧•✧•✧

Hmmmm. Sayuri pondered as she headed down the hall. Am I too nice to people?

Sayuri's thoughts were interrupted as someone by the hallway bulletin board called, "Hey you, with the braid? Can you hold up the corner of this poster while I pin it?"

Of course, Sayuri couldn't say no, and for a while she held up the corner of the poster happily without any care.

But suddenly...

"Hey, can you hold this?"

"Okay!"

"Hey, can you thread this needle?"

"Yep!"

"Can you assist me with this really quick?"

"S-sure!"

Pretty soon, Sayuri's arms were full of items, and between holding the poster and holding all that was requested of her, she couldn't help but wobble and feel a little overworked.

After finishing up all the requests, Sayuri bid farewell to everyone else and headed back to classroom 2-B.

When she opened the door, however, she nearly crashed into Tanjiro, who was struggling to carry a stack a papers that was (literally) ceiling high. Kanao was following close behind him.

"Are you alright?" Sayuri asked, and to which Tanjiro replied, "Yes, thank you."

Staring up apprehensively at the large paper stack that threatened to fall at any second, Sayuri asked, "If you're taking all those to the staff room, I'll take them all for you."

"Eh?" Tanjiro asked. "No no. It's really heavy, and I don't want to burden you with these."

"No, it's fine." Sayuri waved off Tanjiro's protests and was soon carrying the mountain of paper. And, turning to Kanao, she said, "Oh, Kanao! If you need anything, I'm the person to ask!"

And she wobbled out the door.

She didn't get a step farther when the pile of papers suddenly shifted, and someone lifted a portion off the top.

It was Kanao.

"Huh?" Sayuri asked. "I can handle it, don't worry!"

Sayuri... same for you. If you need anything, please, just ask me. Kanao wrote, much to Sayuri's shock.

"You don't have to do it all. I'll take half of these, and you two take the rest." Tanjiro said, taking more of the papers.

Soon, after walking a short distance, the papers were all packed up and filed away in the office.

"Thank you, Sayuri, Kanao." Tanjiro said gratefully. "You two saved me."

Kanao nodded, but Sayuri was unusually silent.

Come to think of it... I've never asked for a favor before. From anybody. Sayuri thought.

She thought about what Kanao had written earlier.

If you need anything, please, just ask me.

"A... Ahem, actually, Kanao..." Sayuri murmured, going red in the face. "I... go to the classroom every morning, and try to make it nicer by, uh, wiping off the desks and... and rearranging them..."

"If it's possible..."

"Could you help me?"

✧•✧•✧

Kanao made a new friend out of Hamamoto Sayuri, and cleaning the classroom became a family routine.

✧•✧•✧

Hamamoto Sayuri belongs to yours truly!