Fate/Stay Gakuen | Gilgamesh x OC: Hinako Suzuhana (AU)

(Summer) Chapter 17

"I need to talk to you, Suzuhana," se says, the serious look visible in his eyes.

"About what? You shouldn't have left Dio-kun alone in going home," she said as she walks a little closer to her senior.

"I needed to talk to you in private."

Hinako's eyes slightly widened, her heart starts to beat at a fast pace. She was unsure of what Gil wanted to talk to her about but somewhere at the back of her mind, she knows what he wants to say.

"If it's about what I said earlier, please, forget about it. I was just...lost in my emotions, that's all," Hinako lowers her head, placing a hand over her chest. "My mind just blurted out what I've been thinking for a few weeks now."

"No, I won't forget about it."

Hinako snapped her head up to look at Gil with shock. "W-Why? It's not that important, not for you, anyway."

"I do..."

"Huh?" Hinako was waiting for him to finish his sentence. "You what, senpai?"

"I do," Gil looks at Hinako with true intent in his eyes. "now accept you as someone who walks beside me in equal ground."

Hinako was surprised, astonished. Her long-time question was finally answered and it was answered personally by the man whom she wanted to hear it from. Looking back at the start of the school year, her relationship with Gil was as bad as it can get. They quarreled almost everyday whenever they pass by each other in the hallways and Hinako would always get ticked off whenever she is being called a 'mongrel'. It was her self-defense mechanism; she didn't want to be put down, just like Gil. The only difference was their approach in the situation.

"Senpai, are you...are you true in what you say?"

"Do you want me to take it back?" Gil became a little irritated. "I hate repeating what I say, okay? You should know that by now."

"I-It's just so hard for me to believe, senpai," Hinako felt a small warmth in her heart. She blushed lightly. "T-Thank you...for accepting me. Then, can I consider you...as my friend?"

Gil releases a sigh and scratches the back of his head. He looks away, slightly embarrassed. "I guess...you can call me that."

"My...friend, huh?" Hinako hung her head, tears threatening to leave her eyes due to stress and fatigue. "I'm so tired, senpai."

"Do not try to carry everything by yourself. Lose a little weight and let us carry some of it for you. After all, we are friends." 

Furin's voice echoed inside Hinako's head. She remembers her conversation with Marie and Furin earlier. She remembers having them as her new family. Hinako felt so stubborn even after all of that. She still decided to carry the weight by herself because she didn't want to drag others along. She felt that it wasn't right. She felt that the pain was hers to carry and hers alone.

Gil took out a futon and a pillow from a closet nearby and settled it down on the floor. He set it up so that Hinako can finally rest easy.

"You should rest if you're tired. You can skip class tomorrow, too," he suggested.

"I can't possibly skip classes. I can't miss a single lec-"

Gil flicked Hinako's forehead, to which she twitched in pain. She held her forehead, her eyes squirming, trying to hold in the pain.