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"I spoke to Amane in the Yorishiro's memory."
The room became quiet for a moment...
"WHAAAAAT!?"
Before complete chaos ensued.
"Y-You spoke to him?! What did he say? Was it scary? Did he hurt you?"
A flurry of worried and erratic questions simply flew out of Yashiro's mouth, but she wasn't the only one, Kou seemed surprised as well.
"You can interact with Yorishiro memories, Senpai?"
"Mhm, I was able to speak to Misaki before, but this time it felt different. Hanako-kun seemed to somehow know that I was there, it was as if he... knew me."
His fond smile burned itself into your memory, the connection you felt between you and him, it was unmistakable, pure fondness. But there was another underlying feeling between the two of you, something you couldn't fully understand.
"In the Yorishiro's memories, everything felt still. I couldn't sense anything at all. But deep down, I could still feel our connection somewhere. I felt his excitement and his pain."
"Hanako-Kun is our friend. I want to help him no matter what happens. But I'm still unsure on how to help..."
Yashiro's eyes widened, her magenta eyes scanning your [e/c] ones.
"Me too..."
"There's probably nothing I can do. I don't have powers like you or Minamoto-kun, but... I want to help him in any way I can."
"What should I do...?" She turned away from you and Kou, sniffling and wiping tears from her eyes.
Kou, who had been quiet for the most part, finally spoke up, putting down the chopsticks and walking over to the two of you with a smile.
"I'm with you."
"I wasn't sure either. Should I exorcise him, or not? What's the right thing to do? For now, instead of the right thing to do, I want to make up my mind on what I want to do."
He raised his calloused yet gentle hands up, a warm smile never leaving his face.
"We all don't know what we should do. We really are birds of a feather, huh? Let's all try, together."
You returned his warm smile, tapping one of your hands on his. Yashiro quickly mirrored your expression, a bright smile taking over her once sad one. She tapped his hand as well, causing a satisfying 'smack'.
"Yeah!"
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The three of you stood over the pile of piping hot donuts you created. You smiled in awe at the sight of the perfectly made treats.
"All right! They're done!" Kou yelled, wiping a bit of drool from his mouth.
Yashiro placed the last pink, cutely shaped, bear food pick in the donuts, and stepped back with an astonished expression.
"Wow!" She exclaimed.
"They look tasty." Kou chimed in.
Even the mokke, who were previously close to death because of Kou's cooking, looked rejuvenated and excited.
"This may be my best batch ever!" Yashiro picked up one of the donuts, her bright smile never faltering.
Turning to you, she places the donut close to your mouth, anticipation glossing over her colorful eyes.
"Try it, Y/N-Chan! You should like it."
You nodded with a smile before biting down into the soft, tasty, donut. A burst of warmness washed over your tongue, and you couldn't help but hum in satisfaction.
"Waah! It's really good! Better than anything I could make." You smile like a child in a candy store, eyes sparkling with kiddish glee.
Beside you, Kou shuffled from side to side. A small, bashful, smile formed on his face.
"H-Hey! Y-You can have some of mine, Y/N-senpai!" Kou shouted, a small tint of pink shading his cheeks.
"Try mine! Try mine!" A Mokke shouted, pushing another donut towards you. M
"But I've barely finished this one..." A sweatdrop slid down your cheek as you looked at the two of them.
Hesitantly, you reached your hand out to take the donut offered by Kou, but he flinched back suddenly, making you jump.
Whack!
"N-So-Chan?!" Kou yelled. rubbing his head where he had been hit.
"Minamoto-senpai!" Yashiro yelled, causing you to flinch.
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"Kou-Kun's older brother...?"
You instantly thought back to when you had seen him on the roof. The way he looked at you, with mistrust and disdain, it made you shiver.
"Who bought those ingredients, again? Feeding them to other people, not even inviting me, your big brother, Kou?" The older blonde pulled the younger one into a strong headlock, slowly squeezing the life out of him with a carefree smile.
But then his gaze flickered to yours, sharp and calculating. You couldn't decipher exactly what emotion his soul was excreting, he was hiding it, much like Hanako-Kun.
"So, Y/N-San. You must be close to my little brother if he's feeding you so shamelessly, hm?"
Despite your uneasiness, you nodded confidently gaze never faltering from his.
"Yes. Kou-Kun is one of my closest friends."
This made the younger Minamoto blush brightly, squiggling under his brother's iron grip in embarrassment. Ignoring his brother's abrupt movements, Minamoto stared at you with a blank look, frown deepening.
"I see..." Then suddenly, he smiled again.
"I guess I should be grateful then. A Sourukonekutā attending this school, let alone befriending my younger brother? How rare!"
Letting go of his brother, Minamoto-Kun glided over to you with a fond smile, grasping both of your hands.
"I'm truly sorry about how I treated you last time we met, I sensed such strong spiritual energy coming from your being, I mistook you for an evil apparition!"
"Thanks to Kou, I've learned from my mistake. Will you please forgive me?"
His face sparkled as he looked down at you, good intention practically radiating from his body. Additionally, you could sense a soul connection between you and him, which made you inwardly sigh with relief.
"Well, if that's the case, of course, I forgive you Senpai!" You radiantly smiled, softly pulling his hands closer to your heart.
"Oh thank goodness, that's great to hear." He smiled back, giving your hands one last gentle squeeze before letting go.
He then turned to Yashiro, who had been watching the two of you interact with a slightly worried gaze. She instantly perked up at his attention, worry becoming replaced with love and admiration.
"Hi there, Yashiro-San. Are you making donuts too?" Minamoto-Kun questioned, giving Yashiro a fond smile.
"Y-Yes..." She mumbled, holding up one of the donuts to hide her smile. You sensed a strong, lovely feeling coming from her soul, something that you've come to familiarize yourself with ever since you met her.
"Kou-kun asked us to help him because he's bad at cooking!"
"Huh? Kou's a great coo--" Minamoto-kun looked down at the two of you with a confused look.
Before he could finish his sentence, his younger brother rushed towards him with a donut, shoving it in his mouth frantically. He then rushes towards the donuts and hastily stuffs them into a bag, throwing any nearby Mokke in the process.
"Senpais! Here!" He stated, shoving the bag of donuts in your direction.
He then leaned in close to you and Yashiro, covering his mouth to hide his words.
"Donuts are his favorite food, right? it'll make you happy if you give him some."
"Hah... Kou, stuffing a donut in someone's mouth is--"
"What's that, Nii-chan? You want seconds?!" The older blonde had barely wiped the crumbs from his mouth before his younger brother stuffed yet another one in his mouth.
"We're..." Beside you, Yashiro looked down at the bag of sweets, the turned to you, grabbing your hand suddenly and pulling you to the door.
"Going to see Hanako-Kun!"
"Have fun!" Kou smiled, leaning out of the doorway to see you two off.
"Ah! Wait!" You tugged lightly on Yashiro's hand.
"Thank you both for hanging out with me today! I've been feeling down lately, but being around you two gave me hope."
"Kou-Kun, Nene-Chan... Thanks for becoming friends with me. I'm forever grateful!"
You smiled happily, not even the sun could compare to your radiance at that moment. Kou gave you a curt nod, his cheeks continued to redden due to how close you were. Yashiro simply smiled at you, linking her arm with yours.
And just like that the two of you were off, down the golden orange hallway, arm in arm.
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"You're "bad at cooking", now? You do all the housekeeping at home."
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