Misaki
Advanced Nurturing High School; Library
The next day, during the weekend, my study group and I went to the library together, spending yet another day to prepare for the upcoming midterm test. Once we all got there, we looked around and again, we were missing one person. Just then, we heard the door of the library open.
"I'm here!" Tsukamoto shouted, erupting the entire room.
"Shhh!!!" the librarian hissed at him, telling him to be quiet. Tsukamoto apologized, then he came over to us.
"Tsukamoto!" said Azuma and Kawasaki.
"Sorry. Track was super busy...!" he said. "Well, I'm here now. Let's do this!" Tsukamoto clenched his fists, pumped up.
I nodded. "Since you were behind, you have some catching up to do. Hano and Karuizawa can fill you in on the notes you missed out on. And you also need to do some practice questions as well. We need to see how far you can go."
"D-Damn, all that...?" Tsukamoto shook his head and slapped his face. "Alright then! I'll do it!"
With that, our study group returned to normal and all of us focused on our studies, preparing ourselves to take on the dreadful test. We only have a couple days left, but the remaining time we had on our hands was plentiful. I had faith that our study group, no, our entire class will all pass it without any difficulty. Even if they didn't have a chance, I had a backup plan to make sure none of them would fail.
Five days later...
"Alright, let's stop and take a break, everyone." The second I told all of them that, they dropped their pens and let out sighs of exhaustion.
"F-Finally...if I went on any longer, it would've been game over for me..." said Kawasaki.
"I-It's too late for me...I can see my family now..." Azuma said jokingly.
"Ugh..." Tsukamoto laid his face down on the table, groaning and unable to move.
"Whew...that was hard..." said Ogawa. "I'm so tired..." she yawned.
"Come on Ogawa-san, just a few more hours to go!" said Hano.
"Noooo...!"
"Looks like we all did well," said Furukawa. "Isn't that right, Horikita-san?"
"Yes, we did. Now come on, let's all go get a drink." They all nodded and left the library together. As for me and Furukawa, the two of us stayed behind.
"Are you not going?" I asked him.
"I didn't see you going, so I thought I'd stay to watch over you."
"You didn't need to do that."
"I know," he said. "You're finally able to stand on your own now. And you managed to get some friends in the process."
"I wouldn't exactly call them friends. Well...I suppose Karuizawa's the only person out of them who I would call friend. And..." I turned to him. "...I suppose you as well."
Furukawa stared at me with his usual dark-gray eyes, then he turned away. "Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much" he said, quoting Helen Keller.
I sat down and laid my face down on the table, letting out a sigh. Then, I turned to look outside the window of the library. It was a sunny day, beautiful and warm. The sight of it wanted me to just step outside and bask in the sunlight. Just as I stared at it, my eyes started to close, and the light slowly became dimmer and dimmer, eventually fading into black.
Furukawa
"Hm..." The quiet sound of breathing could be heard next to me and I turned. Horikita had fallen asleep. From being the leader of the study group, helping Tsukamoto and the others study, it must've taken a toll on her energy.
"Furukawa-kun!" I turned and saw Karuizawa coming back to us and she saw Horikita, asleep on the table. "Oh..." she said quietly. "Horikita-san's sleeping huh? Hehe."
"Yeah, she is."
"Well, I just came back to see where you two were since you didn't come with us. We can't bring drinks in here, so we're going to be outside for a bit."
"Alright. Get something to eat while you're at it. You might need it."
"Thank you, Furukawa-kun." Karuizawa waved, then she turned back and left.
"Horikita?" I said, calling her name. There was no response, meaning she was indeed asleep. "Hm. Horikita Misaki...you're a very interesting person..."