Drops A/N: Heeelooo~! Enjoy the chapter~
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It had been close to two weeks since Kaiyo was admitted to the hospital. Rimu slept over at the hospital in her in the room since he was adamant about not leaving her alone and commutes to and fro the hospital and school. She occasionally gets visits from her friends, Sakura and Amaro, who would come by whenever they could, bringing over snacks and her schoolwork.
There were often visits from Anna and either Kusanagi or Mikoto accompanying her. Whenever Mikoto visits, he would have this unreadable expression on his face—an expression Kaiyo can't seem to decipher. It was as if it was a mixed pool of negative emotions, care and regards painted on his face; ever constantly changing.
No talks would be exchanged. Only Anna would talk with her. From time to time, Kaiyo would make eye-contact with him. But none of them would say a word. She would be the first to break the eye-contact, feeling the uncomfortableness from his gaze.
As the time went by, Kaiyo was finally given the clearance to be discharged.
She fought over the hospital bills with Kusanagi and it ended up with Mikoto dragging her by the back of her collar away from the reception. Ultimately, Kusanagi paid the bills on Kaiyo's behalf.
And she felt heavy about it. The bills were not light. At least she could have helped in paying a good amount from her savings.
A sigh left her lips as she put down the chopsticks she was holding in her hand.
"What's wrong Kai-chan?" Sakura heard her loud sigh. "Are you not feeling well?"
Kaiyo shook her head. "No, it's nothing."
"Really? Are you sure? You have just been discharged yesterday. Take it easy." Amaro pointed his chopsticks at the ravenette sitting in front of him. "You were in a serious state and yet you were discharged within two weeks. That's unbelievable, but again," Amaro huffed, "you're unbelievable."
Kaiyo deadpanned. ".... You make it sound as if I'm an alien."
He shoved rice into his mouth and spoke. "Aren't you one?"
Kaiyo's eyes twitched. She pushed her glasses higher up the bridge of her nose.
"Hey! Don't be mean to a sick person!" Sakura scolded him, whacking him on his shoulder. They started to bicker and Kaiyo watched the interaction with a smile growing on her face.
"Thank you."
Sakura and Amaro stopped talking and turned their heads to face Kaiyo.
Amaro, "For?"
Kaiyo didn't answer back; only responding with a smile on her face.
Three days passed by quickly and it was Friday afternoon. The last school bell rang, signalling the end of class. Teachers left and students filtered out from their classrooms, filling the hallways.
Kaiyo let out a breath from her mouth and packed the things on her desk into her bag. Her eyes lingered on the back of her left hand.
It had been days. She had never seen nor spoke to any of the Red Clan members ever since getting discharged from the hospital.
Her eyes stayed there for a few more seconds before she continued stuffing her things into her bag. As she zipped her bag fully, Sakura bounded by her table.
Sakura, "Kai-chan!"
Kaiyo looked up to see Sakura beaming at her.
After an incident in the hospital with Mikoto and Soma, Sakura and Amaro who were kept in the dark regarding the different Clans and Strains, now knew what they were after they saw Mikoto's hands lit up with fire. Why they were kept in the dark from their family members will be another story for another day.
Sakura was asked to keep her knowledge of knowing her brother—Kusanagi—is in the Red Clan a secret from her parents as a promise from Kusanagi himself in exchange for explaining the existence of the Clans and Strains and their stories.
Amaro and Sakura now knew what Kaiyo's healing abilities were. The yellowish-green coloured aura that will cover over her hands whenever she healed someone. They promised not to tell anyone as not many people knew she was a Strain.
Sakura opened her mouth to ask something before she stopped and pointed to her right hand. "Your right hand is bandaged?"
"Ah." Her question brought Kaiyo from her thoughts. Kaiyo lifted her right hand. It was bandaged from her knuckles to her wrist. "Well... I kind injured my hand a bit when I was moving furniture around the house and it's currently feeling sore. So, I bandaged it to support the aching muscles."
Sakura stared at her friend's hand. There was a slight frown on it as she stepped forward and grasped her hand in her own ones to inspect the wrapping. She then lightly squeezed the hand.
Kaiyo pulled her hand back almost immediately. "What are you trying to do to an injured person's hand?" She cradled her right hand to her chest, sending Sakura a look of wariness and fake hurt.
Sakura stared at her face for a while longer before shaking her head. "Sorry, my bad." She smiled. "Anyways, are we going to the mall right this instance?" Sakura asked.
Kaiyo nodded her head.
"The mall?" Amaro came over at that moment. "How come?"
Kaiyo's mouth formed an 'o' before she answered him. "I asked her to help me with something."
"And what is that something?"
"Girls' shopping time!" Sakura responded sweetly.
Amaro gave a stink eye towards his female friends. "Tsk... Girls."
Sakura giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.
Just then, two people appeared from the classroom's door and approached the three of them.
"I knew you were still here Sakomoto-senpai."
Kaiyo's eyes blinked once before she turned her head to the side. Her eyes met with brown ones. She then looked to the person by his side.
"Yukimura-san? Koyou-san?"
The male smiled widely and nodded his head. Koyou waved her hand in a greeting.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"We came here to remind you about the party we will be having later in the evening. You weren't answering the texts, so we came over personally."
Kaiyo blinked once again before pulling out her phone from her bag. She then saw the number of text messages on her lock screen.
"Ah, apologise. I haven't been paying attention to my phone for the day."
Yukimura, "Will you be coming, Senpai?"
A smile graced her face and she looked back at Yukimura. "Of course. I will be there. The two of you and the juniors will come and chide me if I were not to appear."
"That's great!!" Koyou was happy. Yukimura and Koyou were each the upcoming Captain and Vice-Captain for the kendo club respectively. They were the ones who took most of the parts of planning this party. It would be sad if one of the main players—graduating members—weren't there to celebrate with the rest of the club members.
"Where will the location be though?" Kaiyo asked for a confirmation since she was told the location would be shared with them on the day itself.
Yukimura grinned. "It's a farewell party and like Instructor said, to part ways with a proper and admirable farewell, that will be the best for all!"
Koyou, "So we thought about having it at the bar in the central."
Kaiyo felt the tingles going down her back. 'Don't tell me...'
Koyou, "We found it recently, so we booked the whole place for a few hours. I have heard the Karate club did so a while ago. So, we thought why not?"
Yukimura, "HOMRA is the name of the bar."
A gasp got stuck in her throat. Her eyes glanced between Yukimura and Koyou.
"Is something wrong, Sakomoto-senpai? Is the location too..." Koyou trailed off.
Kaiyo regained her senses and shook her head. She could never say no to them because they were the ones who planned the party. "No no.. it's alright. The location is fine with me."
Koyou brightened up and cheerily said, "Alright! Then we will see you there! The party starts at 5pm!" The two of them then waved their hands and left the classroom as quickly as they came over.
Kaiyo let out the air that was stuck in her throat with a sigh.
Sakura chimed in at that moment. "Isn't that great? You can immediately return the item back rather than wait for another week."
Kaiyo looked up at her friend who seemed to be happy for her before nodding her head, looking down at her phone screen that had lighted up with a notification with the word 'HOMRA' in the text message.
'Looks like I'm meeting them earlier than I had planned...'
--Why are things going this way...?
Kaiyo took the recyclable paper bag from the counter person and thanked the person before walking out of the store with Sakura by her side. Kaiyo took the other bag she had left with Sakura and carried it herself. With a smile on her face, Kaiyo turned to face Sakura as they walked towards the escalator. "Thank you for helping me, Sakura-chan."
Sakura waved her hand. "There's no need to thank me!" A bright wide smile stretched across her lips. "I'm just glad that you're fine now and we can spend some quality girls' time with each other without that Amaro-kun."
Kaiyo tittered. "You say that," a sly smile grew on her face, "but you still like him."
Surprised by the sudden statement, Sakura shook her head vigorously. "W-What are you talking about? I don't like him! He's so annoying every time!!"
"You guys butt heads with each other almost every day."
"That's why I said I don't like him! If I liked someone, I wouldn't do that!"
"It's very obvious by the way. Just saying~"
Kaiyo saw as the blush that was only a light tint on Sakura's face at the start had already grown to a deeper shade of pink dusting on her cheeks and up to the tips of her ears.
"N-No! You have misunderstood! Kai-chan!!"
A heartfelt laugh left Kaiyo as she covered her mouth with her bandaged hand. "Whatever goes your way, Sakura-chan~" She hummed.
"Kai-chan!!"
The two females squabbled at each other. Whenever Sakura denied anything, Kaiyo would retort back and explain each and every embarrassing moment that had transpired between her and Amaro; stating them as evidence for her claim. The growing blush on Sakura's face just made it more obvious.
Eventually they had left the mall and turned a corner to walk down a street. Kaiyo took out her phone when she felt it vibrate in her pocket. Her phone lit up as she tapped onto the screen.
"Are you going to HOMRA right now?"
Kaiyo nodded her head at Sakura's question. "It's starting soon. This shopping trip took longer than expected, and I can't really be late for this," she laughed dryly, "otherwise the stepping down Captain and the new Captain will start nagging at me."
Sakura stared at Kaiyo who was typing away on her phone, replying to the message that she had received. A small smile spread on her face as she spoke, "It's good."
Kaiyo raised a brow at her statement but didn't stop her typing. "What are you talking about?"
"You have people who don't think badly of you and see you as who you are."
Kaiyo's thumb paused before the send button upon hearing that statement.
"There are lesser people showing you prejudice and discriminating against you. More people are accepting you." Sakura explained her statement further. "There's this new person in your Kendo club and there's that Gabriel-san in your Karate club was it, and many others! I think that's a good start. But it's sad that it's only applicable for those in your clubs..."
"... Sakura-chan."
"Hm?"
Kaiyo tapped on the button to send her message before keeping her phone. She then turned her head to look at Sakura as they walked down the street. Kaiyo had a blank look on her face.
"Not everyone in the club feels that way..."
"But there are more people. I think that's really great!" Sakura beamed happily before her face fell slightly. "You have... been suffering for a long time, Kaiyo-chan... From those who treats you badly to the spread of rumours. Accept the people around you. They may not know you as much, but they are your school mates who see past rumours and appearances. Don't push them away."
Sakura knew that there were times when Kaiyo pushes her and Amaro away at a distance. But even a small step counts as she said not to push those new people away; that small step may be worth in the future, so she was taking it.
'That's kind of hard.' Kaiyo thought in her head as she kept quiet.
--... Trust?
As Kaiyo was mulling over her thoughts, she broke out of it when Sakura let out an 'oh!'.
"This is really last minute, but since you're going to HOMRA, I will be going as well!"
Kaiyo stared at her for a few seconds before smiling and nodded her head. Heading towards HOMRA, Kaiyo saw a glimpse of blue at the corner of her eyes where her glasses couldn't cover her sight. Her head subconsciously turned to that direction; her eyes looking towards a person.
The person was donned in regular people's clothing but Kaiyo was sure of the Blue colour that had surrounded him before she couldn't see it anymore due to her glasses. He was the only person standing in the direction she was looking at.
Kaiyo gave a quick glance of his appearance before she looked back front. 'Messy unkempt hair and wears spectacles.' That thought crossed her mind.
Eventually, the both of them had reached the bar. Walking up the steps, Sakura opened the door first. They were greeted with the sight of people in the same school uniforms as them filling up the seats in the bar.
"Ah Sakomoto-san! You're here!"
Kaiyo saw Yukimura standing up from his seat and approaching her and Sakura.
"I'm not late, am I?" Kaiyo asked when she saw the various people stopping their mid-activity.
"No, you're not late. Just in the nick of time."
"That's good, I thought I was."
Kaiyo felt a push behind her and she turned her head to see Sakura waving her hands. "Enjoy yourself! I will be in the kitchen to help my big brother as always." Sending Kaiyo a wink, Sakura skipped towards the kitchen.
"There are a few others who will be running late. So, while waiting for them, we are just lounging around with refreshments." Yukimura said.
"Hey Sakomoto-senpai!!" One of the juniors called. Kaiyo turned her head. She watched as the junior who called her held up a cup before a few other people followed as well. "Senpai! Come join us! We would like to ask you a few questions as well!!"
"Hey there's us as well!!" One of the other seniors yelled out from across the bar.
Hearing them speak so lively, Sakura words came to her mind.
======
"You have... been suffering for a long time, Kaiyo-chan... From those who treats you badly to the spread of rumours. Accept the people around you. They may not know you as much, but they are your school mates who see past rumours and appearances. Don't push them away."
======
Kaiyo's eyes fell for a second as they darkened before they blinked and the glazed look was gone at that instance.
--Can I really...
Her feet moved forward. "What is it?" She asked as she approached the group.
Since they were the new incoming members, they started conversing; starting out with how she felt about leaving the club.
By the time she had finished her small speech, the other members who were running late had arrived. The party eventually started out with a welcome greeting to the incoming members before adding on that the seniors will be leaving the club and thus this celebration was for them all to enjoy which was the main event of the day.
Kaiyo excused herself from the group for a minute, saying that she would need to text her brother about her current location. Taking out her phone, she stood up from her seat. Her feet subconsciously started walking off as her thumbs typed on the screen.
'I'm currently in HOMRA for my Kendo club's seniors' goodbye celebration. Do you want to come over after school? It would end in an hour or two.' She sent that quick message.
Before a minute had passed by, there was a reply. 'It's at HOMRA too? What a coincidence! School had just ended, so I will go over now. See you there, nee-san!'
Reading the message, Kaiyo smiled widely before sending a reply back. 'Watch for the roads.'
"Kaiyo-chan." A voice called out. She lifted her head up to see Kusanagi standing in front of her with a cloth in his hands. He had just walked out from the kitchen. Only the counter-top bar and the stools separated them. Kaiyo blinked in confusion before she realised she had been walking.
"You're part of this club as well? I had never expected that." Kusanagi raised a brow in what seemed to be amusement.
"What a coincidence."
"Ah, yeah..." Kaiyo trailed off, her eyes moving to the side to avoid the male's eyes. "What a coincidence indeed."
Kaiyo kept her phone. Amidst the celebration, these two started the conversation.
Kusanagi poured a cup of water, placing it on the counter and pushed it forward. Kaiyo didn't sit on the stool but accepted the cup with a 'thank you'.
"It's been a long time since we have last seen each other," said Kusanagi.
Kaiyo's lips parted slightly. She subconsciously thought about that incident in the hospital. She closed her mouth a few seconds later. Her left hand that held the cup tightened. "... Yeah."
Kusanagi saw the expression on her face and quickly added on. "We have yet to tell anyone about your situation." He could guess what her thoughts would be.
She looked up. Questions filled her head and she asked one of them after hesitating. "Why not?"
He placed the dried plate onto the table. "We didn't want to trouble you if our members went to find you. So we thought it would be best spoken about when you're physically here."
She stared at Kusanagi who was looking back at her before she opened her mouth. Her words were taken away from her when she heard her name from the side. The voices talking in the bar quietened down as multiple heads turned.
They saw a white-haired female standing by the bottom of the stairs.
"Anna?" The female's name left Kaiyo's lips.
"Kaiyo!" Anna sped walk towards the ravenette. Anna stopped in front of the ravenette. Her eyes were glittering a little. "Are you here to visit?" She asked with a hint of excitement in her speech.
Kaiyo placed the cup she was holding onto the counter table. "Ah, I'm here on a..." Kaiyo turned her head towards the audience watching her, "celebration.... Again."
"Oho who's that Sakomoto-san?" One of the members asked.
"She's cute!"
A few whistles filled the bar.
Anna hid behind Kaiyo. Kaiyo looked at her. "You get lots of... bad attention huh, Anna-chan." Kaiyo sent a few people the stink eye. They flinched from the glare and quickly apologised for their behaviour.
"Who's she?" Koyou came over and leaned down, sending Anna a smile.
Kusanagi walked out from the countertop table. "She's with me. I'm sorry." Kusanagi pulled on Anna's hand, directing her away. "Let's not disturb them. Sakura-chan is in the back helping with the food, do you want to help out as well?" He then led Anna to the kitchen.
"You're quite popular wherever you are eh, Sakomoto-senpai." A junior commented.
Kaiyo didn't reply to him; not feeling up to it since she could hear the sarcasm coming from him. He was one of the few who picks on her despite her being his senior by two years.
She went back to conversing with the group of juniors and some other members who are the graduating members graduating with her. When she was asked to show some example moves, she did so with a smile on her face. When someone asked her for a spar, she shook her head and warned them about breaking anything in the bar lest they angered the demon cooking in the kitchen.
"Will you miss the kendo club?" Someone asked.
Kaiyo tensed up. Her mind subconsciously started to replay the memories in her head. She remembered back when some seniors from the previous batch looked down on her and pushed her to the ground. She stood back up and showed them what she could do and gained some of their recognition. For those she couldn't gain, she was further insulted, but she continued to step forward since she was used to it. It further replayed and she remembered the ones where she had the most fun while in the club. The hardships she had faced in the training with the rest of the team, winning and losing competitions and the emotions they brought out from the members who participated as well as those who were supporting them. The happy faces of the members.
A small, benign smile grew on her lips and she nodded her head. "I will. I'm quite sure I will." She answered.
Rimu entered the bar then and only Kaiyo saw his arrival. The party was still going on and everyone was too busy to notice a new person.
Kaiyo smiled widely towards her brother and stood up from her seat, excusing herself from the party. She approached Rimu who stood by the first stool by the countertop table.
"Nee-san!" Rimu beamed happily.
"You're here. The party will still go on for an hour or so though."
"It's fine! I can sit here and do my schoolwork." Saying so, Rimu pulled out the stool. While he did so, Sakura had walked out from the kitchen. She saw Rimu and Kaiyo and waved her hand. "Oh, Rimu-kun is here too!"
"Sakura-nee-san." Rimu greeted as he sat on the stool.
"You're as hardworking as always," Sakura commented, seeing him pulling out a few pieces of paper, a book and pens. She turned towards Kaiyo. "I will take care of him. Go back and enjoy the party." She urged Kaiyo to return.
Kaiyo was slightly reluctant to leave Rimu here. But when he as well, urged her to return back to the party, she couldn't help but do so.