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Naomi watches intently as Seiko bandages up her sprained ankle. Her warm fingers skillfully wrap around her foot, cautious not to wrap the bandage up too tight. Now with the first rush of adrenaline subsiding, it does hurt a little more than expected.
"Thanks", Naomi says, wiggling her foot, "It already feels a lot better." It actually does, now reinforced by the bandage, and she's still a bit distracted by the lingering fear of being locked in here.
Seiko salutes her, before her expression turns stern. "Naomi needs to rest now! Let's lay down for a while, and then we'll find a way out!"
Naomi smiles. She is eternally grateful they ended up together. She wouldn't know what to do without bright, cheerful Seiko at her side, who makes everything feel half as bad. Who makes her feel like as long as they are together, they'll be getting out of here in no time.
There is a patient's bed in the infirmary, and the both of them shuffle onto the blanket. Naomi tugs her paper piece out of her pocket and holds it against the light. As long as everyone had their piece, they'll be fine, right? Her friends will be okay. They have to be.
"Hey, Naomi."
Naomi secures the charm piece back into her pocket and turns to look at Seiko. She lays there with her arms clutched to her chest, a blush on her cheeks and her eyes closed. "Let's always stay together, okay?"
Naomi huffs and rolls to her side, Seiko blinking back at her. "Of course. We'll always be friends."
Seiko's eyes turn glossy for a moment. Her lips part, but close again, as if she wants to say something but doesn't. "Uh huh! I bet Naomi can't wait to see Mochida-kun! Kiss kiss kiss!" She makes noises with her lips and Naomi hides her face behind her hands.
"Not even true! Stop it!"
Seiko sobers, the smile returning to her lips, but it looks more solemn this time. "Do you have a crush on Mochida-kun, Naomi?"
Naomi's eyes dart to the pillow, humming. "I don't know. How would you be able to tell?"
Seiko's smile widens, and she half heartedly flicks her fingers against Naomi's hair. "You'd always want to spend time with that person, and do sleepovers and go to school together. And being with them makes your chest feel all fuzzy and warm, and you can't help but smile when they're around. And you feel like you always want to be around them, to treasure them forever. And the thought of ever being apart makes you sad, but even if they moved on to someone else, you'd still support them."
Naomi furrows her eyebrows. Seiko isn't looking at her, fumbling with her fingers instead. Her blush has deepened, and Naomi thinks her brown eyes are teary.
"Hey, Seiko?"
Seiko looks up, smiling again. "Yeah?"
"I don't feel that way about Mochida-kun."
Seiko blinks at her, incredulous, before she closes her eyes and beams. "Oh. That's okay! I'm sure he'll-"
"No." Naomi reaches out her hand, softly taking Seiko's. Seiko stills, her eyes wide and mute, and Naomi shuffles towards her to lay nearly nose on nose with her.
"He doesn't, because you already do."
All this time she denied what should have been so obvious. The way Seiko always sees the positive, even if her life is hard. The way she'll always make time for Naomi, when nobody else does. How she willingly stays up the night and loses sleep for her without a second thought. It's so obvious, isn't it?
"Naomi", Seiko whispers, "Is that true?"
"Yeah", she returns, "Yeah. I've known for a while, but I guess I... I was scared. I don't even know what I was scared of... Maybe rejection? But you'd never reject me... I'm sorry."
"Hehe..." Seiko softly moves her head, brushing the tip of her nose against Naomi's. "I love you, Naomi", she says, and it's not the first time she does.
Naomi has heard those words out of her mouth so many times, but she never took them that way.
"I love you too, Seiko", she says, "More than friends."
"More than friends", Seiko echoes. Silent tears are pooling over her face now, and Naomi aches under the thought of how long Seiko was carrying this burden. Her unwavering love for Naomi, and she never returned it in the way Seiko yearned for. The way Seiko deserves. The way Naomi denied herself to feel about her best friend.
She can't undo her hesitancy, the past is already written. But today, she can close that final gap between them, and softly unite her lips with Seiko's.
Seiko's eyes turn into deep brown pools, open wide and watery, and she gasps softly when Naomi doesn't pull away. Naomi snakes her hand around Seiko's head, pulls her close, shuffles her body against hers. Feels her warmth and her breath ghosting over her face and the way Seiko's heart runs a mile under her touch.
She has to pull away eventually, both breathless, Seiko's eyes sparkling in the dim light of the infirmary.
A few heartbeats of silence pass, but it's not tense. Then Seiko jerks her head away.
"Oh." She abruptly sits up, still looking flustered, scratching the back of her neck. "It seems like I lost that charm piece. I'm gonna go look for it for a bit, okay? I probably lost it in the bathroom." She swings her legs off the bed.
Naomi motions to set after her, but Seiko swirls around and wags her finger. "Nope! Naomi needs to rest! I'll be right back, I promise. You'll barely notice I was gone!"
Naomi's shoulders sag and she sighs. "Okay... But hurry."
"On it!"
Seiko skips out of the room and Naomi sinks back on the bed, clutching her hands to her heart. It's still racing. That really just happened, huh?
Once Seiko is back, they'll find a way out, and then--
The strike of the clock Naomi looked at earlier sounds, and she finds herself frozen in place.
"Sacchan..."