>Yes.
[I... Yes. It is a date.] You blush. When did you decide that you liked Hiki? When did all this happen? It seems like it happened so fast, but it feels as if it had always been there.
Hiki seems overjoyed, happily thanking Yuuko when she returns with the food. Yuuko looks like she doesn't know how to respond to praise.
Eventually the nervousness vanishes, and you start to enjoy yourself. The talk starts flowing naturally, and you find yourself smiling more often than you were before.
It was a good meal, but far outshone by the company.
~O~
It takes you a few hours to realize how dark it's getting. The bill turns out far higher than expected, but Hiki offers to pay for it. As it turns out, his family is moderately wealthy, with a small estate a short train-ride away. He offers to let you visit at some point.
It has also started to rain, at first a small drizzle, but then a torrential downpour. This time, it's you who comes prepared, producing a umbrella and offering to share it with Hiki. You wrap arms to both conserve space and press your hands together for communication and set off down the street. You share a moment in silence, nothing but the rattle of rain on the rooftops between you.
The clouds are obscuring the stars, but the light shines through regardless, lighting your way enough that you don't have to depend on streetlamps for direction. You can see Yamaku in the distance, a solid black against the sky. It's a manor on a hill, you think. Strange. It dominates the landscape for miles, making a impression far larger than one would expect for any normal school.
But then, Yamaku isn't a normal school, nor are it's students normal people. You find yourself wondering if there isn't some odd theme in the school, some lesson more prevalent than just which Element on the periodic table has more electrons. The longer you ponder, the more you come to realize what that lesson is.
The outside doesn't matter, the inside doesn't matter. What really counts, what really drives the world, is what people are willing to try, and when people are willing to give up.
Far ahead, in the pool of light under a street lamp, a thin, gaunt form waddles toward you. It's Rin.
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Ruby Doll