"Yes, I swear."
Hotaru said jokingly.
"Um!"
But Tomori seemed very happy when she heard it, and she nodded heavily.
"Tomori, please straighten your legs."
Hotaru said this because the Band-Aid was to be applied to the knees, in order to prevent it from loosening after she stood up.
Tomori seemed to realize only now that Hotaru was squatting in front of her legs, trying to put a Band-Aid on her.
Tomori couldn't help feeling a little shy.
"Um..."
But she still turned sideways obediently and stretched her calves.
Then, when she noticed the pattern on the Band-Aid, Tomori's attention was immediately drawn to it.
"This is the sixth installment in the marine life series."
"There are also patterns of coral reef manta rays, sunfish, oarfish, whale sharks, blue whales, fin whales..."
As she spoke, Tomori took out a lot of new Band-Aids from her body.
Her hands collapsed in front of Hotaru.
"Do you want it?"
Tomori looked at Hotaru, appearing very expectant.
Seeing Tomori suddenly become positive again, Hotaru couldn't help but chuckle.
"Tomori's back to normal!"
"But now you need to stick it on."
When Tomori heard this, her cheeks turned red and she felt a little embarrassed.
"I'm sorry for causing you trouble just now..."
Hotaru shook his head, then perfectly applied the Band-Aid to Tomori's injured knee.
"Thanks..."
Seeing that Tomori still had so many Band-Aids in her hand, Hotaru had to pick a few more.
Tomori immediately smiled again.
Hotaru felt that Tomori was quite easy to please, as long as you were willing to accept her strange gifts.
Tomori suddenly running away just now really caught him off guard.
The two stood up, and Hotaru asked again,
"Are you feeling any worse?"
After all, Tomori didn't want to speak just now, so he could only observe where she was injured by the surface.
"No."
Tomori shook her head slightly.
"That's good."
Hotaru felt relieved.
Suddenly, Hotaru saw a diary spread out beside him.
It seems that Tomori dropped it when she fell.
Seeing Hotaru pick it up, Tomori subconsciously opened her mouth.
And Hotaru had inevitably seen a few sentences.
"A heart overwhelmed by burdens, eyes wandering and trembling, in this world."
"I'm always alone."
"In this spring when all we know is withering, every year passes indifferently and dully."
Hotaru didn't read any further.
The lyrics are very meaningful, but Hotaru always felt that the first few sentences were very negative!
By the way, he found out through the system that Tomori seemed to be playing in a band.
After handing the diary back to Tomori, Hotaru asked:
"Is this written by Tomori?"
"Is it the lyrics?"
"Yeah, it's... lyrics."
Tomori responded softly, this is both a lyric and her diary.
"Tomori's lyrics are powerful."
Hotaru asked again.
"Is Tomori playing in a band?"
Tomori was silent for a moment, but she didn't want to deceive her friend.
"Before, but... the band..."
"It's already disbanded..."
Hotaru: "..."
This time, Hotaru felt it firsthand. With Tomori as the center, a sad and negative mood emanated from the surrounding area.
There was also an invisible pressure that seemed to be swallowing him up.
Although he was somewhat concerned about the reason why the band broke up.
But Hotaru thought that if he continued asking, he would definitely step on a landmine.
They finally managed to resolve what happened just now, let's just spend the day in peace!
No more asking!
"I see..."
Change the subject, change the subject.
What should I say? Hotaru thought quickly.
Got it!
"Tomori!"
"Is there a 7th round of this?"
Hotaru took out the marine life Band-Aid he had just used.
Tomori looked up and thought for a moment.
"As for the 7th installment... it'll be next month. Does Hotaru want it? I'll buy it then!"
"Please bring me one!"
Hotaru said happily, feeling relieved.
Although Tomori still looked a little lost, the invisible pressure had at least disappeared.
...
As a result of the chase just now, the two came to the playground.
They had no plans to return to the Astronomy Club.
Hotaru and Tomori walked out of the school together, ready to leave.
After leaving the school, Hotaru suggested,
"Want to go to a nearby dessert shop?"
Hotaru further explained:
"Just consider it as an apology for chasing you and causing you to fall."
However, Tomori shook her head desperately, repeatedly stating that she was the one who fell and it had nothing to do with Hotaru.
Hotaru also said that he was grateful to Tomori for sending so many interesting Band-Aids.
Please give him a chance.
Finally, Tomori did not refuse.
Hotaru thought that this was a good opportunity to calm her down.
Come to the dessert shop.
Tomori ordered a cup of hot mocha coffee, and Hotaru added a cake for her.
Hotaru ordered iced grass jelly and French fries.
The two chatted for a while and finished their food.
Just prepared to leave.
Before leaving, Hotaru packed some fried chicken to take back as a side dish for tonight's dinner.
Walked out of the store.
Came to a fork in the road.
Hotaru was just about to wave goodbye to Tomori.
A figure behind Tomori first attracted Hotaru's attention.
The figure was looking at the two of them.
Hotaru shouted in surprise,
"Ryo?"
He saw Ryo squatting in the grass behind Tomori.
Tomori turned around with a hint of confusion.
When she saw a person in the grass.
Not out of shock, but out of curiosity.
Is this person collecting pebbles like her?
Ryo first looked at Hotaru and replied indifferently,
"Hmm, what a coincidence."
Then Ryo turned her gaze to Tomori beside him.
But to Tomori, it sounded cold and indifferent.
A simple expression and eyes as calm as water.
And what about the unknown books and weeds in the other person's hands?
Why use a question mark? Because Tomori was confused.
But obviously, Tomori knew that the other party's interests were different from hers.
Tomori felt a little nervous for some reason, because this reminded her of a former member of CRYCHIC.
Harmony.
She didn't know how to respond, but the other person was Hotaru's friend.
Tomori still mustered up the courage and nodded politely to Ryo.
"Hello, I'm Tomori, please take care of me."
"Well, Ryo, just call me Ryo."
Tomori was slightly surprised.
But it did not affect the abrupt end of the topic between the two sides.
So, Tomori looked at Hotaru,
"Then, Hotaru-san, I'll be leaving first."
"Okay, see you tomorrow."
Hotaru nodded.
"Um."
Tomori trotted away, feeling a little melancholy.
She felt like today brought back too many CRYCHIC memories.
Glancing at Tomori who was leaving.
There was a hint of confusion in Ryo's eyes. Why did she feel that the other party was a little afraid of her?
But it doesn't matter, doesn't this show that she has a lot of personality?
Thinking of this, Ryo's lips curled up.
So she looked back at Hotaru again.
To be precise, what she was looking at was the food in Hotaru's hand.
Ryo watched the other person come out of the dessert shop.
Hotaru also looked at Ryo with interest.
Tomori didn't know what the book in Ryo's hand was, but Hotaru knew.
Popular Science Guide to Edible Plants.
Ryo looked directly into Hotaru's eyes, and touched her stomach with the hand holding the weeds.
As if hinting at something.
The two of them didn't move and just stared at each other for a while.
Ryo, who was a little low on energy, couldn't help but say, "Shouldn't you be curious and ask me what I'm doing at this time?!"
"Why don't you speak?"
"I'm waiting for you to eat grass."
Ryo's pupils shrank slightly, and she said pitifully,
"I've been eating weed for days now and I'm so hungry."
"Then eat grass quickly."
Hotaru smiled politely. He wanted to watch the live broadcast rather than watching anime.
Ryo's eyes narrowed. Doesn't this guy have any sympathy?
"Hotaru, we are teammates, right?"
"Yes!"
"Then rescuing teammates from danger is what we should do, right?"
"Hmm... makes sense."
Hotaru nodded thoughtfully, then raised the bag in his hand.
"Ryo, this is fried chicken."
Ryo's eyes lit up. What she urgently needed now was energy-rich meat.
However, Hotaru's next words made her lose hope.
"But I'm sorry, Ryo."
"I can't give it to you."
"This is my dinner."
"If I give it to you, I'll only be able to eat empty-nourishing instant noodles tonight."
"You wouldn't want to see me eating that kind of thing, would you?"
After saying this, Hotaru suddenly felt that the last sentence was a bit redundant.
Ryo was silent and said, "I don't care whether you eat instant noodles or not."
No, I care a lot.
Because she didn't even have instant noodles.
"So, Ryo, do you still eat grass?"
Ryo lowered her head and pretended that she was very disappointed in him and didn't want to bother with him anymore.
"Then... I'll leave first?"
Hotaru asked tentatively, but there was no response.
"Ryo, bye."
Hotaru left as soon as he said he would.
Looking up and gazing at Hotaru's graceful figure leaving, Ryo couldn't let it go for a long time.
"Gurgle..."
Ryo picked up a handful of weeds and stuffed them into her mouth.
"It's so bitter…"
Why tell her it was fried chicken!
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