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𝔇𝔦𝔞𝔩𝔬𝔤𝔲𝔢 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || [color=#F50A83]#F50A83[/color] ||| 𝔗𝔥𝔬𝔲𝔤𝔥𝔱 𝓒𝔬𝔩𝔬𝔯 || [color=#0A8BF5]#0A8BF5[/color]
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The brisk footfalls of the tall blonde rang in her ears as she hastened down the hallway, flung open the door to the stairs, and then half-walked, half-tumbled down them, her slipping, slippered feet perpetually on the verge of sliding over the brink of each step as she hurtled towards the lobby as fast as she could reasonably go. In the back of her mind, she couldn't help but wonder what had struck her so much. Yes, Haruka was going to be there, and yes, she didn't want to bother her sister any further by making her wait, but neither of those things fully explained the strange sort of frenzy that she now found herself in.

[color=#FF741D][i]A friend of yours wants to talk.[/i][/color]

[color=#FF741D][i]A friend.[/i][/color]

A cheerful face, smiling down reassuringly at her, had flashed before her mind in an instant. Her face felt warm, and her heart ached.

[color=steelblue][i]"Of course we're friends!"[/i][/color]

...Why was it? She supposed that it was only natural that he'd be the first person she thought of when it came to her friends at Komei. After all, he had been the first. Even so, though, she couldn't help but fixate on the possibility that it was him, despite how unlikely that actually was. There wasn't any particular reason to suspect that Yoshida in particular was there, waiting for her. The last time they'd met, he'd said all sorts of strange things... Didn't he say that he didn't want her to follow him around, didn't want her to talk to him right away? It had already been a week since then, and she hadn't even seen him once. It was like he was trying to avoid her, just in case she approached him on sight like he had told her not to...

[color=steelblue][i]"I'll see you later, then!"[/i][/color] He'd been smiling as he waved to her. Even when he said things that ended up hurting her, he didn't seem angry. That didn't make sense. It wasn't like the way Asuka had looked back then at all... She had been angry, but Yoshida was always smiling warmly.

He'd said that he would see her again. That they would talk again, later, when it was more convenient for him. Just like when he'd left her alone during lunch on the day they'd met... He had promised to come back. He had come back. She had waited for him, and he had come back to get her. So, then... Wouldn't he come back this time, too?

She rounded the corner and descended the final flight of stairs. Unable to wait, her eyes flashed red, an imperceptible pulse of unseen shards of herself scattering outward over the lobby, washing over and through three figures standing in a small cluster by the door, and one of which immediately drew her attention.

Her heart seemed to jump a little, and her breath stopped in her throat. She'd had no right, no reason to expect it, but...

[color=#0A8BF5][i]It's really Yoshida. He came back. He really wants to see me.[/i][/color]

And yet, the momentary feeling she couldn't identify was completely washed away in the next moment as she realized exactly how wrong things were. His body was wrapped in bandages in several places, and his posture was all wrong. Yoshida never carried himself with such a hunched-over stance. Beneath the surface, his muscles were still straining to repair themselves, and bones once-fractured or dislocated seemed to have only freshly been set back into place. He seemed anemic and weak. Who or what had done this to him...?!

Her eyes faded back to blue and the mark in her hair disappeared. She realized she'd been standing frozen one step away from the bottom of the stairs for a few moments now, simply staring at Kenichi. Her eyes re-focused, meeting his gaze as she slowly, hesitantly approached.

[color=#F50A83]"Yoshida...?"[/color] She asked, her quiet, worried voice cutting through the silent air between them. [color=#F50A83]"Why... Why are you hurt? What happened to you?"[/color]

[@Zeroth]