[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/moq2uR2.png[/img][/center]
[center] [color=LightBlue]W-With how much talking he does, I’m surprised Finn doesn’t have one of these quote sections yet.[/color]
[color=888888]-Norika Tsukishima[/color][/center]

As she sat on her bed, Norika listened to Finn’s little speech with growing annoyance. Multiple times, she’d wanted to stop him and explain just how wrong he was, to tell him that her parents cared for her simply for appearances sake, like a plant they didn’t want guests to see wilting, and that she had never once envied her brother, the kindest most supportive person she’d ever met, but she was unable to get the words out. When the boy detective finally finished, she was about to tell him those things, as well as assure him that she was far too sickly to hold any kind of steady job, but then he made his final remark, and she just froze. It was just a simple compliment, but it struck her with all the force of a sledgehammer. It might have very well been a total lie, but still, the words were impossible for such a frequently berated girl like her to ignore. Thus, instead of the lengthy rebuttal she’d been mentally preparing, all Norika could say was a soft, [color=LightBlue]“T-Thank you.”[/color] Swallowing her bitterness and suspicion she forced herself to add, [color=LightBlue]“A-And thank you for having so much faith in me.”[/color]

[color=LightBlue][i]I only wish I could have the same kind of faith in myself…[/i][/color]