I know that my previous chapters were rather, I could say, poorly written, but I dare say that this following one was written with that writer's trance I had when I was a great writer many years ago (particularly the last part of the chapter, actually). It might still have a few errors here and there, but I am sure you would notice a significant difference between this one and the previous few.
Enjoy. The stunning (or not so much) conclusion... is probably not going to be done until another two chapters. Ah well. :P
Chapter Seven: Growth!
"Loser!"
"Weakling!"
"What do you think about her hair now?!"
~~~~~~
"Well, looks like…" the nurse at the infirmary began, covering Akiyama Mio with a blanket, "she is going to be just fine."
Her friends, Flare and the others, crowding around the unconscious girl, breathed a sigh of relief. The fever was probably not as worrying as they had made it seemed, but the sudden black-out of a girl after learning of her friend's betrayal was something even the calmest person would be minority concerned about.
The nurse looked on to the patient's friends. She felt a little unwilling to send them away, but Mio needed her rest.
"We understand," replied Flare. He exchanged smiles with the nurse and gave her a little bow, with Ritsu and the others doing the same. "Please take care of her."
Quietly, the five teenagers exited the room, with Flare gently closing the door behind them as they hoped for the best. So much trouble had hit them consecutively with the culture festival arriving. It was as if God Himself was intentionally pushing them into Hell.
"Well, that could've gone better," remarked Ritsu with a heavy sigh, sluggishly walking on down the corridor with her uniform coat hooked from her fingers, draped down her back.
"What are we going to do for the culture festival if Mio doesn't recover?" pointed out Yui innocently, sharing the same pout that was on the faces of the group.
"It's alright," Ritsu answered energetically, giving Yui a thumbs-up, "a fever like this won't last more than a week. She will be playing again in no time."
Even the usually dull Yui noticed the tiny trembles across Ritsu's hand, let alone the others.
"Yeah." Flare nodded and placed his hand on Ritsu's shoulder, giving her an assuring smile. "Like the nurse said, Mio is going to be just fine."
Ritsu frowned at her own hypocrisy of convincing others not to worry, when she herself was troubled by making that selfish remark in front of Mio just now.
"Besides," Flare continued, folding his arms behind his head, "we should probably think about how to help Mio out than brooding over our mistakes. Isn't that right, Ritsu?"
The tomboy looked up at the boy that had cleared her doubts. She smiled at him, thankful for the relief from the confusion. He was right. Whining about who being in the wrong was a waste of time, nor would it do her bestfriend any good.
"That's right," agreed Azusa, raising her index finger, "maybe we could bring her some tea to make her feel better."
The whole gang stopped instantly, leaving Azusa to walk on without notice, till she realized the others were not around anymore seconds later.
"Huh?" she uttered, searching around her, only to find the others staring at her with surprised expressions.
"Heh heh, sorry, Azusa," apologized Ritsu, forming a line of awkward smiles with the others, "it was just so surprising to hear you being enthusiastic about tea."
"Oh, I'm not." Her reply shattered their line of smiles. "It's just that tea is good for a case of fever…"
The ponytailed lowerclassman decreased the volume of her voice with each word, feeling as if she had said something wrong to have her seniors staring at her this way.
'Heh heh… Azusa is just too pure…' thought Yui while grinning at the mocking outcome of her junior's answer.
"Erm…" another voice that was not of the group let out behind them.
And when they turned around to look at the source of the voice, synchronicity hit them again, in the form of a stream of annoyed expressions this time.
"What do you want, Manabe?!" started Ritsu, thrusting out the hatred from the group with her raised fist.
"It's alright, Ritsu," said one of them amongst the group. Ritsu was bewildered about from whom that comment was from. "I'll talk to her. You guys take a leave first."
"Flare…" muttered Ritsu, still trying to grasp hold of the reality of how the boy, who promoted hatred upon humanity, was acting so calm at that moment.
Then she had a thought of what he was trying to do. Rage came to her mind.
"You can't do that. Mio would be hurt even more if you-"
"Don't worry," the self-proclaimed knight of Akiyama Mio replied with an assuring smile, "I won't do anything stupid."
To Ritsu somehow, his voice sounded sincere, full of confidence, without hypocrisy.
"I don't want to see that tearful face of Mio, not ever again…"
The tomboy nodded. It was a quick nod. Fast and confident, one that expresses trust between friends.
"I understand."
As she walked away with the others, a wind of change - in both the literal sense and metaphorical - blew across her coat, forcing her to clutch tighter to the garment with her digits.
"You better keep your word, Tenjiru!" she turned around and demanded one last time, before continuing her exit with the gang, while slipping on her coat to escape the cold draft.
With a bright smile on his face, Flare gave the same trustful nod. "Mhm. I will."
When his loyal friends were almost out of sight, he focused all his attention back on the seeming traitor, constantly reminding every inch of his body not to trust her.
"So… Nodoka," he began, with his judgmental eyes locked on every single movement of the girl, "what do you want?"