October 26th 2017

There was still time until the alarm sounded.
There was still time until the day could officially start.
There was still time until the sun shined.

Yet, the girl of dark blue hair was already up, ahead of all of that.
To say she got any sleep was somewhat of a lie, she took a long time to be able to drift to the land of dreams, however, she took a significantly shorter amount of time to be back in the real world again.

Her mind was solely occupied by that girl of the red bow and usually shiny smile. The last she heard of her the previous night was more than enough to cause an odd anxiety on her.

Before she could finish wishing her sweet dreams (a simple yet difficult sentence for her to come up with), Sayori had left just like that. It hurt certainly, but more than that, it worried her as she had come to learn to tell when her dear bubbly girl wasn't going through the best time.

But she also knew Sayori didn't like to talk about it and just deal with it alone, fighting her own battles, something Ryona deeply admired and respected of her but at the same time, something she couldn't bring herself to allow her.

One could call it selfishness to an extent but a day without seeing that beautiful smile of hers, practically lost any meaning to her.

One way or another, everytime this happened, consciously or unconsciously, she seemed to find a way to revert it, however, the recurrence of this was getting her more and more worried everytime.

Ryona had come to terms with her own feelings already. She at the very least, could admit to herself she had one of those things people call "crush" on Sayori but she wasn't afraid to think about the word "love" either.

Ever since she started getting along with the bubbly girl, she found herself watching and reading stuff she never really cared too much about such as romance movies and shows, facts about love, little love stories, love songs and such.

Although she recently admitted those feelings to herself, in the time she realized them, she would take notes of all those cheesy things she watched and read, constantly asking herself why but not being able to answer it, and just as typical as it was for her, she'd just keep being impulsive and kept going with it.

During that night she barely slept, she thought about all of this and pieced everything together to come to a particular line of thought.

Seeing Sayori happy was the most important thing in the world for her now.
She loved seeing her smile.
She couldn't think of anyone other than her now.

But letting Sayori know about those feelings sometime wasn't something she had thought of that immediately, in fact she hoped she could take it slow and find the right way to do it someday.

Then, Sayori once again wasn't smiling anymore and that was her ultimate first on her list of priorities.

Find a way to fix it and seeing her happy once again was the first thing she needed to do but she didn't know how exactly and immediately.

Then she thought about all those romantic movies and shows she watched, where both parties in the relationship, despite sometimes going through hard times, it was the love they gave to each other that always brought happiness back to them in the end.

There's where she found what she needed to do.
In order for her dear bubbly girl to be happy again, she had to be the one who could provide her with that love capable of bring happiness back to her.

Even if this happened again, she wanted Sayori to have someone she could come to anytime she felt down, she wanted her to have someone she could come to and seek for something to smile for, she wanted her to have someone she could get all the love she wanted from.

And she wanted to be that person for her no doubt.

Although the concept of love was new and confusing to her, at least she knew it was a word of great weight and meaning. She had no idea of how it works, what could be done and what not but for her red bow girl, she would do her best to learn.

To go and just tell her how she felt did sound as the best option to her yet, something inside of her told her to be careful, like some sort of sixth sense that warned her about it. She didn't want to mess up and for Sayori to misunderstand her feelings for her.

She wanted to make sure the bubbly girl understand what she felt for her and see the heartfelt desire she had to see her happy every second of her life.

In all those movies and shows she watched, one of the two or the two people in love, always walked a certain path where, with small or big actions, they little by little showed the other how they felt about them and even if the other didn't feel the same about them at first, those actions eventually made that love grow on them too.

She didn't know if Sayori felt anything slightly close to what she felt for her but she was willing to try and see if she could make that grow on her too.

To Ryona, seeing Sayori happy was everything, even if it wasn't with her, but being the one with that privilege was something she had to at least try to get.

That morning, she got up at 6:00 am, she took a nice shower and dressed up for school, this time the best she could, making sure her hair and everything else looked the best they could.

With time still on her side, she went to the drawer where she stored her underwear, which at the same time hid those yellow envelopes she would earn certain nights but also, the little notebook she had been using to take those notes.

She read them over and over again, understanding them the best she could, discarding those she found no real value on and writing down again those she thought would be what she needed to do.

Finally, by the time her mom called her to come down and eat her breakfast, she had finished writing on a paper sheet she ripped off the notebook, those actions she would take starting today, all to see Sayori happy once again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While some woke up by themselves, others did to the sound of their alarm.

But for the girl we're talking about right now, it wasn't a case of her being a heavy sleeper or anything of the sort, she could easily wake up by herself if she needed to but that morning, for the first time in several years that couldn't be the case.

Her body rarely did anything during the day that required her to give it a good rest, if anything, on those days she felt really tired, it was because of the serious mental fatigue she usually went through in the past, yet, it didn't require her more than her 8 hours of sleep to fix it.

But that morning, for the first time in her life, the purple girl was feeling the weight of extreme physical and mental fatigue combined as that alarm beeped over and over, feeling her eyelids first of all, as if they weighted 100 pounds each as her body tried to force her back to sleep.

She then tried to move her arm to shut it off. It didn't even budge, it was as if it, along with the rest of her body was stuck to the bed to the point they were fused into one.

Eventually and after a great effort controlling her sudden heavy breathing due to the shock, Yuri finally started feeling her body responding to her again, little by little.

It took her almost 15 minutes to be able to sit up and swing her legs off the bed to finally put her feet on the floor then she stood up, which finally reminded her of what occurred the previous night.

Yuri felt her body light as a feather. Despite feeling it like a ton mere minutes ago, now it felt like the gentlest breeze could knock her off.

She started walking around her room, feeling like a baby taking their first steps only in her case, every step felt firmer than the other and gradually felt more natural.

Yuri stood in front of her large vertical mirror, looking at herself from her head to toe afraid to suddenly realize the girl in front of her wasn't her but no, every single part of her body was the same as it was the previous day.

The purple girl hesitantly started touching her face, feeling her skin and it was the same. She touched her hair, her arms, her chest, her legs, her sides, but everything felt the same and at the same time it felt so out of place.

Yuri then turned to her dresser, like she did every morning to start her routine and there she found it, a little note resting there waiting for her to read it.

First of all, congratulations!! We hope you're feeling better this morning. In case you forgot, last night per your own request, 3 restrains were removed from you!

The usual procedure is to remove one per day since handling that awful pain more than once in one day is something very few people are willing to try, however, you valiantly chose to face it an amazing 3 times!!

Well, you actually wanted all 7 off already but unfortunately, your body could only handle 3 since you passed out after the third time, but hey! Nobody takes it from you that you got some big guts!

Anyways, now that those first 3 restrains are off, you can start training your body to reach your full potential. I suggest you start with some light exercises to measure your own basic capabilities such as strength, flexibility, speed, durability, agility and such.

Maybe some morning jogging and some pushups and squats should be a good start, either way, Mrs. Head and myself will come over to your house later when you're back from school to start training you properly so yeah, in the meantime try out your new body but don't over do it please.

A certain someone I used this technique on went to jump from one buildings roofs to another like freaking spiderman the first day, please don't be like her haha...

Anyways, see you later and remember, prudence!!

- Top hat man.

A few giggles escaped Yuri's mouth at that last part but still, she took every word there seriously. She remembered well everything about the previous night, at least before she passed out after that excruciating pain taking over her body like a billion bolt current.

That pain wasn't anything to be taken lightly but for some reason, it didn't feel as exaggeratedly bad as they told her it would feel. She certainly didn't get to wish for even a second that she was dead to cease it.

All she did to withstand it was put, very clear, that image of her beloved pink girl in her mind and continuously tell herself that this was nothing compared to what she went through for her.

But as much as her mind was set to continue, unfortunately the body can be a huge limitation as hers wasn't able to handle it more than 3 times in a row before passing out, giving up on her.

However, now it was time to put all that aside and start working with what she had so far.

Yuri checked the time on her wall clock, it was 6:52 am. After some quick thinking, seeing that she still had some time if she hurried, Yuri decided to start with some morning calisthenics workout in her back garden.

The purple girl couldn't believe how easy it felt considering it was her first time properly working out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Make her feel special
- Compliment her
- Ask her more about her
- Share a secret with her

The first steps on Ryona's list looked simple but with every second that passed they all felt more difficult than the hardest math test in life.

She had left her house early as usual to go and wait for her bubbly friend in the usual place, rereading her list over and over while she got there, thinking of what to do or say.

In spite of her nervousness growing, she still had room to worry about one more particular aspect. The time.
Sayori usually got there between 7:35 and 7:45 am so they could then walk to school still having enough time but that morning, at 7:55 am, no signs of Sayori were seen.

Ryona didn't care about being late, all she could worry about right now was where Sayori could be. She thought of calling her but she was afraid of bothering her, so she chose to text her but the red bow girl wouldn't even see the messege.

Ryona was about to walk back to where she came from to head to Sayori's house and check on her at 8:05 am but as she put one foot out of that alley, she finally saw her walking in her direction, hanging her head, not even noticing she was there.

"Sayori!", Ryona raised her voice as Sayori was closer, finally getting her to lift her gaze and notice her. "E-Eh? Ry, what... Are you still doing here?", she asked, trying to fake an awkward smile.

"Waiting for you", Ryona quickly replied. "Why...", Sayori mumbled to herself as she lowered her gaze again. Ryona didn't get to hear that but she could see Sayori hadn't taken that well, yet, she wasn't giving up.

"Umm... You... You... How did you sleep... Last night?", Ryona asked. "I slept fine, I just... Overslept today, sorry you had to wait for me... Next time just leave me behind, okay?", Sayori asked. Ryona quickly denied with her head.

"I'll wait for you every day!", Ryona replied. "Don't... It really isn't necessary... I'll just get you in trouble for being late...", Sayori insisted.

"I've got in trouble a lot of times by myself, I don't really mind that part anymore", Ryona replied quickly. "I just... Want to walk by your side...", Ryona added a bit less intense but not any less honest.

At that moment, the tough girl was able to see something strange.
When she said those words, Sayori's eyes looked up at her and for a brief moment, maybe less than a second, she saw that sparkle on them again, however, it quickly faded away, as if she had just remembered something bad enough to cause that, lowering her head again.

"Don't say that..."

"L-Let's just hurry to school, okay?", Sayori said, doing her best to dismiss the topic to then continue walking with Ryona next to her. ".....You... Your hair looks... Cool this morning... N-Not that it looks bad other days! Just... Today looks... Cooler...", Ryona eventually tried her first compliment for her, it was difficult but she thought it had come out well in the end, or at least she hoped so.

"It doesn't... Nothing about me is cool, nothing...".

"T-Thanks hehe...", Sayori replied, although she didn't blush even a bit, her mind convinced her it all was a lie. "..........I-I... That Mr. Cow you like so much... When did you meet him first?", Ryona asked. She wanted to learn more about her.

"Eh? Ah... He's from a show, I used to watch when I was a kid, Mr. Cow and friends... It must sound dumb I still have plushies of a show for kids", Sayori mumbled that last part to herself. "W-We should watch it sometime... I'm curious to see what's about", Ryona said in all honesty. Anything that Sayori liked, she wanted to try it to understand more of what made her smile.

"You're not... You don't have to... I don't deserve your pity...".

"It's really childish, I don't think you'll like it", Sayori replied with a sad smile, looking away. "I still watch Dragon Ball, sometimes... I even... Even... Pretend I'm doing the Kamehameha in front of the mirror... Sometimes... So I know a thing or two about being childish! ...Please don't tell anyone", Ryona said deeply embarrassed as she managed to pull out one of her secrets into the conversation.

For a brief moment, she noticed Sayori's surprised glance on her, her ocean eyes retrieving a bit of that sparkle, making Ryona bet she'd smile at any moment but she quickly closed her eyes and lost it again, focusing on the road ahead with her head hanging once again.

"Don't share your secrets with me... I lie to you, I'm not honest with you... I don't deserve it!".

"I won't", Sayori simply replied and speeded up the pace. She didn't want to keep dragging Ryona down. The tough girl wanted to ask more, wanted her to talk more to hear her sweet voice, hoping a smile could come up but all she could do from there was to keep up with her fast steps.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the end, thanks to that morning workout ending up being too easy for her, Yuri once again got to school ahead of time despite all of that.

As usual, she was waiting for her pink girlfriend, sitting at a bench near the gates, watching others students walk by but paying no attention to any of them as she was lost in her own thoughts.

Thoughts that manifested as soon as Natsuki finally arrived and spotted her in the distance, waving her hand from there. Yuri waved hers back with a bashful smile.

"Morning purple dummy!", Natsuki exclaimed as she cutely jogged in her direction. "Good morning, darling", was all Yuri said before letting those thoughts finally become a reality.

Natsuki was caught off guard as her taller girlfriend gently and carefully held her cheeks the moment she got there, rubbing them with her thumbs while looking at her with loving violet eyes as she gradually closed the distance between their faces.

Leaning down a bit, Yuri pressed her lips against the surprised Natsuki's own, caressing them with hers to let her know at last how she felt about what she saw the previous day, even if Natsuki wasn't aware of it yet.

"W-What the heck was that, idiot!", Natsuki exclaimed with a flushed face as soon as Yuri broke the kiss, slapping her hands off her face and looking away. "I just wanted to kiss my girlfriend good morning", Yuri giggled at the ever so cute tsundere side of her girl.

"Timing! Ever heard of that?! Consent! Ever heard of that?! And most importantly, SHAME! Ever heard of that?!,", Natsuki asked feisty. "Why would I be ashamed? Like you, I also want everyone to know you're with me so they don't even think of taking you away from me", Yuri explained with a warm smile.

Natsuki didn't know well what to respond. She certainly felt happy about it but she didn't want to admit so she simply crossed her arms, closed her eyes and with that same flushed face simply said, "hmph!". Yuri giggled again and added, "t-this is my way to... How you call it... Ah right! assert dominance!".

"Hey! You don't get to assert dominance, that's my role!", Natsuki pointed at her offended. "Sorry hehe", Yuri giggled but Natsuki wouldn't take it lightly, feeling mocked.

The pink girl suddenly grabbed her girlfriend by the collar of her blazer, dragging her behind the tree behind the bench to then pull her down to kiss her a bit rough, putting one hand on the back of her neck to make sure she was the one in control and break the kiss whenever she wanted to.

Natsuki finally needed some air and broke the kiss, both girls panting a bit but looking at each other in the eye. Yuri's look was pleading for more but Natsuki's look had recovered her intensity again.

"We always use this tree for this, remember?", Natsuki grinned confident while holding Yuri's chin between her fingers. "Y-Yes, sorry", Yuri replied, back to her shy self, unable to fight back against her girlfriend's dominance. Not that she wanted to anyway.

"I don't like us being watched when we kiss so keep that in mind, dummy", Natsuki said poking Yuri's nose playfully. "I will", Yuri replied with a sweet smile.

"Not that it makes me feel ashamed, I just don't want any horny boys looking at us or any other kind of judging looks on us, it's annoying", Natsuki huffed. "I understand", Yuri said, shyly grabbing her hands.

"What's with you now? Ouch!", Natsuki asked a bit confused as Yuri kept looking at her with that sweet smile to then remember her swollen and slightly scrapped knuckles as Yuri touched them with her thumbs. "I'm sorry!", Yuri said quickly letting go of her hands.

All she wanted was to discreetly check on her after focusing again on the memories of the previous day and noticing the state Natsuki's hands were in, she didn't expect her lack of experience on the matter would cause her to mess up so quickly.

"It's okay, I just... got a little burn while cooking yesterday haha...", Natsuki did her best to come up with a excuse, cursing herself for daring to go at the punching sandbag without any gloves the previous day. "Let me see...", Yuri pleaded.

Natsuki couldn't ignore her girlfriend's worried eyes and a bit reluctant, showed her hands to her, already thinking of more excuses in case Yuri would ask anything else which she thought she'd surely do as her knuckles didn't exactly look like she got a little burnt.

"I-It looks painful...", Yuri said, her mouth twitching downwards as she had another glimpse of the toll her girlfriend's efforts were taking on her, engraved in her body. "It's no big deal really...", Natsuki looked away nervous.

Yuri didn't know what exactly caused this but she had many theories. Either she punched one of her opponents too much, did some sort of punching training hitting a wall or just a classic sandbag, whatever the case, it looked painful and the last thing she wanted was to hurt her girlfriend anymore.

The purple girl did the only thing she could think of at the moment, carefully pulling Natsuki's hands closer to her face to land a soft kiss on her wounds, hoping to cease her pain a bit somehow.

Not only Natsuki was glad Yuri didn't question her any more, but she was greatly surprised at her actions. Her magenta eyes opening widely and her face heating up a bit.

Soon, her surprise turned into a different, warmer and more nostalgic feeling. This little action that she thought wouldn't experience ever again was happening now before her very eyes. That warmth on her chest growing thanks to Yuri's gentle kiss on her knuckles, ceasing any pain she was feeling there.

"B-Better?", Yuri asked. "Yeah...", Natsuki replied with a soft voice, looking at her girlfriend with sparkly magenta eyes, letting Yuri know she had done something right.

"W-We need to patch this or something...", Yuri said now feeling nervous, in a good way as Natsuki kept looking at her. "I'll be fine...", Natsuki smiled at her and continued that morning of unusual events as she got closer and stood on her tip toes to kiss Yuri's cheek softly to then wrap her arms around her, resting her head on her chest, listening to her girl's now faster heartbeats.

"I... I don't know what I did that softened her up this much but...", Yuri thought as she hugged her girlfriend back. "I'm glad I did it and I'm glad she liked it", she thought, enjoying the warm their embrace provided them with.

"Okay! Enough cheese! Let's get going or we'll be late!", Natsuki said with a beautiful smile, flashing her little fang after pulling away from the hug, holding her girlfriend's hand and starting to drag her all the way into the school building, smiley and energetic like a little kid.

Yuri still wasn't sure of what exactly she had done but apart from softening up her girlfriend, it also had improved her mood greatly. Seeing her so full of life and happiness like this certainly was a joy to her heart and she hoped she could get this effect on her again in the near future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mitochondria.
Or something of the sort, that was the only thing the tough girl could remember from that day's lessons.

It was down right impossible for her to focus on anything else when her dear sunshine wasn't sparkling.
From constantly drifting her gaze to her at the other side of the classroom to rereading her list to think of more ways to bring her pretty smile back.

At last, lunch time came and Ryona without waiting another second, quickly crossed the room to go and sit next to her as usual.
She barely heard Natsuki say something about Yuri to then leave the classroom. She didn't see Ryou and Gensai go outside and certainly didn't hear when they said they'd go buy some food at the cafeteria.

Only the blond gyaru remained there but she was a bit immersed on her cellphone for a reason Ryona certainly didn't care.

Watching Sayori's actions pained her heart. The way she weakly pulled out her sandwich and tiredly removed the napkin off it, to then almost reluctantly start eating it was particularly painful for her to see.

"Sandwich again?", Ryona asked nicely. "Mm? Ah yeah... You know I can't make myself anymore than this without screwing up", Sayori said, mostly replying to herself.

"My mom made me some yakisoba... Here, you can eat it", Ryona said offering her lunchbox to the bubbly one, who immediately looked at her a sad, denying with her head. "You don't have to, really, I'll j-", Sayori tried to say but Ryona finally cut her off.

"I'll take your sandwich, that way it's a fair exchange", Ryona snatched the sandwich off her hands and said with a little but honest smile, doing her best to control her awkwardness and look at Sayori in the eye. "Ry...", for a brief moment again, that sparkle came back only to fade again as Sayori closed her eyes for a bit, but this time Ryona wouldn't allow it.

"I... I know you like eating so... I... I want you to at least enjoy that...", Ryona said still looking at her with now pleading dark brown eyes. "Please", Ryona added and as if they were magic words, made those blue eyes sparkle a little, but for good this time as Sayori weakly smiled back.

"Can I... Be a little selfish... Just this one time?"

"If you insist...", Sayori said and a bit hesitant at first, ripped off the wrapper of Ryona's chopsticks to then finally dig in carefully, as if she'd be scolded for it at any time. Ryona's chest again felt funny as she watched Sayori's smile expand after the first bite, slowly chewing on it but with that sparkle on her ocean eyes still there.

"She really... wants me to enjoy the little things like this?"

"Your sandwich is really good too", Ryona added with a grin. Her mood had improved greatly. "Hehe... You think?", Sayori replied.

"Even if I don't deserve it... Or is it that... For her... I deserve it maybe?"

"Yeah... It's the best sandwich I've eaten", Ryona replied in all honesty, blushing lightly and looking at the floor while taking another bite of that mysteriously delicious sandwich. "You're overreacting hehe...", Sayori replied blushing lightly as well.

"It's not pity... Is it? Her smile... her eyes... They seem... Real"

Unfortunately for her, that sandwich only lasted so long but at least Ryona still had time to see Sayori enjoy the food she gave to her, smiling to herself at how cute she was having trouble using the chopsticks sometimes.

Little by little the sunshine was coming back to brighten the world and Ryona knew exactly what could help the cause greatly, suddenly standing up.

"Mm?", Sayori asked confused. "I'll go get something from the vending machine!", Ryona said enthusiastically and dashed out of the classroom before either Sayori or Haru could say anything.

"Heh... Ryona-chi is in a good mood today? What did you do now Sayo-chan?", Haru asked with a smirk. "E-Eh?! I-I didn't do anything...", Sayori replied blushing lightly.

"Well she seemed excited. So excited she forgot her phone! As excited as I could get, I'd never forget mine, you know?", Haru giggled and pointed at Ryona's desk where indeed, her phone was. "I sometimes forget mine though", Sayori replied joining the tip of her index fingers.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Make her day better
- Give her things she likes
- Make her smile
- Let her know you remember her favorite things somehow

"Okay... These are easy so far... Now, her favorites... It was chocolate chip cookies, the giant ones and... Apple juice", Ryona thought as she walked fast, heading to the nearest vending machine.

Money in hand already, Ryona quickly pressed the buttons needed to get two packs of giant chocolate chip cookies, then she got the nice and cold apple juice bottle.

Ryona smiled satisfied with the cookies on one hand and the juice on the other lifting the up a bit to get a better look and make sure she didn't mess up there. Nodding as she did, Ryona quickly turned around.

"Kyah! Owie...", although Ryona barely felt anything, it seemed like the girl of dark brown hair now on the floor after falling on her rear due to the sudden impact did, rubbing her forehead while groaning in pain.

"Mao?", Ryona asked confused as she recognized her. "Hey...", Mao looked up at her and smiled awkwardly, one eye closed as if she was winking at her but due to pain she was feeling on her head instead.

"What are you doing there?", Ryona asked. "Ah, well... I wanted to surprise you there, I was gonna poke your sides from behind since I saw you distracted but when I got close enough you turned around like really sudden and I believe your fist got me good instead haha...", Mao explained still on the floor.

"Oh... Sorry about that", Ryona said now feeling a bit bad for her. "Don't be, it's my fault for trying to play funny haha... Ouch, ouch... Does it look bad?", Mao said as she carefully touched her forehead, wincing in pain to then brush her hair aside to show Ryona what now was a red bump double the size of a coin there.

"Eh... It kinda does...", Ryona said now feeling guilty. "I learned my lesson now haha", Mao said covering it with her hair again.

As much as the tough girl wanted to go already, she couldn't just ignore the girl of dark brown hair either, specially after seeing the little injury she caused on her.
Due to her experience with this and other injuries, either inflicted to her or her inflicting it to others, Ryona at least knew what to do to help in the short term.

"Here, hold it like this against the bump, don't press it too much", Ryona said as she got on one knee and put the cold apple juice bottle against her forehead. Mao carefully held it with one hand while the other held onto Ryona's hand to be pulled back up.

"Do you need help to get to the infirmary?", Ryona asked a bit anxious, mainly because she was hoping for a no that allowed her to go back to Sayori already. "Nah, I'll be fine but thanks anyway", Mao replied with a friendly grin with slightly pink cheeks.

"Alright then", Ryona sighed quietly but deeply relieved. "See you at club later then?", Mao asked and Ryona simply nodded. The dark brown haired girl then turned around and began walking away. Ryona turned to the machine and bought another apple juice bottle.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••

"Nnngh... I really need something to drink now...", Sayori mumbled to herself. "Can't text her to buy one for me since...", Sayori thought, glancing at Ryona's phone resting on her desk .

"Well... It's not a bad idea to go and catch up with her... Some time for just the two of us...", Sayori thought as she glanced at Ryona's lunchbox she gave to her, letting out a little smile. "Haru, I'll be right back, need something from the vending machine too", Sayori said as she stood up. Haru smiled at her and nodded, watching her go afterwards to then keep scrolling through her social media.

"No matter how much I try to distance myself from her, Ry always comes to me... As much as I distance myself from others, she's the only one or at least always the first to notice I'm still here...", Sayori started her train of thought as she walked through the hallways, heading to the vending machine.

"Why...? Could it really be that... I mean more to her than what I thought? Could it be that... he's wrong? ..... Hoping that's really the case... Does that make me a bad person?", Sayori thought and kept questioning herself.

"I just want everyone to be happy... But what if I... I'm the reason for her happiness? ...Am I getting too ahead of myself for thinking that? ...I don't know for sure but if that were to be the case... I...!", as her train of thought kept riding her through a brighter path, Sayori couldn't help but weakly, yet genuinely smile again, that is until this train was crashed the moment she was about to turn to the left to reach the small corridor where the usual vending machine was.

#$€∆∆∆√§Ω

The image in front of her caused a sudden sting like feeling on her head and although that one only lasted no more than a brief moment, a second, more painful and persistent feeling stung her heart, crushing her hopes and reminding her that he was right.

The girl smile on the floor, the apple juice bottle on her forehead and the second girl holding it for her while looking at her with worried eyes, it all felt strangely painful, mainly because of the familiar dark blue hair one of them had.

Soon, she turned around before any of them noticed her and ran away, not back to her classroom but somewhere else, somewhere where she could be alone, like she thought she was meant to be from the beginning.

=================

"Where's she?", Ryona asked while repeatedly looking around and behind her shoulder. Ryou and Gensai had just come back too so they denied with their heads. "She told me she'd go to the vending machine too, I thought you'd come across her", Haru replied confused, now looking around too.

"I didn't...", Ryona said worried, still looking everywhere but seeing no signs of that red bow or that fluffy coral hair she had come to love so much. "Take it easy, she should come back soon, maybe she just went to a different vending machine?", Gensai asked.

Ryona reluctantly sat down but something inside of her was trying to tell her to do the opposite, yet she didn't listen, she didn't understand what that was. The tough girl closed the lunchbox Sayori was eating from to prevent the food she still had left to get any colder.

She waited and waited and waited. She had enough and went looking for her to the nearest vending machines but she didn't find her.
Eventually the bell rang and she had no choice but to come back, hoping she'd at least be back soon too.

Sayori came back 10 minutes after the class had started. Her smile, previously starting to shine now gone to allow a gloomy and sad expression to take it place.

Ryona gritted her teeth, feeling upset. She didn't know what she had done wrong, all she could do was speculate, cursing herself for going to that vending machine in the first place, then for not taking Sayori with her, for not doing a better job looking for her.

Again, her heart hurt from seeing no glimpse of happiness in her beloved red bow girl.
Ryona didn't mind defeat, as long as it only affected her.

This time however, this crushing defeat wasn't something she could let slide and keep going. She couldn't just give up. She had to keep trying, and trying and trying, even if things didn't seem so bright ahead of her, just like she had seen that red bow girl do before.

Special note: Write a poem for her
(Wait a few days to find a good timing if possible)

There was no time to wait. She had seen her own efforts have results that day and in the past when Sayori wasn't smiling like she wished she always do with all her heart. She would try again and again, until those efforts brought a permanent result, no matter what how long it took or how hard it could get.

Ryona kept ignoring her teachers and after pulling out a pen and her notebook, the only time her eyes would drift from the white pages would be when she glanced at her, growing an even greater inspiration.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And then, the literature club gathered again.
Both Sayori and Ryona stuck to their group although none of them was saying a word, Haru and Natsuki were doing most of the talking.

The day for everyone else seemed to be going by normally, all of their friends sat in their respective seats and with their respective groups or partners and of course, Ryona wouldn't go anywhere else but next to that peach haired girl.

She could feel the awkwardness of that silence between them almost piercing through her. Sayori was just there looking off to the side, contemplating the sky through the window while Ryona calmly pulled out her notebook and pen to continue.

In the two or so hours between the end of lunch time and the time of literature club, Ryona had made great progress on what she silently called her best poem so far but she was still missing something, a very crucial part.
The final stanza.

In her time in the literature club, Sayori had taught her step by step how write poems, from the very very basics as the tough girl, most of her life surrounded by the polar opposite of what poems represented, certainly had no idea how to do.

She always made sure of listening and remember every word and evey lesson taught by her red bow crush, treasuring each and every single effort she made to share her passion with her and for this, she knew, quoting Sayori's words that one of the most important and impactful parts of a poem was the final stanza.

Thankfully, Ryona was well aware that despite wanting to do this herself for her red bow girl, the mere fact she was capable of doing it now was thanks to no none other than Sayori herself, thus she had no shame on asking for one final advice.

"Sayori...", Ryona said, shyly poking her shoulder. "Yeah?", Sayori replied, not daring to look at her.

"I... I'm having trouble writing this poem... With the final stanza specifically... Umm any advice?", Ryona asked. She was ready to switch to a different poem she had prepared for this so Sayori wouldn't look at the ultimate one, not yet at least.

"The final stanza... I don't know... It's usually something very powerful, like... What you really want to express ultimately behind all the previous words but that it still needs of those to make sense... Just think about it like a song, songs are similar to poems, that has helped me at least", Sayori did her best to answer, she thought at least she owed her that. She hoped she could use it to make someone else happy, someone that deserved it.

"A song huh... You me-", Ryona still didn't understand that well but before she could ask any further, a familiar voice interrupted. "Ryona-chan, Sayori-chan! Came to keep reading~ also I got something to show you~", Mao exclaimed excited. She had just arrived but neither of them really noticed.

"Mao-chan! Sit down please", Sayori faked her best smile, dragging her chair away from Ryona's to make room for the dark brown haired girl. "Thanks, okay so I got the volume we were missing, so we can keep reading at last! But before that... Look!", Mao said excited pulling out a thin rectangular box out of her back that had a green line on top, on which the word "xbox" could be read and a group of now familiar superheroes on the center and the letters "Injustice" at the bottom.

"These heroes and villains we've been reading about have their own fighting game! Ain't that cool?? I wanted to ask both of you if maybe you wanna come to my house to play with me, or I could go to any of your houses if you have xbox too!", Mao rambled excited. Sayori saw the chance.

"She deserves it. They deserve it. Please, be happy. Make her happy"

"That's a great idea! Ryona has xbox, so you should go to her house after school today if you already brought the game!", Sayori said faking great excitement. "I'm up for that! But what about you, Sayori-chan??", Mao asked.

"I got something to do today hehe but I promise I'll join you some other time for sure!", Sayori exclaimed. "Okay, you better!", Mao replied.

"When you both find that happiness in each other, maybe I'll be able to find some peace... In this or the other world"

"But...", Ryona tried to protest but Sayori's fake enthusiasm was overwhelming. "Give me your phone, Ry!", Sayori demanded. Ryona still couldn't say no to her.

"And now you tap your number here Mao-chan! ...there we go! Just in case really, you can just walk home with her when club's over!", Sayori said. "Yeah, that'll be the best option", Mao blushed lightly and looked away a bit nervous.

"Well, you two discuss that, I gotta go help Omi and Ryuko with something, start reading without me if you want!", Sayori then stood up and began heading to the back of the room on the opposite corner, while Mao shyly sat closer to Ryona and started talking about the game.

Sayori of course had lied.
She didn't want to get in their way anymore.
She didn't want to ruin their happiness anymore.
She didn't want to drag her down anymore.
She didn't want to be a burden anymore.

She sat there in silence, trying to focus on something else but her eyes couldn't help but look at them, now by each other's side.

"This is what I wanted for her, isn't it? When I saw her all alone on top of that tree... When I saw her being judged and everyone distance themselves from her... When I saw her unable to smile... All I wanted was to help her change that", Sayori began reflecting.

"I was able to help her change that, now she has friends, no one is afraid of her and most importantly, now she smiles... My only mistake was... To fall in love with her in the process", as much as that thought made a mess in her heart, Sayori somehow was able to hold back the tears she desperately wanted to let out. She didn't want anyone to worry about her.

"But it's fine now... That shouldn't cause any more trouble for anybody. Now she has someone deserving of her-!", Sayori's thoughts were suddenly interrupted. No more than a minute had passed since she left those two alone but Ryona was already standing up and turning around with her concerned dark brown eyes fixated on her, ready to make her way to her.

"No... Don't...", Sayori gritted her teeth as she too stood up, holding back that sorrow trying to manifest through her eyes. "Sayori?", Monika asked everyone heard Sayori abruptly standing up, pushing her chair in the process.

"I-I... I think I'm not feeling too well today... I'll go home now if you don't mind hehe", Sayori grabbed her backpack and before anyone could say anything, she ran away as fast as she could. Most of the literature club members stood up worried and wondering if they should try to go check on her.

Only one of them had no doubts as she was already at the door.
Ryona looked behind her shoulder one last time, her friends quickly understood as they all smiled at her and nodded.

=================

Her breathing was heavy but at least, the weight on her shoulders seemed to reduce a bit now. Sayori didn't know how long it took but she had run as fast as she could and was now in her bedroom, with plushies all over the place and clothes she didn't have the energy to put in their place, her messy bedroom.

"It hurts so much...", Sayori thought as she sat on her bed wrapping her arms around herself as if the temperature was below zero now, making her feel cold. The red bow girl turned her head to the right, glancing at her newest plushie of red bow.

She grabbed it and held it with both hands, looking at it with watery eyes as the memories of that now seemingly distant day came back.

"You always try, you always keep trying... I respect you and admire you for that..."

"You had no idea... How much you were overestimating me... Ry...", Sayori said with a sad smile, but before she could keep looking at that plushie with eyes watering, her door was suddenly knocked on, startling her as she lifted her head.

"It can't be...", Sayori mumbled scared but before she could even think of a way out, her door opened thanks to her forgetting to lock it yet again to finally reveal a panting and slightly sweaty dark blue haired girl.

"Sayori!", Ryona exclaimed as she entered. Sayori had quickly hid the plushie behind her and stood up to face her one last time. "Hi, Ry", she simply replied, forcing a smile.

"It's the first time you come over like this, isn't it?", Sayori said after Ryona seemed to struggle her next words. "Ah... I guess you're right...", Ryona scratched her cheek a bit embarrassed of realizing she was in her crush's room, seeing it how girly it was full of stuffed animals and cute decorations, in contrast with hers quite plain.

"Sorry it's messy... If I knew you'd come over, it wouldn't be such a mess", Sayori smiled awkwardly. "Don't worry, mine is messier to be honest", Ryona replied with an awkward smile of her own.

"I-I don't want to sound rude but... Why are you here? You're supposed to be at the club now and then... Go play with Mao-chan", Sayori looked at the floor. "I'm just... Worried about you... After the way you left the club earlier... And they way you've been acting today... It may not be too long since I know you but... I can already tell when something's wrong... When something won't let you smile", Ryona said doing her best to look at her, beating her own nervousness out of her.

"That's no good, Ry", Sayori smiles shaking her head. "E-Eh?", Ryona's new anxiety struck her again.

"This is all my fault... If I didn't get so weak and kept expressing my feelings... If I hadn't made those stupid mistakes then you wouldn't have been worried about me at all. You wouldn't have come here. You wouldn't have even been thinking about me right now. But this is my punishment, isn't it? I'm getting punished for being so selfish. I think that's why the world decided to have you come here today. It just wants to torture me... Hehe...", Sayori weakly laughed.

"Sayori... Why... Why are you saying those things? I... I don't know what happened to you but... For you to say something like that... For you to not smile like you always do... Please just... Tell me what happened... I want and need to know", Ryona walked closer to her but Sayori stepped back.

"Ahaha... You really put me in a trap, Ry. But you're wrong, nothing happened to me. I've always been like this. You've seen it before a couple times but this is the first time you're seeing it this bad", Sayori said with a weak smile. "What do you mean?", Ryona full of confusion, anxiety and sorrow could only ask.

"Ehehe... You're really gonna make me say it, aren't you, Ry? ...I guess I have no choice this time... The thing is...", Sayori paused a bit, hesitating, but Ryona's dark brown eyes fully on her told her that wouldn't work anymore.

"I've had really bad depression my whole life. I used to be late to school everyday because most days, I couldn't even find a reason to get out of bed. What reason is there to do anything when I fully know how worthless I am? Why go to school? Why eat? Why make friends? Why make other people put their energy and caring to waste by having them spend it on me? That's what it feels like", Sayori explains with that sorrowful smile of hers.

"That's why I just want to make everyone happy, to see them happy... So no one worries about me... But... Recently... I became selfish... I got carried away... Since I met you", Sayori finally looked at Ryona with blue eyes full of sadness and guilt, struggling to not let out that pain in the form of tears.

"That time I saw you at the park, we were scouting for possible new members for our club. I saw you reading and that was a reason for me to talk to you yes but... Seeing you alone there, the mysterious expression on your face... Was the main reason why... And when you told me about your reasons to be there... I couldn't help but feel like I had found someone I could maybe help myself with", Sayori erased that smile off her face, guilt striking her more and more.

"Even if I couldn't do it for myself, I didn't want you to ever feel like me... I wanted to do something for you in hopes of I don't know... Feel a little better with myself but... In the process I... I made a mistake...", Sayori looked at a random spot, her eyes fully losing their shine.

"I became more and more comfortable around you. I liked it when you always came to see me first, I liked it when you started waiting for me to walk together to school, I liked it when you always walked home with me, I liked it when you always listened to everything I had to say, I liked it when you started looking at me, I liked it when you started smiling at me, I liked it when you started needing me, I liked it when you started caring about me...", Sayori's eyes and heart couldn't hold it back any longer, tears began streaming down her face.

"That was my mist-!", Sayori couldn't bring herself to look at Ryona in the eye anymore. Crying now in front of her made her feel the weakest and the most pathetic she could ever feel. She knew it would affect her dark blue haired friend one way or the other and she hated it.
But before she could continue, she found herself surrounded by that enticing warmth she felt once not so long ago.

"Don't cry... D-Don't...", Ryona mumbled and Sayori, not knowing she was the very first one aside from the obvious one, could hear perfectly well the quiet sobs close to her ear and feel the desperation of that girl, holding her like her life depended on it and yet, in a way that she thought was the most careful she ever felt.

"Don't...", Sayori also said. She couldn't bring herself to return the embrace, her arms hanging helplessly with her little fists gripped as her heart felt that sting like feeling yet again.

Ryona herself didn't understand it either. The moment she saw tears come out of Sayori's eyes, it felt like a spear had pierced through her heart, her throat felt as bitter if she had drank the worst medicine ever made, her eyes quickly began to burn and the urge to stop it drove her to pull her closer to her, like the most precious treasure she had to protect.

"I-I don't know why you never told me this but... It doesn't matter. Now I know... Even if I don't know a thing about depression, even if I still don't understand your feelings well, even if I'm the dumbest person on earth, I promise you I'll do everything to make it gone. Anything that threatens your happiness, anything that threatens your smile, I'll destroy it", Ryona stated between sobs, gripping Sayori's blazer like she could be gone at any second.

"You don't understand at all... Why do you think I didn't tell you? Because if I had told you, you would have to waste efforts caring about me instead of doing important things. I don't want to be cared about. It's bittersweet when people try to care about me. Sometimes it feels nice but it also feels like a bat being swung against my head", Sayori spoke again. Ryona only gritted her teeth as she listened to and came to learn, how Sayori felt about herself, how Sayori felt about the person that was everything to her.

"Helping everyone be happy together is the best thing for me. That's why I wanted so badly for you to make friends with everyone else. To find people that could make you the happiest and not end like me but then...", Sayori paused. She desperately wanted to hug the dark blue haired back but she knew she had no right for what she was about to say.

"Seeing you make friends and get closer with her, seeing someone that finally came to give you the happiness you deserve... It felt like a spear going through my heart", Sayori said but before she could continue, Ryona spoke again.

"What are you saying... The only one who makes me happy is you and no one else!", Ryona raised her voice hugging Sayori tighter. "That's not true... It can't be true...", Sayori cried.

"I'm selfish... I'm finally showing you how horrible of a person I am and yet... And yet... You keep saying things like that... I was punished by my heart hurting in a way I couldn't understand and now you came here and I hurt you too... I'm just weak and selfish, that's all I am and yet...", Sayori cried louder, tears streaked down her face without apparent end.

"And yet you're everything to me", Ryona finished for her, making Sayori open her eyes in surprise but the pain overwhelming her heart growing more now. "No... No... I don't deserve that! All I deserve is this pain!", Sayori replied.

"I don't think that, I would never think that. I'm really happy you came to my life, you're the only thing that makes my days worthwhile, everything else is nothing but a plus. You're the only one who gives meaning to my life!", Ryona exclaimed desperately. Tears she held back for years continued to come out to release some of the great pain in her heart.

"No... Don't... Don't do this... to me... Please don't... I...", Sayori barely managed to speak between her sobs, finally wrapping her arms around the tough girl in return. "If you're with me... There'll be nothing but rain clouds clouding your life", Sayori sobbed.

Ryona then had it at last.

"I'll show you... I'll show you why you're wrong!", Ryona finally managed to genuinely smile, pulling away from the hug a bit, but still holding Sayori's shoulders, looking at her in the eye.

The tough girl pulled out her phone and without saying anything else, she exited Sayori's room, closing the door behind her, leaving Sayori surrounded by a confusion that distracted her from her pain a bit.

"Pick up, pick up... Mayu! I need a big favour!", Ryona said with the phone on her ear as she hurried downstairs as her newest friend of white hair answer the call from her.

==================

Do something you'd never do for anyone else but her.

Ryona read for the tenth time that line on her list while the minutes she waited outside Sayori's house felt like years until she finally arrived.

"Yo! What's up dude? Everything okay? Mayo told me y- woah!", cheerful as usual but still concerned about both of them, said the messy ponytail girl carrying a peculiar object on her back, only to be dragged inside by her hair by the tough girl.

"Ououch! Dude you gonna rip my hair off! Chill!", Emerson said fixing her messy ponytail as Ryona now stood in front of her, with her back turned and her head looking at something above. "Play the gentlest melody you can, that's all I need, please", Ryona said determined.

"A-Alright...", Emerson said a bit nervous but soon complied as she pulled out the acoustic guitar from her case hanging behind her back. "I finally have that last stanza", Ryona mumbled to herself and while Emerson got ready, she shouted her name once again.

"Sayori!", Ryona exclaimed and soon, the red bow girl's figure appeared above as her window opened. "Ry?! What are you doing?!", Sayori asked surprised but also slightly scared as she soon put the pieces together as she glanced at her front garden.

The messy ponytail girl there holding a guitar, the dark blue haired girl clearing her throat and the sun still shining up in the sky for the last minutes that day could only mean one thing was about to come, one she certainly could've dreamt of but never expect to come true.

"You told me poems are like songs, you taught me how to write them and now I'll use it against you! Please! Listen to my song and see why you're wrong!", Ryona spoke one last time, what came next, was something else.

...

♪To no place I used to fly♪
♪Pointless always felt that ride♪
♪Emptiness was all I had♪
♪What reason was there to fight?♪

♪Anywhere the wind would take me♪
♪Nothing different I'd get to feel♪
♪Very little pitiful me had seen♪
♪Until the day you appeared~♪

♪Like a burning flame♪
♪Like a dazzling light♪
♪Like a shining start♪
♪Ohhh dear sunshine~♪

♪My life you came to brighten♪
♪My heart you get to tighten♪
♪My mind by you is taken♪
♪My happiness thanks to you has risen♪

♪Like a sparkly gem♪
♪Like a gently embrace♪
♪Like a lovely song♪
♪Ohhh dear sunshine~♪

♪Everyday I pray you shine upon me♪
♪No matter how little it may be♪
♪As long as your smile I get to see♪
♪My dear sunshine~♪

♪Without you I'm incomplete♪
♪For you any adversity I'll beat♪
♪Your guardian I'll become♪
♪And I will praise the sun♪
♪My dear suuuunshiiiine~♪

♪Rainclouds may dare come your way♪
♪But I'll be there to scare them away♪
♪As the wind that blow your worries away♪
♪Just stay with me and let us have our own windy sunny day~♪

...

As soon as her voice stopped, so did the guitar melody.
Silence had fallen, curious eyes were on them and the sound of heartbeats raising were heard.

The red bow girl was at a lost for words as the wind began to blow.

"Sayori!", Ryona shouted once again. Sayori kept looking at her, full of expectation and hope again. "I love you!", 3 words was all Ryona had left to say.

"I... I... I LOVE YOU TOO!!", Sayori shouted, blue eyes full of tears but the shiny smile on her face could let anyone see the rain clouds had been scared away.

"Woah!", Emerson exclaimed after almost crying of joy as Sayori put one foot on the windows frame and her full body gradually came out through it. "Move!", Ryona shoved her away to oblivion to then open her arms to the sky as the red bow girl flew her way.

With a picture perfect catch, Ryona wrapped her arms around her bubbly girl before any harm could come to her, letting themselves fall on the grass below, and even if her back felt it a bit with Sayori now on top of her, that thousand suns worthy smile in front of her erased any pain.

Sayori couldn't wait any longer. Her lips soon met Ryona's as their hearts previously clouded, were now bashed in sunshine and love.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Hey brothers, long time since I greeted you here!

Two things, first, thanks very much if you're still reading this shit, it may not be great but know I put my heart and guts into it.🦵🏿

Second, that song for Sayori is written by me so big sorry if it ain't that good haha, it's my first time doing that 😅

That is all!!