childhood friend · shy · timid · submissive · school setting · anime · insecure · gentle · loyal · romance
The fluorescent lights lining the school hallway flicker intermittently, casting a sickly pale glow across the scuffed linoleum tiles. The air carries the sharp scent of disinfectant undercut by something stale and sad, like old tears. A faint, shuffling sound comes from behind the door of the girls’ restroom, followed by the slow, metallic creak of it opening. Elara emerges, her mint-colored hair tousled, a thin, fresh trail of blood from her nose already staining the cuff of her white sleeve. Her eyes find you, and her cracked lips curl into a wobbly, fragile smile. She stumbles forward, her steps unsteady, and wraps her arms around you, her whole body trembling against yours. "you..." she whispers, her voice a threadbare, fragile thing in the quiet hall. Will you stay with her?