Mayohi stirred her straw in her iced glass, suddenly a little less talkative than usual. She glanced at Hinata from the side, her eyes more serious than before, then asked in a surprisingly calm voice:
— Hinata… how could someone like you be labeled as a bully? You're kind, you're calm, you're… well, normal. People just need to get to know you.
Hinata froze for a moment, the spoon suspended above her ice cream. The cafeteria's buzz echoed around them: laughter, conversations, the coffee machine humming. But she seemed elsewhere.
She finally said in a neutral tone:
— People… are often very annoying. I don't know why they like to provoke others for no reason.
She lightly moved her fingers on her cup before slowly lifting her head, her blue gaze darkening with a deeper shadow.
— Actually… if I have often been violent to people… it's because they disrespect my big brother. They insult him, say stupid things just to make me react.
Mayohi blinked.
— What do they say about your big brother?
Hinata stayed silent for a few seconds, as if the words refused to come out. Then she sighed, almost reluctantly:
— They… say he's good for nothing. That he's stupid. And… other things.
She clenched her teeth for a second, then raised her head more firmly.
— Melokosa… that's all I have. He's my family. He's the one who has always taken care of me. He's not rich, but he fights day and night so I lack nothing.
Her voice trembled. Not loudly, but truly.
Mayohi listened, breathless, eyes wide as if discovering a Hinata she would never have imagined.
Hinata slowly set her ice cream on the table. Her hand then slid down to the bottom of her black tank top. She inhaled, hesitated… then slightly lifted the fabric.
Mayohi immediately put a hand over her mouth.
— What's that…?!
A long scar, huge, deep, literally tore across Hinata's belly: a pale line running from her hip to the top of her abdomen. It looked like the mark of a wound that should have killed an adult, yet she got it as a baby.
Hinata gently pulled down her tank top.
— It's an injury I got when I was still a baby. I have to go often to the medical center for checkups. It's a sensitive scar… it can reopen if I do anything wrong.
Mayohi felt a chill run down her neck.
Hinata continued, her eyes fixed on her hands.
— Sometimes, it really hurts. It's like… something is trapped inside and trying to get out. And when that happens, the pain becomes… horrible. Without my painkillers, I spend sleepless nights.
She breathed a bit heavier.
— And Melokosa… he does everything to fix that. Everything the doctor asks for, he brings it. He works like crazy. He gives up everything, just for me.
A slight smile stretched her lips.
— For me, he's my hero. And I'll never let anyone insult him, Mayohi. Never.
Mayohi stayed silent, eyes trembling.
She had never seen anyone defend someone else with so much strength, love, and loyalty.
And at the same time… Hinata had never seemed so human to her.
Mayohi still hadn't caught her breath.
Finally, she breathed out:
Mayohi: … When I came to this high school, people just told me you beat people up like that, for no reason.
She put her hand before her mouth, still shaken.
Mayohi: I didn't understand… not at all. They sold me a totally reversed version of you.
Hinata took her ice cream back between her fingers, twirled it slowly, and replied with a very slight smile, a sad but sincere smile:
Hinata: People often work like that.
She slightly lifted her eyes to Mayohi.
Hinata: Imagine… a man hits a beehive with a stick. The bees get angry, they sting him, that's normal.
She tapped her spoon against the glass's rim.
Hinata: When he runs to ask for help… he'll just say: "The bees attacked me!"
She shrugged.
Hinata: He'll never say he first hit their home.
She took a bite of ice cream.
Hinata: People love to play the victim. They forget — or hide — that they provoked it all.
Silence fell. Hinata lowered her voice slightly:
Hinata: I don't understand how some think. I wonder if… for them… it's normal to hit others, insult them, then demand we stay calm.
She set her ice cream on the table, her eyes darker.
Hinata: Like we have to just accept it… without saying anything… without doing anything…
Mayohi pressed her lips. She put both hands around her glass and looked at Hinata seriously.
Mayohi: Hinata… I don't know if you realize, but…
She leaned in a bit.
Mayohi: You're a good person. Really.
Hinata blinked slightly, surprised.
Mayohi: Yes, you're cold sometimes, you're direct, you don't let people walk over you. But you protect your brother, you don't do unnecessary harm, and you only get angry when forced.
She smiled softly.
Mayohi: And despite all that… you're kind. Not "kind" in the naive sense… but in the true sense. Honest.
She placed her hand on Hinata's.
Mayohi: People should get to know you before opening their mouths.
Hinata looked at her, frozen, as if she didn't know what to do with this compliment. Then her shoulders relaxed and she let out a small discreet laugh.
Hinata: You're talking nonsense, Mayohi…
Mayohi: Maybe. But I mean it. Completely.
Hinata slightly turned her face, her cheeks taking on a rosy tint she tried to hide behind a mouthful of ice cream.
Hinata: … Thank you, Mayohi.
Mayohi: Hey, you're welcome!
She gave her a little elbow nudge.
Mayohi: That's what friends do, right?
Hinata lowered her eyes, but a real smile—rare, slight, but genuine—drawn on her lips.
Hinata: … Yes. I suppose.
Walking toward the cafeteria exit, Mayohi kept talking and talking, jumping from one topic to another with exhausting but strangely pleasant energy. Hinata nodded occasionally, adding a "hm" or "I see" here and there, while keeping her hands in her pockets.
When they passed in front of a small photo booth lit in pink, Mayohi stopped abruptly.
— Oh! Hinata! Look! A photo booth!
Her eyes glistened as if she had discovered an ancient treasure.
Hinata rolled her eyes inwardly.
— I sense a trap coming…
— We're taking photos! declared Mayohi as if it were a divine law.
Hinata sighed deeply, a sigh bearing all the emotional fatigue in the world.
— Haa… I even wonder why you still ask me when I refuse, you'll drag me in again—
She didn't get to finish.
Mayohi had already grabbed her wrist with a gentle authority, and in a second Hinata was teleported into the booth like an express parcel delivery.
The light flashed.
The curtain closed.
And Hinata realized she was trapped.
— Okay, first photo! said Mayohi, already posing, big smile, fingers in a V.
Hinata took her natural pose: straight back, neutral face, calm and cold gaze like a museum statue.
Flash.
The little machine printed the photo.
Mayohi grabbed it immediately… then paused.
— …Hinata.
— Hm?
— You're TOO serious. You look like you're taking a passport photo for a murder charge.
Hinata blinked slowly.
— I'm just… normal.
— No! Again! said Mayohi tapping the screen.
And so began the ordeal.
Second photo:
Mayohi winked. Hinata stayed as stiff as a wall.
Mayohi: No! Too rigid!
Third photo:
Mayohi forced Hinata's chin up.
Hinata: …why?
Mayohi: We're trying to look cute!
Fourth photo:
Mayohi tried to make a heart with her fingers… Hinata made a heart… very square.
Mayohi: Hinata! What's that?! It looks like a runic symbol to summon a demon!
Hinata looked away:
— I'm not made for that kind of… weird shape.
Fifth photo:
Mayohi smiled widely, and Hinata tried to smile too… but it looked like she was gritting her teeth under gunpoint.
— Oh my god, Hinata! yelled Mayohi laughing.
— …That was a smile.
— That was a traumatized smile!
Sixth photo:
Mayohi gently pulled Hinata's cheeks.
— Come on, just a natural smile!
— Stop…
— Hinataa… just smile a little!
— …I'll crush you against this booth if you keep going.
— That means you're making an effort! Come on, we take it!
Flash.
Silence.
Mayohi looked at the photo.
This time, Hinata smiled softly, almost shyly, a tiny but real smile. In the picture, she looked younger, more alive… almost tender despite her usually neutral expression.
Mayohi stayed still for a moment, eyes shining.
— …It's perfect. she said softly.
Hinata looked away, slightly red.
— …If you say so.
They finally stepped out of the booth, a long strip of photos in hand.
Hinata sighed:
— With you… even taking pictures feels like an exam.
Mayohi burst out a clear laugh that echoed down the hallway.
— Obviously! It has to be perfect!
She held up the photos like a trophy.
— And look at that face! You're too cute on them!
Hinata tensed immediately.
— Stop saying things like that…
— Hinata, don't be shy! said Mayohi, giving her a slight shoulder nudge.
— I'm not shy.
— Sure, sure. And I'm the queen of the world.
Hinata groaned faintly, but a discreet smile betrayed her amusement.
And so, the two girls resumed their walk, side by side, their shadows joining under the streetlights.
A strange, improbable, but real friendship had just grown a little stronger.