58. Promise

“Tomoka I-” 

“It’s fine, but I find it a bit unjust that I am the only one that had to promise to take better care of myself” Tomoka walked closer to Nozomi wanting to hug her but she knew she shouldn’t. 

“Four years ago you made me promise to never do something as reckless as what I did back then. You told me to stay with you forever and ever” Tomoka’s expression became serious, she hated seeing Nozomi hurt. Now she finally understood why the girl had reacted how she did back then.  

“Now I will hold you to the same treatment. I want you to promise me to take better care of yourself. I want you to promise me that you won’t do something reckless again. I want you to promise me that you will stay with me forever and ever.” Tomoka's eyes became teary. As she spoke she imagined what it would be like if she were to lose Nozomi.  

“I promise” Nozomi’s heart hurt, it was as if someone was squeezing it. She hated seeing Tomoka like that. She hated seeing the happy-go-lucky girl sad. She hated herself for making her cry. 

“It’s a promise, if you break it I will hate you forever and ever” With that, Tomoka took a step forward while wiping away her tears. She extended her right hand with her pinky finger forward. Nozomi gave her a little nod while linking her pinky with Tomoka’s.

“Uhm, I-I also want you two to promise me to be safe! P-promise me!” Turning around, Tomoka saw Hinata standing by the door.

“Sure but you need to say the whole thing or it doesn’t count” Feeling a bit better Tomoka decided to tease Hinata a bit. However, the determined expression on Hinata’s face made her shut up. 

“Then, Tomoka, Nozomi, promise me that you two will take care of yourselves. T-that you two won’t be reckless and hurt yourself. T-that you two will stay with me f-forever and e-ever!” By the end of it Hinata’s cheeks had turned rosy. 

““We promise”” 

“But you have to promise us the same thing” Tomoka gave hinata a smile while offering the pinky from her left hand. 

“Yup come here, I can’t move my left arm” Said Nozomi who had a cast on chest that prevented her from moving her left arm at all. 

“I promise!” Hinata had stepped forward and linked her pinky fingers with those of her friends. She felt that they had grown closer, a lot closer. It gave her a tingly feeling in her chest. 

“Though, with the wording, others might think we are asking each other to get married” Tomoka felt cheeky and wanted to tease the others. However, she didn’t expect her own words to backfire on her so spectacularly. 

The three girl’s cheeks became red as they blush thinking about it. Tomoka realized that she hadn’t given much thought about it, be it in this life or in her past one. She didn’t even know if she liked guys, girls or both. However, she felt that perhaps spending the rest of her days with these two wouldn’t be so bad.

For Nozomi and Hinata the attack had sent their heads spinning. In the past, they had been constantly competing against each other for Tomoka’s attention. They regarded her as their first friend, their best friend but now Tomoka’s words made them realize that it wasn’t just that. In their eyes Tomoka was like the sun up above. She lit their otherwise miserable lives with her warmth.

“I-I was just joking” Not being able to take the awkward silence any longer Tomoka decided to try and break it to no avail. The other two girls had devolved into blushing messes. All they could do was nod in acknowledgement of Tomoka’s words. 

“Anyway, I hope you get well soon Nozomi” Tomoka was desperate to change the topic. Her heart had been beating wildly inside her chest. The two extremely cute blushing messes in front of her only exasperated the problem.

“M-me too, I hope you get better soon” Hinata had recovered a little and was finally able to answer. 

“Don’t worry you two. Nozomi should be able to leave in around three days to a week. Though she should be careful and not push her healing body for the better part of a month.” The gentle doctor answered. Satisfied with it both Tomoka and Hinata thanked him and said their goodbyes before leaving.      

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