Chapter Text
Sada realized herself that she may have been a bit overbearing when it came to her enthusiasm. Oftentimes, she would be teasing and fun and tackle her friend Turo whenever she spotted him in the hallways during classes; other times she would simply tackle him in a hug just for the fun of it. Was it because it was in her nature? That it felt right for her to do so? She wasn’t entirely sure, but his reactions were far too endearing for her to stop.
At first, he would be annoyed and shake her off, but as time went on, he could only sigh and give her a soft smile whenever she decided to tackle him unexpectedly, his smile slowly fading into a frown when she always let go of him and ran down the hall to whatever caught her attention next.
One night while she was trying her best to focus on studying in the library, a pair of arms had suddenly wrapped around her waist, pulling her a bit from behind. The person rested their chin on the top of her head, and their warm and comforting hug was a surprise, but not an unwelcome one. The arms and the hold felt awfully familiar to her, and her breath had caught in her throat as she imagined for a second who it could be—even more so, if it was the person she wanted it to be.
Who…? No it can’t be him, he doesn’t like hugs that much!! I need to keep my distance so he doesn’t feel uncomfortable around me!
It only lasted for a few precious moments, however, as the tight arms around her had let go immediately after she jumped in surprise, and she turned around to see a familiar boy in her classes, one that she cherished close to her heart.
O-Oh! It actually was him, haha. How nice…
She glanced at Turo, who was blushing madly and waving his hands in embarrassment as he backed away from the table she was at. “Ah I’m so sorry Alma I didn’t mean to scare you I um just wanted to give you a hug! Since um I thought you could need it??” His eyes darted around, unfocused and anxious. “Again scaring you was not my attention! I know I can be uncomfortable with stuff like that but I swear it was only out of good will and I wanted to also apologize if I did anything wrong before so—”
She blinked at him in bewilderment. There he was with his rambling again that he got himself into whenever he was excited or flustered, something that made her grin all the more as she gave a soft smile and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“You’re so silly, Andrés!” The hand on his shoulder had gone down to his own shaking hand down by his side, and she took it into her own and entwined their fingers together.
He looked down at their joined hands and blushed, squeezing their hands together. “You…didn’t mind the hug?”
She shook her head and tried to think about anything else except the overwhelming feeling of his arms around her and the way his embrace enthralled her very being. “Of course I don’t! U-Um…” She couldn't help but tense up at their sudden closeness. “I was wondering actually if you could hug me again? Ahaha…” Arceus, he’s going to think I’m even more overbearing now, I’m even holding his hand…!
Turo stared at her with bright, inquisitive eyes. They were the same ones that shone whenever he rambled and talked about his passions with her at 2 AM on school nights, or when he ate his favorite food in the form of sweet snacks he hid from everyone else; they seemed to be unavoidable these days, even in moments when she happened to glance at him when they were together and he still shared the same loving gaze fixated towards her.
After what seemed like only a few seconds of pondering and gazing into each other’s souls, Turo gave a rare smile that made her catch her breath in her throat, and he let go of her hand temporarily and slowly went over to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into yet another embrace.
His arms were skinny, yet they held her ever so tightly, almost as if he was afraid she would disappear at any moment; to be fair, she did excuse herself quite a lot from classes and events to move onto the next one, but she wasn’t trying to be rude about it! There was something in her that wanted her to keep moving, a drive that pushed her to keep going and accomplish as much as possible, for the sake of herself and for others.
Although with Turo…it was different somehow. He would patiently wait for her outside of class, playing nervously with his hands and immediately looking up towards her in utter devotion when she ran towards him. He would hold her bag off to the side while her eyes sparkled in enthusiasm as she pointed to show him something mundane such as a rock that caught her interest. Just his presence alone was enough for her to make her stay indefinitely, and if he wasn’t there on some days? Her mind would flood with anxiety, resorting to at least a phone call or a text message if it meant that she could talk to and see him in some way or form.
She snapped back to reality once she realized she was being caught up in her thoughts once again. “Um, is this okay for you?” She asked him, frowning that she wouldn’t dare let him see. “I don’t want you to feel like you’re being forced to do this.”
“N-No, that’s not it at all! It’s okay for me!” He reassured her. “I can see you trying too, Alma. And um, everything is okay, as long as it’s with you,” he murmured against her hair, which sent a few shivers down her spine. She was so happy and relieved to hear she wasn’t pushing him away from her. She could tell though he was still tense, so she decided to be joking in hopes it would lessen his anxiety.
“You know?”
“Hm?”
“Raifort told me that you didn’t have the guts to go out at night time because you were scared of ghosts OoooOh!”
“Pftt, that’s dumb. Of course I’m brave enough to go out to the library this late at night. It’s not like the inside of the school is haunted at least…and ghosts don’t even exist!!”
She could feel him slightly relax against her, so she decided to be more joking towards him, all the while tightening her own embrace with her arms around his lanky frame.
“And she also told me she had to pull Jacq out of a trash can he rolled down the library stairs, haha! Poor guy is stuck in the nurse’s office with a horrible concussion now!”
“That idiot…” He tried to keep back his small chuckle, but failed as his stifled giggles erupted into full on laughter. “Pfft haha…hahaha!!” Him erupting into delightful laughter had gotten her to giggle too, and she allowed herself to melt in the hug and to live in the special occasion with the one she treasured most.
For the rest of the late twilight and under the fluorescent blaring lights of the empty library floor, both of them giggled and laughed to their hearts content in their shared embrace, without a care in the world; it was they themselves who were the whole world to the other.
He loosened the embrace to look at her with such love in his eyes, and he lifted her up in his arms and twirled her around teasingly, almost dropping her and panicking when he had done so. But it’s not like she cared, for his flustering and his apparent and genuine sincerity were like light itself to her.
Sada finally closed her eyes and sighed against Turo’s chest, getting lost in his warm hold and nodding off in his arms to oblivion. Please don’t take me away from this wonderful moment.