"RIIING!!"

Class has ended, it was Monday. Everyone was leaving school - except for one girl.

She was in a small room. There was nothing much there except a piano. A girl was playing that piano.

"Birthdays come so fast, huh.", the girl said to herself.

Soon, the girl played music with the piano. The sound echoed to rooms near where the girl played. But with the school now empty, it was likely the sound reached further.

--------------------------

The next day, at a park in the school, Maki was sitting on a one of the benches. She was reading something. Nearby were a group of girls talking to each other. They were probably third years.

"Hey, do you think there are ghosts in this school?", one girl said.

"Huh? Are you serious? You're 17 now yet you still believe they really exist?", a second girl replied.

"Hey! I'm serious here! There is a ghost here, I heard someone was playing a piano after class ended."

"Oh! You don't know? That wasn't a ghost. It was probably some student who does that often.", a third girl responded.

"I heard that it was a first year who has a habit of playing pianos, even at those times."

Maki heard what they were saying and stared at them.

"Hey, who are you looking at?"

A girl with black hair and pigtails arrived to tell Maki that. She was holding her lunchbox.

"Ah, Nico-chan. It's nothing, don't mind it."

"Yes I should! You were looking at them, and I don't like that!"

"Is it wrong for me to looking at them?"

"No, Maki-chan! It's just that...well..."

("You just don't get it, Maki-chan. I just want you to look at me, just me. Can't you see that?)

Nico wanted to say those words, but instead she said something else.

"It's...it's because it seemed to trouble you!"

"Trouble me?...yeah...I guess."

Nico sat beside Maki and glared at her sharply.

"So they are troubling you, Maki-chan! Tell me, did they do or say something bad about you?"

"Ah! No, it's not...they didn't do anything to me. I just heard they were talking about me, that's all."

"Oh, I see. You're happy that you're popular now, huh?"

"Ah! No, why would I...?"

"Admit it Maki-chan, you are popular and you're proud about it!"

"No, I am not Nico-chan! I'd rather be alone and no one paying attention to me."

Nico paused from talking after Maki said that. In her mind, Nico wanted tell her:

("Maki-chan, if you only knew someone else wanted your attention, too.")

But she decided not to. Nico knew it wouldn't change anything - at least for now.

"Hmph, whatever you say.", Nico replied. Afterwards, she put her lunchbox on her lap and started eating using her chopsticks. Her food consisted of rice and pieces of sushi. Maki paid little attention to the food.

But just before Nico ate a piece of sushi, she looked at Maki and said: "Here, eat this!"

"Hey! What are you doing, Nico-chan?!"

"I'm going to feed you, Maki-chan."

"Well that's...you don't have to! I've already eaten so it's not necessa..."

"Please, Maki-chan."

Maki noticed that Nico was unusually serious about it. Maki started blushing.

"Maki-chan, I know you're not happy with what they might have said about you. I'm trying to cheer you up."

Maki stayed silent.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. I wouldn't mind if I share my lunch with you."

Maki blushed more, but she still tries to keep a calm face so that Nico wouldn't notice.

"...F-fine...d-do whatever you want...Nico-chan..."

Nico smiled and started feeding Maki with her lunch. Maki felt both happy and uneasy with what Nico was doing. The food was delicious and Nico was doing a good deed, but Maki does not understand it.

She was thinking: "Why are you being so nice all of a sudden, Nico-chan. Why do you care about me this much.", which made her blush even more. Her heart started pounding unusally too.

"Hey, Nico. It's my turn now."

"Huh? What you mean...?"

"To feed you, isn't it obvious?"

"Eh!? What are you thinking, Maki-chan...?"

"Nico-chan, you're wasting your food on me. I don't think it's fair that you have anything left to eat."

Maki noticed that there were only 2 pieces of sushi and some rice left in Nico's lunchbox. 

Maki took the chopstick and fed Nico. By the end of the day the two girls were feeding one another until the food ran out. Both Nico and Maki ended up blushing and felt embarassed with what they did. Yet both felt like they wanted to say something each other.

"Thank you, Nico-chan." "Thank you, Maki-chan."

The girls were surprised that they ended up saying "Thank you." to one another at the same time. They blushed even more while their hearts were beating faster because of that. The two stayed silent for a while. 

"N-nico-chan...I think we should leave now..."

"Uhh...yeah sure...I feel really embarassed..."

Both of them noticed that everyone was watching them, including the third years mentioned before. Most of the students looked like they enjoyed seeing Nico and Maki having their sweet time with each other. But some students, who knew Maki wasn't very sociable, were surprised that she interacted with Nico in a very sweet way.

And one female student, a certain third year with purple hair tied in two long pigtails, looked at the two with a very wierd grin on her face.

"How...adorable...", she said.

That was how the day ended for both of them.