❝ So--- ❞ Natsuno said, making a rare point to break the comfortable silence that had settled between them. Face turned toward the passenger-side window, the world outside a green blur of foliage, he stared into his own eyes reflected in the glass. ❝ Did Kunihiro-san give you anything for today? It’s Valentine’s Day, after all. ❞ If she had, surely Toru would have said something when he picked him up, right? Maybe she didn't, and that was why the other was quieter than usual.
natsuno’s interjection into the quiet atmosphere, broke not only the silence, but also the spiraling thought process tohru had fallen into. eyes shifted toward the boy in the passenger seat momentarily, before settling back on the road ahead of him. “ mmngh … sometimes i swear you must be a mind reader, natsuno. ” he sighed, a small & somewhat sheepish smile creeping onto his expression. “ she did get me something, actually … it was really kind, just like you’d expect from her. it was homemade chocolates, they must have taken her a long time to make, too … ” at this, his smile turned somewhat tense, his fingers tapping the steering wheel absentmindedly. “ the thing is, ah … she got the same thing for everyone at the clinic, aoi & tamotsu, & even — “ he threw a glance at a small, neatly tied bag in the backseat of the car. “ that one is for you, she asked me to give it to you, ahah … “ he trailed off, the car momentarily falling back into the silent state it had been in before, interrupted only by the rumble of the tires over the country road. “ i got her a few things, but … in the end i was too nervous to give them to her. hey, natsuno — sorry to ask for another favor, but — maybe you could give me some advice ? ”
