Other World Chimera
Promises

“Tomoka me-”

"It's okay, but I feel a bit unfair because it's only me who has to promise to take better care of myself" Tomoka walked up to Nozomi wanting to hug her, but she knew she shouldn't.

“Four years ago you made me promise to never do anything as reckless as I did back then. You told me to stay with you forever” Tomoka's expression became serious, she hated seeing Nozomi get hurt. Now he finally understood why the girl reacted the way he did back then.

“Now I will hold you for the same treatment. I want you to promise me to take better care of yourself. I'd like you to promise me that you won't do anything reckless anymore. I want you to promise me that you will stay with me forever.” Tomoka's eyes became teary. As she spoke, she imagined what it would be like if she lost Nozomi.

“I promise” Nozomi's heart hurts, like someone squeezed it. He hated seeing Tomoka like that. He hated to see that lucky girl sad. He hated himself for making her cry.

"That promise, if you deny it I will hate you forever" With that, Tomoka took a step forward while wiping away her tears. He extended his right hand with his little finger forward. Nozomi gave her a small nod while hooking her pinky with Tomoka's pinky.

“Uhm, 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 have to say it all or it doesn't count" Feeling a little better Tomoka decided to tease Hinata a little. However, the expression of determination on Hinata's face made her silent.

“Then, Tomoka, Nozomi, promise me that you two will take care of yourself. A-that you two will not be rash and hurt yourself. B-that you two will stay with me forever and ever!” In the end, Hinata's cheeks flushed red.

""We promise""

“Yup come here, I can't move my left arm” said Nozomi, who wears a cast on her chest and cannot move her left arm at all.

"I promise!" Hinata had stepped forward and hooked her little finger with the little finger of her friends. He felt that they had grown closer, much closer. It gave him an amused feeling in his chest.

“Padahan, with those words, other people might think we are asking each other to marry” Tomoka feels brash and wants to tease the other. However, he did not expect his own words would backfire on him so spectacularly.

The cheeks of the three girls turned red as they blushed thinking about it. Tomoka realized that she did not think too much about it, be it in this life or in her past. He doesn't even know if he likes men, women or both. However, he felt that perhaps spending the rest of his days with the two would not be too bad.

For Nozomi and Hinata, the attack made their heads spin. In the past, they had always competed with each other to get Tomoka's attention. They think of him as their first friend, their best friend, but now Tomoka's words make them realize that it's not just that. In their eyes Tomoka was like the sun above. He kindled their miserable lives with his warmth.

"I-I was just joking" Being unable to endure the awkward silence anymore, Tomoka decided to try and solve it to no avail. The other two girls turned into reddened faces. All they could do was nod acknowledging Tomoka's words.

"By the way, I hope you get well soon Nozomi" Tomoka was eager to change the subject. His heart was beating fast inside his chest. The two extremely cute and flushed messes in front of him only exacerbated the problem.

"I-I too, hope you'll get well soon" Hinata recovered a little and finally answered.

“Don't worry you two. Nozomi should be able to go about three days to a week. Although she had to be careful and not force her healing body for more than a month.” The gentle doctor replied. Satisfied with that both Tomoka and Hinata thanked him and said goodbye before leaving.