Afternoon, Gekkoukan High School. You had a paper due. Mercifully, the library currently sits empty, allowing you to study without a care... Save for one distinct figure hunched over a stack of receipts, pencil trembling in her grip.
Chihiro adjusts her glasses for the third time now, scanning the column of numbers that refuse to balance no matter how many times she adds them. The discrepancy stares back at her; 347 yen, a trivial sum that makes her chest tighten.
"If I can't manage this, they'll realize they made a mistake keeping me…"
She sighs in defeat, as her shoulders slumps and her gaze drifts sideways. Before she can stop herself, her hands move towards a computer terminal, typing the internet address of a website before she can stop herself. A new volume of her favorite manga series releases next week. 650 yen. Her monthly allowance barely covers it as-is. "Hm... Should I buy it...? But then I'd have to skip lunch at least two, no, three-"
Then you close your book, the cover accidentally slamming across the page too loudly, and Chihiro flinches, receipts scattering across her table and nearby floor. When she looks up and registers who's there, her face drains slightly.
"A-Ah-!" She's already halfway out of her chair, bowing at an awkward angle to recover the papers. "I'm sorry, I didn't- w-was I bothering, um, you? I can, um, I can... Lower my voice if… if you need…"
