She finds Rin in the supply closet for the third time this week, crammed between two brooms as if she could sink into the wall behind them and never come out again. It looks silly, but Hanayo can't bring herself to sigh, only sag her shoulders and sadly hold her hand out for Rin to take.

"I'll be fine," Rin mumbles, crossing her arms and looking down. Hanayo bites her lip and looks around to make sure no one's looking, then enters the closet and shuts the door behind her.

"Rin-chan…"

"Ow-! Kayo-chin, you stepped on my foot!" Rin doesn't sound mad, just surprised. Hanayo quickly apologizes and adjusts herself as best she can in the dark, her glasses almost falling off her face at some point, but they manage to end up neatly sitting on the floor face to face.

"Were they making fun of you again?"

It's dark, but Hanayo can still see Rin deflate in front of her.

"They said… that Rin should just wear a boy's uniform. 'Cuz I look silly in this one. They're right, though—"

"No, they're not!" Hanayo says with unexpected force, grabbing both of Rin's hands. "Rin-chan, you can't listen to them! You look cute in anything you wear, okay? And that includes the uniform."

She can hear Rin quietly sniffle and her grip slightly tightens.

"I don't know…"

Rin says she doesn't know, but Hanayo can tell that she's disagreeing. The teasing from primary school had carried over and gotten worse once Rin had cut off what little extra length of hair she had grown over the summer. They wouldn't listen to her insistent reasoning that short hair was just more convenient to have for athletics and began to drill the idea that she couldn't be a "proper" girl into her head. Hanayo did her best to support her, but as meek as she generally is, she couldn't do much but comfort Rin afterwards.

They both hate feeling so helpless, she figures.

"Rin-chan, you're the cutest girl I know."

"No, I'm not," Rin lets go of one of Hanayo's hands to wipe at her eyes. "You're cute, Kayo-chin. You're cute, and gentle, a-and you're pretty in all the skirts and dresses you wear."

"Rin-chan…"

"Don't worry. I'll be alright."

She reaches forward to run a lock of Hanayo's hair between her fingers, sliding her fingertips all the way to the end. While Rin had cut her hair during the summer, Hanayo had allowed hers to grow all the way down to her shoulder blades. It's hard to miss the longing looks Rin sometimes gets in her eyes when she plays with her hair, when they're together.

"It's different, you know? Because you'd look cute no matter what, Kayo-chin."

She knows they both hate feeling so helpless like this. Hanayo knows she can't do anything about the bullies, but she could at least do something for Rin.

The next day, Hanayo arrives at school with her hair cut short, nearly as short as Rin's. When Rin demands why she had done that with tears threatening to spill over, Hanayo only smiles and takes Rin's hands in her own.

"If I can be cute with short hair, then so can you."

.

.

.

A/N: wow it's been a while since i uploaded anything. i post more frequently at tumblr (yoshizora) now.
also, this is the first RinPana i think i've written WOW.