"Where's that girl?" Momo was tapping her phone on her hand, waiting anxiously for Mina. It was already significantly later than the time that Mina usually arrived in school, and despite sending a message to her, the girl who was waiting received no reply. It did not help that she clearly knew something was wrong when she sent Mina home last night.

"Hey Moguri, where's Mina?" Sana asked, upon realising that her cousin was alone, which was a rare sight. She also noticed that Momo did not seem too calm.

"I don't know, she hasn't replied to any of my messages or calls."

Sana pat Momo on the back. Giving a reassuring smile, she comforted, "Don't be too worried, maybe she's just sick?" 

Momo would have considered that possibility, but something told her that it was not the case. Her instincts told her that it was not something so simple as Mina being sick.

Even when lessons started, Mina was nowhere to be seen. Worried sick, Momo decided to spend her day searching for the girl instead. The problem was that Momo had no idea where to start from. She had absolutely no clue as to where Mina would be. 

Momo had made the decision to head towards Mina's house first, but before she even reached too far away from the school, she heard sobs coming from somewhere nearby. Temporarily putting her search for Mina aside, she walked towards where the sound was coming from. 

The girl found herself walking towards an alley, and for a moment she deliberated if she should continue. An alley was never a safe place to be at alone. Even though it was in the morning and it was unlikely to happen, it was always better to be safe and sorry. But Momo was really curious as to what was going on, and something compelled her to go find the source of the sound.

Concluding that she was already experienced in fights and would be able to take care of herself, Momo continued following the sound. She was surprised when she saw someone squatting down, leaning her side against the wall. The girl had her back faced towards Momo, but the latter recognised her. 

It was Mina.

"Mina!" Momo hurriedly ran over and enveloped the girl who was crying. "What's wrong?"

Without any verbal reply, Mina clung onto Momo, as if her life depended on the girl, and cried even louder. Momo only held Mina closer to herself. It broke her to see Mina in this state. Mina was practically leaning against Momo, and their weights together made Momo's legs start to feel numb. Despite so, she waited patiently for Mina to calm down. She just wanted Mina to feel better.

With Mina's sobs turning into soft sniffs, Momo took the chance to change the position of her legs, not letting go of Mina in the midst of doing so. She caressed her hair, hoping to further calm her. When Mina's breaths became a lot more stable, Momo decided to ask.

"What happened, Mina?" Momo knew that Mina might not be too comfortable with saying it, but she had to know. She had to know what, or who, was causing Mina so much pain and she would definitely not let it go. "Did they bully you again?"

Mina shook her head, so Momo tried again. "There were people who attacked you just now?"

Several times Momo tried guessing, but the other girl just keeps shaking her head. Momo was getting impatient and desperate. She held Mina's face, making sure that the girl was looking at her. "Look, Mina, you need to tell me what happened then I can help you."

"You can't help me," Mina replied, her voice muffled as she was still trying to calm down.

"Then just share with me. I want to be there for you, Mina." Momo looked straight into her eyes. "Please?"

Mina could feel and hear Momo's sincerity. In that moment, all the walls that she had built and held up to hide her secrets just crumbled. "Mum and Dad, th-they.." Mina struggled to form coherent sentences, her mind fogged by all the emotional hurt she had been feeling. Using chunks of words that were the best she could think of, Mina told her story. About how her parents always hit her when she did not do 'well'. About how she had stayed over at Momo's to avoid it. About what happened last night. But of course, she took care in not mentioning anything about Momo's dance competition. She did not want her to feel guilty.

It was then that Momo realised that Mina was wearing long sleeves, something that she did not usually wore. Mina had said that her mother raged the night before and hit her much more than usual, so Momo naturally drew the link that the long sleeves were for covering purposes.

"May I?" Momo tugged gently at the opening of the sleeves. Mina caught the signal and nodded, looking down when Momo slowly rolled up the sleeves. The hurt girl was nervous, it was her first time letting someone know about her secret. She could not stop worrying about whether Momo would judge her, or leave her right after seeing it. Momo could not hold in a gasp when she saw the marks, her gasp making Mina even more scared than before. "This isn't just punishment, Mina-ya, this is abuse! We need to report this to the police!"

Momo stood up and tried to pull Mina, but the latter did not move. She looked back and saw that Mina was crying again. She turned and cupped Mina's face.

"I... I can't do that, Momo. Th-They are my p-parents."

"But-" Their gaze locked, and Momo could see pain in Mina's eyes. She sighed, Mina was right and she could not say anything about it. "Then let's go to my house, I'll treat all these."

"Oh wait, I'll piggyback you." Momo bent down, prepared to carry Mina.

"I can walk..."

"I know, I just want to piggyback you. Come on!" When Mina did not move, Momo decided to forcefully carry Mina in a bridal style instead, making the latter scream. "I know you can walk, but I don't know how much it hurts when you walk.. So let me carry you Minari, it makes me feel better that way."

***

"Momo-ya, thanks for today." 

The two were back at the school compounds after spending the couple of hours at Momo's, for Mina had said she had to be back before Jae came to pick her up.

"Must you really go back home, Minari? What if they..."

"We had this discussion just now, Momoring.. I'll be fine, they don't hit me for no reason, they just hit me a lot when there's a reason," Mina joked, hoping to convince Momo that she was better, and that she would be safe.

"Mina, I want you to tell me if-"

"I'll be fine, Moguri." Mina cut her off with a hug. "I gotta go, bye~"

A/N: Sorry Mina got hurt but I guess that gave us some more MiMo (which you guys are craving for)

Sorry today's update is a little late, I was too tired ><"

Always thankful for you guys!