[There is no smooth, graceful reply to that. How could there be? It's nothing Mami had expected to hear, not from anyone - and especially not Amamiya. An unusual sort of obliviousness, one might think, given Mami's skill with all things subtle....but recently she's been too wrapped up in her own conundrums of the heart, and so any hint of romantic longing has gone utterly unnoticed.
Which is precisely why Mami feels blindsided now, her world turned on its ear. And in this moment of vulnerable surprise, her composure falls away: she just stares at the other girl with an openly shocked expression that looks (and feels) so strange upon her face. But even so, even as her mind is falling over itself trying to process this, part of her instinctively tries to be careful - tries to be mindful of Amamiya's feelings, to be sensitive and kind as much as she can manage. So Mami doesn't blurt out something thoughtless and thus hurtful, she doesn't turn and leave to escape this suddenly awkward and uncomfortable situation. She just stands there, silent, watching Amamiya.
She wonders to herself how it would feel if their positions were reversed, if a rejection was obvious and inevitable but the confession was still given anyway....how would she want to be treated? What would be the best way to lessen a pain that couldn't be avoided? And the answer to that is....well, Mami doesn't know. She has no experience with this; she can only try her best, which in this case is hesitantly drawing Amamiya into a hug.]
...Thank you, Amamiya-san. Thank you for being honest with me. I know it- it couldn't have been easy, right?
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Which is precisely why Mami feels blindsided now, her world turned on its ear. And in this moment of vulnerable surprise, her composure falls away: she just stares at the other girl with an openly shocked expression that looks (and feels) so strange upon her face. But even so, even as her mind is falling over itself trying to process this, part of her instinctively tries to be careful - tries to be mindful of Amamiya's feelings, to be sensitive and kind as much as she can manage. So Mami doesn't blurt out something thoughtless and thus hurtful, she doesn't turn and leave to escape this suddenly awkward and uncomfortable situation. She just stands there, silent, watching Amamiya.
She wonders to herself how it would feel if their positions were reversed, if a rejection was obvious and inevitable but the confession was still given anyway....how would she want to be treated? What would be the best way to lessen a pain that couldn't be avoided? And the answer to that is....well, Mami doesn't know. She has no experience with this; she can only try her best, which in this case is hesitantly drawing Amamiya into a hug.]
...Thank you, Amamiya-san. Thank you for being honest with me. I know it- it couldn't have been easy, right?