She's a stressed and struggling student in Osaka, living alone and barely managing to pay off her debts to keep herself off the streets. But an encounter with her used-to-be favourite utaite, Mafumafu, might change all of that!
Waking up, the colours of the room are all mixed together and blurry. My throat feels dry and my eyelids heavy. Looking around, I'm about to close my eyes again; before I see ### lying next to me.
Instinctively, I sit up and begin shaking her shoulders.
"###-chan! ###-chan!"
"Ugh...."
Opening her eyes sleepily, I barely give her any time to interact before hugging her tightly. I'm so glad to see her. I'm glad she's alright.
"H-Hey!" ### protests, and groans; but returns my hug all the same.
"I'm glad you're safe," I smile into the hug, and she replies with an embarrassed silence.
"W-Whatever..."
Just then, there's a loud 'ahem'.
Me and ### momentarily break apart, and see Luz leaning against the doorframe and grinning, Soraru behind him.
"Well, isn't this sweet!" Luz teases in a suave tone, and Soraru hits him at the back of his head.
"Good to see you're both awake," he smiles at us, "You guys slept for a long time. It's afternoon, by the way."
"O-Oh," Is the only thing I can say, and I laugh awkwardly.
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Later, the four of us all have lunch at a ramen store. It all passes without incident as we all laugh and joke; and I have to admit I ended up snorting soup out of my nose. I really hope the manager or other customers didn't see.
I did notice though, that ### didn't each much.
When I asked what was wrong as she swirled chopsticks around the soup, she just brushed it off as still being sleepy.
I've had an exhausting day.
As I turn over on my side for the fourth time in the bed I ended up sharing with Mafumafu, I close my eyes yet again to try fall asleep.
"Hey, are you awake?" Mafumafu's voice suddenly interrupting my thought process. I sigh, annoyed.
"Now I am," I reply grumpily, trying to signal to him that I want to sleep, "Don't talk to me about such petty things at this hour, Mafumafu."
He just chuckles.
"You really haven't changed one bit, ###-chan," Mafumafu says softly.
Excuse him?
"What does that mean?" I ask gruffly. It's never too late to throw hands.
"Oh? Nothing bad," He chuckles. I huff, turning over on my side and moving to the farthest side of the bed. After five minutes of silence, he speaks again.
"Hey," Mafumafu starts, "...I'm really sorry for dragging you into all this."
"What? It's fine," I reply, then chuckle, "Made my life interesting anyways."
I realise how offensive that sounds, and suddenly feel bad.
"I'm the one... who should be sorry," I say quietly, "I-I ruined your life, your career, everything..."
Suddenly, tears start to prick at my eyes; I can't stop them, and they start to drip down my cheeks. Moving over, Mafumafu moves over and wraps his arms around me from behind - hugging to comfort.
"It's ok, it's ok," Mafumafu murmurs in my ear, and nuzzles his head onto my shoulder as I sob. With reassuring words and hugs, he keeps it up until I stop crying and move my body to face him. He hugs me against his chest in a tight embrace.
"Hey, ###-chan," Mafumafu whispers softly into my hair, "I.... I love you."
