Affinity

Chapter 36 - A Lesson in Friendship

a/n: hi friends - d here! sorry this chapter is coming so late. I was busy enjoying my vacation and finally found a spare second to finish up while waiting for my (delayed) flight home. You all rock. 

"Hey," Shinso whispered, entering her room without a word of invitation from Emiko. He shut the door tightly behind him and sat down beside her, close enough to offer the comfort of proximity while also maintaining enough of a distance so she didn't feel he was invading her personal space.

"Heard you were moving in today, figured I'd stop by and see the new digs," he droned, taking a moment to stretch before he made himself comfortable again. His left shoulder pressed against hers comfortingly, a reminder that he was not a ghost living in her mind. "I guess without you doing the actual moving, they went the safe route and just recreated your room from your aunt's place."

Shinso paused and his blank stare swept over her, assessing her body language with a keen eye. He knew her better than anyone and could no doubt see just how tense she was, with her spine ramrod straight and her eyes darting manically around the space.

"You fucking hate it," he deadpanned, gazing out at the room that so closely resembled her space at home. The space they'd lay in more nights than she could count, reminiscing on childhoods spent separated, on the times they'd shared since meeting each other. He'd spent hours on hours sprawled across her bedroom floor, listening to her talk about her friends in 1A, and from those hours he'd learned more about the students she spent her days with than he'd ever expected. So much so, in fact, that he'd even recognized a few of their faces as he entered the dorms.

Emiko felt a bashful heat rise up in her cheeks, though she couldn't deny he was right. She did hate it - she hated how small the room made her feel. How it left her trembling and ruminating in all of her past failures. How in the corners of the room, she swore she saw a cape swirling in the shadows. This space, so cluttered with all of her old things made her feel small and weak and afraid, and even if she'd never admit it to anyone but herself, it was the truth.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Shins," Emiko replied, her voice coming out barely above a whisper. She'd barely spoken since she'd gotten out of the hospital and her throat was raw. That denial to SHinso was the first thing she'd said all day, the first words to slip past her lips.

"Cut the shit, Emiko, you don't have to put on an act with me, you should know that," Shinso snapped, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a handheld game system. He powered it on and jumped into whatever game he'd been playing before. He reached over subtly, turning the volume up to let the sound effects of his game drown out the silence. The noises of cartoony combat emanated around her and m,ade her feel slightly less afraid than she had earlier, and she felt eternally grateful for Shinso barging into her room.

Even though it'd been many weeks since the pair had last seen one another, he still understood what she needed better than anyone. She'd missed this aspect of their friendship - the easy way in which Shinso could see right through her.

For a while, the pair just sat in silence. She kept her knees pulled up to her chest, her forehead pressing against the bony surface. She was content to not be alone, to have someone occupying the space beside her, even for a moment. Shinso's game and his soft breathing was enough to fight away the rising tide of panic she was constantly afraid of taking over. She let it wash away some of her fears, let it assuage the loneliness she'd felt since she'd been rescued.

"D'you wanna talk about it?" Shinso mumbled, dropping his game into his lap, while exhaling quickly. A puff of breath burst through his lips, and she watched as he fidgeted with the torn skin around his cuticles. "What happened, I mean?"