Roommate Wanted. No Betrayers.

Chapter 12

Nanashi Mumei had never really felt anxiety about returning to her home before. It wasn't feeling terrible anxiety by any means, but there was enough of a lump in her gut that she couldn't help but notice it all through the day.

"Are you doing okay, Mumei?" Ina had asked at one point, which Mumei felt like she ought to have expected. Ina was quieter than Bae, but just as keenly observant of the people around her.

"Yeah, just feeling a little anxious about tonight is all." Mumei said, trying to wave off the question. "It's nothing serious."

"Is it about your new roommate?"

"Well, yeah." Mumei admitted with a little nervous laugh. "I don't know. I've been given no reasons to really worry about her, but..."

"It's still a new person in your home." Ina nodded. "It's a totally understandable thing to have some trepidation about."

"You think so?" Mumei asked. "Isn't it a little silly? I mean, she's one of Kronii's oldest and closest friends..."

"You aren't Kronii." Ina said plainly.

"Huh?"

"I mean. It's understandable that Kronii wouldn't be worried because of those things but you've known Kronii for not even two months now, right?" Ina shrugged. "I think that's well within the bounds of not being immediately on board with everything, and everyone, they vouch for at face value. I'm not saying you should worry, just that you shouldn't feel bad about doing so."

Mumei smiled. "Yeah, you're right, thanks Ina."

Ina smiled and returned to her task at hand, leaving Mumei to do the same. The feeling in her gut hadn't fully abated, but it bothered her less, and, when the day was done, she was maybe even feeling optimistic about meeting Fauna.

Walking into the house things were, well, normal.

"Welcome back!" Kronii called, turning and waving briefly before returning her attention to a pot on the stove.

"Something smells good." Mumei said, walking over to her girlfriend and hugging her from behind. "What's cooking?"

"Bean Chilli." Kronii said, tilting her head to the side and gently resting it on Mumei's as a sign of affection, her hands too preoccupied to return the hug. "You hungry?"

"Yeah!"

Kronii laughed. "That's good because I'm pretty sure I made too much."

"We'll see..." Mumei laughed. "Need a hand with anything?"

"Actually, if you could stir this a bit, I do need to go wake up Fauna from her nap."

"I can wake her up for you." Mumei said. "I wanna head upstairs and change anyway."

"Oh! Yeah, sure!" Kronii nodded, her focus clearly still mostly on her cooking.

"Okay! Be right back!" Mumei said, kissing Kronii on her cheek before pulling away and heading upstairs.

Of course she knew which room was Fauna's. How could she not when it's door is the first thing she sees every morning leaving her room. She'd never even so much as peeked inside before, not that she could have, the bedroom doors all having individual locks.

She knocked on the door. Then suddenly came to the realisation that she didn't know what to say. Why had she offered to wake this stranger up in the first place?

"Come in!" Said a voice with a yawn from behind the door.

With no better ideas to spare, Mumei followed the command. Pressing down on the handle with a slightly shaky hand and opening the door. Revealing a room which was almost exactly like what he'd expected based on what she knew about its owner, painted in calm cool colours, houseplants of all kinds covering many, if not most of the surfaces.

The room's occupant was also just as Mumei had expected, though this was to be expected, she'd seen pictures of her before here and there in the house. She was dressed in a long white knit cardigan over a green tank top, tiny watering can in hand, tending to a potted plant.

"Hi!" Mumei said, giving a wave. "You must be Fauna."

"Oh, hello!" Fauna replied. "Mumei, right? Come in!"

Mumei nodded, letting the door close behind her and entering fully. "Nice room."

"Thank you! I was a little worried all my little saplings would die while I was away, but Kronii did a really good job following my instructions." Fauna smiled. "It looks like my garden has survived the winter too."

"Kronii does diligently look after it. I thought she was a big gardening nut for a time, before I found out it was yours." Mumei said with a giggle. "It's a lovely garden, I can't wait for things to heat up a little and we can all spend more time out there."

"I'm really glad you like it!" Fauna's excitement was palpable in her voice. "How has the rest of the house treated you since you moved in?"

"It's great! I used to sleep in a friend's living room on a roll out futon most nights so, a big improvement." Mumei laughed.

"Oh? Do you mind me asking why?"

"Yeah it's fine! I was in an accident or something last year, nobody is quite sure what happened." Mumei shrugged. "I was found passed out on the ground at a nearby shrine and when I came to, I'd lost all my memories, the only reason I know my name is because I had an ID on me. The person who found me took me in for a time out of the kindness of her heart. At least, she said, until I was reunited with family or friends but, well, nobody ever did..."

"Nobody ever came for you?" Fauna asked, her voice soft, her attention now fully on Mumei and not her plants.

"Yeah."

"Oh, Mumei..." Fauna pulled her into a hug, immediate and enveloping but also gentle and warm. It was so fast, it took a second for Mumei to register what was going on.

"Fauna?"

"Oh sorry!" Fauna immediately began to pull her hands away. "Force of habit..."

"It's okay." Mumei smiled, half wishing she'd said nothing, the hug was nice, different from the embraces she'd exchanged with Kronii or Bae. Fauna might have been a relative stranger, but there was something implacably familiar about her that set Mumei at ease. "Just took me by surprise, that's all."

"Still, sorry. I've always been... How do I put it... Overly affectionate I guess."

"Kronii did warn me about that actually once."

"She warned you?"

"Well. I asked Kronii why there didn't seem to be any pictures of you in the house not hugging somebody and she said hugging was your natural state."

"That's not true!" Fauna laughed, shaking her head slightly. "My natural state also involves kissing!"