Our Stories

Treasure in Paradise [Takanashi Hoshino]

You audibly exhaled as your mind came to. The soft blanket almost quickly lulled you back to sleep had you not solidified your consciousness. You had been sleeping in one of Schale's break rooms, which had been furbished with a medium-sized bed.

As you slowly opened your eyes, your vision was dominated by the color blue. You reared your head slightly as the edges of your lips rose in amusement. A big whale plushie had slept beside you to your right, one that a certain someone had formed quite an attachment to.

For some reason, she had bought you a similar plushie to hers. Not that you'd mind, of course. So, you saw it fitting for it to be placed in Schale's break room since she sometimes visited the place to sleep.

Now that you got a good look at it, the face on the blue plushie looked quite similar to hers. You couldn't but let out a silent chuckle as you moved your hand to stretch its fluffable cheek. But... a sense of yearning quickly replaced your short-lived amusement.

It's been quite a while since you last saw that girl. The last time you saw her was during the Abydos' outing to that resort island. Since then, a slew of problems had minimized your time in Schale as you were required to go out often. Mix that with her own schedule not matching yours and you got a nonexistent time to meet with the "old lady", only keeping up via MomoTalk and whatnot.

You shook your head to clear your mind of your thoughts. Thankfully, things were slowing down quite a bit for now, giving you some breathing room. You were thinking of meeting her soon until you quickly realized that something was off.

What was that warmth on your torso?

You looked down... only for your brain to grind to a halt. "??" You almost completely stopped breathing until you returned to reality. "???" You blinked once, twice, thrice, and pinched your own cheek and she was still there. "????"

Takanashi Hoshino was in front of you, nuzzling her face into your torso.

As you were sleeping on your right side and given her short stature, you had only just now realized this fact. You clutched your temple trying to clarify your memory. Last night, you got another field assignment. Yep, and it was completed without a hitch. And then, you didn't even bother to go home and stayed over in Schale. And yep, that was it.

"...!"

The girl squirmed and shifted as the rustling of clothes can be heard amidst the silence in the room. She clumsily reached out her hand forward, and as if realizing the existence of a body pillow, she pulled you even closer. You stayed motionless before a rueful sigh escaped your mouth as your eyes relaxed.

An understanding smile crossed your lips. Yearn can make tact and subtlety fly out of the window, it seemed. Perhaps, just perhaps... she was feeling the same way as you were.

You slowly closed your eyes as you let yourself fall back into slumber. Your hand was settled around her frame, keeping her close. And the last thing you saw... was her dimly shining halo above her head.

"I missed you too, Hoshino."

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