"To Lola, From Bugs" || Momiji

Chapter 23

Anzu hugged herself as she stepped outside of the hospital for some fresh air. Kureno was still currently asleep in his room so she left him a message and stepped out for a bit. Her mind was swirling so much that she didn't know what to focus on first. The one thing she could manage to stand on was that she felt empty.

Leaving the hospital grounds, Anzu aimlessly walked through town to try and clear her head. She couldn't seem to get the dream out of her head, but the last thing she wanted to do was go see Akito. It's funny how that seemed to be the first thing that popped in her head though.

"Excuse me, ma'am."

Anzu quickly turned her head to see an older woman beside her. Her smile was kind and she gestured towards the crimsonette's pants pocket.

"Your phone has been ringing for some time now."

Embarrassed, the younger girl quickly thanked the woman before reaching for her phone and stepping away. An unknown number flashed on the screen and she hesitated to answer it. The phone stopped ringing and she sighed with some relief before it suddenly started ringing again. Whoever was calling her must have really wanted to reach her.

"H-Hello?"

"Anzu? Am I speaking to you right now?"

The crimsonette's eyes widened as she immediately recognized the voice of her mother's housekeeper. Covering her mouth in shock, she stopped walking at a nearby bus stop bench. "Miss Lily?"

"Oh goodness, I'm so glad I was able to reach you. You left the country so suddenly that I wasn't sure how I was going to keep in touch with you. I got in contact with your guardian somehow and now I can hear your voice. How have you been, sweetheart?"

"...Have you been looking for me this whole time?"

"Of course I did. Wouldn't a mother always look for her child?"

Anzu replayed her response in her head and immediately burst into tears. If there was anyone who could remind her of what home used to be, it would be Miss Lily. She'd always doubled as a mother to her and had her custody not been handed to the greedy assistant, she would've stayed in the States with the older woman.

"Ah, my little Anzu. Why are you crying? What's been going on?"

She didn't mean to worry her but the crimsonette didn't know what else to do at the time. She cried and cried until her tears started to dry up; luckily no one had come to the bus stop so she wasn't disturbing anyone. Once she was ready, Anzu confessed everything that had happened since coming to Japan. It all came out like word vomit and she knew the bulk of it wasn't going to make sense to her, but she couldn't stop talking. Finally when she finished, Anzu was met with silence on the line.

"M-Miss Lily?"

"My, my... That's quite the adventure... You've grown in such a short amount of time, Anzu. You've made a lot of friends who care about you and created a life in an unknown place. I know your mother is very proud of you."

"I've been seeing her a lot more lately. I want to only remember the good things but I feel like I've been seeing nightmares."

"You have to keep talking about it, sweetheart. Take it in, process it, and let it dissipate."

Anzu wiped at her eyes with the back of her free hand and sighed. It wasn't good to hold this all in, was it? She felt a blanket of relief wash over her as she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"Anzu... I think it would be good for you to come back to the States. I already have a room prepared for you that you're welcome to stay in. We can also visit your mother-"