Smile for Me

Chapter 45: Christmas Eve

Emi POV

The day was finally here! She would get to go have lunch with Nemuri! She had been waiting for this all week, and couldn't wait to see her again; having lunch with her might reveal some more about herself!

She got dressed and went into the bathroom to finish getting ready. Once she had finished she went to sit in the living room to wait for her to get there.

"Joke? What are you doing?"

Emi turned round to see a very sleepy Aizawa standing in the hallway.

"I'm waiting for Nemuri to get here!" she said, full of glee.

"You do know that she isn't supposed to be here until 11:30, right?" he said, rubbing his eyes.

"I know...I'm just so excited! Plus, you'll have the house to yourself for a few hours, so that'll be nice, right?" she said.

"Yeah..." he said, pausing before going to get coffee.

There was only the sound f the coffee machine for a few moments before Aizawa spoke up again.

"Remember, you need to be very careful out there. Nemuri will be with you incognito as to not attract any unwanted attention, but you won't be as safe. Make sure you don't talk to anyone if you can help it. I'm already risking a lot letting you out a second time." he said.

She nodded, knowing he was going to say something like that. "I got it, Dad." she snickered.

He rolled his eyes and finished making his coffee.

************************

Nemuri finally arrived at the house and Emi ran out to her car excitedly.

"Hey Nemuri!!" she shouted, waving to her.

"Hey!" she said as Emi got into the car. "By the way, just so people don't get to suspicious, I'm going to call you by one of your nicknames today."

"Oh? Okay! What is it?" she asked.

"Some of us used to call you 'Em' for short. That way when people see you and hear your name, they won't get to suspicious."

"Got it!"

They arrived outside the small ramen place and went inside. Emi didn't know what she'd like, so Nemuri ordered for her what she used to get. Apparently they used to go there for lunch sometimes. Not often enough for the people there to recognize them, but enough that they always knew what they wanted.

They talked for a while until their food got there, then started to eat, talking in between bites.

"Hey, Nemuri?" Emi asked.

"Yeah?"

"...What was my relationship with Shouta before?"

Nemuri paused, food halfway to her mouth. She looked like she was debating with herself, and Emi didn't like that.

"Em...You and Shouta were a bit...complicated. No one else will be able to tell you this but me, but you really liked him. You would always joke around him, trying to get him to smile or laugh, and joking that you two should get married. But you only told me that when you flirted with him, you weren't always joking."

Emi blushed, but urged Nemuri to continue.

"He would always brush you off, telling you there was nothing between you, and denying your 'proposals', and you would laugh it off. But you really liked him, so sometimes it hurt."

Emi paused before speaking again.

"He...he told me the tapes. About how I used them as a video diary of sorts."