Neighborly Affliction

2

Spring was fading quickly, and Senji's days had continued with no major incidents. Well, there had been a collapse in the shopping center near the Sasazuka station but she hadn't been present for that. Maou had a couple regular visitors now, both girls, but that wasn't particularly interesting or important either. 

"Boooored," Senji groaned and slumped down in her chair. She sat at a table at the local library, another mountain of papers before her. The AC blasting was really the only reason she had stayed here so long, but even that wasn't enough to shake her melancholy mood. 

"Oh, Senji?"

"Huh?," the tired young woman looked to her right, startled by someone calling her name. She spotted one of her neighbors, carrying a large book under his arm. They'd run into each other a few times at the library, where she helped him get a library card set up.

"Sorry to bother you," he eyed her catastrophic mess of school work. "I just wanted to thank you for the book you recommended the other day. It was immensely helpful."

"Oh, uh," Senji sat up and began shuffling the papers together. "Sure, no problem."

"Hm? If you're done with your work, would you like to join us for lunch?"

Ashiya had made this offer a few times before, but Senji never took him up on it. She didn't have any particular issue with the idea, just didn't have time. She stuffed the papers into her bag, then neatly closed up the book she'd been using. She used a black feather to mark the page, tucking it in her bag as well.

"Ah, perhaps I've been rude? Apologies, I know you are quite busy-"

"No, it's fine. I can do lunch today," Senji cut off his apology and turned toward him. He looked shocked for a second, but quickly adjusted his face to a warm smile.

"Alright. Shall we head out then? I do need to pick up a few things on the way though," the man rambled a bit while Senji stretched, taking that as his answer. They headed to the store first, bumping into a young girl. Ashiya spoke openly with her, Senji offering a curt nod in greeting. This was the younger of their two regular visitors, Sasaki Chiho. The girl greeted her warmly, before turning her attention back to the conversation with Ashiya. Ashiya finished his shopping, and the three made their way to Villa Rosa. 

It was just barely noon, so it wasn't completely unbearable outside. Senji felt her energy being sapped by the sun anyway, and trudged along without paying attention to the conversation. Soon they were at the apartment building, tucked into the upper hallway. Senji was snapped out of her thoughts by Chiho's sudden change of pace. The girl dropped her bag and rushed out the door, tears streaming from her eyes. She nearly knocked Senji over on the way out.

"Ah- Chiho!," Senji started after her, only to be blocked by the mountainous landlady. 

"Sorry, Ms. Shiba," Senji started to move past her, but the woman held up a hand to stop her. 

"Sit this one out, dear."
 
Shiba spoke in english this time, but the tone threw Senji off.

"Huh?"

Senji just stood there dumbfounded, while Shiba spoke to the other three present in a familiarly unfamiliar language. The meaning wasn't entirely lost on Senji, the vaguely menacing tone easy enough to read. The conversation lasted a few minutes, before an earthquake shook the building. Senji fell to the floor, and Maou and the red-head rushed out of the building. Ashiya bowed and apologized before following them out, dropping his groceries in his panic.

"Oh, sorry dear," Shiba turned her attention back to Senji, offering a hand. "I am sorry, but could you handle their belongings? Oh, and here's an advance notice for some renovations."

Senji took her hand and rose to her feet. There was a cold tingling that ran through her at the contact, making the girl shake her head to chase off the dizziness that accompanied the chills. She took the paper extended to her and nodded, still processing what happened. 

"Thank you, sweetie. Oh, and would you mind waiting in the room here? It's a tad dangerous to be moving about with all these earthquakes," the gargantuan woman motioned her into the room. Senji set the bags on the low table in the middle of the room, and paused for a moment as Shiba closed the door.

"It's dangerous, but she only stopped me?" 

The logic presented didn't add up with the woman's behavior. Senji shook her head, as another round of rumbling knocked her off-balance. Sighing in defeat, she sat next to the table and looked at the renovations notice. Her stomach growled angrily, but she wasn't comfortable taking over someone's kitchen.

…

"You didn't have to hit me so hard, man!"

"Oh quit bitchin', you little-Huh?"

Maou and Ashiya returned to their apartment, with another young man in tow, only to find it occupied by their neighbor. They must have dozed off, waiting for the "quakes" to settle down. There was a small collection of bags on the table in front of them, which Ashiya quickly recognized as his groceries. 

"Hey, you guys have another roommate already?"

"Uh, no. Landlady must've had him bring our stuff in," Maou answered the shorter guy's question with a shrug. They shuffled into the room, and Ashiya started preparing for a very late lunch.

"Huh? Dude, why do I gotta be stuck here with you two?," the newest addition to room 201 plopped down at the table and continued his rant.

"Because we registered you as eighteen, meaning you have to have a legal guardian," came Maou's hushed reply. 

"Huh?! What's up with that, man! Like, why do we gotta bother with all this crap anyway? We could-" 

"Eh?"

Senji's eyes snapped open, hearing a voice that immediately set her on high alert. She blinked a few times, taking in her surroundings. The room was pretty much like hers, if a bit more bare. Three young men were present, along with a collection of bags. Two men she recognized as her neighbors, the third stirring something else in her mind. 

"Oh, hey. Sorry for waking you up like that. This is Lu-Urushihara. He's crashin' with us for a while," Maou jumped straight into introductions. Senji raised a brow at his lack of care that she had just fallen asleep in his apartment, and while he was gone. 

"And this," he turned his focus to the shorter guy, "is Senji. He lives downstairs."

"Whatever, dude. Hi an' all that," Urushihara lazily greeted Senji. If he was aware of her stiffened gaze, he showed no signs of it. 

"Hi," she replied with just as little energy. She pulled out her phone, noticing a text from Chiho. She read it and left a quick reply, then checked the time. It was close to three in the afternoon.

"It is considerably late, but would you still like to have lunch with us?," Ashiya spoke up, back turned as he cut some vegetables.

"Ah, sorry. I have class soon so I gotta head out," Senji stood up slowly, knees stiff from how she'd been sitting. Tossing her phone into her bag, she made her way to the door and slid her shoes on. Feeling an awkward air in the room, she paused at the door.

"Oh, hey. Chi left her bag here!"

Maou made the observation a few minutes slower than he should have. 

"Oh. She said it's food, for your shift tonight," Senji called back on her way out. She stumbled down the stairs, then slowly walked to the station. A dull ache plagued her side, and she was starving. She eyed the myriad options for a hot snack, shaking her head. Trains would be too crowded to hold anything like that anyway.