She's a stressed and struggling student in Osaka, living alone and barely managing to pay off her debts to keep herself off the streets. But an encounter with her used-to-be favourite utaite, Mafumafu, might change all of that!
"Abducted?!" he asks, confused. "Forget it", I sigh "Let's go". I wave goodbye over to Daichi-kun "Bye, Daichi-kun. See you tomorrow!" "Bye, ###-chan! See you tomorrow!", he waves in response, smiling. Walking away, I continue my argument with Mafumafu, not noticing the dark look on Daichi-kun's face after we leave.
"Mafumafu, I can't believe you!"
As me and Mafumafu walk along the streets of Osaka, we take a more abandoned route to avoid attracting any unwanted attention. "I said I was sorry, ###-chan.", Mafumafu says quietly "I won't do it again if you don't want me to", he adds, sheepishly. I sigh, at least he's sorry, I tell myself. I look at Mafumafu, feeling a mixture of pity and anger. "It's okay. Let's just forget about this, okay Mafumafu?", I ask, my anger dissipating. As I continue walking, I notice that Mafumafu isn't beside me. Looking behind me, he's standing silently, looking down. "Hey, tell me, ###-chan.", whispers Mafumafu. "Do you hate me?"
Mafumafu raises his head, and looks at me with sad misty eyes that penetrate my soul, waiting for my answer. It hurts me how sad he looks. After what seems like a million years, I find the words I need for an answer. "I don't hate you, Mafumafu.", I respond, sighing. "I just don't want you to be found out just because of something dumb like you came to pick me up, that's all.". "But it's not silly!", Mafumafu suddenly yells. Taken aback from his tone, I flinch a bit. Mafumafu sees this and sighs, "I'm sorry", he says quietly. "I just...", Mafumafu trails off and bites his lip. Instinctively, I run up to hug him tightly. Gently stroking his hair, I whisper "I'm sorry too", in his ear. "Mm", he says in response. I hear his breath shake, as if he's trying not to cry. "Hey, let's just go home, okay?", I say, trying to comfort him. Gently pushing away, I give him a kind smile and we continue the walk back to Mafumafu's house.
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As we arrive at Mafumafu's house and he unlocks the front door, there's an uneasy air around the both of us. "I'll be going to my room then, Mafumafu-san. I'm gonna go work on my English assignment.", I say to fill the silence around us. "Okay, ###-chan", Mafumafu says, attempting to give a smile. I head up the hallway silently, maybe it's best for us to keep our distance after all.
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Opening my laptop and logging in, I prepare an open Word document for typing up my assessment, and open Google in a new tab. Typing in the URL for YouTube, I don't notice the top headline for the news.
