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It was one of those days where Ichie had nothing to do. She was the type of person to have boundless energy and needed to get it out somehow. Usually there were outlets for her restlessness in the form of her friends, school, and acting practice. Today none of the above were available to her. At least not conveniently available. Fumi had work and pestering her there was always a good amount of fun. No doubt Ichie would escape a good scolding from her girlfriend, but that was a risk she was willing to take.
Ichie stepped into the café and let the suffocating cutesy atmosphere wash over her. Being an ex-idol, there was something nostalgic about it. She was seated in a spot by a window. Soon enough the waitress who led her there was replaced by Fumi. Her customer service smile was comically lost in seconds once seeing Ichie.
“What do you want?”
“So cold,” Ichie said, feigning offense, “you should be happy to be blessed with the sight of your adoring girlfriend.”
Fumi sighed, “You’re only ever here if you want to bother me.”
“That’s not true, I like this place. I would still come here even if you didn’t work here. You’re an added bonus. Anyways, I’ll take the raspberry parfait.”
“Coming right up, your majesty.”
Ichie watched Fumi walk away and into the kitchen. Immediately that fidgety feeling from before came rushing back. Ichie started stacking the creamer cups that were stored in the holder next to her. She wondered why she always felt so anxious when she was alone like this.
“Nice tower.”
Said tower tumbled down as Ichie turned to see Fumi who had come back with her order and an extra sandwich.
“That was quick,” Ichie said even though the wait felt like eons, “I don’t think I ordered anything besides the parfait.”
“You didn't, this is for me.”
Fumi sat down across from Ichie while the latter scrambled to put away the creamer cups.
“It’s my lunch break so I thought I might as well spend it with you,” Fumi said in a lackluster tone
Ichie shoveled a spoonful of her parfait into her mouth and observed the girl sitting across from her. Fumi looked more tired than usual. It worried Ichie immensely.
“Hey, you don’t look so great. Is everything alright?”
Fumi’s eyes flicked at and away from Ichie. “I have rent due soon. I’ve been working double shifts. Nothing I can’t handle though.”
Ichie knew that Fumi wanted to be mature, cool, and someone to be relied on. However, she also knew that Fumi’s efforts to keep that image often ended up backfiring on her. Ichie never saw her as a pathetic person despite that being a common opinion. Fumi herself would probably agree with the majority, that’s why she needed to try even harder. Ichie knew this wasn’t the solution, Fumi was going to overwork herself. All she wanted was for Fumi to stop taking life so seriously and let others help her. Ichie was going to get that to happen, no matter what.
“Wanna know why I prank you so much?”
Fumi raised an eyebrow, “Where’d this come from?”
“I figured that I should tell you sooner rather than later.”
“Okay, I’m listening.”
“At first I did it because you were a good target,” Ichie gestured with her hands clasped together, “but the more I got to know you the more I felt like I had to.”
Fumi laughed lightly. “What kind of reasoning is that?”
“I’m not finished! You’re always so down in the dumps and you don’t let yourself have any time to relax. I thought that by pranking you, I’d get you to laugh a little. You’d see that sometimes unexpected things happen and that life can be silly.”
Fumi’s eyes were now wide open and her face thoroughly flushed. Ichie was expecting a reaction, but nothing like this.
Ichie waved her hands in front of her, “I’m sorry did I say something weird? I guess it’s a bad explanation, especially after I’ve been playing tricks on you for so long.”
“N-no it’s actually sweet of you. A weird way to express that, but I think I get it.”
The two girls looked around everywhere except the other. Fumi getting embarrassed was normal, but for Ichie this was a rare experience.
“Um… I-I think I have an idea about your rent problem,” Ichie tried to change the subject, “If you’ll let me help, that is.
“Oh s-sure. What is it?”
Ichie didn’t actually think this far ahead. This situation couldn’t get any more awkward, might as well be bold.
“You could let me split the rent.”
Okay, that’s a bit too bold.
“You m-mean you w-would move in with me?!” Fumi was now reduced to a sputtering mess. The whole café could hear her, fortunately it wasn’t too full at the moment.
“Y-yeah! It’s not that wild a solution. I already come over to your place all the time, and it’s not like we can’t visit the dorm every so often!”
“We are dating, I guess it isn’t so out there. Still, I don’t know if I can trust you to be a good roommate.”
“Hey! Ask Tamao if you need proof!”
Fumi leaned back and looked up in consideration. Her eyes glazed over the clock on the wall. Suddenly she shot up from her seat.
“Shoot, break’s over already? Sorry Ichie,” Fumi smoothed out her apron, “I’ll think some more on it. Oh, and thank you for your patronage!”
Fumi bowed slightly before hurrying off into the kitchen. Ichie was left with her mind still spinning. Living with Fumi did sound wonderful. She wondered if Fumi would really be willing to make room for her. She hoped that she would. That would be two more steps for Fumi’s better future, less stress about rent and more time to loosen up. The more Ichie thought about it, the more sweet the deal seemed to be.