Work Text:
Mafuyu drags out the stool in front of the vanity, sitting on the purple cushion and placing her hands on the dark wood. Looking at her own reflection has been a struggle since she was a high schooler. Her identity has always been a kind of painful mystery- everyone else around her knows who they are, or what they like, or what they want to do with themselves, but Mafuyu? She feels as if her true self was stripped away from her years ago, by those closest to her. Family, mostly. In the last few years that she lived with her parents, she didn't own any mirrors. After coming to terms with the fact that she had no true personality, the reflection in the mirror physically disgusted her. She once tried to get ready using a mirror, and threw up into a garbage can.
Mafuyu breathes in deeply, looking up from the beautifully finished wood, and instead at the fairly large mirror installed into the vanity in front of her. She lets the breath out slowly, leaning a bit closer to get a better view of herself. She looks away for a quick second, looking for the brush she had sitting out. When she looks back again, the familiar feeling of dread rises from her stomach. She squints at the figure in the mirror, tilting her head to one side. She whispers her name to herself, and the reflection copies her movement. The...thing in the mirror sounds like Mafuyu, moves like Mafuyu, behaves like Mafuyu...but what is it? She leans closer to the mirror as panic sets in. Why doesn't it look like her? Shouldn't Mafuyu look like Mafuyu? If that is supposed to be Mafuyu, then who is she? Who is Mafuyu?
Mafuyu feels like an observer of her own actions as she watches herself stand from the cushion, placing one hand flat and firm on the vanity, while the other balls up into a fist. She thinks she hears herself screaming as the fist collides with the glass in front of it, shattering into a mess of glass and blood. The fist collides again. Again. Again. It's all in slow motion. A piece of glass scraping the side of her face is what brings Mafuyu back.
She can hear someone yelling her name, and footsteps running up the stairs outside of her room. Her vision becomes blurry, feeling her cheeks become wet with... tears? She can't remember the last time she cried. Mafuyu lifts her hand up to her face, watching the blood roll down her arm in streams. She can feel herself getting lightheaded, and the room beginning to spin around her is proof that she might just end up passing out from blood loss and exhaustion. She hasn't been sleeping very well for the past couple of days. Mafuyu hears a thud against the door, and a faint groan, before the doorknob turned and the door was thrown open.
"Mi..zuki..?" Mafuyu chokes out, her eyes getting heavy. A nap sounds pretty good right about now. She stumbles a bit, knocking into the vanity and gasping in pain. Her bleeding hand felt numb. This causes Mizuki to run up to her, but not before Mafuyu's legs gave out, knocking her head against the wooden surface pretty hard. The only thing she remembers next is the sharp pain in her head and a panicked cry of her name.
*
Mafuyu wakes up feeling warm. Aching all over and wishing she hadn't woken up, but warm. She lifts one of her arms, seeing bandages mostly on her knuckles and the top of her hand. Had Mizuki patched her up? That was nice. Speaking of Mizuki.
"Mizuki? Mizu?" Mafuyu calls out in the loudest voice she can muster, her voice sounding a little hoarser than usual. What the hell got her beat up like this? She remembers staring at herself in a mirror, and then waking up. Mafuyu hears footsteps coming up to the room, the door opening to reveal Mizuki in all black clothing- with matching black lace gloves and a stupid little hat, of course- and a small bowl of soup in their hands. The smell of the food makes Mafuyu realize how hungry she actually was.
"Oh, ahaha, Mafuyu! You're awake!" Mizuki responds, their voice softer than usual. Did. Did they think Mafuyu died?? The realization of that brings a slight disappointed frown to Mafuyu's face, and Mizuki just giggles as they walk to the side of the bed. They set the soup in their lap, picking up some of the soup in the spoon that was resting in the bowl.
"Open wiiide~" Mizuki lifts the spoon to Mafuyu's face, watching as her expression changes from slight disappointment to extreme confusion. Mafuyu didn't fuck up her hand that badly did she?
"I can use my hands." Mafuyu attempts to reason, but Mizuki presses the spoon against her lips instead, force feeding her soup.
"Too bad. I'm taking care of you~" Mizuki smiles contently as Mafuyu eats the soup, seeing her posture and expression relax after she swallows. Mafuyu opens her mouth immediately after, accepting her fate. A spoonful of tomato soup being fed to her by her spouse isn't really what Mafuyu expecting, but it's not really a bad thing. Half way through the soup, the doorbell rings. Mizuki's expression changes from one of content, to fear, shock, and panic, all in one. Mafuyu leans up to get up and open the door, but is stopped by Mizuki shoving the bowl of soup towards her chest. Some of the soup spills onto Mafuyu's shirt, making her recoil and suck in air through her teeth in pain, receiving profuse apologies from Mizuki seconds after.
"Heyy, Mafuyu, I'm gonna go run and put on some makeup reaaaal quick okay? Also, whatever you do, don't open that door! Please! Thank you deaar~" Mizuki giggles, kissing Mafuyu on the cheek and exiting the room before she has the chance to ask any questions. Mafuyu sets the bowl on the bedside table, slowly turning so that her legs are dangling off of the edge of the bed. She may be sore all over her body, but her limbs are definitely still functional. She slides off of the mattress, deciding to quickly change into a different t-shirt since the other one had soup stains. Worst decision of her life. Getting her arms through the sleeves was horrible. Still, she managed to tough it out and walk all the way to the front door. When she turns the door handle and opens the door, she's met with an unusual sight.
Ena and Kanade are both standing there, Kanade clinging onto Ena's arm and silently sobbing into her sleeve. Ena wasn't crying, but there were definitely faint mascara smears going down her cheeks. They're both dressed in full black, much like Mizuki, and Ena has flowers in her one hand. The other hand, however, balled into a fist when Ena looked up and saw Mafuyu. Her skin went pale, like she had seen a ghost, but her expression quickly changed from remorse to annoyance.
"Mafuyu????????????? I thought you were DEAD! I cried over you!" Ena yells, Kanade looking up from her sobbing fit. Instead of being angry or annoyed like Ena, she smiles, a relieved look on her face. The flowers are shoved into Mafuyu's arms as Ena pushes past her, bringing Kanade inside the house with her.
"..Why did you think I was dead?" Mafuyu asks, turning to face Ena after she closes the door. Ena grabs the flowers back, scowling at Mafuyu.
Mizuki went down with Mafuyu, using their arms to soften Mafuyu's blow. Oh my God? Did Mafuyu just DIE? They feel their heartrate quicken as the lift up the less bloody arm, checking her wrist for a pulse or something. They let out a relieved sigh when they feel a steady, yet faint, pulse. Not dead! Good! Mizuki feels some of the blood from Mafuyu's other arm and remembers that their wife is severely injured. They give Mafuyu a kiss on the forehead and lift her up, surprised at the fact that they could actually lift Mafuyu that easily. They carry Mafuyu into the bathroom, setting them in the bathtub while they go to get the proper materials for disinfecting and bandaging the gorefest on Mafuyu's hand. They check Mafuyu's pulse every once in awhile while they fix up the wound and clean the excess blood, just in case.
After all of the bandages were applied- the scratch on Mafuyu's face received one of Mizuki's cute pink sparkly Band-Aids, because of course- Mizuki contemplated changing Mafuyu into a different shirt, and spent a good five minutes whether it would be weird or not to change Mafuyu while she was unconscious. They decided that it was fine, since the current one she was wearing was soaked in blood, and changed Mafuyu into one of those big System Of A Down shirts she owns. They then lifted Mafuyu out of the bath tub, actually struggling to pick her up this time, and carried her to their shared bedroom. They glanced at the bloody mess on the floor, cringing at the sight. What the hell happened? After setting Mafuyu down in their bed and covering her with blankets, they decided to clean up some of the blood. This was the one time that Mizuki was glad they had hardwood flooring. They're able to clean up the blood and the glass pretty easily, and as soon as they were done cleaning, they decided to call up Ena!
"Ena..! I.. I think my wife is dead!!!!!" Mizuki fake sobs into the phone, wanting to sell the whole grieving spouse thing. After a panicked response from Ena, they decided to explain the whole situation.. but dramatized.
"So I was downstairs, right? Then I hear Mafuyu SCREAMING from upstairs! AND glass breaking! So obviously I'm concerned and I go running up the stairs, and Mafuyu is on the ground, unconscious! Blood everywhere! I.. I had no idea what happened..! I miss my wife, Ena! I miss her a lot!!" Mizuki is hitching their breath and sobbing in between words, being able to hear Kanade whimpering on the other line.
"Should.. should we come over?" Ena's voice is trembling, obviously trying to stop herself from crying while she speaks. Mizuki feels caught.
"N-no! You should.. wait for the funeral, y'know? I wouldn't want you to see her like this.. she's a mess.." Mizuki sobs again, continuing to talk Ena and Kanade out of coming to the house for awhile. Eventually, they end up accepting the fact that the pair will, in fact, be coming over, and decide to get ready. They also went to make Mafuyu soup. As a treat.
Mafuyu's mouth is slightly agape the entire time Ena is explaining. Mizuki told them she was dead?? Before Mafuyu has a chance to respond, Ena is walking up the stairs to find Mizuki, leaving Kanade and Mafuyu downstairs with each other. They look at each other, and Kanade's eyes are shiny. Probably from crying. Kanade wraps her arms around Mafuyu, sobbing a little more. She didn't think dying would affect people like that.
"I'm glad you're not dead." Kanade chokes out in between sobs. Mafuyu returns the hug.
"..I'm sorry." Mafuyu isn't sure why she's apologizing.
Their little emotional moment is ended by Ena yelling from upstairs.
"Which door is the bedroom!?"
"Far left."
The next sound heard from upstairs is very aggressive knocking. Ena apparently opened the door to their room, because Mizuki can be heard yelping from upstairs, and then unintelligible yelling from Ena. Mafuyu and Kanade both decide to stop hugging and go upstairs to stop Ena from making them go to an actual funeral!
"WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT!? WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!? I CRIED MY MASCARA OFF! DO YOU KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE THAT SHIT IS!?" Ena is jumping from topic to topic, hitting Mizuki over the head with a pillow repeatedly. Mizuki is yelling back apologies whenever they get the chance to speak, trying to block the pillow with their arms. They look at Kanade and Mafuyu for help.
Kanade walks up to Ena, grabbing the pillow out of her hand and lightly hitting Mizuki with the pillow before tossing it to the side.
"Oh, woe is me! Not you too, Kanade! Did you turn my beautiful wife against me too!?" Mizuki whines, Mafuyu clearing her throat and coming closer to the group. She leans in close to Mizuki's face.
"Please don't tell people that I'm dead." Mafuyu speaks in a low, monotone voice, one that absolutely scares the shit out of Mizuki. They giggle nervously, looking to the side instead of looking into Mafuyu's eyes. She can still be really, really scary!
"Okaaay, okaaay, I'm sorryyyy, please don't divorce meeeee~" Mizuki pleads, Ena hitting them over the head with the flowers. Content with Mizuki's response, Mafuyu stands up straighter, looking at Ena and Kanade with a smile.
"Would you two like some tea?" Mafuyu asks, Kanade shaking her head in response. Ena complains about wanting to beat up Mizuki some more, but Kanade drags her out by the arm. Mafuyu laughs, looking back at Mizuki to see them curled in on themselves.
"You can be so scary, Mafuyu!! Don't do that to me! You know I'm faint hearted~!" Mizuki uncurls themselves, walking up to Mafuyu and wrapping their arms around her. They look up at her with pleading eyes, and Mafuyu leans closer, as if she was going in for a kiss. Mizuki closes their eyes, but Mafuyu pulls back.
"Sorry. I have to go make tea." Mafuyu unwraps herself from Mizuki's arms, leaving them standing there. Speechless.
"Mafuyuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!" Mizuki whines, following Mafuyu out of the room. Some people would find that extremely annoying, but Mafuyu really wouldn't want it any other way.
As an apology for the fake-out earlier, Mafuyu also makes some tea for Mizuki, making everyone wait in the living room while she brews the tea. She can hear Mizuki and Ena bickering from the other room, Mizuki playfully taunting Ena and Ena getting annoyed by it. She smiles to herself, wondering what she did in life to deserve people like them in her life. She pours out the water and lets the tea steep, eventually bringing a tray with four cups on them out to the living room. They were custom cups, and were color coordinated for everyone. Kanade's had blue, Ena's had tan, Mizuki's had pink, and Mafuyu's had purple. They all talked about what they've been up to recently as they drank their tea, once again leading to a short argument between Ena and Mizuki. Mafuyu didn't say much, and watched as the people most important in her lives enjoyed themselves.
She could live like this.