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the sound of a crash startled inoue, taking her attention away from the phone in her hand. throwing it onto the bed, she rushed downstairs to see what had happened. the moment she entered her kitchen she saw the figure of her best friend, yumiko, stood in front of a smashed plate on the floor. “are you okay?” inoue questioned, voice a couple of octaves higher than usual. yumiko nodded shyly, her gaze not leaving the pieces of the plate scattered around her feet. without another word inoue picked up a tea towel and began picking up the pieces. despite what yumiko expected, she didn’t seem angry at all. she was calm, as if it was no big deal.
once the plate had been cleaned up, the two of them decided to watch a movie. “i was planning on cooking for you,” yumiko mumbled, holding one of the pillows from the sofa gently against herself. “that’s okay, we can just order something,” inoue smiled. following a nod from yumiko, a comfortable silence engulfed the room. it hadn’t been long since they had become friends, just around a year, but they were already close enough to the point where they would stay at each others’ houses at least once a week. their meeting was like fate. yumiko had accidentally bumped into inoue while they were both separately on their way to work and spilled coffee down her. not dissimilar to the plate, inoue was surprisingly calm about the situation. even making a joke about getting yumiko to pay for the dry cleaning required to get the stain out.
the thing that surprised yumiko most was finding out how different inoue was around her friends compared to with her. with yumiko she was always calm, often matching the other’s energy. meanwhile with her other friends she was always the mood maker. causing chaos everywhere she went. as much as of a surprise it was, it was also a side of inoue that yumiko happily accepted.
“what are your plans for tonight?” inoue questioned, tapping yumiko gently on the leg. yumiko hesitated for a second before replying. “i- i have a date.” inoue hummed in response. that was all she could do. “you don’t seem excited for me,” yumiko continued, a frown taking over the smile that was beaming a split second prior. forcing a smile of her own, inoue shook her head. “i am excited for you.” she couldn’t shake the feeling that she really should’ve been more excited for yumiko. they were best friends right? that’s why she acted as she did around yumiko right? before she knew it, it was time for yumiko to leave.
inoue’s house felt lonely as she paced between the living room and the kitchen. she didn’t ask yumiko who her date was with. she didn’t need to. with a sigh, she crouched down to the floor and placed her head in her hands. if only she had kept her suspicions as suspicions. maybe without snooping around she would’ve been able to take the news better. crouching turned to simply sitting on the floor once she began to feel an ache in her knees. a single tear landed on her lap, bringing on a flood of them in it’s course. “shouldn’t have expected better,” she mumbled to herself, bitter tone evident.
no song, movie, or tv show could distract inoue from the thoughts and feelings racing through her, leaving her laying in bed staring at the ceiling. two hours after yumiko had left her house, inoue heard a notification from her phone. her initial reaction was to ignore it. what point would there be in adding to her pain? something inside of her urged her to check it though, just in case. as soon as she read the message she hurriedly sat up to read it closer. without a second thought, she jumped out of bed and grabbed her car keys.
“put this on,” inoue deadpanned as she walked up to yumiko. with a small nod, yumiko complied and put on the coat from inoue’s back. “what were you thinking?” inoue questioned with a harsher tone than yumiko was used to, startling her. “i guess i wasn’t,” yumiko whispered. the two of them stayed in silence, a cold bench underneath them. “should we go home?” inoue sighed. noticing the nod from yumiko, she reached her hand out to help the taller girl stand up. with a muttered ‘thank you’ from yumiko, the two of them slowly walked towards inoue’s car.
the whole car ride was spent with yumiko complaining of being tired, secretly bringing a smile to inoue’s face. she couldn’t stay mad at yumiko when she was in the passenger seat, eyes peacefully closed and quietly singing along to inoue’s playlist. with how tired yumiko was, inoue had to practically carry her into the house. that fact wasn’t helped by yumiko taking it as a hug invitation and clinging onto her with immeasurable force. as soon as inoue got yumiko into the house she directed her to the bedroom. “do you want to sleep in those clothes or change into something more comfortable?” inoue asked, sounding like a parent talking to her child. “hmmm comfortable clothes!”
inoue tried to walk away from yumiko to let her get changed, but yumiko’s hand tightly grasped onto hers. “i’m too tired to do it myself.” the awkward laugh that escaped inoue’s lips went unnoticed by yumiko as she began to take the coat off. “you can do it yourself,” inoue stated before walking out of the room. shrugging it off, yumiko decided to just sleep in what she was wearing. she hummed in content as she curled up on her designated side of inoue’s bed. unbeknownst to her, inoue wasn’t so comfortable. once she had heard yumiko get into bed, she returned back to her pacing. this time, though, there was more on her mind.
taking her phone out of her pocket, inoue opened up her messaging app. a small chuckle sounded throughout the room as she clicked into a certain conversation. it wasn’t a laughing matter to her, but she didn’t know how else to react seeing it again. there was a sense of relief mixed in there somewhere which caught her off guard. she wondered if she had felt so many emotions in such a short time frame before.
hono: i think you need to come and get yumiko…
hono: she’s drank her own weight in cocktails now.
an ache in her neck woke inoue up. she rubbed her eyes as she got a bearing of her surroundings. she was on the sofa, definitely not in the most comfortable position. the first thing on her mind was making sure yumiko was okay. stretching her arms as she walked, she made her way to her bedroom. she gently knocked on the door but received no reply. as she opened the door the first thing she saw was yumiko still curled up, one of the pillows from inoue’s side tightly held in her arms. “you really know how to get to me,” inoue whispered, taking another step closer to make sure yumiko was asleep.
once she had confirmed yumiko was asleep, inoue scuffled into the kitchen to make breakfast. she knew that while yumiko seemed fine when she picked her up, she wasn’t usually one to drink at all, let alone how much hono said she’d had. the main thing she would need when she woke up would be water and some good food. inoue wasn’t the best cook, but she could put something good enough together without giving anyone food poisoning. as soon as inoue was plating the food, she saw yumiko slowly walk into the kitchen. a small smile made it’s way to inoue’s face. she couldn’t deny how cute yumiko looked.
“you’ve made food?” yumiko questioned, surprised to see inoue awake before her. that was never usually the case. “you’re a dummy so you need it,” inoue joked in return, taking a seat at the table. she laughed as yumiko rolled her eyes, instantly regretting it and wincing as she placed her hand onto her head. “there’s water there,” inoue pointed out which yumiko instantly grabbed and drank. silence occupied the two of them, yumiko focused on the food and inoue not knowing what to say. there were many things she wanted to say, but she didn’t think it was the right time. if there ever would be a right time.
yumiko was the first to speak up, thanking inoue for taking good care of her. inoue only replied with a simple nod. she was too scared to speak in fear of her true feelings coming out. she would’ve been stupid to think that yumiko wouldn’t have noticed. “you seem off. what’s wrong?” yumiko looked down at the table as she heard inoue’s chair screech against the floor. once she had looked back up, inoue was nowhere to be seen. just as yumiko was about to get up from her seat, inoue walked back in carrying a notebook. before yumiko could ask what was going on, inoue flicked through the pages and stopped at one, taking a deep breath as she looked through it one last time.
would it ever be the right time? probably not. did that matter anymore? not to inoue. she knew what she wanted to do, explain herself. she had started this letter when her and yumiko had first met. almost like a diary of their shared experiences. she had no intentions of ever showing it to yumiko, maybe when they were old and grey in a retirement home somewhere, but not in a moment like this. she felt a pressure growing in her chest, but she had to brush it off. she had to just tell yumiko how she felt whether it was reciprocated or not. she just had to hope that yumiko would be able to accept the real reason why inoue was always there to happily pick up the pieces.