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“See you tomorrow, Sanya!” Sanya’s head snaps up and she gives her classmates a small wave before staring back into her bag as if it is the most interesting thing in the world. She slowly packs her bag, sneaking glances at the clock and the open door.
The bell signalling the end of her class already rang 30 minutes ago… Kanako usually isn't this late. The vampire waits another 10 minutes before packing her bag properly and heading over to the student council room.
“Pardon the intrusion…” Sanya mutters under her breath as she slides the backdoor open.
The room is empty, with the exception of someone fast asleep on the President’s desk at the front and centre of the room. Sanya immediately recognises Kanako with her head in her arms on the council desk, hair scattered over neatly placed sheets of paper, the setting sun casting a warm glow over the sleeping girl.
Sanya takes the scene in, how the sun rays peek through the curtains, lighting Kanako’s hair in a beautiful golden. She walks quietly towards Kanako and hears her soft snores, her chubby face even puffier with sleep. Sanya bends over the table, pursing her lips as she stares at her best friend… pretty … she thinks to herself. Not as a compliment or even an opinion, but simply as a statement. As a fact.
Not a single thought in her equally pretty head, Sanya reaches over with a finger and pokes Nako’s chubby cheek, instinctively careful not to scratch her with her pointed nail.
Kanako stirs and the startled vampire snatches her hand back.
“Sanya-chaan, good morning… What are you doing here?” The brunette blinks sleepily, stretching with her arms high up and yawns, lips forming a tiny ‘o’.
Sanya gives her an incredulous look. “For your information, it's almost 5pm! You’re late!”
“Late for what…?” Kanako rubs her eyes.
“Late to—” Sanya wants to say ‘to fetch me’ but catches herself. That’s a lame response. So she goes with, “To go home, what else!”
“Oh!” Kanako giggles in response, packing her bag swiftly.
“What are you doing here, drooling on important-looking documents.”
“Ah, we’re planning for the sports festival in May!”
“So soon?! Winter has barely started and you’re already so busy…” The two leave the empty room and walk to the station together, Kanako freshening up as the gentle breeze caresses her face. She excitedly tells Sanya about the plans she has in store for the upcoming sports festival, skipping in stride with the vampire’s calmer footsteps.
Sanya listens quietly, glad to see Nako’s bright expression, but something else tugs at the back of her mind.
“...And I’m thinking of inviting that band from that other highschool I told you about! They’re popular even among our—” Kanako pauses as another sneeze comes her way.
Sanya hands her another tissue. “I already gave you my entire pack of tissues at lunch just now, now you’re finishing my second packet! Are you sure you haven’t caught a cold?”
“No no, it’s just the spring allergies!”
“It’s not even spring yet!”
“Oh. I meant winter.” Kanako grins sheepishly.
Sanya lets out an exasperated sigh as she continues walking, leaving Kanako sniffing into her last few tissues.
Kanako has always been a good student. She works hard, the teachers like her, the students like her even more. It has always been enough for Sanya to just hear about all the fun and responsible-ish things Kanako is involved in, the vampire herself preferring to stay on the sidelines.
It would have been fine if that was all, but on top of taking care of Sanya (a full-time job) and always being there for all her hundred other friends and family, Kanako had two part-time jobs on the weekends too. Sanya even tried to get her to quit one last month but to no avail.
It doesn’t take two brain cells for Sanya to be able to tell that Kanako is slowly but surely overworking herself.
Kanako catches the vexed look on Sanya’s usually poker face. “Look at you… Worrying about me again, aren’t you?” Kanako teases, giggling heartily. “I’ll be fine, Sanya-chan~ Look!” She hops in front of the tall vampire, “I’m totally fine!”
Sanya glares at the brunette’s rosy cheeks and cheeky smile, makes what sounds like a grunt, and lightly pushes Kanako to sit atop the rock hedge by the side of the road.
“Hm? What are you—” Sanya silently grabs Kanako’s scarf and wraps it around the slightly shivering girl, tighter and higher… and higher.
“Sanyuhh… i can’t sheee!” Sanya’s lips twitch with a hint of a smile, ignoring Kanako’s muffled protests.
“I can’t hear you, stupid.”
She turns on her heel and continues on her way.
“Weifuhmee!”
Sanya’s eyes widen and shine with the intensity of a billion stars; Pokémon! New game! Multiplayer!! She saw it at a store front with her laser focussed eyes as she was running (late) to school this morning. She restlessly waits till the lunch bell rings, then speedwalks to Kanako’s class. They have to go buy it tomorrow before it gets sold out.
As she nears Kanako’s classroom, Sanya clears her throat… and stays by the entrance. She peeks into the window, big, round eyes scanning for brown, wavy hair and a pretty turquoise hairpin. There! Usually, Sanya would get someone to call Kanako over (by awkwardly and wordlessly pointing at the girl), but this is urgent so she takes a breath and sieves her way through random NPCs, to Kanako.
“Oh, Sanya-chan! You didn’t have to come over, I was just about to meet you upstairs.”
“Nako! The newest Pokémon game is out and I heard there's a PvP mode! I have extra classes later so I can’t go today but let’s go get it tomorrow.”
“Mm… Sanya, you know I have work tomorrow…”
“You– Huh? You didn’t quit?”
Kanako grimaces and smiles abashedly.
“I wanted to! But…”
“You felt bad and decided you were recovered enough to help out anyway so you never brought it up with the boss.” Sanya huffs.
Before Kanako can bring up another excuse, Sanya continues, “You were sick Kanako, and it was a high fever, you almost went to the hospital! If that isn’t indication enough that you’re pushing your body too hard, look! You forgot your pencil case again today, right?”
Kanako’s eyes widen, surprised that Sanya noticed the lone pencil on her table, in place of her pencil case. Sanya always seems aloof and uncaring but… she’s really observant when it matters, huh.
“Sanya-chaan~ You care for me so much!” Kanako pulls the still huffing vampire into a tight hug.
“I just want the game, you idiot. I don’t care, quit your job, we have to get it tomorrow.”
Kanako whines into Sanya’s side, reluctant to make a promise but also reluctant to reject her best friend.
“Okay, okay. I’ll go with you tomorrow, I promise!”
—
“Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa,” Sanya sighs exasperatedly, fidgeting with her Switch but not starting the game. When Saturday came around, Kanako did buy the game with Sanya… then went running off to her part-time job right after.
From next week onwards, Kanako will be twice as busy with her council preparations and their final exams looming ahead. If this goes on, Sanya wouldn’t be surprised if Kanako fainted from exhaustion. And more importantly, who’s gonna help her complete the game if Kanako doesn’t have the time even on weekends?
Sanya has to do something about this. Soon.
The vampire’s eyes dart to the clock:
7:42AM
Kanako’s work doesn’t start until 9am on Sundays… The cogs in Sanya’s brain start to turn, her inner CPU whirs…
“Hello? Sanya-chan? What’s wrong?” The concern in Kanako’s voice makes Sanya want to laugh.
“Uh. I—” Shit. She didn’t think this through. The idea was to call Kanako (immediate effect, as opposed to texting) and ask her to do something together (so that she wouldn’t go to work). But Sanya isn’t used to calling anyone, and Kanako’s worried, sweet voice in her ear isn’t helping her think.
Pokémon! No, Kanako wouldn’t drop work just to play together. Buy another game! Kanako already took half a day off to do that yesterday, she would be pushing it to ask for a second time.
“Sanya? You okay? Are you sick?”
Sanya stops her distressed noises as the idea pops in her head. That’s right! Sick! I can pretend to be sick!
“Uh… Yeaa…” Sanya lets her face go slack and acts the part, her voice going all groggy and quiet, “Kanako… I think I have a fever.”
“A fever? This is bad, I must’ve passed my fever to you!” Kanako exclaims in worry.
“That was a whole week ago, you idiot.” Oops, that was too energetic for a sick person. “I mean— nah… it’s just been too cold recently...”
“No, I’ll buy meds for you, okay? How are you feeling now?”
“Really baddd,” Sanya does her best whine, “I can’t move…”
“You know what, I’ll take the day off. Stay there, I’ll be right over with fever meds.”
Sanya pumps a fist and cheers internally before clearing her throat as softly as she can, and muttering a weak, “Thank you…”
Now that Sanya has successfully gotten Kanako to take the day off, is she really going to act sick the entire day? Acting really isn’t her forte… Furthermore, she hardly ever falls sick, a good sleep always cured everything. What does a fever even feel like?!
Sanya hurriedly touches her face and forehead: stone cold. This is bad. She channels all the manna she has to her head, in a haphazard effort to make her forehead as warm as possible. “Is this hot enough? Or is it too hot… Argh, I don’t even know.”
She does her best to recall the heat she felt on Nako’s forehead last week and barely manages to get the temperature similar before she hears the doorbell ring.
“K…nako…” Sanya calls weakly as she opens the door and leans against the door frame, eyes as droopy as possible.
“Sanya! Go, go. Go back to your bed, I brought your meds. You’ll be okay!” Kanako waves the bag of medicine to show her and ushers the vamp into her room.
Sanya shuffles into her bed and closes her eyes in “discomfort”. She feels Kanako’s palm on her head and almost sighs in relief as Kanako exclaims, “You really have a fever! This isn’t good, I’ll get a wet towel for you.”
Sanya opens one eye and peeks at the worried girl. She watches as Kanako sets the medicine she bought down on the bedside table, rushes off to prepare a wet towel, even taking the time to tidy Sanya’s room.
Ah. Now Sanya feels bad. Both for worrying Kanako and making her do so much for her, when the original intention was to get Kanako to rest from overworking…
“Ah– Kanako!”
“Hmm?” Kanako pauses, on her way to wet the towel she just took.
“Erm… I don’t need that! Vampires recover super fast, you know?”
“Nonsense!! Your forehead is burning! Your face is so warm too,” she exclaims as she cups Sanya’s face – her single action making two ruby red eyes go wide as saucers. Within a minute, the towel returns, nice and cold.
The helpless vampire lies back down, letting Kanako do her thing. I could get used to this… It wasn’t everyday Sanya had someone gently dabbing a wet towel on her face and neck. She almost drifts off to sleep before she slaps herself awake. You idiot, the plan!
Sanya hurriedly tries to cool her entire head down – her face taking a little longer – and lets Kanako touch it again, barely managing to stop her from shoving medicine down her throat.
“Kanako, see, I'm already much better! Thank you for the wet towel.”
“You really do heal so quickly… But you’re not fully back to normal yet so you gotta stay in bed!” She leaves to wet the towel yet again.
Sanya blinks. This ain’t it… She’s not letting Kanako rest if she still has to take care of her now.
“Kanakoooooooo…”
Kanako pops her head back into the room. “Yesssss?”
“I… I wanna buy a game.”
“Now?? We can wait till you’re fully recovered, Sanya.”
“No, let’s go now, a game will cure me FULLY and better than I was previously.”
With more prodding and a little whining from the vamp, in about 10 minutes, the pair were dressed and out of the house. Kanako could never refuse when Sanya asked so directly.
The moment they step into the mall, Sanya drops her act altogether and dashes to the games store, Kanako laughing at her 180 degree switch. “You little brat you’re really all better.”
“Told’ya!”
Kanako smiles, finally seeming to relax. And despite her supposed excitement, Sanya notices it. 良かった… She smiles and lets Kanako take her hand, both instinctively heading towards the ‘New Arrivals’ aisle.
“Kanako,” Sanya clears her throat, “choose one.”
“Nah… I’ve been thinking of saving my money since I won’t be working when exams start.”
“Who said anything about you paying?” She gives Kanako a disapproving look.
Kanako pauses. Her eyes go wide. “You… You’re gonna buy it for me?!”
“You don’t have to act so surprised…”
“THE Sanya, money hoarder and lover, wants to buy me a game?!” Kanako gasps, small hands flying to her mouth.
“Shut up. Do you want it or not?”
“Of course I do!”
The jolly pair each choose a game, Sanya honouring her offer to pay, and they leave the store, gleeful as ever.
“Now what?” Kanako leans over the railings, eyes sweeping over the ‘tiny’ people perusing the mall on each level. “I already took the day off for you Sanya-chan, but you’re all better now,” Kanako giggles.
Sanya cheers again, internally, at her successful plan. But… Now what?
“Erm… Do you need to buy anything?”
“Mmmm… Not really. Do you, Sanya?”
“I…” Kinda wanna go home but this is the perfect chance to get her to relax! Sanya’s face scrunches in agony.
“Sanya?” Kanako straightens, a concerned hand reaching for Sanya.
Sanya puts up a hand before Kanako gets all worried again. “I’m fine, Kanako. The other day… You were talking about buying a beanie or something right? Let’s go get that.”
“Oh, yes! It’s just a want, not a need though. I’m surprised you remember, Sanya-chan~” Kanako brightens, her slanted-eyed smile bright enough to blind a vampire.
“Of course. Because I’m a genius.”
Kanako beams and loops her arm around Sanya’s. “Sanya the genius~ Let’s go! I know where we can look.”
—
In the following 2 hours, Kanako had Sanya and herself trying on approximately 30 different hats (and shades that happened to be nearby), the brunette enthusiastically weaving them through store after store.
“Ka-Kanako, I can’t do this anymore… I need to sit down.” Sanya collapses onto a stool in one of the fitting rooms. They already secured a few beanies, Kanako’s favourite being a teal coloured one with subtle cat ears; Super cute! And under the immense pressure that is Kanako – the avid shopper, Sanya also got herself a black beanie; Simple, but also cute.
Kanako laughs and leaves the vampire to recover her HP as she continues walking down the clothes aisles. As busy as she is now, Kanako has always loved shopping. Her fashion sense is second to none and she loves styling her friends too – Sanya being no exception.
“Sanya!” Kanako squeals. “Oh, perfect, you’re already in a fitting room. Try this on now!”
Sanya barely manages to lift her head before a maroon coloured romper is thrown at her.
“Huuuhhhh—” Sanya’s echoey protest turns muffled as Kanako closes the door from the outside, giggling cheekily.
“Lock the door, Sanya!”
Kanako cheers audibly as she hears Sanya lock the door of the fitting room. She then quickly grabs a light-grey one in her size and swiftly changes in the fitting room beside Sanya’s.
“Ta-da!” Kanako jumps in front of Sanya as she opens her fitting room door, the romper fitting both of them perfectly. Sanya’s eyes widen in surprise as she takes in their matching outfits.
“We match perfectly! Let’s take a mirror selfie,” Kanako squeezes into the fitting room with the vampire who slowly turns to face the mirror. Kanako leans her head on Sanya’s shoulder, one hand holding the phone camera and the other in a peace sign. Sanya awkwardly bends her head over Nako’s, her right hand copying Kanako’s peace sign. “Peace!”
“Cuteee! We’re so cute, aren’t we, Sanya?” Kanako coos over their selfies.
Sanya blinks innocently, a tiny blush on her cheekbones. They are cute, and the rompers match surprisingly well, right up to their colours. But Sanya isn’t going to admit that out loud.
“I’m hungry.”
“Oh, okay! Let’s pay for these and then let’s eat!”
“Don’t we need to change back into our clothes?”
“Nah, let’s just wear them right away.”
And so, the pair leave the store with their new matching outfits, a bag of beanies they previously bought, and their original clothes neatly folded and placed in a bag the cashier kindly gave. “Let’s go!” Kanako zooms forward, dragging Sanya along, silver hair flying as she tries to keep up.
—
After a hearty lunch, Kanako continues cheerfully fitting her best friend with tons of new clothes. “Your height is perfect, your legs are long and your proportions perfect.” Kanako sighs in admiration, placing a chic beret on Sanya’s silver crown to complete the look.
Belly full of tonkatsu, Sanya settles into a docile mood, content enough to let her bestie style her like a mannequin.
“Let’s buy this too.”
“Okey~”
Kanako pays and takes Sanya’s arm, content with her haul for the day. “Let’s go to the pet shop Sanya.”
The vampire’s countenance brightens immediately, “Really?”
“Why not?” Kanako laughs, “You’ve been going along with my whims all day today, I thought I was supposed to be the one making you feel better.”
Oh yea. Sanya completely forgot about her “fever”. But before she can come up with an excuse, the cutest, fluffiest corgi she has ever seen beckoned at her from behind glass doors.
“Corgi!” Sanya runs to the store in a flurry of silver, Kanako chuckling and following along.
The vampire pastes her face on the glass, her two slender hands ‘holding’ the corgi’s two paws on the other side of the glass. “So… cu…”
“So what?”
“Cu…” Sanya melts as the corgi yaps and runs in circles around his little room.
“You big tsundere, just admit he’s cute!” Kanako giggles. “And look, you’re so close to the glass your boobs are gonna make a mark!”
“You pervert!!”
Kanako cackles at her reaction, “You’re surprisingly shy about your boobs, huh!” She pokes fun at Sanya’s red face. “What happened to ‘you can stuff cash anywhere’?”
“Money is different.”
“Sure, sure~”
The pair spend almost an hour cooing over the precious animals, Kanako almost having to drag Sanya away from adopting one on the spot. “Let’s goooo, you can’t even take care of yourself, much less a whole new baby!” “No, I absolutely can!!”
Kanako successfully pries her away from the shop, whisking them both down to the first level of the mall. “Let’s go home now or you’re gonna be exhausted tonight and be late for school again tomorrow.”
“Gah…”
Kanako smiles and pats her head teasingly. “There, there~ We had our fun today.”
“Mmm.” Sanya pouts, jokingly kicking the air.
Then something catches her eye. She stalls a little, eyes wandering.
“Sanya?”
The vampire freezes up awkwardly, “Do you… Do you like taking those?” She points at the rows and rows of booths, covering almost the entire ground floor of the mall.
Kanako’s eyes widen the most they have today, “Purikura? You wanna take purikura prints with me?!”
“I never said that!”
“I do, I do! I love purikuras!”
Since she’s helping Kanako rest and have fun anyways, doing something she likes for once won’t hurt… right? They enter one of the booths, Kanako visibly excited and Sanya close to regretting her decision.
Sanya winces at the bright lights in the booth, immediately feeling conscious about her awkward smile.
“Relax Sanya, just smile naturally!” Sanya tries her best not to grimace as she smiles.
The clueless but well-meaning vampire copies all of Kanako’s poses, slowly getting more comfortable as they take more pictures. Their modest smiling pictures become sillier as they progress, Kanako pointing a finger gun to Sanya’s head, Sanya ‘biting’ Kanako’s arm. Soon enough, both of their smiles and laughter are captured as natural as can be.
They even make a heart together with their hands, much to Kanako’s elation. She giggles as Sanya abruptly remembers the K-pop finger hearts she learned from Youtube, posing with them like a proud internet-dweller.
They then take their time each decorating their row of prints, Sanya spamming hers with funny stickers and random shimmers and an occasional errant heart. Kanako decorates hers meticulously, writing the date and their names prettily, drawing bow ties on their heads and hearts in the background.
Satisfied with their masterpieces and their shopping haul, the lovely pair leave the mall with their hands full and hearts fuller.
—
Sanya hums in blissful happiness as she eats another mouthful of her maritozzo. They each bought a dessert to end the day with, opting to have their tea break in the comfort of Sanya’s bedroom. Sitting across from her on the other side of her mini round table, Kanako sips on her cinnamon drink, eyes closed in a contented smile. They sit in comfortable silence, taking the time to rejuvenate.
“Are you feeling better?” Sanya asks.
“Hm…? Me? Shouldn’t I be the one asking?”
Sanya sighs, “I’m okay, really. But you’re the one who has been getting sick once every two weeks or something. Kanako, I really think you should quit your job. If not both, then at least one, so you have some time to rest.”
Kanako raises her eyebrows, surprised at the sudden change in topic, before realisation dawns on her. So this is why…! She opens her mouth in response but the vamp continues, “And Pokémon! You were supposed to play with me, it’s PvP you know?!”
At this, Kanako bursts into laughter, “You…You want me to quit so that we can play Pokémon together! Hidden intentions!”
“It’s not hidden if I said it straight to your face, stupid.”
“Aww, Sanya-chan~”
“Enough with the ‘chan’, disgusting,” Sanya sticks her tongue out in mock disgust.
Kanako gives her a small smile. To think that she didn’t realise how worried Sanya was, her “I-hate-moving-and-stepping-out-of-the-house” best friend going to the extent of spending the entire day shopping with her…
“Actually, I did consider it… And you’re right. When you pointed out how I forgot my pencil case the other day, I realised just how absent-minded I’ve been. I don’t want this to affect my council duties or my grades either…”
Sanya nods her head enthusiastically.
“Well… I don’t really mind falling sick or letting you catch me when I almost fall down the stairs though—ack!” Kanako squeals as Sanya throws a plastic fork at her.
“Okok, I’m joking!” Kanako puts on a serious face, “I’ll quit at least one of my part-time jobs by next week, Sanya. And I’ll play Pokémon with you too. I promise!”
Sanya stares at her best friend with wide eyes, pleasantly surprised to hear that Kanako actually considered quitting. She tries to nonchalantly scoop whipping cream into her mouth, unaware that she already has “relieved” and “pleased” written all over her face.
Kanako chuckles to herself. As passive and non-verbally expressive as Sanya is, out of all her friends, the brunette always feels most loved by this girl. “Thank you, Sanya… Love you most.”
Sanya sips her takeaway hot chocolate, her cheeks a rosy red.
“You’re not gonna say it back?”
“Shut up.” The self-conscious vampire rubs her nose, then clears her throat. “Actually, I already did.”
Kanako’s eyebrows rise, “Eh?”
Sanya mutedly points to the purikura stickers she decorated just now.
Kanako picks up the strip that Sanya decorated, meticulous eyes scanning each picture carefully, and the biggest smile breaks on her face as she finds it. The tiny ‘I love you’ heart-shaped sticker hidden in a tiny corner.
“You– Sanya-chan!” Kanako screams, smothering Sanya in a gigantic hug.