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[I’m sorry.]
I desperately held on to the larger person in front of me, wishing this small forlorn attempt at making her stay, even how little the chances are, would work. I hugged her from behind with all the strength I could muster, but she never stopped walking—only continued to move forward. Her torso phased through my arms as she drifted farther and farther away from me. I tried to grab her once more, but I couldn’t move my feet. I was paralyzed.
[I’m sorry! I promise I’ll be a good girl from now on! Just please don’t leave me!]
But she didn’t listen.
[—Mom!]
A black void opened right in front of me, and the person I hopelessly begged to stay was swallowed whole, leaving me alone.
[——————————]
Without me noticing, my eyes started watering and teardrops ran across my cheeks. I tried to wipe them off with the base of my hands, but they seemed unaffected by the physical contact.
???: [Have you tried wiping them off with a towel?]
A mysterious yet familiar voice called out to me, it gave me a little sense of relief and easiness for some reason. I opened my eyes and saw an open hand with a red cloth riddled with white dots on top of it. But before I took the cloth out of the reaching hand, it held the cloth and started wiping my tears away. With the water no longer blurring my vision, I was able to see the person who was comforting me.
[Ryo…?]
Ryo: [Why are you crying?]
The moment she asked that question, more tears threatened to pour out of my eyes. So instead of saying anything, I lunged at her and hugged her with all my might.
[Ryo…! I’m so glad you’re here… I’m—]
The dam broke, and I once again started crying.
[—I’m genuinely glad you’re here…]
I cried. I completely cried my heart out. Tears dripped off the corners of my eyes and fell right on Ryo’s shoulder. But I continued crying. I cried until my lungs were tired. I cried until my voice was hoarse. I cried until my tears were dry.
Whether it was of sadness or relief—or even fear, I didn’t know. But I kept on crying. My chest tightened and suffocated me, and crying was the only way for me to ease the pain. That and also—
[Ryo…]
Ryo: [Nijika.]
I lifted my head up off Ryo’s shoulder and looked her straight in the eye. I could feel my heart beating faster and faster every second and—
Ryo: [Who are you talking about? Who is Ryo?]
[———]
Nijika: [Huh…?]
And right then and there, Ryo started fading away in front of me.
[Wait! No…!]
I begged. Like how I previously did. Like how I always did.
For the miserable existence that I am, I begged.
[Don’t leave me behind! I can’t do this again! Please… Ryo..]She looked at me emotionlessly as she slowly became more transparent, fading into non-existence.
[Please……. I… I haven’t even told you that I…]
Ryo was completely gone.
[—love you.]
━━♫(✦)♫━━
Nijika woke up in the middle of the night with tears in her eyes. She couldn’t exactly remember what she dreamed of, but she was filled with immense dread and fear,
—fear of being left alone.
It wasn’t really that big of a deal, she probably just had a nightmare or something. But the uncomfortable feeling welling up inside her chest made her unable to fall back into sleep, so she spent the next couple of minutes doing nothing but staring at the empty ceiling.
[mMMmpggphh]
A whimper broke the encompassing silence and broke Nijika out of her trance state. The whine belonged to the person who happened to be sleeping beside her, Ryo Yamada. She didn’t really know when it started, but at one point, Ryo just started bringing over her things and leaving them in Nijika’s room. And suddenly, it was like Ryo was living with her. It’s not that Ryo slept here every day, she still had a home after all. But it’s to the point where if Ryo wasn’t present for breakfast, even Seika would find it unusual.
Nijika sat up to look at Ryo, wondering what caused her to whimper. She was clearly sweating, and her face was contorted to show one of distress, something Nijika doesn’t see often.
“She must be having a nightmare…”
Nijika’s thoughts were interrupted when Ryo started mumbling semi-coherent words—
Ryo: [mmmphungry…..no… more weeds….]
A vein popped out of Nijika’s forehead.
“Of course that’s what she’s dreaming about.”
sigh
Nijika wasn’t annoyed though. If anything, it made her feel relieved. Ryo was still Ryo.
Going back under their shared blanket, Nijika laid down and hugged Ryo.
She was able to easily fall back into sleep after that.
━━━━━━━━━━♫(✦)♫━━━━━━━━━━
The door to Nijika’s room opened and Ryo came out to the living room. The rumbling of her stomach had apparently made her wake earlier than usual.
Ryo: [Nijika… hungry.]
Setting the food on the table, Nijika responded in a knowing tone—
Nijika: [Yes, yes. Come on, dig in.]
Ryo sat on one of the chairs—her position on the table had already been pretty much designated due to the number of times she’s been over—and immediately started eating. It was only the two of them eating breakfast since Seika is rarely awake at this time in the morning.
Ryo: [Nishika’s cooking is the besht.]
Nijika: [Don’t talk while you’re eating!]
Nijika tried to scold her, but her words seemed to only go inside one ear and went out the other. “Typical Ryo,” she thought internally. But still—
Nijika: [Ryo.]
Ryo: [Mmmmff?]
Ryo responded with food still in her mouth. She really never listens, but Nijika was used to it.
Nijika smiled in a way that Ryo can only describe as angelic. And a second after, she said the words—
Nijika: [—I love you.]
—Which caught Ryo off guard. For once, Ryo actually swallowed the food in her mouth before talking, just so her words can be heard more clearly. Nijika also noticed the tiny red tint painting her cheeks.
Ryo: [I already know that…]
Ryo was blushing.
THE Ryo Yamada.
She was blushing.
Nijika felt as if she had just discovered a newfound power.
Nijika: [Well, I’ve never really said it out loud, have I?]
Nijika: [So, I love you, Ryo.]
Ryo: [What’s with you all of a sudden…]
Ryo replied in an uncharacteristically small voice.
Nijika: [Nothing really…]
[———]
Nijika: [Say, Ryo. You’re never gonna leave me, are you?]
The blush on Ryo’s cheeks quickly faded away and she returned to wearing her usual expressionless face, and then she smiled—
Ryo: [What’s with that? Didn’t I tell you before that I’ll be mooching off of you from now until eternity? I can’t do that if I leave you.]
Nijika: [But still…]
She wanted to protest, doubt is just something you can easily get rid of, but Ryo immediately shot her down.
Ryo: [I’ll be a leech on your side forever, I promise. I never break promises.]
Nijika: [Right. And I just remembered, didn’t you promise to pay back Bocchi-chan the two thousand yen you borrowed?]
Ryo was sweating profusely.
Ryo: [Yeah. But I never set a specific date for that.]
sigh
Nijika: [Jeez, you’re hopeless.]
Ryo: [But you’d still stay with me.]
Nijika: [Only because you can’t live without me.]
Ryo: [That’s true. Please take care of me until we grow old.]
Nijika: [Yes, yes. From now until eternity, right?]
They both laughed at their own stupid conversation.