Work Text:
Ai flinched between the sheets when she heard a knock on the door. She knew it wasn't her mother, because she didn't hit anymore. She knew he wasn't the professor, because she wasn't his responsibility anymore. Her options were reduced to the only friends she'd ever had, and, well, that was already down to one.
“Ai”, Momoe called from the outside, her voice was as sad as the atmosphere inside that room. “I know it's difficult… but we need to talk.”
Ohto didn't answer, she couldn't. Ai abandoned them, abandoned her. She had no right to talk to her about… about…
“Ai, please”, Momoe asked again, her voice louder, but less stable. “We need… I need…”, at that point, she couldn’t anymore. "I need to know that one of you is still here…”
She said the last sentence giving way to tears, tears cascading down her face.
Ai's heterochromatic eyes alone were already soaked, hearing Momoe's cry was the apex for her to start crying herself. Without Panic, Rika and Neiru, Ai knew that she was all that was left for Momoe, and yet, she didn't have the courage to face her.
"I'm sorry, Momo-chan", Ai buried her face in her pillow, wetting it with her tears and using it to muffle her voice.
Momoe fell to her knees, leaning her body against the bedroom door, she no longer had the strength to stand up. Rika's funeral had been less than an hour ago, she stayed strong throughout the entire process, she knew her friend wouldn't like to see her like this. But now, she didn't hold back anymore.
“Please, Ai”, she asked one last time, unable to say more than that.
The two were crying, the two needed each other, each other's support, however, Ai never opened the bedroom door.