Work Text:
OWN held a breath, sliding eyes across the table to the abundance of gaudy pink sitting. Why exactly did she have to work with Emu? They weren't even in the same year. Even then, why did she have to work with this girl? It should be Yuki here, or at worst Mafuyu, but it absolutely shouldn't be her.
Why was everyone in the system so bad at keeping up with their roles? OWN found it hard to care if they were too weak to handle socialising, by giving up, they made it harder, and she had to pick up the slack.
She could do that, but looking at Emu, OWN started to doubt her skills.
The girl was terrified.
Yuki had warned the system before about her. Some scary perceptiveness or an innate dislike of them? Mafuyu seemed to have had a pleasant conversation with her, though, so perhaps she just disliked her and Yuki.
“Ootori-san?”
“Y-yes?”
The way she jumped was almost funny, like a cute, scared little animal. Too bad it definitely equaled hostility, but OWN was used to that. She could actually handle her role, and playing the bad guy and being the scapegoat was easy. It came with a layer of utter self-loathing and general resentment, but so long as it extended to others and not her system members, it was fine.
OWN really resented the girl across from her.
“How is your part going?”
“I'm m-making progress!” It was followed by a nervous laugh; her expression seemed like the room was choking her. “What about you?”
“Satisfactory, I suppose.”
OWN had to admit, she wasn't the best at school work. That wasn't part of her role, it was Yuki and Mafuyu's, so what would she ever need it for? Apparently, that mindset was wrong, and she needed it right now.
“I'm a bit jumpy, but it's nice talking to you.” Emu gave a half smile in some goofy way that flashed some of her teeth. “I do want to get to know you too.”
OWN narrowed eyes, trying to work out the vibe here. She should say something nice in return so as not to jeopardise the system's social life. What was something nice?
“Likewise.”
Emu laughed quietly, pulling back. “You don't have to if you don't want to. I'd like it if I could make you smile too, but I'm happy just being friends with Mafuyu-san.”
What? OWN felt resentment unfurl as confusion swirled around. Why did she say Mafuyu like she was a separate entity? She can't know— She doesn't know.
“Also!” Emu gave a grin. “I think when Mafuyu-san smiles, it must make you happy too, right?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” While Emu recoiled, OWN kept letting the hatred spill over. “I'm Mafuyu.”
Emu stayed silent for a moment, not wavering in confidence. “I don't think Mafuyu-san would ever swear at me.”
“What would you know?” How was she supposed to handle this exactly? This girl was obviously far too smart to just go denying it all. “You've barely even spoken to Mafuyu.”
A second passed as they both stared at one another in confusion. “But I talk to Mafuyu-san all the time? She's very kind to me.”
OWN would delight in messing with her to scare her off. It was her fault for pushing things so much. “That's not Mafuyu.”
“Oh.” Emu seemed almost unfazed. “Then I guess I don't know her name… but I still like talking to her! She's really kind to me. To everyone. But she's also really tired and exhausted, so I try to make her smile. Ah, so Mafuyu-san is someone else?” She hummed loudly, verbally expressing the turning of thoughts. “Is Mafuyu-san the quiet one? You're right, I haven't spoken to her much. At first I thought she was kind of scary, but actually she's really nice.”
This wasn't letting up, and she was only learning more and more. OWN changed her tone, letting hostility lace her breath. “You're delusional, making up things about others. Now, can you leave me alone and forget about this?”
“Eek.” Emu recoiled before she gave a sad, little nod. “Okay. Sorry. I just really, really wanted to be your friend!”
How did they get caught up with someone so annoying? All that pestering and insisting on being friends wasn't something she gave a damn about.
Finally, it was all quiet, and they worked in silence.
Staring for a while, OWN spoke without thinking. “Yuki. Her name is Yuki.”
“What?” Emu looked up, blinking once before her expression turned into a big grin. “So my friend is called Yuki-san? Or is Yuki-senpai better?”
A wave of someone else’s emotions hit, and OWN had to hide her repulsion. Why on earth was this making Yuki happy?
“Don't say that name around anyone else, okay?”
“I know. I won't,” Emu giggled, the delight shining in her eyes. “And what's your name?”
“We should get back to work.”
OWN wasn't going to engage. She didn't need to, nor did she need to reveal anything. If she were lucky, she would never speak to anyone ever again, especially not this girl.
“Aw, come on! Tell me?”
“I go by OWN… Here.” She wrote the word down in all caps, spinning the paper around to show Emu. The last thing she wanted was a misinterpretation…
“So cool!” Did she ever stop smiling? “Is that like a cool western name? Is it OWN-san? OWN-senpai? OWN-chan? OWN-kun—”
“Just OWN.”
She cut the sentence short before it kept going any further. It was embarrassing enough without going through an even longer list of honorifics.
“Got it. And I won't say it around anyone else, like with Yuki-senpai.” Emu nodded, putting her hand on her heart playfully. “You can call me Emu.”
“Ootori-san is fine.”
She wasn't going to engage in this pointless exchange. Wait, had they become friends?