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"I'm going to take a bath, Mafuyu."
"Okay." Mafuyu, standing at the sink, put the last dish onto the drying rack. "I was just about to do the same. Would you mind if I joined you?"
"Sure. I wouldn't mind," Kanade answered almost without thinking. It had been a while since they had shared a bath, for some reason or another, but she'd always enjoyed it in the past.
It wasn’t until Kanade had made it into the bathroom and taken her jacket off that she realized that they hadn’t shared a bath since Kanade had noticeably gained weight.
Okay, so, you see, it went like this. Honami had been trying to get Kanade to eat three meals a day (or at least two) for ages, but Honami wasn’t here all the time, so she hadn’t been successful. Mafuyu, when she started living here, had also made it clear that her preference was for Kanade to eat more actual meals, but they hadn’t been particularly forceful about it. Kanade had realized later that this lack of forcefulness was largely due to a lack of energy, because as Mafuyu started to feel more stable and less burnt-out, she insisted on eating meals together more and more often. Kanade liked spending time with Mafuyu, so she wasn’t about to say no. Unless she was in the middle of writing the bridge of a song that just wouldn’t cooperate. Then Mafuyu sometimes had to drag her away from the computer.
Anyway, this new practice of eating meals regularly had gone on for months now, and one day, Kanade had suddenly realized that she could see the outline of her belly even with a shirt on, instead of said shirt hanging loosely off of her like it had before, and also that a lot of her shorts and pants were uncomfortably tight. The second point was particularly unfortunate.
Kanade could see it in the mirror now—a slight curve where before there had been nothing. She put a hand over her stomach. It even felt different.
And Mafuyu had said nothing about it.
Kanade sighed. There was no way they hadn’t noticed, right? Mafuyu was observant and smart. She could be oblivious to certain things, but, generally speaking, she paid a lot of attention to Kanade. Too much attention, sometimes.
Considering that this was kind of Mafuyu’s fault, the least they could do was acknowledge it.
Well, no, that wasn’t entirely fair. The change wouldn’t have been nearly as significant if Kanade herself hadn’t decided it might be worthwhile to try eating more. She was dealing with the consequences of her own actions.
The door creaked, and Kanade jumped, hands flying back down to her sides. She turned, and there was Mafuyu, looking at her quizzically. “…Did you start the bath yet?”
“Um. No,” Kanade answered eloquently.
“Okay.” Mafuyu walked past her and turned the tub’s faucet on. The sound of running water filled the room. Mafuyu turned around and faced her. “Are you okay, Kanade?”
Kanade was still just standing there. “Ah, yeah. I’m fine,” she answered hastily.
It was not convincing, judging by how Mafuyu was staring at her. Kanade squirmed under that piercing purple gaze. Someone else would be asking questions with their words right now. Mafuyu was asking questions with her eyes.
It was effective. Kanade cracked after not too long. “A-actually, I was just thinking it’s been a while since we’ve done this.”
Mafuyu nodded, but Kanade saw something in her eyes shift. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to. You can go first.”
A few years ago, Kanade thought, Mafuyu might have left it at that and walked away, but now, she didn’t move, and she didn’t stop looking at Kanade either. “…No,” Kanade started, “It’s not that.”
Mafuyu tilted their head to the side. What is it, then? Kanade assumed that meant.
“Um… have you noticed anything different about me, over the last few months?” Kanade cringed at herself internally. Wording it that way was kind of a cop-out. There was no guarantee the conversation would go in the direction she wanted it to.
Mafuyu nodded. “It’s seemed to me like you have more energy.”
...Huh?
“I think you’ve been sleeping a little better, too,” Mafuyu continued. “And you’ve been tripping over your own feet less.”
“…I don’t trip that often,” Kanade mumbled.
“No, not that often, but you haven’t done it at all recently.” Mafuyu’s voice was still low, but it wasn’t quite as monotone as usual. She sounded amused. Before Kanade could think of another response, Mafuyu turned back towards the tub and turned the water off. Silence filled the room, save for the slow drip of the tap. “Do you…” Mafuyu said slowly, turning back around, but not quite looking at her. “…How do you feel, Kanade? Do you feel like you have more energy?”
Kanade had been thinking about it in the thirty seconds since Mafuyu had said it. She hadn’t realized before, but, “I think so, yes.”
Mafuyu smiled at her, subtle and sweet, and made eye contact again. “I’m glad.”
Kanade smiled back at her, just because Mafuyu had smiled first. She couldn’t help herself. Mafuyu was so pretty when they smiled.
It was over in an instant, and Mafuyu was back to business. “If you’d rather take turns today, like I said, you can go first. What do you want to do, Kanade?”
Oh. Kanade still hadn’t brought up what she was actually worrying about. “I—I would rather share…”
Mafuyu nodded. “Okay. In that case, would you mind if I showered first, and then you can join me in the tub when you’re ready?”
This made sense, because the taller Mafuyu always got in first, and Kanade sat in front of her.
But, at this rate…
“I…” Kanade swallowed. “We haven’t done this in a while, and… I was really wondering if you’d noticed… that I’d gained weight.” If, hypothetically, Mafuyu hadn’t noticed, and they were surprised when they saw Kanade naked again, Kanade didn’t think she’d be able to handle that. Any sort of rejection coming from Mafuyu would feel especially awful.
Mafuyu smiled at her again, even softer than earlier. “I’ve noticed. Like I said, I’ve also noticed that it seems like you feel better.” She tapped a finger against her temple. “I almost think there might be a correlation.”
…Mafuyu was sort of making fun of her. Again. Kanade sighed.
Mafuyu stepped closer, a more serious look in her eyes. “Kanade.” She took Kanade’s hand and held it gently, sandwiching it in-between both of her own. “It looks good on you. You’re beautiful, no matter what you weigh. What matters to me is that you have the energy to smile. Sometimes…” Mafuyu’s gaze grew distant for a moment. “Sometimes, before, it felt like you just didn’t have it in you.” They squeezed Kanade’s hand. “I’ve been really happy, seeing you take better care of yourself.”
Kanade nodded slowly. So Mafuyu had noticed, and didn’t see it as a bad thing. Okay. Okay. She could be normal about this. “…Thank you, Mafuyu.”
“…Now that I think about it, nothing’s stopping us from showering together, too.” Mafuyu’s brow was furrowed, like she was thinking very hard. “I could wash your hair for you.”
Kanade blushed slightly at the thought. “…Maybe another time. I think I need a minute. I’ll join you in the tub.” On a whim, Kanade leaned forward and kissed the back of Mafuyu’s hand, then slipped hers out from inside the hand sandwich they had created.
“Okay, I’ll be quick.” Mafuyu stepped away.
“Take your time.” Kanade exhaled. Okay. Everything was fine. She could do this.
Fifteen or so minutes later, when Kanade shyly slipped into the tub and found her spot in-between Mafuyu’s legs, and Mafuyu immediately wrapped their arms around her belly and kissed the back of her neck, she started to believe that everything really was fine.
…Maybe tomorrow, she’d ask Mizuki to go shopping with her for some new pants that actually fit.