Chapter Text
Asahina Mafuyu is overwhelmed with responsibilities.
It has always been this way. She is expected to keep the house clean, water the plants, prepare meals for her father who works in the office, buy groceries, replace spent bathroom products...
At school, it isn’t far from the same. She is the head of the Student Council, which is already a great responsibility that not many can handle. She gets all the heavy loads and the dirty work thrown at her like daily supplements that worsen her anxiety. Despite all this, Mafuyu is at the top of her class. Straight A’s burning through her resume, as perfect as she is considered.
She is going to be a doctor, after all. A well-paid doctor who can easily get comfortable and have recognition tied to their name.
Although it was never her idea. It had simply been assigned to her.
If Mafuyu’s parents say so, then the burning hours of studies, surrounded by heavy books and coffee, must be all worth it. Mafuyu just needed to trust the process a bit more.
Talking about coffee, Mafuyu was already on her fifth cup that day.
Sitting down at an empty table, she sighed as her eyes couldn’t focus on her textbook anymore. The corner where she always sat down was as cozy as ever, especially with the rain pouring down the streets and the warmth of her coffee tempting her to take a quick nap right there.
But there was no time to relax, as a distraught person just sat in front of her.
It was a blonde boy, texting frantically on his phone as if his life depended on it. He seemed stressed, on the verge of throwing the phone at the wall. He didn’t seem older than Mafuyu.
It took the boy a couple of seconds to finally look up from his phone and notice Mafuyu. He immediately went red.
— AH! Oh, I-I am so sorry, I didn’t see you there!
The boy squirmed in embarrassment as he scrambled with his phone to leave. Mafuyu lowered her head and looked at her textbook, stained with hundreds of words and terminology she would never understand. It wouldn’t hurt to have a little bit of a distraction for the time being, wouldn’t it?
— It’s okay, really. You can stay. I wasn’t planning on staying too much longer anyway.
The boy sighed in relief and sat back down, bowing. He accommodated himself in front of Mafuyu and tried to take as little space as possible.
— Thank you so much, and again, I am so sorry for not noticing you. I was a bit on cloud nine...
Mafuyu chuckled and lay back a bit, analyzing the boy. His eyes were honey-glazed, intense but dimmed. He had noticeable eye bags and calloused hands; he probably takes part in a sport. A phone suddenly buzzed, and the boy picked it up, frowning slightly at the contents. Mafuyu couldn’t help but wonder.
— Pardon my ignorance, is everything alright? You seem... Anxious about something.
The boy looked at her with a blank expression, and Mafuyu regretted her words. She was about to apologise, but the boy simply smiled at her and set his phone aside.
— No worries! Yeah, I am a bit wary about something... Wouldn’t say anxious, though.
He looked out the window at the rainy landscape, with people walking around in thick jackets and umbrellas. Mafuyu took a sip of her coffee and set it aside, too.
— Do you want to... Talk about it?— Mafuyu said after some moments of silence.
The boy thought about it for a while and nodded, his expression softening. His exhaustion was now more noticeable.
— It’s... I struggle with deadlines sometimes. It’s hard to manage school and work at the same time, and outside pressure makes it more difficult than it should be.
Mafuyu stiffened subtly at his comment. How convenient, someone voicing out what she had been thinking about moments before. She leaned forward, clearly more interested in what the boy had to say, her eyes boring through his face. The boy didn’t seem to notice.
— I’m not complaining, though! I love my job, my school, my friends, my family... However, they all expect too much, and it is a bit complicated to follow through... And it gets to me, since I want to be the best and all...
Mafuyu hummed at the thought, closing her notebook and sliding it to her side.
— Ah, did I ramble too much? Forgive me, I’ve burdened you with my troubles! How terribly improper of me.
— It’s fine,— Mafuyu chuckled— , don’t we all need to let it out sometimes?
This seemed to comfort the boy, as he grinned slightly and nodded. He lowered his head and now took a look at Mafuyu’s stuff spread across the table.
— With what I’m seeing, I guess you could be feeling the same too...?
Mafuyu looked down at her stuff, too, and nodded.
— You called it. Balancing study hours, Student council paperwork, and extracurriculars is not an easy task, but I can manage properly.
She began piling up her books and notes, realizing she might have much more to study than what she had originally planned. Becoming a doctor requires motivation, discipline, and skill, and she needed to have all three.
Drowned in her thoughts, she hadn’t realized the boy had begun handing her books and helping her pack everything up. In the end, Mafuyu looked up and found the boy smiling sweetly at her.
— Dealing with all that? It sounds fascinating, but stressful.
Mafuyu’s gaze softened just a bit before she caught herself and placed a plastic smile on her face. She shouldn’t indulge in compliments like these; they could tarnish her schedule, make her ruin her chances at becoming a doctor.
— You baffle me too much; it isn’t that complicated.
The boy chuckled— but it is extraordinary, I could never.
Mafuyu felt the tip of her fingers becoming a bit warm with his words. She nodded politely and grabbed the remains of her coffee in a haze.
— See you around?— The boy said as Mafuyu awkwardly walked out of the establishment without looking back.
The rain had settled enough for Mafuyu not to have to ask for a cab home. She checked her clock and dammed herself for losing too much time in that conversation with the blonde.
With hurried steps, she ignored the lingering warmth the boy’s flattery left her. She doesn’t know which is worse, the cold the rain left or the feeling in her chest.