Chapter Text
Three days.
That’s how long it had been since Yuno was released from MILGRAM. After so long… she had finally been able to return home. Her time in MILGRAM was an experience so surreal, so otherworldly. Perhaps it'd be best for her that she never think about it again. Though, the final words from her friend, Mahiru... they still lingered in her mind. It may have felt like an obligation, but... it was an obligation she wanted to carry out. No more lies
For those past three days, she had been reconnecting with her family, her friends, and her peers in general after the incident. She quickly learned that her time spent in MILGRAM was slowed between it and the real world, as nobody really seemed to question that much when she was gone for so long. They, of course, noticed her new haircut, but they didn’t ask enough about it for her to further explain it. She may have been hesitant to be so vulnerable at first with everyone, but she decided to open up to them for the better.
She knew what types of reactions she’d get from everyone. The pity from her dear mother. The shock from her own friends. She absolutely wouldn't tell her brother about it, though. She didn't want him to see his big sister like that. Maybe when he got older. It was a hard truth to swallow for them and herself after she had evaded it for so long. But since then, her journey of healing was able to start. The only thing she wouldn’t tell anyone about was MILGRAM. She thought it was too bizarre of a concept— too beyond anyone’s comprehension. That part may have been best to keep to herself.
During those three days that she was away from MILGRAM, she did anything she could to get her life back on track. Her mother got her signed up into therapy, which was helping her process her grief and her issue with her feeling cold inside and seeking warmth from strangers. She appreciated truly being able to talk to someone who wouldn’t be able to judge her for her choices. Her mother never seemed to give her a particularly hard time, but she could tell that there was, naturally, some disappointment when she told the truth about what she did behind closed doors.
With some of the money she had left, she also chose to spend some taking her little brother, Yura, to the amusement park. He was anticipating going there for a while so he was really excited to go there with his big sis, especially seeing how she was getting better now. They went on a bunch of rides that Yura could go on now, seeing as he was tall enough now. He practically took her on a wild goose chase all around the park, doing pretty much everything you could do at the park. It was tiring, but Yuno didn’t mind in the slightest. She was so happy to return to her normal life again, spending time with everyone that she missed so badly. It alleviated the stress she was still feeling after her entire experience with MILGRAM.
“Big sis?” Yura suddenly called out as they were walking through the park holding small baskets of takoyaki. “Why’d you cut your hair? I mean, it looks cool now, but… I still wanna know about it.”
Yuno stopped in her tracks for a few seconds after hearing the question from her brother. Her expression darkened for a moment, which Yura noticed and already felt bad about. “U-um- you don’t have to answer that… I just—”
“No, no, it’s fine, Yura. Hm… let’s see, how can I put this…” Yuno said to herself, looking towards the ground as she thought of the best way to explain this to her little brother. For starters, she obviously still didn’t want to tell him about MILGRAM, which is the sole reason why her hair was like this. She couldn’t tell him about Mahiru or her death either. She could only scratch her chin in thought before answering with something vague enough to work. “I got the idea from a… friend. Yeah. I thought shorter hair would be cool too, it'd be less of a hassle then.” She decided to say, which was a good enough answer for her brother.
“That’s cool.” He says, smiling a bit before noticing a large rollercoaster up in the distance. “Oh, look, I haven’t gotten on that ride yet! Let’s see if I’m tall enough!” He said, running ahead of his sister as she tried to catch up. “Wha- hey! Just know if you go on that rollercoaster, I’m not coming with you!” She called out with a giggle behind him.
Yuno was exhausted after her day at that amusement park. Her family was some of the only people she consistently felt warm with, so going and doing little activities like that with them felt like they healed her as a person. The moment she returned to her room, she laid on her bed, relaxing and stretching as she adjusted to the comfort of the mattress below her. Maybe she’d take a nap. That would be nice.
She was happy to be back to her normal life.