Would you like a cup of tea? || Shigeo Kageyama

Friend - Part 2

"It's been a week, huh..." Hotaru's aunt gazed out the window, staring at the huge green plant. "-since that broccoli looking thing appeared..."

Hotaru sighed. "Who cares about some broccoli... If we can eat it, then maybe it'll be something interesting." Irritation was clearly plaguing her voice.

"Now, now... Are you still mad about us having to evacuate a week before?" Her aunt chuckled and wiped the cup down with a towel.

She sat up straight and shook her head. "No, I'm not mad about that. Thank you for helping me evacuate, even though I fainted."

Her aunt's smile warmed. "You're welcome, Hotaru."

That was when the door to the cafe swung open.

And that was when Hotaru stood up from her seat.

She stared at the customer with wide eyes.

"Hope... You're here."

"I'm sorry for not coming here last week, but I guess it's to be expected with the evacuation and the broccoli..." He smiled at them apologetically.

Hotaru took a few steps towards him before running into his arms. She tightly embraced him as she buried her face into the crevice of his neck. Startled, he looked at her in surprise. Her tears stained his shirt as she started to cry softly to herself. "W-what a relief... that you're alive and well, Hope. I... I thought that I was never going to see you again..."

Not knowing what to do, he hesitantly patted her head to calm her down. "I'm okay, Taru. So don't worry..."

She nodded timidly. Before she removed herself from him, however, she soon felt dizzy as if she hadn't slept in a while for some reason. Discomfort in her heart began to grow and she finally took a step away from him. It seemed as though everything around her turned blurry. She took a deep breath and then collapsed into Mob's arms as he cried out her nickname in shock. And once again, she lost herself into the darkness.

"Hope, keep her like that. I'm going to call the ambulance and her parents." Her aunt dashed into the back of the cafe and made the appropriate phone calls.

After the ambulance took her away with her seemingly uncaring parents accompanying her, Mob stood there in silence as he watched the vehicle go away. It was only until Hotaru's aunt put her hand on his shoulder. "Come into the cafe... I know that you're a bit shocked right now, so we should drink a cup of tea to relax."

Once they sat down with cups of tea, he looked up at her in concern. "Is she okay? Why did she faint?"

"It's okay, Hope. There's nothing to worry about. Taru will be alright." She smiled at him reassuringly. "She only gets like that when immensely stressed."

"So it's a psychological thing?" He sounded distressed. "Then why did she get really stressed this time?"

"..." Her aunt let out a small sigh as she stared down at her cup. "It's because my niece really cares about you. She thought that she lost her friend forever during the evacuation period and since there was no way to contact you, she couldn't even know if you were okay or not."

"She was...worried about me?" Mob's eyes widened, feeling touched by what he had just heard. At the same time, he felt guilty for being the cause of Hotaru's distress.

"Don't feel guilty. It's not like you asked her to be worried about you. She knows the consequences and she abides by them. She wouldn't like it if you blamed yourself either." She admonished him in a maternal manner.

"Okay..." Mob sipped his tea in an absent-minded manner. "Is there anything I can do for her?"

"...You can always keep being her friend until the very end." She smiled at him brightly. "Are you up for that kind of heavy role?"

Mob smiled as he nodded firmly at her. "I can do that." Somehow, his expression brightened. "Then that means that she'll also be my friend until the very end."

She let out a nice laugh. "You sound very dependable. Then I'll be counting on you!"

He nodded again. "Yes, I'll do my best to be her friend until the end."

"Now then..." Her aunt, picking up her niece's habit of changing the subject, smiled warmly at him. "Tell me what happened during the evacuation, so that I can tell Taru something fun later."

"Eh?" Mob placed his cup down as his ears tinted pink. "I... Well... Okay..."

That was when her aunt let out another hearty laugh, calming down his fears and worries.