Alternate (Shuichi Saihara x fem reader)

Chapter Five: Daily Life

*Author's note: it's 2:30 am as of when I'm proofreading/publishing this fic, and it's been since about midnight. This daily life has around 14000 words as compared to the other daily life's ~7000, so I'm not going to proofread it. If you have any issues, leave a comment, and I'll fix it! Thank you!
**update: nothing past this is proofread either actually, I'm gonna upload this and then immediately collapse

    I rubbed Tsumugi's shoulders as she weeped. We were walking back to the dorms, but almost everyone went off to do something else. Shuichi went back into the school, Miu went to her lab, and Kokichi disappeared when we weren't looking. Kaito coughed violently while Maki rubbed her own head, and Tenko and Himiko walked with solemn faces, trying to cheer the other up to no avail. I walked Tsumugi back to her room, trying to console her with sympathy. It was hard to empathize with such an atrocity.

    "I don't know why I ever liked that man!" She sobbed. "I want Kaede back! I loved Kaede! Kaede wouldn't kill anyone!" As she rambled, I kept rubbing her shoulders and her back, telling her that everything was going to sort itself out. She grabbed my arm and clung to it, sometimes wiping her tears with the sleeve. She had taken her glasses off to make it easier, but she deserved it. She deserved to vent, to cry, and to heal from it.

    We made it back to the dorms, and I went to hers to make sure she was okay. She made a beeline for the bed, buried her face in her pillow, and screamed.

    "Do you want me to stay here tonight?" I asked, taking a seat on the bed next to her. She furiously nodded into the pillow, and I set up a bed on the couch. She stopped crying and slept a long time after.

•••

    Tsumugi was still asleep when I woke up. She was mentally exhausted, and I didn't blame her. I messaged Shuichi that I was going to stay with her until she woke up, and to eat breakfast without me. About five minutes later, he came to her room with a tray carrying three plates of waffles and strawberries with some juice. I quietly let him in and we ate in peaceful silence, awaiting the weeping cosplayer to rise. When she finally did, she simply ate her waffles, and we continued the peaceful silence. She began to cry again for a second, but Shuichi and I both rushed to her side to help calm her. She muttered a "thank you" and finished her meal. After she was done, Shuichi took our plates back to the kitchen.

    "How are you doing?" I asked. "Rough night, for sure. Do you think you can handle today?" She squeezed her eyes shut and hugged me.

    "No..." she said. "Can you stay with me today? Please?"

    "Of course," I stroked her messy hair. "I'll do anything you want today. If I'm persuasive enough, maybe I can get Shuichi to join us."

    "Anything?" She asked. I nodded and picked up her glasses.

    "Anything." I placed her glasses on her face and smiled. As if contagious, she smiled back, tears streaming down her face still. She grabbed my hand and stood up.

    "Come on, let's go find Shuichi! I dedicate today cosplay day!" She pulled me out of the room, both of us still in yesterday's clothes.

    "Hey Tsumugi, don't you want to brush your hair or something?" I asked.

    "No! We'll wear wigs! Come on!" I'll admit, I was excited to try cosplay. As soon as we left the room, Shuichi raised his hand to the doorbell. Tsumugi excitedly grabbed his wrist and dragged us up four flights of stairs to the Cosplayer Lab.

    "So what happened when I was gone?" He asked, completely out of breath. "The Monokubs gave us some new items, but it looks like we might have other plans."