cats don't always land on their feet (soraru and mafumafu story)

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i stand up from my chair.
"everybody go sit down again," i point to the couches and chairs.
they look at each other but dont move.
"SIT DOWN!" i shout.
they all scurry and sit down quickly.
"h-hey, are you o-" eve says with concern.
"just stop," i cut him off.
i stand in front of everyone who is now seated.
"you guys... you guys are all so awful! do you have any idea what you're all doing? this is not how any of you guys usually are!" i say, "youre all different. youre not yourselves.."
they frown.
i shake my head, "but thats okay, because neither am i. a tragedy has happened, and no one knows how to cope or whats going to happen next, but its okay...!" i smile slightly with tears filling my eyes, "none of us wanted this to happen. we all wish we could've done something to save him.. me especially..." tears fall from my eyes, "only amatsuki knows this, but... i was actually there when it happened. i... i couldve saved him... if i had just reacted faster..." i start sobbing.
"oh, soraru, no, its alright.." amatsuki rushes over to hug me.
everyone looks at me with shock. some with tears starting to fill their eyes. i break the hug with amatsuki and i thank him.
"you didn't know it was gonna happen, its not your fault," amatsuki reassures and everyone nods.
i nod, "i know.. doesn't make it hurt any less though."
"i could only imagine..."eve says looking down with tears in his eyes.
i take a deep breath, "what happened, happened. we can't keep dwelling on what we should or shouldn't have done, because its useless. we have to focus on the now. what is it that we can do now? i can assure you, whatever we've been doing today, is not it. we all worked hard to come this far and keep our group together. mafu worked hard. and we all know for a fact, none of us are the kind of people who would do something if we didn't want to. meaning, if you didn't want to still be a part of this group, you would've left by now..
we all love each other, which is why we've stuck by each other's sides all this time. the time we've all spent together, the laughs we've shared, everything has always been genuine and sincere. we can save this group, we just need to understand one another more. we are all grieving in different ways, so we must be understanding of each other's out burts and such.. we have to look out for each other... we have to get coser because of this.. not drift apart... its what mafu would want."

everyone stares at me in silence for a moment.
nqrse breaks the silence, "i'm so sorry.. i really don't know how to deal with things like this and i... i shouldn't have lashed out.." he starts crying and araki hugs and comforts him.
luz and everyone else apologizes too.
"its alright, guys," eve stands up too, "none of us know how to deal with this.. we won't hold anything against any of you for any things you may say, it's all okay."
i nod, "with time, we will all heal. we just need to get passed this rough patch right now! and the most important thing is we stick together through it all."

everyone nods in agreement and we all go in for a group hug that lasts a few minutes.
we all sit down again and slowly the conversation becomes easier. we start laughing and smiling. we reminisce on the fun times weve had with mafu and it is quite bitter sweet.

as everyone is joking around, i zone out slightly. i'll be okay...  i think to myself with a smile and a tear forming in my eye, we will all be okay...
i see something move from the corner of my eye. i turn around to look, but theres nothing. i shrug it off and turn back around, immediately zoning out again.

"hey, where did that come from?" sakata says pointing at something behind me, to which everyone turns to look, "amatsuki is that yours?"
"hm? no, actually, ive never seen that before..? one of you must've brought it," amatsuki says.
"nope i didn't bring it. besides, it wasn't here the whole time we were here, ive been staring at that table pretty much the whole time! i definitely wouldve noticed eariler," sakata shrugs.
"yeah, same.. its almost like it just magically appeared there.." sou says with concern.
my eyes widen, and out of curiosity, i turn around as well. i gasp and i stand up from my chair.
"is everything okay, soraru?" eve asks.
i stare at the table, where there was a cat plush, with white and blue fabric, placed on top. i see little particles that are almost dust-like, floating on top of the cat. i bring my eyes up slightly.
my eyes open wider and i gasp slightly again.
"woah, you good?" eve says with concern and some others stand up from their spots.

it's... mafumafu...? he is almost completely transparent. tears were streaming down from his face and he smiles softly. he looks directly at me.
"thank you..." he whispers to me. a ray of sunlight suddenly shines through the blinds and mafu disappears into it.
my eyes are wide and tears flow out of them effortlessly.

"hey.. hey! is everythig okay?" eve puts his hand on my shoulder and looks back and forth between me and the cat.
i continue staring at the plush through blurry vision. i wipe my eyes and smile, "yeah.."

i hold the plush in my hands and turn back around to face everyone.
"thank you guys. everything will.." i pause, "everything will be okay."

everyone smiles at me and they all bring it in for another group hug.

while in the hug i look up to see the almost completely transparent mafu i saw before, joining in for the hug.

with wide eyes, tears flow out of my eyes like a waterfall. i smile and hug everyone tighter.

mafumafu and i say in sync, "it will all be okay."

***