ᴍᴇɴʜᴇʀᴀ // ᴍᴀᴛꜱᴜɴᴏ ᴄʜɪꜰᴜʏᴜ

ᴛᴡᴇɴᴛʏ ɴɪɴᴇ

YOUR EYES BORE INTO THE familiar ceiling of your room. You don't know how long you've been awake now, nor how long you realized you've been awake.

You just... stared at the ceiling until you blinked.

You groggily sat up, putting a hand to your head, remembering the events of a night before.

You got ready for bed last night, laying on your bed afterwards.

I was crying.

Even though your sudden panic attack earlier that day kept you from thinking it, it all came back once you stepped foot into the house.

Or maybe... you tried hard not to think about it, because you knew you would lose control when you do.

Your eyes watered a little at the thought.

"Emma-san..." Her name eventually slipped out. If I'm feeling this way, I can't imagine how Mikey-san must feel.

You only started to bond with her after she had caught you with a "trust fall" you executed. And even though your budding friendship was short-lived, it still hurt.

Grieving over someone's death is a painful thing. It's possibly one of the worst things in this world. It's lasting and impactful.

Maybe you feel like you should've done something to prevent it. Maybe you feel like you shouldn't have spent so much time with them, just so you wouldn't feel anything.

All thoughts ran through your head, thinking if you ignored her when you saw her after falling out with Chifuyu, you would've felt this saddened by her death.

Before you knew it, tears started running down your face, eventually forcing you to wipe them again.

Knock knock!

"[Name], wake up." The door opened. "Breakfast is ready." Your aunt peeked inside your room, seeing your back turned to the door.

"...I'll get ready in a second, Auntie." You somehow managed to say something in response.

"...Right." The door then closed, leaving you no time to grieve at this moment.

───────────────

"Auntie, I'll be out the whole day. Please don't contact me." ...Was what you said after you finished breakfast.

"Ah, [Name]―" Your aunt called you from the kitchen, but the front door was already shut close. Did you really not hear her, or did you ignore her? She couldn't say for sure.

She stared for a while at the soaked and soapy dishes in the sink, before regaining her senses and hurriedly rinsed them.

Today was a Sunday, so she didn't have any work for today. She checked the list of chores she always wrote down on the fridge. Hang clothes: checked. Cleaning: checked Cooking breakfast: checked.

All the chores listed so far have been checked out, so she huffed proudly to herself before making a cup of coffee and resting on the couch.

There's nothing like relaxing on a Sunday.

Ding-dong!