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JURINE CLOSED THE GATE to Atsumu's house, muttering possibilities to herself. When she stopped at the front door, she rang the doorbell, rocking on her heels as she waited for someone to open the door. She looked up as their mother answered the door, wearing an apron over her clothes.
She hadn't changed hardly at all since the last time she had seen the woman. There were a few wrinkles near her face, but she was as beautiful as she was then. His mother was always giving her the best cookies, but Jurine doubted she'd remember her. Why would she?
"H-Hello, ma'am. My name is Jurine. I'm here to hang out with Atsumu." She bowed respectfully.
She gave Jurine a warm smile, gesturing inside. "'Sumu told me you were coming. Come on in, sweetie." She stepped just inside the house, taking off her shoes and slipping into some spare slippers by the door. "I was just in the middle of taking some cookies. Let me get you some."
"Oh, thank you, but I--" She hardly got the words out before the woman practically teleported back into the kitchen. "Well, I see that habit hasn't changed." She walked further into the house, taking in the layout. The furniture had changed since, but she wasn't surprised. The couch she remembered had gotten stained one time when she spilled paint on one of the seats. Jurine had been ready to cry - since she was still afraid of Prayer Rooms- but when she saw Atsumu take the blame for her, it made her wanna cry more.
When she later asked him why he did that, he said, "Mama yells at me all the time. So ye don't have to worry 'bout nothin', Juri. We're friends and if she knew it was you, she may not let ye come over and play anymore." That ended up with Jurine crying like a baby and Atsumu got in trouble again, since his mom thought he was teasing her too much and Jurine couldn't put into words why she was crying.
It wasn't because she was sad. It was just the opposite. It was because she was happy. Happy because Jurine finally had a friend to look out for her (Nikoru didn't count since she was family too).
Other memories started playing across her vision standing in that room. The numerous times the four of them sat under a blanket fort to watch cartoons. The backyard she could see through the glass sliding door where they'd played baseball until that one-time Jurine had swung back not knowing he was behind her and -THWACK!- Atsumu was suddenly on his back on the ground with the inside of his mouth split open.
She had been inconsolable for weeks from that.
The Halloween when he scared the shit out of her with his scary masks, chasing her around the yard while Nikoru chased him with a sword to defeat the evil dragon or whatever he was pretending to be. Osamu watched as his twin brother got his ass beat up by Nikoru.
Stop it. Jurine shook her head, clearing the flashes out of her mind. There is no use thinking about them because those people don't exist anymore. You're not the stupid, weak little crybaby and Atsumu isn't the friend.
