Gracie Abrams is eking out a solitary existence, fighting day-in, day-out against the drain of working customer service and nursing two newborn kittens in her off time. Out on her own ever since her sister moved in with her boyfriend, the burden of...
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"About what?" If this situation had happened when I was in college, I would have asked a leading question that assumed I already knew what was on Kirishima's mind. With zero input from him.
It hit me one day that I hardly knew my own mind, even though I spent a considerable amount of time trying to. How could I assume I knew the inner workings of another person?
How arrogant.
It was a simple realization, but one that was suspiciously hard to follow once I became aware of it. Maybe Sam was right about me. I was overbearing. I was a control freak.
How could I struggle with overstepping once I realized I had a character flaw of doing that exact thing? Shouldn't the behavior stop the moment you realize the answer?
"Just...it all." Kirishima gestured around him, but I knew he wasn't talking about the deserted street outside Sam's apartment building.
I sighed. My hands dove into my hair, flipping the ends back and forth to an inconsistent beat. Instead of prying into the teenager's mind, I decided to take a step back. It was a little easier, especially considering how I was prone to poking and prodding at Kakashi's motivations, thoughts, instincts. Why was it so much easier with Kirishima? And why was Kakashi so hard to leave alone?
It was a strange sensation to feel as if I was witnessing my growth as an adult before my very eyes. Maybe I had finally reached the point where I wasn't on an even playing field with teenagers. I could sympathize with them, but I couldn't talk to them as if we were at the same junction in life.
On the other hand, with Kakashi...
Taking a deep breath in, I resettled my hands between my knees. "You don't have to explain anything you're not ready or not willing to talk about."
Kirishima's head bent even further, his hands officially messing up all that fringe. He looked a little ridiculous: the main spike of his hair caved in while the rest still poked upward. But the expression on his face kept any laughter that could have poked its head out smothered and repressed. "It's not like I can't talk. I just—I don't. I don't know what to say."
I gave the universal head nod of someone listening to another person unveil deep emotions. "You don't have to try so hard. There's no learning curve in this situation. We keep meeting obstacles at every corner. I'm still wrapping my head around the idea of different universes existing near each other. And I'm even more confused about how this spell will reverse, and how the two of you will get home safely. I'm scared, to be honest," I sighed, leaning forward to match Kirishima's posture. I stared at my hands as I fought to keep my voice steady. "The thought of something going wrong makes me not want you guys to even...try to leave. Like, is it worth it to attempt something that has no guarantees of working? What if you get stuck in a different world where you can't immediately understand the language, like here? What if you get sent to a different time in your world? Either way, you'd be abandoned all over again, but without the safety of this quiet city."
