Bяσкєn янɑpsσdʏ [ mιdσrιmɑ x яєɑdєя x αкαѕнι ]

●Twenty-Seven: Divulgence●

You stared in awe at the pretty dresses displayed in front of the stores you and Mairu passed by. She continued rambling on about random things as you were too distracted to listen any more, her words passing throughout your each of your ears.

"--And that's when father said he would..."

"Ohh, yeah."

Mairu seemed to have picked up the sudden change in your mood, halting beside you.

"(Y/N)-san, what is the matter? Are you tired?"

"Eh?" You cracked her a forced and confused smile, "No, what makes you think that? I'm all good."

She blinked, pausing him nodding slowly then pointing at a little boutique. "Shall we go there?"

You turned to where she was gesturing over to and you almost immediately squealed. The shop had a really cute Victorian style theme that consisted of many frills and ribbons all over the place. The shop you constantly visit when you weren't feeling too lazy to just up and go home straight from work.

"Yes! Oh my gosh, they tinkered and changed the displays again..." You said, going inside and glimpsed around. Everything was of high quality and a little overpriced so you planned on keeping your budget at a minimum.

"I have seen far more extravagant goods at a fairly reasonable price." The dark haired woman remarked, examining the jewelries that were on display.

"Is that so?" You peered over to view them. "I think they're rather high-end." There were all sorts of trinkets and other fascinating items that would have triggered a normal woman's shopaholic urges.

"Hmm, look at these." She held up a pair of dangling earrings, "I am sure they would suit you." Reaching out to your ears to take off the ones you were currently wearing, you took a step backwards in refusal.

"No!" You covered your jade embedded earrings as Mairu squinted her eyes in puzzlement at your actions.

"What's wrong, (Y/N)-san...?" She asked, "I'm sorry, do you not like them? I apologize for intruding on your comfort zone."

You waved your hands, laughing dryly, "Oh, no. It's just that I don't want to take off the ones I'm wearing. If you don't mind, I'm good."

She returned the earrings back, smiling at you. "Are they from a special someone?"

You narrowed your eyes, looking at the ground before nodding in reluctance. "Yes, they are. They hold sentimental value, and I'm not ready to take them off just yet."

"I understand. A gift from a past lover?" The corners of her mouth tugged up knowingly, prompting you to flinch slightly.

"You're right...and it's kind of difficult. I'm actually still in the processing of moving on from him." You locked your arms behind you, "As much as I don't want to, I have to. It won't do if I'm the only one who feels strongly for him, right?"

Mairu sent you a sympathetic glance, ushering you out of the store.

"...Have you tried seeing other people?" She suggested. Well, good thing you had an answer to that. You couldn't let her think you were some kind of loner who's married to their job and had nothing more to their life than hold on to some dangling strings, wallowing in problems that could've gone better in some way but didn't.

"Ah, I am. He's...he's been extremely sweet and nice to me. Even no matter how much I harm him, both physically and mentally, he still treats me very well. It's a new start for me since my former boyfriend was quite the opposite of him...but I don't dislike the fact." You chattered, feeling your cheeks heat up at your own thoughts, continuing, "He's helped me when things were rough and has been there for me. He always knows what to say at the given times I screwed up. He's been amazing to me." By this point, your dubious findings of the situation at hand had been left forgotten as you spoke to her about your exciting little love life to the extent where your mouth almost went dry.