Perfect Sound

Mother

"Is he the one with the spiky french fry hair?" Tsubaki deadpanned.

"Hey! I didn't judge you, you can't judge me," I defended.

"I'm sorry, it's just... really? Him?" she went on. Halfway through her doubtful query, my phone went off. Caller ID: Mother.

I politely excused myself before sprinting to the hallway and picking up.

"Hello, Mother."

"Y/N!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!" my banshee of a mother screamed through the phone.

"Don't worry. I'm at a friend's house."

"WELL, WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE DOING?!"

"Nothing! It's a Friday!"

"NE ME CRIE PAS!!" she burst.

"Désolé, Mère," I barely managed to say through fear. "Je serais là bientôt."

"Tu devrais plutot," she said with that menacing voice she used when she wasn't yelling on her bad days. I swiftly ended the call and walked back into Tsubaki's room.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, warily. "That sounded pretty... intense."

"Yes, everything's fine. But my mother needs me home."

"Did something happen?" I could tell she was disappointed, and trust me, I was too.

"Sort of. Uh, I just... gotta go. Sorry, Tsubaki-chan," I apologized.

"It's okay. Here. I'll help you pack," she said as she got up.

We quickly got my things together and headed into the kitchen to vaguely explain the situation to Tsubaki's mother. Well, we basically told her I had to leave. She offered to drive me but I politely declined. If I let her, she would have wanted to meet my mother. Maybe someday, but most certainly not today.

"Be safe, Y/n-chan!" Tsubaki called out her front door. I waved as I heard her mother scold her for 'waking up the neighbors'.

I started walking down the dimly lit street, slightly jumping at every small noise. One noise really caught my attention. I could have sworn I heard a door open and shut. I froze in my place.

It's all okay. They're... probably just putting out their laundry or... letting their pet outside. They could be scolding Tsubaki for her obnoxious behavior. Or they could see this small, defenseless girl walking in front of their house.

I heard foot steps coming towards me at an alarming pace. On instinct I started running down the street, as fast as I could with my bag weighing me down. The foot steps were keeping up pretty well. My imagination was running wild with images of the possible owner of them. It could be some super buff thug with multiple piercings and tattoos. Or maybe some pedo who looks like a normal office worker. It could even be an elderly lady whose angry for one reason or another. It might be a-

"Y/l/n-san," a voice ripped through my thoughts. It sounded awfully familiar too. I took the risk and peeked behind me. I was met by beautiful blue eyes framed with thick glasses and my feet slowed to a stop.

Of course, the consequences of this involuntary action was a swiftly moving Arima crashing into me. I wiggled out from under his surprisingly light form and lept to my feet.

"Arima! You almost gave me a heart attack!" I whisper yelled.

"I'm sorry, but I heard Tsubaki saying goodbye to you and I was a bit curious," he explained while brushing himself off.

"You could have called my name earlier." He gave me an apologetic look before continuing.

"I thought you were staying the night at Tsubaki's. Did something happen?" Almost on queue, my phone went off again, this time with an angry text from my mother.

"Uh, sort of. I'll tell you about it later," I said while slowly walking away from the conversation. "I got to go. Bye, Arima."

He stood waving awkwardly at me as I swiftly made my way home.

A/N

WOW AN UPDATE!!! It has been awhile. I honestly didn't think my hiatus would last this long, but here we are! Thank you to everyone who hung on from the beginning, and welcome to everyone who joined us during my hiatus 💞.

Did I mention we almost have 9K PEOPLE HERE?!?! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!?! I honestly cannot thank you guys enough ❤.

Anyway, I love you all and I hope updates will become more frequent in the future!!

~chibigami