Inspired by Nanase's solo mv Tsuzuku. A Nanamai heavily centered drama. Written mostly from Nanase's prespective, narating events which alternates between flashbacks and the present time. A lot of angst and sadness, frankly speaking this story is...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
It wasn't long until the nurses started to advise her to curb her daily visits to the hospital. She wasn't required to go there every day now, and honestly after a month of waiting, Nanase had started to feel that way too. She had a child to raise. Which means that she had no opportunity to fall apart. She was to be as strong and as resilient as she once was, without any sign of change. Nana was definitely a blessing from the heavens above. She did not pull any tantrums nor did she ask difficult questions. An easy child to please. Having a daughter like Nana most definitely made her life much easier, but it most definitely broke Nanase's heart that her child might actually be smart enough to have figured out what was actually happening.
Nananse was at home that day, looking through old photos of her youth. These were photos that Maiyan had no relationship with, they were just old photos that had previously sat in an old box at her parents' house and had been brought here when they got married. There were pictures of when she was in primary school, in high school, her early Nogi days, all up to her marriage with Maiyan. One of the pictures was a Polaroid of herself, taken at a baseball field. At the bottom was the date and place. She remembered exactly who took it and smiled as she wondered about the photographer's wellbeing. Kazumin was now a renowned novelist, quite the household name and frankly Nanase never knew or more accurately, never read any of Kaz's works before they were published. Kazumin had always been secretive about her writings and if Nanase wasn't wrong, the only person who was allowed to read them was Asuka. Well, considering how none of them were heavy readers compared to them in the first place, she guesses that all of them probably had little to no credibility to judge, or even read Kaz's work anyway. Putting the photos aside, Nanase walks up to a tall book case at the edge of the room and pulled out a hard cover book. It was still as pristine as it was when it first arrived, and a quick flick of the pages revealed a whiff of newly printed paper. Nanase had only read it once, right after she unwrapped it from the mail box. After that, she neatly nestled it on the top most part of the book case. It had such a beautiful cover, and for it to fall into the grimy hands of Nana would be a calamity. Kaz had been sending her the first editions of her novels to Nanase ever since her first copy. They were signed of course, and they were as the author claimed, the first to come out of the assembly line. The book in her hand was Kaz's fifth novel. A bestseller for four months straight and a winner of various literary prizes. She puts the book down and reclines herself on a couch. Before she knew it, she was scrolling her phone for Kaz's number. When she did find it, she let go of her phone and turned on the television. As she pretended to watch a bonsai tree documentary on NHK, her hand was fiddling with her phone, shifting its weight from finger to finger. Kazumin was a busy woman now, why would a bestseller novelist spare time for her? She thought. She considered calling other Nogi members but after giving it some thought, she abandoned the idea. The ones she had in mind were either married or their numbers were changed and it was a hassle find out as it would meant asking around. The last thing she wanted to happen was to draw attention to herself. One casual question about Maiyan, and it's game over. She looked down to her phone which was now resting in her palm. Kazumin has been mailing her books for years now. Kaz IS the friend that she needs. After fidgeting on whether a call or a text would be most appropriate, Nanase settled on a short text of just asking Kaz how she was doing. She pressed 'send' and waited. The man on the telly was explaining to her of how the bonzai tree hobby is a form of meditation, and Nanase nodded in agreement as she struggled to keep her eye away from her phone and lying to herself that she wasn't waiting for a reply. As the man finished his babble and proceeded to cut the first branch, her phone rang beside her. A crisp 'snip' from his scissors. Nanase puts the phone to her ears. It was Kazumin, all happy and elated at her sudden text. The call did catch her by surprise, but hearing a familiar and friendly voice in such a long time made Nanase smile in nostalgia. After a brief chat, Kaz pressed for them to meet immediately, which again surprised Nanase with the sudden randomness. And anyway, she had to pick up Nana from school later.
