Help Me Find the Words: A Sonia x Gundham Tale

Day 14 - Evening - Mahiru

Hajime and I waited in front of Kazuichi's cabin door, accompanied by a plate of salmon covered with another plate. We just knocked, and he said he was coming to the door, but it was too quiet. "Kazuichi?" Hajime called out again, "C'mon, we brought you dinner. You need to eat."

No response. Hajime tried again. "Kazuichi, come on; we know you're in there."

We heard a muffled "Ugh, I hear you; I hear you," grow louder, eventually resulting in Kazuichi finally opening the door.

He looked terrible. His hair was loose and tangled, his eye makeup was smeared. His jumpsuit was barely on his shoulders— not even zipped. There was music playing softly in his cabin... it sounded like... opera? Kazuichi led us inside, and I felt myself shrink. Everything was so... dreary. Unfinished projects collected dust on his desk, a mountain of wadded up paper overflowed in his trashcan, candy wrappers and smashed cola cans littered the floor. The window blinds were drawn shut, and the only light in the room came from the TV, which was paused on what looked like a rom-com. Oh, he's not okay.

Hajime lifted the top plate and revealed the now room-temperature cut of fish, various vegetables, and silverware. "Just promise us you'll eat this, alright?"

"Yeah sure," Kazuichi exhaled

"We'll stay here and watch if we have to, okay?" I threatened

Hajime nervously chuckled, "That's a little extreme, Mahiru—"

"Yeah, but don't think I won't do it."

Kazuichi sighed and took the plate from Hajime, and lifted a piece of asparagus to his mouth as he walked back to his bed, sitting down on the edge. I have never seen someone eat asparagus with such sadness. Hajime and I looked at each other. I could tell he was thinking what I was thinking. "Hey, you guys don't actually have to stay and watch me eat," Kazuichi said, noticing we were still there

"Hey, uh, Kazuichi," Hajime began, "You good?"

I mean, obviously, he wasn't, but guys don't typically notice this kind of stuff, so they don't really know how to talk about it. Sometimes you need a girl for situations like this. "You look like you need to talk," I told him

Kazuichi took a deep sigh. "Yeah. Fine."

I had a feeling something was up when I went to go fetch him for dinner. And I have another feeling I know exactly what this is about. My mom-friend instincts kicked in, and I sat on the bed next to him. Hajime still stood across the room, and I glowered at him, aggressively gesturing for him to sit with us. He rushed over with fear in his eyes, justly.

We sat between him as he slouched forward, idly tracing circles on the plate with his fork, waiting for him to speak. Hajime put a hand to Kazuichi's back. He took another sigh, his bright hair in the dark room shielding his face. "It's stupid," he barely said

"I'm sure it's not," I tried to be reassuring. I really do think I know exactly what this is about.

"Sonia really doesn't like me, does she?"

And my guess was absolutely correct. But that seems a little exaggerated. Hajime agreed, "Hey, I don't think she dislikes you."

"Well," I cringed, wanting to get right to the heart of the issue, "You have been a bit... forceful."

Hajime glared at me with confusion. He mouthed 'What are you doing?'

I just raised my eyebrows in response. He's seen how Kazuichi acts around Sonia. After talking with Sonia herself, I know how she feels... but it's not appropriate to just talk about her feelings without her permission. So I decided to generalize. "You have... good intentions, Kazuichi," I hope he has good intentions. Gotta give him the benefit of the doubt, "But um... girls don't like it when they aren't taken seriously."