I was not expecting Rei’s home to be smaller than her family home back from Euclid. It’s all so narrow. Granted, her family’s old home also doubled as their shop, but still.

“Is something wrong, Claire?” Of course Rei notices that I am lost in thought.

“I was just surprised by…I thought houses would be bigger in this modern world. But this whole neighborhood is, well, compact. I know the city is compact because the population is so dense, but I thought things out here would be…more spacious.”

Rei laughs. “We are tight on space in Japan. It’s really not that bad inside.” She takes my hand and we both grab our bags from the car.

“Mademoiselles, will that be all then? If so, I will be back in a few days to pick you up,” Lene says after she ensures we have taken everything.

“Yes, thank you so much Lene. We will give you a call when we sort out our departure date.”

“No problem, avec plaisir. I hope you two enjoy your break. Au revoir.” She returns to the driver’s seat and seems happy to wait until we’ve made our way to Rei’s front door.

And so Rei pulls me towards her childhood home. She pauses at the door, not quite ready to knock and announce our arrival.

“Are you nervous, Rei?”

She scratches the back of her neck. “A little, but you already met them, and they liked you.” She smiles. “Come on, they’re expecting us.”

Rei has to let my hand go to knock on the door, but she is quick to slip her hand back in mine when she’s done. Where it belongs.

She fidgets as she waits. At least I’m not the only one who is a bit nervous. And at least it’s not a surprise this time.

The door swings open and Rei’s mother stands on the threshold. Her face lights up to see us and she pulls Rei into an enormous hug. “Rei! Claire-chan! You’ve made it! Look at you two. Come in, come in!”

Before I can follow her instructions, she lets go of Rei and pulls me into a hug too. Then she pulls us both in, and my mind flashes back to a similar hug at the end of my first visit to Euclid a lifetime ago. So much has changed, but some things have stayed the same. She lets us go and we all walk inside, closing the door behind us. “Your dad is still working right now and Masao is in his room, I think. Are you two hungry? How was your drive?”

“The drive was lovely,” I say. “We took a more scenic route along the coast. We also had a light meal along the way.”

“Yeah, so I think we’re good on food until later, Mom, if that’s okay,” Rei adds.

“Of course, of course. It's too early for a proper dinner anyway. It’s so good to see you both again!” Rei’s mom pulls us both into another hug. She’s so kind.

Rei is already squirming to escape her hold. “Mom, come on, it wasn’t that long.”

“It’s been several months since we’ve seen you!. And we barely got to talk when you were here the last time, dear.”

Rei groans, and her mother releases us both.

“Happily we are here for a while this time. I would love to talk more with you, Oohashi-san.” There is so much I want to talk about.

Rei’s mother grins. “Dear, please, you can call me Ai-san at the very least. Oooh, this is so exciting. Rei has never brought a partner home before.” She’s vibrating with so much energy and enthusiasm. I can definitely see where Rei gets it from. “I can show you baby photos!”

Rei looks stricken. “What! No, come on, Mom, we don’t need to do that.”

“Nonsense, Rei. I would like to see these baby photos!” I grin at Rei’s mother, and she grins back.

“Claire!” Rei’s pouting is adorable. This is going to be such a fun visit.

I stick my tongue out at her.

“Look, can we just unpack and settle down first?” Rei is forced to resort to stalling tactics.

“Fine.” Rei’s mother, Ai-san, shoots me a conspiratorial grin and dramatically whispers, “Don't worry, I’ll make sure we get to them later.”

“MOM!”

“You can’t stop me, Rei. Mom privileges.” Ai-san pinches Rei’s cheeks, which causes her to pout even more.

Rei sighs and grabs my hand. “Come on, if I’m going to be embarrassed, I might as well do it myself. Let's go see my room.”

“Say hi to your brother as well,” Ai-san is quick to add as Rei pulls me forward.

“Sure.” Rei leads me down the hallway and up some stairs to the second floor. She heads to the second door on the right, pushes it open and leads me in.

“Well…this is me.” Rei says quietly, and she fidgets.

The room is small and crammed full of things. One of the walls is lined with overflowing bookshelves. I see several titles I recognize, such as Between Prayer and Love and a few light novels Rei introduced me to. Model figurines are placed here and there on the shelves as well. The other walls are covered in posters, including a very large poster of the Phantom Thieves from Persona 5 and a smaller Dungeon Meshi poster, as well as others I don’t recognize.

“Back in Bauer you often mentioned the collections you left behind. You said the new collections you’d managed to assemble in Bauer never equaled the ones from your past life.”

“I am quite the otaku. It wasn’t easy to collect all of this.” She looks quite pleased with herself.

“It’s cute.”

She blushes. “I wish I could have collected even more.Coming back here makes me realize it’s still pretty small as far as collections go. There’s a lot I wish I could add. I had a part time job in high school for a bit—God, that sucked sooooo much—but it didn’t pay very much, and after buying my own Playstation and putting a bunch aside for uni there wasn’t much left to add to my hoard.” She shrugs her shoulders and sighs.

“Well now we will have plenty of time to add to the collection. And maybe I’ll get to spoil you.”

She grins. “Maybe a little bit of spoiling is okay.” She crouches down to reach a smaller shelf with a small screen set up on it. I can spot black device sitting on the shelf below it. “I did manage to get a few good games, at least.” She pulls out a small case with the Persona 5 title and art of the cast on it.

“Is that the game? I thought it was on your laptop?”

“I have a digital version for PC, yeah, but this is a physical version for the Playstation.” She pops the case open to reveal a disc inside the case, also adorned with art and the Persona 5 title. “I guess this is your first time seeing a real live disc, right? Games used to come on these things before the internet became the main means of distribution. Oh, and before that there used to be other types of physical media, like cartridges. Give me a sec and I’ll show you one.” She bends further down, giving me a tempting view of her rear as she reaches for something on the bottom shelf.

Some temptations weren’t meant to be resisted.

I only give her a small pinch, but it’s enough to make Rei jump and smack her head lightly on the shelf. She turns and pouts at me. Adorable.

“Is everything okay, Rei?” I use the voice that I know will make her shiver.

She sighs, then smiles. She enjoys it as much as I do. “So unfair. Anyway, look. This is my old 3DS, another type of gaming console.” She shows me a small device, maybe a bit bulkier than a phone, and folds it open to reveal two screens. She turns it over and presses a piece, which causes a small plastic rectangle to pop out of a slot near the top. “This is a cartridge, which is what games were stored on for machines like this one. They’re an old type of technology but Nintendo still uses them for its newer consoles, even though they also sell games digitally now.”

“That game machine is rather small, isn’t it?”

“Well yeah, it’s meant to be played anywhere. Like on the bus, or in bed.” Rei closes the device and sets it back on the shelf.

“But you use the laptop in the bed all the time.”

“Sure, but that’s kinda big and clunky.”

“I suppose that…3DS is rather cute in comparison.”

She grins. “I also have a Playstation Vita that Shiko kinda gave me, which is like a old handheld Playstation. I considered bringing them both with me to school but decided to wait until after the first semester to see how things panned out. I was already planning to bring my laptop and didn’t want to take too much, plus the old dorm room was pretty tight on space.” She stretches and then flops onto the small twin bed in the room.

“That is true. We barely fit on the bed in the dorm.”

She blushes, as intended. “It wasn’t meant for two people.”

“Good thing our current bed is.” Worth every penny. That said, restriction breeds creativity. My mind is already dreaming up things to do to Rei on the small bed here in her childhood room.

She laughs awkwardly. “


Anyway, now that we have more room, I might bring some more stuff back, if that's okay?”

“Of course it is. You technically even have your own room to put your things in.” I take the opportunity to make Rei blush once more. “I would be happy for you to bring more, as long as you also don’t mind me plucking a few of your books to read when I want to.”

She looks over to the bookshelves. “Oh, umm. Sure? Sure!” She gulps.

“I already enjoyed Pray Love, Rei. I’m sure I’ll enjoy some of the other books in your collection as well.”

“Okay, but just to warn you, not all of them are as good as Pray Love. But yeah, I’ll bring the good stuff back with us. I should even still have some of Shiko’s older stuff she gave me back in the day. Well, the safe books, anyway.”

“Does that imply you have unsafe titles somewhere else?” Shiko is very good at what she does, from the samples of her work that I saw at the con. I have to find the rest of Rei’s collection.

She gulps again and blushes harder. “Anyway.” It’s no fun when you change the subject, Rei. “There should be room for an extra futon on the floor here. You can have the bed, of course, since you’re the guest.”

I click my tongue and give Rei one of my looks. “Rei.” I say sternly, and the effect on her is immediate. “You can’t expect me to sleep in a bed by myself when you are right there. Ridiculous.”

She rubs the back of her head and grins. “Okay, yeah, but I don’t want to admit that to Mom or Dad, so I’m still setting up the futon.”

“Fine. I suppose that is acceptable. Good girl.”

If Rei could purr, she would be doing just that right now.

I’ll have to reward her later. The bed is small, but I can make this work.


“Who is McDonald?”

Rae shrugs, “Who knows, probably someone made up? Doesn’t matter, it's cheap.”

“Is it? I’m still getting used to the yen but the prices for most of the meals seem more or less the same as other places we have been to, the cafeteria at the university is cheaper I think.”

Rae shrugs again and sighs, “The world we live in is cruel.” She unwraps her burger and takes a bite.

Misha just nods and takes a bite from her… it was called a wrap?

“These fries are good, if a bit salty. The burger is… interesting?” It’s also too salty, a bit bland and greasy in an unappealing way.

“It’s okay, you can say it’s not good.” Misha remarks in between bites.

“It’s not for everyone,” Rae takes another eager bite from her burger, “The food is kinda cheap but it’s got its appeal.”

It is edible, but most other food I have had here so far just seems better. I can’t imagine making this a feature of my regular diet. At least it’s easy to water down the drinks here, those are always much too sweet.

“Can I ask you two questions about… well you being here?”

Rae looks to Misha for guidance on the topic, and she considers for a moment. “I suppose, but be careful with what you ask and how .”

I can be tactful.

“I will, I… my story of you two, well… everything is different, how did you two meet here?”

“Oh well I met Misha in highschool, we were both in the same classes.” Rae explains.

“This little gremlin caught me reading Dungeon Meshi and couldn’t contain herself-”

“Dungeon Meshi is sooooo good” Rae blursts, oh I love her enthusiasm.

“Right…” Misha however does not feed into that enthusiasm, but she could , it's adorable.

“What’s Dungeon Meshi?”

Rae’s eyes go wide, I have to temper my smirk, it’s rather easy to get her to talk about stuff she likes. “It’s a manga, those are like graphic novels, it’s about a group of adventurers trying to rescue one of their party members in a dungeon and they try eating the monster inside to avoid paying for food and it’s really fun and well written-

“Woah otaku, tell your girlfriend about it on your own time.”

“I, she, we, i’m?” Rae is sputtering, I know Misha didn’t do this for my benefit but I am enjoying it nonetheless.

“You can’t really be trying to say otherwise after the state I found you in?” Misha hammers in.

Rae blushes fiercely, “MISHA!”

I shouldn’t chuckle.

“Anyways she wouldn’t leave me alone after that, and well…” Misha seems hesitant to finish the next thought.

Rae sobers up instantly, “It’s okay, you can say it, Misaki took his life in second year, we weren't in the same schools anymore but we were still keeping in touch…”

I reach out and twine my hand in hers, I hope she understands how much I want to help her. She might, as a little as a small smile grows. “Misha was there for me, it… was hard. She’s my best friend.”

“It’s been hard to get rid of her since.”

The light taunt helps Rae bounce back, “You like me.”

“Maybe.” Misha remains nonchalant, “After that, we both applied and made it into here, being dorm mates just made sense.”

“That’s lovely, I’m glad you two are friends again, I would have missed you Misha.”

 Misha looks genuinely taken aback, “I… Well, thank you? I appreciate that but I don’t have the same… familiarity with you Francois-san.”

“I understand, and you don't need to refer to me so formally, Claire is fine.”

“I will keep that in mind then Claire-san, was there anything else you wanted to ask.”

“Can I ask how you know Yu, or even what it’s like for them and their brothers over here?”

Misha’s eye narrows just a hint, and Rae gets a devious gleam in her eyes. “Oh Yu huh? I wonder why she would be asking you about Yu and why you would be the best person to- aaAAHH!” Rae cries out as Misha pinches her arm and twists. Rae draws back once she releases, nursing the sore spot, “CRUEL!” she accuses and points at her.

Misha does not rise to whatever energy Rae is trying to invoke and turns back to me. “I knew Yu as when we were children, my father was a manager for the Bauer’s company and a friend to the family I think. At least until he was laid off. I wasn’t expecting to run into him again but he ended up transferring to our highschool in third year. He also is attending the same university.”

“What about h-their brothers, Rod and Thane?”

“Half brothers, I think they grew up with each other to at least some degree but from what I gathered their lives have been hectic and I think this is the first time all of them are attending the same school. Rod-san is in his third year, I think he is doing GPH, and Thane-san is in his second year, political sciences? I’m not sure if he has settled on a direction yet.”

“How are their parents?”

Misha is quiet, I am probably probing to close for her comfort, “Their dad, L’Ausseil Bauer-sama, runs a big trading company, he seems to be always busy and absent. Richie Bauer-sama, has a problem of being too present, at least in Yu’s life. She is Bauer-sama's second wife and Yu’s mother.” She, despite trying to sound neutral, is not able to hide her disdain of Richie-sama.”

“What is Yu studying?”

“Yu is doing general studies right now, but his Mom wants him to also take GPH.”

“You said Rod was also taking that, what is it?”

Rae smirks, “Rich kid classes.”

Misha sighs, “It is short for Global Public Health, I’ll be honest, I don’t know why they are taking it, but it does seem to be rather common for… children of privilege to take. It's a mix of health and biology sciences I guess, Yu doesn’t want to really do it but… well, his mother has been dead set on him following and besting Rod.”

“Is she trying to… have him succeed?”

Misha considers the question, and lets out a small annoyed huff, “I suppose, she has always been overbearing .”

“Is that how it works? I only mean they were princes in my old life, only one of them would succeed, but that’s very much not the case here right?”

“I guess not.” Misha pauses in thought, “I don’t know, I guess it wouldn’t surprise me if Bauer-sama intends for Rod-san to take over at some point, but that’s speculation on my part. I guess Richie Buaer-sama would have been a queen right? Here she is on the board of directors for the university or something.”

That must be similar to when I ran the academy I would guess. “In my last life, neither Rod nor Yu took the throne, Thane was the one to inherit… when the time came. Honestly he was always the better choice I would say. They all would have fine rulers I think, but I don’t think Rod or Yu really wanted to.”

That makes Misha quirk her brow, “I’ll have to take your word, my interaction with those two was limited. Yu did love to tease Thane-san when you started hounding him.”

“Hounding?” I can’t help the chuckle at the escape, it’s been hard to piece together what I was like before here. “Well Thane is safe now I suppose.” I give Rae’s hand a gentle squeeze and it seems she just realizes we are still holding hands and blushes again.

“Christ you are embarrassing,” Misha teases.

That causes Rae to puff up, “Oh wow, I bet you were with Yu all day weren't you? Huh? You were really keen on getting out this morning, barely gave me the time of the day.”

“See if I ever help you with your outfit again, simp.”

“At least I can admit I’m attracted to a person.”

There is a very restrained smirk on Misha’s face.

“Oh?” I say, “What’s this about being attracted to a person.” I tease out, smirk on my lips.

Rae turns her face away, “This not fair. I’m being ganged up on.” She pouts while blushing.

Misha rolls her eyes. “So Claire-san… how has it been? Getting used to… well all this?”

“Not as…. Intimidating as I thought it could be? There have been so many little wonders, phones are magic even if everyone says they aren’t. And everything is so accessible, just being able to use my phone to access an encyclopedia or even a video of otters is… well that would have been inconceivable from where I was before.”

Rae chuckles, “ Inconceivable ” She says in an exaggerated tone.

“Hush” Misha chides her, did I say something funny?

“Anyways, it’s been a bit of a learning curve, but I think I’m starting to get it?”

Misha nods, “That’s good, hopefully the classes have been treating you well enough.”

“I think so.”


Dungeon Meshi is a hit with Claire. Again. That’s good.

I should mention my fic.

Or I could just lay here. And cuddle some more. That’s been nice, and Claire’s been happy to do that too. One arm is holding me in a light hug, and her other hand is locked with mine.

I can do this forever.

You're stalling.

“Rei? I’m all up for cuddling, but is there something you want to say?” She really can read me .

“Sorry, I’ve just been trying to… work up the nerve?”

She shifts and turns her head so she can see me better. “ Ohhh? Trying to work up the nerve for something daring perchance?” God, I feel like I’m on fire just from the way she looks at me.

Daring. No stop. Yes -No. Not that.

I have to swallow. Claire cools off immediately as if she already knows that’s not what I wanted to suggest. She just likes to tease me. And I’m not complaining .

“No… umm…” Wow, I have to take a breath. It’s okay. Yeah, it’s going to be okay. “Claire. Do you want to read Praying for a Better Ending ?” Oh wow does my throat feel like a desert.

There is an ember in her eyes, but she schools herself. She pushes herself up and sits across from me on the sofa with a pleased smile. “Are you sure, Rei? I would love to if you’re really ready.”

I nod. “Yeah… yeah. I… I just want to say this was like the first thing I wrote, so it's probably rough around the edges and God there are probably some really stupid grammar errors or typos and I might have some odd word choices. I was fifteen at the—”

“Rei, it's okay.” She smiles.

It’s okay.

“Okay, I do want you to be honest. I think I’ve gotten at least a bit better since then. You don’t need to sugar coat it.”

“I think I was quite honest about Pray Love and I still loved it.”

“Yeah, okay. Just let me text you the link. It’s online so you’ll just have to read it on your phone. That’s okay, right?”

“Of course. Relax, Rei.” I squeeze her hand and she smiles.

I can do this. Relax.

It’s easy enough to bring up my fic page on my phone. I copy the address and text it to Claire. She already has her phone in her hand and it vibrates.

“I’ll just set a pot of tea for us first, and then when it’s ready I’ll read it. How long of a read is it?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s like a one-sitting read. An hour or two? You’ll probably finish it in an hour. You're fast. It’s just one chapter.”

Claire hums and goes to the kitchenette to put some water on to boil. “Would you fancy another crème brûlée? I have a few more in the ice box.” I love that she still calls it that.

“Ummm, sure, yeah. Have you been practicing making tea, too?”

She hums again. “Yes. Honestly, I was terrible at it all before, and you gave me little reason to try. I would have one bad attempt and everyone would ban me from the kitchen for a month. Aleah would always say I could burn water.” She laughs to herself as she measures out some leaves for the tea. “I think you always enjoyed being the one to spoil me like that. I always wanted to do something like that for you, too.”

“Oh… sorry then.”

“Apology accepted.” She laughs again. “We all helped in our own ways. I learned to tailor, which turned out to be lucky for your hoodie. But I thought maybe I could try cooking this time. It’s easy to give up when it doesn't work the first time, and it’s hard to keep trying. Poor Catherine, she put up with so many failed attempts but I figured it out. Eventually . Your first attempt was leagues ahead of mine, for what that’s worth. Not that I want to stop trying. I’m just glad it paid off. I want to learn more.”

She returns back to the sofa with a tray. There are a couple of tea cups beside the pot, and two ramekins of crème brûlée with spoons and napkins next to them.

“ Well… I don’t mind being a bit spoiled.”

“Or teased ?”

I love it .

She smirks. I know I’m blushing. She sits down and pours the tea. I take one of the dishes and spoons and have another of her crème brûlées. It’s very creamy, and the crust is fun. It’s crunchy and creamy, two types of sweet. I can see why she loves it. It doesn’t take long for us to finish the treats and tea, and Claire relaxes back into the sofa with her phone.

I get up and stretch.

“Are you not going to sit with me?” It almost sounds like a whine.

I gulp, “I don’t think I can… it’s… I can’t… I can’t see where you are in it. I would go crazy.”

“Oh.” She looks at her phone in her hand, “I see. You will be missed, but I understand. Don’t go too far off now.”

“I’m just going to sit over there.” I gesture to the smaller side sofa.

She smiles and nods, reclining in her seat and getting comfy. Then she starts to read. She always has such a look of such intense concentration on her face when she reads. Sometimes her emotions play over her face. There were a few times I got to be with her while she was reading Dungeon Meshi, and getting to see her react to some of those moments was a delight. But a lot of the time she’s focused. It’s also cute the way her face narrows, intent and driven. I realize I’ve just been watching her face for minutes now, in silence. She's wrapped up in the text on her phone, and I feel a little odd for staring as long as I have. I’m going to psych myself out if all I do is watch her. I should try to do something too, something that won't be a distraction. I have some other fics I’ve fallen behind on. I could also read something.

Good plan.


How long have you two known each other?” Kosaki is nursing a tea as we sit outside the cafe enjoying the pleasant weather.

Claire takes a thoughtful sip of her latte. She's been really enjoying those, huh. I can say it this time. “It's been almost three months now. We share a bunch of classes.”

“You two are really sweet.” Kosaki says. She really does sound happy for me.

“They are, aren’t they?” Shiko remarks and grins.

“Who asked first?”

“I did.” Claire snatches that one up, and she flashes me a grin. Well she’s not wrong. Next time though … “I knew instantly when I saw her. I went right up to her and told her. She needed a little convincing, but she could hardly resist .”

I mean, is there any universe where I would have said no ? “I at least asked you out on our first date!” I definitely wasn't too nervous to actually call it a date. Nope.

Claire just smiles fondly. God, that melts my heart.

“Where did you two go?” Kosaki asks.

Claire answers again. “There is a park and zoo near the university. I hadn’t been there yet and it was lovely. They had a wonderful enclosure for otters .” She really liked the otters.

Shiko snickers.

Kosaki just ignores her. “Awwww, that’s so sweet, Rei.”

“You forgot to mention you finished the night playing video games.” God shut up Shiko .

“That was fun, but I wouldn't say that’s how we finished.”

Yeah, I got finished . God, why am I this way?

“ Ohhhh ?” Shiko please stop.

“Look, we don’t need to talk about everything that happened.”

“Awww, not going to tell us how you got lucky ?”

“Jesus, Shiko.”

“Did you two already…?” Not you too Kosaki …

“Not yet .” Claire answers. She’s still grinning at me.

Yet .

When ?

Oh fuck…

“Rei?” Did Kosaki just ask me something?

“Huh?”

“I’m glad you found someone. I’m sorry for… well, for how that turned out.” You don't need to apologize again, Kosaki.

“Oh, thanks, and it’s not th-... okay yeah it sucked. But this is good.” Claire lays her hand over mine on the table and I hold it back in turn. “How are you doing?”

She sighs. “Well, I haven’t really been seeing anyone if that’s what you're asking. College has been fine. I’m enjoying the culinary track so far. I miss him, but it’s getting easier, I think. How are your courses treating you? You were doing the business track, right?”

“Yeah… but I don’t know. I might be rethinking it. Maybe I’ll switch next semester.”

There’s a gentle squeeze from Claire. When I look at her, she’s smiling.

“I’m going to think about it… the course I chose, before I do anything. It felt like I was just going with the flow, but I think I want to take a chance. Do something cool.”

Kosaki smiles and Shiko grins. I can already hear the ‘ told you so ’ from her. At least she doesn’t say it right now.

“Speaking of chances… Claire, on a scale of one to ten, how bad news is your cousin? The one from the con. She’s… maybe been in my DMs since then.”

Wait what?

Claire also looks confused, but it dawns on us both at the same time.

Shiko, this is a bad idea. “Shiko, you can’t.”

“If you keep her away from Rei, all the better in my opinion.” Claire says flatly. “That said… I'm not impressed that she isn't trying to patch things up with Eve.”

“Told you that you had game, Oohashi.” Shiko flashes me a shit-eating grin.

“Oh shut up.” It's not like I want anyone else other than Claire.

“Well either way, I'm not looking for anything serious. And I don't mind being her rebound. She's hot .”

“ Seriously, Shiko ? She's trouble.”

“Hey, I'm a big girl.” Shiko just grins.

Whatever. Not my problem.


“Claire-chan? Do you have your keys?”

She murmurs something unintelligible words softly and fishes through her bag, before bringing forth her keys proudly.

“Thanks,” With her still hanging on my arm, I unlock the door, “Thanks again Barlier-san for helping me bring her back.”

She just hums in response.

The door is opened from within, Catherine standing there as she eyes us over, “You guys are back early?”

“Who are you?”

Claire gasps, “Catherine! This is Catherine.”

Barlier-san looks annoyed that Claire considered that an answer.

“She’s practically my sister. Did I never introduce you…?”

“Uhhh, hi?” Catherine stands there awkwardly, as she tries to not grimace too much. “You’re Claire’s friend?”

“You have a sister Claire-chan?”

“Almost, we aren’t related by blood.” At least Claire’s words are less slurred now. “Sorry.”

Barlier-san sighs, “It’s nice to finally meet you I guess?”

“Ughh, likewise? Is Claire okay?”

“Yah, idiot drank too much too fast, the walk sobered her up quickly.”

“Meaning…” Claire's sobered up?

“She can get off you, she was exaggerating most of the time.” Barlier-san chastises Claire.

Claire makes an act of looking offended, “I never!”

“What?” She was faking?

Barlier-san just sighs, “Whatever you made it here, see you at school next week. I’m going to go back.”

“Thanks Pepi! Make sure you find Loretta.”

She blushes slightly, “Good. Night.” And she makes her exit quickly.

“Are you okay?” Does she even need to hold me still?

I mean she doesn’t have to stop-

“Sorta… goodness… I… that did hit me rather hard… but the walk did help. I just wanted to leave…”

“You two want to come in?”

“I don’t ne-”

“Pleassssse?” Claire whispers into my ear. Oh god I am never going to get used to that.

“FiNe.”

This is fine.

She pretty much drags me in.

“Do you want water Claire?” Catherine asks,already moving towards the kitchenette.

“Please…”

“Come on Claire-chan, let’s sit down.”

She just murmurs in agreement and I guide her to the sofa to sit down. She practically melts into me again once we land.

“Rod was rude…” She pouts.

Yah… that was…

“Sorry he said that stuff to you.” I try to console her.

“Hrmmm? Me? It’s you he was rude too, he was much too forward!… you’re mine .”

I miss the cool air from outside.

“I’m sure he wasn’t…” I mean I did not like how he was looking at me-

Claire tightens around me again, very possessively as if Rod-san could show up again to challenge her claim at any moment.

What makes me so special?

What am I even doing? I spent the whole day just being… there, but did I really do anything?

God I didn’t even do anything when we were at the bar… I should have paid more attention, maybe I could have been more useful-

“Rei?”

That’s a dangerous tone.

I’m going to say yes.

“Ah… yes Claire-chan?”

“Can you stay the night?”

“I… I-”

She reddens, as if she just realizes what she asked, “Oh god, I’m sorry Rei, I didn’t mean it like that… I just… it’s lonely, and the drink is still affecting me please don’t feel like you have to-”

Oh no, she is spiraling. It’s not a big deal? Right? I can do at least this for her. Just sleep here.

Whatever she needs.

I can at least try to be the perfect girl for her.

I won’t fuck this up.

“Yes” I cut her off.

She stops, there is a look as she tries to focus on me, read into my answer. “Are you sure?” She asks and puts her hand on my cheek.

She is so gentle.

“Yes.” I say again.

She smiles, “Thank you my love.” She leans in, guides my face with the hand on my face and kisses me softly on the lips. It’s not fierce, but it is heavy with emotion. And… wow…

As she pulls away there is a lingering smell of strawberries and vanilla.

She looks sleepy. It’s not that late, but it has been a long day. Catherine brings Claire a glass of water and she drinks it diligently. Once done she sighs and leans back into me.

“Claire-chan?”

“I should have some clothes you can sleep in.”

“Oh, okay…”

…

“Claire?”

She nods, “Yes. Yes…” She rises reluctantly and moves slowly to her closet, plucking out a few articles and bringing them to me, a simple t-shirt and shorts.

“There are extra toothbrushes in the cabinet in our washroom.” Catherine chimes from the side of the room.

“Uh sure.”

It doesn’t take too long to change and clean up when I come back…

Oh she is wearing a gown…

How does it hang so loosely, yet show off so much… and her legs …

I feel stuck in front of the door, Claire smiles and moves past me to enter the washroom next. But she also gives me a peck on the cheek on the way.

oh

Oh

I feel like I have stepped into another life. It just feels so intimate but so casual?

Domestic?

Like I’m her wife.

Oh god.

I startle as the door opens behind me and Claire comes back, she pulls me along to the bed and we both sit down.

…

I’m going to also need blankets to sleep on the sofa..

“Umm, Claire-chan? Where are your extra blankets?”

“Hrmm?”

“Umm… I need my own blanket?

She grabs a handful of the blanket on the bed and lifts it.

…

She…

“Claire!”

“We don’t have extra blankets…”

“But… that would mean…”

She pulls on my arm gently, “Please?”

Oh god.

I have to swallow.

She…

She wants to share a bed.

She is blushing slightly, she looks so longing, she must still be feeling the drink a bit but there is no way I can tell her no. I can’t, I’m just incapable.

So I just nod.

She smiles and gives me another kiss on the cheek. She pulls me further into the bed. We lay down, I feel so stiff but she just relaxes and leans into me. She weaves her arms around my body and pulls me in.

I don’t know what to do?

Am I supposed to…

“Just relax Rei.” She says softly, I can feel her nestle her head into my shoulder. “Just relax, we are just sleeping…” She tapers off… has she already fallen asleep?

“Claire?”

“Claire?” I try one more time, I don't want to wake her, but she just mumbles softly. She really just fell asleep.

She looks so serene, her face so vulnerable and peaceful. But I need…

“Catherine-san?” I try to hush shout over her. “Catherine-san!?”

“What?”

“Can you pass me my phone? It’s on my clothes.”

There is a sound of agreement and I can hear her move.

“Wow… ughh, I don’t want to hear anything okay…?

Oh god, “Please just give me the phone?”

“Fine, here.” I can at least move one arm pretty freely and I take it from her, I can feel a slight shift from Claire, but she doesn’t say anything.

“Thanks.”

I can hear her just returning to her side of the room.

Now I just need…

This is hard with one hand.

Hey Misha, I’m spending the night at Claire-chan’s

That was fast

That’s not happening

Get your head out of the gutter

There is no way I can tell her I am sharing a bed with Claire.

Oh God I am sharing a bed…

Calm down, don’t be an idiot, you can’t let yourself space out every time you realize it again.

I’m just…

Sharing a bed with…

Claire…

Claire…

Oh god I am so fucked.


I was not expecting this enthusiasm from Francois-san, and it’s rather infectious. The minute we paid for the tickets; thank god they are cheap, she pulls me to the first closest exhibit, and she immediately awes over the giraffes. I am quickly tasked with taking photos with her, though to be honest I think she has a better eye than me when it comes to it, but we both end up taking many photos. I might have taken a few of just her too but I also caught her taking some of me. It’s only fair… and it’s not fair how pretty she always looks.

My previous worries turn out to be for nothing, and every exhibit is fun for her. So many of the animals are completely new to her, and even the one she knows, she still gets enraptured and takes just as many photos. The time just disappears as I try to keep up with her, a part of me wishes I could freeze the moment but this also just feels perfect. Like there is nothing else I would want to do but chase after her, make her happy and watch her smile.

She catches sight of something and rushes forward, I almost lose track of her and chase right behind her. She stops right in front of a display and just gets quiet, stilling completely. Is everything all right?

She slowly turns to me, and I can see tears glisten in the corners of her eyes, oh no, did I miss something, did I forget something? I must have ruined something I wasn’t paying attention to-

“They have otters”

What?

She grabs my hand and points to the display case right in front of the exhibit, A clear plastic box, the bottom half with water, the top half with a shelf and an otter lounging on top of it, basking in the sun.

Her grip on my hand tightens, just slightly but gently, “Otters…” She looks so overwhelmed, and borderline about to cry but she smiles, “They have otters Rei.”

Oh thank god, “Yes, you had me worried there Francois-san.”

“Sorry, sorry,” she waves herself with the other hand and takes a breath, “They are just so cute.”

I think I understand how she feels, I could die just from ODing on the cuteness overload happening now that I’m not panicking anymore. She moves closer to the display while being careful not to touch the case or disturb the otter and just takes the scene in with childlike wonder, I might really die.

“I think I can see some swimming in the pool.” I point out the water to where there looks to be a pair floating and holding paws, once she sees it too she squees and quickly drags me over to a better viewpoint with her. She is nearly jumping up and down.

“Oh goodness, oh goodness. Look, look, they are holding paws, oh goodness.”

She pulls my hand in closer, up to her chest and holds it with both hands now, she is smiling and the tears glisten like crystals in the corners of her eyes.

This day feels like it's not doomed after all.