Persons and Plushies - Ryo

What had happened? He had almost been embarrassed by the thoughts that Aki would let him do anything to her that her friend wouldn’t want to see. And it sounded like it was something that had happened. His imagination was running wild with images of what what that could’ve been.

Was there something he should worry about? Could it be that there was an ex or casual hookup that he could walk in on? She had said that there was no partner, but there could always be something else. He didn’t want to see that. None of the things he imagined was something he wanted to see someone else do to her.

“Is there a risk of me walking in on something?” He tried to hide his curiosity behind a joking tone.

“Oh, we’re not close like that.” The silver haired girl smiled. “Why? You’re interested in her?”

“No. I mean… I…” He was, but something about admitting it to her best friend felt equal to admitting it to Aki herself. And that was not a risk he wanted to take.

“You do?!” He saw the woman’s whole body tense up and she let out a silent squeal. It took a moment before her face turned serious. “And if she doesn’t feel the same? What will you do?”

“Wait? You mean there’s even a slight chance she would?” Like, he had let his imagination go there. But there was no way she would feel the same. Especially now. They had just gotten to know each other.

“Hmm…” She observed him. “I like you.”

He chuckled. It didn’t seem like he had gotten on her bad side. That was a good thing, right? From what he’d seen, girls friendships could be brutally protective.

“To answer your previous question. It would be really unlikely for you to walk in on her with anyone. She’s too careful and she hasn’t really dated anyone seriously enough to take them home, or even spend the night with them, for years.” Kumi grabbed a box cutter from a kitchen drawer. “I guess you know about the nightmares?”

“Yeah.” He had felt bad about it ever since she told him she shared them with him. “I do.”

“Most people nowadays are uncomfortable with them. Some even believe that they can be contagious. So she doesn’t really tell people about them. She can be awkward, but she has a kind heart.” She sliced open the first of the boxes with precision he had never seen before. Maybe it was good that he hadn’t gotten on her bad side.

“So the person you walked in on her with, they never slept here?” He hadn’t planned to ask the question out loud but it might be a better topic than the fact that his nightmares had kept her from forming relationships.

“Oh, he lived here.” She handed him one of the smaller boxes. “But don’t worry. She threw the bed out as soon as he moved out.”

“I thought you said she didn’t bring people around?” He looked at the manual for the chair. How was this ever going to resemble a chair?

“He was one of the few who knew about them.” She took the manual from him and handed him a smaller box.

“What happened?” He moved aside and opened the next box. It was a fake plant. Nothing he needed to actually put together.

“He found his person.” How had this woman already put that chair together? “We couldn’t really blame him. Most people would choose their person. At one point, even Aki would.” She shrugged.

“What about you?” Ryo wasn’t even going to claim that he understood the feelings people had to their connected persons, but he had heard enough about it to know that it was normal.

The woman let out a nervous laugh. “You mean, why aren’t me and Hiro dating?” Her hands stopped moving and she chuckled again. “It’s complicated.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” He knew Aki had asked him not to bring Hiro up, but he couldn’t help but be curious. And Hiro had a tendency of changing the subject or claim that he didn’t really know. But he had seen how the subject made him stare into nothing.

“In short: I believe partners, and even friends, should make each other better. Me and Hiro made each other worse.” She looked down at the piece of wood in her hands and then started assembling things again. “I know you’re friends so I want you know that it’s not that I don’t care about him. I do care. But it’s better for both of us if we stay apart.”

Her voice was filled with love. He had heard it in Hiro’s voice too. It was beautiful that they both cared about each other that they stayed apart for the other’s sake, but it was also heartbreaking to see.

“At least you don’t have to worry about me disappearing on her with my person. You know, since that wasn’t a thing back in my time.” Was it a bad thing to change the subject? But while her voice was filled with love, her eyes was overfilled with pain. He could see why Aki had asked her not to bring it up. Hiro usually shrugged it off and tried to ignore it, but Kumi’s whole body radiated a painful sadness and love at the same time. It was something he didn’t feel like he could be exposed to for too long. Especially since they didn’t really know each other.

Her face relaxed before a smile formed. “So that’s what it was? It wasn’t some kind of rejection.” She looked up at him. “I’m glad. But you really should do something about those nightmares of yours.”

He grabbed the big fish plushie. “I think that’s why she got me this.”

She burst into laughter. “Are you sure about that? She’s been eying that thing for months. But she doesn’t have any space left for it.”

Not any space left? He looked around. He hadn’t seen a single plushie in the apartment, and he could think of at least five spots where they could keep it.

“She keeps them in her room.” Kumi still chuckled. “Or more specifically, on her bed.”

She sleeps with plushies in her bed? He tightened his grip around the fish. She wanted this thing so badly but let him have it? Somehow that warmed his heart more than he would think.

“Can’t she just put it on a shelf then?”

“Don’t tell her that!” The woman’s head snapped towards him. “I did that once and she looked so embarrassed when she explained how it wouldn’t be fair for some of them to be alone on a shelf, while some got to stay in the bed.” She slowly turned back towards the next piece of furniture. How was she so fast at this?

“Don’t make fun of her for it. I think it makes her feel less lonely. And this whole thing with the nightmares and her connection to you being one sided, she has probably felt really alone in that for years.

“Noted.” He looked at the fish. She had trusted him to take care of this one. Because she didn’t want him to feel lonely. If it was the fish or him that she aimed that care for was less important. It was a cute side of her that he hadn’t expected.

And he could somehow understand the feeling of being alone. Sure, he had Hiro all these years, but no one was like him. Everyone had their connected person, family and at least some place in this society. He didn’t. And after all these years he still wasn’t used to all the, for him new, technology.

But he hadn’t really felt that today. Not when he had spent time with Aki. She was connected to him, and even if he couldn’t feel that, it was nice to not be the only ‘weird’ one.

But she didn’t have that.

Was there anything he could do to make her feel less lonely?