Noise Complaint, Pt. 2

When I opened my eyes, the living room was still wrapped in the soft blue of morning. The TV had gone quiet, and the only sound was the faint hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen.

And then I realized something.

My right hand... was still imprisoned.

I looked down. Megumi, curled up on the couch beside me, still had both hands wrapped tightly around mine, holding them close to her cheek like it was a treasured stuffed animal. Her breathing was slow and steady — she was completely out of it.

I gave my hand a gentle tug.

Nothing.

I tugged again. She just tightened her grip, like some sort of unconscious reflex.

"You've gotta be kidding me..."

I leaned back against the couch, sighing in defeat. I wasn't about to pry it from her and risk waking the demon.

So I sat there. Waiting. Watching. Feeling the odd weight of the situation pressing down on me. Or maybe it's just the weight of Megumi's very firm grip.

Minutes passed.

Finally, she stirred.

A soft yawn escaped her lips as she blinked herself awake, eyes fluttering open like she was fighting the very idea of being conscious.

And then... she looked up at me.

"Ah. Good morning, Sho—"

Mid-sentence, her gaze dropped to our hands. Her head tilted slightly.

For a second, I thought she might finally let go. But then she smiled. Sleepy. Mischievous. Too smug for someone who'd just woken up.

"Bet you were warm the whole night, hmm?"

I stared at her, deadpan.

"This is harassment."

"It's not like you didn't enjoy it. Which makes me wonder... did you?"

"W-what kind of question is that?!"

"A very legitimate one. So?"

I sighed.

"Let go of my hand, Megumi."

"Pshh~ You're no fun."

I stood with a long, exaggerated stretch, throwing in a few unnecessary grunts just for the hell of it. 

No idea why I do that. I just do.

Then, I made my way to the washroom.

"Looking dead per usual, Taka," I muttered at my reflection. "Excellent start to the day."

I grabbed my toothbrush, squeezed out a generous amount of toothpaste, and got to work.

A moment later, Megumi strolled in through the open door and stood right next to me. She grabbed her own toothbrush, squeezed out an obnoxious amount of toothpaste, and started brushing like this was the most normal thing in the world.

No words. Just the sound of scrubbing.

At first, I didn't think much of it. Another case of random activities with Megumi. But then it hit me, way later than it should have.

I spat out a mouthful of bubbles and turned to her.

"What are you doing?!"

Without missing a beat, she leaned forward, spat, and muttered through the foam.

"Brushing my teeth, obviously."

"Yeah, I can see that, but this is clearly a one-person washroom!"

"You're not taking a piss or anything, so it's fine. Just let me finish. I'll be out in a minute."

She went right back to brushing, blissfully unaware of why this was even an issue.

Realizing there was no winning this, I sighed and kept brushing too.

Then, out of nowhere, she elbowed me.

I paused, glaring at her reflection through the mirror, but she averted her gaze. I kept brushing. And then, in a petty moment of revenge, I elbowed her right back.

She froze, twisting her head toward me with a sharp frown. Her toothbrush was still sticking out of her mouth.

I didn't look her way. Instead, I went full Megumi mode, pretending that nothing happened.

Of course, that was never gonna work.

She started cracking her knuckles one by one, foam still bubbling at the corners of her mouth.

I bent over and spat out the toothpaste.

"Okay, okay! Relax!"

"What?" she grumbled, eyes narrowing. "I wasn't even gonna do anything."

"Like hell you weren't! Why were you cracking your knuckles?"

"Stretching."

"And after that?"

"Nothing."

"...For some reason, I don't believe you at all."

After surviving the most stressful morning of my life, we both finished up in tense, minty silence. I wiped my face with a towel while Megumi casually fixed her hair, humming some obnoxiously cheery tune.

"Alright," I muttered, trudging back to the living room. "Let's figure out breakfast. Any ideas? Preferably something that doesn't require me to go out."

Megumi plopped herself on the couch with all the grace of a brick.

"I vote tamagoyaki."

"You vote for tamagoyaki every time. Actually... I'm pretty sure we ran out of eggs because that's all you've been making for the past week."

"So what? Tamagoyaki without eggs. Innovate, Shohei."

"That's not how it works. You literally need eggs to make eggs."

She stretched out like a cat, arms flopping over the back of the couch.

"Tch... Then what does work?"

I scrolled through a few recipe ideas like my life depended on it. Nothing seemed doable with our embarrassingly empty fridge.

"We have... rice."

"And?"

"And some leftover katsu from yesterday."

"Rice and katsu for breakfast?"

"Welcome to the life of a broke college student."

"…I hate this house."

"Yeah? Well, it hates you back."

Megumi groaned dramatically, flopping sideways so her head landed in my lap.

"H-hey!" I snapped, nearly dropping my phone. "What're you doing?!"

"Starving to death. Let me perish in peace."

"Perish on your side of the couch."

She ignored me, flailing an arm toward the kitchen.

"Make us something. I believe in you, my trusty assistant."

"No. I'm not rewarding bad behavior."

"Come on. I'll owe you."

"You already owe me for last night! And the morning harassment! Matter of fact, you owe me for letting you live here!"

"All part of my charm."

I sighed, realizing once again that resistance was futile. Every time I tried to stand my ground, Megumi steamrolled it with pure audacity.

"Okay, first... Can you get off my lap?" I mumbled.

She tilted her head with a smirk.

"Why? Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"Yes. Very."

"Oh, wow. So honest. That one actually kind of hurt. And here I was thinking I'd seduce you into going out and getting me something."

"W-what the—?!"

Suddenly, I heard something. It was loud, maybe even deafening. Just the mere hint of its creaks grazing against my ear sent my mind into a frenzy.

The front door... was opening.

"Yo, Taka!" Koga's voice called out. "You awake?"

I didn't reply right away, mostly because I was too stunned. I wasn't the only one. Even Megumi froze on my lap, the smile wiped clean off her face.

"I don't think he's awake, Yue."

"Well, damn," another voice replied. "I told you, didn't I? It's Sunday. You'd be hard-pressed to find Taka awake in the AMs on the weekends."

"Eh, thought we'd try anyway. Wanna give him a surprise wakeup call?"

"No! Absolutely not! We're already sneaking into his apartment. What if he gets annoyed if we wake him up too early?"

"Hey, he should be grateful. We got him breakfast!"

"Still..."

Shit... Yue's here too?! What are they doing here?!

No— more importantly... It sounds like they're taking off their shoes. If they turn that corner next to the kitchen, they'll definitely see us!

Shit. There's no time to think. I need to say something!

"Wait, guys!"

"Whoa! He is awake!" Koga exclaimed, his voice echoing through the hallway near the entrance.

"That's a surprise," Yue scoffed.

"Hold on for a minute! Stay right there!"

"Huh? What do you mean? What are you doing in there?"

Ignoring my request, Yue poked her head around the corner and into the living room. Thankfully, the couch was turned away from her, so she couldn't see Megumi lying on my lap.

"The hell?" she muttered. "What are you doing up so early? And why are you just sitting there?"

"W-well..."

Oh fuck. Oh no. This is bad. Extremely bad. I need to get them away somehow!

"Wait, Yue—"

"Well, either way, this works out for us!" she grinned, skipping over to me. "Hup~!"

"Y-Yue!"

I didn't even have time to react before she threw herself onto my back, pushing down on my shoulders to hold herself up. She leaned her chin on the top of my head, continuing her blabber.

"Thank God you were awake," she said with a tired sigh. "Koga and I went out for breakfast earlier, and we figured you might want something. So we... w-we got you... some...?

That was the moment my soul left my body. Yue had caught sight of Megumi, who was still lying on my lap.

Silence followed — an eerie, deathly silence.

Megumi's eyes opened just slightly, as if this were just a simple situation we'd been caught up in.

"Ah... Hi there."

I could literally hear the cogs spinning in Yue's head before she let out a resounding, "WHAAAT?!"