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[all_wound_up]

[Nano's been pretty quiet for the past week or so.  She's still been going to school every day and working at the inn, but she mostly keeps to herself, and has been going directly home afterward.  Those accustomed to seeing her out and about during the 13th Hour helping to fight demons will find her conspicuously absent.  So it's perhaps a relief to anyone who's been wondering or worrying about her that she's finally back on the network, doing her best not to look as sad as she feels.]

U-um... would anyone like to come over for dinner sometime?  Or... or maybe I could have another party or a sleepover at the inn?  Would anyone be interested in that?

[It's clear something else is up, but she's trying not to focus on that.]

Comments

[otakuro]

Sea salt coming right up.

...Might have to be popsicles though. I'm not sure if they actually do scoops of sea salt ice cream.

[And in due time, Atsuro will wander over to Nano's place with some popsicles.]

[all_wound_up]

[Nano opens up the door when she hears Atsuro outside, giving a small smile and a nod as she steps aside for him to come in.]

Thank you for coming, Atsuro-san.

[otakuro]

No problem.

You looked like you could use someone to talk to.

[Atsuro will step through and remove his shoes and pack. He indeed has some popsicles wrapped up in his hand.]

[all_wound_up]

Mmhmm... it's a little lonely around here today.

[Atsuro probably didn't know her that well, but Nano never made much of a secret of the fact that her friend Yukko lived here with her. It's probably not hard to guess what happened.]

[otakuro]

[He's seen her around before, of course. And now that Nano mentions it, it does seem as if there's a few things missing from the house.]

...Did your roommate end up bailing on you?

[all_wound_up]

[Nano nods sadly.]

Yukko-san... she isn't here anymore. The house is so quiet now.

[otakuro]

...She was a good friend from back home, right? My best friend ended up leaving too - seems like a long time ago now.

[A slight pause.]

Do you want someone to stay with you a while? ...Maybe while you look for a more permanent roommate?

[all_wound_up]

Oh, no, you don't have to do that for me! I'll be all right!

[otakuro]

A-Are you sure? It's not going to be that much trouble...

Or maybe I can help you clean up her things if you don't want to look at them?

[all_wound_up]

W-well, I mean, if it's not an inconvenience for you...

[otakuro]

It's not like I'm doing anything much more productive, anyway.

[Atsuro shrugs.]

...Did she have a lot of stuff, do you think?

[all_wound_up]

She never really had a steady job for very long, so she didn't have very much...

[otakuro]

Well. Let's take a look sometime later. It's probably better to... wait a little while.

...Were you really close friends?

[all_wound_up]

[Nano nods.]

She was my best friend from home. Yukko-san... she was the first person to accept me for exactly who I was. She talked to me right away on my first day at school, even though I was so nervous about fitting in.

[otakuro]

So everyone already knew about who you were back when you first enrolled, huh? Even if they didn't accept you, no one'd better have treated you badly.

[Although honestly high school wasn't exactly filled with tolerant loving individuals.]

[all_wound_up]

Yukko-san was the only one who ever mentioned it. I don't think the other students really believed her. But she came to my house one day just to tell me that she noticed, and still wanted to be my friend anyway.

[otakuro]

...Huh.

I mean, I think at some point, people'd spend enough time that 'cosplay prop' stops being really convincing. I guess that just shows how much attention you pay people who aren't your friends, though...

But that's good. I'm glad you've got someone like that.

[all_wound_up]

Mmhmm. Yukko-san was always there for me. And Naganohara-san and Minakami-san, too.

[otakuro]

What grade are you supposed to be in, again?

[all_wound_up]

Oh, um... I was a first year in high school at home, so now I'm about to finish my second year.

[otakuro]

Well. It sounds like you got off to a pretty good start then - and whenever you go back home, your best friend will be waiting for you.

[all_wound_up]

And Hakase and Sakamoto-san, too.

[otakuro]

Right!

[Atsuro smiles before turning away thoughtfully.]

I guess you probably don't have any weird alternate universe situations going on, right?

[all_wound_up]

...Huh?

[Which is to say 'probably not.']

[otakuro]

Ahaha...

I actually have two best friends from home. Both of them have ended up here at some point, but... neither of them are actually from my world!

It's strange, huh?