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Up in the attic of a dusty coffee shop in Japan. There lived a high school girl. She wasn’t squatting or anything, it’s simply just where she happened to be placed. The owner of the coffee shop had no room in his small apartment, so the only other solution was the attic of his establishment. The girl didn’t mind this. She greatly valued her privacy and the independence that living in this space gave her. She also wasn't a very large fan of family dynamics anyways, as her actual family wasn’t very kind to her, and had not spoken to her in well over half a year since they sent her away. So her relationship with her current legal guardian being nothing but an understanding of it being exactly that and nothing more, was completely fine with her. Being sent away was meant to be a punishment, a form of shame and exile for her actions (those actions being assault against a political figure, but he was asking for it! Trust me). But sending a girl who was already sick of her small countryside town to the biggest city in the world doesn’t really work as a punishment. If it weren’t for her parent’s and previous school’s cruelty, she could have assumed they did this from a place of love and in an attempt at genuine reform, as it was no exaggeration to say that she had been thriving here since her arrival. She had gathered a tight group of friends who were just as shunned and outcast as she was, albeit each in different ways, and had full trust and support in one another.
However, despite this rather large group of friends she had obtained. It seemed that every single one of them was busy this summer afternoon. The girl sighed as she lounged on the dusty couch. Laying on her back with her hands behind her head against one of the armrests, she closed her eyes. The heat this year was unbearable, so she decided against going outside today. However, that left her very bored, especially with no one to hang out with. So she stayed laid back against the couch, the most of her long and raven black hair spread along the couch, wavy and ethereal (as others have put it), as the remainder rested against her chest. She crossed one long leg over the other. She was a pretty tall girl, her body was longer than the couch she laid on, so her legs went over the other armrest just a little. A small wind chime that hung by her window let out gentle dings into the otherwise silent air, the slight breeze was the one thing keeping the girl from dying up here, which is only a slight exaggeration, as the attic had no air conditioning of any sort.
The attic wasn’t actually as bad to live in as it sounded. Even if it was very dusty when she first moved in. She had spent the entire first day here cleaning it, she had gotten rid of as much of the dust as possible and managed to move all the junk out elsewhere. She even kept some of the old furniture that was in here. The couch she was laid down on was part of that, along with a desk where she did her studying and schoolwork, shelves where she kept books and gifts from her friends, there was even an old television in here that she somehow managed to fix and get working with an old game console. As much as playing one of those games would cure her boredom, she had promised her girlfriend that she wouldn’t continue with them without her. Oh did I forget to mention that part? What? You thought a beautiful girl like herself wouldn’t already be in a relationship? Who else would it have been who called her hair ethereal earlier? Of course she had a girlfriend, let's not be stupid.
That girlfriend was none other than the cafe owner’s daughter. She wasn’t his daughter by blood, but was the daughter of a woman he had cared very much about. So he adopted her when there was no one left to properly take care of her. Her name was Futaba (Oh and I probably should have mentioned. The girl we’re following? The bored girl on the couch? She went by Akira.) Futaba had been a shut-in for a long time even before Akira’s arrival to Tokyo. It wasn’t until Akira and her friends nearly took the door off its hinges barging in that she started to go out more. Being the one closest to her both in vicinity and immediate connection via her adoptive father (whose name was Sojiro), Futaba sort of relied on Akira for a while as she got used to being outside more. Akira had helped her with lots of things over the next few months. Both everyday tasks and more challenging tasks that were meant to force Futaba out of her comfort zone. Though she could never shake off that need to be around Akira. That sense of need turned more into a sense of want, and it wasn’t so much a dependency as it had become a very strong preference and comfort. Despite her vast knowledge on many things, she had no idea how to deal with these sorts of feelings, so naturally she asked Akira. Telling her about her feelings and how she doesn’t know what to do with them, and that even telling Akira was embarrassing. She expressed that she wanted to stay around Akira all the time, even though she promised to get out of her hair as soon as she was doing better in the world.
Laughing, Akira had reassured her that there was nothing to be worried about, and that she didn’t mind Futaba being in her hair. She enjoyed the time with her a lot more than the others, and wouldn't mind remaining close. This of course formed into a relationship between the two girls.
But that was a while ago and this is now! And right now, Akira is bored out of her mind with nothing to do. Futaba was busy just like everyone else, she had gone out with Sojiro to gather computer parts and upgrades that she had been saving for. Akira couldn’t understand how Futaba of all people would be able to go out in this heat. Maybe her orange hair worked to reflect the sun? She switched which leg was crossed over the other as she thought about it. Maybe it was due to Futaba being so short, heat rises right? Maybe she doesn't feel the same heat that Akira did? Akira shook her head, summer vacation was making her stupid.
As she shook away that thought, the ringing of a bell downstairs caught her attention. As did the voice that followed.
“Akiiiiraaaaaa!!!!” Her excited girlfriend’s voice called out from the lower level of the cafe.
Her chest now filled with a much more pleasant warmth, Akira laughed to herself as the excited footsteps stamped up the stairs before she even had a chance to get up. Her girlfriend made her way in, stopped for a moment to carefully set the bags she was carrying down, and then quickly dropped herself down onto Akira's chest, laying herself down on top of the tall girl.
“Akira!” She smiled, kicking her feet in the air “You’re not gonna believe what I found while we were out!”
Futaba must have been rushing even before entering the cafe. Akira being just as flat as Futaba could feel Futaba’s quick heartbeat as if her heart was being squished between the two of them. She was also a bit sweaty, so clearly the heat had gotten to her as well, but it didn't keep her from coming in close contact with Akira like this, and Akira found it too cute to care either.
“We were out looking for computer parts but I still had a little bit left over, so I went into that old games store that was just across from it.” Futaba started “And check it!” She said, leaping off of Akira and quickly making her way back to the bags she had set down.
She rummages through a few of them, clearly having forgotten where she placed whatever it was that she found. Eventually she did find it, and presented it proudly to her girlfriend. It was an old cartridge for a fighting game that had been considered a rare find for probably a couple decades by now.
“Woah no way!” Akira marveled at the cartridge. “It was just sitting in that store the whole time?”
“Well, probably not the whole time. A lot of the games they get are old used ones that people donate. I guess someone didn't realize they had a five star pull in their hands and just gave it away.” Futaba explained.
“I see…” Akira said, still in awe. She pulled her attention away from the cartridge though as another question came to her mind. “How did you manage to afford it though? The people who run that store are pretty young, there's no way they wouldn’t know and just sell it for cheap.”
Futaba let out a nervous laugh, “Well uhh…” She squirmed a little bit where she was standing. “They had an older man working there today so…I may have lied just a little bit about how much it was worth.”
“Futaba!” Akira said in disbelief, though her smile remained.
“I'm sorry!! But I had to get it by any means necessary!! You'd do the same and you know it!” Futaba defends, holding onto the game as if worried it’d fly away.
Akira laughs. She had a point, it’s totally something she would also do. Honestly Akira would probably even consider stealing it if she were desperate enough. “Okay fair.” She says, giggling some more when Futaba let out a sigh of relief.
“Well…?” Futaba starts “Are we gonna play it or what!”
“Right now? Weren’t you dead set on upgrading your computer?” Akira says.
“Well- yeah but that can wait! We have to play this like, right now!!!” Futaba insists.
Akira closes her eyes and places a finger against her chin, “Hmmmm” She goes. Pretending to think about it. The smirk on her face would give it away to anyone else that she was just teasing, but it worked all too well on Futaba anyway.
“Cmoonnnnnn.” She begged.
Akira desperately held back her smirk, she enjoyed this all too much. Futaba was too cute whenever she pleaded to spend time together. It didn't matter that they spent so much time together already, it was always urgent and absolutely necessary in Futaba’s mind. After a few more moments Akira finally allowed it.
“Alright alright get the game set up.” She laughs “I’ll get us some snacks from downstairs.”
“Hooray!!!” Futaba shouts, jumping in the air out of excitement.
And so the rest of the afternoon was spent playing through countless rounds of the rare fighting game that they had lucked out on finding. Futaba was incredible at video games, especially fighting games. Though in her time spent with the girl, Akira had gotten pretty good as well. Had it been a few months ago their score against each other would be very imbalanced, however now it was a little more even, though with Futaba still in a slight lead. It made for a tense but enjoyable competition between the two, one that lasted for hours. By the time they were done it was dark outside, they only stopped because they were getting too tired to continue, probably thanks to the fact that they hadn’t had any real food since they started either. Futaba had won by a single match, and stretched her arms up high as she stayed in her seat.
Akira rolled her shoulders back and straightened out her spine. She had been hunched over for far too long. She didn’t know how Futaba did it, sitting like this for so long kills her back.
“Can I stay here tonight?” Futaba asks suddenly, mid yawn. “In your bed of course.” She grins.
“Huh? In this heat?” Akira asks. “You sure?”
“Of course I’m sure! I’m too tired to walk back anyways. And you’re too tired to carry me.” She decides on her own. Leaning over and wrapping her arms around Akira’s neck
“Wha- your place is like right down the road!” Akira laughs, “You’d be able to make it.”
“Nuh-uhhh.” She murmurs into Akira’s shoulder “Not with all those bags.”
Akira leans her head against Futaba’s “Well I could always carry them for you on the way there then.”
“No you can't, you're too tired.” Futaba responds. Akira can feel the smile on her face against her shoulder.
“Am I really?” Akira grins.
“Mhm really really.”
“I take it you're stealing more of my clothes for the night then?” Akira asks.
“Of course!” Futaba responds.
“I’ll be getting these ones back though right?”
“Mmmmnn...We’ll see.” Futaba says with a mischievous giggle.
And so Akira put up with Futaba’s clinging throughout the night. Her arms wrapped around her chest and her face pressed into Akira’s shoulder again. It was better than if she was against Akira’s neck at least, and the universe was merciful enough to allow the breeze to remain throughout the night, and so leaving the window open allowed for it to be bearable enough for Akira so that she could also fall asleep. She knew that as soon as morning came, Futaba would probably wake her up to play more of that game. They’d probably get sucked into it all day again.
But hey, at least Akira won't have to worry about being bored anymore.