So….this story is gonna get really anime in a few chapters. Just as a heads up. Thanks for sticking around guys. Again I'm sorry for the long chapters; I hope you guys are enjoying them I love knowing you guys are out there and supporting this!
Also, this is gonna be my last chapter for a bit. I'm broke, and I can't afford to pay for a fee in regards to software that's been helping me with my writing so I'll continue to write, but not post for a bit. Sorry about this guys. This is a shorter chapter, and honestly, I don't know how it's gonna go. Truthfully though, I've been a bit distracted lately and gotta get my focus back.
Sorry if this chapter is disappointing.
I'm gonna be using Ann for this Chapter. Next few we'll have some more, and we'll be getting into some more confidants VERY soon before moving onto a certain long-awaited meeting.
Chapter 6
Sadayo let out a loud yawn and stretched across the couch, basking in the warm late spring sunlight.
Picking up the book, she'd been reading she flipped through the pages and found where she was and took a sip of her water as the tv played a news report. It was one of the few Saturdays off she had during the year, and she was enjoying it as much as she could while Akira was out running errands for Iwai.
They'd barely finished their breakfast when Akira got the call and had asked if Sadayo minded. She didn't since Iwai rarely ever called and if he needed the help, it must have been something significant. After a quick kiss and an "I love you," Akira left while she cleaned up before finishing some small chores before deciding to lounge around the rest of the day.
As she got to the part of the story where the heroine was facing down some corrupt politician, Sadayo felt a familiar weight on her stomach. Resting the book on her chest, she found Mona staring at her.
"What?"
Sadayo still wasn't used to the fact that Morgana could understand her every word and since she'd found out about it, she'd been watching what she said whenever the cat was around. It wasn't because she distrusted him, in fact, she'd had several more conversations where Mona had told her about Akira's other friends. She was surprised to hear that her boyfriend had gotten chummy with Yoshida and then there was learning that he'd made friends with a reporter, not to mention his connection to the shogi champion whose mother had arranged several fixed matches.
In response to her question, the cat let out a loud meow and walked over to the tablet Akira had left set up for him. Mona pressed a few keys and pointed at the screen.
Picking up the tablet, Sadayo read what the cat wrote and shook her head.
"Yes, I got your special food for all your help." Sadayo set the tablet down and scratched the cat's ear. "I didn't forget, and you're going to get some soon. Just let me read some more, and I'll be sure to make you a nice plate before we leave, okay?"
The cat mewed and nuzzled her hand appreciatively before curling up between her legs.
"Yeah, let's not do that now." Sadayo picked Mona up and gave him a tap on the nose. "I'm still getting used to you being as smart as a person, so it just makes you laying there a bit weird."
The cat snorted and squirmed out of her hands before jumping out the open window and onto the landing.
"Well, excuse me."
Sadayo gave the cat a sneer and picked her book back up and was ready to get back into the scene when a knock came from the door. Growling about a wasted day off, she set her book down and made her way to the door. She felt something on the bottom of her foot and noticed what looked like crumbs and hastily brushed away the stray crumbs from the cookies she'd eaten off the tee-shirt she'd stolen from Akira's dresser. Peeking out through the peephole, she saw no one on the other side and was ready to return to her book when another knock echoed throughout the apartment.
Having enough, Sadayo swung the door open and stuck her head out shouting, "I swear to god if this is some kind of prank I'm going to..."
Sadayo stopped talking when a bubbly, blonde haired girl popped up out of nowhere with a garment bag slung over her shoulder and a massive smile on her face.
"Surprise!"
Sadayo fell back into the entryway and felt a sharp pain in her back as her ass met the ground.
"ANN?! What the hell are you doing here?"
Sadayo hadn't heard anything about her arrival from Akira or the others but was happy to see her nonetheless. After being gone for so long, Sadayo was amazed to see how different she looked. Instead of pigtails, her hair was pulled back in a braid that went down to her shoulders and wore a simple summer outfit of loose fitting jeans and a green tank-top. She was also somewhat tan and was looking even fitter than the last time Sadayo had seen her.
"Hello to you too." Ann looked mildly dejected but humored at her friend's reaction and offered a helping hand.
"Sorry," Sadayo took the hand and was pulled into a short but tight hug. "It's good to see you."
"It's good to see you too."
Sadayo stepped aside, and Ann accepted the invitation. After taking off her shoes, Ann walked into the living room and smiled at the familiar surroundings.
"It's been a long time since I've been here." Ann set the bag down and dropped onto the couch with a long sigh. "I like what you two have done with the place."
"Thanks." Sadayo stepped into the kitchen and grabbed a couple of juices. "It's still a work in progress, but we're making it work. He's been having some issues with sleeping, and sometimes he wanders at night, but it's nothing we can't handle."
"Yeah, the others have been saying the same thing." Ann sipped her juice and let out a loud sigh. "They said they've been doing the same thing. Hell, a couple of nights ago Futaba told me they went to one of those twenty-four-hour arcades until almost four in the morning."
"All of them?" Sadayo knew Akira had spent some time with Futaba, but she hadn't heard anything about the others.
"No, just her and Akira." Ann swirled her juice and shrugged. "I heard she's been staying the night in the attic at LeBlanc. I can't believe she's grown enough to do something like that."
"It is pretty amazing," Sadayo chuckled at the memory of when Futaba had given her the grand tour of her little makeshift apartment. "She's quite proud of it, and Sojiro-san doesn't seem to mind as long as she keeps it quiet during business hours."
"That sounds like Boss." Ann gave Sadayo a dry smile and sipped her juice.
"Are you okay?" Sadayo set her juice down and gave Ann a worried look.
"It's just been a long couple of months." Ann set her glass down and ran a hand through her hair. "I've been to Europe, Africa, and America. I've had a few auditions for some shows, and I'm waiting on a couple of callbacks. Then there's all my language and business classes. On top of that, I've been having a lot of the same problems as the others."
Ann leaned back and rested her head on the back of the couch and rubbed her eyes. "I just want to crawl into bed and sleep for the next week."
"Do you think you can afford to take that much time off?" Sadayo knew Ann could be called for a shoot at a moments notice and wondered if her agents could respect her wishes enough to give her that much time off.
"I told them I would," smirked Ann after rubbing her face. "I said that I was going to take the next couple of months off and if they called me in for a job I was gonna rip them a new one."
"I don't doubt it," laughed Sadayo nervously. "Well, it's good to have you home. I know you've been trying to get ahold of everyone, especially Akira and Yusuke."
"Only because those jackasses never seem to pick up their phones!" Ann bolted upright and slammed her hand down on the table. "Seriously I have no trouble getting in contact with our other friends, but those two idiots take weeks just to reply to a single email! It's not that hard to tell someone 'hello' or reply to an email!"
"I know," Sadayo said calmly, gesturing for Ann to keep her voice down. "But, you all are going your separate ways, and people are bound to forget to call you back or reply to an email. It happens to me all the time with the friends I made in high school."
"I know," pouted Ann as she glared across the coffee table at her old teacher. "It's just that for the past few weeks I've needed someone to talk to, someone who understands."
Sadayo knew full well what her friend was referring. All of them, including Akira, were trying to make sense of how to live healthy lives now and even those that were seeing specialists were still feeling lost. Even Akira, who seemed to enjoy his visits with his psychiatrist left some of his sessions feeling more confused than when he entered. However, despite his confusion, he seemed more focused and intent on making things better for himself and his friends, even if he didn't fully understand how.
It was no surprise Ann was feeling the same way. Sadayo didn't know if she'd been seeking help, but she had to imagine that the time away from her friends wasn't helping. Ann had gone through more than the others in some ways, and despite her resolve, according to Akira, Ann had her moments of weakness just like the rest of them.
"Have you been talking to someone," inquired Sadayo after a few tense moments of quiet.
"Yeah." Ann held up two fingers and said, "Twice a week for an hour. It's helping, but I just want to hear a familiar voice or have a close friend that I can hang out with and talk about it without having to gloss over the details. Honestly, though, I was surprised when Akira told us how much you knew. Have you been handling it okay? It took us all a while to get used to it."
"It's been a challenge." Sadayo wasn't sure if Akira had told her about their latest hurdle involving Mona, but she knew about everything else. "But like you said, sometimes he needs a person who understands everything you've all experienced. But I'm glad he tells me as much as he does, even if I don't understand it all."
"I'm jealous you know." Ann finished her juice and shook her head. "I thought it'd be nice traveling around the world and everything, but I miss it. I miss having people around, and when I think about you and Akira at least being there to comfort each other, I get a bit jealous of the two of you."
"Well you're back now," Sadayo said with a warm smile. "At least for a bit and you'll be around the people who know you best. And hey," Sadayo reached out and took Ann's hand, "you know you're welcome to come over and talk whenever you like. I haven't sat in on any of Akira's sessions, but his doctor told me that it's always easier to talk when you need to."
"You might be right. Thanks, Sadayo." Ann gave her friend's hand a gentle squeeze and stretched out and grabbed the bag she'd brought with her and held it out to Sadayo. "By the way, I got that thing you asked me to bring back. My friend is a bit bigger than I thought so it might be a little loose."
"You actually got it?" Sadayo stood up and took the bag gleefully. She unzipped it, and a lecherous smile spread across her face as she began inspecting the outfit she'd been waiting weeks for.
"What do you need that for, anyway?" Ann had been curious about Sadayo's request for the outfit ever since she'd first heard it but hadn't dared to ask. "You two going to a costume party or something?"
"Not exactly." Sadayo zipped the bag back up and got off the couch and waved for Ann to follow her into the bedroom. "Come on, last time we talked you mentioned something about needing one of my suits."
Ann gave another loud groan and followed her into the room and laughed when she saw the small mess that had accumulated over the last week.
"This is definitely a room Akira lives in." Ann kicked a pair of old jeans out of the way and followed Sadayo to the closet and began going through the clothes. She let out a small laugh when she found a long-sleeved dress shirt and ran her fingers along the fabric. "It's nice to see he's gotten some new clothes."
"He's had those for a while," chuckled Sadayo as she hung up the garment bag. "We just never have any reason to wear them."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Ann squeezed Sadayo on the shoulder and smiled. "But Akira told me you guys are visiting his parents next month. I'm pretty sure you guys'll find a reason to dress up while you're there. Are you excited?"
Sadayo grimaced at the mention of meeting Akira's parents. They had both swapped stories about one another's parents over the past year, but neither of them had talked to or seen the others as of yet. According to Akira, his dad had been swamped with some cases a police friend had brought him in on, and his mom was planning the opening of her fourth restaurant in a nearby city. Sadayo's, on the other hand, weren't nearly as busy but instead, they just didn't have as much contact ever since Sadayo had moved to Tokyo; something she was ashamedly grateful for.
"Sadayo?" Ann reached out and poked her old teacher in the cheek. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Sadayo playfully swatted Ann's finger away and began searching through the closet.
"I am excited to visit them." Sadayo felt the familiar lump form in her throat as she began thinking about what his parents would say. "Excited and scared out of my mind."
"It'll be all right." Ann gave Sadayo a thumbs up and said, "Sachiko-san and Osamu-san are fairly laid-back people. But they do take time to warm up to others. But that might have been because their son showed up with a cat and six complete strangers."
"That couldn't have helped," Sadayo smirked as she began digging through more of her clothes. "I could have sworn it was in here this isn't that big of a closet."
"Want some help?" Ann began rummaging through the closet along with Kawakami and noticed that the teacher looked frantic.
"No, Ann it's fine, I'm sure I can…," but it was too late. Ann had already moved the ratty old hoodie Akira had given Sadayo the previous summer, revealing a faded, but lovingly cared for black and white maid outfit.
Ann stopped and stared at Sadayo and then back at the maid's uniform, a look of embarrassed surprise on her face and after a moment her face split in a huge smile as she loudly exclaimed, "This is so adorable!"
Sadayo felt like she was about to pass out as Ann pulled the maid outfit out and began examining it.
"I mean it's not the best material, but that doesn't mean it's not good quality." Ann held the uniform against her chest and began comparing her size to Ann's. "I had to wear something like this once for a small background role on a show I did a couple of months back in New York. It was so itchy that I had to do that thing bears do against a pillar to make my back feel better. Who or what is 'Victoria'?"
"It's uhh…." Sadayo couldn't the words as Ann excitedly continued her inspection of Sadayo's secret shame. "It's the name…."
"Was this a work uniform," Ann asked rather brazenly. She was inspecting some of the frayed hems of the uniform while occasionally casting Sadayo a curious glance. "I'm not judging you or anything if it was. I mean I have a couple of friends who work at maid cafes; one of them is even the manager. It's nothing to be embarrassed about if that's what your part-time job was. But that does make sense about why Akira and you don't talk about…"
A worried look spread across Ann's face, and the blonde nervously asked, "This is clean right?"
"Yeeeessss," Sadayo was caught between laughter and embarrassment and her word came out sounding more like air being released from a balloon. "I cleaned it myself, and I haven't worn it in months, so you're safe."
"Okay, good." Ann let out a heavy sigh of relief before handing the maid uniform back to Sadayo. "I didn't overstep did I?'
"A bit." Sadayo took the outfit and tucked it back into its corner. "Next time you decide to go through my closet wait until I say you can."
"Sorry." Ann gave the outfit a cautious glance at the outfit and then back at Sadayo. "He doesn't make you do anything weird in it does he?'
"Okay, now you've gone from stepping over the line to just obliterating it," laughed Sadayo as she finally found the uniform Ann had requested. It was a simple business type suit with slacks, a button-up shirt, and a jacket and had become one of Sadayo's staple work outfits.
"How can you not expect me to ask that?" Ann pointed at where the outfit was currently hiding and shook her head. "It's not every day you see something like that in a friend's closet."
"No, it's not." Sadayo laid the suit out on the bed and began searching for a garment bag of her own. "But this isn't something I like talking about; at least not now."
"That's fair." Ann sat down on the bed, looking genuinely happy for the first time since she'd arrived. "Thanks for lending this to me, it's really going to help Shiho out."
"I hope you're right."
Sadayo had been surprised when Ann had called her up to ask about lending Shiho an outfit for a job interview she had coming up. In all honesty, Shiho was the last person Sadayo had expected to make such a request, especially from a Shujin teacher. But if it helped Shiho move on with her life Sadayo was willing to do what it took to get her on her feet.
After finding the bag, Sadayo zipped it up just as a voice shouted from the entryway, "Sadayo!? I'm back."
Ann held a finger up to her lips and hid behind the bedroom door.
Sadayo rolled her eyes at Ann's juvenile actions but decided to play along. It'd been a while since she'd seen Akira scared out of his mind and Sadayo couldn't resist one last bit of vengeance over the whole thing with Mona.
"I'm in the bedroom," she answered as she began picking up some of the clothes that were piled up on the floor.
Akira appeared, and Sadayo watched Ann's head peek out from behind the door waiting for the right moment to strike.
"How'd it go," Sadayo asked as she deposited the clothes into the hamper.
"Fine," yawned Akira before kissing her cheek. "Iwai and I got all the parts we needed, and our deliveries are done. The customers were happy, so that's good; one even gave us a bit extra for getting their jobs done early."
"Keep this up, and soon you'll be making more than me." Sadayo and Akira were both still getting over the fact that Iwai had added in a thirty-thousand yen bonus to Akira's pay. She was proud that he was well compensated for his work, but she was feeling a bit suspicious of Iwai's intent on paying Akira so much.
"You know this job isn't permanent." Akira brushed some stray hair out of her eyes and gave her another kiss. "And Iwai's just looking out for me, same as Lala-chan. The stuff I work on is expensive, so Iwai's just paying me what he thinks my contributions are worth."
"I know." Sadayo gave him a soft kiss on the lips and patted his cheek. "You've been working hard, and I'm very proud of you."
Sadayo watched Ann make a retching gesture which had the teacher smiling. Akira smiled back, oblivious to what was about to happen to him.
"You work harder than me." Akira wrapped his arms around her while Ann began slowly tiptoeing her way across the room. "And I'm proud of what you've accomplished."
Ann was only a few feet away when he said this and Sadayo felt a small twinge of guilt at what she was about to let happen. After giving him a quick hug, Sadayo stepped back and said, "I need to get something out of the closet for tonight."
"All right," yawned Akira before rubbing his eyes. "If you don't mind I'm gonna take a quick nap. I'm..."
"GOTCHA," shouted Anna as she jumped onto his back and began rubbing her fist against his scalp.
"What the hell?!" Akira pulled Ann's arms off his neck and fell into the bed, Ann followed suit, but thanks to their landing she ended up rolling off the bed but sat up almost immediately laughing along with Sadayo.
"Got you," squealed the girl as she stared at a panting Akira.
"What the hell are you doing here," Akira turned to Sadayo who was laughing along with Ann. "Sadayo what the hell is Ann doing here?"
"I just flew in this morning." Ann climbed to her feet and then sat down on the bed so hard that Akira bounced a bit. "Remember how I told you about Shiho needing that suit in my reply a couple of days ago?"
"I thought you said she was going to ask me about that?" Akira's eyes narrowed as they shifted from Ann to Sadayo. "Did you know she was coming over?"
"Nope." Ann ruffled Akira's hair before kissing him softly on the lips. "Don't feel bad she did the same thing to me when she showed up on our doorstep."
"I don't feel bad about getting tricked. I expect it from her and Futaba," snipped Akira as Sadayo brushed her fingers along his cheek as she walked away. "But don't think I'm going to forget about your part in all this. I'm gonna get you back."
"I look forward to it," giggled Sadayo as she exited the bedroom.
"Can you please not talk like that while I'm here? I don't need any repeats of last summer." Ann got off the bed and followed Sadayo out after grabbing the suit.
"I make no promises. But if it happens there's the door," snorted Akira as he picked himself up off the bed and made his way to the couch. He dropped onto it with a loud thud and shouted, "Sadayo! Can you get me some water, please?!"
"God you're lazy," scoffed Ann, rolling her eyes as she sat on the love seat. "Even Ryuji isn't this bad."
"You have no idea how lazy Ryuji can be." Akira had stayed over at Ryuji's enough to know that while he may have helped his mom with the majority of the apartment, his room was an entirely different matter.
"I find that hard to believe." Ann crossed her arms and glared at Akira. "Yukiko-san might spoil him a bit, but she wouldn't let crap like this fly."
"He's fine, Ann." Sadayo appeared with a tray, a pitcher of water, and some snacks. She set it down on the table and dropped onto Akira's back. Sadayo felt a small pop and gave him a gentle pat on the head. "He's just being a big baby since he's so tired."
"Get off," grunted Akira as Sadayo ground her butt into his back. He was used to her doing this when he'd annoyed her, Akira had even done it from time to time, but with how knotted his back was, he didn't want to admit that she was both relieving and creating a lot of built-up tension.
"No," chuckled Sadayo as she began pouring water while Ann laughed at her friend's pain. "Would you like something to drink Ann?"
"Please," replied Ann as she took a picture on her phone.
"I hate you,' grumbled Akira as Sadayo continued grinding her butt into his back.
"Can you please not do that?" Akira had a sneaking suspicion that Sadayo knew what she was doing and when he managed to look up at her, he saw a familiar smirk she kept reserved just for him.
"What's the matter?" Sadayo continued moving side to side while Ann stared blankly at the wall, an embarrassed smile hidden behind her glass. "I thought you liked my butt?"
"Sadayo," growled Akira as she began bouncing on his back, a familiar tension building in his pants.
"I did not need to hear that," whispered Ann as she reached for one of the crackers.
"All right, that's it," grumbled Akira just as Sadayo bounced off his back. In the split second, she was off of him; he managed to roll over and wrap his left leg over her and pin her to the couch.
"Too slow," laughed Sadayo as she managed to slide out from between his legs and onto the floor.
"I don't think so." Akira followed her onto the floor and managed to keep her from crawling away, holding her tightly against him as he tickled her stomach. "You think you're funny don't you?'
"Yes," giggled Sadayo as she tried to hide her laughter while Akira's fingers moved along her abs. "You deserved it!"
"Oh really," Akira began kissing her neck as he continued his tickling.
"You guys are so weird." Ann rolled her eyes and looked around at the cat house and asked, "Where's Mona?"
"I dunno," gasped Sadayo as Akira stopped his tickling and just held her in his lap. "He ran off after I told him he couldn't sleep between my legs, little ingrate."
"That sounds like something he'd do." Ann picked her phone up and sighed at the time. "Hey, do you guys know what time Ryuji wanted to meet up at his place? I kinda don't want to show up 'til everyone is there, but I don't mind spoiling the surprise a bit."
"We still got a couple of hours," Akira nuzzled his forehead against Sadayo's shoulder and yawned. "But if you're taking the train with us we may need to leave early so Ryuji can hide you or something."
"Yeah, I kinda forgot about that. Guess I got no choice but to leave right now." Ann stood up, finished her water, and asked, "Can you two come with me?"
"Ummm…." Sadayo looked nervously at Akira who gave her a reassuring smile.
"It'll be okay." Akira gave her a soft, reassuring kiss and squeezed her tightly. "If you don't want to stay or if Yukiko-san can't handle it we can always leave early."
"Oh shit, I forgot she didn't know." Ann clapped her hands together and bowed in apology. "
"It's not your fault." Sadayo dug her elbow into Akira's stomach and growled, "It's his fault for opening his fat mouth about having a girlfriend before he was officially moved in."
"That's why I gave you the option not to go," grunted Akira as her elbow dug into his ribs.
"Sure it was." Sadayo gave him one last jab with her elbow before sliding out of his lap and went into the bedroom. "Just let me get changed into something a bit more appropriate and we'll catch the next train."
When she was gone, Ann chuckled and said, "Glad to see you've settled in so quickly."
"I wouldn't say I've settled, more like I've been beaten into submission," sighed Akira while rubbing the spot Sadayo had bounced on. "But it's nice to have you back, Ann."
"It's good to be home," giggled Ann just as Sadayo appeared in a pair of jeans and the ratty old hoodie she'd seen in the closet. "You look like you're ready to party."
"I'm just prepped to make a quick exit."
"Way to be optimistic," sighed Akira while grabbing his wallet and keys and headed out with the two ladies only a few steps behind him.
About an hour later the trio was walking down the street talking happily about everything they had planned for the summer. Ann was worried more about being able to stay home and rest while Akira, like Sadayo, was dreading having to take Sadayo home.
"Why are you so nervous?" Ann was still amused by their worry and was getting a bit fed up with it. "Your parents already know you're living with her right? So just have her meet them and get it over with. What's the worst that can happen, they don't like her?"
"That's part of it." Sadayo gave Akira a distressed smile and took his hand. "But you know how many people saw us when I visited last summer. I'm just worried about what'll happen if someone who saw us opens their mouth."
"Not like we can take it back." Akira leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "But if someone does open their mouths we can just say they're mistaking you for Makoto."
"You are not blaming Makoto for our indiscretions." Sadayo gently shoved Akira, but she looked happy for the first time since they left the apartment. "I've heard enough stories about all the fights you guys got into, and I don't want to Makoto to get blamed for our indiscretions."
"I dunno, I think it's possible since you've let your hair grow out." Ann began fiddling with Sadayo's hair and tried to braid it as they walked down the street.
"Stop it." Sadayo turned around and swatted at Ann who barely avoided getting slapped.
"All right, all right." Ann feigned stuffing her hands into her pockets, and as they turned a corner, she moved behind Sadayo and took another handful of hair and began trying to braid it again.
"That's it!" Sadayo turned around and began chasing Ann down the street toward Ryuji's apartment building.
"I don't know why you're so mad," panted Ann as she dodged a couple walking down the street. "You have such cute hair! You should do more than just comb it!"
"I don't care," wheezed Sadayo. She nearly tripped on the sidewalk but caught herself on a wall and stopped several feet from Ann, clutching her side.
"What happened to all that working out you've been doing," gasped Ann after catching her breath.
"I could say the same to you!"
"Are you two done?" Akira walked up, keeping a safe distance from Sadayo and Ann. "Or am I going to have to separate the two of you for the rest of class?"
"Oh shut up." Sadayo gave Akira a playful smack on the shoulder and let out a relieved breath when she saw that Akira had held onto the suit.
"Yeah, yeah." Akira held the bag out to Ann and said, "You gonna get off your phone and take this up or am I gonna have to keep lugging it around?"
"Fine." Ann set her phone inside her purse and snatched the bag out of Akira's hand. "I was just telling Ryuji we were down here. He said his mom had to run to the store and that Futaba and Haru are already upstairs."
"Just Haru and Futaba?" A nervous timbre echoed through Sadayo's words and Akira placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. "Are you sure it's just them?"
"Breathe. It's going to be okay." Akira rubbed her shoulder momentarily before whispering in her ear, "Just remember that we can always leave, okay? Remember, if you want to leave no one will think any lesser of you."
"All right." Sadayo felt most of her worries alleviate, but she couldn't shake the urge to run.
"Come on," Ann took Sadayo's hand and began pulling her toward the door to the building. "Everyone's waiting for us, and I'm pretty sure Shiho would like to see a familiar face."
"I'm sure she would," said Sadayo, following Ann's lead.
As they reached the door, Sadayo's feet anchored her to the ground as she and Akira both shouted, "WAIT, WHAT?!"