9 - hanging out with friends

In the beginning, Mary had wondered if she really belonged with them. Of course she knew Seto wanted her to live there— he'd hiked through the woods to visit her almost every single day for years. It was obvious he wanted her company.

But she'd been leery of Kido's cold stares and Kano's mischievous grins, unsure how to parse such a stark difference. She stammered her way around them, avoided their eyes, hid in her room.

It was strange to think of how she'd been compared to how she was now.

"Mary, you left your rainjacket in the hall again," Kido scolded, hanging the garment on the couch. Mary looked up from where she was lying on her stomach reading.

"I'm busy," she replied, a bit peeved at being interrupted.

Kido stared down at her, obviously wondering whether to say more, but she left the room. Mary returned to reading her book, pausing to adjust her position so that she was more comfortable.

A few minutes later, Seto poked his head in and opened his mouth to ask her a question, but just stared at her in confusion.

"…what are you doing?" he asked finally, coming into the room.

Mary looked up again, and huffed in frustration. "I'm reading." she replied.

"No, I mean, what are you doing to Kano?"

He peered at the strange sight before him; Mary, sprawled on the ground, using Kano like a pillow. Kano was unresponsive, so he figured Mary had frozen him.

She at least had the decency to look ashamed. "The pillows were far away, and my back was hurting…" she said, knowing her excuses wouldn't cut it.

With her having lost track of time, there was no telling how long Kano had been stuck like that.