Previously:
As I walked down the street, I kept thinking about what Kazoku had said.
"It was pointless...because she saw me that way regardless."
Third person
"Welcome!" A cheerful waitress greeted as an expressionless December walked through the doors. She nodded to show respect, then took a seat in one of the booths, alone. A menu was placed on her table accompanied by a cheery waitress. But she wasn't listening. She wanted her to leave.
She pulled out her phone once she left. Still nothing from Mimi. Sighing, she sat back in the booth, trying to ignore the stomach pain. She hoped this was just a momentary pain; a momentary pain that just so happened to last the entire morning.
The same waitress came back to her booth.
"What can I get for you?" She asked with a smile.
She forced the best smile she could, quickly checking the menu she hadn't touched. "Raspberry iced tea and a slice of French vanilla cake."
"Certainly!" The waitress walked off. December slumped back into her booth. She looked up at the bar to see the TV's broadcasting the national tournament finals. Koutei and his team were being shown alongside footage of their opponent, AL4. She briefly remembered what Mimi had told her, about the 4 of them being friends: her, Ren, Tetsu, Kai-
She felt the pain in her stomach again. Even just his name...
The waitress arrived with her cake and iced tea. "Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you."
"Can you bury me 10 feet underground so I can escape this nightmare?" She asked sarcastically.
"I... I beg your pardon?"
December realized a little too late that she had said her thought out loud, turning her head away.
"N-never mind. Forget what I said..."
Her voice gradually got quieter until it became a soft whisper, too quiet to register. The waitress walked away, still awestruck.
She grabbed a fork off the table and stabbed her cake, breaking it in the middle. She left the fork stuck in the cake, and reached for her glass of iced tea. She sipped it through a slim straw, feeling the chilled, sweet liquid in her mouth. It felt weird, the cold contrasting against the warmth of her body.
December put the now half empty glass back on the table and groaned. Not a smart idea.
She looked up at the TV again and watched some of the tournament to help keep her mind off her troubles, which in hindsight wasn't the best idea, as her thoughts kept going back to that day.
"I'm such an idiot..."
She stuffed the cake into her mouth and drank the rest of her iced tea.
She sat in the booth for what seemed to be another half hour, but when checking the time, only 2 minutes had passed. Even though Kai wasn't anywhere near her, December couldn't shake this feeling of uneasiness and discomfort. At first, she just thought it was because the sweetness of the cake and tea bothering her stomach, but it progressively got worse. Seconds began to feel like hours. Her heart began to beat faster, and soon she began to panic. Her mind began racing, random thoughts entering her head. Her body felt extremely warm as well, as she began to sweat. She was so immersed in her panicked thoughts that she didn't notice the waitress, back again, to clear her table.
"May I take these-?"
But before she could finish, December put down a wad of bills and stood up abruptly.
"I have to go." She rushed for the exit, dying to leave until the room started spinning. She stopped, grasping her stomach and trying to keep her footing. The waitress noticed this.
"A-are you alright, miss?"
She ran past the waitress and straight for the bathroom. Worried, she ran in after her, placing her tray on her table.
"Miss? Miss!"
Kai, who'd been sitting in a booth on the other side of the cafe, heard the commotion and looked around to see what interrupted his concentration on the match. It wasn't until a few minutes later when a waitress re-emerged with someone from the bathroom did he realize what happening.
May?
At first, he tried to pretend he saw nothing, looking back to the TV, but he couldn't help but feel wrong about it. He sighed, got up from his seat and walked over to December, who was sitting down behind the counter. Another waitress joined them, giving December a glass of cold water.
"Do you need me to call an ambulance?" The one next to her asked.
"There's no need. All she needs is to rest for a bit, and she'll be fine." The waitresses looked up to see Kai standing over them, in front of the counter. They began to blush at the cool looking boy who'd just walked up to them.
"Are you sure?"
"I wouldn't say so if I wasn't," he said sternly.
"Oh, o-okay! Then, would you mind terribly if you looked after her?"
"...Whatever."
"Thank you, you're too kind." They giggled. One of them looked back to Kai and saw his face a bit flushed.
"Say… she wouldn't happen to be your girlfriend, would she?"
Kai scoffed.
The waitresses looked at each other, confused by his non-verbal response, but didn't think too much of it. They left Kai to care for her.
A few minutes later they were sitting back down in Kai's booth. December was gingerly sipping her water, avoiding all eye contact, while Kai sat across from her. He ordered a black coffee and watched some of the tournament, but he was more focused on the captain of a particular team than the actual fight that was going on.
Ren...
He thought about his old friend back when they were younger, the one he couldn't save because he was so weak. He looked back to December, who was still keeping her head down, and for some strange reason, he felt that same kind of helplessness that he felt for Ren back then. He sighed.
This is stupid. Why am I so concerned?
He looked down to his cup of black coffee. He knew why. A couple times over the past week the thought of apologizing had crossed his mind, including now, but couldn't bring himself to do it.
Wait, why should I apologize? She's the one who started it. If anything she should be apologizing to me… I sound really immature. That's so unlike me.
He sighed again.
Why do I give a damn about you? You only bring out the worst in me and make my life more difficult than it already is.
From the corner of his eye, he watched as she slowly fell asleep, her head resting against the wall.
About half an hour had passed before she began to awaken. She slowly sat up, seeing Kai and Miwa through her hazy vision. Her first instinct was to run, but that would be a stupid idea, considering she wouldn't get that far in her current state. So she just looked at her lap. They were having a conversation of some sort. From what little bits and pieces she caught, it was something about Aichi.
She tried to stay as quiet as possible, but was caught off guard by queasiness in her stomach.
"Ugh..." She groaned as she held a hand to her stomach and her mouth.
"Well good morning sunshine! Kai told me you had another spill," Miwa said to her.
"And made a huge scene, just like she always does."
They both expected December to counter, but she felt too sick to respond.
"Hey, you're not lookin' so good. Here, I'll take you home. I just finished up here anyway."
"Y-you sure?" She stuttered.
"Of course. I'll just pay now so Kai can go talk to Aichi faster."
She would have nodded, but she was too nauseous to move it any which way.
Soon after, Kai got up and left to go find Aichi. Miwa, who was annoyed that Kai had bought more than he originally anticipated, and December soon went home. When they arrived back, they found Miwa's mother in the kitchen.
"Mom? What are you doing here, I thought you were supposed to be in Osaka for the rest of the month!" He hugged her.
"Management said I could complete everything else from home, so I decided to come back, especially since we have a guest staying here." She looked to December. "It's so nice to see you again sweetie!"
December gave her a small smile, before moving towards the table, laying her head down as she sat.
"Are you okay?" She and Miwa moved towards her.
"...no," was all she said in a breathy whisper.
His mother helped her to her room, while Miwa made a quick run to the pharmacy for some medicine. He decided to stop by Card Capital on his way back, explaining what had happened. Once he made it home, he found out from his mom that December had come down with a fever as a result of all the stress she had been under.
(Disclaimer: I do not own Cardfight! Vanguard or its characters. All I own are my OCs. Credit goes to Bushiroad)