Chapter 29: Fuwa Masuko, Saiko Chii
Even in winter days, Saiko's costume felt really hot. She was dressed essentially as an electric pole cosplaying as Santa, complete with white scraggly (very itchy) beard, giving flyers and tissues. She always hated this, but she so loved her aunt's extra pocket money. At least there's someone else with her, so it's not super boring.
"Must be super hot in there, huh?" Saiko asked. The other person's costume was completely different to hers. Saiko's was tall, slender and red, while hers was short, round, and white. She's a snowman, with blue buttons and a very round head. A very round snowman, so the costume must be extra thick.
"Hmm? No, it's quite chilly actually," she said. She revealed her actual clothing behind the white costume. The costume was actually the thickness of a t-shirt.
"Wait! You're really big!" Saiko said. She moved her hands towards what she thought was a head costume, but instead she touched human flesh.
Very very soft human cheeks. There's some warmth to it, but the strongest sensation was that of softness. Softness like that of clouds, kind and motherly. It's the sort of softness you want to push and push.
"Are you good at rolling?" Saiko asked.
"Incredibly so," Fuwa said.
[break]
"STOOOPP!"
Komi and Tadano looked to the incline ahead. There they saw a big ball rolling down the concrete road, with a tall girl chasing after it. Tadano looked at the side of the ball and saw a smaller sphere attached to it. No, it wasn't a sphere, it was a human head. The ball was a human body.
"That's Fuwa!" Tadano said. He looked at Komi, whose face had also turned blue. Not knowing what else to do, Tadano told Komi to stand aside and to get ready to call an ambulance in case Fuwa got really hurt. He ran towards Fuwa, looking more and more massive as it kept on rolling down. He put his entire strength on it and tried to stop Fuwa. His body collided fully into her.
Komi already calculated subconsciously that such a big mass (in her heart she apologised to Fuwa) rolling at that speed would carry a huge momentum and it would be too much for the thin Tadano. To her surprise, he wasn't steamrolled, but instead managed to keep standing. She stood behind him and pushed on him, giving it all her strength. Ah, she realised. Tadano's back was more muscular than she imagined.
This was no time to admire her boyfriend's physique. She used up all her strength. Weirdly, there was no struggle from Tadano. He was stiff as a board. Eventually, after a few seconds that felt like hours, the two of them managed to stop Fuwa. Fuwa laid supine, head facing the sky and her clothes filthy with dirt.
"Rolled too good," Fuwa said. "Sorry, Tadano, Komi."
"Are you alright? I'm so sorry!' Saiko said as she helped Fuwa up.
"Absolutely fine. You can check it yourself."
Saiko poked Fuwa's soft stomach. Absolutely soft. Soft like marshmallow pillows. She wanted to push her more. "It's time to go back," Fuwa said. "Your aunt will be angry if we're out too late." This stopped the poking.
As the two were leaving, Komi looked at Tadano, who stood still, stiff as a statue, his eyes not looking at anything.
"Wait, Komi, did Tadano...oh no," Fuwa said.
Komi looked at Fuwa in extreme worry.
"He's overdosed on Fluff," Fuwa said.
"?"
"Basically, he pressed on me too much and he is taken over by the Fluff," Fuwa said. "It's not dangerous, he'll probably get over it in a few hours. Or…"
"Or?"
Fuwa smiled her characteristic fairy tale smile. "You could give him your own fluff, Komi. You know, a hug." Noticing the blush in Komi's face, Fuwa turned to Saiko. "Alright, let's go!" The two left.
Komi walked around Tadano. He looked absolutely out of it. His eyes were blank and his grin, normally so lovable, was emotionless, a mere muscle movement. She looked around to make sure nobody was looking, then she spread her arms.
The scent of a cool spring breeze, reminiscent of his first day at Itan, woke Tadano up. "Huh? What was I doing? Komi? Where was Fuwa? Is she okay?"
Komi wrote down the events that happened since he tried to stop Fuwa and showed the notebook to him. She avoided his gaze all the while.
"Thank god she's okay," Tadano said, returning the notebook. "Shall we continue?"
"Continue what?"
"Continue...walking home?"
"Oh. Yes," Komi said.
"You know, I had a very weird sense of deja vu then. Like … flowers blooming in spring? Don't know how to explain it, haha."
Komi's blush intensified and she began running, the incline not slowing her down at all.
"Komi?"
Author's note: Chapter 128 will explain why Tadano had that sense of deja vu in the end.