chap. 10 tsumugi/makoto
tsumugi thinks she met someone ever more plain
"So… Do you watch any anime?"
Tsumugi almost can't believe she's stuck in an elevator. Nothing this interesting has happened to her in a while! And she's stuck with some stranger, too!
It's like something right out of a fanfiction! Maybe this is her soulmate and this is their wacky way of meeting? Well, his answer to her first question might be the confirmation she needs.
The boy with the legendary ahoge looks up from his phone in surprise. They've been sitting here for thirty minutes already and haven't spoken once beside the nervous murmurs of realizing you're stuck in an elevator. Thankfully, his expression turns peaceful with a hesitant smile, which is a good sign.
"Sorry, I'm just plain bored, you know? I was simply wondering…"
"No, it's okay," The boy pockets his phone, "Oh, uhm. My name is Makoto, by the way."
She smiles, adjusting her glasses. "Tsumugi."
With another grin, Makoto speaks again. "Any animes…? Well, I've been watching Chainsaw Man recently! Have you checked it out?"
An anime that's really popular recently… it probably means that he keeps up with a lot of them, right? She might be able to work with that. "I love Chainsaw Man! Who's your favorite character?"
"Really? I haven't watched much, so don't spoil it… I don't think I can pick a favorite, seriously."
"That's okay! Do you have any anime recommendations yourself? Or manga…?"
Makoto beams, which Tsumugi takes with stride, right before he lists off every generic shounen anime that everyone and their mom has already seen. The more she tries to pry out of him, the more bored she gets. It wasn't even a problem of the boy not cooperating, he talked everytime she prompted it. But every answer was just so… predictable.
She didn't get trapped with just some teenage boy. Tsumugi is trapped in this elevator with the teenagerist boy to ever exist!
At least he was polite, she muses as Makoto blabbered on about the annoying (but not too mean!) teachers at his school, or his crush who is pretty and smart or his sister who is kind of annoying but they get along sometimes… Is this what people feel like when such a plain girl as herself talks to them? He isn't even interesting enough to overdo it, because eventually they return to sitting in silence. Ugh… This guy is plainer than even her! Definitely not her soulmate…
One cheek resting on her fist, Tsumugi waits for the both of them to be rescued, disappointed for reasons not concerning the unmoving elevator.