"You are nothing but a meanie, Karako"
"Cheh, where's the -chan suffix today Todoko-chan?"
"Hmph. You don't deserve it"- The call receiver could feel the pout on the other person's voice, which only increased after she started to laugh. That was a very rude way to start the day, Karako thought, but, coming from Todoko, someone who she had known from a whole life ago, it was something to be expected when situations like this arose.
The cardio trainer was already up, having woke up in the early morning. She was cooking herself some eggs while still on her pajamas, which consisted of a worn out Sea World L-sized shirt she had bought cheap somewhere and nothing else. The cause of her being awake that early was thanks to the headsplitting headache (adding to it the familiar smell of sour alcohol that impregnated her room) that nights of fun tended to give as a gift and punishment for her naughty misdeeds.
Misdeeds like what she had done last night, necessary to distract herself from that and have some actual fun without tears… and...
"Hey! Don't ignore me!" – Todoko screamed from the other side of the phone conversation, clearly angered and forgetting her usually polite and sweet way of talking to a meaner, ruder version of herself,something what the rest of her real friends knew as her real self – "You bitch, how dare you get me bar-hopping knowing I was gonna go on a trip with my boss team!"
Karako laughed some more, this time with a sharp tone poisoning it, resounding into the hand grabbing the phone while the other still handled the sizzling pan. "Why didn't you tell me that when you had two beer jugs up your throat last night?"
"I was drunk as fuck, you- you gym whore" – The petite girl ended the sentence a bit flustered and 100% mad, knowing fully that it was a weak retort but not caring about it.
"Yep, I'm always a slut for exercise, Todoko-chan."- Karako said, prolonging the suffix a bit to ensure her friend a new set of grey hairs. While doing it, she popped two painkiller pills from their blisters and swallowed them dry. A growl was heard from the other side of the phone, the mori girl was already too sick (literally!) of her friend's snide words and laughs.
"Holy shit Karako! I can't put a step out of my house- no, room, without vomiting! I had to call the director and tell him I was going to the doctor! He will be pissed off at me next Monday!"
To that, Karako could only sigh, already annoyed at her friend's whines. So giving herself some moments of silence after Todoko's rant, she moved her pan to a plate and served her eggs over bread. "Well, that's something for next Monday's you to think on how to resolve, hehe" She said, munching her breakfast with gusto.
"Asshole. You lot keep doing that to me whenever you please! And this is my job you are playing with!" – Todoko replied, the pout on her face still audible. Some clattering sounds were able to be listened in the background, after them a faint curse was thrown silently. The tanned girl could clearly visualize the mental image of her friend trying to get her slippers, tripping while still searching for them, thing that had happened many times while she was still troubled by hangovers.
"Once a year can't be that damaging, Todo-chan. Plus we know you prefer us, the guys at your jobs were – hmm, how did you put it some days ago? – boring, unattractive, mob-like nobodies, was it?" Karako knew she was being terrible, but Todoko and the rest had the custom of fucking up the lives of the chosen victim of the day once a year too, and really, she knew by experience her workmates and boss wouldn't be angry over one day she took on the year, especially if the person was the beloved Todo-chan, the cute forest fairy of the accountant building, so she was only able to shrug. She was lucky to have a lenient workplace.
But of course,the response she received was immediate and as strong as always."Oh come on, how I would prefer someone who drinks and parties like a buccaneer when there's something on your mind you prefer to drown over giving it a single thought"
"What…?" -The tan girl couldn't help but sputter a bit after those words were said to her. "You still went with me you know—oh, wait, how did you—" She couldn't complete the phrase, as everything in her wavered even when it shouldn't, she was behind it right!?
"Psh, I know you from preschool- screw that, I know you all from preschool. I know what are all your quirks as this is not even the first or fifth time you tease me this way so, I assure you, next time we see each other? I'll make you suffer, with emphasis on it. Did you listen? Maybe I don't know the reason why you decided to do this to me but I know something yesterday made you feel bad, so I'll get it out your mouth and you will hurt." The line was cut, and Karako could only get out a nervous laugh over the past phrase.
That surely went to hell fast, she thought. But Todoko was like that, and every time she tried to make her hurt over something she would apologize in an hour or more, since she, even when angry, was proud of being a good friend. Fights like that were only when boys were related and…
… well, no boy was the problem here.
"Why did he leave…"
Not any boy of her own at least. Not that she has had a boy those last months, after all.
She was happy that the pink veil and weird thoughts yesterday's night had troubled her more than what she desired to admit were gone this morning, Karako thought to herself even if she still found herself rubbing out her eyes sometimes, but her recent phone talk with Todoko had left out a strange weight on her stomach and heart.
Was she that notorious…? … Nah, it was just the fact she knew very perceptive snakes who were also her friends. But for every minute she mulled over Todoko's words and reminded, thanks to that certain last words the way Osoko's skin felt near her own, the fact that her neckerchief was still very resguarded on her bag instead of washing into the laundry along with her dirty gym clothes and other week old stuff as if it didn't need a good wash no matter how much she wanted to remove the rimmel stains, the weight on her stomach became heavier and heavier. Eggs wouldn't help her heartburn and much less the new nausea symptom, so, carefully, she got up from her chair to not upset more her still aching head and belly, leaving the pan with the rest of the scrambled eggs on the sink, to then slowly direct her steps to the bath.
Stomach bugs, very much like unfavorable days and nasty colds could only be recovered with scalding water and lots of exercise, it was a fact experience had told her since she started with her cardio trainer job. And as a professional trainer the Akatsuka gym was free for any hour she wanted to use the machines for herself. The sizzling – bath could help her to remove bad thoughts first...
And the exercising part… it was the only thing that had helped her from when she decided to not communicate with her parents anymore. It was the only recommendation from them she had took to herself, as it was very much a limb more than a crutch. It was one of the only things she treasured from them.
And she hoped it was the last.
-0-0-0-
Walking slowly helped to ease the nasty gurgles on her stomach. However, the white gleam of the sun only helped to increase the mostly controlled headache she had been sporting since the morning start. Not that the little chat with Todoko-chan had helped, but the cold autumn sun she was confronting was obviously a threat to her walk to the gym, more than the other times she have had her usual alcohol migraines. By the time she entered the gym, by pure sheer will, it was midday and she felt she would die if she didn't get to drink more pills. Maybe four- no, five of them would be enough.
God, the cool air from the air conditioning system feel so cool, it felt like a punch to her face. And she was pushed by it too, a sudden wave of nausea being the only thing that left her standing up, ironically.
"Welcome back, Nakamura-san! Are you going to reserve the Pilates room today?" A female voice asked to her while she was trying to recover her senses. It must be the gym manager, whom she had talked to and even shared some beers together, Karako thought to herself, still unable to recover fully. A cautious thin and prim woman who lover her job and knew Karako's schedule as it was her own, and was proud of it. However Karako wasn't on the right mind – or body, judging how she wanted to be in a body that worked perfectly with no churning stomach or raging bomb on her head, and all she could state was "Wait me a bit, I need to cool my head first-" until another nausea wave attacked, this one stronger than the rest. And so, being unable to say anything anymore, all she could do was run to the nearest bathroom.
Not caring about the people inside it or which one of them entered, she ran to the closest open toilet cubicle to close the door violently and violently vomit her guts on it.
She was sure Todo-chan had poisoned her via phone or whatever, she thought on a small moment she was able to control her huffs until the next bout of poison hit again. It could've been a curse, really. Or maybe just karma after laughing at her. One should never underestimate the powers of an angered forest girl.
Slowly, vomits receded to dry heaves and when all stopped, Karako had no strength to stand up from her "revering the porcelain god" pose. And all she could do while trying to control her accelerated breathing was to change the pose to sitting on her butt, extending her legs so her knees didn't suffer more damage. They were already red, her eyes felt puffy red and and her gym clothes smelled like vomit, she could see.
"Shit, this is bad" – She said softly, almost in a whisper.
A knock on her door startled her. "Hello? Do you need any help?" It exclaimed. It was no voice she could recognize, even though it was a rich voice she was sure to have heard recently but couldn't pinpoint where.
"Please—" She said, faltering while trying to drown some nasty coughs – "C-can you get me some water? And help me to get out from here?"
"Oh, sure! I just need you to open the door, please!" – The voice said in a tone which strangely didn't sound like a female at all. Was this the female bathroom anyways…? There was no time to care too much about it, as all her stomach efforts on getting all her breakfast out clouded her mind. Slowly, the girl was able to raise a quivering hand to the door lock, effectively opening it after some fumbling seconds.
The voice was not been of a girl at all. What she had in front of her was a slightly rough looking guy who was pretty much average from his height to weight, owner of a pair of strong and big eyebrows, and user of an antiquated haircut, "very sixties" was the only rational comment her debilitated mind could provide. Blue was his election of colour for clothes, the most relevant one being a dark blue hoodie with a pine symbol on the center, and he had a bottle of water that in her delirious mind looked like recently taken from The Alps to her every painful second she passed on the cold bathroom tiles, so she was sure he couldn't be a bad guy at all. He was looking more and more like an angel, in fact, so she decided to act fast. Fast enough to try to get up and fall down on the very same second she tried so.
The man was able to catch her arm so the fall wouldn't be that painful, and when looking at him that near she could see a shine of desperation on his eyes. "I'll take you to a sink! I'll help, no worries. Also, please take this bottle! I just bought it recently, so don't worry about it."
"O-oh, thank you very much, mister…"
"Karamatsu, Matsuno Karamatsu" – the guy said, unable to hide a smile even though his face was all worry, made him gain an air of being proud at himself over his name. A narcissist probably, Karako thought, while being levered to the bathroom sink to take some water and gurgle away the foul taste on her mouth, she had known some of those kinda people before. They always made her laugh.
"I'm—"
A voice outside the bathroom interrupted her. "Nakamura-san! This is the men's bathroom! I know you suffered an emergency but next time try to tell me first so I can help you!" – It was the gym manager, chiding her from the outside as it was her job.
"Aa, please don't worry my fair lady, I was just entering the bathroom when she ran upon it, and I can assure no one else is here!" – Karamatsu said, loud enough so the girl outside the bathroom could listen well. Was that English anyways? How painful! The sick girl couldn't help some laughs that very well could've been croaks due to her parched throat, to erupt from her mouth. The guy could only blush, the pink extending to the arms she was able to see due to him rolling up his sleeves to not get them wet, enough for Karako to see and laugh some more. To this, Karamatsu panicked more, in a pretty painful cycle of shame.
"Now now, my lady, please take more water a-and don't laugh that much, it could hurt your stomach more and we don't want you to get sick again—"
"God, you are so funny!"
It was true, maybe he was kind of an angel.
-0-0-0-
"Oooh my goood… My head…." Osoko muttered as she got up from her bed. "What the hell happened last night?"
The businesswoman looked around and noticed that she was back home on her bed but still in her work clothes from yesterday. She frowned when she saw the beer stains on her shirt and skirt. "Huh. Guess I got too out of control last night." She muttered as she scratched her head and stretched still on her bed. The brunette grimmanced when she remembered the reason for drinking, her failed relationship. Still with those images in mind, she flopped back onto her bed and covered her eyes. kicking her legs as if doing a tantrum. "Waaaahhh I just want to sleep forever!"
After a while of releasing stress that way, Osoko looked at her alarm clock and noticed that it was still an hour before her alarm should have woke her up, to then remember sit was her day off and she didn't even need her alarm clock, so she turned it off and sighed happily. "Nice. Time to go back to sleep." Osoko said to herself, pulling the covers over her head, ready to go back to sleep but just as she closed her eyes, ready to receive Morpheus with both arms open, her phone started to ring.
"God dammit, fuck! Who the hell is calling at this time?!" She shouted angrily as she reached over to her cell. Before she answered she took a quick look at the caller's ID and froze when she saw it was her boss. "Crap."
"Hey there, boss! What do you need?" She hoped she sounded cheery enough, despite her headache and the will to send her boss to the Shadow Realm for calling her at that godforsaken hours. It was her goddamn day off!
"Osoko, I need you to come to the office today to sort out some files. Somebody screwed up and now we have to redo some of them, so we need some people who can come in and help. Think you can do it?"
The business woman bit her lip. She really wanted to just sleep in and sleep all day but she knew that when one got asked that way it wasn't a real question, it was an obligation and so she had to go or face the consequences. "Will I get overtime pay?" … more money means she can afford more luxurious things right? Also, it'll help her forget. It was the reason why she wanted to drink so much, so it would help anyways.
"Of course! So, I'll see you later?"
"Yes. No problem, boss."
"Great! Just come in at 10 today. Give you some leeway since this is so last minute. See you soon." The boss said kindly and hung up. Osoko felt some slight guilt at wanting to previously yell at her boss for calling her so early. He was actually a pretty decent man, disregarding his workaholic acts.
"At least I got…" Osoko started and looked at the clock again. "About 2 hours to get there..."
She got out of bed and started to strip as she walked to her bathroom. More memories of last night were starting to come back to her and the young woman groaned out loud at how embarrassing she was last night.
"Why would I do that? Aaaaauughhh!" She then remembered have she completely dirtied Karako's neckerchief. "Aaah… she must be pretty pissed about that now… I wonder if I can make up for that? Not that she deserves it, though"
Osoko went to the kitchen to quickly drink water and eat some headache medication. 'Why do I do this to myself?' After taking the medication, Osoko headed towards the bathroom to clean up.
When she finally got to the bathroom, she paused at the mirror and took a good look at herself. Her face was a mess. Eyeliner and lipstick were smeared all over. Her eyes looked so tired. Her hair super messy. Osoko placed a hand on the mirror wondering if this gross looking person was her. 'Gosh, I'm such a mess…' She thought while sighing loudly, to then turn on the shower to clean herself. The brunette let out a happy sound at the warm water soothing her body, and let herself relax for a little while.
After showering Osoko made breakfast for herself. While eating, her mind kept going back to what happened between her and her recent ex.
'Am I really that undesirable?' It was the question she asked to herself last night and it was still the question that haunted her even while she pushed her thought wherever else. Even while wolfing down her breakfast, she still had no answer, not a positive one at least. Once she was done eating, Osoko put her dishes away and went to her bedroom to get dressed. The young woman took out an outfit that was identical to the work outfit she wore last night. In other words, just a plain old normal looking grey business outfit.
Osoko tried to think about other things like groceries and the unmade laundry that was still waiting on her balcony basket. She needed to refill her rice and totally get all the beer off yesterday's clothes, but her mind just kept wandering back to how her ex just couldn't get it up when he saw her. 'Am I too old? Too fat? What did I do wrong?' These unpleasant thoughts kept following her even to work. She was so concentrated on figuring out why she wasn't good enough that she bumped into several people along her commute to her workplace.
Her hangover, not quite yet gone, caused her to trip on her own feet when she entered the elevator, making a few people stare at her with worry. Osoko did a fake smile at them. 'Please stop staring at me and mind your own business!' She told the crowd in her head as they continued to stare. Eventually she made it to her office.
'Okay, maybe he's actually gay but pretending to be straight?! No, no, I've seen this guy get hard at girls before. So how come that happened?' Osoko wondered while she was photocopying papers. She didn't notice that the photocopier just kept printing out papers until a coworker shouted at her.
"Hey Osoko! The copier! The paper! It's falling!"
Osoko looked down and sure enough, a few papers fell to the ground and the copier wasn't stopping.
"Ah!" 'Shit!'
The businesswoman swiftly pressed 'Stop' on the copier and begun to pick up the fallen papers while apologizing for her mistake.
'Am I just destined to not find love? A lifelong partner?' Osoko's gloomy mood was affecting her work so bad that she filed some papers wrong and stamped papers with the wrong stamp. She also accidentally stapled together papers that were not meant to be stapled.
The words on the files she was reading was beginning to blur together and it didn't help that her hangover still didn't go away. Osoko squeezed her eyes shut and let out a low growl causing her office mates to wonder his there was an animal in the building.
Mistakes after mistakes kept occuring and eventually her boss called her in.
"Osoko, what's going on? You're usually so professional and proficient! Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm very sorry, boss! I'll do better!"
"Hmm… I'll let you off for today since this is a weekend and you weren't supposed to come in. You can keep your overtime pay too. Just make sure that you're in top-notch shape during your actual work hours, alright?"
Osoko bit her lip. "I understand, boss."
Her boss nodded. "You may go home now."
Osoko bowed and quickly left the office after packing up her bag. She checked her watch as she exited the doors. The sun was still up and it was only a little after 3PM. "Hm… I guess I can go out for some coffee?" Osoko said to herself and made way to the nearest cafe. Once at the cafe she ordered a creamy caramel mocha and patiently waited for her drink to arrive.
While waiting, her thoughts trailed back to last night again. 'I cried so much last night... I'm lucky that I didn't do anything so bad I would get fired…' she leaned forward to the table and laid her head onto her arms.
She hummed and tried to think about her friends to take her mind off of depressing thoughts. 'Choroko hasn't changed much except her itabag… I wonder what her newest obsession is now? I think she said something about idols? What's so good about 2D anime idols?' The brunette's mind drifted off to Ichiko next. 'Looks like Ichiko switched to some whitening toothpaste. She has brighter teeth now. Her breaths stinks less too. Is she using more mouthwash? Gum? Actually flossing? Good for her…'
Time passed as she was thinking and soon, Osoko's drink came. She thanked the waiter and stared through the window at nothing in particular as she waited for her drink to cool down.
'Jyushiko… still the same as ever. I want to go fashion shopping with her again soon. I should text her later. Todoko too. Although she might be going on another business trip with her coworkers. Geez that girl has no shame, making her male cowokers do everything for her. What a princess…'
Osoko started to take small careful sips of her mocha.
'Ah, I think I should treat karako out to ice cream later. I remember i kept crying on her shoulder and ran snot all over her.' Osoko chuckled. She remembered how Karako embraced her warmly when she was crying. 'Mnnghh… I wish I could find someone like that. Someone who could make me feel safe and be myself…'
Despite all the shit they say and do to each other, Osoko, Karako, Choroko, Ichiko, Jyushiko and Todoko all cared in their own way. The girls just can't help but throw shade to each other whenever they interact. It was just their dynamic. However, they all knew when to stop and actually help each other when one of them needed it the most. Osoko smiled, she really did have some good friends, even if they were (and still are!) shitheads.
After finishing her drink in the cafe Osoko went to the supermarket to get some groceries. She got some rice, vegetables and meat.
'Alright, that takes care of dinner.'
Once she paid for her items, Osoko went straight home. 'Man, I can't wait to get home.'
The businesswoman arrived safely home and was about to change into her pyjamas when all of a sudden, her phone rang. Osoko scowled and checked the caller. 'What now?' she thought, annoyed. If Choroko was just going to squeal to her about some pairing again, Osoko swore she would block her number (she never ever goes through with it though).
"He-"
"OSOKO! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" a shrill voice shreaked.
Shocked at the sudden volume, Osoko pulled her ear away from the phone. Damn, Choroko had a REALLY loud voice.
"My back! Oh my god! My back is ruined because of you! Do you have any idea of how heavy you are? It hurts to even move now! You better take responsibility for this!"
Osoko felt a vein pop up. She really didn't want to deal with this right now. "Well excuuuuse me, princess! Maybe you should take it as a sign that you need to work out instead of holing up in your room most of the time!"
"Where the heck do you get off on talking back to me like this?! If it hadn't been for me, your sorry ass would probably still be at the goddamn restaurant!"
"Choroko, I had a really fucking shitty day, so please, let's talk about this some other time. I need rest."
"Oh well, boo hoo! You had a shitty day? I did too! And it's all because of you! You're always like this! You-"
Osoko tuned out Choroko's screaming and stared at a picture on her wall. 'Ugh, I'll treat her to a spa then' Osoko told herself mentally and hung up on Choroko. She then quickly turned off her phone and went to change.
Once when she was in her pajamas, Osoko climbed into bed, pulled the covers up and closed her eyes for a well-deserved nap. She could deal with dinner later. For now, she needed rest.
Good thing tomorrow is Sunday, another day off. Perhaps it will be better than today.
Just a word, please go visit Jalle's account on twitter (Jallematsu) so you can see his amazing art and enjoy this fanfic better.
I'm getting slower each day, thank you thesis.
Anyways, I'll be here if you need something!