- Chapter 2: A Surprise From This Disastrous Shut-In! -
The last fifteen or so minutes of Kazuma's life had been unusual, to put it lightly. Currently, he was making the short trek between where he had parted ways with Megumin and the shabby looking apartment building that he and his roommate were currently living in. As he made his way towards the apartment, his thoughts lingered on the last two hours or so of his life and, more specifically, the girl he'd spent those two hours with.
Megumin had been acting weirder and weirder as they'd been making their way back home. From randomly clinging to his arm to seemingly acting as if she had something important to tell him just to thank him for buying her a drink, the whole thing really didn't add up to him. Not that he would complain about the way she was acting, he had to admit that she had been especially cute the entire time.
Kazuma was a lot of things, mind you, but he was not dense, not in the slightest, especially when it came to other people's feelings. He had to deal with so many troublesome people on a daily basis that it honestly would've been weirder if he wasn't capable of understanding other people's emotions. That was the exact reason why Kazuma found it so hard to ignore what was, to him at least, the most likely explanation for her actions.
Had she been trying to send him a message? More specifically, to let him know that she was… interested in him?
The mere thought of it sent Kazuma's brain into something of a battle, trying to figure out if that really was the most logical explanation for her actions or if this was just another one of his lewd daydreams getting out of control. 'I mean, we've been close friends for a while now, is it really so surprising that she would develop feelings for me?' Kazuma internally questioned himself, getting a chorus of affirmation and denial thrown back at him from all corners of his brain.
He didn't think it was impossible that the girl would feel that way towards him, actually there were a myriad of reasons he could give as to why she might have some feelings for him. The way she always smiled upon seeing him, how she would always look so happy and relaxed in his presence, how she seemingly trusted him enough to tell him pretty much anything and not to mention the fact that he was pretty damn sure he got special treatment from her, he doubted many other people would be able to make some of the comments that he did around her and come out unharmed.
Yet still, he was unsure. He couldn't help but want to brush off the idea that she actually had romantic feelings as him having an overactive imagination again, just so that he didn't get his hopes up and end up embarrassing himself. Could you really blame him for thinking that way? Sure, he had become a lot more confident in both himself and his relationships with others ever since he'd graduated from being a full time recluse, but he was still the boy who locked himself away from the world after he was 'betrayed' by his childhood crush. He really didn't want something like that happening to him ever again.
Not wanting to relive the memories of his past heartbreak any longer, Kazuma simply just decided to let Megumin's strange actions go for now, an act he was sure that Megumin herself would want him to do anyway, instead focusing on making his way to the door to his apartment as he pulled out his key.
"Hey, Kazuma! You're late!".
Ah, of course. What a fool he was for thinking he could have a moment of peace.
"I'm… late?" He looked at the slob in front of him with an unamused expression as he shut the door to his apartment behind him, "And what exactly is it that I'm late for, Aqua?".
His roommate, Aqua, looked at him a moment, as if she'd already forgotten what she was going to say, before she lit up and began explaining to the boy. "Well, you said last night that you only had a half day today, so you'd probably be back around lunchtime, right?".
"Huh, so you do have a functioning memory, good to know," he replied sarcastically.
She sent him a sour look before continuing. "So, after you left this morning, I had a genius idea. Instead of having cup noodles for lunch today, I could just wait for you to come back home and have you cook something. For both of us, of course," She said that last part with an innocent smile that Kazuma could easily see through. "But now it's already 2pm and I haven't eaten anything! Do something Kazuma, I need food NOW!".
Kazuma rubbed his temples and groaned in pure irritation. He wanted to yell at her, he really, REALLY wanted to yell at her, but he eventually decided against it. As much as he loathed to admit it this was actually fairly tame compared to the blue haired girl's usual antics and this time he could at least somewhat see the logic in her actions. It didn't make him any less pissed though.
He glared at her. "Not happening."
"Kazumaaaaaa!" Aqua wailed, reaching an annoyingly loud volume, "B-but I'm s-so… so hungry…".
"I don't care. We have snacks if you're really so hungry," He replied as he set his bag down on the floor, "I'll cook something before I leave for work later, I've already had lunch. It's your fault for not making anything yourself."
Though it looked like she really wanted to say something back to him, Aqua thankfully just sniffled and muttered something under her breath as she made her way to the other side of the room, where their kitchen was located. Kazuma couldn't help but feel a teensy bit bad for the girl, though he realistically knew he had literally no reason to, the self-centred girl had brought this upon herself after all. Although he knew Aqua well enough to know that she really hadn't had bad intentions when she just expected him to cook for her, she really was just that stupid that she didn't even realise that she was being pretty damn arrogant. Plus, she really hadn't been that rude about it, by Aqua standards at least, and she had let it go fairly easily.
All things considered, she was actually being fairly well behaved. Again, by Aqua standards.
Kazuma sighed, already regretting what he was about to say. "What do you want then?".
"Hmm?" She asked, her mouth full of chips.
"To eat later, what do you want?" He saw the sparkle in her eyes and quickly decided to amend his previous statement, "Within reason."
Irritating and lazy as Aqua was, Kazuma still found himself smiling a little upon seeing the large grin on his friend's face.
The next two hours passed by very peacefully, with Kazuma trying to get an early start on his homework, before giving up after about 20 minutes and instead joining Aqua in front of their small TV to play video games. The freeloader quickly forgot about her previous complaints of hunger as she desperately tried, and failed, to beat Kazuma at a multiplayer racing game, one that Kazuma had already mastered in his youth.
As 4 o'clock began to approach, Kazuma decided it would probably be a good time to start cooking, he only had just over an hour until his shift began, after all. After spending around 20 minutes on a quick and cheap pork ramen bowl, at Aqua's behest, that he found online, he quickly ate his meal before grabbing his work clothes, along with a spare pair of casual clothes just in case, and tossing them into his bag.
It was now 4:52pm, and Kazuma was presently standing in front of Café Blessing, hoping and praying that tonight would just be a slow night without many customers. Opening the door, he quickly spotted Chris, who quickly waved him over before she went back to wiping down one of the window side tables.
"Early, I like it!" She told him with a grin and a thumbs up.
"I'd barely call this early," Kazuma smirked back at her, "I'm only here now so that I can take my time getting into uniform."
"Well you best get to changing, then, I expect you to be out here, ready to work, in seven minutes, helper."
Kazuma let out a half-hearted "Got it chief," as he made his way through the door that led to the employees' area of the café. He casually wandered towards the cafe's designated changing room before he heard a door opening a few feet behind him, followed by a familiar voice not long after.
"Haah… h-hey Kazuma, here for your shift already?".
He turned around to look at the girl panting behind him. "Oi, isn't it too early for you to be like this already, Darkness?".
"I-I have no idea what you're talking about," Darkness tried to deny, despite the blush on her face, "And I've already been here for half an hour now."
Darkness, Kazuma and Aqua's next-door neighbour and the only other person Kazuma actually knew to be living in their apartment block. The college student had moved into their apartment block just under a month ago and had quickly made herself acquainted with her two neighbours, for better or for worse.
Kazuma had almost instantly been taken in by her beauty and shapely body only to be beyond disappointed when he learned of her… interesting personality traits. Simply put, the girl was a masochist, and a pretty extreme one at that. There were very few things in the world that couldn't get her hot and heavy, or so Kazuma assumed. After a disastrous first shift together with her as a new hire at the café, he very quickly dismissed her as a romantic interest and simply decided that he would instead just appreciate her stunning beauty from a safe distance.
Even more strange than all of that, though, was the fact that her and Aqua genuinely seemed to get along fairly decently. It seemed Aqua either wasn't bothered by or was simply just too oblivious to notice Darkness' perverted quirks. And so, their new neighbour soon joined Kazuma, and only Kazuma, on the list of people that Aqua actually interacted with on a somewhat regular basis, with the NEET ever so occasionally leaving their apartment to go bother Darkness if Kazuma was out at the time.
Kazuma was pretty sure Darkness just took pity on the strange and sad creature that was his roommate.
"What, you're coming in early to help clean up now? You know that chief won't pay you extra for that, right?".
"I'm aware," She responded, seemingly having returned to a more normal state, "I do this job more so for the experience than for the money, so it doesn't bother me."
"Must be nice," He chuckled bitterly, "Anyway, I've gotta go change before my shift. I'll be in the kitchen when I'm done, you can go out and start taking orders as soon as we open up if you want, I'm sure the chief will appreciate it."
After getting an affirmative response from the blonde, Kazuma once again made his way in the direction of the changing room, quickly getting to work on undressing once he closed the door behind him and reached his locker. After changing into his work attire, he quickly folded his clothes and stuffed them into his bag, before placing his bag into his locker, now ready to begin his gruelling shift.
"5pm on the dot," Chris announced as Kazuma made his way into the kitchen, "Not bad, helper."
"Pan-cakes, pan-cakes, pan-cakes!" The small girl chanted in excitement as she tugged on her big sister's sleeve.
Megumin looked down and smiled at her little sister. "The pancakes will be here in a few minutes, Komekko, you just have to wait patiently for the nice people to make them for you."
Komekko looked up at her for a few seconds, before nodding her head vigorously with a shout of "Okay!".
"Sh-she sure seems excited about the food… ehehehe…" The third girl, Yunyun, timidly spoke from the other side of the table.
"It's not surprising," Megumin replied, "She really loves food and she's never eaten pancakes before. I'm just worried that she'll try to eat too much and make herself sick."
All things considered, the outing had been fairly pleasant so far. Sure, there were a few times Yunyun had said or done something that had ended up annoying Megumin, and a few times were Megumin had maybe gone a little bit too far in retaliation, but aside from those small hiccups it had been a mostly enjoyable experience for the 3 of them, not that Komekko actually had any interest in anything besides getting her food.
To put it bluntly, Yunyun was a very awkward conversation partner, not that Megumin had really expected otherwise, but if Komekko hadn't been there to lighten the mood with her cheery attitude and little impromptu songs about food, she feared that this would've been a very awkward experience.
Her little sister never failed to make Megumin smile. Admittedly, things weren't always that way. Megumin could still remember how frustrated she used to get every time she was left alone to take care of Komekko. Not that she was ever frustrated at Komekko herself, she was more so just frustrated by the fact that she was being left to take care of a child by herself. Yet, over time, she'd become much more used to taking care of her, to the point where what was once an irritation for her had quickly become a source of comfort. Strange.
Megumin's eyes lazily moved from her sister over to the girl across from her. She wondered what exactly it was that made Yunyun the way she was. No one was just born as weird and awkward as Yunyun. At least, she hoped not. Though, maybe she was being a bit unfair to the girl. Stalker-ish tendencies aside, Yunyun did seem like a genuinely sweet girl, just one who was utterly incapable of making friends.
Though, to be fair, it's not like Megumin was some bastion of friendship herself. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad of an idea to cut Yunyun some slack every once in a while.
"It looks like things should be starting to slow down now," Chris informed Kazuma as she made her way into the storage room, "Darkness says she'll be fine handling any customers that show up on her own, so why don't we take a break for a little bit?". It was already pretty far into the third hour of his shift and Kazuma was more than ready for a break, though he was somewhat curious about her choice of words.
"We?" He cocked his head, placing down the box he was in the middle of transporting, "Is chief looking to get frisky with me in front of the coffee beans?".
"You wish," She playfully winked, "Nope, I'm here to talk to you about something very important, helper."
"Is that so? Please tell me that you've finally decided to raise my pay."
"Bzzt! Wrong again!" she made her way over to him and sat down on the box he'd just placed down, "I'm here to hear about what's going on between you and that girl you were here with earlier. Megumin, was it?".
"Mhm, but I think you must've misunderstood something when we came in earlier," Came Kazuma's reply, resting his arms behind his head, "There's nothing 'going on' between me and Megumin."
"You're messing with me. There's no way what I saw earlier can be considered nothing, that girl is totally into you. You do know that, right?" She raised her eyebrows at the boy.
"... You really think so?".
"Are you kiddi- Yes of course I do. Are you seriously telling me that you two weren't on a date back there?".
"I mean I don't think it-" He shook his head, "No, it definitely wasn't a date. Though I am starting to suspect that she might have some feelings for me."
She rolled her eyes, "You think?".
"Shut it, you," He snorted slightly, "If you knew her like I know her, you'd probably be just as confused as I am."
"Sooo," Chris moved her face closer to his, "How do you feel about her, then?".
Kazuma leaned back and sharply averted his gaze in response to her question, "And why should I answer that question?".
"You don't have to," She giggled mischievously, "I'm pretty sure I already know the answer."
He looked at her with a deadpan expression. "This seriously has to be some kind of workers' rights violation…".
"Oh, don't be like that," Chris smiled widely, "I think it's cute that little helper has finally found love!".
"N-now hold on just a second," The teen shot back, "Who said anything about love!?".
"So you're admitting that you do like her?".
"That's not what I-" He sighed, knowing that he'd already lost, "Fine, you win. I might have… some… feelings for her. Happy?".
"Very," Her response was dripping with gleeful satisfaction, "Who knew that you'd catch feelings for someone who actually seems to like you back, even if she is a middle schooler."
"If you word it like that, it makes me feel like I'm committing some sort of crime," Kazuma said dejectedly, "I'm only in my first year of high school myself, I'll have you know."
"Stop overthinking it so much. I assumed you'd be jumping for joy at the knowledge that a cute girl was interested in you."
"Seriously," He furrowed his brow at her, "What kind of person do you see me as?"
"Geez, I'm just messing with you, helper!" She stood up, dusting off her skirt, "If you want my advice, I'd say just go from it, you two look pretty cute together. Anyway, thanks for the scoop, I'll make sure to let Darkness know all about this later on."
"Oi! Don't you dare, that's private information!".
She made her way to the door, before turning around to look at him with a devious look on her face. "Okay, okay. I'll keep quiet about it for now," She spoke in a tone that made Kazuma seriously doubt her words, "And, one last thing. Feel free to bring her here again next time you two go on a date, I wouldn't mind getting to know her a bit more. Byeee~."
And with that, she skipped out of the storage room, leaving Kazuma alone to brood over the events of the last few unfortunate minutes of his life. He let out a loud sigh as he dramatically slumped his shoulders in exasperation.
"I seriously hate my boss."
"I can still hear you, helper!".
Aqua lazily rolled over onto her back to stare at the ceiling. She was currently just a little bit drunk and oh so very bored. Rolling over once more and sitting up, she took a sip from her half empty beer can as her eyes settled on the clock hung on the opposite wall of the room. It was currently 9:46, Kazuma wouldn't be back home for around half an hour still. That was unfortunate for her, she was feeling kind of hungry again, and Kazuma's cooking was very good.
As she sat there, sipping on her beer, Aqua began to think about Kazuma. He really had done a lot for her. Scratch that, he'd practically saved her life. Her own family had kicked her out for causing them so much trouble, which she still felt was undeserved, and no one else had been willing to take her in. Yet Kazuma had allowed her to live with him, even though he already struggled enough when it came to supporting himself. Sure, he had been reluctant at first, and she could tell that there were moments where he really wished he hadn't taken her in, but he'd still let her stay with him out of the kindness of his heart, asking for almost nothing from her in return.
She really did cause him a lot of trouble, didn't she?
Maybe it was about time she started repaying that kindness, even if only by a little bit. Yes, Aqua was selfish, she knew that. She couldn't help but put her needs and wants before those of others most of the time, it was just how she was, but she wasn't blind to the amount of effort and stress she made Kazuma go through just to fulfil her own whims. He was just a kid, after all. To her, at that moment, she could still see that little kid that she used to spend all day running around and getting into trouble with. Even though she tried to act like a big sister back then, it would almost always end with her in tears while the young Kazuma would do his best to take care of the snivelling older girl.
"Some things never change, I guess…".
The feeling that went through Aqua as she got up and made her way to the kitchen, swaying a bit as she went, was an uncommon one. A feeling that she only felt on very rare occasions nowadays, like this one. The desire to do something kind for someone else purely for the sake of making their life a little easier.
Aqua smiled to herself as she opened the fridge, already imagining Kazuma's shocked reaction as he arrived home to see a delicious home-cooked meal waiting for him. Maybe he'd even raise her allowance after such a wonderful act of kindness. Sure, she couldn't exactly cook much of anything, but what's the worst that could happen?
Kazuma suddenly shivered, an ominous feeling of doom washing over him, before disappearing just as quickly as it had arrived.
"You doing okay, helper?" Chris asked as the three of them waited at the station for Chris' train, "It really isn't that cold out tonight, plus you are wearing a jacket."
"Just some random shiver I guess," He shrugged as he leaned against the wall, "I don't feel particularly cold."
After their shift had ended and the café had been closed up for the night, Kazuma, Chris and Darkness had taken the short walk over to the train station, to ensure that Chris got to her train okay, before Kazuma and Darkness would head off to catch the 9:45 bus. It was a routine the three of them were all more or less used to by now.
Chris looked at the overhead timetable, scouring for where she'd need to be headed in order to board her train. "Ah! Platform six. I'll probably have to get going now if I don't wanna have to rush there," She turned back to her two employees, "Good work tonight, you two! See you in two weeks, Darkness! I'll be expecting to see you again at 5pm tomorrow, helper!".
And with that, the short haired girl began to happily walk off, further into the station.
"Well, we really should get going now if we don't want to be late," Darkness told Kazuma as she checked the time on her phone.
"Mhm," Kazuma responded as he stifled a yawn, "Sooner I get home, the better."
As they began their walk from the station to the bus stop, Kazuma grew curious as his thoughts lingered on Chris' words from earlier. "Hey, Darkness, chief said something earlier about not seeing you again for 2 weeks, what's that about?".
"Oh, uh, right. That." She replied, seemingly a little bit nervous.
"Oi, if it's something you don't wanna say, then that's fine."
She shook her head and smiled, seemingly appreciative of his concern, "No, it's fine. I have no problems telling you about it. I am simply just returning back home for a little bit before college properly starts for me in a few weeks."
"Ah, I see," He nodded, before another thought crossed his mind, "But why so soon, haven't you only been living here for around a month?".
"Yes, that is true," Darkness became nervous once again, "In truth, this is my first time living on my own. It has been something of a difficult learning process. I thought it might be a nice break to go back and visit my father while I still have this much free time, in order to let him know that I am adjusting well to this new way of life."
'Well-adjusted' was certainly not a word he would use to describe Darkness, but he decided to keep that to himself for her own sake. "A 'new way of life', huh?" Kazuma looked at her with a studious expression, "What, are you secretly some rich girl who's never properly experienced the outside world before?".
In response to his joke, the older girl seemed to tense up as she began to look increasingly more and more uncomfortable as she stammered something out, way too quietly for Kazuma to understand.
"No way…" He said, wide eyed, "Seriously?"
She continued to writhe around in unease for a few more moments before turning back to Kazuma with a red face. "Was… was it really that obvious?"
The brunette let out a puff of air into the night air in amusement, "Honestly, I was mostly joking. Although I did have my suspicions that your family must've been pretty well off. So your parents are like billionaires or something?"
"I… I'd rather not talk about it if that's okay…" Darkness quietly mumbled.
"Right, sure thing." Kazuma said, still a little in disbelief at the idea that the hardcore masochist was actually some rich guy's daughter.
After a few moments, Darkness spoke up once again. "Kazuma… you… you won't see me differently now because of this information, will you?"
'Ah,' He thought, 'So that's why she tried to hide this, she didn't want anyone to see her differently just because she was rich.'
"No, not really," The younger teen replied, "You being rich doesn't change the fact that you're some kind of freaky mega-perv."
"Ahh~" She quivered, quickly returning back to her usual ways, "You're always so… huff… ruthless."
"You really can't break character for more than 5 minutes, can you?"
"Unngg!"
As they made their way to the bus stop and the atmosphere between them became much less tense, Kazuma began to think about visiting his own family. Truthfully, things had become pretty sour between him and his parents after he decided to fully move out on his own some months ago in order to take care of Aqua, though he hadn't told them that she was the real reason. He did miss them though. As of the current moment, his only real line of communication with his family was through his little brother, whom he still kept in contact with fairly often.
According to the texts his brother had sent him earlier in the day, the 3 of them had decided to go on a small vacation over the spring break, and had arrived at the hotel they would be spending the next two weeks at a couple of hours ago. Maybe, after they got back, Kazuma would take the time to visit home too, to try and possibly mend the strained relationship he currently had with his parents. It sure would be nice to not have to live pay check to pay check for a little bit.
"Lalatina," Darkness cut through the momentary silence between them, snapping Kazuma out of his thoughts, "M-my real name is Lalatina Dustiness Ford,"
"...Pfft!".
"H-HEY!".
The bus ride back home was a very peaceful one for the two co-workers. After finally sitting down to rest on the bus seats, it didn't take too long for both of them to drift into a comfortable slumber, luckily waking up just before the bus arrived at their get-off point. Soon enough, they found themselves making the last leg of their journey back to the apartment building, making idle small talk as they went.
"I'm telling you, that girl is a walking bad luck charm. If you keep letting her hang around you while I'm out, something really bad is gonna happen to you eventually."
"S-something really bad? What kind of thing? How bad are we talking about? Whatever i-it is, I'm sure I'll be able to handle it, for you and Aqua's sake, of course…"
"Seriously, stop smiling like that, it's weirding me out. Like, a lot," Kazuma rolled his eyes at the pervert he was currently walking side by side with, "We should be home in about a minute now, the road that leads to the apartments is just up ahead."
"Umm, Kazuma…?"
"I'm Kazuma."
"Doesn't the air around here smell a bit… smoky? Or is it just me?"
The boy sniffed the air, taking in the scent. "No, it's not just you, there's definitely smoke in the air around here... Y-you don't think that…?"
The two had broken into a sprint before Kazuma could even finish his thought, quickly running down the road that marked the last leg of their journey home.
"K-k-kazuma…?".
Darkness looked over at the boy as he stood in complete silence as he looked over at the burning remains of what once was their apartment building. The firefighters who were presently on the scene had clearly been too late to save the building itself, and were simply just working on putting out the wreckage that still remained ablaze.
Hearing a sniffle coming from her left, Darkness turned to hear a familiar voice and see a familiar face, eyes overflowing with tears.
"K-kazuma... Darkness…".
For the first time since seeing the torched apartment complex, Kazuma broke out from his frozen trance to grab at his head and scream out at the sky. "WHAT THE FUUUUUUCCCCCKKKKK!?".
Aqua's sobs grew even louder at Kazuma's screaming, the poor boy clearly having surpassed the limit of what he was able to put up with.
For as much as Darkness felt as though she would've loved to join Kazuma in completely freaking out right now, she instead approached the nearby fire truck, getting the attention of a man standing just outside it.
"Sir," She politely began, "Would you happen to have any idea as to how this fire happened? And has everybody inside been safely evacuated?".
"Actually, that girl over there," He pointed towards Aqua, "Was apparently the only person within the building at the time of the fire. As for your first question, we're not yet entirely sure how the fire happened, but it seems that it was an out of control oil fire that originated from apartment number 202."
Kazuma once again froze in place as he heard the man speaking with Darkness. Apartment 202. That was his apartment, and the only person who had been there for the past 6 hours was…
"Oi…" Kazuma menacingly uttered as his head practically snapped round, instantly locking his eyes onto the useless, idiotic, NEET that sat crying on the floor nearby. "...What the HELL did you do? Tell me. Now."
"I-I," Aqua barely got out, her voice cracking, before she began wailing and crying again, "Waaaaaahhhhh! Kazuma, I just wanted t-to do something n-nice for you, so I tried to cook something for you, but then I ended up slipping on something at some… p-point. A-a-and… and then, I accidentally spilled my beer as I fell and it went all over the stove!".
Her face was completely caked in snot and tears by this point, as she talked through loud sniffles. "There was t-this huge fire, and I tried my best to put it out, I promise! I threw a huge jug of water over it but for some reason it only grew bigger! I-I managed to grab as much of our stuff as I could before I ran out," She pointed towards a small bag on the ground, presumably containing the meagre belongings that she'd managed to salvage from the fire that she caused, "Since I d-don't have a phone, I had to go find someone nearby who did have one so that they c-could call the fire department for me, but by the time they arrived, the f-fire had already spread throughout t-the entire building!".
"Kazuma, please don't be mad!" The blue haired curse sobbed, "I was just trying to do a nice thing, so don't be mad. Please! Please Kazuma, don't be mad at me! It was an accident, it wasn't my fault!".
Kazuma himself, by now far beyond his breaking point, stared at the girl in front of him as if she was nothing more than trash for a few tense moments before he finally snapped. "Not your fault? Not your fault!? Are you fucking kidding me? THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" He roared, "Ever since I took you in, all you've done is make my life a nightmare and find some way to waste whatever money I could manage to get! And now, now, you've finally gone too far! You burned down the entire building, everything is gone! You stupid, worthless, fucking shut-in! WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW!?".
The enraged boy was well aware of how hurtful and cruel he was being to the snivelling mess in front of him but right now, in this very moment, with everything she'd done to cause him grief, he truly could not care less.
Kazuma wasn't really sure how much time had passed since they'd arrived on the scene of their burning apartment. 20 minutes? 40 minutes? An hour? Again, he wasn't really sure. Currently, him, Aqua and Darkness were sitting in front of the remains of what was once their apartment, the flames long since extinguished and the fire truck having recently departed.
"So what do we do now?" Aqua broke the terse silence that had befallen the three of them, her voice hoarse and scratchy from crying so much.
"I'm not sure," Darkness replied honestly, "From what I know, the building itself was insured and it doesn't seem like the owner has any grievances with you or Kazuma for the accident."
"That's way too generous," Came Kazuma's exhausted reply. By this point, he just wanted to go to bed. "If it were me, I'd probably want to personally kill Aqua. Actually, I already do. Still, I guess it is pretty lucky that we aren't in trouble for this."
Aqua shivered. "W-where are we supposed to stay now then? It's already dark out and it's s-super cold still."
"I… don't know," The only male member of the group answered solemnly, "My family are out on vacation for the next two weeks and I don't have a house key, so my place is bust. We can't stay with Aqua's family for… obvious reasons. Not to mention that, with how late it is now, I seriously doubt that any of the buses or trains will still be running, so staying somewhere in Axel isn't possible unless we spend all night walking there."
Kazuma felt a cold gust of wind blow through his hair as he stared at the sky in abject despair. Seriously, why did he have to deal with this?
"Are there really no hotels around here?" The culprit of this entire situation asked.
"We live in some run-down neighbourhood in the middle of nowhere, it isn't really that surprising that there's nothing here."
Darkness was the next to suggest something. "What about spending the night at the café? I'm sure Chris wouldn't mind once we explained our situation to her."
"Not happening," Kazuma dejectedly shot down that idea too, "Even though it would be closer than walking all the way to Axel, we're still talking about at least an hour of walking. Not to mention the fact that chief is the only one who has the keys to actually get inside, and she's all the way over in Axel."
The brown haired teen sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that night. There was one more idea for where the 3 of them could possibly stay the night at, but he really did feel bad about asking something like that from them. Saving that option as a last resort, he turned to Darkness with an apologetic expression.
"I feel really bad for asking this from you, Darkness, especially because this situation wasn't your fault in the slightest, but is there really nothing you can do for us? I just thought, considering that you're…" He looked over at Aqua, "Y'know…".
He already felt bad enough about asking her that he couldn't bring himself to properly finish his question. The college student fidgeted around for a few moments, clearly uncomfortable, before she seemed to seriously consider his words.
"Well," She finally said after almost a minute of silence, "You remember earlier when I told you I was planning to go home to visit my father over the next two weeks, right?".
"Mhm," He nodded affirmatively.
"I had originally intended to leave tomorrow, maybe around midday, but… now that I currently have no place to sleep tonight, it may be a better choice to call my father's uhhmm… friend to come and collect me now."
Kazuma noticed how she fumbled with her words a bit as she said that. He was sure she meant to say something along the lines of 'chauffeur' or 'butler' before she hastily covered it up.
"That sounds like a smart idea," Aqua quietly chimed in.
The rich girl meekly nodded her head, "A-anyway, as I was telling Kazuma earlier, my father has wanted to know that I'm properly adjusting to my new life… and if I… were to bring a friend back to visit with me… I-I think that may alleviate some of his fears."
Kazuma really couldn't believe what he was hearing, "H-hold on, are you seriously inviting me and Aqua to come stay with your family for the next two weeks?".
"Umm," She averted her gaze, "Not exactly, no. You see, if I were to… bring home a boy, my father would clearly get the wrong idea about our relationship. Something like that could cause… complications, and I highly doubt you would even be allowed to stay, so I can only really offer this invitation to Aqua, I'm truly sorry Kazuma."
'That's such bullshit reasoning! Can't we just explain things to him when we get there? I thought a misunderstanding like that would end up getting her all hot and bothered anyway, is this really that serious then? I have no idea how rich people operate,' Kazuma mentally grumbled to himself. As much as he wanted to vocalise those grievances to Darkness herself, he didn't. No, she was already offering to do him a gigantic favour by taking Aqua off of his hands for a little while, even though this whole thing was all her fault.
"That's… fine," He told her with the biggest smile he could manage in that moment, which really wasn't much, "It's really generous of you to offer something like that for us, thank you. Don't you have anything to say, Aqua?".
"As long as I get somewhere warm to sleep, I don't mind…".
He slapped the back of the girl's head in irritation, "Ungrateful brat! You were supposed to say thank you. If you're gonna act like this the whole time, I'm gonna force you to sleep outside, no matter what Darkness offers!".
"I'm sorry!" Aqua shrunk back, "I'll be on my best behaviour, I promise!".
Kazuma didn't really believe her at all but decided to just drop it for now, instead turning back to look at Darkness, swearing that he heard her mutter something about his 'rough treatment'. "Are you sure you want to offer something like this? You're really not obligated to do anything like this, it's her fault that you're in this situation anyway."
"It is completely fine, Kazuma," The blonde haired girl simply smiled, "I'm just sorry I cannot offer you the same thing to you. Will you really be okay on your own tonight, it feels very wrong for us to leave you, the youngest of us three, alone like this."
"I'll be fine, I think," Kazuma responded, not fully confident in what he was saying, "There is somewhere that I could maybe stay for tonight. After that, I'll probably just rent some cheap hotel in Axel or ask chief to let me stay in the café for a little bit."
"Well, if you say so," She was clearly still a little apprehensive but she decided to trust that Kazuma would be okay. After all, he was very capable, even though he was still a few years off of being an adult. Aqua, on the other hand, didn't really look all that concerned over Kazuma. He wasn't surprised in the slightest.
With nothing else really left to discuss, Darkness called her father's 'friend' and informed them of her situation. Apparently, as Darkness had told the other two once she was off the phone, their ride should be arriving within the next 20 minutes. Now that he knew that they would both have a place to sleep tonight, Kazuma quickly gave his goodbyes to both of them, his genuine 'thank you' to Darkness heavily contrasting with his cold dismissal and reminder to behave herself to Aqua.
That had been about 5 minutes ago, and now Kazuma was on his own, walking down a road he'd only ever been down a few times before, desperately hoping that he wouldn't end up intruding on them too much by asking to stay over for the night. It's not like he had any other options, anyway.
Maybe Megumin's premonition had been right. This Spring break was going to suck, wasn't it?
Megumin let out an audible yawn as she moved the paper in front of her to allow her to rest her head on her arms. She really should be going to bed soon. The past few hours had been dedicated entirely to finishing as much of her homework as possible, just so that she wouldn't have to deal with it later. Realistically, she could probably get all of it finished now if she just hyper-focused on her work for another hour, but she was way too tired and out of focus to do that right now.
After making the decision to simply just finish the rest some time tomorrow morning, Megumin allowed her thoughts to wander back to Kazuma, and more specifically the time she had spent with him earlier in the day. It had only been a few hours since they'd last talked and she was already wishing that she could see him again. She really was such a mess for that guy, though that thought didn't bother her one bit. Instead, it just left her with a warm and fuzzy feeling in her heart. Megumin couldn't get enough of him, of the way he made her feel.
"I hope I can see him again soon…" She mumbled into her sleeves.
Rubbing her eyes, she slowly stood up from the small wooden desk in her and Komekko's shared bedroom, sliding the wooden chair she had just been sitting on underneath the desk. The crimson eyed girl was slightly surprised when she saw the stray cat she'd taken in a few years ago, dubbed Chomusuke, dash out from behind one of the desk's legs, just to run over to the futon where Komekko was sleeping and almost instantly join the small girl in slumber.
At that moment, seeing the adorable sight of her little sister and her 'familiar' snuggled up together, she was very tempted to just hop into her own futon and go to sleep then and there. Alas, despite the fact that she'd already brushed her teeth and changed into the tracksuit she usually sleeps in earlier, she instead decided that there was probably one thing she really should do before she flops down onto her bed for the night.
Leaving her room and making her way through her family's small home, Megumin soon caught sight of the person she had been looking for, her mother, Yuiyui, as she finished folding and packing away clothes for when she and Megumin's father, Hyoizaburoo, would be leaving tomorrow morning.
"Shouldn't you be asleep by now, mom?" Megumin asked, getting her mother to finally notice her presence, "Don't you and dad have to leave pretty early in the morning?".
"Oh my," Her mother laughed, "And what exactly are you doing awake at this hour? My little girl doesn't usually stay up this late, I hope you're not developing bad sleeping habits."
"N-no, it's nothing like that," The teenager corrected, "I was actually just about to go to bed, but I thought it might be best to see if you were still awake now, I'm not sure if I'll be up when you and dad leave tomorrow or not."
Yuiyui looked at her eldest daughter with a soft smile, "I'm sorry that we're leaving you to take care of the house on your own again, but you know how tight money is, it's pretty important that your father manages to sell as many of his products as possible."
"It's fine, I understand that you two kinda have to do it so that we can eat, especially with how big Komekko's appetite has become as of late."
The older of the two women simply just lightly laughed at her daughter's comment, before deciding to change the subject.
"Putting that aside, I've been wondering about how things have been progressing recently."
"How things have… been progressing…?" Megumin repeated, not understanding her mother's question.
"Between you and Kazuma, of course!" Yuiyui had a knowing smile on her face, "Are you two finally together yet?".
Megumin felt her entire face burn a bright red at her mother mentioning her relationship with Kazuma, not that there was actually any 'relationship' to mention yet. "I-I… M-me and Kazuma…" She spluttered out, her embarrassment only growing as she saw the look on her mother's face, "W-we aren't dating yet…".
The moment the word 'yet' had left her mouth, she instantly regretted it with every fibre of her being. "Fufufu," The long haired woman giggled, "Do I just hear you say 'yet'? Ahhh, how adorable! So when do you intend to ask him?".
"Gah! Stop it, stop it! Shut up!" She yelled at her mother, her entire face now matching the colour of her eyes as she pathetically flailed her arms around, "I'm going to bed now, Goodnight!".
Megumin tried her hardest to tune out her mother's laughing as she began to stomp her way towards her room before she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of their doorbell being rung.
"Huh," She questioned as she came to a standstill and turned to the direction of their front door, "Who would show up here at this time of night?".
"No idea," Yuiyui replied as she cocked her head, before beginning to walk towards the direction of the front door.
"E-excuse me…" Came a very familiar voice from the other side of the door, "I'm sorry for intruding like this, especially this late at night but I'd really appreciate it if I could come in, if that's okay…".
'Kazuma!?' Megumin internally yelled as she heard his voice from outside her front door, 'But why does he sound so worn out? Did something bad happen to him?'.
As her daughter was stuck worrying over the boy she clearly cared so much for, Yuiyui decided to take advantage of the golden opportunity laid out before her as she rushed over towards the door with a shout of "I'll be there in a second!".
Seeing her mother hastily rushing towards the door, the teen girl quickly snapped out of her thoughts in a panic. "M-mom, wait-!".
Unfortunately for Megumin, by the time she reached the front door, her mother was already pushing it open to reveal the completely-out-of-it looking boy on the other side.
If Kazuma had sounded miserable earlier, then he looked downright depressed as he stood in their doorway. Megumin's heart practically broke in two as she lay her eyes upon his tired, almost hollow looking eyes and the expression of complete and utter defeat on his face. All grievances she'd just had with her mother were quickly replaced with pity and an overwhelming desire to comfort the boy in any way possible.
Clearly, whatever had happened that caused him to have to come visit them at such a late hour had been quite the terrible experience.
"K-kazuma," She practically whispered out as she took a single step towards the boy. "W-what happened? Are you okay?".
"As you can see," Yuiyui interjected before Kazuma could respond, "My Megumin here is clearly very worried about you. So how about you come inside and we can continue talking there."
"That sounds great, thank you," He weakly replied, his eyelids drooping ever so slightly.
"Your roommate… burned down... your apartment complex!?" Megumin cried in disbelief.
"Mhm, yeah, the uh… the entire thing," The boy across from her and her mother said with no small amount of dejection in his voice.
"Sooooo," Yuiyui began, sending the poor boy a motherly smile, "I'm assuming that you're here because you have nowhere to stay the night and you were hoping you could crash here for a bit, is that right?".
"That's right," He said solemnly, "I'm really sorry for asking this of you, but I swear I'll only need to stay for a single night. I don't mind sleeping on the floor if you don't have a spare bed, I just really need somewhere to crash tonight."
"Kazuma?" Megumin asked, getting the boy's attention, "What about your roommate and everyone else in the apartment, where are they staying? Shouldn't you be with them?".
"Actually, me, my roommate and our neighbour were the only people living in those apartments before the fire," He informed her, "As for those two, they're going out of town to stay with our neighbour's family for the next two weeks. I uh… wasn't able to go with them, though."
"Why not?" The girl asked him, concerned.
"It's… complicated, I guess," Honestly, he wasn't 100% sure of the reason either, besides what he'd been told back at the apartment, "Far as I'm aware, her bringing a boy home would cause… issues."
"You… seriously can't catch a break, can you?" Megumin asked him, seemingly content with his explanation.
As the back and forth between the two was going on, Yuiyui took a side glance at her daughter's face, instantly noticing the look of concern on her face and the blush that adorned her pretty pink cheeks. Thinking over Kazuma's words and his situation, while also factoring in Megumin and how she felt, it didn't take long for Yuiyui to come to a decision about the boy and his situation, a very cunning decision at that.
"I see," She interjected, "So while those two have somewhere to stay over the Spring break, you have nowhere to live for the next two weeks?".
"Oh? Yeah, I guess," Kazuma nodded, "But I can just get the train into Axel tomorrow morning and find a hotel to stay at for the time being."
"Or…" A devious grin appeared on her face, "You could live here until me and my husband get back home, which coincidentally will be in two weeks time."
A single moment of silence passed as the two other people in the room processed her words.
"What!?" Megumin squeaked, taken completely off guard by her mother's insane suggestion.
"Ah, Miss Yuiyui," Kazuma waved his hands in front of himself as if to calm her down, "Surely suggesting something like this is a bit too much, isn't it. I don't want to be a burden on you and your family."
"Nonsense," She calmly responded, completely ignoring her clearly distressed firstborn, "Actually, having you here to help take care of the house and little Komekko while we're gone would be the complete opposite of a burden to us. I'm sure Megumin would appreciate having you here to help her out with the housework, wouldn't you, dear?".
Feeling the attention quickly shift to her, and with her mother clearly expecting an answer, Megumin tried her best to calm herself down as much as possible. Truth be told, she could barely hear her mother's voice over the loud and fast beating of her own heart, being quickly sent into overdrive at the idea of Kazuma staying over for the night and practically exploding when her mother suggested that he… stay with her… over the holiday.
Spending the next two weeks with Kazuma. That was literally exactly what she had been wanting, daydreaming about, for the past few weeks, and now, the opportunity for that to happen was being practically thrown into her lap. Her nerves were at an all time high, she didn't even want to think about what she looked like right now, but there was no way she could give in to nerves. There was no way she could let this opportunity pass through her fingertips, no matter how embarrassed she was right now. She didn't even want to consider how miserable the next two weeks would feel for her if she turned him away now.
Assuming her silence to be one of rejection, the boy across from her quickly tried to diffuse the situation. "I appreciate your offer, Miss Yuiyui, I really do, but if Megumin is against the idea, then I wouldn't want to intrude on her. So, it's fine, thank you anyway."
"W-wait!" Megumin finally yelled out, a little louder than she had intended, "It's no problem, Kazuma, r-really! I… I'd genuinely really appreciate it if you would stay here… to help me take care of the house. If that's okay with you…".
"Well, Kazuma," Yuiyui looked all too pleased with herself, "It seems like my daughter would also appreciate having you stay here, so what about it, hmm?".
"You're too kind… thank you, thank you so much," He bowed down to them from his position on his knees, "If it really won't be a bother to you or your family, then I'll gladly take your offer."
Despite the many, many overwhelming feelings presently coursing through her, she still found to send a serene smile in the boy's direction. "You really don't have to bow to us, dummy. Mom already said that you'd be doing us a favour too."
Yuiyui clapped her hands together in joy as she saw the boy sigh in relief. "Perfect! I do hope you will take care of my two daughters while me and my husband are away, although I'm sure you already have experience in taking care of my Megumin," She said with a smile, softly laughing as she saw the foul expression her daughter was sending her, "And now, with all that out of the way, how about I run you a bath, Kazuma? You do smell a little smoky."
"That would be good, thank you, ma'am."
"Mom!" Megumin chastised her mother in a hushed voice, "What are you doing!?".
"What do you mean, Megumin? I'm not doing anything."
"Not-? Not doing anything" She was becoming increasingly more exasperated, pointing down the hallway towards the bathroom door, "How is inviting Kazuma to live here considered not doing anything?". Megumin had been waiting the entire time to grill her mother over her actions, and with Kazuma having just gotten into the bath, she took the opportunity to finally give her a piece of her mind.
"I don't understand what you're so upset about," To her credit, Yuiyui did look genuinely confused at her daughter's reaction, though Megumin couldn't tell if she was just faking it or not, "I thought you'd appreciate having him help you take care of things here at home, you do always complain about how much work it is you all on your own. Not to mention how much you seem to love spending time with him. Your dear mother was just trying to do a nice thing for you. Are you really so unhappy about having him here?".
That wasn't it, that wasn't it at all, and her mother was fully aware of that. Sure, the idea of Kazuma staying with her was making her nerves act up and made her heart beat like crazy, in that strange warm way that only Kazuma could cause, but she was not going to act like she had any issues with him staying over at all. In fact, it was the complete opposite, she was hopelessly swooning over the idea of being able to spend so much time with her most beloved person, though she would never tell her mother that.
"No…" she finally mumbled out, "I'm happy to have Kazuma here… it's just… a bit sudden…".
Yes, Yuiyui loved to tease her little girl, but she wasn't cruel. "It's not like you to be so meek and nervous," She said soothingly, "I know you'll be fine. From my few interactions with him, I can tell he's a very upstanding young man. You made a great choice if I do say so myself!".
"I said stop!".
She just giggled.
"But… thank you, I guess."
Kazuma let out an exhausted sigh as he felt his body relax for the first time in hours, the warm water doing wonders on him, both physically and mentally. Despite how horrible his night had been going up until then, he did have to admit how incredibly lucky he was right now. He really had just expected to stay at Megumin's until the morning, at which point he'd go down to Axel to find a cheap hotel to stay at until he could find a more permanent residence. Yet, in some strange but very much fortunate turn of events, he'd now be spending the next two weeks living with Megumin and her little sister.
Sure, their house was by no means big, being a fairly modestly sized bungalow, but as someone who'd spent the last few months sharing that tiny little apartment, this was practically luxury to him. He was also painfully aware of the family's poor financial situation, but he'd already decided that he'd help split the expenses for the next two weeks with his own money; it was only fair that he properly repay them somehow.
Not to mention the fact that Megumin would be leagues better as a roommate than Aqua ever was. He was honestly a little excited to share a living space with someone who was actually responsible, it would be nice to not have to do everything all on his own for once.
It was times like this, when his entire life felt as though it had just been uprooted through no fault of his own, that Kazuma almost wished he had just stayed as a shut-in NEET, not having to deal with any of these real life problems that can't seem to leave him alone. Right now, he'd give anything to just be sitting in front of his computer in his childhood bedroom, not sitting in his friend's bath, troubling himself over the thought of his newfound homelessness.
But he knew that he couldn't do that anymore, whether he wanted to or not. Like it or not, he had people relying on him now. Sure, he realistically could just avoid all of his problems and just ditch them, but he wouldn't do that. He may be crass and perverted and somewhat rude at times, but he wasn't the type of person to abandon the people he cared about, no matter how many headaches they gave him.
Without him, Aqua would probably be dead on the side of the road somewhere. Morbid, sure, but it was the truth. No one else was willing to take her in or help her, not ever her own family. Kazuma really was her last hope.
He wasn't entirely sure of Darkness' situation, but what he did know was that his lazy slob of a roommate had been responsible for burning down the apartment she'd been living in for less than a month. If he was gonna have to find somewhere for Aqua to stay when they got back, he had a feeling that he'd also have to do the same for Darkness.
Megumin, well, things with her weren't nearly as grim or dire as the other two. That said, he did understand that she really did need him, his company to be more exact. He wasn't even trying to vain in that thought, it's just what he genuinely believed. He knew that Megumin had been, and to an extent still was, fairly lonely and isolated from her peers, having a reputation as a hardcore weirdo with a short temper will do that to you. Of course, she was a lot less extreme nowadays, and her temper had mellowed out a lot, but Kazuma knew first hand how damaging middle school rumours could be, regardless of if they were true or not. She seemingly did have a few friends besides him, or so she'd told him, but from the way she spoke of them, they didn't seem to be all that close. Not that she hated them or anything, just that she clearly didn't feel any real connection to them, a thought that filled Kazuma with a surprising amount of pity for the girl.
Was he her only truly close friend?
Kazuma shook his head to rid himself of those depressing thoughts about Megumin. He was sure he was just overthinking things, he was extremely tired after all.
'I'm so damn tired...'.
"Mom moved Komekko to sleep with her and my dad," Megumin explained as they stood in her room, "So you can have her futon for today. We can figure out proper sleeping arrangements in the morning."
"Sounds good," Kazuma weakly smiled as he flopped down onto the futon.
"Hey," She softly said as she looked down at the boy, "Are you sure you'll be okay sleeping in that? I-I can see if I have anything that'll fit you if you want,". Megumin was referring to the fact that Kazuma was currently dressed in his school uniform, minus the jacket, tie and socks.
"I'll be fine. Pretty sure my tracksuit was lost in the fire and I should probably try to conserve whatever clothing Aqua did manage to grab before she got out," The boy responded as he looked over at the girl, "And uh, no offence, but I highly doubt you'd have anything that would fit me."
Realising that she had no retort, Megumin simply settled on pouting at the boy, making her displeasure known to him. "Oh and, I shouldn't have to say this, but I will anyway. No funny business, you hear me? I know how you boys can be sometimes, especially a pervert like you."
"Oi, now hold on just a second," The boy responded, the indignation in his tone very much apparent to the girl, "Do you really think I'd actually try to make a move on you while you're sleeping? What kind of person do you see me as?".
Kazuma instantly regretted his passive aggressive reply the moment he saw the look of regret on Megumin's face, "Sorry. I didn't mean to accuse you or anything like that. I know that you'd never do something like that to me. I'm sorry. I just wanted to… y'know… hear it from you."
Guilt quickly overtook him. Part of him had in fact been considering the idea of trying to pull something on her, but after seeing the expression on her face, he knew there was no way he could ever go through with it.
"N-no, I get it. I understand why you might be worried about it, but I promise that I won't do anything. You're an important friend to me, I wouldn't ever do something like that to you…".
Her sorrowful look was quickly replaced by an honest smile and a small glow of pink from her cheeks. Suddenly feeling very aware of his eyes on her, Megumin quickly slipped into her own futon, rolling over to see Kazuma pulling the blanket over himself. She felt her heart beating loud and fast as the boy turned on his side to face her too, smiling as he made eye contact with her.
"W-well, good night then, Kazuma. I hope you sleep well."
He didn't respond at first, not really, simply just humming in affirmation. The boy kept his eyes on her for a few more quiet seconds before he rolled onto his back, before finally speaking.
"Megumin… Thank you, seriously," She felt her breathing hitch as her heart grew even louder, "I hate to admit this out loud, but I really was a little worried about what would happen next. But just knowing that I have somewhere to stay until I can figure something out… that means a lot. Plus it's nice to have someone here who won't cause me constant stress."
"K-...Kazuma…" She could barely speak anymore, the thumping of her heart was too intense. She just felt so damn nervous.
"Anyway," Kazuma quickly tried to dispel the embarrassing atmosphere, "G-good night, Megumin."
Megumin managed to control her voice enough to gently whisper a 'goodnight' to the boy, yet her eyes stayed wide open. How was she supposed to sleep now? Even in the dark, she could still clearly make out Kazuma's form, laid only a metre or so away. It took almost all of her self-restraint to stop herself from moving over to snuggle up against him, for some form of comfort to take her away from her rampaging nerves.
"...Kazuma?" Megumin whispered after a minute or so of silence, "Are you still awake?".
"Barely."
Seeing her chance, the girl shuffled towards the edge of her futon. Her left hand slowly slid out of her blanket and into Kazuma's, searching around until her hand finally made contact with Kazuma's and tentatively gripped onto it. She felt him tense up, but he didn't try to pull away or push her off, so she hoped that meant that he was okay with it.
"Megu-min!?" The slight crack of his voice sent her heart haywire, "What are you doing?".
"I'm just trying to comfort you…" She half-lied, "You've had a hard day, h-haven't you? And this is supposed to be c-comforting…". She felt herself loosening her grip on his hand as she trailed off before, to her surprise and pleasure, Kazuma wrapped his hand around hers and softly squeezed it.
"...Right, t-thanks."
Neither of them said anything after that, simply content to fall asleep with their hands intertwined with one another. Within a few minutes, Kazuma's exhaustion won out over his nerves as he quickly fell into a comforting sleep. While Megumin, with her heartbeat now somewhat under control, simply snuggled up into her futon as she lazily rubbed circles onto Kazuma's hand with her thumb.
Maybe she wasn't so mad at her mother anymore.