Childhood Part XI – Naegi Household – Start
Tsumugi bit onto her lower lip as she waited for Komaru at the back gate of their school. She was quite nervous, seeing that this was her first time visiting a friend's house.
Friend.
Tsumugi smiled to herself, that word made her heart flutter in happiness, it was a sudden friendship sure, but for someone who passed most of her life alone, it was quite the extraordinary feeling.
Of course, that was not the only motive as to why the girl was on cloud nine today.
Hotaru hasn't said anything mean today, she still took her money, but Tsumugi liked to take the small victories with stride.
Still, she couldn't help but feel like something wasn't exactly right.
While Hotaru didn't say anything mean, she did glare quite harshly towards the otaku, which send a chill down Tsumugi's spine.
The blue-haired girl is taken out of her thoughts when Komaru calls for her. "Hey, Tsumugi-chan!" The brunette girl waves her arms.
"Oh, Naeg- I mean- Komaru-chan." The otaku girl smiles softly as the other girl gets closer to her. "Huh? Where is Izumi-san and Kurogawa-san?" She asks, noticing the absence of Komaru's friends.
"They had stuff to do today, so it's going to be just me and you!" The brunette girl says with a smile. "Hope you don't mind."
Tsumugi shakes her head. "I don't."
"Great! Let's go!" Komaru excitedly grabs Tsumugi's hand and starts guiding her. "My house isn't that far away from school, so we won't have to walk that much."
Tsumugi just smiled while nodding her head.
The blue-haired girl blinked as she took in the view of her friend's house.
Komaru excitedly turns towards the other girl. "So whatcha think?"
Tsumugi looks towards the house. 'It's pretty small.' She thinks to herself before smiling. "Looks pretty neat."
"Let's get inside!" The brunette grabs the other girl's hand and the two run up to the door.
Once inside the house, Tsumugi carefully takes her shoes off, while Komaru haphazardly throws her own shoes to the away.
"Welcome back Komaru-chan!" Honoka yells while coming out of the kitchen. "Oh, and you must be Komaru's new friend right?"
The glasses wearing girl blushes, before bowing politely. "Y-Yes, N-Naegi-san. I-I'm S-Shirogane T-Tsumugi."
Honoka giggles before taping the girl on the head. "No need for formalities, just call me Honoka." The older woman offers a kind smile.
The blue-haired otaku nods stiffly. "A-As you w-wish Naeg- I mean, Honoka-san!" The brunette woman giggles at the girl's nervous attitude.
"Let's go to my room!" Komaru says while pointing towards the stairs. "We have so much stuff to talk about!" Grabbing Tsumugi's hand once again. "I found this new manga I was just dying to talk with someone about!" The brunette exclaims as the two girls run up the stairs.
"Lunch will be ready in thirty minutes!" Honoka says, smiling as Komaru yells a 'yay' back. "Shirogane huh?" The older woman puts a finger on her chin. "Where have I heard that name before?" She thinks for a second, before shrugging. "Whatever, better start working on lunch." Walking back to the kitchen, the brunette woman begins humming to herself.
Tsumugi still couldn't believe that she was actually talking with someone about something that she loved, and they are talking back to her with just as much enthusiasm and energy.
Whenever she tried connecting with ant classmates back on her previous schools, they would always say that she was annoying.
So she eventually stopped trying.
Yet, here was Komaru, talking about her favorite characters or some of her favorite animes, not even caring when the blue-haired girl started nerding out for long periods of time.
Tsumugi was happy, she really was, but deep down in her mind, Hotaru's words still floated around in her mind palace.
'Why would someone hang out with a weirdo like me?' The blue-haired thought to herself while gazing around Komaru's room.
The other girl's room was way smaller than her own, it also didn't have as much merchandise, just some posters and a small wood mannequin on her desk.
"Tsumugi-chan?" Komaru calls, taking the girl out of her trance.
"H-Huh?" She asks while blinking.
The brunette scratches the back of her head. "Am I boring you?" She asks. "Because if you want, we can talk about something else."
Tsumugi is quick to wave her arms. "N-No it's not that!" She says, before sighing and smiling. "I was just thinking about how people always call me annoying for geeking out about this type of stuff."
"Well they are WRONG!" Komaru smiles to the other girl. "You're really fun to talk with Tsumugi-chan!" Closing her eyes, the brunette spins on her desk chair. "It's been a while since I'm had this much fun just talking with someone that isn't my Onii-chan!"
"Really?" The otaku pushes a small strand of hair behind her ear. "But we only know each other for a day, more or less."
Komaru stops spinning. "And?" She smiles once again. "I don't need to know someone for my whole life to consider them a friend." Getting out of her chair, she sits down together with Tsumugi in her bed. "Plus, you looked like you really needed a friend!"
The blue-haired girl blinks. "Really?" Komaru nods. "I see." She cracks a small smile, her doubts subdued, for now, at least.
"Girls!" Honoka calls from downstairs. "Lunch is ready!"
Komaru jumps off the bed and excitedly exclaims. "Yay! Lunch!" She grabs Tsumugi's hand and pulls the other girl up. "Everything Okaa-san makes is delicious!" Running out of the room, Komaru continues. "You're gonna love it!"
The blue-haired otaku giggles while grabbing harder onto Komaru's hand.
The two girls eat in peace while talking about some manga that they are into, that is until they hear the sound of the front door being opened.
"I'm home!" A male voice exclaims.
"Onii-chan!" Komaru excitedly calls as she gets up from her seat.
Tsumugi turns towards the kitchen door, before abruptly turning her head back with a deep shade of red in her cheeks.
Standing there at the door was the boy she bumped into!
"Welcome back Makoto, Chiaki-chan." Honoka says with a smile.
"Hey Onii-chan, Chiaki-chan!" Komaru grabs Tsumugi's hand and pulls the other girl out of her chair. "Meet my new friend! Tsumugi-chan!"
Hazel eyes lock with teal-green ones, making the brunette boy blush slightly. "Hello! I'm Naegi Makoto, Komaru's older brother." He waves, although everyone could notice his embarrassment.
"I'm Nanami Chiaki, a pleasure to meet you… I think?" The mauve-haired girl does a little bow.
' She thinks?' The blue-haired girl blinks confused, before Komaru explains it.
"Don't worry too much about it!" The brunette girl smiles. "Chiaki-chan does that sometimes!"
"O-Okay." Tsumugi nods, before turning towards the other two, her blush only deepening as she looks at Makoto. "I-I'm S-Shirogane T-Tsumugi-" She bows. "-I-It's a p-pleasure to m-meet you t-two!"
"My, my!" Honoka giggles. "Someone got nervous all of a sudden." Tsumugi's blush deepens.
"OKAA-SAN!" Komaru yells and Honoka laughs some more.
"I'm just joking sweetie." The older brunette picks up two plates. "Now, Makoto, go change out of your uniform and get back here to eat some lunch." She starts putting some food onto the plates. "You can sit down Chiaki-chan."
The boy nods before walking out of the kitchen and Chiaki sits down at a chair.
Komaru goes back to talking excitedly, meanwhile Tsumugi just nods.
' Shirogane… where have I heard this name before?' The mauve-haired girl thinks to herself.
After lunch, Komaru dragged Tsumugi into Makoto's room and started showing her the boy's manga collection.
Makoto and Chiaki just laughed at the younger girl's enthusiasm.
As Komaru was talking out and about, Tsumugi's mind was focusing on something else entirely.
' I'M IN A BOY'S ROOM!' The blue-haired girl yelled at herself mentally. ' And not just any boy! it's the same boy I almost kissed!' Widening her eyes, Tsumugi brings her hands to her cheeks and blushes. ' He's also kinda cute!' She glances slightly towards the boy.
Makoto that is showing something to Chiaki on his computer, notices Tsumugi's stare, with a small blush on his cheeks, the boy smiles softly. "Hey, sorry about the other day." He apologizes while scratching the back of his head.
Blushing even more, Tsumugi moves her hands in front of herself. "N-No! I-It was my fault!" She looks down to her own feet and puts her arms behind her back. "I should've paid more attention back there."
Komaru watches the two staring at each other, with a pout, she coughs falsely. "Ahem!" The two stop staring at each other and Makoto giggles nervously. "Anyways, what are you doing Onii-chan?"
The brunette boy looks towards his computer. "I was showing Chiaki-chan my assignment for next week."
"Assignment?" The otaku girl asks and Makoto nods.
"It's a presentation about the cultural differences between Japan and Novaselic… I think." Chiaki replies while putting a finger on her chin.
The older Naegi turns towards Chiaki. "Yeah, that's pretty much it." He then sighs, turning back to the screen. "It's quite a lot of work, but it is pretty fun to research everything."
Tsumugi's blush subsides for now. "Isn't Novaselic the country that recently opened a embassy here in Japan?"
The brunette boy nods. "Yes, that one." He crosses his arms and closes one eye. "There's not a lot of information online about it, but the things I could find are wild."
Komaru look towards her brother and asks. "Really? How so?"
"Well…"
And for the next hour or so, Makoto explained some of the stuff he found on the internet about Novaselic.
As the time passed, Tsumugi got less and less stiff, she started effectively being part of the conversation and even gave some of her new friends recommendations on animes and manga.
Still, eventually everything that is good has to end, so it was time to go home.
Now standing at the door of the Naegi household, Tsumugi turns around. "Thank you for having me, Naeg- I mean Honoka-san." The girl bows and the older woman haves her hand.
"It's nothing Tsumugi-chan." The older brunette smiles kindly. "I do hope you visit us again some other time."
The girl's eyes sparkle. "Really?"
Komaru walks up to the other girl and wraps her arms around her shoulders. "Of course! You're my friend!"
Tsumugi smiles widely before embracing the brunette girl in front of her. "Thank you."
"You're welcome, hehe!" The younger Naegi laughs.
The cute scene is interrupted by a black limousine coming down the street and stopping in front of their house, to the surprise of Honoka.
From the limo, a tall black-haired man comes out. "Tsumugi-sama!" He calls.
The blue-haired otaku turns around and bows once again. "Really, from the bottom of my heart, thank you!" She says before running off towards the limo.
Komaru waves excitedly. "See you tomorrow at school!"
Tsumugi turns around and smiles brightly. "See you tomorrow!" She then hops onto the limo, the tall man following suit.
Soon enough, the limousine was gone from their sight.
"So I assume she's rich?" Honoka asks and Komaru shrugs.
"Don't know and honestly don't care." She replies without looking to her mother.
The older brunette giggles, before messing her daughter's hair. "Okay, okay I got it." She then turns her gaze towards the mauve-haired girl just finishing to tie her shoes. "Are you going too Chiaki-chan?"
"Yep." She gets up and looks towards the older woman. "Otou-san is almost here… I think." Just as she finishes saying this, her father's car pulls in.
"Hey Chiaki!" Higashi calls while rolling the window down. "It's time to go home!"
The mauve-haired nods, before bowing to the older Naegi. "Thank you for having me." She then walks up to Makoto and gives him a kiss on the cheek, making the brunette boy get red on the face and making his sister flinch. "See you tomorrow after school." Passing Komaru, she waves towards the other girl and smiles softly. "See you Komaru-chan."
The brunette girl blinks, before smiling forcefully. "Y-Yeah! See ya!"
Chiaki blinks slowly, before turning around and going towards the car.
"Sorry I can stop and have a talk." Higashi says looking towards Honoka. "Things have been pretty hectic at home lately."
The older brunette smiles understandably and nods. "I get it Higashi-san, we'll talk some other time."
With that, the Nanamis also go away.
'Well, it's time for me to start on dinner." Honoka claps her hands and turns towards her son, who was oddly quiet throughout all this time. "Want to help me out?" She asks, taking Makoto out of his little trance.
"O-Oh. Yeah!" He takes his hand off his cheek. "Gladly." The two then start getting back inside.
Komaru just sighs, for some reason, she just feel weirdly angry when Chiaki kissed her brother. "I'll go back to my room." The girl says passing the other two and heading towards the stairs. "Just call me when dinner is ready!" She then runs up the stairs.
Makoto looks worried towards the stairs. "What is up with Komaru?" He looks towards the clock they have at the wall. "She normally likes to watch TV around this time."
Honoka narrows her eyes and sighs. "I hope it's nothing." She then looks towards Makoto. "Let's get started on dinner, shall we?"
The brunette boy nods and his mother walks towards the kitchen, before he follows her, Makoto looks towards the stairs once again, before turning around and going for the kitchen.
While Honoka didn't mind being the one to make the food for the house, Daisuke insisted that at least once or twice a week, Makoto and Komaru should help their mother to make dinner.
And thanks to the fact that Komaru was way better at eating food than at making it, they quickly decided to have Makoto be the only one to help their mother out.
The brunette woman liked those moments, mostly because they allowed her to speak to her son in a more, casual way, so to speak.
Which is way she noticed right away that he was not feeling very well at the moment.
"Makoto." Honoka calls, making her son look towards her.
"Y-Yeah?" He asks forcing a smiling.
"I didn't say anything yesterday because I assumed you'll be better by today." The brunette woman stops cutting the carrot in front of her and sighs. "But seeing that you aren't, I'll have to ask." She looks towards him. "What's going on Makoto? You're down since yesterday." The boy opens his mouth to reply, but Honoka interrupts him. "And I know this has nothing to do with your assignment for next week." He closes his mouth and turns his head, looking down at the tomatoes he was cutting. "Makoto." The woman says with a stern voice, before sighing again. "It's about Chiaki-chan's Hope's Peak invitation isn't it?"
The brunette boy widens his eyes. "How did you-"
"Minako-san told me on the phone."
Makoto blinks. "Oh." He then looks down at his own feet. "Yeah, it's about that."
Honoka goes back to cutting some carrots. "Figured." The woman sighs once again. "Then, let me guess, you're conflicted about her accepting the invitation or not."
Once again the boy's eyes widen, then they turn onto a sad gaze. "Yeah." He closes his fist tightly. "I know she should accept it." Looking down at his feet, Makoto gulps. "But I can't help but feel-"
"Afraid?"
The brunette boy nods silently.
Honoka smiles kindly. "But what are you afraid of, exactly?"
"I-I don't know." He replies biting his lip. "I guess I'm afraid one of my best friends will go away."
Honoka gently puts her knife down and approaches Makoto. "That's natural Makoto." She envelopes the boy in a gentle, motherly hug. "You two have been friends for a while now." Carefully caressing his brunette hair, she continues. "And she hasn't accepted it yet."
"I know." He replies. "But whatever I think of her refusing, I somehow feel even worse." The boy gulps again. "This is such a great opportunity, so I don't want her to refuse, but-"
"-But you also don't want her to go away" Honoka stops caressing his hair and separates their hug.
"Yeah." The boy looks down again. "What should I do?"
The brunette woman smiles. "Oh, that's obvious." He looks at her expectantly. "First, you should help her find her answer." Honoka starts cutting the carrots once again. "Then, you should support her on whatever decision she may take."
Makoto nods, although he had his doubts, he knew deep that the Honoka was right. "I understand." Turning around, the boy goes back to cutting some tomatoes.
Turning to face him, Honoka gives her son a warm smile. "Oh, and one more thing Makoto."
"What?"
"If you really care about someone, you're willing to let them go, if it is for the best."
The boy nodded, although truly, he hadn't quite understood what she meant yet.
Neither did Komaru, who was listening to their conversation while laying against the wall.
Childhood Part XI – Naegi Household – End
Another chapter done.
This time around we have Tsumugi experiencing friendship for the first time.
I know it may feel kinda fast how they became friends, but bear with me, it'll get better, hopefully.
Also fun fact! That last scene with Honoka and Makoto was not planned, when I was writing that last scene I just thought it would be a sweet little mother-son bonding moment.
Anyways, hope ya'll liked.
See you around.