Fuuka just stood there, in the middle of the room, completely dumbfounded as to what was happening here. The silence hung heavy between us, loaded with unspoken questions of How and Why. After a few moments that seemed to last for an eternity, I managed to find my voice once again. "So, I guess you'll be staying in this room. I'd say make yourself at home, but it seems whatever brought you here already did it for you." I went into the room to check on the boxes that had fallen over. Thankfully, they contained mostly books, which weren't damaged in the fall. "I'll move this upstairs and leave you alone for a bit, if that's okay with you." Without looking back at her, I started to collect the books and put them back in their box. Once that was done, the boxes were moved to the loft. As I finished up, a soft voice came from behind me. "Uhm... sir... What's your name?" At the sound of the question, I slowly turned around, dread building within me as I realized I had forgone the most basic of etiquette and hospitality. "Oh, uh, yeah, right, sorry..." I stammered "My name is Lucas Vermeulen. But you can just call me Lucas or Luke, whichever you prefer." "N-Nice to meet you." Fuuka slowly walked towards me and carefully reached out her hand. We awkwardly shook hands. "So... Lucas... I found these in my bag. I'm not sure what they are." She presented two little plastic cards in the palm of her hand. My eyes go wide as I take in the familiar logos. "Wow, whoever brought you here really thought of everything. Okay, so... This might sound kinda weird but let me explain." I straightened up as I switched my brain into elaboration mode. "This." I pointed to the yellow card with her photo on it. "Is a pass for public transport. So... there might be a reason for you to leave the house. Said reason can be found in this card." I point to the white card with some black writing on it. "That's a student ID from a nearby university... So I guess you're going to school there...?"
Fuuka just stared at me blankly. "So, I'm still a university student here?" "Seems whoever brought you here took everything from your world or timeline or whatever to this place and somehow it all worked out." "I'm gonna need some time to process this." Fuuka answered meekly as she pulled her hand away from me and slowly walked back to her room. "That's okay. If there's anything you need from me, I'll be in the next room over." I say as we quietly parted.
Once the door downstairs had been locked again and I got back to my room, I just flopped backwards onto my bed. A nearby plushie gives me something to hold on to as I try to process everything that happened in the last half hour. I was so used to having this place to myself that suddenly having a roommate was quite jarring. I also don't really handle change very well. So I was just going through the day's events in my head and mentally scolding myself for being able to handle things so much better. After that whole mess, my mind shifted to future complications that might occur. What if any of my family members suddenly popped in to say hi? What if I did something stupid and got her into trouble? What if something went wrong here? I am the owner of the house and thus I would be responsible for everyone living here? Wait... was she even registered as living here? Would Fuuka be able to just live a normal life here or is something bound to go wrong eventually? Where did she even come from? Would she be able to go back? What was even happening here? Is it just her or are people just randomly appearing all over the place? How far did these magical changes to my reality go? My mind swam with questions until they suddenly all vanished. I lay there, staring at the ceiling. No thoughts, head empty. I just lay there, for hours. Eventually, I got up and looked at my alarm clock. It read 6:37 PM. I got up without any conscious thought and walked over to Fuuka's door. A few knocks was all it took before a soft voice called back. "Coming." The door opened and Fuuka stood before me with a questioning look, tilting her head slightly. "Yes? Can I help you, Lucas?" It took me longer than usual to pick up on the question. "Oh, uh yes." I shook my head, trying to rid myself of this lethargic feeling. "I'm gonna make dinner in a bit. Are you hungry? I can bring a plate up to your room if you're not ready yet." I quickly blurted out the last part of the sentence, trying not to come off as a total creep. She thought for a moment as she tilted her head the other way, fidgeting with the frills on her sleeves as she does so. "I would love some food, yes. But I think it's best if I eat alone for tonight. Today's been... a lot." I nod at her. "Okay, will do. Anything I need to keep in mind in terms of taste or allergies?" "No, anything is fine. Just not too much." She said, slowly closing the door again as a sign that she'd rather be alone right now.
Dinner wasn't anything fancy. I don't like putting in a lot of effort. Fancier foods just produce more dirty dishes. I settled on a simple chicken and rice with some broccoli on the side. A few spices here and there elevated the meal from passable to decent. I liked experimenting with spices, even though it had let me to throwing out more meals than I'd liked to admit. I brought Fuuka a plate of food with cutlery and later also gave her a clean glass and a pitcher of water.
Right before I went to bed, I checked in with her one last time. "Hey Fuuka... Uhm... Could I talk to you for a moment?" She appeared in the doorway of her room a moment later. "Yes? What is it?" As soon as I met her grey eyes, I started fumbling with my hands. I brought my left hand to my right shoulder before letting it slowly slip down to my elbow. My eyes quickly darted away from her and I decided the floor suddenly looked very interesting. "So... Thing is... I have to work tomorrow, so you'll be all alone here. I hope this isn't a problem for you. I know you already have a lot on your mind and I should really be giving you some space, but I thought it was important to mention, because maybe you'd rather have me around in case something happens or to answer questions you may have, so I just kinda was wondering how... sorry... I just wanted to tell you this and that you might hear me early tomorrow morning. I don't wanna impose on you at all, but I also want to involve in what's going on here because you're apparently gonna live here now and I feel like you should also have a say in how things go here and..." I looked up and saw Fuuka staring at me, concern evident in her eyes. She locked eyes with me and her expression softened slightly. "Lucas, it's okay. You do what you need to do. I think it's good if I spend some time alone. I did some snooping around on my laptop and I think I get the general picture of how things are. I discovered that next week is actually a holiday, so I have an entire week to get used to this before school starts. I have most of the things I need right now. Maybe we can discuss some things over breakfast tomorrow?" She cocked her head to the side, waiting for my response.
I looked at the floor again, my face slowly going red. "I... Uh... I don't really... do... breakfast." Fuuka let out a little gasp as she took a step back. "It's... a bad habit of mine." I admitted. "I tend to wait until the very last moment to get up and leave. I'm not proud of it, but it's worked so far... mostly" I started shifting my weight from foot to foot. "There is some bread and stuff to put on there in the cupboard over the water cooker. The plates are in the cupboard next to it and the cutlery drawer is in the middle drawer of the wooden dresser looking thing on the other wall." I quickly add, almost tripping over my own words. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that. I'll be home tomorrow around 16:45. I make dinner and eat usually around 18:00." An awkward silence falls between us. "So... I guess I'll leave you alone now. See you tomorrow." I turn to go to my room as I hear Fuuka reply. "Oh... Okay...Uhm... Sounds good?" She spins the last word into a question, not entirely sure how to deal with the situation either.
Over the next few days, Fuuka and I really had to acclimate to one another. She spent a lot of time in her room, sorting out all the stuff that had come from her world and all the new stuff that apparently just sort of manifested here. I was away most of the day due to work. I had told her she text me if she had any questions or if there were any problems in the house. After seven days of living together, we'd started to figure out a rhythm together. Turns out I didn't really need to explain much as she seemed very accustomed to living like a modern student. I guess life wasn't THAT much different ten years ago. By the end of the week, she seemed ready to tackle her next big challenge, school.
Looking back now, we had both changed so much in that short period of time. Neither of us would have ever thought life was gonna be this way. But it certainly hadn't changed for the worse. With that pleasant thought, I finally fall asleep.