Chapter Text
Ann let out a loud yawn, blinking bleary eyes as she searched the crowd. Her next yawn almost made her miss the question lobbed at her.
“Hmm?” She turned her tired eyes down to her compact, which she had opened during the entire flight to Japan. She had to close it while getting off and going through customs, but opened it immediately once she got to the waiting room. As she had promised, she would do. “Sorry, could you repeat that?”
The woman in the small compact mirror huffed. Her long black hair was loose and unstyled, not a trace of make-up was on her face, but that certainly didn’t detract anything from her beauty. Her silky nightgown was just barley in view of the tiny mirror. She was clearly dressed for bed, but her bright eyes and animated voice made it more than obvious that she was as far from sleep as Ann herself was from any kind of decent bed.
“Just,” she said, with her mouth and not through the weird mind link thingy that they now had going on. Which Ann appreciated. “are you sure I can trust these people?” she asked, for the twentieth time during this conversation. “Like, really?”
“Of course you can.” Ann said, waving a hand dismissively. “They’re the personas of my good friends and my friends are good guys.”
“Yes, but these people aren’t personas. They’re people here.” Carmen scrunched up her nose. “and they’re certainly not my friends.”
“Hmm, give it time, and give them a chance.” Ann said in her most sagely voice she could muster while running on cheap coffee. “besides it ain’t even like you dislike all of them, anyway. It just sounds like you have beef with Akira’s persona.”
Carmen pursed her lips.
“It’s true though. Y’know,” Ann lowered her voice. “You can tell me why you dislike him so much. I’m like your persona, right? Isn’t it a little silly to keep secrets from one another?” Ann paused. “or in this case, from yourself. Is that how this works?”
Carmen scoffed and flipped some of her hair over her shoulder, but she was smiling again.
“I have no idea, none of this makes any sense.” she sighed, long and drawn out. “I just don’t know why I was dragged into all of this. I know it’s a petty thing to complain about, but why me?” she whined at the end, causing Ann to giggle.
“Just lucky I guess. It’s alright though,” Ann straightened her back, her voice coming out a little louder. “If we work together, we can totally get through this, just you see!” She flashed Carmen a smile that could dazzle anybody, “and if Arsène or anybody else in your group gives you anymore trouble tell me and I’ll make sure to give whichever boy who’s persona it is a good and honest chat.”
“Oh, only the boys?” Carmen said, clearly amused.
“Well, if any of the other girl personas give you any issues, I’ll still help, obviously.” Ann said. “But I seriously doubt it. If they’re anything like the girls I know, they won’t.” Ann thought about it further. “Okay, maybe Futaba’s, but that’s a solid maybe. But if she’s anything like Futaba, it’s not out of anything malicious, just a little awkward. Oh, and same with Makoto’s, if they’re anything alike, ignore the stiffness and cool put-togetherness. I promise, no, guarantee that there’s a soft center under all that rules following. Just give them a chance and you’ll see!”
“On Johanna’s behalf, thank you for the endorsement.”
Ann squeaked, fumbling with her compact as she whirled and faced Makoto. Who was giving Ann a small but wry smile.
“Jeez, don’t sneak up on me like that!” Ann said, a blush creeping up on the back of her neck. “Could give a girl a heart attack!”
“Apologies,” Makoto said, not looking the least bit sorry. “You were so engrossed that I wasn’t sure when to cut in.”
She down at the compact in Ann’s hand. “I presume you managed to get in contact with your persona?”
“Yep,” Ann said, “happened right before we landed too! Would you like me to say something to her?”
“Perhaps later,” Makoto smoothed out some nonexistent wrinkles from her blouse. “for now, let’s get you home,” she gave Ann a sheepish smile. “And also, away from an audience.”
Ann blinked, her confusion plain. Makoto, subtle as ever, flicked her eyes towards something before waving for Ann to follow. Which she did, of course, but not before she turned her head in the direction Makoto looked at and saw...
Several heads turning away quickly and pointedly, not looking at her.
“I wasn’t being very quiet, was I?” Ann asked, the heat from her neck rising to her cheeks.
“Not really.” Makoto said delicately.
“Oh man,” Ann groaned, “I probably looked like a crazy chick talking to my compact like it’s a person.”
“Sounds like we should end this for now.” Carmen said.
“Oh no, you don’t have to go.” Ann said, attempting to be quiet.
“No, I will, besides. It’s late and you look like you’re ready to crash.” she sighed and leaned back against something that Ann couldn’t see on her end. “And I should probably go to sleep as well,” she grimaced. “today has been... full of surprises and tomorrow sounds like it’ll be just as busy.” she flashed Ann a truly breathtaking smile. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Ann Takamaki.”
“You too Carmen, uh, wait, I mean Ms. Mérimée!”
Carmen chuckled.
“Just Carmen is fine. After all, how silly would it be if we couldn’t even call our own selves by our first name?” she paused and cocked her head. “does that make sense? It sounds right in my head, but hearing it aloud-”
Ann let out a laugh. It was a little louder than she would have liked and it sounded a little hysterical, which she blamed on the sleep deprivation. She slapped a hand over her mouth and took the brunt of Makoto’s raised eyebrow and, are you serious right now, glare. Taking a deep breath, Ann lowered her hand and shot Makoto a sheepish grin. She still wasn’t impressed, but went back to leading them through the crowded airport. Lifting her compact up to her face, Ann let out a little giggle before answering.
“Makes perfect sense to me.”
***
Ann dozed all the way back to her apartment. Even though she tried to stay awake and catch up with Makoto. But after a solid ten minutes of mumbling and nodding off, sleep took over. Makoto shook her awake once they made it and was even sweet enough to escort Ann to the apartment building’s door. Makoto made it clear that if Ann should prioritize getting over her jet lag as quickly as possible and badgered Ann with a bunch of questions and some advice for how to do so. It was all really sweet but a bit overwhelming, and it took a bit to convince her she was all good. They said their goodbyes, and Ann promised to text the chat once she was awake. She barely registered taking the elevator or even unlocking her apartment door, but the face first dive into her pillows was a welcome sensation.
Ann woke up to the sound of an insistent and very annoying buzzing. Without bothering to open her eyes, she patted int he direction she was sure it was coming from. There were several misses, but finally she grasped the little nuisance. She dragged it up to her face and, with an effort, opened one eye to see who was calling her. She groaned, shoving her face back into her pillows and seriously considered accepting the call, just to immediately hang up. It’s what he would deserve, after all.
But that would only make him even more annoying later, so, imbuing as much annoyance and snap to her voice as she could muster, she accepted the call with a sharp “What!”
“Jeez,” Ryuji said, not at all moderating the level of his voice. Irking Ann further. “Is that how you answer a phone call from a friend now?”
“It is when they wake me up!”
“Dude, it’s, like, twelve o’clock.”
Ann squinted down at her phone screen.
“No, it isn’t, you liar. It’s eleven forty-five.”
“It’s almost twelve though,” he said. “besides, ya can’t sleep the whole day away. You just got back. It’s been months!”
“Yeah, and? Me and my bed are having a grand time hanging out together right now. Like you said, it’s been months. We’ve missed each other.”
Ryuji snorted.
“Yeah, mind coming and hanging out with some of your human friends today? We’ve missed you too.”
“Aww,” Ann said, a wide smile on her face. “that’s sweet. I almost forgive you for waking me up now.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Ann could practically see him rolling his eyes now. “So you coming or not?”
She rolled off her bed, sock covered feet hitting cool wooden floors. Oh, ew, she never changed out of her clothes last night. She looked down at her now wrinkled blouse and wrinkled her nose as if in imitation. She probably should also shower too... and unpack... and stock up on food now that she’s going to be staying here for a while again... and call her parents to let them know that she made it to Japan okay.
“I would love to,” she said, walking out of her room to look for her luggage. “But I got a few things to take care of first. At the very least, I wanna take a shower before seeing you guys.”
“Well, that ain’t gonna take long, besides the rest of us were planning on meeting up around one o’clock at Shibuya, y’know, where one of our hide-out spots were?”
“Okay,” Ann scanned the living space that was her apartment and stared down at the luggage strewn across the floor, making a direct line to her room, but none of it actually having made it to her door. She was very unimpressed with herself. “whose coming?”
“Yusuke, Futaba, myself, of course, and Sumire.”
“Oh, she’s back in Tokyo too?” Ann started to picked up her mess. “And is Futaba going to be okay? I mean, it’s Shibuya.”
“Yeah, Sumire came back earlier yesterday and don’t worry about Futaba.” Ryuji said, “She said she’s been practicing going to crowded places for a while now, and with all of us there, it makes it that much easier for her.”
“Okay good, and what about Makoto and Haru?” she pinned her phone between her ear and shoulder as she added a third bag to her arms. How’d she carry all of these by herself last night?
“Makoto and Haru’s got college biz to wrap up before they’re completely free. Besides,” Ryuji’s lax tone became serious, Ann tensed from it. “I don’t think Haru’s feeling all that up to hanging out right now.”
Ann ran through the list of her friends. “Wait, has Yusuke contacted his persona yet? What about you and Sumire, have you guys-?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m not sure you saw my text on the chat. You’ve might have been on the plane when I sent it. But I entered whatever the hell kind of game this shit is, and who says a late night game sess was a bad thing?”
Ann rolled her eyes, but felt relieved all the same.
“And don’t worry about Sumire, either. Apparently, she got in at the same time I did.” He paused. “Uh, but Yusuke still hasn’t though... what about you, you in the game yet or naw?”
“Yeah, I am,” Ryuji sighed in relief, causing Ann to smile. “So,” she kicked her door open and dumped her armful of luggage in her room. “That just leaves Haru and Yusuke left, right?”
“Yep.”
“Have you seen Yusuke recently? Is he okay?”
“I, uh, haven’t, but when I threw this get together plan out in the chat, he insisted on coming too. So, he must not be feeling that bad.” he said. He didn’t sound like he himself was convinced, either.
“Well,” Ann straighten herself, her voice rising as well. “That just means we gotta keep an eye out for him today and make sure he doesn’t push himself!”
“Well, no duh.” Ryuji snorted. “What kind of friends would we be if we didn’t?”
“Horrible ones.”
“Exactly, and we ain’t no shitty, horrible friends.”
“Hm-hm,” Ann nodded. “although,” she frowned, “I wish there was more we can do to help.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.”
Before either of them could get too down in the dumps about it all, Ryuji groaned.
“It’s gonna be fine. After all, our personas are helping out too. I mean, last night, three of us got in contact, which means more people to help the rest figure out how to bring the others into the game! Don’t stress about it.”
“Yeah,” Ann sighed. “It’ll work out, it has too!”
***
Ann had to bite back yet another yawn as she finally made it to her destination. The sun was high above the sky and its rays were smothering all of Tokyo with its vicious heat. The iced cappuccino she bought on her way felt nice and cool in her hands, and hopefully the caffeine would be an effective wake up, but it didn’t take long for the ice cubes to melt, turning her expensive impulse buy into a watered down sweet swill. It didn’t stop her from taking another sip from it, though. The walkway was bustling with people as always, but it didn’t stop Ann from spotting an eclectic and eye-catching group of teens milling about the railing.
“Hey guys!” she yelled, waving her arm. Three heads snapped in her direction. Ryuji had a lazy smile on his face. Sumire clapped her hands before waving frantically at her. Yusuke, as cool as ever, gave her an acknowledging nod. Futaba was oblivious to the world as she tapped away at her phone.
“Yo, ‘bout time!”
“Ann-senpai, you’re here!”
“Guys!” She made her way to her friends. She definitely knew she missed them. She didn’t regret leaving Tokyo to pursue modeling. It was important to her and for her own personal growth, but... dang.
“Woah, Ann!” Ryuji said, wobbling in place as Ann nearly tackled him off his feet. Even with her drink, she didn’t let up on giving him a back-breaking hug. She quickly moved to Sumire, the younger girl giggling at the show of affection. Ann then squatted down and made sure to give Futaba an awkward side hug, making sure not to disrupt her gaming. Which earned her a red faced, spluttering mess in return. She straighten back up and threw her arms out wide, looking up at Yusuke.
She tried not to pay too much attention to the bags under his eyes and the wan smile he gave her. Instead, she focused on pouring as much affection and well-wishes she could muster into her hug.
“I missed you guys sooo much!” she said, pulling away and looking at all of them now.
“As you have demonstrated.” Yusuke said warmly.
“We’ve missed you too!” Sumire added, suppressing a yawn shortly after her declaration.
“Yeah, yeah, we know, now enough of that sappy stuff, “ Ryuji said. Ann glared at him, but he didn’t seem to notice. “times a wastin’ and I don’t know about you guys, but I actually wanna go places today.”
“We haven’t actually decided on where those places will actually be, however,” Yusuke said. He turned towards Ann. “We were discussing the details before you showed up. Perhaps you can help us come to a decision.”
“OK.” Ann took another sip of her drink. “Lay them on me.”
“Dome Town!” Ryuji yelled, causing several passer-bys to glare at them. “It’s the perfect hang out spot.”
“And,” Futaba piped up from the ground, where her attention hadn’t strayed from her phone. “They’ve got an event all week where they hold Featherman R photo opportunities!”
“That does sound exciting,” Sumire said, “however, I’m partially to Yusuke’s idea myself.”
“Thank you Yoshizawa,” Yusuke nodded in her direction. Despite the clear exhaustion hanging off of him like a cloud, he infused his voice with unnerving passion. “I would like us all to go to the planetarium. They’ve recently added a new program that I’ve been meaning to see for some time now.”
“It’s just some boring old light show, Inari. Nothing nearly as impressive as seeing the entire Featherman R team recreate their most iconic poses.” Futaba said, actually looking up from her phone and waving a pointed finger up at Yusuke. He looked back down at her, thoroughly unimpressed.
“It’s not just some light show,” he said, his voice rising as he continued." It is a showcase of artistic prowess using light, color, and sound to produce evocative emotion from the audience. And while they do repeat the show for future audiences, the fact that the composers choose to use such ephemeral tools to produce said art is, in of itself, an astounding testament of the fleeting nature of beauty itself." Passion blazed in his eyes as he addressed his own audience, arms outstretched towards them, beseeching them.
“It’s just a light show dude.” Ryuji said, rubbing his neck.
“As you can see,” Sumire said, cutting Yusuke off from answering. “We’re at an impasse.”
Ann chewed at her straw, looking at all of her friends. A mild realization coming over her as she mulled over between the two options.
They all looked so tired.
In Futaba’s case, Ann could almost wave it off as her usual bad sleep schedule. But with Ryuji and Sumire’s case; while the bottle-blonde looked relaxed and fine, his eyes seemed a little redder, his slouching a little more pronounced than before. Sumire had a slight sway to her, as if she physically didn’t have the strength to stay upright. And now that she was looking, Ann could see that the younger girl’s eyes were drooping slightly behind her glasses. Then there was Yusuke, who had always been on the pale side, but now it took on an almost sickly hue when paired with the dark eye bags. And thinking about it, Ann wasn’t feeling one hundred percent herself. Whether that be the jet lag or the odd draining effects being in that... otherworld seemed to have, she couldn’t quite say.
She took one last drink of her sugar water mess, emptying it completely.
“You sold me Yusuke, that light show sounds impressive!”
Ryuji and Futaba’s groans did little to dampen the utter joy that sprang on Yusuke’s face at the news.
“Wonderful, let’s set out at once!”
***
The trip to the planetarium didn’t take that long and walking into a building with air conditioning felt amazing after coming off the sub-way.
“So, how long’s this show supposed to be anyways?” Ryuji cracked his neck, looking at all the milling people around them as they all took their place in line for tickets.
“Hm, I do not know.”
“Wha-“ Ryuji whipped his head towards Yusuke, “you don’t know? You’re the one who found out about this thing. Shouldn’t you know how long it is?”
“I didn’t think that was important.”
“Relax Skull,” Futaba said, not bothering to look up. “the timetable said it’s about an hour and a half. You’ve watched movies longer than that.”
“Do you think we’ll be allowed to bring in snacks?” Sumire asked.
“If you’re sneaky enough, sure.” Futaba said. “Why, you hungry?”
“Oh, kind of, although I’m perfectly willing to wait for after the show for food.”
“Yo, you wanna hit up Ogikubo after this, then?” Ryuji grinned. “cuz I’d be down with that!”
“What, Ryuji, why go all the way there when there are plenty of places near here to try?” Ann said.
“Cuz they’re all crêpe or cafe places.”
“So,” she said, challenging. “That sounds great to me.”
“Ugh, I need something more than just sugar in me.”
“Then you don’t have to get anything.”
“What, then what’s the point of all of us going out to eat then?”
They continued to argue about which place to eat at, with Yusuke and Sumire throwing their two cents every now and again, until they finally made it to the ticket booth. With tickets secured and ten minutes to spare before show time, Yusuke led them all to the auditorium, picking out the “best spot” that he had discovered once while hanging out with Akira. It was in the middle of the rows of seats, and it took Yusuke several tries before he finally found the aforementioned spot once again. In the end, Yusuke ended up sitting in the middle of all five of them, with Ann sitting on his right and Ryuji right next to her, with Futaba and Sumire sitting on the other end. They all laid back in their seats and waited.
The already low lights dimmed into darkness, leaving only the lights above. Ann could hear Yusuke gasp beside her and Futaba snicker in response. The show itself started off slow, gaining both tempo and vibrancy with time. It really was beautiful and when she looked over at Ryuji, she could see that even he was into it. Yusuke, on the other hand, was enthralled. Smiling to herself, Ann turned her attention back to the light show. Letting the colors and music wash over. Ann frowned when she felt her eyes droop and her body felt heavier in the chair. She didn’t want to fall asleep. Ann was sure Yusuke would understand but a little disappointed one of his friends missed out on an “artistic experience” but... her head lolled again. She really was in no state to fight off sleep. Closing her eyes, Ann felt her body relax of its own accord and her mind darken as unconsciousness took over. Something vague and familiar found its way through, though, sending something uneasy running through Ann’s mind and keeping her from going completely under.
That was all the warning she got before her eyes shot open. The world was in grey and haze like the music from before gone, and Yusuke was next to her, gasping in pain as he gripped the sides of his seat. Eyes wide and body trembling.
“Yusuke!” She sat up and touched his shoulder. She tried to will the blue flames circling around her arm to do something to help Yusuke, but they disappeared as soon as they came near him. He continued to tremble beneath her hand, eyes blown wide and unseeing. She was so focused on him, she almost did not notice another source of blue flames in front of her.
“Futaba,” Ann said, not knowing what to say or even what to do. And from the frighten, shaking girl in front of her, neither did she. “What do we do?” she felt tears form when Yusuke let out a choked off scream.
Futaba looked up at her with wide, shiny eyes.
“Violet, Skull!” she finally yelled, whipping behind her to look at Sumire, “get up, there’s a crisis!”
Ann blinked and looked behind her to rouse Ryuji into action. He was just laying there with a stupid smile on his face as he looked up at the foggy grey ceiling.
“Ryuji,” she yelled, “Ryuji!”
He didn’t so much as stir.
She spared a glance back at Yusuke before pivoting her body over to Ryuji and slapping him across the face. This time, instead of retreating, the flames on her hand lingered on his cheek. They danced in place for a few moments as just tiny pinpricks of flames, then another flame popped up in his hair, then his neck, then on his torso. More and more bursted to life until he too was covered in blue fire. He blinked.
“Aw hell, this place again!”
“Finally,” Ann snapped. Ryuji sat up, giving Ann a confused look. Then Yusuke let out another muffled scream.
“Aw Shi- Yusuke!” he hopped off his seat and stood beside Yusuke’s seat. Once again, the moment Ryuji touched Yusuke, the flames around him moved away from the blue-haired boy.
“C’mon, c’mon,” Future said, holding her blank screen above Yusuke’s face. “I know my phone screen’s not the cleanest, but c’mon Inari, its’ as good as any mirror, so work!”
Mirror, mirror, reflection, he needs to see his reflection.
Ann gasped and dug into her short jean pockets. She pulled out her compact and nearly broke it with how fast she opened it and held it above his face.
“Goemon,” she couldn’t help but plead in her mind, “you have to be close to some kind of mirror or window! Please!”
He was probably in as much pain as Yusuke was at the moment. Yusuke could barely speak, so even if one of them were, could they even call out their persona’ name?
“Y-yusuke, hey, do me a favor a-and try to call Goemon.” she hated she could barely keep a wobble out of her voice.
“Yeah man, just try it!” Ryuji said, nearly as hysterical as Ann was.
Yusuke took a pained breath, but he seemed to have heard them. The next sound out of his mouth was rough, but clearly the beginning of a sentence.
“Go-,” a sharp breath, “Goe-“ a hiss of pain. “Goemon!”
Ann’s heart soared. He managed to say it. It had to have work.
But Yusuke remained trembling in his seat. Not a blue flame came to life. Ann was grateful when the world of grey haze vanished, bringing them back to the dark planetarium room, with music blaring all around them. Despite the noise, she was close enough to hear the sigh of relief Yusuke let out and his body slump in his seat. His eyes closed.
“Yusuke, buddy?” Ryuji nudged him and the taller boy opened his eyes again.
“I am fine...as of right now. Thank you.” He closed his eyes again. “Please... enjoy the show. We bought tickets for it and these... episodes don’t tend to come one after another, anyway.”
Ann and Ryuji looked at one another and nodded.
“C’mon, get up.” Ryuji said, grabbed onto Yusuke’s arm and heaving him up onto his feet. “A light show isn’t more important than you, man.”
“But-“
“No buts, buddy,” Ann slide off her seat and went to Yusuke’s other side and helped to hold him up. “friends first.”
He opened his mouth to argue, but seemed to think better of it. “Very well.”
Ann looked over at Futaba and Sumire, she blinked. “Has Sumire been asleep this whole time?”
“Eh?” Futaba looked at the girl next to her. “Oh, yeah, she went out like a light shortly after the show started.”
“Y’mean, she was out during the whatever just happened?”
“Ah,” Futaba shifted in her seat. “I did yell at her, but she was out and Inari was... well, I guess I didn’t try too hard to wake her up.”
“Well, wake her up now. We’re leaving.” Ryuji huffed and led Yusuke away, Ann following alongside and making sure they didn’t stumble.
She could just barely hear Futaba waking up a groggy and confused Sumire over the surrounding music.
They made it back out into the lobby area, where some concerned employees asked them if they were all right. The staff seemed to accept motion sickness as a good enough excuse and they left the planetarium. They stopped at a bench not far and waited for the remaining girls to catch up. Giving Ann enough time to process what happened.
“That... that looked a lot worse than the one I had last night.” She said. It was almost a whisper.
“Yeah.” Ryuji nodded. “It did.”
“It certainly felt worse.” Yusuke said. His eyes barely opened.
Ann bite her lip, absent-mindedly rubbing circles on Yusuke’s back.
“Aw shit!” Ryuji yelled, making both Yusuke and Ann jump.
“Ryuji-!” Ann began to say, but Ryuji was quicker to the punch.
“Haru!” He shot the both of them a panicked look. “She went through one of these as well!”
“Oh, no!” Yusuke said, a little bit of life coming back to him. “We should find her immediately!”
“Hold on.” Ann pulled out her phone and quickly navigated to her contacts. It didn’t take long to find Haru’s name and all three of them waited in tense silence.
She didn’t pick up.
Ann called again.
Haru didn’t pick up again.
Ann called for a third time. Ryuji was bouncing his leg furiously, and Yusuke stared down at Ann’s phone fiercely. There was a click followed by a-
“Hello?”
The three of them spoke at once, the only clear thing expressed between the three of them being their concern and fear. Ann felt her body relax when Haru’s giggles came through the phone.
“Thank you, everybody.” They couldn’t see her, but Ann could feel the exhaustion ooze from Haru’s voice. “But I’m fine.”
“Do you need us to come over?” Ann asked.
“Oh no,” she said, “I was in the middle of class and I know you guys were hanging out today. So don’t worry.”
“You said you were in the middle of a class and not are?” Yusuke asked.
“Um, yes.” Haru sounded distinctly uncomfortable.
“Well, where are you now?” Ryuji asked.
“Oh, um... I’m currently...” Haru sighed. “I’m currently in the nurse’s office.”
“Dude, just say you’re sick and call it a day!” he said. “ya ain’t exactly gonna be lying if you do.”
“Yes, but...”
“Haru Okumura,” Ann said. She hopped off the bench and stood tall. Her voice coming out commanding and strong. “tell them you’re sick and go straight back home. And if you don’t we’ll know, cuz we’re coming over to make sure you get proper rest!”
“Oh my,” Haru said. The line was quiet for a little while, then she let out another bout of giggles. “Well, in that case, I’ll make sure to have some tea and snacks ready for your arrival.”
“We look forward to that as much as we do to your presence and health.” Yusuke said.
“Then... I suppose I’ll see you all when you get here.” the exhaustion remained in her voice but it was now being smothered by bubbling excitement. “I can’t wait!”
Once Futaba and Sumire joined back up with them, all five of them made the journey to Haru’s. The prospect of seeing a friend after so long almost making them forget why they were visiting her in the first place.
It was still fun, though. And, as everybody had their fill of tea and snacks, one by one, each one of them began to nod off in Haru’s classy condo. Haru and Yusuke went out nearly at the same time. Futaba followed shortly, not waking up at all when Ann moved her into a less painful looking position. And despite her nap earlier, Sumire was the fourth to go. Ryuji finally crashed while resting in a soft armchair.
Snickering, Ann took a picture of everybody and posted it in the chat. She looked over at all of her sleeping friends and smiled. Ann laid down on the expensive couch she was on and stretched, finding that it didn’t take long for her to find a comfy spot at all. All thoughts and worries barely an echo right now. It didn’t take long for Ann to join her friends in slumber.