Chapter Text
09/28 Wednesday
It has been a week since Mafuyu had managed to escape her mother’s overbearing grip on her life. A week since she moved in with the girl who promised to save her.
A week since she last had to wear her mask at home.
She is worried how long this would even last. Her mother will definitely come after them sooner or later, her mother won’t be able to keep explaining why she is not around the house to the neighbours for long. But she knows that her mother wouldn’t do anything too drastic that would break the illusion of that perfect family with a perfect daughter.
But that also means Mafuyu cannot relax just yet, she would still need to keep up that image in school so her mother wouldn’t be forced to take those drastic measures.
For now though, she needs to finish her homework. As she was around halfway through her math homework Mafuyu jumps as she hears a few knocks on her door.
“Mafuyu… you have been working on that since you came home. Can I come in?” Kanade asked calmly. Mafuyu looks at her clock seeing that it is now 9:00 pm indicating that she had been doing all of her homework and studying for the past four hours.
“Sure.”
Kanade opens the door and walks in holding two mugs in her hand.
“I made you some tea. Mochizuki-san also made some curry the last time she was here if you want to eat now.” She said as she placed one of the mugs on the table.
“Sorry Kanade, but I need to finish this.”
“But you have been working on this all day. Are you sure you can’t leave this for tomorrow?” Mafuyu truly wanted to go have dinner with Kanade, she feels her mind slipping a bit most likely due to her hunger. But she needs to do this. She cannot let her grades slip even in the slightest she needs to keep studying, otherwise she would have to go back to that feeling of being in a house with no warmth, feeling suffocated with any interaction from the woman she called “mom”.
“I’m sorry. But I cannot, I need to keep going, I’ll eat after I am finished.”
Kanade frowned after hearing that but she quickly replaced it with a soft smile. “I see, well I’ll keep your food in the microwave for when you finish. Just promise me you'll come out to eat?” She says with a somber look in her eyes.
“I promise.” And with that Kanade closed the door to her room.
After another 2 hours, Mafuyu finished her work and headed towards the kitchen. Kanade had already left for her room so Mafuyu headed straight for the microwave and saw a post-it note stuck to it.
“Mafuyu, thank you for taking time to eat, if you are feeling tired I can postpone today’s meeting if you need to rest, take care.”
A warmth spread through her chest as she finished reading the message and unpacked the food from the microwave. A soft smile on her face unbeknownst to her while doing it.
It’s strange really, Mafuyu usually was used to eating alone after studying, her mother usually even praised her for being so diligent on her work. But all she felt was warmth after reading a simple note. It made her feel more comfortable here in the darkness in this living room than she did in her own house.
As Mafuyu was eating, she started feeling more and more sluggish. Her hands were starting to feel heavy and her mind felt like it was slowing down. Which reminds her, how much time did she actually sleep today? She finished her meeting on Nightcord at four, slept thirty minutes later and then had to get up for school at seven, meaning she would have only slept for two and a half hours and she had been too focused on studies that she forgot to take a nap in the middle of the day. It is no wonder she is starting to crash.
She decides to pack up her meal and eat it for breakfast tomorrow. After making it to her bed she decided to send a quick text with the phone Kanade gifted her to the group that she couldn’t make it. That was when she saw a notification on her Nightcord app and it was a user that she did not recognise. But after she clicked the message the sender became far too simple to imagine.
“Mafuyu, I let you run this temper tantrum long enough. You have until the 7th to make it back home. After all, it would be a shame if something happened to Miss Yoisaki after all.”
Attached with that message was a series of pictures and certificates all focused on Kanade. Pictures of her visiting the hospital. Buying cup noodles at the store and even the picture of her mother’s grave. She must have hired a private investigator to do this.
“It is sad isn’t it? A poor child, only 16 years old with no mother to take care of her and her only two living relatives are hospitalised and now she has to take care of a teenager with no income. It wouldn’t take much effort to convince the authorities that her living standards are unsuitable for her and have her be placed in a foster system.”
Mafuyu felt a sharp pain run through her chest as her blood ran cold. The clothes on her skin started to feel like needles as squeezed the fabric on her skin to calm the sensation. She must have started hyperventilating moments ago as her vision was starting to blur, but even then she was able to make out one last message that appeared in the moment.
“So be a good girl dear, and make the right decision.”
And with the final nail in the coffin the pain in her chest made her scream. A pain far worse than what she felt when she first confronted her mother.
‘No… this can’t be happening. Why? I was the one that ran away, I was the one that confronted her! Why threaten Kanade!?’ Mafuyu's thoughts were screaming at her looking for a way out as she curled up in the corner of her bed and began to sob. She saw the door slam open as a figure ran into the room and stopped at the sight of her. Mafuyu flinched, quickly hiding her phone as she stifled her sobs as the footsteps came closer.
“Mafuyu?” The voice whispered, as the sounds in her mind started to dull. She hears a small thud as the person speaks again.
“Mafuyu, is it possible for you to open your eyes?” Mafuyu managed to recognise the gentle and soft voice, one that usually managed to fill her with warmth. Mafuyu slowly opened her eyes to reveal a kneeling Kanade at the edge of the bed. Her figure still blurred as tears still filled her eyes.
“Did something happen?” Mafuyu tried to speak but her mind wouldn’t let her use her words so all she could do was slightly nod.
“Do you want to talk about it with me?” Mafuyu wanted to tell her, she wanted to tell her everything. But how could she? How could she tell her that her mother gave her a deadline to be home by next week? That she would threaten Kanade’s safety and stability just to get her to come home. That all the hard work Kanade put in would vanish by next week as she is forced to go home and never to talk to her again. She shook her head.
Kanade hummed in response, Mafuyu saw her get up and kneel beside her on the bed, Kanade slightly spread her arms and Mafuyu quickly understood the message and buried herself in Kanade’s embrace, letting out all the pain a frustrations she was keeping in as her sobs were being muffled into Kanade’s chest, Kanade brushed her fingers through her hair, humming a soft melody as Mafuyu’s sobs were slowly starting to quieten down as she eventually drifted off into sleep.
After a few more minutes of sitting in silence with a now sleeping Mafuyu in her embrace. Kanade decided to try to lay Mafuyu down on her bed and leave the room but Mafuyu gripped onto her tighter as she mumbled into her chest.
“Don’t go…”
Kanade smiled in return as she laid down with Mafuyu still in her arms.
“Don’t worry, I’m not leaving your side” Kanade whispered as she too drifted off into sleep.
Mafuyu woke up first, she felt like she barely slept at all but Mafuyu couldn’t go back to sleep even though her body felt exhausted and drained for a reason she can’t remember. She then felt a pressure wrapped around her body, Mafuyu tried to move but the pressure increased even further. She opened her eyes to discover two things. One it was still dark outside, and two she was buried in the crook of Kanade’s neck. The events of last night came rushing back to her as she reached out for her phone and saw that those messages from her were still there.
Mafuyu was scared, there was no way her mom was just bluffing. She already went through the effort of hiring a private investigator to gather the evidence after all.
Mafuyu frowned as she felt the warmth of Kanade in her arms. No, she will find a way out of this, they already have come so far from where they started. She won’t let her mother extinguish the warmth she has again. She will keep making music with her group, she will keep making steps towards finding herself, and she won’t be forced to wear that mask again.
She slowly slid out of Kanade’s arms as she began searching for any legal loopholes that could help her out of this. There are some solutions that could be found, such as Kanade being taken in by either Mizuki’s or Ena’s families to avoid Kanade being placed in the foster system, but there is no guarantee that their families would even take her in. Even then, she knows that her mother wouldn’t stop after that, even if she helps Kanade out in this situation, what is stopping her mother finding another way to target those closest to her again. She would need to make her mom stop wanting to chase her entirely, but she doesn’t know how to do that.
There is barely anything she can collect to deter her mother and if she does find something it wouldn’t be devastating enough to tarnish her image. Her mother made sure that she never did anything that could affect her reputation in the public eye, in the end anything she says would just be twisted to be a spoiled brat complaining about not getting what they want. Many adults have already seen her overly packed schedule and not even batted an eye after all, instead they congratulated her mother for raising such a diligent daughter.
After an hour of trying to come up with solutions. Mafuyu was about to give up as a news article caught her eye. An article about a group that was changing the hearts of people and getting them to confess to their crimes had recently targeted a fast food CEO last morning. Mafuyu has heard of this group before, their names have been popping up even around her school recently. Let alone the fact that Amia would sometimes hop onto call to talk about the thieves most recent escapades. But the main part that catches her interest now is that there was a website that people could request to have someone’s heart changed.
Could it be that easy? Was it even possible? Mafuyu had experienced bizarre things before, a world born from the feelings in her heart exists after all. It shouldn’t be impossible to assume that a group of people changing people’s hearts for the better also does exist.
But is it even right? To have her own mother’s heart changed? To not even try to talk things through with her mother again?
Mafuyu looked to the open door of her room where Kanade still lay in her bed sleeping peacefully. Mafuyu remembers the feeling of warmth that he gets whenever she is close with Kanade and that gives her the final push she needs as she turns her face back to her phone, displaying the red screen of the request page.
“This is the only choice I have left.”