Story: Hurt and Comfort (all chapters)

1:10 p.m., Living Room

Mutsumi sits on the couch that is adjacent to the staircase. She struggles to think of a solution that will make Naru happy and bring her beautiful smile back. Naru is her best friend. She is her inspiration and the person who means very important to Mutsumi. Mutsumi recalls some of the beautiful moments she has with Naru.

They met for the first time when they were kids along with Keitaro. They, along with Keitaro, made a promise that they would get in Tokyo U and met each other again. Over fifteen years later, they met first before they were gotten into the targeted university. Both of them were three-time ronins and they had failed to pass the Todai entrance exam three times in a row. However, when they met each other, they seemed they don’t remember each other, apparently because of all the studies and the university they desperately struggled to pass.

The two eventually fell in love with Keitaro and Naru was the victor, taking Keitaro’s heart. The fourth time they attempted to pass the exam was a completely different story, as the trio managed to pass the exam, thus fulfilling their childhood promise.

Back in the present, Mutsumi still thinks of a solution for Naru’s current condition. ‘What should I do?’ she thinks to herself as she desperately searches for an answer to her problem, which is attempting to comfort Naru, ‘I can’t stand seeing Naru-chan hurt. I can’t believe Keitaro actually left her again but he did. Why he cares so much about Tokyo U more than her? I thought he loves her. And now with Naru-chan being hurt so deeply, I should make her feel happy. But how? How will I be able to do it?’

Naru’s voice can be heard from the living room which startles Mutsumi. “I hate you Keitaro Urashima-kun!” she shouts scornfully as she runs out from her room. She then stomps downstairs before sitting on the couch beside Mutsumi, still weeping heavily. She is sitting on her left. They are all alone in the inn as the residents are apparently in the mall shopping right now while Keitaro is on a three-day excavation with Seta.

This is a perfect opportunity Mutsumi. She stares at Naru for a moment, feeling very hurt. She then moves a bit closer to her blonde-haired friend before gently placing a hand on Naru’s left shoulder. Naru reacts a bit before looking at the hand that is placed on her shoulder. She then looks at her brown-haired friend and sees her smiling at her. ‘Her, her face. She’s so cute.’ She thinks in her mind as she can feel her deep depression being surpressed. ‘But why is my anger disappearing when I see her smiling face?’ she continues before moving inside her older friends warm embrace.

“Naru-chan, please tell me what’s wrong.” Mutsumi inquires. She inquires one more question and although she is aware of the reason why Naru is crying, she pretends that she doesn’t know, “...and why aren’t you with Keitaro-kun? I thought you two are going to have a date.”

“That’s because he is busy with Tokyo U again and he’ll be gone for three days!” Naru takes a deep breath and responds in a frustrated voice, “Our wedding is four weeks from today and he hasn’t made a progress in our relationship as of yet. He has been busy with Tokyo U so much that he has forgotten about me and our relationship. I don’t think he even cares about me anymore! Why do I have to suffer all of this? Why he has to keep this? Doesn’t he love me?!”

Naru begins to sob, as she buries her head deeply on Mutsumi’s chest, weeping even more. Mutsumi can feel pain in her heart. The anemic girl can stand seeing her crying no longer and even though she doesn’t come up with a plan in her mind, she tries to comfort her anyway. “Please stop crying Naru-chan.” Mutsumi says sadly as Naru looks on her face. Mutsumi then gently plants a kiss on her forehead. Naru can feel her cheeks turning beet red but calms herself down as soon as she sees her older friend smiling at her. Mutsumi continues, “I’m sure that Keitaro-kun still loves you and even though he is gone working on Tokyo U again, he hasn’t forgotten about you yet.”

“Thanks Mutsumi-chan.” Naru smiles at her as she wipes her tears but still, there is sadness dwelling inside of her and it doesn’t go unnoticed by Mutsumi. She resumes, “But still, I’m not happy with him being away from me.”

There is a complete silence for a moment, where there is absolutely nothing that can be heard. Finally Mutsumi breaks the silence. “Um...Naru-chan...”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Has anyone helped you out in time of need?”

Confused, Naru thinks about that for a short moment. She thinks that the question Mutsumi asked doesn’t seem to help but it has something to do to with it. “Yes, my friends always help me whenever I’m depress. They are always there to cheer me up.” she says as she continues, “When I was a teenager, I gained a lot of friends and even though I quit several clubs to study for the Todai entrance exam, they are still on my side, supporting me.”

“Well has anyone helped you out when Keitaro is away?”

The younger friend now realizes what her older friend is getting at. Naru now knows that Mutsumi tries to help her like her other friends. However, when Mutsumi asks her that question, she can feel her sadness growing. And although she is glad that Mutsumi is helping her, she feels a bit embarassed at the back of her mind. Once again she continued but this time, sadness begins to increase inside of her, “Actually, no one has helped me or consoled me whenever Keitaro is gone. I feel so lonely that I feel no one loves or cares about me.”

Naru is about to cry but struggles not to weep. Mutsumi can’t believe at what she heard and it saddens her a lot. As mentioned, this is her perfect opprtunity and it’s up to her to comfort her friend. “That’s not true Naru-chan. They still care about you, even us, your friends. We will always be on your side.”

“Yeah...but...they don’t seem to...” Naru is cut off.

Mutsumi’s voice begins to rise, disliking her low self-esteem, “Please don’t say something like Naru-chan. We are your friends and we will never leave your side.”

Naru immediately feels ashamed of her self. After all, Mutsumi is right. She looks downs and says, “I’m sorry Mutsumi-chan. It’s just that I don’t want to be alone. I want to be with Keitaro-kun.”

“Well would you like me to comfort you?”

Naru is surprised. She never sees this one coming. Nevertheless, she responds, “Yes, Mutsumi-chan.”

That is much to Mutsumi’s content. She thinks for a moment and then speaks, “Tell me what is that you expect?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well what do you want to see to come out from your relationship with Keitaro-kun? What are you waiting for?”

Before Naru can respond, she can feel Mutsumi’s right hand touching her left hand. She looks at it. Mutsumi’s hand is on her hand but hasn’t touched her palm however. She can feel a small amount of warmth from her older friend’s hand. ‘Her hand is so, so warm.’ she contemplates this in her mind. She can feel herself likng the warm hand of Mutsumi. Despite this, she isn’t going to let go through her. She responds as she looks down, “I don’t know. I can’t seem to find the one that I want to see coming out from our relationship.”

As Naru says that, Mutsumi doesn’t seem to be content of that answer. Mutsumi isn’t content because she can feel her sorrow not decreasing and as Naru looks at her, Mutsumi continues to press on. “What? What exactly are you waiting to happen between you and Keitaro-kun?”

Naru can feel her cheeks turning red. She starts to get suspicious of Mutsumi. She knows that Mutsumi is there to console her and whatnot. However she feels that Mutsumi is up to something as well. ‘I am getting a stange feeling about this. Where is she getting at?’ Nevertheless, she decides to continue. “Anything as long as it would advance our relationship. I initially asked him if he would want to take our relationship to a new level but it hasn’t growing to date.”

That is all Naru can say for now. Another silence occurs for a moment. Mutsumi stares at Naru while her friend isn’t looking at her. She can feel warmth surging inside of her. Her cheeks turn a little red. She can’t help but stare at her beautiful face. Finally, she breaks the silence and speaks. “Naru-chan, am I your best friend?”

Naru is surprised of that question. She wonders why Mutsumi asks her that kind of question. Anyways she replies with a smile. “Well to be honest, I really can’t say you’re my best friend Mutsumi. I hang around with Kitsune more often than with you but you are still one of my friends and one of the people that I care about.”

Mutsumi is a bit dissapointed when Naru says that she isn’t her best friend. Yet, she smiles back at her since Naru also says that she is one of the people she cares about. Suddenly, something begins to grow inside of Mutsumi. She can’t tell what is it that she feels right now. “Naru-chan, what feelings do you have for me?”

Naru is shocked. Her eyes widen a bit. She isn’t expecting Mutsumi saying something like that. She thinks about Mutsumi’s last question and she thinks that it isn’t helping her problem at all. Unexpectedly, she recalls herself the time when Mutsumi ‘stole’ her first kiss. She also recalls that she liked it. ‘What? What is she doing asking me something like that? Why is she asking me that?’ She tries to forget it and feigns a laugh. “HAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh, Mutsumi-chan. You can be really funny sometimes.”

As Naru stops laughing and looks at Mutsumi, she is surprised. Mutsumi doesn’t laugh along with her. She just smiles right at her. Naru notices Mutsumi’s cheeks turning red and begins to fear that she is going to faint like she always does. “What do you mean Naru-chan? I ask because...what do you mean by that?”

Naru’s heart begins to beat fast, thus getting panic. “Mutsumi-chan, please. I don’t want you to get another anemia and I don’t want you to get fainted again. I...” Naru says as she gently pushed Mutsumi a bit from her and as she looks at her again, she is surprised once again. Mutsumi still keeps smiling at her. “It’s alright Naru. I’m fine, really. I’m not going to faint.” she says with a smile as she moves closer to Naru.

Naru sighs deeply. “Mutsumi-chan, you do know that we are both girls, right?”

Mutsumi is absolutely confused about that question. “What, what are you getting at Naru-chan? I can’t understand what you said.”

“We are friends Mutsumi-chan but we can’t have a bigger relationship than that.”

“Our relationship is being friends Naru-chan. I know that you have a relationship with Keitaro-kun but I can’t stand seeing you hurt Naru-chan. I can’t believe that Keitaro-kun has hurt you but it looks he did. Why would he ever hurt you? I thought he would finally see what a wonderful and beautiful person you are.”

“I know but you said that he still loved me and he hasn’t forgotten about me.” as Naru finishes her sentence, she feels Mutsumi’s hand touching hers again only this time, the palm of her left hand touching the palm of Mutsumi’s right hand. She feels more warmth from her hand as her friend holds it firmly.

Mutsumi replies, “Yes I did say but I care about you Naru-chan, a lot. While you’re quick tempered, you are a very kind, bright and sweet person. You are very friendly towards people and you care about all of our love ones.”

Naru can’t believe at what she has just heard from Mutsumi. She contemplates of those descriptive words Mutsumi has said to her and she seems to like every single word. However, she tries to shake it off as a joke. She doesn’t want to think it any furhter. “Well that is so sweet of you Mutsumi-chan and I am grateful to hear that...” she appreciates as she at Mutsumi who is smiling at her, “...but you don’t have to joke about it.”