>>5794303Getting to your camp wouldn’t be better or faster anyway, may as well. Rather than navigate through the apartment complex the normal way you begin scaling the wall towards Shizuka’s window, eventually tumbling in. Her apartment was CRAMPED.
It was a studio with a small kitchen in one corner, and a small bathroom visible through a doorway off to the side. A mother, father, two of Shizuka’s younger siblings, and a toddler were all sitting on some bedding taking up almost half of the floor. The other half of the room was piles of clothes, knickknacks, and miscellaneous home items stacked into sections by use type.
You find yourself straddling Shizuka as she lies pinned against a futon mat because there wasn’t a whole lot of room for anyone to move out of the way when you unceremoniously vaulted across their windowsill. She smiles at you dopily with her eyes closed, as she often did. “Welcome, Otomo!”
You quickly get off of her like she’s made of fire, mumbling some apologies while not thinking about how slender and delicate her waist felt against your thighs, you piece of shit. You introduce yourself to her family.
“Oh, so you’re Otomo!” Her mom sweetly says. “I’ve heard so much about you and your other classmates! You’re ‘Waterboy’!”
“We often refer to Shizuka as ‘Noodle Girl’.”
Her father snorts. “She's definitely our little noodle, isn’t she? She looks like one and she thinks like one too.”
“Dad, hey! You’re embarrassing me!” Shizuka says, giggling.
Her dad is smiling at his daughter now too. Light banter was apparently normal in this family, and you could feel the atmosphere of warmth and love like a fog in the air. You suppress a wave of cold envy as her father continues. “Waterboy, you’re smart, ain’t you? Teach our little noodle some stuff while you’re here. We’ll pay you in top ramen.”
You agree. As you scan around, it’s abundantly obvious that their family doesn’t have much in the way of worldly means. A pile of cheap ramen packs makes itself known to you as Shizuka’s mom begins dumping them into a pot one after another to feed the household. What they didn’t lack for was love, clearly. Even the toddler is happy and upbeat, reaching a small hand towards you while calling you ‘Tom-Oh’. You shake his little hand and the small child laughs uproariously like you did the most entertaining thing in the world.
For the first time in a long, long while, you had to fight to hold back tears. You manage to keep your will from breaking and maintain a calm mask.
