sparse flash 5

Mao: ......

...Hey. What are you following me around for, Ritsu?

I can’t stop thinking about it—do you need something from me? If you’re just hovering, cut it out. It’s starting to get under my skin.

Ritsu: Aw. You’ve been giving me the cold shoulder lately, Maa~kun.

Mao: And stop calling me Maa~kun, okay? We’re not kids anymore... You really never change, do you Ritsu?

You’ve gotta grow up and stop clinging to me at some point.

Ritsu: Not Ritsu, Ricchan! Call me Ricchan like you used to! It’s cuter!!!

Mao: Don’t throw a weird tantrum over it! Hey—! I seriously don’t get what you’re so upset about! C’mon, it’s almost time for school to let out, so leave me alone and go home, all right?

Ritsu: We live in the same direction. Let’s go home together, Maa~kun, like the best friends we are... ♪

Fufufu. I remember back when we aaalways went home together, with our bookbags on our backs...

And we’d go the scenic route, hand in hand, stopping to look at each other while we talked.

And when you fell asleep, Maa~kun, I’d give you a piggyback ride... ♪

Mao: Nope, I don’t remember anything like that. I do remember carrying you and your backpack home, half-dead from exertion.

Ritsu: Fufufu. You’ve always been such a loyal manservant to me ♪

Mao: Except I’m not your servant... Seriously, though. I have some work I need to do, so how ‘bout you head home?

You can do it alone today, can’t you? And if you start feeling too sick to walk, I’ll call your Onii-chan to come pick you up.

He’s back already, isn’t he?

Ritsu: No way. I made up my mind that whatever older brother I had went to another country and died there.

Mao: What are you talking about... I did definitely hear he’s back, though. Everyone’s talking about it.

Your Onii-chan’s famous in our neck of the woods, after all.

You, on the other hand, are more of a fixer-upper...

You could stand to take a page from his book and take life more seriously, y’know. How’d you even survive this long, actually?

Ritsu: Urgh... Sleeping and waking up, breathing in and out... Maybe “survive” isn’t the best word for it—more like I just “didn’t die.”

Whatever. I’d get lonely if you started hating me for bothering you all the time, so I’ll listen to you this one time...

But can we go home together tomorrow? When is it gonna be okay?

Mao: Why do you want to walk home together so badly...?

Like, I’m being serious here: I’m gonna be crazy busy for a while. I’m helping the student council out with stuff.

Ritsu: Student council, huh... Now that you mention it, it did recently get reinstated.

The guy who looks like my brother was supposed to be the President, I heard. He’s always getting pushed into positions like that.

I know how much you like that kinda thing, too~ Must be hard being a gofer, with all that thankless work.

But you like being busy. It’s like a fetish or something.

Mao: What do you mean, fetish? Whatever, it’s just that they’re short-staffed.

I saw them running around in the hall and offered to help hand out paperwork.

Then we started working together more and more... It’s a little late in the year, but they actually asked me to join the student council.

And I had no reason to turn them down. I guess this is like a training phase; I don’t know if I’ll actually get accepted or not.

Also, call it a hunch, but I feel something bad stirring up in there... I’ve gotta really put some thought into it before I join.

Ritsu: Please. Put some thought into it? You’re not gonna do that—you’re so excited you’ll jump headfirst into that mud pit.

It’s fine though, it’s your life... But I’m still worried about you.

If you ever get in a bind, I’ll come help you out of it. I’ll always help you, Maa~kun. I’ll give you anything you could ever want.

Even if the whole world becomes your enemy, I’ll still be your one and only ally.

If you asked me to, I’d even murder every last idiot who dares to bother you.

Mao: Yeah, murder’s a little much. That’s kinda embarrassing, actually, stop that. We’re in high school now, so you can quit with the preteen fantasies.^[1]

Anyway, see you in class tomorrow... Ricchan.

Mao: ...Oh, he’s already gone. He’s like a ghost or something~

Well, whatever. Umm, what’s next...

Yeesh, they gave me some real shit work.

Why do I have to do this...? I’m just trying to help them out. They must be more understaffed than I thought.

But now they’re just handing me their dirty work... This is way more trouble than it’s worth.