Chapter 8
A few weeks have passed since the breakup.
Nightcord activities have halted for a while since Kanade has hit a wall for any inspiration. They all agree to take a break before resuming their usual routines. That means that Mafuyu didn’t need to see Ena as well, for the time being.
It’s been a lot harder to concentrate on anything else. Her classmates commented on how she looked like something was bothering her, she missed her shots a lot more during archery practice, and today her mock test paper had a 98 instead of the usual 100 on it.
Meow
Mafuyu stopped in her tracks and turned her head to the source of the sound.
There was a brown cat stuck in a tree.
She dropped her bag and walked towards the tree. She has never climbed a tree in her life before, and yet that was the first thought that came into her mind.
She was halfway up the tree. The cat hissed at Mafuyu, and it was then Mafuyu remembered that animals don’t really like to be near her.
But the cat reminded her of someone that she had been missing too much, so she had to make sure it was okay.
The branch that the cat was on didn’t seem like it could hold a human’s weight, so Mafuyu had to stretch her hand out to try and reach the cat. The cat was still hissing at her, and even attempted to claw Mafuyu, but Mafuyu didn’t care.
She finally managed to grab the cat’s loose skin and brought it closer to her. Phew, she could finally go down-
Snap
The branch caved in from Mafuyu’s weight, and down the both of them went. Thankfully, there were some bushes below that softened the impact, so Mafuyu was mostly unscathed, but she did get some scratches on her hands. The cat jumped out of Mafuyu’s arms and ran away.
When she pushed herself out of the bush, she frightened a few people passing by.
Mafuyu came back home, and she heaved a sigh of relief when she found it to be still empty. She wouldn’t know what to explain to her mother about how she dirtied her uniform.
She quickly took a shower and dumped her clothes in the washing machine.
When she stepped inside her room, she noticed something odd. Her blanket which should have been neatly folded, was unfolded, and there was a lump that was sticking out from underneath it.
The towel she held dropped.
She lifted her blanket up and revealed a tiny cat creature.
Meow~
It’s Little Ena!
Mafuyu scooped her up with both of her palms gently. Little Ena smiled at her, and let out a content purr when Mafuyu stroked her cheeks with her thumbs.
Mafuyu missed her so much. She wasn’t aware of the tears flowing out until she saw a droplet landed on Little Ena’s head.
Mafuyu wiped her face with her sleeves and brought Little Ena close to her left shoulder and caressed her small head with her other hand.
“Ena said she doesn’t like me anymore. I don’t know what to do.”
Upon hearing that, Little Ena squirmed out of Mafuyu’s grasp and jumped to Mafuyu’s table where her phone was. She pointed at it, and Mafuyu unlocked it for her. Then, Little Ena opened the music app and scrolled to her untitled song.
Mafuyu knew what she meant, so she pressed onto the button and disappeared into the SEKAI once again.
“Mafuyu.” Miku was there to greet Mafuyu. It’s as if she knew that she was coming.
“Miku. Do you know what she is?”
Mafuyu showed Little Ena to Miku.
Miku nodded.
“Mafuyu has been troubled by your relationship with Ena, right? Little Ena is the manifestation of Ena’s feelings for Mafuyu, and Little Mafuyu is the manifestation of Mafuyu’s feelings for Ena.”
“Ena’s feelings… for me.”
“Mafuyu has been thinking that Ena doesn’t like you anymore. But if that’s the case, Little Ena would have ceased to exist, but she is still here.”
Mafuyu looked at Little Ena. Who was grooming herself like a real cat.
If Ena still likes Mafuyu, then why did Ena say otherwise the other day?
Ena had always been confusing for Mafuyu. It’s hard to tell whether Ena actually meant something when she said it.
Little Ena’s ears twitched, and she turned her head.
On the ground, it was Little Mafuyu hopping towards them. Little Ena jumped down from her hands and ran towards the tiny version of Mafuyu.
Little Mafuyu hopped into Little Ena’s embrace and started licking all over her face. Mafuyu remembered hearing from somewhere that when bunnies lick you, it’s a sign of affection. She could hear Little Ena’s purring and she was visibly blushing as well.
It made Mafuyu wonder why her own manifestation was so openly affectionate. Did that mean that was how she actually is deep down?
She thought back about the times when she’s with Ena. She realised she did have strong desires to hold her hand, to hug her, to kiss her, but something else stopped her from doing so.
When she had thoughts of doing those things, her face always got unbelievably hot.
Ah. Was that what they call… feeling shy?
She was too shy to initiate anything, so she let Ena do everything first. It was just easier to follow along for Mafuyu.
Mafuyu was spacing out for a bit, until Little Mafuyu tugged on her foot.
Little Mafuyu pointed to Little Ena, and put her hands together at the right side of her face, and she tilted her head down to the side. A sleeping gesture?
“It seems like Little Mafuyu wanted to call Ena here too, but she’s still sleeping.” Miku translated for Mafuyu.
It’s already almost 4 in the afternoon… typical Ena.
“That’s okay. Let her sleep. I need to go back and complete some homework.”
Mafuyu returned back to her room, and coincidentally, her mother had also came back home.
She knocked on Mafuyu’s door before coming in.
“I’m home~ And I have some great news for my dearest Mafuyu!”
And when Mafuyu’s mother broke the great news to her daughter,
Mafuyu’s face dropped.