Chapter 392: Arc 6, - 8: The End of Honeyed Words
Though the ceiling was quite nice, it was not exactly something someone wanted to watch as they were trying to sleep. Even through her closed window, she could hear yelling coming from the roof.
That was not the thing keeping her up however and investigating it was far from her concern. At the onset of midnight, the brunette let out a loud groan while lying in her bed.
She got up and sat on the side of it, staring at the floor of her dark room. In her hand was a marble made of metallic rings she kept spinning in between her fingers.
What to say? How to do it? There was no manual of how to go about breaking someone’s heart. She paced around her room, then lied back in bed; then repeated the whole process again, finding it impossible to sleep.
By two in the morning, she was sat at her desk with a blank paper and a pen—her head in her hand. She yawned, but the twisting she felt in her stomach and uneasiness in her chest did not want to stop.
"Maybe I shouldn’t break it off...? UGhhhhh," her forehead hit the desk. "Oh no, she’s meant to be invited into our party too... What if I’m responsible for starting her off as an adventurer?" her head rose and fell back.
"What am I talking about, that’s not my responsibility—is it?" Fumeko placed the pen aside and got up, realizing any attempt at sleep was futile.
Coffee; coffee was her only survival method at this point. She left her room and dazedly walked downstairs. Her attention was brought to somewhere else all of a sudden, once she had reached the second floor.
Did she hear, faint whining...? Fluttering her eyes open, she walked past her father’s room with the door ajar and Kineko’s room shut.
Getting closer to Jotou and Hotaru’s room, she swore she could hear a few stammered sobs for a few seconds before it would stop. The crying sounded like... "Knock-knock." "Hotaru? Is that you? Are you crying?"
She heard a loud sniffling inhale come through the door a bit muffled. "Ahgh, I’m fine Meko. Yes, it’s me. It’s fine."
"You sure sound fine. Where’s Jotou, is she asleep?"