章 29: Chapter 29: One Step Away From The Past
The Game room.
"You need to stop breaking these controllers." Kioku told her vampiric opponent.
"It's not my fault these cursed controls can not handle my might!" Kiba shouted in frustration after breaking yet another controller.
"Don't you have a special controller that's super strong?" Kioku asked her skeptically.
"Y-yes but it's all the way upstairs," Kiba said, making a quick excuse.
"Queen of laziness." Kioku said.
Kiba was about to retort, but then Eri came running and hugged Kioku. Clearly distressed.
"E-Eri?" Kioku asked, quickly returning the hug in an attempt to comfort her sister. "What's wrong?"
Eri looked at her with pleading puppy dog eyes, that instantly made Kioku melt from cuteness but also made her concerned. "C-can w-we go to your room?"
How could she ever say no?
Kioku's room.
The two of them sat on Kioku's bed, and after they got comfortable, Eri explained the situation.
"No!" Kioku hugged Eri protectively. "You can't let them! They might try to use your blood as a weapon to hurt people!"
Eri's eyes widened. "L-like Overhaul?"
Kioku nodded. "Like Overhaul."
"B-but Izuku said they were going to help people." Eri pointed out.
"They probably lied to him!" Kioku accused. "Daddy is too nice, they must have said he can help people to trick him into letting them have your blood!"
Kioku loved her father, she loved him dearly. But she knew he could be too kind, he believed people too much. That's why she had to be vigilant. And protect her family from liars.
"I'll go talk to daddy! I have to warn him!" Kioku jumped off the bed and ran out the door, intent on finding Izuku.
This left Eri with time to think about what Kioku told her.
She hadn't thought about it, but they might be lying to trick Izuku so they could use her blood as a weapon. Like Overhaul did. In all the cartoons in movies, they showed the government being bad people, so it made sense.
But...Izuku told her those things on T.V. were very different from real life, and Kioku was often called paranoid by everyone else.
Even if the government were completely trustworthy, Kioku probably still wouldn't trust them.
So maybe, even though she really liked Kioku, she wasn't the right person to ask.
But then...who was? Maybe...maybe someone who had been with D.O.C.
Fukunoko's room.
Fukunoko was sewing up a hole that had been made in her skirt when there was a gentle knock on her door.
Despite the gentleness of the knock Fukunoko still flinched. "W-who's there?"
"I-it's Eri," Eri answered. "C-can I come in? Please?"
Fuku debated internally. On one hand, she didn't want people in her room. On the other hand, it was Eri.
"Are you upset with me?" Fuku asked.
"N-no...you don't h-have to let me in. I don't wanna bother you." Eri said sadly.
Fuku was immediately stabbed with guilt and ran over to the door. "No-no you can come in! See I'm opening the door right now!"
Fuku opened the door and was immediately met with a distressed Eri, causing her to panic even more.
Oh no I made her so upset! She probably won't want to be friends anymore! And oh my god I wasn't thinking I let her into my room! Stupid Fuku what did you do!? Fuku berated herself.
"F-Fuku?" Eri said getting the attention of her zoned out friend. "Are you ok?"
Fuku snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Eri, trying to see if she was angry or upset with her, but she wasn't, at least not in any visible way.
Normally that wouldn't get her to lower her guard, but she reminded herself that this was Eri. So she convinced herself to lower her guard just a little, tiny bit.
"D-did you want something?" Fuku asked.
One explanation later.
"Oh, Eri...I don't know which one to pick!" Fuku answered honestly. "I wouldn't want anyone near my body like that, but...those buildings that the government has...I don't wanna go back to them."
Eri frowned. "Was it bad?"
"It...they didn't hurt me but I was...lonely," Fuku admitted. "No one visited me like you and Kei do. The only people that came were the men in suits, but they were like robots, and I think they hated me. It was better than being with...that bad man...but I like here a lot better. A lot a lot better."
Eri thought about that. She was glad that those people weren't being hurt...at least not physically but...she knew just as well as many of these kids did.
Loneliness can hurt a lot.
Flashes of her time with Overhaul popped up in her head. This time they weren't of her time in the chair. It was her time in her room. Just sitting there in deafening silence, completely and utterly miserable.
And then she imagined someone else in that position. Someone who had done nothing wrong and whose only crime was being born with a bad quirk.
It horrified her.
"Eri?" Fuku gave Eri a concerned look as her friend started to panic. "Eri what's wrong!?"
Eri snapped out of her thoughts and had noticed she was breathing a bit too much. After a few moments to calm herself she responded. "N-nothing."
"It doesn't look like nothing!" Fuku pointed out. "Eri...I don't want those people to touch you. I-I'm not sure you should say yes."
Eri looked down. She wanted a more definite answer. Because she herself was so unsure.
Sensing this, Fuku suggested something. "Why don't you ask Kei! She might know!"
Kei. Eri thought.
Kei was one of Eri's closest friends, the second child Izuku adopted, and her first sister.
Maybe she had the answers that Eri didn't.
The library
Kei was currently reading a book called "Animorphs" when Eri walked in.
"Kei?" Eri called out to her sister.
"Eri!" Kei immediately put down her book and rapidly patted the seat next to her. "Come here! Come here!"
Eri did as instructed, walking over and climbing up on the seat next to the snake girl.
Kei promptly wrapped Eri in a tight hug. "I missed you!"
"Y-you saw me this morning." Eri quietly pointed out.
"That's too looonnng!" Kei complained.
Kei proceeded to cuddle Eri, and Eri found herself petting the snakes in her hair to calm herself.
Eventually, Kei noticed that Eri was upset, however, and momentarily stopped the cuddling. "What's wrong?"
Eri bit her lip and explained.
Another explanation later.
"Hmmm. I would do it." Kei said after hearing her out.
"You would?" Eri asked.
"If people need help then you should help them," Kei stated simply. "That's what Izuku thinks. And if he didn't think that, we would all still be sad and in danger."
That statement crashed into Eri's mind, as she realized just how true that statement was.
Izuku had to make hard decisions a lot too.
Izuku was probably super scared when she knocked on his door and asked him to help her hide from a criminal. But he did it, and with practically no hesitation.
He was probably scared when that villain was robbing the supermarket using Kei, but he didn't run or hide, he saved her.
Izuku always tried to help people, even if he was scared, even if something bad might happen to him. And because of that, she was here. Because of that, they were all here. Because of that, they were a family.
Eri felt like she wanted to do the same thing, that she should do the same thing.
"But you don't have to if you don't wanna," Kei said, tightening the hug once more. "I don't wanna ever make you sad! Don't do something that will make you sad!"
Well, that was a conflicting statement, did she want Eri to do it or not?
Right now she was thinking that she should do it...but, what Kioku said earlier, about them maybe using them as weapons, and her own fear of having her blood taken were still making her indecisive.
Maybe she should ask someone smart about this? Other than Izuku, he was busy, and she didn't want to bother him any more than she did, so who was the other smartest person here?
Kitchen.
Fu and Yami were busy munching down on meats when Eri came up to their table.
"F-Fu?" Eri asked.
Fu paused for a moment, before finishing up the slab of meat as fast as he could.
Once he was done, he turned to Eri. "Wackt? Huck!? Ait."
Fu shoved his hand down his throat in a way that looked extremely uncomfortable, and after a few moments, he grabbed the piece of meat that had gotten stuck in his throat, before putting it back and his mouth, chewing and swallowing it properly.
"Do you need something Eri?" Fu asked.
"Something's wrong," Yami said after eating his own slab of meat. "Lots of bad feelings. Did those men do something? Lots of bad feelings everywhere after they left."
Eri paused for a moment, she wasn't going to get Yami involved at first, but since he knew something was wrong, she might as well tell him to, if only to keep him from worrying.
Yet another explanation later.
"Hmmm," Fu said. "That's hard."
Yami nodded in agreement. "Yeah, hard."
"W-what should I do?" Eri asked.
"Well...I don't think...I can tell you what to do." Fu said. "I give blood all the time, but I don't feel pain or fear. So it's all different for me. It's probably different for everyone."
Eri immediately looked disappointed.
"You're the one making the choice," Fu said. "So which do you feel worse about? Not helping those people or getting your blood drained?"
Eri thought about it. She hated both options. But which one did she hate the least?
It was...so hard. Both options caused her immense amounts of fear, stress, anger, and just every negative emotion known to man. She couldn't tell which one she hated more.
Luckily, someone could.
"Think about first option," Yami told her.
"Huh?" Eri asked.
"Think about first option," Yami repeated.
"You mean not helping them?" Fu asked, receiving a nod from Yami.
Eri didn't know where this was going, but she followed the instruction anyway, mostly because she was slightly scared of annoying Yami.
She thought about all these people, stuck in a room, all alone, never going outside, never getting to do all the good things in the world, like go to an amusement park. And they would be like this, forever.
Many emotions flowed through her. Guilt and self-hatred at the thought of her own selfishness being in the way of these people's happiness, as well as fear and sadness at the thought that they would be stuck there forever.
After a few seconds, Yami spoke again. "Now think about the other one."
"You mean giving them her blood?" Fu asked to clarify, receiving another nod.
Eri thought about it, she thought of being in that chair again, Izuku reassured her it wouldn't be like with Overhaul, but all she could think of was that chair, and the brief memory of Overhaul coming towards her, before the memories ended because Kioku erased them.
She couldn't remember being taken apart. But she could remember the fear of it, the fear she had felt every day until Izuku saved her.
The fear she felt now wasn't new, it was an old fear, one that was put aside but never away. An old fear that now exploded out and made her want to cower and hide.
"Second option. Give blood." Yami said.
"Huh?" Eri was taken off guard by this sudden answer.
"The first one feels worse," Yami said. "The second one isn't as bad."
As Eri was looking at him in confusion, Fu figured out what Yami meant.
"Yami can see emotions," Fu explained. "So he told you to think of both options to see which one made you feel worse. And apparently giving blood doesn't make you feel as bad."
"It-it doesn't?" Eri asked, a little wide-eyed.
"Hm. First one feels worse, Second one not as bad. Do the second one, give blood." Yami said.
That...actually made Eri feel a little better. It made her choice, which had been tearing at her all day, a little easier. The only thing keeping her from helping those people were her own feelings. But, if she was just going to feel worse if she didn't help them anyway then the choice was obvious.
However, making the choice easier, didn't make it easy. Her fear was still gnawing at her, and grabbing her as if it was trying to keep her in place.
She wanted to go make the decision, she wanted to help. She knows she should help. And she knew that not helping wouldn't be good for her either.
But even after all this time, fear was still trying to hold her back.
"You're a good person Eri," Fu said, gaining everyone's attention. "You want to help people so much that not helping people makes you feel worse than something you're afraid of. That means you're brave and selfless, just like Izuku."
"L-like Izuku?" Eri asked, small tears welling in her eyes.
Fu nodded. "You want to be a doctor right? So those people are your first patients. I think you may be the youngest doctor ever."
Eri stayed quiet, silently being reassured by Fu's words, which was exactly the boy's intention.
"Izuku told me and Kiba that to be heroes and to save people, we have to overcome our fears. And you're doing that right now. So you're like...a hero doctor." Fu knew that Eri must be going through a lot with this choice, so he had to say everything he could to help her.
"A hero...doctor," Eri whispered.
Yami looked at Eri as the immense feeling of negativity, was somewhat mitigated by Fu's reassurance. It was still an overwhelming amount of negativity, but Fu seemed to be helping a tiny bit.
"Yeah, a hero doctor. You're really good." Yami said in an attempt to help.
Eri seemed stuck there, unable to move as all sorts of emotions overwhelmed her.
Fu hopped down from the chair and took Eri's hand. "Why don't we tell Izuku about your decision?"
Eri gave a hesitant nod, and Fu took her by the hand and guided her to Izuku's office.
Izuku's office.
"Yes and under no circumstances do I want them to weaponize this," Izuku said to his newly hired lawyers. "And-"
Knock Knock Knock.
"Hold on a second please," Izuku said. "Come in!"
Fu walked in with Eri in tow. "Izuku? Eri has her answer."
"Really?!" Izuku hadn't expected it to come this fast. Although why is Fu with her? Did he see how panicked she was and try to help? Well...it's Fu so I doubt he would try to pressure her into anything. That's more Kioku's thing.
Izuku sighed remembering how long it took for him to convince Kioku that he wasn't letting them do anything bad to Eri. Because you better believe he had plans to stop and scheming the government may be doing.
Not that it would matter if Eri said no.
Fu brought Eri over to Izuku's desk and then stood behind her. "Go on, you can do it."
Eri looked at Izuku, fear, and hesitation still very clear on her face, and if Izuku looked close enough he could see that she was slightly trembling.
"W-w-will they use-use my blood t-to hurt p-people?" Eri asked. Before she could say yes, she had to know the answer to this.
Izuku rubbed her head reassuringly. "I would never let them do that. Ever."
The definitiveness in Izuku's voice, helped Eri make her choice.
"Then I-I-I...I want to help." Eri managed to say, her trembling increasing, and she shut her eyes as tears started coming down her cheeks. "Please let me help!"
Not even a second later, Izuku was embracing her. "My brave little girl. I'm so proud of you."
Eri took in the praise, letting it comfort her as the finality of her choice set in, and images of the chair pledged her mind.
"It's ok, it's ok. Everything's going to be ok." Izuku reassured her.
Fu joined in muttering comforting words, and the trio stayed like this for a long time, until Eri eventually ran out of energy.
"I'm...I'm tired." Eri sniffled.
"That's ok Eri you just go rest," Izuku told her. "Fu, bring her to her room. And make sure she's not alone."
Fu nodded, lifting up Eri and walking out of his office.
Once they left, Izuku sat back in his chair and leaned back, releasing a breath he had been holding.
It had been an emotional moment for him too, and many of those emotions lingered inside of him. Fear, worry, sadness, self-hate, and pride. Pride in his daughter's selflessness.
Izuku saw his phone and immediately remembered what he had been doing beforehand and picked it up as fast as he could.
"I'm so sorry that took so long!" Izuku apologized. "Let's get back to discussing the contract."
Two days later.
The men from D.O.C. once again walked into his office, with the lead man taking a seat in front of Izuku.
"You said you had an answer?" The man asked.
"Yes, we will be handing over the blood," Izuku said, much to the men's elation. "However, I have many, many stipulations."
Izuku pulled out a thick contract from a drawer in his desk and layed on the table in front of them.
"These are my terms, there will be no exceptions. Read them, and either you agree to them, or you don't get the blood." Izuku said firmly, making the men nervous.
The lead agent spent half an hour reading the contract and learned just how right he was to be nervous.
In short, the terms were as such.
Under no circumstance could the formula be used outside the purpose of getting rid of the quirks of level 2 O.P.C.'s. And they could not be weaponized at all.
The requirements of using the formula is as such. They must have the approval of all legal guardians, and the person themselves. The person must be at least ten years old and be made fully aware of the consequences and after-effects of this decision. Then they must submit a form to Izuku or a person of Izuku's choosing, that he or a person of his choosing must approve.
Any and all things involving Eri's blood Izuku should be made aware of and he had the right to check on any and all things involving her blood.
D.O.C. would not be directly involved with the extraction of or handling of blood, and that duty would instead fall to another branch of the government.
Basically, this would give Izuku full control over everything that happened involving this project.
"We-we can't accept this!" The man said.
"Well, then you're not getting her blood." Izuku knew exactly what position he was in. Eri's blood was an irreplaceable ingredient for the quirk erasing formula. And he had a full monopoly over it.
Those kids that D.O.C. holding would cost them absurd amounts of money to contain for the rest of their lives, and so if they could just get rid of their quirks, then they'd stand to save a crap ton of money.
But to do that, they needed Eri.
Izuku had all the power here. So he could afford to make unreasonable demands, so long as the government stood to gain all that money from it, they'd be stupid to refuse.
That and also-
"I wonder how the public would feel about you refusing my terms though," Izuku said out loud, causing the men to panic. "Because honestly, the reason you wouldn't be able to agree with them, is if you had some kind of ulterior motive. And I wonder how the people would react to that ulterior motive getting in the way of helping people in need."
Izuku had not signed any non-disclosure agreements, meaning at any point in time he could talk about everything that was going on here, and if something happened that he didn't like, it wouldn't be too hard to bring the hammer of bad public opinion down on the government for this.
The man grit his teeth, and looked over the contract again, before looking back at Izuku. "Let us talk to our superiors."
Izuku nodded, and the men walked out of the room and pulled out their phones.
He waited, and waited, and waited for a while more, and after a lengthy amount of time, they came back in.
"Maybe we can negotiate these terms." The lead agent said. "Perhaps some compensation can be given-"
"I don't want any money." Izuku interrupted him. "I will say this one last time, if I have to say it again, then we're finished here. These are my terms. Either sign the contract or leave."
The man paused, before saying. "I need to talk with my superiors again."
"Tell your superiors that I don't have all day," Izuku said impatiently.
The three men left the room once more, and Izuku took that moment to lean back in his chair and relax for a moment.
It was exhausting to act so...aggressive and rude. It just wasn't in his nature.
But he needed to act like this. He had to remember that he had the power here, and use that power to pressure them. Otherwise, there would be dire consequences.
He looked at a picture of himself and Eri making apple pie. He had to remember why he did this, who he was doing this for. Even if it doubled his workload, it would be worth it.
When he heard the door open, he immediately straightened up, and the men walked back in, with resigned looks on their faces.
"We'll need some time to spread this around and get all the proper signatures, but...we plan on agreeing to your terms." The main agent said.
Izuku smiled but did his best to hide his relief and excitement. "That's great! I'll let you take this copy of the contract so you can make copies and you can contact me when everything is signed."
"Of course." The man all but sighed.
As the men took the contract and left, Izuku silently celebrated his success in his office.
I need some tea. He thought.
A week later.
Eri sat anxiously in her bed.
Today was the date of the blood donation.
Izuku decided it should be as soon as possible so Eri didn't have to suffer the suspense forever.
There were some doctors there with some machines, and a mask connected to a tube that they would use to put her to sleep.
Izuku was also present, kneeling down next to Eri and holding her hand to comfort her. "It's ok, everything's going to be ok. I'm so proud of you, you're so brave. You're going to help so many people."
"Alright, now we just need her to lay down and we can start." Said one of the doctors.
Izuku gave her the most reassuring smile he could muster. "Just lie down Eri. When you wake up, it will all be over."
"Ok," Eri muttered quietly.
She laid down, and the doctors descended upon her. As fear grew inside her, she comforted herself by squeezing Izuku's hands tighter.
As the mask came down on her face she quickly went to sleep, the last words she heard were.
"One day, you'll do this without any fear at all."
And then everything went black.
?
When Eri opened her eyes, she was back in the chair.
The same chair Overhaul had put her in so many times before. In the exact same Yakuza base, she hoped to never see again.
Panic and fear flooded her body, as her brain immediately told her to run.
But she couldn't move. No matter how much she tried, her body wouldn't budge.
Then, she heard footsteps. Footsteps coming from outside the room, walking towards her.
Fear grew in her as the footsteps grew closer, and closer and tears started to drip from her eyes each second her body refused to move.
Then, the door opened.
But who walked in wasn't Overhaul...it was...her?
It was Eri. Just as she had been before Izuku found her. In that plain dress, with her old bandages.
The doppelganger walked closer to her, staring at her intently.
"Why are we here again?" Asked the doppelganger.
Eri didn't answer, she was too confused, too scared.
"Why did you let them hurt us again?" The doppelganger asked.
Eri felt like she wanted to answer. She wanted to say that they weren't going to hurt her. That she would be fine. But the words died in her throat.
However, the doppelganger seemed to read Eri's mind. And knew what she wanted to say. "They're taking your blood Eri. They're doing what Overhaul did. They're gonna take you apart again."
"N-no!" Eri spoke for the first time. "No, they won't!"
Eri suddenly blinked, and the doppelganger transformed. She now had on Overhaul's mask and jacket.
"Why do you think you can help people?" As the doppelganger spoke, Eri could hear Overhaul's voice speak with her, as if she and Overhaul were speaking at the same time. "You know your quirk is a curse."
"No, it's not!" Eri denied. "I-Izuku said-"
"Izuku's not here you weak pathetic girl!" The doppelganger started to turn more monstrous, the bandages flew off revealing scars and cuts underneath, all bleeding out on the floor, and bird-like feathers started to grow on her until she was nothing but a freak abomination of herself and Overhaul combined. "But I'm here. I'm always here. You can't escape me Eri. Your mine! Always mine! Forever!"
Eri screamed as the nightmare opened it's huge bird beak and swallowed her whole.
Now, Eri was floating in darkness. Alone, and scared. She couldn't see a thing.
"Izuku! Izuku!" Eri called out into the darkness.
"Why can't you do anything on your own!?" Suddenly the bird monster appeared in front of her, its beak and eyes popping out of the darkness, still using her and Overhaul's voice. "You worthless girl! Why can't you help yourself!?"
Eri started sobbing, as the nightmare kept berating her.
"Please! Help!" She cried.
And then, there was a light.
A light pierced through the darkness, and a figure reached out of the light and grabbed onto Eri.
"Shush, it's ok. It can't hurt you anymore."
The light died down a bit, and the figure was revealed to be what looked like an older looking Eri. She was wearing stereotypical doctor attire, but the oddest part was that her hair and eyes were green, and she was still faintly glowing.
"You don't have to be afraid of them." She said, her voice, much like the nightmares was a combination of her own voice and someone else's, in this case, that being Izuku's.
The dream Eri took Eri into her embrace, and Eri clung to this strange vision of her future self.
She could feel her hand, it was warm, like Izuku's.
"You can't be saved Eri! Your mine!" The Nightmare repeated words Overhaul had more or less said to her over and over, it's darkness surrounding the two of them, enriching upon them.
The dream Eri glared at the Nightmare, and as the darkness threatened to engulf them, the dream Eri's glow brightened and destroyed the darkness.
"AHHHH!" The nightmare screamed in pain.
"You're a liar. You've always been a lair." The dream Eri said. "Your lies and mean words can't hurt anyone anymore. Eri's too strong. She's a strong, brave girl now."
The dream Eri looked down at regular Eri. "Eri, it's time to get rid of them now."
Suddenly, the dream Eri's light started to spread onto Eri, until she was now glowing with light.
"NO! NO!" The Nightmare sent out more darkness to attack the two of them.
The dream gave Eri a gentle smile that reminded her of Izuku. "Hold out your hand Eri. They're waiting for you."
Eri looked at the darkness, and then at the dream, before hesitantly, she and the dream held out their hands to stop the darkness.
And then, all she saw was light.
Back in the real world.
Eri opened her eyes and was met with several blurry figures as her eyes tried to adjust to the light.
"I think she's waking up!" Shouted a loud female voice.
"Don't be too loud!" Scolded another feminine voice.
"Is she ok!?" Said a male voice that was further away.
When Eri's eyes refocused, she saw that she was surrounded by her siblings and Izuku.
Almost everyone was here, most of her siblings, and Izuku were right up next to her bed. Otoko kept a good distance being in the back of the room, and Kai was outside the window.
The only one who wasn't here was Fukunoko, which made sense considering she couldn't bear to be around one other person let alone eleven.
Eri was about to ask what everyone was doing here when she felt a small pain in her arm.
She quickly looked at her arm and saw that there was a bandage on her arm.
"It's over Eri," Izuku told her. "It's done. They took the blood."
Eri's eyes widened in disbelief.
That was it? That was all? She went to sleep and woke up and the worst thing she had to endure was a slight soreness?
Izuku had told her as much so she shouldn't be surprised, but this was...nothing. She felt more pain than this when she stubbed her toe.
Overhaul's blood taking was a thousand times worse! If it was this easy then did he just hurt her because he hated her that much?
Given what she knew of Overhaul, she figured the answer to that was yes.
"At last you have awoken! We were quite worried about you. Caretaker said that he didn't want you alone when you woke up. So we all arrived here to greet you!" Kiba said.
"Are you ok Eri!?" Kei asked, engulfing her in a hug.
"Hey, I wanna hug her too!" Kioku said going up and hugging Eri as well.
"Don't think you can get ahead of me!" Kiba said, crawling over her siblings to hug Eri.
"Hey! Don't overwhelm her!" Izuku said but with no effect.
As Eri was being swarmed by her siblings, she felt as if any other time she would have been overwhelmed.
But now. After the donation, she was just glad she didn't wake up alone again.
Happy tears streamed down her cheeks, as she realized that things were well and truly different.
Meanwhile, Yami watched Eri closely, as for once the positive emotions overwhelmed the negative ones.
He knew he did his job well.
Later that night.
Given that Eri had slept for a good portion of the day, Izuku let her stay up later than normal.
She had been spending that time watching T.V. when suddenly she got a knock on the door.
Eri paused what she was watching, and walked to the door.
When she opened it, to her surprise, there was an entire tray of fresh chocolate chip cookies just sitting there. With a note next to it.
She looked around for anyone who could have left it, and saw that Fukunoko was looking at her from behind one of the corners, only to flee when she realized she'd been spotted.
She left her room?! Eri thought in surprise.
Once she got over the fact that the famed recluse left her room for once, she looked down at the cookies and the note.
In the note, written in very neat handwriting, was as such.
"I'm sorry I didn't come with everyone! I promise I care about you. I was just scared! Take the cookies. Please keep being my friend!"
Eri looked at the note, and then at the cookies.
Slowly, she took one of the cookies and bit into it.
It's good! Eri thought.
Eri looked at the rest of the cookies. Part of her wanted to finish the rest of them off...but she had a better idea.
At Fukunoko's room.
Fuku was sitting in her room, hoping beyond hope that Eri accepted the cookies and would still be friends with her.
Oh my god, what if she hates the cookies! Stupid Fuku you should have thought of something better. Fuku berated herself.
Knock knock!
"Eap!" Fuku jumped.
"Fuku? Can I come in?" Eri asked. "Please?"
"I uh...are you mad?" Fuku asked.
"No. I'm happy," Eri said.
"Y-you are?" Fuku asked.
"Yes," Eri said.
Fuku hesitated for a bit, before ultimately deciding to open the door.
On the other side, was Eri, with the plate of cookies.
"I wanted to share," Eri said.
"S-share?" Fuku repeated in shock.
Eri nodded. "The cookies are good...but food is better when you eat with someone else."
"M-me?!" Fuku said, as there was anyone else here. "You want to eat with me?!"
Eri nodded again. "Your, my friend."
And just like that, the two of them spent the rest of the night, staying up way past their bedtimes, eating sugar and watching T.V. together.
Neither of them could have asked for more.
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