"Twilight..."
"..."
"Twilight..."
"Mmm."
"Other half, stop ignoring me and get your lazy ass up! It's already 11 a.m!"
"What the... Tis?"
"Uh duh. As far as I'm concerned, I'm your only wolf."
"Yeah yeah yeah, where have you been? I thought I lost you forever. That or you decided to be a bitch and ignore me."
"It was a little bit of the second option, but I was just resting. It took a while for me to heal and get back to full strength."
"Wait, when did you get back?"
"Last night. I would have said something, but I didn't because you seemed a little preoccupied with dear future husband. I didn't have the heart to disturb you two. But I would have if you went any further. This wolf ain't ready to be a mama wolf yet."
"It's not what you think."
"Where have I heard that before?" Tis rolled her eyes.
"It's... I don't... I..."
"Honey, we talked about this. Think about your words carefully before you speak."
"I don't know if I like him like that."
"Quick question. Can you die from constipation?"
"No, why?"
"Because I'm worried about how full of shit you are."
"Ok, ouch. But I don't, and who's to say that he sees me as more than just a friend?"
"I'm sorry, but what language are you speaking? It sounds like bullshit."
"But..."
"No buts. It's not like you didn't want him last night, hell it was the opposite of that. Don't try to lie because I can hear your thoughts. And don't think that I don't know what you did to that hooker yesterday. That was your way of publicly announcing that he belongs to you and no one else can have him. Besides, you two were so cute when you kept flipping each other over, it was like you guys were fighting to be the one on top. And it should be clear by now that he sees you as more than just a friend."
"Oh Goddess, kill me now. It meant nothing, ok."
"Look, I know Trey caused us a lot of pain, but fuck him. He's a shithead that belongs with an equally shitty mate, and there's no doubt that we deserve better. Plus, the seven-year age gap would've been a little problematic if he stayed with us."
"Wow. So only now you're finding it a problem."
"Well, since he decided to be shitty, I can freely point out whatever is wrong with him."
"That's fair. Anyway, you went hard with the attacks."
"The funny thing is that I don't remember doing any of it. I think I blacked out too."
"Weird."
"As I was saying, we can move onto much better things and find true happiness, but we can't if you keep denying yourself of it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm leaving because you have a lot of thinking to do."
"Whatever you say. Know-it-all."
"I heard that last one."
Her stubbornness wouldn't let her admit that Tis was right. She got up and went to the bathroom and then went back to bed. After a few minutes, Takumi came in.
"There you are. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you're hiding from me."
"I'm not."
"Then why are you still in here?" He sat next to her and noticed that she had slightly scooted away. "If what I did last night made you uncomfortable, I'm sorry…"
"It's not that. I'm on my period."
"Oh. I'll be right back."
He left and came back half an hour later.
"Sorry I took so long."
"Where did you go?"
"The store to get you these."
He gave her a bag and when she looked inside, she saw it was filled with all her favourite snacks.
"I brought my laptop so we can watch movies."
"Are you sure you've never dated?"
"Yes."
"I find that hard to believe sometimes."
"Would you be jealous if you weren't the first?"
"You have a great sense of humour; you could become a successful comedian. I wouldn't be surprised if you told me your birthday's on April 1st."
"Fun fact, you guessed the month correctly. It's April 29th. What about you?"
"That's for me to know and for you to find out."
"Shouldn't friends tell each other when their birthdays are?"
"Anyway, Tis is back."
"A friend of yours?"
"Sometimes I wonder about that. She's my wolf. Think of her as my other personality that I speak to in my mind. It's like two people sharing one body. But I have more control in human form, and she has more control in my wolf form."
"Why Tis?"
"That's my first name."
"Your first name isn't Twilight?"
"It's my second name. My first name is Tis, more like the shorter version. It's Tisiphone (Tis-if-uh-nee) and it's a Greek name. I also have a third name; it's Ama'Rose. It's a contraction for Amanita Rose, and yes, I was named after a mushroom as well. Call me by whichever one you want. A lot of people know me as Tisiphone, but my friends prefer Twilight for some reason."
"You have some pretty weird parents. Couldn't they give you a normal Japanese name? I think because of your hair, Fuyu, Yuki or Shiro would have suited you. Or if they wanted to keep 'Twilight' they could've just translated it to Hakumei."
"Sometimes I wonder if they were on crack. And you can imagine how much fun I have filling in forms that want my full names."
"So, where was Tis?"
"She was resting to get her full strength back. Apparently, she came back last night."
"That's good, I think. Before I forget, the guys said they wanna hang out again next week. Hansuke said he'll be able to make it this time. He more or less has the same personality as you, so I'm sure you two will get along. That or you'll constantly be at each other's throats."
"Either way, at least I'll meet someone, besides Keito, who has sense. April 27th."
"What about it?"
"You asked when's my birthday, didn't you? But whether you know or not makes no difference, because I prefer to avoid celebrating it."
"Why?"
"You're pretty nosy for someone who says they aren't."
"I'm not nosy, and for the record, anyone would ask why. Besides, is it wrong for me to want to get to know my roommate better?"
"I guess not. But it's a little personal."
"Then you don't have to tell me."
"Remember when I told you that my mom is dead?"
"I thought you weren't going to tell me."
"I said that it's a little personal, not that I wouldn't tell you. Do you want to know the story or not?"
"Ok, I'm listening. Yeah, I remember."
"She was murdered. I know because it happened right in front of me. It was during a rogue attack. My parents and I were in the garden playing hide-and-seek, my dad and I were the ones hiding. She had just found me when one of them appeared out of nowhere. One minute she's fighting him off, the next, he's ripping her heart out of her chest. Everything went black from there. Then I woke up in the hospital. My dad told me I was out for three days, but I was ok. We buried her the next day. That's mostly why I hate rogues and why I decided to become a warrior. I wanted to be able to protect my pack so none of them would go through what I went through. And I'll never forget that day, six years ago, on April 26th."
"The day before your birthday."
"Yep. After that, my brain couldn't function, and it shut down. I couldn't eat, sleep, talk or anything, I'd become a vegetable. My dad said that day in, and day out, I'd just sit there staring into nothing and not moving. Everyone thought I'd heal over time, but I only got worse. And it got to a point where my dad had to take me to a psychiatrist. It took a whole two years for me to fully get back to normal. My psychiatrist told me that it'd be better if I avoided celebrating my birthday for a couple of years. I got used to it and eventually, it became second nature, but I did visit her grave sometimes and still do. And now I get to remember it as the day I found out that I have the worst mate in history, who oh so graciously rejected me."
"Care to explain?"
"It's a long story, and I'd rather not talk about it to anyone."
"It's kind of funny how our birthdays are so close to each other."
"Yeah. Thank you." She leaned against him.
"Don't mention it. It's a good thing we stocked up on sanitary products that one time."
"How are you a combination of nice and not clueless?"
"You can thank my dad for that."
He was playing with her hair, and at some point, she dozed off. When she woke up, she found herself in bed, and it was the next day. She found a note on the bedside table. It said:
You're a heavy sleeper, you wouldn't wake up after I tried so many times to wake you. So, I just carried you to the bed. I gotta say, you look less threatening when you're asleep, so it was a win for me. Hope you enjoyed your sleep Roomie ;)
P.S
Yes, that was a winky face at the end. Drawing isn't my thing. And there's breakfast in the kitchen. I know you only ate once yesterday, so don't go too crazy. I don't want you to choke on your food.
Twilight decided to spend the day at the park since she didn't have anything better to do. She played on the swing for a whole hour, took a walk and rested on the bench. It was around five when she decided it was time to head back. On the way, she came across Ichiya. "Do I know you? Because you look a lot like my next girlfriend."
"Nice to see you too, Ichiya."
"Are you on your way home?"
"Yeah."
"Mind if I walk you home?"
"As long as you spare me your pick-up lines, then I don't see why not."
"Good enough for me. It's kinda funny to see you alone."
"Why is that?"
"I thought Tak-kun would be walking with you."
"I just decided to kill some time at the park since he wasn't home yet."
"Come to think of it, something doesn't make sense to me."
"What?"
"You said you're Tak-kun's caretaker, right?"
"Right."
"But you're the same age so don't you go to school? How do you take care of him 24/7 as well as yourself and still be able to go to school?"
"Didn't he tell you? I don't go to school. It's not that I dropped out, it's the opposite of that. I graduated from high school at 14, I was ahead of everyone my age, and because of that, I skipped a few grades. I was so ahead to the point where teachers had nothing left to teach me and it was decided that I should graduate. I already got my Honours and Masters in computer engineering not too long ago. I'm still deciding if I should go for a PhD."
"Whoa. Nothing attracts me more than a beauty with big brains. Looks like we're here. See you next time, Ice Beauty."
She waved at him.
When she entered the apartment, Takumi was in the kitchen cooking.
"The runaway bride has finally returned."
"Technically, it's not running away if I walked to the park and came back."
"Right, I'll let you think that. So how was going to the park?"
"It was refreshing. Oh, I ran into Ichiya on the way back. I see he's still his usual self. You've got to teach him some good pickup lines or, at least, how to be romantic."
"Believe me, I've tried."
"You're probably not the best person to teach him because yours are just as bad."
"Give me some credit."
"Yeah, not happening. Oh, right, before I forget, I got a job."
"Why?"
"I can't depend on you forever. Plus, it's better than sitting at home all day doing nothing and, since I'm staying here, it's only fair that we split expenses between the two of us. Besides, you used quite a bit of your savings to buy me clothes, so I'm sure splitting expenses would make it faster to recover all that money."
"Yeah, I guess. You sure you want to do that?"
"It's not that bad. I'm just an entry-level AI engineer at a company that specializes in AI development and robotics. What was it called again? Ah yes, Sakuma Corp. Because I'm not an adult, I only work for like four days a week, seven hours a day. The guy even joked that any more than that would make them vulnerable to a child labour lawsuit. I get paid a fair amount for an entry-level job, and I get a bonus if I work overtime. Plus, it's a 15-minute walk from here. So, as I've said before, it's not that bad."
"How did you get it?"
"Oh, I have my methods."
"Just a hunch, but I probably shouldn't ask, right?"
"Probably."
"Anyway, when do you start?"
"Next week. I'll be working from Tuesday till Friday every week."
"I bet your legs would look fine in a pencil skirt."
"You of all people should know that I'd never wear one. For the record, I'll be working in a workshop, and occasionally on an open field for testing. So the only time I'll be in a suit is if I have to be in a meeting with clients, which will be rare given my current level. And bruh, leave my legs out of your fantasies."
"I'll leave them out, but only if I can go in."
"You suck."
"A lot of things, I know," He winked. Before she could retaliate, there was a knock on the door, and Takumi went to answer it. "Uh...Twilight we might have a problem."
"Why, is it your parents?"
"No, but I'm pretty sure it's way worse."
"Who is it?" When she got no reply, she went to the door.
"Goddess, if you won't tell me, I'll come and see."