MortyMan87 (7:03 PM)
[ One on One with Kotone ]
It was the morning after, a few hours since the fight they had last night. Mardock couldn’t sleep well that night, this morning he felt rather restless. It was hours before classes, but he couldn’t just lay on the bed. He got up and left his apartment.
He had passed the usual spot where Kotone played music, she wasn’t there. He checked the café at the dorm and she wasn’t there either. He was uneasy, and he figured there was one place she might be this early in the morning.
He stopped at her door, a bit hesitant to check if she was in or not. He remembered what happened last time he talked to her. He thought about it, thought against it, but he decided to muster up the courage. He knocked on her door.
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LikeSpringRain (7:09 PM)
Her heart was still gripped by the pain from the news she received, her chest was tight. It was hard to sleep last night, and at times she wished she didn’t wake up again into this reality where they were gone.
But she did, and it was the morning of another day. Kotone couldn’t find the strength to move, however. A weight pushed down on her, forcing her to be still. Her mind numb to the requests of her other body parts, focused on the pain in her chest. Nothing else mattered in this lonely room of hers.
Nothing.
Knock knock knock.
Reality settled in, the outside called. She was anchored back into reality. She could hear a knocking, her senses dulled for what felt like hours came back to her. She cocked her head and looked at the mirror nearby, she saw the state she was in. Hunger settled back as her stomach shouted for food.
It was another problem she had to face…Kotone decided to sate it. She made her way to the door, hoping to get a quick bite from the café. She already forgot that there was someone by the door.
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MortyMan87 (7:11 PM)
Mardock almost believed Kotone wasn’t there, wasn’t responding. He wondered if she was still there, or maybe she had left in the middle of the night. He couldn’t help but wonder, and he almost left to ask the dorm manager until he could see the door open.
There she was, the blonde who he had worried about so much.
“Kotone?” He called out, but at that moment he worried she would shut him away.
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LikeSpringRain (7:11 PM)
‘Kotone?’ She recognized that voice. She looked up at the man at the door and froze.
“M-Mardock…” She said as she realized, then memories of their fight the night before came back. She quickly tried to shut the door on him.
Fruh was really worried this would happen, and it felt wrong to write Kotone doing otherwise. They just came from a fight which didn’t help. The plan was falling apart before it even began. The feeling of worry came back, and she quickly messaged Jake.
| LikeSpringRain: Jake I don’t think it will work. I think we need to abort.
There has to be someone else. |
| Jake41ification: Calm down Spring.
Remember, willingness to take a step. Keep your resolve strong. |
Ping.
MortyMan87 (7:14 PM)
Mardock watched her try to slam the door. He made one dumb move, he tried to stick his foot in between the door and the frame. Trying to leave a small gap for him to talk to her to.
“Kotone, please.” He tells her, also trying to grab the door. He didn’t want to let her go, not now. Not when she’s right in front of him.
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LikeSpringRain (7:15 PM)
Kotone tried to slam the door but Mardock’s foot was in the way, his hands also had a firm grip on the door. She held onto the knob and pulled hard, she tried.
“Go away!” She shouted at him.
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MortyMan87 (7:15 PM)
“I’m not going to go away.” Mardock told her “Not while my friend is suffering.” He told her, holding onto the door. He didn’t want to let go of this person important to him. He kept persisting. Just like he always has been.
“Don’t close this door!”
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LikeSpringRain (7:16 PM)
“Just go! I don’t want to talk to you!” Kotone told Mardock, glaring at him through the gap. “I don’t want to talk to anyone who doesn’t understand.”
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MortyMan87 (7:16 PM)
“But I do. I understand you, and I understand the trouble you are facing right now.” He told her, trying to keep the door open but not wanting to put all his strength on it. He just needed Kotone to listen to him. He kept trying.
Please, to whatever Gods are up there, let him get to her.
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LikeSpringRain (7:16 PM)
“You can’t,” Kotone replied, denying. She pulled at the door. “You don’t understand.” She shouted.
“You can’t understand!”
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Fruh started to panic, she saw Mardock put so much effort but only to be denied by Kotone. She also prayed, she prayed that she wouldn’t shut this opportunity down. That she wouldn’t close this door on this. That she would open up.
She couldn’t continue like this…She didn’t want Kotone to destroy herself.
Ping.
MortyMan87 (7:17 PM)
“I lost my sister recently.” He told her.
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Fruh paused, taken aback by the reply. So short, yet…
LikeSpringRain (7:17 PM)
“What?” Kotone looked at Mardock.
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MortyMan87 (7:17 PM)
“I lost my sister to an accident…A week before school started.” He told her, a pained expression formed on his face. “It was an accident…A drunkard slammed into her car as she was driving back home with her husband...”
“I…I understand your pain, of losing someone…” He told her.
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LikeSpringRain (7:18 PM)
Kotone was taken aback by the reply. She…didn’t seem to believe him, yet he sounded so genuine...
“You’re not…making this up right?” She asked him, her grip on the door knob going loose.
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MortyMan87 (7:18 PM)
“I wished it was made up, a very sick joke…I honestly wished it never happened.” Mardock told her. He tried to be easy on the door now that Kotone had let go. Although free to open it, he still kept the small gap between them.
“…Especially since she had a kid they were going back home to.”
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LikeSpringRain (7:18 PM)
“…They had a kid?” She asked Mardock, surprised. It was one thing to have lost a sister, but a child was involved…
“…Why are you telling me this?” She asked him.
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MortyMan87 (7:19 PM)
“Yeah…She’s still in denial of what happened…She has that same attitude as you do…Dismissive, shoving people away…it seemed all too familiar.” He told her. He heard her doubt again and he frowned, but he had to be honest.
“I…I knew where you were going…I couldn’t let it slide.” He told her “Especially after how far you’ve come…”
“…You’re going to destroy yourself if this continued.” He told her. “And…well, I trusted you.” He added.
“Leonor and Morgan trusted you with their problems. I assume so many others would as well if you bothered them…”
“I…figured you might understand…After seeing the others open up…I thought it was right to do but then…” He looked at her. He wanted to say more, yet he couldn’t find the words.
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LikeSpringRain (7:21 PM)
“…” Kotone looked down. He had a point. If she continued to bottle herself up…The weight on her chest had already crushed her, had already caused so much pain…
Losing them…It was hard. And she showed it quite clearly, she showed that she was in pain. In deep thought for what she lost…And…well…it started to affect others, hasn’t it?
Especially when she pushed them away…
“…What do I do though?” She asked Mardock “I…I pushed everyone away.” She told him, remembering the day before. How she left Morgan, left Leonor, shouted at Mardock…
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MortyMan87 (7:23 PM)
“…You may have pushed us away, but we’re nothing but persistent. Leonor and Morgan were planning to meet up with you today actually…” He looked at her.
“…You…You still have the chance to move on. You…you just need to talk to us. To tell us before it’s really too late.
You still have the chance to open up…before everyone else will be too distant to reach or before the weight crushes you…” He added.
“You can do this…” He reassured. “If Morgan and Leonor can with their problems…If I can do it with my own problem…you can too Kotone.”
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Fruh froze, looking at the advice. She felt that crushing weight again, and she could feel that Kotone had the same weight on her chest. She had the opportunity to say something…Kotone had the opportunity to say something…
She began to type.
LikeSpringRain (7:28 PM)
Kotone looked at Mardock, hearing what he had to say. They had opened up to her, they were going far…It would be wrong to believe that she couldn’t. She looked at Mardock, hesitant to speak about it at first. But…well…he trusted her, she should also trust him.
She finally spoke about it.
“…My friend passed away. I…hoped she would come back from that accident…He really did make music so…lovable. He made life so nice…” She told him. Remembering the news, the message she got from friend’s mother told her that her friend had passed away in her coma. How she passed away…
It hurt. Remembering it hurt.
“I just hoped…yet…He didn’t come back.” She told him, starting to tear up. The feelings were finally let out, and along with them came tears as memories with this one friend had surfaced again. The times they listened to music on the rooftops of the schools, or how they walked back home singing songs on the top of their voices, or how they went to karaoke, or how they left each other’s windows open to hear the music the other was playing...
All those memories, associated with that person…Only to be taken away all the sudden by an accident.
“I really hoped he would come back…I…I really just hoped…” Fruh mumbled, then she typed what she wrote down as something Kotone said. She wrote that Kotone started to tear up in front of Mardock. She kept writing, she kept going.
She talked about the time Kotone had with her friend. How they went around together to parks to play around. How they had fun going out shopping or going around the city. The many adventures the two had, the many laughs, the many smiles, the many happy moments.
“I…wished they were here…I just wished…” Fruh mumbled as she continued to type, she kept going. The story got longer and longer, and longer, and longer. She detailed as best she could, every memory she tried to detail. She tried to remember the trips she and her friend went on in the summer. The many gifts they shared together. The many hugs, the many talks, the many stories, the many joys they had.
She tried to list them down as best she could remember them, every little memory.
Finally she broke down by the door. She couldn’t hold it back anymore. The freshman student broke down, remembering everything her and her lost friend had gone through together. Every experience that had passed. How Kotone wished she could spend more time, how she wished he could have woken up.
If only he could see where she was right now, if only she had opened her eyes even one last time for Kotone to talk to. If she only had come back home…
“…I-I wish they…They…I wish they came back…” Kotone mumbled again as she shook in place.
“…I wish they came back…” Fruh repeated. She could feel Kotone’s pain for losing such an important figure in her life…It was only worse since she had to deal with this person being stuck in a comatose, the hope of them waking up yet there was no assurance they would. It was painful for her character, her character felt so crushed remembering such a thing.
Yet…Through remembering and telling Mardock, through this painful experience she had faced, Kotone…she opened up. It wasn’t fully, she had broken down midway, but it was a step towards moving on.
Moving on…Even if it looked forced, even if it was lengthy, Fruh didn’t really care anymore. In her eyes, Kotone had moved on.
She had moved on.
Another weight lifted off her shoulders as she submitted the response without much editing. She felt content when it finally posted, she felt glad that it was finally over. It was a start.
Ping. A...message?
| MortyMan87: ...Give me some time to digest this. Don't think I can anytime soon. |
| LikeSpringRain: Ah! Okay then! I don’t mind. |
| MortyMan87: Sorry this is a bit...long |
| LikeSpringRain: I don't mind...
...Thanks by the way, for taking the time. |
| MortyMan87: No problem. It’s the least I can do. |
Fruh would have left it at that, though she was curious.
| LikeSpringRain: Say Morty, why did you risk talking to Kotone? When you knew she was still mad at Mardock. |
| MortyMan87: Kotone reminded me of a person I know, especially how she pushed others away. It made me want to act, and it was justifiable Mardock wanted to do so too. |
| LikeSpringRain: Person you know? Was what you said about his sister and their daughter…? |
| MortyMan87: Yes actually. Based off a true story. Sometimes I wish it was just fictional, but it’s true.
It’s been a while since the event, but I can tell she’s still suffering from it. I tried to get her to open up, but I think we’re too far apart now.
I guess I didn’t want Kotone to make the same mistake. |
| LikeSpringRain: I’m sorry to hear! I hope they get better or at least open up to you… |
| MortyMan87: I do hope so too. |
Fruh paused, thinking about it. She honestly felt bad for Morty, though her mind had drifted to what he had said.
‘It’s been a while since the event, but I can tell she’s still suffering from it. I tried to get her to open up, but I think we’re too far apart now.’
Fruh wondered if her uncle felt the same way, she remembered the pained look he gave her in the car. She wondered how long he must have endured such pains. She wondered, then she looked to her old flip-phone, the one her uncle got her. She looked around the room she was in, the one her uncle sacrificed to give her a personal room.
She then decided, she picked it up and called her uncle. And it wasn’t long before he answered.
“This is Detective Arthur Mortimer Phillips speaking-”
“Uncle?” Fruh recognized the voice as her uncle’s, though never realized he called himself Mortimer.
“…F-Fruh? What’s up?” He asked, his tone had become casual.
“I…Umm…” Fruh started to find it extremely awkward to talk to him, let alone when he could be at work. She wondered if it was the right time, though she could see what Morty had written in the chat.
She took a deep breath.
“Umm…Uncle Arthur? I…was wondering if we could talk maybe?” Fruh asked “About…that?”
“…O-Oh…I mean sure. Over the phone though?” He asked her.
“Umm…Maybe…face to face.” Fruh told him.
“Did you have dinner yet? I-I can pick you up.” Her uncle said, “We could grab some dinner or something.”
“That would be nice,” Fruh replied.
“A-ah okay. Just let me get to the car and go. I’ll meet you in the lobby. Give me 30 minutes.” He told her.
“Alright. I’ll be waiting then.” Fruh replied, then ending the call. She looked at her phone, a smile forming on her face. It was a smaller step than Kotone’s, but…well…it was a step right?
She set aside the laptop and got off the bed, she quickly put on her shoes. She made her way to the door but then passed the mirror, she looked at it and noticed that her reflection wasn’t her own.
She could see Kotone again, though this time the mood was better. She wasn’t downcast.
She was smiling. Fruh smiled as well.
Fruh then left the room.
[ Story End ]
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