“Hey Mayu!”

Mayumi’s head snapped towards the voice, Simon had finally finished his work, it had taken him the whole day, the sun had already gone down. Mayumi was exhausted, sometimes she would get mistaken for staff and end up helping around, she finished her sketch for her dessert, she had been so productive… At this point in her head she was asking herself. ‘Was it worth coming?’

“Mayu?” Simon asked as he leaned over to meet her eyes, Mayumi bit her bottom lip and stepped on his foot. Simon winced and nodded. “Aah.. yeah I deserved that. Did you miss me?”

Mayumi huffed and crossed her arms, she didn’t want to hurt his feelings so she just didn’t say anything at all. She thought she would at least get to watch but no, she had to work. She was a baker, not a makeup artist, not a light specialist nor a cameraman. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have left you alone like that, I won’t do it ever again-” Simon’s apology was cut off.

“Hey cutie! You’re still here!” Jackson shouted gleefully, he ran over and tried to hug her but was instantly stopped by Simon.

“You know Jackson, Mayu?!” Simon asked, a displeased look fitted his face. Mayu nodded. “How?! Why?!”

“He spoke to me a bit while I was waiting for you.” Mayu responded, while lifting a brow, “Is something the matter with that?” She asked as she stood up, getting ready to leave. Simon shook his head indicatif of a no, but it was still a little awkward between the two. Jackson grinned mischievously and rubbed Simon's hair, teasing him a little.

“I didn’t know your friend was Simon, man if I had known I wouldn’t have left you alone.” Jackson sang, a direct hit towards Simon. Though, it was all in good fun from both Mayu's and Jackson's perspectives, to Simon, it was a little hurtful. Mayu placed a hand on Simon's shoulder, she was a little upset, but it wasn't exactly Simon's fault he was so busy.

“I want to tag along too!” He danced behind them. Simon rolled his eyes and nodded. It’s not like the two hated each other, they really just had a rivalry. Both being around the same age in an industry that required them to be competitive had forced Simon and Jackson to have a friendly rivalry. 

“Are you even allowed to come?” Simon asked Jackson, at that moment Jackson’s phone vibrated, he took it out and grinned. 

“Yeah, I just got the go ahead from my manager.” Jackson responded, Simon glared and pouted as they made their way out of the studio.

“Are you sure you can trust these two?” Junko asked, Mayu nodded. She had already spent the night at Simon’s and if Jackson tried anything she knew that Simon would have her back. If it really came to it, she was a hero too. She could help herself, though she understood if she wasn’t a hero there was no way she would’ve trusted both of them while sober. 

Mayu sat in the passenger seat, Simon drove and Jackson sat in the back. Mayumi put her address into the GPS and they were on their way. Junko sat comfortably on Mayu's lap.

“So how did you two meet each other? If it’s not too personal of a question..” Mayumi asked. Simon opened his mouth and paused, it looked like he was thinking and he definitely was. It would be embarrassing if Mayumi knew everything, he started arguing with himself over whether or not he wanted to answer but before he could come up with a conclusion, Jackson chimed in.

"Well we've both been in the business for a long time. " 

"Yeah yeah, we have, haven't we?" Simon responded. "We met at Jackson's first photoshoot. Terrible. He was terrible. He got so nervous. By that time, I had already been in the business for years." Jackson pouted and lightly kicked Simon's chair. 

"Sorry I wasn't perfect the first time I did something." He replied sarcastically. Mayumi held back a giggled and lightly stroked Junko's head, who still sat on her lap. Nobody noticed as Simon's eyes were on the road while Jackson was too busy bickering with him.

"Don't worry about it, you're basically a God to the masses now." Simon reassured him. Mayumi nodded in agreement, sure she hadn't interacted with C4 but even still, she had heard quite a bit about them. She even knew their songs, they were all over MINE. 

"Oh this is my stop." Mayumi pointed out, Simon slowed the car and came to a stop. Mayumi got out of the car and waved. "Thanks for having me. I had an amazing weekend." 

Simon rubbed the back of his neck and looked down slightly.

"Yeah, thanks for coming. It was fun.." his voice trailed off.

"It was a pleasure to meet you Jackson." She added.

"You as well!- Wait, here, have my MINE ID." He showed her his phone, with a big QR code on it. She quickly scanned it and lightly kissed Jackson's check who looked shocked. He didn't move, just mouth open, red face shock. Simon was also shocked, he looked at Mayu, wanting to get in on that action. She rolled her eyes and kissed him lightly on the cheek as well. She then bowed.

"Goodnight!!" She shouted and ran inside the apartment. Happily making it home. A note from her mother had been left on the kitchen counter. 

'I'll be sleeping by the time you're home, your bed is comfortable! Cleo is fed! -Love, Nanay'

Mayumi softly smiled at the letter. She climbed up the stairs onto her bed where her mom peacefully slept. She cuddled next to her and laid there for a moment.

'My life seems to have been turned upside down… it's not like I dislike it though.. ' she thought to herself.

"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself Mayu! Being a superhero is something that not everyone does AHAHA" Junko laughed loudly.

'Shh.. I'm going to bed now, goodnight Junko.' She smiled softly and fell asleep.

♥︎♥︎♥︎

Beep beep

"Maymay, you've got to wake up now sweetie. You have school." 

"Five more minutes please." Mayumi groaned, she felt more exhausted than usual that day. Her limbs felt so tired.

"I'm sorry MayMay but you have to wake up now, you already asked for five more minutes sweetie." Nanay softly shook her. Mayumi sighed and sat up. Nanay was standing on the top stair with an apron on. She was shorter than Mayumi, standing at 4'9ft. She had short black hair that was grey at the roots and her skin was freckled due to the sun it had received over her lifetime. 

Mayumi lazily got out of bed and followed her mom down the stairs who had made breakfast for her. It sat on her coffee table.

"How's Dad?" Mayumi asked as she took a spoonful of fish and rice. Nanay smiled as she ate and responded.

"He's just so sweet to me, he's been working hard though, I barely get to see him." She frowned and leaned on the couch behind her, Mayumi and Nanay were sitting on pillows on the ground while eating. 

"Ah, he's very nice, I'm glad you met him after Mark left. What an asshole." Mayumi took another big bite. Nanay playfully hit Mayu's arm. 

"Language!"

Mayumi laughed and the two happily ate.

Afterwards, Mayumi got ready, Nanay would be driving her to school. The ride there was quick and nice. Mayumi kissed her mom's cheek and left for school. Today she was wearing a pink crop top, brown cargo pants and a black and pink varsity jacket. She walked into school and was greeted by a smiling Tala. 

"Soooooo… did you and Simon have a good time~?" She sang, fluttering to Mayu's side as they walked towards their classroom. Today would be a prep day in the kitchen. Mayu rolled her eyes and flicked Tala's forehead.

"Literally nothing happened, you wish something exciting happened." She teased, turning into a small room connecting to the kitchen. This is where they would change into their outfits. Tala pouted while putting on her uniform.

"I think you should indulge, have a little fun, you didn't get to during high school." Tala mumbled. Mayumi sighed and patted her back.

"It's okay." She whispered while Tala tied up her hair and put on a hair net. If only Mayumi didn't have to miss her childhood, some people don't quite understand how bullying affects a person's life.

They entered the kitchen and did their work. 

♡♡♡♡

"Uwaah, that was great." Tala happily grinned, she rubbed her stomach in satisfaction. Mayumi always found her comical reactions endearing, although she was also rather content with the class. Today they made brownies, they had been prepping the ingredients for a while but today was the day that they put it all together, the rich flavours and the decadent textures came together to create what could only be described as a masterpiece. 

Mayumi giggled and wiped a bit of leftover brownie crumb from Tala's cheek. Tala was definitely characterised by her clumsiness but Mayumi knew she always meant well. 

Mayumi met eyes with Tala, she had caught Tala staring at her. Mayumi gave her a look of confusion as Tala looked behind her and then looked at her. 

Tala's smile curled into a mischievous grin as she inched closer to Mayu. She quickly grabbed onto Mayumi's arm and dragged her through the school's hallways. Sure their baking class had just ended but golly, Tala was moving faster than Mayumi's legs could keep up. She was already on the losing side as she was caught by surprise, but now Tala was leading her somewhere completely unknown. It had only been a couple steps but Mayu knew exactly where Tala was taking her. 

In the distance she saw Simon walking through the hallway, he wore a grey long sleeved sweatshirt with black jeans, his hair really popped due to his monochromatic colour scheme. Tala dragged Mayumi over to him, but due to Tala's terrible coordination and absolutely abysmal ability to stop herself without falling, when the pair reached Simon, both ended up running into him and toppling all 3 of them.

"W-WHAT A-" Simon shouted.

"WAAAH!" Tala yelped.

"TALA-?!" Mayumi squeezed.

Mayumi had shut her eyes closed and reached out her hands to catch herself, though she wasn't quite able to as the ground seemed closer than she had originally thought.

She quickly popped her eyes open to see that she had fallen on top of Simon. He looked dishevelled, his eyes hazy and unfocused, but he still had his dopey smile on his face, ultimately she decided he was fine. She crawled off him and went over to Tala who was laying on the floor on her stomach. 

She was posed like a cliché dead body outline, but Mayumi giggled at her clumsiness.

"You guys alright there?" Mayumi asked, sitting in between both the bodies, who in return, both groaned. Mayu laughed at their silliness, poor Simon was a victim to Tala's spontaneous antics just as she always had been. "Tala, you could've just waved Simon down or shouted at him to get his attention, we didn't have to give the guy a near dead experience!" Mayumi lectured. 

Simon sat up and leaned against Mayu, he rubbed his back and looked at Tala, who was also slowly getting up. Mayumi fixed Tala's hair as Tala got up and helped her adjust her now off-centre neck line. People in the hallways walked around them, quickly ignoring them and getting to their own classes. The world rotates swiftly and these students did not have time to waste.

Mayu then reached over and tried to help sort out Simon's crazy hair, she teased it in all sorts of ways, but it wouldn't fall back to its original place. She pouted, feeling disappointed that she couldn't help. Simon smiled sheepishly and lightly grasped her wrist to make her stop. 

"It's okay, it's just because of the hairspray, watch this." He then shook his head aggressively, when he stopped, his hair was perfect once more. Both Tala and Mayu felt that inkling of jealousy, mister perfection stood out in the sea of mortals. Mayumi was the first to get up, reaching both her hands out to help her friends up. They dusted themselves off and then walked over to an outside seating area of the school, Simon still had more classes to attend but Mayu and Tala were done for the day. 

"I- like I just thought, I just thought that it would be a surprise and then you guys would be pshaaa WAAAH boom! You know?" Tala tried to explain herself, Mayumi knew she meant well, but it was a silly situation. Tala would oftentimes do things without thinking about how it would go in reality, despite her being a massive overthinker, she was impulsive. Her overthinking was mostly a trait regarding her worrying whether or not people actually liked her or in more anxious situations, if amusement park rides would malfunction, while Yogi was on them and then he would die! But that has yet to happen.

"Don't worry about it Tala, but next time you can just call my name." Simon laughed and leaned back in his chair, his hands in his pockets. Tala looked away pouting, then felt her phone buzz. She took out her phone and started to pack up. 

"Yogi just got here guys, I'm heading out!" She smiled brightly, the kind of smile that only came out when the thought of Yogi crossed her mind.

"See you later, Tala, tell Yogi I said hi." Mayumi stood up and hugged her friend, Tala nodded and ran off, leaving Simon and Mayu behind. 

They sat quietly on that open patio, just enjoying the scenery. Sure, Mayu had been at that school for 4 years already but when the seasons changed, she was happy. The smell of fresh air, floral and welcoming, the warm sunlight that lightly grazed her skin. It was tranquil. 

That's when both Simon and Mayu felt a buzz in their phones, it broke their calmness as they both stood up quickly.