"Mayu… mayu.. You've got to wake up."

Mayumi groaned, asking for another 5 minutes. She rolled over and covered herself with the blanket.

"You've already asked for 5 minutes, if you get up now, I'll buy you a tiramisu." 

Mayumi instantly sat up but she was greeted by no one, she furrowed her brows and looked at her phone. She had been on call with Simon all night. When the realisation hit her, heat rose to her face. She had never been on call with anybody while she slept, not even Tala, mostly because Tala had Yogi and they would sleep together and that would be a little awkward for her.

"O-OH! HI, I'm so sorry." She held the phone close to her face as she stumbled to get changed. It was a nice day out so she put on a green floral dress and a white cardigan. Simon chuckled, his voice was so nice. She bit her lower lip and grasped at her chest, feeling her heart squeal when she heard his morning voice.

"No need to apologise, that was one of my best sleeps in a while." Simon reassured her, she could hear fabric rustling from his end, she knew he was also getting changed. She quickly ran to the bathroom with her phone and cleaned herself up in the mirror. She rinsed her face, brushed her teeth and brushed her hair. Simon was doing the same. 

It was nice, it felt like she wasn't alone. Yesterday, she felt extremely alone. Crying out in pain and there was nobody but Junko and Cleo, Cleo is a cat and Junko, try as they might, didn't know what to say. So she felt content. 

"Hey, Simon, thanks for being here with me." She smiled politely, rubbing her arm gently. She was a little embarrassed to admit it, but he really did change her world for the better. He was kind of like her fanfics, he helped her disconnect from the reality that hurt her so badly. 

"Hey… it's my pleasure… " He whispered from the other line. Mayumi quickly packed her lunch to help ease her beating heart.

"Do you want to hang out sometime? Like another sleepover or anything like that." Simon asked, Mayumi quickly agreed. She asked him if he wanted to stay the night at her place instead, it was only fair and Mayu didn't want to seem like she only wanted to hang out for his sick penthouse (although it was, most definitely, super cool.). She tied her hair up in a ponytail and put on her headphones, walking out the door with Simon on the phone. She didn't want to hang up. Her shoes were black platform boots so they were a little louder with every step, but they matched with the pace of her heart as she spoke to him. 

The warmth of the sun grazing her shoulders, the slight breeze and Simon on the phone. She felt good, she looked good and everything felt good. It felt like there was nothing that could bring her down.

"Yeah, then I said 'What do you mean you can't see it, it's right there?' But then I quickly apologised because Tala didn't have her glasses on, of course she couldn't see it." Mayumi laughed, Simon laughed back, Mayu heard his car roaring to life. 

"Actually, would you like a pick up? Wherever you are, just send me your location." Simon charmed her, she didn't really want to be an inconvenience, but it would be nice… she looked at her surroundings and sat down on a bench near a park. 

"I would love a pickup, as long as it's not an inconvenience." She responded, crossing her legs. She opened her phone and sent over her location, then switched to her fanfiction app. She hadn't had much time to read recently, so she was excited to catch up on her favourite stories. 

"You could never be an inconvenience, I'm on my way. You're not even that far… oh nevermind." He laughed out loud, she puffed up her cheeks. She thought it was a little funny that his first response was to try and make her feel better, but she also felt guilty for making him drive all the way there. 

"You really don't have to come." She assured him, standing up and getting ready to leave. He huffed and she could hear his eye roll. 

“Of course I’m coming to get you, Mayu, I would travel the world to pick you up.” Simon’s voice was very matter-of-fact, but it made her feel good about herself. She sat herself back down and crossed her legs. 

A couple minutes later she saw Simon's car stop in front of her, he lowered the car's window and unlocked the door. 

"Good morning Mayu." He politely greeted, got out of the car and opened the door for her. She nodded her head and.” He got out of the car and opened the door for her. She bowed her head to say thank you. Sitting down, she listened to the radio that was playing popular songs at the time. 

"Thank you so much for the ride, Simon." She thanked him. It was difficult for her to fully ease up though. No matter the air of peacefulness that Simon carried along with him, the events from the day prior weighed heavy on her heart. She gripped the butterfly necklace tightly and tried not to think too hard about yesterday. The detectives would figure out the issue, she was only there to support and aid. 

Simon put a hand on her shoulder, he wondered what she was anxious about but he wanted to be there to be her rock when she felt like she would fall. Mayumi noticed this gesture and smiled meekly. She eased in her chair and sighed. It will be a long day. 

☆☆☆

Days passed, every day there was another threat. Mayumi was growing more exhausted by the day, she couldn't eat, she couldn't sleep, she hadn't even seen Simon since she had gotten the ride home. It was like the villains knew that if they just kept attacking then the heroes would naturally fall to their human body limits. 

"Level A threat. Madison boulevard. Hurry." Mayumi's phone dinged as she sat in class, she took it out and instantly made the excuse of going to the bathroom. Madison boulevard wasn't that far from them. Though, this was exhausting. Every day there was a new level A threat. They hadn't defeated any single one of the villains yet, they kept reappearing. Manifesting and coming closer and closer to breaking the heroes every day. Mayumi was at her limit. She transformed and spoke to Junko. I can't do this anymore. 

Junko understood but pleaded, But you have to Mayu, Vex has no chance without you. Mayumi nodded and off Jack went. 

She arrived on the scene and started saving civilians, though she realised a growing pit of hatred in her stomach. 

She wondered if this was normal for a hero. Did this internal monologue of wanting to stop ever affect Vex? Of course it did, or did it? She would never know, she would never ask. 

She went on like a robot with her task. 

○○○

She stood looking over the city. This villain lasted shorter than the others. It left almost as quickly as it came. Her hour as Jack was not up. So she sat, looking over the town she knew she had to protect. 

Junko, I'm scared. She confessed. Junko only hummed as a response. Junko understood the dire message Jack was sending, but they didn’t want to get a new holder. Mayumi was good at what she did, although timid in her abilities, if only they had more time. Time that was leisure, without the ever looming fear of another monster attack. The world was ever coming closer to an end, that pressure of being the glue sticking the pieces together was really breaking Mayumi.

“Hey, Jack, are you doing alright?” 

Jack jumped at the voice, she turned around and saw Vex. He looked exhausted, though she could understand why. He was the one that would always be fighting. Jack nodded. Though, as she nodded, tears started to form. She knew she wasn’t alright, but she had to be strong. She had to be okay. 

Vex came closer and opened his arms, Jack fell right into them and started to sob silently. Vex held her close and didn’t say a word, he simply sat there gathering the words in his head. Though his brain functionality was heavily reduced due to the amount of work he had been putting into fighting at the time. 

Vex closed his eyes and held her close, he leaned back onto the roof, so that he was laying down and Jack was on top of him, he caressed her back and then he realised that the sound of the wind had stopped. He opened his eyes slowly and was greeted by nothing but darkness. The only colour were two figures, a small fairy entity and Jack. 

“I can’t do it anymore!” Jack shouted, Junko tried to calm her down as she shouted. 

“Please Jack, you have to understand, I need you.” Junko pleaded, Jack only fell to the floor and curled into a foetal position.  

“I’m tired, Junko, I just want it to go back to normal. How many people I couldn’t save, how many assignments I missed, I just want to be a normal girl again. “ She cried. Vex took a step forward and heard the sound of water, both Junko and Jack’s heads snapped to the direction of Vex. 

“HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE?!” Junko screamed, rushing over. “You need to get out! You can’t be here!” Junko added, clearly stressed at this new addition. Vex ignored Junko and ran straight to Jack, giving her a big hug. 

“You’re doing amazing Jack, please don’t leave. I need you. There is no one in the world that could help me like you do, you’re funny, you’re comforting, you’re everything that I lack. Please…” He didn’t let go, he just held her close, he felt the tears fall from his face. He couldn’t bear the idea of being alone again and he knew it was selfish of him but he just couldn’t. 

“I can’t do it, I’m scared.” She sobbed, Vex held her tightly.

“Yes you can, I’ll always be there for you, we can do this! You aren’t alone.” He responded, cupping her face and forcing her to look at him. “We can do this Jack.” He repeated. Jack sniffled and nodded slowly, falling into his arms once again. Jack held her close and closed his eyes. Junko was simply silent. 

Vex held her… then heard the sound of wind. When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was back in the real world. He felt a comforting weight on his body as he laid there, Jack had fallen asleep and he gently rubbed her back. When he looked down, he noticed something extremely troublesome. Jack had detransformed! On top of that, he knew who it was. But he wouldn’t say anything, he would only realise how much more he loved this girl. 

“Mayu, thank you for being in my life.” He whispered, picking her up princess style and decided to bring her home.

○○○

Arriving at her house, he snuck in through the balcony, which Mayumi would leave wide open a lot. It was the 7th floor, so she doubted that anyone would be coming through her window. 

Honestly, he didn’t expect the scream and the shoe that swiftly followed his entrance. 

“GET OUT! AYAAA THIS IS A GIRL’S ROOM!” A voice shouted, Vex looked over and saw a short asian lady standing in the middle of the house holding a wooden spoon. The lady noticed Mayumi rather quickly following her shout. 

“OH NO, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BABY!?” She cried and ran over, cupping Mayumi’s face. Vex slowly and gently placed Mayumi onto the couch. 

Hey! VEX WE GOTTA GO!! 

I know. 

“Well, I just wanted to bring her home, cya!” He shouted and jumped out the window. Mayimi’s mom stood there confused but also very worried for her daughter. Though upon closer inspection, she was simply sound asleep. Nanay breathed a breath of relief when this fact came up. Her daughter always loved her sleep, so understandably, Nanay tucked her daughter into the couch and then went to sleep herself. It was getting late into the day at this time.