Coming Out In The Night

Nothing eventful happened while I was working as barely any customers came in to buy books, but that's normal on a Thursday or any weekday for that matter since everyone tends to get ready for Friday as that's where we tend to be the most busy dealing with university students and also high school students getting study materials for upcoming exams. It's because of this that I've once again been asked to come back to work tomorrow going all the way until closing time. As for today though, I got let off early at just 6:30pm.

Walking out of the building, I check my phone once more to see if I finally got a response from Midori, which thankfully seems to be the case... However.

Midori: "They said it's fine~ Hey, when do you think you'll be back home?"

So she just straight up ignored the fact that I don't want her or her friend to come over? This girl... Also it seems she sent this message only thirty minutes ago.

Luna: "I'm heading home now, but like I said, don't come over."

But even as I walk back to my apartment, after ten minutes, my message has still yet to be read from her. I would be annoyed, but I basically did the same to her, but I can't tell her that it's because I have a job...

Eventually, after making it to my apartment, I climb up the stairs leading to my floor. But the moment I reach my floor, I see not just Midori and her friend, but also Shin, the transfer student and also Midori's friend's boyfriend. Luckily, they didn't seem to notice me as I quickly go back down a few steps before quickly taking off my wig, making sure that no one saw. Midori somehow figured it out, but I'm not about to leak my disguise to everyone like that.

After stuffing my wig into my bag and using a wet wipe to wipe away my eye makeup, I walk back up the stairs as I soon catch everyone's gazes.

"Aye!~ Luna!"

Shin is as flamboyant as ever, but I simply ignore him as I turn to Midori instead, staring directly into her eyes for answers.

"Ehehehe. Sorry Luna... When I told Nicole that you lived alone, she thought it would be cool if her boyfriend came along, but then he complained saying that he'd be the only guy here so I had to invite Shin. But then Shin was hanging out with Zhen and then one thing led to another and... Here we are..."

Impressive. She knew exactly what I wanted just from how I was looking at her. To be honest, I like how she picks up on the subtleties like this, it makes for a much easier way of communication. However, I still don't appreciate this many people outside my door...

"I thought I told you that I didn't want anyone over though."

"Mmm, but I felt bad about last night and also this morning... You weren't happy with what I cooked, so I figured I'd repay you tonight!"

She says before revealing one large shopping bag from behind her back; a bright smile plastered on her face.

"I figured maybe we could have dinner together?"

So that's what this is? Now that she said it, I do smell something good coming from the bag, but I find it unnerving in a way. It's like Midori is coaxing me in, trying to break me down in order for them to come inside...

"...Alright."

And it worked...

"Yes! Thank you, Luna!"

"But just for dinner, okay? I'm not about to have all of you stay the night."

"Mhmm!"

With everyone making their way inside, I swiftly go to grab the family photo on my bedside table before stuffing it into the the drawer, and the moment I close the drawer, they all make their way inside.

"Uwah~ This place is bigger than I imagined."

"Ehhh~ I can see why you stayed here instead, haha. It's so clean compared to mine."

"S-so this is a girl's room?"

Shin, Nicole, and the transfer student Zhen voiced their comments about my place as Nicole's boyfriend simply looked around in silence.

"The-"

"Don't go touching anything though, okay guys?"

Just as I was about to state where the bathroom was, Midori speaks up with a hardened voice that captured the other's attention. She doesn't need to be that considerate of me, but I found myself relaxing upon seeing Midori go that far for me as she lays out the food onto the table.

"You sound like you now live here with Luna, haha."

"I-It's not that. It's just that this is her home..."

We all take our seats as Midori talks with Nicole.

Without saying any words, the seating arrangements went with me sitting on the edge of the table closest to my bed, with Midori seated next to me, along with Nicole next to her closest to the door. Nicole's boyfriend sat facing her, with Shin facing Midori, which led me to be the one facing the transfer student, Zhen. But all of our eyes were focused on the food that Midori was splaying out before us.

"Tada~"

What she took out first was two pizza boxes along with some chips. But what surprised me was when she pulled out sushi. With so much junk food, I found the delicate sushi to be out of place.

"And- this!"

She then whipped out the last thing in the bags which looked to tempura. Looks like she got a bit of everything here.

"I wasn't sure what you liked so I just went with a bunch of options."

"Eh? Wait. You chose all of this for me?"

"Mhmm!"

"...You didn't need to."

"Hehe."

"I see Midori has thawed the ice queen's-"

"Hey, I said don't call her that!"

Midori voiced her complaint at Nicole's boyfriend which prompted him to quickly avert his eyes from us. Just what on earth is Midori up to? I don't even mind that silly nickname, yet Midori seems to see it differently...

"Alright. Let's all dig in shall we?"

"Nn!"

With Shin bringing the flow of the conversation back, we unwrap all the different food from the table as we all soon begin to eat.

Knowing that Midori chose all of this for me, I did my best to try out a piece of everything. I hardly ever eat things like this as I choose to always cook my own dinner, but the pizza was seriously good. I was a bit skeptical when I saw pineapple on it, but when I bit into it, the sweetness was just right and not too overpowering. I then took a slice of the other pizza which looked to be the standard pepperoni pizza which seems to be everyone's favorite at the moment.

"How is it?"

"Nn. It's delicious."

I reply to Midori who has been taking glances at me while I eat. She just beams a smile at me before going back to engage in the other's conversation. Is this her way of trying to lure me into their conversation?

Thinking that, I take a piece of tempura from one of the trays as I begin listening into their conversation.

"-I heard that it's super scary!"

"Mmm... I'm not a fan of horrors though."

"Me either~ I always wonder why people go to watch them in such a dark theater..."

Looks like they're talking about a movie. Also Nicole and Midori seem to not like the idea of horror much.

"Eh? But that's what makes it exciting! Horrors are best watched with surround sound in a dark room."

"Right?!"

"I-I also don't like horrors that much."

Seems like Shin and Nicole's boyfriend seem to be the only ones into horror as the transfer student also seems to not like them.

"Hey, what about you?"

"Eh?"

It was then that Midori, having noticed me looking over at them, swung me that question. I guess I've taken the bait, huh.

"Well... I've never watched a movie before, so-"

"WHAT?!"

Everyone froze at my answer as they all stopped eating their food. Maybe I should've just minded my own business. Also Its a bit of a lie, I have watched movies before... before I lost everything.

"Then we should TOTALLY go out this weekend!"

Midori, filled with excitement as her eyes almost looked to be shining like stars, voiced her plans to me.

"Uhm..."

"Please?"

"...I don't really have the money to go out like that."

"Huh? Really? Even though you can afford to live on your own?"

Nicole does have a point. To be honest, I have quite a lot of money saved up for when I graduate, but that's not money for me to spend freely. It's funds for when I go to find my sister...

"Ah, I guess your parents are paying for the rent?"

"..."

It was when Nicole's boyfriend added onto her words that my body immediately froze up.

"Luna?"

Midori quickly picked up on my change of mood as she spoke in a quiet tone. But-

"Man, I wish I was that lucky. My folks always pester me about the stupidest things. Heh. Maybe I should go move in with you, Nicole?"

What?! What is he even saying?! Not wanting to hear any more of this, I try and drown it out by eating more of the tempura that I'm holding, trying to focus on the crunchy texture instead. It's only then do I realize that it's now lacking in flavor as I feel like I'm just biting into mush...

"Are you stupid? We've only been dating for less than a year. Besides, my parents would never allow that."

"Joke~ But seriously. I wish I was in your situation. Having parents to afford a place for you to live in a place like this. It's so lucky."

Please... Just stop talking...

"Ah, but I guess you would need to buy your own food. Unless your parents also send you money for-"

"H-hey, don't-"

"SHUT UP!"

"..."

I raised my voice which immediately caused everyone at the table to stop eating. I feel a bit guilty having cut Midori off. She was probably about to speak up after having seen me, but I just couldn't stand to hear them talk for a second longer.

"You don't understand anything, none of you do! You're jealous of me? Seriously?!"

"Hey, Luna... Calm down-"

"Don't tell me to calm down!"

Oh god... I can't stop.

"You don't know what it's like! You want to live away from your parents? What is that?! You think my life is picture perfect? Being able to live on my own? You don't understand a thing! Or what? Would you not care if your parents just suddenly disappeared, wiped off the face of the earth."

"That's not what I-"

"Oh? That's not what you meant? Then keep your mouth shut! Not everyone has a happy little family to run back to! You... You don't..."

With my anger ever so slightly calming down, my tears quickly took it's space as I felt my tears quickly piling up in my eyes.

"Hey hey, Luna."

Midori tries to comfort me by placing her hand on my shoulder, but my emotions are too wild right now as I abruptly stand up from the table, her hand slipping off of me as I look down at everyone.

"I'm done eating. Thank you for the food."

I say as I make my way out the door, not letting a single tear break away from my eyes.

Once I was outside, I slide down the side of the wall before I eventually am seated down on the cold ground. My tears finally shedding as they glide down my cheek. I needed to escape that situation before I did something I'd regret. I thought today would be better, so I let all of this slide, going along with Midori, but look where that got me.

Suddenly, a cold breeze washed over me, sending shivers down my spine as I end up clutching my knees to my chest, trying to keep my body warm. I know it's silly to be walking out of your own house, especially without a jacket, but I can't find it in me to go back inside there.

"...I'm sorry-"

"Luna!"

Out of no where, cutting my thoughts short, Midori flys out of the once closed door, breathing light into this dark place. It was when she looked down did we lock eyes with one another. She looked back inside, giving a brief smile and a wave before closing the door.

"Hey."

She ends up sliding down next to me, but I find it difficult to hold eye contact with her as I keep silent.

"Sorry... I should've explained things to them."

"..."

"...He didn't mean anything by it. It's just rare for students to live on their own, so-"

"Yeah, I'm 'so' fortunate."

"Luna..."

I bury my head into my knees as I could feel Midori's eyes trying to lure me in. What's with her? Maybe if I tell her she'd maybe give up? Or am I just looking for an excuse... Either way, my mouth opens on it's own, my voice muffled by my knees.

"Every night, I wish that all of this is just one long dream... but no matter how many times I open them, I'm still stuck here... Sometimes I wish I could just sleep forever."

For a while now, I've been dreaming about my family; my sister. Especially last night... If it weren't for my alarm, I think I'd probably still be asleep even now.

"Don't say that."

"Huh?"

But to my surprise, Midori ended up wrapping her arms around me as I lift my head up from my knees.

"Life is a wonderful thing... You shouldn't throw it away so easily."

Wait a minute... Did she think that I was-

"If you weren't alive, then who knows what would've happened when those two guys came at me."

She totally thought I was planning on dying...

"You even know how to cook. Hehe, even Nicole doesn't know how to cook. Although she's still probably better than me."

"...Now 'that' I can believe."

"Eh?"

"Who can be worse than you? You don't even know what salt is."

"H-hey... I just- didn't know where you stored your things. Mhmm! That's right."

"Sure~"

"Hey, I'm being serious though. I might not know what your situation is, but I can say this. People care about you, including me. You might not see me as a friend, and that's okay, but that doesn't mean that I won't care for people I care about. So don't go and-"

"I'm not going to kill myself, silly."

"Ah... H-huh?"

I cut her off as I finally sit up right, resting my back up against the wall as I turn to face Midori.

"I just feel like I'm only truly living in my dreams, and that this thing that we call life is the real nightmare."

I say as I think back on that day; the night of the fatal car crash.

"I'll be honest... I did think about it at times, about ending it all like you thought."

"Luna-"

"But I always thought about my sister when I did. I just couldn't bare the thought of leaving her alone in this world. So I promise I won't do something stupid like that."

"Your sister?"

"Nn..."

Having calmed down a bit, I ended up talking about my family with Midori in the cold night. I didn't go into too many details, only going over about my current situation which of course included how my parents were no longer around. I didn't go over the fact that my sister is actually my identical twin though or my past with her as I feel a bit embarrassed about it.

"I see... So that explains why you lashed out back there..."

"I'm sorry..."

"Mm-mmm. I would've felt the same way."

"Still... He didn't know... I shouldn't have yelled like that."

"Oh trust me. Nicole is probably scolding Kai as we speak."

"So I guess she wears the pants in the relationship?"

"Hehe. You say that but I've never seen that girl wear pants before. It's either skirt or nothing! Haha."

Thanks to Midori, I've finally calmed down enough where I feel like my body is now more focused on the cold than before as I pull my knees in tighter to my chest, trying to keep warm.

"Shall we go back in?"

"Nn."

Almost as if she knew, Midori helped me up from the ground as we both went back inside.

"Luna has been retrieved~"

Midori announces to the rest who all wore bleak expressions, but once they saw Midori, they all relaxed. It was then that Nicole's boyfriend suddenly shot up from the table, facing me.

"I'm sorry!"

"It's fine. I overreacted."

"But-"

"Now come on. We don't want Midori's food to go cold."

I say as I sit down at my seat, dismissing him as he too timidly took his seat as well.

Really... I just felt like I just needed to tell someone about all of this, and Midori seemed to be the one to take that place. I honestly feel bad as I've only truly known her since yesterday, but after tonight's events, I don't feel that bad about it. Knowing that someone here knows about my situation is a bit relieving. Maybe now I won't need to deal with problems like this in the future.