Episode 22: I Do Properly Love You Too, Maria
“Uuugh… Riri-chan, Cosmo-chan, take caaare…”
“Ruri, Hayashi-chan, be safe out there…”
Waving goodbye to the two of them, both fully in the grip of their hangovers, Sora-san and I left the house together the next morning.
My head hurt from lack of sleep, and my whole body felt a little heavy.
But somehow, my mood was clear and bright.
I’m going to work hard until Maria accepts me. My goal’s already decided now.
“Ruri. Do your best in class too, okay? If you let your everyday life get sloppy, people are going to blame it on ‘the part-time job.’”
“Right! I’ll do my best.”
I’m tired, so I’ll just sleep — that’s not good enough. If I let it slide like that, Maria’s never going to come around, not ever.
“See you later, then, Ruri.”
“Yeah, see you later…!”
I got off the train first. Maria was standing in front of the main gate.
“Morning, Riri.”
“…M-morning, Maria.”
We should have both felt awkward around each other, but instead of avoiding me, Maria had been waiting for me right here.
I felt a simple, honest happiness at that.
“Hey, Riri. You didn’t get a proper night’s sleep, did you?”
“Eh?”
“There are dark circles under your eyes. And your hair looks drier than usual too. Your skin’s a little rough as well. It really is hard on you, isn’t it.”
“…I-it is hard, I guess, but…”
Saying it isn’t hard would be a lie. And I don’t want to lie to Maria.
“…Anyway, here. Throw it away if you don’t need it. I’m not taking it back.”
What Maria pulled out of her bag was a large makeup pouch. Inside, packed full, were all the skincare and haircare products I used to swear by.
Right now I’ve been borrowing Möbius-san’s things, but they’re not exactly a perfect match for my skin and hair. Honestly, a gift from Maria is genuinely a relief.
“Um, Maria…”
“Listen, Riri. I get that you don’t want to rely on me too much. But is it really not okay for a childhood friend to worry about you and give you something?”
Maria’s eyes, fixed on mine, were welling up — one more blink and the tears would spill over.
“…No. Thank you. I’ll take it.”
Part of me wonders if I really should. But if our positions were reversed, I’d want to do something for Maria too, want to give her something too.
“And Riri, one more thing. This.”
Next, Maria pulled a smartphone out of her bag. The same latest model she uses herself.
“Riri, your contract got cancelled, right? Use this instead. I’m worried about not being able to reach you.”
“Eh!? N-no, a whole phone is really too much…”
“Just take it.”
She forced the phone into my hands. It’s true a phone would be convenient, and with Wi-Fi I can get by well enough, but I hadn’t really been thinking about buying a new one.
But from Maria’s side, not being able to reach me is probably genuinely worrying.
“…If you feel bad just taking it, then in exchange, send me a selfie every day. And photos of what you eat too.”
“…Maria.”
“This doesn’t mean I’ve accepted the job at all. But if anything happens, call me immediately. I put GPS tracking on it too, so I can come help you right away. If you’re ever short on cash, you can buy things with the phone payment app.”
“…Maria?”
“Also, if you’re struggling to keep up with classes, tell me and I’ll copy my whole notebook for you. I can even teach you during lunch or on your days off from the job. And then…”
“W-wait, hold on, Maria, um…!”
I hurried to cut in, and Maria, cheeks bright red, tears still threatening to spill, shouted.
“I worry about you because I love you, Riri! Separate from whether I approve or not, I just want to be allowed to do everything I possibly can…!”
Maria finally broke down crying.
Since this was the first time we’d ever had something like a real fight, I’d assumed things would just go awkward and silent between us.
But that wasn’t what happened at all.
“…Maria. Thank you.”
I gently pulled the crying Maria into a hug, patting her head to try to reassure her.
“Sorry for worrying you, for making you anxious. But I want to keep trying… I’m going to work hard until Maria approves of me.”
“…I might never approve of it, you know.”
“If that happens, then… even then, I’d be happy if you’d just stay by my side.”
Maria matters to me, and that’s exactly why I want her to accept me working hard at Sweet Stella.
But even if she never accepts it, that doesn’t mean I want to cut ties with her.
“Maria. I do properly love you too, you know.”
“Uh… uwaaah…! Th-thank goodness… after that whole thing, I couldn’t sleep at all, thinking maybe Riri ended up hating me…”
Once it started, Maria’s tears wouldn’t stop.
Maria’s so smart, but sometimes she’s kind of an idiot.
There’s just no way I could ever end up hating Maria.
“Thank you for actually telling me how you feel.”
I want to properly receive all of Maria’s feelings.
Receive them, but also make sure I properly hand my own feelings back to her too.
Right now I’m still nowhere close, but… someday, I want to become someone Maria can lean on too, not just someone who’s always leaning on her.