"...Be sure to be on the lookout for this boy. He was last seen four days ago, and his rightful guardians are offering a reward for the one who brings him back. Here is his physical description: black, bowl-shaped hair; round, expressionless eyes; a height of five-foot-two-inches; a weight of 97 pounds; and a not very athletic physical structure. Please let the authorities know if you see him wandering around..."

Y/n stared at the screen of her television with wide eyes and her jaw dropped. "hUH?!"

"It's such a shame to hear about missing kids like that," Mrs. L/n sighed. She was finishing up Y/n's bento box for school. Once she finished wrapping it up, she handed the bento to her daughter. "Be safe on your way to school alright? I don't want you getting kidnapped like that poor boy probably has."

"I will, Mom," Y/n promised, placing her bento box inside her bookbag. Mrs. L/n planted a quick kiss on Y/n's cheek.

"I'll see you after school then." Mrs. L/n smiled.

Y/n realized that she had to give Mob certain instructions while she was gone. "Oh! I forgot to grab my sweater."

She ran up the stairs and flung open the door to her bedroom. Mob was reading the first volume of Y/n's favorite manga, but paused right when he saw her enter the room. Y/n shut the door quietly, then approached Mob, feeling out of breath from the quick sprint.

"Listen, I have to go to school today," Y/n began. "That means I'll have to leave you here until I get back. Please promise me you won't leave the room."

Mob tilted his head to the side. "How come?"

"My mom works from home, so she doesn't usually leave the house," Y/n explained. "She can't know you're here. I don't want her to flip out and send you away before I can get the chance to explain things to her."

"I understand." Mob nodded his head.

Y/n rummaged through her bag and pulled out a bunch of snacks. "Here, I've got some snacks for you to eat if you get hungry, and you can use anything I have in this room if you get bored. I trust that you won't break anything, so I don't mind. Oh, and one more thing! If my mom decides to come into my room, hide in the closet or under the bed."

"Sure," Mob agreed. He didn't want to be captured just as much as Y/n did.

Y/n smiled gratefully. "Great! I'll see you after school."

Mob waved his hand with a small smile on his face. "Bye."

As soon as Y/n shut the door, she immediately bit down a squeal. That little wave was so cute!

✿ ✿ ✿

"How come I didn't see you at all this weekend?" Emi asked when Y/n arrived at school.

"My parents were out of town and I had to watch over the house," Y/n half-lied.

Emi furrowed her brow slightly. "That hasn't stopped us from hanging out before. How is this any different?"

Y/n could feel a small bead of sweat trickle down her forehead. "I... I don't really know. You know how my parents are."

"Alright." Emi didn't look too much into it, which made Y/n grateful to have her as a friend. Y/n liked how trustworthy and respectful Emi was, unlike their other friends, who were quite the opposite. Speaking of said friends–

"Y/n, Emi, there you two are!" Miyuki fumed. Y/n saw that Ren, Haruka, and Takara were standing close behind Miyuki, and they all looked annoyed.

"You didn't meet us at our usual spot," Haruka accused.

"We would've been late for school if we hadn't decided to go without you," Takara huffed.

Emi immediately rambled off in a panic. "I am so sorry! I completely forgot."

Miyuki scoffed. "Whatever. Just don't let it happen again."

Y/n rolled her eyes. She hated it when her friends were like this.

"We didn't hear an apology from you, Y/n," Ren addressed. The other girls turned their heads.

"Fine, I'm sorry," Y/n apologized blandly.

Before any of Y/n's friends could say anything back, the homeroom teacher slid open the classroom door and made his entrance clear by shouting, "Alright, everyone, please sit down!"

Everyone else in the classroom did as instructed, then the teacher began with his first lesson of the day, which happened to be L/F/S. Y/n's brain went on a trip to find something that would interest her, so she could avoid listening to her teacher drone on like a robot. As the boring lesson continued, Y/n's thought eventually traced back to the same recurring thought.

Mob.

So many worries ran through the back of Y/n's mind.

Is he ok?

Did Mom find him?

Is he getting bored? Hungry?

Did I make my instructions clear enough?

What if the ones looking for him show up at my doorstep without me there to protect him?

She tapped her desk with her index finger repeatedly, the tapping sound her fingernail made filling the empty space of the classroom. Emi glanced over at Y/n with a small frown, then pulled out a small piece of paper to write a note on it. Once she was finished, she gently tapped Y/n's shoulder. Y/n jolted up in her seat before shifting her attention to her friend.

"Here," Emi whispered quietly. She passed the note to Y/n, who opened it up and read the written words.

Are you ok? You seem fidgety.

Y/n wrote in another area of the paper:

Don't worry about it! I'm fine, I promise. I'm just a little bored.

Making sure that her teacher wasn't looking, Y/n stretched her arm across the aisle and placed the note back on Emi's desk. Emi read the note and shot Y/n a look that said, "Are you sure?"

"I'm fine," Y/n mouthed.

Emi nodded curtly before returning to the lesson. Y/n felt horrible for lying to her best friend, but she wasn't sure she could explain the situation with Mob to her just yet. There had to be a given time for that, and she knew it couldn't be now.

✿ ✿ ✿

Y/n, Emi, and the rest of their friends sat together in the classroom for lunch. Y/n wanted to focus on eating from her bento, but it was hard to do so when Miyuki was chatting up a storm about random and pointless gossip. It made Y/n sick to her stomach.

"Y/n, have you decided what clubs might interest you?" Emi asked casually.

"No, not really." Y/n poked a hole through her juice box. "None of them really sparked my interest. How about you?"

Emi was careful to make sure Miyuki and the others weren't listening before leaning close to Y/n's ear. She then whispered, "I've joined the Creative Writing Club."

Y/n smiled. "Wow, that's incredible! Do you write?"

Emi nodded shyly. "Yeah."

I quickly glanced over at Miyuki. "You don't want them to know, do you?"

Emi nodded again. "Yes. They'd make fun of me."

Y/n gave Emi a trusting look. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks. I knew I could trust you."

Our attention was shifted when the classroom door slid open and someone stepped inside, making Y/n's insides churn.

Tsubomi Takane.

Y/n grumbled to herself as she watched Tsubomi set some papers on top of the teacher's desk and begin to chat away with the class president. Her long, dark hair swayed with every feeble movement she made, making her look like a goddess to everyone else in the room. Even Y/n's gossiping friends took a quick pause in their conversation to see what the commotion was.

As soon as Y/n sighed in annoyance, Emi tilted her head to the side just barely and commented, "You really don't like her, do you?"

"Of course I don't," Y/n answered.

"How long have you been saying that for? Five years?" Emi wondered.

Y/n looked back at Emi. "How does that make a difference?"

Emi shrugged. "It doesn't. I'm just wondering how long this whole 'feud thing' is going to last. You've been like this for way too long."

Emi wasn't wrong. Y/n and Tsubomi had a history together– and it wasn't a good one. It started back in grade school, which was a time when the two were actually really close friends. Y/n and Tsubomi did everything together, like playing at the park, playing with dolls at each other's houses, and even having family picnics. However, their friendship didn't last long when Sports Day arrived and someone new stepped into the picture.

https://youtu.be/qCNuWB2ICGk

"Sports Day is tomorrow! I can't wait!" Y/n beamed. She was practicing her throw for the beanbag toss at the Seasoning City Park.

"Me neither," Tsubomi smiled eagerly.

"I wonder how we'll do." Y/n swung her arm forward in circles. "Do you think I'm going to do awful?"

"Of course not. I know you'll do just fine," Tsubomi promised, holding Y/n's hand assuringly. "We'll both do amazing!"

Y/n smiled warmly. "Yeah! We'll win as many times as we can. Together!"

"Yeah, together!"

Instead of a genuine glimmer, Y/n saw an unreadable glimmer in Tsubomi's dark blue eyes. Y'n's voice faltered as Tsubomi skipped back home. Y/n knew Tsubomi was like that sometimes, so she didn't think much about it.

That was a mistake.

When Sports Day finally came, Y/n ran up to Tsubomi with a bright smile and a youthful sparkle in her eyes.

"Tsubomi, Tsubomi! I'm here!" Y/n chirped.

She frowned slightly when she saw that Tsubomi was talking to someone else. This girl was someone Y/n had never seen before. She had chestnut brown, shoulder-length hair, matching chocolate eyes, and a warm and friendly smile. Both Tsubomi and the unrecognized girl exchanged glances when they saw Y/n standing beside them.

"Ts-Tsubomi, who's that?" Y/n asked curiously.

Tsubomi held her hand out, as if to introduce the girl. "This is Aki Saiki, Y/n. She just moved in and I was saying hello."

Y/n smiled unsurely before sticking her hand out for Aki to shake. "It's nice to meet you, Miss Saiki."

Aki laughed. "Please, call me Aki. You must be the 'Y/n' Tsubomi keeps talking about!"

"Tsubomi's... talked about me?"

"Of course! She says you're her best friend." Aki seemed nice, and that made Y/n relax a little.

"Aki asked if she could team up with us today. Is that alright with you?" Tsubomi asked Y/n.

"Y-Yeah, sure," Y/n agreed, feeling a little hurt. "She can join us."

"Alright! I can't wait to see what this Sports Day is all about," Aki cheered.

The first activity was tug of war. All the students were split up into two teams, and Y/n ended up being separated from Tsubomi and Aki.

"I'm sorry, Y/n," Tsubomi apologized. "Maybe we'll get paired up during the relay race."

"Yeah, maybe..." Y/n walked over to her side of the rope and assisted the other kids in holding it up. She scowled when she saw Tsubomi and Aki laughing together. She didn't think something like this would happen.

"Is everyone ready to start the tug of war?" the PE teacher announced.

All the students cheered.

"Alright! Let's get started!" The PE teacher raised her whistle to her mouth. "On your marks... get set... GO!"

As soon as the whistle screeched, everyone started to yank and pull on the rope. Y/n dug her shoes into the dirt, hoping that she'd be able to contribute as much as the other kids on her side of the rope. The little red flag in the center of the rope swayed from one side to the other as both sides tugged as much as their tiny bodies could muster. It was an intense battle for victory.

"We've got this!" a voice cried.

Y/n looked up to find the source of the voice and gasped when she saw that it came from Aki, who was continuously cheering for Tsubomi. What made matters worse is that Tsubomi cracked a competitive smile, which was something Y/n rarely saw. That one sight caused Y/n to subconsciously loosen her grip on the rope, which gave the other side an advantage. Tsubomi and Aki pulled as hard as they could, and the center of the rope moved closer to their side of it. Due to the harsh change of pace, some of the kids launched forward, bumping into Y/n and making her fall face first into the dirt. Y/n grunted as the tiny pebbles in the dirt pierced her skin, but got back up on her feet regardless. A sharp pain etched the inside of her heart as she witnessed Tsubomi and Aki celebrating together. Hopefully, things would go better during the rest of Sports Day.

The relay race passed by quickly, along with the obstacle course, the oodama, the kumitaiso, the dance, and the beanbag toss (the event Y/n was looking forward to the most!). During each event, Tsubomi always found an opportunity to avoid Y/n and hang out with Aki instead. By the time the cavalry battle was about to start, Y/n didn't feel as excited as she had been at the beginning of the day. Instead of participating in the cavalry battle, she faked being sick to get out of it.

Once Sports Day was over, Y/n didn't even acknowledge Tsubomi as she packed up her things. All she wanted to do was go home and sleep.

"Hey, Y/n, wait!" Tsubomi called out. Y/n sighed heavily, but decided to hear her best friend out. Maybe she was going to get an apology.

"What do you want?" Y/n asked impatiently. "My mom's waiting for me."

"Where were you? I barely saw you all day."

Is she being serious right now? Y/n thought to herself.

"You were avoiding me all day," Y/n corrected. "All you wanted to do was hang out with Aki instead of with me."

"What are you talking about?" Tsubomi inquired. "I just wanted to include her."

"I understand that," Y/n continued. "I think it's sweet that you wanted to welcome the new girl, but I felt left out all day because you barely talked to me. We were supposed to do this together!"

"I know, but–"

"I don't want to hear it!" Fresh tears formed in the corners of Y/n's eyes. "Just leave me alone!"

"Y/n!"

Y/n ignored Tsubomi's pleas as she walked away from the school. She had to find her mom anyway.

(Stop music here)

"Why, hello there, Y/n," an overly friendly voice greeted, interrupting Y/n from her flashback. She was disappointed to see that it was Tsubomi who had spoken. Tsubomi was standing a couple of feet apart from Y/n, and was smiling just to be friendly.

"Oh, hi, Tsubomi." Y/n scowled.

"I forgot you were in this class," Tsubomi addressed. "I see you're eating lunch with Emi."

"Yeah, why wouldn't I? She's my best friend," Y/n remarked. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I'm here because I had to drop off some papers," Tsubomi explained. "It's nothing too special."

Y/n rolled her eyes. "Don't you have somewhere to eat your lunch?"

"I already ate," Tsubomi replied. She glanced down at Y/n's bento box. "Oh, I see your mother still makes your bentos."

She reached her arm down and plucked an octopus sausage from Y/n's bento box, making Y/n hang her mouth open in defense.

Chewing the sausage, Tsubomi sighed dreamily. "I miss how good your mother's cooking is! Tell her this octopus sausage is delicious."

"Oh, don't worry. I won't," Y/n retorted.

"You are so funny, Y/n," Tsubomi chuckled. "I'll see you later, 'kay?"

With that, Tsubomi left the classroom with all her admirers staring out the door. Y/n growled as she stuffed another octopus sausage in her mouth.

"I don't see what your problem is," Emi said. "Tsubomi was just saying hi."

"She stole one of my octopus sausages!" Y/n spat defensively. "Who in their right mind would steal from someone else's lunch?! It's inhuman!"

"Still, you could at least go a little easier on her," Emi noted.

Y/n huffed before finishing her lunch.

✿ ✿ ✿

Y/n walked home alone. Everyone else had clubs to go to, while Y/n was in the Going Home Club. She felt as if it wasn't her fault that none of the clubs interested her, but she was too focused on seeing Mob again to care. Mob was all that mattered now.

When Y/n arrived back home, she immediately rushed upstairs to her bedroom and slammed open the door. Mob, who was sitting on Y/n's bed, jumped up in surprise, causing him to fall off the bed in an attempt to scramble away.

"Omigosh, Mob, I am so sorry! Are you ok?" Y/n rushed over to Mob's side.

Mob pushed himself off from the floor and looked Y/n dead in the eye. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Thank goodness." Y/n sighed in relief. "We should probably find a way to let each other know who's coming in."

"I agree." Mob acquiesced. "I was worried you were your mother for a second."

Y/n laughed lightly. "I look a lot like her, don't I? What have you been doing all day?"

"I looked through your picture books, ate some snacks, then slept in the closet," Mob listed.

Y/n held up one of her manga. "You mean my manga?"

Mob nodded. "Yeah. I wasn't sure what to call them."

Y/n grinned. "That's fine. I'm glad you managed to keep a low profile. I'm guessing my mom didn't come in?"

"No, she didn't," Mob assured. "I made sure to be as quiet as possible."

Y/n pulled Mob into a big hug. "Thank you! I really appreciate this."

"I was only doing what you told me to do," Mob replied, feeling a little confused. "Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Of course." Y/n let go. "I want to keep you safe."

Mob's eyes widened a little. "You really mean it?"

"Yeah, I do." Y/n smiled warmly. She pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, and she felt her cheeks growing warm. Mob was way too wholesome for this world.

Mob handed Y/n one of the leftover snacks. "How was school?"

Y/n scoffed. "Oh, you wouldn't believe what happened."

Word Count: 3144