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Posted by: Shouta Akimoto

« on: August 10, 2025, 03:10:00 pm »

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It wasn't long after Sho had set his phone down after texting Kasumi that she'd called him. He picked up his phone to answer it. Right away, the strawberry blonde woman had answered, immediately telling him that her talk with Junko didn't go well. He let her finish speaking and didn't say anything until he knew she was done. He gave a small sigh as he set his pencil down on his desk. "I'm not surprised that it didn't go well. You have to remember how long it took you to even talk one on one with your sister," he told her. He knew this wasn't something Kasumi wanted to hear, but she needed to, to understand how Junko feels. She can't expect her to accept anything she says to her after how she's treated her for so many years.

Anyone who had a sibling who mistreated them for years on end would probably cut ties with them. Kasumi should be lucky that it hasn't happened. She was going to have to get Junko space. Whether or not Junko even wants to speak to Kasumi was up to her. No one can force her. "Gomen, that it didn't go well, Kasumi-san," Sho replied, "but you're going to have to give Junko-san space. If you force it, it's not going to end well. Just ... give her time," he told her. He hoped that Kasumi would take his advice. He knew she wanted to make amends with her sister, but that wasn't going to be something that would happen immediately. Right now, he knew that Kasumi was feeling like she had failed, and he knew she needed to talk. "How are you feeling right now?" Sho asked.

Posted by: Yuuto Usui

« on: August 05, 2025, 04:45:45 pm »

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Kasumi was on her bed wishing she could hide from the world. She winches as her cheek is more bothered by the slap than she thought. She glances down at her phone seeing no response from Shouta yet. He is a busy guy unlike me. Kasumi lays down in her bed curling up into a fetal position. She stares at the wall that her sister is on the other side of.

Will she ever forgive me? Will she ever believe me? Kasumi turns her face into her pillow trying not to cry. She has cried enough. Junko doesn’t deserve any more of her tears. Especially after how she laid hands on her. How dare she! Yet if I did the same it would be a big deal. **** her and **** her. Kasumi sighs as she doesn’t mean it. Why does this mean so much? I never cared before. Why should I start caring now? Oh yeah, I want to be a better person. A better big sister. Kasumi swallows hard. I want Jiro to be proud of me. Inspired by me. Junko becoming pregnant was shocking but being an aunt is one thing Kasumi does love. Her phone chimes capturing her attention. Kasumi holds her phone up not bothering to lift her head from her pillow. She feels emotionally drained and would rather stay where she is. Shouta responded saying he can talk.

Kasumi is relieved and scared at the same time. She can barely make sense of her own thoughts. Everything happened so fast. Kasumi closes her eyes for a moment. She dials Shouta. He answers quickly. Kasumi is surprised to hear how alert he is. Good news maybe he can help me with Junko.

“Hi Shouta,” greets Kasumi. Kasumi realizes she doesn't sound like herself. Her voice sounds strained, exhausted and something else she can't put her finger on. She's not use to feeling like this. “Thanks for taking my call.” She sighs. “I know there are other things you could be doing.” Kasumi is trying to figure out where to start. “I spoke to Junko tonight. It didn’t go well….at all….” Kasumi can feel her anger coming back to the surface as she remembers how cruel Junko was during their conversation. She isn’t sure if she wants to tell Shouta everything but it may be for the best. She needs to know exactly what to do. Anything she can think of would hurt Junko and probably make fixing their friendship worse.

Posted by: Shouta Akimoto

« on: August 03, 2025, 12:33:30 pm »

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Sho was in his room, currently working on the latest chapter to the story he's been working on. He was already four chapters ahead of the team of artists he had working on the drawings for it, but he wanted to keep them busy and give them work to do. There were times like this he wished he were good at drawing, but he only felt that way because he didn't like bothering others. Having had bad experiences with that when he was younger, but he's gotten over it for the most part. Plus, he technically had no choice since he'd agreed to accept the offer to turn his story into a manga with Yuuto being at the helm of it as his editor. That was already awkward enough, all things considered, but he was pushing the feelings he had regarding Yuuto away to focus on the very thing he went to school for.

He still kept his job at Sadie's bookstore to earn some extra income on the side. He wasn't going to entirely depend on what income he managed to make from his story being published, and he'd already set up a backup plan in case things failed. He'd keep his job at the bookstore and alternate between working full-time and part-time hours for Sadie. Any income from that job he'd save and use for his living expenses. It was the main reason why he was living at the Monagasa Inn. Sho was living within his means. Even though he had high-profile friends with connections, he chose not to use them. Their wealth is their own. It was never like him to depend on others or take from them.

It was usually always assumed because of who he hung out with, which he disliked greatly. At the same time, he saw no need to have to constantly explain himself to strangers who didn't know him. After a while, he stopped doing that. He did it a lot when he was in his teens, but hardly at all now. If anything, Sho was cynical and easily annoyed by the stupidity of others. Which his current group of friends seems to have taken notice of. However, the only person who seems to get annoyed out of all of them is Zach. Thinking about that made the green-eyed young man roll his eyes as he continued to sit there writing. He was always questioning why Sho responds the way he does whenever any of them say or do anything.

Yeah, how would anyone respond to their friends acting like horny idiots. Annoyed, obviously. Why that bothered Zach so much, he had no idea. Despite finding it weird, Sho didn't care enough to ask. He knew way too much about Zach's and everyone else's sex lives than he would've liked. Nothing seemed personal anymore. He sighed, shaking his head. He decided not to put much thought into it as he continued writing. It was right then that his phone on his desk began buzzing. He wasn't expecting a text from anyone about anything important. Outside of gathering at Zach's house for another D&D session that would go sideways like it always did, Sho figured that's what it was about. Setting his pencil down, he grabbed his phone to check to see who had texted him. He was going to turn down meeting up since he was currently busy, but when he checked his phone, he raised a brow to see a familiar name from someone he didn't expect at all to message him.

Darlibagi Kasumi. Junko's older sister. He'd met up with her sometime ago to help her shop for a birthday gift for Junko. It went from that to sitting down with her and finding out there was a lot more going on with Junko than he'd ever realized was happening. It made Sho a little sad that Junko never tried to talk to him and allowed herself to get mixed up in a situation with someone who left her pregnant. It made him wonder if any of the others knew about this and just never mentioned it around him. But why? Junko clearly needed some sort of guidance and support, and if the others knew about what was going on with her, why would they hide it from him if they were all friends? 'Iie...' He shook his head. There's the off chance none of them knew either. As much as Sadie cared about everyone, Sho knew that she'd definitely say something to him about it. If only to reach out and help Junko.

But there was no one who said anything. That had to have meant they knew nothing. Right? He frowned, pushing those thoughts out of his mind as he began reading Kasumi's text message. From the looks of it, it would seem she wanted to know if he had a moment to talk. Looking at the time on his phone, it was pretty late in the afternoon already. That meant he'd been writing since the time he'd woken up today and not gone out at all. He did eat something, which he knew Yuuto would chastise him for if he didn't. As for Kasumi, he sent a reply back to her saying that he was free to talk if she wanted to call him. Talking through text would get tiring for him after a while. For Sho, it was just easier to talk over the phone if not in person with someone. However, since this was Kasumi, he was leaving that decision entirely up to her, since this would be the second time she'd reached out to him about anything. He never got that from Junko...

Posted by: Yuuto Usui

« on: August 02, 2025, 09:09:41 pm »

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Kasumi cries for what feels like forever in her eyes. She is alone in her room trying to recover from the so called conversation with her little sister. Kasumi thought this evening was the perfect time to apology to Junko. Discuss her goals and how she wanted things to be going forward. The conversation didn't go how she intended at all. Junko was not quiet and timid. She was cold and full of rage. Kasumi touches her wet swollen cheek where Junko slapped her. The tears spill over her cheeks as she relives the moment.

Kasumi can’t ever remember feeling this low. It makes her wonder if she should even bother trying to be friends with Junko. It is clear Junko didn’t forget anything she did to her. Kasumi closes her eyes because she remembers a lot she did to her little sister, but not everything. Why can’t she simply accept my apology? I meant what I said. I want to be close to her. I want friendship. For the first time in a while Kasumi feels so alone. She wipes her damp cheeks with her fingertips before grabbing her phone.

Kasumi stares down at her phone wanting to talk to her friend Momo. However, their friendship is new. There is also the fact that Momo doesn’t know the old her. Only the new Kasumi. She does not doubt in her mind that Momo would be supportive and loving, maybe even have sound advice, but she can’t do it. She can’t tell Momo what she is going through. Kasumi brings her knees into her chest before laying her head down. Her mind wanders to Shouta. He said if she needed anything to let him know.

Kasumi frowns as she and Shouta left off on a good spot. He had no idea who Kasumi was as a person. I barely know who I am. Regardless, Shouta is supportive of her. He didn’t even rat her out to the university as she owned up to cheating her way into the school and resigned on her own. Kasumi needs help. Shouta is the one person she trusts. He openly listened to her and didn’t judge her. Kasumi takes a deep breath going to Shouta’s number in her phone. She sends over a quick text message.

Kasumi: Hey…..do you have a moment to talk?

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Topic Summary

Posted by: Shouta Akimoto

Posted by: Yuuto Usui

Posted by: Shouta Akimoto

Posted by: Yuuto Usui

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