Chapter 30: Early Morning II

Uh, he was just gonna tell her.

"Hado… that was my arm." He corrected, a small bit of warmth making its way up to his face.

The girl across from him froze at the statement, Peter was sure he could see the faintest bit of red on her cheeks.

"I di- huh?"

Man, maybe he shouldn't have told her.

Made things a lot more awkward, now that he thought about it.

Nice going, Parker.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! I-I didn't know and-and it was comfy and- Wait, that sounded weird. I just d-" Hado began stumbling over an apology as Peter sat there.

Her face was growing redder and redder each time she tripped over her words, the girl waving her hands to try and salvage what she was trying to say.

It was weird seeing her flustered, you know? Peter had never even thought about the fact that she could be anything other than happy and carefree outside from that one time in the battle trial.

A soft smile grew on his face as the girl across from him went on and on, Peter having stopped listening a bit ago.

She was being really cute.

His face grew hotter as what he had thought dawned on him.

"Look, it's fine! It… was kinda nice."

Hado's eyes went wide as her face grew redder, the girl immediately freezing.

A second passed before Peter realized what he just said, his mouth opened as if to try and backtrack before closing.

Fuck.

He wasn't gonna even try to save this one.

Why did he say that?! He just made things really weird!

God, he was the worst .

The two stared at each other for what felt like hours, neither knowing what to say or do with Peter silently freaking out.

What now? All he could do was try to not make the hole he just dug himself into any deeper.

Just as he was about to try and say something, the coffee machine dinged, signaling it was done brewing.

Oh, thank God .

Laughing awkwardly, Peter shot up from his chair and pointed to the machine over his shoulder.

"Coffee! You want some? It's really good." He asked, trying his hardest to change the subject.

"S-Sure, yeah!" Hado sighed in relief at the subject change, her cheeks slowly losing the red they once had.

Man, he totally saved that.

Good going, past Peter!

The boy set two mugs filled with the freshly brewed coffee onto the table before going to a cabinet to look for some sugar packets along with creamer.

He handed two of each to the girl across the table, her only nodding in thanks as they both poured them into their drinks.

Now, Peter had to admit that it tasted even better than usual for whatever reason, but he wouldn't question.

At this hour, he really needed a boost.

The normally bitter taste was mixed with sweetness as it touched his tongue, Peter could only sigh in relief that it wasn't burning hot.

Setting his mug down, Peter ran a hand through his hair as he sat in the awkward silence, with Hado setting her mug down at her side of the table.

Alright, he saved the situation before but all there was left to do now was actually start up another conversation.

Silence filled the home as Peter looked into his mug.

Now, he just had to figure out what to talk about.

This was the worst.

Hado giggled softly, making him tilt his head and meet her eye.

"Nice apron, by the way."

Peter looked down at himself and saw how he was still wearing May's apron, he must've forgotten to take it off.

He chuckled, rubbing his left forearm as a scar started to sting slightly.

"Thanks, it's my aunt's."

The girl let out a confused noise, taking a quick sip from her mug.

"Wait, you live with your aunt? I thought she was your stepmom cause you called her by her first name!"

Huh.

That did kinda make sense, now that he thought about it.

"Yeah, she's my aunt. Man, you wouldn't believe how happy she was when I told her I was having friends over."

May started freaking out and telling him how proud she was of him finally starting to make some friends.

Even though it was super embarrassing, he would be lying if he said that he wasn't happy that he made some friends too.

"She's in Tokyo, right?" Hado asked, Peter nodded. "So, you live by yourself all the time?"

He winced a bit at that, but nodded either way.

Peter would be the first to admit that it has been incredibly lonely, with yesterday and today the first time the apartment has felt… full, in a while.

It's nice to have other people there, you know? Even if it's only for a night.

As Peter drank some coffee from his mug, Hado let out a soft hum.

"So, your uncle doesn't live with you? Or are he and your aunt divorced?"

At those words, Peter nearly choked on his drink before putting the mug down

The distant sound of a gunshot sounding off in front of a convenience store at night played in his head.

Coughing, Peter cleared his throat and looked down at the table.

"Ben isn't… with us, anymore." He said softly, Hado's eyes widened at the revelation and a look of pure guilt appeared on her face.

"Oh! Look, I am so sorry! I-I shouldn't have even said anything!" She began apologizing profusely, leaning forward on the table.

Maybe he should let her know he wasn't mad or anything, he was pretty sure she said something about getting insecure about asking sensitive things.

Peter put on as soft a smile as he could manage and leaned forward on the table, getting Hado to stop apologizing for a moment.

"Hado, it's fine, alright? Sorry for bringing it up and making the mood awkward and stuff." He reassured, making the girl mutter out an apology one more time. "It… happened a little over a year ago, so I've been dealing with it."

That was a lie, Peter was not dealing with it that well yet but he was getting there.

Suppose it was the fact he only actually started focusing on grieving about it this week.

Actually coming to terms with Ben's death might take a few more years.

"Do you… want to talk about it? I know it's hard losing someone close to you." She offered, taking a slow sip from her mug.

When thinking about it, part of him wanted to actually talk to someone other than May about it but another part didn't.

Pretty sure he already ruined the mood enough as is, he didn't need to turn this morning into a vent session.

"It's fine, alright? Thanks for worrying, anyway." He smiled at her, taking one last sip from his mug and sighing at the sweet and bitter taste as the girl nodded hesitantly.

The two teens sat in a sort of peaceful silence, with Peter taking the time to think about what just happened.

It was a weird feeling having someone not directly related to you actually… care about what's going on in your life and want to help.

But that's what Hado has done for the past few months he's known her, along with Amajiki and Togata.

A part of him wanted to let them know he appreciated them, you know? Peter's never been good with emotional-type stuff so he could just buy them something with his next paycheck the bugle gives him.

Wait, he might need that paycheck for groceries.

So that was a no-go.

Maybe… something that didn't cost him money he didn't have? Something sentimental.

Hold up, Japanese people had a whole thing where they called people close to them by their first name, right?

"Hey, Hado?" Peter started, already a plan in mind.

He just hoped it didn't make things awkward.

"Hm?" She looked up from her mug and gave him a soft smile that made him feel warm for whatever reason.

"Since we're friends and all, can you call me Peter instead of Parker? That's something Japanese people do, right?"

What he didn't expect was for Hado to adopt a blush and raise her eyebrows up to her hairline.

Crap, did he mess it up?

Please tell him he didn't mess it up.

"Y-You sure? I c-couldn't-" The girl seemed incredibly flustered, way more than he felt that she should be.

Her face was growing redder and redder, with the blush contrasting her periwinkle hair that somehow shone.

She looked great.

Wait, focus!

"Dude, we don't have to if you don't wanna. It's just that I really like having you as a friend and stuff, and kinda… wanted to show you I appreciate you, you know?"

Nodding, Hado let out a soft laugh as her face seemed to grow a bit redder while her blue eyes softened a bit.

"Oh, uh, sure! Yeah, yeah, I- yeah! Alright, Pa-Peter."

Huh, she dropped the honorifics too! Peter didn't even know that was supposed to happen!

It was good though, he didn't like honorifics that much.

"You can… call me Nejire, then." She added, pushing a strand of her messy hair behind her left ear in a way that made his heartbeat a bit faster.

Alright, he'd need to figure out what that was all about later.

Because he was pretty sure it wasn't a normal thing.

"S-Sure, thing." Peter chuckled, taking a look back at the clock to see it was 5:47 just as a few grumbles of someone waking up came from his room.

Guess they got tired of cuddling.

But seriously, who does that at a sleepover?

Good for them, anyway.

"Hey, you're good with eating pancakes, right? It's probably the best idea I got for breakfast right now." He asked, watching as the girl shot up from her chair.

"Pancakes! I'll help you!" Ha-Nejire exclaimed, already moving towards the ingredients he had laid out on the counter.

Peter smiled softly as the girl got to work, before realizing he should probably be helping out too.

"Thanks, Nejire."

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