Second Worst Day of my Life

[MURAKAMI RYOHEI]

Mtasumi didn't have the time to judge Ryohei. Maybe the phrasing was wrong. She did have the time, they had little else to do and it may be the only time she'd get to meet him, but the situation didn't call for it. She was unsure whether or not she liked how he ignored them. On one hand, she thought it rude, on the other, was few words he said already only upset Maemi further so having them focus on something else was maybe the best thing he could do. It was also an awkward occasion to introduce herself, so she abstained.

She was surprised when Maemi asked her about what they bought. She eventually nodded. "Don't worry about it." It did push Ryohei to look towards them. He couldn't see too much of what was in the bags but he could also guess by the logos on them. It dawned on him that they probably bought chocolate or other sweets. It was true that Valentine's Day was not all that far off. Of course, it was not something he needed to concern himself with. He didn't know if some guys chose they could also get some for their crush but he knew it was not his case. He didn't even have a girlfriend he could plan a romantic date for. He did wonder though, who Maemi planned on making chocolate for. Somehow, the idea of her having a crush was weird and funny. Maybe it wasn't improbable, but it was still weird and funny.

Having no positive replies coming in, Ryohei sighed as he pocketed his phone. "Well, the stores aren't closing right now, so it shouldn't take much longer," he said out loud. He looked at the two, mostly Maemi in truth. He didn't get how she could be sitting. He wouldn't, not knowing who walked in here and all. "Are you feeling a little better?" She didn't sound as panicked when she talked to her friend, that was something.

[HIRAYAMA MAEMI]

Maemi thought that she was stuck in a weird and awkward position there. Her cousin was around, of course Ryohei had no ideas that they were related and she was stuck with Ryohei in an elevator. Luckily, she could focus on the girl instead of Ryohei which helped her a lot otherwise she would have lost it and probably would have jumped at Ryohei’s throat should he say something that triggered her. She couldn’t say they were enemies, not as much as before but they weren’t friends either and she didn’t think of introducing her cousin to Ryohei.

She would rather think of other things than of the fact they were stuck here. Talking about anything would change her mind for sure and talking about the purchases they made was good to change her mind if not even a little. Ryohei was right, the chocolates weren’t for crushes but they could also be for friends and that was what she intended to do. She valued homemade things a lot after all. She nodded when Matsumi thought that they shouldn’t worry about that.

She didn’t fancy the idea of sitting down on the elevator’s floor but she had to in order to calm herself. She was willing to sacrifice her clothes in the process if she had to. “Luckily for us,” she said back to him. Was he trying to reassure her? It sounded out of character for him. It was even weirder when he asked if she was feeling better. What was with him all of a sudden? “A little but I can’t say I’m doing wonderful right now.” She said. She didn’t need to pick up a fight or say something unpleasing.

[MURAKAMI RYOHEI]

Maemi had seen mainly his bad traits and little of his good side. It was, no doubt, what she thought. She had a way of pushing his buttons and while he wouldn't have cared about it had he heard she spent several minutes stuck in a broken elevator, being stuck there with her change things a bit. He didn't mean to be mostly unpleasant around her. She just found ways to pull that side of his out every time. Still, she didn't look well right now and he shouldn't chastise her. It always seemed to fall into deaf ears but it would be worst this time.

A mere step took her by her side, thanks to the limited space the three of them were stuck into. "Come on, you shouldn't stay on the ground, you'll just dirty yourself," he said, trying to sound caring enough for her to listen to him. She was in a position that called to panicking, it would only feed it more.

As he extended a hand for her to take to help her get on her feet, the elevator started moving again... only to die again only a few seconds later, as if just to make sure they felt the motion and the sudden stop of it once again. Nothing to help Maemi, Ryohei thought.

[HIRAYAMA MAEMI]

Maemi sure tended to fight for justice and could have possibly been a good lawyer if she used that side of hers but she did not and Ryohei tended to also push her buttons the right way so they could go at each other’s throat. It was a bit strange that he was on the side like this without saying something that would get her to act up. Was it because Matsumi was there that he toned down? She didn’t know but if it was the case then she would have to ask for her cousin to be around her more often when the guy was there.

She looked at him cautiously when he took a step closer to her and insisted that she should stand up. What was up with him? It wasn’t the first time that he was gallant. She didn’t hate it, but it was weird that it had to happen when her cousin was there. She considered what he said. Part of her wanted to remain there, sacrificing the outfit she had but she had to admit that he was right and hesitated for a brief instant before she grabbed it to help herself up. She wasn’t completely balanced when the elevator started again. She felt like it was about to free her but then it stopped, which had her gasp with surprise and hold onto Ryohei, much unwillingly, should she have since he was the one thing she could grab.

She wanted to gag but had to restrain herself, Ryohei for once didn’t deserve the gagging and she’d feel bad if Ryohei had to deal with this. He knew how she could be but she didn’t want to do that when Matsumi was around either. She had to be relatively poised.

[KIMURA MATSUMI]

Matsumi was somehow at a loss here. She could see her cousin was doing her best not to let the panic in. And there was this guy. The way she immediately reacted when he got in the elevator with them, the somewhat familiar yet distant way she replied to him. It didn't take too long to guess what that was about and in another situation Matsumi would have drilled Maemi with questions, but her cousin was in no state to answer any of them.

Still, Matsumi wondered. If he really was who she thought he was, Maemi depicted him as an arrogant, entitled guy who would always find fault to anything she would say. He was replying to her, sure, but to Matsumi, he seemed concerned about her. The fact he wanted to help her up... Well, she supposed it could also be that he didn't understand how Maemi felt exactly and couldn't deal with her reaction anymore, but he didn't sound nearly as annoyed as he should if that were the case. She was a bit grateful at him for forcing her up though. Matsumi didn't feel like squatting there forever to support her, having no intention of sitting down properly, but she also couldn't leave her there. She raised about at the same pace as her cousin, although without any help required.

For a second, she sighed of relief feeling he elevator starting back again. And then it stopped once more. She frowned at this inconvenience. Then she looked at her cousin and noticed how she was holding onto the guy. That was a surprise!

Ryohei too was surprised. He didn't expect that from her. And much like Matsumi, he didn't know if it was the fear that pushed her to do it or that she lost her footing. Either way, it was getting embarrassing, especially with Matsumi to bear witness to it all. Holding her from behind, he gently pulled her away from him. If she kept holding on, then she was still panicking. If not, he hoped that would spare him from hearing her call him a pervert for keeping her in his arms. "It's good. It must mean they know about the issue and are working on it. I'm sure it won't take long before we can finally be out of here." Ryohei wanted to take a step back, to not think about what happened. As for Matsumi, on the contrary, she wanted to get closer and make sure Maemi was fine.

[HIRAYAMA MAEMI]

Maemi didn’t need to be stuck in the elevator with Ryohei today, she wasn’t in the mood to face him or start an argument. She wanted to have a good time with Matsumi and it had started well, until now. She wanted to smash the elevator open if she could but she didn’t have enough strength for that! She didn’t mean to hold onto Ryohei however, when the elevator gave her false hopes – that darned thing! – by starting up a little and then stopping them leaving her to lose balance and having to do that. She didn’t intend to linger there longer than she should, and silently agreed to get the hell out of his arms as fast as she could with the best of her capacities that she could muster at the right moment!

She gladly took the opportunity to stand up properly and moved away from him, quickly apologizing to him when he gently pulled her away. This was awkward! On top of that, Matsumi was there to see this. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to answer too many questions once they were out. She mentally promised herself not to take an elevator unless she needed it because this was her worst nightmare!

She nodded her head slowly when he spoke. She wondered for a moment how he did to keep his cool. They would have argued already if they were alone. “Hopefully, I don’t want to be stuck in there for too long.” To her, it was already long enough, she couldn’t imagine how many hours it would take for them to be free!

[MURAKAMI RYOHEI]

Ryohei was tempted to add "with me" after what Maemi said. But it might be a little to disingenuous. He was aware of her fear of closed places, she reacted in a similar way in the train because she picked a small compartment instead of the large, common one. In truth, she would have hated her situation regardless of who was stuck there with her. He just made it worse for sure. He didn't get why, but she still felt the need to come after him, even when he had yet said anything. She must have cursed inside of her head when she saw him walk in before the doors closed. Besides, she had a friend who didn't need to bear witness of their stupid little arguments.

He did notice that she neither apologized for falling on him nor did she thank him. He supposed he should consider himself lucky then that she did not insult him for holding her in his arms. Again, he tried not to hold her against her, to think it was because of her panic, but he was getting annoyed at their situation too and the fact she reacted negatively to him helping out was not helping his mood. He even wondered if she wouldn't have made a remark had the roles been reversed. Probably, because he was certain she complained about it to him in the past.

He moved away from her and returned to his corner where he closed his eyes. "I'm sure you'll be out before you'll have to start planning how to make your chocolate in here," he noted, before doing his best to ignore the two girls once again. "Not that I'm expecting to get one anyway."