{Private} The forgotten item

Taizai walks through the girl's dormitories looking for someone specific. He is looking for Nayumi. She dropped a book after class and didn't notice it so he was there to return it. He passes by his sister's dorm which is usually empty before thinking to himself.

Man, I wonder if she did this on purpose just so I can visit. She is really shy so that would be a huge surprise.

He finally reaches her door and politely knocks.

"Tachibana-san? It's Taizai, are you busy?"

Nayumi's lying down on her bed, mostly naked. She never really liked wearing all those clothes, anyway. They felt restrictive and uncomfortable, even to someone who had lost her sense of touch. Even with all of the great stuff that had happened over the last few days, getting back home where no one could see her and finally taking all those clothes off was the best. It made her feel... free.

A few knocks on her door make her quickly sit up on the bed. Tachibana-san? It's Taizai, are you busy?, someone calls out from the other side. Her eyes open wide. Taizai? What was he doing here, anyway?!? For a moment, Nayumi considers just keeping quiet and hoping he'd go away, but quickly realizes that wouldn't be fair to someone who already helped her twice. There was no choice - she'd have to open the door and see what he wants. "Just a minute... I need to get dressed!" she yells out to him and jumps up from her bed. Sure, it was just an excuse to make sure she was prepared properly before opening the door, but then again, it wasn't like she was lying, either. The girl quickly puts on some pants and socks, then wraps herself up with her jacket before grabbing the gloves and slipping them on. Nayumi reaches towards the door, preparing to open it, then stops all of a sudden, realizing she had forgotten the most important thing. The girl turns around and takes her bandana, then skillfully ties it around the metal plate that had replaced her mouth. After looking at her reflection in the mirror to make sure everything about her appearance is perfect, Nayumi reaches towards the handle and finally opens the door. "I'm sorry I took so long... I'm not used to having visitors..." she admits, a bit embarrassed about that fact.

He waits patiently for her as he holds her book. He must have caught her at a bad time. She finally opens the door and he looks at her and chuckles softly.

"It's okay, it was unexpected. I was just here to give you your book back. You dropped back at class and didn't notice."

He hands it over and smiles contently.

"Thought it would be nice that you have it since we need it for the homework."

Nayumi takes the book from Taizai's hands and looks at it. Indeed, it was hers. She probably forgot it while rushing to get out of there. "Thank you" she nods her head. Once again, that boy had saved her. She didn't quite understand why he would do such a thing for her. Setsuna's attraction was obvious - he was a fan of her art, so it was only natural that he would want to get closer to her in person, now that he had the chance. But why was Taizai so interested? Sure, it was nice of him to return the book to her, but it would have been understandable if he had chosen to not bother. A few seconds passed before Nayumi finally realizes that her eyes had betrayed her confusion. The girl blushes and looks to the side in an attempt to hide it, but the damage was already done.

He watches her look at him with slight confusion.

"Are you okay Tachibana-san? You seem...confused. Are you okay?"

He smiles softly again.

"Um..." the girl says quietly and looks back at her book. Well, she might as well ask what the reason is. After all, if he was THAT determined to hang out with her, a simple question like this probably wouldn't turn him off. "I know this may sound rude, but... Why are you so interested in me?" she asks as she turns her eyes back towards his.

"I'm just being friendly...if it makes you feel weird I can most certainly go. Just thought I'd give you the book since it is needed."

He shrugs as he frowns and thinks to himself.

Am I really that weird...maybe talking to her in the first place was a bad idea

"N-no, that's not what I meant!' she responds quickly and honestly. She most certainly didn't mind Taizai's company - quite the opposite, this was the third time in which he did something really nice for her, and she was truly grateful. "I'm just... Really not used to all the attention I'm getting, and I'd like to know why..." she says quietly. Suddenly, a very disturbing thought crosses her mind. "Um... It's not because of..." she whispers and points at the bandana around her mouth. "Is it?"

"I just like making friends...I never really had any until now so I'm sorry if I seem weird."

He continues frowning as he turns to walk away.

"I'm sorry Tachibana-san...I'll see you in class..."

He looks visibly upset because he feels like he messed things up.

Nayumi leans back against the doorframe and watches silently as Taizai walks away, wondering what to do. Even if she didn't mean it, she just hurt someone who was only trying to be friendly. She had to make it up to him somehow. Determined to make things right, she closes her eyes to gather her courage, then promptly opens them again. "WAIT!" she yells out, in an attempt to stop him. "U-um... Would you like to... Come inside for a bit?"

He stops and looks back at her.

"Why? I don't creep you out or anything?"

He sighs and walks back towards her with his hands in his pockets.

"I guess I could come in just for a bit..."

He looks around for anyone else out of fear that they would see him walk in and start an awful rumor about the two.

Why? I don't creep you out or anything?, Taizai asks her. Nayumi shakes her head. "Not really" she responds honestly, then moves a little to allow him to enter her room before following him in.

Having an almost complete stranger visit her most private place felt really weird to her. It was like that time her mother brought her to that special doctor - she felt scared, nervous and uncomfortable, but also kind of excited. She was used to being almost naked every time she was in her room, so having to keep her clothing on was certainly unusual, but she didn't have that much on her anyway, so it wasn't that bad.

"Um... Sorry if it's a little empty..." she says quietly, referring to the lack of... pretty much any objects in her rooms, except for her furniture, some stationary supplies and a few items of clothing laying around.

"It's okay, better to have more space than less I think. My room is just as empty."

He smiles as he removes his shoes and sits on the floor.

I've never been in a girl's room besides Hitomi's. Don't fuck this up Taizai.

Nayumi looks around nervously. She's not quite sure what to say to keep the conversation going, as she had never really spoken to anyone one on one like that, except for her psychiatrists, but she really doesn't want to screw up and offend Taizai again. "Um..." she says and tugs on her bandana lightly. "You don't need to sit on the floor... If you don't want to..." Nayumi points at the bed.

"Are you sure it's okay?"

He looks at her before confirming that is.

I wonder why she is doing this...I feel like I am forcing her to do so...

He thinks for a bit before sitting down and asking.

"I'm not forcing you to do this, I mean welcoming me in, am I?"

"No, not at all!" she says and nods reassuringly. "I want to have friends as well... But I'm afraid I'm not really interesting... I'm sorry..." she says and looks down, feeling a bit guilty for not being able to create an interesting conversation.

"I think you're interesting. I really like your art."

He smiles before remembering what she was working on when they first met.

"By the way. How did that drawing turn out?"

"Oh, right! I did finish it yesterday!" Nayumi says, then reaches towards the desk and grabs a big, fat folder lying there. She places it on her knees and opens it, then looks through her many, many drawings for a few seconds before finding the one she's looking for. The girl carefully pulls it out, then hands it over to Taizai. "Here it is..."

Spoiler:

He examines the artwork and looks amazed.

"Wow...this looks amazing!"

He recalls for a second seeing something similar earlier.

"Wait...somebody posted this on Deadbook yesterday. But it wasn't you, it was this really cool artist, my favorite actually."

He finally connects the dots and looks at her before looking back down at the drawing.

"Wait...are you her?"

Nayumi's eyes open wide as soon as Taizai mentions Deadbook. So, he was visiting the social network too... The girl quickly made a note to herself that if she wanted to keep her real identity a secret from her online fans (and vice versa), she'd need to quit the habit of showing her works in progress to people she knew in real life. Nayumi immediately blushed when she heard him compliment her, then looked away in a faint attempt to hide it. She thought about denying her connection to Himitsu, but ultimately, there was no point. Besides... she kind of liked the fact that there were fans of her work at her own school. "Your favorite, huh?" she asks quietly, her face still red.

"Yeah...whenever I am bored and can't sleep I look at the art and try drawing my own things."

He chuckles softly as he recalls some of his drawings that are nowhere near as good as hers.

"They don't turn out as good but I still take pride in them."

Is she blushing? That's good right?

The girl puts her feet up on the bed and leans back against the wall to get in a bit more comfortable position. Well, that was most certainly an unexpected, yet pleasant surprise! Taizai didn't seem like an artist to her, so it was certainly nice to learn that they had something in common. "Really? What do you like to draw?" she asks curiously, with a note of excitement in her otherwise artificial voice.

"Well I only draw when I have nothing better to do but usually I try drawing something similar to yours..."

He looks back at her as he still sits on the edge of the bed. He smiles softly as he tells her about what he does.

"See I can't always sleep and when I can't that's when I attempt it. I fail all the time in my opinion."

Nayumi shakes her head. "In art, there is no such thing as 'failure'. Even if a drawing doesn't look good, this only means that you have to try again until you're satisfied with the result!" she explains the conclusion that she had previously reached on her own years ago. "I was never really trained in arts... My parents wanted me to be a surgeon, and not an artist... I'm only as skilled as I am because I never gave up!"

Suddenly, she remembers something Taizai mentioned a bit earlier. "You... can't always sleep?" she asks curiously, not truly realizing that her question might be more insensitive than she intended it to be.

He nods sternly before explaining to her calmly

"Mhm...I have insomnia so that's why."

He sighs softly as he explains it to her.

"It isn't something that I enjoy but I live with it every day. I forget about it sometimes honestly."

He chuckles at himself before putting his feet on the bed as well, sitting next to her but not too close.

"You don't mind if I sit next to you do you?"