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A grin spreads across her face as the warm tea gives her body warmth. The weather is still too cold for Minami, but it makes sense. It's still early in the year after all. That doesn't mean that she can't complain a little, though. She's never been the best at dealing with heat, drops of sweat appearing on her skin much quicker than anyone else in her class, but the cold is worse. At least she never gets a heatstroke during the summer. Minami needs to make sure her coat is warm enough just so that she doesn't get sick the next day.
She takes another sip. It gives her just the right amount of warmth to comfort her on this cold night.
Minami looks over at the other person she's with—Nagumo Nasuka, someone working at the police department. Definitely not someone she could ever imagine knowing, but if they've been working together to save people in dreams… then maybe it is likely. Taking a quick glance at her phone, she sits on the bench with a cup of coffee in hand—bought by Minami, of course! That's the least she could do after all.
“Sorry to disturb you outside of work, by the way.” Minami starts the apology that she's gone through at least three times in her head. “I know that work makes you really busy— and I get it! Because, wow, working as a part of the police force sure makes you do a lot of work! And so you would need a lot of rest but I'm… kinda ruining it!” Forced laughter escapes her mouth and when she sees Nasuka’s brows furrow a tiny bit, she clears her throat.
“Yeah, so, uh, sorry. Again.”
She's immediately met with a headshake though. “I'm not too bothered with it, actually.” Nasuka tells her, setting down the drink right beside. “It's not like we get a lot of time to talk, right? Just the two of us.”
Minami slowly nods. Yeah, the only times they have talked is while in the secret base behind Baku’s closet—and honestly, she still doesn't understand how it's there in the first place—talking about the most recent Black Case, or something like that. She tries her best to keep up with it all, but it still feels like so much.
It's just the two of them in this usually crowded park, but maybe it's because of the weather. People would probably want to stay in their warm homes rather than the cold outdoors when it’s dark. Minami prefers that way more, too, but when she can see tiny snowflakes land on her, maybe it isn't so bad being out here at all.
The winter season reminds her of when things were more simple. When she would play in the snow with Baku for hours. They'd throw snowballs at each other and make a snowman together, and then they'd probably get sick the next day, Minami forgetting her scarf or something and Baku getting sick out of sheer bad luck.
It's hard to think of Baku now. Just a little, because it's not like Baku is a bad person or anything. Minami would never think that!
It's just… the whole secret agent and invading people's dreams thing. Even as she's been there to solve a case or two, the feeling is strange. Probably. She doesn't quite understand it.
“So what do you need to talk about?”
Ah, right! Nasuka must've been waiting for her to talk! Ugh, she arranged this whole thing only to be stuck in her thoughts this entire time!
“Oh, yeah, about that…” Hesitating, she sits down on Nasuka’s other side, the one without the cup of coffee. The words are on the tip of her tongue, but Minami can't properly sound it out. The woman sitting on the same bench as her still waits for something, and she must be getting a little impatient, so Minami must speak up now or else.
“I’m having a little bit of trouble right now. Kinda.” Minami’s hands grip tighter onto the cup. “With… with the supernatural dream agent thing, you get me? Because last month, or maybe two months ago, everything still felt normal, but now it turns out Baku has this secret job somehow, and he can just… appear in other people's dreams? It's so crazy and…”
She bites her lip, her request unwilling to come out. Just venting out her frustrations isn't enough. Go on, Minami. Tell her! It’s not like Nasuka will be really upset at this, right? Of course not!
“You’ve been working with Baku for a couple months, right? So you're already used to it by now, and that's why I'm asking for advice on this. From someone who's been dealing with the paranormal longer than me.” Minami finally looks Nasuka in the eye who, for some reason, is a bit surprised by the request.
…What?
Nasuka breaks eye contact for a while, picks up her drink and there's a big enough pause in between that and actually drinking it. Her movements are still relatively composed, just like usual, but there's something to it, probably. Is asking for advice on this really that bad?
“You're asking me how to adjust to your brother being… a secret agent, correct?” Minami nods her head with more enthusiasm than earlier, and Nasuka takes a bit more time to form a response.
“That's hard to do, because I'm still trying to do that as well.”
Oh, so that's what it is! Good to know that her worries were all for nothing.
…but as the newest set of worries go away, Minami is left with emptiness in its place. Not joy nor relief, just a slightly bitter disappointment. Her head hangs low as her brain tries to process those words properly.
"Is something wrong?" Nasuka's voice brings her back to reality and Minami's head quickly whips up. "N-no, nothing at all!" But the other woman doesn't look quite convinced with those words, so she sinks deep into the bench.
"I was just… expecting something more," Minami tells her. "I was hoping that I'd feel better after hearing advice. That I would feel normal again. Back to when I thought everything was normal and didn't know about Baku having that weird job and the paranormal being real apparently and… It's so much and I can't keep up." It's hard to look at Nasuka in the eyes as she speaks. Her voice is dripped in guilt—to be disappointed in something like this is so stupid, and Nasuka doesn't deserve to hear those words.
"Well," it doesn't take a long time for her to respond back. "my experience is a bit similar." Minami lifts her head up as Nasuka continues talking. "Anything tied to the supernatural sounds made up. There's never been solid proof about monster sightings, too, so I never believed in it. I still find your brother's career a bit strange… but I've seen things with my eyes, so it's hard to deny that now."
"And how recent was that…?"
"A month ago, I believe?" Woah, that's pretty recent.
"So even though we're in different positions regarding this situation, we share similar struggles, don't we?" Nasuka smiles— wait, smiles?! Minami hasn't ever seen one on her face before!
The smile vanishes just as quickly as it formed on Nasuka's face. "What is it?"
"Nothing bad, seriously! It's just… your smile. I haven't seen it ever." Minami tries to chuckle, but it sounded more like a cough. "You should smile more often. It looks good on you."
It's fun to see Nasuka flustered at such a simple compliment. Minami never knew that someone who seemed so… invincible and firm and unbreakable could easily be affected by something like that! She smiles as Nasuka tries to clear her throat, muttering a quick "thank you."
"If you're still looking for advice," Nasuka speaks, "then I would say to keep moving forward. Despite the trouble and all the confusion, you need to go through it all."
Tension disappears from her shoulders. Those are such simple words. Ones that anyone could've told her, but it probably wouldn't have worked if it was from anyone other than Nasuka… or Baku. Fujimi could probably say something too. He sounds like the type of guy to give great advice despite his general behavior. Wait, not like he's a bad guy. He's definitely a good guy, but… but!
"A support system is good too, of course." Once again, Nasuka's voice snaps her out of her thoughts. "If you have any worries, you can talk to me or Fujimi. He's… he'll help out, I'm sure. I'd say Baku too, but your problems revolve around him, so it's probably hard to talk about it to him, right?" Minami nods at that.
"Thank you for trying to help, really. You didn't have to. You, uh, don't really have experience yet… still, you—"
"I didn't mind doing it at all." Nasuka stands up to throw her empty cup into the bin. "After all, you asked for help, so who am I to refuse?" Her lips curve upwards. "I just hope my words can assist you… even if only a little. Besides, I enjoy talking to you. We should talk again outside of our usual."
How couldn't Minami grin upon hearing those words? She laughs as the smile grows wider on her face. "We really should! Oh, I wonder if we can actually do something together besides getting a quick meal or drink. I'll have to check what there is to do in this area." Plans are already beginning to unfold in her mind, from the time they could possibly meet up, to the activities they'd be doing. Oh, she's getting ahead of herself now.
Their time together has come to an end now. It's getting way too late, and Minami can't hold in a yawn. "Go to sleep after this. You probably need it after all the worrying." Even though she wants to deny Nasuka's words and that she has plenty of energy right now, the thought of being tucked into her own bed sounds appealing.
Minami watches Nasuka walk out of the park, but even as the cold breeze clings onto her neck, even though she's all on her own right now, it's like the warmth has never left her.