Chapter Text
“I just don’t understand! Why can’t you make it tonight?” Osoko asked angrily into her cellphone. Choroko only watched from her spot on Osoko’s bed, quietly setting her manga down so she could watch the other’s movements. She was waiting for the inevitable meltdown Osoko usually had, when a date cancelled their plans. Choroko couldn’t understand why she stressed herself out over it so much. It was just one date!
It was actually several dates, now that she thought back on it. This was probably the fourth time she had be cancelled on this month alone. With each date ruined before they even started, Osoko was more than emotionally frustrated. Choroko wasn’t much comfort. When a guy cancelled on her she pretended he was going to have a secret rendezvous with his secret boyfriend, and it made her feel better. It was much better than thinking you were just simply undesirable, at least.
Osoko was one to drink her feelings away. Choroko suspected that was what was going to happen, considering how riled up Osoko seemed.
“You have to go visit your sick grandmother?! You told me your grandmother died ten years ago! ” Osoko was practically yelling into the poor phone now. Choroko wondered if the neighbors could hear her, because this was definitely not the first time this has happened. Then, an audible beep could be heard from the other end of the call, signaling that it was over.
There was a short pause.
“He just hung up on me. Choroko,” Osoko turned around, finally acknowledging her friend for the first time in twenty or so minutes. “He hung up on me.”
Of course he did , Choroko wanted to say, no guy likes it when girls yell! It’s not cute.
“I know.” Choroko said, trying her best to sound empathetic. “Guys are jerks like that,”
Osoko was more than a little sensitive at these times, so she refrained from saying her honest opinion. She opened her arms wide, wanting Osoko to embrace her. Osoko only had her top on at the moment, but she sunk into the bed and hugged Choroko anyways. Her date had called while she was picking out her outfit. She was making Choroko help her choose her what she was going to wear, hence why she was there in the first place. It wasn’t like Choroko had anything better to do, anyways.
“I don’t get it. What did I do wrong?” Osoko asked. It was a rhetorical question, Choroko knew. Osoko didn’t actually want to know what went wrong. If Choroko pointed out that she was overbearing, that she was too much, Osoko would only get defensive. She really was like an older sister, in that way. An older sister that tried to be doting, but bitched when she didn't get her way.
Even if she wanted her question answered, she answered herself too quickly for Choroko to say anything.
“You know, I bet it was that
bitch
from work.” She seethed. Her tone was too harsh for it to be described as anything else but anger.
“Which one?” Choroko asked.
“The new one.” Osoko sat up, and unwrapped herself from Choroko. Her legs were folded under her.
“Akimoto?”
“No, the intern.”
“Fuyu?”
“Yeah. Fuyu!
Fuckin’ Fuyu!
The one with the huge tits!” Osoko cupped her own breasts, grabbed at nothing and pretended that hers were as big as Fuyu’s. “She was talking to the guy I had my eye on as soon as she started! She’s only been there for a month, how can someone work so fast?”
“Or...Maybe he's secretly gay? And he's going to go meet him up right now? Maybe he cancelled because he couldn't deny his love anymore,” Choroko snickered at the thought, excited over the prospect of that happening. If only she could see it in person! But then, Osoko gave her the I’m done with your weird fujoshi shit look, and it was like metaphorically being slapped in the face. Why was she so serious all of the time? There was no reason to be that way.
“She’s probably a whore,” Choroko deadpanned. She knew better than to fan the flames, but if Osoko vented her anger out now , she’d probably be too worn to bring it up again around her. They could probably make an impromptu visit to Todoko’s house after this, where Osoko would bring it up again once they saw their friend, and she’d make it to where Osoko actually wouldn’t talk about it anymore.
“She is a whore! Seriously, the amount of makeup she wears to work is disgusting,” Osoko seemed to like the insult more. It gave her something to be angry over. She crossed her arms and huffed.
“Don’t you wear a lot of—”
“
Yes
,” Osoko quickly interrupted. “I do, but I go for a natural look. She just cakes it on. It makes her look awful. I thought my guy could do better than that.”
Choroko pushed her glasses up unto the bridge of her nose.
He’s not your guy.
“You should just forget about Fuyu and the guy, Osoko. Maybe he really did have to go visit his sick grandmother.”
“In case you couldn’t remember, dead people don’t
get
sick,”
“His other grandmother, then?” When Osoko glared at her, Choroko smiled. She was just trying to stay angry at this point. “C’mon, don't worry about it!” She wrapped an arm around Osoko’s waist and pulled her in closer.
“We don’t need guys to be happy, Osoko. We have each other,” She ran her free hand through Osoko’s short hair. It was a nice shade of brown, and silky when Osoko didn't use hair products. It was a little stiff from the hairspray she had used earlier.
“It's not the same!” She snapped, and pulled her head away. “We're just friends. Friends aren't always enough.”
“What can a guy do that I can't, huh?” Choroko asked. “I'm always here for you, aren't I?”
“There's lots of things you don't do.” Osoko started. “You don't cuddle me. You don't kiss me, and you don't have sex with me. There's three things already that you don't do that a boyfriend will.” She counted off with her fingers, like a checklist.
“What? You're so stupid, Osoko.” Choroko climbed over Osoko’s waist and straddled her hips. She leaned uncomfortably close. Too close for someone who was just a friend. “Friends can totally do that. We don't do that because you don't want to.”
“You don't want to, either.” Osoko stated defensively.
Choroko only sighed.
“Osoko.”
“What?”
“Look at me. Look at me.”
You're an idiot if you think I'm anything but willing.
Osoko did the exact opposite. She couldn't look at Choroko when she was being this way. She was being too honest for Osoko’s tastes. They were usually so sneaky and conniving around each other. They were always talking behind each other's backs, talking shit to each other’s faces, despite loving each other. She couldn't acknowledge Choroko’s feelings—not when Osoko was trying so hard to deny that she harbored feelings of her own.
Choroko’s serious expression was instantly gone, and she smiled and winked at Osoko in a way that made Osoko’s heart beat nervously. Choroko gently kissed her on the nose, then stood up from the bed. She stretched until her arms were reaching for the ceiling and her skirt was riding a little too high. Osoko pretended not to look.
“Put on some pants and let's go!”
“What? Where?” Osoko asked.
“Jyushiko’s house. Hey, don't give me that look. It's not like she has anything better to do! Get wasted at her house so you don't mess up your own.”
“I don't drink that much,” Osoko protested. She did as she was told, though. She changed her top entirely and slipped into something more comfortable. No date meant she had no desire to dress in something that was nice, yet tight and hard to breath in. She grabbed a six pack of beer from her fridge, and followed Choroko on the way out.