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Mutsumi had her hands folded in her lap as she waited. In the chair next to her, Nyamu was scrolling on her phone, the same way she had been for a while now.
She should probably at least pretend to look through a magazine. Mutusmi reached for one. She recoiled when she saw a familiar face on the front of one. Definitely not someone she liked to see when anyone from her band was around. Mutsumi folded her hands back in her lap and faced forward again.
Nyamu looked over. “What are you nervous for? You’re not the one getting their wisdom teeth out.”
That was true. Umiri had asked them to come with her. Someone needed to watch her after surgery. Mortis had volunteered herself, Mutsumi, and Nyamu. Not that Umiri would have chosen anyone else.
Mutsumi smiled a little at the thought of Sakiko trying to drag Umiri out the door.
It wasn’t too much longer until Umiri was walked out by a woman in scrubs. She had a mouthful of gauze and her eyes looked a little glossy.
“Here she is!” the woman said. “Come on, Yahata-san, your friends are here.”
Umiri looked at them. She made a sound that was probably supposed to be Nyamu’s name before stumbling in her direction.
Nyamu hopped up from her chair. She wrapped an arm around Umiri’s waist. “Muuko!”
Mutsumi hurried to Umiri’s other side.
Umiri was only kept on her feet from Nyamu and Mutsumi on either side of her.
“I can’t believe you wore platforms to wisdom tooth surgery!”
Umiri’s mouth was full of gauze, so she couldn’t talk. That didn’t stop her from trying, though.
“You shouldn’t talk until the bleeding stops,” Mutsumi said.
She’d had her own wisdom teeth taken out previously. It hadn’t been fun. Between her and Mortis, they handled it, but Nyamu and Umiri had certainly helped.
“Watch your step,” Nyamu said as the three of them stumbled out the door and toward the car waiting for them.
As soon as Umiri was seated, she started to talk again.
“Mutsumi… Did you bring my bass?”
“Shh…” Mutsumi pet her hair. “Your bass is back home.” Umiri relaxed. “We’re going to take you there, okay?”
“…mhm.”
Back to Umiri’s apartment, just like they planned earlier. Nyamu buckled Umiri into the car. Umiri grabbed her hand as she was pulling away.
”Well, aren’t you sweet?” Nyamu didn’t let go. She settled her and Umiri’s joined hands in her lap.
Mutsumi looked out the window as they headed back. She wasn’t sure how good she was at taking care of others, but she’d try her best for Umiri’s sake.
“Time to change your gauze!” Mortis unpacked two gauze pads and wet them with a little bit of water.
Umiri kept her jaw closed.
Mortis tapped her nose. “Umiri-chan, you need to open your mouth.”
Umiri made a little noise of realization. It seemed like she was still pretty out of it.
Mortis carefully extracted the bloody gauze from Umiri’s mouth and tossed it in the trash. She could see back where they’d had to cut the teeth out.
“Gross!” Mortis gingerly covered it with the damp, fresh gauze. She pecked a kiss to Umiri’s cheek. “There, all done. That wasn't so bad, was it?”
Mortis washed her hands in the sick. Mutsumi got too squeamish around blood, and Nyamu didn’t like to get her hands dirty. It was up to Mortis to take care of Umiri. Not that she minded, of course! No, Mortis quite liked the sleepy haze Umiri was in.
Umiri was so… docile like this. Mortis thought she looked sooo cute!
”You’re still bleeding a little, but it looks like it’ll stop before too long,” Mortis said.
Umiri wrinkled her nose. “It tastes bad.”
”I’m sure it does! When we got our wisdom teeth out, our whole mouth tasted like blood for a while.” Mortis patted her on the shoulder. “We’ll get you some water soon, okay?”
Umiri nodded her head.
Mortis loved to be relied on. Mutsumi was relying on her less and less, so when she heard the news about Umiri getting her wisdom tooth surgery, Mortis couldn’t help feeling a little happy. With that happiness, though, came guilt. Why did Umiri have to be hurt to finally decide to rely on her?
Mortis swallowed down all these complicated emotions and smiled brightly. “You just let me know if you need anything!”
Umiri nodded again. “Mhm.”
“What you need is a nap,” Nyamu said.
They’d been home for a while, and Umiri was past the amount of time they needed to see if she’d have any adverse side effects from the anesthesia. Mortis had given her some water. Umiri was considerably less out of it than she had been earlier.
Mutsumi didn’t even need to help her into the bed. Nyamu set a glass of water on the nightstand, along with an applesauce cup and a spoon.
”Just in case you get hungry when you wake up,” Nyamu said before propping up a pillow for Umiri to lay on. " Someone —" she shot a glare at Umiri. "—decided to schedule me for an interview the day of their wisdom teeth surgery. Do you need anything before I go?"
Umiri looked up with watery eyes and the most pitiful expression Mutsumi had ever seen. “Do you think I’m trustworthy?” she asked in a very small and uncharacteristically high pitched voice.
Nyamu rolled her eyes. “Oh my god, you’re still on about that?" She kissed Umiri's forehead. "You’re fine, Umiko.”
Mutsumi stroked Umiri’s hair. “I trust you.”
Umiri leaned into her touch. She closed her eyes and promptly fell asleep after only a few seconds.
Nyamu stood up straight. “Well, I guess that’s that,” she said in a low voice.
Mutsumi kept petting Umiri’s head. “I’ll stay with her.”
"Thank you. Let me know if anything happens. I can duck out of the interview if I need to."
Mutsumi shook her head. "No need." She brushed Umiri's hair out of her face. "She'll be fine."
Umiri was on her back with her head propped up. Mutsumi watched her sleep for a few more seconds before settling down next to her. She snuggled in against Umiri’s side. Mutsumi put her ear to Umiri’s chest and relaxed.
Mortis didn’t envy Umiri at all. She remembered how bad it had hurt when she'd had the same surgery.
“You poor thing!” Mortis kissed the top of Umiri’s head—a thing she was only able to do because she was draped over the back of Umiri’s chair.
Sakiko was watching them. She seemed uncertain. “If you’re in pain, you can have some time off.”
Umiri waved her hand. “I don’t need a jaw to play bass.”
She probably would have looked cooler if Mortis wasn’t playing with her hair. Mortis still thought she was pretty cool.
Sakiko looked like she wanted to argue for a moment before giving in. “If you’re certain.”
“I am.”
It was only a day after the surgery, so Umiri’s face was still a tiny bit swollen. She must be in pain, but she didn’t complain a bit.
”Umiri-chan is so brave,” Mortis marveled, curling a strand of Umiri’s hair around her finger.
”The pain medicine helps.” Umiri tried to fight back a yawn but failed. “It just makes me a little tired.”
Throughout practice, Mortis kept an eye on Umiri. She seemed to push through the pain just fine. It certainly wasn’t their most productive practice ever, but no one complained.
As soon as they finished, Mortis glued herself to Umiri’s side again. She wrapped her arms around Umiri from the side and ducked under her arm so Umiri was forced to hold her.
”How are you feeling?”
Umiri chuckled. “I’m fine.” She squeezed Mortis close. “I appreciate you worrying, but I promise I’m alright.”
Mortis pouted. “I never get to take care of you.”
Umiri rested her chin on Mortis’s head. She wasn’t that much taller, but Mortis had her shoulders hunched and head ducked. “Is that such a bad thing?”
When Mortis spoke again, her voice was very quiet. “But you don’t need me. Mutsumi-chan doesn’t need me anymore. Nyamu-chan doesn’t need me.”
A perfect doll without a purpose in life, and still she selfishly wanted to live.
“Of course we need you,” Umiri said. Mortis could hear the way her voice rumbled up through her throat as she talked.
”But I don’t do anything for you!”
Umiri leaned back just enough to meet Mortis’s eyes. Her smile was so gentle, her cheeks just a little swollen from her surgery. “You make me happy. That’s enough.”
Mortis could feel tears well up in her eyes.
”I’ll tell you as many times as it takes.”
Nyamu, who must have noticed them doing this in the middle of the practice room, wiped Mortis’s face with a tissue. “Did this big meanie make you cry?”
Mortis sniffled. She pulled Nyamu close, and the other girl got the message just fine. Nyamu joined in on the hug.
“Mortis?” Mutsumi called. “Are you crying? What’s wrong?”
Mutsumi found herself sandwiched in a hug between Nyamu and Umiri. All things considered, not a terribly uncommon place to be. Her vision blurred as a tear fell down her cheek. She’d been around for practice but let Mortis take control back afterward. How did they get from there to here?
“Nyamu? Umiri?”
The hug loosened before dispersing altogether. Both girls peered at Mutsumi.
”Huh?” Nyamu said.
”Oh, Mutsumi’s back,” Umiri said.
They both seemed a little surprised. Mutsumi felt the same. She’d talk to Mortis later. Mutsumi doubted she’d get anything out of her right now.
Mutsumi wiped her face with the back of her hand. “Can we go home now?”
“Home” in this case was Mutsumi’s house. They’d been hanging out for a little while talking about nothing in particular. Well, Umiri and Nyamu did most of the talking while Mutsumi chimed in as she saw fit.
Umiri leaned up to kiss Nyamu, but was stopped by a hand over her mouth. She lightly batted Nyamu’s hand away. “I had four teeth taken out. I think I deserve a kiss.”
“Oh? You don’t know?” Nyamu looked a little surprised. “The doctor said you can’t kiss anyone until after you fully recover.”
Umiri pouted. “Did he really say that?”
He didn’t. Mutsumi had been there when they were told all the post-operative care instructions.
Nyamu nodded. “It’s true!”
Umiri looked so sad that Mutsumi almost stepped in to tell her the truth.
“Don’t worry! I can still kiss you. You just can’t kiss back. So if you ever want a kiss, just let me know!”
Ah. So that was her scheme. Mutsumi would let her have this one.
Umiri leaned in. She stopped only a breath away from Nyamu’s mouth touching her own.
“Remember,” Nyamu said. “Don’t kiss back.”
Umiri stayed completely still as Nyamu pecked a kiss to her lips. She let out a long sigh afterward.
Things continued on like that for the rest of the day. Every now and then, Umiri would shuffle over to Nyamu and give her the biggest puppydog eyes she could manage.
“Can I have a kiss?” Umiri would say in a pitiful little voice.
Nyamu would wave her a little closer before kissing her lightly.
After the fifth time, Mutsumi spoke up.
“Um, Umiri?” Mutsumi said. She felt weird about keeping up Nyamu’s lie. “You know Nyamu was just messing with you when she said you couldn’t kiss after surgery, right?”
“I know.”
She hadn’t expected that.
“Nyamu likes it when I fall for her pranks, so sometimes I do it on purpose.” Umiri smiled. “Are you surprised?”
Of course she was surprised, though maybe she shouldn’t be. Umiri did love Nyamu, after all. It was only natural that she would do things to make her happy.
“So whenever Nyamu tries to trick you…”
Umiri shrugged. “It’s more fun for us both if I play along.”
Huh. That explained a lot, actually.
“Sorry, do you feel left out?” Umiri leaned over until she had her head in Mutsumi’s lap. She looked up with big, watery eyes. “Mutsumi, can I have a kiss?”
Mutsumi smiled. “Say ‘please.’”
“Nyamu’s really rubbing off on you, huh?” Umiri stuck her bottom lip out in a pout. “Please?”
Mutsumi kissed her, though it must have been with a little too much force because Umiri winced. She touched her jaw.
“We really should lay off the kissing until I’m all better.”
Mutsumi couldn’t help laughing at that. Maybe Nyamu had a point after all. She kissed Umiri again, gentle and sweet this time. Mutsumi hoped it conveyed to Umiri just how much she loved her.