Chapter Text
Futaba looked around the dark and empty basement as she searched for the switch. The basement was littered with cobwebs and plastic boxes. From empty boxes of game consoles to toys she hadn’t played with in decades, a sense of nostalgia filled Futaba. She felt the dust lay on her fingertips fade away, as a call interrupted her. She looked behind to see Yusuke carrying a cardboard box climbing down the steps.
“Are you ready Futaba?” He questioned standing behind her putting the box on the floor.
She nodded in agreement as they spread out in the basement. Rows of old rackets, and warped books. Futaba ran her fingers along the spines as Yusuke was sorting halloween costumes.
As the dust clung to her hands, she felt a particular sensation in one book. She pulled out to reveal a textbook she hadn’t seen since high school. Futaba opened up to see the old familiar Calculus problems before a small THUD hit the floor. She looked down to see an old aluminum package that was once wedged between the pages.
Futaba picked up holding it up towards the basement light, to reveal an old brand of chewing gum once discontinued. She gasped in excitement as she realized the context.
“INARI, Take a look at this?” motioning for him to come over.
“A piece of gum” He questioned as he saw the piece of chewing gum under the ethereal basement lights.
“Remeber Six Years ago?”
Six Years Ago
“INARI, I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMOREEEEEE” She begged him as Yusuke pulled out another sheet of paper out of his backpack.
“Just a few more problems Futaba” Yusuke spoke as he flipped towards another textbook page.
“I Don’t care, Who needs to study anyways” whining on her bedroom floor.
“Just a few more problems Futaba”
“You don’t wanna do this either”
Yusuke closed his textbook in a slightly angry sigh.
“Your right but Kawakami will fail you if you don’t learn this material”
“I don’t need school, I’ll hack the Stock market, and retire early” She said, stretching her arms.
“I can’t have you breaking the Japanese Economy” Yusuke responded as she corrected her answer sheets.
“I’ve done it before, who says I won’t do it again?”
“I’m sure the government would be the one to say” he spoke as he noticed a small shiny case in the bottom of his backpack.
“Ooh you have gum?” She asked as her eyes wandered to his hands.
“Akira might have given it to me, do you want it?”
Futaba quickly snatched a piece, quickly putting it in her mouth.
“Whats your favorite brand?” she asked, slowly chewing the gum.
“I’ve never had one?”
“That's Impossible” she said in shock.
“Madarame never let things like that in our home”
Futaba processed what he said as she took one from the pack and unwrapped it for him.
“Try it!” she demanded
Yusuke slowly took it from her hands, shaking in hesitation, inspecting the shape and color.
“It won’t kill you!” she demanded
Yusuke quickly took a bite as Futaba noticed the load of expressions as he chewed it.
“So?” She questioned.
He thought of all the adjectives but could only land on one
“Sweet”
—-
“I See, so that's what happened” Yusuke exclaimed as rubbed his hair in thought. “But how did the gum end in between your textbook”
Futaba shugged
“Who knows” She responded placing the gum back in the textbook “but at least you tried”