Mischievous Function

This Isn't Some Stupid Fanfiction!

That night...

Ding-ding.

"Bye! Come again!" the cashier called out with a wave.

Bubble and Fanny waved back to the cashier as they walked out the door, the former carrying a plastic bag full of food. They then started their walk down the sidewalk back to the hotel, occasionally stealing glances at the deep purple night sky around them and the glowing city street lights.

"Thanks for coming with me, by the way," Bubble said to Fanny as she peeked into the bag of food again. "I know it was a long walk, and I know I didn't get much, but this is the only store in the area that has this kind of food."

Fanny shrugged as she ripped open the chocolate bar she had bought and took a bite. "Eh. Don't mention it. You're good company."

Bubble gave her a thankful smile before continuing, "I know I said I wanted to try this food, but the truth is that I also want to take some home. For Leafy, I mean. If she...when she comes back. I...well, Leafy and I have wanted to do something like this together for the longest time. Match and Pencil and the rest of my usual group think that my interests are weird—except for Ruby sometimes—and none of the other girls really pay that much attention to me or take me seriously. And my dad has a saying: fun is a three-letter word. Without 'friends', it's just 'you' and 'nothing' else."

She gripped the handles of the bag with both hands as she looked up into the sky. "I know my family tries their hardest for me, and I appreciate that. It's just...well, friends will always have a perspective of you that's different from that of your family. Sometimes, that's a good different, and sometimes, it's bad. That's just how it is, sure, but..."

Bubble sighed wistfully and shut her eyes, biting back a tear as memories of Leafy began flooding into her mind. "...Leafy...she's both to me," she explained. "I wanted her to be my sister—and my friend. When we first found her, I could tell that she was...alone. That...she had been alone. And when she finally felt comfortable enough to open up to me, she told me that...that she..."

"She was scared."

Bubble blinked and looked at Fanny, surprised. Fanny hadn't looked back at her, though; instead, she had kept her eyes forward and kept walking. Bubble quickly fell in step beside her as Fanny continued in a level voice, "She was scared of the world. What it would do to someone like her. Alone, lost. Helpless. She never knew if tomorrow would come, and if it did, if she would manage to keep being the same living, breathing girl she was yesterday."

"...I can see why you'd know that," Bubble murmured as she looked down at the sidewalk, suddenly feeling ashamed of herself for bringing up such a sensitive topic. "I'm...I'm sorry."

Fanny shrugged again. "The past is the past. We're both alive now, and that's what counts. Well...hopefully, anyway."

"She is alive!" Bubble protested, a rare rush of confidence surging through her. "And she's okay! I know it! She...if she could survive by herself at twelve, she can do it now! She's never been helpless or weak!"

Fanny glanced at Bubble over her shoulder with a grin and nodded reassuringly. As Bubble calmed down and regained her composure, Fanny let out a soft exhale and turned back to the sidewalk. "Never helpless or weak..." she chuckled. "Must be nice."

"If you don't want to talk about it, we can change the subject," Bubble offered.

Once again, Fanny merely shrugged. "Eh. Like I said, past is the past. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Bubble let out a small smirk and remarked, "Knowing your luck? You'd be able to beat Basketball at arm-wrestling in your sleep if that were true."