Thrown Into Conflict [Brothers Conflict x Reader]

Chapter 5 ~ The Chronicles of Showering

[Edited]

Ema froze. The squirrel froze. Y/n was already frozen.

Both Ema and the squirrel stared at her with astonishment and she stared back with bewilderment. Had she been hallucinating the voice? Perhaps she was imagining the squirrel talking?

No, she was certain she heard the squirrel talk and that Ema heard it too since she turned towards it when it spoke.

The squirrel and Ema shared a glance before looking back at the h/c-haired girl that was going to start losing her mind until a viable explanation had been given.

"You can understand me?" it spoke, tilting its fluffy head to the side before turning to Ema. "Chii, she could understand me."

Y/n's eyes flicked between the creature and Ema's face, her eyes still wide and her soul nearly astral projecting.

"What is chii?" she asked, voice as confused as she was desperate. "Am I going hallucinating? Do I need to reserve a place at the mental asylum?"

Seeing that her friend was going to spiral, Ema quickly grabbed hold of her, one hand on her arm and another on her cheek. She lifted her friend's face up so their eyes could meet. E/c clashed with brown, one frantic and the other calm.

"It's alright, Y/n. There are several people that could understand Juli. I do, too. You are not hallucinating and you are not crazy."

Ema's stable voice slowly but surely calmed her down, and her mind seemed to clear from its initial state of frenzy. She gazed at the squirrel, willing her shock to die down first before she could speak to the squirrel.

"Um, hi there. My name is Y/n," she said slowly, hesitation seeping into her voice. "Um... What is your name?"

The squirrel seemed to observe her before placing a tentative paw on her shoulder. When she made no movement, it slowly moved from Ema's shoulder to her own.

"My name is Juli," he then said, gently patting her cheek. "At least your best friend is normal, chii!"

Y/n looked questioningly at her friend, asking with her eyes about 'chii'. Her friend had only smiled and pointed to herself.

"Juli usually calls me chii."

"Ah."

She turned to the squirrel on her shoulder, his beady eyes watching her curiously. Gently, she patted its fluffy head and smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Juli. Even though I might need to get used to a talking squirrel."

Juli hugged her cheek affectionately before hopping back onto Ema's shoulder.

Y/n offered a smile at the other two, "I'm gonna go back to my room. See you later Ema, Juli."

Ema and Juli both waved at her before returning to Ema's room.

Y/n returned to her door and unlocked it, slipping inside. Once she locked the door again, she stared down at her boxes and sighed, moving to start unpacking her things. Might as well get it over with. After changing into more comfortable clothing and propping her phone on her desk and choosing one of her music playlists, she began cutting the tape to her boxes open with the pair of scissors she found in her 'essentials' box.

She placed her clothing inside the closet, neatly arranging her video game CDs on the shelves, and setting up her game console immediately to the TV in her room. While she was figuring out on which wire she should plug in the TV, a knock managed to make her heart jump to her throat in surprise. She was pleasantly surprised to find that it was Ukyo and Wataru bringing over a bowl of chicken porridge for her to eat, one that she gracefully accepted with many thank yous. Wataru had cheerfully said that he hoped he could have a meal with her soon, and she promised that they would eat together for the next meal. As she did a pinky promise with the young boy, the lawyer had watched them both with extreme fondness.