Technical Difficulties (Brother's Conflict)

Chapter 21!

Mei was currently laying on her stomach, angrily chewing on some pocky as she tried the desert level in Ema's stead for the perhaps 50th time. Both sighed aggressively as she lost again, Mei slamming her head onto the floor in front of her with the same frustrated and confused energy she used when trying to do math homework without Nageki or Ema's help. "Anything short of replaying the stage before this and hoping to get our level higher before trying this one seems like a bust."

Ema groaned from her spot leaning against the bed, "That'd be so much effort though, there should be an easier way, right?"

Mei steadied her head on her hand carefully, trying to think of other solutions, not even minding that her loose black sweater slid off her shoulder since it was only her sister and herself there. "There might be, but this game is still in development, right? Since we're basically beta testing there's bound to be parts-"

Mei interrupted her own sentence with a dramatic gasp, hopping to her feet and immediately regretting it as a wave of dizziness and numbness in her legs overtook her. She played her balancing on the edge of the desk off by grabbing the card on it. "What?"

"I know the man to report to with our issue!" Mei turned to Ema with a wink, Natsume's business card on display between two of her fingers. It wasn't long before Mei sent off a well worded text, at least from someone who'd been up for multiple days and wasn't in the best head space, to Natsume asking if they could meet and talk about the game since her and Ema were both playing it. 

Ema peeked over Mei's shoulder as Natsume replied somewhat quickly, offering to meet up with them later that night to hear their feedback in person. "Well problem solved for now, I'm going to take a nap for a couple hours before getting ready. There are some shops near there and since we're already traveling we might as well go early and stop by right?"

Ema laughed before responding with, "Yeah and with you there to throw us off track we'll need all the time we can to actually make it there properly."

Mei playfully elbowed Ema in the side, both girls laughing amicably until they both yawned in unison. Mei returned to her room, flopping onto her bed and finally revealing the short black shorts she'd been wearing under her large sweater as it rode up in her fall. She stared at her phone listlessly for a few moments, debating on if she should invite Nageki with her over the weekend. Ema only went once when she'd first started renting the place, so Nageki was the only other person who'd been there, also the only one who stayed over since they were there for four whole days. 

Her thumb hesitated over the call button noticeably, making her question herself. She'd never felt nervous about talking to him before so why did she have butterflies in her stomach all of a sudden? After debating a little longer, she scoffed and turned off her phone, deciding it was best to go alone anyway since she'd just be spending the whole time painting rather than socializing. She curled up under her blankets, clutching a large cat plush close to her body as though it were a person, hoping that'd be enough to get at least some hours of sleep. 

---

When she woke up again, her whole body was trembling as though she'd been in the cold for too long without a coat. But, that was a sensation that had become almost foreign to her with the way things had turned. She moved to get out of bed, only to notice her limbs felt numb, like all of her nerves had fallen asleep. She noticed by pure chance as she accidentally slammed her arm into the corner of the nightstand, something that would usually jolt you awake with a bit of pain, yet she felt nothing but the pressure. Some part of her panicked, thinking that this time it would be permanent just like her lack of feeling for temperature. Her breathing rate picking up exponentially as the room started spinning with dizziness even though she hadn't stood. 

At the back of her head, just barely tucked into her hairline, she softly slid her fingers across the lightly scarred skin as though assuring herself her growing headache wasn't accompanied by a wound. She had half a mind to get anxiety medication from her doctor, rather than just the painkillers and physical therapy exercises they'd laid out for her condition. However, she just got rid of that thought as soon as she had it. "I'm fine, I really am."

She wasn't entirely sure who she was trying to convince in the quiet of her room, but she said it anyway as she slowly stood and plucked her bottle of water off her desk. She drank a good amount before having the usual amount of painkillers and putting on some warmer clothes so that she could go out with Ema, just like everything was fine. She put a high collared shirt underneath another oversized dark sweater and didn't risk the cold with some jeans and slightly heeled boots, all accompanied by her decently thick winter coat. She even had gloves stuffed in her pocket, just because of how risky her situation became in weather like this. 

Ema and Mei took their time walking around the many shops close to the restaurant they were planning on meeting Natsume at. They didn't end up buying anything except for a particularly pretty bracelet for Hikaru, but it was mostly just plotting for ideas for the coming weeks of shopping. Mei and Ema waited patiently for Natsume to arrive at their table for three, amaically talking about the good points of the game itself since their minds were already on the topic. It wasn't long before Natsume arrived, though. 

haven't slept in a good while, i hate summer, also sorry this chapter is a little late