"Y'know, you can talk to me about anything."
It was Saturday; a bright and shining day of rest. Ina and Amelia had planned to hang out and do something other than just studying (much to Ina's dismay. She had worried that she was slacking on her work a lot recently.) They went shopping, bowling and playing games at the arcade all while sending such pictures of these activities to their group chat with Gura and Kiara.
Amelia leaned back onto the blue tiled walls, waiting for Ina to finish washing her hands. She was in her casual attire with a long flowing beige jacket. A flimsy belt of the same material wrapped around the jacket. Her usual hat wasn't on, instead she only had her golden monocle pin onto her hair to brush away her bangs.
Ina, finally finishing, dried off her hands on some tissues. She then flipped her head back up to look back at the young detective puzzled, "What's this about, Watson?" She mumbled, pushing her hands into her grey cardigan pockets.
Amelia shrugged, flicking her head towards the exit so they could walk and talk. Without looking at Ina, she nudged her and continued, "Maybe if... y'know... If Calli was blackmailing you or threatening you, I can help you out. Even if I'm not yet a detective, doesn't mean I can help you out." She turns to Ina fully, reaching a fairly quiet part. "As your friend."
'She really doesn't think that Calli can at all be a good person?' sighing, Ina patted Amelia's shoulder affectionately. Her sad expression cast a shadow over her eyes. She knew all of this was out of good faith but Amelia had issues with trusting supernatural creatures in general (despite going to a school for one.) "I know you care a lot but I assure you, I am fine. Calli's a good person."
"I'm serious!"
"I am too, Ame." Ina retorted, deadpanning until returning to her usual self.
Amelia opened her mouth to respond, gaping and trying to get her words together. No audible words came out. Everything Amelia wanted to say couldn't be put into words. Instead, she blurted out, "You've known her for only like two days, Ina!"
Sighing, Ina crossed her arms, "I know- I know but when I met Calli, she talked to me. We joked around-- She gave me my notebook! She didn't even judge me for my drawing!" She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling the warmth of her imaginary notebook. The memory of Mori's shy introduction to Ina was precious to her already as she was the first person to see that.
"It's hard when you're such a good artist!"
Sidestepping the compliment, Ina went ahead and walked across the street to go to the park, "but if such a 'bad person' goes out of their way to be polite, then they're not such a bad person."
Amelia sighed, quickening her step to keep up with Ina, "Well, you can never be too caref-"
"For once, Ame, please let your guard down." Ina turned suddenly with a slide of her heel. Her hands shakily covered Amelia's own. Frustratedly, she glared at Amelia, finally trying to drive her point into her. "You're our detective- I know- but if you constantly act so suspicious then you would've ended up similarly to Calli."
The detective looked down, flexing her fingers between Ina's warm palms. In silent deliberation, she switched her weight from leg to another and kept her eyes on it. Amelia knew some truth lied in the girl's words seeing how Ina was the one to even break her own loneliness. So, if she were to do the same for Calli...
"Fine. I'll give her a chance."
Ina's expression lifted from one of a sad dog to an energetic puppy. Ecstatic, she wrapped her arms around the blonde girl and hugged her tightly to her chest. "Thank you, Watson!" She laughed heartily, almost sounding like Kiara's chuckle.
In such a monotone, Amelia groaned, "Yeah, yeah. Just give me her number..."
Suddenly, the laughter subsided into more of a stilted chuckle. One you'd give when the very thing you needed to get wasn't with you. At this, Amelia looked up in surprise of Ina, who looked down quite embarrassedly.
"It's a process."
"Ina!"
...
As Ina came home, she was greeted by her family warmly. The usual questions asked like 'What did you guys do?', 'Did you have fun?', 'How are you?' and such. Her household, while not the worst, was quite intrusive. Oftentimes, her family would want to know what she's doing, especially her sister. She would often draw under the fear that she'll be walked in on since then, she's turned her table in a way that her graphic tablet wouldn't be seen when they came in.
Finally up in her room, she promptly threw herself onto her fluffy bed. Warm, comfy and accommodating to her sore legs from walking. She was not used to walking to such distances. Especially since she was very used to the comfort of her room. Curling up onto her side, Ina's eyes were prompted to look at her phone that lay uselessly in her hand. No light emitting from it but a black sheen of a screen where she stared at herself.
Her hands gripped the phone, clutching it to her chest and looking down at it. "Would it be weird if I asked her for her number?" Ina whispered to herself, biting her lower lip incessantly.
Soon enough, her phone lit up with a notification: One new message from Kiara in the group chat.
Kiara(ChickenTendies): ;000 Watson Ina
Kiara(ChickenTendies): Watsoooooooooonnnnnnnnn
Kiara(ChickenTendies): Inaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Ame(APEX_Ame): wut >:C
Kiara(ChickenTendies): hows
Kiara(ChickenTendies): yalls?
Ina laughed at the fuss Kiara made just to ask how they were doing.
Ina(takotenshi): Hey, I'm good. Today was fun, Watson.
Ame(APEX_Ame): yh yh wanna play some fall guys nxt time? with all of us?
Gooruh(fishybisnes): sure sure idm
She leaned back, looking at Gura's username in particular. "I thought she was gonna fix that?", Ina squinted, "or maybe that's what she thinks is 'fixed.'" She sighed until her phone pinged with another notification.
Kiara(ChickenTendies): do you mind if we add Calli on this gc?
That definitely was a big question. If Calli should be able to join them. It was a bit of rite of passage. If the group liked you enough to include you, then they'll add them to their group chat where they talked often about hanging out or about random things.
It wasn't a difficult question for Ina though.
Ina(takotenshi): I think that's a good idea.
Ina threw her phone as she sent the risky text. Gura's stance on Calli was a little mixed and Amelia definitely had a bit of a thing against her still so she couldn't guarantee their agreement with it. Kiara would definitely agree, seeing as she's the one to bring the topic up. Two pings went off, signalling the replies of Gura and Amelia however Ina made no motion to check.
Sighing ,she almost whispered, "The first thing is if Calli even has an account." she blinked, giving herself an idea.
Ina pulled up her phone and went to the search for Calli's social media (if she even used it.) She put into the search 'Calli' until many accounts under a similar name followed but none featured anything with Calli on it. Groaning, she tried again but with 'Calliope' this time. No luck. "I guess nobody in our school follows her enough to make her relevant..." She tried with 'moricalliope' and finally, she had some luck.
She sighed with relief, "I guess she's really straight forward with who she is." Calli's profile was public so Ina could see her posts which contained pictures of her drawings but not much of her face. If there were any pictures of her face however, they were all covered with something. Of course, safety and privacy were an issue so she understood why the need for covering her face.
"She's... a good artist." In contrast to Ina's more complex and detailed style, Calli drew cartoons with vivid colours with especially prominent reds, greens and black to accompany them. She definitely had a good idea of colour theory. "It's so nice..." Calli's drawings were much more dynamic and had so much more character than Ina's which often showed static, still characters on a page with flowing clothes to make up for the lack of action.
Often, artists feel a sense of envy, jealousy or anything against people they thought were better. However, Ina felt no such thing towards Calli's drawings. She was inspired by them with how much she drew her characters to be strong, hardworking, determined people. In the comments, she'd often write replies that affirmed other's talent and skill.
Suddenly, Ina stood up, feeling an itch on her hands.
"I'll ask for her number tomorrow."
Ina picked up her graphic's tablet pen and drew her heart into a mischievous reaper that smooth-talked criminals and brought down injustice.
Gura(fishybisnes): idk... maybe when we're closer?
Ame(APEX_Ame): I don't think we should
The two messages laid in the group chat unread until the morning.