Flung

What an awful morning.

Ena had spent the past five minutes throwing up into the toilet after having woken up in a cold sweat with intense nausea some half hour after finally going to sleep. She hadn’t been planning on going to school later today, but she definitely wasn’t going now. Her insides were churning and her head was pounding. She gripped the edges of the toilet bowl hard, as if breaking it would make her feel any better.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

“Ena, are you still in there?” Akito grumbled exasperatedly from the hallway. “It’s been forever, hurry up!”

“Shut up!” Ena snapped back immediately. “I’ve been feeling like shit for a few days now, so be patient unless you want me to throw up all over you!”

From the other side of the door, she could hear her brother stumble backward.

“What, are you pregnant or something?” Akito snarked.

Ena’s head shot up, ready to spin around and bark back at her brother. But something in her head clicked.

Ena and Mafuyu had been hooking up for a while now. They weren’t dating, just blowing off steam. It made them feel better about things, even if just for a moment. Though Mafuyu infuriated her at times, Ena was content with their relationship.

That is, until now. Until Mafuyu got her pregnant.

“Fuck.”

Ena hung her head. Her cycle was irregular, but her period had been absent for longer than usual. She thought back to all the times she and Mafuyu had had sex in the recent past and realized that one of the times they had had probably been unsafe. So, stupid Akito was probably right.

“…Ena, are you actually…?”

Had Akito heard her? Double fuck. Ena got up to her feet, trembling, then swung open the door. She glared at Akito with a scowl.

“Don’t say anything to our parents, you hear?” she growled under her breath. Akito’s eyes widened in surprise and his eyebrows hopped up slightly.

“No worries,” Akito said softly, holding up his hands. “I’m just surprised you’re dating someone.”

“I might be pregnant and that’s what you’re focused on?!” Ena scolded, her face turning red. She then glanced away bashfully. “Besides, I’m not… dating her.” Her voice had lost its strength.

“Oh my god,” Akito scoffed. Ena immediately slapped her hand against his mouth, hard. His lips squished against her palm. They felt gross and squishy.

“Listen to me, Akito. You’re going to go to the nearest pharmacy and get me a pregnancy test,” Ena ordered gravely. Frowning, Akito wrapped his hand around her wrist and jerked her hand away from his mouth.

“Why me?!” he shouted back, baffled.

“If I went, it’d be obvious it was for me!” Ena whined. “But if you went, people would assume it’s for one of those girls you hang out with.”

“So you want me to throw An and Kohane under the bus…” Akito sighed exasperatedly. He threw a hand behind his neck. “Whatever, I didn’t feel like going to school today anyway.”

With that, Akito trudged over to the stairs and began to plunk down them. Halfway down, he stopped.

“Go to your room and get some rest,” he called out, not bothering to look behind him. Ena huffed. What a stupid moment to show that he cared.

Ena did as told and went back to her room after finishing up in the bathroom. She crawled onto her bed and curled up into a ball, then pulled the covers over herself. Reaching beneath them, she put a hand to her pelvis.

Fuck. Was there really someone in there? What now?

Ena squeezed her eyes so tightly that her brow creased. She didn’t want to think about that, she just wanted to melt into the nothingness of sleep. In the world of dreams, she wouldn’t have to worry about Mafuyu or their baby.

“I’m back!”

Ena awoke to a rough knock on her door. She rolled around, tangling herself in the covers, then sat up. She realized that her legs were trapped in blankets, so she started furiously kicking them off.

“Be right there!” Ena replied, raising her voice just to make sure Akito heard her. When eventually came free, she tumbled out of her bed and clumsily stomped over to the door. She opened it and saw a disgruntled Akito in the doorway, holding a crinkly bag.

“Thanks,” Ena said snippily as she snatched the bag from him. She then shoved past him and ran back to the bathroom.

“Hey, you could at least be nicer about it! You know how many weird looks I got at the pharmacy?!” Akito yelled after her, but she didn’t care. She shut the bathroom door on him, the strength of her slam letting out a resounding thunk that echoed throughout the house.

“Okay, let’s do this,” Ena huffed to herself as she dug out the test from the bag and tore it open. Pieces of cardboard went everywhere on the floor, but she didn’t care. She had to know if this was just a bad dream or if she and Mafuyu had majorly fucked up.

Ena followed the instructions to a tee—at least, she hoped she did. From there, she waited for a few minutes. She bounced her leg up and down anxiously. Her timer went off, letting out a few disconnected beeps. She peered over at the stick in her hands.

Two lines.

“No, no, no, no, no,” Ena frantically muttered under her breath. She tore off some toilet paper and hurriedly rolled it around the stick, then threw it in the trash. She grabbed the bag again, searching for another test. This one had to have been faulty, that was all.

Somehow, it seemed that Akito knew that this would happen. Inside the bag was another test from another brand. Ena sighed in relief and made a mental note to not make her brother’s life a living hell for the next day or so. She ripped open the second box and followed the instructions, trembling but making sure she wasn’t hasty about it. She couldn’t fuck this one up. She just couldn’t.

Another few minutes of waiting. Ena held her breath. She braced herself, then glanced at the stick. Her eyes widened. She angrily put the cap back on and threw it to the ground.

“Fuck!”

Another two lines.

“Are you okay in there?” Akito asked, his deep voice accentuated with worry. Ena hurriedly cleaned up and washed her hands, then flung open the door. Her face was pale.

“Akito, what do I do?! I’m pregnant!” Ena pleaded desperately, lunging forward and grabbing onto Akito’s shirt for dear life. He gritted his teeth.

“Shit, seriously?” he asked, genuinely frightened. Ena nodded frantically.

“Well, you should go tell whoever the other parent is first,” he sighed.

“I… I’ll go text her,” Ena sighed, nodding as she tried her best to calm down. She pried away her shaking hands from her brother, then walked back to her room. She didn’t shut the door, just lazily let it swing behind her. She stood in front of her bed and swiped her phone off of it.

enanan: Mafuyu, we need to talk. Alone.

yuki: I don’t feel like having sex today.

Ena’s right eye twitched as her face went pink. The audacity of that girl, she thought as she typed furiously.

enanan: Well, I don’t feel like it either! It’s something else, it’s urgent. I need to see you as soon as possible.

yuki: Okay. I’ll meet you at the family restaurant after school.

Ena scoffed with a sardonic smile. There was no way she was telling Mafuyu that she was pregnant in a damn family restaurant.

enanan: No, come to my house. When I said alone, I meant alone.

yuki: Okay.

enanan: Thanks. See you.

Ena turned around and flopped backward onto her bed. The mattress sunk and let out a creak as she did. In about eight hours, Mafuyu would be at her house. She had those eight hours to figure out what to do about everything. She was tempted to just yell and scream at Mafuyu about how it was all her fault, but Ena knew that wasn’t fair. They’d always been very careful about protection. This had happened by complete chance. Ena threw her hands over her face and groaned.

Just then, she heard footsteps in the hall again.

“I made you some tea. Do you still feel like puking your guts out?” Akito asked gruffly from outside. He wedged the door open with his foot and walked in, holding a tray. He cautiously stepped over to Ena and set the tray down on her night table.

“Th-Thanks,” she sputtered awkwardly, not used to her brother being this kind to her. She slowly sat up and reached for the mug. She then put it to her lips, blowing a little to cool down the tea, and took a sip. Immediately, her face scrunched up.

“Ew, is this ginger?” Ena groaned, sticking out her tongue.

“…It’s good for morning sickness,” Akito explained curtly. He wasn’t facing her, but Ena could still see that his ears were slightly pink at the tips. What a softie he was. She set her mug down with a smirk.

“Look at you, what a caring little brother!” she teased loudly. She then lunged toward him, her stretched out fingers gunning for his sides.

“Wh—Ahaha, hah, Ena, stop that!”

Akito couldn’t help but burst into laughter as Ena ferociously tickled him. He tried to side step away, but she wouldn’t relent. He then tried to swat at her, but she caught his wrists. As he tried to wrest free, Ena put on a mischievous face and exclaimed,

“You wouldn’t dare hit a pregnant girl!”

Akito grimaced.

“You are going to be so annoying these next few months, aren’t you?” he groaned. At that, Ena froze. She let him go abruptly and her eyes went wide.

“Wh-What makes you think I’m keeping it?!” she shouted defensively. Akito grunted wimpily.

“I-I didn’t mean it like that!” Akito huffed. It was then that Ena realized that she also had to figure out what to do in this situation. What did she even want to do? Did she want an abortion? Did she want to keep the baby and then put them up for adoption? …Did she want to become a mother?

She didn’t know.

“Anyway, don’t forget to drink all your tea. I’m gonna head to school now,” Akito sighed wearily, shaking Ena from her thoughts. “If the teachers get on my case for being late, I’ll tell them it’s your fault.” He then trudged out of her room, leaving her all alone.

“Stupid Akito,” Ena grumbled quietly. She grabbed her tea again and took another sip. The liquid stung her throat but, the more she drank, she did start to feel the pain in her stomach dissipate.

Ena sat on the edge of her bed thinking. She arrived at the conclusion that, at the very least, she didn’t really want to get an abortion. It freaked her out. She knew it was sort of strange to be scared of a simple procedure when birth was arguably more terrifying, but she couldn’t help it. On top of that, she just couldn’t… picture herself going through with an abortion. There was nothing wrong with those who did, but she was always one to make rash decisions based on her sentiments. If Mafuyu wanted her to get an abortion, though, Ena didn’t think she would put up a fight. So, really, the decision now lay in the hands of the ever vacillating Mafuyu.

Triple fuck.

“This is so much…” Ena whined. She suddenly gulped down her tea ferociously, just trying to get it over with. When she was done, she let out a rough exhale. She then set her mug aside and got back into bed.

“I should get an actual good night’s rest…” Ena mumbled to herself. This time, though, she wasn’t going to sleep to avoid her problems. I probably need it since I’m pregnant, she told herself. She tugged the blanket over herself and let out a huff through her nose. The eight hours she had until she saw Mafuyu would fly by in an instant once she fell asleep. So, as she drifted off into that deep slumber, Ena tried her hardest to tamp down the panic that had been obliterating her chest all morning.

Bzzt bzzt!

Ena groggily opened her eyes and pawed around for her phone. She picked it up, rubbed her eyes open, and looked at the screen. She had two missed calls from Mafuyu. Her eyes went wide as she remembered everything that had happened.

“Shit!”

Ena flung out of bed and tore down the stairs, then stumbled into the foyer. She hastily undid the lock on the front door and tugged it open.

“Hey!” she greeted as her chest heaved up and down. In the doorway was Mafuyu, staring at her with her usual dull expression. She bowed.

“Hello. What happened?”

Mafuyu went straight to the point as always. Ena had to make an extreme effort to calmly bow back and not act peeved.

“At least let me make you some tea first…” she instead sighed. She stepped out of the foyer and into the kitchen. She noticed that the electric kettle still had water in it, probably from when Akito had made her tea earlier in the morning. She jabbed the reheat button and listened to the kettle hum.

“This doesn’t feel urgent,” Mafuyu commented. She turned her head left and right as she stepped into the living room, looking around as if she were waiting for something to happen.

“I swear to you, it is,” Ena griped bitterly as she rolled her eyes. Just then, the kettle beeped at her. She took out a tea bag and threw it in a mug, then poured water over it and brought it over to Mafuyu.

“Here,” Ena grunted, thrusting the mug at Mafuyu’s face. The other girl nodded in thanks and took it, then took a small sip. Ena hated how cute Mafuyu looked doing that. She hoped she wasn’t blushing.

“C’mon, let’s talk in my room,” Ena huffed, motioning with her chin toward the stairs. She then stomped toward the stairs, looking over her shoulder to make sure Mafuyu was following her. Once they were close enough, they both made their way up the stairs.

“You can put the mug there,” Ena said, waving her hand toward the night table, “and sit on the bed.” She then followed her own instruction and sunk into her soft mattress. Mafuyu did as told and sat next to her, just a hair’s breadth away from Ena.

“Wh-Why are you so close?!” Ena sputtered, her cheeks heating up as their shoulders brushed. Mafuyu looked at her pensively.

“Why are you embarrassed? We’ve had sex many times, this is nothing,” she rationalized. Ena grimaced. She wanted to flick her on the forehead for saying that, but it was unfortunately a good segue.

“Actually, about that…” Ena breathed out. Mafuyu perked up, then frowned.

“I thought you said this wasn’t about that,” she asked, slightly peeved. She lifted herself off the bed and began walking to the door. Ena leapt up after her, grabbing for her arm.

“Wait up! It’s not, it’s, Mafuyu, I’m pregnant!!”

It all came tumbling out at once, making Ena’s tongue hurt. Mafuyu, on the other hand, froze in her tracks. She turned around slowly, going pale. Short tremors suddenly racked her body.

“Oh. …Oh.”

Mafuyu’s voice was barely a murmur. She began wobbling from side to side, until she lost balance and fell onto the floor with a thunk.

“Mafuyu!” Ena grumbled loudly as she rushed to her friend’s side. She checked Mafuyu’s head to make sure she hadn’t hit anything on her way down, then checked her breathing to make sure she hadn’t died from the shock. When Ena felt Mafuyu’s soft breaths on her fingertip, she let out a sigh of relief. Not a moment later, however, she heard a hurried thumping up the stairs. She quickly lifted her head and turned toward the noise.

“Ena! Are you okay?!” Akito yelled, bursting through the door. Ena watched as he scanned the room with his eyes, then as his gaze lowered to Mafuyu. He squinted in confusion when he saw her.

“Why the hell is Asahina-san passed out on your floor?”

“She fainted when I told her,” Ena grumbled exasperatedly, putting her hands on her hips. “I can’t believe she had the worst reaction!” Akito let out a choked sound.

“Wait, Asahina-san is the other parent?” he asked, baffled.

Shit.

“Wait, don’t tell anyone!” Ena sputtered. She hadn’t meant to out Mafuyu like that. Damn her big mouth today!

“I-I won’t,” Akito replied hesitantly, still in shock. He stared awkwardly at the fainted girl. Ena furrowed her eyebrows angrily.

“I’m serious! If you out her, you’re a dead man!” Ena snapped. Akito let out a groan, then rolled his eyes.

“Says the girl who just outed her,” he pointed out, nudging his chin toward her. Ena groaned.

“Y-You were going to find out anyway!” she sputtered defensively.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Akito asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Sh-Shut up!” Ena spat back. Her cheeks were bright red. Akito’s eyebrows hopped up and his mouth went agape.

“You are thinking of keeping it! Why’d you get all pissed at me before, then?!” he yelled.

“Nothing’s decided yet until Mafuyu gets a word in!” Ena shouted, being pedantic to avoid her brother’s allegations.

“Urgh…”

Suddenly, a meager groaning interrupted their argument. Both their gazes shot down toward Mafuyu, who was coming to. With a hand pressed to her forehead, she got up.

“That… hurt,” Mafuyu huffed.

“Well, yeah, that’s on you for fainting out of nowhere,” Ena scoffed. Still, she offered a hand to Mafuyu. She took it and let herself be pulled the rest of the way up.

“…I’ll let you two talk,” Akito grumbled before turning around and leaving the room. He gently closed the door on his way out. Once he was gone, Ena sighed and pressed a hand to her temple.

 “Do you remember what I said before you passed out?” she asked, her cheeks heating up. Mafuyu nodded.

“You’re pregnant, and I assume the baby is mine,” she replied monotonously. Ena’s eyes widened and her face scrunched up.

“Duh, of course it’s yours! Do you think I’m a whore or something?! The only person I have sex with is you!” she yelled. Mafuyu shuddered slightly, though she remained expressionless and silent. Ena eventually calmed down, shoulders heaving slower and slower until her breaths steadied. Mafuyu still did nothing but blink at her, however. Ena twisted her lips, frustrated. Her heart was pounding in her chest, but she had no choice but to ask.

“So… what do you want to do?”

Mafuyu twitched. 

“Do what you want,” she answered, cold as ever. It took everything in Ena’s power not to grab her by the throat.

“You’re not just saying that to get away from the responsibility, right?” she asked raspily. It physically hurt, right in her throat, to tamp down her rage.

“I meant it in the sense that it’s your body, so it’s your choice,” Mafuyu clarified. Her gaze then shifted to stare off into the distance.

“But if you’re asking me how I feel…” Mafuyu began gently. Ena nodded expectantly, eyes gleaming.

“I don’t know.”

And then she almost fell to the floor herself.

“Seriously, Mafuyu?! You don’t even feel something when—” Ena began to shout, but she was cut off by a weak whisper.

“…But there’s an aching in my chest. There has been ever since you told me you were pregnant. But the aching turns into a flutter when I think about you keeping the baby.”

Mafuyu looked so soft and vulnerable admitting that. Her eyes were a little less dull and… was that the tiniest blush on her cheeks?

“Mafuyu…” Ena whispered, almost in awe. Upon being called, even rhetorically, Mafuyu turned to look at her.

“I don’t know about becoming a mother. But if this is happiness, longing, then I don’t want to let go,” she admitted firmly. Her eyes now gleamed with determination.

“…Me neither. I don’t want an abortion,” Ena admitted feebly. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead onto Mafuyu’s shoulder. She gritted her teeth desperately. “But I’m scared, Mafuyu!” She clenched her fists and gently hit them against Mafuyu’s chest.

“I think I am, too. I mean, I fainted,” Mafuyu pointed out matter-of-factly. Ena craned her neck so that she was looking up at Mafuyu’s chin.

“Why did you?” she asked, undoing her fist to poke Mafuyu in the clavicle. Mafuyu shivered at the touch, and perhaps at the question as well.

“…My mother…” she breathed out. “What will she do? What will she say? If being a parent means being like her… Do I even want to be one? Could I be one?” Her breathing became uneven. At their proximity, Ena could feel her heart speeding up. She felt her own heart pang with worry.

“Hold on! My mom’s nothing like yours, right? So, every parent is different…” she rationalized, trying to assuage Mafuyu’s fears. She felt Mafuyu shiver again, but this time it was because she was taking a deep breath. Mafuyu nodded slowly once she was done. Ena felt a small smile creep up on her, glad that Mafuyu felt better. But now that that crisis was out of the way, she fully took in Mafuyu’s words. A blush, too, creeped up on her and she felt her heart flutter.

“…But, um, if I kept the baby, you’d want to raise them?” Ena asked in a small, innocent voice. She was still pressed to Mafuyu’s chest, refusing to look her in the eye. But, all of a sudden, she felt Mafuyu’s large hands on her back. She was being hugged.

“I see little other reason to keep the baby otherwise,” Mafuyu admitted. Ena’snface twisted in desperation as her heart raced even faster. She bit her lip and snuggled closer into Mafuyu’s chest.

“Mafuyu, you’re so…” she whispered.

“I’m so what?” Mafuyu asked, baffled. Ena shook her head.

“Nevermind,” she huffed. “…So, what now?”

It was a good question. They’d decided, rather rashly, to keep the baby and become mothers. There was a whole slew of semantics that came with that, though. Ena really didn’t know where to start, so she hoped that the responsible Mafuyu would come in clutch.

“You need to go to a prenatal appointment,” Mafuyu said firmly, “to find out how far along you are and get your maternal and child health handbook.”

“Then, we should tell our parents. Since you’re sixteen, they can’t force you to get an abortion,” she continued. Ena froze up against her, then lifted her head frantically. There was desperation in her eyes.

“Wh-What?! Tell our parents?! You can’t be serious!!” Ena shouted.

“You won’t be able to hide this from them forever,” Mafuyu pointed out. Ena grumbled, realizing Mafuyu was right. She didn’t want to tell their parents, especially not her father or Mafuyu’s mother, but she was going to have to. She dropped a hand to her belly and clutched it protectively.

“They’ll need to know so they can fill out all the legal paperwork for us since we’re minors,” Mafuyu began to prattle on, giving no breathing room to the panicked Ena. “Oh, and another reason to go to the doctor is so you can find out what you can and cannot do while pregnant, and make changes to your diet, and…”

“Slow down, slow dooown!” Ena shouted, clenching her eyes shut. She pushed herself away from Mafuyu, then slammed her hands on Mafuyu’s mouth. Mafuyu squirmed away with a grunt.

“I’m just saying what needs to be said,” she hummed. Ena groaned.

“Yeah, but could you spare some sympathy for your pregnant… friend?!” she whined, pausing for a moment at the word “friend”. She’d been tempted to say girlfriend, but she knew that wasn’t the case and would not be the case.

Mafuyu and Ena’s relationship was an interesting one. It’d started with an argument that ended in a heated kiss, impulsive as Ena was. Mafuyu hadn’t rejected it, though, and actually bluntly said that it’d made her chest feel funny. With Mafuyu desperate to feel more emotion and Ena craving validation, the two of them became more and more intimate as time went on. But the further they went, the more boundaries they had to set. Mafuyu had told her that she didn’t know what love was, so it was best that Ena didn’t catch feelings. Ena had scoffed at her and said there was no way that would happen. It hadn’t, for the most part. Ena couldn’t deny that her heart sometimes raced around Mafuyu, but there was someone else she had romantic feelings for. Her feelings for that girl were much different than her feelings for Mafuyu, much stronger.

Still, it would’ve been so much easier to call herself Mafuyu’s girlfriend. Friend who was having Mafuyu’s baby was a mouthful.

“Ah, my mother just texted me asking me if I’m on my way home,” Mafuyu spoke up, breaking Ena away from her thoughts. Ena blinked a few times.

“What, already? But I, we, there’s still so much to talk about!” she stammered. She didn’t want Mafuyu to go just yet. However, the other girl had already begun walking away.

“I have to go,” Mafuyu insisted. “You should also get to the hospital.” She was acting cold as ever, but Ena noticed that the back of her ears had gone pink. Ena’s eyes widened, taken aback. Was Mafuyu being bashful?

“Er, y-yeah, I will,” Ena replied, relenting. With that, she escorted Mafuyu downstairs to the door.

“Take care,” Mafuyu said softly.

“I-I will,” Ena replied awkwardly. Then, Mafuyu left without another word. Ena shut the door behind her, turned around, leaned against it, and skidded down to the floor.

“So, did she take it well or do I need to beat her up?” Akito asked, appearing from out of nowhere. Ena flinched harshly, not expecting to hear his voice.

“Wagh! Akito, you ass, don’t sneak up on me!” she yelled, puffing up her cheeks. “A-And she was fine about it, thank you very much!” Akito rolled his eyes.

“What’re you guys gonna do?” he asked, putting on a more serious face.

“…I think I’m going to keep it,” Ena mumbled. Akito’s face softened into gentle surprise.

“Well, shit, guess I’m gonna be an uncle,” he sighed. He stretched an arm backward and scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

“I’m gonna, uh, go get checked out at the hospital now,” Ena told him, throwing her hand backward and pointing a thumb to the door. Akito nodded.

“…Good luck,” he said gruffly, then lightly shoved her toward the door. “Get outta here.”

“I will, I will,” Ena huffed as she slipped on her shoes. She then opened the door again and left the house with a spring in her step.