In the city of Seattle, the sounds of cars and people were inescapable. Regardless of what street you turned down, or what time of day it was, there was almost always someone else with their head down walking along the sidewalks of the busy city.

Milo, after 3 days of cramming and completing the final for his last class of the year, eagerly walked along the busy streets towards one of the local businesses he frequented. Stepping through the door and hearing the familiar chime of the bell, the owner of the small store glanced up from the book he was reading and smiled.

"Ha ha! I knew you'd be in today."

"Good morning Mr. Izawa. Did that delivery happen to come in yet?"

"Good evening yourself Milo. Haha. Yes, the delivery came in yesterday, just put them out this morning. There over in section 3. You better hurry though, I've already sold a dozen or so copies today."

"Thanks Mr. Izawa."

"You're welcome." Mr. Izawa said before returning his gaze to the colorful light novel he was reading.

At a quick glance, the small comic book and game shop wasn't anything impressive by the standards of a store near the center of the city. Despite its unassuming nature, Milo found this small shop only a few weeks after moving into an apartment near the university. Finding just such a shop, one that stocked the physical releases of the light novels he enjoyed reading, was a significant priority after moving in. Not only was this small store close by, but the owner had connections to several companies in Japan and always received the most recent releases days, sometimes weeks, ahead of any other stores.

Milo, knowing the layout of this store by heart at this point, carefully slipped past the other customers milling about and walked straight to section 3 where Mr. Izawa had put out the most recent volume of the series Milo was currently working his way through.

Sitting there, presenting itself for all to see, amid a desolate shelf was the prize Milo came in for. The cover of the tome was black with an incredibly detailed graphic by an artist named so-bin and the prominent number 14 on the spine. Milo could feel a warmth come to his eyes for just a moment. Milo slowly reached his hand out to pick up the long awaited novel.

Finally! After over a year… wait… that's odd. Why is this book so warm… and soft…

Pulled out of his thoughts by the odd sensation, Milo looked down at his hand.

A hand… whos……

Attached to the delicate hand was a young woman. She was just a bit shorter than Milo and standing nearly shoulder to shoulder with him. After an awkward moment, her hand under his as they both held the spine of the newly released book, Milo quickly pulled his hand away.

"Oh. Ummm. Ahhh!" A small shriek of panic escaped Milo's mouth.

"Hehe." the girl smiled and giggled before taking the volume from the shelf.

"S-Sorry, I, uh, didn't see your hand there." Milo forced out, his face growing warm. After taking a step back, Milo finally managed to pull himself back together.

The girl in front of him was cute. Maybe around his age if he had to guess. Her long brown hair was pulled back, the few strands near her cheeks complementing the deep brown color of her eyes that almost seemed to sparkle as she held the book out and looked over the cover. After a moment, the girl looked up and caught Milos gaze leaving the two of them looking into eachothers eyes.

Thump thump… thump thump…

Shush you… you're beating too loudly! She's gonna hear you…

While screaming internally at himself, and feeling the blood rush to his surely red cheeks, Milo quickly turned his head away and glanced back at the shelf where the book once was.

Empty.

"Hehe. That's alright. Were you looking for this one too?" She asked with a gentle voice while holding the book out to him.

"Oh, no, yeah, I was, but you got it first. It's yours." Milo said, a single tear trying to force its way out of the corner of his eye.

"It looks like that's the only one they have right now." She said, the two of them now looking at the vacant space on the shelf. "I'm sure they will have more copies here soon?" she said.

"Yeah. Their shipments come in on Mondays and they usually go on the shelves the day after. I should have just come in yesterday."

"Oh, do you come here often then? This is my first time in here. It's way more crowded than the one I usually go to." she said. "I was surprised they had this one already, it just came out last night. I wouldn't be able to get this back home."

"Yeah, this is one of my regular stops on my way home, even if it's a bit out of the way. Probably one of the best ones here. I keep coming in because they always have the new stuff sooner than anywhere else."

"That's really good to know. " She said with a smile. "I just moved here for school and figured I should try and find a new place like this."

"Yeah. I like it. Mr. Izawa is pretty cool, and he's always interested in picking up more obscure stuff for me too so that's a huge plus."

"Is that the owner? That's super cool. What sort of obscure stuff?"

*Bzzzz* *Bzzzz*

Milo's phone started to ring, stopping his train of thought.

"Well I should probably let you get going, are you going to the Convention next week?" She asked as Milo dug into his pocket.

"Hmmm… oh yeah! I almost forgot, yes, absolutely, I go to almost all of the cons here. I missed last years but I'm definitely going this time."

"ITS IN TWO WEEKS!" Mr. Izawa called out, A sly smile on his face as he secretly, or not so secretly now, listened to the conversation between the two.

"Haha. Thanks Mr. Izawa."

"Hehe" she giggled again. "So I'll see you at the con then?"

*Bzzzz* *Bzzzz*

"It's the university. I probably forgot something in the classroom or something." Milo said before realizing what she asked. "Huh? Yeah. I'll be there."

"Hehe. you should probably answer that if it's the university."

"Right. Uh, it was nice meeting you…" Milo's mind froze. Seeing this, Kelsi smiled gently.

"I'm Kelsi. I'll be a freshman at the university when the new year starts."

"Haha. It's nice to meet you, Kelsi. I'm Milo. I just finished my first year here…"

*Bzzzz* *Bzzzz*

"I've gotta go. I'll definitely keep an eye out for you at the con."

"You should hurry if you want to get there before they lock up."

"R-right" Milo said, quickly exiting the store before answering his phone. As the door started to close behind him, he couldn't help but glance back at Kelsi who offered up a small wave.

Looking back down to the phone in his hand, Milo pushed the green button.

"Uh. Hello? This is Milo."

"Milo. Hello, This is Professor Herschur. I know that it's already late and you've probably already made it home, but i'd like to sit down and discuss the results of your final with you. Would you happen to have time tomorrow morning?"

---===---===---===---

The following week, Milo spent his time hole up in the apartment furiously going over his notes and rereading the textbook for the class. Missing a passing grade by just a handful of points, Professor Herschur was kind enough to allow him to resubmit his final in order for him to receive the credit for the class. The time passed in a blur and after submitting his final for a second time, he finally received a passing mark.

So…. Tired…

Looking down at his phone, the small light at the top blinking at him, he remembered the reminder he set for the con. Swiping at the notification, he saw the text of the reminder and the girl's name he saved there so that he wouldn't forget it if he happened to run into her at the convention.

After sleeping like a log, Milo woke up to the sound of his roommate and best friend Isaiah closing and locking the front door to their tiny apartment. After getting himself up and going through his morning routine in a fog, his mind finally caught up to reality.

"THE CONVENTION IS TODAY!"

I have to get ready… ok, shower, then teeth, then hair… wait… clothes… I'm not going in costume so that should be easy. Is it going to rain today? Wait… did it rain yesterday?

Suddenly throwing himself into an anxious rush, Milo began hurrying through the process of making himself presentable to society after almost 2 weeks of sleepless nights and stress eating.

Keys? Check. Wallet? Check. Shoes? Check. Belt? Check. Will to live? Pending.

After running through his pre-convention checklist and stepping out the door, Milo felt a sudden nervousness in his stomach. Quickly diving back into his room, Milo combed his fingers through his hair, looked himself over one last time and exited the apartment again, this time fully prepared.

Hmmm… I wonder what Isaiah is up to today? Normally he would be going with me to these.

In the past, Milo and Isaiah always planned and organized going to any sort of convention or get together that was centered around games, books or anything else 'otaku'. For some reason, probably just a conflict in their schedules, talk of this particular convention never came up between the two of them. Now that he thought of it, he hadn't seen much of Isaiah over the last week.

With a feeling of anxiety, either from going to the convention alone or the thought of running into Kelsi while there, Milo rushed down the stairs and out onto the busy sidewalk in front of the building. Even for a Saturday, the streets were abnormally crowded. People were pushing past one another in a chaotic mix. Not wanting to waste any more time, Milo turned in the direction of the event center before being suddenly grabbed and pulled to the side.

"HEY! What's the big…"

*Crash*

"You OK Bud?" the man said as Milo stared at the now deformed metal bucket that just fell from the sky. Above them, one of the crew that washes the windows was looking down with a look of relief on his face. Milo turned back to the man who had just saved him from a terribly unfortunate head injury.

"Y-Yeah. Thanks." Milo said before looking up at the window washer. "I'm Good!"

"Yeah, whatever. Just pay attention next time." the tsundere man said before quickly rejoining the masses and disappearing down the street.

A falling bucket is pretty random, hopefully there is no 'next time'

From the apartment, the walk to the event center was almost 45 minutes, give or take a few minutes depending on how crowded the streets are and how bad the traffic is. It would take twice that long if you were dumb enough to try and drive, AND PARK.

About halfway there, Milo felt his stomach gurgle, accompanied by the sensation of hunger. After only a small bowl of cereal that he left half eaten on the counter, Milo hadn't eaten anything for lunch before rushing out of the apartment. With it now being just past noon, the time was about right for him to start feeling hunger set in. Of course, weeks of anxiety and studying didn't lead to the healthiest eating in the world, so the lack of calories had finally managed to catch up to him.

Con food is so expensive. I'll grab a sandwich before I get there.

Turning at the next corner and off of the main road, Milo made his way to one of those big name sub shops and quickly placed an order for a 6 inch Italian sub with extra meat. While waiting for the sub, Milo glanced down at his phone to check the time.

Damn, a bit late. Later than I wanted to get there. The crowds are going to be huge.

"Here you go" the sandwich artist said as Milo quickly swiped his card to pay before grabbing the sandwich and rushing out the door.

Tearing into the bag and pulling out his sandwich while walking to save some time, Milo thought about the upcoming convention. Hopefully he wouldn't miss anything important. The main events for the day were not scheduled to start for another hour or so, so he should have plenty of time to arrive and look around a bit.

Gulp… Gulp…… Gulp………

While caught up in his planning, the last bite of his sandwich decided to fight back against its destiny, firmly lodging itself in his throat. While trying to cough, the bread just managed to wedge itself deeper, now stopping him from breathing. Putting one hand on his throat, Milo's eyes began to dart around in panic.

""Gah, Uh, Cuuuh, aaaahhh" Milo tried to clear his throat again, calling out to anyone around him "Waaa… waaaa…"

"Hey, he's choking!" someone yelled from behind him. Turning around, tears starting to run down his face, Milo saw an older woman rushing towards him through the crowd of people, all of them ignoring his struggle as they walked past.

I… I'm gonna die… to a stupid sandwich…

"Here!" the voice said just as Milo's vision was starting to fade. Grabbing his arm, the woman shoved an awkwardly warm water bottle into his hand. Unable to think about anything else, Milo tore the lid off the bottle and nearly slammed it into his face as he took one… two… three massive gulps of water.

"Cuuuuh, ah." Milo panted. "Tha-thanks."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Don't be in such a hurry to eat your food young man. Didn't your mother teach you how to properly chew your food?" the older woman said, her face relaxing as milo handed the water bottle back to her.

"Uh. No, actually. She didn't. But thank you, I'll try to be more careful." Milo said, his attention still focused on making it to the event center before anything really started. Seeing the woman shake her head at him in exasperation, Milo turned and quickly began making his way back to the main street and closer to the event center.

How many more things are going to slow me down?!

After another 20 or 30 minutes, Milo finally made it to the convention. Seeing the line, Milo was glad that he took a few minutes during his studying to grab a ticket online. After waiting what felt like another 20 minutes in line and showing the man at the entrance the digital ticket, Milo finally walked through the doors.

WOO! Finally made it!

Breathing a sigh of relief, Milo walked across the lobby surrounded by cosplayers and other fans and con-goers. Hanging above everyone's heads was a large map of the event center with the locations of all the different companies booths and stands as well as a schedule of the events for the day. Next up on the schedule for the main stage, after a demonstration of a new vocaloid, was a costume contest.

Unlike Comic-con, this convention was quite a bit smaller, despite what the large crowds of people would suggest. Walking around were all manner of cosplayers dressed up as a rainbow of different characters. Some were famous, some less so. There were a number of people dressed up as that comic guy in red and black, and the one in red and blue, a couple of superheroes you'd always see together at these events. There were characters from some famous fighting games and of course the AWFUL cosplays of characters with big glowing hair that just never looks good in real life.

Milo wandered around for a while, keeping his eyes peeled for Kelsi as he perused the things for sale at the booths. There were newly released books, movies, entire walls of those little figures people refuse to take out of the boxes.

I wonder if she's cosplaying? I probably already walked right past her and didn't even notice.

Milo felt his heart twinge for a moment.

No… Stop it you… You only met her once, and yeah she's into comics and light novels and comic conventions and she's super cute, but you only met her once. Don't get our hopes up. Hold it together.

Mentally slapping his cheeks, Milo started walking again, this time towards a specific booth. If he was correct, the booth should be selling the novel he tried to buy the other day. After turning several corners and pushing through a crowd of teenagers in gray body paint and horns, he finally saw it. In front of the booth was a large statue or model of the main character, black robes, a skull for a head and gold scepter in hand.

Quickly walking up to the booth, Milo glanced over the small book display, looking for one with a bright '14' on the cover.

Are you kidding me?

The shelves were packed full of books and manga for the series and the projected display was playing clips from the anime that made the series so famous. Unfortunately for him, the one book in the series he was looking for wasn't anywhere to be found in the booth. Slightly dispirited, Milo turned and started to walk away from the booth before hearing the sudden clacking of cameras going off at the booth next door.

A crowd of photographers seemed to swarm in out of nowhere and calls for different poses were being yelled out to whoever was at the center of attention. The booth they were at was for another extremely popular anime. Milo wasnt a fan of how the manga ended and the show didn't have a light novel to go with it, so it wasn't really that interesting to him. Despite this, he couldn't help but be a little curious after seeing so many people furiously taking photos of whoever was there.

After carefully navigating through the swarm of thirsty photographers, Milo finally realized why they were in such a fervor. In the center of the group, bathed in the light of camera flashes, a beautiful woman in full cosplay moved around and posed at the request of the men. Her outfit was a near perfect replication of one of the main characters. From the short black hair, to the knee high boots with suspenders, to the pair of white pants and a white shirt under her light tan vest that was cut off over her hips. She had a red scarf around her neck and there was finely detailed embroidery of two wings overlapping on her chest and shoulder. She even went so far as to replicate the equipment the character used and she was currently posing with the razor like swords.

"Milo!" She said, immediately moving towards him as a look of confusion appeared on his face. The pervy photographers shot Milo a dirty look before quickly rushing away to find another young woman to bombard with photographs.

"Uh… hey."

"What? You don't recognize me?" she said, striking the kawaii pose. "It's me, Kelsi. We met the other day at the comic shop?"

"K-Kelsi? I didn't know you were into the cosplay side of cons." Milo said, "That looks really good. Did you change your hair for your cosplay?"

Kelsi slid one of the swords back into their holder and ran her fingers under the ends of her now short hair. "Yeah, well, kind of. It was time to chop it off anyways and after seeing it, I just couldn't help myself. Does it really look good? It's not too dark right?" Kelsi asked, doing a little twirl to show off the entire outfit again.

"Yeah. You even did the equipment and belts perfectly! It must have taken a lot of time to get all the tiny details right. That's really amazing!"

"Thanks! I made it all myself. Well, the clothes I just modified a bit, but the rest I made in my free time last week. It seems a lot harder than it is. The embroidery took FOR-EV-ER!" Kelsi said while touching the patch on her chest. "Did I see you come from that booth over there? Did you already buy the volume you were looking for?"

"Huh? Yeah, I looked, but they are already sold out of the new one, so I still have to wait until I can get back to the comic shop."

"I was just walking around when the owner of this booth saw me. He asked me if I wanted to hang around this booth for a while."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!" Kelsi said, reaching under one of the small tables and pulling out her bag. "He gave me this in exchange for drawing the crowd with my cosplay."

After searching through her bag, kelsi pulled out a small plastic bag, quickly unwrapping it, she reached in and pulled out the contents.

"Here! You can have it." Kelsi said, holding the black book out to me. "Since I bought the last one the other day, I don't really need this one."

Taking the book from her hands, Milo quickly flipped through the pages, stopping on one of the illustrations for a moment before closing it and trying to hand it back.

"I can't just take it from you. I'll just buy my own the next time I'm at the shop. Thank you though"

"What? Don't be so stiff, just take it. I don't need it anyways. And if you really want to pay me back for it, just make sure you vote for me in the costume contest."

"You're entering the contest?" Milo said, looking over her nearly perfect costume again. "I wasn't really planning on going to that one."

"I don't normally do contests either, but a lot of people have asked me already, so I figured 'Why Not'."

"Uh, yeah. I normally go to all the other presentations they do at these, otherwise I just end up walking around and spending money on more books I'll never get around to reading."

"Hehehe. Awesome. I'm counting on your vote!" She said with a wink. "I should probably head over there soon. I think it's supposed to start here in a few minutes."

Kelsi quickly grabbed her things and said goodbye to the owner of the booth before we both walked over towards the main stage.

"Be sure to vote for me, or I'm taking the book back. hehe" she said jokingly before she walked behind a curtain entrance where the people competing would wait for their turn.

"Good luck." I called after her just before she disappeared.

That… costume… is… AMAZING! I've never seen someone pull off that character so well before.

With his cheeks starting to blush slightly, Milo shook his head before making his way around to the standing area in front of the stage where a crowd was already starting to form. As Milo glanced over the crowd and checked the time on his phone against the schedule for the day's events, he suddenly jolted as a hand slapped him on the shoulder.

"I didn't know you were gonna be here!?" Isaiah said, a large smile on his face. "What's up?"

"Oh you know, same thing as always haha. Finally passed Herschurs class so I figured a convention is the perfect start to a break. I even managed to find a copy of the book I've been waiting for."

"Oh, the one you couldn't find before?"

"That's the one." Milo said, holding the book up for Isaiah to see.

"That's a good one. Well, I only read the first chapter or so, but it's good so far. Been too busy to really have the time to read. Ya know?"

"Haha I really dont."

"Yeah. haha." Isaiah said laughing. "Hey, I don't think I told you yet right?"

"Told me what?"

"I don't know how, but I got…"

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! IF I MIGHT DIRECT YOUR ATTENTION TO CENTER STAGE!" The loud voice of the host for the contest boomed over the gathered crowd, drowning out whatever Isaiah was about to try and say.

The announcer went on to explain the rules for the contest. It was organized like a tournament, each contestant coming out alongside their competition and posing and presenting their costumes before being voted on by the crowd. Whoever could make the crowd cheer louder wins. Eventually after several poor match ups, and one unfortunate soul who nearly fell off the stage, Kelsi finally came out.

Each time she came out, the crowd nearly exploded, Milo and Isaiah joining in. The cheers for Kelsi were deafening and her poses were extremely effective at whipping the crowd into a near frenzy. She had no problems whatsoever with swiftly defeating the competition before returning moments later to do the same to another helpless contestant.

After 4 perfect victories and the competition coming down to just Kelsi and one other woman, the final round started. Following Kelsi on stage, a woman dressed as a character from the novel in my bag walked out. The woman had silky black hair that fell to her knees. Her hair contrasted perfectly with the white and gold of the long dress she wore in an elegant fashion. From the side of her head, two glossy white horns grew out and wrapped closely around to the front, a part of her dark hair falling over her face between them. Beyond the elegance of her outfit, the most impressive part, by far, were the large, black feathered wings on her back that shifted ever so slightly with every move of her figure.

The two of them struck several poses, one after the other. The host was doing his best to keep the crowd from exploding onto the stage in their excitement. Seeing that her normal poses weren't getting her anywhere against such tough competition, Kelsi took a few steps back and the crowd collectively held their breath. One, then two steps, Kelsi sprung forward before executing a perfect somersault in the air and drawing both of the blades that made her character such a threat. The crowd surged. Cheers shaking the building.

Not to be undone, the woman in the white dress raised a hand to her mouth. The volume of the crowd fell to a whisper again, allowing everyone to hear the slight giggle behind her coquettish smile. She didn't have to do any acrobatics or strike any exaggerated poses. With a beautiful grin, she spread her arms out to the side before the black wings on her back extended themselves. Seeing the added animation from animatronic wings and striking a pose that would only be possible if you had wings, the crowd finally boiled over and several people from security had to step forward to keep them from getting any closer to the contestants.

After announcing that the woman with the animatronic wings won by a clear margin, both her and Kelsi stepped forward and took a bow before running off of the stage.

"Damn. That was ridiculous." Milo said, turning back to Isaiah now that the crowd had started to settle down.

"Right? I don't think I've seen a contest get this heated before. Honestly though, I wasn't expecting her wings to move like that."

After a few minutes of the two discussing some of the contestants and laughing about how worked up the crowd got they both looked over as someone called out to them.

"HEY! Look what they gave me for second place!" Kelsi said, practically skipping over with her prize in hand. Inside the box was a set of those little figures from the anime she was dressed up as. It had all the main characters, even the big red guy which was a pretty rare figure to find.

"Wow! Those are pretty cool, and limited. That's a great prize for second place." Milo said.

"Yeah, you did really well up there until the end. haha" Isaiah said.

"Yeah, I'd have beat her if she didn't have those wings. Damn succubus." Kelsi said, a fake pout on her face.

"Hahaha!"

The three laughed together.

"Haha, yeah. You did really well up there babe." Isaiah said, leaning over and giving Kelsi a peck on the cheek.

"Oh… uh… do you two know each other?" Milo asked, a sudden tightness in his chest.

"Wait. Do you two know each other?" Kelsi and Isaiah said nearly at the same time.

The two of them laughed again before Isaiah spoke, "Yeah, we met 2 weeks ago? We just sort of bumped into each other on campus. I helped her find the building she was looking for and we found out we're into a lot of the same things." Isaiah glanced between Milo and Kelsi, excitement in his eyes. "Crazy that you two know each other too, small world. haha. I meant to introduce you last week but you were so focused on cramming."

"This is like one in a million! Hehe." Kelsi said.

"Right? Haha. So how did you two meet?" Isaiah asked.

"Uh… we met at the comic shop the other day."

"Wait? Really?"

"Yeah, the novel I wanted? Kelsi beat me to it." Milo said

"So that was Kelsi? Haha, wow. That's insane! Some kind of fate that you met each other the same day we met."

Milo felt his chest continue to tighten as the coincidence unraveled in front of him. The awkward emotions he had been suppressing over the last week were becoming a torrent inside him.

What? Why? How? I shouldn't be jealous, that's insane, I mean I just met her a few days ago and we haven't really talked since then other than today, so why do I feel…. Ahhhh… What's wrong with me? I feel sick.

"Whoa there." Isaiah said, placing a hand on Milo's shoulder. "You alright man?"

Both of them stared into his paleing face as he tried to put a lid on the strange feeling swirling inside him.

"Uh, oh, Yeah, no, I'm alright, I just got a headache out of nowhere,I should probably go find some water or something. You guys go ahead, I'll be right there."

"Uh. right." Isaiah said as Milo turned and started to walk away. "We'll be over at the booth."

I'm so stupid… This is exactly what I should have expected. But Isaiah? Really? What are the chances, one in a god damn million is right.

Unable to force his emotions back down, Milo hurriedly made his way towards the entrance to the event center. With his face and eyes beginning to grow warm and a strange expression appearing on his face, Milo lost all interest in being around other people for the moment.

I… need to cool down…

*Ting* *CRASH*

As Milo walked through the open lobby area, one of the chains holding the map of the event center suddenly snapped, sending the display crashing to the floor just behind him.

"Are you ok?" one of the employees yelled out as milo looked over his shoulder at the ruined display, nodding towards the panicked employee. "Oh, thank god." the employee said with a sigh of relief

As Milo turned and began to leave the event center again, the employee and several other people rushed forwards and started to drag the display out of the way. After getting back through the main doors, Milo's pace slowed. The awkwardness he was feeling was overwhelming so he relied on his mental auto-pilot to listlessly walk back to the apartment.

By the time Milo finally turned onto the street the building was on, the sky was already becoming dark. The massive crowds from the morning were beginning to dwindle as the cool summer air blew through the streets. The one saving grace was that it wasn't raining during his long walk home. On the walk, Milo tried to distract himself with a recap of the series he was working through. With the new volume Kelsi gave him, he had something to look forward to after getting back home.

I guess that's a good thing about this, she's kind enough to give me something for nothing so I shouldn't complain about it. And if she's a kind person like that, and with my best friend, then there was no sense in my staying upset about it. Really I have no reason to be upset. I still just want to go back to bed though.

Before walking up the flight of stairs to the apartment, Milo stopped in at the small store across the street. Whenever he found himself in a slump, cheap snacks from the convenience store were always a go-to. As he picked a few things out and walked through the store, his mind finally managed to calm down slightly. Now the thought of diving into the new volume was starting to sound like an exciting plan for the evening.

"Here you go." the clerk behind the counter said as they handed over the small bag of snacks.

With a bit of energy returning to him, Milo left the store and went to cross the street to his building.

*SKREEEEEEECH*

"AAAAH!" Milo fell backwards onto the curb. "Hey! WATCH WHERE YOUR DRIVING NEXT TIME!" He yelled at the truck that nearly ran him over.

Milo carefully checked himself before climbing the stairs and unlocking the front door to the apartment. As he stepped inside and flipped the lights on, there was a sudden crash as stacks of manga and novels scattered across the floor, the distinct sound of claws trying to gain traction on the hardwood floors following close behind.

"Why… Why do you do this Julie? haha" Milo said with an exasperated laugh. "I told you. You can't sleep on my books."

The orange cat slowly slinked over and started rubbing himself against Milo's legs with a purr.

"Look at the mess you made…"

The small room was now covered in papers and books. As Milo looked around, a feeling of shame washed over him. In addition to the piles of books, there were unclean dishes on the counter and a pile of clothes from where he changed earlier. The small living room table had an old pizza box with obvious scratch marks from Julius's claws; it had probably been there for over a week at this point. Milo's desk in the corner was by far the worst disaster zone. Stacks of plates, a full garbage bin, opened text books, notebook paper scattered all over the floor.

Shaking his head, Milo carefully navigated past the most recent mess, sparing only a brief moment to collect the larger novels and stack them back up. Feeling his orange companion weave between his legs, Milo looked down.

"“You ready for an all-nighter Julie? I just got the new novel and if the first few pages tell me anything, you’re really going to like this one!"

Milo rushed through his nightly routine. Cleaning could be done in the morning. Milo had been waiting for over a year for this volume, then after being delayed another 2 weeks, Milo was finally ready to dive in.

Climbing into bed and getting comfortable, Milo pulled out his new volume, silently thanking Kelsi again for her straightforward kindness before beginning to read.