Chapter Text
I woke up bleary-eyed to Dahlia pecking at my head. The next thing I heard while I dragged myself upright was an annoyed sigh and I saw Rui standing on the other side of my desk shaking his head with clear disappointment. He urged me to hurry and get ready for work but I think my brain couldn't catch up with what was going on then, because I only responded by asking why he was here instead of getting up. Rui sighed very loudly at that. The fog in my head cleared up instantly when he revealed that Touya was looking after the other chicks in his room. He had to request him to keep watch over them while he looked for me.
I scrambled to the bathroom and saw for myself how hideous I looked in the mirror with ink all over both my sleeve and face. I could wash it off my face easily, but the stains on my shirt sleeve are going to need a long, hard scrub to get out. I am definitely not looking forward to that.
As soon as I got back, Rui asked if I was available tomorrow evening after work to browse for a good gift for his friend. I gave him my okay and he immediately picked Dahlia up and headed to his room. I could only stare blankly as Rui passed me until I realised I had to follow him so that I could catch up with Touya on what was done so far.
To our amazement, Touya had somehow tamed Richard in the short time Rui was out. He insisted that it was nothing special and explained that he was just familiar with chicken behaviour from helping out his neighbour in his childhood, but it was a feat in my books nonetheless. Rui and I debated for a moment if we should let Touya handle the chicks while we were away instead of enlisting Nene and Emu's help, but we ultimately decided not to. Suddenly being tasked with a new taxing responsibility on such short notice would place immense unneeded pressure on Touya. The other reason that kept us from changing our minds was the fact that the chicks were old enough to appreciate having a larger outdoor space to explore instead of being confined to Rui's room for an extra week or two.
I somehow survived the rest of the day despite the atrocious start to my morning. I'm still a little drowsy, so I'll go to bed earlier to make up for last night's pitiful sleep quality.