Page 393 of Light Leech

Petya: How are you holding up without me?”

Naoma: It’s nice to have a break.

She sent a laugh.

Petya: I miss you.

Naoma: Wow, you’re that bad already?

I started typing a message describing what was happening with Ralia, but I felt it best to leave her out of it. She had enough to deal with.

Petya: Just relaxing in a small pod. Plenty of entertainment options but I’m sure it’ll grow old after two days. Have you ever been to the moon?

Naoma: No. Will you take me?

Petya: If all this guk is out of the way and we can enjoy it for what it is, I would love to.

Naoma: I’ll hold you to that.

She sent another message before I could think of something to say.

Naoma: I was going to get sentimental, but we’ll leave that for later. It’s easier to send it here, but I think I’m still learning how to be a person, not an idol.

Petya: You’re doing better than any idol I can imagine. 3Rochi would be a mess out in public.

Naoma: I’m still pissed that those three pulled you in as a “fan.” I’ll have to reach out to them later now that Zhou is no longer an obstacle.

Petya: How is the homunculus?

Naoma: Complaining a lot. Abbas has been occupied with him, trying to learn as much as he can. Zhou refuses to talk to Denji. Kuni thinks he looks hilarious and Boyband only makes it worse. I guess it’s nice to see him humbled.

Petya: Have you tried talking to him?

Naoma: For what?

Petya: Details about your past?

Naoma: No, not now. I want you to be there with me for that.

Petya: How sweet.

Naoma: I guess it is, but I want to make sure everything he says lines up with what you have seen me do. The serpent and all that, you plug?

Petya: I plug. So what have you been up to?

Naoma: Chilling with Akna when I’m not trying to catch up on sleep.

Petya: How’s she doing? Boyband said she’s been having some problems with her Gui?

Naoma: Did she tell you how he’s helping her sleep at night? Aren’t they soo cute together?

Petya: Haha, yeah he told me about it but says it isn’t anything more.

Naoma: Even if it isn’t, I’m glad she has a friend. It’s hard to pick and choose with such a small group of people. I know you and he are really close, but it’s easy to see Akna feeling like an outlier being so new. I was somewhat sentient as the Neon Idol and never saw the need for friendships like this. Fame and fans don’t matter compared to people like you, Ralia, Akna, and so forth. You all mean a lot to me. Not just you, Petya, but the whole group. I know and accept that you’re all imperfect, but so am I. It might be hard to believe my gratitude is genuine when you see yourselves as semi-cannibalistic monsters, but you have no choice. I don’t need to go over all of this again. I just wanted to voice it in case you are ever feeling down.

Petya: Thanks. I need a reminder like that every now and then.

Naoma: Back to Akna, yeah, she’s doing fine, given what she has told us she is experiencing. She’s always amped up out of fear or half-awake due to sleep deprivation. Boyband led me to believe it was because she was having problems with her Gui as well, but it doesn’t seem like that is accurate.