𝐌𝐈𝐃𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐒 - 𝐒. 𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐀

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

TWENTY-EIGHT
_____

       Sayo opened her lids the moment the heat of the Sun hit her closed eyes, causing her to scrunch her face groggily open her eyes. Bags under her eyes were heavy as well as her upper lids and she remembered that she had fallen asleep while crying. She turns her body around to face the room then lets out a yelp when she sees Shinsuke.

       He was fast asleep with dark hues underlining his lower lids as he stayed seated on the white plastic chair right beside her bed. He had his arms crossed and his head swung down lightly as he slept, though he would unconsciously adjust his position again when his head swung too forward.

       Sayo frowns and slowly sat up from her bed, glancing down at the same hoodie and shorts that she had worn since the day before then reached out to poke his forehead. He jolted and exhaustedly opened his eyes – it now stared at her in a half-lidded manner.

        "Oh, good morning, Sayo." He mutters.

        Her frown deepens and she asks, "What time did you sleep."

        "Four in the morning."

        Sayo pulls her phone from right beside her then says, "And it's six right now. You only got two hours of sleep."

        Sayo brought her hand up to scratch the back of her neck in frustration, though it was only directed to herself because of the fact that she actually had to have someone take care of her. She prided herself in being independent and viewed leaning onto other people as stacks of cards – she would be the sole card that would be the cause of the other thin and hard paper to fall down.

        She stared guiltily at him and mumbled, "It's my fault. I'm sorry."

        He shook his head and muttered, "It's not your fault that I chose to stay up."

        Sayo sighs and crawled out of her bed before motioning towards it to Shinsuke then softly saying, "Just sleep on my bed, and you can go home when you wake up."

        He narrows his eyes down at Sayo then began, "I'm not leaving you here while you're-"

       Sayo cut him off, "You left Granny alone at your home, and besides..." She glances down at her bare and cold feet before adding silently, "You have to go to school and I- I just want to be alone for now. Please."

-o-

        Another few days pass by with the wind knocking on Sayo's windows each day, waking her up with cold feet and the hairs on her arms rising up despite being wrapped in her blankets – that were unfortunately not thick enough to warm her body up. Another few days and she had yet to attend school.

        She was sure that her fellow peers had probably gotten a whiff of what had happened to her mother, since her aunt had informed the reason of the future possible multiple absences. And she was not ready to face personal questions and words that they did not mean – she would rather they just be quiet instead of uttering half-assed words.

       She was grateful for Suna's occasional texts though.

        Suna: sup?