the chapter title isn't supposed to be serious i just couldn't think of anything else except 'fuck infinity' but i didn't want to put that
X days prior / Day 26
Sleep, wake, sleep, wake, fail to sleep. That went on for three hours, starting at the ungodly hour of 3 am after being awoken by a nightmare. Reki, after noticing it was still early morning, tried to fall into a daydream, but his thoughts were beyond corrupted by then. He hadn't a spark of motivation to reach for his skateboard, and he only gazed at the phone resting on the ground.
There was noise from the outside of his room caused by his sister, but she quickly became silent after a few whispers from Masae. After noticing Koyomi's light footsteps trailing away, Masae gently opened Reki's door and poked her head in.
"You're not going to school today?" she asked, approaching the bed.
He shook his head.
"Are you sick?"
He let her feel his forehead, but as expected, she didn't look concerned. At least, not concerned about an illness.
"Let me know when you want something to eat," Masae said quietly, "and I'll make soup for you. I have to drive the twins to preschool, but I can stay a while after that."
Reki wanted to shake his head. He didn't want his mother to have to call her boss because her son was faking a sickness. He tried to say something convincing, but Masae only left the room after getting a nod of agreement.
"If you're bored, go to sleep again, and I'll be back by the time you wake up."
He nodded again and Masae smiled to cheer him up a little. She walked downstairs, leaving Reki to put his cheek to the pillow.
Reki woke to his phone buzzing.
Langa (7:47 am): One missed call.
Langa (7:48 am): Where are you? It's almost 8.
He opened the message on instinct, but his mind went blank when trying to make an excuse for why he wasn't at their meeting spot on a school day. Saying he was sick would make Langa want to skip school too, and he'd probably come over just to distract him from feeling bad, not caring about the possibility of also getting sick. And he would eventually find Reki not feeling sick, and that would just lead to questions and... and everything he didn't want to deal with.
Reki knew that avoiding school and friends (and pretty much his whole life) wouldn't be a possible continuing option, but only bad outcomes came to his mind if he ever tried to continue like normal. If there even was a normal for his behaviour at that point (he doubted there was one now that his days were unpredictable) Reki could never fit that. There was always some anomaly that disturbed what he wanted to be. And what he wanted always fluctuated, which didn't make decisions any less complicated.
Langa (7:50 am): Leaving now. If you're already there, that's embarrassing for me
Reki thought out a quick apology, but he didn't type that out either.
He regularly got updates from Langa while laying in bed, playing games he'd downloaded five years ago. It wasn't annoying, so he didn't turn the notifications off, but the twinge was enough for him to ignore it.
Langa (8:02 am): Teacher marked you as absent. I guess you're still at home?
Reki, at that point, couldn't bear the messages (and he wasn't sure if that was an exaggeration). Sure, he wanted to hear about Langa's day, but he didn't want to hear every detail relating to his absence.
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If all else fails, I still love you. | Renga
Fanfiction"You confessed to him first. You're with him, I'm in the way. Don't you love him? You never said you don't." She didn't speak that time, instead just staring blankly away from him. "See? I knew you were mad at me." Reki scoffed, seeing her expressio...
