Harem of Side Characters [Rewrite]

Nanami Yabu - Happy Places

I find Yabu in front of the door to her shared room. Saki, Manabe, and Morofuji don't seem to be around. She's fumbling to open the door.

There were a few other students passing by, but none of them were paying that much attention to her.

Before long, the two of us are engulfed in silence.

She repeatedly tries to fit the key into the lock, but seems to always miss because her hands are shaking so much. I watch her fail three times before deciding to speak out.

"Yabu."

Her head snaps towards me. A very unnatural movement.

"Oh. Hello, Ayanokouji. Is there something I can do for you?" Her lifeless eyes stare deep into mine.

"Do you need help opening the door? You seem to be having a bit of trouble." Her face morphs into a smile. But it wasn't a friendly one.

"I'm not having any trouble at all. I always fail a few times before managing to open this stubborn thing. Locks are just so annoying, you know? Damn thing doesn't even care about how busy some of us are."

"And what are you busy with, exactly?"

"I have a date with my bed. And before I know it, it will be tomorrow. Then after the meeting I'll go back to my room and have another date with my bed. And then tomorrow will come again. And then another day will pass by. When the exam ends, I'll sleep even more. And more tomorrows will come. Then when we're back at campus, I'll go to school. Then go back to the dorms and have another date with my bed. It's all a cycle."

Yabu turns back towards the door.

"I just can't get the head start I want until I can get this...fucking...door...open." She once again misses the lock, leaving a slight dent on the wooden door caused by the key. The impact causes her to stumble a bit and I go in to catch her before she falls, but she regains her balance before we come in contact with one another.

"Oh?"

"Oh what?"

"You tried to catch me. How polite of you."

"Of course I did. I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

"Really? That's nice to know."

I take a step closer to her.

She does not move.

She just continuously tries to put the key in the lock.

Eventually, she'll probably give up and fall asleep in the middle of the hallway.

Keys are so hard to use when your hands are shaking.

"Why don't the two of us talk somewhere?"

"Talk? About what? Is there something you want to say to me?"

"There is." Her smile somehow gets even more crazed.

"Well, what is it? What do you want to talk about?" I glance around to see if anyone is still in the corridor. There were a few people walking around, but none of them close enough to overhear.

They all just keep moving by as if their cogs in some sort of machine.

And I'm here, trying to make one cog start working again.

"I want to talk to you about what's going on."

"Does that mean you know what's going on?"

"No. It's more of me wanting to know. You've been acting strange the last few days."

"I wouldn't say it's strange. I just finally realized that everything I've done to this point was absolutely worthless. All I wanted was to bring them happiness, and yet nothing has changed. I've been smashing my head against this wall for so long, it was only a matter of time before I finally broke. Before you go jumping to any conclusions though, I am well aware that I was the one who broke myself, it wasn't their fault at all. Either me or god. But there is no god! There can't be! No god would ever let that happen!"

Without thinking I push Yabu up against the door and wrap my hands around her wrists.

She stops shaking and peers into my eyes.

No-

She peers through my eyes.

I don't even know what she's looking at.

"Getting aggressive are we~ You're kind of hurting my wrists though, so could you maybe ease up a bit?" My actions were clearly hostile, yet the girl in front of me showed no signs of concern. It was as if her safety wasn't something she cared about.

"What's going on?"

"You tell me. You were the one who suddenly did this while I was just trying to open a door."

"..." I release my grip from her wrists. It's probably not a good idea to do anything rash here, as people could come out at any moment. Yabu still shows no sign of concern, only letting her arms fall limply to her sides.

"Aww, boo...I thought something wonderful was about to happen." She regained what little composure she had.

"Let's go to the upper deck. I think you need to clear your head a bit."

"No thanks. I don't like high places anymore." She rejects.

"...What happened to it being your happy place?"

"There is no such thing as happy places, Ayanokouji. Just places where it's slightly harder to be consumed by darkness. Unfortunately for me, the last time we were up there I fell into the abyss. The darkness wrapped around me, crushing all of my organs and suffocating me...Then all of a sudden, poof. Goodbye, old Nanami Yabu. Goodbye everything. But hello, new world. A brand new place where everything is just how I want it to be...Absolutely. Fucking. Horrible."

"..." This person standing in front of me isn't the Yabu I know. I have a hard time believing that this is the person she really is underneath the layers she puts on as well.

This version of her is like all of her flaws were suddenly increased to their limits. They've taken over everything.

Was she really so tired that she allowed this to happen?

"When we walked back together from the deck, what was going through your head? You were silent the whole way back." I question.

"So were you. We were both silent. I can't remember what was going through my head. Perhaps a little of everything? Perhaps nothing?"

"...Can you at least say something that makes sense?"

"I can try, but what makes sense to me might not make any sense to you at all. If I were to tell you what really happened, you'd think I'm even crazier than you probably think I am now. So I will just sleep. And then I will wake up tomorrow. And then I will sleep. And then wake up again. The same seven days. Over and over and over and over and over and over. It's too bothersome to try and make them different. I just want to sleep. Good things only come when I'm asleep."

"Didn't you say you had nightmares? Do you not have them anymore?"

"Oh. That. I still have the dream, but it's alright now. I don't recognize them anymore."

"Recognize?"

"I don't recognize the bodies in the water~"

"..." I can't get through to her. It was pointless for me to try.

"I only had to snap to get rid of those. If I knew that's all it would take, I would have jumped earlier."

"Jumped?"

"Hehe~ Oops! Said too much! I'm fine, really. Just, not really. But that doesn't matter."

"..." I stare at her. She stares back with the same hollow look.

"See you tomorrow!"

Yabu unsteadily walks away, completely forgetting that she was trying to get in her room moments before.

She'll probably come back when she realizes.

Then...she will sleep.