Please Don't Hit Zero ~ IwaOi

~53~

For the second night in a row, I don't get a wink of sleep. Now it's not only my eyes that are burning; my skin and even my insides feel like they're on fire. I feel terrible. And it doesn't help that I'm being haunted by memories of yesterday and the day before that...

I wash up and pull an old outfit out of my closet. I didn't take much with me when I moved out, so a lot of my stuff is actually in this old room of mine. All of the shirts I liked to wear, the few books I liked to read, all of my gaming consoles... And there's a lot of memories stored here, too.

Maybe I should clear this out in the near future. Get all the things that I want to keep, and sell or throw away whatever I don't care about. I didn't want to do anything other than drink and sleep for the past four years, so I never really felt like picking it up until now.

I kind of missed this, actually. I loved the lay-out of my room. The colours, the furniture, the decorations... They give me energy. It makes me feel like my old self for a bit.

Ah, if only I could show Issei. Maybe there's something that he wants to have. We stayed here for a while before we went to live with Lana, so there might even be some of his stuff hidden somewhere. I guess we'll have to come back together later...

I turn on my phone, planning to take a picture of it all, but I regret it instantly. It starts vibrating like crazy, text messages and missed phone calls flooding my screen. Oops. I had forgotten that they would be mad at me.

Lana, Issei, and even Iwa tried contacting me multiple times. I told the first two I'd be back, and I indirectly told Iwa to fuck off. I don't know what they want from me...

So I guess I'll ignore it for now. Maybe I'll see if Makki is awake before I do anything else. We still need to talk, after all.

My heart sinks a little. I don't mind telling him that Issei remembers, but he's gonna ask after Iwa as well. Ugh, I don't want to think about it...

"Hiro-chan~ Morning~" I try to sound upbeat as I enter the room he's staying in, but it doesn't work. My voice gives away my exhaustion and my misery.

"Good mornin'," a very sleepy looking boy answers. He doesn't seem any better than yesterday. I guess his night was a long one, too.

My phone starts buzzing as soon as I sit down on the edge of the bed. Seriously? What is it?

Sei-chan ❤️:
I can see you received my texts
You can read them, too, right?
Or are you ignoring me?
Please answer already

"Hold on a second," I sigh, delaying our conversation. "Sei-chan's bothering me for no reason." I skip all other messages he sent me, and only focus on the last three.

You:
I said I'd be back!
Calm down, stalker!

Sei-chan ❤️:
Where are you?
Why did you leave?
And why did you have to slam the door like that?

You:
Not telling~
I'm safe. I'll be back later today. Or tomorrow.

I quickly put my phone away. The two of us can talk later. I'd rather get this over with, first.

"What'd he say?" Makki sounds curious, but also a bit unwilling to hear it.

"The way I left yesterday was a bit... Uh..." I don't know how to explain it.

"Yeah, what was up with that? I heard a loud bang, you come running out, you lock the door while Matsu tries to come outside and then we had to run?" He frowns. "I didn't ask about it yesterday because you seemed so emotional, but..."