Isekais Don't Exist, You're Just Trapped in a Social Experiment

9. Misfortune of the Fortunate

Even with your eyes shut, you know what you want to see when you feel the veils of sleep start to rise slowly layer by layer. With each one, you remember who you are. You remember who you were with. You remember Tighnari. You recall the weightless feeling of life emanating off of him, and the way it embraces you just by seeing him.

It makes you think about how it used to feel when you basked under the joy of life.

But then you grew up, and the world showed its true colors around you. It stamped your purpose in red ink across your hopes and dreams: a replaceable cog in society. You, your mother, and the friends you pushed away. Waking up was enough of a chore when you knew what kind of environment you would be forced to work in no matter what place you decided on. College brought your hopes up, padding your naivety with false advertisements for the reality of work.

Work was exploitative, manipulative, and fake. Almost like a cult, if you really gave it some thought. They'll pat you on the back so long as you're a hard worker, and will retaliate as soon as you prove to be trouble, even if it's beyond your control.

Truly, the first thing you learned of the real world is that it doesn't pull punches and it doesn't grant mercy. Fake smiles of schadenfreude hidden behind far too few real smiles blur the lines of trust. Everything in life felt like it was there to raise your hopes and beat you down more.

But Tighnari is a relief from that miasma.

So the idea of opening your eyes and having to bear several more months alone with hardly any support is painful. How will you know when it's time to stop waiting? How long will you wait? What if it takes more months this time? What if you never see him again?

It's better not to wait in the long run. You've been dancing around this topic far too long, there is no point to continue scrambling for pennies to survive. Any financial stability you could possibly achieve would still be torture.

Just end your misery already.

You wished you could. It's really all Tighnari's fault you're still here, after all. If you weren't so intrigued and enchanted by the novelties he brought to the table, you would have already dealt with the core problem.

Maybe if you keep your eyes closed, you can fall right back asleep. Maybe you won't wake up again.

Maybe...

"Are you awake yet...?"

At the sound of Tighnari's voice, low and quiet beside your ear, your eyes flutter with slight movement under your eyelids. With a crease of your brow, you start to open them with a bit of hesitancy on your part.

It's dark, maybe because it's still night. Something's not right about this darkness though.

"Ti-" You start to say until a hand gently covers your mouth to stop you. You don't try to continue, waiting for his explanation first. His gloves smell like wildflowers.

"Quietly. They didn't see me hide in here and I can't tell if they're still out there...or alternatively, they know we're in here and are leaving us be," Tighnari says, his warm breath grazing your cheek. "How are you feeling?"

He removes his hand, allowing you a chance to speak now that you've got a sliver of information to contextualize your situation and whereabouts. The dazed part of your mind, still trying to grasp reality after sleeping so deeply, doesn't care about that though.

All you care about is that you woke up with him still beside you.

Against your better judgment, you reach out and find his shoulders, dragging your hands down over his chest to his heart up until he traps your hands in his to stop you.