Shiori Novella One-shots

Shiori's Green Eyes

After all the celebrations, you find Shiori sleeping peacefully against a bookshelf. Considering how fun and crazy the party was, the introvert herself seems socially drained. You feel a bit bad about having to wake her, but it might be better if she slept on a bed instead.

“Wakey, wakey, sleepyhead,” you say. 

Her eyes slowly open at the sound of your voice. She tilts her head and squints her eyes. For a few seconds, she just stares at you. Then she takes a breath.

“I’m sorry…” she says.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. You don’t have to apologize for slee-”

“...Have we…met before?”

Mental condition: 98%.

~~~~~

You feel a stab in your heart, and look at her, surprised. 

“Uh… Y-yeah… We have,” you manage to stutter out. 

She tilts her head in the other direction and rubs her eyes a little with the back of her hand. Sitting up a little, her eyes cleared, she watches you carefully.

Looking back at her, you finally notice her beautiful golden eyes… aren’t golden. They’re a more calculating forest green. 

“Who… are you?” you ask her, tensing. “Where’s Shiori?”

“She’s still asleep,” the woman in Shiori’s body replies, her, no, Shiori’s, tensing as well. “She’s fine, but you? Who are you? I asked first.”

“I’m Shiori’s friend, ********. She calls me her “novelite”. Your turn,” you tell her, perhaps a bit more forcefully than you intended, based on the startled expression on Shiori’s face.

“Oh! Hi! Sorry, I only know you as a “novelite”, and had never seen you. I don’t know how much about Shiori you know, so I’m not sure how to introduce myself…” she brings a finger to her chin in thought, before snapping. “Let’s just say I’m a *really* old friend of Shiori’s. She’s been helping me out for a long time, so every now then, I help her out too.”

Your breath hitches for a moment. Shiori has never mentioned an “old friend” before, much less one living in her head. 

Just as you’re about to ask more, Shiori blinks, and those familiar golden eyes are back, Shiori’s expression morphing to one of caution and fear.

“H-hi… Um… I can explain…” she starts, but you raise a hand to stop her.

“Don’t worry about it… You can tell me about it when you’re ready, ok?” you say softly. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious, but you didn’t tell me for a reason, so…”

Shiori smiles, her gentle smile calming your nerves. They were more frazzled than you thought.

“Thank you…” she whispers. “I promise I’ll explain someday…”

You simply nod, and the two of you sit in silence. 

“Hey… You should go to bed… I’ll clean up down here, alright?” you tell her. 

“But--”

“No. Go to bed, you’re tired. It’s ok to be tired, really.”

“... What about you?”

“I… need some time to sort out my thoughts,” you look away from her. 

“If she didn’t tell me about that, what else didn’t she tell me about?” you think to yourself, before shaking your head. “That’s unfair. Everyone has secrets, so it’s only natural.”

Shiori leans forward to look at you, concern evident in her gaze.

“I’m ok, really. Besides, if this doesn’t get cleaned up, you’ll get ants,” you smile weakly at her. “So, please. Go to bed, get some rest, and when you wake up, it should be nice and clean down here.”

Shiori nods, standing up.

You watch as she walks out, stopping at the entrance, with a hand on the door jam, looking back at you. One eye, golden. The other, green. When she finally speaks, it sounds like two voices overlapped, creating a soft harmony.

“I’m sorry for not telling you… and thank you…” she looks forward again. “I’ll explain soon, it was about time anyway.” 

And just like that, she leaves.

“Time for what…?” you mutter to yourself.