Adopted: Book 1 Refracted Sand [REWRITING]

Adopted Ch. 25 Sun Seen

"I want to become a fan."

"Huh?" Konata was sure she didn't hear right.

The heat waves were vibrating into the house and struggling against the drawn curtains. The cozy living room of Konata's house was dim and the sunlight made the curtains' blue fabric glow, creating an almost ocean-like appearance. There were indeed fans blowing from every angle of the space but they were fighting a losing battle against the treacherous desert heat.

Suzume was sitting at the coffee table with her upper half laid on the top, her chin resting there as well in a position where she could be face to face with a fan. Her eyes were closed and Konata almost thought what she heard was sleep talk before Suzume opened her eyes to prove her wrong.

The girl's eyes glazed over as she continued her train of thought.

"Must be nice, being a fan. Especially because we live in the desert, people want fans so much they end up a necessity. In each household, there's either a fan for each family member or for each room or both. If someone stole even a single fan, they'd probably notice. It's not like being an umbrella. Nobody needs an umbrella. Umbrellas are useless in the desert. That's why I want to be a fan. Must be nice, being a fan. Going round, round, round, and round. Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr..."

"Suzume-chan." Konata's eye twitched. "Have you been skipping your hibernation?"

Bam! and Suzume was on her feet. "Please don't call it that."

Konata's hand shot to her mouth when she comprehended her mistake. "I apologize. Just out of habit..." She silently cursed herself. How was she supposed to explain that one?

But, fortunately, Suzume was too sleep deprived and drunk on her emotions to grasp what Konata let slip and the girl excused herself from the room to wobble unsteadily out of the house.

Suzume plopped herself down on the ground with her back to the wall of Konata's home and rested her head on her raised knees.

She was nauseatingly lightheaded, her body felt cold compared to the rigid heat compressed around her.  She was so irritated and she didn't know why.

She wanted to sleep...

A wet nose pressed against her skin and hot pants hung in the air. The dog whined and licked her playfully. It nudged at her hand, trying to make her pet it.

Suzume clicked her tongue and roared, "Leave me alone!"

The stray dog yelped and scampered away. Realization at what she's done crept into Suzume and her eyes flew open, jumping to her feet and craning her neck in the general direction the canine fled, searching. Seeing no sign of it, shame made her drop back on the step and claw her hands through her hair, weeping and whispering.

"I'm sorry...! I'm sorry...!"

Why was she like this?

. . .

Konata found Suzume back inside the kitchen in a daze after night fell. The old lady lowered herself silently in the seat opposite the girl and waited.

"Do you know a way to stop thinking?" Suzume asked through her teeth. "Make it go away."

"You can tell me what you're thinking," Konata offered. "Then we can share the burden."

She could tell Suzume was hesitating but her frustration won over.

"Should I have accepted Kankuro's hand in that alley? Was this all for the better?" Her eyes went out of focus and her fingers rubbed fanatically at the surface of her cup of water. "Would this have been easier if I wasn't what I am?"