Tethered

Chapter 4

"(Y/N)-chan... Hellooooo?" You were suddenly snapped out of your daze by Mei waving her arm in front of you. I guess I zoned out again. This has been happening all morning.

"Hm....? Sorry Mei. I've got a lot on my mind." Your mind wandered back to the revelation you made yesterday. How could you have died and been taken into another world? It's just not scientifically possible, is it? Does that mean I have to live the rest of my life here, forever? I'll never see my real family again, or Mei, or anyone I knew in my real life. Everyone here, everything.... It's just all so different. This has to be a dream, right? Just a conjuring of my own imagination. If it truly is a dream, then how do I wake up from it?

"-from you." You didn't realize that Mei was talking through all of your thoughts. "Did you hear me (Y/N)-chan?" You simply hummed in response. Mei checked something on her phone before turning back to you. "Sorry (Y/N)-chan, Something came up at the club; I need to go take care of it." She quickly dashed off back to the school building. You sighed and stared back at your untouched food. I guess I just have to start accepting it. Afterall, it's just a dream. I'll wake up back in my own bed soon, right? Right. You picked up your sandwich and raised it to your mouth to take a bite of it when you suddenly heard the sound of running in the distance. You turned your head and saw someone quickly running up to you. A head of messy blue hair greeted your eyes as they stopped in front of you to catch a breath.

"MATSUI-KUN!!!!!!!" The boy in front of you whipped his head around and you turned to see what he was looking at. WHAT THE FU- A giant stampede of girls came barreling in your direction. All the girls started crowding Matsui and completely ignored you. Nope nope nope nope. I'm out. Quickly, you stood up from the bench and turned to leave. You took one more glance in his direction, and Matsui's eyes met yours. Never in your life have you seen someone so mortally terrified over being around people; it was as if he was silently screaming for help. You mentally sighed at what you were about to do. Clearing your throat, you turned back to the crowd and pushed your way to the center where Matsui was. He met your eyes again and you extended a hand towards him.

"Hey Matsui, you ready to go?" He looked taken aback, to say the least. You nodded your head slightly to try to tell him you were trying to help, and you think he noticed it. Quickly, Matsui took your hand and you were able to pull him out of the crowd. The girls all stared at you and slight murmurs among them met your ears.

"Huh? Do they know Matsui-kun?"

"Who do they think they are, taking him away like that?"

"He looks so uncomfortable with them. I feel so bad for Matsui-kun." You sighed, but continued dragging Matsui away from them. When you finally got a good distance away from them, you let go of Matsui's hand.

"T-thank you. S-sorry you need to do that for me. I just can't stand being around so many people." Matsui refused to meet your eyes and instead stared down at his shoes. You chuckled at his response.

"That's understandable. You didn't look very comfortable around them," you pointed out. Matsui nodded.

"I really hate that crowd I draw. It's so hard to go anywhere without getting harassed. I once went to a ramen shop in the city and all those girls managed to find me before I could even order my food," Matsui sighed. You thought about what he said for a moment before searching through your bag for something. Matsui watched you rummage through your bag with confusion. Aha, there it is. You pulled out a small pouch with a pair of sunglasses in them.

"Here," you handed him the pouch. "If you wear sunglasses when you go out then maybe they won't recognize you," you chuckled when you thought about it. "Celebrities always wear sunglasses when they're out in public." Matsui gingerly pulled out your sunglasses and examined them. They were your typical black sunglasses; cheaply made but still usable. A small gold outline of a heart was present on the top right corner of the sunglasses frame, which you assumed was the brand logo.