The Hardest Pill To Swallow

4~

In her dreams, the woman was there again.

Every night, she visited like the villain she was, and taunted Kira till she woke up. This time, she was cooking and laughing. Her eyes were pretty as she made a joke about something Kira couldn't catch on.

But how dare she smile? How dare you smile?

"Go," she mouthed from her sleep, or was she still asleep? It was all a dream, wasn't it? "Go away! Go!"

Kira woke up to a gentle tap. "Hey hey..."

For a moment, Kira feared her mother had come back for her even in real life. Her eyes were still blurry but she jumped up from her sleep, panting loudly.

"Hey, you're shivering!" R.B cried out. "What is it? It's okay," she pulled Kira into a hug, patting her back slowly. Now, her breath seemed to have been calmer.

The realization that Kira had been wrapped in the arms of a stranger startled her. With a strong push, she forced herself away from R.B's grip.

"Let go of me!" Now, she was off the bed, standing with her eyes widened in horror. "You can't touch me like that!"

R.B knelt on the bed. "What, you were terrified! Was it a nightmare?"

"You leave by morning." Kira frowned.

"Uhh, tomorrow morning?"

Kira had a heavy frown plastered on her face. "What the hell?"

Outside, it was a sunny bright day, around 2pm if Kira would have guessed right.

"I slept till...noon?" She said to herself.

R.B was already standing behind her. She rubbed her flat stomach and tapped Kira's shoulders, making her to see she was hungry by pointing at her stomach again.

"You've been asleep and I've been starving. I'm so darn broke I would have gone out to fetch us breakfast."

When Kira turned to face R.B, she stared heavily for a long while. R.B yawned, then scratched her head. Finally, Kira mouthed a silent; "oh".

***
As if Kira had no choice--which she actually had plenty of options--she gave in to R.B's whining. She had her brush, showered and got changed into one of her outfits. Then, together they went out to hunt for breakfast and lunch.

Kira had a spot.

"A burger, two large sodas and French fries." R.B said, and turned her head to meet Kira's gaze. She was staring directly at her with her lips pouted slightly with her eyes heavily rounded.

"Puppy dog eyes? For what?" Kira glared at her with an icy stare.

"That's for breakfast. What about lunch?" R.B frowned.

Kira couldn't believe her eyes. "Are you kidding me now? Two sodas, R.B. That's not enough for breakfast and lunch??"

"I've been hungry since two nights now. Or is it now three..." She stretched her fingers out and began to count them carefully.

Kira waved her hand to the attendant and he moved closer to her. "The usuals. Plus her meal."

A short while later, their meals arrived and R.B dug in, biting through hers like there was no tomorrow.

Kira had ordered a beef sandwich with a cup of ice latte. She loved her coffee.

"So, what happened back then? Nightmare?" R.B asked stuffing her burger in her mouth.

Normally, Kira would have been disgusted by her eating habit. She wondered why she seemed cool with it.

"Most people would say, 'thanks for the meal'. 'Thanks for letting me stay at your place for the night'. But you? You're so weird."