Marionette

Skies, Chapter Twenty Eight - Neko no Hirune [猫の昼寝]

Reiko's words had done well in silencing Yuta - Amaya barely heard a peep out of him for the whole time, even as Reiko eventually bid herself farewell with a remark of 'I will see you at school' much like the final word on the matter.

A final remark that they were continuing this talk once Yuta had some time to think on what had just been said.

It appeared, that things were going to be left as they were just now. Any more words may be wasted, when the situation had already given plenty to think about.

That was probably Reiko's reasonings for stopping her talk with Yuta when she had.

The tension in the air was uncomfortable, probably the most for Amaya who was struggling with the reality that Karma had turned up just in time to hear the bulk of what Reiko had said in the end.

It was so hard for her to accept, she couldn't even look him in the eye anymore.

After an agonizing stretch of time, they'd ended up back at Amaya's apartment, though Karma seemed to have disappeared somewhere along the way.

Amaya vaguely recalled that they'd bid a concerned Isogai farewell, and then the rest was just the city bustle.

Karma could have disappeared at any time the moment they'd left Isogai's house, and Amaya wouldn't have known.

In fact, it was likely he would have done that.

They'd picked up something for dinner that could just be reheated easily, something that Reiko could do regardless of whether Amaya was awake or not.

And then after the exhausting struggle removing clothes and swelling bandages for a shower, Amaya had ended up curling up on one of the couches in as comfortable a position as she could manage.

She tumbled down into a dreamless sleep, something she desperately needed right now.

There was no space for even her memories to return to haunt her, even in the slightest.

There were stories about the origins of dreams one would have in their sleep.

In some stories, they were whispered wishes the human heart made to the subconscious, in the hope that realizing it would bring the dream closer to reality. In others, it was a reflection of the weaknesses that the human soul still held.

In Amaya's case, it was always her subconscious trying to remind her of things she desperately wanted to forget.

She honestly doubted she would ever truly experience one of these true dreams that everyone apparently had.

Not while her subconscious was so hell bent on making her suffer, in any case.

Though, like most things, she couldn't stay asleep forever.

And in spite of her attempts at staying in the darkness of slumber, the faint sounds of a familiar ringing was the call that drew her back to the world of consciousness.

The sun was shining when she'd slowly opened her eyes, bright enough to cause her to wince at the glare it cast through the window just a few meters away. Koro-sensei's collision print was still there, and would of course be there still until either enough dust stuck to the window to cover it up again, or the building finally got around to calling in a contractor to clean them.

Physically, she felt much better than yesterday, and her injuries weren't as unbearable to deal with.

Though her heart still felt heavy, and her mind was horribly sluggish.

She could hear spoken words from somewhere in the room, although she was too wracked with sleep to recognize them straight away. She hadn't noticed that the ringing had stopped, either.