You're woken up by the sound of your ringtone. You peel your eyes open and look out your window at the still dark sky. Who could be calling you at this ungodly hour?
You check your phone and see its your good friend Izumi. He really needs to get sleep.
"Zumi whyyyy," you groggily yawn upon answering the phone.
"Oh I'm sorry did I wake you?!" He's talking very fast.
"What do you think? It's five in the morning on a Saturday."
"Sorry it's just I think you'll want to hear this!"
"Please go back to bed Zumi." You're about to hang up, when he says,
"IT'S ABOUT ELOURA!!"
You sit straight up in your bed. "Go on..."
Eloura is the book series that the both of you are obsessed with, and made the two of you friends in the first place. The fifth book, Revenge of the Dragon, is being released very soon, and it's all you and Izumi are able to talk about.
Izumi spews out a bunch of words, "So I was up all night thinking about it and how maybe the ambiguity of Q's past and absence of gender and basically everything about them means that Q is supposed to be the reader and it's a warning about how the prophecy of destroying the world may apply to us because of global warming and sorry I'm getting WAY off topic-"
You can't help but giggle. Izumi is such a nerd.
"SO ANYWAYS that's why I'm up right now and so I looked up my theory and saw on the Eloura official website that there's AN EARLY RELEASE OF REVENGE OF THE DRAGONS TODAY!!!"
"WHAT?!" You shriek.
"BUT THERE'S ONLY GOING TO BE ONE HUNDRED COPIES!!"
"WHAT TIME DOES THE BOOKSTORE OPEN?!"
"Nine o'clock."
"Of course you would know the exact time."
"Meet me in front of Barnes and Noble at eight thirty. We want to beat the crowd."
"Okay."
"I don't know what I'm gonna do with myself if there's copies of Revenge of the Dragon out there and I don't get to read it!!"
"I'm sure we'll get a copy, Zumi. Go back to sleep."
~~~
"We did not beat the crowd..."
There must have been thousands of people packed in front of the bookstore. There was no place to park.
"Ack, I didn't think it would be this cold," you shiver in your light sweater.
"Would you like my coat?" Izumi asks you.
"Oh no, that's fine. Then you'll be cold!" You can't help but shiver again a little as a cold breeze picks up.
Izumi takes off his coat and drapes it over your shoulders. You have to admit, you're a lot warmer now. You put your arms through the sleeves and bury your face into the coat.
You look up and see Izumi smile and mutter something.
"Hmm?"
"Oh, nothing!" He says, flustered.
You rub your hands together. "My hands are cold now."
Izumi begins to look troubled. "I-um...there should be gloves in the front pocket."
Sure enough, you find some fuzzy black gloves. "Thanks."
People are crowding up closer to the door. It must be opening now.
"Come on!" You grab Izumi's hand and pull him through the crowd of people, which grew thicker and thicker the further you got.
You're shoved back at one point by a pissed off fanboy. Izumi calmly walks up in front of you and pushes the boy into the display cart of picture books before grabbing your hand and running away.
"Damn..." You mutter. He's never acted aggressive like that before.
"I don't like people pushing you," he states. "Great. He caused a delay. We got here later than planned."
It's true, you're at the back of the line. There are so many people in front of you.
After being in line for a half an hour, you're at the front, only to find there's one book left.
"I'll take it!" Izumi says, determined.
You're a little disappointed that he gets to read the next book in your favorite series before you, but he was so excited about it that you can't help but feel happy for him.
After he pays for it, you sneak away from all the angry fans who didn't get a book. When you're safe in an aisle, Izumi hands his book to you.
"Here," he says.
"Huh?"
"I want you to have it."
"But-but it's yours, you bought it." You gaze upon that shiny cover, the golden letters with the distinct font.
"I bought it for you."
You would feel really bad taking the newly won prize, even if you really want it. "How about it can be ours? You want to read it together?"
Izumi's eyes light up. "That sounds like a fantastic idea! But can we go to my place? There are angry fans here."
"Sure."
~~~
You've never been to Izumi's house before. It's fairly big. He shows you to a room that's warmly lit. There are two large bookshelves full of books and one large red armchair.
"This your room?" You ask.
"No, it's my reading room." He walks over to the chair and sits down. "This chair should fit both of us."
You don't know why you're nervous. You've known Izumi for a while, so why shouldn't you be able to sit next to him?
You walk over to the chair and sit next to him, feeling your own heartbeat. You're squished so close together.
He opens the book and you start to read it. He is such a fast reader that he asks if you are ready to turn the page when you're not even halfway through the first. But he waits for you.
Eventually, when things start happening in the book, you feel like your reading is in sync. You gasp at the same time as him when something revealing has happened, and laugh at the same time at the snarky protagonist. You've never felt so close to Izumi before.
Eventually, at the middle of the book, the sun shines through the window at an angle that makes you feel a little sleepy. After a couple minutes, your head falls onto Izumi's shoulder, and you feel yourself let go of the book. You think you hear the book close, and feel Izumi's arm wrap around you. The room is warm and you drift off to sleep.
