The Rewrite *Slow Updates*

Chapter Two, Part One

 Everything is warm. The darkness around me is blinding, the sound of drums- deafening. My fingers ache, clutching at something around me. My clothes are sticking to me, constricting me, weighing me down. I open my mouth to speak out into the darkness but no sound can escape through the waves of water that cascade down my throat. The feeling wasn't painful by any means, my body tingled at the sensation of water filling up my lungs.

"Ayako?!"

The voice was muffled, coming from outside the darkness. Suddenly my body is jerking up, waves of water cascading off of me as the world around me comes to. It's blurry at first, my eyelashes sticking together and obscuring my view of the room. They focus moments later, the sight of near dark grey water coupled with the sound of pounding on the door to my left.

"Ayako, are you okay in there?" The voices rings out again, urgent and stiff.

"Yeah, I think I fell asleep for a couple of minutes. I'll be out in a minute."

My voice escapes my throat before I can stop it, coming out oddly steady and not at all reflecting the anxiety that was rising in my throat. What was that? I was drowning and now I'm...  fine. I look down again at the water, at my clothes. Soot and ash are sticking to every surface, blood stuck in the fabric surrounding the large rip in my shirt. My mind whirls at the fading memory of smoke and raining dry wall.

  It had to have been a dream. It couldn't have been real.

I try as hard as I can to hang on to the memory, but it slips through my fingers, new thoughts filling its place. That was Shig... But I haven't talked to Shig in years! Why is he here now? How did he even get in here? Where is here?

The memories whirl around almost as fast as the questions do. This is Ritsuko's house. We all lived here together, but a couple of months ago Shig moved out into the city for school. It was just Ritsuko and I now. We got in a fight yesterday-

"Alright, well," Shig's voice is filled with dejection, " Uh, Ritsuko is  still out and he told me to come check on you, ya know? He said you guys got into a nasty one yesterday night... We thought maybe you would, you know... " His voice trailed off, but I knew full well what he was trying to say. It doesn't surprise me that they wouldn't put it past me. I sigh.

" I'm not going to off myself, Shig. Don't worry." I take deep breath, attempting to slow my thoughts, but to no avail.  "Listen, I'll be out in a minute and we can hang out, okay?"

"Oh- okay. I'll, uh, I'll be in the living room, I guess..."

At the sound of his receding footsteps I lift myself from the bath, my legs shaking and hard to stand on. My hands move out to the bathroom counter to steady myself, my eyes catching a long look at my reflection.

The man in the mirror looked nothing like how I felt. His eyes were green, lively and bright. He looked alive when I had been underwater just minutes ago. I try to ignore him, peeling the wet clothes from my body and throwing them in the trashcan before attempting to dry myself. As soon as I'm done I step out into the hall, my feet leading me to the room I assumed was mine, my fingers moving steadily to pick out a pair of sweatpants from the unorganized drawer before the combed through my hair.

It was only now that I saw the reflection more clearly. My hair was falling into my eyes, a large pink scar slowly getting smaller and smaller on my chest until it was just gone. My eyes widen at the sight and my breath catches in my throat. My fingers move slowly to touch my skin, searching for any small sign that just moments ago there had been a scar stretching across it- but there was nothing.

"Ayako? You alright?"

I have to force myself to not jump at the sound of Shig's voice, quickly meeting eyes with him from where he stands in the doorway. His eyes are soft, his expression softer as he watched me. He gives me a little smile.

"I'm sorry I keep scaring you. You're not usually this skittish. Are you feeling okay?"

I nod quickly, taking a deep breath before leaning against the dresser, looking down. Out of the corner of my eye I can see him nod too.

"Do you want to talk about the fight?"

My thoat pushes out a small, humorless laugh before I shake my head. "I don't even remember what it was about anymore. He was just so angry. He was like a completely different person and then he just left. He just stopped talking and walked right out the door. Why would he do that?" I look up at Shig and he shrugs. Memories of the fight shuffle around in my head as I go back to lay on the bed, Shig coming over to sit next to me.

"He's been under a lot of stress at work lately, ya know?" Shig's words are laced with self-doubt, as if he's trying to convince himself as much as he is me, " He just needs a bit of time, maybe. Things will be fine, I'm sure." Shig's eyes dart around the floor, looking anywhere but at me for a long time.

"Maybe he just needs to get laid." I offer, drawing a small smile to his lips and he laughs a little.

"Don't we all." He looks back at me and I wink, watching as his cheeks turn bright red. I chuckle a bit, feeling the last bits of the feeling of fire leaving me, and pull him down by the back of the shirt to lay next to me.

"It's always an offer, Shig." I shrug as he leans over to rest his head against my shoulder. I can feel him shake his head.

"I don't want that, though. I want you to be happy and to get married and all that dumb stuff that you always talk about. You know I can't give that to you." He looks up at me and I shake my head..

"Just get some sleep, kid." I press my lips to his forehead as he wraps himself around me, closing his eyes.

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Author's Note af:

♪ ♫ What is life? ♫♪