Fade Into You

Ch. 4 Ineffable

Retsuko could just make out the sound of the pitter-patter of light rain as she felt her heavy eyelids part open. It was then that she noticed she was surrounded by the pastel pink tones of her bedroom. The lamp in the corner of the room reflected her shadows behind her head, dancing alongside the water droplets whose shadows dripped from the windows.

She groaned, turning towards the single view, and felt her body glide between the smooth sheets of her twin bed, the fresh linens smelling faintly of lavender.

Her eyes slowly opened more, readjusting to the faint glowing lights in the apartment. The night sky sparkled with the glistening of autumnal equinox stars and the gentle downpour. She turned her view towards the middle of the room, feeling a stiffness in her lower back and a pulse of heat throughout her entire body, yet it felt frigid under the layers of covers.

Retsuko felt a rush of icy relief spread over her forehead, a gentle pressure settling itself as she tipped her head back against the plush pillows: an ice pack was secured across her brow. She cautiously poked at the cold compress with a trembling finger, having little to no recollection of how it got there.

Or how she ended up in her bed for that matter.

The clinking sound of something that resembled glassware soon filled the small bedroom and Retsuko noticed the door was open. She heard the rushing of water from the spigot outside in the kitchen.

Someone was in her apartment.

Wordlessly, the young accountant wrapped the top sheet around her body. She attempted to scoot towards the end of the bed, but a rippling ache shot across her body. It felt as if time were moving in slow motion. The feverish girl let out another soft grunt and lowered her head between the cushioning of her pillow. She fixed her gaze towards the door frame once more. Normally her panic-stricken self would have snatched a broom from her storage closet, holding it high above her head in order to defend herself from the perpetrator. But for some reason unbeknownst to her, Retsuko knew it wasn't an intruder that was shuffling about the next room over.

Through her feverish-vision she noticed the shadowed figure who had now shifted into the living room and she felt her breath hitch in her throat. She followed the outline of their long back, arching over the table. Long, familiar arms appeared to be tasked with preparing something that was occupying the table, possibly a bowl or container? Her tired perception gave up on identifying the objects and returned to the figure.

She inhaled with a sharpness that nearly caused her to choke on her own saliva: Haida was in her living room.

His button-down shirt had freed itself from the waistband of his slacks. Her coworker's normally long-sleeves were rolled up over his forearms, exposing his sepia skin that was littered with freckles that emerged even more under the golden hues of the ceiling lights.

His hair, while ordinarily untidy, had been pulled backwards from his face, as though he had ran his hands through the dark strands multiple times. Retsuko glimpsed towards his furrowed brows fixed above unwavering eyes, the green orbs holding a gaze of tenacity yet exhaustion. A piece of gauze had been taped sloppily to fit the bridge of his bloated, discolored nose. Retsuko was then struck by vivid recollection, her temples pounding.

The intrusive memories that her body continued to relive, the harrowing sensation of her tottering over onto the sidewalk only to have darkness pool around her.

Her breakdown in the karaoke room.

Haida appearing over her crestfallen face as her initial reaction of agitation transpired from her heart, to her head, to the base of her foot, crashing into his face.