TWENTY-EIGHT
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Sayo opened her lids the moment the heat of the Sun hit her closed eyes, causing her to scrunch her face groggily open her eyes. Bags under her eyes were heavy as well as her upper lids and she remembered that she had fallen asleep while crying. She turns her body around to face the room then lets out a yelp when she sees Shinsuke.
He was fast asleep with dark hues underlining his lower lids as he stayed seated on the white plastic chair right beside her bed. He had his arms crossed and his head swung down lightly as he slept, though he would unconsciously adjust his position again when his head swung too forward.
Sayo frowns and slowly sat up from her bed, glancing down at the same hoodie and shorts that she had worn since the day before then reached out to poke his forehead. He jolted and exhaustedly opened his eyes – it now stared at her in a half-lidded manner.
"Oh, good morning, Sayo." He mutters.
Her frown deepens and she asks, "What time did you sleep."
"Four in the morning."
Sayo pulls her phone from right beside her then says, "And it's six right now. You only got two hours of sleep."
Sayo brought her hand up to scratch the back of her neck in frustration, though it was only directed to herself because of the fact that she actually had to have someone take care of her. She prided herself in being independent and viewed leaning onto other people as stacks of cards – she would be the sole card that would be the cause of the other thin and hard paper to fall down.
She stared guiltily at him and mumbled, "It's my fault. I'm sorry."
He shook his head and muttered, "It's not your fault that I chose to stay up."
Sayo sighs and crawled out of her bed before motioning towards it to Shinsuke then softly saying, "Just sleep on my bed, and you can go home when you wake up."
He narrows his eyes down at Sayo then began, "I'm not leaving you here while you're-"
Sayo cut him off, "You left Granny alone at your home, and besides..." She glances down at her bare and cold feet before adding silently, "You have to go to school and I- I just want to be alone for now. Please."
-o-
Another few days pass by with the wind knocking on Sayo's windows each day, waking her up with cold feet and the hairs on her arms rising up despite being wrapped in her blankets – that were unfortunately not thick enough to warm her body up. Another few days and she had yet to attend school.
She was sure that her fellow peers had probably gotten a whiff of what had happened to her mother, since her aunt had informed the reason of the future possible multiple absences. And she was not ready to face personal questions and words that they did not mean – she would rather they just be quiet instead of uttering half-assed words.
She was grateful for Suna's occasional texts though.
Suna: sup?
Suna: u okay?
Suna: *inserts meme* :P
Sayo: m fine. thanks.
Suna: np :P
It had also been a few days since she had properly talked to Shinsuke, and she only replied to his messages with short answers. She was also sure that he was getting worried especially when she felt the multiple times her heart rate spiked up whenever she would respond to his messages.
Shin-chan: How are you today, Sayo?
Shin-chan: I will be going there later to bring you food again.
Shin-chan: You haven't been eating properly and that's not healthy.
Shin-chan: Would you like to watch a movie?
Sayo: ok.
It was unfortunate that she could not bring herself to form full conversations when she felt as if her body was too heavy for her to even take her daily baths. She barely ate with only the few sandwiches that she would make whenever she felt like it from time to time, and only did eat properly whenever Shinsuke would visit in the afternoon from after school, bringing a container and a plastic bag filled with varieties of food.
Sayo pulled her body up from her bed when she heard the knocks coming from her front door, glancing at the window along the way to show that the night had already taken over the day. She twists the knob between her palms and opens it to present Shinsuke who was here once again for the fourth time this week and consistently.
He held a plastic bag in his hand like she predicted as well as CD's in his other hand, he then greeted her with a small smile, "Hello, Sayo. How are you?"
Unfortunately, she did not return it and instead answered blankly and softly, "I'm fine."
Shinsuke forced the grimace to sink down before it could even appear on his face when he had asked the question, seeing Sayo's appearance that immediately told him that she really was not okay. He could see her eyes tiredly stare back up at him as well before she forced herself to give him a smile as well.
Once they walked inside, Shinsuke closed the door behind him and asked, "Let's eat?"
Sayo nodded mindlessly.
It was silent as they sat together in the dining room that was also designated inside the kitchen, and Shinsuke would constantly steal glances at Sayo who ate sluggishly and continued to look down at her food. His shoulders slumped slightly at his attempt to make her at least feel a little bit better, unfortunately, they could never hide each other's emotions as soulmates.
Sayo snapped her head up when she felt her heart drop slightly whilst eating, and saw the small frown on the face of the person who sat opposite from her.
She cleared her throat awkwardly and mumbled, "I'm sorry for being uncooperative when I know that you're trying to cheer me up."
He shook his head understandingly and responded, "It's alright." He paused mid-way as he brought his spoon up near his mouth before bringing it down on his plate again. He began, "You can speak to me about your problems, alright?"
Sayo could see the hopeful look in his eye and she could not bring herself to say 'no', so she answered, "Yeah, maybe I will."
She glances up to see his demeanor had instantly brightened – that was enough to make her feel better as well.
-o-
They were now sat side-by-side in Sayo's bed, their backs leaning against the cold wall right behind them as they watched the movie that was playing out right in front of them. Shinsuke found out that Sayo did not actually have a television, though he came prepared since he brought his laptop as well.
Shinsuke listened to Sayo as she hummed along to the song, "Colors of the Wind" as the Disney movie played. To be honest, he was not a fan of watching fantasy movies and would much rather watch informative shows or documentaries since he found them quite fascinating when he would learn something new, though it was alright if it was for Sayo.
"Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon? Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?"
As he continued to listen to her hums slowly transition to quiet singing, that was enough to tell him that she was feeling a little better and was glad that he brought the right movies with him. He tensed when he felt her head lean against his right shoulder, suddenly unsure of what to do with her sudden display of affection. So, he sat there rigidly and unmoving.
"Relax, would you, Shinsuke? It's just me." Sayo muttered, her real-self appearing for a moment in contrast with her recent soft-spoken demeanor.
His shoulders relaxed and then he heard her call out quietly, "Ne, Shinsuke,"
"Hm?"
She coughed uncomfortably before asking, "Uh, if you don't mind me asking, where are your parents? You never really talked about them."
He hummed before answered, "I guess I haven't. My mother and father are in the US and they work as engineers. I didn't come along with them when I was younger because I didn't want to leave Granny alone here in Japan. Though, I still talk to them on the phone whenever I can."
Sayo grinned and commented, "That's thoughtful of you. How cute."
He shifted in his seat and averted his gaze away from the movie to hide the red tint that he was sure colored his cheeks at this moment as well as the tips of his ears. Sayo leaned away from him to look at his face and gasped lightly in surprise, causing him to look down.
"Oi, don't hide. I want to see." Sayo grumbled then placed her palms on each side of his cheeks, inspecting the reddish hue that surrounded his cheeks and ears. She chuckled lightly as she kneeled beside him, then staring into his eyes that were looking down in embarrassment.
"Oh? The robotic Shinsuke Kita is embarrassed? Are pigs flying?" Sayo asked teasingly with a small smirk.
"I'm not a robot." He interjected with his face turning serious once again.
She chuckled once again and decided to nod, "Of course you aren't. I can feel what you're feeling too, after all. And that's the same with you." It was silent while they continued to stay in the same position with her hands still grasping his cheeks, she then asked softly, "Ne, Shinsuke. What are we?"
He looks at her in confusion and asks, "What do you mean?"
She looks away for a moment then awkwardly asks, "Am I your girlfriend now, or... y-you never really asked. Or do you want me to be the one to ask?"
Before he could think about it further, he answers, "I don't know."
Sayo froze and slowly pulled her hands away from his face, sitting back down on the bed disappointedly, "Oh."
Shinsuke gulped when he felt his heart throb repeatedly inside his chest to the point that it felt like it was about to burst, causing him to cuss internally. He could not believe that he would actually chicken out ever in his life because he never understood why everyone felt nervous at least once in their life.
Perhaps he understood them a little bit better now.
He began, "Sayo, I-"
She waved her hand dismissively, not looking at him, "No, it's fine. Let's just watch the movie."
He sighed; back to square one.
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