Chapter Text
Tak.
Tak tak.
Tak.
Toko’s fingers glide over the keyboard. She doesn’t even look down once as she continues to write. Empty coffee cups lay piled up on the desk, crinkled and torn papers are scattered everywhere and the dull, artificial light of the laptop illuminates the room. Toko could feel the consequences of staying up, she’s tired and her eyes feel like they’re going to fall out. Taking a moment to pause, she rereads the last sentence she had written out only to find it was all a bunch of illiterate nonsense that had no meaning.
Sighing, Toko closed her eyes, shutting out the glow from her laptop and giving herself a break. “Maybe I need to sleep…” Eyes still closed, she reaches blindly forward and shuts off the computer, hearing the engine rest and light fade. Cracking her eyes open, Toko just sits there in her slightly uncomfortable chair in the dark as she just lets everything soak in, staring at the shadows of branches from the tree near her window made with the moonlight spilling in. The more she stares, the more everything seems to slowly shift, a book falls over, her sheets fall ever so slightly and the curtains gently flap in the breeze. Like it’s all breathing. Like it’s alive.
Realizing that the missing sleep was starting to catch up to her, Toko pushes herself out of her chair, stumbling over the scrunched up paper on the floor as she makes her way over to Kameko’s enclosure. Quickly, though she fumbles slightly, she lifts the latch and replaces the food and water containers, closing it again once she is done. Kameko crawls over to the new food, eating it as Toko watches, folding her arms and leaning against the table.
Shutting her eyes for just a second and resting, Toko could feel herself getting groggier and drifting off, so much to her displeasure, she opens them again, and stands up, trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes. Going around, she cleans up a bit, paper going in the overflowing trash can and cups going in the too full sink. Toko closes the laptop with a snap and flops onto her bed, gaze not really focused on anything but everything at the same time. Falling asleep was always hard, it never came instantly like it did for some people she knew, it wasn’t that simple. No, for her, she could be ready for bed and lay there for hours, tired and drowsy, but still not be able to drift off like she wanted to.
After a couple of minutes laying there, Toko realized she just wasn’t going to be able to sleep at that moment, so with an annoyed groan, she rolled over, reaching for her phone. Normally, Toko would go back to writing, but right now, she was just feeling way too tired to move much more than a few inches. Drawing the phone close to her face, she turned it on, hissing as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. Scrolling aimlessly, Toko didn’t really know what to do, she never really used her phone all that much so finding something interesting to do was hard. She checked the group chat she had with her project partners, but nothing was new. Figures… it is two in the morning after all… only someone dumb would be up at this time. She blinked, brain rebooting a bit as she thought the words over. “Wait… that’s me…”
Toko facepalmed, a stifled sigh escaping her lips. “Ugh… I really need to sleep…” Clicking off her phone, she reached her hand out to place the device back, when it suddenly buzzed in her palm. Surprised, she pulled back, turning the phone back on. On the lock screen it said she had a couple of new messages… from… Komaru? What the-
hello toko!
i was going to ask this before, but i frogot
forgot*
uh anyway, would you like to come over some time? :D
like just to hang or something-
What the hell are you doing up at this time?
Toko was too tired to even try to be anything but blunt, even though she normally was anyway with Komaru. The Naegi sibling had texted her a few times before, either just to check up on her or ask about something, but Toko normally ignored her or replied something short so she didn’t have to be bothered by the energetic and annoying brunette. Now, however, she found herself watching the three dots as Komaru typed, and even when she turned off the phone, Toko watched it as it lay silent in her hand. A ping sounded, and she quickly turned it back on.
i could ask you the same thing! >:3
but, i was actually just reading manga super late lol
Of course you were.
HEy!
what is that supposed to mean?? ):<
Toko chuckled tiredly at the message, a small smile tugging at her lips. I really am tired if I’m laughing at her, aren’t I? She peeked at the time, then backed down at their conversation, thinking over Komaru’s question a bit. Maybe it was from the sleepiness that was finally kicking in or maybe she just wanted to do something different, Toko actually considered Komaru’s question, writing out a short response.
It means that you’re a dork.
But to the question you posed earlier… yes, I would actually like to do something sometime.
wait really? did you just say yes to my question?? :O
did the toko fukawa just accept a hangout invitation???
who are you and what have u done to toko
Groaning, Toko already regretted her decision as Komaru’s enthusiastic texts came through, pointing out just why she never did these things before. But she didn’t find herself angry or annoyed.
Yes, but add any more question marks to your text or say one more thing like that and I’m not coming.
roger that captin!
I hate you.
Also, you spelled captain wrong.
wait i did
The screen went dark and Toko’s reflection showed a rare, smug grin on her face. They could figure out the details tomorrow, but for now, Toko felt the sleepiness almost overcome her, threatening to make her pass out any second. Carefully, she slipped off her glasses, placing them on her bedside table. Anymore, however, was too much, so Toko ended up crawling under her sheets, basically fully clothed, not really caring since it was a cold night anyway. The whole room was surprisingly silent when she finally settled down, the only sound being the quiet flapping of curtains made by the wind and Kameko wandering around in her den, but it didn’t really bother Toko all that much. She liked the absence of noise. It was calming.
Moonlight poured in from the open window, curtains not really being drawn enough to keep out the light. It cast the room in a gentle glow, keeping the room light enough that Toko was comfortable, but dark enough to sleep, giving off a cozy atmosphere. It was a nice feeling to fall asleep to.
Toko woke up that morning to the sunlight streaming in on her face, the warm sensation heating up her face. Groggily, she laid there for a bit, before the sun became too much and she rolled to the edge of the bed, swinging her feet onto the floor and planting them gently down. Blindly, Toko fumbled around until she felt the cool handels of her glasses and quickly slipped them on, getting up with reluctance. She had always hated this part of the morning, waking up. Walking slowly over to her closet, Toko quickly changed clothes, not wanting to stay in the ones she had worn to bed, and lazily threw the old ones in her clothing basket. Next was Kameko, who she checked on for a bit, watching the little stink bug rummage around doing whatever… well, stink bugs do during their days. Eventually, she remembered she had better things to do than watch a bug for a whole day, even if Toko did love said bug very dearly. Luckily, it was Saturday, so she didn’t have to rush at all.
Going back over to her bed, Toko caught sight of her phone, which had been half haphazardly placed on the edge of the night stand during last night. Well, more like earlier this morning if I want to be more accurate. It also reminded her of what had happened before placing it down. “Right, Komaru…” Toko reached out her hand, hesitating slightly as she hovered over her phone, before slowly picking it up and turning it on, seeing the texts and grimacing. Now, when she actually remembered clearly why she avoids social interaction and other people, Toko was almost ready to just write a message to Komaru telling her she was sick or some other excuse that could exempt her from coming. Instead, she sighs and writes out some questions.
Alright, you said that you wanted to hang out. And I agreed, unfortunately.
I would like to know where you plan for us to go and when.
After about thirty seconds of no reply, Toko turned off the phone and stuffed it into a pocket, embarrassed that she even waited for an answer. Still, Toko found herself sitting down on her messy bed, watching the pocket for what was probably minutes, not really knowing what she was waiting for. When she eventually did realize what she was doing, Toko huffed and got up, deciding to distract herself by cleaning up her room a bit. Breakfast passed pretty quickly, with Toko only getting herself something small from the cafeteria since her fridge was basically empty.
At this point, she had forgotten all about the conversation, instead deciding to go back to her writing since she needed something to do. It wasn’t until Toko had taken a quick break to feed Kameko, that she realized that Komaru had already texted back quite a while ago, and she had been too busy to realize. For the first time in her life, Toko felt some guilt and horror when she realized that she didn’t reply back in time to the other person. Normally, she would have just brushed it off and not cared, since the other person probably didn’t care about her. With Komaru however, she felt the need to write back right away, like her opinion mattered. Toko scoffed at the thought, but still turned on the phone and started typing back.
I was thinking maybe my place?
and tomorrow if it is ok with u
Your place is fine, but is your brother also going to be a part of this… ‘hangout’?
I know you cling to him a lot, like some sort of brother complex.
Also, tomorrow works.
Even now, Toko still found a way to tease Komaru, smiling secretly to herself as the other girl quickly typed out her response, denying the second part of Toko’s messages as much as she could. Relaxing a bit, Toko realized that she had never really felt so… so comfortable talking with another person before, and the thought made her face just fall a bit. Was she really that cut off from everyone else? Before Toko could spiral anymore, she teared her eyes back to the conversation, wanting to distract herself from the unwanted feeling of loneliness that hit her out of seemingly nowhere. She could unpack that later.
WAT
I do n o t have a brother complex thank you very much ):<
Makoto is just a cool guy!
Sure, whatever helps you sleep Naegi.
u really dont hafta be so mean tokooo
Actually, I do.
It’s part of my charm.
ha ha very funny
There was some more back and forth, but eventually both agreed on a set time that Toko could show up that worked for them. Toko had also, accidentally, learned that Makoto would actually not be there until sometime Monday, since he would be at Kyoko’s house for a day. Further inquiry on Toko’s part only got some teasing from Komaru, who wondered why she was interested in Makoto’s “love life”, so Toko immediately dropped the subject, not wanting to come off like that at all.
Their conversation ended after a while when Komaru wrote that she needed to go, and Toko was left staring at her screen, not sure what to do next. She had of course just remembered a vital detail that Toko had completely forgotten to think about when talking to Komaru. Sho. A frustrated groan erupted from Toko, and she face planted onto her bed. How could she forget Sho?
Toko had always been extra careful about letting her alter show, it wasn’t entirely that she hated Sho, she did a bit, but it was more that the girl was impulsive, not always doing things within reason. It always haunted Toko that she might one day front and find herself somewhere unfamiliar, or maybe worse, in trouble. The two didn’t always communicate well together, especially when they disagreed on something.
Toko clutched her hair, pressing her face into the bed sheets as she tried to calm down. She wasn’t even sure if Sho was fine with going out, though knowing the spunky alter, she probably would be. Sho wasn’t close to the front as she normally was, so asking her now would be hard. Toko just settled for asking later, or maybe writing down a note so they were both prepared. It would have to do. For now, however, Toko had the rest of the day to regret her decision and try her best to get ready for the next day, which would probably be mentally exhausting.
The writer lifted her face from her covers, taking off her glasses and looking at her nervous reflection in them. She pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing. “Why do I do these things to myself?”