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It had all started when Shimokizu woke up at 3 am. She had been sleeping soundly—her room was a few degrees over a normal summer day temperature, and the stacks of covers that she had on her were keeping her more or less warm. She woke up feeling extremely thirsty, and doing the logical thing, she laid in bed until her mouth felt like the Sahara dessert.
Once she hit that point, the girl carefully sat up, the quills (and what not) pooling at her waist. Her hair was undone—and white curls were at a stark contrast from the deep red pajamas she was currently sporting. The girl stood up rubbing her eyes slightly. She tugged along a specifically thick quill—one that she spent months finishing. It was really soft and extremely warm, which suited the adventure to the kitchen to find a glass of water. Shimokizu slipped fluffy slippers onto her woolen socks that were mainly a grey colour other than a small design of a polar bear on either sock. She trudged through her room, yawning slightly before putting her hand on the door handle.
The door handle wasn’t particularly warm, so it sent a shiver down Shimo’s spine, she sighed, before quickly turning it and sticking her head into the hallway. She looked both ways, before stepping out into the floor.
The hallway—wasn’t warm either. It was quite cold in fact—even somebody not like Shimokizu could tell. Shimo huddled into her quill—considering to step back inside the warmth and safety of her room, and yet she decided against it—her throat was feeling awfully parched. The girl waddled across into the hallway, looking awfully like a baby penguin, lost and slightly scared. She tapped her way to the stairs, and bouncing down towards the first floor. She was about to go into the kitchen when the weird things started happening.
Once she was firmly on the last step- that’s when she heard it. Somebody—was talking.. or at least something. It was hushed—and Shimokizu couldn’t really tell what it was—but it definitely did sound like talking. If the coldness of the door handle was able to send a shiver down her spine then, then the talking which was happening at three am on a school night was able to send a bit more than a shiver down. Shimokizu gulped, her eyes slightly wide with fear. Did somebody break in? The young hero thought to herself. She squeezed her quill slightly closer to her body. She took a breath, before stepping onto the ground. The light wasn’t on, and yet somebody was there. She could run… Shimokizu was thinking, what if somebody did break in… at this point, the girl wasn’t just shivering because of the cold hallway nor stairs. Her shivers were coming from a state of fear, which encapsulated her whole body. Taking a shaky step forward, the girl kept on proceeding to the kitchen.
Shimokizu stepped closer to the sound—and in fact it was talking. She was able to distinguish a few words before hearing a consistent sentence
“I think the only logical thing to do, is to take a photo.”
The voice was chilling—slightly robotic. Shimokizu felt her fear heighten, her shivering was almost completely due to her emotions rather than the coldness of the room around her—or was it that her emotions made the room around her feel colder? Either way, the poor girl was shocked out of her senses.
“No, a photo won’t work as well.”
Another voice said—Shimokizus eyes widened, this time it was a female voice but it sounded much more gruff than the previous one. This one also sounded cold, but it sounded less robotic and more growly. Is there two of them? Shimokizu thought to herself, her eyes wide as saucers. I better get a teacher or—Shimokizu was just about to run away, before the last voice spoke up.
“I think the best metric is just to use both a camera and a mirror.”
This time, the voice was slightly warmer than the other two. It felt.. almost familiar. It sounded slightly wispy—as if a strong wind could blow it away.
Shimokizu’s eyes were shining, her heart was throbbing. The girl took a shakey step backwards—deciding whether to run and possibly make noise or to walk slowly and make less noise but be in more of a danger because she could get caught easier.
“How about we just ask whoever is in the hallway?” The growly voice said—Shimokizu’s heart dropped. How did they—oh no they know I’m—Shimokizu managed to think out. Her pace quickened, her thoughts started to blur.
Shimokizu turned around, thinking less as she started a brisk jog towards the stairs before—
A light flashed on around her. Shimokizu freezed, like a dear in a car light.
“Hiya?”
Shimokizu slowly turned around. And to her surprise, there Lana, Gakusa, and Tamashi were all standing—or floating in Tamashi’s case. Shimokizu’s eyes widened.
“Oh god I thought you were villains ready to rob Taiyuu--” Shimokizu let out, her voice was clear with relief.
“Well by legal standards I am a villain, or at least a criminal,” Gakusa said, tapping his wrist.
“Oh shut it Gakusa,” Lana said back to him, narrowing her eyes, “Are you okay?” the girl asked, raising and eyebrow.
Shimokizu flushed, “I’m fine—just... spooked.”
Tamashi tilted his head, “Sorry about that…” he said, laughing nervously, “We just wanted to figure out who’s eyes shined the most in the nigh!” he added. The boy put up a small fist to emphasize his point.
Shimokizu sighed, whether it was from their antics or from the relief she felt in the current moment only she would be able to tell. “What are you doing up so late anyways?”
“Bat things,” Lana said, Shimo couldn’t exactly tell if she was joking or not, as the girl did say it with a blank face.
“I was reading,” Gakusa stated, looking as bored as ever. He could be good at poker, if he sat down and actually finished something.
“… I need to sleep only once per week…” Tamashi said shyly.
“Why are you up?” Lana asked finally, eyeing Shimokizu.
“I wanted to get a drink of water…” Shimo said, looking at the floor.
Gakusa nodded, before walking back into the kitchen to fetch her just that. The boy returned a few moments later, handing the cup to Shimokizu, “It’s a bit warm” Gakusa said. Shimokizu accepted it thanking him quietly before taking a sip.
“… Good luck on whatever you were.. trying to figure out?” Shimokizu added, before taking her leave.
“Yeah.. thanks” Tamashi said, making a thumbs up. Shimokizu smiled, before tapping away towards her room, and trying to figure out how exactly Gakusa was able to heat it up without turning on the kettle or putting the water into the microwave.