Chapter Text
It was another day at school.
I was entrenched at my desk as usual, second row from the back and right in the middle, hidden from the front by a row of tall classmates.
As usual, I had sat down at my desk in the morning, and I hadn’t moved an inch all day.
As usual, it felt like I’d been here forever.
As usual, time didn’t stop ticking down towards the end of the day no matter how hard I wanted it to.
I took a cautious look around the room. Even in the middle of class, people were finding every opportunity to chat. Notes were being passed around, quick glances were met with quiet smiles and light giggles. There was a conspiratorial tone to the excitement here, as if people thought the teacher genuinely didn’t notice that nobody was paying attention, rather than allowing this light breaking of school rules to continue.
She knew better than to try and corral a horde of teenagers the day before summer vacation.
A trio of friends in front of me were making plans to go to the beach together. My neighbor to the right was desperately trying to get someone to pass a note along to the front of the classroom - I heard her say something about a date. Two classmates were playfully arguing behind me in whispers, making each other come up with more and more ludicrous ideas for a trip and shooting each one down.
I caught a glance from someone across the room, and I heard them chuckling to somebody as I looked back down at my desk.
I took one last look at the clock. As usual, my silent plea went unanswered, and yet another summer vacation began.
“I’m home” was a phrase that had long fallen out of use in the Kamikoshi household.
I didn’t bother sneaking in anymore these days - there were too many people to hide from. A tall man, stiff as a corpse, watched me from the end of the hallway as I took my shoes off. His head didn’t move an inch as I passed him on the way to the living room, but I knew without looking that he kept his eyes on me to the last second.
In lieu of dinner, the table in the living room was covered in loose sheets of paper, stray bank books, bits of assorted garbage, and the occasional piece of occult paraphernalia. The conversation, which had been lively up to the exact moment I turned the corner, had died at the drop of a hat, and the group encircling the table looked at me with silent scorn. I could hear their talks resume as I was halfway up the stairs to the second floor.
The door to my room was already open. Inside was yet another gathering of people. Three emaciated men stood in a triangle around an elderly woman, facing away from her. The woman was the next to glare at me, her face twisting into knots at the sight of me. Gingerly, I put my school bag down by the entrance, and quickly grabbed some clothes - I’d have to find a different place to change.
The elderly woman continued to glare at me, but I was long past the point of caring. If looks could kill, I’d be dead a thousand times over by now.
Luckily, I didn’t have to look for long for a place to change. The bathroom was empty, for once. I stepped inside, locked the door, and slumped against it.
Summer vacation isn’t that long. They can’t hurt me.
I held my change of clothes tight against my chest and repeated the mantra. They can’t hurt me.
They can’t hurt me.
I won’t let them.
I didn’t wake up with a start, or in a cold sweat, or with a scream or anything. The biggest reaction that dreams of my family life could elicit out of me, at this point, was an annoyed groan.
Honestly, the headache was worse. The cheap apartment paired with the cheap AC made for cheap protection against the summer heat. I had a feeling if I pushed the AC any harder, it would blow up, so I settled for living in mild, sweaty discomfort. Waking up parched and groggy for a few months wouldn’t kill me.
I got a good stretch in as I sat myself up, and grasped around for my glasses. As I put them on, I realized something, and groaned again.
According to my phone, it was 4:25 in the morning - which explained why my room was so dark.
I put my phone down and sat on the edge of my bed, resting my chin on my hands. I shot a glance at my pillow.
…
Ugh. I shook my head at the idea of going back to sleep. For one, I was wide awake, so I doubt I could go back to sleep even if I wanted to, but…
I sighed. I was used to dreams like that, but that didn’t mean I liked having them. The idea of going back to sleep only to be met with a continuation of that slog didn’t appeal to me.
Well, whatever. I wasn’t the kind of person to sleep in, anyway. I got up, drank a few greedy mouthfuls of cold water from the bottle I kept in my fridge, and made my way to the shower.
…
…Wonder when Toriko’s gonna be up.
About an hour later, just as I was done cleaning up after breakfast, my phone buzzed, stopped, then buzzed again. The sound made me jump a little - I was still wiping my hands, and I wasn’t exactly expecting anyone to be awake at this hour. Dropping the washcloth near the sink, I walked over to the table and slid down into a sitting position. The display on the phone was still on. I picked it up, and took a look.
Two messages from Toriko Nishina.
First, a smile. She’s awake..!
Then, a scowl. What’s that idiot doing awake at this hour?! It’s not even six yet!
With that out of the way, I read the messages.
05:53 T- Heyyy! Good morning!
05:53 T- You’re awake, right?
…And why are you assuming I’m up, too?! How would you even know that?!
For a brief moment, I considered pretending I was still asleep. Unfortunately, modern technology wasn’t on my side - I could already see Toriko pouting while looking at the read receipts as the hours went by. That was some powerful imagery. I shuddered at the thought.
Without realizing it, I was back to smiling as I looked at the messages.
Okay. You win.
05:55 S- Good morning. Do you have cameras in my room or something?
05:56 T- I just knew~
05:56 T- Woke up and just felt it, you know?
05:59 S- Sure you did.
Instant messaging could be a pain sometimes, but at least Toriko couldn’t see me blushing. What did she even get out of getting me flustered when she couldn’t see it?
I breathed out slowly as I collected myself.
06:01 S - So what’s up?
06:01 T - Right!
06:02 T - So
06:02 T - I have some stuff to do
06:02 T - We can meet up afterwards
06:03 T - Woke up early to get it done quicker
06:03 T - Thought about pulling an all-nighter
…Meet up? Panicking slightly, I swiped through our recent messages. I was sure we didn't have anything set for today. I couldn't find anything.
06:05 S- We made plans?
06:05 T- ?
06:05 T- No
06:06 T- Wait, are you busy? Is that why you’re up so early?
06:08 S- I’m not busy
06:08 T- Don’t wanna hang out?
06:08 T- (｡•́︿•̀｡)
I stared at my phone in confusion. What’s with this energy?
06:11 S- I didn’t say that
06:11 T- So you do wanna hang out?
06:12 S- I guess
06:12 S- Sure
06:12 T- ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶
06:13 T- Good
06:13 T- I’ll get this done quick
06:13 T- Just some schoolwork
06:14 T- I should be good to go from about 1PM
06:14 T- We can meet up at Kozakura’s place
06:15 T- I gotta give her back the book I borrowed
06:17 S- You read?
06:17 T- (｡•́︿•̀｡)
06:17 T- That’s rude
Yawning, I rested my head on the table. It’s not like we rarely texted each other, or anything. After that day in June, though, we’d been texting a lot more, and a lot more freely.
Good morning, good afternoon, good night, did you already eat? Wanna hang out? When are you free?
Look, look, I found something funny. This reminded me of you. Remember that one place? We should check it out again.
Today was a lot of fun. Today sucked. Today was so boring. Wanna do something tomorrow? Next week? Right now?
Haven’t seen you all week, miss you. Haven’t seen you all day, miss you.
Love you.
…Love you, too.
…Yeah, instant messaging is pretty great, huh. If she could see how red I was right now, I’d be stuck getting teased all day.
I sat up straight as I sighed. I must be going crazy, because that honestly didn’t sound too bad. Glancing at my phone, I realized I forgot to reply while I was daydreaming.
06:21 T- Well?
06:22 S- Sure
06:23 S- I guess I can wait for you there, then
06:23 T- Good
06:23 T- It’s a date!
I groaned.
06:25 T- Ok
06:25 T- I’ll get to work
06:25 T- See you soon~
06:26 S- Hold on
06:26 S- What’s the occasion, anyway?
06:27 S- The way you said it earlier made me think I forgot we made plans or something
06:27 T- ?
06:27 T- Doesn’t your break start today, too?
…Huh?
06:29 S- Break?
06:29 T- Summer break
06:29 T- Vacation
06:33 S- I guess it does
06:33 T- Right?
06:33 T- So we’re hanging out
06:34 T- That’s what summer break is for, right?
06:34 T- Anyway, see you soon!
06:39 S- Yeah, see you.
I stared at my phone until the screen went dark. I put it back down on the table. It hadn’t actually gotten any quieter in the room, given that it was as quiet as it ever got to begin with, but the silence felt a touch heavier than before.
Right. Today was the first day of summer break. I knew that.
Slowly, I got up, and glanced around my room. The sunlight was beating against the curtains - we talked for a lot longer than I expected. I turned off the ceiling light, and let the sunlight in. I opened the window, and leaned against the windowsill.
Last year, we spent a good chunk of our summer vacation dealing with the Otherside. Between the Ninja Cats, testing out our AP-1, and getting our insides munched on by the Kotoribako, I didn’t have much time to stop and think.
…Honestly, even with all the drama, it was a pretty great summer break.
I sighed. So, what’s this, then? I have over a month to spend with Toriko however I’d like. There’s no drama, no phenomena after us, nothing looming over the horizon. I don’t have to worry about any hauntings, kidnappings, or… anything, really. To top it all off, it’s our first break after we got together.
The only responsibilities I have for the next month or so is a small pile of schoolwork.
Summer break is for hanging out.
It is, right? I don’t disagree with how Toriko put it. Even as awkward as I am, I can (slightly begrudgingly) admit I’m over the moon at the idea of spending all break with Toriko. I know I’m happy about it.
I know I’m happy, so why do I feel so weird about it?