Chapter Text
2:46am.
Akari’s tiny digital alarm clock displayed a disturbingly late - or early - time in bright green numbers. Despite seeing this clearly, she checked her phone, too - just in case.
2:54am.
Maybe the little clock was past its best before date.
School began in 6 hours: the first day of the new academic year.
What the fuck am I going to do if I continue to lay awake until these ungodly hours?
It isn’t like she wasn’t trying to sleep. In fact, she did everything she should’ve done – no devices before bed, drink warm milk before sleeping, don’t eat heavily late at night – yet, she still lay awake. Unfortunately, this was something she had become accustomed to. Over the past few years, she had probably slept a fraction of that of the average teenage girl. She got tired, of course, but she just couldn’t sleep. Thankfully, her school grades didn’t slip – they were average, and remained average.
Deciding against fooling herself into another fruitless attempt at slumber, she swung her legs around, and found her slippers. Her bedwear wasn’t necessarily fit for outside, but it wasn’t particularly lewd, either, so she kept her shorts and oversized t-shirt on.
She crept to the front door, not wanting to wake her irritatingly deeply sleeping mother, whose rest comes to her far more easily than for Akari. She was extremely thankful for her mom, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be a bit of a nag sometimes. She worked early until late, and it was rare they got to spend much time together. But, she sent her to school, and always managed a smile - no matter how forced - when they did speak. So, for that, she was content.
Akari slipped her feet into the trainers she had left “lying around”, as her mom would say, and she gently opened the door.
The streets were empty and the air was cold. A strong breeze wrapped around her bare legs and animated her flowing muddy hair. The moon shone brightly, illuminating the lusciously blue night sky. Despite the area being supposedly famous for its night skies, the stars hid behind a thick cloud of light pollution. It was sad to think of how beautiful the sky could've been, but there was no point in dwelling on it.
She didn’t mind being alone, but what worried her is the prospect that, on one of her midnight walks, she won’t be. To conquer this fear, she placed some earbuds in, scrolling on her phone to find some appropriate music. Landing on some generic pop song, she matched her walking pace to the beat, and set off. Turning right to go up her street, she walked past her best friend Sayori’s house. She attended the same school, and, since they were neighbours, they walked together each day. Well, at least they did last year, so Akari saw no reason that it would change this year. Going further and further, her mind remained focussed on one thing: she needed to join a club. She put it off all of last year, and she knew her mom - and Sayori, for that matter - would hate for her to end up as a NEET; she worked so hard for her, so making the most out of her second year at Mikishima High School is what she needed to do. However, despite this, she had never really shown any interest in any of the ones that have been offered to her. She didn’t even really have any hobbies. Sure, she read manga and watched anime, but the last place she wanted to end up is in a place full of freaky, pungent men, which is what the reality of those clubs would be. She didn’t care about sports, and she knew joining a cooking club would just make her put on weight. Although, she guessed she would be able to make some new friends there, or maybe even a– well, that’s true for all the clubs. Come to think of it, Sayori had a club. She was fairly sure that it was new, and that Sayori had even helped set it up. It was…reading, or book club, or something like that. Not quite her thing, and she didn’t think it was Sayori’s, either. She had been asked to join, but she just didn’t think she’d enjoy it, much to Sayori’s displeasure. Clearly, she did care about where she ended up, enough to be picky, she supposed. Oh well – it was far too late to be thinking about such stupidly deep things.
She let out a sigh, the weight of such a huge decision resting heavily on her shoulders.
Her music continued to boom in her ears. She closed her eyes, allowing her legs to take her forward on the dark street without having to make another conscious decision on where to go. She knew that she was passing the old couple’s house, and that the convenience store was nearby. She knew these streets so well. She had lived here for her whole life, and she tended to walk a lot; it helped her to clear her mind.
She opened her eyes to see she had drifted off the path and into the road. She stood still, feeling the breeze in her long brown hair that swept and swished around her. One of her earbuds had fallen out, so she mustered up the motivation to reach down and grab it.
As she was bent over, a loud screech of tires harassed her naked ear, harmonising uncomfortably to create a cacophony with the song playing in her left ear. She stood up, and quickly spun round to be face to face with a car speeding towards her, only metres away. But, for some reason, she stayed still, facing it.
Panic clouded her vision as headlights blinded her. She couldn’t move.
One distinct thought lingered in her mind:
I am going to die - alone, and terrified.
She tried to open her mouth to shout, to do anything - but nothing came out. In fact, it was barely even open before she felt the sharp and sudden force of being aggressively knocked over all over her body.
Landing on the concrete with a heavy thump , she half expected to be dead – to be wholly incorrect about heaven, and the afterlife, and ghosts-
But, she opened her eyes to see a figure on top of her, their face hidden by the lack of light. Akari could only make out that the figure was, for one, quite light, and breathing heavily.
The car sped off, making the same ugly sound as before, and she snapped her head over to watch it go.
“MPZY 967” said the figure, whose voice was distinctly feminine.
“Remember that – it’s the plate number.”
The girl stood up, holding out her hand.
“Are you okay?” she asked, still out of breath, as Akari took her hand and allowed herself to be pulled up.
“Y-Yeah- I think so.” The brown haired girl replied.
“Good– you could’ve died back there.”
Akari moved backwards, the lamppost giving them some light.
“Yeah, I thought I had. Thank god for you, Miss..?”
The girl stepped into the light, brushing herself off.
“Monika. Just Monika.”
“ Monika ?”
“Oh my god - Akari ?”
Monika’s coral hair shone in the artificial light. She also attended Mikishima, and was in the same year as Akari; last year they had a couple of classes together, and this year they had…geography, maybe. Akari would have to check her timetable to double check.
“I can’t believe it’s you! And I just saved your life - ha!”
Monika’s humour was appreciated, but her presence just gave Akari a question – what was debate club star Monika doing out at three in the morning?
“Yeah, you did…ha- this is so crazy. I would have been dead, if it weren’t for you. But, what are you doing out so late, anyways?” Akari asked, her hands still shaking from almost getting killed.
“Well, I get pretty bad insomnia, and I tend to go on walks to, like, clear my head.” Monika replied, looking almost shameful at the fact.
“Wow. The exact same here. I can’t believe we haven’t crossed paths before, actually.”
“I did go a bit further than I usually would today…so that’s probably why. I’m glad I did, though.” she let out a chuckle, her emerald eyes seemingly fixated on Akari.
Monika always carried a certain grace with her wherever she went. It didn’t matter if she was changing classes or taking notes - she always acted like she belonged . And for that, Akari was in awe. Of course, as well as that, Monika was absolutely beautiful; perfect grades, perfect hair, perfect features: many boys had asked her out, but she didn’t have a boyfriend for whatever reason. But this version of Monika was a bit…different. Of course, she was as helpful as ever, but she looked exhausted . Despite being a little taller than Akari, she was hunched over and she looked run down - no pun intended. The usual bow in her hair was replaced by a basic hair tie, and her perfectly ironed school uniform was now a jumper and joggers.
“Yeah…I didn’t think you lived close.” Akari replied, her eyes scanning Monika.
“Well, let me walk you back. I’d rather you not get almost run over again.” she flashed Akari a smile, hints of the usual Monika shining through.
“Okay - I live this way.”
They left the scene of the almost-crime, and began to walk to Akari’s house. Their journey wasn’t too long, and was rather quiet. Clearly, they both had a lot on their minds, and not a lot in common.
Eventually, they arrived.
“Well - this is where I live. And thank you, again, for saving my life.” Akari bowed deeply.
“You don’t need to thank me, honestly, And you should try and get some sleep; we’ve got school today.”
Akari smiled at her.
“Are you sure you’ll be okay to walk back? It’s quite the journey…” Akari’s concern was well placed, given that she had nearly died, and didn’t want to see her saviour undergo the same fate.
“I will be fine. Thank you for your concern.” Monika replied, her eyes meeting Akari’s once more.
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”
“Yes - goodnight, Akari.”
“Goodnight, Monika.”
Akari waved to her as she walked away, and closed the door.
Trudging upstairs, she felt her eyes get heavy.
4:29am
Her mom’s alarm would go off in half an hour; she was glad that she hadn’t woken her. She doesn’t know about Akari’s late-night walks, and she would certainly be reluctant, at best, to let her continue them after tonight.
Pushing her mom out of her mind, Akari set an alarm for the next day. For the first time in a while - and for only three hours - she closed her eyes, and slept as soon as she hit the pillow.