When I opened my eyes, I saw a cute face. A cute face with big round eyes and short black hair was peering at my face. She was so close to my face that even her short hair was grazing my cheeks gently. “Umm…” With my eyes half-open, I spoke. My voice came out hoarser than I expected. “Oh? You awake?” She said, blinking her eyes in surprise. But, she didn’t move an inch. Her face was still over my face. I could see her big round eyes and my face reflected in those eyes. “It’s pretty bad, eh?” I brought my hand closer to my face. Instead of the usual soft touch, I felt a rough and porous sensation on touching my face. “Yes. It is pretty bad.” There was a bit of force in her voice. She was smiling though her eyes weren’t. “Why are you getting angry?” “I am not.” “Yes, you are.” “No.” “Yes.” “Stop pouting.” “I am not.” “Yes. You are.” “No.” “Listen here, first get your face off me. You are close. Like, uncomfortably so.” She suddenly held my head with her hands and brough

I took the stairs and reached my floor. I inserted the key card and opened the door. I looked around inside the room. There was no one inside. I slowly walked to the sofa. There was no one sitting on the sofa. I placed my bag there. I was feeling thirsty. Taking stairs to reach the fourteenth floor in this heat had drained me of water and energy. I went to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and took out a canned drink. The can was cold to the touch. I placed the can against my neck and the coldness cooled off my brain and body. I pried open the can with a plop sound and gulped it down entirely. “Kage.” Did I just hear someone call my name? Inside my room? There was no one inside this room so no way anyone will call my name. “Auditory hallucinations.” Maybe the scorching heat was the reason for this. I need to be careful and not let the heat affect me. Someone poked my shoulders from behind. Did I just feel someone touching me? Inside my room? There was no one inside this room

“I don’t like this.”This place that reeks of that woman and her deeds. This place. Full of nothing but whites. I don’t like this. It is in stark contrast to what I am; full of darkness. Pitch black. Being in the hospital makes me realize the difference between me and the world. And although we are complete opposites, I always find myself in this room.“Opposites attract, huh?”I slowly got up from the bed, supporting my weight with my hand.As I tried to sit upright, a pain shot up from my lower abdomen region. I raised the somewhat blue and somewhat green-looking hospital dress for the patients and looked at the source of the pain.“This looks bad.”There was a thick layer of bandage wrapped all over and traces of numerous cuts could be seen here and there. I looked around my body and found that many places in my body were wrapped in bandages. “This is worsening.”After every visit to the hospital, the graveness of my wounds and injuries keeps on getting worse. “Maybe I will die i

Two weeks later, I was discharged from the hospital.I had been worried that that woman might visit me but thanks to god I didn’t encounter her. So, although the stay this time in the hospital was long, it wasn’t unpleasant by any means. I stayed in bed all day and all night without doing anything at all. My food was served on the bed and I got to taste Nakamura’s homemade food as well. They were all delicious. And! The most amazing part! I got to read books all the time! In these two weeks, I finished all thirty-two volumes of the ‘Irregular at the Magic Highschool’. Quite a feat if I say so myself.Well, the point is that I won’t be able to continue this life of luxury from now on.Thinking about that soured my mood.However, there was another matter that soured my mood even more. That was the upcoming term examinations. I had missed two weeks’ worth of classes because of my injury and as a result, was quite behind the others. Though I won’t have trouble reading all of that, when I

In a café in the busy city of Shibuya, three people were enjoying their drinks in silence while watching the outside world rush past.Among the three, one of them was a teenager.She was wearing a skirt with alternate blue and white lines running down that had a long flowy tail on the back end while it ended short on her knees at the front. Paired with flat, brown sandals, it gave her a simple but beautiful look.Right in front of her was a man in his forties. With a plain white t-shirt and a simple pair of blue jeans, he was the embodiment of simplicity but his handsome features made even those simple clothes seem like something valuable.On his left was a woman. Similar in age to the man. She was wearing a dress similar to that of the teenage girl but it was a bit mature with the color selection being black and the front part a bit more open. Although the woman was in her early forties, her looks and sharp eyes made her look somewhere in her early thirties.The man put the cup in hi