Bring Me Up
Chapter 2 Part 5
"Why are you even here?" I asked, taking the travel card from the receiver of the turnstile.
"Umm, because we go out at this station?"
I went through the turnstile.
"Your house is somewhere near here?"
"Something like that. Let"s go together."
If she hadn"t known my secret, then this offer would have felt nice. If she hadn"t known. I moved my legs. And acted as indifferently towards Minato as I could. In a grocery store, I bought a bento for dinner and admired an oven"s orange light. Minato flipped through a manga magazine by the counter, and I wanted to run away already, but the girl didn"t let me out of her sight. "Just one bento?" The seller asked curiously.
"So what are you buying?"
"A bento with pork ribs."
"Oh how much fat. If you eat that everyday you"ll die."
"There"s not much longer to wait."
If this girl knows my secret, then maybe it"s better to just die. I put my index and middle finger together and cut my neck with them. My fingertips quietly rubbed against my skin. My neck remained in place. I did not die, blood didn"t flow. If I really want to do this, I need to be more determined.
"Listen, how could you dare to pierce Tanabe"s hand?" I asked.
"Why so suddenly?"
"Well, just interested."
"Ah, I see. Well, it"s quite simple, she started – I fought back. You don"t expect me to tolerate her right."
This is way too simple, I thought, but didn"t say anything. Only few are capable of such simplicity.
***
I didn"t have time to notice, how I got home, to my empty castle. Minato was still walking behind me. And why?
"You live in this house?"
"And what if I do?"
"What do you mean if?"
"I thought, maybe I"ll stay here."
"Where?"
"In the home of Idzono-kun."
"Why?"
"Because I feel like it."
"Why?"
"I thought you"d ask me."
"What?"
" "Stay… My parents wouldn"t be home today," or something like that."
Afterall, it would be better to die.
I put my index and middle finger together and cut my neck, but it remained intact.
"How do you know?"
"I"ve been watching you all the time."
I moved my fingers across my neck again. And again, I did not die.
"If I just hang around anywhere tonight, Tanabe-san would definitely attack me."
Is she dumb?
"Oh, I brought a change of clothes, don"t worry." And Minato blushed.
I flipped my fingers on my neck. Everything trembled before my eyes. Has my neck finally succ.u.mbed? But no, the head is still on my shoulders. Hallucinating?
"I can"t stay?"
Yes. No. Two options.
And I understood. Even if I refuse, I"ll hear, "Oh come on". And what do I say next, "yes"? Seriously. Ahhh, sh*t. Or should I stay silent? Well, of course.
"Thanks. Sorry it"s so sudden. The more the merrier."
So the time on the answer was limited? It"s infuriating.
"M-m-m." I answered vaguely, as I turned the key in the automatic lock at the entrance.
The door opened with a buzz. Hey, aren"t you here to stop suspicious individuals from entering? The door didn"t reply, and Minato calmly walked through it. Die, stupid door. I took the mail. Called the elevator. Minato entered it. She was about to go upstairs. Die, stupid elevator.
The elevator took us to my floor. I felt as if I was sentenced to death.
"And, Idzono-kun, even though you let me stay… let"s save the s*x okay?" My executioner said.
***
I wanted to leave my own room with pa.s.sion. Having eaten the bento with pork ribs that I took for dinner, Minato went to take a shower. There was a sound of water. I didn"t understand what was going on, I furiously ruffled my hair. Minato was cleaning herself up, but nothing could help my thoughts. The water roared and roared, and then abruptly stopped.
"Can I have a hair dryer?"
Minato peaked out from the bathroom, and my heart skipped a beat. She then went out – in her white pyjamas with blue polkadots. Her long hair was wet, and her cheeks were red from the heat.
"Oh, yeah, take it, of course. To the right on the shelf."
There was a low hum of hair dryer. The drying took a lot of time, it"s probably always like this with long hair. I usually didn"t dry my short hair. Soon, Minato finally returned.
"It"s your turn."
***
When I took a shower and returned to the room, Minato was already snuffling on the bed. In contrast with the bright corridor, lit by a white lamp, my room was in semi-darkness, dispersed by an orange night light.
"Hey," I called from the door.
No answer. I knocked on the wall, which was louder than a normal gypsum panel. Bam bam bam… No answer, like before. I came into the room and I saw, under the covers on the bed, a girl with her hair tied up into two ponytails. Her shoulders rose steadily to the rhythm of her breath.
She has to be waken.
I didn"t know what facial expression she slept with. I went up to her shoulders uncertainly. In the place where her hair was separated into the ponytails, the white skin of the nape could be seen. I slowly reached for her shoulder…
I was suddenly grabbed by my wrist. I froze from the abruptness. Minato grabbed me, and then, turning over onto her side, faced me. She was looking at me, her head raised, and smiled.
"Idzono-kun…" Minato said tensely, and then with a mischievous smile asked an insidious question, "Why did you come to a sleeping girl? Will you attack me?"
What is she saying?? I shook my head.
"Then what?" Letting go of my wrist, Minato pressed her finger to her lips, and then tilted her head to the side and whispered, "Joining a girl in bed?.." She tilted her head to her shoulder again, continuing to bend that line. "Or…" She continued, moving her finger along her lips. "Or you are on a night visit, master?"
Minato pulled the sheets to her chin and waved her eyelashes invitingly.
"Sleep."
As a result, I slept on the couch.
Edited by: Akshaythedon