We actually get through homework and chores fairly quickly.
Some of that is probably Sakuragi-kun helping out.
Another part is Mama keeping us on track.
But in my mind?
It’s to get us closer to sleepover time that much faster.
Because guess what?
We’re having a sleepover!
That…
That definitely makes us friends, right? Sakuragi-kun and me?
Yeah!
Totally!
No doubt!
Case finally closed!
And now all those stupid questions that kept bugging me?
They can just—poof!—disappear.
Just like the chores.
In other words—
Now we can move on to the fun part of the evening.
“Then my Battling Boxeon will drop-kick your Pikaloog, and I win the game!”
“What?!”
Sakuragi-kun flits his eyes over the mess of cards spread out on the floor between us and gapes like they personally betrayed him.
“I mean, you kind of walked right into it,” I grin. “Maybe I need to teach you Yugimon like you teach me baseball.”
He glowers at me. “Ha ha ha. You just got lucky.”
“Maybe a little bit,” I concede. “But you were also so busy trying to deal with my dragons—”
“Your strongest threats.”
“—and wipe out my hand—”
“To avoid surprises.”
“—that you just ignored my Eeveeboh entirely. So you didn’t see my evolution card coming at all.”
Sakuragi-kun gives an affronted huff.
“How do you know I didn’t see it coming?” he asks.
“Well, did you?”
“…No.”
“See? Sooo easy to read.”
Sakuragi-kun’s face pinks, and it makes my victory all the sweeter—
At least for a second.
Until I’m reminded of our time back at the pond—
Sakuragi-kun’s laughter faltering. Fading away entirely.
Right.
‘Easy to read’.
“Are you two done yet?” Shizuka-nee groans from the couch nearby.
“We just finished,” I say. “Didn’t you hear me say ‘I win the game’?”
I peek at Sakuragi-kun, who rolls his eyes.
Shizuka-nee scoffs. “Sorry, I was busy doing something interesting. Like staring into the void.”
I snort. “You were lying on the couch complaining is what you were doing.”
“And now I’d like to be doing something else!” she says. “Maybe something all three of us can do?” She looks between Sakuragi-kun and me.
“I vote for more void-staring, personally,” Sakuragi-kun says. “You can have as many people as you want for that.”
“Can you, though?” I say. “How can you even tell if we’re staring at the same void?”
“True…” Sakuragi-kun concedes.
Shizuka-nee lets out a huff. “Oh my gosh—focus, dorks!”
Sakuragi-kun and I grin at each other for one last second before I play nice.
“What about a game?” I ask.
“A slow, boring game?” Shizuka-nee asks. “Or, like, a cool, fast, exciting game?”
“Like what?” Sakuragi-kun asks.
“I don’t know. Something without, like, a million stupid rules.”
“You don’t like Yugimon—we get it,” I laugh.
She just ignores me.
“Or we could watch something,” she says instead.
“At this hour?” Sakuragi-kun asks. “We’ll probably fall asleep halfway through.”
“We can just pick something short!”
“Or,” I say, “we could just—”
“Alright, that’s enough for tonight.”
We all freeze.
Mama’s standing in the doorway, drying her hands on a towel like she’s been there the whole time.
“You three have school in the morning,” she continues. “Sakuragi-kun, let’s get you a futon. Ren, is it okay if Sakuragi-kun sleeps in your room?”
I start to agree, but Shizuka-nee cuts in.
“Wait!” she tries. “Maybe we can all just… sleep out here. That way you can still keep an eye on us, right?”
She looks at me for back-up.
I look at Sakuragi-kun.
“I mean…” he says, shrinking a bit. “If that’s okay.”
“It’s not,” Mama says. “That’s not appropriate, Shizuka—you know that.”
Shizuka-nee glowers at Mama, who doesn’t flinch.
Eventually, Shizuka-nee just shoots up from the sofa.
“…Fine,” she snaps.
She stomps towards the door, only whirling around at the last minute to jut a finger at Sakuragi-kun.
“But you better come back!” she yells and then vanishes down the hall.
There’s a second of silence.
Sakuragi-kun looks to me.
I look to Mama.
Mama watches the hallway for a second.
Lets out a quiet breath.
Then she turns back to us.
“Alright,” she says. “Ren? Is your room okay?”
It takes me a second to remember what she’s even talking about, but then it clicks.
“Oh! Yes!” I respond. “That’s more than fine.”
“Good.” She nods to me once. “You can have first shift in the bathroom then. Sakuragi-kun, let’s go get you a futon.”
“Sure,” Sakuragi-kun says. “Let me just—”
“I’ve got your cards,” I say. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Oh!” he gives me a little grin. “Thanks!”
I give him a nod and watch them walk out, then I turn to picking up the cards.
Cleaning up the cards is my first time alone for most of the day, and by the time I make it to the bathroom my brain has gotten… busier.
I flick on the light.
Run the tap.
Splash some water on my face.
It’s cold.
Reminds me of falling into the pond with…
With the others.
The memory flows forward without my permission.
Fall.
Recovery.
Sakuragi-kun… laughing.
I scrub at my cheeks a little harder than I need to, then reach for my toothbrush.
It doesn’t matter.
We had fun!
I know we did.
And now that we’re definitely friends, we can all have fun again.
Heck, maybe even more sleepovers! Ones where we don’t have to wake up for school the next day.
I start brushing, watching myself in the mirror.
The memory keeps playing.
Sakuragi-kun laughing.
I spit into the sink, rinse, then lean over the basin for a second longer than necessary.
What actually happened out there?
He was fine—
The happiest I’ve ever seen him—
And then…
He wasn’t.
It… it wasn’t anything I did, was it?
…No, that can’t be. I was still barely out of the pond.
And besides, he didn’t seem super attentive to anything when he was lying there laughing.
So then…
What was that?
Does it only happen for laughter or happiness or whatever?
Or does it work for other feelings too?
Maybe like…
Friendship?
I grab a towel and press it to my face, breathing in and out until my chest stops hurting.
I sit on the edge of my bed, staring at the floor.
My leg won’t stop bouncing.
I grab my pillow and pull it into my lap, kneading my fingers into it.
With any luck it’ll turn out to be a magic effigy of me that just needs a massage.
…Signs so far point to ‘no, it’s not’.
Thud.
The door slides open, and in walks… a futon with human legs.
“Hey,” the walking futon says in Sakuragi-kun’s voice. “Sorry that took a bit. The futon still needed a minute in the dryer.”
“It’s okay,” I say.
The futon gets dumped unceremoniously on the ground, and—surprise!—it actually was Sakuragi-kun all along.
He grins at me, then reaches up and flicks off the overhead light, leaving my bedside lantern as the last source of light in the room.
I watch—hopefully not obviously—as he kneels down and unfolds his futon.
But the whole time he doesn’t look back at me once.
I hug my pillow tighter.
Soon he finishes and sits on his futon, cross-legged and facing me.
Now I’m the one who looks away.
Silence.
“…You should run more Pikaloogs,” I tell the pillow in my lap.
“Already maxed out,” Sakuragi-kun answers.
“Alternatives?”
“Nothing with the same energy efficiency.”
“Hmm,” I say, and the room goes silent again.
“…We can figure it out tomorrow,” he says finally.
“…Yeah.”
He settles back, arms behind his head.
“Night,” he says, and—
…Message received, I guess.
“You too,” I answer.
Then reach over and click my lamp off, dropping the room into darkness.
For a second, everything is quiet.
I don’t say anything.
He doesn’t say anything.
Then my leg starts bouncing again under the covers.
He was fine, and then he wasn’t.
I don’t…
What do I…
How do I…
“You okay?” Sakuragi-kun asks, plunging me back into my body.
“Huh?”
“Your, um… your bed was shaking. So I wasn’t sure… if…”
…Huh?
It takes me a second to realize what he’s implying, and… then…
Oh.
…Oh.
“Oh my gosh, no!” I rush out as my face heats.
I push my legs together to hold them still, and the squeaking stops.
“Sorry, my leg just shakes sometimes!” I rush out.
Sakuragi-kun just laughs.
“It’s okay!” he says. “I believe you.”
“Okay,” I mutter.
There’s another pause as I try (and fail) to sink into my bed.
Then—
“…Is that, like, an anxiety thing or something?” Sakuragi-kun asks eventually.
“Uh… yeah,” I say. “Something like that.”
“…Ah.”
There’s yet another silence, each one feeling more and more like a test I’m failing.
Come on, Ren.
Just ask.
Ask!
You’re just gonna keep agonizing over it until you do.
And he’s literally asking you to.
“Do you… want to talk about it?” he asks. “I mean, I know you’re thinking something—I can practically hear the gears turning in your head.”
He laughs.
I force a chuckle.
Tighten my grip on my blanket.
And…
“…Promise you won’t judge?”
“I promise,” Sakuragi-kun says, his voice still amused.
“Okay… Then…”
I take a deep breath and brace myself.
“Can I ask you something?”