Shiratori Haruto
“So, Haruto, how is your life right now? Do you feel excited and adventurous here?”
“… Not really.”
***
Isekai’d
Written by Dhruv Pabreja
***
My eyes suddenly opened again. It was dark all around, with some faint shiny light coming in from the back side. I moved my eyes up and looked at the window by my head. I was lying on the ground in the darkness, my right arm upon my forehead, my dark eyes open, and my body covered with the white blanket. I turned my head to the left, and looked at Itsuki sleeping soundly with his head and body tilted towards me.
“Must be another nightmare…”
I twisted my body the other way, my eyes partly closed.
“Psst, Haruto?”
I turned my narrowed eyes to the back and looked at Itsuki, who was wide awake. “What happened, pal?” I asked in my coarse sleepy voice.
“Are you also not able to sleep?” Itsuki asked. “Let’s pass time.”
I looked at his smiling face—which was shining a little because of the faint light falling directly at him—for a second, and then I turned my body over to his side again. “Why can’t you sleep, by the way?”
He shrugged a little. “Dunno. I don’t really have a habit of sleeping early at night. I never slept before two in the night, so I guess that’s why.”
“Damn, sleep early, pal. It’s not good for health,” I frowned a little.
“Yeah yeah, but I love my games,” He said with a huge grin. “Man, I miss my video games!”
“Huh?” I squeaked. “Don’t you miss anything else? Like, you know, some kind of person or something?”
Itsuki turned his head up with a little painful smile, and said, “Did I have anyone of my own there, except you?” I looked at his painful eyes and smile for a second in silence. For that silent second, it was just my eyes staring at his ones, which were facing up. He then turned his head left at me again and replied, “I’d have missed you if you were not here. But, here you are, right beside me, man.” He then turned his head up again and said, “And don’t remind me of that shitty life with those shitty people there. I wanna start afresh.”
I continued looking at him for some time, and then turned my head up too. I moved my right arm up on my forehead again. “But… I miss that world a lot.”
Itsuki turned his eyes left at me.
I smiled a little with my trembling lips, and said in a painful voice, “I miss my mom, I miss my school, I miss my home, I miss your home, I miss me passing time, I miss me sitting in front of the television, doing nothing, I miss me playing at the park, I miss me playing videogames at your home, I miss preparing for the exams, I miss the excitement after being promoted to a higher class, I miss me… just chilling and having fun.” I moved my arm a little down and covered my eyes with my arm. “Don’t you miss the old cozy life we’ve had? I know it was boring. I know it was not full of action or adventure. I know it was purposeless. But… I was happy… content… and peaceful.”
Itsuki looked at me emotionally, took out his right hand from inside the blanket, and patted on my shoulder. “I… don’t even know shit about consoling people, as you know.”
“It’s fine, pal,” I tried to act normal. “I just wanna get back home now.”
“I wanna get you back home soon too.”
I turned my head at him, and looked at his caring eyes and the warm smile. There were tears on the edges of my eyelids. I closed my eyes, and some tears dropped out. I moved my head up again, and covered my eyes with my arm.
He patted my shoulder again. “Man, come on now!”
“We used to be so close. We knew exactly about each other’s behaviors, about each other’s actions, and their reasons. But that night, when we talked, it felt like… it’s been days. It felt like we’d met after years. That conversation… was a little special. It helped me a little in these hard days. Well, I don’t really know if I should take it as something positive to negative, but… I’d like to join in their fun. Again. Like nine years ago.”
“Don’t cry like some kid, man. S-Stop crying, man,” The voice of Itsuki was faintly heard in the dark sky full of sparkling stars and the big round moon at one side.
***
“I still remember that night. It gave me a slight feeling that… everything… from now… will be alright. But… it was just a fake lie I’d told to myself, by trying to cling over something which was destined to drown. After that day, we continued practicing, and Itsuki was still close to Ichika and Airi, ignoring me and my feelings completely. We used to talk at night for like a week. I cried with someone beside me. I’d talk about how I miss my home and my people, and he’d always try to give me lectures about why this place too is good, how I’m just ‘not able to fit in’ within this world. But, those nights too… slowly faded away. We got busy with our training, came to bed tired, and he slept within seconds. I’d cry at night alone… again.”
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