"I’m not even kidding, Sumire. If I go to sleep and some shaved-head psycho swings a pipe at me, I’m gonna wake up pissing myself."

Miyako stabbed at her lunch again, more aggressively now.

Sumire looked up from her drink, deadpan.
"If you piss the bed, please burn it before anyone finds out."

"Thanks for the support."

"Anytime."

Miyako sat back, running her hand down her face.

"It’s like… it’s not even the violence that’s messing with me. It’s how real the whole thing is. Like, the air, the heat, how everyone moves like they’ve got murder schedules—"

"Okay but—are they actually hot?"
Sumire asked it flatly. No smirk. No teasing. Just facts.

Miyako groaned.
"Don’t start."

"You brought it up."

"No, I brought up fear and dying. You’re the one twisting it into your weird little fantasy hour."

"It’s not a fantasy if you’re living it. And if some dream guy’s jawline has you questioning shit, just say that."

"I’m not questioning anything."

"Uh-huh. So when you said that guy with the scar had ‘silent rage and nice hands’—"

"I never said 'nice hands’."

"You implied it."

"No, I said ‘his hands looked like they’d broken teeth before.’ That’s descriptive, not thirsty."

"You said it fondly."

Miyako kicked her foot under the table.

"Okay. Maybe I noticed. That doesn’t mean anything. It’s not like I’m tryna fuck anyone in a dream where I might die."

"No, of course not. But if someone pinned you against a wall and called you boss, what then?"

Miyako dropped her chopsticks.

"Sumire."

"Just asking."

"You need therapy."

"You’re the one dreaming in HD with gangbangers. I’m just eating lunch."

Miyako looked away, muttering.

"He did have good shoulders."

"Tragic."

"And the other one had that deep voice— like chain-smoking poetry."

"You’re describing your own downfall."

"I hate this. I hate everything."

"You’re gonna fall in love and get stabbed in a dream. That’s how you go out."

Miyako picked up her carton of milk, stared at it for a second, then said under her breath:

"That’d be kinda poetic, honestly."