”Wake up.”

Megumi squeezed her eyes shut tighter.

“Mmmmmdonwanna”

The whispering voices persisted.

“Please, wake up.”   ”We need you.”

She clenched her teeth in annoyance.

“Please, just one more hour.”

Yesterday had been the worst day of twenty-six-year-old Megumi Furukawa’s entire life. She knew she couldn’t avoid facing the shattered pieces forever.

But …

One more hour of sleep. One more hour of escape in dreams.

“Please, you must wake up.”  “You’ve slept for so long.”   “We’ve been calling for ages.” 

Megumi burrowed her face into thick, satiny sleeves, hoping to drown out the voices.

Wait, sleeves?

“Oh, right,” she grumbled. “Family.”

Of course she’d be sleeping in modest clothing. Her parents and older sister were staying here in her Tokyo apartment after rushing from Saitama to visit the hospital where Hikaru had been taken. Megumi couldn’t exactly flit about in the light, airy lingerie she preferred.

“But why does everything feel so heavy?”

Her unfamiliar outfit was bulky and restrictive. It felt more like her sister’s old kendo gear than pajamas. It certainly wasn’t the comfortable business suit she’d stormed around in all day yesterday. The feathery blanket her parents must have provided felt equally strange.

“My Lady, please.”   “We desperately need you.”

‘My Lady’?

“Mom, dad, stop being so dramatic. You too, Natsumi. Or did my best friends from high school stop by? Whoever it is, I’m not in the mood for pranks.”

Megumi dearly loved her family and friends. She still didn’t feel like any theatrics right now.

“Unless my stupid brother’s condition has gotten worse or my equally stupid boyfriend is calling to apologize, you all can manage fine without me.”

The whispered voices switched to arguing quietly with each other, just below intelligibility.

Megumi took a deep breath of oddly musty air and sighed.

“Hmm, I never realized my bedroom floor was this hard and smooth. I must have fallen asleep before reaching the futon.”

Thankfully, the whispering voices had faded.

Megumi was now alone with her thoughts and the darkness.

Too bad she was far too agitated for sleep.

“Oh Hikaru, why must you meddle in my life so much?”

Megumi sniffled sadly at the memory of her twin brother Hikaru lying in that hospital bed, beaten and broken. His new bride knelt beside him, sobbing and heavy with child.

“I told you I could handle all my work drama. You didn’t have to rush from Nishi to Minato. And why did you confront Mr. Yamada by yourself? We both saw those two thuggish friends he had with him. Now you’ve made things worse for everyone, especially Ayumi. If she loses that baby, I swear I might just kill you myself.”

Not that Megumi would ever do such a thing. She didn’t want to miss becoming ‘the cool auntie’ or make her beloved new sister-in-law even more distraught.

“And thinking about marriage and children, why are you so against my dating Kaito? Granted, an aspiring pop singer isn’t ideal husband material. And yes, he flirts way too much with his fans. But what’s wrong with my having fun while we’re still young?

“It’s not like you were a model boyfriend. I know Ayumi’s parents and ours had to pressure you into making the right decision. You had no right to lecture Kaito like that. And then you threatened him, all to ‘protect’ me? Ugh, I still can’t believe it!

Indignation welled up in Megumi’s chest.

“I’m a mature woman who can make decisions for herself. Besides, I make enough money to support the two of us if need be.”

‘MADE enough money,’ her treacherous brain reminded her. ‘And don’t call yourself ‘mature’ right after saying you’re ‘still young’.’

Megumi sighed, reluctantly acknowledging her own inner honesty.

“But it’s going to be alright, really. My Supervisor and Department Head both hinted they’d help me. Mr. Yamada’s father is only one member of the board. I may have to switch companies and start over without my research, patents, or promotions, but I’ll do fine.”

She relaxed as reality started bending back toward her favor.

“And Kaito said, ‘I have to go,’ not, ‘Goodbye forever’. The poor dear must have sensed that escaping to let Hikaru cool down was best. I can always reach out if he doesn’t call.”

A sense of ease washed over her.

“All I need is a little nap. I’ll start fixing things right afterwards.”

“My Lady, please wake up.”

Darn it. She’d almost drifted back to sleep.

“Seriously? I’ll be up in just a moment. I promise”

“You must be hungry.”   “You probably need a change of clothes.”    “And maybe a bath.”

Megumi scowled at the clever approach.

“No, I’m fine. Really.”

A low, cavernous rumbling growing in her empty belly said otherwise. The itchy, dirty feeling spreading over her body wasn’t helping.

Rrrrrrr.

“GREAT LADY MEGUMI, HELP ME! PLEASE, I BEG YOU!”

The little girl’s shrill voice was filled with an all-too-palpable terror.

Megumi was instantly awake and pawing desperately at her surroundings.

“My glasses! Damn it, where did I put my glasses?”

What a rotten time to have terrible vision.

Everything nearby was a shadowy blur, lit by a blinding light. Someone must’ve put some crazy bright lamp in the living room. It was blazing through the bedroom doorway …

Wait, a door of light?

Megumi lifted herself from the floor, the search for her glasses forgotten. The feathery blanket covering her itching back parted and pulled away.

Any brief trepidation was swept away as she remembered that anguished plea.

Megumi pushed herself resolutely toward the light.

“Hold on, dear one. I’m coming!”