Chapter 171 - Shadows

The two of them took a stroll around the hospital grounds, nobody spoke. A comforting silence filled the air. How strange, when she is with Yuhi - she isn't scared of the silence. Why is everything so different when she is with this person? There is nothing special about Terashima Yuhi. He is just like any other kind guy. But, she

can't help but think there is something.

'Maybe I just like him too much.' Ever since she was younger, she liked Yuhi. It's normal to think there is something different when there isn't.

"Hey, can you tell me about Mamoru?"

Sumire blinked when she heard his question. "About Ru?"

"Yeah, I don't know much about how you two met other than that story where he got furious at you."

So he knows about it, then again it is that stupid guy's fault for always getting so close to her. Indeed a stupid person. "Ru was mad about that too, but yeah, the anger directed more at Inoue than me."??e??????νel. ?om

"You two got along."

Sumire laughs lightly, "You think so? Because at the beginning I didn't really think I'd get along with him. After all, when we first met, he called me a neet and shut-in. Long story short, a lot happened, but I didn't think I'd meet him again, yet he transferred to my school, and I was surprised. He immediately recognized me and said 'hey miss shut-in', it irritated me, and so I dragged him outside and told him to forget it completely. I told him my name, and he was like, 'Then I'll call you Ki-chan, it's cute like you'."

"Too direct." Yuhi agreed. "Or rather coincidences do happen, huh?"

"I thought so too. We ended up sitting next to each other the whole year too. No matter how many times we changed seats, they would place me next to him. Even though it's a lottery so at one point Ru was like 'When it happens this many times don't you think its fate?' He said something cheesy and out loud too. Loads of people teased him straight afterward, yet that smile never faltered.

I would call him the class clown - but it seemed like something more than that. Although he was always messing around, and although the teachers scolded him, they always wore a smile on their faces. He was someone who brought everyone together, everyone was naturally attracted to him and eventually me too. Though I was stubborn to admit it at first."

Yuhi seemed to pause, and Sumire laughed. "I was stubborn, very stubborn."

"It sounds like you liked him from the start, though."

Her gaze softened. "Well, maybe. I know what you're thinking that he is similar to Shuuske. Ru is different from Shuuske, though. Those two are completely different, whenever something goes wrong - whenever someone does something bad. He doesn't hesitate at all to tell it to them straight. Once Ru was like 'Your an eyesore,' and oh there was that time too during a case. 'His own mother doesn't believe in him, then who else is he supposed to believe in? Your really horrible."

"Even to a client...unbelievable. He is quite the guy. However, he is nice a person." Yuhi sighed. "I hate to admit this, though."

Sumire laughed. "He was truly a good person."

"When I met him for the first time, he treated me like an old friend."

Ru mentioned; briefly, they were in contact, but it still felt weird. Huh...how strange she couldn't picture them as friends. Yet when she thought about it. "It was exactly like him."

Her thoughts broke off when Yuhi stopped walking. He suddenly pulled her into his arms. "I won't lose."

It was a mere three words, and yet Sumire understood what he meant by that. He won't lose, huh?

"Then, Yuhi-san, could you grant a few of my requests?"

"Hmm? You have some?"

"I would like for you to kiss me whenever we meet after parting."

His lips curve to a smile. "That I don't mind doing. But even in school?"

"Yes, please."

It makes her forget all the unpleasant feelings. It makes her feel wanted even if it is just for a fleeting second. When she is with this person, she can delude herself into thinking she is normal, and just like everybody else.

......…..

Several hours later

Sumire did not know when it started.

But she eventually slept with the lights on. At the start, it started with a small light source, the lamp. However, when she saw the small shadows where the light did not shine, she would quiver in fear. Before long, she kept the main light on, so she would wake up to brightness. But even this did little to stop the shadows she saw every night.

This did little to stop the darkness from the nightmares she saw. But it was still a better solution than before.

Her nightmares started off the same no matter what. In that dark space, covered in nothing but black. No source of light and no trace of another person. She was there, and yet at the same time, she wasn't. She could not see herself or anything else.

This is just a dream; it will go away. But that thought vanished in an instance. That thought disappeared when she realized it did not go away even after she closed her eyes. If this was a dream, should she not wake up the moment she wants it to end? But it didn't end; she would remain in that pitch-black space for a very long time.

It felt like there was something else there with her, too, something she could not see. Something frightening and something that would consume her. She has to get out of here, but how does she? She cant even wake up.

Sumire stirred awake and blinked. She read the time on her phone two am in the morning. She scanned her surroundings and noticed something; the room mainly lit up. Only some corners were dark.

Yuhi had his arms wrapped around her protectively, almost like he was shielding her from the darkness.

Her gaze softened when she saw this. So Yuhi figured it out, huh?