Chapter 18 - Eyes Wide Open

After spending my time staring at the ceiling for an hour.

AHHHHHHH!!!! I FREAKING CAN’T DO IT ANYMORE!!!

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO SLEEP LIKE THIS!!!

I took a glance at my right.

AND SHE’S SLEEPING QUIETLY?

Ahhhhh… What am I supposed to do… It’s probably like 10 pm in the night…

I turned my face back to the ceiling, still couldn’t think of anything to spend the rest of the night.

Sleeping together with a girl that I just met is just too much even for me. I think I should be glad that she looked like a fire to me, and not an actual human being.

BUT IT DOESN’T MAKE IT FINE EITHER!!!

I sighed deeply. “Ah… How am I supposed to spend the rest of the night like this…” I whispered. Without anything to do, I took another peak, watching her as she slept.

It felt odd to see a live fire sleeping on the bed.

She was hiding beneath the blanket that covered her fire. But since the fire was actually small, I thought it was supposed to be somewhere near her chest.

I’m a skeleton.

And she’s a fire.

I still wonder what’s the reason why I see people as fire. It just doesn’t make any sense to me. Some looked like red, and for some reason, Amara actually looked like yellow.

She was orange just recently, but now she’s yellow…

I paused and pondered, then I remembered that Amara’s fire color was also red the first time we met each other, which is the same as others.

What is that supposed to mean? I asked myself.

“…hmmm…” she muttered.

OH CRAP!!! I immediately turned my face back to the ceiling.

“S…shade? Are you okay?” she asked.

“Y-yeah I’m fine.” I stammered.

She chuckled softly. “I’m glad. Sorry that I was sleeping comfortably…”

“Why are you saying that? This is your room, it’s only natural.” I replied. “There’s nothing you should be sorry about.”

“Hehehe… But I’m happy, you know that?” she asked.

“You’re happy?”

“This is the closest I’ve been with you, and I’m happy because of it.” she answered.

“…really?”

“Yeah… I’ve been receiving too much this past few days since you arrived.”

Since I arrived?

I chuckled awkwardly. “Surely that’s not the case. I don’t remember giving something to you. And even if that was the case, I don’t think it’s enough for you to be this glad.”

“It’s enough.”

“O-oh… Is that so?”

“Do you mind if…” she whispered, and touched my hand. “…I hold your hand?”

Her finger curled around mine, it was warm. I couldn’t feel her touch, but I could feel the heat.

“You’re already holding it…”

She chuckled softly. “Is that so? So can I hold it?” she repeated.

“I don’t think my hand would be comfortable to hold…” I answered, embarrassed.

“I don’t think so… I find it comfortable to hold, and I don’t mind it.”

Ah… She really knows what to say…

“Go for it…” I said, looking away. “If you don’t mind holding the hand of a skeleton, then it’s fine.”

“It’s fine…” she yawned, holding me more tightly. “Can I sleep while holding your hand?”

“Sure.” I answered.

“Thank you…” she said.

Then she immediately fell asleep afterward, leaving me again wide eyes open in the middle of the night.

━━━►◄━━━

“Ah…” I whispered, looking out the window. The sun was finally up, and luckily my hand was freed from her hand.

Even though I was up for the whole night, I didn’t feel any tiredness, the side effect of being a skeleton. Which I’m confused about whether to think of it as a gift or a curse.

I sat up from the bed.

In any case, now that it’s morning, I still have to worry about what will happen to me now.

I turned to her, and whispered, “Still sleeping huh?”

I’m kind of jealous of how comfortable she was the whole night…

Being able to sleep sounds nice…

I sighed deeply and got out of the bed.

—BEEEEEP! BEEEEP! BEEEEP!

“Gah!” I flinched as the alarm went off, and immediately looked where the sound was coming from.

Is it coming from her? I walked to Amara and noticed that the sound was coming from her head. I looked closely and found her phone ringing beneath the pillow.

—BEEEEEP! BEEEEP! BEEEEP!

“Hmmm? Shade?” she murmured.

“Morning.” I replied, smiling at her. “It looks like it’s your time to wake up.”

“Hm…” she picked up the phone and turned off the alarm. “Can you give me a minute?”

“Yeah, sure…” I answered and went to sat on the chair on the room. As I sat, suddenly, she hid herself under the blanket.

Huh?

Then she started mumbling and making some noise. And as she said, it only took a minute before she sat up and stood up from the bed.

“Good morning!” she said.

“Good morning. You were sleeping so soundly.” I replied.

“R-really? D…did I do something?” she stammered.

“You don’t need to worry about that. You’re safe.” I answered.

“Really?” she sighed deeply. “I thought I did something bad during the night.”

“Something bad? Like what exactly?”

“I was worried that maybe I started hugging and k-kissing you.” she explained.

“Oh…” I muttered.

What…

Was she thinking about doing any of that, or what?

“I d-didn’t do anything like that, right?” she repeated, her voice was shaky.

I shook my head. “Yeah, you didn’t do anything about that. But you did ask to hold my hand, remember that?” I reminded.

“I remember that it was fun.” she said.

I guess holding hands is okay with her.

“I don’t think it’s fun though, holding my hand. It doesn’t have any skin.” I said.

“As long as it’s not bleeding then it should be fine.” she said.

“That sounds extreme, Amara…” I muttered.

She laughed. “You don’t need to say anything like that. If I wanted to hold your hand, it should be enough as a reason. You don’t need any reason for everything.

I blinked, and answered, “I guess so.”

She floated towards me. “You remember when I said that I want to help you have fun?”

I nodded.

“Then do you want to do something fun today?” she added.

“I’m not that dumb to reject that offer.” I answered.

“That’s what I wanted to hear!” she giggled.

Why did I feel that it was wrong for me to accept it…

“What exactly are we going to do?” I asked, making it clear.

“We are going to school!” she declared, her voice excited.