Pillow Talk

Before they entered the bedroom Aida looked at him slightly embarrassed. “I'm going to put on my pajama, so please wait outside for a minute.” Michio agreed and the following minute felt like the longest he had ever endured, far longer than the down way trip in the hell elevator. Then she opened the door again and hold something in her hand. 

“These are for you... please change outside though...” It was a pair of pajamas for him. Apparently they had been there since day one. Very forthcoming... He put them on and then entered the room. As he had never dared enter it before he looked around only to see it looking as plain as the rest of the house. Even the bed sheets seemed to be white. Aida by comparison looked as cute as a button in her pink pajamas. Was he really about to sleep in the same room as her? Upon closer inspection his pajamas were blue, so even in heaven they couldn't escape some traditional gender roles...

“So... which side do you want to sleep on?” asked Aida timidly. Michio once again felt like he was totally out of his depth. Didn't you need to get married before you answered questions like this?

“Well, I'm standing on the right side, so that's fine with me...” he said hesitantly. “Okay, I was sleeping on the left side anyway, so it's alright with me.” was her answer. Then they both got into the bed and Michios heart was still racing like never before. He told himself that all he had to do was lay there and fall asleep, but the thought that he was laying in bed with the girl he loved so much was something he could hardly ignore. Instinctively he tried to position himself as far on the edge of the bed as possible and was facing the wall as well. He could hear her laying down as well.

“What did you think of today?” Michio asked. He at least wanted to get some talking done before they actually fell asleep or maybe he just wanted to distract himself from the situation he had found himself in.

“I want to go back Michio,” she answered. He could hear from her voice that she must face the wall as well. Hearing her using his given name hit him like another brick to the head. So much for getting distracted. “Why did you call me Michio, Yoshida?” Michio asked sheepishly.

Aida didn't answer for a second. “I think it's weird to share a bed with someone and call them by their last name. That's all.”

“Oh okay. Can I call you Aida then?” he asked. Saying her name already wore him out.

“Yes, please.” Michio couldn't see it, but her face turned red as well.

“So you want to go through with it?” Michio wanted to get back to the topic at hand.

“Yes.” Aida said. “But how about you?” Michio hesitated. What should he answer? He wanted to help Aida, but after what they had seen today he wasn't sure he could go through with it.

“Doesn't it bother you to either doom yourself or even your child to what we saw today?” Michio couldn't bring himself to say our child, even though that was what they were talking about ultimately. To his surprise he could hear her sob suddenly.

“I miss my family so much Michio. I really don't care about the consequences.” she said, her voice sounding very frail. “But I know there is nothing in it for you, so I understand if you don't want to do it.” she added.

“It's not like I don't want to do it. I want to help you. But I don't like the idea that we go back and then we are just like we were before and we both get to 30 and are doomed to be in hell forever.” Michio just said outright what he was thinking. “If I knew at least that we could be together back in our old life I wouldn't even complain about going to hell.”

After he said that he could hear movement on her side of the bed and when he turned around himself he found that they were suddenly facing each other and very closely at that. He noticed how nice she smelled and he had a very hard time focusing on anything else all the sudden.

“What if I told you that I like you Michio?” Aida said in a very bashful tone of voice and with a blushing face to go along with it. Michio couldn't believe what he was hearing. She did like him after all? Or did she just say it to make him go along?

“I would like to believe you, but it's hard for me after you always acted like you hate me. Especially now that you have a reason to make me believe that you love me after what I said earlier.” He didn't know whether he was just making the biggest mistake of his after life, but he felt like he needed to say what was in his heart if they ever wanted to have a future of any kind together.

Aida kept looking at his face and he did likewise. “I understand you Michio. I'm sorry I treated you this way. And I didn't actually like you for the longest time. But since we are here you were the only person I could rely on and you were always there for me, so...” She didn't finish the sentence but Michio got what she was trying to say. So those moments when he felt they were getting closer were actually real? It was still hard to believe for him.

“I want to believe you so much Aida it hurts. But...” He didn't finish his sentence either. What was he even trying to say?

“How about starting tomorrow I try to show you how much I actually love you Michio?”

Her suggestion set his brain ablaze again. What was that supposed to mean now? How would she go about that?

“O-Oh, okay Aida. That sounds good...” He was just blabbering nonsense at this point. But Aida seemed to enjoy his reaction very much. “I'm happy you like the idea. So starting tomorrow I will prove to you how much I want to be your girlfriend.” Having said that she turned around to her side of the bed again and he could hear her giggle. What was going on now? He turned to his side of the bed again as well and closed his eyes to actually try to fall asleep. This situation actually was turning more absurd by the minute. But of course he couldn't fall asleep that easily. How could she ever make him fully believe that she was actually in love with him? Even in their old life, didn't you always need to hope that the other person wasn't faking it? And now there was so much on the line... But at the same time her saying that she liked him made him feel as happy as he had ever been and he wanted to believe her with every fiber of his being. Despite this the fear of her turning around after they came back to life was something so frightening that he didn't even want to consider it... When he actually fell asleep he was imagining what Aida would do for him...