Open Me, Open Them

 It felt horrendous. It was oppressive. My bruise made its temporary mark on my abdomen. I regretted being weaker than I was in junior high school. Perhaps the final and entrance exams took a toll on my body at that time, and I’ve grown to be weaker.

And this pain refused to leave, restraining me to my bed. I resisted the pain as I tried to sit up, but my abdomen wanted to relax in flat comfort.

My phone alarm rang, and I crawled with my back on the bed to reach for my phone. I successfully turned off the alarm, and I held my phone above my face. My abdomen suddenly ached which made my hand numb. Then, I lost grip of my phone and dropped it onto my face. What a great way to start my morning.

Keeping myself flat on the bed, I placed one leg on the floor after the other. I turned myself to the side and pushed myself off the bed. I accomplished standing up with minimal pain.

I couldn’t move as swiftly as before to alleviate the pain. I felt like an old man struggling to get to his kitchen.

When I was about to arrive, my door rang. It was a pain to go all the way to the door from the kitchen, but I had to attend the door lest I come across as rude.

But, the door opened, and appeared by the doorstep was Reona.

“Good morning, young master. Are you awake yet?”

She didn’t know I was awake because the lights were off and the kitchen was out of sight from the doorway. So, she invited herself in and walked to the kitchen. “I guess it was a fluke that you awoke early yesterday…” From there, she saw me clutching my stomach.

“Good morning, Reona,” I greeted.

“O—Oh! You’re awake! I thought you weren’t able to wake up early this time.” She intently scanned me, focusing on my hand on my stomach. “Young master, are you alright? Does your stomach hurt?”

“Oh, no. Just ate something odd.” I slowly walked to my refrigerator to get an ice pack.

But it seemed Reona had sharp eyes, so she raised her concern, “You don’t have to hide it, young master.”

I tried to conceal the pain, “No—no, I’m really alright. I’m just thinking of taking a shower now, so if you would so kindly—”

Suddenly, she grabbed me by the shoulders and gently led me to a seat at the dining table. “That won’t do, young master. Please, wait here. I’ll take the first aid kit.”

Surprisingly, she had a strong grip. It should be expected as she has been in the housekeeping service for a few years, I thought.

I heard her enter my bathroom and take something from the cabinet. It seemed that she knew her way here as if she knew the room. But I supposed again that she should know since she was working here for a long time. But, what was she going to take from the bathroom? Was it actually—

—a first-aid kit was carried by Reona.

I didn’t know that my room offered a complimentary first-aid kit. I haven’t inspected all of the cabinets in my room yet.

“Young master, please relax,” she said as she lifted my shirt.

It has been a while since anyone else took care of me. The only other person who tended my wounds was my mother, but that has been a long time ago. Because of this, I was wracked with nervous excitement, though I didn’t know why I was excited. Perhaps I might have been starting to think of her as a mother figure.

Something warm collected in my eyes. It was mushy and made my vision blurry. I held them in since I didn’t want them to drip.

Luckily, Reona was fixated on my bruise as she carefully treated it.

I can’t believe I was about to cry. I was not sad in any way, but this body tended to be affected by psychological effects.

“Does it hurt, young master?” she said as she dabbed a wet towel on my abdomen.

“No, it doesn’t.” Though, I was holding in my feelings.

“It seems that you have forced yourself. You should lie down in bed.”

“But, I have to—”

“Young master, you can go to the rooftop anytime and talk with the old man. He won’t be gone tomorrow.”

“That’s—” Wait, how did she know? Perhaps the staff had close relationships with each other. “Don’t jinx it, Miss Reona.”

She giggled a little, “That’s not even funny. Also… ‘Miss Reona’? I’m over thirty years old, you know?”

“You are? You don’t look that old. You look like a mid-twenties woman.”

“Oh, don’t flatter me that much, young master,” she looked away and took something from the kit. “Lay still, alright? I’ll be applying this elastic tape over the bruise.”

After she did so, she brought the packed food and unwrapped it. “Sit up for me please,” she said, and I did so.

“I’ll be feeding you today.”

“What? I can do that by myself.”

“You must not force yourself, young master. And this is your reward for your flattery.”

“Usually, flatteries go unrewarded.”

“I’ll give as many rewards as you want, young master,” she winked.

After feeding me the breakfast, she made me lie down with a pillow under my spine, elevating my abdomen.

“You should rest here for a while, young master.”

“But, I have school.”

“I’ll come to pick you up when it’s time. Promise me you’ll keep still, okay?”

Me? I had to make a promise now? But I guessed she would be irritated if I didn't go along with it.

“Alright, I promise. I’ll wait for your call.”

“Thank you, young master. Now, I shall take my leave,” she bowed and promptly left the room after packing the first-aid kit and the empty plate.

Now that I lay down on my bed, having nothing to do—restricted to do nothing, I indulged in my negative, perturbing thoughts.

I thought about how I would face my classmates tomorrow. I thought about how my classmates would face tomorrow. I reimagined the bleak scenarios when I returned to the classroom. I reimagined even worse scenarios of the class president coming back for revenge—or not revenge, but to humiliate me further. Perhaps he would force me into being his slave——something worse than serving as his lackey.

I realized that I brooded all of this the night before and have only repeated what I debated with myself on that sleepless night. It was because of the pain that I was kept awake. I decided to tire my brain to ignore the pain and soon fall asleep.

I didn’t check the time, but according to my internal clock, I slept for four hours.

When that thought sank in, I felt all the more drowsy, and my mind numbed the pain. Soon enough, I took a short, energizing nap.

Then, Reona came into my room and woke me up. In an unexpected scenario, after I showered and brushed, she took upon the trouble of dressing me. This time, I wasn’t excited. Rather, I was discomfited and impatient since I felt helpless when I wasn’t.

But, I didn’t want to appear like an ingrate, so I forced myself to have a grateful attitude. It seemed that she didn’t see through me this time.

I went to my classroom by myself. I didn’t want to bother Reona in her work any further. I entered the classroom with a feeling of relief and discontent——a mixture of emotions I cannot determine the reason for. But that feeling dissipated as dread and despair set in.

I was petrified as most of my classmates’ stares were directed at me. It felt like a laser was slowly melting me, drilling a hole into my heart.

I couldn’t stand the gazes, so I dipped my head and meekly walked to my desk when a pat and an embrace around my shoulders startled me.

Then, I felt the presence of another human nearby. It was the guy who offered to pay for my lunch two days ago. I wondered what his kind soul would say to me next.

“Yo! Are you doing fine? That bastard president went too far this time. Don’t worry, your classmates are siding with you.”

I looked up, “With me?”

“I mean, all of us hate that bastard president anyway. We probably want him dead if we could! So, don’t worry about the looks——those are looks of admiration.”

“No way, admiration? You’re joking.”

“I’m not! And to prove that, I’ll tell you my name to show how serious I am!”

What did his name have to do with anything?

“Ito Takuya! Just call me ‘It’ as that’s shorter after all—just by one letter though!”

“I think I’ll still be pronouncing that as ‘Itto’ however.”

He pouted, “Don’t you have a sense of humor?”

“I think I do.”

“Then, tell me a joke!”

I couldn’t make up a joke on the spot, so I just blurted, “You.”

His eyes widened, “Eh?”

“’Cause you’re funny—anyway, can you let go of me now? My abs hurt.”

Suddenly, he laughed. “W—wha—is tha—” He was wheezing hard now. There was a certain charm to it. I was a little disappointed when he stopped. “You’re the funny guy!” He looked at my face and somehow laughed again.

It seemed that remnants of laughing gas still resided within him, so I shrugged him off and slowly sat on my seat.

Ito was persistent however and continued to strike up a conversation with me. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the mood for a talk. First off, I haven’t slept well. Though my energy returned, I feared my grumpiness would get the better of me. With patience and endurance, I constrained myself to accommodate him.

“So, about the lunch invitation, have you decided? We’d be happy if you join us, especially now that you’re sorta a celebrity!”

Me? A celebrity? It must be temporary.

“Sorry, I don’t think I can decide yet. I mean, my situation is chaotic, and I need some time to reorganize things.”

He stopped for a second. All this time, I was bowing my heavy head at intervals, so I couldn’t take a good look at his face, but when he went silent, I paid close attention.

His face seemed to be in thought. He was pondering my words about my situation and the troubles I was going through. For a second, he considered my position.

And so, he spoke, “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about your situation. You shouldn’t force yourself to decide now, but the invitation is still open, and…”

And?

“If you need…um…” he glanced away and returned. “If you need me to pay for your lunch,” he whispered, “just ask me, okay?” He left me with a bright smile.

But seriously? Lunch? What a hilarious guy.

Speaking of lunch, I was planning to make my own, but stuff went down, and it seemed that I’ll have to squander my little wealth on yet another extravagant meal.