"Animedoro"

A hellish noise rang in my ear like a bitter siren had shifted her goals from seduction to annoyance. I turned towards the noisy lights that woke me at this ungodly hour.

“8:30”, it read. I slapped off the LED alarm and immediately started dozing off again.

Riiiiing!

I groaned. There it was, like clockwork: Seri’s promised call. Without opening my eyes, I swiped at my phone. It worked on the third try.

“Morning!” she said. “Are you still in bed?” Her voice was pleasant enough that it motivated me to sit up and stretch.

“Nope!” I answered with as much energy as I could muster.

“…are you sure? We can start in half an hour.”

I desperately stifled a yawn as I spoke. “Won’t be necessary!”

“You sound dead,” Seri half chuckled, as if she didn’t really find it funny. Did I fake it too much? I was starting to feel bad.

“Sorry for talking,” I said. “Take it away.”

Seri answered quietly. “Nono, you can keep talking. I kind of like your morning voice…” she trailed off.

“What?” I wasn’t sure I heard her correctly.

“Nothing. Did you eat breakfast?”

“I have a protein shake in the fridge. Thirty-two grams. I’ll be good until lunch.” I was very proud of my shake — it was an amateur gym bro’s trade secret.

Seri marvelled at my shake stats. “Woooow. Sounds rich.”

“It’s actually really cheap.”

“Really? Protein’s so expensive at the store.”

“The big bags cost a lot, but it only adds up to sixty cents per shake. It’s actually cheaper than buying meat.”

She clicked her tongue. “I can see why your math mark’s higher than mine.”

“Better catch up,” I teased.

“I! Will be!” she announced with oddly placed emphasis. ”And you’ll see exactly why today.”

“Why?”

“The secret’s in my schedule. Are you ready yet?”

“Gimme two seconds.”

Before I knew it, I had teleported from my bed to in front of the fridge with the phone nestled between my head and shoulder. Grabbing my murky brown protein shake, I proceeded to ponder my next dilemma.

How do I brush my teeth without her knowing?

Even if it was obvious that I just woke up, I stubbornly refused to show weakness. I couldn’t let her know I wasn’t ready for our eight-thirty appointment.

Should I just eat a piece of gum? Or just gargle and rinse?

“Okay,” Seri started. “I guess we can start the morning study then?”

“Y-yeah.”

I scrambled back towards the stairs and opted to rinse my mouth with the first glug of protein shake later. My mouth tasted foul, but it wasn’t as foul as giving up. I was a committed man.

“Did you get enough sleep, Sunny?”

“Around six hours. What about you?”

“Eight. Do you usually get six?”

“No. I usually get eight as well, but I really need at least ten. My sleep is pretty inconsistent.”

“Aha! There’s the culprit, eh?” she declared like a Canadian Sherlock Holmes.

“What is?”

Seri cleared her throat with an animated “ahem.”

I took this opportunity to mute my mic and violently climb the stairs four at a time. Since my parents worked erratically, I wasn’t sure if they were home… but it was a gamble I was willing to make.

“Your sleep!” she answered. “A recent study on med students found that a consistent sleep schedule is better than sleeping more hours over time.”

My heart raced as I unmuted my mic. “What’s the source?”

“What, do you want me to recite the DOI number?”

“Nah. Just send me the link.”

“I gave you enough details. Google it yourself.” She seemed suspiciously defensive.

“…did you hear it from some influencer?”

“Don’t be silly,” she scoffed. “It was a neuroscience podcast.”

There you have it, folks. A heated debate between two aspiring healthcare professionals of the internet generation.

“Here,” Seri said, “if you’re done waking up I’ll call you on video.”

She knew.

“Sounds good.” I opened my laptop.

She hung up. I exhaled deeply, and examined the schedule she had texted me last night.

8:30 - animedoro three hours.
11:30 - lunch, take a walk or nap.

13:00 - animedoro three hours.

I stopped there and simply squinted at the screen. Given how tired I was, I nearly had a stroke trying to understand what “animedoro” meant. Seri’s videocall came through.

A fuzzy pink headband pulled back her hair to reveal glassy skin. Her eyes widened upon seeing me. How did she have the time for a whole morning skincare routine?

“You look terrible,” she said bluntly. “Go do your hair.”

I couldn’t think of a comeback. “You look… great. Is that mascara?”

“You can tell through the screen? That’s impressive.”

“Most of my nursing friends were girls, so I’m familiar with makeup.”

“That’s good. I… girls like it when guys compliment the little things.”

“Really?”

Seri cleared her throat. “Yeah. Anyways, let’s start the study session.”

“Is that what the animedoro is?”

“Yeah! Have you heard of it?”

“No.”

“It’s where you study for forty minutes to an hour, and then watch an episode of anime. I got it from a med student influencer.”

I scrunched my nose. “But why anime?”

“Because dramas are too long. Anime’s only twenty minutes an episode, if you skip the opening and ending credits. It’s perfect for a break.”

“I guess that makes sense… I haven’t watched anime in a while though.”

“That’s okay, we’ll watch one together. I think you’ll like this one.”

“What’s it called?”

“That’s a surpriiise~” she glanced at the clock. “Well let’s get started. We’re seven minutes behind schedule.”

I started reviewing my lecture notes on the laptop. It felt like regular studying, except I could hear the tapping of Seri’s smart pen on her tablet. The ambience actually felt nice, except…

Click.

I had to minimise the window for the videocall. Something about her flushed cheeks and determined eyes when she was looking down at her notes…

“Are you studying?” her disembodied voice whispered through my earbuds. I shivered.

“Y-yes… and don’t do that. I have headphones on.”

“What about this?”

Clack clack clack clack.

It sounded like she was tapping her fingernails on her microphone. The sound quality was murky, but it was enough to send chills down my spine. I promptly scolded her.

“Focus!”

Seri giggled and promptly went back to tapping on her tablet. I exhaled heavily and stared at the screen, beyond which her friendly presence lay. It was a comforting and encouraging energy to work alongside, yet distracting when my mind drifted towards the girl that was its source. Suddenly, I thought about the videocall draining bandwidth in the background.

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

What was the point of calling over video again?