𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥 || 𝕂𝕪𝕠 𝕊𝕠𝕙𝕞𝕒

You Want Us To Stay Here?!

The sound of the alarm clock was the absolute worst thing to hear in the morning.

On a regular day, the alarm would only be ringing for a few seconds before her beloved cousin would shut it off and bless her with a cheerful "good morning!". However, on this fateful day, that wasn't what happened. On this fateful day, Hiyori Kato found herself trying to ignore the shrill ringing noise when it didn't stop.

That did not work.

Opening her eyes, she turned her head to look at the sleeping bag on her left. "Tohru..?"

The sleeping bag was already rolled up and bound.

They had only been living in that tent for a week or so, but this wasn't the first time that Hiyori had woken up to find herself alone. Tohru Honda's blue pajamas were folded and set down neatly next to the sleeping bag. She was gone.

And the alarm was still ringing.

With a groan, she sat up to grab the alarm clock and shut it off. Then she stared at the time on the face with half-lidded eyes. It took her a moment or two to realize it was approximately 15 minutes after the time she should have woken up.

She panicked, as one would. Hiyori scrambled to get out of her sleeping bag in a rush to get ready. If she hoped to avoid being late for school -- or looking like she was a slob who had just rolled out of bed -- she had to move quickly.

Tohru and Hiyori were similar in many, many ways; it was a wonder they survived living in a tent on their own. Both girls were quite forgetful, clumsy, easily worried...Honestly, the list went on and on.

Although, one thing they did not share in common was their sleep schedule.

Before they started living in that tent, they had been living with Tohru's grandfather. But with the renovations going on, the girls had agreed that this was the best option for them. They could avoid bothering any of their friends, they could gain experience with taking care of themselves for the future, and -- most importantly -- they could stay together.

That said, it still wasn't the safest choice; Hiyori knew that. In a forest as big as this one, there was no telling what might occur. She had heard stories about what could happen to people in the forest when they weren't careful. Tohru was a sixteen year old girl and Hiyori wouldn't be sixteen until February. There wasn't much they could do in the event that they would need to protect themselves.

So, ever since they started spending nights in that tent, Hiyori would lie awake listening to the sounds outside. If it sounded like something dangerous was out there, she would be ready.

...Not that there was much she could do, but she figured that being ready was better than nothing.

Hiyori knew that Tohru had no idea she did this. Tohru must have let Hiyori sleep in because she had always been a sleepy riser. The problem with that kindness was the fact that Hiyori relied on Tohru more than she probably should in the mornings.

For one thing, they helped each other keep track of time and their things. For another, Hiyori had no idea how to navigate this forest. Even after a week, she didn't know which way she would have to go to get to school.

She got herself ready and presentable in the record time of 45 seconds. Changing into her uniform while also brushing her teeth had certainly been a struggle, but she did manage it. After her hair with a red ribbon the same way she always did, Hiyori turned to bend down in front of the framed photo on the shelf.

The woman in the photo had bright strawberry blonde hair and a very big grin. Hiyori loved that grin, and she missed it a lot. But she smiled at the image with a grin of her own.