Stitched Together

Chapter 8: Fun and Games

"Hmm," I groan at the light on my eyes and shift uncomfortably. I go to snuggle a pillow but find none on my bed, in fact, my bed seems quite different entirely. My eyes fly open and I fall off of Suzuya's couch with a thud, a blanket fluttering down with me. "Owwwww," I whine teary eyed because on the way down I hit my head on the coffee table. After rubbing my head I stop my sniffles as I notice a cup of coffee on the table along with some candy. That's odd... under the mug there is a piece of paper. I take the cup and sip it absentmindedly as I read.

"Good morning Reina~ Thank you for bringing me home, I didn't expect to find you here but there you were out cold on the couch. I thought it was best not to wake you so I went to go run some errands. Don't go running off, wait for me there, oki doki! See you soon!" I can almost hear his cheery voice as I read it in my head. His handwriting is something else, the letters were messy and almost scratchy in appearance. Its probably illegible to most, but considering I have messy handwriting myself, I could make it out fairly fine. Stay here, ugh I don't wanna, it's embarrassing enough that I fell asleep here. Part of me knows he's gonna come back and pick on me for it. Setting down my mug I take a small round candy in my fingers. "Is this what he calls breakfast," I chuckle to myself quietly. Curiosity and boredom gets the better of me so I unwrap the brightly colored treat and pop it in my mouth. The disgusting flavor spreads across my tongue, making me shoot up and dash to the bathroom. I cough as I throw up the contents of my stomach. Once I feel better I wipe my mouth and grimace. I walk into the living room and take the other candy on the table, tossing out the window angrily. "stupid candy," I grumble. There really isn't much to do in this place, no wonder he's out all the time. About half an hour after the candy incident I've explored every corner of this place. Candy and thread can describe his whole existence considering that's all that's in here. Now I sit with a needle in hand, stitching my ankle, and sticking my tongue out in concentration. Honestly it really doesn't hurt, there's a layer of skin before you bleed and all so it's basically harmless. Suzuya must have no perception of how deep is too deep because the ones he did on my hand hurt a hell of a lot more. "There," I say in satisfaction at the little plus marks that now encircled my ankle. Just as I snip the tread, the door clicks. Suzuya's head pops in but when he spots me awake he swings the door open.

"You're awake~" he sings and he kicks the door shut behind him, a couple shopping bags in his hands. He sets them down and all sorts of snacks spill onto the table. I should have known. His eyes fall on my ankle and he smiles. "You did a pretty good job," he giggles. I smirk sheepishly and lean back. "Oh! Here I got something for you! Close your eyes," He cheers. I hesitate for a moment but shut my eyes. I feel his thin fingers fiddle with my bangs for a moment, the slight roughness of his stitches brushing against my forehead. "okay open~" he says in his sing song voice. My hand wanders to my bangs and I feel several clips holding the hair back. He takes my hand, drags me to a mirror and points. "Look, they're just like mine," he puts his hands on my shoulders and peeks from behind me. Sure enough there were hair clips identical to Suzuya's now in my hair. The red of the clips matches perfectly with the red that tips my hair. "Your hair was always in your eyes, so I thought this would help," he comments, starting to play with my locks.

"T-thank you," I mumble, feeling my heart beat a bit faster. No ones ever gotten me a gift, and the fact that he notices these small things is so nice.

"Yeah, team Juuzou! I would give some to Shinohara but he barely has any hair, and it wouldn't look nearly as cute as it does on you," he laughs. I feel my cheeks grow hot at his unintentional compliment. "It'll be a special thing between us because we're both in the thirteenth district together!" he nods happily before resting his chin on my shoulder. I smile softly and stare into the mirror. Oh how happy the girl in the mirror looks. How content, how pleased, how satisfied, but then I remember. That girl in the mirror isn't me, just a reflection, and is not real. All this happiness, this whole life is fake. The precious human girl that gets to have happy endings doesn't exist, she never has. He wouldn't care for me so much if he knew. The eerie words he's said against ghouls bounce around in my mind. My smile fades into a pained frown, and I yank away from him.