Empath

Chapter 8

Yui saw a man. Something about him looked familiar, but Yui couldn't place him. The man was making out with a girl Yui had never seen before. For some reason, the sight of them kissing made Yui feel ill... as he stood there watching, this feeling grew worse, until he felt like he was being ripped apart from the inside.

"Yui!" Al called, as he shook his shoulder. Yui opened his eyes and saw Al's dark hair hanging in front of him. "Was it another nightmare?"

Without opening his lips, Yui made a sound of affirmation and nodded, wearily. He remembered his nightmare this time. He could somehow tell that it wasn't the same one as before. Who were those people? Why did that man look familiar? And why... did the sight of them kissing make him feel like he was dying? He clutched his stomach. It still felt uneasy.

"Do you need to get some fresh air?"

"Nah, I'm okay," he replied with a shrug. "We're seeing your sister today, anyway, right?"

"Oh yeah, it's Saturday, isn't it?" Al asked. He hadn't had any reason to keep track of the date when he was in isolation.

"I'll go get cleaned up," Yui said, suddenly more awake. "I gotta look my best when I meet a lady."

Al glared at Yui as the younger one headed out of the bedroom. "Don't you dare hit on her," he warned.

"I won't, I won't," Yui said playfully, from out in the hallway.

Yui showered and made sure he was all spruced up and sparkly to meet his new friend. He already felt sure they would be friends from their brief interaction on the phone. He smiled brightly to himself in the mirror, after brushing his teeth. He sprayed on his floral cologne and then put on his favorite red and black outfit again, since he wanted to make an impression. When he returned to the bedroom all dressed up, Al raised his somewhat bushy eyebrows at him.

"Seriously?" Al asked.

"What?"

"You're wearing that? To lunch? With my sister?"

"Yyup," he said the word as if it had two syllables, while he plopped his little leather-clad butt back down on the bed. "People dress up in the city all the time." His hands were on the bed at his sides, while he kicked his feet playfully off the edge of the mattress.

"Yeah, maybe to night clubs," Al added.

"Don't worry about it," Yui urged. "Hey, if ya want, you could wear that shirt we got for you yesterday! That way, I wouldn't stand out so much in comparison."

"Hell, no."

"Aww," Yui whimpered. "I tried." Yui grabbed the remote and turned on the television. There was an old black and white movie playing. A young blonde woman and an older man in a suit and fedora were on screen.

"Oh, Peter," the woman on the television sighed, as she threw her arms around the man. "I've loved you for so long!"

Al made a distinct grunt of displeasure.

"I'm gonna change it," Yui chuckled, "I don't really like soap operas either. It just happened to be on."

"It's not that," Al said. He ran his hand through his dark wavy locks. "I'm just not good with TV and movies."

"Oh," Yui sulked, "you feel things from them too? I guess that makes sense, if you can feel emotions through phones."

"Yeah, but," Al thought for a second. "It's different. Shows with actors are distracting, because I feel the emotions of the actors, not the characters."

"Whadda you mean?"

"The actress confessing her love there," Al began to explain, "isn't feeling love or happiness. She's feeling tense and a little angry. She just isn't showing it."