Utsukushi - Banana Fish

Chapter 10

I woke up the next day feeling heavy, even though I had slept abut 16 hours. I got up and dressed, then made my way to the kitchen where I could hear the murmuring of voices over the occasional clanging of pots and pans.

The smell of food wafted in the air. When I got into the kitchen, I was surprised to see Shorter helping Nadia cook breakfast. Typically, it was usually just Nadia and/or me cooking.

Nadia immediately caught sight of me and gave a small smile. "Morning."

"Morning." I told them both. "You need any help?" I offered.

"No, it's okay just take a seat. It's almost ready anyway. Sleep well?" Nadia asked.

I took a seat at the table. "Yeah, I guess so. Still feels like I didn't sleep at all though." I yawned, putting my elbow on the table and resting my chin in my palm.

"Are you feeling alright?" Shorter asked.

"Better than yesterday. I'll probably run to the store later to grab antibiotics or something." I said. All the little cuts and scrapes easily get infected, which seems like such a trivial problem but happens more often than you think.

"I'll go with you. I need to grab a couple things." Shorter said, but I could tell he was lying. He didn't want me going alone. It annoyed me a bit.

Nadia set down a couple plates full of steamed pork buns while Shorter cleaned up the kitchen. When he finished, they both sat down and we began to eat.

"Any other plans today?" Nadia asked to fill the empty air.

"Nah." Shorter said. To be fair, he never does. He just goes with the flow of what happens.

"Me either." I said. But I wanted to find something to do. Sitting and doing nothing makes me more on edge.

There wasn't much more conversation during the rest of breakfast- which felt a bit strange since we usually always just talk about whatever. But today just seemed different. When we finished, I helped clean the table and got ready to leave to the store.

Shorter of course came with and insisted on driving. The drive there seemed off as well, almost like Shorter was just nervous or scared to say anything at all.

When we got to the store, we split off from each other while we both went to grab what we came for. I was already done and through checkout by the time Shorter came strolling back to the cash registers. I was waiting off to the side for him until he paid for his items.

He finally joined me with a couple bottles of soda and a bag of chips.

"That's the stuff you needed to shop for?" I asked, even though I knew he was bullshitting from the beginning that he needed stuff from the store.

"Yup." He said, handing me one of the bottles of coke. I smiled a little and shook my head. We got in the car and drove home, sharing the bag of chips on the way.

When we got back, I excused myself to my room for a minute. I took a pill and sat down on my bed, taking a moment to just get a deep breath in. I let myself fall back into the bed, my legs dangling over the side.

I still felt so exhausted, and I don't know why. Usually I recover from stuff fast, but it feels different this time. Maybe I just got to use to the luxury of not being wounded all the time.

If I was being honest with myself, I was almost to my breaking point. Yeah, life has been a lot better compared to before, but I still have so much pent up shit from previously.

It's been boiling up for so long now, I'm surprised I haven't already spilt over.

There was a knock at the door. I didn't wanna bother getting up. "Come in."

Shorter came in and just took a seat at the end of the bed. "Are you sure you're alright?" he asked after a few moments of silence.

"I'm okay, don't worry."

"Are you worried about something?" He asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You just seem off. I thought it's because you're nervous."

"Nah, I'm just tired, you know."

He hummed in response.

"Hey, but, don't bother telling Ash or anything about what happened. He worries too much."

"I won't." He said.

"Thanks."

Shorter yawned and began stretching. "It's so boring here." He whined. "Wanna do somethin' today?" he asked.

"Like what?"