Oregairu: Reappearance

Chapter 23: I'm knocking at their door

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(Ugh…)

Every inch of my skin felt numb, as if my nerves were also asleep. Even when I wanted to get up, I couldn’t, or wouldn’t. I couldn’t blame myself. I loved my sofa. 

No matter how hazy my vision was, it was still enough to see shapes. Even with that, I saw no one, nobody. I heard nobody talking. I also didn’t feel any presence.

As I tilted my head, it tingled a little and even had a bit of an aching throb. Maybe it was because I didn’t get enough out of that nap, or my bad sleeping habits. Either way, I really needed to fix that sleep schedule of mine. 

I slightly squirmed. Oh, my body's still asleep, easily figured that out, because…well, duh. For a moment, I considered hitting myself.

(Let’s…not)

Instead, I decided to just wait it out. So for the following seconds, I only made small, subtle movements. The more I moved, the easier it became. 

It wasn’t working enough. But there was…another option. Was I gonna do it? Yeah, probably. Would it hurt? A little. Was I still up for it? 

(Here goes.).

“Heave-ho.”

With a swift thrust, I rolled myself out and instantly-

*Thud!*

Falling flat on my face…when have I done that again? Also:

“Ouch.”

I rolled so I could lie on my back. Definitely awake. But before I could fully open my eyes, I had to first wipe the crud off. I saw that only the kitchen light was on. Opening my eyes didn’t hurt because of that and as that happened, I heard some loud hasty footsteps approaching.

“What happe-oh, you’re awake.”

Komachi popped up from the doorframe, holding what seemed to be a cup of tea. It was excruciatingly obvious how she wanted to just retort “Ummm, what’re you doing?” at me. She had that look like she was staring at something sad. Just…sad.

Stop! I wasn’t into that kind of play! Especially not with her! I looked around, paranoid as hell. Was she hiding?! 

(Show yourself!)

No one. It was just us, encased in peace and quiet. I had to breathe a relieved sigh at that. 

Following a sip, she went and sat on the other side of the sofa. She was close enough that when I caught a whiff, green tea popped up in my head. 

It was a serene moment, but it ended just as quickly as I stood up. I still felt like not standing up, and all I could do was take a deep breath as I looked to Komachi and asked:

“What happened?”

“You drank too much, and then you slept.”

Did I? I remember that I only had a bit. I walked to the window.

“How many was it?”

I pulled back the curtains.

“Four cans.”

(What...That’s it?)

(No way…)

(I must’ve been tired. That’s it.)

Peeking outside, my view was mostly shrouded in pitch black, though the moon and the neighborhood lights did give out some shine. And with that, I closed the curtains once more.