A Mark That Lasts Forever

Insecurity | 不安 section 2

I jerk awake at the sound of popping, followed by deep laughter. I'm so woozy that I think I'm still dreaming when I find myself staring up at familiar faces.

"Happy birthday, Makoto!" My friends from Hokkaido chime in together.

"What the hell?" I exclaim, clenching my blanket and blinking at the seemingly misplaced faces and long strands of colorful ribbons on top of me.

"He's still half-asleep," Hiroto chuckles.

The other guys laugh with him and talk over each other. My room looks cramped with all four of them standing around my bed. It's only when Shuji grabs my shoulder to rock me side to side that I realize I'm not actually dreaming. My friends from back home are really here.

"What are you guys doing here?" I cry, my brain still trying to catch up.

"We're here to celebrate your birthday, of course!" Hiroto shouts.

"Aren't you happy to see us?" Shuji laughs.

"You guys..." I'm so shocked, I can't even form words.

"Makoto!" Eisuke jumps on top of me, almost knocking the wind out of me as he grabs my head and messes up my hair. "Wake up!"

"Okay, okay, I'm awake!" I laugh. "Get off me! You're fucking heavy!"

"Yeah, Eisuke, move!" Shinjiro exclaims. "It's my turn!"

Only a second after Eisuke gets up, Shinjiro pounces on me.

"Fuck," I exhale while they laugh. "I can't breathe."

When everyone is done suffocating me, I sit up, smiling ear to ear until a terrifying thought suddenly crosses my mind.

"Wait!" I call out. "How did you guys get in here? W-who let you in?"

There is a pause as the guys glance at each other. Shinjiro is the one to answer.

"I asked your roommate to let me in," he explains. "Then I let everyone else in."

"M-my roommate?" Shun?

"Yeah," Shinjiro says. "He went out after that."

"Oh," I mumble.

"You've got a nice room," Hiroto comments as he wanders toward my closet and pulls the door open.

"Did it come with the desk?" Shuji asks, examining the books and papers scattered across it.

"Yeah," I answer, keeping my eyes on him and mentally pleading he won't open the top drawer where I tucked the polaroid photo away last night. Good thing I listened to Shun.

"Come on, Makoto!" Eisuke urges, tugging on my arm. "Get up! You need to get ready for the big day!"

Everyone else joins in until they have me up in the air and toss me back onto my bed. I don't try to fight back, already used to this kind of horsing around.

They make themselves comfortable while I get ready to go out, Hiroto and Shuji taking over my bed, Eisuke in my chair, and Shinjiro on the floor. They constantly try to distract me before joking that I'm taking too long. Even after I'm fully dressed, I still feel like I'm asleep. All four of my closest friends are in my room in Tokyo. I never even imagined this kind of situation before.

On our way out, we run into Kenji and Magnus having breakfast in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry for all the noise," I apologize to Kenji.

"It's okay." He smirks. "Shun gave me a heads up."

I tense up at the mention of Shun, but my friends don't seem to make anything of it as they politely bow to my roommates and keep walking.