Turning Tail [Reader x Doldia Girls]

06 | Down Spiral

You're empty.

At this point, your anxiety has got you by the throat. It has become something far worse. It has not only twisted into rugged images of the monsters you call bullies, it is turning the world gray.

You can't sleep. You barely want to eat. You've no more motivation for studies. You're trapped in a perpetual downfall, a spiral of anxiety and self-loathing and depression brought on by Linia and Pursena. It's all coming at you at once — reality.

This was supposed to be easy. Life at this prestigious academy was meant to be good. Little did you know, those two fiends were waiting for an unknowing victim the whole time, and this victim turned out to be you. Now you're theirs.

They want you all to themselves.

Not for love or friendship, no. They want you to be their little plaything because you're so loyal. So easy to be forced around. So unwilling to fight back because you know anything you dish out will be returned with even greater force.

You have no one. In the mere days you've been a student here, you've made no friends. Only enemies who wish to use you. People often look down on you, unbeknownst to you, because you've fallen right in Linia's and Pursena's trap. There's no room to earn respect from anyone, not even from yourself. You're tired of it.

But you're stuck here. With little money, no job and no family in Ranoa, you're utterly and miserably stuck.

All you do is lie in bed, blankets at your legs, arms at your sides, unblinking eyes on the ceiling. Quiet. There's nothing to do but bide your time in the safety of your dorm room. Nothing to think except how much you wish things were different.

Someone knocks at your door but you're too exhausted to get up and open it, let alone take a second to glance at it.

"Oi, Y/N, what are you doing?" Linia's voice. "Open up. You haven't left your room in almost a day."

Oh? Really?

I've been in here that long? I didn't even notice.

Linia knocks again. "Come on, nya. I know you're not asleep. Open the door."

You don't want to. Moving even the slightest of inches drains insurmountable sums of energy. That's funny because you're not an old geezer and you're certainly not out of shape. There's just no point, that's what your mind and body tell you.

No point. Too tired. Don't move. Stay here. Keep hurting.

"Don't make me pick your lock," she says. Not even that gets a reaction out of you. You hear a low sigh from the other side of the door, Linia's footsteps trailing in and out, and then a few minutes later there's the sound of the doorknob faintly clanking.

It comes open easily and Linia steps inside, holding a lockpick. Her eyes scan your room for a few seconds before wandering to you.

"See, I knew you were awake, nya."

Just leave me alone, you want to say.

She comes over to your bed and looks down at you. For a fraction of a second you peel your eyes away from the ceiling and stare at her, then you're back to aimlessly staring into space.

"You look awful, nya-ha," she laughs, noticing the exhaustion in your face and the dark bags beneath your eyes. "Did ya catch a cold?"

"No," you say in a deadpan voice.

"No sleep last night?"

"No."

"What's wrong with you?"