Alive || 86: Eighty-Six [ vers. ENG ]

opening her heart

"What are you doing?"

As she crossed the corridor, Anju suddenly stopped in front of one of the open doors. Inside, she found the rest of her friends gathered.

"Oh, Anju! Come and join us!"

The young woman entered the room, looking at each of them.

"What's going on here?" she asked, still analyzing this unknown gathering.

"They've invaded my space", complained Theo.

The boy was sitting on the floor, sketchbook in hand. He was visibly upset.

Lying on his bed, Kurena and Charlize were reading a fashion magazine. Shin was sitting in a chair, reading a new book. This time, it was one of the children's books Kurena had brought for Charlize. Raiden was sitting on another chair next to the bed. He was sipping a cup of coffee while entertaining the two girls who were talking about fashion. They were deciding which clothes would suit him the best.

"In fact..."

Charlize began to explain.

"As I left the bathroom to go back to my room, I met Kurena going into the living room. Then we ran into Shin, who joined us... for different reasons."

He looked at her wordlessly, feigning so faintly a resentment he no longer held... Or rather, that he'd never had.

The girl laughed awkwardly. This time, she hadn't spoiled the end of his book on purpose.

Why did he have to walk next to them at this precise moment?

"So, since I upset him, I started explaining some theories about the book so we could talk about something else. Then Theo came out of his room to ask us to go and talk somewhere else. But since it wasn't nice of him, we decided to talk in his room to give him a reason for being so grumpy."

"We?" Shin repeated.

"I, we, it's all the same."

"Not really," Kurena added.

"But it was entertaining, wasn't it?" Charlize replied with a wide, angelic smile that didn't suit her at all.

"Maybe."

"Well, like you said, I never invited you..." Theo murmured, still annoyed.

"So! After that, Raiden came by I invited him to join us. He brought us candy and sweets. I've got some for you, Anju!"

The girl smiled radiantly as she gave him her share.

But then she sneezed.

"Oh my, have you caught a cold? You should have dried your hair the second you came out of the bathroom..."

"I'm not sure... I was fine earlier..."

"I'll get you a hair dryer. Don't move."

Anju left the room and returned less than a minute later.