Thirteen Stitches

Suspended

(Nitoris pov)

I slowly lift my head up to see a sleeping Juuzou.

"Heh, heh.." I whisper to myself as I softly climb out of bed.

I tiptoe out of the room into the living room.

"Potato chips, chocolate-dipped shortbread, and.... Cola!" I whisper-shout victoriously.

I head into the living room and take out the video game console and controller.

Whenever I'm not playing, I keep it hidden here. Even though I rarely have people over, I don't want to risk it.

I pop in a game and settle down to play.

"Left, right.. Up, down, turn around!" I slowly get louder and louder as the excitement builds.

I munch on the cookies and chips, a flavor combination that could make gods weep with joy.

The cola brings satisfactory chills down my spine.

"Ah..." I sigh in content as I suddenly hear the bedroom door start to open.

I quickly shove the snacks under the couch and launch myself at the console.

"Nitori-chan?" Juuzou yawns sleepily as I rip the cords out of the tv and shove everything back into its hiding place.

I pop a piece of gum in my mouth and launch myself back onto the couch.

As he rounds the corner with his eyes closed, I grab a novel from the coffee table and pretend to read.

"Good morning, Juuzou-kun!" I say happily as I flip a page.

He slumps down on the couch and looks over at me in a sleepy fashion.

"Good morning, Nitori-chan.." He yawns.

"Whatcha reading?" He squints.

"Oh. Uh.." I stutter. "Kafka!"

"Kafka?"

"Yeah, he's a writer." I say.

"Oh.." He squeezes his eyes shut and leans against the squishy couch.

"So tomorrow's the big day, huh?" He says.

"Yeah!" I smile. "I'm kinda nervous, though.."

He opens an eye and stares at me.

"You'll do fine." He says.

"You think?" I ask.

"I know." He corrects me.

"I'll go make pancakes." I say as I climb off the couch.

Juuzou closes his eyes again and grins.

"Syrup!" He says loudly.

"Lots and lots of syrup!" I chuckle.

"Gallons and gallons of syrup!" He shouts.

I head into the kitchen and quickly make dozens of fluffy flapjacks.

Tomorrows finally the day I go to the CCG to learn how to be an investigator.

It's been a couple weeks since the incident, so I'm pretty much healed.

"Are they done?" Juuzou asks as he walks into the kitchen.