Marionette

Skies, Chapter Forty One - Gyōkan [行間]

If there was ever a time where Amaya contemplated the possibility that she could dream of something other than her own memories of before Tokyo, then the very next morning was that one and only time.

She'd awoken with a start, her heart racing for a reason unrelated to her usually warped dreams.

Those of which had miraculously failed to rear their ugly heads again.

She awoke to find herself lying in her bed, dressed as she had been the last she recalled to be conscious.

And yet even though she'd just awoken, her mind was already reeling, as she threw herself upright to a sitting position.

She recalled being tugged home by Karma, her hand held firm, and she recalled very, very clearly that she'd been dragged into an embrace almost the very second the door of her apartment had shut behind them.

Then, when she'd let herself accept the hope that had been building up inside, she'd ended up falling asleep.

And because it was all so very clear in her mind, she found herself hesitant to write it all off as a dream she'd had.

The recollection had bothered her, to the point where she'd thrown herself out of bed the moment she had all the pieces together, marching herself out of her room to take in any changes that may have occurred since the last time she'd been conscious.

Inwardly, she'd been hoping that there was some sign of the infuriating redhead she'd possibly dreamed hugging her, but as she'd expected, for once he was nowhere to be seen.

And infuriatingly so, she couldn't track him down all that Saturday, either.

It was like he'd just evaporated into thin air, and when she'd asked Ritsu to tell him to answer his phone just this once, the artificial intelligence had returned just ten seconds later with an apology and explanation that Karma's phone was turned off.

The discord festered inside of her, and emotions she couldn't find words for began to bubble inside of her.

A sludge-like burning, that was what the waters inside of her inner world felt to be made of.

And the only thing she knew was that she was apprehensive, almost scared of it.

She'd let hope in and take hold of her, and now it felt like it was beginning to drown her.

Where'd he go all of a sudden?

She needed to talk to him about what had happened, and he had somehow pulled a vanishing act.

Her attempts at finding him Sunday morning had fallen through, just like they had Saturday – It honestly felt like a repeat of how he'd avoided her all through his suspension.

And with nothing else she could do, she made her way to Shigure's place for that training session he wanted her to drop in for before Tuesdays resume.

Yuta wasn't at the large house, and Amaya wasn't exactly surprised by that – Reiko had said that the Head-Students and the Class Representatives had a meeting on in the afternoon, so both she and Yuta would be at school.

Odd, but not unheard of.

And if Shigure had allowed Yuta to leave the premises for it, then clearly it wasn't a lie.

From what Amaya had heard from Shigure, Yuta was adapting moderately well for a child with all his luxuries revoked.

He didn't utter a word of complaint lest he rocked the boat, did his homework and everything that Shigure commanded of him.