28 DAYS [MakoHaru]

thirty five → 12/27

Chapter Thirty-Five: December 27th

Makoto wakes up to a pounding headache, reeling after what feels like a vivid nightmare.

He's sweating profusely, his hair sticking to his forehead and covers thrown carelessly off the bed; he must've discarded them in his sleep. One of his sheets is twisted around his ankle, and he shakes his foot to loosen the knot.

He cranes his neck - bad idea, that just sends a jolt of pain down his spine - to look at his alarm clock. It's hardly seven in the morning, way too early to be up on winter break, but there's no use trying to sleep.

There's no way he could close his eyes after that.

For about thirty seconds, he is in that drowsy state of numbness, but when reality sets in, he remembers who he is and where he was last night.

Makoto rolls onto his side and finds the strength to get to his feet. He stretches his arms over his head to ease the tension in his shoulders and trudges into the kitchen without bothering to put a shirt on. He makes a beeline for the coffee pot in hopes that some caffeine in his bloodstream will wake him up.

Stupid insomnia keeping me up last night, he thinks crossly as he spots his mother sitting at the kitchen island, chattering away on the phone. The twins are eating breakfast, engrossed in cheerful sunny-side up eggs and pancakes that have fruit slices on them to make them look like cartoon animals.

Careful not to disturb is mother on her phone call, he pops a piece of whole wheat toast into the toaster oven and goes about fixing a cup of coffee.

She seems to be finishing it up, scribbling onto a neon pink sticky note as she talks. "Yes, well, Makoto just got out of bed now, I'll tell him."

Her phone conversation piques his interest the moment he is mentioned. Makoto grabs a mug from the cupboard as his mother ends the call. "What about me?" He asks the moment she's off the phone.

She swivels around on the island chair to look at him. "Good morning to you too," She jokes. Makoto gives her a tight-lipped smile. "I was just on the phone with your homeroom teacher," She explains cheerfully.

Makoto can't help but notice the purplish dark circles under her unusually dull green eyes.

Makoto's hand grips the mug's handle tighter, worried he might have done something wrong. Have the Amakatas found out about Haruka and I? He wonders in a panic, the corner of his mouth twitching in contempt. Or worse, what if they found out about the 28 day mission? What if they -

"-kindly invited you along on their family vacation to Normandy!" She's grinning, and Makoto breathes a sigh of relief.

Of course, he realizes. The trip to France. How could I have forgotten?

Because of what happened with Death and Chaos last night, his subconscious reminds him. And the decision you made. The fact that you're -

Don't even finish that sentence, he thinks to himself firmly, forcing a smile in his mother's direction. "Haru told me about it," He nods dully, pouring coffee into his mug. He crosses the kitchen to get the bottle of creamer from the fridge while his mother raises an eyebrow in confusion.

"You don't sound very excited," She frowns.

"I'm just not surprised is all," Makoto disagrees quickly, purposely keeping his back turned to her. He pours cream into the coffee and watches as it swirls to the surface and blends together. "Haruka told me the other day. I was really excited then."