Our second world- book one: Past beginnings

Chapter 1: Haren

Tick...

Tock...

Tick...

Tock...

The quiet ticking of the clock and the faint chirping of the crickets outside were the first sounds to reach his ears as Haren awoke. When he peeled open his eyes, the familiar off-white color of his bedroom ceiling greeted him, though it looked bluer than anything else in the dark of the room.

With a bit of difficulty, due to the injury on his left arm, he pushed himself up to a sitting position and glanced around the dimly lit room. Thanks to the small amount of light from the hall seeping under the crack in the door, and the slivers of moonlight sneaking in through the gaps in the blinds covering the window above his bed, the room wasn't entirely dark; it was possible to read the numbers on the clock hanging above the dresser on the far wall.

10:00 already? He wondered. I've been asleep for a while then.

As a shiver crept up his spine, Haren pulled the comforter closer around his shoulders and slipped silently out of bed. He shuffled over to his closet and tugged on a heavy sweatshirt over the t-shirt he was already wearing.

The hoodie had been one of his brothers', and it was big on him, but it wasn't much of a concern for him right now; it was warm, and Yamera hadn't asked for it back.

Even after napping for the majority of the day, Haren was starting to feel tired again; a dull headache was starting to form behind his eyes again.

As he sat back down on his bed massaging his temples with his thumbs, the sudden sound of the door opening startled him. He glanced up through his fingers at the culprit to find Yamera standing in the doorway with an armful of neatly folded clothing.

"Oh, you're awake," Yamera said, a hint of surprise in his voice. Haren nodded in reply as Yamera took a minute to hang the clothes in the closet before walking over to the bed. Placing a hand on Harens' forehead, he added." Good, your fever seems to have gone down. Guess those meds are helping now. How are you feeling? I can make you something to eat if you're hungry."

"No thanks, I'm good," Haren answered.

"Alright, get some rest then," Yamera smiled, ruffling his hair." See you in the morning."

"Yeah, night."

Haren waited for the sound of Yamera's footsteps to fade off down the hall before laying back down, wincing slightly when he accidentally leaned on his wrist. He had injured it at school after a particularly bad fall while rock-climbing. Trying to recall the details of what exactly had happened was giving him a worse headache, so he decided to just forget about it. After all, thinking about it wasn't going to change the fact that he was going to be staying home for the next week so that the injury could heal. Although the doctor hadn't said that an entire week was a necessary amount of time, his aunt, Tsukiyama, had been pretty adamant about him staying home anyway.

Tsukiyama was a mother of her own two daughters, Himira and Nonaka, who were both five, so it was understandable that she would be protective of Haren and his brother, even though they would both be graduating high school in only a few months. And though the boys found it annoying, it was just her way of showing that she cared about them, so they didn't really hold it against her. Haren didn't think anyone would, all things considered.

Lost in thought, Haren didn't realize he had fallen asleep until he opened his eyes again to find rays of golden sunlight filtering in through the half-open curtains above him. Glancing over at the wall clock, he saw that it was about half past nine. Slowly, he crawled out of bed and got dressed. Pulling on a pair of ripped black jeans, he slipped a gray t-shirt over his head and snagged a blue hair tie off the dresser. Heading over to the bathroom, he dumped his dirty clothes in a pile on the floor and dragged his fingers through the tangles in his crimson hair while he brushed his teeth.