Three Universes Away From Home

Chapter 2

Today was Saturday. Sawako was tired from the night before. Her parents had to go visit family to work out something as her grandfather had passed away a month prior. Friday night was the day they left, and the young girl had spent the entire time after school helping out with packing and doing chores. She got up from her bed as her phone sounded, playing a random song she set for her alarm tone a year back after watching a show with it. She set her feet on the ground and stood up, then turned to lay her bedsheet and comforter flat in an attempt to make it look nicer. She tucked the edges under the mattress and then stepped away before leaving her room. She went to the hall closet and opened the door to pull out a bath towel and a smaller hair towel, then went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her despite being entirely alone in the house.

Turning on the shower, she undid the buttons lining the front of her flannel she wore to fight off the cold at night. The heater didn't get upstairs well, and due to the chilly fall, it was colder in her room than normal. She undressed fully before stepping in to the warm stream of water.

She grabbed a shampoo bottle and squeezed some out into her hand, setting it down and lathering up her hair with the pomegranate scented product. Sawako put her head under the water, humming softly to herself. Once her hair was cleaned, she did the same with the conditioner, but didn't rinse it out. She instead clipped it up out of her way as she took the soap bar and grabbed a pale green loofa to clean the rest of her body.

With all that out of the way, Sawako rinsed off and stepped out onto the bath mat, wrapping herself in a towel. She took the hair towel, left the bathroom, and went into her bedroom, where she first towel dried her long, fine brown hair, then selected a soft blue-grey sweater dress and tights to wear. She put on underwear before freezing.

Voices worked under the door into her room upstairs. Her being an only child, and her parents soft speakers, this rarely happened. Especially when they were gone.

Like now.

She quickly dressed herself, then wrapped the towel around her head as someone started to yell curse words through the otherwise quiet house. Looking around the room for anything she could possibly defend herself with, she took her flute, and slowly opened her door. The case was old and heavy, and was the best she could do with what she had. Sawako crept down the hall, listening to several people talking before one screamed. Then, smoke filled the air as a sound not unlike a flour bag exploding was heard, making her jump and hit the wall with her flute case as she stepped onto the first stair going down. An older, young adult female looked up to where she stood, being the only one within eyesight. Her long purple hair was tied back in two braids.

Neptune waved her down, looking up at her serenely. Sawako swallowed her fear and went down slowly, now that her presence was known. Reaching the bottom step, she saw several pairs of shoes strewn about the entry along with her pair set nicely at the door. She peered into the living room to find Neptune, four other girls, four boys, and a rabbit, sitting on top a pile of clothes.

Yuki spoke up first. "You must be the person who lives here. Pardon our intrusion."

"What are you doing in my home?" Sawako spoke meekly, scared and ready to hit anyone who came near with the flute case.

"We would like to know that as well." Yuki seemed abnormally calm, for someone in his position, but Sawako took it to mean he's a threat, not someone who just went between dimensions.

"Get out. Please." Sawako leaned forward to open the door and then stepped quickly back to the stairs and went up two. They all filed out, Tohru grabbing the clothes and the bunny following after them. When they left, Sawako slammed the door shut and locked it quickly. She leaned against the door before remembering the shoes all over. She shook her head, then tried to decide whether to be nice or mean. Her angel side won out and she collected the shoes, then unlocked the door and tossed them all quickly onto her porch before shutting it once more.