Regularly Irregular

CHAPTER 10 - The Arrow

The sound of pots softly clanging against each other in the distance drew you from your deep slumber. You closed your eyes tighter, trying to get a few more minutes of sleep in before a pounding headache took over. A shuffling noise below you finally made you open your eyes, you weren't the one moving.

You found yourself staring at a blank grey wall, no decorations of any kind. It was dark in the room, little to no light making it's way through the window, if there even was a window. Your gaze shifted down to the comforter resting warmly over your body: it was soft, a plain black minus the trim which seemed to be decorated with dolphins; it reeked oddly of cigarette smoke and cologne. 

Slowly, as to not make any unnecessary sounds, you rolled over. The rest of the room seemed to be far more detailed than the wall you were met with earlier; it was also a bit of a mess. There were various piles of clothes and books scattered across the floor. Empty and half drunk water bottles were lined in a row atop a desk which was only a few feet away from the edge of the bed. You didn't see a window anywhere, but the door to the room looked as though it led straight to the outside, the smallest bit of sunlight peeking through the thick screen. A book shelf in the far corner was filled top to bottom with various books about sea life, ancient history, and a few that even appeared to be hand written. Your body tensed up for a moment when you heard the shuffling sound again, eyes quickly scanning over the room to find the source. They landed on a form you had originally thought to just be a pile of clothes.

You squinted your eyes, hoping it would adjust them to the darkness quicker. After a few seconds you were able to make out what looked like a long lock of hair peaking out from the mass. You slipped out of bed silently, tip toeing over to the form and crouching besides it. Eyeing it carefully, you noticed it was not a pile of clothes, but a person covered by a blanket. You lifted the end of it slowly, revealing your best friend who was peacefully sleeping.

Kakyoin's usually neatly styled hair was now sticking out in all sorts of directions, his long red curl resting far in front of his face. His eyelashes looked longer than usual in the darkness, casting a lengthy shadow across his cheeks. The corner of his lips were just ever so slightly turned upwards, and you smiled assuming that meant he was having a good dream. You would have taken a picture of the sleeping boy, but you didn't want to risk waking him up. You gently placed the blanket back over his shoulders, keeping it off his head this time so he could breath properly.

You decided to snoop around for a bit longer, still not exactly sure where you were or who's room your were in. The headache you dreaded earlier started to set in when you stood up, and you squeezed the sides of your head to try and dull the pain. After taking a few deep breathes, you decided the throbbing in your head was bearable and began your search around your peculiar surroundings.

You glazed over the desk, seeing nothing but the water bottles you noticed earlier as well as what appeared to be stacks of unfinished homework. In your slightly hungover state, it still had yet to occur to you that you could have been in a fellow student's house. You continued to look around, kicking away clothes that got in your way to see if anything interesting was hidden beneath them. Eventually, you ended up in front of the book case.

What you were most interested in was not the professionally written books about dolphins and the spartans, but the ones that lined the bottom shelves. They looked pretty worn down, but you assumed that was only because they were home made. They were all labeled with a strip of tape running along the spine, each one given a title in lazy handwriting. The titles didn't make sense to you though, and you weren't about to try and decipher them in your current state. There was, however, one in particular that interested you the most.

It had no label and was tucked away in one of the corners, the cover painted black as if to look like the shadow of the book before it. Had you not been running your fingers across the self made novels, you probably wouldn't have realized it. Turning around to make sure Kakyoin had not awoken yet, you removed the strange book from its spot on the shelf. With more care than necessary, you opened the front cover. As you did so, a triangular item fell to the floor with a muffled dink. You quickly reached down to pick it up, afraid the noise was loud enough to wake your friend who was still sleeping not even 10 feet away from you.