Chapter 27: Frayed ends
A few hours passed by.
Darkness loomed over the unknown. Noise filtered, leaving only the silence and peace undisturbed... Then, suddenly, eyes filled with lingering terror fluttered open. It was the girl. She lay on her back, and the aroma of roses and chrysanthemum flowers filtered the heavy air around the room.
For a moment, her mind went blank, numb. But then the pain arrived.
A sharp throb pulsed across her cheek, followed by a stinging burn along her jaw and temple. She winched, reaching up with trembling fingers to touch the side of her face. Her skin was tender, bruised, and sore from the weight of the books that had crashed on her head earlier.
She tried to sit up slowly, her limbs stiff and uncooperative, numb with exhaustion. Her body ached as if she had been trampled in her sleep.
She looked to her left; her hand still resting against her face. That’s when she saw Hajime, seated in a chair just a few feet away, with a book lying open on his lap. His head tilted forward, mouth slightly parted in sleep, his bangs casting soft shadows over his face.
Then, she noticed something. The chain was no longer bound to her and the boy in front. And the place she was sitting on felt soft.
"... What?" She uttered, glancing down.
She was sitting on a futon, covered with neatly folded white shirts that looked freshly laundered and recently aired.
And with the clothes she was wearing, she felt like she was stepping on a land mine. Suddenly, the door creaked open, and one of the two maids from earlier stepped inside, carrying a fresh set of clothes and another futon. But the moment she crossed the threshold, she stopped, her face twisted in surprise, eyes wide as if she’d just seen something she hadn’t expected.