A/N: I get distracted easily, which is why this is happening before the Magi one-shot I've spent a week on. Think of this as a companion to "Blaring"... because that's what it is. They're not set in the same night though, because that would conflict with EVERYTHING.
(I'm mostly writing this because someone pointed out that "Blaring" left out details they wanted to know.)
Let's see if I can manage to hit 1,000 words exactly like I did with the last one. That was pretty awesome.
.
He didn't like waking up early.
Manami rolled over groggily, blinking several times as the sun stung his eyes. A quick turn of his head confirmed what he was fearing - everyone else was still asleep.
Which meant he was alone.
Sighing, he rolled back over, staring at the ceiling before blindly searching for his phone. He found it on the floor, the device having slid off the futon. The screen read 4:02 in the morning, almost two and a half hours before the team was supposed to rise for breakfast.
Once this realization settled in, he groaned softly, throwing an arm over his eyes and attempting to will himself back to sleep.
It didn't work.
He removed his arm, staring at the ceiling and letting his mind wander back to his previous dream. It was the same as the one he'd had the other night, when he'd dreamed about his bike breaking down and the slope not having a railing to catch him. About falling.
That was embarrassing.
He'd noticed the way his bike shook, how the wheels wobbled a little too much for him to be comfortable riding it. He'd also noticed how the second-years were watching him, some anxious and some smirking. It was easy to connect the dots, but he didn't have time to fix his wheels before Arakita was yelling for them to get in formation and he was forced to push it to the slope.
The fact that he'd done so instead of riding up like he usually did should have set off some alarms, but no one said anything.
Ah, that's right. I'm just a weirdo to them.
It stung a little, but he minimized the damage by reminding himself that it was just a little less than a year, then he wouldn't feel like he was intruding.
At least Toudou was friendly. But he figured that was just the older boy's personality rather than actual affection.
It suddenly occurred to him that he'd been grinding his teeth, an unconscious attempt to generate some noise in the otherwise silent room.
Right. That was why he hated early mornings. He was alone, and it was quiet.
Well, there was the sound of the clock, but that did little to ease his nerves.
My heart could stop right now and no one would notice, would they?
One hand reached up to grasp the front of his shirt while the other worked on unlocking his phone to shut off his alarm. Now that his thoughts had gone that far, he wasn't going to be getting anymore sleep. He was about to turn the device off entirely when a something popped into his mind, and he opened his messages instead.
'There's nothing scarier than being alone, huh Class Rep.?'
He waited for the message to send - the inn's reception was terrible - and laid the phone on his chest, closing his eyes and focusing on the sounds of his teammate's breathing. This, at least, told him he wasn't completely alone.
Thirty minutes later, his phone buzzed, and he didn't waste any time checking his childhood friend's reply.
'There's dying, but you'd probably just laugh and say it proves you were alive or something.'
He laughed quietly when he read the one sentence, glad that she understood him well enough to know he didn't really care if he was close to death.
That fall was something else though. There was no meaning to it. That's what...
Another buzz, this one startling him slightly and almost causing him to drop his phone. The screen had shut off while he thought, so he had to unlock it again before he saw what else Miyahara had to say.
'But I think I get what you mean. Being all alone WOULD be pretty scary.'
He stared at the text for a while before another laugh escaped him, this time loud enough that he had to catch it before anyone woke up.
Closing his eyes again, he didn't bother with thinking of a reply. That, at least, had eased his mind a little.
That's what made it so scary.
.
A/N: So there was no Toudou/Manami in this one, mostly because I couldn't think of any way to add it in without skipping scenes. Maybe I'll do a third installment, maybe my mind will derp on me and it'll take me years to think of a plot. Either way, I don't see it happening tonight.