Can Anybody Hear Me?
Chapter One
Another night.
Another drink.
What am I doing?
Do I even want to know the answer to that?
Doubt it…
All I wanted that night was to be drunk enough to pass out but sober enough to make it home.
"Kurushime, I think you've had enough," The bartender, Cid, leaned forward to take my drink, but I dragged it away towards my mouth again.
"Cid, I told you not to call me that. It's Kasai," My words sounded fine to me, but when I glanced up through my hair, which somehow got in my face without my knowledge, he shook his head, his way of telling me I was probably not even speaking English.
"I've known you since your mother had you, I'm not going to call you a name you weren't born with. And no, even as your middle name it doesn't count. That's your last drink tonight," and with that he turned away, cleaning glasses that didn't need cleaning. It was the end of the night, or should I say morning, and there was barely anyone still in the bar. Closing time was near, but I didn't want to go just yet. I sighed and took down the rest of my drink, scrunching up my nose in slight disgust. I hated beer, but Cid insisted since I was taking down shots like no other. I set the glass down and went to stand up, but faltered and fell to my knees. I knew I must have hurt myself somehow, but I was too drunk to feel anything. I'll take care of it when I feel it. I laughed to myself as Cid came around the bar and over to me to help me up.
"I don't understand how you take care of yourself, when you're drunk like this every weekend," I could hear the old man mumble. I kept quiet and let him help me up and walk me outside to the chilly streets of Twilight Town. I stumbled about even with Cid holding me up around the waist. I tried very hard to keep quiet, though I wanted to burst with drunken laughter. My head was low, and I was staring at the sidewalk below me, trying to concentrate on it, so I didn't hear Cid pull out his phone and dial a number until I hear him talking.
"Hey, you still on duty?" All I heard after that were bits and pieces about his drunken niece and pervy cab drivers.
"I just want her safe and with someone I can trust, ya know? Yeah, thanks man. See ya soon," I heard his phone snap shut, and then felt his arm tighten a little around my waist, signaling that we were going to be moving again. I let him practically drag me to the bench just a few feet to the right of the bar. He sat me down, carefully leaning me against the back of it so I didn't fall off.
It felt like ages before the faint sound of a vehicle grew louder on the silent street and, from the sound of it, stopped right in front of us. The cold air had sobered me up a bit since we had been outside, but not enough to let my head clear up enough to understand why I was being put into a random van with some stranger. Cid kept reassuring me that I was going to get home just fine and that the driver was a good friend of his. I don't really remember the rest of the conversation, but next thing I knew, I felt the van start up.
I was in and out of reality for who knows how long, faintly hearing the driver trying to make friendly conversation. I didn't care about anything the guy was saying, I just wanted to be home in bed. I wanted to wake up in the early afternoon, skip the food thanks to the hangover I would be enduring, and just laze about all day. That didn't feel like it was happening anytime soon, though. I was actually starting to get annoyed by this guy. It wasn't his constant blabbing, but more of the fact that he kept poking my cheek making sure I was alive. I was about to have a drunken fit and beat the hell out of this guy until we crashed, when we suddenly stopped. The jerk of the car had almost made me knock my head on the dashboard if it weren't for the seatbelt I'm assuming Cid had put on me. In my sudden sobriety (well, mostly sober), I jerked my head to the driver who had his hands up in surrender.
"Hey, hey! Look, I'm sorry, I was about to pass your place and it was just a reflex, okay? Don't have to get all crazy," He instantly regretted that last part from the look on his face. I was not to be fucked with after a night of drinking. I tried my best to cool down before I took this guy's head off. I took a deep breath and let it out, shaking my head a bit, causing my hair to fall over my face.
"It's… It's fine," I gritted my teeth, my anger was so hard to control. This guy was lucky, "Just forget it. How much do I owe you?" I managed to take off the seatbelt and reach around to my small backpack.
"Oh, no charge from you. Your uncle took care of everything. He just wanted to make sure you got home okay," I sighed. Dammit, Cid. I can take care of myself. Drunk or not… I nodded to the driver, actually looking at him this time.
He was rubbing the back of his head with a stupid "my bad" smile on his face. I was more concerned with the fact that this guy thought his blonde mullet was still in style. I refrained from rolling my eyes and opened the door, using it as a crutch while I stepped out; testing myself to make sure I could actually make it to at least my front door. My mistake to think I was perfectly fine was realized as soon as I let go of the door. I dropped onto the ground and hit my head on the street. Between momentary blackouts, I noted that I really needed to stop falling, but somewhere in all of that as well, I felt myself being lifted and carried to who knows where before I blacked out again.
"Hey," I rolled over in bed, groaning. I hated when I left the TV. on before bed. It always woke me up early. I covered my head with my pillow, too tired to find the remote.
"Hey, I know you heard me," I felt a hand grasp my shoulder. In an instant, I was up on my knees and the trespasser's arm behind his back in a painful position. My head was down, the moment I met the asshole's eyes, it would be all over.
"Ow, ow! Hey, watch it! I was just making sure you were alive!" I stopped from practically ripping his arm off, but held it where it was. I slowly looked up to who I was currently still causing some pain to. I stared for a moment, trying to think back. Then, it hit me. I shoved him away from me, landing in a chair opposite of my bed. I looked around my room. My room… I looked back to him.
"You," I pointed at him, "How the hell did you get in here, and why are you still here?" He quickly sat up in the chair holding his hands up.
"Y-your bag, okay? You knocked yourself out when I brought you home, so I carried you up here and put you to bed. That's it, I swear! And I only stayed because I wanted to make sure you were alright. Not supposed to fall asleep when you hit your head," He stopped there, knowing how dumb he felt. As much as I wanted to flip out on him about why he didn't take me to the hospital, I dropped back onto my bed and crossed my legs, sighing. I looked up to him and patted next to me. He was hesitant a first, but he eventually, and slowly, made his way onto the bed next to me. Lifting my left knee up, I leaned my cheek on it and looked at him.
"What time is it?" I had no idea how long I had been out for. I left the bar around closing time, I think, so about 3… I think. He lifted the sleeve of his black sweater and looked at the watch on his wrist.
"5:48 a.m." I sighed again. Still so early…
"Well, I'm up now, and like you said, no sleeping after hitting your head," I tried to smile, but he didn't seem to take the joke too well. I nudged him, "Hey, I'm sorry, alright? It's pretty fucking weird to wake up with some stranger in my place. You'd do the same thing, right?" He looked at me, his facial expression a little less defeated.
"Heh, yeah, I guess you're right," He stuck his hand out towards me, his voice picking up, "I'm Demyx, and if it helps at all, I'm gay, so there wasn't much for you to worry about," I had to let out a laugh at that. I took his hand and shook it.
"Kasai, and that didn't help at all," We both started laughing, the tension finally cleared. As much as I would have loved to stay in bed all day, I had to pay back this guy, so I pushed off my bed and started rummaging about my room for clothes; I wasn't one to put their clothes in the right place after they were washed.
"Uhm, what're you doing?" I stopped and turned around, a small pile of clothes in my hand. I had totally forgotten he was still sitting on my bed.
"Oh, shit. Well, I figured since you helped me out, I'd help you out. It would probably be nice to have told you the plan that… involved you," He started laughing and was about to protest when I held up a finger at him, "Nope, it's happening. Now, go wait in the living room while I get ready," He still seemed like he was going to speak up, but gave up instead and made his way out of my room, shutting the door behind him. I smiled and shook my head. I was never this nice to a stranger, especially one that stayed in my house while I slept. Maybe last night was a wakeup call. Or was it when I hit my head? I shrugged and picked from the pile of clothes in my arms, getting a decent outfit together before running into my bathroom and jumping in the shower.
Demyx was poking about my fish bowl on the kitchen counter when I had finally come out.
"Why do you have a fishbowl with water and no fish?" he asked without looking up from the bowl. I tilted my head a bit, wondering why he'd ask something so random, but then again, it was a fishbowl with water and no fish…
"Well, I did have a fish. It was my first pet when I moved in here, but he died a few days ago, and I haven't gotten to take care of that quite yet," I laughed nervously. I sounded like I lived in a pig sty! Yeah, I left my clothes in the wrong places and forget to dump out a fishbowl, but it wasn't as bad as I thought I made it sound. He let out a laugh for a moment, and then shook his head.
"It's not a bother to me, was just wondering. So, what exactly are we doing?" I walked over to him and leaned against the counter.
"Hmm, not sure. Was going to suggest some breakfast and like, a walk in the park? I'm not very good at repaying people," He laughed again and put a hand on my shoulder.
"You don't need to do this, I promise. It's repaying enough that you didn't rip my arm off when I tried to wake you," This time we laughed together. I stood up and started walking to the front door, grabbing my bad and keys along the way. I looked back at him and smiled.
"Trust me, this only happens never, so be happy and let's go. Unless, you have work or something?" He shook his head and smiled back.
"Alright, let's go!" And with that, we stepped out of my house and towards his van.
