Note: Okay, here we go...
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to these characters. Tokyo Tower.
Title: Stockholm Syndrome
1: Day One
~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~
"Looks like rain," she mumbles, setting down her café au lait next to my strawberry shake.
I remain quiet for a while, overlooking the city beneath us; people I could barely see were just going on with their lives, unaware of our existence. Maybe some were staring at this luxurious hotel, wondering who was staying at the Kind Hotel's top suite... But no one was wondering about us. She was looking down. Blinking, slowly, so slowly I could see her eyes go out of focus, and refocus when she opened them again after an inhale or exhale. Maybe she was trying to wake up, but then again I always felt like she wasn't really awake anymore. Just... going through the motions.
Her eyes unfocus, slowly. She blinks. Her nostrils flare slightly, feeding her lungs, jolting her brain. I mimic her quietly, and look up as I breath out.
"Yeah... Good, it's fuckin hot." I look back to the city, the view from our narrow balcony. I sneak a look at her from the corner of my eye, and she's smiling.
My heart flutters a little. I smile.
"Let's go somewhere."
"Hmm?" She smiles, lips tight over her teeth, and plays with the froth in her coffee. Every Sunday morning she'll make café au lait for herself, creating soft hearts in the cream, maybe a picture when it's a special occasion. This morning, she predicted a very average Sunday with her roommate.
"We should go out, let's just go out..." I smile at her, maybe a bit desperately, "I feel like... You just stay in here. You know? You need to get out, I mean..."
She looks up at me, her head tilted towards her drink, "What's the problem? If I'm a bother, I can..."
"No, no that's not what I mean and you know it," I place my hand over hers across the small white table and squeeze, "I'm worried-" She snaps out of my grasp.
"Oy, Ranmaru, cut the crap!" This is usually as vulgar as she gets. "You want me out, just say it!" She's so sensitive. "I know I'm just a charity case!"
I jump up so fast, my chair crashes to the floor.
"What??" Is the first thing that flies out of my mouth, " 'the fuck? Is that what you think?!" Of course she begins to retaliate, but I just shout over her, "I'm worried about you is all! I just- I feel... I feel like I'm holding you prisoner in here! It's not healthy!!" And she's raising her voice congruently, "I just- I want you to be happy!" I roared that last part so loud I thought the whole world quaked.
And then everything got quiet. I held her gaze for a while, and then she broke it, clenching her jaw and looking back out to that damn city.
"... Ocean..."
"Huh?"
"Let's go to the beach." I followed her gaze, and realized she meant the beach, a far ways away from our home near the heart of Tokyo. I wanted to ask if she'd ever been there again, but I didn't... Probably not.
I smile at her. "I'll call for a car." Mine was in the shop.
"No, let's take the train," and she finally smiled. Sunako who used to loathe human contact, who was healed of her agoraphobia in the eleventh grade, and then developed another trauma after high school. This Sunako wanted to ride the subway... Her penny-pinching self was coming back.
This may have seemed like something small to you, but to me... Well, since she moved in she gradually found excuses not to leave. You can imagine how things went down after we bought the wii. And then she bought herself a new laptop, and found a way to work completely from home. She stopped wanting to go out and then stopped caring all together.
But the Sunako who used to budget how much she could buy for our meals each month, who cleaned the house like mad... I was catching glimpses of her. On the train ride there, she told me about some creepy documentary she had been watching about cannibalism, and that maniacal glint sparked in her eyes. I couldn't help laughing all throughout, which she chided me for. It was so... Fun. I felt refreshed. It was like taking a long hot bath.
~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~~o0o~
Short. But better than nothing, right?
I'll update again soon. They might come in small parts like this for a bit.
PLEASE tell me what you think!!
Peace and love,
NerdSavvy
Return to Top