2 months later
Tsukushi, Tsukushi ... Tsukushi!
"Wahh!" I jolted upright, the world around me suddenly reeling. Disoriented and nauseous from lack of sleep, I gave a groan. "What - where?" I batted away some of the loose pieces of sticky-notes that were attached to my face.
It was then I realised I was sitting outside, at Eitoku University. It had all been a dream. Just another dream.
"You're going to be late for your next class, if you don't hurry up." she said.
I sighed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry. I'll be be with you in a moment, Makiko."
Makiko frowned then sat beside me. "You've been falling asleep in a few classes now. Are you okay? You're always tired."
"I'm fine. Really. I'm juggling two part time jobs at the moment, one of them works into the early hours of the morning. But the pay's really good." I said, smiling, but my eyes were still heavy.
"Regardless of the pay, I know we come from different backgrounds but work that jeopardizes your study and health isn't worth continuing." She said, her voice full of concern.
"You worry too much. I'm fine, Makiko. I'll be shifting my early morning classes to mid-afternoon ones instead. That way, I can get more sleep."
"Okay then. Well, I took some notes from the last lecture for you. You fell asleep in that one as well."
"Thanks, Makiko. You shouldn't have." I took them from her gratefully, then stood up to walk to class with her.
All the while, flashes of my dream circled through my head. All my dreams had been the same. Not sleeping right wasn't the reason why I had become so tired the past couple of weeks. It was because I didn't want to sleep. Because every time that I did, I would dream. I would dream of him; always him - always of the day when he finally left for New York. I didn't like sleeping anymore. I'd come to hate it, using late-night hours as an excuse to keep me awake so I wouldn't have to sleep and dream of him. Nights were too dark and cold. The loneliness was unbearable. And each dream made me miss him even more.
We spoke often on the phone at first. But long distance calls were difficult, especially when it came to budgeting my phone allowance. Tsukasa, working hard as his father's heir found it difficult to find the time to have long conversations. And he would sound tired and distant, nothing like the Tsukasa I used to know.
The distance between the two of us was beginning to wear us down. I was lonely. Tsukasa was gone. The last time we really contacted was three weeks ago. And when we did, it was almost as if two complete strangers were meeting in unfavourable circumstances.
As I attempted to take lecture notes, I couldn't help but wonder. Was it possible for two people who were supposed to be in love with one another, continue like this?