CHAPTER SEVENTEEN – PROMISES (SayoHiro)

The city glowed, its tall buildings shining with lights that glowed in the evening's darkness. More people filled the sidewalks, the joy and excitement in their voices for a good night out ringing in the air. Vehicles meandered past on the streets, their glossy frames and tinted windows gleaming as the night lights shone on them. At certain buildings, loud music played, adding more to the cacophonic symphony that was so characteristic of city and night life, and the neon glow of signs and billboards bearing the names of establishments and advertisements bathed everything in a more vivid hue of color.

All in all, Sayori shared with the city its aura of blissful liveliness. Even with Monika's teasing earlier, she couldn't stop feeling at peace with everything right now, not with Akihiro's arm in hers. As the two of them walked back to his apartment, Sayori wished that their downtown excursion would go on just a bit longer, but she relented when she remembered that she still had the rest of the night to spend with her childhood friend.

Along the way, Akihiro looked at her again, a mixture of concern and mirth on his face. "Are you really okay, or are you still embarrassed about what Monika said?" he asked her.

Sayori shook her head. "I'm fine. I just didn't expect her to say that out loud, and in front of you too!"

Akihiro sniggered. "Do you think that she'll start telling your other classmates about it? About . . . us?"

"No. Monika is not like that," replied Sayori, "so you don't have to worry about other people finding out about us!"

Akihiro smiled, patting her arm with his free hand. "Sayori, I won't have a problem even if the whole world finds out about us. Well, except for our parents, maybe," he added jokingly.

"They don't have to find out r-right now, though!" Sayori suggested, giggling nervously.

"Yeah, let's just leave that for the future," said Akihiro, laughing along with her.

The future. What will the future hold now? Sayori was ready to admit that she had very little knowledge or experience when it came to being a girlfriend, and she knew that Akihiro was also thinking along the same wavelength about being a boyfriend. Then again, she mused that a lot of couples in the world started out being new to all this, and were out there right now still trying to figure out the hullaballoo of being in a relationship. Sayori wanted nothing more than to become the best girlfriend for Akihiro, and to do that, she sensed that she should just learn along the way how to do so. That, or ask her girl classmates who have boyfriends for pointers and tips.

Almost twenty minutes later, they were back at the apartment. Akihiro set down the ramen and donburi takeout they had bought at the small dining table he had. Sayori, on the other hand, jumped onto his bed, wishing to rest herself a bit after the long walk they had.

"You'd better not mess up my bedsheets over there, Sayori," said Akihiro as he took out a couple of small plates and a pair of forks from the nearby kitchen drawers.

"Don't worry," she told him cheerily, "I'll arrange them if I do."

"Oh, really? Around ninety-nine percent of the time, I think it's the other way around—you mess up, I clean up after you," he called to her teasingly.

Sayori sat up on the bed and pouted at him. "This time's different, okay? I'll prove it to you, meanie!"

Akihiro laughed. "You know you don't have to. Anyway, come on over and eat. Everything's ready."

The gyudon and ramen that they bought tasted good enough, but Sayori preferred making their own donburi all over again just like they did earlier that day. "What are we gonna be doing tomorrow?" asked Akihiro as he sipped some ramen broth.

Sayori frowned. "Tomorrow?"

"Well, yeah," said Akihiro with a smile, "unless you wanna go back to your place already instead of spending another day here."

"Of course I w-wanna stay here," said Sayori, blushing, "b-but about tomorrow . . . we don't have to go anywhere, right? I mean, we can just stay inside all day instead."

"Are you sure?" asked Akihiro. "Or are you just worried that I won't make it until my parents give me my weekly allowance?

Sayori fidgeted with her fork. "You got me there," she said. "But the thing is . . . um, well, do you know a place where we could go to even if you do have money?"

"Of course!" said Akihiro proudly. "There are a lot of places we can go to in order to have fun, like, um . . . like the, er . . . hmm . . ."

Sayori took her chance as Akihiro began thinking deeply. "Aha! See, you don't know where we can go, so that means we should just stay here for tomorrow!"

"Alright, alright," Akihiro conceded, "if it makes you happy. I just don't want you to get bored being cooped up in here all day, okay?"

Sayori reached out and held his hand, caressing it. "I won't be bored if I'm with you, Akihiro, you know that! And besides, y-you don't have to spend too much of your allowance on me. You need that to get you through the week. Besides, I have some money of my own, so I can take care of myself!"

Akihiro grinned at her. "Okay, fine, you win." He caressed her hand back, his fingers gently intertwining with hers.

After they had finished eating dinner, Sayori insisted on washing the plates and utensils that they had used, no matter how few they were. To her delight, Akihiro decided not to argue and acquiesced to her request instead, though he helped her clean up by throwing out the containers of their takeout in the apartment's garbage chute. When he got back, he turned on his computer to start playing Dungeon Delvers once again while Sayori finished scrubbing everything clean, from the plates to the dining table, careful not to get her clothes wet. When she was done, she went over to the bed, sat down and took off the black shoes she had worn for their night out. As she sat there massaging the soles of her feet, she glanced over at Akihiro, who was now completely engrossed in playing his game.

Sayori had seen Akihiro play Dungeon Delvers a few times before, and while she couldn't understand how most of it went, Akihiro was always willing to tell her a bit about the game's mechanics. Though she had grown up playing only casual games that didn't require anything too complex or skillful like sandbox games and simulators, Sayori found the game rather interesting, as it was set in a fantasy world filled with monsters and magic that reminded her of some of the movies that she had watched and loved.

In silence, she moved over to the edge of the bed closest to Akihiro and sat there, watching his Barbarian character hack and slash his way through scores of enemies with a large battle axe. The sounds of Akihiro's fingers tapping on his keyboard and clicking on his mouse accompanied the music and sound effects that the game was delivering through his computer's speakers. Occasionally, Akihiro would chuckle or grunt or even yell as he played, particularly when he managed to kill a troublesome foe. Beside him, Sayori grinned as she saw how much fun he was having.

It took around five minutes before Akihiro even noticed that she was watching. "Oh, hey there," he said, glancing at her as the Barbarian on the screen eradicated some skeletons en route to the current chapter's final boss. "Enjoying the show?"

"It's always nice watching you play," said Sayori. "You're really good at that game."

Akihiro shrugged. "Well, that's what a slacking gamer like me does for a living, basically, so I've gotten really good at it."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with that, okay?" she told him concernedly. "You can play all you want. I just don't want you skipping class or forgetting about your homework just so you can play."

"I know, don't worry," he said. "You really are taking the whole responsibility thing seriously now, aren't you?"

Sayori huffed. "So w-what if I am? Besides, we are gonna be more responsible in a lot of things from now on. You keep teasing me about calling you a future NEET candidate, but I don't think I can joke about y-you actually becoming a NEET!"

"Okay, okay," said Akihiro casually, looking around at her with a grin. "Jeez, Sayori, just because I mess around most of the time doesn't mean I don't take you seriously, okay?"

She pouted at him. "I know that. . ."

As Akihiro continued playing Dungeon Delvers, he and Sayori talked about virtually anything they could think of to pass the time. To encourage him and show him that she wasn't bored in the slightest, she would ask questions about a certain enemy or character, and even occasionally cheer for Akihiro like he was competing in an interschool sports competition, much to Akihiro's surprise and slight embarrassment. When they ran out of things to talk about for Dungeon Delvers, the two of them shifted gears; one of the topics they discussed at length was the idea of Monika seeing someone—in particular, the red-haired boy named Kenta that they had met at the mall. For a while, Sayori debated with Akihiro on whether or not Kenta was Monika's boyfriend or simply a friend.

"I don't think Monika's the type of girl who'd hide the fact that she has a boyfriend," Sayori remarked. "Besides, even if she keeps quiet about it, the others would find out soon enough. She has celebrity status in our year, so there's no way her having a boyfriend will go unnoticed!"

"But have you seen her go out with a guy before?" Akihiro offered. "Even at school, she tends to be around guys only for school stuff, I think. Besides, didn't she tell us at the convenience store that the guy's a 'good friend?' or something?"

"Just because she said that doesn't mean he's just a friend, though," said Sayori a bit slyly. "Sometimes, when girls say that, it's quite the opposite—the guy's often an admirer or secret boyfriend!"

Akihiro stared at her. "Uh, where exactly did you get knowledge about that kind of stuff?"

Sayori fidgeted, giggling a bit nervously. "I just hear my girl classmates talk about things like that, so I take their word for it sometimes. Besides, even if Monika's always busy with school stuff, it doesn't mean she can't have fun with someone like . . . Kenta, was that his name? Ooh, what do you think they did at the mall together?"

"Hmm. . . Monika said that she'd just be meeting him, right?" said Akihiro. "But then again, it could be a date. Maybe they went to the movies or something. And she said they were gonna be eating out, right?"

"Sure looks like it. Ooohhh, that's so exciting and romantic!" Sayori squealed. "If you ask me, Monika needs something like that. I've talked to her a few times before, and there were some days when it looked like she was stressed out from school and running her club—the debate club, I think. I told her before that she needs to wind down and have some fun with someone, so I'm glad she found the chance to do something like this. She looked so happy about it too."

Soon, Akihiro had managed to advance into the third act of Dungeon Delvers as he defeated the second act's final boss. Though Sayori anticipated that he would continue playing, he decided to call it a day and watch random videos online instead. Though shy at first about suggesting what to watch, Sayori was soon given complete control over the computer as Akihiro offered up his seat and sat on the bed instead. In no time at all, the two of them spent the next hour watching and laughing at most of the funny videos that she liked visiting from time to time on the internet, from cute cat fail videos to clips from gag shows. Akihiro's apartment unit was soon filled with laughs, jokes, and other expressions of enjoyment and merriment.

When things simmered down a little, a thought flashed in Sayori's mind. Before she said it out loud, though, she cast glances at Akihiro, as if wishing to test the waters before she said anything.

Akihiro caught up on her stares and looked back at her. "What is it?"

"I was just thinking . . . about tomorrow . . ."

"What about tomorrow?"

She sighed. "No, you might just make f-fun of me again."

Akihiro shrugged. "Can't do that if I don't know what you're going to say, Sayori."

"So you will make fun of me when I say it," said Sayori with a pout.

"I'll do my best not to," said Akihiro, chuckling.

Sayori glared at him, waiting until his laughs subsided. When he looked serious enough, she murmured her answer very quietly, as if she was giving an unsure answer to a pop quiz in front of her classmates.

". . . Breakfast. . ."

Akihiro looked at her for a full ten seconds, his expression blank, his body unmoving from where he was sitting. Such an expression, however, did not convince Sayori, and she was right to believe so; the moment she saw the corners of his lips curve into a smirk, she slapped his shoulder hard.

"S-See! I knew you'd laugh and make fun of me!" she cried out petulantly.

"I didn't even say anything yet!" said Akihiro, bursting into laughter.

Unimpressed, Sayori turned away from him. "Y-You know what? Forget it! I'm not saying anything anymore, meanie!"

Still laughing, Akihiro moved closer to her, trying to pat her on the shoulder and offer words of apology. Sayori, however, shifted and scooted every time he tried to get her to face him. Eventually, however, it was all for naught as Akihiro managed to kneel down in front of her and hold both of her hands. Now, she found herself unable to twist or turn away as she felt Akihiro's thumbs caressing the back of her hands softly.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," he said comfortingly. Though he was still chortling, his voice was slowly taking on a gently serious tone to show that he was sincere this time. "I can't help it, Sayori. You're just wonderfully funny sometimes, especially where eating is concerned."

"It's n-not just about eating breakfast, okay?" said Sayori sullenly. "I just want . . ."

"You just want what?"

Sayori looked at straight into his pale green eyes, her face slowly burning up as she felt herself turn red. "I want to c-cook breakfast with you tomorrow morning. Just like how we made lunch together earlier. It was really fun, and I feel like I'll learn even more with you around. B-Besides, I don't want to eat if y-you're the only one who's gonna do all the work, like what you did at my p-place this morning. And your hand might be hurting still, so it's better if you have some help right? So . . . yeah, I want to cook w-with you again."

She smiled as a mixture of shyness and excitement coursed through her. In her ears, her request sounded so awkward, so weird and trivial, and yet it was true. There was something about preparing the ingredients and cooking them with her own two hands that gave the experience a very fulfilling vibe, even more so than actually eating the prepared dishes. Moreover, the experience was nothing short of special, similar to how joy and bliss propelled her feet and heart forward when the two of them relived their childhoods by the creek earlier that day. Privately, she imagined learning more of the basics of cooking on her own through cookbooks and the internet so that, in the future, she could even start cooking meals for Akihiro.

To her credit, she wasn't the only one blushing now; Akihiro's cheeks turned pink at her words. "You say that like I'm a cooking master or something, Sayori," he said sheepishly. "And besides, cooking alone for you is okay with me. My hand's doing better anyway."

"No, you don't have to do it alone, okay?" said Sayori insistently. "And in the future, I wanna be able to surprise you just like how you surprised me this morning. It's . . . it's the least I can do for everything you've done for me, Akihiro."

Akihiro shook his head. "You know you don't have to repay me or anything, Sayori."

Sayori smiled. "Is it weird to want to do that for my . . . m-my boyfriend?"

She giggled out loud as Akihiro turned red. To diffuse whatever awkwardness her straightforward statement might have brought, she wrapped her arms around Akihiro, cuddling him both happily and shyly. It did not take long before Akihiro did the same as she felt his firm arms gently embrace her. It was an incredible feeling, almost as if Sayori could feel her very soul being at peace with the world.

At around eleven o'clock, Akihiro decided that it was time to address the elephant in the room that he had been ignoring, and which Sayori was unmindful of—the idea of where she would sleep. He felt his discomfiture double as he stared at his bed, the notion of it being enough for two people offering little comfort to his thoughts of sleeping next to Sayori. The only time that they had slept so close together was when they had sleepovers as children in their respective houses, before their parents left Kanto and sought out greener pastures in other prefectures for their education and future. Even then, the two of them had separate beds to sleep in, and in the very few times that they slept side by side, childhood innocence made everything normal. Now that the two of them were both eighteen, however, it was an entirely new dilemma.

As Sayori went inside the bathroom to dress and brush her teeth, Akihiro went towards the small dresser where he kept his clothes and other things. He took off the clothes he had worn for their downtown trip and replaced them with a simple white shirt and a pair of black shorts. Once he had finished dressing, he took a look at dresser's bottom drawer, looking for the thick bedsheets he often used to ward off the chill during colder months. Akihiro saw that he had around three of them, and that if he spread them out on top of each other, they could double as a small mattress he could use on the floor. As for pillows to rest his head on, he could do with one from his own bed and leave the others to Sayori.

He had already prepared everything and was about to lie down when the bathroom door opened. Out came Sayori, now looking youthfully cute again in a pair of pink pajamas. She stopped when she saw Akihiro sitting atop the bedsheets he had arranged, her arms clutching the clothes she had worn for downtown earlier.

"What are you doing down there?" she asked.

Akihiro sighed, anticipating everything that was about to come. He jabbed his thumb towards his bed. "You sleep on my bed. I'll be fine sleeping here on the floor."

Sayori's eyes widened with shock. "Eh?! B-But why?!" she exclaimed, hugging her clothes tighter.

Akihiro felt himself blush. "W-Well, we can't sleep next to each other on the bed, right? I mean, I don't want you to feel uncomfortable sleeping too close to me."

As if in answer, Sayori's face flushed as well. She threw her clothes towards the corner where her bag was lying and moved towards him. "I-I've never thought of that, but . . . but I can't let you sleep on the floor! This is your room, and I'm just a visitor!"

"What the heck? You're not just a visitor here, Sayori!"

"I know that, b-but still . . . !"

Akihiro swallowed nervously. "Well, one of us needs to sleep somewhere else, and of course, I'm not gonna ask you to sleep on the floor, so I—"

"N-No!" Sayori squealed, stamping her foot. "I won't allow it! We sleep on the bed together, or I'll . . . I'll sit on a chair and stay up for the entire night! T-There's no way I'm letting you sleep on the floor in your own room!"

Akihiro let out a hopeless sigh, burying his face in his hands and wishing that things were as simple as they had been when he and Sayori were just two childhood friends fighting for the most comfortable spot on a bed. On a different day, he'd be able to convince Sayori to let him do what he wanted, but he could tell just how resolute she was with her current stand, and that there would be no convincing her.

He decided to make the only choice he knew he had. "A-Alright, fine. We'll share the bed. No more arguing," he said in a resigned tone.

Sayori frowned with concern. "I'm sorry, Akihiro, b-but I don't want you sleeping on the floor, and it's not j-just about this being your place. You might not be able to sleep properly there, and y-you might even wake up with body pains or something! Y-You might get a stiff neck or back, right? The bed's good enough for us both, so I don't know w-why you're insisting on putting yourself through all that trouble!"

Akihiro looked up at her. Sayori looked so anxious and yet so determined, and all for a good reason; his comfort and wellbeing were still her top priorities. Even before, when she admitted wanting to cook with him again, she offered his hand injury as a reason why he needed help with cooking. The thought made him smile warmly at her. As always, you're looking out for me, Sayori.

"Okay, you win this round. I won't sleep on the floor if you don't want me to," he conceded.

Sayori let out a sigh of relief. "Good."

After he had returned the blankets that served as his erstwhile mattress back inside the dresser, the two of them prepped the bed. Sayori took the right side while Akihiro chose the left. Sayori didn't budge even when it came to the pillows, insisting that they divide the four pillows equally between the two of them. Considering how trivial his idea of sleeping on the floor felt now, Akihiro gave Sayori what she wanted. After all, how could he say no to her when she looked this determined in making sure she wasn't the only one who would be sleeping well for tonight?

Akihiro didn't know how long he had been asleep. Time always seemed to pass by in a flash whenever he managed to drift off into dreamland. He had gone to sleep with his back facing Sayori, not wanting to draw too close to her and wake her up in the long run with his movements. The two of them were prone to tossing and twisting around while sleeping, and there was no better proof of this than when they were children—wayward arms and a sleepy game of tug-of-war with a blanket had resulted in one or both of them waking up in the middle of the night during their childhood sleepovers.

As Akihiro slept, he dreamed. In his mind's eye, he was looking up at the sun, basking in its light even if he was almost blinded by it. He blinked and saw, as his dream eyesight adjusted, that he was back by the spot near the creek, sitting atop the stone bench where Sayori had tended to him after he fell from a tree he had been trying to climb. The only difference with everything was that Sayori was nowhere to be found. Wanting to see her, he stood up and walked out onto the street, where people passed by in a blur. He turned around, looking down the streets for her and seeing only passersby that he could only vaguely perceive.

After what seemed like a few minutes—or an eternity, it was hard to tell in dreams—he saw Sayori standing some ways down the sidewalk, looking directly at him. She was in her school uniform, smiling in spite of the tears trickling down her cheeks. Instinctively, Akihiro walked towards her, seized by a desire to embrace her, to comfort her, spurred onwards by the tears she was shedding. Was she hurt? Was she sad?

When he was standing now in front of her, he quickly embraced her, wrapping his arms around her and basking in her warmth and fragrance. In response, Sayori hugged him back, buried her face in his shoulder, and wept there as the people around them continued to pass them by. Akihiro didn't know what to feel. Should he be happy that the two of them were together like this? Should he be worried that Sayori was crying for some reason? Whatever it was, he felt that the hug he was now giving Sayori was the only answer he needed, and he tightened his hold around her, not wanting to let go. In his ears, Sayori's silent sobs and sniffles rang in a bittersweet way, sadness and joy mixing together.

They rang so clearly that he swore he could hear them next to him on the bed.

Akihiro opened his eyes. The lit numbers flashing on the clock next to his bed told him that he had been asleep for an hour and a half. It was not entirely dark; the street lamps outside cast tendrils of illumination inside his apartment unit's windows, creating both shadows and light on the walls and objects in the room. Though he had been sleeping for quite some time already, his senses weren't as woozy from sleep as he expected them to be.

He listened again, not daring to move from his spot on the bed. There was no mistaking it; on Sayori's side of the bed, he could hear her sniffling and crying silently.

Akihiro looked over his shoulder carefully at Sayori. His eyes adjusting to most of the darkness in his room, he saw that she was sitting instead of lying down. Her back rested against his bed's headboard, and her arms were braced around her knees. Her shoulders were trembling, and in the light seeping in from the windows, he saw tears glistening in her eyes.

He spoke up. "Sayori?"

Sayori twitched a little; apparently, she had been so caught up in crying that she didn't notice that he was awake. As Akihiro reached out and turned on the small lamp next to his alarm clock, Sayori wiped her tears with the back of her hand. It was all in vain, though; more leaked from the corners of her blue eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked her softly, sitting up as well. "Why are you crying?"

Sayori hiccupped slightly. "It's n-nothing," she replied quietly. "Just g-go back to sleep, Akihiro."

"You know that's not gonna happen until I figure out what's wrong, Sayori," he told her. "Did you have another nightmare?"

"No," said Sayori tearfully, "I didn't even fall asleep. . ."

Awake for an hour and a half. Startled, Akihiro sat up straighter. "What's the matter, Sayori? Come on, tell me. I don't want to see you like this."

Sayori looked at him despondently. "I'm sorry," she muttered. "I shouldn't have cried like this. I just caused you more trouble when you should be sleeping already. . ."

"Sayori, you should be sleeping already as well," he told her seriously, "and I'm not gonna go back to sleep until you do. Now, please tell me, what happened? Why are you crying?"

Instead of replying, Sayori buried her face in her hands, weeping silently. It was a heartbreaking sight that made Akihiro feel like he was about to tear up as well. He wanted to hug her, to help her, even cry with her, but he felt as if he had been rooted on the spot, his emotions and thoughts grasping at straws. The mere sight of her made Akihiro's voice tremble when he spoke up again. "S-Sayori, please, tell me what's wrong. I want to help. If you're hurt, if you're not feeling well right now, I'll help you in any—"

Sayori looked at him, forestalling his words, and it took a great amount of effort for Akihiro to not break at how sorrowful she looked. It was a debilitating change from the bubbly, innocent and clumsy girl he had always known, and it shook him to his very core to the point where his words caught in his throat. She had been so happy earlier, and the two of them had so much fun. Now, though . . .

"No, there's n-no need, Akihiro," said Sayori silently. "You don't have to w-worry about me too much. I'm just o-overthinking again. . ."

Overthinking about what? And yet before Akihiro could ask the question out loud, he knew what Sayori meant. His thoughts brought him back to the things she often repeated in their conversations—the way she questioned or downplayed her worth, and the way she hinted that Akihiro had something better to do than be around her all the time. Sayori avoided his gaze, her lip trembling, her eyes now positively brimming with tears, as if she saw what he was thinking. For a long while, she didn't speak or move apart from sniffling and hiccupping as she tried containing her sobs. Akihiro let her be, waiting patiently for anything else she might say, not wishing to rush her or overwhelm her with more words at the moment.

Sayori broke the silence before he did. Her voice cracked a little. "Do you . . . D-Do you remember the nightmare I had earlier, Akihiro?"

How could I forget? Akihiro tensed with worry, remembering how Sayori looked and sounded so . . . scared then. Instinctively, he held her hand. "What happened there?"

Sayori bit her lip. "I was with you. . . We were walking t-together, like we always do when we go to school, or when we g-go home. It was n-normal at first, but then . . . you . . . you s-suddenly vanished. I looked around and saw that I was alone, and there were . . . t-there were voices around me, saying all these mean things, dark and scary t-things. . . I was starting to panic, so I started looking for you. For a long t-time, I was running down the street, c-calling out your name.

"And then suddenly, you showed up again. Y-You were standing so far away, so I tried running towards you. The voices w-were getting louder and louder, and it was like the ground was vanishing underneath my feet with every step I took. . . And then . . . A-And then . . ."

At this, Sayori's voice started breaking in between gasps and sobs. "You s-started walking away from me. I tried to catch up, b-but for some reason, I couldn't. I began screaming, and then I heard your voice echo along with the others, telling me . . . t-telling me that . . . I'm worthless, and that you n-never wanted to see m-m-me again. . . I kept screaming and crying and calling your name, but it was no use. T-That was when you finally w-woke me up. . . It was horrible, all horrible. . . I was scared that it m-might happen again if I tried sleeping again, but it's no use. . ."

As she finished speaking, Sayori pulled her hand away from Akihiro's and turned away, weeping. Akihiro watched her cry, startled by the details of her dream and how eerily similar it was to the dream he had—looking for her, running towards her, calling out to her. The only difference was that it ended on a better note for him. Even though he knew that he wasn't technically the Akihiro in Sayori's dream, he still felt ashamed. The dream had basically echoed what she had been thinking to a darker and more hurtful degree by using him as a form of imagery in her mind. No wonder she was so scared.

Akihiro reached out and laid his hand on her shoulder, imploring her wordlessly to turn around. Though it took a few moments, she relented and turned back towards him bit by bit. Her face, however, was bowed, as if she couldn't bear to let Akihiro look at her while she was crying. Unperturbed by this, he cupped his hand on her cheek and gently eased her face upward until their eyes met.

"Sayori," he said kindly, "don't worry. That's just a nightmare. There's no possible way that I'd ever say those mean and terrible things to you. You're not worthless."

"B-But what if I am?" asked Sayori. "That's all I think about when I'm left alone w-with my thoughts and emotions. I d-don't want that, Akihiro. That's why . . . w-why . . . I don't want to leave your side!"

She spoke the last few words with mounting difficulty as her breath fought between her speaking and sobbing. "I don't want to b-be left alone, Akihiro. I don't w-want you to leave! I thought that w-when you finally realize just how I f-feel about you, you'd hate me because I'm just so p-pathetic and awkward and always disturbing you when you're doing something important, and you'd l-leave me b-because of all that. It's all I ever think about when I'm alone, when you go home after visiting me, when I bother you about something I n-need help with.

"I know it sounds so weird and needy, but I . . . I can't lie about it! That's why I'm trying s-so hard to be responsible, t-to make sure that you don't have to d-do everything for me all the time, because I don't want you to think t-that I'm just good for nothing and worthless, that I'm just dead weight! You don't d-deserve that in your life! You deserve someone good, Akihiro, and I want to b-be good, not just for me, but for you as well! But I know t-that it's a tough thing to do, and sometimes I wonder what'll happen if I f-fail."

Frantically, like a drowning person clinging to life and clawing for breath, she wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder, sobbing piteously. "I'm scared, Akihiro. I'm scared t-that one day, you might leave me f-for real, and I'll be all alone in the world. Please don't go! P-Please! I don't want to be alone with my thoughts anymore! It hurts so much . . . so m-m-much. . ."

For a long while afterwards, Sayori did nothing but pour her heart and soul out on Akihiro's shoulder. Soon, his shirt grew damp from her tears, and he could feel her hands clinging desperately to him, making him feel just how much she didn't want him to go like he did in her nightmare. Hearing Sayori say all this, hearing the way she was crying right now . . . Akihiro could feel his heart breaking with each passing second.

He embraced her tightly. "I won't let you go, Sayori. I won't l-leave you. I swear that, I swear," he said.

Still consumed by her grief, Sayori only muttered, "P-Please, Akihiro . . . Please don't leave me. . . Please. . ."

"I won't, Sayori," he assured her resolutely, "I won't."

By the time the two of them finally parted, Sayori's eyes were red from crying. Akihiro gave her his most reassuring and gentlest smile and pressed his forehead against hers. It was a very intimate gesture, and yet he knew it was necessary. "Don't worry about it anymore, okay? What you saw before, that's not true. You're not worthless. You're a sweet and kind girl who deserves every bit of happiness that you can get."

He turned off his lamp and grasped her arms with his hands, easing her down gently until the two of them were lying down once again, this time facing each other. Once they had lain down comfortably, Akihiro wrapped his arms around her again in a protective hug. "That's it. No more tears, alright? Now come on, let's get back to sleep. We still have some cooking to do in the morning, right? Don't worry. Just go to sleep. I'll be right here. I won't leave your side."

At last, Sayori managed to smile back in spite of her tears. "Not even if you need to g-go to the b-bathroom in the middle of the night?" she stammered.

That made Akihiro laugh, a welcome feeling after the pain he felt from watching her weep. "Well, that might be an exception," he admitted lightly, "but you know what I meant, right?

"Y-Yes, I do," said Sayori, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. "Thank you, Akihiro. T-Thank you so much. . ."

Around ten minutes later, Sayori finally drifted off. Her head was nuzzled against Akihiro's chest, and her breathing had relaxed. For a long time after she had fallen asleep, he stayed awake, making sure that she was truly sleeping peacefully. He didn't release his embrace, nor did he even dare to move to lie down more comfortably—the pain that Sayori showed earlier far outweighed any discomfort he could be feeling right now. He watched her sleep, waiting as the soft sounds of her breaths lulled him to sleep. He wondered how many nights Sayori had endured crying herself to sleep without him in the past, and the thought made him tear up unexpectedly.

I'll make sure you'll always be happy from now on, Sayori. That's a promise. Akihiro closed his eyes and waited for sleep to come, wishing that this time, Sayori would have a better dream with him.