Akari

A knock sounded on my door.

"Hmm," I mumbled tiredly. "Who is it?"

"Uhhh…," a timid voice called out. "It's me, Rei."

"Oh, Rei?" I whipped aside the sheets. "I'll be right there." I quickly opened the door to see Rei, looking anywhere but directly at me.

"Um… I'm sorry for bothering you this late…"

"No, it's fine, I'm here to help you. What is it?"

"I… I can't sleep," he said, fidgeting really hard. "B-Because it's a new place, and its all so new and different, and I… I uh… well."

He didn't say it directly, but based on what he's saying…

"Alright, I got it. Come in already," I said, smiling gently.

He nodded gratefully and came in, taking off his shoes. I walked back towards the futon before noticing he wasn't following.

"Aren't you going to come sit?"

"Where should I sit?"

"Just sit over there." I pointed at the table in the middle of the room.

"Thank you," He tiptoed his way and sat down near the table stiffly.

"Relax," I said, patting him on the back. But instead of reassuring him, it seemed like it only made him more tense. Maybe…

"Do you want some tea? I still have water left over." As I got up and moved away from him, his body visibly relaxed. He's not a touchy feely kind of person, so keeping his mind busy should calm him down.

"Ah, yeah. That'd be great," he said.

"Alright, just wait right there." I put the water inside the pot and started up the fire. He settled comfortably onto the mat, staring into the fire as the water boiled. I gave him time to think things over as the water boiled.

"Are you willing to talk right now?" I said, putting a cup in front of him.

"Ah, yeah," he nodded, looking up at me.

I poured tea into the cups and sat down. "Well, what's keeping you up?"

He stared into his cup. "I'm wondering… what I'm doing here."

I tilted my head. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, what can I actually manage here? Everything's so new to me, and I'm way in over my head. I don't even have a place to stay here. If I don't make it into the Corps, I'll be thrown out to 'meet my fate'... I…"

He picked up the cup without looking. "Hot."

"Careful," I said, slowly sipping my tea. "You don't need to have everything figured out. Right now, the most important thing is to pass that test."

"But what if I fail it? Then I'll be screwed!"

"Then put your mind to passing it."

He gaped at me in disbelief. I let out a small chuckle. "I'll let you in on a secret. The captain wouldn't actually leave you to die."

"She didn't seem like she was joking."

"She would probably try to get you set up here with a different job before she tossed you out there." I said, taking another sip. "And besides, some people do live out there beyond our walls."

"They do?"

"Mhmmm. If nothing else, I'm sure she would try to introduce you to them or something. She's not heartless, even if she seems cold."

"She wouldn't toss me out to die?"

"Nope. She's just saying that to scare you. She's got a lot on her plate."

He nodded his head, sipping some tea. "If you say so."

I smiled at him. "You don't need to worry about being tossed out unceremoniously. And as for things being new, I get that. Pokemon are really scary… well, maybe you're not scared about that." I corrected, thinking about how fearlessly he approached the pokemon at the beach.

"Well, see…" he trailed off, thinking hard.

"What's the new thing making you sweat?"

"... Where I come from, we do things… very differently."

I tilted my head. "That's… a little vague."

"Yeah… It is… Sorry." Shoot, his voice became smaller.

"No, no, that's my bad for pushing you. I'm sorry about that, I didn't realize this was a sensitive topic."

"Well, it's like…It's sensitive, yeah. But its…" he fumbled over his words.

"You don't have to explain it to me. Just tell me how you feel right now."

"... Well, I just feel like I made a mistake."

Hmmm. I sipped my tea, thinking carefully. It was obvious that he didn't want to say anything more, and it was such a vague statement, so…

"I can't tell you if whatever you did was a mistake, but…" I almost put my hand on his shoulder, but I remembered last minute, and just scooted near him. "Do you regret what you did?"

"I'm not sure yet, to be honest." He said, surprising me. "I guess it remains to be seen."

"Well, all you have to do is make sure that you don't end up regretting what you did."

He looked at me in surprise. I really wanted to pat his back, but I just gave a smile and nudged his tea.

"Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah, thanks." He said, drinking deeply. "Could I stay a bit longer though? It's… comfortable here."

"Of course."

We sat together in comfortable silence, sipping our tea. I stared into the fire, zoning out as the crackling of the fire lulled me.

"Hey, you feeling-" he had already nodded off. I shut my mouth and prepared a spare futon for him. I didn't want to wake him, so I gently scooted him towards it and clumsily tucked him in. He didn't stir after all that. He must've been extremely tired.

I put away the cups and put out the fire, then climbed in my own futon for sleep. He was very much unaccustomed to this life, and it was my job to guide him however he needed. Until then, all he needed to do was to show off even a tiny portion of that bravery in his exam, and he'd be set. Good luck, Rei.