I awoke from another strangely vivid dream of the distant past. Maybe three years ago wasn’t all that “distant,” but still.
“Owww…”
Great. My head was killing me too.
It certainly hadn’t been a pleasant dream, but I didn’t have many pleasant memories of my days in junior high to begin with. Especially around that time, in the eighth grade—easily the most dismal and depressive period of my life thus far. I could still taste the loathing and frustration I’d felt within the dream just now. Hoping to wash the foul taste out of my mouth, I jerked upright in bed and set my bare feet down on the carpet to get up and go rinse my face off.
We’d stayed in a hotel the night before, and Akira was in the room directly adjacent to mine. I pulled out my wristwatch and checked the time; it was 8:00 a.m. She should be waking up anytime now. I walked over to the window and opened the curtains. As light flooded into the room, I was greeted by the contours of Aomori’s humble skyline.
It had been three days now since we emerged from the Seikan Tunnel. After making our way southbound through northern Honshu, sleeping at random gas stations and post offices as we went, we’d finally arrived in downtown Aomori—our first major city since leaving Hakodate.
I grabbed the bottled water I’d left at my bedside and headed into the bathroom. With my clothes still on, I unscrewed the lid and held the bottle aloft—then tipped it diagonally over the bathtub. Due to the effects of the timefreeze, the water spilled out for a moment, then froze in midair at about waist height. I scooped some of this levitating water into my hands and splashed it against my face. This was the easiest way I’d found to wash up, though figuring out the ideal distance and technique to keep most of the water frozen outside my aura had taken a little bit of trial and error.
After taking the opportunity to brush my teeth as well, I exited the bathroom and soon heard a knock at the door. I combed my fingers through my hair to fix my bedhead, then opened it to see that Akira had come to get me.
“C’mon, Mugino,” she said. “Let’s go get breakfast.”
We’d been eating all of our meals together ever since the journey began. More often than not, it was Akira who invited me to do so. Personally, I usually preferred eating alone, but it wasn’t as if the company bothered me or anything.
“Sure, just give me one sec,” I said.
I slipped on my tennis shoes and exited the room, leaving the door hanging wide open so as not to lock myself out. Neither of us had room keys, and it was a card reader entry system, so we probably couldn’t get back in even if we wanted to. As before, we’d simply helped ourselves to some rooms that happened to be left open just after being cleaned by the housekeeping staff.
We made our way down to the first floor via the exterior emergency stairwell, then out through the hotel lobby. We walked aimlessly through the streets for a little while, keeping an eye out for any decent-looking food options. It was a bit of a nuisance having to weave our way around pedestrians again now that we were in a more populated area, so we’d made a habit of walking down the middle of the roadway, given that there was no chance of being hit by any cars at the moment. This felt less like a clever adaptation to the conditions of the world and more like our deep-seated sensibilities were slowly growing numb to the absurdity. It made me a little worried as to how well we’d be able to adjust to normal life if and when time did start moving again.
For now, we made our way through this suspended world with our footsteps as the only sound. It was honestly kind of exhilarating to think that we alone had full control over this world—like we were its rulers, free to do whatever we wanted.
As we walked along, Akira let out a great big yawn.
“Still tired?” I asked.
“Yeah, maybe a little,” she said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
“You could’ve slept in, you know. Not like we’re in a huge rush.”
“Trust me, I would’ve. But it just wasn’t happening last night.”
“Really? It’s so nice and quiet, though.”
“Yeah, which is exactly why I couldn’t sleep.”
“Oh, right… Guess you did say you get anxious when it’s too quiet.”
“Exactly, so now I’m totally sleep-deprived.” Akira swiped at her eyes again, this time with her palms. “Ugh, I miss white noise so bad…”
As much as I was glad that wasn’t me right now, I couldn’t help but feel a little bad for enjoying the silence so much when I knew it was such agony for Akira. At the same time, it only rubbed in what a misfit I truly was in normal society. I wished there were more I could do to help her cope with the situation, but I was pretty sure the only way to actually solve the problem was to stop the timefreeze altogether.
We spotted a nationwide coffeehouse chain and agreed to have breakfast there. Upon walking into the storefront, we were greeted by a tantalizing display of sweet and savory treats. I grabbed myself a toasted sandwich and made my way over to an open table. As I walked past the employee working the counter, I lowered my head in shame.