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“Himeko.”
She turned immediately at the familiar voice.
“Kafka!”
The woman in front of her looked rather pleased with herself, standing in the middle of her room. Himeko hadn’t seen her in a while and laying eyes upon her now seemed unreal.
Her eyes seemed tired and her smile a little too happy, a little too tense.
“How did you get here?” She didn’t know what to do. The whirlwind of emotions inside of her made it hard to think. The only thing her mind came up with were different ways to call her beautiful.
“Are you not happy to see me?” Her voice sounded fake, her pout seemed to be made out of plastic. Even though Himeko knew that, she felt bad. The possibility of disappointing Kafka seemed far worse than falling into her carefully laid traps. She decided to entertain her.
Though when she decided to speak, the words died on her tongue.
Her once white blouse was blooming red and brown.
Himeko could not help herself and rushed to the other woman’s side, inspecting the wound.
“What happened?” When she looked her in the eyes, she found neither fear nor pain. Kafka seemed entirely unaffected.
“Aw, are you worried about me?”
“Why are you wounded? Take your shirt off and let me see.”
“Not even a first date?” She chuckled and Himeko was getting impatient.
“Stop evading my questions Kafka.”
She didn't understand why she was so worried. This woman shouldn’t mean this much to her.
However, Himeko didn’t know Kafka could get hurt. This was the first time she had seen any sort of wound on her. The possibility of something happening to her never crossed her mind, now it seemed too real.
“If you insist”, she said. She almost seemed bored while shedding her shirt, though even that felt inauthentic.
The wound on her side seemed to have stopped bleeding.
“Sit down, I’ll clean and bandage it.”
Himeko was terrified. She almost dropped her little first aid kit twice, before she was able to sit next to Kafka on her bed.
“Can you tell me what happened?”, she asked. “No.” Kafka didn’t even flinch at the disinfectant touching her.
“Okay.” She applied some cream to the wound. It did not look quite as dramatic without the blood. “It’s not only mine. The blood I mean.”
“Okay.”
She took a bandage and wrapped it around her waist.
“It’s really not that bad.” Himeko shushed her and secured the bandage.
“You should see the other guy, I would not want to be him right now.” Kafka chuckled and Himeko went to her closet to pick up a spare shirt.
“You should consider getting into nursing. That patch up was better than I expected from Miss Navigator.”
She handed her the shirt and started collecting the dirty tissues.
“You can talk to me, you know?”
She didn’t know. She didn’t know what to say. This situation was odd and she felt like a fish being thrown onto land. Flailing about trying to swim with no avail.
Sticking to what she knew seemed like the only way to navigate.
A hand on her chin guided her back to the ocean, though it seems she forgot how to swim.
“Look at me, won’t you?”
The first thing she noticed when she looked was how Kafka’s smile seemed real. The first thing Himeko thought was how she never looked prettier.
“Are you alright?” It seemed like a strange question, even in her own mind.
“Never better.”
“Will you leave again?”
“Do you want me to?” She didn’t. She didn’t want her to leave. Himeko only shook her head because if Kafka leaves, what if something will happen to her again? So she says no.
“I was afraid,” Himeko confessed.
They were lying side by side in the darkness of her room. Her sheets seemed oddly cold and the warmth appeared to be too far away.
“What did it feel like?” The question felt genuine and she didn’t like that. She sought the warmth before whispering her reply upon the other woman’s lips.
“Like dying.”