Using a laptop to play games is not necessarily what most people would consider to be a dangerous task, but most people don’t play for 11 hours straight trying to unlock ranked play with their friends. Yumeji was one of those rare people who did. Sitting on the floor, hunched over his laptop for that long was hell on his back. Combined with the fact that he had barely managed to get any sleep afterwards meant that he was almost certainly in for a rough day at school. He shambled out of his apartment shortly after 8 in the morning. His hands grabbed onto the railing in front of him. He rested against it for a moment and let out a long sigh as he tried to gain some composure before starting the day.

“Long night?” asked a female voice.

Startled, Yumeji reacted a bit too quickly as he turned to see who was talking to him. It was his neighbor, Namiko Toro, leaning against the railing in front of her unit.

“Sorry,” she continued as she chuckled quietly, “didn’t mean to spook you. I didn’t know you were so jumpy.”

“No, no. You’re fine,” he said emphatically as he turned to face her properly. This was only the third or fourth time that he had ever spoken with her in the year or so that they had been neighbors. He wasn’t sure why he hadn’t ever tried to get to know her better, she seemed like a friendly sort of person. Plus she was beautiful. She had mesmerizing, emerald green eyes which contrasted nicely with her smooth pale skin. Her light brown hair curled ever so slightly just beneath her chin, framing her face like some renaissance painting. She was on the taller side for a girl, but still a good amount shorter than Yumeji. Today she was wearing a white blouse with a black collar topped by some sort of white embroidered lace pattern, tied together with a black bow over her chest.

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After they exchanged pleasantries she wished him luck at school and then turned to leave. She waved to him as she made her way down the stairs before turning down the street. Soon enough she disappeared behind some buildings and Yomeji was once again alone, leaning against the railing. Suddenly, seemingly from nowhere, he began to feel incredibly lonely. There was something about Namiko that made you wish that she’d never have to leave, and the certainty that she would was too much to bear.

They both went to Tōhikawa University, apparently they both had classes around this time. He should have asked her if she wanted to walk together, but for some reason he didn’t. Maybe he was afraid of getting that feeling again, that dreadful feeling of knowing that his time with her was fleeting. Maybe he just couldn’t work up the nerve. Either way, he took the stairs down and started walking to school. Alone.

He hadn’t had breakfast yet, so he planned on stopping at a convenience store along the way.