Why does a communications major have to take a philosophy class anyways, he wondered as he meandered down the hall. After spending the last hour listening to Professor Fuyutsuki drone on and on about The Sickness unto Death, Yumeji’s ability to stay awake was beginning to be seriously tested. He was going on less than two hours of sleep and was starting to have a hard time keeping upright. He found a nice looking couch in one of the common areas and took a seat. He grabbed a textbook from his bag and propped it up to look like he was studying, lowered his hat to hide his eyes, and tried to take a nap. His next class wasn’t for another hour, so now seemed like a good opportunity to recharge his batteries. He closed his eyes and soon drifted into a quiet, surprisingly deep, sleep.
He made his way up the exterior stairs, nearly tripping on the final step as he always did for some reason. His was the unit furthest from the stairway, unit 6 of 6. He unlocked the door and stepped inside. He tossed his backpack on the folding-chair-turned-table that he kept near the front door, removed his shoes, and sauntered over to the fridge to grab a soda. He downed it pretty quickly, a bad habit of his on exhausting days. That’s when he noticed it for the first time, Namiko Toro was sitting on his futon. It almost didn’t seem real, which made sense because it wasn’t. He had no idea why she would be in his apartment, he hardly knew her, but there she was, and for some reason it made him feel good.
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“Does this look like the library?” an angry voice asked shortly after the body from which it emanated kicked Yumeji in the shin with all its might.
“Ow! What the hell?” he responded, a little too loudly for a public place.
“You were supposed to meet me in the library at 10:40. You’re the one who asked me,” she said from beneath her dark bangs, emphasizing whose idea it was, “for help understanding Kierkegaard, and then you bailed on me.” Komi was pissed off, understandably so.
“I’m sorry, I fell asleep. I was up all night last night. But that’s no reason to give me internal bleeding.”
“Up all night, huh? Studying, I’m sure,” Komi replied sarcastically as she turned in the direction of the library. “Are you coming or not? You’re lucky I’m still willing to try to help a lost cause like you.”
“Gee thanks,” Yumeji said as he gathered his things and got to his feet. There were still fifty-five minutes left until his next class started, but for some reason he felt completely rejuvenated. What a strange, lovely dream, he thought.