They were now in a meeting room, stomachs filled, and officially valiant survivors of the Mihoyo Minefield of Questions. Where? Alina, Linda, Cayne, Cole and Liam had no idea. They only knew that it was a meeting room somewhere in somewhere in Japan.
Kumori was half asleep at that point, and Korū was using his phone again, playing Cytus II.
Alina peered over his shoulder. "Oh, you haven't reached XYZ yet." She said disappointedly, walking away.
"Fuck off," Korū snarked.
"So, you know the story… are you willing to help us?" Linda asked. Ignoring whatever was happening right beside her, as Alina continuously tried to look over Korū's shoulder to see how he was doing, which was really annoying him. The annoying him part was half the fun.
"What is in it for us?" Mihoyo asked.
"I swear, Ivy is not gonna die." Alina muttered, "You know, every time someone plays the game everyone needs to die again."
"What do you want?" Linda said.
"Don't ask them what they want, you gotta offer shit," Korū hissed at Linda.
Linda frowned. "I'm offering to give them the shit they want."
Korū sighed. "More than two packs of werewolves who will be in your debt. Plus, Kumori, Hikari and I come over every term break." His gaze flicked to Kaito. "To pick up from where they left off."
Mihoyo clapped her hands together. "Okay. Settled. Bring Kaito when you do."
"Please, no," Kaito huffed.
Mihoyo grinned at him, which he responded to with an exasperated sigh.
"So what's our plan?" Alina said. Damn, the going was slow.
"First, sleep," Kumori mumbled.
Mihoyo led them upstairs to the spare rooms,"Okay, so you gotta double up. We don't have enough rooms for everyone to have one to themselves."
Korū entered one of the rooms, dumped his stuff on the floor, and claimed a bed.
"I feel like we've done this too much in the span of a few days." Alina said as she and Linda invaded a room.
"Done what? Bunk together?"
Alina nodded, then shrugged. "I don't know. Sharing a space with someone else feels unusual."
Hikari and Kumori chose one of the rooms, while the three remaining guys stood outside, wondering who was going to share a room with their unpredictable... friend? That they may or may not be on very good terms with.
Cayne, Cole and Liam stared at each other, daring the others to speak. They all narrowed their eyes.
"I'm going to the other room."
"I'm following Liam!"
And the two dashed away, leaving Cayne behind. "Oi! What happened to solidarity?"
Korū was actually listening to everything, and pretty much knew what was going on at that point. "Okay, don't yell at people, just sleep," he told himself.
Cayne carefully approached the door and inched it open, peering in warily. He could hear from Korū's breathing that he was still awake, but sneaked in quietly nonetheless.
He placed his stuff on the floor the same way Korū did, before taking a quick shower, brushing his and sliding under the covers.
"I'm not gonna kill you," Korū muttered. "Why the hell are you being so sneaky?"
Cayne shrugged. "You're trying to sleep. I know I don't like it when others make a lot of noise."
"Heh. I'm not tryna sleep." He rolled over to stare at the ceiling. "I can't, anyway. Insomnia, or whatever you call it. I can't sleep before three."
Cayne frowned, but Korū obviously couldn't see it. He kept quiet. At least he had chosen to share this information.
"Anyways, just do whatever you wanna do. You won't kill my sleep schedule."
Cayne snorted. "Including waking up at three a.m. just to bang cymbals beside your ears? I don't think so."
"If you do that, then I will kill you." Korū sent a glare in Cayne's direction. "It's not gonna be pretty."
Cayne chuckled. "I know." This wasn't too bad. The killing hadn���t started yet.
In the other room, Hikari and Kumori were both praying for the survival of whoever was sharing a room with Korū. Honestly, they didn't have to worry, though. Because Korū is nice. Occasionally. Very, very, occasionally.
***
Cayne stirred in his sleep. "What time is it?" He thought to himself. He reach out for his phone to check the time.
7.12.
He lay in the bed, staring at the ceiling. What time were they supposed to get up anyway?
He glanced at Korū's bed.
Korū was still asleep, shifting slightly every few seconds.
"I thought he said they wake up at 7? Unless they're talking about eastern standard time or something." Cayne thought again, deciding to just lay there until Korū woke up or someone came to get them.
Suddenly, Korū's eyes snapped open and he sat bolt upright, a growl in his throat, his breaths coming in ragged gasps. When he calmed down enough, he rasped, "What time is it?"
"7.14." Cayne answered, "Was Korū okay?" But he didn't ask. It wasn't his place, and Korū would probably tell him if he wanted Cayne to know.
"God." His shoulders sagged as he pressed his palm against his forehead against an incoming headache.
Cayne sat up, watching him. "Is this normal?" referring to his actions.
"Yes. No. Maybe? Sort of." Korū gritted his teeth. "It's worse, actually. Since my mom died."
Cayne nodded in understanding. This wasn't considered prying, was it? "If you ever need help… well, you could go to a doctor, find the root cause? You would at least rest better if it were treated."
"Tch. All they do is give me pills that I don't use, and try to understand something that they don't." He lowered his hand. "There's no point in that. I'll just waste time and energy that can be spent training, so I'll be able to protect those I care about." The last few words were barely more than a hoarse whisper.
"It's not always pills. There's another way, therapy, I don't know. I'm not an expert, but even pills don't work for everybody."
Korū was silent for a moment. "Therapy? Random people tryna' find out what's going on in my head to try to help me kill these monsters?" he said bitterly. "How the hell are they gonna understand? I've fuckin' lost my parents, my sister probably needs mental help more than I do even though she doesn't show it, my uncle has his own huge as hell set of problems, and the only one keeping us all together is my cousin. Seriously, how many people can understand that?"
"More than you think? Look, everyone has their own unique set of problems, obviously some more than others, but you need to find your own way to deal with it."
There was silence for an entire minute. Then, "Whatever. I'll think about it." He huffed. "...thanks."
Cayne hummed in response. "Do you think the others are awake?"
"Korū!" Hikari opened the door and poked her head in. "You awake-" She stopped and stared at the two of them actually having a conversation which didn't result in Cayne being beaten up. Damn, she should have listened at the door just now to check if she was interrupting anything. "Uhhhh... Never mind." She retreated and closed the door.
Cayne glanced at Korū and raised an eyebrow, as if asking "Is your sister okay?"
"...I think she's just surprised I haven't murdered you yet."
"I'm surprised too." Cayne muttered, getting up to stretch, "I'm going to brush my teeth and stuff." He said, heading for the bathroom.
Korū flopped back onto the bed, closing his eyes again.
Soon, the bathroom door opened again. "I'm done." Cayne said as he emerged. "I'll go see if the other guys are alive."
"Of course they're alive," Korū muttered. He brushed past Cayne into the bathroom.
"Doesn't hurt to check." Cayne said, a little amused, making his way to the room where Cole and Liam were sleeping.
Korū was left wondering why the hell he even told Cayne all that in the first place, then decided that it was because he just needed someone to talk to. At least, someone who was not a therapist.