[ Plot change- no time skip this chap ]
When Yuuma's head hit the pillows of the unscented bedding, calmed by a heavy sleep beckoning him. He felt something was wrong but was used to his own sleeping patterns didn't dwindle on something he deemed a disturbance. A moment later small breathy snores lifted his chest in rhythm.
Tap....tap.....tap...tap
The dripping sound of water droplets hitting a sink upset him but continued to try and go back to sleep. A pain in his stomach pulled him back, with a grumble he flopped to a more pleasant side but the uncomfortable pain did not lessen in the slightest. Yuuma swallowed but realized his throat was so dry there was nothing to ease the scratchiness of it.
Yuuma had a premonition and lifted his heavy eyelids that were as heavy as a boulder. He was so tired he wanted to just deal with it later but even so, he knew his body wasn't right. It hurt, he was tired...thirsty....hungry.
A sudden burst of noise echoed around him stirring Yuuma even further awake. His first thought was, 'the landlady must be coming for this month's payment sigh~ I was too tired to hand it over....'
Yuuma heard someone at the door but their words were slurred and his vision blurred. He was fading in and out of consciences and through the waking points barely could form thoughts in his head. There was a commotion during a certain length and some sounds of beeping, tears, yelling, and panic.
He woke up in the hospital with what he can only describe as feeling empty. He lay on the hard mattress with a drip in his arm staring blankly at the squared tiles of the ceiling. No one had visited but the nurse explaining his condition. His landlady had found him severely dehydrated and starved and immediately called an ambulance to take him. But even as Yuuma intently focused on her words they barely resonated in his head.
Waking up he was confused, so confused. His head pounded and the only words he'd been able to say with guarantee were 'yes' and 'no.' Yuuma had even wanted to stop the nurse before she left and ask her 'what's happening?' but refrained himself burrowing into his brain.
Could it be he was so absorbed in some sort of lucid dream he imagined the detail as fine as jade, the characters as complex as cow patterns, and the world having wind, water, rain, sunny rays of light, and misty mornings of dew, created the lovely and bad smells that were so detailed reality and allusion were confused? Everything felt factually real. he felt mad to believe it wasn't. But if he were to tell this to the nurse what would they say? Yuuma closed his eyes comforted by the darkness, a bitter curve of his lips, and a huff of a laugh. That was all he could do.
After the exclamation of little emotion, his brows rose and furrowed and tightened the hold of his closed eyes, the smile curving down to a frown. He was tired again, not sleepy, just tired of everything. He lifted his tongue probing his herbivore teeth knowing for sure this was his real self, then he looked in the reflection of a hospital tray greeted by his stoic black eyes.
He should feel happy, now he could live as himself again in his real body. he didn't have to burden anyone in that world with his presence any longer. Maybe the world was completely made up by him, maybe everything was fake. But even after everything, Yuuma couldn't hide his true feeling deep down as he had done with many emotions. He felt more sad than happy...
'I wish I could have stayed just a little longer.'
The clicking of heels brought Yuuma out of his thoughts and almost instantly he knew who it belong to. The curtain was swished open harshly and a woman who displayed no emotion walked next to him and sat down on a chair. She dropped her purse and started to carve an apple, silence more welcoming to Yuuma than this presence.
"So..." the female started giving a slice to a red peel. "Since you can't even take care of yourself at 20, your father and I decided to enroll you in a home. It will be for the best, it will help you." Sharp gravely curves of the slicer knife came to a halt a moment later.
Yuuma felt cold and watched the peeled apple touch her purple lipsticked lips and a crisp crunch follow. Yuuma was about to say something back but stopped himself and clenched his hand into a fist. She grabbed the metal tray full of apple shavings and placed it on yuuma's lap.
"Eat, auntie peeled it just for you."
Yuuma tentatively picked up a shaving and placed it into his mouth chewing extraordinarily slowly. His eyes were glaring with hatred. The woman smiled gently and then picked up her purse leaving with a loud swoosh of the curtain. With her absence, Yuuma breathed a sigh of relief and thought that maybe his dream made sense in a way.
To escape reality he had gone to fantasy. He had always wanted siblings and got some. Although not escaping a villain he could easily control them. And maybe the little boy was supposed to be what he thought of as a friend? The butler was the carrier helping him through all his tired needs having a fresh feeling of being considered for even when asleep.
But still, he remembered clearly the pain from the fever and the heavy and good times of sleep. Hours felt like hours and days felt like days, how could that be faked? Even now being in this world it took a while to adjust to this modern view as if he had been elsewhere and returning was a bit foreign.
'It doesn't matter anymore, let it go," Yuuma muttered on the inside but with memory as durable as his it was impossible.
Yuuma spat out the chewed apple peel and put the tray back on the side table looking up at the chair as if he could still see the familiar woman figure sitting in an upfront posture with that ugly smile. Yuuma sneered.
That woman was his psychological shadow.