Fuzen didn't sleep that night. The first six hours weren't all too bad. Fuzen ha been pacing around his room, feeling like he was forgetting something, feeling like there was something he needed to do. Knowing that that wasn't true didn't help him too much either. He was biting his nails and roughly rubbing his arms or playing with his hair. He didn't much like walking around, it made him nauseous, but not moving around was worse.
Every step he didn't take, he felt like he wasn't doing anything. He needed to do something anything, but he didn't know what to do. He didn't really have any interests or talents aside from Sake, but...
'What about a single sip, that won't be too bad right?' Fuzen walked towards his door in a rush, he grabbed the handle and stopped. He stared at the door for a long time. He slowly turned the handle and was ready to open the door, and he took his hand away and started pacing around the room again.
'Why is it so hot?' Fuzen wiped his brow, but his hand was shaking. He was sweating and seeing hi shaking hand, he felt like he needed to puke. He rushed to the bathroom and emptied his guts, his arms were shaking like it was freezing, but his body felt hot. He was drenched with sweat, and he slowly stumbled back to his room. The taste of vomit left him bitter and even more nauseous than he already was.
Night had already come, and Fuzen sought the sweet release of sleep, but it evaded him. He was tired, but not matter how he tried, he couldn't sleep a wink. Fuzen couldn't tell much, his head hurt, he was hot, and he was thirsty. So very thirsty. Fuzen lurched towards the kitchen. He opened the fridge and saw three bottles of Sake. There was no water, there was no juice, there was no milk. Only three bottles of Sake.
Fuzen licked his dry lips, wasn't this too hard? What is wrong with drinking when you're so thirsty? He didn't need that old man Miyamoto's help anyway, did he? Plus, just a cup wouldn't hurt. He would quench his thirst and then go back to his room. That was reasonable right? Fuzen nodded his head. He thought it sounded reasonable.
Fuzen reached towards the bottle of Sake and opened it up, some of it spilled as his arm shook. Fuzen didn't know if it was the withdrawal or the excitement, but the violent shaking of his arm made even the holding of the bottle kind of difficult. Fuzen took a big sniff, and a smile crossed his lips. Just as he was about to bring the bottle to his lips, he heard,
'so you're giving up already, huh?' Fuzen began to shake, but for a different reason. This damn voice in his head never said anything useful, or anything at all other than cursing him. He thought he had rid himself of it when he promised to clean the house, but the damn thing showed up again. What bothered him even more was that the voice of his old man was still looking down on him.
"Giving up" Fuzen muttered, "giving up?" Fuzen smashed the bottle against the counter and screamed,
"Fuck you! I can do it! I was just a little thirsty ok!?" Aiko rushed into the kitchen soon after. She was just sleeping, but the noise had startled her awake, she was still rubbing her eyes as she shot towards the kitchen. Her voice was a little craggy, but the worry in it was clear when she asked,
"Big Brother are you ok?" Fuzen waved her off and said ill-temperdly,
"Go back to bed!" Aiko jumped back, and looked at him twice before she finally left back to her room.Fuzen felt like his mouth was a desert and threw his head under the faucet and turned it on at full blast. He drank and drank until his stomach felt bloated, and he could feel water swish around whenever he walked.
Feeling antsy and anxious, Fuzen fumbled his way outside, he walked and walked around looking at the building that lined the streets and the cracks in the sidewalk. He walked along the banks of the river, and he walked until his feet bled. When the sun was coming up, he finally started walking towards his house. He got back and threw himself into his bed, his legs ached and his feet hurt. His body shook like there was an earthquake happening and every part of him was tired, but he just couldn't sleep.
Fuzen started scratching at his arms, he couldn't understand what was happening, Wasn't that snake tattoo supposed to stay still. He felt like snakes were slithering under his skin. He could see the bulges in his arms, but there was no ink, and that tattoo was staying still. He tried to pull the creatures out, but that only served to cut up his arm, he could never catch the snakes. By the time Aiko got up, he could swear that there were snakes hissing around him. While Fuzen was questioning life, Aiko prepared for school. By the time she was ready to leave, she knocked on her brother's door and asked,
"Brother, can I have some more money" Fuzen was about to blow his top.
"You know where it's at go get it!"
"Ok" For some reason, she sounded a little disappointed, but Fuzen wouldn't mind that, he was too bust trying to kill the snakes under his skin. As her little footsteps got further and further away, a thought occurred to Fuzen. He kept the money in his parents room. Wasn't that room where he...
"Wait!" Fuzen rushed out of his room, and stopped her just before she opened the door. Her expression shifted quickly, first being confused, then happy, but when she saw her brothers bleeding, shaking, arms and his bloodshot eyes, her face was filled with fear and worry. Before she could even get a word across, Fuzen rushed into their parents room and shut the door on her. He grabbed 20, 000 yen and shoved it into her hand as soon as he came back.
She was going to thank him, but he began rushing her out of the house. Although she had already collected everything she needed, she was a little disgruntled. When she got outside, she stared at Fuzen stubbornly and said,
"I'm heading out." Fuzen waved at her dismissively and said, "Come back whenever." Then he shut the door. As soon as he did so, he collapsed and laid his back against the door, but what he saw when he looked up shocked him. A small child wearing a turquoise yukata spotted with dark blue flowers was floating in the air. Its body was partially transparent, but its face was a tint of red, and it had short black hair it had bob-style cut. Fuzen couldn't really tell whether it was a boy or a girl, it could really go either way. When he laid eyes on it, he asked no one in particular,
"Am I hallucinating?"
