Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World-Chapter 313: Arc 5, - 7: Till Sunrise

Shadows appeared and reappeared at the start of the steps and for a split-second, Fumeko appeared before she blinked up the stairs in shadow.

"Meko?" Hotaru’s ears flickered as she turned. Jotou knitted her brows and turned, then took a glance to the kitchen.

"What happen?" Kineko tried to raise her head and got on the tips of her toes, but couldn’t see behind the sofa.

Kazuo Namora walked into the living room with a heavy breath, "Sorry if you heard anything."

"I heard Meko shouting, but it was hard to tell what she was saying," Asobi shrugged.

"I’m sorry," Hotaru forced a smile, "I heard some things as she got louder. She’s off to her room, isn’t she?"

He adjusted his sleeves and gave a nod. "Regardless, I’m sure you’re all tired from travel. About a place to stay; Fumeko has her room on the third floor.

Mine’s on the second, first door at the end of the stairs and right next to it is this little one’s," he put his arms out.

"NooOooo," she hid herself using Jotou’s yellow coat, "Aunty Spauky-Eyes, save me, I don’t wanna study!"

Jotou glared to Kazuo, "She doesn’t want to study."

"Well Aunty Sparky-Eyes, she still hasn’t finished her homework," he shook his head. "I’ll let you off for today kiddo, but tomorrow for sure, deal?"

Kineko stumbled and climbed up the sofa next to Jotou. She raised her arms wide as she stood on the cushions, "Deal!"

The blonde’s glare disappeared, "More seriously, I think you were about to offer for us to stay here. I should say you don’t have to; and Meko’s feelings of staying here will be prioritized over the offer, to be transparent."

"I figured that and, I understand. There’s still three empty rooms that are all cleaned out and free to be used whenever you decide; same applies for food and things like that."

Jotou looked to the other two, "It’s better for us to stay up and you know, get with the time zone. And no more rejuvenates for someone," her eyes shifted to the redhead.

"I’ll, try..." Hotaru rubbed her eyes.

"Ooo, maybe we can explore the city!"

"We’ll be too tired for that," Hotaru looked to the elf with a frown.

"Oh no, Hotaru’s getting grumpy," Asobi hid behind her wand.

"I’m not," she said with a slight groan. She stood up and let her tail swoosh back, "I’ll start unpacking a little, till we decide on whether to stay or not," she stretched.

"There’s one bedroom on the second and two on the third; if you take the one with the fire escape, please don’t lock your door while you sleep."

"Is there a bedroom big enough for two people?" Hotaru queried.

Kazuo’s eyes darted up, "Should be the second floor’s."

"What’s this?" Kineko had grabbed Jotou’s sword hilt and tried to wriggle it out the sheath under her coat.

"No, no, no," Jotou took her hands and pushed them away from the hilt, "That’s my sword..."

"Aunty has a swowrd!? Like the one in faiwytales to defeat the big dwagon!? Have you fought a dwagon!!?" her eyes lit up in joy and she jumped on the sofa.

"I haven’t fought a dragon per se, but a lot of equally epic enemies," Jotou declared with wide eyes and a grin. She leaned and hushed, "I’ve even fought, an evil flower monster!"

Kineko gasped in glee.

Hotaru poked Jotou’s side.

Jotou turned with knitted brows and the grin wiped away, "What?"

"Nothing~"

Jotou’s eyes glazed over.

"Kineko’s a very curious kid... Better keep any weapons safely stored," Kazuo advised.

_

"Knock, knock-knock-knock-knock, knock, knock."

"Fumeko...?" Asobi knocked on the purple-painted door on the third floor. Right next to her was the guardrail that protected someone from falling into the stairway.

The ceiling was at an angle and a bathroom sat on the left wall, two rooms at the end of the staircase and Fumeko’s which was on the side of the front of the house.

"Go away Sobi, now’s not the time for your shenanigans," the voice muffled through the door.

"I wasn’t planning on it."

Silence responded...

"Okay, well, we’re all probs not gonna sleep, so, we’ll be up..." She rolled her and Fumeko’s luggage against the wood back and forth awkwardly.

...

"I’m staying in the room at the end of the stairs, the one without a fire exit... You can, come in whenever you want..."

...

"Okay, that’s all. Bye Meko..." the sound of luggage travelled away from the door. A minute passed... Then another... Then finally the door to the room at the end of the stairs shut.

Within the room, Fumeko let out a breath of relief. She sat by the windowsill where a few fluffy cushions sat; the shut purple curtains now open.

Her head leaned against the glass, watching the streetlights. Her eyes dry and her arms around her knees. Her magenta sheets upon the bed in the corner all clean and her desk arranged and clear.

The dark floorboards showed little to no dust, but the scribbles and drawings of pencil and pen on the floral cream-hued wallpaper remained.

Just a medium-sized bedroom where the ceiling slanted downwards till her head would hit it if she jumped a little by the window.

The view hadn’t changed one bit—but hers certainly had. Her twin-tails were gone and she let her long hair warm up her ears whilst her breath fogged up the window.

Minute by minute ticked by, where she could count every second she had to be awake. What to think, even she didn’t know. She turned her head and glanced at a rabbit-eared clock on the wall. "Six thirty-three..." she uttered.

The darkness of the skies had not lightened and the clouds still swirled above as she looked out the window... Her brows furrowed; she swore she heard something above her room...

She took a deep breath—if she had to take a guess. Yeah, that was probably it. Silently she got off the sill and walked to the mirror of her wardrobe with a built-in vanity.

With her gloved hands she fished out her pockets, a purplish-bronze metal marble made up of several rings and a dagger which gleamed purple, despite the turned off lights in the room—both she placed on the vanity.

The brunette took slow steps to her locked door and turned the knob to peek out... There sat her luggage in the silent home. Her eyes fluttered to the shut door at the end of the staircase.

After rolling the bag into her room, she gave a knock to said door, "Hey Sobi? Thanks for bringing my luggage up..." she muttered. A few seconds passed...

Fumeko exhaled and turned back-

"You’re welcome Meko," Asobi replied.

With a faint smirk, the brunette walked away and made her way next to the bathroom. Just as she expected, a yellow hued ladder was pulled down and a trapdoor was open in the ceiling, letting in a chill past the insulating layers.

"Woosh." Shadows appeared up the ladder and atop the roof she stood. The breeze even colder past her ears and the clouds swirling with little twinkles of stars able to pierce their light through.

"Hello detective," Jotou turned her head around to notice.

"What’s with you and going up roofs?"

The blonde wore a white blouse and a long black skirt with warm white stockings—her dark grey jacket around her. She sat with her hands leaning back on the roof and gave her a shrug.

Fumeko walked upon the black roof tiles towards her—the chimney poking out a few steps away from both.

"I guess it’s the fun of it, no? You’re never supposed to be on the roof of a building—your house, school, any roof really. But being on a roof, you have a great view of it all.

Whether it be the skies or everything below. Then the endearing danger of it all. Nothing like a handrail to really stop you from where you wanna go. A few steps away from plummeting to your death~"

"I think the lack of sleep is getting to you," the concerned brunette stood beside her.

The blonde giggled with the back of her palm to her lips, "Is it now~?"

"We’re lucky Tamara Palace had so many balconies..."

"Come on, sit," she patted the tiles before staring up. "Wanna watch the stars with me?"

Fumeko’s breath clouded before her as she sat down, "What stars?"

Jotou pointed up, "If you keep looking, you’ll see them through the clouds while they move. You have to keep looking, so that the light of the stars can reach your eye and you can see it shine."

And slowly they did. The thinner clouds would pass, revealing for a brief period a few clusters of stars. Fumeko tilted her head and gazed till the clouds would cover them once more.

"It’s ridiculous when you think about it. Millions upon millions of kilometres away, there’s a floating mass of a reaction turning, fusing one gas into another.

The energy from that makes no noise and causes more light and heat than what the dark and empty void can hide. That light travels across other stars and through streams and rivers of space dust to make it here so that we can see them with our bare eyes.

That far, far journey through the galaxy of boundless wonder and potential, to right here for our eyes to see... Well, it’s ridiculous if you don’t know the science behind it, but it still sounds so amazing that it might as well be fiction," she gave a single chuckle.

"There’s always the Sun," Fumeko uttered with softened eyes.

"Hm?"

"The Sun will always be brighter. Once the morning comes, you can’t see any of the other stars."

"I guess," Jotou gave a nod. "I’m not a fan of the Sun. But without that star, none of us could live, so. But what exactly does that mean for the other stars?"

"They’ll always be behind something much brighter? Like it’s stuck behind a shadow?"

"You’re correct, in a way..." Jotou’s head tilted. "But also wrong. I don’t think it’s stuck behind anything. They all have their own brilliance and beauty.

It just so happens that one star is much closer; we expect it to be there. It doesn’t mean the other the stars aren’t there; we just can’t see it is all—and by extension their brilliance and beauty."

Fumeko furrowed her brows and faced Jotou.

"The Sun’s always gonna be there, but the stars?" the blonde’s gaze trailed along the sky, "People seek them out. They’re waiting to be discovered, waiting every night to shine their potential into a tapestry of lights and sparks.

It’s a shift, a turn, a give and a take," her lips curled as her eyes bounced from twinkle to twinkle in the sky, "One upon the night and one upon the day. They both co-exist and find their opportunities to shine.

The Sun gives us life, sure," she looked to the brunette who was staring back and her eyes sparked, "But the night stars give us hope and dreams—shoot for the stars, a question of what’s out there, a riddle across the void of nonsense.

That’s just something that can’t be overlooked, no matter how much brighter the Sun shines. Besides, the Moon’s much prettier anyway; she even changes her style throughout the month," she laughed.

Fumeko’s eyes softened as both their gazes intertwined with each other... "I really worry about the nonsense that comes out of your mouth sometimes," she looked to the houses across the street. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"So detective, why don’t you just worry about shining your own brilliance and beauty, instead of trying to shine brighter than someone else," Jotou glanced back up to the skies.

The brunette’s head swivelled right back—shadows glimmered in her eyes.

"How’d talking with your dad go?" there was no smile worn on the blonde’s expression.

"Well... I ran to my room like a little girl, so you tell me," she held her knees in her arms.

"It’s just somewhere you think is safe. What’s wrong with that?"

"It’s not the room, it’s just, I ran away from here, to become something more... Here I am, going back to my dad."

"You’re not the same person who left detective. You’ve come back with your own accomplishments, a wealth of knowledge and friends by your side. If you say that’s nothing, I’ll smack you in the back of the head—better yet, kick you off this roof."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Fumeko crossed her arms. Her head lowered, "He even said he was proud of me... It just feels so..."

"Empty?"

"No."

"Fast?"

"No," she shook her head harder. "...Unearned."

"How so?"

"I’m not actually a detective Jotou..."

"So what? You have all the makings of one and in fact have been one. Official or not doesn’t change the fact of your contributions."

"I know what I did... But I have no fancy titles, I have no name in the papers beyond a footnote. Even other than that, the only way I’m mentioned, the only way I’m important to even the enemy, is my dad’s name."

"So you just want validation."

Fumeko sighed, "Is that really too much to ask? ...My dad told me why he didn’t come looking for me..." she told Jotou in full, of the conversation between her and her father.

"Huh..." Jotou blinked a few times.

"Yeah. I don’t know what to think... I can’t just forgive him like that, can I? I’m still so, pissed at him!" she tensed up.

"I didn’t say you don’t have the right to be."

She fell silent in response.

...

Fumeko’s lips parted, "What do you think I should do?"

"Hm... I don’t know. I know bad parents... If I’m being honest, both of you are in the wrong and in the right. But your dad... He actually said sorry..." the blonde’s brows knitted together. "That’s just...

Never in a million years, would my parents ever look me in the eyes and apologize for something they did wrong. The way he sees you; it’s, more like an equal or just like a person, instead of an extension of himself.

He looks at you like an individual. But of course, that’s just me seeing him now; I don’t know what he was like before. But if he’s this polite and caring..."

Fumeko’s eyes shunned away for a bit. She tried to recall a moment where her father was truly rude to her... Only to fail and find maybe a few nitpicks where a father simply had to be firm.

"He also trapped you under his watch in a house for seventeen plus years... That’s something to consider too. You can say it was out of care and being overprotective, but that’s still wrong."

"I, felt so lonely..." Fumeko muttered.

"Your childhood is just something you can’t get back. And now, you have a sister too."

"Step."

"Whatever the case may be, you need to figure this one out Fumeko. There’s only so much me, or Hotaru or even Asobi can give you here," the blonde looked to her with her blonde strands drifting in the wind.

"Yeah... I figured as much..." she stared to the wind’s direction; the skies were getting much lighter and a twinge of purplish-orange began peeking from the eastern horizon. Her brown strands began flying back. "Where’s Hotaru anyway?"

"She fell asleep."

Fumeko couldn’t help but smirk.

"Whatever the case may be;"

Fumeko felt a hand go to the side of her head and pull her down. The brunette fell onto Jotou’s shoulder, where Jotou held her softly and rubbed her shoulder.

"We’ll be right here beside you, with whatever you choose to do," the blonde uttered.

Fumeko looked up and beamed tenderly. She leaned her head into the dark grey jacket and took a deep breath of fresh morning air, before releasing it all. She watched the Sun slowly rise and eclipse the twinkling stars over Burnetrout.