Clean Teeth/Transcript

NARRATOR: "The morning light seems to reach further into Emi's room than it does into mine. This results in my waking up earlier than I would have if I had gone back to my room last night, as had previously been our routine. I did not realize it until this morning, but this is the first time we've actually spent the night together."

NARRATOR: "A small movement from my partner's still-slumbering form causes me to look to the side. Hair splayed across her face, Emi continues to sleep peacefully curled up next to me. It's slightly weird seeing her without her trademark twintails, but it's also a look I could get used to. The small size of the beds here necessitates her curling up, but I'm pretty sure she would have done so anyway. The covers are nearly over her head, and I smile as an errant strand of hair causes her nose to twitch slightly. Unable to help myself, I draw her a little closer, a move which she seems to think is a good idea."

NARRATOR: "Her steady breath raises a trail of goosebumps on my chest, but I don't mind. I am no longer tired, but I do not feel a need to move from my current position. Emi's warm body in repose against mine is far too comfortable to move. I gaze up at the ceiling and consider how it is that we got to this point. We've been close for a while, but not this close. It seems like only yesterday that she ran into me in the hallway and after apologizing decided to take an interest in my well-being. But that grew into something else, which I at least was not expecting. One thing is for certain: having found Emi, I will try as hard as I can not to lose her."

NARRATOR: "My morning musing is interrupted by further movement from Emi. Her eyes flutter open, and she seems briefly confused by my presence in her bed as well as her current state of dress, which is nonexistent. Then she smiles happily and sits up, her face looking down at me."

EMI: "Good morning, Hisao."

HISAO: "Hi. Sleep well?"

EMI: "Yeah. Yeah, I did. Exhausting day yesterday, you know?"

NARRATOR: "I think back over yesterday's trip to the graveyard."

HISAO: "Yeah. Glad to hear you slept well."

EMI: "How'd you sleep?"

HISAO: "Well enough, although you kept hogging the covers..."

NARRATOR: "This earns me a shove and a stuck-out tongue. I chuckle, and Emi giggles a little, and we fall quiet for a while. I soak up the feeling of how right it all seems, waking up with Emi by me, crammed into a bed made for one person. It's something I could get used to."

EMI: "Hey, Hisao..."

HISAO: "Hmm?"

EMI: "Thanks for sticking around."

HISAO: "No problem. Saved me the walk back anyway, right?"

NARRATOR: "This draws another giggle, but then Emi's expression turns serious again."

EMI: "No, really. I kept trying to push you away, because I thought that was the right thing to do, and you stuck around through it all. I haven't made any of this easy for you, but you stuck it out anyway. So really, I mean it. Thank you."

NARRATOR: "She punctuates this by giving me a kiss, pulling back and looking at me with an expression of affection. I reach up and ruffle her hair, smiling all the while. I'm stupidly lucky, I think. To have come through everything after my heart attack and to somehow have found this girl is nothing short of a miracle."

HISAO: "You're very welcome, Emi."

NARRATOR: "I couldn't bear the thought of giving you up."

HISAO: "I'll even continue to stick around, if you want."

EMI: "I'd like that."

NARRATOR: "That settles it, then. I don't know how long my heart will keep working, and I don't even really know what I'll do after this year is over, apart from going to university. As long as Emi's around, I think I'll be okay. I've managed to help her, and she's managed to help me. If we keep doing that, we'll be okay, I think."

EMI: "So, Hisao."

HISAO: "Hmm?"

EMI: "What do you want to do today?"

END