Shifting Skies WIP

Your eyelids unbolt and slide open like factory doors, opening up your brain for today's thought production and processing. The sun's not quite up yet, literally or figuratively. You trundle out of bed and methodically stretch the muscles all up and down your body. You shower, put on some new  clothes, and brush your teeth. You walk down stairs and enter the familiar kitchen before turning on the stove and cooking some ham and eggs. Although doubling your usual recipe takes longer, the extra effort is entirely worth it: once it's done, you can stroll down the hall to Sayori's room and tell her that breakfast is ready.

You and Sayori have been spending a lot more time together since that day before the festival. The way she methodically described how much she suffered and the way she devalued her own life caused a little part of your soul to wither away in a sour sense of failure. To top it all off, you couldn't even stay at her house with her because Yuri was visiting to work on the decorations with you. During Yuri's entire visit, your thoughts kept drifting to what Sayori might have been doing and whether she was thinking of you. Neither you nor Yuri said very much to each other while you were working, but together you promptly finished constructing both the decorations and the overall atmosphere of the festival.

You two stood outside, saying your goodbyes, and then just looked at each other in silence as neither of you moved. Then Yuri started to breathe more heavily. She stepped closer. And closer. What should you do? If you rejected her advance, then how would she react? You don't think that you love her, either. She does write interesting poetry and she puts a boner in your pants, but she just doesn't turn on the erection in your heart. As shoddy as that euphemism was, you're not going to lie to her.

"Yuri, don't."
"W-what, Anon?"
"I'm... not interested in dating you."
"..."
"..."
"A-Anon... I'm sorry. I forced my feelings onto you, and I didn't consider whether you felt the same way."
"I'm sorry Yuri. Please don't take it personally."
"Goodbye, Anon."

Yuri turns and dashes as fast as she can physically run, her face glowing a deep pink and her hair flying madly in the breeze. You hope that she'll be okay: the four-person club would definitely suffer if she didn't recover from her embarrassment. You try to send her a text asking her to calm down and talk about this, but she's blocked your number already. Shit.

You take a seat on the curb and space out, contemplating your next move. By the time you're back to Earth, Sayori is sitting side by side with you. You stare at each other for a while, both of your faces wearing an expression like a worn out towel.