#lee!himiko

 u up? lol

Himiko picked at her broken nail. She pressed four buttons, then hit send.

Yeah.

Mere seconds later, her phone buzzed.

figures. u never sleep. wanna come over? i have green 8-)

Jesus. Tenko was such a burnout. Himiko paused, contemplating her next words, then typed them out slowly before pressing send.

Be there in fifteen.

yay!!! can’t wait :-*

 ---

As soon as Himiko knocked on the front door of Apartment 212, the door swung open and she was attacked by four lanky limbs that twisted around her body. She found herself backed up against the wall, by none other than Tenko. The taller girl nuzzled her face into Himiko’s neck, peppering kisses all over whatever exposed skin she had access to. Against her will, Himiko giggled like a schoolgirl.  

“God, you’re so fucking cute. Even when you’re sleep deprived.” Tenko said in between kisses.

“Geeheeheee…. G-get off me! You’re so fucking weird!”

“C’mon, Miko! Don’t be grumpyyyyyy.”

“Seheheriously, stop! Someone’s gonna see!”

Tenko released her hands and legs, pouting. “It’s 4:30 in the morning, no one’s even awake. But whatever.”

Himiko rubbed the spot on her neck that she had put her chapped lips on. It was slightly damp. Disgusted, she wiped the residue saliva on her jacket.

“Can’t you just say hi like a normal person…” she mumbled, walking solemnly inside.

“Nope! I’m completely abnormal!” Tenko gave her a cheesy smile and a pat on the butt, immune to Himiko’s eye rolls.

 ~~

 Stepping into Tenko’s apartment was like entering a new world. A filthy, unorganized world, littered with half empty beer bottles, brown carpet stains, smelly bongs with filthy water, Styrofoam containers, ash trays, and chip crumbs. It’s as if Tenko didn’t know vacuums existed, or any kind of cleaning product for that matter. Himiko almost busted her shit while taking off her boots, nearly tripping on the mound of discarded shoes near the front door.

“Ugh! This place is such a dump.”

“Sorry, m’lady. I’ll clean it up for you right away!”

“No wonder you always smell like used tampons.”

“Jeez, that’s so mean… you’re crankier than usual. Never got a text back from Ouma, I presume?”

“Alright, I’m already annoyed. I’m going home.”

“What?! W-wait!!”

Himiko didn’t take two steps before she was grabbed from behind and pulled backwards onto the couch. She let out a small yelp, a few grumbled protests, then suddenly burst into laughter as Tenko’s hands wiggled their way all over her waist and sides.

“AAAAAAHAHAHA SHIIIIT! TEHEHEHENKO! STOP!!”

“Gootchie gootchie goo! Say you’ll never leave me!”

“AAAHEEHEEHEE NOOOOOO! STOOOHOHOP!”

“Say it or else I’ll tickle you to death!”

“FFFINE! I’LL STAY JUST STOP PLEEHEEHEESE!”

Tenko released her breathless captive, who took a few moments to get herself back together. Himiko glared cruelly at her attacker.

“I told you to stop tickling me! I hate it!”

“But you sound so cute when you’re laughing, I can’t help it! Plus, it’s the only way to get you to do things…”

Himiko was about to snap, but one look at Tenko’s face and all her rebuttals melted away. Her friend’s face was red as a rose, with tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She was looking at some undistinguishable spot on the ground, avoiding eye contact. She seemed as if she was about to fall to pieces.

Himiko sighed defeatedly. It always came down to this.

“Nyeeeh… sorry, I’m just… overtired I guess. I haven’t slept well these past few nights.”

Tenko raised her eyes meekly. “How long’s it been?”

“Maybe two days… coming up on three. Wait, I slept for like an hour yesterday afternoon.”

Tenko’s aura changed almost completely, from that of a playful child to one of a concerned mother. She brushed Himiko’s bangs across her forehead and placed two hands on her cheeks, scanning her face diligently. She noticed the plum-purplish bags under her eyes, the array of broken blood vessels where the whites of her eyes should’ve been, the hollow irises that reeked of sorrow and loneliness.

“Awww, Miko... I’ve never seen you this bad before…”

“Gee, thanks.”

“What’s keeping you up?”

“Insomnia.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Nyeh… I don’t feel like talking about it right now…”

“Does it have anything to do with… you know… the thing?”

“No.”

“You should really talk to someone about that. I’m serious. Like, a therapist or something.”

“I don’t need a therapist, Tenko.”

“You can’t keep bottling it up like this… at least, you know you can talk to me about it, right?”

“Just forget it! Stop nagging me. God.”

Tenko pulled away as her face expressed utter desolation. She always had that look when she was rejected. Whatever, at least that meant she’d drop it. Himiko wasn’t in the right state of mind to go there now. She knew she’d break down just mentioning the terrors that appeared to her when she closed her eyes…

“Wait. I know what’ll help.”

Tenko suddenly sprang up, stepping her long legs over the couch and almost kicking Himiko’s face in the process. Her left foot knocked over something made of glass, which fell on the tile floor and made a loud crashing sound. A string of curses came out of her feminine mouth. Himiko thought the whole scene was quite ridiculous.

She soon returned with a pink Hello Kitty bong and a grinder.

“This’ll put you right to sleep.”

“Nyeeeeh…”

One hit, and it was all over.

It didn’t have the intended effect, but it wasn’t long before all inhibitions were lowered, and proverbial walls crashed down. The two young women spent the next couple hours wasting away the early hours of the morning. They listened to 70s psychedelic hits that their parents probably smoked weed to. They watched shitty reality TV show episodes and laughed uproariously at the predictable dialogue. They laid in each other’s laps, playing with each other’s hair until Tenko accidentally pulled some of Himiko’s and got yelled at. They gossiped like they were in high school again, mostly about the other survivors and whether or not they were dating each other, until Tenko realized Himiko wasn’t responding anymore and looked down to see her sound asleep on her lap.