14. A Strange Encounter

I couldn't sleep, it was way too warm to be able to. The damp, thick and sweaty odor permeating through the room only energizing my lower body. This in turn makes me think, whether I'm willing or not, about my sisters' body while she lays beside me unconscious. Reluctantly, I step out of bed to go grab a glass of milk. The house at this point was dead silent... It must've been somewhere aound midnight, say 2 or 3AM, approximately.

Before going I opened the window only a tiny amount, so that the excruciating heat can disperse, but no so much as to make Chiori even sicker. The absolute last thing I want to do is to worsen her health. Just to be extra sure, I covered her a little more with the blanket. Her face regained a little color, but she still had this exhausted expression on her face while sleeping.

I wasn't feeling too tired, so I shortly considered using the time I'll stay awake to study up a bit further. But as I was walking down the hallway and the stairs I disregarded it. I shouldn't overexert myself either.

Downstairs, in the kitchen, I grabbed a glass and the jug of milk and poured the glass halffull. I noticed how drenched my clothing were. I'd forgotten to change into a pyjama before going to sleep, which made the worn clothes reek of a severe sweaty stench.

"Well, I could go for a shower."

I downed the glass of milk in one go, and checked the clock centered in the living room... 1:15AM, much earlier than I thought it would be. That means I only slept a moderate 4 to 5 hours, which is why is a bit confounding to me when I didn't feel tired at all. Since it was this early anyways, might as well do a little jogging, I thought. Keeping a good bodyweight is the key to maintain a healthy mind.

I took a short shower and changed clothes. It was somewhat warm out so I took out a tracksuit I hadn't worn in a while and put on some lightweight running shoes. This still in my room, but my sister wouldn't wake up anyways, so it didn't bother me too much.

Outside there was a warm, dry breeze flowing. I decided to run from my house to the playground and back, which should take about 20 minutes. The path didn't have much for scenery, a few run-of-the-mill houses, a few trees, nothing too impressive.

I stretched for a bit and paced my breathing, then took off. I kept my posture upright while jogging, and made sure to go on a steady rhythm with my steps. I still had little trouble doing this, I wasn't totally out of shape. If I tried to race Chiori though, I'd probably lose all self confidence as a person though.

'So maybe go a little faster instead?' I thought to myself, and then slightly quickened the pace of my jog. I kind of want to enjoy racing against her again. We haven't done that since... somewhere in middle school? 5 years or so ago? Chiori just always beat me and after a while stopped asking to race me to some random place.

There are lots of things I want to do together with her, now that I think about it. I'm starting to feel more nostalgic for the days before. The days when we still were in constant competition, and shares most hobbies together. Sure we are now closer in a different sense, but it still feels more distant somehow.

The familiar sight gave me flashbacks. The neighborhood hadn't since changed much at all, even most of the residents are still here, and have been there all our lives.

But as I was running I could see someone, or something for that matter, off in the other direction, slumped over sitting under the bridge. Curiosity took over and I headed the other way. As long as I get 20 minutes of exercise in, I won't worry about the exact location of where I'm headed.

As I got closer, I could see a small person sobbing quietly, covered in torn rags with their entire appearance being dirtied and disheveled.

I got near, and could see the girl shivering in the cold dark.

"Who are you?" She asked in a faint voice.