The following days were hard.

Reia called in sick to work, feigning a cold. Her manager had been understanding, telling her to take the time she needs to recover. She wonders if he would be as understanding if he knew the actual reason.

Well, she has actually been feeling quite unwell. Besides the stress obviously not being good for her, there's also the issue that she has been avoiding sleep as much as possible. Her mind is still reeling from the experience, so sleep will only bring more nightmares. The constant exhaustion is also horrible to deal with, but it's the lesser of two evils.

In fact, she has just woken up from a, fortunately dreamless, nap when the doorbell rings.

Taking a deep breath, Reia drags herself out of the bed where she has been spending more time than she would like to admit. She fell asleep in her normal clothes, so changing isn't a problem, but she quickly runs her fingers through her hair on the way to the front door in an attempt to salvage her appearance.

"Hi." Shin greets her when she opens her door.

She manages to smile, but knows that it's tainted by exhaustion "Hi."

She lets him in and closes the door behind him, triple-checking her locks.

"I didn't run into him on my way." Shin tells her, taking off a coat that looks like it's far too warm for the season "Though I don't know if he was hiding somewhere..."

Reia nods, finally stepping away from the door after convincing herself it's securely locked "He isn't one for stealth. So unless that has changed since, you probably would've noticed him."

Shin responds to her assessment with a nod of his own "You look..."

"Horrible?"

"I would've picked 'drained', but that works."

"I suppose that's a good descriptor." She smiles, leading the way to her living room "I haven't been able to sleep much lately."

"I can imagine." Shin puts his bag down, taking out a few movies "I asked Gin what kind you like."

"And he responded the 'so bad it's good' kind?" Reia asks as she gets to work on making tea, grabbing the blend she knows he likes.

"Yup. So I brought some that I think fit the requirement and hope you haven't seen them yet."

She shrugs "Even if I have, I'll probably still enjoy them."

Shin smiles "I also heard from Gin that you're great to watch sci-fi movies with."

"That's because I ruin them with commentary. Nothing ever makes sense in those movies."

"So I've heard."

After finishing all preparations, which mainly consist of getting their respective drinks and a few snacks, as well as Shin stealing a blanket for which he gets judged, they turn on the movie and station themselves on the couch. It's a small couch, so while they both try to politely be as far on one end as possible, it's hard to avoid their shoulders touching or their arms bumping into each other when reaching for anything. Reia tries very hard to push the thoughts Gin helped put in her head to the back of her mind – they hadn't been very present the past few days.

When the movie starts to play, it helps in providing a distraction so she focuses on that instead. It's quite nice to be doing something normal for once, watching a movie with a... friend is probably still the best descriptor. At some point, she gets so comfortable that she nearly dozes off. Clearly she has been getting far too little sleep lately.

"Need a break?" Shin asks her when they finish the first movie and she yawns.

"Sure." She agrees, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Reia..."

"I know." She sighs "I just haven't been able to sleep well thanks to my nightmare disorder."

"I understand. I'm just..."

When he doesn't finish the sentence and looks away instead, she asks "Worried?"

It takes another moment of hesitation, but Shin nods.

Heaving another sigh, Reia lays her head on his shoulder "I'll be okay. At least, I have to believe that or I will lose my mind."

He tenses for a moment, but doesn't push her away. Honestly, she doesn't know why she decided to put her head on his shoulder to begin with. The sleep deprivation must be lowering her inhibitions. It's a relief when he finally rests his head on hers.

"You can sleep if you want." Shin tells her.

"We'll see." She doesn't want to sleep, but it's a little difficult to keep her eyes open "If I do fall asleep, you're allowed to move or get up. As long as you don't literally throw me off, it probably won't disturb me."

"We'll see." He echoes her words "This is... surprisingly comfortable, for now at least."

Reia smiles at that "We'll come back to that later when your neck has started protesting. Although I suppose you have a certain tolerance given your horrible posture."

They stay silent for a moment and her smile falters. She takes a deep breath.

"I'm thinking of quitting my job."

She feels Shin tense at that "What?"

"At the convenience store. I'm thinking of quitting." She frowns "It's not the work or you or anything. It's..."

"Natsuo..." Shin says softly.

She nods "I just don't feel safe going anywhere anymore. Any foot I set outside my house is a very real risk that he'll find me again. So I just can't bring myself to."

"Aren't you worried about the isolation? I know that Natsuo is a very real threat and your fears make sense. It's just..."

"I know. Being alone with my thoughts so much would be horrible." Reia closes her eyes, trying to hold back tears "I feel like there are no good options."

"You're right. There are none." Shin agrees with a sigh "I'll keep coming over, and I'm sure Ayako and... I don't remember his name, will too. Maybe I can even bring Gin if he's okay with that."

"Thank you." Reia says softly.

Feeling more comfortable than she does whenever she's alone, she begins to drift off.

~*~

When she wakes up not much later – fortunately not from a severe nightmare, her naps are a little too short for that – she's still in the same spot. She glances at Shin, who seemingly hasn't moved at all and appears to be reading something on his phone. He is only alerted that she's awake when she sits up to stretch.

"Good morning." He jokes, putting his phone away.

She tries to give him a look, but is well aware that it doesn't work very well when she has just woken up "How long was I asleep?"

She tries to pop a joint in her neck, which is very stiff from being in the same position.

"A little over half an hour." Shin answers after checking the time on his phone. He flinches when she successfully pops the joint "Can you not do that?"

"Sorry." Reia relaxes her shoulders again "My neck was a tad stiff, so it helps. I sometimes forget the sound makes people uncomfortable."

"It's alright.... Revenge for the time I startled you, I guess." He offers with a smile.

She smiles back before checking her watch "I think we could watch one more movie if you'd like? Before dinner, that is."

"Sounds good." Shin gets up from the couch to put a new one in. A little too quickly it seems, because he stumbles.

It doesn't seem like he's going to faint or the like, so Reia doesn't comment on it and waits for him to join her on the couch again. They continue watching the movie, pausing approximately halfway through to refill their drinks. When they're finished, they get started on dinner.

"Are you by any chance an instant ramen kind of guy?" Reia asks, looking over to see the way he is cutting the vegetables "You're going to end up losing a finger like that."

"Not always!" Shin defends himself "But maybe a little too often. I usually just make simple meals."

Reia gently nudges him away from his cutting board, showing him how to cut more safely, opting to ignore how close they're standing to each other "This way you're less likely to injure yourself." She returns to her own cutting board "You'd think I'd be the instant ramen person, being a student and all."

"Well, I'm a job hopper. I don't think we have much better eating habits." Shin shrugs, following her example from earlier when he continues cutting. It's not very fast, but at least it preserves his fingers.

"You've never wanted to do anything else?"

He shrugs "At first I wanted to just be independent from my parents, and job-hopping gave me some independence. But..." He sighs, having stopped cutting. It takes a while for him to say anything else, so she waits patiently "Since... everything, I've kind of lost any motivation, I guess."

She nods "That makes sense."

"Does it? All things considered, you seem to have your life together."

"That's just a difference in response to trauma." Reia frowns, keeping her eyes on her current task "Some people completely shut down. I, on the other hand, completely focus on something and put everything I have into it, in this case my studies or... work. It keeps my mind from wandering."

"Ah..." Shin resumes cutting "When you put it like that, it makes sense."

"I often make a lot of sense, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah. Rub it in."

~*~

Shin spends the night at her place. It was something they decided on beforehand in the hope that it might help her feel more comfortable sleeping, not being alone at home. It was idle hope, of course. She has been lying wide awake for at least three hours, despite the exhaustion. They set up an air mattress for Shin in her living room, but eventually she got a little paranoid and felt the need to know if he was still there, so she got up to open her door a little, allowing her to hear his breathing from her bedroom. So she has been lying awake, clutching her pillow tightly while listening to Shin's breathing in an attempt to convince herself that she's safe.

Because Reia ensured she could hear him, she also hears it when something changes. Initially, she shoots up in a flurry of panic, her first thought being that Natsuo broke in somehow, before she manages to convince herself that's ridiculous – she lives on the eleventh floor and if he came through the front door it would have made a distinct sound. She also listens more closely. Shin's breathing has become faster, no longer the calm slow breathing that is a clear sign of sleep, and she swears she can also hear him toss and turn.

A nightmare...

Reia gets out of bed immediately, needing a moment to steady herself because black spots dance across her vision from getting up so suddenly, and cautiously approaches the living room. Knowing how she gets when waking up from a nightmare, she doesn't want to make noise or any sudden movement and startle him.

Shin appears to still be asleep, but it's far from a peaceful slumber. He's indeed tossing and turning, a pained frown on his face and mutters "Stop it... Kanna..."

Her heart breaks.

Reia kneels down next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder to gently shake him away "Shin? Shin, wake up, please."

She is well aware that generally it is advised to not wake people from nightmares. However, she feels that applies to regular nightmares that normal people have, not nightmares that are flashbacks to traumatic events. She would much rather be woken up than left to wallow in painful memories for any longer than necessary. Clearly this is a memory, or a distorted version of one, that hurts Shin. She can't let him suffer like that.

When he doesn't wake up from the first shake, she's a little rougher and calls his name again. His eyes slowly open.

"Shin..." She whispers, unsure what else to say when she sees tears glinster in the corners of his eyes.

He looks so fragile, so broken.

It takes a while for him to acknowledge her presence. He just lies on his back, staring up at the ceiling like his mind is a million miles away. Eventually he mutters "I saw her again... Kanna."

Reia nods slowly "I heard you say her name in your sleep."

She doesn't add that he was begging her to stop it, he doesn't need the reminder. She recalls the little he told her about his death game. He must be remembering the main game during which they ended up voting for Kanna, despite Shin trying to convince them otherwise.

Sitting up slowly, Shin wipes the tears away "I still miss her every day."

Pressing her lips together, Reia moves slowly, giving him ample opportunity to reject the gesture. He doesn't, so she wraps her arms around him. He leans his head against her shoulder in turn.

"I understand." She says.

"I know." He places a hand on her upper arm and pauses, before eventually adding "I wish you didn't."

She knows what he means "I wish you didn't understand my pain either."

They stay like this for a while. While Shin doesn't openly cry or shake with sobs, she feels the occasional droplets soaking through the fabric of her clothing. She doesn't comment on it, but just holds him.

"Sorry if I woke you up." He says eventually, sitting up a little straighter so he's not leaning against her anymore, but not fully pulling away from her embrace either.

She withdraws one arm, keeping the other around his shoulders "I hadn't fallen asleep yet..."

Shin sighs, wrapping his arms around her and gently pulling her down beside him as he lays back down. She allows it to happen, knowing very well he doesn't have the strength to do anything besides guide her, but she is still caught off-guard.

"Try to sleep, or at least rest." He suggests after noticing her expression, closing his eyes "You look exhausted."

"I'm not exactly a still sleeper, especially when I have a nightmare." Reia admits softly, but still adjusts her body to lay in a slightly more comfortable position on her side.

"This is an air mattress. Worst you can do is push me onto the floor."

"Or I might hit you."

"I'll take my chances." Shin takes a deep breath "You seem to do better when you're not alone, so try to get as much sleep while I'm here. I don't have work tomorrow."

He isn't wrong. With him here right now, she has been feeling better than all the hours she spent by herself. With that in mind, Reia allows herself to relax, exhaling slowly and closing her eyes. She would have suggested moving to her bed at least, which offers more space and comfort, but the exhaustion has fully seeped into her body and she can't bring herself to move. The air mattress is narrow and a tad uncomfortable, not allowing them to move much. The arm under Shin's neck is bound to be numb when she wakes up.

And yet, right here, she feels safe enough to fall asleep despite the nightmares that follow.