The intense heat of the forbidden territory had hovered right at the very tips of his fingers. He had prepared his mind to cross the boundary. The complete silence of the room had been perfectly set for his twisted exploration.
Now, the mood was entirely ruined. He stared blindly up at the dark plaster of the ceiling.
The loud, mundane chatter about missing friends and worried mothers shattered the quiet environment he had carefully built.
He felt like a starving man who just had a full plate of hot food knocked forcefully out of his hands.
The sheer bad luck of the timing drove him completely insane. He clamped his jaw completely shut.
Liora turned her upper body back toward Zenjiro. She rubbed her tired eyes with the back of her free hand.
"I am sorry about that, Onii-chan," Liora mumbled. "You woke up because of that loud noise. It was my friend checking on me to see if I safely went home. I forgot to message her earlier after we split up at the train station."
Zenjiro forced his tense shoulders to drop. He manufactured a calm, sleepy expression.
"It is fine," Zenjiro said quietly.
Liora inhaled a deep breath of the cool air and exhaled loudly. She swung her legs off the edge of the mattress and stood up.
She walked slowly across the wooden floor toward her own bed on the opposite side of the room.
A crushing wave of disappointment crashed into Zenjiro's chest.
Damn. She is going to her own bed now. I lost my chance because of that stupid phone call.
The dark thrill evaporated. He felt empty and frustrated. He had been a single millimeter away from his goal.
He decided to look at her one last time before he forced himself to sleep.
He turned his head and watched Liora sit on the edge of her own mattress. Her thumbs tapped rapidly against the glowing screen of her phone. She typed a quick message in the dark and tossed the device carelessly onto her pillows. The screen went black.
Then, she stood up. She turned her back on her own bed. She walked straight back across the cold floor toward Zenjiro.
His heart rate spiked violently. The heavy thudding returned to his chest.
Is she going to sleep beside me again? Or will she just say good night and return to her bed?
He fought a bitter battle inside his head.
No. No. No. I will not expect anything. I refuse to be teased again by her skirt. I will assume she just wants to say good night and sleep on her bed.
He braced himself for the quick goodbye.
Liora reached the edge of his mattress.
But she did not say good night. She collapsed onto the soft covers, lay down on Zenjiro's right side, and wrapped her arms around his body. She hugged him tight.
She rested her head perfectly on Zenjiro's right shoulder. She threw her right thigh over Zenjiro's legs. Her heavy leg clamped down hard, trapping him in place.
Her short skirt bunched up over her hips. Her bare skin burned against his dark shorts. His right hand remained trapped on the mattress right beside his hip.
The physical geometry was exactly the same as before she woke up. The reset was flawless.
Zenjiro felt the intense body heat soaking through his shirt. Liora's soft chest pressed flush against his trapped right upper arm.
The crushing realization returned. His right hand was once again just an inch away from the target. The impossible opportunity had miraculously returned to his plate.
"Onii-chan," Liora whispered into the quiet shadows. "You will not believe what happened at the concert. Guess what."
Zenjiro swallowed the dry lump in his throat. "What?"
"I shook her hand," Liora announced. A bright, excited energy filled her voice. "Can you believe it?"
She did not wait for his answer. The heavy fatigue seemed to vanish from her system. She launched into a detailed story about her experience at the venue.
Zenjiro lay perfectly still.
That is a relief, Zenjiro thought silently. She decided to sleep beside me tonight. I will just wait for her to fall asleep again. I still have my chance. I do not care if I lose sleep the whole night. It is Saturday tomorrow. I have no class.
He prepared himself for a long wait.
"The lines outside the stadium were insane," Liora chattered happily. Her breath washed warmly over his neck. "We stood on the concrete for three hours before the gates even opened. Sakura-chan complained about her feet the entire time. But the weather was nice. It did not rain at all. We managed to buy the limited edition pink light sticks right before the merchandise booth sold out. They glow so bright in the dark."
Zenjiro stared at the ceiling. He offered a quiet grunt to pretend he was listening.
"When we finally got inside, the arena was massive," she continued. "The stage setup looked like a giant glowing crystal. They used huge laser projectors to paint the ceiling. The opening act played some boring acoustic songs. But then the lights went completely black. The crowd screamed so loud my ears rang. A huge burst of white smoke shot up from the center stage. Seira appeared right out of the floor on a mechanical lift."
She squeezed Zenjiro's arm tighter as the excitement bled into her words.
"She wore this incredible silver dress. It caught the stage lights like a mirror. Her voice sounds even better live than on the recordings. She hit every single high note perfectly. The bass from the speakers shook the floor under my boots. We jumped and waved our light sticks for two straight hours. I swear I lost five pounds just from sweating in the crowd. It was so incredibly hot in there."
Come on, Liora. Go to sleep already.
Zenjiro kept his face blank. The endless stream of details tested his patience. His trapped right hand twitched slightly against the bedsheet.
"The best part happened at the very end," Liora said. She shifted her head against Zenjiro's shoulder to get more comfortable. "They announced a surprise VIP lottery for the front row sections. Sakura-chan had bought our tickets through a special fan club presale. Our seat numbers flashed on the giant monitors. We won passes to the backstage meet and greet."
She let out a soft, dreamy sigh.
"We waited in this narrow hallway behind the stage for another hour. My legs felt like jelly. But then the heavy black curtains opened. Seira sat at a long wooden table. She looked exhausted, but she smiled at every single person in the line. When it was my turn, I walked up to the table. I could barely breathe. I told her I loved her new album."
Liora paused. Her voice grew slightly softer as the adrenaline finally began to fade.
"She reached across the table and took my right hand. Her skin was so soft, Onii-chan. She looked right into my eyes and thanked me for coming. I shook her hand. A real, actual idol held my hand. I refused to wash it in the bathroom sink before we left the venue. Sakura-chan laughed at me, but I did not care. It was the absolute best moment of my entire life."
She took a long, deep breath. Her words started to slow down.
"We walked to the train station after that. The night air felt freezing against my sweaty clothes. We rode the last train home. The car was completely empty. I just stared out the window at the city lights. I could still hear the bass thumping in my chest. I felt so happy."
Zenjiro waited in the dark. The flow of her story finally broke. She mumbled a few disconnected sentences about the train ride and the price of the concert merchandise. Her bright energy crashed into a heavy wall of physical exhaustion.
Thirty minutes had passed since she started talking.
Her voice dropped to a barely audible whisper. "The light sticks... cost too much..."
She trailed off completely. The heavy silence returned to the bedroom.
Zenjiro listened closely to the sound of her breathing. The short, excited breaths lengthened. They smoothed out into a slow, deep rhythm.
The rise and fall of her chest against his arm became perfectly regular. She exhaled a long, heavy sigh. Her muscles lost all their tense energy and she went entirely limp against his side.
She felt drowsy. The fatigue dragged her straight down into the dark. She fell asleep.
The wait was finally over. The coast was clear.
Zenjiro's heart beat faster. The loud thumping hammered inside his chest like a war drum.
A thick layer of cold sweat broke out across his forehead. He swallowed the dry lump in his throat for the final time. The dark, malicious craving consumed his mind again.
He stared blindly into the shadows. He visualized the tiny distance separating his knuckles from the edge of Liora's skirt.
Then, he moved his hand.