2:33 AM — The Hour When Dreams Drift Among the Aisles of Instant Noodles
The Konbini sounded as it always did. Fluorescent lights dancing in cheap strobe mode, refrigerators coughing up condensation, and me, Hiroto, cleaning up a spill of spicy ramen some idiot left near the adult magazines. Aoi, as always, was up to her usual tricks.
"Nyaaa~ Hiroto-kun," she sang from the candy aisle, swinging a package of Pocky like a microphone. "Did you know dreams are like discount coupons? You have them all, but you never know when they expire."
"I prefer coupons. At least they're good for something," I replied, avoiding looking at how her skirt moved every time she jumped.
"Boring!" She slid over to the counter, leaning her elbows on it and bringing her face close to mine. "I bet you dream about me. About my skirt, my pigtails, my..."
"I dream about you being quiet."
She laughed, but it wasn't her usual laugh; it was softer. Suddenly, she jumped off the counter and started walking in circles around me, like a cat stalking a mouse that doesn't even want to move.
"Hey, did you know there's a way to tell if you're dreaming?" she asked, toying with the light switch behind the counter.
"By letting you bite me to see if I wake up?"
"Nooo!" she laughed, touching the switch once, twice, without turning off the lights. "It's something I saw in a video. They say that in dreams..." She paused, leaning in until her strawberry gum breath hit my nose. "...the lights never turn off. No matter how hard you try, the switch doesn't work."
I blinked.
"That's the stupidest thing you've said. And that's saying a lot."
"It's science, Hiroto-kun!" She jumped to the other side of the counter, tapping the switch over and over without pressing it, like it was a 'Like' button on an internet video. "If you're dreaming, your brain is too lazy to render darkness. So..." She flicked the switch, a fake click. "Nothing! It stays bright, like the future of a NEET!"
"Stop playing with that," I grumbled.
"Do you think..." she whispered, coming so close that her shoulder brushed against mine. "...we're dreaming?"
The Konbini fell silent. Or so I thought, until the buzz of the lights became a roar in my ears.
"Aoi, stop..."
Click.
She pressed the switch by accident.
And the lights...
...
...
Stayed on.
Aoi blinked. So did I.
"Uh..." she said, pressing the button again and again, faster and faster. "Uh, uh, uh. This is... fun! Right, Hiroto-kun?"
"No."
"Of course it is!" Her voice was an octave higher than normal. "It's just that the switch is...!"
Click. Click. CLICK.
Nothing. The lights kept shining, but now with a bluish tint, as if the Konbini had been submerged in the ocean. Aoi stopped smiling.
"Hiroto-kun..." she murmured, backing up until she bumped into me. "This isn't fun."
"Of course it isn't," I replied, though my pulse was starting to race.
She turned to me, her blue eyes wide.
"I..."
She didn't finish the sentence.
The lights...
...
...
Went out.
The darkness was absolute. Or nearly. The red glow from the coffee machine barely illuminated our faces, turning Aoi into a silhouette of trembling lips and eyes like full moons.
"HIROTO-KUN!" she screamed, and suddenly she was there, her hands clutching my shirt, her body pressed against mine as if I were a pole in the middle of a tsunami. "WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING?!"
"Calm down, idiot!" I lied, because my own hands were already around her, holding her so she wouldn't pull away. "It's just a power outa..."
"IT'S NOT NORMAL!" she shrieked, burying her face in my chest. "I DON'T WANT THIS! NOT AGAIN...! NO...!"
"SHUT UP!" I roared, more to quell my own panic than hers.
She obeyed. Or rather, she just trembled silently, her nails digging into my back through my shirt. Her smell of... saltwater? No, strawberry, filled my nose. I didn't know how much time passed. Ten seconds. An hour. The Konbini had ceased to exist, and we were just two idiots hugging in the dark, with the sound of our hearts beating in unison.
Until...
Click.
The lights came back on.
Aoi and I jumped apart as if electrocuted.
"HA-HA!" she laughed, too loudly, smoothing her skirt which wasn't even messy. "That was... fun! Right?"
"Very fun," I replied, wiping imaginary sweat from my brow. "It was just..."
"It was the switch!" she interrupted, pointing an accusing finger at the device. "It's broken! It's probably that cheap manager's fault for not fixing it!"
"Right. That explains everything," I said, avoiding looking at her. My arms still felt the warmth of her body.
She jumped onto the counter, regaining her shark-like smile, but her legs were still trembling.
"You know what else they say about dreams, Hiroto-kun?" she asked, playing with her collar. "That if you kiss someone, you don't feel anything. Because your brain is too slow to make up..."
"If you finish that sentence, I'll bury you in the freezer."
"Ooh, how romantic!" she laughed, but this time, she didn't try to sit close.
The rest of the night passed as usual: drunk customers, reheated coffee, Aoi making jokes about pillowcases. But every time she passed near the switch, our eyes would meet. And for an instant, the Konbini would go dark again.
Only in our heads, of course.
As we left, the sun was beginning to rise. Aoi stopped at the door, looking at the switch with a strange smile.
"Hey, Hiroto-kun..." she said, without turning around. "If this were a dream... what would you do?"
"Wake up."
"Boring," she whispered, walking into the dawn light. "I'd stay."
I didn't know if she meant the Konbini, the darkness... or something else.
But for the first time, I didn't feel like arguing.
And so, among lying lights, another night ended.
As always.