Chapter 8

* * * *

“Kuro? Kuro, wake up,” Phillip said, shaking my shoulder.

I stirred awake, and found that I was laying on the blanket pile in the living room. I didn’t even remember falling asleep.

“What time is it?”

“It’s three A.M.”

“Why the hell did you wake me up?”

“You were having a nightmare,” Phillip said. “You were thrashing around and talking. Something about the leaves?”

It took a moment for it to come back to me. “Oh. I was dreaming about that time my dad yelled at you and Mizu for playing in the leaves.”

“And he flipped his lid?”

“You remember?”

“I literally peed my pants. That’s why I ran home that day,” Phillip said.

Then I realized I was soaked in sweat. My clothes stuck to me like Saran wrap. I crawled towards an open box of my clothes and dug through it, searching for a spare pair of boxers. I found the obnoxious orange ones with the pink lollipops and pulled them on.

Phillip laughed. “What are those?”

“Boxers.”