tower #001
The sky was a dull, uniform gray. Apparently, yesterday night's rain had been a mere tantrum of the sky gods, not enough to lift their spirits. The city seemed eerily quiet today, although the sound of the nearby artery road was present as ever.
Nao headed to his room, unused umbrella in his right hand. Tap - tap - tap. Rhythmically, the plastic tip touched the mottled surface of the stairs, beige with tiny black flecks. Nao liked using the stairs, despite living on the fifth floor. If you used the elevator, it was pretty likely that you had to share it with someone else. But the stairs were always deserted. Also, as a person very much not into sports, he'd figured using the stairs every day would be a good way to get a minimum amount of excercise in.
There was no one in the hallway, lined with identical doors between rectangular tiles. On the far end, the red light of a fire hydrant container. Tap - tap - tap. Nao stopped in front of one of the doors. Room 514. The lock opened with a satisfying, dry sound.
After putting on some music and making a cup of peppermint tea, Nao sat down in the chair facing the writing desk. Sunday afternoon. It was a weird time to be home already; normally, he would still be out somewhere, reading at a cafe or walking through busy streets. Tapping his computer out of sleep mode, he scrolled through the news absentmindedly.
"Approval rating of government drops to 25%"
"Musashi TV's Yumi Yamano announces marriage to unnamed man from the general public"
"Unusual low air pressure over northern Kanto, rain likely until tommorrow"
"Pileup on metropolitan expressway causes serious congestion"
The same kind of headlines as every day. Taking a sip from his teacup, Nao looked outside the window. It was only five, but the thick clouds made the outside world look like it was much later. The apartment tower across the street was speckled with small glowing rectangles.
Next to the bed near the window, on a small nightstand, was a small stack of books and hastily-stapled paper. He'd looked through it this morning while still in bed, but hadn't been able to concentrate. After that, he'd spent about one and a half hour senselessly scrolling on his phone, then did some cleaning, made lunch, watched some YouTube, decided to take a short walk that had turned into a long walk ... and now he was back again. The stack of books and paper was still waiting for him patiently.
Nao let out a short sigh. I should get some work done, he thought. After all, that's what he'd kept today open for. And it wasn't like there was anything else to do, really.