The street was nearly empty. Streetlights cast soft shadows over low walls and cracked sidewalks. Yuta walked with his hands in his pockets, his body relaxed but his eyes alert.
Aika walked beside him, quiet.
The tension in her body had shifted. It wasn't fear anymore. It was resolve.
Yuta noticed it in the quick glance she threw. Determined. Direct.
'She's going to ask. She's just waiting for the moment.'
He pretended not to notice.
They passed a corner, then a rusty gate covered in vines. The houses here were small, with unkempt gardens and windows draped in old curtains. No sound, except the faint chime of a wind bell on some porch.
Aika took a deep breath. Her eyes flicked to the sky for a second.
"There's a lot I want to ask."
Yuta didn't turn his head.
"I know."
She clenched her fists.
"But out here on the street… it's not the place."
"It's not."
More silence.
The gate of the next house creaked in the breeze.
Aika stopped and nodded with her chin.
"That's it."
Yuta looked. A beige house with white bars. The lights were on.
Aika took two more steps, then turned slightly.
"My mom's home. If I invited you in, she'd ask too many questions."
Yuta stopped by the gate.
"Best not, then."
That's when the front door opened.
A short woman with her hair in a bun and a tired expression stepped out, wiping her hands on a dish towel. She looked at Aika first… then Yuta.
"You're late, Aika. I was getting worried."
Aika kept her tone steady.
"Sorry. I'll explain later."
The woman's eyes shifted to the boy beside her.
"And this is…?"
Yuta stepped forward, posture neutral, voice clear.
"Yuta Okkotsu. I walked your daughter home."
The woman smiled instantly, pleasant surprise in her eyes.
"Oh, I see… thank you, Yuta. So polite. Are you her…"
She paused for a second, her smile growing with restrained mischief.
"You're her boyfriend, right?"
Aika's eyes widened.
"M-Mom! Don't say that!"
Yuta said nothing. Didn't confirm. Didn't deny. Just tilted his head slightly, keeping his gaze respectful.
"It was a pleasure. Have a good night."
He turned calmly, his steady steps fading down the sidewalk.
As he reached the corner, he could still hear the woman's voice, quieter but not quiet enough:
"If he's really your boyfriend, Aika, there's condoms in the bathroom drawer, okay? No surprises in this house!"
"MOM!!!"
Yuta kept walking without looking back, but his narrowed eyes betrayed his thought:
'This night's still going to stir things up.'
___
Megumi pushed the front gate and stepped inside.
Her backpack swayed lightly on her shoulders. Her phone was still in her hand, the last Toknet screen open—the chat with Yuta, paused. Her finger hovered over the send button but didn't press.
'After I shower. After things settle.'
She climbed the two steps to the entrance and opened the door.
The smell of fresh tea hit first. Then the low hum of the TV, the kind of late-afternoon show no one really watches. Her mother's slippers were askew by the sofa. Her bag rested on the armrest.
"Megumi?"
The voice came from the living room. Tired, but trying to sound light.
"Hi. Just got back."
The girl slipped off her shoes, set her backpack in the corner, and turned her head. Her mother sat with her hands in her lap, shoulders too tense for someone just waiting for her daughter from school.
Megumi noticed.
"Everything okay?"
The woman hesitated. Then gave a small smile.
"Your grandma called this morning. She sounded… off."
Megumi frowned.
"Off how?"
"Distracted. Said she was tired, but… the way she talked… it was strange. Like she was speaking to someone else mid-conversation."
The girl walked slowly to the hallway. She stopped at the living room's entrance.
"And then?"
"I went over there. Brought tea, some things. The house was locked from the inside. She opened it, but…"
Her mother took a deep breath.
"She said the previous night was rough. That she had a dream that wouldn't end. And that someone was in her room, watching. But the room was empty."
Megumi didn't respond right away.
"She seemed… scared?"
"Not really. Just tired. Like she'd accepted it as part of her routine. Like it wasn't the first time."
Silence spread between them. The TV droned on with commercials for back-pain meds.
"She's still there?"
"Yeah. Resting now. I gave her a mild sedative. Told her to sleep a bit."
Megumi pulled out her phone and glanced at the screen but didn't type.
"You think she's… getting confused? Like… an age thing?"
"Maybe. But you know your grandma. She's always been too sharp for that."
The girl nodded slowly.
"I can go over later."
Her mother looked relieved.
"I was going to ask. She always listens to you more."
Megumi turned, heading up the stairs with short steps.
"After my shower, I'll go."
"Want me to heat something up?"
"No… I'll manage."
In her room, she closed the door carefully. The TV's sound grew fainter.
She tossed her phone onto the bed, peeled off her uniform blouse, and went to the mirror. Her face was still marked. Not by physical exhaustion—but by the day's weight.
'What she saw… is it what I felt for days?'
She stared at her reflection. Touched her forehead.
'Is that thing… in her too?'
She sat on the bed's edge, body hunched, elbows on her knees. The dim late-afternoon light cast long shadows across the room. An uneasy silence filled the space.
'I started feeling strange… after that visit.'
The day was vivid in her memory. She'd gone alone. Her grandmother was in a good mood, but the house felt… off. The air was heavy, stifling, even with the window open. Megumi remembered leaving with a headache.
'And that night, I started waking up exhausted.'
She stood again, her bare feet touching the cold wooden floor. Her breathing quickened.
'Yuta said that thing could've killed me.'
She swallowed hard.
'If I… young as I am… started wasting away inside…'
She squeezed her eyes shut. The image of her grandmother in the armchair, laughing at something on TV. Her eyes sunken. Her smile too faint. Like she was teetering between a dream and the end.
'…what if she's even closer?'
She rushed to her phone and grabbed it. Her fingers trembled slightly.
She opened Toknet. The chat with Yuta was there. Her last message still unanswered.
She typed slowly.
"Yuta… my grandma's acting weird."
Deleted.
"I'm worried about my grandma. I think she's feeling what I did before."
Paused.
"I need to know if this can kill an older person."
Read it. Read it again.
'Or will this sound like panic? What if I'm wrong?'
She closed her eyes for a second. Then took a deep breath.
Rewrote.
"You said I could've died from that thing. If that's true… what happens to someone older? Like… my grandma?"
And sent.
Her finger lingered over the screen. Her heart pounded steady. The room felt colder.
Now it was a matter of waiting.
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