“Nevertheless, you are still our distinguished guest, and you shall be treated as such.” Shiraki picked up a glass of red wine that rested on the table beside him and took a sip. “Go ahead, take a seat. There’s no need to be so apprehensive.”
I cautiously sat down in the chair, now facing Shiraki head-on from across the table. “After the day I’ve had, I hope you don’t mind that I’m currently nothing but apprehensive.” Erika walked over to my chair with a glass and a bottle of wine, but I kindly held out my hand to reject her offer. “Don’t tell me you invited me all the way out here just for the hell of it?”
Shiraki rested his chin on his hands, tapping his fingers together as he stared me down from across the table. “Preposterous!” He glanced over at Erika and gave her a subtle wink. “I just… wanted to have a chat.”
“But there’s much cheaper ways to ask someone if they want to talk, you know.” I took in the excessive grandeur of the private room, wondering just how much cash Shiraki had to cough up to book it for the night. “So, why here? Couldn’t we have done this somewhere on campus?”
There was a glint of light reflecting off of Shiraki’s deep purple eyes as he resisted showing a smirk of pride. “You’ll see soon enough.” Shiraki snapped his fingers. “Do you partake in chess, Mr. Sazama?”
Right on cue, the bright overhead lights shut off, leaving Shiraki and I in total darkness. Spotlights from above suddenly illuminated both of us, in addition to the chessboard in the center of the room. The sound of a needle scratching against the grooves of a vinyl record preceded a subtle, thumping bassline playing from the speakers on the walls. Shiraki closed the gap between his chair and the table.
He leaned forward, putting his elbow on the table, and held out his hand, welcoming me to join him for a game. “You’d be surprised how difficult it is to find a suitable opponent on this campus.”
I dragged my chair closer to the table as well. The spotlight followed me as I inched forward. Still, something felt off. He wouldn’t ask me to come out all this way just for a chess game - Nobody would. “...What are you playing at, Shiraki?”
“Hm? Nothing, at the moment.” He delicately traced his finger along the circumference of the black queen on his side of the board. “That’s how games work - You aren’t playing them until your opponent joins in.”
“You know what I mean.” I got a closer look at the pieces on my side of the board. They were pristine - No wear or tear in sight from first glance. Either this board was brand new, or Shiraki took very good care of his pieces. “What’s the catch?”
Shiraki had yet to buckle under the pressure. “God forbid a man wants to play a gentleman’s game against someone who might put up a challenge… I’m here to play a game - Nothing more, nothing less.” He gracefully pointed at my pieces. “Make your move, Genjo. White goes first, after all.”
I rested my cheek against my palm as I lazily moved one of my pawns forward. I didn’t put much thought into the move - I just wanted to get the ball rolling already. “You play a lot of chess, I’m guessing?”
He chuckled. “A lot? Would you describe a businessman as someone who sells things ‘a lot’, then?” He moved the pawn in front of his king forward. “Does a Nobel Prize recipient do ‘a lot’ of science?”
“Point taken.” Remembering that pawns can move two spaces on their first turn, I moved the pawn adjacent to my previous move forward by two. “Sounds like you play competitively, then.”
The light in Shiraki’s eyes began to burn a few shades brighter. “Would you believe me if I told you that I’m the best player in Japan’s Youth Chess League?”
To be honest, I had never stopped to think about what program he was taking at school. S.S.S.S. may be a university for talented students, but there’s no shot that includes chess… right? “Wouldn’t surprise me if you were.” I saw Shiraki’s hand shaking with anticipation. “Hey, it’s your turn. Are you-”
“Well, that’d be a lie, actually.” Shiraki struggled to contain his excitement as his hand started to twitch even more.
I started to get nervous, not knowing what the supposed ‘chess prodigy’ had up his sleeve. “Really? You haven’t just been blowing smoke, have you?”
Shiraki gracefully picked up his queen. “They make you graduate from the Youth League when you turn 19 years old.” He slid the queen across the board, releasing it to the right of my second pawn. “...Checkmate.”
My heart nearly stopped for a second. “What the fuck? You’re joking.” I examined the line of sight between Shiraki’s queen and my king, slowly coming to the realization that the only way that I could move my king would be to place it even closer to this queen - I had left myself wide open, completely defenseless on the second turn. “How the hell did you do that?”
“A simple Fool’s Mate.” Shiraki said that like it meant anything to me. “I’m honestly surprised you didn’t see it coming. Is this your first time playing?” Gee, that definitely didn’t sound condescending whatsoever. “I jest, I jest… Care for a rematch?”
“Never claimed to be a champion like you, but sure.” I reached forward to start resetting the board. “I’ll go ahead and-”
“No need.” Shiraki snapped his fingers again, summoning Erika from the darkness to place the pieces back where they belong.
I watched as Erika set everything in its right place and swiftly disappeared once again into the void, wondering if it was truly necessary for Shiraki to call her just to move a grand total of four pieces. “If I may… Who is she, exactly?”
Shiraki’s eyes were fixed on the queen as he rolled it between his fingers. “A family friend, actually. It helps to have connections when you’re traveling abroad.”
“Oh, right. Forgot about the rich dad.” Suddenly, it made much more sense how Shiraki was able to afford to rent this place out. “Seriously, was all of this really necessary? Are you just trying to prove a point, or something?”
“Hahahaha, alright…” Shiraki set the queen back on the board. “I guess it’s time to stop dancing around the elephant in the room.”
“So I was right.” I unknowingly gave Shiraki a much fiercer glare than intended. “Nobody goes through the effort of writing a note with all those cryptic instructions for no reason. What did you really bring me here for?”
Shiraki remained steadfast in the midst of confrontation. “Forgive me, Genjo. I never intended to eavesdrop. Unfortunately, I am unable to unhear what I have heard - And I find the words that befell my ears last night incredibly intriguing.”
I could feel my armpits start to sweat as soon as I heard the word ‘eavesdrop’. Does that mean… No. I can’t let him find out. “What are you talking about?” I asked, trying to hide any signs of anxiety or stress.
“I believe that you, Mr. Ryu, and Ms. Setsuko had a discussion over dinner last night, were you not?” Oh, thank god - He still hasn’t figured out that Aiko was lying about her name. “I recall that it was quite the… ‘important, private conversation’, as Ms. Setsuko put it.”
“I’m not going to just tell you what it was about, if that’s what you’re asking.” I had to fight the urge to become entranced by the way the light reflected off the shiny finish on one of the bishops. “And I’m certain Ryu and Setsuko would tell you the same thing.”
Shiraki repeatedly tapped his fingers on the back of the knuckles on his opposite hand, which he had clenched into a fist and held in the palm of his other hand. “You really think I would organize all of this without knowing what it was about?” He leaned forward, hovering his head over the table. “Tell me about these… phantoms, I believe you called them?”
The twinge of pain in my eye returned at the mere mention of the phantoms, let alone the fact that somebody else other than Ryu, Aiko, Yukio and I know about them. “...How did you-”
“The walls between the kitchen and the laundry room are thinner than you’d probably imagine - Much thinner than the walls in this suite, at least.” Shiraki continued to bear the same smirk that he had on his face since he made his first checkmate of the night. “Once again, my sincerest apologies for eavesdropping. I was downstairs taking care of some laundry late last night, and I couldn’t help but overhear Ms. Setsuko speaking of some… monsters… that you three had encountered.”
Damn it. Leave it to Little Miss Matsuura to unwittingly let the cat out of the bag. I sighed, no longer having the energy in me to pretend. “So? If you’re planning on blackmailing us, I doubt that anyone would believe you, let alone care enough to do something to us. Besides, I don’t think we have much to offer that you can’t already have on your own.”
“Quite the opposite - I have zero intention of revealing your secret to anyone.” Shiraki leaned back in his massive chair, loosening his long, black tie and resting his hands behind his head. “Take your turn, Genjo. The game’s already started.”
I moved my fourth pawn from the left two spaces forward. “I don’t follow.”
“Allow me to explain.” Shiraki placed his pawn directly in front of mine. “You three mentioned something about the Byrne Center - More specifically how something about it had changed, seemingly overnight. But I don’t recall a single thing being altered about that building - Not one bit.”
“That tracks,” I replied as I advanced my first pawn from the left by one space. “A similar case happened with the dining hall in the northwest quad. Nobody seemed to remember that it had been run-down the night before, except for Ryu and I. Not even Setsuko noticed.”
Shiraki placed his bishop two spaces to the right of his pawn. “Precisely. This leads me to the conclusion that there must be something… supernatural occurring behind the scenes in both instances. Although it’s entirely possible that it’s simply coincidental, I think there’s enough credence to this theory that it would be unreasonable to let it go untested.”
“First off, it’s a hypothesis, not a theory.” I took my rightmost knight and relocated it two spaces in front of Shiraki’s bishop. “Second, we’ve already decided that we’re not doing it again. It’s too dangerous.”
“But think of the possibilities…” Shiraki’s queen moved four spaces diagonally forward and to the left until it reached the edge of the board. “If this ability that you three - and seemingly only you three - possess can be used for good, how can you justify not using it with the knowledge that you’re intentionally leaving potential victims in danger?”
I held off from making another move. “What are you, a lawyer? I’ve already told you - It’s over. No amount of utilitarianism is going to change that.”
Shiraki waited patiently. “To deny utilitarianism is to deny the very notion of benefitting the world around you.” He took another sip from his wine glass until it was nearly empty. “Genjo… Can you tell me in earnest that you, given the opportunity to save someone when you know that you’re the only one who can save them, would make the choice to leave them for dead?”
I moved my leftmost knight forward to mirror the rightmost knight. “I made a promise to someone that I would stay away from it at all costs. When the odds that I’d even make it out alive myself are unknown, making that justification becomes a lot harder.”
“I’m not forcing you to break that promise, Genjo. I’m simply proposing a plan that, if I’m correct in trusting your hypothesis, could change the world...” Shiraki leisurely examined all possible options on the board. “You can save lives, Genjo. No, scratch that - You have saved lives. Are you truly satisfied leaving it at that? Are you content with throwing in the towel, when this could merely be the tip of the iceberg?”
“Shiraki, you’re saying all of this like it’s some sort of foolproof plan.” I watched his hand as it stayed completely motionless. “But the truth of the matter is that it’s not.”
“You’re right - It isn’t foolproof.” Shiraki took the chance to go on the offensive, using his queen to take the pawn behind my leftmost knight. If I took out the queen with my king, the bishop would capture it soon after, and if I did nothing, the queen would take the victory without any skin off its back. I looked back up at Shiraki, and the flame that burned ferociously in his eyes conveyed exactly one thing - That he had already won. He smiled, not out of cockiness, but out of respect. “It’s a gambit.”
I continued to stare at my cornered king, completely helpless as his victory slowly sank in. “...I’m not sure if I’m ready to take that risk, though. What if, by trying to do the right thing, I end up getting more people hurt in the process?”
Shiraki held up my king into the spotlight, letting the rays of light bathe the king until the outer coating shimmered from top to bottom. “That’s the difficult part of a gambit. I took one just now, as a matter of fact - They call it the ‘Scholar’s Mate.’ Sometimes, it takes a small sacrifice in order to achieve the greater good.” He finished his glass of wine and set the empty glass on the ground. “That is, assuming you consider my proposal to be the ‘greater good’, after all.”
With another snap of his fingers, the lights turned back on and the music slowly stopped. I took a deep breath as I looked at the time - It was almost 2 A.M. The party was nearly over, and the club was about to close. “I don’t know if I can make that kind of decision right now. It’s… all too much to take in. I don’t want to get anyone hurt ever again.”
“You don’t have to, then.” Shiraki stood up from his chair and tossed the king across the table at me. “Three days.”
I caught the chess piece moments before it hit me in the face. “Three days until what?”
“Three days for you to decide whether or not to take me up on my offer.” Shiraki gestured towards the piece in my hands. “Hold onto that king. I expect you to return it when those three days are up - And I also expect you to have your final answer when you do.”
“But, I-” The king felt rather heavy all of a sudden, so I put it away in my pocket. “I’m not sure what Setsuko or Ryu will think. I can’t just decide for them.”
Shiraki smiled. “So don’t!” He stepped out of the way as Erika walked up and picked the glass up off the floor. “You’re welcome to freely discuss this with your associates. The only reason I wanted you to come alone tonight was because I figured your cohorts would be more open to the idea coming from yourself rather than I.”
I was still unsure how to even bring this up to Ryu and Aiko, let alone how to approach whatever their thoughts would end up being on the subject. Ryu would most likely veto the plan, but Aiko tends to be a bit more unpredictable. I’m worried that I might have to be the tiebreaker if it comes down to it.
While I was lost in thought, Shiraki walked over to me and held out his hand. “It was a pleasure getting to engage in such a thought-provoking game tonight.” I shook his hand out of respect - It was a good match, after all. “Remember - I expect you to return my property when we next meet.”
“Wait a second,” I blurted out at the mention of Shiraki’s property. “Does that include…” I held back a grimace. “...the Felonious Embrace CD?”
Shiraki laughed. “Yes, I suppose it does.” I’m surprised that it wasn’t as embarrassing for him to acknowledge it as it was for me to even bring it up. “My mother taught me a valuable lesson growing up - Whenever you meet someone for the first time, always give them a reason to see you a second time.” He pulled a large sum of money out of his wallet and placed it on Erika’s circular, silver tray. “You’ll always stand a better chance of making a lasting impression if you can jog their memory of you.”
As Shiraki started to walk away, I stopped him by shouting, “Hold on!” When I grabbed his attention, I naturally quieted down a bit. “Where am I supposed to find you after the three days are up?”
“Oh, silly…” Shiraki shook his head. “Might I remind you that we live in the same dorm?” As he and Erika started to exit through the door, he looked back at me over his shoulder. “And if all else fails, the three of you already have my number!”
The door slammed shut, leaving me alone in the private suite. I checked my phone - 1:57 A.M. Two missed calls from Eiichi. I shut off the lights and left the suite myself, not long before calling Eiichi back. In typical Eiichi fashion, it went straight to voicemail.
I ended up calling my own taxi ride back to campus and hoped that my parents wouldn’t mind that I charged it to their card. During the ride back, I couldn’t help but stare mindlessly out of the window, taking in all of the lights as they buzzed and flickered in the night. I wished that I could’ve seen them under better circumstances - It would’ve been fun to see these with Aiko and Ryu. I mean, maybe Ryu wouldn’t care all too much, but Aiko always finds a way to have fun doing almost anything. Eiichi is similar to her in that regard. I hope he didn’t get into too much trouble over the past two hours. Considering neither of my missed calls were from a local jail, maybe I don’t need to worry about that for now.
The taxi driver wasn’t very talkative, but after about five minutes had passed, she asked, “You know, you’re probably the most sober person I’ve ever driven home from the square this late. Everything alright?”
I held my hands in my pockets, trying to ignore the jabbing sensation that I felt in my left hand. “Yeah, I’m just not much of a drinker, is all.”
She snickered to herself. “Then what the hell were you doing at a club?”
I finally removed the offending item in question from my pocket. It was a business card, written with incredibly fine penmanship and lined with gold trim. The card simply read in English: ‘Shiraki Architecture and Finance - 03-3224-9998’. I stared blankly at the card for a few seconds before delicately putting it away again. “Eh, I just went out to play some chess.”
“Chess? At a nightclub?” The taxi driver honked her horn at the car in front of us. “At least tell me you ended up winning, right?”
The visual of my king getting cornered by Shiraki’s gambit came flooding back to me. “You know… I’m not sure.”
She scratched her head. “Not sure? Didn’t you finish the game?”
I held the king up to the window, watching it reflect all of the lights on the side of the street. “...Guess not.”
~
Several of my vertebrae popped and crackled as I rolled out of bed and lurched my way towards the bathroom sink. I pried my right eyelid open and leaned into the mirror - Speckles of purple were still strewn about the radial muscles of the iris. I held my finger up to my mouth, wet the tip with my tongue, and fixed my eyebrow until the offending hairs had been straightened out. Typically, I never fixate on the details of my appearance, as I find people who obsess over their looks to be quite irritating, but I hadn’t felt like such a mess in quite some time.
I threw the covers off of Ryu’s bed, only to find it oddly vacant for this time of day. A shame, really - I was hoping to get the chance to talk to him about last night before we left for class. Instead, I discovered a note that he had taped to the edge of his bed frame that read:
“Don’t worry, I’m not dead. Hiro wouldn’t stop bugging me about filming something this morning. Apparently, every shot of a sunset needs an equal and opposite shot of a sunrise, or something. I don’t fucking know if I can take this anymore. Is it rude to go on strike if you’re friends with your employer?
- Ryu”
I took my purple pen that Aiko had given back to me the day prior and wrote:
“I wouldn’t risk it, if I were you - Getting lunch with us between classes might be considered crossing the picket line.”
On the way to my chemistry class, I decided to take a quick detour and stop at a familiar bench in the center of campus. I reached down and ran my fingers through the dirt, finding tiny fragments of tempered glass from my old phone screen. I held one of the pieces of glass up to the sun in the sky, seeing a wide spectrum of different colors peering through from the other side. The way that the colors diverged from one another reminded me of the moment when Dokuro and I went our separate ways that night. Given all of the bizarre encounters that I’d had ever since that day, I wondered if there was anything I could do to finally catch a break from it all.
After a few solid minutes of pointless reminiscence, I tossed the tiny fragment of glass onto the sidewalk and continued my journey to Kurosawa Hall.
I sat down at my desk and waited silently for class to start, hoping that I would be able to actually make it through a lecture without Hirotada getting on my ass for no reason. The poorly erased writing strewn about the chalkboard was far more interesting than what Hirotada had written on the board himself, ranging from calculations proving the impossibility of tachyons to a list of the first row of transition metals that had somehow been written out of order. Looking more closely at the latter of the two, the handwriting started to seem more and more familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on who-
“Glad to see you made it alive, Gen.” Eiichi sat down in the seat next to mine that had been empty all semester up to this point. He placed a sponsored energy drink on top of the desk, rotating it so that the label would be facing the rest of the students in the room, and pulled another can out of his backpack and held it up to a bruise on his temple. “You know, these drinks are actually multi-purpose - They serve as excellent ice packs too.”
I looked closer at the bruise. It was far from the only one on his body. “Oh my god, what did you do this time?”
Eiichi forced a smile to hide a wince from the pain coming from the bruises. “Some kid tried to rob me last night. Dumbass thought he could outrun me.”
“That…” I examined his teeth to make sure none of them had cracked or been knocked out. “...doesn’t explain the injuries.”
“Oh, these?” Eiichi habitually pointed to the can before quickly redirecting my attention to the mark on his head. “...Kid’s dad got hands.”
I sighed and shook my head. “I can’t take you anywhere, can I?”
Class was well underway when I noticed that Hirotada had made a fairly crucial error in one of the practice problems he had written on the board. Resting my head against my shoulder, I raised my hand and called out, “Professor Hirotada? You’re missing a step.”
Hirotada stopped what he was doing and put his glasses on. “Oh? Which one, Sazama?”
“Question five, sir.” I pointed at the board in the general direction of question five. “You accidentally wrote milligrams instead of kilograms when giving the molality of the initial copper nitrate solution.”
“Really? My apologies.” Hirotada started to erase that part of the equation. “I’ll just correct it real quick-”
“Also,” I squinted hard to look at the following questions over Hirotada’s shoulder. “That ended up affecting the rest of the example problems too. You’d be neutralizing the solution with an impossible amount of titrant, and therefore your multiple choice options for the cost of the experiment are all wildly incorrect.”
Hirotada groaned. “I see.” He held out the chalk in my direction. “If this error is as egregious as you claim, why don’t you go ahead and correct it for the class, Sazama?”
I rolled my eyes, trying to hold back a grin of satisfaction. “Do I get a cut of your teacher’s salary?”
Unamused, Hirotada held the chalk out slightly further. “I’ll give you five bonus points on the exam.”
“Good enough for me.” I stood up and proudly took the chalk out of Hirotada’s hand and began working for those bonus points. It was fairly easy, to be honest. Not only did it feel nice to finally stick it to the man, but it also gave me the chance to practice for theatre class, too - I was putting on the act of a lifetime, standing up there and pretending like I actually needed those bonus points in the first place.
Stepping out of the classroom, Eiichi gave me a hefty pat on the shoulder. “Attaboy, Gen! I’ll bet Hirotada will stop nagging you about being lazy in no time!”
“Eh, it’s no big deal.” I shrugged it off. “Somebody had to do it.”
Eiichi flipped his hair as we walked past a group of girls. “Yeah, but you’re not just ‘somebody’, dude. You corrected that entire set of questions like it was nothing.”
My ears started to heat up from embarrassment. “Eiichi, shut up. You’re just saying that.”
“If not his word, take mine.” Dokuro, who had been walking mere inches behind us as we left the classroom, stepped up to walk alongside Eiichi and I. “Rather unlike you to take such initiative during class, but impressive nonetheless.” Wow. Talk about a back-handed compliment.
I slowed down to more closely match Eiichi’s walking pace so as to avoid seeing more of her silver hair sway back and forth as we walked than I had to. It wasn’t as personal of a grievance this time - I’d just had enough run-ins with that color lately for my liking. “There wasn’t much to it, really. Just moving some zeroes and-”
“Farewell.” Dokuro split off from us just as swiftly as she had intruded, disappearing down the hallway towards the professors’ offices.
Eiichi scratched his head, only to flinch as he accidentally grazed one of his many injuries. “Who the hell was that, again?”
“Oh, right.” I pushed open the entrance door and stepped into the harsh sunlight that awaited us outside. “Forgot you hadn’t actually met her. That was Dokuro.”
As soon as I said her name, the tip of Eiichi’s eyebrow twitched. “Dokuro? You mean that fuckin’ bitch that told you-”
I elbowed him in the abdomen much harder than I originally intended. “What the fuck, dude? Come on, be at least a bit more respectful than that.”
Eiichi didn’t seem to notice it much, likely because he already had plenty of sore spots covering his upper body. “I’m just going off what you told me. I thought she treated you like shit, didn’t she?”
“First off, that was not my choice of words.” (And even if it was, I’m sure I wasn’t in the most stable emotional state at the time.) “Second, it wasn’t that serious - She and I just…” I let out a long exhale, not releasing how long it’d been since I took a proper breath. “We have our disagreements.”
“Well, if she ever bothers you…” Eiichi proudly stood up straight and pointed at himself with his thumb. “You know who to call.”
I wiped the sweat off my forehead. “Thanks, but no thanks.” I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. “I doubt I’ll have to talk with her much after we’re done with this project.” Truth be told, it’s not like we’ve even been interacting much since we started.
Eiichi suddenly looked mildly concerned, which told me that any other human being would’ve been scared half to death. “Shit… I haven’t started the project.”
I shook my head. “Dude, isn’t it due in like, a week and a half?”
“Genjo, I don’t even remember who my partner is.” Eiichi leisurely pivoted on the heel of his left foot and started walking back to Kurosawa Hall. “I’ll just ask for an extension since I joined the class late, and all.”
“Good luck with that,” I shouted without looking back over my shoulder. If I knew Hirotada well enough, I wouldn’t be surprised if he moved Eiichi’s due date closer instead. I didn’t blame Eiichi for hating Dokuro on my behalf, but still… Did I come off that vitriolic when I first told him about her?
Tired of thinking about her longer than usual, I switched songs on my MP3 player and instantly felt leagues better.
My phone vibrated again, this time with seemingly a bit more urgency. I took it out of my pocket and saw a pair of messages from a number that I didn’t recognize.
[Text Message: Unknown Number]
“hey there. its nami. u know… from the record shop? yeah. THAT nami..”
“sent u n email over the wknd but ig it didnt go thru.. come 2 the shop when u can.”
I quickly texted back:
“Oh god, am I in trouble?”
“Are YOU in trouble?”
“Nobody’s in trouble, right?”
“normally im supposed to dock off points 4 non srs replies.”
“but also i wasnt supposed 2 text ur # like this..”
“oh well.”
“just come in when u can..”
“but not 2day. store is closed for some reason idk”
“I was being serious :(“
“What do you need me for, then?”
“an interview, numbnuts”
“oops. guess theyll dock off points 4 me 2”
“eh.”
“i’ll live”
“Gotcha. I’ll come by tomorrow”
“I get out of class around 2-ish?”
“woah, easy there, tiger .”
“they only ask u 4 ur schedule if u get hired..”
“kekw”
I wasn’t quite sure what that last message meant, but I set an alarm on my phone as a reminder anyway.
~
I politely knocked on the door to Vampire Vinyl as I stood at the top of the metal stairs in the alley. My nerves ramped up exponentially by the second, forcing me to shake off the anxiety through the same hand with which I knocked on the entrance.
Nami’s voice shouted from the other side. “We’re open, you know.”
“Sorry!” I took a quick, deep breath before stepping inside. The temperature inside was rather chilly, remedied only by the thick sleeves on my jacket.
She looked up from the register, looked me up and down, and nodded. “Oh, Sazama. You’re here.” Nami went back to organizing the dollar bills in the register. Funnily enough, she was listening to the same album that I was listening to when she texted me yesterday. “Do you always knock before you enter every other store, too? I promise it’s not against the law if you don’t.”
I laughed off the overwhelming feeling of humiliation that had taken over in a matter of seconds. “Not exactly… I guess since I was here for an interview, it felt more like I was about to enter an office, instead.”
“Well, you wouldn’t be that far off.” Nami broadly gestured at an open door in the back of the store, containing a white folding table and an unplugged microwave. “If you’re here for the amenities, this job is full of them.” Nami’s deadpan delivery of almost every sentence she spoke wasn’t very convincing - Not like she was trying to be, though.
“Pfft… I’ll keep that in mind.” I sat on top of a small, flipped over record crate next to the front door. “So, when does your boss get here, Yamane?”
‘Ha!” Nami let out a quick cackle as she slammed the register shut and swapped out the record on the turntable. “Good one.”
“Huh?” I asked with a furrowed brow. “But I thought we were going to-”
Nami walked over from behind the desk, effortlessly spun around with her hands in her jean pockets and kicked the door shut in time with the beat drop. “We are.” She turned the lock above the doorknob while leaning up against the door on her left foot. “The bossman’s out of town - He said I could handle this one myself.”
I looked up at Nami from my record crate. “Can you?”
“Shit, I hope so.” Nami beckoned me with her finger to follow her as she sauntered over to the cassette aisle with a smile on her face. “Sazama, you know what these are, right?”
“Um…” I scratched my head, confused as to whether or not this was part of the interview. “...who doesn’t?”
Nami twirled her braid around her finger. “Do you collect them?”
I scanned the rest of the store for any signs that somebody else was secretly watching. “...no?”
“Good answer.” Nami pulled a sheet of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it without much urgency. “We have a strict policy on that.”
This was getting more and more bizarre by the second. “Yamane, was that one of the questions?”
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She snatched a pen from behind her ear and pulled the cap off with her teeth. “No, but it’d be really fucking funny if it was.” After leaving a few marks on the top of the paper, she spit out the cap onto the floor and asked, “What’s your greatest weakness?”
I looked around at the ceiling as I pondered the question. “Well, I-”
Nami had already started writing. “I’ll just put down that you ‘sometimes get too chatty with regular customers’. You can keep talking, though.”
I blinked multiple times in confusion. “...I feel like that’d be a bit pointless if you’re already writing down something else.”
“Alright, I’ll go ahead and put ‘does things right the first time’ for your greatest strength, then.” Nami smirked to herself as she wrote down my ‘answers’. “Man, we are rolling through these!” She looked up from her paper and tapped the pen against her chin. “Do you commit felonies on purpose?”
“Wh-” I quickly shook my head, unable to wrap my head around the question. “Does committing them by accident make them better?”
Nami’s eyes drifted to the side as she cocked her head in tandem. “Depends on who you ask.” She wrote a big, fat ‘NO” underneath that question before swiftly moving on to the next one. “Hmm… Nah. I don’t feel like asking this one.”
I lightly exhaled from my nose, deciding to start fully embracing the sheer absurdity of the interview process. “Can you even do that?”
“No, but I can write down ‘Candidate agrees to all terms and conditions’.” Nami looked up from the paper as her hand went on autopilot. “Don’t worry - It’s an entire thesis statement that basically just means that you won’t rip any of the music in the store to your devices without paying for it first.” She held her hand up to the side of her mouth and whispered, “I literally do it all the time.”
Nami continued to scan the remainder of the sheet, occasionally writing down a short blurb underneath questions that she couldn’t be bothered to ask. “Okay… last one.”
I shot her a pair of finger guns. “Shoot.”
“There’s no wrong answer to this one.” Nami glanced up at me. “How much do you wanna get paid?”
Damn it. I didn’t want to ask for too much. I’d feel bad if I earned more than such a relatively simple job warranted. “...$13 an hour?”
Nami held out a thumbs up and flicked her wrist upwards multiple times. “They pay me $19.”
I nervously tugged at my collar. “...$17?”
“I’m putting $19.” Nami scribbled the number on her paper, folded it back up, and shoved it back in her pocket. “Well, that’s that! Thanks for not making that excruciatingly boring, by the way.”
“No problem.” I let out a sigh of relief. “So, when do you think I’ll-”
Nami punched the register open again and took out approximately $100. “Here’s the sign-on bonus. Figured I’d give it to you before the bossman forgets later.”
I stared at the $100 in her hand and raised an eyebrow. “Yamane, is this legal? We’re not sure if they’ll even hire-”
“If they don’t hire you, I’ll hunt you down for that $100 personally.” Nami handed me the money and shooed me away. “You’ll get a text when they put you on the schedule.”
I put the money in my pocket and bowed on my way out the door. “Thank you so much, Yamane! You’re a lifesaver!”
Nami leaned back in her office chair behind the desk. “Woah, let’s not say anything we might regret later, eh?” She reached down beneath the desk and pulled out a book titled ‘Look Right Through Me’. Without as much as a second to spare, she was already engrossed in its pages. “Oh, flip the sign to ‘Open’ on your way out. Forgot to do that this morning. Probably why I haven’t gotten many customers today.”
“Gotcha.” I reached up and did as Nami asked, turned the lock on the door, and yanked on the doorknob - But the door didn’t open. I jiggled a bit harder on the doorknob, yet it wouldn’t budge. Great look after an interview, huh?
After listening to me fiddle with the lock for a few seconds, Nami said, “Don’t worry. You’re not stupid - It’s supposed to be like that, apparently.” Without looking up from her book, she started waving her hand around in the air to demonstrate how to unlock the door. “Lift up and pull on the lever while you turn the lock, or it won’t budge. Bossman says it’s to prevent break-ins, or something.”
I lifted and pulled the lever on the doorknob and turned the lock, just as Nami described. Sure enough, it worked like a charm. “That’s rather unorthodox for a door, isn’t it?”
Nami shrugged. “I know, right? Bossman did the installation and modifications himself, so it’s a bit scuffed. You’ll get used to it after a while, though.”
“Let’s hope so.” I waved Nami goodbye and left the store, although I doubt she looked away from her book long enough to notice. It still hadn’t quite set in that I had (most likely) just gotten a job, so I leaned over the railing of the metal stairs and took a moment to process it all. Is it the most normal job in the world for someone my age? Probably not… but the past few weeks of living here taught me that ‘normal’ was in low supply no matter where I went.
Speaking of normal, I looked down at a familiar, completely inconspicuous wooden door in the back of the alley. I checked the date on my phone - I had until tomorrow night to give Shiraki my answer. Who knows - Maybe whoever’s behind that door might be able to help me out with that.
I cautiously approached the door and hit the knocker against it exactly three times before opening it.
Inside, a small, white-haired child in an oversized, ragged hoodie was sitting on top of a barstool near the corner of the tavern, facing away from the entrance as they swung their legs back and forth without much care in the world. They were enveloped in a deafening silence that permeated throughout the entire room - Not even the flickering flames burning away at the wicks of the candles seemed to make a peep.
I attempted to shut the door as quietly as possible so as to not cause any disturbance, slowly making my way towards the stairs to the second floor. This was actually much easier done than said, though, as the wooden floorboards were eerily quiet as well, as if some outside force was keeping them silent on purpose. The cuttable tension in the air was far from the warm and cozy ambience that I remembered from my previous visit. Last time, this place gave off a ‘speakeasy’ kind of energy - Currently, it felt a bit more ‘don’t wake the baby’.
When I put my foot down on the very first step of the staircase, as if the room were reading my mind, an obnoxiously intense *creak* blasted throughout the tavern. I briefly closed my eyes and gritted my teeth as my mind was flooded with memories of all of the times I had gotten caught by my dad for staying up too late on school nights. Please, let this child invoke less wrath than my mother…
Cleo spun around in their seat and stared at me blankly. Aside from their swaying legs, Cleo didn’t move a muscle for a few seconds, merely sitting with their hands in their lap and their gaze fixated on my shoes. It was only then that I noticed that Cleo didn’t have their own shoes on - Instead, they were wearing a pair of thick, wool socks that were white on the top and a rather filthy gradient of black on the bottom.
I nervously gave Cleo a quick, half-hearted wave while trying to quietly laugh the anxiety away. “H-Hey, Cleo! Long time no see…?” My eyes frantically looked all around the tavern for any signs of Luna or Daniel. Just where the hell did they go? “…You wouldn’t happen to know where your siblings are, would you?”
Cleo hopped down from their stool, stumbling for a moment as they hit the ground and lost their balance. They silently shrugged as they walked across the room to meet me at the bottom of the stairs.
“Oh… right.” I’d nearly forgotten that Cleo isn’t exactly the most verbal kid in the world. “Have you seen them recently? Or have they been gone for a while?”
Cleo held up two fingers, which was most likely their way of saying, “Option 2”.
I sat down on the stairs so I wouldn’t tower over Cleo quite as much. “Do you think they’ll be back soon?” I wasn’t sure why I asked that - I didn’t expect a complex answer beyond a nod or a wave.
A quick shake of the head meaning, “No,” confirmed my suspicions.
“Sorry,” I muttered. “Just wanted to talk to them about something, that’s all.”
Cleo suddenly opened their mouth and began to speak. “Oh, I can talk if you want.”
My brain took a few seconds to catch up with my ears, which weren’t expecting to process any voices, let alone Cleo’s. “Wait a second, are you not-”
“I’m nonverbal by choice.” Cleo sat down next to me on the stairs. Their voice was soft and quiet, with each word occasionally lingering for a second or two. “Talking is exhausting. That’s why I don’t like to do it very often.”
“Not even with your brother or sister?”
Cleo made an ‘ick’ sound out loud. “Especially not them. All Daniel and Luna do is argue. But if I never talk, that means I don’t ever have to get dragged into it, so it works for that, at least.”
“Now that you mention it, Luna didn’t waste a second before giving Daniel an earful as soon as I met her.” I looked over at the bar. It looked strange without Daniel standing behind it. “So that’s a regular occurrence, then?”
“You could say that.” Cleo yawned, seemingly exhausted from talking for only about a minute. “You’re more fun to talk to. You don’t argue as much as they do.”
“Thanks?” I wasn’t sure how to react to being told that I’m ‘fun to talk to’ by someone who I hadn’t really spoken to before. “But I’ve never-”
“Yes, you have. Through… those things.” Cleo pointed at my headphones sitting around my neck. “Remember?”
As soon as they mentioned it, I instantly remembered hearing a strange, child-like voice coming from my headphones while I was taking a walk a few days prior. Now that it’s on my mind, the mystery voice and Cleo’s voice were a perfect match. “Oh, so that was you. How did you do that, exactly?”
Cleo shrugged. “It’s a communication device, right? That’s why there’s always a bunch of voices coming out of the parts that go over your ears.” They made circular motions with their fingers around their ears, as if I somehow didn’t already know what they were referring to.
“Wait, what are you-” I cut myself off before I finished the thought. I carefully put my headphones back over my ears and suddenly realized exactly who the ‘voices’ were. “…Cleo, that’s just my music. It’s all prerecorded - They’re not actually talking to me.”
“Hm. That’s weird.” Cleo looked sleepy and lost in thought. “Well, if they’re saying words, and you’re listening to them say those words, wouldn’t that mean they’re indirectly speaking to you?”
“Um…” I mulled over Cleo’s question for a moment. “Yeah, in a way.” Honestly, that was a pretty astute observation for someone as presumably young as Cleo.
“Exactly.” Cleo looked like they really wanted to touch the wire to my headphones, but resisted the urge out of fear of breaking it. “So I figured, if those people can talk to you through those things, that maybe I could too.”
I didn’t know whether to be impressed by Cleo’s sheer imagination, or to be concerned about the fact that it actually worked. “Does that mean you could talk to me whenever you wanted to?”
“That’s the thing - I don’t know.” Cleo put their hands back in their lap and started picking at the cuticles on their fingernails. “It just sorta… happens. Sometimes, I’ll just randomly start hearing your thoughts.”
Uh oh. I sincerely hope that none of those thoughts were anything that a child had no business hearing… “Um, I’m sorry if-”
“Don’t worry. None of them have been bad, or anything.” Cleo didn’t seem fazed - In fact, Cleo’s expression hadn’t changed one bit since I walked through the door. “It’s usually only moments when you’re stressed, or in danger… I think.”
“That’s…” I started to recall a few various moments where I’d spoken to unknown voices over the past few weeks. Had those been Cleo this whole time? “I’m not sure if I like the fact that you can always hear my thoughts, especially when I’m stressed.” Being aware of that in the moment might honestly end up making me more stressed.
Cleo shook their head. “Like I said, I don’t think it’s every time you’re in danger. It’s not very consistent.”
Oh, wonderful. That’s reassuring. “…Promise you won’t do it too often? Listening to my own voice in my head is bad enough as it is. I don’t think I could handle another one that shows up at random.”
“Yep. Sure.” Cleo yawned even louder than the previous time. “So far, I’ve only ever spoken to you when it’s necessary. Besides…” Yet another drawn-out yawn told me that their next sentence was about to be ‘talking makes me tired, anyway.’
“Thanks.” I stood up and held my hand down near Cleo in case they needed help getting up. “You should probably get some sleep.”
Despite their grogginess, Cleo stood up just fine on their own. “Okay, if that was what you wanted to talk to my siblings about.”
“Oh, I almost forgot about that!” I started walking towards Cleo’s room before stopping myself. “Eh, never mind. I can ask them later.”
“And then have to listen to them bicker for an hour?” Cleo fought back the urge to fall asleep. “I’d pass if I were you. I can probably help - If you want me to, that is.”
“Well…” I leaned against the railing on the stairs. “I have a decision to make by tomorrow night. I’m not exactly sure which choice is the right one - if there even is a right one - and I don’t know how to bring it up to my friends either.”
Cleo sat down on the floor with their legs crossed. “Is it because you’re worried that you’re not all going to agree?” After what I’ve experienced from interacting with these siblings, I’m certain Cleo knows that worry better than anyone.
“...Maybe.” I felt my hands start to cramp from inaction. “To be honest, we all have our own reasons why we shouldn’t - Ryu has no interest in ever interacting with the phantoms again, Aiko wouldn’t go along with it if she knew Shiraki was involved, and…” I cracked my knuckles to relieve the tension. “...I made a promise to someone that I wouldn’t go near those things anymore.”
“So? Shouldn’t that make it an open and shut case?”
“That’s the problem, damn it! Why the hell am I still considering it like it’s even an option??” I shouted as I lifted my head back, running my hands through my hair.
Cleo started to nod off, but quickly jolted awake again. “Sounds to me like you want to do it, but you just think that you can’t do it.”
I continued leaning backwards over the railing until the tavern looked like it was upside down. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…” Cleo hopped up and leaned over the railing on the step above mine. “You’re only telling yourself that it’s not an option because you made a promise. But what would you do if you hadn’t made that promise?”
“Cleo, are you telling me to-”
“I’m not telling you to break it - At least, not just for the sake of it.” Cleo’s legs started to clang against the railing as they swung back and forth through the air. “But I want you to ask yourself… If someone handed you the recipe for the best omelet in the world, how much would it hurt to crack an egg or two so you could try it?”
My eyes glazed over from staring at the candles on the wall, attempting to ignore the constellation of harsh flames that flickered in my peripheral vision. “...What would you do in that scenario, Cleo?”
“Don’t let what I would choose to do influence your decision.” Cleo stood up and walked back to their room. “You’re the only one who decides where your path ends up going.” Cleo stepped through the door and gently waved their hand. “Bye bye.” With that, Cleo shut their bedroom door and let out one final deafening yawn before collapsing on their bed.
I stood alone in silence, taking in the ambience of the tavern for a few minutes and asking myself a series of questions: My path… Where is it going right now? Am I the one paving it? Or am I letting someone else pave it for me?
Before I could come to any one conclusion, an alarm buzzing from my pocket signaled to me that if I were to find one, it would likely be elsewhere. Maybe I wasn’t meant to find it today - But 24 hours still didn’t feel like much time left to do so.
~
A quiet *click* from the unlocking of my bedroom door served as an unceremonious announcement of Ryu’s return. The door slammed shut aggressively behind him. “Alright, I’m back. This’d better be important.”
When he arrived, I was lying in bed, staring mindlessly at the chess piece that I held high in the air above my face. “Yeah, a little bit.”
Ryu stomped across the room over to his own bed. “I’m gonna need more than a ‘little bit,’ Genjo. I left the library early for this.”
“Not yet.” A song from the CD that Shiraki had lent me was playing from my headphones, although I’d describe what I was doing as more ‘hearing’ than ‘listening’.
Ryu’s backpack hit the ground with a loud *thud* after he dropped it right next to my bed frame.
The shock from the thud made me drop the chess piece directly on my forehead. “Ow… What was that for?”
“I didn’t come here for shits and giggles.” Ryu glared down at me from above. “Just hurry up and tell me what’s up, and why you needed me here for it.”
Still fixing my hair at the point of impact, I snatched the chess piece off my pillow and shoved it back into my pocket. “Can you wait for about…” I looked at the time - Nearly two hours left until I had to talk to Shiraki. “...Three seconds?”
Ryu cocked an eyebrow. “Oh? Need more time to come up with a-”
Several relentless knocks rang out from the door in quick succession.
“Nope. I was waiting for her to show up first.” I swiftly jumped out of bed and ran to open the door.
Aiko was standing in the hallway, still holding her fist up in the air to knock on a door that wasn’t there anymore. “Sup, boys?” She didn’t wait for either of us to invite her inside, instead cheerfully running past me and straight to my bed so she could hop up on top of my mattress. “You know what the two of you need more of? Chairs. There’s not a lot of places to sit other than on that grungy rug…”
Ryu hadn’t moved an inch since I got up to let her in. “We do have chairs, though. You know, the ones that came with the desks?”
“Oh, hell no. Those things make my back hurt like you wouldn’t believe.” Aiko looked incredibly content as she sat on the edge of my bed. Knowing her, she was probably just refraining from making any more critiques of Ryu and I’s interior design sense. “So, what’s this all about? Your text sounded pretty urgent.”
“Yeah, I’d also like to know.” Ryu slowly lifted himself onto his bed and sat across from Aiko. “What did you need both of us here for?”
I pulled out my desk chair and sat in the center of the room, sitting quite a distance from Ryu and Aiko. “First, you gotta promise you’re gonna hear me out completely, okay? Can you give me a chance to explain fully before you respond?”
Ryu sighed and held his hand up in the air. “Scout’s honor.”
Aiko pantomimed zipping her lips shut and throwing the zipper away in our trash can.
“Good.” I told my friends about everything - Shiraki… the note… the party… the chess game… the proposal… everything. Throughout my entire explanation, I slowly realized just how unbelievable the whole story sounded, but then again, was it really that much weirder than the waking nightmare we all experienced last week?
After a long period of silence, Ryu stood up and began walking towards the door. “Count me out of this one.”
“Yeah, I’m not so sure either.” Aiko tapped her fingers against her wrist. “I just… I don't wanna talk to that guy if I don’t have to.”
I put my hands into my pockets. “I figured y’all would say that. I’m not even sure if I think it’s a good idea myself.”
“Then why the hell did you even ask?” Ryu turned around and leaned his arm on the sink. “If we’re all in agreement, it sounds pretty cut and dry to me. What’s the point in even entertaining the thought?”
“Because a part of me is telling me that we should, alright?” I blurted out with more frustration than I wanted. “...Listen, I don’t know if I can trust a word that Shiraki says either. And I don’t want to force you guys to join me if I do decide to trust him.”
Aiko tipped her head to the side. “But you don’t want to go if it’s without us… right?” She sounded apologetic, in a way, as if she had anything at all to apologize for. “You’re saying that it should be all-or-nothing, aren’t you?”
“That’s… almost exactly what I’m saying.” It always feels nice whenever Aiko understands what I mean - It’s not a feeling that I’m all that used to. “Aiko, remember our hypothesis from the other night? Isn’t this our chance to see if it’s true?”
Ryu tapped his foot loudly. “Might I remind you that’s not her issue here? She’s worried about Shiraki creeping on her.”
I spun my chair around to look at Ryu. “I didn’t forget about that, I just know that it wasn’t only my idea that there could be something more to all this.”
His eyes narrowed. “So you’re just going to drag her into this because she technically came up with the idea too? Are you seriously-”
“Ugh, shut up, you two!” Aiko crossed her arms with a pouty expression on her face. “I’m right here, you know! Stop arguing about what I want to do when you can just turn around and ask me!!”
Ryu and I both turned our heads towards Aiko. She looked like she was about to burst at the seams from anger - It was a rare emotional state that was becoming increasingly difficult for me to tell the difference between when it was an act, or if it was reality. “...Sorry. What do you want, Aiko?”
She flipped her script entirely, now donning a wide grin as she struggled to contain her excitement. “Put me in, coach! I’m ready to go!”
Ryu’s jaw dropped to the floor. “...Are you fucking serious right now?”
“Aiko,” I asked as I felt an odd sense of joy and confusion building up inside. “What about Sh-”
“But!” Aiko shouted as she firmly stuck out her finger at me. “You have to make sure Shiraki won’t say - or do - anything weird to me. That’s my only condition.”
I exchanged a glance with Ryu that we both interpreted as, ‘good luck with that one’.
Aiko leapt off the bed and ran over to Ryu’s side. “Alright… Your turn!~”
Ryu swatted away her hands as she repeatedly reached up and poked his cheeks. “I already told you a million times. I’m not going to-”
“Boooo…” Aiko’s arms were planted firmly by her sides. “Ryu, I’m literally forcing myself to be around a creepy guy who doesn’t even know my real name. What’s stopping you from-”
“Nope. ‘All-for-nothing’ my ass.” Ryu slid past her and reached for the doorknob. “I’m out. Plain and simple.”
Aiko stomped her foot on the ground. “Argh… Ryu, you know we’re not going to go without you… Why are you always so against helping out?”
“Because if I don’t, then maybe you’ll finally stop putting yourselves in danger!” Ryu yelled over his shoulder. Based on the amount of anger that poured out from those words, I’m guessing he’d been holding that one back for a while.
“Then we’ll go without you.” I snatched the CD case that belonged to Shiraki off my CD rack and put it in my jacket pocket. “Whether you want us to go through with this or not, Aiko and I aren’t stopping. I’d love for you to come with us, but…” I grabbed the remainder of the door handle that Ryu’s hand hadn’t already covered. “...I won’t force you to.”
Ryu reluctantly let go of the doorknob. “I’m going back to the library. I’ll see you guys later.” He headed back over to my bed to grab his bag off the ground.
I turned the handle and opened the door. “...I’ll see you then.” With my head feeling heavy on my shoulders, Aiko and I left the room and headed for the staircase. I took Shiraki’s business card out of my pocket and texted the number that was written on it using indigo ink.
[Text Message: Jo Shiraki(?)]
“Hey. It’s Genjo”
“I’m ready”
“What room do you live in?”
“Mhm… the Bishop makes his next move…”
Of course he talks the same way over text. Why did I even ask?
“If another duel’s your wish, whether lost or won…”
“You will find what you seek in room 201.”
“...got it.”
Aiko peeked at my phone from behind. “Wow. And I thought I got a little too engrossed in my roles sometimes.”
We both headed down the stairs to the floor directly under mine, hoping that we wouldn’t be greeted by Shiraki dressed up like a manga supervillain when he opened the door. Since he was (allegedly) in room 201, his door was immediately on our left when we reached his floor. Standing in front of the blank wooden door, I felt my legs quake. “So… Aiko, would you like to do the honors?”
She turned to me with an uncharacteristically grumpy look on her face. “I’d rather gag myself on my own used toilet paper.”
“Damn… okay then.” I anxiously raised my hand to knock against the door…
…Before it immediately swung open. “Greetings! I hope I didn’t keep you all waiting!” Shiraki was awaiting us behind the door, donning his full suit and tie. Does he ever wash that suit? Or does he just have one suit for every single day?
I scratched the back of my head with the hand I was prepared to knock with instead. “Um… on the contrary, actually. We just-”
“Come on in, you two!” Shiraki gestured for us to follow him inside. “Not much sense in talking out in the hallway, is there?”
Aiko crossed her arms as she reluctantly stepped into Shiraki’s dorm room. “Not much sense in a lot of things, but here we are…” she whispered under her breath.
I waited for Aiko to enter first so I could follow behind her. “Thank you for inviting us, Shiraki.” I wanted to stay as cordial as possible, so as to not cause any potential issues with someone that I might end up being stuck with for the next few hours. “Where would you like us to-”
“Take a seat in those chairs - The three that are beside one another.” The chairs that Shiraki referred to were made out of a rather lavish and expensive looking leather exterior. In fact, his entire room was weirdly lavish. The 65-inch TV (which was still in its box), the faux fireplace that the TV box sat upon, and even the oil painting of a town on the coast surrounding Mt. Fuji that likely carried a hefty price tag - It was all… too much. “Care for a drink, anyone?”
“I’ll pass.” Aiko sat down in the chair on the right, doing everything in her power to contain her feelings of discomfort. While the signs of her true emotions were obvious to me, I doubt they were obvious to Shiraki.
I claimed the center seat, leaving the chair on the left vacant. “Me neither, but thanks.”
Shiraki poured a singular glass of champagne for himself before sitting across from us. In between Shiraki and I was a familiar chess board - One that was obviously missing a piece. He pointed his glass in the general direction of the board, as if to say, “It’s your turn, Sazama.”
Reaching into my pocket, I took out the missing king and returned it to its spot on the board. With the king back on his rightful throne, the room suddenly felt like the air had changed. A sinking feeling in my chest knew that it was because the scales were tipping back in Shiraki’s favor.
“Excellent.” Shiraki bore a wicked smile as he pulled a remote out of his pocket, turning on the fireplace and shutting off the lights. The sudden darkness revealed a set of candles throughout the room that had been burning since before we even entered the room. He glanced down at his silver luxury watch. “11:01… Oh my, look at you two showing up an hour ahead of schedule! I appreciate you saving me the trouble of waiting by the phone, hoping you would show up on time…”
Aiko gave me a side eye, wishing she could say, “That wasn’t our intention in the slightest, rich kid, but go off.”
I nervously tapped my wrist to the pounding drum beat of a song that I could barely hear coming through my headphones at the minimum possible volume. “I’m just here to give you my answer. My friends and I were only recently able to come to a consensus.”
Shiraki took a long sip of his champagne without taking his eyes off of me. “And, do tell, that consensus is…?”
I hated the way that he looked at us so smugly. He acted like he already knew the answer, so why keep up the formalities? “...The only two people that will be taking your offer are the ones sitting across from you now.” My gaze drifted towards a knight on the chess board that was noticeably off-center. “...Ryu won’t be joining us.”
“Hmm… That would explain the empty chair, wouldn’t it?” Shiraki muttered to himself. “Did he offer any reasoning as to why?”
Aiko refused to look Shiraki in the face as she replied to him, and rather bluntly at that. “Something about wanting to keep us out of danger. He’s always been like that.”
Shiraki spread his arms out in a welcoming manner. “Ms. Setsuko, why do you think I asked for your assistance in the first place?” He quickly downed the rest of the champagne before dropping the empty glass onto the antique rug beneath us, fully confident that not a single drop of liquid would create any stains. “You all are here to keep me out of danger!”
A single eyebrow raised itself on its own as I returned to looking at Shiraki. “Wait, are you suggesting-”
“Don’t you get it?” Shiraki’s laugh was long, drawn-out, and maniacal. “Why on earth would I send three complete strangers on an expedition of curiosity without going there myself? Why, it would defeat the entire purpose, of course!”
“So…” Aiko squirmed in her chair, looking like she was about to shrivel up into a speck of dust. “You’re saying you want to… come along with us on a mission?” A quiver appeared in her voice as she struggled not to gag.
Shiraki clasped his hands together and leaned forward, allowing the candlelight to illuminate his face with an ominous glow. “That’s correct. While you and your friends were mulling over your decision, I spent the last 72 hours scouting out for a place that I believe would give us our most likely chance to encounter these creatures.”
I rested my chin on my knuckles as I leaned in closer as well. “So that’s why you gave me three days…” I had to hand it to Shiraki - His actions are always incredibly calculated and well-planned. It was no wonder why chess is his game of choice. “Where is this place, then?”
He held out his phone, displaying the screen to Aiko and I.
'The House for Heavy Hearts.'
From what Shiraki showed us, it was a shitty, run-down, disgusting hotel and resort that appeared to have been on the brink of closing for quite a while. One of the reviews for the place read as follows:
‘Ever since this hotel fell under new management, I haven’t had a single good night’s rest in this shithole. I swear, this place has GOT to be haunted - I shouldn’t be waking up to screams and banging noises in the middle of the night when I’m the ONLY ONE STAYING HERE. Seriously, what happened to this place???’
“Well, I guess it technically might work, but…” I sat in silence, attempting to piece together any of the information I already knew to see what matched and, more importantly, what didn’t. Haunted? Check. Abandoned? Not quite. People potentially in danger? Maybe? Depends on if the place is still open anymore…
“Wait, wait, wait…” Aiko snatched the phone out of Shiraki’s hand and pinched her fingers on the screen, zooming in on the hotel’s address. “Tahoe City?” She quickly pulled her own phone out of her handbag and started typing the address into her navigation app. “Shiraki, this is eight hours away.”
Shiraki casually pointed his finger at Aiko. “Actually, it’s only four hours if we go by car - Eight hours is the train commute.”
She tossed Shiraki’s phone back at him. “We don’t have a car, you nimrod!! Did you forget that we all flew here??”
“Hehe…” Shiraki shrugged as he chuckled to himself, covering his mouth with his hand as he held his chin up. “Let’s just say I have… connections. Getting an automobile will be child’s play.”
“Ugh, still!!” Aiko was so furious that I could practically see her blood boiling through the tips of her ears. “Are you really expecting us to drive four hours based on a hunch?”
“That’s the point of a gambit, Ms. Setsuko…” Shiraki reached a finger behind his ear, tapping a button to silence a text alert he was receiving on the small glass screen in front of his left eye. “Taking a calculated risk may be the only way to win the game.”
I placed my hand firmly on the chess board and lifted myself up. “Shiraki, we can’t just-”
Two resounding knocks came from the other side of the door.
Shiraki elegantly arose from his chair. “Pardon me for a moment, Mr. Sazama. I believe I must greet another guest at this time.”
Aiko and I were motionless as Shiraki slowly made his way over to the door, gazed through the peephole for a few seconds, and opened it. We briefly had to cover our eyes to shield ourselves from the light that poured in from the hallway, but the door closed again not long after, revealing the newest guest as they accepted Shiraki’s invitation inside.
“...Fine. I’m in.”
Ryu grabbed the chair to my left and practically sank into it, taking a long, deep breath as he held his head in his hands. “Don’t get it twisted - I’m only doing this because I’m worried about you guys. It’d be a dick move for me to stay behind if y’all are going that far out of town.”
Shiraki was not phased in the slightest, as if he already knew that Ryu would show up. “Splendid. Is everyone finally on the same page now?”
I returned to my seat and gently put my hand on Ryu’s right knee. “Dude, you don’t have to do this just for-”
“It’s all-or-nothing, isn’t it?” Ryu placed his hand on top of mine. “That includes me too, whether I like it or not.” He turned his head, unable to look me in the eyes. “I was listening to everything from outside. Shiraki gave me his card too, so I asked him if I could wait outside and think about it some more. As much as I hate to admit it, it just… didn’t feel right, not being a part of it.”
“...Thanks, Ryu. You didn’t have to do that for us.” I have to admit, I wasn’t exactly shaken to my core. Last time, when he met us in the auditorium, he second guessed himself then, too. Ryu ends up making a lot of choices that benefit others more than himself… but I guess it’s not my place to decide whether or not he should. “I know you’re afraid of us being in danger, but hell, man - With you there, I seriously doubt you’d even let danger know our names.”
He still struggled to find it in himself to lift his head up high. “...Yeah.”
Aiko trotted over from her chair, stopping between Ryu and I. “Oh, come on… Where’s the enthusiasm, boys?” She grabbed both of our hands off of Ryu’s knee and abruptly yanked them high up into the air without warning, immediately putting both of us on our feet. “Are we just gonna sit here and mope around, or are we gonna act like a team?”
While Aiko’s overly eager cheerleader persona was admittedly kind of corny, it was hard to deny that it boosted the energy in the room tenfold. Ryu and I, finally facing one another, both gave each other a quick nod with equally spirited grins, all thanks to Aiko’s infectious attitude.
Shiraki snickered to himself as he watched Aiko’s pep rally from the other side of the room. “Hahaha… Now this is what I was expecting to see.” He carefully picked up the glass that he had dropped on the carpet. “Seeing as we’re all in agreement, I say it’s time we set our plan into motion.” Shiraki tossed the glass - in addition to the empty champagne bottle - into a tub of dishes that was marked ‘For Ms. Erika Leston’. “We shall congregate tomorrow at dawn.”
If I had taken the offer for a drink earlier, this would’ve been the time for me to spit it out. “W-What? What do you mean, ‘tomorrow’? We all have class!”
Aiko broke formation, letting us return our arms to more normal positions. “Yeah, can’t this wait until the weekend? I have a paper that I need to finish for History of Western Fashion Post-World War I…”
“Shit, talk about a niche class,” Ryu mumbled to himself.
“No worries, everyone!” Shiraki took out his phone and began typing at lightning speed. “I’ll just write a letter to the Dean’s office informing them of your ‘sudden family emergencies’.”
I groaned, thinking of all of the various ways that this could backfire. “Do you really think they’re gonna believe that?”
“When the Dean sees the author of said letter, he most certainly will.” Shiraki seemingly had zero issue abusing his rich kid powers.
“Even with an excused absence, I can’t get an extension on this paper.” Aiko puffed her cheeks and angrily crossed her arms again. “Ugh… Guess I’ll have to finish it tonight then.”
“Preach to the choir,” Ryu retorted. “I had a project I was working on at the library all afternoon, and I really don’t want to do it in the car.”
Shiraki paced around the room, blowing out the excess candles until only the fireplace remained. “Fine. Since you all have prior obligations…” He turned a dial on his earpiece, causing the display on his eyeglass to change. “We will be meeting in front of the West Dorm at 8:00 A.M. sharp.”
“8:00 A.M.???” The three of us shouted in unison.
“Oh, relax…” Shiraki replied calmly while he untied his tie. “I originally had us scheduled for 6:30, but I’ll be generous and allow you the extra rest so you can finish your work.” As he turned to walk towards his wardrobe to remove his suit and tie, he stopped in his tracks and held up a finger. “Actually, scratch that - We’ll meet at 8:06, instead.”
I took out my phone to set an appropriate alarm. “Why the extra six minutes? Does it really matter?”
“Because you’re less likely to forget such a specific time, and thus are more likely to arrive ahead of schedule. Oh, and make sure you all pack for at least three days, just in case!”
I didn’t want to say it out loud, but… Shiraki, if you can read minds: I will not apologize for anything that sleep deprived Genjo says to you tomorrow morning.
Aiko wasted no time gathering her handbag and storming off to her dorm. “I’m not meeting you here - If you’re making me get up that early, you three better come pick me up in the morning.”
After the door shut on Aiko’s way out, Ryu followed suit. “I’ll be in the library if you need me. Genjo, do me a solid and pack my stuff up when you go back upstairs.” As he pulled the door open, he looked back at me over his shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll pay you.”
Shiraki and I were suddenly the only ones remaining. “Well… I guess I should be going, too.” I took a few steps towards the door. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“As will I.” Shiraki walked up beside me, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Genjo… Thank you. I truly mean that with all my heart.”
“Hey, I don’t need that much flattery.” I reached into my pocket for my room key, but was met with another - much larger - object. “Oh, before I forget…” I dropped the CD case on the chair on my way out. “Thanks for letting me borrow that.”
~
In the pitch black darkness, I could barely make out any detail on my ceiling, no matter how long I mindlessly stared at it. The extra sleeping pills I took hadn’t kicked in yet, so it wasn’t like I had much choice to do anything else. Ryu also hadn’t returned yet - It’s not unlike him to be out super late working on stuff for his sailing courses, or even working on circuits with Hiro, but it was very unlike him to be so adamant about getting work done before something like this. In fact, he never mentioned which class the project was for.
My mind began creating patterns on the ceiling where there were none, falling victim to my brain’s stewing blend of boredom and insomnia. I started to imagine that the solid ceiling was instead made up of individual panels, all square in shape and alternating in color between black and white. “I know this pattern,” I thought silently to myself. “Why can’t I get it out of my head?”
I spent the next half an hour playing a mental game of chess on the ceiling against myself, constantly having to rewind and restart from forgetting where each of the pieces were supposed to be. In the end, I won - Not a difficult feat when you’re the only contestant, but a victory was a victory.
“Taking a calculated risk may be the only way to win the game.”
Shiraki’s voice echoed and bounced off the walls. “Win the game?” I looked up to see a queen and a bishop surrounding my king, putting me in checkmate. “Ugh, stupid Scholar’s Mate…” I hated that move. It reminded me of Shiraki backing me into a corner.
Just like he’s been doing for the past 72 hours.
I jolted awake, clutching my chest as I felt my heart pounding. My breathing was fast and heavy, struggling to take in enough air as I gasped for enough oxygen. I grabbed my phone off my charger to look at the time - 4:49 A.M. Ryu was fast asleep in his bed, not even getting half-undressed before passing out on top of his sheets. Our suitcases were both packed and sitting in front of the door so we wouldn’t leave them behind in the morning.
I silently placed my phone back on the charger, uncapped the bottle containing my sleeping pills and took a few more before laying on my back again. As my medicine slowly but surely dragged my mind back down into the depths of sleep, I tried to clear my mind of all thoughts related to the trip so I could fall back into a trance peacefully…
…But a pair of thoughts still persisted.
“Is life really just a game? And if so…
Is Shiraki actually playing on my side?”