[Shoko POV]

He… Ran?

My body was still trembling and weak. It was as if my strength had been completely sapped out of me. The cold hard ground of the basement began to seep through my paints and finally reestablish feeling in my legs as shivers coursed through my skin.

I slowly picked myself off, dusting the excess debris from my suit. There wasn’t much that left any mark. As my fingers grazed my lips I could only think of one thing.

How could you do that to me and then run away?!

Despite anticipating its arrival, the anger did not come. My senses were dulled and I felt completely numb. I didn’t know what to think, what to do, or what to say.

As if on pure instinct, I began walking out of the room. I headed up the stairs and then out the first floor exit and on my way to the train station. My apartment was only a few stops away from the office. I don’t even remember boarding the vehicle. Everything was a complete blur. I ran on autopilot until I reached the 3rd floor of my apartment complex.

The keys somehow found there way into the lock and I opened the door. I stepped inside, closing and locking the entrance behind me and headed into the bathroom to turn on the water inside the bathtub.

Memories of the recent events tried to seep their way in but they were not welcome. My body knew exactly what to do to ensure I kept my sanity. I became a zombie. Carrying out my normal functions for survival without causing myself any undo harm.

I carefully took off my clothes in the bedroom, organizing them in a neat pile atop my dresser and headed for the bath. Steam wafted over me as I stepped inside and shut the door behind me. The muscles in my face moved upwards. Was I smiling.

Of course, the bath was always a very welcomed end to my day. I carefully slid my toe in before my entire body was wrapped inside of its warm hug and tender embrace.

W-Warm hug…

My heart thumped. Cracks began to form along the walls of my conscious. Something was happening. Something terrible was coming.

Tender embrace…

It all came tumbling down as the memories of what transpired flooded before my very eyes. I was shouting at that damned dog giving him everything I had. He got me so fired up that I was actually about to risk my career and slap him across the face when suddenly he…

My face dipped into the water as I attempted to calm my cries of terror. The nerves in my body convulsed as if trying to wipe the memory of his touch altogether. Despite my best efforts I couldn’t get the prevailing fact out of my mind.

W-Why did he suddenly kiss me? I thought he hated me.

Everything was hot. I couldn’t understand why my body was reacting like this. I’ve had a boyfriend before. I’ve been kissed before.

But I don’t remember it feeling that good…

I came up for air and sighed. There was no avoiding this. I was going to have to face it head on and try to go over everything piece by piece.

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We were yelling at each other. And then I tried to slap him. And then he – he - !

More bubbles flooded my bathwater as I attempted to stifle another scream. My entire body felt flush. The heated water was getting colder by the second.

I took a deep breath and focused. I had to remember everything no matter how embarrassing or shacking it may be.

Concentrate… Concentrate…

The most crucial moment I had to examine was when I tried to slap him. Did I say or do something that invited him to kiss me. No, I was still very angry at that time and frustrated because he had stopped my attack and stared at me in silence with those stunning eyes.

Stunning eyes. Handsome face.

I gasped as the moment became crystal clear. My leg pushed upward leaning towards his body. When he released my hand I cradled his head. Does that mean…?

W-W-Wait a second… H-He didn’t k-k-kiss me… Did I k k-k-iss him?!

The entirety of my head was submerged in the water as I screamed once more. After coming up for air my eyes trembled as I looked at my hands above the water cursing them for acting on their own.

No – No – No!

I vehemently shook my head, shutting my eyes and trying to change the memory of what had actually transpired.

No, this had to be his fault. He must have gotten confused by something I did and it sent him the wrong signals. I can’t fault my body for reacting if I had accidentally invited him to do t-that.

After closing my eyes and taking a deep breath I slapped my cheeks with both hands and focused on everything that happened starting at the beginning. Everything didn’t start with an argument. No, there was that initial confrontation.

Going back to when I first entered the basement. I found the advertising stand I was looking for but it was stuck. When I pulled it out I started slipping backwards. My heels had no traction on the concrete floor and I thought I was going to fall but suddenly I hit something with my back and stopped. It was firm, yet soft. I was still a little off balance so I used my hand to stabilize, pushing off against the object.

Wait a second, why am I remember that part specifically?

Mizushima’s body had stopped by fall, there was no denying that. But when I pushed off of him to stand and regain my balance I remember touching something that felt like cloth that was much softer than his chest which I must have initially landed upon. If my army was bend and would be at my abdomen level when I pushed off, what part of the body would I have…

Before could finish asking that question, I screamed.

“KIYA!”

I sunk my head under the water to muffle my continued screams. After a few moments I popped back up gasping for breath as I seized a bar of soap near my hand shower and furiously scrubbed the palm of my hand.

I touched his -! I touched his –! I touched his -!

No matter how hard I washed, there was no wiping away the stains of what I had done.

That’s it. I’m going to get fired. I’ll even end up in jail. Sexual Harasser Shoko is what I’ll be known as.

Tears began to creep out of the corners of my eyes. I hated feeling like this. The most frustrating thing was that I couldn’t make sense of it all. Me! I’m used to analyzing and examining everything carefully. It was what I loved to do. Why couldn’t I make sense of this?

I leaned back against the tub and stared at the ceiling trying to come up with a reasonable conclusion for all of this when suddenly I just couldn’t help but whisper.

“Stupid dog… Handsome dog…”

A soft sigh passed through my lips. I thought the bath would help but it only gave me aggravation instead of relaxation.

After climbing out of the tub I grabbed a pair of towels and wrapped them around my body and my hair to dry off. I stepped out of the bathroom and glanced at the kitchen. Normally I’d try and prepare a meal for myself but I didn’t seem to have much of an appetitive.

Instead, I wandered into my bedroom and collapsed onto my bed. There was no use stressing about my fate. Whatever will happen will happen. The only thing I can do is keep my head up and perform my assigned duties to the best of my ability.

Who knows? Maybe that damned dog was so disgusted that he’ll want to forget all about this?

My mood instantly perked up. That made a lot of sense. Why would he just run off like that if he was satisfied with what had happened.

Wait a second…? If he ran off because he didn’t like it… Does that mean he thinks I’m disgusting?!

My hands rifled to my face as I clutched it tightly grunting painfully thought my teeth. Any way I look at this I come out as the loser. It was the most frustrating thing I’ve ever dealt with in my entire life. Anger started to take over.

I should just show up tomorrow and give him a piece of my mind…

How could I let him get away with this? Maybe confronting him will give me the proper clarity I need to weigh out what happened and move past it. It sounded like a great idea in my mind but the execution had one critical flaw.

No! How can I face him after knowing what I did?!

“KIYAA!”

I flopped on the bed and sulked realizing I don’t have the willpower to go through with it. It used to be so easy to stand up to him. Just picturing that stupid animal drove my senses mad. And my heart still wouldn’t stop beating like crazy. Maybe I’m getting sick. Perhaps I should go see a doctor.

A heavy sigh didn’t slow it down but it made me feel a little better. Either way, I knew what the problem was. I just had to avoid Mizushima.

That could work…!

We mostly communicated through emails anyways. And anything important that needs an immediate answer I could send Okamoto-san to retrieve for me.

For the first time in what felt like forever, I actually smiled.

Yesssss! This was perfect!

I got up from the bed with renewed energy and retrieved my nightwear clothing. After dropping both towels, I slipped into the soft white garment and panties with a renewed sense of relief. I was so excited I fell onto the bed and tucked myself right into sleep.

I can do this! Just take it one day at a time starting tomorrow.

Suddenly, it hit me. Tomorrow was Tuesday. We had our weekly meeting with the sales team scheduled for tomorrow at 10 a.m. I couldn’t cancel or avoid it now. It would raise too many suspicious. Especially after the blowoff we had this morning.

I aimlessly stared into the darkness hoping an answer would come to me. My mind raced with hundreds of thousands of potential scenarios; none of them were good.

I didn’t get a wink of sleep.