New Line von Xanderionas ================================================================================ Kapitel 5: Chapter 5 -------------------- Chapter 5:   The door to Yagami’s apartment rattled at she tried to push the key into the slot, Rin barely able to hold her upright while swaying herself.   “K-Kou, you need to get your head on straight...The key’s further right…”   “Ahh, I’ll get it soon enough!” Yagami’s voice could wake mountains. Aoba and the gang ended up inviting them out for drinks, resulting in a wonderful evening which they had promised not to overdo.   Despite their own warnings however, they went above and beyond and downed enough alcohol to sink a grown man. Hence, why Hajime and Jun had helped them into a taxi for the night.   In the recesses of her mind, Yagami secretly wondered if Aoba hadn’t simply wanted an excuse to go out and escape the office herself. Remembering how she had so feverishly fought to come up with a character, Yagami felt another strike of guilt. She pushed it aside however as she finally succeeded in opening the door and waltzed through with Rin. Their entry coincided with them tripping over a stray shirt and collapsing on the floor of the hallway, Rin giving a squeak as she landed first. As the scuffle of clothes and limbs finally calmed down, Yagami found herself on top of Rin, their faces inches apart from each other. Rin, upon realising their position, bloomed into a scarlet blush and began mumbling words without sense. Yagami, sensing the awkwardness of this situation, pushed herself off with a faint tinge on her cheeks, thankful that nothing more cliche had occurred. It was bad enough with her working on projects where cliches took the world by storm. She extended a hand in assistance.   “Are you alright, Rin?”   Rin began to utter half words before simply accepting the help and pulling herself up with red cheeks. She remained immobile for several seconds before she bolted for the door, mumbling something about having to go hang the laundry. Yagami watched her close the door behind herself with an audible bang, before sensing her own intoxication returning full force.   Unwilling to undergo combat with her toilet, she slowly marched towards the kitchen to drink some water. After having followed it up with a quick shower, she let herself fall onto her bed, thankful for the weekend finally having arrived. She usually spent a day in the office during the week-end working when she lacked anything to do during the day. This time however, she was determined to relax and enjoy herself. Of course, after she survived the doom that was next morning’s hangover.   She sighed as she contemplated the events of the week, from her self-imposed block to the bar and Anders. The latter brought back an important point she had almost forgotten about, something she had tried to check whether she had dreamt it all in the first place. A memory of a government sign indicating the establishment was to be demolished hovered in the back of her thoughts. Kicking herself off the bed, she rummaged in her beige skirt until she found the small white card. As she thought, it had his number on it as well. She was dumbfounded however when she saw the number rubbed out with pen, an arrow pointing at the back of the card where another number was written. She pondered why that was the case, when her brain kicked into action and she chuckled.   “Very sneaky of you.” she said out loud while pulling her phone out and dialing the number. She waited patiently as the beep repeated itself over and over, contemplating if he was already asleep. A quick glance at the clock told her it was just after midnight. As the call failed, she sighed and decided to try again tomorrow. Yet before she could put the phone down, a message appeared on the screen from Anders. Surprised, she pulled it open to read:   -         You’ve been drinking again, haven’t you?   Yagami stared at the lit screen, before typing a response.   -         What makes you think that?   -         You’d know better otherwise than to call me.   Yagami sat and pondered the message for a few seconds before almost physically contorting. Wishing to sink into the floor, she typed an apology:   -         I’m so sorry…   -         Don’t worry about it. You should see the look on the bosses when they yell at me to answer their damned calls. Cracks me up every time.   Relieved that she hadn’t offended him, Yagami answered:   -         You’re bit of a sadist, you know that?   -         I’ll take that as a compliment. But why are you texting me so late, and drunk to boot?   The fact that she nearly forgot her original purpose made her question her own mental stability for a moment.   -         Something weird happened with the bar.   -         The Masked Glass? What about it?   -         I went out with coworkers to drink and thought I’d visit the bar with them. But when we came past the alley, all I found was a dilapidated building with a demolition notice. Calling their number didn't bring anything either, its apparently not in the registry. I thought I’d imagined it all when I recalled your number. Why wasn’t the bar there?   -         Because you went there with a group.   -         Huh?   -         I’ve tried before to go there with someone but it also seemed deserted that time. Remember what Maria said?   -         The bartender?   -         Yep. Our dear ‘guidance counsellor’.   Yagami thought back to the mysterious old woman and the incessant twinkle in her eyes.   -         You mean that talk about spirits? You believe that?   -         Maria once told me that the bar is filled with the souls of guidance spirits that only seek humans who need advice for their futures. I have no idea if that’s true or not, but Maria never shows up with the bar if you try to go there with someone who wasn’t ‘chosen’.   -         That sounds like some sort of fairytale.   -         I agree. But it’s always been like that. If you want to go there again, try to do it alone. It’s always worked for me.   His phrasing raised a point for Yagami.   -         That reminds me. Maria said you’ve been at the bar for several years by now. How come that’s the case?   It took longer than usual for him to answer, before her phone finally displayed the message:   -         Sorry for being blunt, but I don’t want to talk about it.   That was understandable. She had after all inquired about someone she had only met for the first time yesterday. She had her own baggage with her bullying to deal with and wasn’t about to dump it on anybody she didn’t have to tell.   -         I understand. Sorry for being nosey.   -         Nothing to apologize for. Being curious about others is a good trait to have. It’s getting late though, do you really want to spend it with somebody like me?   -         What’s that supposed to mean?   -         I’m not the most enjoyable company.   That made no sense to Yagami, who now felt her intoxication push her to ask:   -         Why say that? You were good fun yesterday.   -         That was me trying to cheer you up. I’m terrible at small talk, so group chats, even between coworkers, are out of the question for me.   -         That sounds like you trying to be the silent one of the group.   -         You’re quite blunt, you know that?    Aware that she had messed up again, Yagami shrugged it off this time and continued:   -         I’m just curious. You helped me out without question but can’t try to communicate with your own coworkers? It feels like you deliberately don’t want to talk to anybody there.   -         That’s not entirely true. I don’t mind company, just communicating is troublesome.   -         Then, why help me?   Anders took time to answer her again, producing a relatively short answer for his absence:   -         Because we were both in the Masked Glass. I thought that meant we could get along with each other, given how things were the last few years.   Yagami simply sent a question mark, now genuinely intrigued. Yet it seemed Anders had issues typing, given how long it took for him to write:   -         Since I started going to the Masked Glass, there have been numerous people coming in and out. Some were businessmen with family troubles, while sometimes teenagers would come by. They all eventually found something or somebody that helped them get back on track after the first or second visit.   -         What? That’s it? So much for those all-powerful spirits guiding those in true need.   -         No. I think the ‘spirits’, if they exist, know exactly what they’re doing.   -         Huh?   Yagami uttered the word at the same time as she typed it.   -         I’ll tell you about it another time. I’m exhausted and promised to meet someone tomorrow. Have you looked at the clock in recent years?   A quick glance at the wall sufficed.   -         Right, forgot that normal people sleep at night.   -         You mean you don’t?   -         Not really. When I came to the bar, I had pulled several all-nighters already trying to draw something for the competition.   -         Now you caught ‘my’ interest. How did that go?   She was about to type the result, but then got a mischievous idea. She smirked as she typed:   -         I’ll tell you about it another time.   His answer was an outraged emoticon, causing her to giggle.   -         Fine then. I’m off to sleep. Good night, Yagami.   -         Good night, Anders.   Yagami sighed as she closed her phone and laid down on the bed, staring listlessly up at the ceiling. As her thoughts became convoluted with different topics, one stood out that caused her to blush furiously.   “I can’t believe it.” she muttered into the dimly lit room, “Did I just seriously text a guy I met yesterday in the middle of the night? And a guy that I…”   She decided to ignore what just transpired, throwing the covers over herself and trying to find refuge in her dreamland of characters. She refused to think any deeper into what just happened.     Hosted by Animexx e.V. (http://www.animexx.de)