Author's Preface
BEEP.
A fair female left hand adorned with a sleek black bracelet pressed the power button on the coffee machine.
Her right hand slid a ceramic mug beneath the dispenser.
CLACK.
DRIP...........
BEEP.
Her left hand turned off the machine as the spout stopped. She lifted the mug, now filled with rich chocolate coffee, as a gentle warmth radiated against her palms.
STEP... STEP...
Holding the coffee mug in her right hand, Hanabi turned her back to the counter and walked toward the black leather office chair positioned behind her desk just five steps away.
She pulled the chair back with her left hand, sat down smoothly, and placed her mug beside the insulated lunch cooler on the desk.
"Haa..." Hanabi let out a long sigh, sinking into the seat to relax.
"I'm starving..." she muttered, opening the top lid of her cooler.
"I've been working non-stop from 8 in the morning until past 11:00 AM... The customers better give me a break during the afternoon rush," she said, bracing herself for the second wave of clients expected later in the day.
As she lifted the lid with her left hand and set it on the table, a cloud of piping-hot, aromatic steam rose into the air. Hanabi closed her eyes with a satisfied smile, taking in the delicious scent of the food.
"Hnnmm..."
Saliva pooled in her mouth, and she swallowed eagerly.
"Time to dig in," she declared, picking up her chopsticks and diving straight into the hot bowl of ramen.
While eating, she reached out with her right hand and grabbed her phone, tapping the side button to wake the screen. The display immediately flashed a notification for missed calls. She tapped the phone icon to pull up her call log.
"Hmm?" Hanabi hummed through a mouth full of noodles.
"...213 Missed Calls?!" she gasped, her eyes widening in shock.
"—Gran Sarume called me...!"
Panicking, she immediately tapped on Gran Sarume's name—highlighted in bright red—to dial her back.
RING.....
Something must be wrong! Hanabi thought, her heart hammering against her ribs.
RING..... RING.....
RING..!
"Hello— Hanabi!" Gran Sarume's sharp, demanding voice blasted through the speaker.
"Hello— Aunt, you called... I saw all your missed calls! Is—" Hanabi started frantically, but was cut off before she could finish her sentence.
"Yeah, I called you a million times—but you wouldn't pick up your damn phone! Were you trying to ignore me at a time like this?!" Gran Sarume barked, clearly pissed off.
"Calm down, Gran-Aunt- I was slammed with work! I barely even got the chance to eat breakfast—" Hanabi explained.
She leaned back in her office chair, holding the phone securely against her left ear.
"So why were you calling? Did you find anything out yet?" Hanabi asked.
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Gran Sarume yelled back.
Hanabi winced, pulling the phone away from her ear as she closed her left eye and gritted her teeth against the volume.
"I called for my monthly allowance!" Gran Sarume snapped.
"What—? That's why you were calling me...?" Hanabi asked, utterly flabbergasted.
"Yes, child—it's the end of the month! What else did you expect?!"
"Seriously?! You actually had me panicking! You called me 213 times just for that...? I thought you found a clue or something about my... curse!" Hanabi groaned.
"About that... I'm actually starting to gather more clues and details. I'll need you to spare some time to come visit me. Any day or time of your choice will do," Gran Sarume said, her tone shifting slightly.
"And your bracelet needs a maintenance ritual too... Things will get crazily out of hand if it isn't taken care of soon..."
"Yeah, I know... but..." Hanabi paused, leaning back. "Even though I'm completely exhausted from work right now, I actually feel more relaxed. Two weeks have gone by and nothing bad has happened..."
"Hmmm..." Gran Sarume hummed thoughtfully over the line.
"Oh— uh... do you remember when I told you about how I got kidnapped and met that guy named P two months ago...?" Hanabi asked softly.
"P...? What about him...?" Gran Sarume asked, her voice dropping into a low, deadly serious register.
"—Uhh, what do you mean by that? I thought you said he was just an illusion and that I was imagining things?"
".....Oh! Uhmm... I—I meant to say something else!" Gran Sarume stammered, suddenly dropping her cold tone as panic took over her voice. "My mind went totally blank while you were talking! He was definitely an illusion! He doesn't exist!"
"O...kay..." Hanabi said slowly, a bit bewildered by the sudden outburst. "But about that P guy... I actually met him again about two weeks ago..."
"You... met him...?" Gran Sarume asked, her tone eerily calm.
"Yeah! You can ask Yuki, Mio, and the rest of my friends... he was real! You see, Aunt Sarume... I wasn't hallucinating. He really is real," Hanabi said, a warm smile spreading across her face.
A thick, uncomfortable silence filled the line.
"Gran Sarume...?" Hanabi called out.
"........"
"Gran Sarum—"
"......Oh, is that so...?" Gran Sarume interrupted smoothly, her voice completely detached. "Then don't forget to send my allowance and my medical fees as well..."
"...O-okay, I will..." Hanabi replied softly.
BEEP.
The line went dead before Hanabi could even reach down to tap the red end-call button.
Hanabi stared at her phone screen for a long moment, blinking in confusion.
"...That's odd..." she muttered to herself.
Shaking her head, she set her phone aside, picked her lunch cooler back up with her right hand, grabbed her chopsticks, and began scarfing down the rest of her noodles.
It's been two weeks since I last saw P at the amusement park... But I just know I'm probably going to run into him again someday, Hanabi thought to herself.
He's just... so much to handle! I wonder what he's even doing right now...?
BEEP.
Hanabi leaned over to check her phone as a fresh notification lit up the display on her desk:
> YUKI: Let's meet at the casino tonight.
Meanwhile, across town...
In the bright morning light, a lone tall figure wearing a dark black hoodie sat casually on the edge of a high-rise duplex building, dangling his legs over the drop.
"Hphmm..." P let out a bored sigh, resting his left cheek against his palm.
"...Look at them all, living their little lives," P mused, gazing down at the bustling morning crowd navigating the streets below.
"—They've all got interests and needs that don't apply to me at all right now... Man, I never knew life could be this damn boring."
He stared blankly into the sky.
"Maybe if a dinosaur randomly appeared out of nowhere and started burning the city down... or if there was an apocalypse or a global pandemic or something... That'd be bad, sure, but... at least I'd have something to do," P complained to himself.
"At least I was able to pick up a few part-time gigs around town this past week... Even if it wasn't easy," he muttered.
A quick scene flashed through P's mind from a few days prior:
FLASHBACK
"Good day, Ma'am! I'm actually looking for a job to earn a living... I can do anything," P said with absolute diligence, standing on a doorstep in front of a mature, stylish Asian woman.
"-...Anything?" she asked, looking him up and down in gentle surprise.
"Yes, anything, Ma'am. Just give me a job and some cash, and I will get it done for you. Guaranteed," P said with total deadpan conviction.
"Oh my... Are you perhaps good at massages?" the Asian woman asked, a subtle smile touching her lips.
"Yeah, sure," P replied instantly.
PRESENT DAY:
P snapped back to reality, letting out a breath.
"At least my first job wasn't too bad—she was just a single mom... But now that my back wound is fully healed, it's time to get moving," P declared, pushing himself up off the ledge.
Without hesitation, he stepped off the edge of the duplex, dropping straight toward the pavement below.
TMP!
P stuck the landing cleanly on his feet.
A group of guys hanging out near the side of the building froze, staring at him with wide, shocked eyes.
"Woah, dude...!" one guy gasped.
"How the hell did you just do that?!" another blurted out in disbelief.
P didn't even turn to look at them—his mind was miles away.
It's been two weeks and that guy hasn't even called me back yet... I need intel, P thought, his jaw clenching.
Tsk... and Habidi, that bastard didn't even bother giving me the name of the place or a hint about which area the massage spa was located in...
STEP... STEP...
Now I'm stuck just wandering around town trying to find it myself. Once I get my back fixed... I'll—
P's thoughts came to a dead stop.
STEP.
"Shit— I forgot about the lady," P muttered, scratching the back of his head with his left hand.
"A Normal Life..." P recalled her saying.
She's always getting dragged into trouble... and it isn't right. At least when I... Nah, shit was way worse than hers, P admitted to himself.
I'll pay her a visit one of these days... But for now, let's hit the casino.
Nearby on the crowded street...
RING! RING!
BEEP.
"...Yes, I found him," a tall white man with long, flowing blonde hair and icy blue eyes said quietly into a phone.
He walked smoothly through the flow of pedestrians, his sharp gaze locked directly onto P's back from a distance.
"...I don't intend on going easy on him," the blonde man murmured, a cold, dead stare fixed on his target. "They say he fights like a wild animal, right? Then... I guess I'll just have to tame him." said the Blonde man
"MON-KEY..."
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