27 When the mind is numb

"Who wants to talk to this sour lemon right after waking up?"

Wakana tosses the phone back in the bed. She climbs off the bed. Since she already missed work today, she won't bother about feeling bad. She will go tomorrow and tell Nishimura Sama that she lost consciousness at her home.

Screw it! She will visit the bank tomorrow and ask for a loan. Then, she will open her coffee shop. She needs to learn how to make coffees though. She will call a top shaman to exorcise the ghost from the vicinity.

She realizes that she can't sense ghosts or other supernatural creatures. Did they run away from her? No, they never run away from her. Her abilities must be reduced temporarily again. Phew!

Her stomach grumbles. Sighing, she walks to the kitchen. She has to cook a meal. She's already exhausted. Should she order a meal? That will also take time. She will just make an omelet and some rice. She opens the refrigerator. There are three lunch boxes. Who left them? She opens the first one.

"Miso soup?" She drools over it. "Did Sayuri come? She must have brought it for me. Dear Miso Soup, it's time for you to enter my body. Let me warm you up first."

She places the container in the microwave to heat it up. She runs back to the refrigerator to check what else Sayuri left for her.

"Is this curry rice?" Her eyes widen with a pleasant surprise. "My little sister is an angel. I am going to cry at this rate. What did she get me in the third one?"

"Honey flavored Pastries!" She jumps in delight. "Is it my birthday today? Did my sister finally realize how much she loves me? She got my favorite food for me. I am truly blessed. I am going to eat you all. You must enter my belly today. My sister's hard work cannot go wasted. I will savor every bite."

Wakana heats up the curry rice a little before bringing the dishes to the table one by one. She presses her palms together. "Thank you, Lord, for giving me such a wonderful sister. In my next life, give me the same younger sister."

The phone stops ringing, but she can't care less. She will eat first and deal with Sour Lemon later. She takes the spoonful of soup. "The taste is..."

Heavenly!

She will buy something good for Sayuri tomorrow.

She finishes the miso soup and moves to the curry rice. Just then, the doorbell rings at the same time. She looks at the clock. It's quarter past eight. Who could it be? She goes to the door and looks through the keyhole. Minami Sei's sour face appears in her vision.

"Why is this guy here?" She mumbles to herself as she opens the door right away.

Sei scans her from the top of her head to her toes. She's intact. She's wearing the same clothes. He notices that the bandages are gone. She's also holding a spoon in her right hand.

When he came out of the shower, she was gone. He arrived at the workplace and waited for her. She didn't appear after two hours. He suspected something happened to her. He tried calling her, but the phone was turned off. He was worried. He didn't know where she could go. He called her all day.

He's been looking for her everywhere like a crazy person. She's been at her apartment all this time. He's relieved and angry at the same time.

"Why did you keep your phone off all day?" He asks her with a cool voice, hiding the anger in his tone.

"I don't know when I turned it off. I noticed it after I woke up." She frowns at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I asked Miyazawa to trace your phone's signal because you wouldn't pick up the call like a normal person." He steps inside the apartment. "Why didn't you come to work today? Nishimura Sama was waiting for you."

"Waiting for me?" She closes the door behind her. "Did you say something to him?"

Sei looks at the meal set up on the table -- an empty bowl, curry rice, and honey-flavored pastries with a bottle of beer. She gobbled the entire bottle of rice wine yesterday and she still has the courage to drink beer today. He squints at her.

"What?" She raises her brow sharply.

"I haven't said anything to him." He takes the spoon from her hand and eats the curry rice. "It's delicious. Did you make it?"

"No, my sister made it for me." Her eyes become bigger when he picks up the plate and start eating. "Uninvited guest, why are you eating my dinner?"

"No meat?" He makes a face.

"Give my food back." She glares at him. "And, get out of here. This is a woman's apartment."

Sei steps back, walking around the table, away from her. "I remember that someone didn't hesitate to stay at a man's apartment last night. She even made quite a mess and left without a word this morning. She was rude enough to hide at her apartment all day. She wouldn't pick up the call and she would make people worry about her unnecessarily."

He's gobbling up her curry rice. She hasn't tasted it once. Wakana scowls at him. She can't say anything to her. She takes the pastry before it's taken away from her and takes a huge chunk of bite.

Sei smiles when he sees her eating it. He puts down the plate and walks back to her. Standing only half-arm length away, he leans down and asks her, "Why did you not come to work? Were you sick?"

"I fell asleep after coming back home." She steps away from him, finding it too nerving to stand close to him. "I woke up a while ago."

It must be the effect of rice wine. Sei glances at the beer bottle. "Why do you drink so much?"

"It helps me sleep," She replies without much thought. "When the mind is numb, the heart can't feel either."

What does she not want to feel? She told him a ridiculous story in the morning that he still can't bring himself to believe. His world is quite logical. There's no place for anything that doesn't fit in reasons. In the past, he even considered feelings to be unreasonable.

Here, he is standing in front of a girl who has been stirring his heart in unreasonable ways for a long time, making him feel things that he doesn't want to feel for her. It's been seven years since they parted and yet, there is still no woman who could attract his gaze the way she does.

Her world is full of illogical things that do not fit in reality.

Her rosy lips are covered with crumbs of honey-flavored pastry. He wants to taste it. He rubs his thumb over her warm lips. She widens her eyes, shocked. He licks his thumb. It's sweet.

"If you do these things like this, I will misunderstand your intentions."

Though her tone is harsh, her traitor cheeks blush hard.

Sei smiles at her and says "I don't mind if you misunderstand my intentions."

She curls her toes. What does that suppose to mean? Her heart is going crazy. Is he teasing her?

He picks up the second piece of honey-flavored pastries. "Nakashima Wakana, I don't believe in ghosts or demons. However, I will give you a chance to prove yourself."