Seven

"Kirishima-chan." Matsumoto-san came up to me as I was helping out in the kitchen.

"Yes?" I asked.

Your loyal customer is here."

"Loyal customer?"

"The past couple of times that he came, it wasn't time for your shift yet. It looks like he finally got the timing right. Come on out and greet him, won't you? He's looking for you."

He's... customer... "Shibata-kun?"

"Aw. You even know his name. How cute!" He teased.

"I-I just... He introduced himself." I said, a little flustered. Shibata-kun was here and looking for me and I did not want to meet him considering the conversation that Terasaki-san and I had had the other night. However, if you're a staff at a café that sells its popularity, meeting a customer who wanted to see you was nothing more than work, right? I told myself so at least. And I couldn't quite deny my desire to talk to him either.

What was I supposed to do?

"Go on. Don't keep the gentleman waiting." Matsumoto-san placed his hands on my shoulders and steered me out of the kitchen and towards the shop floor. My eyes met Shibata-kun's almost immediately. I cursed my fate under my breath.

Terasaki-san, I do not know what the right way forward is anymore.

"Good evening, Sh- uh, Miyazono-san." I bowed on approaching him.

"Good evening." He smiled.

Oh, God. Why are you doing this to me, Shibata-kun?! "What would you like to have today?"

"The usual." He smiled.

"One blueberry cheesecake." I nodded and was about to turn and make a hasty retreat when he spoke again.

"How did you know?"

"Huh?"

"You're new here. I've met you once. It wasn't even you who took my order and if I remember correctly, I had not mentioned my usual order to you." The smile was still on his face but, strangely enough, he appeared to be a little... lonely.

Oh. Crap. "N-No. Uh, the other part-timer who took your order the previous time told me. You're a-a regular here so it's only natural that we'd want to know our regulars' preferences, right?"

"Hm..." He nodded, seemingly convinced about that. However, he spoke up again before I could take my leave. "Let me ask you something. This has been bothering me. I couldn't quite stop thinking about you from the moment I saw you. I-I'm not flirting. It's just the fact." He paused and cleared his throat. He was clearly embarrassed. "Anyway, I just... felt like there was a lot more I knew about than was revealed in our first meeting. Like, I feel like you're the kind of person who likes to put her hair down but you had no choice but to tie it up in a ponytail for work." He looked at me. "Is that true?"

I was at a loss for words. All I could do was stand there and stare. He seemed to have understood what that meant too.

"How do I know that?"

"Just... a lucky guess?" Shibata-kun, leave it, please.

"Oh? You think so?"

"Yeah. Maybe you're just really good at reading people?" I needed to leave. I needed to end this. Shibata-kun wasn't the kind of guy who'd joke about something like this and he wouldn't just presume things about people in such a manner. That meant that he was serious.

"I feel like I know you though." He said slowly.

"You're probably confusing me for someone else." Shibata-kun, just stop!

"Am I now?" He frowned but I could tell that he wasn't even considering that possibility.

"I ha-have work so... I'll bring you your order." I had to leave.

"Kirishima-chan." He called even before I could get away. I halted and looked back at him.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry if I... creeped you out somehow but... We're at least friends now, aren't we?" He looked genuinely sorry too.

There was nothing I could do in the face of that sincerity but 'friends'? I remembered how enthusiastically I had made plans for a perfect date. It should have been a beautiful day for just him and I.

"I suppose so." I responded.

"Good." He nodded and I left him to go back to the counter. I served him his usual order and then went off to find Terasaki-san. My neck hurt. I felt on edge. I felt absolutely helpless.

"Terasaki-san." I called on reaching him. He was helping the manager till then. He excused himself and came over.

"I can't stay away." I said as soon as he had come close enough. "Shibata-kun's trying hard. He's convinced that he knows me somehow. Help me."

"What?" He frowned. I couldn't blame him. I'd just exploded on him in a single breath. So, I explained what happened in detail.

"It's not possible for him to remember."

"He does feel something though. What do I do?" I knew that it was cruel of me to just push it all onto him but I was at a complete loss. I couldn't go on lying to myself and Shibata-kun.

"Calm down first." He said.

"I can't exactly... do that." I said wryly. "Shibata-kun..."

He sighed. "If you can't stay away then... be careful."

Terasaki-san was kind. Even though it meant pushing himself beyond the limit, he chose the option that meant lesser suffering for me. It was cruel in its own right.

"Kirishima-chan, Terasaki-san, we need hands out front." Matsumoto-san found us and relayed the message.

"We'll be right there." I answered and looked at Terasaki-san. "It's not really okay, is it?"

"Don't worry about all that." He said and pat my head. "Let's go work for now. They need us."

"Okay." I nodded and we were both soon absorbed in work.

A single building- a small cottage- stood alone amidst the trees. The wind blew my shoulder-length black hair about my face in tangles. It was a beautiful scene but it was eerie at the same time. It gave me chills.

Persuaded by something I couldn't see, I moved closer to the cottage. I could hear a voice but I couldn't tell where it was coming from or what it was saying. I could recognise it though.

It was Shibata-kun.

In the hope of finding him, I opened the cottage door. I was met by a man standing right in the doorway. He had no face and yet I could see the ghost of a smile on his stretched skin. He was looking down at me without eyes. I felt my throat go dry.

That was definitely not Shibata-kun.

I turned to walk away but halted on realising that I was no more in the forest. The land was barren. A body lay on the parched soil.

My legs moved on their own. "Terasaki-san!"

The man was unmoving even when I pulled him into my arms. He wasn't breathing.

No. This couldn't be happening... "No. No. No. No. Y-You're okay. Open your eyes, please!"

I felt movement behind me and turned. Searching frantically with my eyes, I found no one nearby. On high alert, I continued to scan my surroundings.

"Akane." A soft voice came from within my arms. I looked down in shock. I wasn't holding Terasaki-san anymore. I was holding Shibata-kun and blood was pooling underneath him. He was barely breathing and he had a terribly pained smile on his face. "Akane."

"Shibata-kun?" He was dying. He was clearly dying.

Someone, help!

The light left his eyes. His body went limp in my arms.

"Shibata...?"

He... died?

Even before my mind could catch up to what was happening, a pair of legs came into view right before me. I looked up to see the faceless man from earlier, seemingly looking down at me. Slowly, I felt a crushing pressure closing in around my neck. Nothing was there but I was still being choked. I clawed at air, hoping to get whatever was clamping down on my neck away from me.

Shibata-kun's body had disappeared too.

From my peripheral vision, darkness closed in on me from all around. As it grew closer and warped around me, innumerous voices flooded my mind. I felt oppressed by emotions.

I couldn't breathe.

"Akane!" A voice cut through all the darkness. My hands were pried off my neck. Air poured into my lungs as a searing pain shot through my entire body. The choking sensation was gone but the area around my neck was still burning. I was heaving up terrible coughs too. When my eyes adjusted to the faint light in the room, Terasaki-san's frantic face filled my vision. "Akane, are you okay?'

"Tera...saki-san?" My voice was hoarse and I was panting heavily for breath. When I regained my senses, I panicked. "What... happe-"

I sat up on the couch I was sleeping on, then doubled over and pressed my palm to the side of my neck.

It hurt!

"Akane!" Terasaki-san pulled my hand away and supported my body. "Listen to me! You need to calm down."

Calm down? Before I knew it, tears were overflowing from my eyes.

Shibata-kun...

"She's crying." Chiyo who was standing beside Terasaki-san said in a small voice. "Kou-chan..."

"Come here." Terasaki-san moved in to sit on the couch and wrapped his arms around me as I began crying full on, unable to comprehend what had happened.

Terasaki-san stroked my back slowly and spoke in a low voice that reverberated in my ear. "It's okay. It was just a bad dream."

Shibata-kun... and even Terasaki-san... A bad dream?

"I-It wasn't." I managed to say. I didn't have any explanation but I knew that it wasn't just a bad dream.

He didn't say anything to that. That told me that he knew that too. "You need to calm down first. It won't stop hurting otherwise."

I nodded and regulated my breathing. Terasaki-san's stroking my back helped too. Soon enough, the pain had substantially subsided. Slowly, I sat up properly and drank the glass of water that Chiyo had brought for me. Then I looked at Terasaki-san. "What... happened?"

"You were choking yourself." He replied.

Choking myself? I... was choking myself in my sleep? Hah... I tried to kill myself in my sleep.

"Akane, what did you see?" He asked next, catching me by my shoulders to steady me.

What had I seen? "A... man without... a face and..." I slowly wrapped my arms around his torso and buried my face in his shoulder. I was scared. "Terasaki-san and Shibata-kun... died."

It took him a moment to respond to the embrace. "It's okay. That part was just to scare you. Their main objective was to eliminate you."

"Oh, God..." I breathed. It was scary enough that they wanted me dead but to go as far as to show me the deaths of Terasaki-san and Shibata-kun was even scarier. Was that really just to scare me? Or was it a warning? "H-How did I-"

"Your subconscious spirit was manipulated. It is not easy to do that but it is not impossible either. That required a lot of power. It's safe to assume that they won't be trying it again anytime soon."

"Terasaki-san..." Anytime 'soon'?

"I'm here." He nodded.

"I-I'm here too." Chiyo said and climbed onto the couch to hug me.

"Chiyo... Thank you." I gave in. We stayed that way for a few minutes. After I had calmed down, Terasaki-san let go. I was never bad at handling nightmares but knowing that that was real was hard for me to digest. I was beyond scared.

Death... Terasaki-san and Chiyo were all I had now and with Shibata-kun trying to get close again...

I didn't want to lose any more people.

"Kou-chan." Chiyo called slowly. "I'll sleep on the couch."

"What?" He asked her.

"When I have a bad dream, I feel better when I sleep with Kou-chan. Akane-chan will feel better too, right?"

Sleep with... uh. "N-No. It's okay, Chiyo." I said instantly. "I'm a grown up. I'll be fine. I don't need to sleep with- um. I'll be fine on the couch."

"You sure?" Terasaki-san asked.

I stared at him in disbelief. It did not look like he was joking.

He sighed. "Listen. I did say that they could not try this again anytime soon but it is possible for others to try it if they have the power. It will be easier for us all if I could react immediately."

React immediately? I might try to kill myself again? The fear returned.

"I cannot completely guard you against this. I can't stop it before it happens but I can stop it while it does."

So, he wanted me to stay close. I looked down. What was I supposed to do?

"Come." He got up and held out a hand to me. When I took his hand, he addressed Chiyo. "Move the couch closer to the bed."

"Okay." She said and as soon as I had gotten up, she positioned herself behind the couch and pushed her hands out towards it. Without her actually touching it, the couch moved to a spot next to the bed. She climbed onto it immediately and smiled at us proudly. Terasaki-san told me to get into bed and went over to the couch. He lifted Chiyo off it and sat her down on the bed. "You both can sleep on the bed."

The act warmed my heart. He knew that I was uncomfortable with the earlier proposed arrangement. This was him being considerate.

"Thank you." I said softly and smiled. He looked at me, said nothing and lay down on the couch. He'd put Chiyo on the other side such that I was in the middle. Chiyo moved in closer and lay down next to me. That somehow added to my sense of security.