章 21: Can I sleep in your kitchen?
Sei puts down the glass of cold water on the table. "Drink."
She picks up the glass with shaky hands. Suddenly, she jumps in her seat. The slips through her hands and shatters on the floor. She turns her head, frantically moving her gaze around. He follows her gaze. In his apartment, there's no one other than her and him. What is she afraid of?
She squeezes her eyes and trembles. His heart is perplexed to see her like this. He doesn't know how to contact her family either. He sits beside her and puts his hand on her shoulder. "You are safe. I am here. I will protect you from any harm."
She lifts her head and looks at him with her eyes full of fear. "Why are they avoiding you?"
"They?" Sei looks to the right and the left. He can't see anyone else here. "Who are they?"
"No one." She licks her lips. "Do you have sleeping pills? I need to sleep this off."
She's not thinking straight at this moment. The apartment is crowded with random ghosts. There's not a single space except for the small area where they are sitting. They seem to avoid touching Minami Sei. She glances at him. Why are they avoiding him? She will think about the reason later. Right now, she must live through this. If these ghosts start coming closer, she won't be able to bear it. There are too many for god's sake.
Sei furrows his brows. Does she have mental issues? He shouldn't be surprised at this moment. She's always odd. "I don't have sleeping pills. I will make you some hot chocolate if you want."
"I don't want hot chocolate. Give me a beer bottle if you have it." Wakana grabs his arm. "Give me the strongest one."
Acting weird, coming to his house, and demanding beer like she owns the place, this girl keeps surprising him. He sighs and stands up. As he walks toward the refrigerator, he feels a strong gaze on his back. He turns around and sees her standing too close to him. She's clutching on to the end of his shirt.
Did this woman forget that he's a man?
"Don't mind this." Wakana clutches on the back of his shirt harder. "If you let me do this tonight, I will honestly tell you everything tomorrow morning. Just help me survive the night."
He frowns. She is looking at him with eagerness. Even if she didn't promise him that, he would have given in to her demand because of the way she's looking at him. "Don't leave anything out."
"Ah... yes." Wakana steps closer to him. "Do you have salt in your house?"
He grunts before asking. "Why do you need salt?"
"Give me all the salt. I will buy you double tomorrow." She is nearly begging.
"Do you know how strange you sound right now?" Wakana doesn't answer him. He doesn't probe further. He opens the refrigerator. There's no beer. He must have finished it all last night. "Wakana, can you hold your liquor? I have rice wine."
The expensive bottle of rice wine that his colleagues from the previous workplace gifted him before he was transferred. They know how much he loves liquor.
"It's fine," Wakana replies with a shaky voice. A ghost is leaning toward her face. It seems to be saying something. She can't hear a word. Her abilities have always been unpredictable. She inches closer to Sei, gluing her body to his.
Feeling her warm body trembling against his body, the bottle nearly slips from his hands. He has this urge to push her away, but he can sense her desperation. He lets out an exasperated sigh. What an odd woman! She needs help. Maybe the rumor of her being slightly cracked in her head is true. He's sure that she's not right for her current job. Then, is he any better? His nightmares are driving him closer to insanity every day.
The only thing that anchors him to sanity is his job.
He turns around and puts his hand on the small of her back to push her lightly away. He's a man and she is dangerously close. The woman is turning into the second reason for his insanity with each passing moment.
She wraps her hand around his free arm. "Where's the salt?"
His throat turns dry. He can feel the softness on his arm. "You! Let go of it now."
"Salt." She refuses to let go. Tears roll out of her eyes. "If you don't give me the salt, I will die."
"..."
This woman is going to be the death of him.
He puts down the bottle on the kitchen table first for safety reasons. He has a feeling that he might end up smashing it on his head to cool himself down if she continues to press her breasts against his arm. He points the jar of salt. "That's salt."
Wakana doesn't let go of his arm. She coils her fingers around his wrist and tries to grab the mouth of the jar with one hand. Suddenly, a ghost appears before her. She screams and the jar falls on the ground. The salt spreads on the floor. Some of it sprinkles on her and Minami Sei. The ghosts disappear. She lets out a breath of relief. She moves away from Sei. She's about to sit on the floor when he grasps onto her hand and pulls her to him. "You keep breaking stuff in my house."
This idiot can't see that there are sharp pieces of glass on the floor.
"Oh." She looks down. "I am sorry. I will pay for the damage. Thank you for tonight. I will ask for one more favor since we are partners. Can I sleep in your kitchen?"
"..."
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