Time dragged when you were waiting for someone who usually arrived first.
Megumi sat on the edge of the stone planter in front of the north wing of the main building. The shade of the trees cast dappled light across her lap. Her lunchbox remained unopened in its thermal bag, the tea bottle resting beside it. Her uniform was as neat as ever. Her expression… a little less rigid than usual.
She watched the courtyard's movement with her head slightly tilted. Students passed by, alone or in groups. Some carried cafeteria trays, others had snacks stuffed in their pockets. Laughter drifted from all directions, softened by the gentle breeze crossing the courtyard.
But Yuta wasn't there.
'He's late. Again.'
Megumi didn't move. Didn't check her phone. She waited. Because that's how it was. Yuta might be different now—taller, stronger, more noticed—but he was still him. Still the boy who looked at her in a way no one else did.
The strap of her backpack was slipping off her shoulder. She adjusted it unhurriedly, showing no signs of impatience. But the anticipation was there, evident in the way her eyes kept searching for a specific silhouette among the crowd.
Then she heard footsteps approaching from the side.
But they weren't his.
A girl with dark brown hair, straight bangs, and large eyes approached slowly, arms wrapped around herself. She looked visibly uncomfortable. Her clothes were in order, but her demeanor was tense—as if she were being followed, though the courtyard was full.
Megumi looked up with discreet curiosity.
The girl stopped nearby. Hesitated. Then spoke.
"Do you… have a minute?"
Megumi frowned slightly. She didn't know this girl. But there was something urgent in her voice.
"I do."
The response was simple, without hesitation, but laced with attention.
The girl seemed relieved and more tense at the same time. Her large eyes didn't meet Megumi's directly—they darted to the ground, to the side, behind her. As if searching for something… or someone.
She took a deep breath.
"Sorry… for stopping you like this, out of nowhere."
Megumi didn't respond immediately. The girl's tone sounded sincere but strange. And the way she glanced over her shoulder, as if fleeing from a presence that wasn't there, didn't go unnoticed.
"You okay?"
The girl hesitated. Her fingers gripped the hem of her shirt.
"I don't know."
The silence between them lasted the span of three passing students' footsteps.
"I just… felt like it was safer here."
Megumi kept her gaze steady on her.
"Why?"
The girl finally lifted her face fully.
Her eyes, now visible, were wet at the edges. Not tears. Nerves. Too much pent-up tension.
"Because… since I stopped near you, I stopped seeing… things."
The words came out in a near-inaudible whisper.
Megumi didn't understand immediately. But that tone—the specific tone of someone not making it up, just struggling to put into words something that shouldn't be said aloud—stuck with her like a warning.
"Things?"
The girl swallowed hard, looking away again.
"It's… nothing, forget it. That was stupid. Sorry."
She turned to leave.
"Wait."
Megumi didn't stand. But her voice was firm enough to make the girl stop.
"Are you talking about ghosts?"
The girl turned just her face. Her eyes widened for a second.
"You believe in that?"
Megumi's hand went to her jacket pocket. She touched the cord inside but didn't pull it out. She didn't see anything. Never had. But she trusted.
"I don't see anything. But I know what I carry… protects me."
The girl stood completely still. Only her chest rose and fell too quickly for someone standing motionless.
"That's it. That's exactly what I felt."
"You see them?"
"Every day. Every hour. Everywhere."
The confession came out in a breath. It didn't sound like relief. It sounded like desperation disguised as honesty.
"But near you… they didn't come. They didn't even try."
Megumi adjusted her posture, finally standing from the planter. The height difference between them was small, but the way Megumi stood… it changed the atmosphere.
"What's your name?"
"Miko. Miko Yotsuya."
"Want to sit here for a while?"
Miko nodded immediately.
"I do."
Megumi pulled the thermal bag and tea bottle aside, making room. She sat back down, and Miko followed.
Miko adjusted her skirt as she sat. Her eyes still avoided lingering in any direction for too long, as if something invisible might notice.
Megumi opened the thermal bag, took out her lunchbox, and set it on her lap. The lid stayed closed. She wasn't hungry anymore.
"You don't have to explain if you don't want to."
Megumi's voice was direct but not harsh. Just… simple.
Miko looked at her, a bit surprised by the kindness that didn't come with pity.
"Thanks. It's just… when they realize I can see them, they come closer."
"You pretend you don't see them?"
"Yeah."
Miko lowered her gaze.
"Almost always. Sometimes… I can't. Sometimes they talk. Get too close. Touch me."
Megumi didn't interrupt. She just let the words come.
"And some days I think: if I scream now, will someone help? But then I remember no one else sees them."
"Are you seeing any now?"
Miko hesitated but nodded.
Megumi didn't look around. She just kept her eyes on Miko.
"But here, next to you… no."
She let out a heavy sigh, as if saying it aloud for the first time.
"I don't know what it is about you. But it's like a bubble of silence between me and them."
Megumi's finger brushed the cord in her jacket pocket.
"Maybe it's just luck."
"It's not luck."
Miko's tone was firm. For the first time, fearless.
"I've tried temples, prayers, talismans of all kinds. Nothing lasts. Nothing holds. But this place… you… it's different."
A brief silence. The kind where someone almost asks "why?" but holds back.
Megumi, however, just slid the tea bottle toward Miko.
"Want some?"
Miko blinked.
"Can I?"
"It's hot. It'll do you good."
Miko took it with both hands. The lid was tight, but she twisted it carefully. The steam that rose was gentle, smelling of lemon tea with honey.
"Thanks."
Megumi nodded.
"No need to thank me. Just sit here whenever you need to."
Miko gripped the bottle a little tighter.
"I will… if you let me."
"Not if I let you. I'm telling you to come."
Miko's eyes started to water again. But now, it wasn't from fear.
"I've never talked to anyone about this like this."
"Not even your family?"
"Especially not them."
Megumi took a chopstick from the bag but still didn't open her lunchbox.
"And now you're talking to me?"
"Because you… don't think I'm crazy."
"No. I think you're strong."
Miko fell silent. But the words stayed with her.
They didn't speak again for a few minutes. The breeze rustled through the bushes. The school's sounds hummed in the background. But there, between the two, was a sincere pause. And for the first time in a long while, Miko seemed to breathe without fear.
Then firm footsteps cut through the air.
Megumi didn't need to look. Miko did. And the moment she saw him, her shoulders stiffened.
Yuta approached along the stone path, backpack slung over one shoulder, the other hand in his pocket. His posture was relaxed, but his gaze… it always seemed sharper than it should be. He passed two groups of students who parted as if it were natural—neither he noticed, nor they questioned.
Miko couldn't look away. Something about him… pulsed. It wasn't visible, but she felt it. Like a second skin, made of something denser than flesh, walking with him.
Megumi turned only when he was a few steps away. Yuta stopped in front of them, his gaze going straight to her.
"Sorry I'm late."
"You're always late."
"But I came."
Megumi gave a faint, almost imperceptible smile.
Miko, by reflex, shifted back half a step on the stone bench. Yuta noticed but didn't comment.
He looked at her as if he knew exactly who she was. But his face gave nothing away beyond neutral curiosity.
"New friend?"
Megumi nodded.
"She needed a quiet spot. I sat with her."
Yuta looked at Miko again. Long enough for her to feel the air grow heavy for a second.
"You okay here?"
The question held no sarcasm, no warmth. Just… directness.
Miko blinked. Nodded.
"I am. Here… it's better."
"Then that's good."
Yuta sat next to Megumi without ceremony. He didn't force conversation. Didn't ask anything else. His presence was solid, as if it filled the space with something ghosts wouldn't dare cross.
Miko stayed quiet. But inside, her body was screaming.
'Is he like me? No… He's worse. Or better. Or… bigger.'
She couldn't explain it. She just knew that the pressure she'd carried forever—the constant feeling of being touched by wrong presences—was gone. There, between the two of them, was a comfortable void.
Silence. Safety. Human warmth.
She looked at Megumi. Megumi was opening her lunchbox. Yuta pulled a cereal bar from his backpack pocket.
And for a moment, Miko wished that this could last longer than the break.
Support here: patreon.com/22Mirko22
Thank you so much for reading - see you in the next chapter!