Anomaly - Life

[Lance]

Nao awoke with a headache. He hadn't slept well this night either. His sister's face still haunted his dreams even now. "I'll make them pay," she had said then. Her voice was filled with such hatred and fervor that the young man knew things would not end well, probably.

Where was she now, Nao pondered, and what the HELL would she be doing?

He felt the onset of a headache just thinking about it. It was manageable, however, so after his morning preparations, he immediately made his way to work. Leaving the shambling excuse for an apartment he stayed in, Nao took one long look back at the place before continuing on. The Sublimity Inn they called it.

Yeah, right, Nao thought bitterly.

In truth, the young man had only felt interested in the inn because of the cheap price. But you get what you pay for, and with the cheap pricing came a cheap room complete with a cheap bed, cheap fridge, and cheap oven. However, its one saving grace was the room had at least come stocked with a toilet. Cheap as it was, Nao was glad it was there-really, REALLY glad. He knew all to well the horrors of public restrooms, a place of PURE evil, where germs abound in all sorts of objects. Nao would internally cringe every time his hand met with something dubious.

His ability only made it worse.

Though despite himself, Nao smiled wryly at the thought. Object Analysis. It was his own personal name for the phenomenon that took place at his every touch. The ability to fully comprehend whatever he felt with his own hands. It was a godly tool, and it served him well since its initial discovery.

From machinery to books, all it took was a single touch, and he immediately understood the object's purpose, its composition, its contents, and most importantly, how to best make use of it.

It had made both schooling and training a breeze for the young man. Where one student would have to spend hours reading a book or getting a feel for a new sword, Nao would only have to touch it once, and it was done.

Using the ability in such a way almost felt like cheating he had to admit, and Nao couldn't even begin to count the number of times he had been accused of such. But he felt no guilt employing his power. After all, the ability was a tool like any other. Just like how one'd use a hammer to strike a nail, or a key to undo a lock, Nao used his ability to understand objects.

Nao let out a long sigh then and took one final glance back at his current home, then he moved on. It was true that the inn had once been worthy of its name, a high-class building where company bigwigs, politicians, and others high up in the social ladder would come to stay a night. The place would often be packed with customers, and the income generated from such a showing was staggering. However, that time was past.

For a massive fire had, three years ago, not only burned down several customers, the inn itself, as well as its owner, but also its reputation. During that occasion, all blame was placed on the inn and the then-deceased owner for not utilizing "adequate" fire safety procedures and equipment. That said, even if several fully-equipped fire trucks had been there from the start, it still would have been doubtful that the flames would have been stopped. For the fire spread at a tremendous pace after its sudden emergence and many lost their lives in just the initial tumult.

Later though, many skeptics would come to see the flames as an artificial development, a product of some kind of "terrorist attack." For their was no way a natural fire could have spread so quickly and caused as much damage as it did. Something was clearly off and despite the media's proclamations, the inn DID make use of state-of-the-art fire regulating equipment. However, even those proved no match for the flames that eventually devoured the place. It was obvious there was something strange about the situation, but the media was adamant and the public, for the most part, bought it.

The angry cries of the survivors and the close friends and relatives of those deceased reverberated for some time throughout the streets. They needed someone or something to blame for the tragedy that claimed lives and ruined others-so they blamed the inn. As a result, the trust the place had spent so long cultivating also went up in flames.

Currently, the rebuilt inn was not even half as large as before, even though it now used humbler materials in its design. A great deal of effort was visible in its construction though, but in the end it was no more than a shadow of its former glory-and a cheap one at that. But perhaps that too held its own special allure to the young man. Like him, the place was struggling to rebuild. It strove to undo everything the flames and the media did to hinder it. Thus even now, the manager, the daughter of the past owner, was hard at work to restore the inn's name. She worked daily to fix her past and now had something to show for it, unlike a certain young man.

After all, a full three years had passed since Nao's past home also burned down-the mansion where he spent a significant amount of his life with his father and sister. He had tasked himself with collecting all the fragments then, yet all he had in his current possession was Izanagi, an aged, silver pocket watch that fell into his grasp long ago. It was a powerful fragment, however, capable of slowing time to almost a complete halt. But in the end, the pocket watch was only one piece of the puzzle.

The young man sighed, as he continued his trek. He had a long journey ahead of him, in more ways than one.

As Nao went on, he passed by some familiar sights: an everyday coffee shop he often frequented, a vibrant park active at literally any time of day, and even an odd museum among other things. The people were also as full of life. From athletes out for a morning jog to children gone out to play at the local park, the city was so happy, so joyous that one could not help but wonder how it was even possible. Nao knew the answer, however, as did all the other inhabitants of the city-the Heroes.

Ranging from simple do-gooders to straight out justice-freaks, the heroes kept at their job 24/7, all in the hopes of maintaining the city's current peace-a false peace. Nao could just imagine the chaos that would ensue should they even fail once. In fact, he was amazed the system had lasted for as long as it did. The heroes, individuals with unique abilities, would swoop down from the skies, the rooftops, and even from alternate dimensions, stopping crime in its tracks.

The idea was sound, but the result was sloppy. After all, the "heroes" were people too. And people make mistakes. Furthermore, the people grew spoiled in their belief that no matter how bad the tragedy, a hero would come down to save them in the end-and they usually did. The problem was that such an occurrence had already ingrained itself as yet another "given," and it was now fairly common to find people engaging in more reckless behavior.

It didn't matter if you dove headlong into traffic or jumped from a plane without first checking for your parachute. After all, a hero would show up and save you, right?

Such thoughts resounded throughout the populace, and in several cases, such thoughts were proven wrong and a hero didn't show up. However, society was quick to forget those occurrences, with slight urging from the media. The heroes would protect them, they thought, they would always be there for them regardless of the situation. And with enough repetition and affirmation with their own eyes, they quickly came to sincerely believe that such was the case.

So whenever tragedy struck and the heroes weren't there to prevent it, the people would avert their eyes and believe that it was only an oddball case, that such a thing would never happen to them. Otherwise, they would place blame on external factors, such as a door that should have had a stronger lock, or a truck that should have had better brakes, or even an inn that should have employed better fire protection.

In any case, it wasn't the hero's fault, they thought, or their own even. Their blind belief was so solid that it was almost sickening.

That said, Nao found the heroes to be an agreeable presence. After all, who WOULDN'T appreciate getting a free ride out of tough situations. He could even relate with them more than the average individual. For they were blessed with unique abilities like him, hid things about themselves like him, and even DRANK COFFEE like him.

Nao chuckled, as he remembered the name of that coffee shop he would often visit: "Hero's Cafe." The place served coffee that suited his preferences very well. The cafe itself looked flashy, making use of bright colors and intricate designs to catch the eyes of passers-by. However, perhaps the most distinguishable feature of the cafe was the sheer number of "heroes" who spent time there. Hence, Nao came to appreciate the heroes and what they stood for.

But while he appreciated heroes, he also hated them.

After all, they failed, and they spoiled the people, but perhaps the greatest reason why Nao hated them so much was that they resembled him. From their ideology of righting wrongs to their perseverance against hardship, there were quite a few commonalities. Heck, even their taste buds were similar.

Still, there were key differences. For example, Nao would have left alone that mugger off to the side, who was now busy being beaten by some random "hero" in the name of justice. Nao just blankly watched from a distance before he continued on.

"He-help!" the mugger had cried out to Nao, the other onlookers, and even the intended victim, but the only reply came from the hero currently pummeling him.

"JUSTICE!!"

But was this truly "justice?" Nao had to wonder.

After some time of traveling since the incident, Nao finally reached his destination-the run-down antique shop where he worked. As usual, nothing out of the ordinary appeared during the journey: Capes soared across the skies, crimes were prevented in the streets, and robbers were beaten to within an inch of their lives. Same old.

"Finally here," Nao muttered, as he reached the base of the steps arranged at the shop's entrance. The young man then made his way past the steps and reached a hand out towards the door.

His previous thoughts on that mugger's beating resurfaced then, and a wry smile crept unto Nao's face.

In the end, it seemed justice was its own justification, an excuse for "heroes" to do whatever the hell they wanted whenever they wanted. But that was fine, Nao thought. Why deny them their fun? However, Nao wondered if that was all there was to "justice." He felt there was more to it than that senseless pummeling from before. But in any case, such justice alone was not enough. Thought without action was meaningless, after all.

And so, Nao opened the door, and stepped through.

[Lance]

If it wasn't for the roar of the air conditioners and the sound of the fans overhead, the room would have been in complete, utter silence. It wasn't that the room was devoid of life though-just at the shop's counter, a young woman stood silently reading a book. If one did not look carefully, however, one could easily have mistaken the girl for a statue. And she may as well have been one. For the shop rarely received visitors, and of the few who came, not very many chose to buy anything at all.

All the same, such things hardly mattered to Kaya, as she stood patiently at the counter, dully doing the job she was assigned. The young woman had been working at the shop for many years now, and presently, even dwelt in the living area of the building's second floor. The chore she was performing was merely part of the daily routine she developed since arriving, and though the continual boredom would have been enough to drive some insane, Kaya seemed not to mind.

The door chimes clinked together then, as the door burst open, revealing a young man wearing a smile that was obviously only superficial.

"Good morning," Kaya said in her usual emotionless voice, as the young man came walking in.

It wasn't a customer, she knew. For the boy's face was one she had come to know well in recent years. Nao Kusanagi, he was named. The young man had come to work at the store almost three years prior, just a year after she joined herself. In the years since, the young man had adapted well to his environment and now maintained a friendly relationship with his boss and co-workers. Naturally, that included her as well.

"Yo," Nao said in reply, then after checking his surroundings,

"The hell's Hisashi?"

The person he referred to was the shop's third employee, an individual who had been here even longer than she. Hisashi had been responsible for keeping the shop afloat in the past and even now, with the addition of two other employees, he remained an ever-present presence within the shop. So to those who knew the guy, It really did seem odd that he'd be missing now. And so, in an effort to clear up the confusion, Kaya shortly looked up from her book.

"He's off making a delivery," the young woman explained.

"Though he should be returning soon."

And right as that last phrase left the girl's lips, the jingle of chimes were heard again and, as if on cue, another young man entered the shop. There was no superficial smile on this one though-not even a normal one. Instead, this young man wore a tired expression. He was panting hard while covered in sweat, as he lugged around a heavy package with both arms.

"What? No 'Welcome back, Hisashi?'"

"Welcome back," Nao said with a laugh.

As for Kaya, she just flipped a page.

Then, after shooting a dejected look Kaya's way, Hisashi turned to Nao.

"Anyways, mind lending a hand? This thing's heavier than it looks and..."

"it looks kinda heavy."

Several moments then passed as both men took the package to a table that lay at the room's center while Kaya merely continued reading her book in the background.

"So, what is it?," Nao asked, when the package was finally set.

"Ah, well... it's..."

"It's something!" Hisashi exclaimed, with a triumphant smile.

"Something.." Nao repeated dryly. "In other words, you've no clue"

Hisashi only shrugged in reply.

"Yeah well, it was something the manager ordered the other day. She was real excited too so I figured it wasn't just some old piece of furniture this time around"

"Why not take a peek?" Nao inquired mischievously, to which Hisashi responded with a "Why not indeed."

Both young men then began carefully ripping off the package's outer layer while Kaya sighed behind them. Watching the two in action, Kaya wasn't sure if she should simply berate them or stop them altogether. But her thoughts were interrupted when Nao made another comment.

"Since we've already come this far..." the young man began.

"Let's open it up ALL the way"

Both men wore what could only be described as evil grins then as something sounding akin to a face palm came from the counter. I should have stopped them, Kaya thought, but by then it was too late. The outer package had already been stripped away, revealing the object it had been wrapped around.

It really was a "something" though, as the trio examined it. While it was obviously some form of machinery, it didn't look like anything they had laying around. It's structure wasn't something that could easily be described either.

"It doesn't look like the convential type," Nao said. "The hell does it do?"

"Hell if I know"

"Here, I bet one of these buttons is the ON switch," Hisashi claimed, indicating a row of buttons at the the top.

Several long moments later, having achieved nothing but getting a single long beep from the machine, Hisashi threw up his hands in frustation

"Damn thing's probably broke," he announced.

"You'd best hope not," Kaya suddenly countered, as she made her way over to the two.

"For your own sake."

At this sudden assertion, Hisashi threw Kaya a look of confusion.

"For if that's the case," Kaya continued in a voice tinged with annoyance, "then I sincerely doubt she will be in the best of moods when she returns." And upon hearing those words, Hisashi went pale. For unlike the other two, he had SEEN the manager angry. And it still continued to give him nightmares to this day.

Kaya leaned in close then, her eyes glaring the man down, and almost whispered.

"I don't envy you."

"..."

"Nao, you're up!" Hisashi then exclaimed, wanting nothing more than to pass the role, and the blame, to someone else.

Nao simply shrugged, and took Hisashi's place in front of the machine while Hisashi scurried happily off to the side. Kaya's glare only intensified in response but she said nothing, as Nao began to prepare himself by removing his gloves. That odd action drew Kaya's attention, however, and her glare disappeared momentarily as she watched Nao place both hands on the machine while maintaining what seemed like deep concentration.

"...Hey" Hisashi said after several moments of silence "It's not like you can understand the thing just by staring at it..."

His reply was only met with more silence.

"Press some GOD DANG bu-"

"Quiet."

It was then that Nao exploded in a flurry of movement. His hands moved at a pace hard to follow, pressing buttons which only revealed more buttons and even a few levers in hidden panels all across the device. Beeps and bobs were heard in rapid succession for a full minute before finally a continuous, low humming sound was heard and several lights could be seen emitting from various exposed holes in the machine.

And it floated.

In any case, it was obvious the device was most definitely turned "on."

"...seriously?"

"Dang, man"

"..."

[Lance]

"Say, you sure you aren't really one of those 'Hero' types flying around?" Hisashi joked. "Only acting the part of ordinary people-like me!" he exclaimed. "Wait."

"..."

"I'm sure," Nao succinctly replied. Kaya and Hisashi simply stared at Nao in response, their eyes imploring him to elaborate further, though the young man had half a mind to ignore it at the time. But as fate would have it, he didn't. "I've no inclination to dole out 'justice' to random criminals," he explained. "Besides, can you picture me flying around in bright latex underwear with the letter 'N' on it?"

"Well, when you put it THAT wa-"

"I can."

"..."

"..."

"...without the latex, of course," Kaya clarified, followed by a collective sigh of relief.

"Phew, for a moment there..."

"Yeah..."

"No." Nao continued, trying to clear the image from his head. "Just no."

An awkward moment of silence then followed, before Hisashi spoke again.

"But seriously man, you gotta tell me how you did that."

"I'd like to know too," agreed a familiar voice, amongst the sound of approaching footsteps. It didn't take long then, as all eyes turned, to identify the owner of that voice-a mature woman who one'd identify as in her twenties when, in actuality, she was almost twice that age. Her name was Rika Tsukasa, though to all the shop employees she was known simply as the "manager."

"Ma-manager!" Hisashi yelped.

"Hmm?" Rika responded.

"Your face suggests you've done something worth punishing."

"So," the manager continued with a bloodthirsty grin. "What did you do?"

"No-nothing ma'am!" Hisashi immediately responded, as the manager narrowed her eyes at the man. "Well, whatever," the manager said as she shifted her attention to the floating machine, to Hisashi's visible relief. "But the fact that you managed to get it running..."

"I'm impressed," she said, as she suddenly turned to Nao, who was busily rubbing his head.

"...Well done, Nao. You might've deserved a slight raise, after all."

"Wait up, why automatically assume it was him?" Hisashi demanded. "Oh, did Kaya do this?" Rika shot back, to which Kaya merely shook her head. "Then I'll say it again:"

"Well done, Nao"

"..."

"In any case, what is it exactly?," Kaya inquired. "Well, I'm afraid I don't have a concrete answer. For now, it'd b more fitting to call it a 'somethi-'"

"I TOLD you!"

-Smack!-

"Oww..."

Rika glared at Hisashi as she continued.

"Apparently, it was uncovered somewhere in South America. Any more than that, I can't say for certain. The supplier was very hush-hush about the details. Oh, and apparently it's over a thousand years old."

"No way... then that something.." Hisashi began. "Is a genuine OOPArts?" Kaya finished.

"Something like that," the manager replied. "Researchers had been playing around with the thing for quite some time now, though I never heard any reports of lights and... well... floating... Ahem. Anyways, they got it to make a few sounds in the past apparently, though I believe they later labelled it a 'dud'."

"Those fools, Rika said with a devious laugh. "How I'd like to see their faces now."

"...But even if it were a 'dud,' how'd you manage to even get your hands on something like that!?" Hisashi exclaimed. The manager simply smiled in reply. "Don't underestimate me." There was a collective groan at that response. Even Kaya sighed.

"What surprises me, however, was that you were able to figure it out, Nao. And in a span of a few minutes at that..."

"Nao?"

"..."

"Not feeling well, man?" Hisashi asked.

"I'm perfectly fine," Nao stated, as a trickle of blood ran past his forehead. "Why do you ask?"

"Nao!" Kaya cried out.

"Woah, your head!" Hisashi yelled.

The manager simply face-palmed, as Nao collapsed.

[Lance]

After some time in the drifting darkness of his nightmarish dreams, Nao finally opened his eyes to complete and utter darkness. He missed his dreams.

"Good morning, Kaya," Nao mumbled. Honestly, he thought, would it hurt to try on something that WASN'T pitch-black in color?. Over the course of time, the young man often wondered if Kaya wore anything other than her usual black clothing.

"It isn't morning," the girl immediately replied.

"In any case, hold still," Kaya continued, as she placed a band-aid on his forehead. The bleeding had already stopped awhile back, but that didn't stop Kaya. Nope. She just kept on going. Nao just narrowed his eyes at the girl who was even now reaching for another band-aid.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Healing you," she replied.

"I got that.." Nao continued.

"My question is how?"

At this query, the young woman paused to look at Nao incredulously.

"Isn't it obvious?" Kaya finally answered.

"Band-aids heal people. So if I put one on you right now, you'll get better. And if I put on more.." Kaya began, as she placed another band-aid on top of Nao's existing one. "You'll heal even faster."

Nao got up with a sigh.

"See?"

"You're already well enough to stand!"

"...I think," Nao responded. "I'm gonna get a head ache."

"Perhaps I should have added some more..." Kaya then contemplated.

"That ISN'T how band-aids work," Nao argued.

"Is that so?" Kaya asked, all the while looking blankly at Nao. After a brief moment of hesitation, she lowered a hand containing yet another band-aid.

"I knew it..." she said with a soft sigh.

"The others said it was fine though," Kaya said following a slight shrug, all the while shifting her gaze to Nao's left arm. The young man then followed her stare, revealing a plethora of bandages stacked upon one another all over the otherwise fine appendage. There was so much crammed into the spot that The arm wouldn't look out of place on a mummy.

I swear... Nao thought.

I'm gonna kill them

"But speaking of the others, where are they?" Nao asked, noticing that neither Hisashi nor Rika were in sight.

"They went to tend the shop downstairs."

"..Oh, that's right."

Finally taking note of his unfamiliar surroundings, Nao continued.

"Where exactly... are we?"

"My room. In the shop."

"Huh... So this is your place," Nao said while looking around. There was a basic cabinet near the adjacent wall, a large, refined mirror laying off to the side, and a workdesk of some sort. There was also the comfy bed he found himself laying on, but apart from that, there was practically nothing else in the immediate area. There was no needless ornaments decorating the place-everything served a purpose. All in all, the room was neat and tidy, livable despite its spartan components. There were no bright, gaudy colors adorning the place either, instead the place held an overall dark theme. Whether it was the walls, the ceiling, or even the few pieces of furniture scattered across the room, everything was filled with visible darkness. A room really DOES reflect its owner, Nao mused.

Noticing Kaya's stare as he checked the peculiar details in his vicinity, Nao, at long last, spoke.

"I've never actually come to this part of the shop before," the young man finally said.

"This isn't part of the shop," Kaya replied, as color started to rise to her face. Just then, the sun descended from among the clouds, illuminating Kaya from the far window and giving her a fearful demeanor.

Nao started, not from Kaya though, but because of the receding sun behind her.

"Just how long was I out!?"

"It should be well past evening now."

"Why not check the time with that pocketwatch you always carry?" Kaya offered.

"Oh, so you noticed," Nao replied, at length.

Narrowing her eyes, Kaya continued.

"I never really asked before since I didn't want to pry, but it has always been bothering me so.. why do you hang on to it all the time? Just what does that pocketwatch mean to you?"

Guess she doesn't much care about prying now, huh?

"Well..."

Nao sighed, knowing a half-baked excuse wouldn't quite cut it this time.

"It's sorta special."

"Special? As in it holds a deeper meaning to you?"

"You could say that..." Nao replied.

Kaya tilted her head, trying to piece it out, while awaiting further explanation.

"But... the question remains," Nao said, wishing to change the subject.

"Who dragged me up here?"

"I did," Kaya said, taking the bait. She then pointed at Nao accusingly.

"You were heavy."

"Well thank you very much," Nao responded dryly. "In any case, let's join the others..."

"Soon as I get all of these off," the young man said while trying to remove the many bandages on his arm.

Inwardly, Kaya chuckled a bit as she started undoing some of the bandages she herself placed.

"I'll help.."

"...oh."

"Hey..."

They gave each other an odd look. Kaya herself even let out a helpless laugh. Nao roared.

"It WON'T come off!!"

[Lance]

Several minutes later and after much yelling of the word "pull," the two adolescents were walking down the stairs to join the others in the bottom floor. The bandages were removed for the most part, not counting the two "band-aids" that were practically glued to Nao's forehead plus several more still sticking onto his arm. Close enough, the young man thought miserably.

"Glad you two finally decided to join us" the manager said, when she noticed the two make their entrance.

Then, after recognizing the remnants of the wrappings still around Nao's arm in addition to the two band-aids still clinging onto his face, Rika barely suppressed a laugh. "Feeling better?" she asked mischievously.

"Quite." Nao laconically replied. The young man than raised his left arm, which still retained traces of the mummification process.

"Thanks for that, by the way"

"You're welcome," the manager replied with a smile. "Here at my store, I always take very good care of my employees."

Hisashi coughed.

"Lies," he muttered under his breath,

The young man had been tasked with moving quite a few objects around, after all. For whenever Rika decided she wanted several objects to be displayed from one side of the shop to another, he would be the one to move them. Then, when she changed her mind and decided they were better left in the previous side, he would move them again. A few moments later, the manager would then decide that some of those objects really should have been on the other side, forcing Hisashi to move them once more. Naturally, all these objects were heavy.

Hisashi was left nearly breathless as he moved objects to and fro according to the whims of a diabolical manager. This went on for some time. And although these tasks weren't necessarily too time-consuming nor energy-draining individually, when combined, they were enough to bring a proffessional athlete to his knees.

"Lies," he again muttered under his breath, turning the word into a litany of sorts.

"You say something, Hisashi?"

"No ma'am!"

"I thought not"

Nao could only smile wryly at the exchange. He did chuckle slightly, earning him the stares of two individuals-Kaya and Hisashi. One was curious, the other hateful.

"In any case, what's with this thing?" he said, once again bringing attention to the unrelenting "bandages," assuming they could even be called that anymore.

The manager smiled at the sudden inquiry.

"I'm glad you asked, Nao. I had them custom-made, just for such an occasion"

"You should feel pretty lucky"

"Yes," Nao replied

"I feel very lucky"

It was Hisashi's turn to laugh, and Nao's to glare at him. However, Rika was as ruthless as ever.

"You!" the manager roared, while facing Hisashi. "No slacking. Get back to work!" The woman then kept yelling at the apparent slacker for several moments, before turning her attention back to Nao.

"..."

"You shouldn't slack off, Hisashi," Kaya commented.

"..."

"Anyways... are you sure you should be moving around, Nao? You might be better off laying down for a while more."

"No, I'm fine," Nao replied with another one of his superficial smiles.

The manager shrugged. "If you say so"

"I say so"

Rika sighed.

"Kaya, you too. Take a break if you need to."

"I'm fine as well"

"Then, can I take a break?" Hisashi asked.

"No."

His shoulders slumped, Hisashi got back to work, just as the door chimes jingled together and a beautiful, young girl in a sleeveless blue dress came walking in.

"And finally, a customer," the manager said, an obviously fake smile plastered to her lips.

But after running her gaze through the room, the girl stopped upon seeing a certain individual.

"Nao!!" she yelled, while surging forward.

"Akemi!?" Nao exclaimed in surprise, as he involuntarily took a step back.

Looking between the two, the other three each drew their seperate conclusions.

"Nao, you know this girl?" Rika asked.

Hisashi whistled.

And Kaya remained as silent as ever.

"..."

"Yeah... she's the one who manages that old shack I live in"

"Inn... It's an inn"

"I see..."

"Then, she isn't a customer?"

"Sorry..." Akemi replied weakly.

"In any case, what're you doing here?" Nao asked, in an effort to change the mood.

"Nothing really," she replied, a bit embarrased. "I saw you looking back at the inn with this really, really weird expression earlier"

"I wasn't quite sure what to make of it-maybe you were planning on leaving or something..?"

She paused for a moment.

"Please don't leave the inn!!" She begged.

It was Nao's turn to pause, then.

"A-Anyways, as to why I'm here, I had a feeling something was up"

"And I was right!"

"You see, since you weren't back your usual time, I was a bit worried"

"So I decided to give you a call, but you wouldn't answer!"

"Ah, sorry about that..."

"I ended up checking allllll the inn, that cafe you brought me to once, and now even here."

"Wow... talk about customer service."

"But your my only customer!"

"Oh, how about that old guy in A102?" Nao said, remembering the one time he saw another occupant, or at least the silhouette of.

"He left ages ago..." Akemi responded miserably.

"Ah, I see" Nao said, while giving her a slight pat on the head.

"But that isn't the problem!"

"Hmm?"

"Right now, if something happens to you, the inn'll have ZERO customers!! That means ZERO payments! ZERO income!"

"The inn wouldn't be able to go on..."

The girl seemed on the verge of tears, as she went on.

"That bad, huh?"

"If that's really the case, why not just grab some more customers?"

The girl sighed.

"If only it were that easy," she replied wearily.