Trojan Horse

DING DONG

“Huh? W-what’s going on?” I groggily lifted my face from my pillow, slowly waking up to the sound of the doorbell.

DING DONG

It was two in the morning.

“Y-yeah, y-yeah, I’m coming,” I mumbled, stumbling toward the door, still half-asleep.

If this is one of Hiro’s pranks, I swear…

“Huh?” I opened the door and found my coworker standing there. “Katy?”

She was wearing soft fabric pajamas, her expression that of someone truly scared.

Holding her own arms and letting her gaze drop to my feet, her face didn’t lie; she had been crying for quite a while.

What happened to her?

“I-Isayama…” Her voice was soft and worn, like polished marble.

“Are you okay?” I leaned on the door.

“Well…” She remained at the door, avoiding my eyes. “I ju…”

“Sorry, but if you speak that quietly, I can’t hear you…”

“D-do you mind if I sleep at your place?” She finally asked.

I must still be dreaming…

“Umm…”

“I-I’m scared of being alone…” She admitted.

I couldn’t help but smile and let her in with the gesture of my arm.

“Hotel Tore’s doors are open for visitors every day of the year.”

She entered slightly shy, with her cheeks and eyebrows still humid.

“Don’t worry, our guest policy understands that clients don’t want to talk too much on the first night.”

“Thanks…” She murmured while slowly moved through the room.

Being the gentleman I was, I offered Katy my bed. She agreed, on the condition that I wouldn’t go too far. So, I chose the floor next to it as my sleeping spot.

Before lying down on the hard floorboards, I made sure my sleepless guest was comfortable.

“Thanks, Isayama… I’m really sorry for the trouble,” she said, wrapping herself in my blankets and smiling faintly, like a sweet child.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, holding a spare pillow.

“It’s just… your bed smells a lot like you…”

“W-what did you expect?! It’s my bed! A-are you saying I don’t wash my sheets?!” I tried to make her laugh.

“Sorry…” she giggled softly. “Goodnight…”

“Goodnight, Katy. If you need me, I’m down here,” I sighed.

Without further ado, I turned off the lights and lay down on the floor like a dog.

Kicked out of my own bed… Well, anything to help Katy…

I stared at the ceiling for a while.

How the hell did you, my dear Isayama, end up in this situation?

I pictured Katy’s scared face in my mind.

I guess we all have hidden problems… Hope she’s ok though, I feel I’d die just to save her from her fears…

Regaining bit by bit that sweet sleepiness, I closed my eyes.

Coming to think of it, this is the first time I sleep with a… Never mind.

I pinched myself on the leg.

Just sleep already…

…

In the middle of my sleep, I was overwhelmed by a sudden and growing anxiety. Pressure that took oxygen away from me…

I woke up as the heavy weight on my chest grew, as the sun began to rise.

Frightened, I raised my head as much as I could, unable to move…

“What the hell?” A few seconds later, I found my answer. “Wait…”

My dear coworker had somehow ended up on top of me. Judging by her blissful slumber, she must have had a soft landing because she was still sound asleep…

Just my luck…

I could hear her soft breathing and feel her drooling on my pajama shirt.

So much elegance…

I smiled warmly.

“Welcome to Hotel Tore, where all services are provided…” I muttered as I carefully shifted her off me. “Alright, one, two, three…”

Trying not to make any noise or sudden movements, I picked her up by her arms and legs. Like a sack of potatoes, I gently tossed her back onto the bed.

She seems to be sleeping peacefully…

I deduced as, despite the jostling, she hadn’t woken up.

“Well, I’m glad she’s comfortable,” I smiled and looked out my window, watching as the sky slowly began to change color. “Alright then, time to expand the Hotel Tore service catalog…”

Feeling unusually energetic, I headed to the fridge and took out two eggs. I also placed two slices of bread in the express toaster by the stove.

And so, while Princess Shimizu slept soundly, I started preparing breakfast and humming my favorite piano sonatas.

Chopin’s Ballade No. 1, to be specific.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty,” I greeted her as I fried the eggs.

She opened her eyes slowly and looked around, perhaps a bit confused about waking up in an unfamiliar bed.

“Good morning,” she said, giving me the brightest smile I’d ever seen as she stretched.

I wish I could see that smile every morning… But well, there’s not much I can do. We’re just coworkers…

Still smiling, she curiously approached the stove to see what I was cooking: fried eggs, toast, and orange juice.

“I am glad to see you could find rest in the hotel’s best suite.”

“Hey, Isayama…”

“Y-yeah?”

“It’s sweet of you to make breakfast, but… did you have to do it in a shirt covered in drool?” She pointed at the damp spot on my clothes.

“W-what?!”

These drool marks are yours, you little…!

…

Unfortunately for me, the day went downhill from there. For some reason, Katy spent the rest of the day avoiding me…

It all started in the elevator, on our way to the office:

“Hey, Katy, sorry to ask, but what was this all about?” I said, fixing my hair in the elevator mirror. “Did you have a nightmare or something?”

She didn’t reply. As if the sweet princess that awoke in my room had disappeared.

I was just worried… Why would she act so cold now?

From that moment on, I couldn’t get a word out of her. No matter how much I tried to get an explanation, I got nowhere.

I started to wonder if maybe she was embarrassed about sleeping at my place, but it didn’t seem like such a big deal… I already struggled to read people’s emotions, but Katy was a real enigma.

I worry things might go back to how they were before…

During my break time, unable to make eye contact with her, I stepped onto the terrace to get some sunlight. There, I found Shinpei sitting across from Ilya, who was crouched down to talk to him at eye level.

“Shinpei, you don’t look good… Can I get you a juice or something?”

“Hey, guys, how’s the morning going?” I greeted them.

“Huh? Oh, h-hi, Isayama… Actually, not so…”

“Did you see our last reports, boss?” I mentioned.

“Isayama, the thing is that, right now…”

“H-hey, Ilya,” our boss interrupted, visibly confused. “Who is this young man?”

“Huh?”

“Sh-Shinpei?”

I instantly recognized that gaze… Those memories I had tried to bury. The sickly face of Hikaru Tore, his last words… That man who, on his deathbed, forgot his own son…

“Shinpei, it’s me, Isayama!” I insisted, stepping closer to him. “You know who I am…”

It took him a few seconds to respond.

“Oh, Isayama Tore, of course. How could I forget? Forgive me…” His gaze was filled with sadness. The kind of sadness of someone slipping away from themselves.

“I-I see… I’d better head back to my desk…”

“Isayama…” murmured Ilya.

“Shit…”

Don’t worry, Isa, Shinpei probably forgot you because he’s tired… Maybe he’s just exhausted. Unlike Dad, Shinpei remembered us immediately, even the last name…

I returned to my seat. As if it wasn’t enough that Katy wasn’t talking to me…

Although, if it were the same case as with my father, what Shinpei is going through would make sense… What if the fifth evolution destroys your memory too?

I remembered my father’s weary face. Despite his body’s pain, his amnesia was genuine…

In the distance, I saw Ilya helping Shinpei stand, visibly weak.

If dad could forget his son, then Shinpei might…

POOM

“Shinpei!”

We all witnessed how, in a fraction of a second, Shinpei collapsed in the middle of the office.

At that moment, I was overcome by a terrible fear: My father, Yamaguchi, Shinpei…

How the hell could it happen so fast?!

I wondered while everyone in the office stood up in an instant.

Everything became blurry. I could hear my coworkers shouting, trying to organize help.

Hikaru, what should I do?

Despite the avalanche of thoughts racing through my head, I responded to Felix’s shout and ran to help. Along with Hiro and Ryunosuke, we carried our boss down to the street while Irina called an ambulance and Carlos and Katy cleared the way through the building.

The only relief was that Shinpei was still alive.

He was taken to the nearest hospital, where he was admitted and underwent the necessary tests.

Our superiors instructed us to return to work.

By the afternoon, Ilya Reutermann came from Division 1 to inform us that Shinpei was stable but weak. The tests showed no trace of S-Flu, so it was suggested that his implants had malfunctioned due to their age. Weird.

The outlook was reassuring. Despite the scare, the doctors insisted Shinpei would recover soon.

With nothing else to do, we returned to the closest thing to normal we could manage. Trying to smile despite momentarily losing the captain of our ship.

What a way to start a Monday…