Taking Stock of Things

Miyami deflated like a balloon in one of the storeroom's corners, her back against a set of boxes and her legs sprawled out in front of her. The same rain system that had swept through Nagashiro the past weekend still left its traces in the form of passing showers, despite it already being Wednesday.

The faint overcast sun cast shadow droplets on the storeroom's floor from the lone window, and the sounds of the store were a low hum from behind the blessed barrier that was the room's wooden door.

It wasn't her break time anymore—she'd already shared a rather cute but awkward lunch with Hinoka an hour ago—but her coworker-friend had insisted on covering for her so that she could spend some time sorting inventory.

Also known as 'taking a breather from the anxiety-inducing public.'

"Thank you, Hinoka…" the dark-haired girl mumbled to herself, idly playing with the hem of her shorts.

'You're welcome, Miyami! Your bestest and totally not sapphic-crazy friend will always have your back!'

The chibified Hinoka in Miyami's mind grinned and gave her a thumbs up before striking a pose, her ponytail swaying in a dramatic breeze that definitely wasn't there.

Miyami blushed and quickly shook the image from her head. Nope. She wasn't going down that path again. She couldn't afford to keep getting distracted and not finish her work. She was the senior here—in age at least. She had to be responsible, even if imagining her coworker kabedoning her against the storeroom's wall was a VERY enticing thought—

Miyami smacked her forehead with her palm and groaned.

No. Nope. Nada. Not happening. Not again.

She busied herself by organizing and taking count of the inventory, her fingers running along the plastic casings of the boxes. Her gaze danced over the contents, and she began to mentally tally up the stock and mark it on the list in her hand.

One charger, two charger, three…

Her mind wandered as she worked.

Since Saturday, she'd been doing her absolute best to keep her cool around Hinoka, but it wasn't an easy task considering just how much had changed. Not only did they technically share dinner together now—Miyami would drop off a container to Hinoka in the early evening before shuffling back to her apartment—but they'd been messaging each other almost every free moment they were alone, and she was starting to get addicted.

'You were already way past that point, senpai~'

"…" She quirked her lips in response and pulled out her phone to check their chat log.

It was full of messages. Some were mundane, like what they wanted to eat for lunch, or what the weather was like, but others were more… personal. They shared thoughts and feelings, jokes and stories. They even had an ongoing game of 'ask each other a random question,' and Miyami had learned a lot about her coworker through it.

Hinoka was an only child, she liked medium-spicy curry, her favorite colors were red and yellow, and melon was her favorite flavor. She also liked to read whenever she wasn't working out, especially light novels, and she used to play basketball in high school, although she'd quit because of an argument with the team captain.

Most surprisingly of all though, was that her ponytailed friend had somehow gotten into Fiery Emblem: Idols!

Miyami lingered on the app's colorful icon on her home screen before pocketing her device.

Hinoka had been gushing about the game ever since Sunday morning, and Miyami was still in a mild state of shock that she had someone else to talk with about the game's characters, story, and songs now.

She had already been perfect in Miyami's eyes, but now? Hinoka was even more amazing! Especially with how she was already halfway through the latest story chapter and had like five duplicates of the limited 5★ on the ongoing event banner, Princess Momoya—an alt form of Miyami's muse, inspiration, and most-pulled idol: Starlight Momoya.

Hinoka'd been sending pictures of her account, and her luck must've been insane to have so many copies of the best idol.

'Maybe you should try asking if she has a summoning ritual?'

Miyami fidgeted at the thought. She palmed over some still-packaged phone charms showcasing the character in question—the dark-haired girl that she'd modeled her own appearance on. Sure, she would never match up to the amazing voice and beauty of the idol, but the idea that she was finally coming into her own identity and reflected even a fraction of it made Miyami giddy—

"…" Wait.

Her eyes squinted in sudden suspicion as she stared at the charms and jotted down another number on the inventory sheet.

Was there any particular reason why Hinoka'd suddenly gotten into the game and had been pulling for a character she resembled? And was there any particular reason why Hinoka'd decided to start trying out the game literally the day after that emotional lunch together?

It couldn't be. Right?

*creak*

The door to the storeroom opened, interrupting her line of thought, and her uncle popped his head in with a light smile.

"Hey, Miyami. Sorry to bug you, but I have to call it an early day today—something came up. It'll just be you and Hinoka until tomorrow. That okay?"

"…!" Miyami nodded her head and gave him a reassuring wave, and he gave her a thumbs up back.

"Alright then. You two can close shop a little earlier once it gets to 5. I'll make sure to bring some snacks for the both of you tomorrow."

With a final wave goodbye, Kaitoji closed the door behind him and headed off.

"…"

Miyami continued to wave for a good five seconds after that before finally letting her arm drop.

Despite the mishap he'd had last week, he was a nice uncle. A bit of an oddball sure, but he actually cared, and she was grateful he was helping her out in her new life.

Her thoughts wandered back to what he'd said, and she felt a nervous buzz run through her.

She'd be alone with Hinoka for the rest of the day.

'You've been alone with her plenty of times before, you dork,' the chibi Hinoka in her brain teased, and Miyami's blush returned.

Sure, but…

Miyami looked down at her hands and flexed them, thinking of the warmth of her friend's hands, the sound of her voice, and the way her hair smelled.

This was going to be a problem. She'd barely managed to squeak by Monday and Tuesday with her newfound crush on Hinoka, and now she was going to have a whole rest of the day with her alone again? How was she supposed to handle that?

'Easy! Just walk out there, give her a hug, and tell her you want to—'

She repressed chibi Hinoka back into the dungeonlike confines of her mind as she wrapped up her counting. 

Nope. Nope, nope, nope. Not doing that. She was a mature, adult woman. She could handle things better than that. All she needed to do was to keep her cool and not act weird around the girl of her dreams.

After briefly clenching her fists to center her thoughts, she exited the storeroom into the main sales floor surprisingly void of customers now. Hinoka was busy sweeping behind a few shelves in silence.

Miyami took another steadying breath, forcing herself to be brave as she thought of what to do. Dim light streamed in from the windows and—

*blink*

She caught the blur of a shadow from outside the shop, and Miyami froze.

There'd just been someone standing in front of the window. Someone who'd been staring at Hinoka before disappearing.

"…"

The hairs on the back of her neck prickled, and her instincts immediately flared in alarm. Something wasn't right. She didn't know what, but something was wrong.

Was that the same guy from her first day? The one who'd thrown a rock and note at the door?

She didn't waste time to think. She immediately rushed to the counter and hit the panic lock. The front door let out a heavy *click*. The ruckus of her fumbling across the linoleum caused Hinoka to jump, broom clattering to the ground as she whipped around in surprise.

"Miyami, what—"

Miyami didn't answer her immediately. Instead, she rushed to the front door to peer through the glass and see if the man was still around.

Nothing. Just the tail end of a blurry figure from down the street.

"…" Miyami narrowed her eyes and stepped back, her thoughts racing. Had that really been the same person? What did he want? Why was he here—?

"Hey, hey! What's going on?" Hinoka's hand grabbed her shoulder, getting a surprised squeak from Miyami as the taller woman turned around to face her.

"What's up with the door, Miyami? Is everything okay?"

Miyami swallowed as static crawled up her limbs.

"Um… t-there's a… there's a guy…" Her words stumbled out, her tongue feeling like a lead noodle. "He—he was outside, and he was watching you and—"

Hinoka's face dropped, her hand squeezing Miyami protectively. "What did he look like?"

"I—I don't know." Miyami blinked rapidly, her cheeks pale and her hands trembling. But then, her eyes lit up with a thought.

The new security cameras!

With a tug, the dark-haired girl dragged her coworker upstairs to the office. She pulled the chair from the desk and plopped into the seat, bringing up the footage from the past few minutes on the screens.

The two of them watched intensely as they saw the mysterious figure loitering in front of the store, staring directly through the window and pacing every once in a while to make it look like he was just a passerby—flawlessly evading detection as even her uncle was fooled on his way out.

His features were blurry, but they could tell he was a young, tall man who was dressed casually. His right hand never left his jacket pocket, and his hair was disheveled like he'd been through a hurricane.

Miyami's pulse went into overdrive as she scrolled back to see if there were any other angles that could help identify him—like when he'd first pulled up in range of the cameras.

But she just kept scrolling, and scrolling, and scrolling…

"…"

Just how long had he been standing outside the store?

"Shit." Hinoka cursed beside her, pounding the desk and sending a few loose pencils scattering to the floor.

"Shirahata."

Miyami froze at the name. Shirahata? Did Hinoka recognize him? Was he the guy that'd been bugging her back in university?

Her friend's jaw clenched as she analyzed the screen, and Miyami could feel her trembling with anger… or was it fear?

"…" Miyami reached over to comfort her, placing a shaky hand on her shoulder, but Hinoka's gaze snapped to her way more abrupt than normal, recoiling Miyami in shock.

It was a mixture of the two.

Miyami almost felt panic completely consume her before something else in the back of her mind kicked into gear.

Her brows dropped.

"…" The dark-haired girl motioned for Hinoka to stay put in the office. Then, she quickly scampered downstairs to check things, nearly tripping over herself in the process as her heart thundered in her ears.

*scuffle*

Back door. Locked.

*rattle-rattle*

Front door. Still locked.

*shoop*

Blinds. Closed.

Terror pressed on Miyami with every stride, every bumbling misstep, but she HAD to make sure they were safe.

She had to make sure that whatever Hinoka was afraid of, it wouldn't find a way in.

*click*

The office door's lock engaged behind her, and Miyami breathed a sigh of relief as her chest threatened to collapse in on itself. She was back in the office with Hinoka after that blur of movement.

Miyami could barely feel her limbs, but they were safe now at least. 

Her back slumped against the door, and she slid down to the ground, her body shivering as she locked eyes with Hinoka. She tried to tell her that they were protected, that no one could get in, but her mouth didn't move. Pure panic and adrenaline had sealed it closed.

Hinoka just continued staring down at Miyami, her hands balled into fists in the grey of the room.

"…!" The ponytailed girl suddenly let out a frustrated cry and turned away, stomping back to the security camera footage and sitting in front of it.

Miyami watched her for a minute, unsure of what else to say or do at the outburst. She could only sit and stare, her heart pounding like a jackhammer.

She wanted to say something. To speak up and tell Hinoka everything was going to be fine. But she couldn't.

"…"

She tapped away on her phone before sending Hinoka a message.

*ping!*

The alert echoed slightly in the quiet room.

"…?" Hinoka pulled out her device and stared at the screen. Her eyes flicked up to Miyami and then down again. "M-Miyami? N-no, don't worry about me. I'm fine. Seriously. I'm fine!"

Miyami shook her head and typed out another message, her fingers flying across the screen. The air conditioner droned in the background and a car passed by on the street.

However, before she could send it, Hinoka grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"Miyami." Her voice cracked as she squeezed her hand around her, her grip tight and desperate. "Listen. I'm the one who should be worrying about you! If it was just me, that'd be fine. But now it's not just me, and I can't let him—" She cut herself off, her voice catching.

She gulped. "I-I can't let anything happen to you. I can't."

Miyami frowned at her friend. This was way different than how she'd acted the first time the guy had appeared.

Hinoka had been so stoic, calm—casual even—when she'd dialed the police before and waited for the officers to arrive. She'd been the one to handle things while Miyami had cowered away in the storeroom.

Yet now, she was obviously not in a good state of mind.

"…" With her free hand, Miyami shakily typed another message as she thought of what to do, even as control of her body unraveled with each passing second.

A lot of stuff went through her head, but above all, she knew one thing for certain.

She had to be brave.