A dilemma

TICK.

TICK.

TICK.

TIC—

'Reika stomped her foot,' a boy spoke, his voice flat 'it does move backwards! I saw it, she said but Ohm wasn't taking it so easily. show me, then! he pointed at her face, 'Prove that I'm lying—'

A sudden thud tore through the air.

"Time and money, both wasted on this stupid Novel."

The boy groaned, pressing his back against the wooden chair.

[FILL IN LATER]

The blue bucket below his desk, buckled. The papers inside were crushed by the sheer weight of it.

"Corruption code: Time.

James Mazzets."

The front cover stopped being glossy and instead darkened. The red-coded letters with a golden finish illuminated his eyes.

Keta pushed the chair to get up, his plain orange shirt flowing down, "It's worth selling though... Fifty or seventy yen, was it?"

Keta's gaze shifted from the dustbin and towards his room. At his extreme right side before the door frame lied a one-man bed.

The sheets were pale blue, under it a white mattress barely fitting the frame.

Though I doubt anyone'd like this. It's six years, ever since the disappearance occured.

Bright light gushed from the outside through the door. It barely reached his feet.

Turning towards the ajar door, his eyes hovered a small dark window fit outside in the wall.

"Just stop buying this." He muttered, speaking to himself again. Keta began to walk towards the window, each step creating a soft creak on the floor.

The following staircase at a turning, glowed the same, bright yellow from the ceiling. Each step made a soft creak echo in his ears.

"You're awake?"

This time he wasn't speaking to himself. Down there, a pair of fair skinned legs stood, wearing slippers. Keta was yet to see the whole figure as he came down.

"Yeah, thanks to my stomach growling like a tiger."

The girl tapped her violet shirt, then glanced up at Keta. "You seem to be in a good mood, lately?" Her expression contorted.

No, it's just your mind playing tricks on you.

Keta preferred to answer in his mind, or else the situation had a 50-50 probability of going south.

"Don't say that, I'm depressed enough."

"Your monotony voice says otherwise. Anyway, cook. I'm hungry."

The girl grabbed her shirt, pulling it tightly as she expressed her dissatisfaction.

"That wasn't free, Kyouko."

"And so aren't I. You need to feed me, as a guest."

The girl—kyouko, immediately responded, pointing her fingers towards Keta's eyes and nose. A few seconds passed but she didn't move, her eyes narrowed at him as if examining his face.

I'm nothing but ordinary. My looks won't appeal you.

If given the chance, Keta'd have told her that aloud. But given her mindset she'd have said this: "If looks were to define a person both internal and external, then I wouldn't be rotting here, in your shelter."

Kyouko shrieked back, her hands crawling away to her shirt. "You aren't wearing a mask, are you?" She asked, her voice wary.

The light above them flickered a bit.

"I wish I was."

Keta sighed, turning towards a small hallway that at a door.

As he stepped towards the door, Keta stopped at some specific intervals to look back.

At the fourth interval, he fully turned back.

"Unusual. You aren't ordering me, today."

Kyouko's eyes suddenly widened, realising that she really wasn't doing anything particular to him.

"Thanks." She clapped and then a while later, "Pork and Pasta." She said with a grin that, to Keta, was extremely devious.

"Can't afford that, miss."

Keta faked a sarcastic tone, expecting a reaction from her.

"Most certainly you can. Look at that expression, it tells me you're lying."

"It doesn't, and I wouldn't lie to you."

Keta put forward his palm and slowly retracted in a butler-like fashion.

The light above them, seemed to flicker again, filling the silence.

"...pff—"

A small squeak echoed for a second before being suppressed.

"Did you laugh?"

"No."

Kyouko said, mockingly pointing at Keta's face. "Don't believe me?" She forced a exhale, and closed her eyes. Then when she reopened her eyes—

"Kyouko, you look like me, now."

Keta's widened like a curious cat's, noticing the change in her expression. Her body posture and her head tilting.

And there she went, laughing and trembling at the same time.

"I remember playing poker-poker, you look just like that...!"

She tried her hardest to suppress the voice reaching inexusable heights but at the end couldn't.

And ofcourse you've to laugh at that.

Keta turned his back, walking towards the kitchen, the laughter fading in before his ears.