Shower

“Undress.”

Naoya’s arms automatically closed over his chest. He glared into Aki’s direction without being able to see him.

“How are you going to shower with your clothes on? Fine. I’ll take you to the bathroom and turn the shower on. You can do the rest on your own. But I’ll stay out here if you crash into something.”

Naoya deflated. Aki only wanted to help. He wondered if his female form would extend a similar olive branch when he’d meet her next. If he’d ever meet her again, that was. Aki led him to the bathroom and showed him the rough layout, including the location of the towels.

“What happens once the curse is removed?” Naoya asked. “Can I just leave?”

“That depends on the severity of it. I’ve seen people after days, but sometimes it takes months of recovery time. In your case… hm… I don’t know.”

Naoya’s hand shook where he held onto the cold, smooth countertop. “I don’t have any friends who’d miss me, that much is true, but I have classes… other obligations.”

“Your school will get a notice from a hospital regarding your absence. Don’t worry. You won’t be alone here.”

Naoya reached out in the direction of Aki’s voice and managed to grab what he thought was his arm.

“Thank you,” he said, voice small.

“Don’t mention it. I… I was in a worse state when I came here.”

For the first time, Naoya could hear an uncertain emotion in Aki’s voice. It was too bad he couldn’t see his face.

“I’ll leave you to it. Shout if you need anything.”

The door fell close and Naoya was left alone. He removed his clothes slowly and methodically, trying to place them somewhere he could find them again. There were soft nightclothes laid out next to the towels. It really was like a high quality hotel experience—not like a prison.

He walked towards the noise of the shower. The hot water felt heavenly. Even though the bandage around his head got soaked, he washed his hair, keeping his eyes closed while taking the cloth off. Finally done and halfway dry, Naoya lost his balance and slipped on the wet tile floor.

In fear, he opened his eyes as he flailed, grabbing whatever he could, but failed. He flopped down on the floor as the world flickered before him. The stark white glow of the bathroom light in his left eye and the purple hue of the other in his right. Both images existed at the same time, and it made his head hurt. The door to the bathroom burst open.

“Naoya?” Aki shouted.

Naoya looked at him, and for a moment, he saw both of them: Aki’s male and female form, overlapping in the same space. His stomach turned. Aki rushed forward and put his hand over Naoya’s eyes to hold them close.

“Did you hurt yourself? What happened?”

“I slipped…” Naoya managed.

“Did you hit your head?”

“I don’t think so… I… ugh…”

Aki’s hand was replaced by a towel.

“Hold this.”

Naoya did as he was told. To be frank, with the nausea still looming over him and the way his arm hurt where he had knocked it during the fall, he didn’t have a mind to do anything else. Then he remembered that he was still naked. He crossed his legs, just as another towel touched his shoulder.

“Come on, I’ll help you.”

Despite the shame that was burning inside him, Naoya accepted the help. With the towel pressed to his face, he allowed Aki to dry and dress him, then lead him to the bed.

“Sleep. It’s the best remedy. I’ll find you when you wake and look after your eyes.”

Despite the burn, Naoya teared up as soon as he was alone. He drew the blanket tighter around himself and fell into a dreamless sleep.

——

When he woke, Naoya opened his eyes on instinct. Only his right one wouldn’t comply. He reached up to find a bandage wrapped around it tightly, his eyelid forcefully shut. It was for the best, really. With just one eye, it was weird to look around as he sat up and inspected his surroundings.

The room was a proper, upscale hotel room, with a large bed, a desk and a seating arrangement. The door to the bathroom was open. Low light shone from a single lamp on the other side of the room. It seemed like the middle of the night, when actually Naoya couldn’t tell the time at all because there were neither windows nor clocks in the room.

After a quick trip to the bathroom, Naoya found his clothes on one of the chairs, freshly washed. How long had he been out? Long enough for someone to rebandage his eye, apparently. He regarded himself in the mirror. Except for the fact that his eye was covered, he looked sicker than the time he’d been out with a nasty flu for over two weeks. His skin colour was ashen and his visible eye sunken.

Sitting down at the desk, he took stock of the items on the table. A packaged sandwich and an onigiri. Several bottles of water. Banana milk. A bag of karintou. Painkillers. He washed the painkillers down with some water and reached for the karintou. Chewing on the crunchy, sugary snack relaxed him as he leaned back in the chair.

What the hell was happening?

A place called the Deadrealm. An organization hidden under Kinkakuji. A curse in his eyes. A man, who was sometimes a woman. Animal people, but not always.

And him? Sekiguchi Naoya, a man whose biggest interest was sketching buildings, locked inside the deepest basement with no hope of getting out any time soon. He reached for the banana milk and unscrewed the bottle. Coincidentally it was his favourite brand.

“Banana milk and karintou? Are you a child?”

Naoya looked over his shoulder to see Aki approach him with Bai Rong in tow. Aki wasn’t wearing the uniform anymore. Instead he was dressed in baggy, beige trousers and a wine red sweater. He looked almost approachable, if not for that perpetual frown. Naoya wondered if Aki had frowned like that last night.

“Low blood sugar,” Naoya replied.

“How’s the eye?”

“Hurts.”

Bai Rong flung a talisman at Naoya’s head, which glowed purple and disintegrated. Naoya flinched despite himself, grumbling as the resulting ashes rained down on him and his food.

“As I thought. The curse is like a possession. It sucks up energy,” Bai Rong said. “And from the looks of it… if it doesn’t get energy from

its surroundings, it will take it from the host.”

“Ah. So that’s why I look like shit,” Naoya remarked.

Aki snorted a laugh, but had his features schooled when the other two looked at him. Naoya shook his head.

“So what do I do? Just take this off every now and again?” he asked.

Bai Rong nodded. “If you don’t want to be sucked dry. But you can’t do it here. Come on, it’s time we explained what we’re doing here.”