Chapter 5: Night

Kei lay awake long after the house had gone quiet.

The room was dark except for the faint glow from the hallway night light. Yui slept beside him, breathing softly, her hair spread across the pillow like a dark curtain. She looked peaceful. Safe. Unaware.

Kei envied her.

He had tried closing his eyes over and over, but every time he drifted toward sleep, something pulled him back. A faint sound. A shift in the air. A presence he couldn’t place.

At first, he thought it was the house settling. Old wood, shifting temperature, wind outside the windows. Normal things.

But the noises weren’t random.

They were soft, slow, and rhythmic.

Footsteps.

Faint, but unmistakable.

Kei held his breath the first time he heard them. The floorboards creaked in steady intervals, moving across the hallway just outside the bedroom. He tried to tell himself Touko was getting a glass of water or going to the bathroom.

But the steps never drifted away. They lingered. Paused. Returned.

And always stopped right outside the bedroom door.

Kei turned slightly toward Yui. She didn’t stir, not even when the steps grew more frequent over the next few nights. She slept through everything.

Lucky her, he thought, though the thought felt hollow.

On the fourth night, Kei jolted awake to a soft tap—barely audible, like a finger brushing wood. His heart jumped into his throat. He listened, frozen.

Another tap.

Then silence.

He pushed himself up and wiped his damp palms on the blanket.

This couldn’t continue.

He waited a full minute, letting the silence settle, then carefully slid out of bed. Yui didn’t move. Kei opened the drawer beside him and grabbed his phone, using the dim screen as a guide while he tiptoed toward the door.

He placed his hand on the knob and paused.

If he opened the door and found nothing, he’d feel ridiculous. If he opened the door and found what he feared… he didn’t know what he’d do.

Still, anything was better than lying awake wondering.

Kei slowly cracked the door open.

A sliver of hallway light spilled in.

And there she was.

Touko stood in the dim corridor, not startled, not guilty, not moving. Just standing there with her hands at her sides, long hair falling over her shoulders like a curtain.

Her eyes were already on him.

She had been waiting.

Kei’s breath hitched. “Touko… what are you doing?”

She didn’t answer. She simply blinked, as if adjusting to the light, then tilted her head a fraction.

“You’re awake,” she said quietly.

Kei stepped out into the hall, careful not to close the door behind him too loudly. His voice came out softer than he intended.

“Why are you out here? It’s late.”

Touko’s gaze lowered to his hand, still tightly gripping his phone. Then she raised her eyes again.

“I was checking,” she said.

“Checking what?”

Touko took a step closer. Kei instinctively stepped back.

“I wanted to see if you were alright.”

Kei forced a steady tone. “I’m fine. You don’t need to be wandering around at night.”

Touko’s expression didn’t change. It stayed calm, almost blank.

“You shouldn’t lock the door,” she said.

Kei blinked. “What?”

Touko looked past him at the bedroom door. A soft smile curved her lips—small, barely there, but filled with something he didn’t understand.

“What if I need you?”

A chill crawled up Kei’s spine.

“Touko… that’s not something you say to me.”

“Why?” she asked, voice soft, innocent, too innocent.

“Touko, go to bed. Please.”

She didn’t move. Her eyes stayed on him, unblinking, studying his reaction like she wanted to memorize every twitch. Kei swallowed, feeling the weight of the moment.

“Touko,” he said again, firmer this time.

After a long pause, Touko nodded once. She turned without another word and walked down the hallway. Not hurried. Not embarrassed. Just calm. As if she hadn’t said anything strange at all.

Kei watched until she entered her room and closed the door.

He didn’t move for several seconds. His pulse thudded painfully in his chest. When he finally reentered the bedroom, he closed the door quietly but left it unlocked. He hated how much that made sense now.

He lay down beside Yui again.

She didn’t stir, didn’t notice the tension in him, didn’t feel the cold sweat drying on his forehead.

Kei stared at the dark ceiling.

He could still picture Touko’s face outside the door.

Her steady stare.

Her quiet smile.

Her calm warning.

What if I need you?

He pulled the blanket up to his chest and tried to steady his breathing.

He didn’t sleep for the rest of the night.