The Holy Witness

Today is my last workday of the week. I might consider not taking night shifts anymore in the future. Two weeks is already enough to make me terrified of various things.

After swapping seats with the previous shift's operator, I entered my password to log into my user profile. My name, Mitsuki Hiyori, was displayed clearly on the screen. Right below it was the label: Operator 23.

Since the incident last Tuesday, Nanoka never returned to the office. Even after asking to go to the restroom right after the incident, she never came back to her desk and went straight home. Therefore, this week I was moved to operator line 23, replacing Nanoka. Line 24 itself is temporarily deactivated, considering there's no one to cover it anyway.

Honestly, I feel guilty for not being able to help Nanoka during a critical moment like that. I felt pity and uneasy seeing her so distressed, running frantically to the restroom. Especially after seeing the news on TV the next day about the victim—news that Nanoka most likely saw too. The victim suffered more than eight stab wounds and cranial trauma from a blunt object. Moreover, she sustained several fractured bones from falling down a slope and sliding under a bridge.

Even so, on the other hand, I consider myself lucky that I wasn't the one responsible for that call. If it had been me, I can't even imagine what would have happened to the victim, given that I'm noticeably clumsier than Nanoka. But that sense of relief sometimes acts as a reprimand to myself, because it could very well be me receiving a call like that in the future.

At the end of the shift, Mr. Kageyama approached my desk. "Please deliver this letter to Remikawa," he said.

I answered, "Yes," without overthinking it. I mean, my answer was just an instant reaction to an order from a senior.

The sun hadn't fully risen over the horizon. I sat on a silver bench near the station's vending machine—waiting for the train. The morning cold piercing my skin convinced me that I'll definitely wear the winter uniform for my next shift. The clock struck seven in the morning, and I finally boarded the train heading to Nanoka's area. I sat on an empty carriage seat; people were probably still having breakfast at this hour.

After about an hour of searching for Nanoka's address, I finally found a nameplate with the Remikawa surname right behind a park with a large tree in the center. I forgot the name of the park—even though I had just read its sign earlier. But at least that park could serve as a landmark if I ever needed to visit Nanoka's house again. After making sure the kanji written on it was indeed Nanoka's family name, I pressed the doorbell next to the dark brown door. Not long after, the sound of someone approaching from inside could be heard.

"Who is it?" she asked, slowly opening the door.

"O-oh, I'm so sorry for intruding this early in the morning, you must be busy preparing breakfast, right? I'm Mitsuki Hiyori, Nanoka's coworker." I introduced myself immediately so I wouldn't be seen as some weird stranger showing up at someone's house at the crack of dawn.

"Oh...! Nanoka's friend, right? What is it? Do you want to meet Nanoka?" she asked gently. I thought to myself that Nanoka was a bit lucky to have a mother like this.

"Ah, no. I just wanted to deliver this letter to Nanoka. It's from our senior, and I was asked to hand it to her," I replied.

"In that case, would you like to try giving it to her directly?" she asked.

I was confused. Even though her words were phrased as a question, her tone felt like she was inviting and almost forcing me to do what she asked. So, I could only say, "S-sure, if it's not too much trouble."

After I said that, I was invited inside and asked to wait in the living room. I was served tea to warm myself up, then left alone because she—Nanoka's mother—said she was going to call Nanoka downstairs to meet me. While waiting, I took out my phone and started reading some news. Until I began to feel something was off.

I had been sitting on this sofa for almost half an hour. The spacious living room felt increasingly desolate because there was absolutely no one passing through. Just as I stood up from my seat to check outside the room, Nanoka's mother suddenly returned with a gloomy face. Startled, I immediately sat back down, and Nanoka's mother took a seat across from me. We were separated by a fairly long coffee table, but I could sense that something unpleasant had happened to her.

"I'm sorry, Mitsuki. I thought I could get Nanoka out of her room by telling her a coworker had come to visit. But the result is the same," she said.

I gasped, taken aback by what Nanoka's mother had said. I tightly gripped the skirt I was wearing out of nervousness, fear, and confusion about how to respond. I tried to look at her mother's face. "S-since when has Nanoka refused to leave her room?"

"She hasn't wanted to leave the house since the incident that time. Then, two days later, she refused to even step out of her room."

The incident "that time"... so Nanoka's mother knew about it too. I always thought Nanoka was a closed-off person, even to her own family—because if I remember correctly, she once told me so. Or perhaps there was another reason Nanoka suddenly opened up to her mother? Ah, right. The shock of the incident was too strong and could easily cause trauma.

"That day, Nanoka suddenly came home crying." Without me asking, Nanoka's mother started sharing her story. "She was banging on the living room table, repeating 'I'm stupid' over and over again. When I asked her, she told me everything while still in tears."

I sat in silence, giving no reaction after hearing her story. Not because I was confused or too shy to speak, but because I saw a shadow through the slightly open living room door. Realizing that I had noticed her presence, Nanoka slowly pushed the door open until she fully stepped inside.

"Sorry for the wait," she said.

With a voice flatter than usual, wearing worn-out pajamas, messy hair, and a lethargic face, the impression Nanoka gave off was slightly terrifying. Not terrifying because of her looks, but terrifying to realize that the effects of her trauma could be this severe.

Nanoka's mother, startled, immediately stood up and hugged her daughter. "You're okay, right, sweetie?"

Nanoka didn't react much. She just stared blankly ahead over her mother's shoulder. Then her eyes shifted to me, and she gently pushed her mother away. "Sorry, Mom," she said, walking toward me.

"What do you need, Hiyori?" she asked.

"A-ah, that." Panicking because of the sudden question, I quickly grabbed the letter inside the brown envelope on the table. I promptly offered the letter to Nanoka. "This... Mr. Kageyama asked me to deliver this to you."

Nanoka's face showed sheer shock, and she frantically looked around the room. "I-is this really from Mr. Kageyama?" she asked.

"Of course, why?"

"A-ah, nothing." Then Nanoka hesitantly took the letter with her right hand. "Is this it?"

"Yes, just that."

"In that case," Nanoka turned around and walked toward the door. "I'm going back to my room," she said coldly.

But, just a step before she crossed the doorway, her mother grabbed her. After that, they seemed to converse in hushed mumbles; I couldn't hear what they were discussing. But clearly, after that exchange, Nanoka looked extremely uncomfortable and let her anger show. She pushed her mother away, much harder than before.

"Never bother me again!" After screaming that, Nanoka ran off—likely back to her room.

Nanoka's mother, looking shocked, stared at me with guilt. She sat back down on the sofa, leaning her body against the backrest. "She used to be like this before," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"Locking herself in her room, refusing to be disturbed even a little. When was it? Oh, during middle school."

"What was the cause?" I asked.

"She was bullied by her friends, got traumatized, and ended up locking herself in her room. It took months to heal that trauma. Even the home therapy sessions initially had to be done with her still behind her bedroom door." Nanoka's mother gave a small, bitter smile. "I never thought she would end up like this again."

My guilt toward Nanoka skyrocketed right then. I immediately got ready to excuse myself and go home, feeling bad for imposing on her mother any longer. After saying my goodbyes and closing her front door, I looked up at the second-floor window from Nanoka's front gate. The window wasn't open at all, even the curtains looked like they had been tightly pulled from both sides to ensure they couldn't be opened by accident. Just a moment before I took a step away from the front gate, I heard the sound of something falling from inside the house. The sound was extremely loud, whatever dropped was likely something heavy. I wanted to go back inside and check, but I was too terrified to do so. In the end, I just walked away.

I went home with countless questions in my head. I had a bad feeling. Maybe in the future, I will have to return here, to check on the two of them.