Chapter 2

There they are again, always out of reach, and always staring at her. She closes her eyes again and does her best to ignore them. Now that she is somewhat used to them, she could at least act calm on the surface while her heart is beating like crazy. A stark contrast to how she reacted when she saw them for the first time.

It was a weekend, she recalled.

She left the office around two in the morning after a particularly soul-crushing overtime session. The streets were mostly empty, save for a few moving vehicles here and there. The distant hum of their engines and the faint whirring of their tires filled the air.

She felt a gaze the moment she stepped out of the building. Something was looking straight at her. She turned towards the direction the feeling came from.

Across the street and two building blocks away stood another office complex. This one is much larger than the one she worked in. Its glass windows formed countless rows that stretched upward into the night. Through these windows, she could tell that all its rooms had their lights turned off. One of the said windows caught her attention, for beyond its dark frame, a pair of eyes were staring back at her.

Saeko flinched. She looked away at once.

Something about those eyes freaked her out. It's strange. All they're doing is just stare at her. And yet, they're so unsettling she refused to exchange glances with them for even a single second.

She waited for a few seconds before forcing herself to look again. To her utter dismay, the eyes were still there, staring directly at her.

It's ridiculous. Like all the other rooms, this one is completely dark. By all logic, she shouldn't have been able to see anything in there. And yet, she could see those eyes perfectly. Not only that, she noticed something which freaked her out even more.

Even from this distance, she could make out the whites of the eyes and the dark circles of their pupils clearly. She would need at least ten minutes to reach that building on foot.

And yet, she could see them. Without the help of a pair of binoculars. Without even having the need to squint and focus.

She looked away again.

Somehow, those eyes reminded her of the judgmental glares she would receive whenever she messed up during work. Just the thought of being stared alone was sufficient to make her legs weak. She wanted to hide under her blanket and stay inside her room for the rest of her life. To be fair, she has always felt that way ever since she started working, but the eyes amplified the feeling several times fold.

The worst part is, the horror didn't stop there.

She finally decided that she had enough of those eyes and walked to the station. The trains were no longer operating since the station itself was closed several hours ago. However, there might be some taxis parked nearby. The fee will definitely be expensive, but she was out of options.

She turned to the right and started walking. Soon, she reached a T-junction. She took a right turn, walked some more, then took a left turn. Just a bit more. Just keep walking-

"Hey, watch it!"

"Eep! I-I'm sorry!"

That was close. She almost bumped into a fellow office worker since she wasn't watching where she was going. She immediately started bowing at him apologetically, and only stopped after he left. And then, Saeko made the mistake of looking upwards.

It's those eyes again.

They were much closer this time, and instead of a tall office block, they were staring at her from beyond the window of the back of a restaurant.Saeko could only stand and stare in complete disbelief; the feeling of fear those eyes gave her momentarily forgotten. Once she regained her composure, at least slightly, she turned her neck to look back at the tall office block. She then stared at the eyes again.

...How?

Under normal circumstances, no human alive would be able to cover this much distance in this short amount of time.

Wait a second.

No human alive...

Saeko shook her head vigorously. No. No no no no no. Nope. Just nope. This is an age of science. Humans no longer live in caves or believe in hocus-pocus nonsense. She was just tired. Yup. That's all there is. She was just hallucinating. Those eyes weren't real.

With that out of the way, she could finally continue her journey.

***

There were no cabs parked near the train station. Of course there weren't. The one time she needed one, they were nowhere to be found. Fantastic.

The good news: She has a cab-hailing app installed in her phone.

The bad news: She can't open it and call one since her phone doesn't have any data.

Why? Because she can't afford a plan.

In other words, she had to do what she always did in this kind of situation. She went to a nearby coffee shop. As expected, the shop was already closed. Not that she was planning to buy a cup of coffee or something. She just wanted to borrow their wi-fi for a bit. Once her phone is connected to the internet, she ordered a cab immediately. A few taps on the screen, and it's done.

There. She made sure to make it quick, and disconnected from the wi-fi the moment she was done. Even so, and even though this wasn't her first time, the act still made her feel guilty. It's not helping that the eyes were watching her the entire time, from beyond the windows of the coffee shop, no less. It might have been her imagination, but their already-judgmental gaze somehow felt even more piercing.

According to the app, the cab will arrive in five minutes or so. She just has to endure the eyes' gaze until then. There must be something she can do, anything at all...

Suddenly, she had a great idea.

It was really simple. She went to the wall next to the entrance of the coffee shop and leaned on it. Now the eyes can't see her at all-

-Until they appeared in the middle of a bush opposite her. So much for her great idea.

Just for the heck of it, she leaned forward and looked at the spot where the eyes were just a moment ago. To the surprise of no one, they were no longer there. It is now confirmed that there was only a single pair of eyes from the very beginning.

After waiting for several agonizing minutes, the cab she ordered is finally here. It was all Saeko could do to stop herself from charging towards it in relief. Instead, she walked towards it slowly and normally like how a civilized person would. Once she got close, one of the back doors of the taxi opened automatically, and she entered the vehicle.

The journey was long and agonizing, with an extra emphasis on "agonizing". No matter where the cab went, the eyes would follow. Saeko had to act calm and control her breathing the entire time.

***"-now arrived at Ochanomizu."

The monotonous announcement brought her back to the present. For better or worse, the random flashback distracted her. She gets up from her seat, and charges out of the train the moment the doors opened. In just a few minutes, she has already left the platform, and eventually the station. Needless to say, she was looking down the entire time.

Next stop: her apartment.

She reaches it without incident. Without bothering to close the door behind her, she bends down and picks up the work uniforms she left on the floor this morning. She then walks to the kitchen, where the laundry basket is already waiting for her next to the tiny fridge. She puts her uniforms inside the basket, picks up said basket, and leaves the apartment as quickly as she entered.There is a coin laundromat located right beside her building. It's self-service, which is why it's still open at this hour. She is the only one there, which suits her just fine. She picks a washing machine at random and dumps the contents of the basket inside. Once that is done, she feeds the slots a few coins. The machine begins its work immediately.

Instead of waiting for it to finish, Saeko heads back to the apartment. Why waste time when she can use it to take a bath?

Before she bathes, she hangs her uniforms properly. She plans to wear them until the week is up, which is in six days. Once her body is clean and dry, she got changed to her loungewear and left the apartment again, the second time in less than an hour.

Much to her dread, the washing machine is still not done. She might not have minded so much if the eyes were not around. She takes a risk and glances outside. The eyes are staring at her from a dark alley right across the street.She takes a seat at one of the few benches placed inside the laundromat. She chooses to sit facing the eye instead of turning her back on them. Her past experience taught her that they will just teleport somewhere else if she does. The last thing she wants is to see them staring at her from inside one of the washing machines, not to mention sharing the same space with them. Up until now, she has yet to see the rest of the creature. She is more than happy to keep it that way. Speaking of which, she'd best lock the door to the entrance. She can't risk them sneaking up on her while she's staring at her toes. Not that they have ever tried to do so, but it's best to be on the safe side.

For some strange reason, the door here is made of transparent glass. Isn't the owner of this place worried that someone might shatter it? Ah, well, it has nothing to do with her. She goes back to her seat.

Deep breath... Just keep on looking down...

The laundromat is eerily quiet, with the silence only occasionally broken by the whirring sound made by the washing machine behind her. The silence is simply unbearable.

It's okay... It's only until the washing machine is done washing the clothes... Just endure a bit more...

Eventually, she can't hear the whirring sound anymore. She turns towards the machine. It has stopped. Finally.

She wastes no time in stuffing all her wet, wrinkled clothes inside the basket she left next to the machine. When she finishes, she couldn't help but stop and stare into the basket.

Three of her socks are missing.

Not two pairs and a stray, but three individual ones.

She looks inside the machine through the door. It's completely empty. Unwilling to give up, she reaches inside and runs her hand along the damp interior.

Her eyes hadn't deceived her. They are really gone.

How is that possible? She is absolutely certain that all of them had their pairs when she put them into the basket. When could she have lost them?Unless... No, she refuses to even entertain the idea-

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Saeko felt her heart stopping. Her worst suspicion has come true. The owner of the eyes was no longer satisfied with just stalking her. It took her belongings, and now, it's standing right behind her.

KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

Bit by bit, Saeko turns towards the entrance where the knocking came from. In her mind, she expected some sort of terrifying monster-

-Only to see a woman her age standing beyond the transparent glass door. She's wearing a white spaghetti-strap nightgown and covered her shoulders with a yellow woolen stole. On her hands is a laundry basket.

Upon finally getting Saeko's attention, the woman gives a small wave and smiles. Saeko quickly got up and unlocks the door. She then quickly steps aside so that the woman can come inside.

"I-I-I-I-I'm so sorry!" Saeko stutters at her while bowing repeatedly.

Thankfully, the woman didn't mind one bit.

"It's okay. I understand that you locked the door just in case."

"Y-Y-Y-Yes!"

The woman walks rather gracefully to the washing machine right next to the one used by Saeko. Her skin is fair, her black hair is long and silky, and her figure is good. Saeko couldn't help but stare.

The woman opens the circular door of the washing machine and begins to unload the contents of her basket. Her movements are so lady-like and mesmerizing-

"May I help you?" the woman asks, not unkindly.

Saeko flinches. She felt her face burning up. She shakes her head vigorously, went to fetch her basket, gives the woman a small bow, then leaves the laundromat like her life depended on it.

Boy, that was so embarrassing.

***

When Saeko reached the office the next day, she felt rather good from getting more sleep than usual.

And then she sees the literal mountain of work piled up on her desk inside the cubicle.

She glances rather sourly towards Asakura's office. She's not even surprised that the lights inside are still not on. According to the company's policy, all employees are required to arrive one hour before working hour. Apparently, the rule doesn't apply to the very person who made it in the first place.

She lets out a soft sigh. It's still early, but she decides to get to work anyway since she wants to go home as soon as possible. As she's typing away, some of her colleagues are busy chatting. She pays them no heed. All of them will stop being so brazen the moment Asakura arrives. That said, she really wished that they could at least lower down their volume-

"Have you ever heard of "Shinya No Manako"?"