Bond

This week has been ordinary. My boss was actually pretty calm about my whole situation. He said that there were power outages for those three days. Lucky me! Right now it’s a hot summer afternoon, ugh… I hate this kind of weather… Thankfully my rustic living room is pretty chilly thanks to my trusty cheap electric fan. Oh yeah, my phone has been ringing a few times lately, I think I got some messages from somebody. I own a budget phone, which is being used mostly for texting and calls. Huh, let’s see… ah, yes, I had planned a meeting with the reporter at the local café. Crap, I forgot about that! I hope that she is not angry with me. I let out a concerned sigh, while my heart was starting to beat faster and faster. I could feel my chest pounding. It’s not like I have feelings for her or anything… Jeez, I feel so nervous for some reason.

“Hey!; It’s been a while…; How are you feeling today?;” Wh-what?! She asked how I’m feeling today. I cannot believe it! “I hope that you didn’t forget about our meeting…; How about going there tomorrow if you are free, of course; If you want to meet elsewhere, just text me, I’m fine with any place”. Tomorrow is Saturday, I can manage a meeting anytime tomorrow. I should tell her that.

I sat on my bed and thought of a good way to invite her. But I couldn’t think of anything. I then laid on the bed, still thinking of a way to invite her. After many minutes of brainstorming, I fell asleep with my phone in hand. Saturday morning comes and the message that I accidentally wrote was: “Caaschdfe cg”. Embarrassment catches up slowly to me. A hot shiver climbs up my spine. God, I’m such a failure. Too bad she has already seen the message. I guess I should call her to make things up.

But first, I need to brush my teeth. Hygiene comes first. With a slight look at my bathroom mirror, I realised that I have slept well, due to my hair being a mess. It’s so hard to keep this fluffy hair in good shape. Do I need a haircut? Or maybe a shave…

Alright, time to call Seta-san. With a shaking hand, I dial her number and wait. With every dialing tone that passes, I feel more anxious. But eventually, she picks up.

Kiyomi: “Hello?”

Eiji: “A-ah yes, ahem, hello.”. Well that was awkward…

Kiyomi: “What’s up?”

Eiji: “Umm.. I’ve called regarding our café meeting. Are you willing to meet in about an hour?”

Kiyomi: “Haha what’s that? No need to be so formal with me. But yeah, sure, let’s meet there in an hour. I can’t wait to see you.”

Eiji: “Sweet, I’ll be waiting for you there.”

Kiyomi: “Good, see you there.”

She hangs up. I think that was a pretty good invitation. Now I’ve realized how little I’ve communicated with women. I am afraid of what’s to come at the café. It’s 9 o’clock huh… I should get ready for the meeting.

The café’s name apparently is Gyarari. I don’t always come to this area because I have no business here. But today’s a special occasion. The inside of the café looks really well kept. There are various paintings on the wall, all the tables look clean, the windows are surprisingly small and the curtains are a light orange. I heard that during dusk, the atmosphere gets really cozy. I quickly look for an open seat and sit there. It’s rather empty here, only two or three people are sitting at other tables. To be fair, this café is pretty anonymous, only locals know well about this place. While awkwardly sitting alone at the table, the doorbell rings. “Ah Kiyomi! Welcome back!”. It seems that the barista knows her well.

Kiyomi: “Hey!”

Eiji: “Heya.”

Kiyomi: “God… I wish that there would be rain today.”. As I see, a woman of culture, she knows here weather well.

Eiji: “You despise hot weather too?”

Kiyomi: “More or less... I mean, I like that I can wear t-shirts and shorts but I absolutely hate sweating. When it’s cold I can put on more clothes or tuck in a cozy blanket, but when it’s hot there’s nothing I can do. If I could, I would take my skin off.”

My eyes sparkled as soon as I heard her opinion regarding hot weather.

Eiji: “Believe me or not, but that’s my exact opinion. I too hate hot weather but I love rain because it makes me feel nostalgic and sometimes when it rains, I just sit near the window and simply listen to it.”

Kiyomi: “Oooh that sounds so good! You know, we should totally go on a walk while it’s raining or go to somebody’s house and just relax.”

Eiji: “That’s actually not a bad idea!”

Kiyomi: “How old are you? I forgot to ask you last time.”

Eiji: “Right now I’m 26 years old. What about you?”

Kiyomi:”24 years”. She smiles with confidence as if she is proud of this. I return a soft smile. “Anyways, let’s get to business. Would you please tell me what happened a while back when you were sitting for three days outside my house? Not in a weird way of course. Luckily, there aren’t many people here, so you can tell me everything. I actually know the barista, this is my favourite place to come and enjoy a hot drink. If I talk to him a bit we can go into a room in the back if you’re embarrassed talking here. Just tell me everything.”

As talkative and forward as always. Back then, when I first met her, I didn’t like this part of her, but now, I don’t really mind. I would just stay with her and listen to everything that she has to tell me. But still. I’m a little hesitant about telling her what really happened.

Eiji: “If I told you, would you believe everything that I tell you?”

Kiyomi: “Absolutely.”

Eiji: “Okay, here goes. Have you seen that incident about that man who was shot in the stomach a few weeks ago?”

Kiyomi: “Of course, he was one of my neighbours. Why’s that?”

Eiji: “Well, after giving a report to the police officers, somehow I got a small mirror in my pocket. And whe-”

Kiyomi: “A small mirror huh… in your pocket…”

Eiji: “Yes, when I left there, I noticed it in my pocket and decided to look into it. It was like an usual mirror, I could see myself, but a strange lady appeared behind me- only in the reflection though.”

Kiyomi: “Hmm interesting… keep going.”

Eiji: “Right. After that, I hesitated to look further into it, until a week later, when I was curious about that woman that I had seen then. So I headed out, back to where the victim was shot and she appeared again. Somehow I saw her mouth moving, but I couldn’t hear her at all.”

Kiyomi: “Woah…”

Eiji: “Some time passes, and I can feel her on my back. She laughed. She cried. Then she stopped. She had a blank expression and then started crying blood. I could see my reflection self crying hard, with red eyes. I was trembling. Luckily, you came and “woke” me up. Thanks for that.”

Kiyomi: “No way… a small mirror you said, right?”

Eiji: “Uh yeah.”

Kiyomi: “I have a small mirror in my room that I left there after I too found it in my pocket.”

Eiji: “…and you couldn’t see mine while I was standing outside your room?”

Kiyomi: “Not really, it was dark and you were in a backstreet. I only had time to look out the window during the night.”

Eiji: “It’s strange though how nobody bothered with me. For three whole days. But still… you have a small mirror too… I wonder if it’s the same as mine and if it has the same effect.”

Kiyomi: “Shall we check it out?”

Eiji: “I mean, if it’s okay with you I’m up for it.”

Kiyomi: “Cool, go home, grab your small mirror and come to my house. Here’s my address. See you there!”

Eiji: “Sounds like a plan! I will be seeing you there.”. I grab my bag and hurry out the door after paying the barista and thanking him. I can’t believe that I get to go to a woman’s house. I wonder how it looks…

After unlocking my door, I grab my mirror and head out fast. I can swear that when I entered my bedroom, there was that black figure in the corner of the room, but I didn’t have time to waste on other small things. That could have been a figment of my imagination. I made sure to double lock my door and headed over to Seta-san’s house.

This should be her house. I knocked on the door and without a second to waste, I heard “Coming!”. She must have been waiting patiently for me. The door opens. It feels as if this door is an opening to a whole new world, where new discoveries await me.

Kiyomi: “Yes, come on in!”

Eiji: “Pardon the intrusion.”

Her hallway is sparkly clean, as I should have expected. The smell of citrus tickles my nose in a pleasant way. I leave my shoes at the door and step in. I must say, her room is very spacious. It feels like you could fit in three more beds and a sofa in here and still have plenty of space. Her books seem to be organized well, I like that. Her window, barely opened, where she could see me, was letting in a slight draft. The desk was near the window and her pens and pencils were organized too. I want to move here now.

Kiyomi: “Okay, have you brought your mirror?” She sits on her bed in a provocative way. I feel like I should sit next to her, but I decide to sit on a chair. Her long black hair blows in the soft wind.

Kiyomi: “Are you blushing? Don’t tell me it’s your first time in a girl’s room haha.”

Eiji: “N-no it’s not…”. Obviously, that was a lie.

Kiyomi: “Well…?”

Eiji: “A-ah yes umm, I’ve brought it.” As I pull it out, my head aches. I hope I didn’t make a weird face, I don’t mean to scare her now. I showed it to her…

Kiyomi: “Hmm I see… it almost looks like mine.”

It’s true, her small mirror resembles mine, more or less. We avoid looking into them.

Kiyomi: “Interesting… what could this mean?”

Eiji: “I have no idea at all.”

Kiyomi: “Well? Want to look into them? See what happens?”

Eiji: “I don’t know about that…”

Kiyomi: “Awww come onnn I’m curious. Are you not?”

Eiji: “We-well…”

Kiyomi: “Okay I’ll start then.”

She looks hard into her mirror, but after a while, it seems that she didn’t see anything after all. I guess it’s my turn now. I turn away from her, so that I don’t get her reflection in my mirror and look in it. As to be expected, nothing.

Kiyomi: “Huh, nothing. Let’s check that place over there!”. As she points towards the back alley, I start to get chills.

Kiyomi: “Come onnn let’s get moving!”. As she grabbed me by my hand and yanked me from her chair, my heart started beating faster than ever. I could feel my face hot and pulsating.

We have arrived at the aforementioned place and we both pull out our mirrors. Right, time to do this…

Kiyomi: “Are you scared?”

Eiji: “I-”

Kiyomi: “Don’t worry, I’m scared too…”

Eiji: “Oh…”. This is not good. She is too cute for me. I fell like my legs would give any moment.

Kiyomi: “Alright, let’s go.”

Eiji: “Wait! We should check the calendar and see if any time passes while we are staring at the mirrors.”

Kiyomi: “That’s smart. Okay, 11th of June. Noted.”

We stand one next to each other, by doing this, we avoid getting our reflections in their mirrors. Who knows what could happen. That woman appears again. There’s no mistake. It’s the same woman that I saw back then. But, something’s strange. She looks very familiar. She has long beautiful hair… Too bad I cannot make sense of her eyes. They’re fully black as if she doesn’t have any. But there’s no way this is another woman. I must have missed her eyes during our last encounter. Again, it seems as if she’s trying to tell me something, but strangely, this time I can hear her… “Eiji… Eiji… Hirayama Eiji…”. She knows my name. I have no idea how, I haven’t ever talked with her, this is my first time I hear her properly. Or have I talked with her? Again, her eyes and mouth start bleeding, this time it seems as if she’s happy. Huh… strange. My reflection self seems to be content. I give off a warm smile, a single tear flows out of my eye, as she disappears into the background. It seems that I’m back to reality. I looked at Seta-san, but she was still looking into the mirror. She seems to be crying. I decided that I should not disturb her at the moment. I should let her experience what I have seen back then. Oh yeah, I should check the date.

As I opened my phone, I felt relieved. It’s the 13th of June, two days have passed. For me at least. Seta-san appears to be crying, but her face is blank. As I sat nearby, I began to think about what I saw. Long black hair… my eyes slide towards Seta-san, and I freeze. No way… there’s no way that the woman in the reflection is her. I stare blankly at her. What could this mean? Suddenly, she started shaking very hard, and I jumped to help. I put my hand on her shoulder and she jolted, falling into my hands.

Kiyomi: “I…” it appears as if she’s trying to say something, but tears swallow her words. I put my hand on her head, instinctively and pulled her closer to me.

Kiyomi: “I saw…” she begins to sob really hard. I try as hard as I can to hold back tears. I have to comfort her somehow. I guess I should just hold her close.

Eiji: “It’s okay, I’m here…” her crying doesn’t stop…

Kiyomi: “Let’s go back to my room.” I didn't say a word, I just nodded and we headed straight back to her house.

It’s quiet. This room’s atmosphere is really chilly. We are both tired after standing for two days… I think I should quit my job. I can’t slack off like this. But then, how would I pay for my food, for my housing, for my basic human needs…

Seta-san lays in her bed and puts a hand on her forehead. I checked to see if she had a fever, which wouldn’t make any sense, but her forehead was really on fire. I have no idea how. Has this encounter left such a heavy toll on her? I was just thirsty after my first encounter. Right now it seems that I am fine, one way or another.

Eiji: “Seta-san, what did you see?”

Kiyomi: “Please… call me… Kiyomi already.” I could barely understand her. She was on the verge of crying again.

Eiji: “Would that make you feel better?”

Kiyomi: “Yes.”

Eiji: “Okay, Kiyomi. Now, would you please tell me what you saw?”

Kiyomi: “I am sure… that in that reflection… it was you, Eiji.” My heart dropped. I feel as if a rock has dropped on my chest.

Eiji: “You saw… me?”

Kiyomi: “Yes, no mistake. I saw a man with fluffy black hair and glasses. But his eyes were fully blacked out… just like you said earlier.” A strong shiver encompasses me, followed shortly by a cold sweat.

Eiji: “Well… I am sure that I saw you too in my reflection. A young woman with long black hair. Her eyes were pitch black too.”

Kiyomi: “I… have no words…”

Eiji: “What could this mean? We saw each other in the reflection world… Was I clinging to your back?”

Kiyomi: “Yes.. you were.” Her breathing gets heavier as I get closer to her. “I also felt my back heavy while you were behind me.”

Eiji: “I see…”. Without a doubt this has something to do with our past lives. There’s no other explanation that I could think of right now. Kiyomi-san’s breathing gets heavier and heavier.

Eiji: “Ah, I think I should head home. I'm pretty beat. Please, get some rest. See you later.” Right as I turned around, just about to leave her room, I could hear something behind me.

Kiyomi: “N… no… please don’t leave me. Come back!”. Her soft voice transforms into a sad one, tears engulf her cheeks. My chest hurts. I can’t stand watching her suffer anymore. But what should I do in this situation? I wonder… “come here”

Eiji: “Huh? Wha-”

Kiyomi: “Hurry… hurry up! The bed… the bed’s going to get cold…” I blush deeply

Eiji: “Are you sure? You don’t mind?”

Kiyomi: “Right now, I don’t mind at all… now come on over.”

Eiji: “Right.” I’m still fully dressed up. I guess I should undress a bit, but not too much. Who knows what her twisted mind may come up with. I start off with my jacket, leaving me only with a thin, white t-shirt. I hope that I don’t smell that badly. With a good look at her, you can tell that she’s fast asleep. Poor soul. This must have been quite a traumatizing experience for her.

I got into her warm bed, and while she had her back against me, I grabbed her softly by her waist so as not to wake her up. Jeez, I have to do something about my job. But right now, nothing matters to me. This bed is way more comfortable than mine. I can hear Kiyomi’s soft breathing, while my warm breathing warms her nape. My heart is beating at its maximum capacity. It’s quiet outside. I can only hear the sound of my heart beating against my chest. Hopefully this doesn’t wake her up. Wait a minute. I barely got to know this woman and I already slept with her. Was it that easy? She, too, must be tired. At any rate, I should sleep. Tomorrow is a Wednesday… another day at the office.

I let out a soft sigh. My thoughts are too loud for me to fall asleep, even though I’m tired. Two days huh... were my last thoughts, before my eyes fully closed, and fell asleep.

It’s morning. I feel like I have slept way better than the other nights. Confused, I take quick looks around me and everything comes back to me. Ah, right, Kiyomi’s room. I looked to my left, where she was supposed to be sleeping, but she’s gone. I start to panic. Have I scared her? Does she remember anything from last night? I hope she does…

A loud bang fully awakens me. I quickly put my jacket on and headed out of her room. While passing by the kitchen, I notice two coffee cups, with steam coming out of them. Freshly prepared huh.

???: “Hey! Don’t talk to me like that!” At the sound of this strange voice, I jolt. I know, maybe she’s talking with the postman… I gently open the door and I make eye contact with a strange man.

???: “Who are you?! Kiyomi, who is this man?” At first glance, this man didn’t look like any ordinary postman. He was dressed in a rugged leather jacket, camo pants, leather boots and had a buzzcut. Honestly I felt inferior to this man.

Kiyomi: “Enough! Leave me alone! Don’t ever show your face to me anymore. Leave before you wake up the other neighbours with your loud annoying voice. You ruined my life. I don’t want to see you ever again.”. What’s up with her? She is almost crying again. I figured that this was his ex-boyfriend. I didn’t want to intrude, so instead of heading back to her house, I just supported my elbows on a railing next to them and awkwardly looked into the distance, trying to avoid a conversation with them. Little did I know that I was annoying this man even more with only my presence.

???: “Hey you! Over there. You have the audacity to just stay there?! Oh… I see what’s going on here. Let me tell you something. This woman’s no good. She will ruin your life. Only bad things happen near her. I suggest you leave her and go your own way.”. Obviously, I ignored him. I looked him right in the eye with a bored expression, then looked away in the distance.

Kiyomi: “Enough!” Then, she slapped him. “Just go away…” she turned away, grabbed my hand and dragged me inside. While slamming and locking the door, the man was still trying to say something. But it was futile, words couldn’t go through this woman anymore. “Don’t mind him… he’s just my ex-boyfriend.” Figures. “He has the impression that I stole money from him. But I barely knew him for a few weeks. What a complete douchebag.”

Eiji: “Kiyomi… are you feeling well?”

Kiyomi: “Right now… yes. I feel good, Eiji. I feel good because I met you. You opened my eyes with the help of the mirror, you gave me courage to look into it, you showed me a path that I couldn’t have taken alone. Thank… thank you…”. Her words are being drowned by a flow of tears…

Eiji: “I…” She falls into my hands, then we both get on our knees near the kitchen table. I feel like I need to protect her, this is what my instinct is telling me. Out of a strange reflex, I softly kissed the top of her head. She began crying even harder, and began to hold me, as if she was trying to tell me not to leave her…

Kiyomi: “Please don’t leave me anymore…” What?! I was right. I am surprised… “Call it love at first sight or however you want to call it, but I really like you, Eiji.” She said that while looking me right in the eyes. I felt emotional. With a slight tear coming out of my right eye, I tell her…

Eiji: “Yeah, I like you too Kiyomi…”

We both hold each other tightly. At this moment, I forgot about all of my problems. I feel like I could run away with her and never look back. Heh, only if it were that easy…