Desperate For Time

“Make yourselves at home,” Honoka said with a welcoming smile, gracefully stepping out of her shoes. Eiji and Naomi followed, their eyes wandering over their upperclassman’s humble residence.

It was a classic Japanese-style apartment, tucked away within the sprawling Shina complexes. The place exuded a certain tranquility, though to Eiji, it felt oddly hollow.

“Pardon the intrusion…” Naomi whispered, her voice dropping an octave. “Is no one else here?”

“Uh… I’m alone at the moment,” Honoka replied with a quick shake of her head. “I’ll fetch some tea; please, sit wherever you like!”

Brushing off her sudden shift in demeanor, Honoka glided toward the kitchen, leaving her guests to settle in the living room. The space was sparsely furnished—just a round coffee table and a few cushions resting on the plain tatami floor. Eiji claimed a spot near the window, his fingers moving with the precision of a well-practiced ritual as he reached for a cigarette.

“May I—”

“Senpai…” Naomi narrowed her eyes at him before he could even finish the sentence.

“What?”

“You know, you really ought to quit smoking.”

“What’s this about?” Honoka asked, reappearing with a tray of steaming tea cups.

“Takenaka-senpai!” Naomi perked up instantly. “I was just telling Senpai he should quit!”

“Eh?”

While the senior remained puzzled by the exchange, Naomi pressed on. “Don’t you think so, too? It’s terrible for your health, right?”

“What’s it to you?” Eiji grumbled.

Honoka looked between the two of them and let out a small, genuine chuckle as she settled into a formal seiza position. “Your kouhai is just concerned about you, Kanzaki-kun.”

Eiji exhaled, looking defeated. “Fine,” he muttered, setting the cigarette aside. For now.

⌁◉⌁

The gentle pitter-patter of rain against the glass hummed in harmony with Naomi’s soft singing. She was diligently sketching on a sheet of paper Honoka had provided, crayons and pens scattered around her like an artist’s palette.

As Eiji waited for a literal or figurative window to have that smoke, Honoka broke the silence.

“It’s still raining, isn’t it?”

“Hm,” Eiji grunted.

An hour drifted by with no sign of the elusive Specter. The silence wasn’t awkward. Or at least not as awkward as one would expect. Honoka did in fact invite two total strangers into her home who claimed her misfortune was supernatural.

Suddenly, Naomi’s phone chimed. She glanced at the screen and sighed. “It’s my mom,” she murmured, her thumbs flying across the screen. “I told her we’ll be staying for a bit. I hope it’s not too much of a bother, Takenaka-senpai!”

“Of course not,” Honoka smiled back. “Just make sure they aren't worried.” Her gaze then shifted to Eiji. “Shouldn’t you... contact your own parents, Kanzaki-kun?”

A sudden, sharp silence blanketed the room. Naomi dropped her pen and made a theatrical show of crawling under the table to retrieve it.

“Heh, nice weather today, huh?” she chirped from under the wood, just as a low rumble of thunder boomed in the distance. The rain was only getting heavier.

Eiji hated people tiptoeing around him almost as much as he hated Specters. He knew the Yakubyo-gami case was in a stalemate because Honoka wasn't opening up. If he wanted her trust, he’d have to offer his own first.

“It’s complicated,” he began, pausing as the weight of the words settled. “I lost my family when I was young. My mom is...” He hesitated, his voice carrying a rare edge of raw emotion. “She’s comatose. In a hospital.”

Honoka froze, her grip tightening around her mug until her knuckles turned white. “I… I’m so sorry, Kanzaki-kun. I shouldn't have—”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not exactly a state secret.” Eiji shrugged, finally extinguishing the unlit cigarette he’d been fidgeting with.

“That means Senpai trusts you, Senpai 2.0!” Naomi chimed in, trying to lighten the mood.

“Oi.”

“Now that I think about it, there’s only one Senpai...” Naomi muttered to herself, while Honoka blinked, lost in the "Senpai 2.0" logic.

But the label wasn't what stuck with Honoka. It was the fact that Kanzaki had shared something so heavy with her. She felt the sudden, urgent need to reciprocate. She took a deep breath, her eyes darting between her two guests.

“I... the reason I’m alone right now,” she said, nodding to herself, “is because my mother is hospitalized, too.”

The room fell quiet again, but the tension had shifted. It was no longer awkward; it was shared.

“Since we’re confessing...” Naomi straightened her back, her face contorting into a mix of pride and sadness. “I lost my best friend to a Specter not too long ago. Right before Senpai saved me.”

The weight of their collective admissions settled over the tatami. In the midst of the rain and the haunting, a strange sense of relief washed through the room. Acceptance and a newfound, fragile trust took root. Eiji felt a fraction lighter; what had started as a tactical move to solve a case had turned into something more human.

Honoka and Naomi exchanged a knowing look, followed by warm, tired smiles.

“Hah...”

A tiny laugh escaped Honoka—a rare spark of levity in the middle of their shared angst.

“We all have it rough, don’t we?” Honoka sighed, her shoulders slumping as she finally let the tension bleed out of her frame. The emotional bridge built by their shared confessions had done its work; the air in the room felt lighter, if only just slightly.

Capitalizing on that newfound closeness, Honoka reached up and clutched the emerald necklace at her neck, her fingers tracing the smooth surface of the bead.

“You know... my dad works abroad, so I don’t see him often. It was always my grandma who helped my mother raise me.” She smiled wistfully at the memory. “But she passed away right when I started high school.”

She looked down at the green stone, which seemed to catch the dim light of the room like a small, preserved treasure.

“Baa-san got this for me a few months before she... we went to a summer festival. She found it at a stall selling all kinds of cheap, shiny trinkets. I never knew why this specific one caught her eye.”

“It’s beautiful,” Naomi said softly, her smile warm and genuine.

“That’s why I make a point of keeping it with me. Always. Even if I have to bend a few school rules,” Honoka confessed with an innocent, slightly embarrassed grin. “Childish, isn't it? To be so attached to a piece of glass?”

Childish? Eiji thought of the photograph he kept tucked away. He thought of the heavy mantle of revenge he carried every day.

“Who’s to say it’s childish?” Eiji scoffed, his voice low. “If it means something to you, nobody can ever take that away. No matter how hard they try.”

Honoka’s face flushed a soft pink at his words, while Naomi’s eyes took on a mischievous, teasing glint.

“Senpai, you total softie.”

“Oi.”

Honoka lowered her head and giggled at their bickering. It was a small, fragile moment of joy.

“After Baa-san passed, everything started going downhill,” Honoka continued, her voice growing somber again. “Small slip-ups at first, every day. But they grew in number and in scale. When my mom fell ill two months ago, I actually thought someone had cursed us. It’s been rough, managing the house without her... but I told myself there was no way it was something as irrational as a curse. Now, I don't know what to believe.”

“The Yakubyo-gami...” Naomi murmured, falling into thought.

Eiji remained silent, his mind working through the mechanics of the haunting. Illness was a common tool for Yakubyo-gami, but they were usually fleeting nuisances. For a spirit to lay someone low for two months meant it was either exceptionally spiteful or it was being fed a constant stream of high-grade negative energy. Left unchecked, these lesser specters had a nasty habit of escalating until the "mischief" turned fatal.

“Your mother will be alright,” Eiji said, his voice firm. “We just need to deal with the source. Doctors are there for a reason, too.”

His words provided a sliver of solace, but the moment was shattered by the shrill ringing of the house phone. Honoka jumped, then hurried to the hallway to answer it.

In the living room, Eiji and Naomi sat in silence, involuntarily catching fragments of the conversation.

“Yes... it’s me.” Honoka’s voice was frantic, her silhouette swaying in the hallway. “I... under— What?” She let out a sharp, audible gulp. “I... I’ll be there right away!”

The line went dead. Honoka practically flew back into the living room, her eyes wide and darting with panic.

“Takenaka-senpai?”

“It’s... my mom!” she gasped, her voice trembling so violently it was hard to catch the words. Eiji stood up, sensing the shift in the air. “They say her condition is getting worse. They don't... they don't know why!”

She grabbed her keys from the table, her hands shaking. “You don't think it’s because of that... that spirit?”

Naomi looked down, likely remembering the weight of her own loss. The way these things didn't just hurt you—they tore your world apart.

Honoka didn't wait for an answer. “I need to go to the hospital!” she cried, already halfway to the door. “You can leave the front door unlocked! I... bye!”

“Hey!”

But Honoka was already gone, her frantic footsteps echoing down the hallway and out the front door.

Eiji and Naomi were left standing in the silent apartment. Outside, a massive crack of thunder shook the walls, sounding like a beast roaring in the darkness.

“Se-senpai...?” Naomi whispered as the rain began to lash against the windows with renewed fury.

Eiji exhaled, pushing off his knee and straightening his jacket. His eyes were sharp, focused. The stalemate was over. The Specter had finally made its move.

“What are you standing around for?” he growled, heading for the door. “We’re going after her.”