Nebulous

R-Senpai: “ ‘I Went to a Parallel World with My Pillow, and Now I Must Sleep.’ Hit by a truck while taking a nap on his favorite park bench, follow the adventures of Makura-kun as he sets out to save the kingdom of Monnsiia with the help of his trusty pillow, one nap at a time.”

R-Senpai: ”I swear, they'll send anything to a parallel world these days. Now, if only they'd figure out how to do the reverse. That's the only way I'll get my cat-girl wife at this rate...”

Me: ”A pillow. How's that going to work? Is he going to sleep the demon king to death?”

R-Senpai: “Not sure. It sounds like the pillow has some abilities.”

Me: “Inb4 sleeping under a blanket adds +5 armor protection.”

R-Senpai: “I'm more worried about what happens if he gets laid. +10 splash damage? Or does he get penalized for sleeping less?”

Me: “You'll have to tell me.”

R-Senpai: ”Nah, I lost interest after the first five pages.”

Me: “Why?”

R-Senpai: “Three full-body pages of the MC sleeping? Too riveting for me.”

Me: “I see.”

R-Senpai: “You ever get round to finishing ‘Death Was Normal’?”

Me: “Nah, got about halfway.”

R-Senpai: “Wasn't that where you stopped four weeks back?”

Me: “Might have been. I've been a bit busy of late.”

R-Senpai: “What, again?”

Me: “Yup.”

R-Senpai: “How long?”

Me: “Two weeks and counting.”

R-Senpai: “Dude, you should ease up.”

Me: “I almost have it.”

R-Senpai: “That's what you always say. In reality, you work yourself into a coma until you pass out for two days, only to do it again.”

R-Senpai: “Take a page out of Makura-kun's book. Go, take a nap.”

Me: “I have a strange question for you. Have you ever... seen... stuff...”

R-Senpai: ”All the time. Right now, I'm seeing a friend take an unhealthy dose of workahol.”

Me: “Not that. Things... people... in the shadows...”

R-Senpai: ”... what?”

Me: ”Nothing. Forget about it.”

R-Senpai: “I distrust the sound of that.”

Me: “It's nothing.”

R-Senpai: “You okay there, buddy?”

Me: “I'm fine. I think the long hours are starting to get to me.”

R-Senpai: “Starting to? Dude, you're putting in hours that would make the Japanese workers union anxious. Coffee and adrenaline can only take you so far. It's a miracle you haven't seen shades sooner.”

Me: “Shade, just one.”

R-Senpai: “So you are seeing things...”

Me: “...”

R-Senpai: “Whatever. One or many, it doesn't matter. Hallucinations are signs of a stressed-out mind, even worse if it's the shadow people. Listen to your body, and go rest.“

R-Senpai: “You do not want to go down that route. Trust me on that one.”

Me: “Speaking of experience?”

R-Senpai: “Yes, and that's all you're getting. Go rest. Don't go running after shadows.”

Me: “Fine, I'll go.”

R-Senpai: “No, you won't. You're trying to shut me up.”

Me: “Can't sneak anything by you, can I?”

R-Senpai: “I've known you for too long.”

Me: “Fine, I'll shut down in five minutes. Promise.”

R-Senpai: ”Good. I want you in bed by then.”

Me: “That's what she said...”

***

I closed the chat window with a chuckle. R-Senpai could always get me to laugh, no matter the situation. Yet this was the most serious I've seen him in a long time. Speaking of experience? I bit the inside of my lip. I've known him for fourteen years by now, yet he never mentioned hallucinations before.

Hmm... I leaned forward in the chair, double-clicking the web browser icon before navigating to my favorite website of common knowledge. What was that term he used?

The internet churned the answer after pondering my query for a few seconds.

In poetry and literature, a shade is the spirit or ghost of a dead person, residing in the underworld.

That's comforting. I speed-read through the rest of the web page but didn't learn anything else. Time to change the query.

A shadow person (also known as a shadow figure or black mass) is the perception of a patch of shadow as a living species, humanoid figure, sometimes interpreted as the presence of a spirit or other entity by believers in the paranormal or supernatural.

Unhelpful. I double-checked the website header, confirming I didn't open an urban dictionary or similar. Shaking my head in disappointment, I expanded my search but didn't learn anything noteworthy. All results were rooted in myth or hearsay, but one paragraph caught my eye.

While the exact supernatural origin of these shadow-like beings is debated among paranormal experts, there is one thing that most agree upon, which is that the presence of shadow people is wholly unsettling. Most reports on shadow people are overwhelmingly negative and are accompanied by a feeling of dread.

“... You don't need to fear me...”

I was ready this time, and spinning my chair around brought my elusive companion into view. Two white eyes locked with mine, and the vague outline of mismatched darkness prevented the feminine figure from being invisible.

‘Wholly unsettling,’ indeed. “Y... y-y...”

“... After all...” the small smile started to whisper. “... Was my comfort the other night... not welcome...?”

My feet frantically kicked against the floor as I tried to scamper backward, but a bump and a clattering desk jerked me to a halt. The commotion made the figure abandon her advance.

“... Shh... no need to be afraid...”

“This isn't real...” I squeezed my eyes as hard as possible, repeating the action when the shadow didn't disappear. “This isn't real, this isn't real...”

“...Please... calm down...”

“R-Senpai is right.” I kept my eyes shut this time. “You're over tired. You're overworked, and now you're seeing shadow girls. You need rest...” I risked a peek, yet only the tilt of the shadow girl's head had changed. “She's not real... she's not real... she's not-”

Feeling my head grabbed on both sides cut off all further denials I had planned. Fear made my eyes open, which brought me face to face with the shadow. Pure white eyes without the faintest trace of an iris stared into mine.

“... Your friend is right...” The seemingly gentle smile widened just a tiny bit. “...you need to relax...”

“O... o... okay...”

“...I'll let go... but please... do not panic ... I only wish to converse... is that good..?”

My mouth made a strange clapping noise when I managed to swallow the breath I'd been holding. “Okay... okay...”

The white eyes blinked contentedly as she took great care of performing her actions slowly. She even went as far as to take a step backward. “... Is... that better...?”

“Yes... yes...” I jerked my head through a nodding motion. My eyes never left the figure. “T-thank you...”

“... You're still worried...” The eyes frowned with sadness.

“Can you blame me?” The scared part of my brain must have surrendered some control to the smart-ass bit. “Things... people... popping out of nowhere isn't exactly normal, you know?!”

“...I am sorry... for any stress...”

“Why are you here? Wait, before that, what are you?”

“... You already know... what I am...”

“A shade?”

“... A tainted term... yet accurate...”

“Then why are you here? Are you here to kill me? Did I offend the afterlife in any way?”

“... You were desperate... drowning in desperation... I wanted to comfort...”

“Why? What's it to you?”

“... A complex question... I assure you...” A smile appeared at the question. The urge to press for an answer was strong, but whatever adrenaline my brain secreted had run out. Fatigue hit me like a ton of bricks. “... You are finally relaxed...”

“Exhausted would be more accurate.”

“... Which would hopefully lead to relaxation...” The shade entwined her hands behind her back with a soft giggle. “... May you rest easy... tomorrow brings new challenges and opportunities...”

She was gone in a blink, and scanning the room proved I was alone once more. “Did that really happen?” No answer came forth. I carefully patted my cheeks, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“Ugh...” I sighed. “I really am losing my mind.” I pushed myself up from the chair, but a scribble on my notepad caught my attention.

***

My name is Airiel... I will visit again...