~Chapter 6~

I drummed my fingers against the table. What was taking them so long? I sighed and leaned back in my chair. This would classify as boring. Super boring. Max boredom. Super boredom. Chronic Boredom. The fact that I was making up different terms for the boredom was proof enough of the boringness that was occurring here.

I looked at the timer on my hand in attempt to relieve this boredom. Fifteen minutes left. I would've thought someone would've cleared the Mission by now. Today's was the easiest Mission of them all. You didn't even really need a partner for this one.

I looked out the window again, watching people walk by, some in a rush, some just meandering along, and others hanging out with friends. During this process, the soft stinging of the seconds ticking by on the timer ceased. Someone had cleared the Mission. I sighed with mild relief.

I heard the door behind my click open and turned to see Joshua and Hanekoma returning from the kitchen. Joshua made his way over to me while Hanekoma went to tend to the girl.

"Is it time to go?" I asked Joshua when he reached my table.

"Not yet," he replied. "Mr. H. says we gotta wait for that young lady over there to leave before we can. With the glass windows, it'll look like we evaporated once the get outside."

"Oh," I said. That made sense. "But why didn't that matter while we were coming in?"

"Because she wasn't looking when I opened the door, Nishiki," Joshua said, once again questioning my intelligence with his tone. I frowned, annoyed.

"No, but she's not looking now either," I pointed out.

Joshua sighed, as if it pained him to have to explain this. I resisted the urge to hit him upside the head. "Well, Nishiki. What's the first thing you do when you hear the door open in the room you're in?"

"Um. Look?"

"Exactly. Before, when we came in, she wasn't looking, so when we came inside, she would have assumed that she just didn't see us coming. Now, if we leave, she'll look up to see us open the door and then disappear. Does this make sense to you, Nishiki?"

I refused to let him know that I hadn't figured this out on my own, so I didn't say anything. And is it just me, or does Joshua say my name in conversation way too much?

I looked over to Mr. Hanekoma and the girl, to assess the progress being made. Mr. Hanekoma was smiling pleasantly and asking if she would like her bill. The girl smiled and nodded, closing her book. She stood up, thanked Mr. Hanekoma warmly and bowed slightly in repect.

I stood up as well, stretching. Since the Mission was over, it wouldn't be too long before we found ourselves waking up in the next day. I figured it'd be best if we were outside and invisible when that happened.

Joshua stood up too and walked over to Mr. Hanekoma and the girl, smiling suspiciously. I tried to ignore my new partner to the best of my abilities and walked to the door to wait for the girl to leave.

The girl, Mr. Hanekoma, and Joshua walked towards the door as well. Hanekoma was thanking the girl about her kind service and yadda yadda yadda. I was bored and wanted to leave. Couldn't they pick up the pace at least a little bit?

Just as the girl was passing me, Joshua walked up to me, getting in her way. Her feet tangled up when she tried to stop to avoid Joshua, so the poor girl fell, courtesy to the stupidity of my new partner.

Of course, being right there, she had to fall on me.

The girl grabbed my shoulder to keep herself from falling – a reflex I suppose.

My heart skipped a beat.

I reached out and grabbed her arm, steadying her enough that she could stand on her own. She blushed madly, apologized a good thirty times and dashed out the door.

I stared after her. I put my hand over my chest in confusion. My heart had never forgotten to beat before… did this have something to do with the Game? It didn't do that last Game…

I walked quickly pass Mr. Hanekoma and Joshua to get outside, and out of the corner of my eyes, I could've sworn I saw them grinning.

Day 1 --- End