Chapter Eleven

Paper Cranes

"Hanako!" I yelled, slamming the door behind me, I had never been so embarrassed in my life, and there was going to be Hell to pay. "Hanako!"

"What!" He appeared in front of me, his hair messy, looking like he had just woken from a nap, he ran a hand through it as he regarded me. "date didn't go well?"

"Turns out we have a lot in common, we're both into men." I said, "and you knew that, didn't you? You knew he was gay"

"He's bisexual, actually," Hanako corrected, "and yes I knew that, is bisexuality a problem for you?"

"The problem is that he already has someone!" I sat down and pulled my knees up to my chest, resting my chin on them, "maybe Sakura was wrong, maybe I'll never find love." I felt the tears welling up like an oncoming tide and tried to blink them back. Maybe I didn't deserve love. I felt the mattress sink down as Hanako sat beside me, I felt him put an arm around my shoulders and pull me against his chest. I felt him stroke my hair. I didn't protest as any of this happened, I appreciated the comfort.

"You will," he said, "I promise."

~oOoOoOo~

I was dreading work. I had considered calling in sick, quitting, or intentionally breaking my leg to get out of having to face Kou again, but none of them seemed like good solutions to the problem at hand. Not only was I going to have to see him again, and pretend like I didn't want to die of embarrassment, but I'd have to play it cool with Sakura and Aoi too.

I picked up my work bag, in its designated place on the floor, and something small and black fell out of it, I bent down to pick it up, and found a pitch black origami paper crane. It had been tucked carefully into the front pocket of my school bag. I frowned at it, it didn't seem like something Hanako would have done, but then again, I had only known him for a few weeks, and I wasn't exactly an expert on what ghosts got up to.

Maybe it was some kind of charm? I picked it up and placed it carefully back into the front pocket of my bag. I'd ask Hanako about it later. I shut and locked the empty apartment behind me.

~oOoOoOo~

"So," Aoi leaned against me as I wiped the tables down with a washcloth in preperation for customers, "how did it go?" I knew what she was asking about, but because Kou was lingering near by looking just as mortified as I felt, I played dumb.

"How did what go?"

"You know," she said with an exaggerated whisper, "your date, did it go well?"

"Oh, that," I dropped the dirty washcloth in the mop bucket where it landed with a splash of gray mop water. "Oops, I'll need to mop that up."

"You're avoiding the topic," said Aoi, pouting.

"It's because Yashiro-san is embarrassed," said Kou, stepping in, I gave him a questioning look, "I guess I was way more into her than she was into me," he adopted an expression of mock hurt, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand "we agreed to just be friends, it's easier that way, for the both of us." he ruffled my hair with brotherly affection, and my nervousness melted away, there would be no hard feelings between us. "I'll try to move on Yashiro-san," he whispered once Aoi had wandered away.

"I'm sure you'll get by," I whispered back with a smile.

"And if you ever find the right guy, I'll be here to put the fear of god in him, if he messes up I will haunt him until the day he dies."

You might not be the only one. I thought.

~oOoOoOo~

Working at The Crimson Flower was getting more and more tolerable, even fun, lately. Life was truly looking up. I had lost my status as "Newcomer" and certain customers were even starting to request my service, though I was nowhere near as popular as Aoi or Sakura.

"Nene-chan!" One of my customers, called out to me, an older man called Sato, he had been one of the first to start requesting me. I hurried over to where he sat, pointing at his tea-cup.

"What is it, Master?" I asked, peering into the cup. There, floating on the steaming brown liquid, was yet another black paper crane. I stared at it for a moment, open mouthed. "I-I'm sorry, sir, I'll take this back right away, I didn't realize." I took the cup of tea and rushed back to the kitchen, trying to stifle my growing unease. I set it in front of Kou,

"Have you seen these before?" I asked, fishing out the soggy paper and placing it on the counter top. Kou wrinkled his nose.

"Wet paper?" He asked, confused.

"No, these black paper cranes." I pulled two more out of my apron pocket, I'd been finding them all over. In the bathroom, in the break room, in the parking lot, they gave me a bad feeling every time I looked at frowned and shook his head.

"Weird," he frowned, "they seem really familiar for some reason, are they gifts from a customer? Maybe someone too shy to actually talk to you?"

"Maybe…" I hadn't thought of that, but it didn't seem right. The kitchen doors swung open and Sakura glided in, carrying a tea tray. She paused when she took note of the cranes, and her face paled.

"Sakura?" I asked,

"Oh, Yashiro-san, the manager wants to speak with you," she said distracting me.

"The manager?" My stomach did a flip, "what about?"

"I don't know," she said, "but I'd hurry up if I were you."

~oOoOoOo~

My legs felt shakey as I hurried over to the managers office. I had only recently started liking my job, was I going to lose it so soon?

Yako, the manager sat at the desk, her legs folded gracefully underneath her as she tallied up the accounts, calculator in one hand, stack of receipts in the other.

"You wanted me, Ma'am?"

"Ah, Yashiro-san, sit down," she pointed to where I had sat not too long ago when she had been interviewing me. I did as I was told, trying to copy her elegant pose, but before too long my knees were killing me and I had to collapse into a much less graceful sitting position. She didn't look at me for a long time, just continued on with her ledgers, tapping away at her calculator. At last she looked up. "I want you to know that office romances are forbidden." she said. Her narrow, almost predatory eyes landed on me, and I squirmed under the intensity of her gaze. "I've heard that you and Minamoto-san have been going out."

"Oh! No that's a misunderstanding," I rose my hands defensively, "Minamoto-kun is already in a relationship and I already-" like someone? What had I been about to say? An image of Hanako, reclining on my bed, shuffling through his cards filled my mind. Why was I thinking of him of all people? Hanako was not my type, he was the opposite of my type. I liked tall, suave, cool men. Hanako was short, overly energetic and frequently annoying, so why was his face the first face I thought of when I thought of the word "like"?

"Um, Manager-san?" Aoi poked her head in the office, looking nervous, Yako lifted her head and fixed her with an irritiable look. Aoi shrank back a little. "the break room has been vandalized."

"What?" Yako rose to her feet so quickly that I couldn't see how she had done it, "how?"

"I really think you should come see it," said Aoi, "it's pretty bad."

Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry that my update schedule has been kind of off kilter lately. I fell down some stairs and broke my leg, so I've been kind of loopy on pain meds. Hopefully things will be getting back to normal more or less, soon. Thank you for your patience and continued support.