Four months later and chapter two finally appears!
"What the hell just happened?" she murmured lowly.
Just a moment ago, she was staring at her dead body in the hospital room when the scenery suddenly changed. She was now standing in front of a screen asking her to place her hand on the pad below the monitor for identification. To the left of the screen was a plain white door with "Authorized Personnel Only" painted in bold red letters on it. She looked in the opposite direction. A lone light bulb flickered and buzzed erratically, struggling in vain to ward off the darkness from completely enveloping the hallway. With a loud crackle, it finally surrendered to the master of the night.
There goes her thought of running down the hallway. If this was a horror movie, I would be halfway down there, ready to get slashed by some serial killer.
With no other choice, she placed her right hand on the pad, watching with amazement as the screen instantly displayed her background information, followed by a message saying her identity had been verified. A click sounded from the door.
This whole situation gave her the creeps—from the pitch black hallway to the stalker monitor and now ominous door. But then she realized she was already dead, nothing could be worse than that. She counted to three, twisting the handle and swung open the door.
"You're finally here!"
She blinked. He was expecting her? A boy—who looked and sounded to be fourteen—jumped down from the desk he was sitting on and offered a chair to her. Her intuition told her to be wary of this frosty-haired boy, but given her situation, there wasn't much she could do. She reluctantly took a seat.
"Don't be scared. I'm here to help you."
"Uh, where am I?" she asked, glancing around the room. The pure white walls freaked her out. If they had padding, she was sure she was a delirious patient in an insane asylum. "And who are you?"
He leaned on the black desk, staring straight into her rattled eyes. "This is limbo, and I'm Nagi Homura, your assigned case worker."
"Limbo? My case worker? Damn. Even in death, I can't escape bureaucracy," she muttered under her breath.
Nagi chuckled, having heard her loud and clear. "Take a seat and I'll explain everything."
"You must have a million questions running through your head right now. Newbies always do."
She nodded.
"Let me answer the most popular one first. Limbo is the transition center for the recently deceased. After you die, you get whisked to one of these rooms where you check in with a case worker—like me—and then you either take the elevator to hell or the stairway to heaven."
"Well, that explains the lack of fire and brimstone," she mused. "Alright, show me where this elevator is and I'll be on my way." She was heading toward the door when Nagi spoke.
"Um, you aren't going to hell."
She whipped her head around so fast he was surprised she didn't have a severe case of whiplash. "You're joking, right? I mean—if you're my case worker, you ought to know I'm the total opposite of an angel, so—"
"You aren't going to heaven either."
"Okay, now you're just pissing me off. What kind of bullshit is this?" she huffed, crossing her arms and tapping her feet impatiently.
"There's an explanation for it! Please take your seat again. You really want to sit down for this."
Was it the sympathy overflowing from his pale pink eyes or the sense of urgency in his words that compelled her to do as told? Regardless, she was all ears now.
Nagi took a deep breath, for he was about to relay the worst news ever. "The reason you can't go to heaven or hell is because you're an incomplete soul."
She blinked. "Huh?"
"Only complete souls can enter heaven or hell. An untrained eye can't spot the difference, but the ones who are missing pieces of their soul are actually lighter than the rest of us."
"How did I lose a piece of my soul?" She hid half of her face in embarrassment, groaning, "Ugh, that sounded as ridiculous in my head as it did out loud!"
Nagi chuckled and then resumed his professionalism to answer her question. "The way you died."
"The way I died… I was shot."
He nodded. "Yeah, you should have died at the scene. But you didn't. Miss Fujino, you're not in hell right now because of Miss Kuga."
"Bullshit! She's alive and I'm dead! I don't owe her anything!" Shizuru glowered at him.
"The bullet that hit you, hit her too. She was standing right behind you. She's hanging by a thread right now, stuck in a coma… and still holding onto your soul," he revealed evenly.
Shizuru's jaw dropped. She had no idea Natsuki was shot with the same bullet she was, but what shocked her even more was the second little revelation.
"W-Wait a minute, you're telling me Natsuki Kuga has the missing piece," Shizuru pointed at her chest, "of my soul?"
"Yep."
"How the hell did she get it?" Shizuru asked incredulously.
"It's nothing short of a miracle. Believe me; I've never seen anything like it in two millennia."
"T-Two millennia?" she shrieked.
"Oh yeah, I'm much older than I look," he casually relayed, wanting to steer the conversation back to the much more fascinating story surrounding her predicament. "But anyways, when the bullet exited your body, your soul was in the process of 'transcending'. When a soul fully leaves the body, transcendence is complete, and you are dead," he snapped his fingers, "immediately."
"That doesn't explain how she got a hold of my soul," she said dryly.
"I'm getting there. So the bullet hits a very dangerous area of Natsuki's heart. Actually, both of you should have died together. Now this is the miraculous part: when her soul was transcending, it somehow meshed with yours. She takes a breath—it should have been her last—and her soul goes back into her body, taking a piece of your soul that came in contact with hers. Your soul returns too, but once it realized that it's not complete, it was game over for you. A living human cannot function with an incomplete soul. Only nonliving humans can—like you right now."
"What the fuck is a soul made of? Cheap, flimsy fabric?"
Nagi couldn't help but laugh at her zinger. "Souls can't touch each other. Here," he showed her his palm, "try placing your hand on top of mine."
Shizuru's hand hovered over his for a few moments and then tried to smack down on his hand. However, it went directly through his hand, meeting only thin air.
"WHOA!"
He smirked. "Do you see the conundrum now? It's several miracles, actually. I have no idea how your souls could have touched, why Natsuki didn't die with you, and especially how she got away with your soul. It's mind-boggling, isn't it?" Nagi rubbed his chin. "But I bet the higher ups know what's going on."
Shizuru didn't hear a word he spoke as she attempted to poke herself in the chest, seeing if she could feel her own soul. Her finger went straight through to the other side of her body.
"This is so freaky. If I was alive and saw this, I should be on some really good shit."
"And that's why you're not going to heaven," he mumbled to himself.
Shizuru briefly smirked at his remark. "So," she clapped, "what's going to happen to me now? Where do I go?"
Nagi's index finger pointed up. "Back up there. To retrieve the missing piece of your soul."
"Oh shit! I get to go back and haunt people?" Shizuru's blood-red orbs glowed with mischief. There were former acquaintances she would like to visit.
The case worker was not amused. "Miss Fujino, this is a serious matter. The higher ups didn't tell me how you were going to get your soul back. I have never encountered your situation before, so I don't know how to help you. And if you fail to retrieve it, you're stuck in the living world… forever," he said gravely.
She scoffed, "How is that bad?"
Nagi sighed. "It's only 'cool' because you think haunting people is funny. I hate to be a kill joy, but only one living human will be able to see you."
The female's demeanor visibly plummeted. "Let me guess; only she can see me?"
"Of course! You're a part of Miss Kuga now."
"Great," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "Hey, how many souls are walking the earth right now?"
"Many. They're all incomplete souls like you, but their situation is so much easier to deal with. The ones who come back always tell me they would rather suffer in hell than roam the earth. I've only been up a handful of times, but I agree with them. The living world is the worst place for us," Nagi continued in a lower, reflective tone. "We don't need the regular upkeeps that humans do—we don't sleep, eat, or breathe—so in that respect, we have all the time in the world, but what to do with it? Unless you run into another soul, you're alone. No one can see us. No one can hear us. We're invisible to the world. Well, you have Miss Kuga, but she has an expiration date, and you don't—if you fail the recovery mission."
Shizuru clenched her fists tightly. She was never one to back down from a challenge, so this time wasn't going to be any different. Though, she was aware the odds were heavily stacked against her favor. "I won't. I'm taking back what's mine. Even it takes me forever."
The corners of Nagi's mouth twitched upwards. He liked her fighting spirit. "Quite the go-getter, aren't you?"
"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet."
The appointment came to an end when a red siren above the door started blinking, signaling that it was time for the deceased to move on. If Shizuru was any other soul, she would have been escorted to the elevator or a stairwell. But she was not.
"…and that's everything you need to know about returning to the living world. When the higher ups decide to be less stingy with the details on your case, I'll beam you back here. But for now, I wish you nothing but the best on your mission."
"Thank you, captain," Shizuru said, giving him a mock salute.
Not a moment later, she was back in her hospital room, dumbfounded that everything literally happened within a blink of an eye.
"YOU'RE LYING!" a female voice screeched at the top of her lungs a few feet from the door, bringing Shizuru back to reality.
Shizuru knew that voice. She could recognize it anywhere.
The girl in denial barged into the room with a doctor following her. A hand immediately flew to the redhead's mouth, and she instantly stopped upon seeing the white sheet over the body. Shizuru stood by the bed, helplessly watching her best friend's tough exterior crumble with each passing second.
"Miss Fujino lapsed into a coma during surgery and was brought into the ICU. She went into cardiac arrest, and we could not revive her. She passed away half an hour ago."
Shizuru's brow rose up at length of time she had been dead. She could have sworn her chat with Nagi was at least two hours. Perhaps time traveled slower in the living world than in Limbo, she mused.
"Y-You want me to..." Nao trailed off in a raspy voice. The redhead couldn't finish the thought because doing so meant Shizuru really died. And she was nowhere near ready to accept that truth.
"We need you to verify her identity, Miss Yuuki."
Nao took a timid step forward and another until she was standing right next to Shizuru's ghost. Shizuru wanted nothing more than to reach out and hold the shaken girl, but she knew this was not a possibility.
The doctor pulled the cover back, and Nao's hand immediately flew to her mouth.
"No, no, no!" she cried, vigorously shaking her head. Fat, salty droplets rolled down her face. "How can this—I just saw her nine hours ago!" Lime-green eyes stared wildly at the doctor in disbelief, voice breaking. "She just… she just found the perfect girl for our campaign! She found her savior!" Nao futilely tugged on the lifeless girl's hospital gown. "C'mon, Shizuru! Tell the good doctor how thrilled you were when what's-her-name showed up for the audition! You were like a kid in a candy store! C'mon, Shizuru!"
Nao kept on tugging and calling Shizuru's name as if she was attempting to rouse the girl from a nap—not from a permanent slumber.
Shizuru couldn't take this heartbreaking scene anymore. She tried to grab Nao's shoulders, but her hands passed straight through the living girl.
"Fuckkkkk!" she roared in frustration, violently clawing at the air that was the girl's back.
Nagi was right. The living world was worst than hell.
.
"Mai! Mai! Wake up!" Mikoto whispered excitedly, gently shaking her slumbering girlfriend.
Mai groaned and blinked away the blurriness. "What is it, Mikoto? Are you hungry?" she yawned.
"No! Natsuki! She just—"
Mai widened her eyes, jumping up from her seat. She quickly glanced at the heart monitor, relieved to see the familiar peaks instead of a flat line. "Mikoto! Don't scare me like that!" She slapped the girl on her arm.
"Ow, woman!" Mikoto pointed to their friend's hand. "Look at her fingers! They're moving!"
Indeed, they were, followed by the fluttering of eyelids.
"Oh, shit! Call a doctor!" Mai screamed, clutching onto Natsuki's hand.
Mikoto scrambled out of the room with renewed hope that Natsuki was going to be okay.
Mai waited with bated breath to see those green eyes she had missed dearly. She actually fainted when the hospital called her and Mikoto five days ago with news that their friend had been shot and was currently in a coma in the ICU. They worked out a schedule where she stayed vigil by the girl's side in the daytime while Mikoto worked and vice versa when the sun sunk into the horizon.
The first two days were the most harrowing since Natsuki's vitals kept fluctuating—going as far as flatlining after Shizuru's passing and again in the final hours of the second day but was luckily revived in time. When the comatose girl passed the crucial forty-eight hour test, doctors gave her a thirty percent chance of regaining consciousness. Mai thought it was much better than no chance. Every day, she threatened to destroy Natsuki's extensive lingerie collection if the girl didn't wake up. Every day, she received no response. Mai hoped today would be different.
"Natsuki Kuga, if you don't open your eyes right now, I swear I will use your lingerie collection as kindling for the barbecue pit while I make your favorite dish—smoked salmon with mayo."
The reaction she desperately wanted finally came.
Emeralds fully revealed themselves, slowly focusing on the blob before her. She could make out the round shape of a head and two glowing amber circles.
"OH MY GOD! You're awake!"
A doctor rushed into the room with Mikoto and several nurses trailing behind. She checked the newly awakened girl's vision and heartbeat. "Try saying something, if you can. But don't push yourself if nothing comes out," she instructed.
"Wa... ter…" Natsuki rasped in a very weak voice. A nurse handed her cup with a straw.
"This is very good news," the doctor spoke while flipping through her chart and scribbling her observations. She turned to the patient. "For someone whose heart underwent a very risky surgery and stopped three times, your heart is showing signs of improvement."
"That means she's going to be okay, right?" Mai asked, eyes brimming with unshed tears of joy.
"It's too soon to tell if she's going to make a full recovery. We need to run tests to see if there is any sign of brain damage." The doctor refocused on Natsuki. "What is your name?"
"Nat… suki… Ku… ga."
Mai squealed in delight, hugging Mikoto.
"Do you know why you're here?"
Natsuki blinked, shaking her head no. Mai gasped, fearing Natsuki might have lost her memory.
"This is a normal response for patients coming out of a coma. It usually takes them several days to regain their memory. Right now, everything is scattered in bits and pieces." The doctor's pager went off. "I have to go, but someone will come within an hour to run some tests." The medical staff exited the room.
"Natsuki, you're not allowed to talk because one—you're in recovery mode, and two—you have to get used to hearing us rant again," Mai said happily. Natsuki would have laughed out loud if her vocal cords weren't in such a weakened state.
"You scared the shit out of us, woman! Of all the places to get shot—you had to luck out with the heart!" Mikoto pantomimed a gun and aimed it at the girl's vital organ.
Mai slapped her girlfriend in the back of her head. "Mikoto! Don't traumatize her! She just woke up!" Mai's tone turned serious. "But you're much more fortunate than the other woman who was with you that night. She died."
Natsuki was shocked when Mikoto told her she was shot in the heart but hearing the news someone died was even more disturbing. She cursed her memory since the events leading up to her hospitalization still remained a mystery. Fortunately, Mai was able to fill her in on the audition, but that was where her knowledge stopped as well. It was up to Natsuki to recall the rest.
.
Four days later, Natsuki was transferred to a regular room and was on the road to a full recovery. Her battery of tests showed that she didn't sustain any brain damage, and her wounds were healing properly. She could talk normally again and was able to walk on her own, albeit slowly, but it was way better than being bedridden. Mai and Mikoto continued to visit her everyday and had just left when visiting hours were over. She dozed off when day turned to night.
"Natsuki."
"Natsuki."
The patient was lured from her sleep by a strange, yet familiar voice. Through her still hazy vision, she saw a feminine silhouette gazing at the silver moon from the window.
Natsuki sat up, rubbing her eyes, and after a brief examination of the mysterious female's profile, she spoke, "W-Who are you?"
The woman gracefully turned her head and stepped closer to the patient. Natsuki sharply inhaled at the sight of blood-red orbs that appeared to glow in the dark of the night.
"You stole something from me, and I want it back," Shizuru said plainly.
Natsuki was baffled by this hauntingly beautiful woman's demand. Her memory wasn't fully restored, but she never stole anything. Natsuki Kuga wasn't that type of person.
"I think you got the wrong person," she replied staunchly.
"No. When we were shot, you stole—"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. W-We? A-As in me and you? Shh-Shot?" Natsuki's eyes were wide as saucers.
"Oh, c'mon! You stole a piece of my soul, and you know it! Give it back to me!" she demanded.
Natsuki thought she was hallucinating for a brief moment, since Mai told her the woman who was with her died from the gunshot wound. She still didn't remember her actual audition and what happened afterwards, but she wasn't crazy. She wasn't so sure about this woman.
Stealing souls? Someone's taking some powerful meds and apparently just escaped the psychiatric ward.
"Um, I can call a nurse to escort you back to your room," she offered in a gentle voice, covertly pressing the button for assistance. Don't piss off the psycho. Don't piss off the psycho.
Shizuru was incensed. This bitch thinks I'm crazy? I'll show her crazy.
"I'm a fucking incomplete soul thanks to you," she spat, pointing at Natsuki. She leaned forward, preparing to poke the girl's shoulder. If it was like what happened with Nao, Natsuki was in for the shock of her life.
Shizuru's mouth hung open when Natsuki's hand firmly wrapped around her wrist, halting her advance.
"I don't take it kindly when strangers touch me," she said with disdain.
Shizuru snatched back her wrist and glanced at it and Natsuki in utter disbelief. "How the—that's not supposed to happen!"
"What are you talking about?"
"You! Me! Touch!" she shrieked.
Natsuki quickly covered her ears. Oh, lord. Those are definitely some powerful meds. Where the hell are those nurses? This chick needs some serious help!
Shizuru proceeded to poke Natsuki in the shoulder to make sure the first time wasn't a fluke.
"Hey, stop that!" Natsuki grabbed her finger and flung it away. "You're going to be okay. Maybe tell the doctor to go easy on the drugs."
"I'm not cra—"
A nurse opened the door and turned on the light. "Miss Kuga, are you okay?"
"Oh, I'm fine. But could you help this patient back to her room?" She pointed to a smirking Shizuru. Natsuki frowned.
"Miss Kuga, you're the only patient in this room. Are you sure you're feeling okay?" the nurse asked, rather concerned for her mental state.
"What do you mean? She's standing right beside me."
"She can't see or hear me," Shizuru remarked. "Only you have those privileges."
"Oh, dear. The doctor might have missed something from the brain scans. You might need more tests. I'm going to be right back."
Natsuki gulped. Shit. I'm hallucinating. Well, at least she's gorgeous.
She swiftly shook her head. "What kind of meds are they giving me?"
Shizuru smirked. "Ara, you're not hallucinating. I'm a ghost." Oh, my god! I can't believe I just said that!
Natsuki burst out laughing, clutching her stomach. "I am crazy!"
"No, you're not, damn it! Stop saying that!" She threw up her arms in frustration. "You obviously have some form of amnesia, since you don't remember me—I mean, who could forget me?" Shizuru said arrogantly.
Natsuki rolled her eyes. "Wow, my hallucination sure thinks highly of herself," she deadpanned.
"That's it!" Shizuru gripped the girl's shoulders, catching her attention. "Listen to me—"
"B-Bu--"
"Shh!" She pressed a finger against Natsuki's lips. This still feels surreal. I don't understand it at all. I wasn't able to touch Nao, but here I am—feeling Natsuki's soft lips. Nagi was right again. Miracles do seem to follow us around.
A tingling sensation ran up and down Natsuki's spine. God, this feels familiar. Her head started to ache just a little bit.
Once Shizuru weaseled out a promise from Natsuki to refrain from talking, the ghost quickly summarized their short-lived history together from the fateful meeting at Metropolis to the audition—leaving out a certain intimate encounter—to the shooting.
The headache progressed into a throbbing pain with Shizuru's passing words. Her eyes snapped shut as blurry images of that night flashed in her mind. She recalled Shizuru salivating at the sight of her in a bikini, asking her to be the new face of Fleur de Lust, and how she adamantly refused. Natsuki winced when she remembered how Shizuru backed her against the wall and groped her. The troubling thought was that she kind of enjoyed it, but the pangs of pleasure soon gave way to pain as she relived the traumatic hostage situation and getting shot again.
Green eyes popped open and zoomed in on Shizuru. "You!" she spat, "I'm so suing your ass for sexual assau—oh, fuck!" Natsuki recalled Mai saying the woman with her did not survive the shooting. The hairs on the back of her neck stood perfectly straight. "Y-You're supposed to be dead! But you're here! T-Then that means you're a g-g-gho—"
Shizuru hastily clamped her hand over Natsuki's mouth, preventing the girl from broadcasting her nonliving status to the entire hospital. Natsuki attempted to pry the hand from her mouth but to no avail.
"First, I'm so glad I left such a lasting impression on you. But right now, I appreciate it if you kept your voice down," she said patronizingly. "You already have one nurse thinking you have brain damage. You don't want everyone to believe that, right?"
Natsuki nodded mutely, scared out of her wits.
"I'm only going to say this one more time, so listen carefully. You are the only one who can see or hear me—well, I guess touch me now, too," she mumbled the last part to herself. "Anyways, if you don't want to get locked up in a padded room somewhere, do not make any statements regarding my presence. Are we clear?"
She agreed.
The door flew open and in came the nurse, followed by Natsuki's doctor. Shizuru removed her hand and watched as the doctor checked the girl's eyes and questioned her psychological state of mind. Shizuru was impressed with the way Natsuki handled the probing doctor, feigning the need for sleep.
"You appear to be good health, but I'll order some tests in the morning. If everything comes back negative, you can go home. For now, get some sleep, Miss Kuga." The staff exited the room.
"Maybe this is a dream. Maybe I'm still bitter about what happened in the restroom. Maybe that's why I'm dreaming about you. Or having a nightmare about you. Yeah, this is a nightmare. There's no such thing as ghosts," Natsuki yawned, turning on her side. Her eyes began to droop.
"Oh, you're actually tired. And here I thought you would have made one heck of an actress! And I resent you for denying the truth!"
"Truth…" she trailed off, entering the world of dreams.
Shizuru became level with the girl's face and whispered, "You can rationalize my presence all you want, but you're still stuck with me, Natsuki."
She lingered in the hospital room, studying the slumbering girl's face.
I can't believe this girl is my only connection to this world now. She's so much more tolerable when she's not talking. What a waste—a hot girl with an annoying personality. Now that I think about it, I totally should have tapped that when I had the chance. We would have been going at it in the hotel restroom and wouldn't have run into that asshole! God, I hope he gets the shit kicked out of him in hell!
.
"Masahi Takeda, you caused suffering to countless people in life—now in death, the tables are turned! Your sentencing would have been similar to other pieces of shit like you, but I'm feeling extra sadistic today. After reviewing your time on earth, especially the last hour—a robbery, holding hostages, and killing one and wounding the other—well, you deserve the best! I hereby sentence you to sample every torture that hell has to offer for all of eternity!" the judge gleefully declared to raucous cheering by the demons in the hall.
"N-Nooo! Noooo! Please!" Takeda struggled to break the iron-clad grips the demonic guards had on him.
"Oh, we're going to have fun frying you!" the one on his left sneered.
"Yeah! And then slicing each piece of skin from you! I'm glad I sharpened my knives yesterday!" the guard on the right added, giving a high-five to his partner.
They dragged a kicking and screaming Takeda from the court, continuing their discussion on the exquisite tortures that were waiting for him.
.
"All of your tests came back negative, but even if you feel just slightly off, I want you to come back immediately, okay?"
Natsuki nodded.
"I'll make sure she goes, doctor. Thank you for everything!" Mai exclaimed.
"Now, if one of you will follow me for the discharge papers…"
Mikoto followed the doctor out, leaving Mai and Natsuki in the room.
"Hey Mai, do you, um, believe in ghosts?" Natsuki asked hesitantly, unsure if she should be going down this road. She woke up this morning with Shizuru's ghostly image front and center in her mind. Her instincts told her last night wasn't a dream or nightmare; it was real. She still couldn't make any sense of it, though.
Mai stopped packing and gave her friend an odd look. "Ghosts? What a random question. I guess you really are back to normal," she quipped.
"Mai!" Natsuki playfully shoved the other girl.
"Alright, alright! I personally don't think the paranormal is real, but my mom believes we just don't have the means to explain it yet. She told me everyone went to my great-great-great-great-grandmother when they were disturbed by the spirits. The woman acted as a medium between the world of the living and the dead."
"That means she could talk to the dead, right?"
"I asked my mom the same thing! She said that when people die, they might have unresolved issues that keep them attached to this world. So they leave clues for the living to help them. I guess that's where my ancestor came in. She can communicate with them."
"Would you want to be like your grandmother?"
"Hell no! I don't want to be bothered by ghosts!" Mai answered, with her back turned to Natsuki.
"I hope you're not thinking about telling her." Shizuru suddenly appeared beside the shocked girl.
Natsuki's jaw hung open. OH MY GOD! She just popped out of thin air! Don't tell me I'm just like Mai's grandma!
"I would close my mouth if I were you. It's not a pretty sight." Shizuru grinned.
She did it just in time when Mai turned around. "What the heck is taking Mikoto so long? I'm going to see what's up."
Natsuki whipped her head to Shizuru, making a symbol of the cross with her fingers. "Stay away!"
Shizuru rolled her eyes, batting the girl's fingers away. "That only works in the movies, idiot."
"Oh, my god! How did you just pop in here?"
Shizuru shrugged. "I told you I'm a ghost," she dropped casually.
"Were you here the whole time?"
"Please. I have better things to do with my time than stalk you," she said offhandedly, inspecting her nails.
"Oh, yeah? Then why are you here, now?" Natsuki challenged. Even in death, she's so infuriating!
Shizuru would have retorted if a knock hadn't interrupted her.
Nao entered the room cautiously. "Hello, Miss Kuga," she greeted.
Shizuru's heart plummeted at the sight of her haggard best friend. It was the first time she had seen the girl since that day Nao came to identify her. Shizuru couldn't stand to watch Nao grieve over her. In between now and then, she walked the crowded streets, watching the people around her, envying their vivacity. She fled the city when coverage of the shooting turned ridiculous. Some outlets interviewed her former bedmates—of course, she received no love there. Others questioned if the shooter should have been shot to death. Oh, she really wanted to reach into the TV and punch that commentator. She returned to the hospital when she remembered her only chance of escape was with Natsuki.
"I don't know if you remember me, but—"
"Nao. You're Nao Yuuki. Fujino's friend."
"T-That's right." Nao was surprised Natsuki remembered her. "Oh, your friends are almost done with the discharge papers."
"You know my friends?"
"Yeah. I kind of overheard the nurses talking about the other person with Shizuru being lucky and followed them to your room. That's how I met Mai and Mikoto. I didn't tell them anything about you two. I don't think it's my place too. I just told them Shizuru and I were your interviewers in the audition and that you did great."
"Oh… thanks." Natsuki glanced at the unusually quiet ghost. Wow, I am the only who can see her. I don't know what I would do if I was in her position.
"Ask her how she's holding up, please," Shizuru requested softly, longing to talk with her best friend again.
The entreaty startled Natsuki. She had never seen Shizuru look so broken. Was she actually feeling sympathetic towards the ghost?
"Um, how are you doing? You know with everything…"
"Oh… I'm just taking it one day at a time," she replied awkwardly. "One of the models gave birth yesterday, so I came to see her and the baby."
"That's cool."
Mai burst into the room, announcing, "We can finally go home! Nao! Did you see your friend already?"
"Not yet. I should go see her now. It was nice talking to you, Natsuki." She waved to the couple and left.
"She's looking better," Mai remarked to Mikoto. "There's color in cheeks!"
"Yeah. She looked like a zombie last week."
Something compelled Natsuki to defend the redhead. It was probably the hollow look on Shizuru's face. "Hey, hey! Her friend died. Give her a break!"
"Don't get us wrong! We're just saying we're glad she's doing better, that's all," Mikoto rejoined. "C'mon, let's get you out of here."
.
"So, we're going to be back around seven to bring you dinner—"
"I can cook—"
"Yes, I know you can, but I make better food—so, there. And mine is a hundred times better than ramen noodles. Wouldn't you agree?" Mai said sweetly.
Natsuki rolled her eyes but smiled. "Thank you, mom."
Mai patted the girl on the head, earning her a slap on the arm.
"We'll bring Duran when we come back. See ya later!" Mikoto dragged her girlfriend out the door.
"Finally!" Natsuki collapsed on the couch. "Some peace and quiet, at last!"
Shizuru emerged from the kitchen. "Wow, how can you live in this tiny apartment? It's like the size of my master bedroom."
Well, at least she's back to her bitchy self. It doesn't feel right when she's a lump of sad. "So much for peace and quiet." Natsuki clutched a cushion to her chest and turned to Shizuru's direction. "Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead." Shizuru continued her inspection.
"Are you for real about me stealing a piece of your soul?"
"Yep. I'm stuck here until I get it back."
"Do you know how to—"
"Nope."
"This is keeping you from, um, moving on?"
"Yep."
"So, what can you do?"
Shizuru turned to faced her. "Do what?"
"You know… ghost stuff. You popped out of thin air today. What else is there?" she asked, eager for the details.
"I can walk through walls."
Green eyes bulged out. "Seriously?"
"No! You watch way too many movies," she paused, "actually, I've never tried."
"Do it! Okay, try walking through my bedroom door!" Natsuki jumped up and closed her door. "C'mon! If you can appear out of nowhere, then you can definitely walk through this door," she reasoned. "C'mon!"
"God, alright! Just stop whining!"
"Yes!" She threw her fist into the air.
Shizuru composed herself and took a step toward the door. She shakily extended her arm and watched it disappear to the other side. "Holy shit."
"Holy shit, indeed." the blue-haired whispered.
Shizuru took another step and completely disappeared.
Natsuki opened the door, and there was Shizuru, amazed at her ability. So this is what Nagi meant when he said there are some things that need to be experienced.
"What did I tell you? That was insane, yo!"
"Yes, it was." She was still awed by the discovery.
"This is so weird. If I just look at you, there's no way I can tell you're a ghost. You look exactly like a normal person. But then you do things like walk through my door and suddenly appear in front of me—that's when I'm reminded that you're not alive. Oh, and when no one acknowledges your presence, too."
Shizuru nodded. "There is that."
"Mai's brother's girlfriend's family owns a shop selling stuff for the afterlife. I guess we could go there tomorrow. They might know a priest or something."
Shizuru openly stared at the girl.
"What is it? Is there something on my face?" Natsuki began to feel self-conscious.
"No, I just wasn't expecting this cooperation. I thought you were going to put up more of a fight to help me."
"Let me put it this way. Being held at gunpoint, getting shot in the heart, being in a coma, and then waking up okay—all of that changes you. I also feel sort of bad that I'm the one stranding you here. I mean—you can't communicate with anyone other than me. I saw the way you looked at Nao. You miss her terribly, but you can't do anything about it."
"Thank you for reminding me," Shizuru said sarcastically.
"Sorry." A hint of red colored her cheeks. "I have a tendency to not censor myself when I really should."
Shizuru waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine. What you said—it's the truth." She moved to the couch and sat down. To anyone other than Natsuki, there was no one sitting there. There was nothing that weighed the space down.
"Anyways, what do you usually do at this time?"
Natsuki sat beside her. "It's five, so I would be at work, ready to serve the likes of you."
Shizuru was intrigued. "Do wax poetic on the 'likes of me'," she implored.
"You mean the ones who frivolously spend their money on overpriced drinks and think they can order everyone else around just because they have more money than the heavens. This doesn't include the drunks who like to grab my ass and then proposition me. I hate those kind of people."
"I'm not like that! I just wanted to talk to you longer! I wasn't suggesting you sleep with me! Granted, I did think about it, but thinking is not the same thing as carrying it out!"
"I'm pretty sure had I stayed, you would have attempted to carry it out."
"Well, now we'll never know."
"You keep thinking that while I watch TV."
Natsuki flipped through the channels, stopping on a news program that was reading a statement from FdL. Apparently, the company is reviewing every candidate that auditioned and will be announcing the winner in the coming week.
"Nao should be contacting you soon, then."
"W-What!"
"I offered you the job, didn't I?"
"Yes, but that was when you were still breathing," Natsuki pointed out.
"Nao was there. She knows what to do. I'm telling you, Natsuki. My instincts never fail me. I know potential when I see it. And you, my dear, are brimming with it."
"Hello! I was just shot! I'm still recovering!"
"The show is in six months. You'll be in perfect shape by then. Besides, you said it yourself—getting shot changes you. Here's an opportunity to start anew."
"You sell lingerie. A victim doesn't sell lingerie."
"A gorgeous, surviving victim does. Women will relate to you because you're not a professional model. You're just a normal person. And you went through hell and came back fighting. If that's not good publicity, then I don't know what is. I don't have to tell you why men would be hooked on you."
"There's no way I can handle people gawking at me."
"That's your problem. You're viewing the big picture with the wrong mind set. They're not gawking at you; they're admiring your beauty."
Natsuki laughed out loud. "You're so full of shit."
Shizuru's eyes twinkled with delight. "What businessperson isn't? Seriously though, you have what it takes. I might be dead, but I haven't lost my sharp instincts."
"No. I made up my mind back there. I don't go back on my word either," Natsuki said confidently.
Shizuru matched her confidence. "I don't give up easily either."