You got home from work at eight. Keiji was already lying down on the couch, watching the television silently.
You closed the door and walked further into the house, and he still said nothing. You stepped in front of him and he was asleep, not watching the TV. Made sense as to why he didn't greet you once you'd gotten home.
You crouched down in front of him, and gently grabbed and held his face in your hand. Slowly, his eyes fluttered open. He looked at you tiredly, "What... When did you get home?" He asked groggily.
"Just now." You smiled slightly at him.
He sat up slowly, trying to become aware of his surroundings again. Then he reached out and hugged you, "Welcome... home."
You gave him a pat on the back, then pulled away and sat down next to him.
"How was work?" You asked.
"I talked to, uh... Miss Megumi about Mr. Tazuna."
"Oh yeah? Were you able to return his omamori?"
Keiji waited for a moment. "So... Miss Megumi asked me why I'd decided to join the police force, right?" You nodded your head, "And I told her, like, oh there was this guy I looked up to and I needed to return his omamori. She was like, oh well who is it, like, he might still be working here! So I told her, and apparently he quit."
"What? Did she say anything more about it?"
"No... she just said he quit. He had a kid. Maybe he just... wanted to be there for him, more."
Keiji's boss seemed a bit suspicious in this scenario, but, really, what were you supposed to do about the situation?
"How was work for you?" Keiji asked.
Not good.
"It was fine. Nothing really happened."
Why are you lying?
"Really?"
No.
"Yeah. Just the usual... 1-7 shift."
Oh my god. Just tell him. He knows about Hiyori. He'd be able to help you.
"So a boring, regular day?"
He's your boyfriend. He's supposed to care for and help you.
"Yeah."
No. It wasn't. You went into the break room and rewatched the footage. You sat on a chair and replayed everything in your head over and over and over and over and over,
"Working with... Shin?" Keiji asked suspiciously.
"I don't want to argue." You snapped.
"It sounds like you do."
You hesitated. You shouldn't have snapped at him. Using the word argue always starts an argument.
"...I don't." You said quietly. Barely loud enough to hear over the TV. You opened your mouth to speak. To apologize. To yell. To cry.
"I'm gonna go to our room." You said after another moment of hesitation. Keiji didn't respond.
~ * ~
You lied on your side as you tried to fall asleep without Keiji. It was hard to get tired, though, when your mind was racing.
You couldn't believe Shin. You wanted to because a shred of you had always hoped Hiyori was alive, even if you had moved on, but it really didn't make any sense.
There was no way he survived that fall,
Which meant the video was fake.
You went to his funeral. That was him in the video, but you never saw his dead body.
How did he do that, though?
And... why?
If he was just going to come back, why did he do it?
Why did he
Your phone vibrated on the nightstand next to you. Maybe it was Keiji. Maybe you'd accidentally locked the door without realizing it, and he was texting to see if you were awake so you could unlock it and let him sleep with you.
You grabbed your phone to see a text from an unknown number.
***-719-2749
hello ?
is this y/n ?
You hadn't given your number out to anyone, recently. And you didn't have any friends. You didn't know who this was. It couldn't be Keiji, because you had his contact, and he didn't type like that.
You
who is this ??
***-719-2749
its shin OwO.
You cringed.
You
how did u get my number 😭
You hadn't given Shin your number, and you hadn't given him any reason to text you at — you checked the time — 8:42pm.
***-719-2749
i asked miss nao for it !!
i needed to ask you something.
You
if u needed to ask me something, u could've asked me for my phone number instead of nao,,,
***-719-2749
details !! dear , it doesnt matter all that much .
what time are you starting tomorrow ?
You weren't positive this was Shin. He didn't really seem like this in real life. To be fair, you'd only known him for about a week or two at this point, so you didn't know him that well.
But, still...
You
don't call me dear, please and thanks.
i'm not starting until 3
***-719-2749
okay !!
You
🚫 why did u wanna know
🚫 omg why aren't my messages going through anymore bruh
You turned your phone off, rolling your eyes, "Stupid thing." You muttered.
You fell asleep confused.
~ * ~
A/N: hint hint that wasn't shin.