Click-clack!
Swing...
Bam!
When the door to the old apartment opened, Nohara's face paled. A black aura emanated from within her new apartment. Behind her, two men stood watching her and quickly, Nohara turned around with a bright smile. "This is my friend's apartment! He hasn't had time to clean it, and there's nothing in it, but he said I can stay here!"
Moriou and Ohta furrowed their brows suspiciously. "Do you know that this apartment room has been empty since 5 years ago?" asked Ohta.
"Right! This is a haunted apartment room! They say a woman hanged herself in this room!" Nohara tried to drown out the black aura from inside her room with her bright smile. "They said there was a living room, two bedrooms and a kitchen, and a nice bathroom!" her bright smile started to fade a little. "Moreover, this apartment's rent is really cheap..." Nohara's smile disappeared.
She didn't want to admit that the reason she came here was that it was cheap. She prefers to be thought of as a strange woman who likes haunted houses.
But of course, Ohta knew very well that Nohara didn't like scary things. Despite the heated memory that accompanied that knowledge, Ohta nodded deeply with a slight blush on his cheeks and decided, "Inoue-san, we have two rooms and one living room too. How about you stay at our place for a while until you find a new place that suits you?"
Moriou turned to Ohta in surprise, and even more surprised, Nohara, who raised her eyebrows high.
"Right! We could sleep together for a few days. Or, we can loosen up the living room and put a futon in there!" Moriou said.
Nohara's smile widened, and she almost burst into tears. "What are you guys actually? Angel?" Nohara asked hoarsely. For her now, the light emanating from Moriou and Ohta's kindness overcame the black aura from her apartment.
Re-locking the haunted apartment, Nohara and Ohta realized that indeed the apartment that had not been used for five years had an old key that was easy to break. Actually, Nohara isn't too afraid of living alone in a haunted apartment. She is more afraid to live in an unsafe room. At first, she thought it was a short-term problem that could be fixed soon. Back to the original problem, the long term problem is the black aura house which is clearly inhabited by the ghost.
After Nohara closed and locked the door, a loud knocking and scratching sound was coming from inside the apartment. Nohara and Ohta quickly paled while Moriou chuckled. "Looks like this apartment isn't worth living in yet," Moriou muttered, causing Nohara and Ohta to nod quickly.
They walked up the stairs again, and Ohta helped Nohara lift her suitcase. When they reached the highest floor, they walked down the hall and stopped at a door. Moriou unlocked the door, and they entered. As Nohara expected, what greeted her was a neat room with simple furnishings.
"Our password is 081077," Ohta said then.
Nohara took out her cell phone and took notes.
"This is our bathroom, then over there is the kitchen. On the right is my room, and on the left is Shimizu-san's room," Moriou explained.
Ohta pulled Nohara's suitcase into the living room and left it there as he approached the kitchen cupboard. "Oh, we have coffee and tea leaves. Would you like a glass?" Ohta asked then.
"Ah, sorry, Shimizu-san. I have acid reflux disease, so I can't drink anything that contains caffeine," replied Nohara.
Ohta stopped moving. His memory flashed back to the glass of strawberry milk on the first day they met. "Inoue-san, do you like strawberry milk?" he asked. He opened the refrigerator door and pulled out two bottles of mixed berry yoghurt.
He motioned for Nohara to sit on the sofa and put a yoghurt he took on the table. Nohara looked a little surprised. How did Ohta know her favourite drink? Ohta sat across from Nohara. He blinked his dim eyes, and his smile bloomed slightly, making Nohara, who saw him feel strange again.
Clack. Ohta opened the yoghurt bottle in his hand and handed it to Nohara in a relaxed, casual motion as if he was used to this. Nohara accepted and thanked him. Ohta just nodded, grabbed the bottle on the table, opened it and leaned against the sofa, then drank it casually.
Moriou, who seemed to blend into the background, looked at the two humans with extraordinary physiques in front of him while acknowledging his fate. Ohta was the most handsome man in their office, while it could be said that Nohara had a tender face that was more handsome than Ohta. Now, because Nohara's hair is long, she looks feminine and charming.
Not wanting to disturb them, Moriou opened the refrigerator and took a bottle of yoghurt for himself. "I'll go to my room," he said.
"Ah, that's right," Nohara smiled gently at Moriou, which made Moriou narrow his eyes in the brightness. "It turns out you guys have a sofa. I don't mind sleeping here tonight," Nohara said later.
"Okay. Tomorrow let's buy a set of futons, Tokuchi-san. Later, if our friends stay overnight, we can invite them to sleep with the futon. I can keep it in my room. There's still room," said Ohta.
Moriou nodded. "Wait, wait, Shimizu-san, you have friends?" asked him seriously. "Besides Inoue-san?" he continued.
Nohara stifled a laugh, and Ohta became languid and monochrome.
"Do not worry. I don't have many friends either. Ah... the friend I have in Tokyo right now... Shimizu-san... Momo-chan... then..." Nohara raised her fingers to count. She soon became languid and monochrome too.
Moriou furrowed his brows. "Ah. I shouldn't have mentioned this."
"Tokuchi-san," Ohta called, glaring at Moriou. "Are you not my friend?" he asked seriously.
"Ah! Disgusting! Shimizu-san I have goosebumps!" Moriou raised both his hands palely.
Ohta returned to monochrome and lowered his head.
Then Nohara remembered something, and her figure was no longer monochrome. "Ah! I have another friend! Jack-san and Saki!" sorry, Jack-san, Saki, I forgot you guys—
Ohta looks so depressed watching Nohara, who shines bright again. But somehow, the fact that Nohara acknowledged him as a friend made him feel happy. "Jack-san and Saki?" he asked.
Nohara smiled at Ohta. "They are gay bar owners I know..." Then Nohara realized maybe Jack and Saki couldn't be counted as friends—
"Hmm, they sound very close to you," said Ohta.
"They probably just think of me as one of their customers," said Nohara softly. "But they are good people," she continued.
"Interesting. As for me, I have many friends, at work, from college, from high school, from middle school, from elementary school, even from kindergarten!" said Moriou as if to boast.
"Are you sure they all consider you their friend too?" Nohara asked.
"Ah," Moriou sat down on the sofa, and his figure started to become monochrome.
Ohta sighed. "That's why you should acknowledge me as your friend while I still acknowledge you as my friend," Ohta said.
"Shimizu-san!" with sparkling eyes, Moriou threw away his monochrome form and approached Ohta with enthusiasm.
"Ah! Disgusting! You give me goosebumps!" Ohta pushed Moriou away.
Nohara chuckled seeing them. She herself was reminded of Momoka. As apartment-mates, they also often tease each other like this.
When will she be able to meet Momoka again, huh?