"Is there a Shiyo Marzin here?"
"Shiyo Marzin? I'll need you to tell me your relation to the person before disclosing anything." The woman was young, maybe mid 20's. She was chewing gum while talking to me, clearly showing a lack of interest. I was pissed, to be honest.
*Cough* "Childhood Friend, I guess? I didn't come earlier due to uh... Well, I can't explain it." I reached into my wallet and grabbed my worker's license.
She chewed her gum again, not caring. Her green eyes showed disdain for me, probably because I increased her workload for the day.
"And, what's your reason for visiting?" She had turned to a computer and started clicking away at it. 'Why is she so noisy?'
I grabbed my license and opened my wallet, sliding it back in. "I just wanted to see her again. It's been months since I last saw her..."
The clicking and chewing slowly increased my anger, but I pretended not to care and gave a fake smile. 'Why is she so noisy... No one else is saying anything. Is this no longer considered rude?`
I let out a loud sigh subconsciously; the lazy girl snapped her head at me and clicked her tongue; "Tch, if you are going to be like that, you can sit in that corner. I have to get through this paperwork." She pointed at an empty chair in the corner.
`God, the contempt on this bitch.`
I listened despite my thoughts and sat down in the corner. `This chair's pretty uncomfortable.`
*tick, tock* *tick, tock* *tick, tock*
I began tapping my hands on my lap, just trying to do anything to cure my boredom.
The tapping away on the computer, the sound of chewing gum and the sounds of elevators going up and down made this way worse than it would've been normally.
`I wonder how she will be after all these years... I haven't seen her in so long.`
`Will she still recognize me?` *tick, tock* `Will I still remember her?` *click, click* `Will she even be alive?` *ding*
After an excruciating 3 minutes, the girl said my name, "Touru Raenin?" I immediately jumped out of the chair.
"Aye! I mean, here!" I ran over to the girl, stumbling but catching myself on the desk.
The girl's green eyes stared at me in disgust before handing me a sticker and paper that said 3242.
She disinterestedly told me, "This is your pass; take the elevator to the second floor and look for the room number."
"T-thank you." I blurted out as I stood there staring at the paper, and she waved her hand toward the elevator before turning to her computer.
I walked over to the elevator that she gestured towards.
`I wonder if she'll recognize me... Or even remember me.`
I pressed the up button on the elevator. *Ding* *Br* My body swayed back and forth as I stood there, tapping my fingers against the back of my hand.
`Come on, why is it so slow? I could climb the building faster than this damn elevator.` I started impatiently tapping my foot on the ground.
As the elevator made its way down, I walked in front of the door and waited for it to open. *GACHUNK* `What was that noise?`
There was a loud noise while I was waiting, and the elevator stopped. *Click* `What's that bitchy receptionist doing now?` I turned my head towards the receptionist from before.
I'm not sure exactly what happened, even to this day. But I am pretty sure the elevator broke down if I remember correctly. Eventually, the receptionist began talking to the people in the elevator and contacted the fire department.
`This is annoying.` I was in a hurry, and the fact there was no stairs made me pissed. In this fit of rage and impatience, I grabbed the elevator doors and forcefully opened them.
I'm not sure what was going through my head back then, but I just wanted to see Shiyo as quickly as possible. Due to this desperate thought, I acted before thinking and entered the elevator shaft.
After entering the elevator shaft through the doors, I quickly came to. `Shit... This is trespassing, isn't it?` I grabbed the back of my neck and tightened my grip slightly. `Damn. I'm already too deep, the best thing I can do now is fix this and hope I escape punishment.`
I began assessing the area around me. I quickly found a ladder and began climbing it up the elevator shaft. `Damn elevator, you better start working after this. I ain't missing this date, I ain't forgetting Shiyo again.`
After climbing for a bit, I heard chattering and nervous laughter getting louder and louder. "That must be the elevator."
I hurled myself on top of the elevator and grabbed the two cables in my hands, trying to act as the replacement for the pulley system. "ELEVATOR, GOIN' DOWN!" I shouted out loud to let the people in the elevator know what was happening.
As I loosened my grip on one of the cables and tightened my grip on the other, I began tugging and pushing the cables to move the elevator. I was slowly forcing the elevator down the shaft despite the elevator's rail lock's best efforts to stop me.
Despite the bumpy ride, I ensured the elevator's descent was as safe as possible. They might have fallen in the elevator, but they were entirely unharmed.
After forcing the elevator down the shaft, my hearing picked up on gasps and weird chatter. `God, this is annoying. I'll get out of here after letting them out.`
I let go of the cables and slammed a hole into the ceiling of the elevator, scaring the shit out of the people in the elevator. "COME ON, GRAB MY HAND AND GET OUT OF THERE!" I reached my hand into the elevator, ready to help them out of the elevator.
One of the people steadied themselves and grabbed my hand weakly. It was a young man, around 24 years old. His blue eyes and blonde hair reminded me of Shiyo-san. I became solemn and stopped, resulting in me staring at them.
I shook my head and tightly gripped their hand, pulling them out and setting them on the ground inside of the shaft. "Climb down the elevator and leave through the doors once I pull you out."
"T-thank you..." The young man bowed to me and thanked me before scrambling down the side of the elevator. As he landed on the ground, I heard cheers from outside the elevator and excited yelling.
I felt an odd feeling in my chest as I looked down at the ground. `Damn bastards. I guess being able to help others isn't so bad...` I silently chuckled while I lowered my hand back into the elevator.
"Come on."
~~~~~~
After a while, everyone safely landed on the ground and exited the elevator shaft.
The young man grabbed his arm awkwardly as everyone asked them what happened. He stepped forward while fumbling, trying to say something, "I... I... Nothing..." But then he stepped back when he couldn't get the words out.
When the young man tried to look back at his savior, he noticed he was gone. He felt a sense of familiarity with the man that he hadn't felt for a long time. It was almost like he was face-to-face with his best friend again.
`Touru... How are you doing these days?`
~~~~~~
I wandered around the second floor, trying to find a specific room. "Room 3242..." I looked at all the plates on the doors. `Not this one... Not this room either.`
"Room 3242... Nah... nah... nah... Wait!" I walked back to the previous room. "Room 3242, here we go!"
I reached my hand out and almost grasped the door handle, then retracted my hand back. `Do I even deserve to see her after all of these years?` I shook my head violently.
"No! I have to see her; I deserve to be selfish once in a while!" I firmly grasped the door handle, feeling the cool metal in my hands.
I twisted the handle and suppressing my anxiousness using the adrenaline I accumulated from the elevator rescue, I pushed the door open. "Shiyo-san, I'm here!"