𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏: 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠
Chihaya staggered and put a hand on the door of the room.
Without the energy to look around, she unlocked the door and entered, shutting it behind her with a force as if to shut out the outside air. It was the last of her energy.
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“Ugh. . . . . .”
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Feeling nauseous, she covered her mouth and locked the door as if to isolate herself from the world with her other hand.
It seemed that even the drunken woman had some sense of legal compliance left, as she didn’t force alcohol on the underage Chihaya.
But Chihaya gets drunk on crowds even without alcohol. This time, she had gotten quite drunk at the girls’ bar.
She took off her hat and mask at the entrance, and slumped down against the wall.
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“What a terrible night. . . . . .”
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She made her way to the living room, leaning against the wall, and squinted at the light coming through the curtains.
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“It’s morning already. . . . . .”
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She had been dragged around all night by that drunken woman.
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“But who was she, anyway. . . . . .”
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The drunk woman had interacted with Chihaya as if she were a childhood friend, never even introducing herself. Worse yet, she seemed not to have noticed that Chihaya hadn’t introduced herself either.
Entering her own safe space, Chihaya’s condition gradually improved. However, there was no energy left to drown her sorrows in non-alcoholic drinks, and she hadn’t even bought any.
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“I’ll take a bath and go to bed.”
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Fortunately, the bath had been cleaned in anticipation. Grateful for the environment where she could fill it with water at the push of a button, Chihaya went to her bedroom to change into her loungewear.
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“Who was she really. . .”
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She was not an acquaintance. Such a lively person was Chihaya’s natural enemy. She would run away from them as if escaping like a wild rabbit.
The woman’s drunken talk had been incoherent, but apparently, she had been drinking heavily because a long-time acting partner had retired. She hadn’t even mentioned the Actor’s name.
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Annoyed, Chihaya flung her bra off and rolled her shoulders. With her shirt over her head, the room-ready Chihaya was complete.
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“Liberating. . . . . .”
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Experiencing a sensation like being challenged for speaking as a social withdrawal, Chihaya took her change of clothes to the laundry basket, and remembered.
After being dragged into a girls’ bar by the drunk woman, she had demanded “closing ramen,” and dragged Chihaya to a ramen shop just outside the entertainment district.
Eating only dumplings, Chihaya had sat next to the woman who ate a pork ramen and then suddenly stood up with her phone and said:
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“Sorry, something came up. Pay with this. See you.”
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She shoved a ten-thousand yen note at Chihaya and disappeared into the pre-dawn darkness of the town.
The woman probably forgot that she had already paid since it was a meal ticket system.
Chihaya had stuffed the ten-thousand yen note into her pocket when she left the restaurant, intending to return it if they met again.
So, taking the ten-thousand yen note out of the pocket of the clothes she was about to throw into the laundry basket, Chihaya noticed a piece of paper that had fallen to the floor.
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“A note? What is this?”
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Putting her clothes in the laundry basket, Chihaya picked up the paper.
It looked like a scrap roughly torn from a notepad. Turning it over, she saw writing on it.
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“. . .Shimitsu Nei? A name, maybe? And a password?”
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Tilting her head, Chihaya glanced sideways at the bath to check the water’s temperature. It would probably take some more time.
“It’s best to get the troublesome matters out of the way as soon as possible,” Chihaya thought, holding a note and heading down to the underground Actor room.
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That drunken woman is probably an Actor. If so, something might be found by searching this name-like thing.
Even if there is an account with this name, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the drunken woman, but it might be a clue.
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Chihaya started searching on the computer and smartphone in the basement.
On her smartphone, she searched the account name in Actor’s Quest and also looked for records of orders placed by the relevant Actor in the past on the requests page.
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“Not there, I guess?”
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As for the order records, they only go back six months, so if the request was fulfilled before that, it won’t show up in the search.
Thinking that her guess was wrong, Chihaya started investigating the rental machine’s history on the computer. That too didn’t exist.
There were also no corresponding names in past online news articles.
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“. . . . . .Not an Actor?”
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Maybe like Chihaya, she just hasn’t registered with her real name.
Would it be quicker to look for that drunken woman outside and hand it over directly?
With that thought, Chihaya, after some hesitation, tucked the note into her wallet.
She can look for that drunken woman casually when she goes out next time. With such a lively voice, she’ll probably hear it even from a distance.
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Chihaya puts aside the fact that she rarely goes outside and is a recluse.
Responding to the water heater that informed her the bath was ready with “Okay,” Chihaya went upstairs to the first floor.
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