Yuki didn't sleep. She just lay there, eyes wide open, waiting for the sun to come up. Everything was quiet now. Too quiet.
Miss Nishimura had called the police last night. The paramedics came with their stretcher. They didn't say much. Just nodded at Yuki and went to take her parents out of the house.
Her parents didn't speak. But they were breathing. That was supposed to mean they were alive — at least, that's what she told herself. The paramedics spoke to her briefly, said something about their condition and keeping her hopes up.
I can't believe this, I'm being told my parents are in a coma and they don't even know when they will wake up from it, she thought while covering her face. She thought
Now she was alone, and the house smelled awful. That same thick, sour stench she'd been pretending wasn't real was making her feel nauseous.
The trash bags near the hallway were ripped open. One had leaked something dark.
She walked past it, careful not to step on the stain, and stopped outside her parents' bedroom, debating whether to go in.
"No… I shouldn't," Yuki muttered.
But after circling the hallway a few more times, she ended up going in anyway. The bed was bare now. Just a plain mattress, with a deep dip in the middle where they used to lay. Two dolls were sitting on the nightstand. One in a grey suit and one in a blue dress.
Her fingers hovered before she picked them up.
"What do I do with you two?" Yuki whispered.
She then made her way to the living room, as she walked straight to the window. Two dolls were there, sitting together near the window. They looked like they were watching the outside world. Like they were waiting for someone.
She gathered the last two dolls and walked back to the living room couch and placed all four dolls in a row. Then she sat on the floor in front of them, legs crossed.
She just stared at them, legs crossed, back hunched, arms resting in her lap. Eyes stuck on the dolls.
However, the dolls didn't move. But something felt wrong.
And then suddenly, one of them tilted their head.
Just a little. A soft tilt, like it had nodded at her. Yuki froze in place. She could not believe her eyes.
Did the doll just move? Yuki thought.
Her chest tightened as she rubbed her eyes and looked again. But on second glance, it seemed she was mistaken.
The doll was in the same spot. Same pose. As if it had never moved at all.
I must be imagining things, she thought.
She reached out to grab the doll but right before her finger touched it, her phone buzzed. The sound made her flinch. She quickly pulled her hand back.
The phone kept buzzing.
Buzz.Buzz.Buzz.
She got up and picked up the phone. It was Miss Nishimura.
"...Hello?"
"Oh, thank God," Miss Nishimura breathed on the other end. "I was really worried."
Yuki didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything.
"I know last night was... I mean, it was a lot," Miss Nishimura said.
Yuki stayed quiet.
"I called someone for you. A therapist. Someone I saw when I was younger," Miss Nishimura said.
Yuki looked confused.
A therapist. Of course. That makes sense. If anything could help me at this moment, it's therapy, right? Yuki thought sarcastically.
Still, her mouth didn't work. She couldn't even think of anything to say back.
"He really did help. However, he's not... normal."
Yuki raised an eyebrow.
"Not normal how...?"
There was a little pause on the other end, like Miss Nishimura was choosing her words.
"He opens his therapy clinic at five in the morning," she said. "And closes at seven-thirty. That's it. No afternoons. No weekends. Nothing."
"...That's weird," Yuki muttered.
"Yeah. And he wears all black, every single time I've seen him. Looks like he belongs in a horror movie."
Yuki looked back at the dolls. They still hadn't moved.
"He has this receptionist too. Doesn't talk at all. I don't know if she can't, or just doesn't want to."
Yuki almost smiled, but it didn't quite reach her mouth.
Miss Nishimura's voice got a little softer.
"But if you can get past all that... he helped me through something when I was a mess. He told me things no one else did. Saw through me like glass. It was scary at first, but... it worked."
Yuki leaned against the wall and looked at the clock. It was 4:50 a.m.
Uhm... I guess I can see him and still make it to school on time, she thought.
However, she didn't feel like talking or moving.
But something about the way Miss Nishimura said it—like she really meant it—like she really believed it could help—got stuck in Yuki's head.
"You don't have to go if you're not ready... but I'll send you his contact for whenever you are. He's the kind of person who knows how to listen," Miss Nishimura said.
"...What's his name?" Yuki asked.
"Sasaki," Miss Nishimura said. "Sasaki Shin."