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Keiji Shinogi works at a 7/11 and meets spike spiegel (part 5)
It was another day at 7/11, but something felt off. Keiji was lost in a maze in his mind. Every dead end lead to seeing a fragment of his past, or the remains of past friends. Keiji couldn’t run from whatever was chasing him in the maze. He couldn’t wake up. He froze in his tracks. There was no escape.
“Hey! Hey! I said wakey wakey 6 times already!!” Chela shook keiji awake. The crisp dawn leaked into the building. “If you’re gonna fall asleep on the night shift, we can switch shifts… again…” Chela hopped behind the counter and put on his hat. Keiji looked disoriented and confused. Chela looked back at him in concern. “Don’t worry about mr policeman… just some bad dreams…” keiji rubbed his eyes and looked away from chel. “Keiji you never call yourself that. Is everything alright?” Keiji packed up his stuff and paced to door, ignoring Chel. He walked down the street to his apartment. Keiji entered his room, and threw his stuff to the floor. He lay alone in his bed, and drifted back to sleep.
Keiji was restless. He couldn’t find any peaceful sleep. He was having flashbacks of the past. As soon as he felt calm enough to finally get proper rest, the phone rang. He stumbled over to it. “Hello? Keiji Shinogi here.” He scratched his head when there wasn’t a response. “… Hey! So I know you’ve been antsy lately, and I have great news! We have a new employee! He’ll be working here part time, and I think he knows who you are…? You should come back to work later today and meet him, he seems sweet.” Chela sped through his words, and keiji could barely understand them. “What’s his name-“ keiji started before Chela hung up the phone. Someone who knew keiji? Chela would of said if it was spike, so who could this guy be? Keiji was too tired to find out, but he couldn’t get back to sleep. He got up and trekked back to work.
As keiji stepped through the doors, he heard a familiar voice. Familiar, but not familiar enough to recognize. Keiji groggily turned over to face the new employee. “Hello Keiji!” The young man said. His name tag was hard to read, the sunlight bounced off of the silver pin. “Hello..?” Keiji seemed very confused with the situation. Chela came out from the employee backroom with a box of products. “Ah! I need to introduce you guys to each other. Keiji! Meet joe!” Chela shook Joe’s hand. “Joe?..” Keiji went stiff, like he was looking at a ghost. “Joe…” He took a step back. “Is something wrong?” Chela also seemed concerned now. Joe just stood there with a smile on his face. Keiji remembered the final agreement with Asunaro. He could not speak of the death game, ever, at all. The room went silent. “Keiji was friends with my father!” Joe chuckled as he glared at keiji. Keiji didn’t know how to respond. The person who he watched expire was standing in front of him, in full 7/11 employee uniform. Out of all the people, it was Joe Tazuna. “Uhh.. Yes! I was friends with your dad. He is a great guy…” Keiji stuttered before slowing down. “Keiji, thanks for coming out to meet the new employee but I think you should go back home and get some rest.” Chel pats keiji on the back and joe gives a thumbs up.
Keiji heads back home (again), but his mind feels overflowed. How did joe get there? Joe knew about what happened with mr policeman? Joe was Alive?! His head hurt thinking about it. He decided to call spike to hang out at the park again. Keiji would go to parks whenever he felt overwhelmed. He sat down alone at the bench and waited for spike. After a few minutes of waiting, spike showed up and sat down next to keiji. Keiji was silent. “What’s wrong..?” Spike looked around to make sure chela wasn’t near before holding keiji’s hand. Keiji moved closer to him. “A piece of the past caught up to me.” Keiji muttered. His hallucinations of the death game had been getting especially bad lately. And somehow.. Joe was alive and well. “I get it. I get it… Similar things are happening with me.” Spike responded with a solemn expression. “People I knew in the past who I thought were dead are… out there…” Keiji was very distressed at the thought of this. Could other participants be alive? How would he be able to find them? Spike saw the fear in keiji’s deep grey eyes. Keiji was able to dismiss the past for long enough. Spike admired the mental strength Keiji had. Spike had trouble accepting the past and moving on. The past was always in his sight. “The person I thought was gone isn’t a bad kid.. he’s a sweetheart. He probably feels the same way as I do. I’m actually kind of glad to see him.” “I’m happy that you are looking for a bright side in this scary situation. Honestly, I’m a ghost to some people too.” Spike laughed to himself, as he leaned onto Keiji. “I died once” Keiji chuckled in disbelief. “No, really. And I had to act natural when I saw the people I was dead to. It was awkward, but it was better than me just showing up and making a scene.”
Keiji and spike walked to 7-11 together. Arm in arm. It was the end of Chel’s shift and the beginning of Joe’s. “Hey Joe.” Keiji smiled as he went to the employee room. “Heya Keiji! “ Joe was a very cheery person. Joe missed Keiji a lot, and he looked up to him. Chel was happy to see the two of them working together. Chel was completely oblivious of their history, and thought Keiji was just upset with the thought of being replaced. From that day on, Joe and Keiji got along well at work. Keiji was doing better, and his hallucinations were reduced over time. He was recovering, slowly but surely.