Chapter Text
Inside a breakroom, two women were seen gossiping with
Inside a breakroom, two women were seen gossiping with each other, their voices hushed as they indulged in their conversation.
"Hey, have you heard? Soda-Kun is in the hospital."
"Seriously? I just saw him last week! What happened?"
"Apparently, he was attacked, but do you know what's the weirdest part? When he arrived at the hospital, he went completely insane, he claimed monsters attacked him."
"That's so scary! Does that mean he won't be coming back to work? Do we have to work double time just to cover him?"
"I don't know yet, hopefully, it won't be. What do you think, Matsui-san?" The middle-aged woman asked her younger co-worker who was staring off into the distance.
She snapped out of her daydream when she heard her name called, she looked at her co-workers confusingly "oh. . .uhmm-"
"You weren't paying attention were you?"
"How rude! You should give your seniors more respect!"
"Oh, I'm sorry." She said in a plain tone.
"Are you mocking me?"
"No, I'm not."
"Don't talk back to me!"
"How should I talk to you then?" She questioned her coworkers.
The two women glare at the plain girl, "I can't believe the amount of disrespect the younger generation has nowadays. Let's go Mio-chan." The two women storm out of the breakroom, leaving Kiyori all alone.
Kiyori sighed, she moves some of her short black hair behind her ear. Kiyori wondered what she did wrong. If she had to be honest, she was just thinking about what she should buy for dinner. Kiyori barely notices her co-workers entering the break room along with her. She thought her co-workers were just talking among themselves, apparently, she was also involved in their conversation? She doesn't even know them personally, they never really talk to her.
Another co-worker appeared in the doorway, "there you are! Matsui-san I need some help with the printer!"
Kiyori quickly checked the clock, her break is about to be over anyways. "Ok, I'm coming."
The rest of the day proceeded as normal. There is absolutely nothing exciting about her boring office job, the same could be said about her entire life. Even she is boring. Matsui Kiyori has been this way for her entire life. A boring girl living her boring life.
Usually, this would bother many, often making others seek some sort of excitement in their bland life. This used to be the same for the girl, but eventually, her sort of excitement got boring so she went back to her boring life with contentment.
Kiyori watches her co-workers gather together from across the office, they laugh and smile at each other happy that the day is finally over. It looks like they're planning to go somewhere.
"Hey, Matsui want to come with us to the bar?" One of the newer employees asked her from across the room.
Kiyori's eyes widened, "oh! Uhm..."
A fellow employee grabbed his shoulder, "Don't bother asking her, Matsui doesn't care for anything, she's a real joy kill." They all agreed. And without another word, all of Kiyori's co-workers left the building, leaving her behind by herself.
Of course, her lack of emotions bothers people. It wasn't that she didn't feel anything, Kiyori always struggled to convey her emotions. Her mother was right, she should've fixed that issue when she was younger.
'It's fine, she tried to convince herself. She was busy anyways, she needed to buy groceries and clean her apartment, or maybe visit her brother and his wife. Who knows, they might need help with her three-year-old nephew. But at the same time, whenever she visits him, she always gets this strange feeling in her chest. It took a while for her to realize this feeling is envy. She's jealous of her older brother for having his entire life together. He has a large home, a good job, a loving wife, a young son, and possibly a new child on the way. He has everything in a perfect life, a life everyone strives to achieve.
Matsui Kiyori wants something in her life, but she isn't sure what it is yet. Friends, a better job, a bigger house, a romantic relationship, or even some excitement. She isn't sure what it is she wants. Maybe she will try to achieve everything she listed in order?
Too bad those are all things that are difficult to obtain. Both her coworkers and neighbors are weirded out by her. There's no job out there with a better pay, and getting a house in Japan is nearly impossible. So should she start dating? Kiyori's cheeks started to blush at the thought, she never dated before; sure she had a few crushes but that was the most she ever got in romance. But how do you start a relationship? I guess that can also be crossed off the list.
Then the last thing she listed was excitement. As mentioned before, Kiyori did that earlier in life. To be more specific, during high school, she decided to go on an extreme workout regimen and start entering into fights with the school delinquents.
At first, it was fun fighting, but the results are always unpredictable. Until Kiyori got so strong that every fight always led to her being the victor. Things got boring real quick. She quit fighting after she graduated. Should Kiyori start fighting again? She doesn't want to get in trouble with the law. Where could she go to fight without getting in trouble? Maybe she should just let everything go.
Kiyori intensely stares at the row of cereals, there are so many options but she only had enough money to buy one. What should it be? Kiyori didn't realize she was scaring other customers with serious stares.
"Excuse me," a male voice spoke behind her, Kiyori glanced behind her to see a blonde man in a business suit. There was a slight blush on her face, he's a very attractive man. "You're in the way." The man spoke in his deep voice. Kiyori was close to being enchanted by it.
"Oh, I'm sorry." She moves aside, allowing him to be closer. Maybe she should get the same cereal as him?
"Have you noticed anything strange recently?" He suddenly spoke.
"Huh? Uh, what do you mean?"
"Like strange events happening to you, such as unexplained bad luck or health issues."
What a strange question, "Uhm..." Kiyori thought to herself for a few seconds, "no. I don't think so. Sorry." Why was she apologizing? Geez, Kiyo! Get yourself together! Don't embarrass yourself in front of the handsome man!
"I see. Sorry for the sudden question." He said nothing more as he walked away. Huh- he didn't buy any cereal.
It took Kiyori around ten minutes to finally decide which cereal to buy. She actually called her brother asking him which cereal her nephew likes the most, she should've expected it would've been the unhealthy marshmallow cereal.
It was completely dark as she walked home from the store. She's glad her apartment complex isn't far from her workplace and a grocery store. It's extremely convenient having everything nearby.
Most people wouldn't bother walking home due to the darkness and the cold temperature, but Kiyori never minded. She doesn't complain when there's a creepy aura in the street, how unnatural everything looks when there are no people or cars in sight, or the large number of missing posters littered everywhere, and she doesn't complain when there's a hideous six-eyed monster in front of her.
Kiyori didn't even blink when the monster screamed random words at her, and her expression didn't change the slightest when the monster grabbed her. She gently set her grocery bags on the ground and lifted her hand in a fist, her fist barely made any contact with the monster before it exploded into millions of pieces. Kiyori immediately grabbed her groceries and checked on them, "thank goodness, the eggs are fine." And without a second thought, Kiyori continued walking toward her apartment. She was completely unaware there was someone who watched her amazing accomplishment.