Chapter Text
"Work is such a pain," you thought to yourself while practically dragging your feet down the sidewalk. Of course, today just had to be one of those days you woke up on the wrong side of bed. Although you had messy hair and wrinkly clothes, you still HAD to go to work today. Yet here you were going to lick your boss's shoes for yet another day.
Maybe it was just because it was a bad day, but you almost think you feel a strange presence. Were you paranoid? Maybe? Crazy? Fuck no. It was so unlike you to be creeped out on a regular day, but whatever it was, it was probably nothing.
Lost in your thoughts, you bump into a man...He looked to be very put-together and professional. Blonde hair, tall, and a strange tie, "What a stern-looking man..." you thought before apologizing in the best tone you could, despite your bad mood. " Damn office drones..." The man muttered before walking away, but before leaving you, he said, "You should be more careful."
The man himself seemed very stoic, the no-nonsense type. But what he said struck a chord with you, even in that sultry tone, Be careful? What was that supposed to mean? You stood still for a moment deep in thought, before walking away whilst rolling your eyes.
Your path to work was cut short when you approached a large head-on collision. “SERIOUSLY??” It was unfortunate, but you would have to take a different route.
Not only were you going to have to go to work after embarrassing yourself, but you were going to go to work a different way. The path you were taking wasn’t really all that bad, just unfamiliar. Your mind kept wandering to that strange encounter from earlier.
The place you found yourself in was a busy street. It was open enough that you could feel the cool air brush past your skin, yet crowded enough to appear busy. It wasn’t just you who seemed glum; all the crowds of people looked to be that way as well. Maybe you were just projecting.
Even the strange man you bumped into appeared that way. You’d almost wish you had questioned the man about what “be more careful” even meant. Although you were probably reading too much into it.
There it is again, the strange feeling that had been washing over you the whole day. While admiring the buildings and their surroundings, you notice something unusual. It felt like something was off, like something was missing.
Yeah, no, something was definitely missing. Just then, it all seemed to come back to you. What was missing was a large, 6-story building. You felt like beating yourself up for not noticing.
You felt yourself being drawn to investigate, although maybe it was more trouble than it was worth. I mean, you had enough time, why not check it out?
You take your first steps towards the unusual space. It felt like something was trying to pull you away, like you knew it was wrong. The space felt dark and uneasy as your footsteps kept trudging along the floor.
From feeling creeped out to feeling full-on terrified, the words ”I need to leave” suddenly spilled out of your mouth. Before you had any time to react, you found yourself bolting as fast as you could for the exit. But…you couldn’t leave because there was no exit…
It was like a nightmare that had just become reality. Something you just couldn’t accept was real. All you could do was keep running. You felt something wrap around you in some way that gave you the chills. When you looked down, all you could see was your work uniform, albeit a little bit dirty, but still normal nonetheless
And there it was, the glorious exit. You had prayed for times like this, even tho you weren’t religious; this made you close to converting.
After walking out, you felt the same sickening feeling, but it felt even worse. And you thought you had just escaped hell. There wasn’t much thought behind the decision not to tell anyone about your crazy encounter just now. You really didn’t want to seem like you had a screw loose in front of your co-workers.
You still went to work despite having the worst day ever. Sometimes you wonder why you ever got an office job. By the time you got to work, you were already an hour and a half late.
“This is the third time you’ve been late. I don’t want to hear your stupid excuse; just get ready for the meeting,” your boss said in a stern tone. You really didn’t have an excuse for it this time, so you just sat and took the lecture. “My apologies, I’ll do better next time, sir,” was all you could muster to say.
You were in the middle of burying yourself within your work when you saw him. The same stoic man who had told you to be careful just hours before having the worst day of your life. You didn’t blame him, obviously, but he did kinda jinx it.
Just then, another thought had crossed your mind. What if it wasn’t that he was having a bad day, but he could tell you were? What if he knew something you didn’t?
The curiosity was eating you alive like you NEEDED to ask him. Although there was also a chance you thought about it too much. Worst-case scenario, he doesn’t know what you’re talking about, and you end up embarrassing yourself again in front of the same stranger.
Turns out the stoic man was going to be attending the meeting you were going to in a few days. He seemed open-minded enough to listen to your questions. He would probably take it in the most logical way possible.
Every new day you awoke in the days leading to the meeting, you just felt more and more exhausted. You wouldn’t have nightmares, per se; it was more like you went to sleep, had no dream, and woke up in a cold sweat. It’s like your body was anxious while you slept.
Today was the day of the meeting. Even if you were already exhausted from the night before, it was only right to continue on. You and the other people involved in your workplace would be exploring new ways to keep the structures of buildings safe for the public.
Meanwhile, Nanami was more worried about you. Well, not worried, he was more concerned about the semi-first-grade cursed spirit wrapped around you like a bandage. He could tell it was feeding off your negative emotions.
It was a bad cycle; if you were feeling bad, the cursed spirit would feed off of it and, in turn, make you feel more miserable. It would eventually create a cycle where you would end up dying from exhaustion.
Although he was only here for the cursed spirit, he couldn’t help but feel bad for you as well. He was never the type to put his emotions into work, but to have a spirit toy with someone just because really pissed him off..
Still, he couldn’t exorcise it while it was still a parasite on your body. Instead, he would have to make your mood good enough for the spirit to abandon you. The only reason it was targeting you was because of your attitude and mood overall.
So all he had to do was change your attitude, which he decided to make his goal.