Hoshino POV
It was 11 p.m. I'd gotten home from my hangout with Mei a couple of hours ago and was currently lying in bed, staring at the phone screen that displayed the thread of messages between us.
The past five messages had all been sent by me. Each of them was left unread.
Maybe if I were in middle school, I'd have these delusions about how she was sick and tired of me, and that was why she was ghosting me.
But I knew better than to think that. It was strange that she hadn't responded—since she always replied after some reasonable stretch of time—but she was a high schooler nearing graduation. She had things in her life besides me, ones that were even more important.
I wasn't scared about that, but it didn't mean I wasn't worried, though. Not for "us." For her.
Whenever we weren't together in person, we'd trade the occasional text about how and what we were doing every half hour or so. And if either of us were expecting a delay—usually it was me—we'd say something like "If you don't see me respond, it's because I'm in a game, so give me a bit."
So the fact that Mei had disappeared without a word was… concerning, to put it lightly.
And it wasn't because she was special to me. Maybe that was part of it—but it wasn't the main reason.
It was because scenes from the night she cried in my arms kept flashing through my head.
The way her wails rang in my ears. The way she clung to me. The way her tears soaked through my clothes. The way she'd thrown herself at me. And the way she looked…
I would never be able to forget for as long as I lived.
Something had undoubtedly happened. Something I had a vague sense of, but no concrete grip on.
And it was because of that—the ambiguity of it all was what made it so terrifying.
I'd rather have an absolute answer than an open-ended speculation that I could spend an eternity dwelling on.
Which was exactly what I'd been doing this whole time.
Whatever. She can take care of herself… That was what I tried to tell myself. And yet, every few minutes or so, I'd get out of my room, ready to make my way downstairs, put on my shoes, and bolt out of the door and straight to Mei's.
But each time, without fail, I'd return to my room and shut myself in my bed again.
Don't be stupid. You can't just run to her house. I reasoned, rationalizing myself to calm down.
What if her Dad's home? You know he's strict—and even worse, doesn't let her hang out with boys.
What would you even do once you got there?
What if nothing's wrong after all, and you're overthinking?
It's okay. Even if she is in trouble—if she needs me, she'll tell me.
She managed to run all the way to my house last time, so she could surely pull off at least that much…
They were all valid points, but there was still a small part of me that couldn't help but wonder—
...But what if she can't?
What if… it's worse this time?
What if this was supposed to be a sign that something was wrong and for me to go there right now?
What if–
I bit the inside of my mouth, the sharp pain cutting a small clearing into my thoughts.
I let out a small sigh.
This isn't good at all. It won't do me any good if I keep going like this…
But just because I knew it didn't mean it was easy to move on and forget about it. I could try and tell myself things like, "everything will be fine, I trust that Mei could handle herself." And while I did believe that, trusting her and being there for her if she was in danger were two completely different things.
Suddenly, an idea came to mind. One that should've been obvious, but one that hadn't occurred to me until now—maybe because I always tended to avoid doing it with people.
What if I just… called her?
Before the thought even finished, my thumb was already on the call button. I didn't have much hope that it'd work since Mei seemed to be missing, but to my surprise, the call connected after exactly three rings.
I jumped out of bed, pressing the phone to my ear. "Mei, are you okay?"
While I didn't scream, my voice carried far more urgency than I would've liked. But there was nothing to be done about it now.
The other end of the phone was completely silent. At least, that was how it seemed at first. If I listened closely though, I could vaguely make out the sound of breathing and rustling.
A cold sweat ran down my back.
What the hell is happening…?
Before I could unload my barrage of questions, a voice finally came through.
"Ah! Sorry for the delay. It took longer to get under the covers than I expected," the voice said in a hushed whisper.
Wait…
I pulled my phone back and stared at the screen. I was definitely on a call with Mei, and yet, the voice on the other end wasn't Mei at all. It was still a woman, but she sounded much weaker. Almost even frail.
It didn't take long to put two and two together.
"Are you… Mei's Mom?" I asked, somewhat hesitantly.
A light giggle came from the other end. One nearly identical to Mei's.
"Hehehe. Yup! You caught on pretty quickly."
Hearing her reply, my tone, posture, facial expression, and mood shifted instantly.
"Thanks, I'm flattered. That means a lot coming from Mei's Mom," I replied as sincerely and politely as possible. "But speaking of, do you know where she is right now?"
The voice paused for a moment. In that brief pause, the mic crackled, as if a gust of wind had blown across it.
"She's… asleep right now," Mei's Mom said, a touch of softness in her frail, shaky voice. "You don't have anything to worry about."
The tension drained out of me the moment she said it.
Thank goodness…
Now that I had gotten what I needed to know, there was no real reason for me to stay on the call. I could've ended right then and there, but I couldn't just hang up on Mei's Mom like that. That was disrespectful. Besides, there was something I needed to clear up.
"Whoa, worried? I wouldn't say I was worried or anything," I joked in a polite tone.