Oomi
“Would it be alright if I stopped by my room before going to the cafeteria? I kind of just threw my things in there earlier. I should tidy up a bit.”
Honestly, I really had tossed everything in without thinking. I hadn’t even locked the door. I was especially worried about the work data I’d packed in to review during my vacation.
“Got it. I’ll head back to my room too. Let’s meet at the cafeteria in ten minutes.”
Aochi-san readily agreed. But Oze-san, for once, looked uneasy and was glancing around nervously. He’d been acting weird since earlier—suddenly backing away and such.
I’d shaken off my initial fear of Oze-san, but I still thought he was... different. A different kind of person from us.
“What about you, Oze-san?”
“I’ll go straight to the cafeteria from here.”
I didn’t want to leave him alone, but I also didn’t want to come off as pushy. So I quietly followed Aochi-san toward our room.
“Maybe we didn’t really need private rooms. I appreciate that they arranged them for us, but...”
We were only spending one night on the ship. Sharing a room would’ve been fine. Honestly, I didn’t even care if I slept or not.
“True. I’m grateful just to be on board at all, especially this time of year. Having our own rooms is almost too much. I mean, everything would be perfect if we didn’t have a Harvester riding with us.”
As he said that, he placed a hand over his chest again.
“Are you feeling sick?”
I asked, trying not to sound too worried.
“Yeah... Maybe I’m just hungry. Like Oze said, I should probably eat something before the ship starts moving.”
His face looked strained. Holding his chest and saying it’s just hunger didn’t quite add up. I knew I wouldn’t be sleeping tonight—I needed to keep an eye on Aochi-san.
“Then I’ll come get you once I’ve cleaned up a bit. Please stay in your room, Aochi-san.”
“You sound like my mom.”
I was relieved he didn’t seem annoyed. He even smiled. That calmed me—until I stepped into my room.
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I nearly had a heart attack.
There, sitting on the floor, was a boy with a face so pale it made the Harvester I’d seen earlier seem healthy in comparison.
As I turned my back to him and reached for the doorknob, trying to flee through the door I’d just closed, a woman’s voice whispered in my ear:
“Wait.”
“I’m sorry!”
I had no idea what I was apologizing for. I just shouted.
“Look at me.”
The woman’s voice again. Stop. Stop. Please stop. There’s no way I can look.
I could feel their eyes on my back—the boy and the woman. What were they? A mother and son who took their lives in this room? Siblings who drowned? Strangers who died here by chance?
I didn’t want any of those answers.
Slowly—unbelievably slowly—I turned around. I didn’t even know I could move that slowly.
And then I collapsed against the door, sliding down with my back still pressed to it. Because the woman’s face was right there—way too close.
My heart was beating so fast it felt like ice water running through me.
She was so close I couldn’t even make out her features.
I sat on the floor, holding my breath. Then something even more terrifying happened. The boy suddenly emerged from behind the woman and reached out to touch my cheek. His face was filled with sorrow and blame.
Stop it. What did I do?
Then I felt a vibration against my back. The thick door was being knocked on, hard—so hard it felt like it was shaking.
“Oomi! Are you alright?”
“Aochi-saaaan!”
I couldn’t take it. I burst out of the room, making some strange noise I couldn’t control. Aochi-san was right there, and I slammed into him. He caught me, absorbing my momentum, looking completely baffled.
“...Was someone in there?”
“No one!”
I answered so quickly it sounded like I was admitting there was someone. That’s my bad habit.
“You saw something again, didn’t you?”
Aochi-san grabbed my shoulders.
“I don’t know... I don’t know what it was...”
He pushed past me and stepped into the room. The door swung shut behind me. I hesitated to follow.
—Pull yourself together. Didn’t I just say I’d protect Aochi-san?
He’s not good with things like what I see—things like people who are about to die, or already dead.
So which one were they?
It didn’t matter. Aochi-san had gone in there for my sake, despite his fear. I had to be brave too. I gripped the doorknob.
My mouth was dry as I pushed the door open—only for it to suddenly swing wide into the room. I stumbled forward.
“Careful! Don’t do that.”
Aochi-san shoved me roughly back into the hallway and slammed the door behind him. I was jolted back and forth so hard, I felt like I’d get seasick before the ship even moved.
“S-So...?”
“There’s no one inside. If I couldn’t see them, then...”
...Then those two must’ve been dead.
That thought sent a chill through me—one colder than any sea breeze.I grabbed Aochi-san’s hand and ran.
The cafeteria was empty. No sign of Oze-san. Maybe he was still up on the deck. Even after catching my breath, I couldn’t find the words.
“So? What did you see?”
Aochi-san spoke first.
“A woman... and a boy...”
“Were they mother and son?”
Of course he’d ask. He couldn’t see the dead. Even at work, when I’d been terrified by spirits, he’d assumed I was sick and tried to be kind. That’s why I’d found him hard to deal with.
But maybe now he finally believed me.
“I only saw them for a moment. I was too scared—I looked away.”
Just then, Oze-san burst noisily into the cafeteria. He plopped down in the chair nearest us.
Totally unlike his usual calm demeanor. The wooden chair, despite being treated so roughly, looked oddly elegant in this setting.
As usual, Aochi-san spoke before I could gather my thoughts.
“What happened? You’re completely rattled.”
The few seconds it took Oze-san to respond felt strangely long.
“There’s a dead person on this ship, isn’t there?”