The Dream Shifter

Chapter 114

There was little sound being creating in the hall of the hospital creating a thick atmosphere. It had already been tense with Saki and the nurse, yet their conversation only seemed to make it worse. The suffocating sensation of the air being pulled out of the lungs left a silent wall around Saki that buried the deep panic in her mind. 'Why am I hesitating? What's this that I'm feeling?' It felt like something invisible was wrapped around her body.

The nurse flipped through the loop of keys to find the one for Takako's room. "You ready, Miss?" Saki's blank look had gone mostly unnoticed by the nurse as she was unlocking the door (didn't hear a no). The door quietly swung open into the white padded room. "I'm sorry to intrude, Dr. Shiotani! Miss Yamazaki has a visitor."

Across the room near the opposite corner was a man crouched down distracted by the patient in front of him. He was wearing a white button up shirt and formal business pants. There was a sense of professionalism coming from him, but also an air of casual hardworking that preferred to be more hands-on. It was a conflicting image.

"Doctor?" the nurse repeated once more before starting to turn back towards Saki. "Really caught in his work…" She returned to the hall where Saki waited. "Miss? Miss Furukawa?" The nurse reached out to Saki taking her hands softly to get her attention.

It had been the physical contact that snapped Saki out of the crippling trance. "…eh? I'm sorry! I must have spaced out for a moment."

"It's okay, Miss. This can be an unsettling place for people." The woman moved aside inviting Saki into the room. "The Doctor is still examining her, but you can wait inside."

"You sure it's okay?" The nurse nodded politely to her and encouraged to move forward. 'What was with that before? It was almost tangible…' Saki eventually took the step and entered the bright cell. She had to adjust her eyes a little to the difference from the hall. The entire room was quiet as it had been the last time that she visited, even the doctor was remaining quiet (completely engrossed in his work). It gave her an awkward feeling like an intruder in someone's house. "I'm sorry for interrupting you, sir!" Saki had quickly bowed to the back of the man trying to make her presence known. However, there was no further response other than the empty out of place feeling. "…I-I'll just wait here…"

The doctor continued without any movement it seemed, but with his back turned away there was little that could be seen by Saki. She patiently waited and wondered if she should be doing this knowing that Yuki was missing in the city still. When the time finally came for the doctor to move Saki reacted quickly by standing up (had been sitting). The man turned towards Saki starting to walk towards her.

Shiotani was a young man still from his appearance, but had a mature experienced look in his eyes. The striped tie that he was wearing was pulled loose around his neck with the top button of his shirt undone. He looked worn or fatigued, but Saki could not tell which.

"I'm sorry if I bothered you, sir!" apologized Saki once more; however she soon realized that the doctor was not even looking at her. He had probably not even known that she was standing before. Shiotani was walking to the door before it seemed to fully register with him.

Once he turned his eyes to see the speaker he came to a stop. He shifted himself back to face Saki reading her with his gaze. "I'm sorry that I didn't notice you," he suddenly said lightly in a casual tone.

"Oh no, that's okay! You were doing something very important!"

"Still it was rude of me," he said quickly. Shiotani began to run this hand through his hair while approaching Saki. "You'll have to forgive me. I have a tendency to zone out while I'm working." A friendly smile grew on his lips as he looked a little embarrassed for admitting his weakness.

Saki become a little flustered by the man's openness and waved her arms in denial. "I'm so sorry, sir!" For a brief moment Saki's eyes darted over to Takako before returning to Shiotani.

He had picked up on Saki's concern and looked over at the frail looking girl that was difficult to tell that she was a healthy high student only two weeks ago. "A friend of yours?"

"Eh? Oh I guess you could say that…we're probably more trackmates to her than friends…"

"She must be important to you…"

"Yes…" Saki's mind began to wander a little questioning her answer. 'Is she important to me? Why did I come back?' She focused on Takako hoping that she could find what she was looking for in her. '…I guess she is…' The presence of the doctor snapped her back and reset her thoughts. It was then that she jumped startled by a realization and the bowed quickly. "I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself! I'm Saki Furukawa!"

Shiotani waved off Saki's formality presenting a shy smile. "It's fine Miss Furukawa! I don't mind!" He felt compelled to return the act though and bowed back to her hoping that it made her feel a little more at ease. '…Furukawa…so she's the Furukawa's daughter…eldest if I remember…explains a lot…' The air was still a little awkward between them, but he tried to turn his smile into a friendly one again. "I'm Doctor Masanori Shiotani, pleasure to meet you."

"Damn it!" Seiji shouted as he marched up the steps of the Tsuji Shrine. He could already hear the low murmurs of the crowds that were gathered up at the time. The thought of having to listen to them was already making him regret turning around and returning. "I can't believe I'm doing this…" His hand sunk deeper into his blue jean's pocket causing him to slouch a little. The further he went up the stairs the slower his walking became.

Near the top Seiji came to a stop staring up at the Torii that straddled the entrance. It was the fourth passed on the stairs. Seiji turned his head away looking towards the stone steps. Near his foot there was a small rock, most likely dislodged from the steps with all of the heavy travel they had received. A puff of frustrated air came out of Seiji mouth before he kicked the rock away into the surrounding forest. "…time to get an ear full from the old man…"

The remaining few steps were quickly finished and Seiji stood atop the hill. He was already lowering his eyelids in annoyance from seeing all of the people. "There's even more of them than before… Man, this is a pain in the a*s…" Seiji began to turn around back towards the stairs reconsidering his decision. Unfortunately for him he did not have enough time.

"Boy! Where are you been the last six hours?!" yelled his grandfather in a voice that could pass through stone and still be hard clear as though there was nothing between them. Once his voice had managed to entangle Seiji where he stood their grandfather marched out from the smaller shrine off the side of the approach.

Seiji made a slow and awkward turn towards his grandfather. He tried to convert his troubles into a mask of pleasantness, but it only partially worked for him. "What's wrong, old man?" A disguised sigh came from his lips calculating his next move. "I just got back from escorting a family to their home. They were feeling uneasy about going back alone out there so I walked them back."

The lie was played and their grandfather measured it out. He searched Seiji's aspirated appearance for hints of the truth. "It took you six hours to walk them back?" The test had begun.

"They lived really far away," Seiji countered plainly holding his ground.

"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?"

"I did, but you know how busy we've been today."

There was a hint of electricity in the air from the friction between the two staring at each other. It did not seem that either of them was going to give up their position. "Why aren't you in the robes if you were on official business?"

'Damn old man, persistent to the end…' Seiji rotated his arm a little like he was stretching and warming up for something strenuous. "Those things are stuffy and annoying to move around in. If I'm supposed to be protecting them I want to be able to move."

"Watch your mouth, boy! You must follow the traditions regardless of your discomfort! Go and get back in them now!"

Sparks were almost visible to the passing people turning them away out of fear. Seiji crossed his arms and leaned over to their grandfather, having a significant height difference to his advantage. "I can do my work without them just the same, old man!"

"…why you…" The defiance from Seiji was starting to make their grandfather burn literally with anger. He may have been short, but there was a presence to him that normally made Seiji back off. Unfortunately, Seiji was standing his ground longer than usual only aggravating the situation of him.

"You're back, brother!" Shoji shouted across half of the shrine grounds. The noise disruption broke all of the low murmuring from the people visiting and drew their attention towards Seiji and the fight.

Gaining a lot of unwanted interest, their family argument was no longer semi-private. It caused them to break apart and clear themselves up before Shoji arrived. Seiji knelt down to receive his kid brother, who was overjoyed to see Seiji again despite only have been gone for a short time. 'The old man's got him wearing the robes too now… No, actually I bet Shoji begged to wear them…' The size was a little big on Shoji from Seiji's eye, but there were not really clothes meant for a child to be wearing around the shrine. It was tradition that they did not wear them until they had completed all of the training. "How you've been doing, Shoji?"

"It's been tons of fun! I'm finally getting to show off all of the training from Grandfather, Seiji!" Shoji face was beaming with excitement simply talking about it. He was bouncing around in front of Seiji holding out the couple of tools of their trade. The more predominate was the baton with paper streamers.

Seiji gave him a warm smile not wanting to upset his brother. "I see!" Since Shoji had talked to him the night that Yuki came over he had tried to make more of an effort not to let Shoji see him fighting with their grandfather or look down. He did not need to put that sort of worry on Shoji.

Most of the items in his hand disappeared into his baggy sleeves, but some paper talismans remained. "Hey Seiji check this out!" Shoji held up a single talisman near to his forehead with his eyes closed. In a swift fluid motion the paper straightened out and his arm was cast out throwing the talisman across the open grounds. It came to stop on a pillar of the main house where it stuck firmly. Shoji looked back up at Seiji glowing. "See! It's just like in those manga Yuki showed me one time! It took me all morning to get it to work!"

"That's impressive, Shoji!" Seiji gave Shoji a pat on the head as he complimented him. He caught a glance of their grandfather looking like he had just been split in two. In the old man's eyes Shoji was wasting their supplies by playing around and littering their home. The thought made Seiji laugh a little on the inside. "I'm going to go get changed. I think you have some new visitors, Grandfather." Seiji distracted him to save Shoji from a lecture. Their grandfather had turned to greet the new visitors; Seiji walked off with Shoji. He sent Shoji back to play with the children while he entered the house.

Inside their home was the only empty place in the shrine grounds. It was a comforting thought for Seiji had he not been able to hear the dull penetrating whispers of everyone outside. In his room were his clothes resting on a hanger waiting for him. As with Shoji, he was still in training and not meant to wear them, but their grandfather let up that restriction in the emergency they faced. Seiji may not have been a real Shinto Priest, but seeing him in the robes were half of the comfort that people needed as he listened to their problems. Providing counsel for others was not something that Seiji was used to doing and he made an extra effort to keep himself hidden from anyone that might recognize him (he had an image to keep).