The Key Keeper

Chapter 4

"Did something happen that would have transferred you over?" Kai asked. Ren fidgeted with her pants pocket. "Well..." she said hesitantly. "Something weird did actually happen earlier." she admitted. Kai leaned forward in interest. Ren waved the knife half-heartedly towards him as a warning not to come too close. He doesn't seem malicious at all, but I should still be safe, she thought. "I visited a bar earlier with a friend..." Ren avoided telling Kai about the fight she and Katashi had then. "I got pretty drunk and stumbled into an alley. When I was in there, I saw this blond guy who was pretty tall..." Ren stood up and waved her hands above her head, putting the knife down. "He was about this tall, I'm 5'7, for reference." she told Kai, who was clearly trying to visualize him. His brow furrowed in confusion. Ren sat down again. "He had...keys? I think? Strung all over him, and he wore a huge white coat with gold markings." 

Kai sat up, seeming to have a moment of realization. He groaned, putting his face in his hands. "You met AKARI?? Of all people, it HAD to be him??" he bemoaned. Kai glanced up at her. "How did you even sneak up on him??" he demanded of Ren. Ren put her hands up. "Hey, I didn't DO anything, I was about to practically pass out!" she argued. Kai opened his mouth to say something else but Ren threw a purple pillow at him. "Let me finish." she ordered. "He had this glowing orb thingie, and he used a key to unlock it and create a huge door! Then I got sucked in." she concluded. Kai's eye twitched, he was clearly trying to hold back a laugh. "You got...sucked in?" he snickered. "PLEASE tell me you didn't go towards it." Ren looked away haughtily. "I did NO SUCH thing. I was TRYING to get away when it literally pulled me in!!" she defended herself. "You got kidnapped by a door! Ha!" Kai mocked, laughing to himself. 

Ren waited, tapping her foot impatiently. "Sooo, are you going to tell me who Akari is, or am I supposed to guess?" Kai sighed. "You're no fun. He's the Key Keeper, he controls the boundaries between the parallel worlds. He's one of the only beings that can be seen normally by both worlds, since he frequents both. Because he can be seen by your world, he desperately avoids appearing in places that people would be in. Akari is usually pretty careful about being seen though." Kai explained. "Well, I don't think anyone would suspect someone passed out, out of sight in a pile of trash bags." she muttered. Kai nodded and then hesitated. "Wait...trash bags?" he asked curiously. "Don't worry about it." Ren told him. 

Ren frowned, thinking about her encounter for a moment. "So would he have a way to stop seeing people from your world?" she asked. Kai nodded. "As it happens, I've actually talked to him a few times, so we may be able to find him again. It's best if we hurry, we don't know the side effects of you staying in a world where you don't belong." he said. Ren glanced at the time on the brown clock near her room. It was 10:30pm. "It's getting pretty late..." Ren noted. She looked at Kai. "So, uh, you can go home if you want." she said. Kai tapped his fingers on his knees, sitting cross legged. He looked off to the side. Ren narrowed her eyes at him. "You DO have a home... right?" Kai shook his head sheepishly. "I got kicked out of my roommate's house for awhile because he said he couldn't have someone who was begging for food near him, since it's dangerously close to illegal." 

Ren gritted her teeth. "I GUESS you can stay here until he lets you back." she offered reluctantly. Kai's eyes lit up. "Really?!" he exclaimed. "Don't make me regret it." Ren warned him, getting up. "The couch pulls out, so you can just sleep here, I guess. I'm locking my door, I still don't trust you completely." Kai nodded in understanding. Ren pulled off the covers of the couch and unfolded it, tossing a few blankets and pillows onto it. "There, now get some sleep, we'll talk about this tomorrow." she told him. Kai hopped onto the bed, bouncing a little on it. Ren stared at him. "What are you, five?"she said dryly. "No, I'm 21 and a half." Kai said, sticking his tongue out at her. Ren rolled her eyes. "Goodnight." she told him as she walked into her room, shut, and locked the door. 

Ren fell onto her bed, exhausted. She rolled over, staring at the ceiling. There is literally a guy from another world in my living room, she thought, anxiously. Maybe I am going insane. Ren turned to the side on her soft pillow and closed her eyes, holding onto the hope that maybe the whole day had never even happened.