The Days That Must Happen

ARC IV - ACT V

the house was situated up on an upwards slope in the quiet town, the trip slowly building your anxiousness and curiosity with each passing minute.

buying a house in your twenties was something you had only dreamed of before, and maybe this impulse, if you could even call it that, buy would come back to bite you in the ass.

and by the looks of it, when the car pulled into the driveway and the three of you regrouped with everyone, bite your ass is exactly what this house did.

it came in the form of your phone ringing loudly when you reached the door to your new home, eyes squinted as you tried to blindly lead the group to the entrance through the pitch dark walkway. you panicked, the loud ringing startling you and tanjiro who stood directly behind you, nearly smashing your phone on the ground as you fumbled the device out of your back pocket and brought it to your ear.

"hell-"

"WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED?!"

hana's voice rang through in a frantic manner. you knew it would only be a matter of time before news of your situation got to her, but you were hoping that it would at least take a couple more hours before it did. she barely gave you a second to answer her question before her voice scolded through once more. "tell me why my husband and i were awoken by my boss frantically ringing me to tell me you threw an entire sofa off your apartment?! do you realize you're on the news being searched for?! where the hell are you?!"

you frowned, turning to give your group an awkward side glance before reaching for your new house keys. "look, hana, i know how this looks-"

"no, no, no! don't 'look Hana' me! what the hell makes you think that's okay to do?! throwing a sofa over the railing... what if you had struck someone?! do you know how bad that will look for our company when the world finds out gotouge did this?!"

with a click of the lock, the door was easily pushed open and you were able to walk in, pinching your forehead. "i know! look, i'm just going through a bit of a crisis right now and if you just let me explain then maybe-"

once again, you were cut off. "a crisis isn't a good enough excuse! what about our reputation?!"

"i'm sorry!" you were getting increasingly more and more frustrated, something the group around you were not able to miss. awkward glances were shared, tanjiro made an effort to reach out as if in attempt to soothe you but you had stepped away before he could. "i know this looks bad but-!"

"it doesn't just look bad it looks criminal! this is awful! why wouldn't you just call someone if you were having a crisis?!" she continued. "you're always using this mental health excuse to get out of shit!"

at that, your body froze.

"i'm always having to pull your weight at the office when boss asks about updates on the books. 'oh, they need more time', 'oh they're just not doing well'. i look pathetic! this depression and anxiety act you have going on to get out of work is pathetic!" it's as if she were rubbing salt to the wound, and with each word your jaw clenched harder and harder.

"if you were having a crisis, why didn't you just call me?!"

"BECAUSE YOURE FUCKING USELESS HANA!"

silence fell in the room, as if your characters had disappeared, not even their breathing could be heard. right now, in this very moment in your new house, it was just you on the phone with your mother.

"you're such a pathetic excuse of, not only a manager," you seethed through gritted teeth. "but a fucking human. you're always off on vacations, buying yourself the newest electronics and most expensive bags. you're in your fancy house eating food cooked by a personal chef. IVE BEEN EATING FIVE MINUTE NOODLES EVERYDAY FOR THE PAST TWO MONTHS HANA!"

you took a deep breath in, walking towards a window with a beautiful view of your new town, nearing the horizon, the sea met your town, the moon shining on it. this, however, did very little to calm down your mood.

"tell me hana, where is my full pay for the past three months?"

silence.

"i've been getting only a fifth of what i'm due, the same excuse every week about how the company just needs more time. I NEED MORE TIME! i was slaving away in my one room apartment in trash street tokyo a week ago just to shit out your fucking story!"

a quiet protest came through the phone; "millions would kill to have your job..."

"then hire them." you growled. "because i quit."

"what?!" hana gasped. "you can't just quit in the middle of your story! it's in the contract!"

"no, the contract said that i cannot discontinue the series, nothing about you getting someone else to take my place."

she groaned. "you're making a huge mistake, you hear me?! you must continue your series!"

"no." you repeated. "i quit. i expect my full pay by the next week. goodbye Hana."

"hey, hey wait-!"

with a beep, the call ended. in a silent house, you sighed, not wanting to acknowledge what happened to the group. defeated, instead you merely walked past Tanjiro and his friends and made your way towards one, of the very few furnished rooms in the house. the landlord having been nice enough to leave some basic pieces there for you.

"where do you think you're going, eh?! what was all that?!" sanemi seethed, stepping forward to try and get in your way as you sludges towards a bedroom.

he was held back by shinobu, the girl grabbing onto his forearm and shaking her head. "let them be Sanemi."

you made no move to falter or pause, pushing a door open and letting yourself fall into a dusty bed not even two steps away. your eyes heavy as they slowly closed.

lord forbid you escape torment.

the loud knocking of the front door made your eyes snap open. the once dark room was now flooded with warm morning hues and the sounds of chirping birds outside welcomed you back into consciousness. in comparisons to nature's sweet sounds, something you did not appreciate was zenitsu running into your room squealing about strange men banging on the door.

you furrowed your brows, still half asleep. "what?" you questioned the boy as he grabbed your arm and nearly flung you from the bed to the hard wooden ground had it not been for your quick reflexes.

he dragged you through the hallways to the entrance. "gotouge! there's strangers knocking on the door!"

you sighed, looking at the group in the living room, most who just stared right back. slowly, you nodded and walked up to the door.

on the other side stood two officers, a woman at your door and her male companion standing closer to the car, having a look around your new home. the lady cleared her neck, looking at you sternly.

"good morning, are you (first name)?"

you nodded, stepping out and closing the door behind you. "yes i am, is this about last night?"

"correct. we got a report about a sofa, is there anything you can tell us about that?"

subconsciously, you scratched the back of your hand, not noticing the skin turning red. "what is it that you want to know?"

"we just want to know what's going on. thankfully, no one was hurt so... " she explained, hands resting in her pockets. she seemed to be neither the good nor bad cop. "we just wanna make sure you're okay, what happened?"

instead of answering, you ask. "am i going to be charged?"

she sighed. "that's for later, right now i want to get your side of the story and figure out if you, or anyone else is in danger."

hesitating, you weighed out the options. you could comply and work with them, see how this ends or get into more trouble by fighting it. "okay."

smiling, she folded her arms. "talk to me. what's been going on?"