After that hellish Christmas Eve rush at the restaurant, the chaos hadn’t let up for days. From December 31st until now, it felt like one endless blur of ringing orders, clattering plates, and exhausted faces. Of course we couldn’t celebrate the New Year — that was the price you paid for working in the restaurant business, especially a place like ours where the regulars practically lived off the holiday specials.
I let out a long, defeated sigh as I leaned against the front desk. The calendar said it was already January 3rd, but it felt like the last week had lasted a month. We’d started rotating days off since yesterday because people were literally dropping like flies. Aki caught a bad cold and took yesterday off. And today, Miko called in sick, her voice barely a whisper over the phone as she said she could barely get out of bed.
Which meant… it was only the three of us left now — me, Ruka, and Keiko.
It wasn’t as bad as it had been during New Year’s itself since the holiday rush was finally dying down, but losing half our staff was still brutal. Every time I looked up, the empty corners where our friends usually stood felt heavier than the stacks of dirty dishes and scattered order slips.
I glanced toward Keiko, who was at the counter arranging some orders for takeout. Her face was pale, her usual sharp eyes dull with exhaustion, and she was constantly dabbing her forehead with a towel. She was sick too, I knew it. Anyone with half a brain could tell she was forcing herself to stay upright. But knowing Keiko… she wouldn’t back down unless her legs literally gave out.
I walked over just as she was about to pick up a tray from the kitchen.
“Let me,” I said, reaching for the tray.
Keiko frowned and pulled it a little closer to herself. “I’m okay.”
But the moment she tried to lift it, the tray wobbled, and water sloshed over the edge, splashing onto her apron.
“See?” I scolded gently, snatching the tray away from her hands. “You need to rest. Let me handle this.”
Keiko sighed, defeated, and finally nodded. “I didn’t want you to get sick too…”
“I’m tougher than I look,” I muttered with a grin and quickly fled toward the tables before she could argue again.
By the time we reached 8 p.m. — our regular closing hour — we were running on fumes. Then came the good news: Keiko came to the back with a relieved expression, telling us the boss had decided to close the restaurant for two whole days starting tomorrow.
It felt like a miracle.
“Finally,” Ruka groaned, slumping onto a chair. We were all seconds away from collapsing.
After cleaning up and locking the restaurant, me and Keiko started walking home together down the chilly street. The town felt quiet now that the holidays were over, a strange peacefulness settling over the roads and shuttered shops.
Neither of us spoke at first. We were too tired. The cold nipped at my face, my breath turning to mist in the air. Then, out of nowhere, Keiko’s legs buckled and she nearly toppled forward.
“Keiko!” I reacted fast, catching her just before she hit the ground. Her body was burning up.
I pressed a hand to her forehead and cursed under my breath. “You’re burning… Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I… I’m sorry,” she mumbled weakly.
“Don’t be sorry, idiot. Let’s get you to the hospital.”
Keiko nodded, her face pale and damp with sweat.
I crouched down, letting her lean on me, then tried to hoist her up onto my back. She let out a surprised yelp as I lifted her.
“Sorry, sorry… I’ll go slow,” I panted.
Damn, Keiko might look slender, but she felt like a bag of bricks to my exhausted, overworked body. My legs screamed in protest with each step, but I forced myself forward.
“Maybe I should start hitting the gym after this…” I muttered under my breath, earning a faint chuckle from Keiko behind me.
After about seven grueling minutes, I was drenched in sweat and gasping for air. My legs were jelly. Keiko, noticing my struggle, gently tapped my shoulder.
“Let me down… I can walk now.”
“I’m sorry… I was too slow, wasn’t I?” I panted, guilt weighing down harder than her actual weight.
“Dummy. It’s not your fault,” she whispered, managing a weak smile.
We walked slowly, side by side, my hand gripping her arm to steady her. As the hospital came into view, relief flooded me.
“We made it… H-hufft… safe,” I blurted, half-laughing, half-wheezing as we staggered into the lobby.
The nurse gave us a clipboard for the paperwork. In my exhaustion, I accidentally wrote my real name — “Ryusei” — before panicking and scribbling it out, replacing it with “Ryuko” in messy letters.
Keiko caught it and snickered weakly. “Nice one, genius.”
“Shut up, I’m dying over here.”
We waited on the sofa, and when I sank into it, it honestly felt like heaven itself. I sighed exaggeratedly. “I could live here forever.”
Keiko let out a small laugh, which made it all worth it. Seeing her smile like that, even when she was clearly miserable, made my chest warm.
After the checkup and picking up her medicine, we finally headed home. Rin was already waiting, worried as hell when she saw us. She helped get Keiko settled while I headed to the kitchen to whip up something easy — a bowl of hot porridge and tea for Keiko to take her medicine with.
When I brought the tray into her room, she was bundled up under blankets, her face flushed but looking a little better.
“Eat up,” I said, setting the tray on her lap. “Doctor’s orders.”
“Thanks, Ryusei…”
Rin gave me a look, but then left us alone. Only Rin and Keiko knew the truth about who I really was. It felt comforting, having them both watching my back.
I stayed by Keiko’s side while she ate, making dumb jokes and telling her about the guy at table 4 who left without paying and how Ruka chased him for three blocks. It earned a few giggles, though she kept dozing off mid-conversation.
When she finally finished and took her medicine, I helped her lie back down.
“Get some sleep. We’ve got two whole days to be lazy now,” I said softly.
Keiko looked at me through half-lidded eyes. “You’re not leaving, right?”
“I’ll stay until you fall asleep.”
She smiled, the kind of smile that made me forget how exhausted I was, and closed her eyes. Within minutes, her breathing evened out.
I let out a quiet sigh, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “Idiot… pushing yourself like that.”
Rin poked her head in. “She okay?”
“She’ll be fine. Thanks for helping, Rin.”
“No problem. You should rest too, dad. You look like hell.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, yeah… I will.”
After one last glance at Keiko, I finally made it to my room and collapsed onto my bed. Every bone in my body ached, but I was grateful. Grateful we had each other, that Keiko was safe for now, and that somehow — in the middle of all this — I wasn’t alone.
As my eyes closed, my mind drifted once again to the mystery of my old body, of how I might one day get back to being Ryusei. But those thoughts faded as exhaustion took over, and I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.