What Do I Call You?

Chapter Six

"Nari?"

A deep baritone voice faintly resonated nearby, interrupting us, and it immediately stole Nari's attention away from me. She quickly broke our stare and looked towards the direction from where the sound had come from. I did the same and turned to glance at who made the sudden interruption, placing an annoyed scowl on my face. I scowled deeper when my vision landed on an anonymous lanky guy, in a gray business suit, marching down the small steps by the entryway of the pub. The tall man quickly stopped just at the bottom of the stairs when he spotted me, then he pointedly glanced at Nari then back at me again, looking especially in my direction with a skeptical frown.

"Is that guy bothering you?"

He flitted his eyes back to Nari, still trying to read the atmosphere. He looked too sophisticated and cocky for some friend. And I found his appearance entirely superficial. I carefully peeked over to Nari's way just to see her reaction and she was staring back at the guy with a cold stoic face and dead eyes.

Not some kind of expression you would give to a friend, I supposed.

"Who are you?"

The question was now directed at me, dripping with grim and threat. The evident challenge from the sound of his remark instantly sprang a sudden rise of innate possessiveness inside my chest.

"Who are you?" I threw back the question at him, ignoring to answer his demand with a scornful sneer. He looked at me with a glare, sizing me up. And I stared at him with the same antagonism.

"Get back inside, Nari."

I snorted, smirking mockingly, as I shot daggers his way. He glowered back at me, taunting a silent challenge, and I almost moved from where I stood to charge towards him.

"Stop, please."

I voluntarily stopped, taking a deep breath, upon Nari's soft plea. I slowly turned to give her a glance and waited for her to push me away. She might actually do it now that someone came here to back her up. I was even already prepared to oblige. But Nari didn't say anything and instead she just kept standing there, looking too frigid and uneasy as she peeked over at the guy from the distance.

"You sure you're okay, Nari?" The annoying guy asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine, Ren. You can go back inside." Nari weakly replied.

Ren, I took note to myself. I have to remember that name.

"Do you know him?" he asked her again.

"Ren, just go. I can handle this." Nari, however, quickly brushed him off, firm with a tone of finality. I almost snickered at the cold exchange and felt blissfully satisfied to see the guy unwillingly nodded to her request and finally went back inside—like a loser he was. And the moment he was completely gone, I smiled triumphantly.

"Now, you need to leave."

My grin was immediately swiped off of my face when I heard Nari told me those words. I quickly turned to her and frowned.

"Why?"

"Because I don't know you. And I've never met you before," she explained with distaste, turning her scowl towards my direction now that the Ren guy had disappeared. "So, please just leave the town now."

"Wh-But... I knew it was you!" I tried to refute back in frustration but she no longer gave me the chance to redeem myself more as she had already started to walk back towards the pub. I blindly followed her behind, still spouting my pathetic pleas.

"You sang the Nymph's Lament. You said your name meant we will never see each other again. But I told you my name. I'm Taiyo Takagi!"

The last word that came out of my mouth had somehow stopped Nari from her tracks and she paused mid-step just as she was about to take the front stairs of the foyer. I heard her exhaling loudly. I could not even speak for myself anymore, feeling dumbfounded and lost as I still tried to think of more reasons to tell her just so that she would finally admit that she remembers me.

But as the silence went on, I was quickly doomed with impatience and felt irritated by the cold shoulder she kept giving.

"You know me!" I barked off in desperation, but she still had her back turned on me. "I know you do. Why can't you just say it? Just tell me you—"

"Leave." She muttered in a gentle voice, cutting me off, and I almost missed hearing it if I didn't just see her shoulders stiffening when she spoke. After a second of pause, she finally turned around to meet my eyes. And this time, it felt final.

"Just go," she said, perfectly plastering a half-hearted smile on her face, "Leave this town and forget everything. Just leave."

I don't understand it.

Yet for some reason, it actually worked to shut me up for good. I helplessly watched her walked away from me afterward. Without a word, I was left hanging in dismay as she disappeared. And once again, my heart was drowned back to vague emptiness.

How depressing, it was, as it turned me into some worthless i***t. I hadn't even earned any resolution.

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"Tell me who Nari is."

"What?"

"You know her, right? That girl who was singing at the pub. You've got to tell me everything you know about her."

I vehemently demanded all of these questions, as I leaned aggressively across the receptionist counter inside the lobby of the motel, staring down at the poor young guy who was just innocently standing and working behind it. He looked at me in panic, his dilated pupils shaking as he tried to lean away from me. And as I stared at him from head to toe, it was also at that moment that I have finally noticed the nametag attached to the poor kid's shirt, which I hadn't actually noticed a while ago.

Henry.

I moved my eyes up to the kid's face again. Henry looked startlingly alarmed with widened eyes as I grabbed his collar with my hand, not quite as gentle as how I should have.

But I was already desperate.

I know, this has only been a night. But I don't think I could ever really get any sleep after this if I still don't find any answers right at this moment. Everything was just weird. This entire night was completely going too far from what's even considered real. From the moment I drove from the airport to stumbling down into this weird village and finally meeting the girl who I've been obsessing so much about for the past nine years...

It was completely like a dream. And to call it fate would be ridiculously absurd of me. And, yes. It all sounded very cliché... But it was really happening now.

"T-the g-girl at the p-pub? N-Nari?" The skinny guy stammered nervously behind the receptionist counter while he looked at me with anxious eyes. He tried to step back away again. 

He looked really frightened so I loosely let go of him. And as soon as I did, he quickly pulled his collar free from my hold, backing away and nervously fidgeting with his glasses. He cleared his throat as if to compose himself after the sudden attack I just did and he settled with an uneasy smile directed at me.

"Y-you mean m-miss N-Nari Hiden?" he still stuttered as he confirmed. And my ears instantly perked up when he said it. I fervently nodded at him and grinned with utter bliss. 

Nari Hiden. I hastily fished out for my phone in my pocket and immediately typed down those notable words.

"How do you spell that?" I asked inquisitively and Henry wobbly provided me the letters along with the meaning and its origin.

Nari means the flower 'Lily'. While Hiden means 'secret'. It was a Japanese name. And Henry knew about it because she used to say it as a part of her introduction whenever she performs at the local pub.

How oddly beautiful... And it suits her just right.

"So she's popular?"

"Yeah, s-she is."

And I'm not even surprised. With that voice... How could she not be?

Constantly driven by my obsessed nature, I soon bombarded the poor guy with more questions about Nari's identity.

"How old is she?"

"Twenty-eight, I guess."

"Single, right?"

"I don't know. But I hadn't heard her seeing anyone lately."

"Good," I smiled wider, "Where does she live?"

"Wait... W-what does this have to do with you, Mr. Takagi?" Henry somehow had gotten his senses back and abruptly stopped my questioning as he frowned at me with suspicion, "Why are you asking me these questions? I don't think Miss Nari would like this. It's her personal information. So why are you suddenly asking them?"

I froze and momentarily lost my will to speak as I tried to come up with any reasonable answer to give him without making myself sound more like a stalker or anything worse than that. But then, I realized I don't really have any and that made me feel more hollow. My blank face remained unwavering as I looked back at Henry.

"Mr. Takagi? Do you know Miss Nari by chance?"

"Do you like her, Henry?" I coolly asked instead, diverting the topic towards the much safer territory.

"I-I do," The kid blushed instantly and I felt quite peeved over the sight.

"You like... Like her?"

"What?" Henry frowned and soon paled. "No! Not like that! Not to that point yet." He shook his head too eagerly than needed. But it still did not sound reassuring enough.

"Good." I just sighed in relief, smiling gentler.

"Wait..." the kid quickly caught up. "That's not the point here. I'm still asking you if you know her, Mr. Takagi."

"Why is it wrong for me to be curious, anyway?" I whined back, still ignoring to answer him directly. I gave him a straight glare instead, the kind that could make him feel threatened but the kid did not even bat an eye at me. He just met it head-on, unmoving.

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