Natsume no longer had the nervous smile Haruto had grown accustomed to seeing, an expression of fear replaced it. Seeing this mixed with the paleness of her skin made Haruto quickly move to her side.

Their father had installed a security system in the store just a month ago. Anyone that sat at the front counter could watch all of the happenings in the store from one place. The camera recorded everything that happened from the far corner of the store.

Glancing at the monitor, Haruto felt himself freeze. He asked, "Th..this is from just now?". Natsume nodded, her hand shook as she continued pointing at the screen.

She had brought back the security recording to the beginning. Watching the screen, Haruto saw their encounter with Antigone over again. But something was missing… Antigone.

How's that possible? Thought Haruto. He could see himself and Natsume interact as they just had, but they were talking to nothing. He saw the front door open and close, seemingly on its own. Natsume was bowing, then speaking to a figure from what the store's surveillance camera shows, was not there.

"Haruto, this is creepy…." Said Natsume falling back into the chair behind her. She explained that halfway through her interaction with Antigone, she was able to see the monitor from the corner of her eye. It had taken all her composure not to make a scene at that moment when she realized Antigone was not visible on the screen.

"Don't be. I'm sure there's a reason for this. At least a logical one." Said Haruto. He did not put very much stock in the idea of the supernatural being real. Ghosts and ghouls were only just fun things to see in the stories he read.

Natsume, on the other hand, was a massive fan of the supernatural and horror genre. Despite her anxiety, she would regularly read the creepiest book they had in stock. Even now, on the counter next to her was a newly translated manga about a girl and her boyfriend fighting yokai across Japan's cities and countryside.

Both Haruto and Natsume read their books translated. They learned Japanese from their parents, but they were Japanese-Americans. They were the first generation in their family born in the United States. As a result, both Haruto and Natsume spent most of their education in the West learning the Latin alphabet. Their knowledge of the Japanese written language was too undeveloped for either to read it fluently.

"I'm pretty sure we just saw a real-life ghost," said Natsume as she rewound the video back to the beginning again. Even though she was scared, Haruto knew deep down inside, she was filled with at least a little excitement. Reading about apparitions was one thing. But believing you were part of a ghost story, yourself was a bigger thrill.

"Like a ghost would haunt us here," said Haruto in a sarcastic voice, "But based on how she dressed, maybe she was having a weebs last hurrah before going to the afterlife, or maybe dads pulling a prank on us."

Many times growing up, their father would come up with elaborate pranks to play on his two children. But both Haruto and Natsume knew this was unlikely. Never before had their father planned a joke on such a large scale, and he had a strict policy on fooling around while at work. But Haruto was not prepared to rule out the possibility entirely.

More than anything, Haruto and Natsume could not figure a way he could pull such a stunt with the surveillance cameras. They knew their technology well enough to know such a trick was beyond most people, maybe even impossible.

It would take a tech genius to pull such a feat, Thought Haruto.

Natsume gave Haruto the usual nervous laugh he had grown accustomed to hearing. "Yeah, I think your right," said Natsume, "ghosts are always showing up on camera and not seen by the eye. Not the other way around," Both shared a laugh. Despite the change in mood, the twins still tried to reason their way through the weird meeting.

After deliberation, the siblings agreed that they would worry about it more once they got home. There was no reason to overthink it and message their father on the subject now. They knew to tell their father about an unusually dressed woman behaving oddly at this point would likely make him laugh and say, "good, we'll finally getting some people of culture in the store."

Haruto still felt uneasy about Antigone. He couldn't figure out why. Looking at his sister, he could tell she felt very much the same.

"Hey sis, help me finish these shelves?" said Haruto gesturing with his head in the direction of where he had just been working before their recent interruption. With a nod, Natsume agreed.  

                                             ******