Kazuo blinked as the coffee shop faded away like mist.
He found himself back at his desk, surrounded by the familiar sound of the office. The transition was so jarring that for a moment, he couldn't tell which reality was real.
"Hey, Tanaka. You okay?"
Shinji's voice cut through his confusion. Kazuo looked up to see his colleague leaning against his desk with a concerned look on his face.
The guy had worked here five years before Kazuo even started - always hanging around other people's desks, poking his nose where it didn't belong. He'd pop up out of nowhere, ask about stories that weren't his business, then vanish back to wherever he came from.
Not that Kazuo minded him - Shinji was decent enough, helped out with contacts sometimes. But there was something about the way he'd materialize at the worst moments that set him on edge. Like now, when his brain felt like it was splitting between two realities.