Oliver took a deep breath and sighed before he stood up with his back pack on one shoulder.

It was a long ride and after pretending to sleep for most of the trip, the stewardess had announced that they have landed.

He took his time in walking out of the plane, still ignoring the flirtatious greetings of the stewardesses toward him.

He did the usual protocol when getting off the plane and went straight to the luggage area where he waited to spot a dark blue luggage with his name on it.

He sighed feeling people's eyes on him. After some time, he spotted his luggage. It was beneath a small pile of luggage.

He reached out to pull it.

"Need help kid?" a brawny man asked from behind him as he saw a massive arm reach out in front of him. "Which one's yours?"

"I can manage," he said keeping his eyes on his target and pulling the handle of the luggage with one arm.

He lifted the luggage with ease and set it down beside him.

He could feel the people around him stare in awe. After all, how many times in your life would you be able to see a thin teenager carry a massive load in one hand?

He ignored the stares and went on his way through the passengers waiting for their luggage. He then looked around to look for the exit.

"Bye, Yui," Mai said as she embraced her friend for the last time. They were near the boarding area and Yui was the only one allowed to go further. "You have a safe trip. I'll wait for your letter!"

"I'll also wait for your reply," Yui said chuckling. "Thanks for everything again." She then turned to go with the luggage in tow.

Emi and Mai waved goodbye to her when Yui waved her hand toward them before she went to fall in line.

"When it's your turn to ride the plane to Europe," Emi said. "I'll also carry your bags for you 'til we get here, okay?"

Mai smiled. "Sure. That would be great!"

They then turned to walk to the exit.

Oliver walked into the cab terminal ignoring everyone who passed him again. He held a hotel brochure in his hand as he eyed the line for riding a cab.

It was a hassle to not get a reservation before he got to the place but if he did so, they would automatically track him down. So he opted to keep the hotel brochures where he could get accommodations from and just browse them once he got in the country.

It wasn't supposed to be a season for tourists to flood the country so he hoped that the hotels weren't fully booked.

…Hoped…

He sighed again.

…The things he do when he wasn't around…

"Hi!" a woman said behind him.

He ignored it.

"Hey, are you a tourist here too?"

"No," he said still keeping his eyes in front of him.

The woman chuckled. "Wow. I thought you only speak English. Sorry."

He ignored it and took a step forward as the line moved.

"So are you here for vacation?"

Again, he did not respond.

"I'm on my way to Shibuya. You know the place?"

He pointed a finger at the map on one of the walls of the terminal. It had the name 'Shibuya' on one of its marks.

The woman chuckled. "You're funny."

He resisted the urge to glare at her. Maybe he should have just ignored her from the start.

"I'm on my way there. Are you on your way there too?"

He eyed the cabs as they loaded the passengers. He was the third on line already.

"Can I ride the cab with you? I'm not really familiar with this country. I just know how to speak the language because I studied Foreign Language back in Europe. I'll pay half of the fare."

He was already in front of the line. A taxi stopped before him and he immediately got in. But before he could lock the door behind him, the woman went in, telling the guard that she was with him.

He glared at the woman and suddenly felt something hard and cold touch his side.

The woman was smiling at him. "Let's go."

"Where to?" the driver asked.

"Anywhere," the woman answered.

Oliver glared at the driver as the cab drove out without activating his cab meter. He noticed the charms he had on the windshield.

"Be good now," the woman said smiling warmly at him. "I don't want to blow your head off."


"Do you girls have anywhere else to go to?" the driver of the van asked Emi and Mai as they drove out of the airport.

"I have nothing else to do," Emi said. "What about you, Mai?"

"I have to get to Haruka-san's tea shop," Mai said.

"Work again?" the driver said. "But you've been working even in weekdays Mai-chan."

"Yeah," Emi said worriedly at Mai. "You need to rest too, you know. And if you're really having issues at home, why don't you just live with us? You know you're like a family to us now."

Mai shook her head. "No, it's okay. Haruka-san just needs help with her shop today so I offered her a hand. Don't worry about me. Besides, I'll be free to sleep the rest of the afternoon off."

"Are you sure?" Emi asked – not completely believing the girl. She knew how Mai would say things to avoid people getting worried about her. "Alright. Eat dinner with us tonight, okay? No 'buts' young lady."

Mai chuckled. "Yes, ma'am."

The driver laughed as he took a turn to the street.

"Tomo-san, you can drop me off here," Mai said pointing at an alley. "I'll just walk to Haruka-san's shop. It's not that far anyway."

"Are you sure?" Tomo asked from behind the wheel as he stopped the van in front of the alley. "That alley's dangerous. A lot of robberies happen there, Mai-chan."

"We'll it's almost nine in the morning now so don't worry," Mai said. "I always use that alley to the shop because it's closer to it."

"But Mai, you'll never know what will happen if you walk there," Emi said. "Tomo-san, let's drop Mai off the shop."

"No," Mai said. "I'll be fine, promise! I'll meet you at dinner tonight. Haruka-san usually sweeps the alley so I'll be meeting her there in no time. Don't worry okay?"

Before Emi and Tomo could complain, Mai already jumped out of the van and ran to the alley – waving her hand at them with a warm smile on her face.

Tomo sighed as he watched Mai disappear in the alley. "That girl is just amazing," he said. "She didn't want us to get away from the path home, did she?"

Emi sighed. "Yup. That girl is always too concerned about others, and not much about her self. I just hope we do meet her for dinner tonight."

Tomo nodded and began to drive away.


"Your wallet," the woman said, still pointing the gun at Oliver's side.

They drove into various alleys that led to a long empty street.

"…Is what..?" Oliver said staring at the road they were in. They soon reached a vast vacant lot.

"Stop playing with me or you'll be one of the corpse they find in this lot!" the woman scolded.

Oliver smirked. "Oh, so people died here? No wonder I sense spirits here."

He watched the driver's hands shake.

"Hey, Yumiko-san…" the driver said shakily.

"Shut up! He's bluffing, idiot!" the woman said, glaring at Oliver.

"Sure. I'm not a psychic," Oliver said. "I can just see a ghost sitting beside the driver right now."

The driver cried out in fright as he reflexively let the wheel go.

The car began to swerve frantically.

"Hold the wheel, idiot!" the woman cried as they all moved side to side in the out-of-control car.

Oliver smirked and focused his eyes on the wheel.

The car stopped swerving and instead drove steadily and made a turn toward another alley.

The driver gasped in shock and began to cry out louder.

"What that hell are you doing? This isn't where we're supposed to go!" the woman said.

"I'm not driving," the driver said raising his hand up and showing that his feet weren't pressing any of the car pedals.

The woman froze upon seeing the driving wheel move on its own, making the cab do a sharp turn.

"I didn't kill you," the driver said. "This is my first time to do this! Please don't kill me!"

The woman glared at Oliver.

Oliver stared back at her. "I'm still bluffing," he said.

The woman gritted her teeth. "Then you're dying with those ghosts!" she pointed the gun at Oliver's face and pulled the trigger.


Mai gasped and turned around.

She was walking through several narrow alleys when she heard a gun shot echo in the distance, followed by the sound of a vehicle skidding and stopping in a deafening crash.

She froze after turning around, not quite sure of what to do.

She had heard of several crime incidents happening in the alleys where she walked in. It was probably because that particular place of the town had several abandoned lots.

But all of them happened at night so she didn't really mind walking in the alleys although she does stay away from the particular place where bodies of murdered people were found.

She swallowed loudly – afraid of what to do.

She was sure that she heard the noise. It was early morning so it couldn't have been made by ghosts.

She then saw a smoke coming from the direction of the noise.

She gripped her bag tightly. There really was an accident.

Then it hit her.

What if there were survivors in the accident? And what if the vehicle would explode any minute now and burn the survivor?

She began to run quickly toward the direction of the noise.

Her conscience would kill her.