Of all the likely places for the passageway to be found, I would have bet that the Hatsune Clinic and its apartment above were the prime candidates. After all, it was the resting place for not only Miku but also Kaito, two of arguably the most influential players in this game, if I were to believe it a game at all. Miku must have had similar thoughts, as I soon recognized the streets she led us down with increasing familiarity. Soon enough, we were at the front steps and I could almost see myself toppling to the ground, shattering the vial of poison in my pocket.
"I was hoping I would never have to see this place again," Miku mumbled to herself, transfixing her gaze on the blotted windows. Her trance was much like Meiko's after we entered her office back in the sixth period. I wondered if I had anywhere I could be entranced by, or if I truly had nowhere I could call home.
"Another dead body. What a surprise," Luka commented as we entered the bedroom where Kaito's body was laid. Though her tone was facetious, a frown had settled deep on her face. "So, he was your husband, huh?"
"Yes," Miku answered shortly.
"And that is why you killed me?"
"Yes."
"Okay, then." Maybe there was a strange kinship in it, killing people for Kaito, a quality they both shared. A quality almost everyone shared.
Through the roomy, gray corridor and here we have a totally furnished, open-air, gray living room, complete with an antique, gray grandfather clock and a dead, gray Miku crumpled on the gray floor. Not only will you be getting this marvelous gray room but also the gray bedroom with the dead, gray Kaito, all for the slim price of an eternity in hell. Thank you for your business. Have a nice eternity.
I questioned my sanity in times like these, but then again, am I expected to be sane in a situation like this? "No door," I pointed out.
"No door," Miku confirmed, stepping out of the kitchen.
"I thought this was supposed to be the ultimate door-spot. If it followed the pattern, then the room where the crazy person died is where the door should be," Luka said.
"The pattern is changing but not completely," I replied. "We still have one place to check, but maybe we should meet back up with the men first."
They looked at me with unenthusiastic faces but, since there really was no other choice, conceded to my plan. As they began to file out, however, I fell back, scurried up to the fireplace, and snagged the cyan doll poised on the mantel. It looked oddly like Miku, a ragged image made of sack cloth for skin and cotton for a black dress. Wiping away its little bangs, two button eyes stared up at me with an eerie human awareness, and then I was sucked down into the black hole once again.
I was ready this time.
"No, there's two. I can feel them. I can't believe it." Pure felicity filled up Miku's voice to the brim.
And then an instant drop that sent pain through my stomach. Crying. Sobbing. "Why? Why me? Why my children? What did they ever do?"
"Miku, what's wrong?" I asked aloud. The crying was sharply cut off.
"H-Hello. Hello there. You two are beautiful. What are you doing out here all alone?"
The doll was still looking at me.
"Hurry up, Mayu!" Miku called from the corridor. Repeating the words over and over in my mind, willing myself to remember, I dropped the doll into my bag and caught up with the two women waiting for me.
The estate was just as I remembered it, though its walls were only seen in brief passing. Len spoke of it often after we escaped the city, shared memories. I cannot say it was as magnificent as in my mind's eye, however, as the life had been sucked out of it, replaced by an empty shell, as all things in this realm seemed to be.
"I wonder where Kaito and Gakupo are in their search," I said. The other two girls did not acknowledge any interest at all, but we got our answer soon enough. As soon as we made it through the front doors, I spotted them, sitting on the grand staircase with disappointed expressions. I bet they had plenty to talk about.
They stood when they saw us come in, relief washing over their faces at our safety and then regret, then—for a millisecond—anger, and then neutrality to end it all. It was like watching a mime show. I couldn't say I didn't know how they felt. "No door," Gakupo announced.
We met them in the middle of the foyer. "None on our side either," Miku said.
"Where else is there to look?" Kaito asked.
"I can think of two," I answered. "The closest one is, of course, the den of the Snake and the Rabbit."
A familiar glint of mischief flashed across Gakupo's eyes, but he stifled his momentary excitement immediately, undoubtedly coming across a less than fond memory of God-knows-what. We had a lot to choose from, but honestly, I was getting quite sick of all this intensity. Sick to my stomach. Actually nauseous. My only moderately happy moment in hell was that brief goodbye with Len, and if the departure of the love of your lives was your happiest moment, you have some issues.
We set out in silence, and I continued my brood about brooding. If I were to make a chart of who killed or desecrated whom in our little party of ours, I think they would have cancelled each other out in the end.
I almost walked right past it. It had been so long ago that I almost walked right past it, the place I called my home for a great many years. As soon as my eyes hit the sign—that stupid, poorly written sign that I wrote when I was twelve—I wanted to break down in tears, but as melancholy was my avowed enemy, I instead led the charge inside without a word.
The first thing I noticed was that there was no door. The second thing was Gakupo, sprawled across the dirt in the corner. The third was that a sudden bout of drowsiness had hit me like a train, and I was guessing that Mothy needed more time to assimilate whatever section of her labyrinth came next. The rest of them caught on to all three facts rather quickly.
"Not again," Miku mumbled. "I don't want to sleep here."
"I don't think we have a choice," Luka said. "I can hardly move my legs." She took a knee on the ground and then sat against the brick wall.
"If we must sleep here, then sleep we must." I, of course, had no problem with resting in this environment, and Gakupo shared the same sentiment.
"Should we do something about…" Kaito nodded toward the carbon body off to the side.
"I got it," I said, stepping up to the plate, pulling out my ax, and swinging down. The alive (well, dead but not) Gakupo let out a tiny shriek as the blade cut through his mannequin's neck like sand. The corpse was jolted and then melted down into ash. No more Gakupo.
"How could you do that to me?" He gasped.
"Dramatic as ever, old man." The nickname slipped out naturally. It took me aback. "A-Anyway, we should settle down to sleep. Who should get the bedding?"
No one dared volunteer. I, personally, did not care enough to bother with cordiality. "Okay, Luka it is."
"Why Luka?" Miku asked.
"Why not?"
Luka frowned at us but took her seat on the crumpled mattress nonetheless. The real reason why I volunteered Luka was because it was Gakupo's turn on the mattress, last I checked, and he would have given it to her instantly. If he had the courage, which he did not. "Who should be the lookout," she said.
"Do we truly need a lookout?" I countered.
"I think we do," Miku said.
"I'll do it, then," I volunteered, though my eyes were beginning to droop without my permission.
We took up position on the ground, situating ourselves as far away from each other as possible, like we were sitting on the ends of a five-pointed star. "I don't want to fall asleep," Luka said suddenly.
"Me neither," Kaito admitted.
"But I won't be able to help it, unless there's some kind of distraction." It was a forlorn statement, a statement lacking all hope. The silence invaded every nook and cranny of my once-vibrant tea garden. Sleep was riding in fast, galloping toward us with certainty.
"One time, I brought home to this garden a venomous snake," I said aloud. No one responded but I could see that they were all staring at me. "It was Gakupo's birthday, and I thought it was cute. He killed it right over there."
I glared daggers into Gakupo until he eventually spoke up. "After that," he said, "Mayu got really upset. She was about ten. She ran away, and I couldn't find her anywhere. It turned out that she was at Yukari's bakery the whole time, and she came back eventually with a tiny cake and a piece of paper with my name on it. I had never seen my name written out before."
There was a pause—a bone-creaking pause that I fear would never end. "Gumi and I were walking along a street of vendors…"
And that's how it began. Stories bounded from one to the next, stories I had never had the chance to hear before. Everyone got to say something, and for a moment—for the most brief and beautiful moment—we turned away from all the horrors we had endured. We fell asleep all at once. No dream came to me this time, but somewhere in the back of my head, I heard a tiny whisper. From what I hoped was my imagination, it said, "Something went wrong."
The door was standing without a wall to support it, right next to the well that I found to be poisoned. Gumi's shadow sat leaning against the stone, a vial clutched in her right hand. The pattern was not broken, it would seem, but I could not say that it came as a relief.
"There it is," Kaito said redundantly.
"I wonder what magical world of death we will be transported to next," Miku responded. The door was a pastel pink. I had a good idea of where we would soon be.
Not every inkling of mutuality had left us when we awakened. However, the walls of caution had built themselves up slowly once again, not as strong as before. "I guess there's only one thing to do," Luka said, opening the door and stepping right on through.
Miku followed, and then Kaito. Now only Gakupo and I remained. "Mayu," he said.
"Huh?"
"I have to apologize to you. Yet, I have no right to apologize."
I took one look at the man before me, tattered clothing and all, and said, "Don't be ridiculous. I already forgave you, so there's no need for going through the motions again."
"Wh—Again?" he asked, stunned.
"Yeah. You know, you apologized while you were on your deathbed. You remembered, right? Of course, it wasn't necessarily fair game considering I had no idea what you were talking about, but I did say that I forgave you for everything. So, that's that, then. I also forgave Gumi and Len. That's three down." I tested a smile.
He kept on looking stupid and confused.
"Time to go, Eggplant Man. Time is not on our side. I want to reunite with the others soon, although I'm not sure if you all are excited about it."
"I just might be, now," Gakupo murmured to himself. The door beckoned, and we heeded its call.
