Previously:
"How sure are we that fire was real?" Hitomi asked. Mai flinched.
"What the heck are you talking about at a time like this!?"
"So that's how it is, huh," Bou-san said with a sigh.
"!" Mai was surprised when he poked her and Masako in the forehead. "Uwa!"
"You all also need to stop being so easily frightened," Bou-san told them.
"To be frightened by such a thing is only natural though, isn't it?" John said kindly. "Something like spontaneous combustion is quite unexpected after all."
'… Everyone, why aren't you saying anything about Yasuhara-san?' Mai wondered, shocked.
"Onee-chan, what's wrong?" Mariko asked, tugging on her sleeve.
"Mariko-chan, just now—" Mai said, spinning around to face her. She looked at the three children staring up at her. Mai's eyes widened. 'What was… What was I thinking about just now…?'
The Forgotten Children (Part 5)
"I'm ashamed of myself, being so shocked by something like that," Masako said. "It was a big fire, but why should I cry about the spontaneous combustion of a room?"
"Yeah..." Mai said. 'But that's not all. I have a feeling that something much worse happened.'
"I felt like crying, too, for some reason," Hitomi admitted.
"You did?" Naru asked.
"Yes, why?" Hitomi asked.
"No… It's nothing," Naru said, though he was surprised.
"Onee-chan, can I have some juice?" Mariko asked.
"Of course, I'll get it," Mai said. "Which cup was yours, Takato-kun?"
"The cow one," he replied.
"Mine's the rabbit!" Mariko said. "And Shigumi has the crab one, right?"
"Yeah!" Shigumi said. Mai poured the juice and smiled at them while they grabbed their cups.
"Here Shigumi, make sure you don't spill it," Mariko said, helping him with his. Hitomi started pacing. She walked over to the doors and stopped when she looked out the windows in them.
"… Hey, who drove the cars here?" Hitomi asked.
"What, are you half asleep?" Bou-san asked. "I did."
"We have two cars," Hitomi said. "Who drove the second one?" She knew it wasn't her but couldn't remember who actually did it.
"… Ah," Bou-san said. He drew a blank.
"I did, Hitomi-san," John said.
"Really? Huh?" Bou-san said.
"You can drive, John?" Mai asked.
"Yes… I… can…?" he said.
"You don't sound sure," Hitomi noted.
"Hitomi-onee-chan," Mariko said, tugging on her kimono sleeve.
"Hm?" Hitomi said.
"Shigumi lost his coin," Mariko said.
"Eh? Where?" Hitomi asked.
"Upstairs, it was the entire five hundred yen I've been saving," Shigumi said, on the verge of tears.
"Oh my, that's terrible!" Hitomi said.
"I dropped it at the second floor's entrance, near the thing that looks like a medal," Shigumi said.
"You want to look for it?" Mai asked, coming over to help. Shigumi nodded. "Then I'll go with you."
"Mai, your abilities are still unstable, so you shouldn't wander around," Naru said.
"But it's just a little—" Mai said.
"Absolutely not," Naru said.
"It's fine!" Shigumi said. "It's my coin, so I'll go!"
"But it'll be dangerous all alone, so someone should go with you," Hitomi said.
"That's right," Mai agreed.
"No!" Shigumi cried.
"Shigumi-kun," Naru said firmly. "This is a dangerous place. That means we can't walk around alone."
"I… I won't go alone," Shigumi said. "I'll go with Mai-onee-chan and Takato-kun."
"Hey, since it's just going a little way upstairs—" Mai said.
"Mai, do you have the power to protect the children?" Naru asked.
"Uh..." Mai sweat-dropped. "I can't say I do..." she admitted reluctantly.
"Well then, shall I go with you instead?" Masako asked kindly. "Will you go with me, or will you not go at all? It's your choice."
"Either way it's no good..." Shigumi said, sniffing.
"Selfishness is no good, and it's already dark, isn't it. If it was just a child going it would be dangerous. Right? Can't you just take me along?" Masako asked.
"… What about Hitomi-onee-chan?" Shigumi asked. "Will Hitomi-onee-chan come?"
"If you want me to," Hitomi said. "Masako and I can both—"
"No! I only want Hitomi-onee-chan!" Shigumi said.
"Just me?" Hitomi said. "It'll be safer with more people."
"Then Takato-kun and Mariko-chan can come, too!" Shigumi said.
'That's not exactly what I meant...' Hitomi thought, sweat-dropping.
"Well then, I'll go t—" Bou-san started to say.
"No!" Shigumi said. "We're going with Hitomi-onee-chan, and no one else!"
"Okay, okay," Bou-san said, tossing Hitomi his lighter. "Well then, Hitomi, here's the lighter—take it with you."
"Thanks," Hitomi said. "Let's go, Shigumi-kun. Everyone hold hands with someone." Hitomi held Shigumi's hand, while Takato held Mariko's. They made their way up the stairs together with the lighter as their light source. Watching them go, Mai's chest felt like it was being squeezed again.
'… Oh no, what could it be?' she wondered. 'Why am I feeling so uneasy…?'
"Ah!" they heard Shigumi gasp. "Found it!" he and the other children came back around the corner. Shigumi, Takato, Mariko, and a little girl with dark hair. "I found it, Mai-onee-chan!"
'Yeah, that's right,' Mai thought. 'With Hitomi-sempai along there was nothing to worry about.' She froze. She realized Hitomi wasn't there. 'She's gone—' Staring up at the children, Naru was suddenly overcome with an inexplicable feeling of deep loss.
—∞—
"—The classrooms, let's go exorcise and seal them one at a time," Naru said. "The least dangerous way would be to do the innermost classrooms last. After that, the problem is these children. Since we're not really prepared to separate our forces, do we take them along?"
"That's true," Bou-san said, sweat-dropping.
"It might be best for myself or Takigawa-san to remain with them," John said. "If it's sealing the classrooms, I think Takigawa-san is more suited for it."
"And if it's just me and Naru, I'll be kind of worried," Bou-san said.
"But we'll be able to manage somehow," Naru said.
"Don't joke about such things," Bou-san said. "Just 'somehow' is even more worrisome!"
"Would it help any if I came along?" Masako asked.
"Maybe just a little," Bou-san said. He could use the moral support.
'—Huh?' Mai thought. 'I've heard this conversation before, I think. 'Don't joke! Somehow is even more worrisome!' Who was it that said that? Was it Bou-san?'
"Just recently, we had you collapse after using your qigong, and in this sort of situation we can't really call an ambulance for you, you know," Bou-san reminded Naru. "Anyway, John, can we entrust the children to you then?"
"No problem," John said.
"Mai, sorry but can you come along too, so you can help Masako protect Naru for me?" Bou-san asked.
"Y-Yeah, since I'm the only one left who can, I guess," Mai said.
"I wish I had someone else though," Bou-san said. "Work hard, me!"
"Say that to my face!" Mai snapped with a vein throbbing on her head.
'Wasn't there someone else?' Naru thought, holding his chin. A very vague image came to mind of someone else with blonde hair being with them.
—∞—
"Well then, we'll leave the little guys to you, John," Bou-san said as they parted at the small door on the stairs.
"Okay," John said. He smiled and waved goodbye. Mai looked back at him. The door was closed.
—∞—
Bou-san finished his chant and sighed.
"Okay, we've finished off all the second floor's classrooms now," Bou-san said, turning around to look at Mai, Masako, and Naru.
"Hey, do you think it's doing anything?" Mai asked as they walked.
"Dunno, I'm not really feeling any resistance or other response," Bou-san said. "You don't sense anything, Mai?"
"My ability is still kind of waking up," Mai said.
"… Your ability is, how should I say, kind of puzzling..." Bou-san said, looking at her with a funny expression on his face.
"That's not my fault!" Mai said with a vein throbbing on her head.
"What about you, Hara-san?" Naru asked.
"I'm not sensing any change," Masako said. "But it's hard to tell in this place."
"Well, at least keep trying your best anyway," Bou-san told the girls. "Since we don't have anyone more reliable when it comes to seeing spirits."
"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Masako asked with a vein throbbing on her head. Mai stopped.
"What's wrong?" Bou-san asked.
"All of us. Until now, how have we performed exorcisms?" Mai asked.
"Huh?" Bou-san said.
"We'd be severely handicapped trying to do them with only the five of us, so isn't it really strange?" Mai asked. "Doesn't it seem that way to anyone else?"
"That's why you—" Bou-san said.
"My abilities only work when I'm half asleep, so isn't something strange?" Mai asked.
"That's always the way things are," Masako said. "Psychics just have to make do, and we've always had some hardships."
"Hardships, you say," Bou-san said.
"… That may be true," Naru said, holding his chin. "Why have we done things like this?" He still felt like something was missing. "Let's go back… John can see the spirits, at least." They left the classroom and went back down the stairs.
"Ah, they're back!" Mariko said, peering at them through the door on the stairs.
"It seems like nothing happened," Bou-san said.
'Thank goodness they're all okay,' Mai thought. 'Mariko-chan, Shigumi-kun, Takato-kun, Mika-chan, and also Ai-chan. I was worried since it was just the children—' Mai froze. "Wait!" Bou-san, Naru, and Masako stopped and looked up at her. "Hey, let's go back," Mai said, tugging on Bou-san's sleeve.
"Mai?" Bou-san asked.
"It's strange," Mai said. "Something's strange! Leaving children here all alone, do you think we would do such a thing? Something is weird. Completely. So, let's go back the other way."
"Go back, you say… Then what should we do about the little guys?" Bou-san asked. Mai looked down at them. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face.
"Please! Let's go back!" Mai said earnestly. 'The cars… There were two cars… two cars—' She vaguely remembered two other people asking that question. "Why do we have two cars!? The only one who can drive among us is Bou-san, so shouldn't we only have one car? Naru, Masako, and I aren't even old enough to be able to get licenses!!"
"!" Masako gasped in realization. Naru and Bou-san exchanged a glance.
"Come on!" Naru said, grabbing Mai and pulling her back up the stairs with him. Masako quickly followed. "Bou-san!"
"—Nau maku san man da bazara dan kan!" Bou-san chanted. The children were suddenly upon him.
"Bou-san!" Mai cried.
"Tch! —These—" Bou-san said as they laughed and wrapped themselves around him, becoming shapeless. Bou-san gripped his vajra. He threw it as he was pulled down into the darkness. "Naru!" It hit the step below Mai. She yanked free from Naru and kneeled down to get it when the children latched onto Masako next.
"Mai!" Naru said.
"—Nau maku san man da bazara dan kan!" Mai chanted, holding the vajra. "Rin pyou tou sha kai jin retsu zai zen…!" Both Bou-san and Masako disappeared into the darkness.
"Mai! Come on!" Nari yelled, grabbing her again. They ran into a classroom and Naru slammed the door shut. Mai collapsed into a sitting position on the floor, breathing hard. She thought of Bou-san ans Masako disappearing into the dark and felt like crying. Tears streamed down her face.
"Hic. What do we do… Hic," Mai asked. "What do we… do… Hic."
"..." Naru had to catch his breath as well. "—There was someone else. It must have been someone who could drive, because we've got two cars. That person must have also been taken by those children."
"And yet… we've forgotten about that person's entire existence…?" Mai asked.
"So it seems," Naru said. "The village headman came to us and made a request for the exorcism, so we came here. On the way here, we asked those children to come with us and act as guides. As a result, we became imprisoned here together."
"That… seems possible," Mai said.
"For us to leave five children alone to perform and exorcism while there are spirits around here is unreasonable," Naru said. "The truth is that another one of our friends must have been with them. Therefore, that person must also have psychic abilities. At least, they must have been different from Bou-san's since they were left behind with the children."
'Someone who could drive a car,' Mai thought. 'Another one or our group—' She remembered someone claiming to have done that. "John, right?"
"… Yeah," Naru said.
"But, could John drive?" Mai asked.
"John said so himself, didn't he?" Naru said.
"Yes, but… even though he said it, is it possible that he made a mistake? I was thinking it might have been similar to the situation with the children, could it have been that though John couldn't drive, we were made to think he could?"
"… I see," Naru said. "Our entire team should consist of nine people. That's why there are that many cups. After taking out the five children, the two of us and Bou-san and Hara-san, we would be the other four out of the nine. And if John is included, that's one person too many. So then—right after we left John behind, there's the possibility that he was switched out for one of the children."
"… Then… You're saying John was not left with five children, only four… and the fifth child was substituted in John's place…?" Mai asked. "Hold on! In that case, then maybe—"
"That's right," Naru said. "Most likely, John was not the first one to disappear. In all it was we four and another five people, and it's probably best to assume that everyone in our company has been replaced. There were nine of us. And not one was a child."
"No way..." Mai said, starting to shake. '… You mean we've forgotten even more people…? The people we came with? Who was it? Me and Naru and Bou-san and Masako and—there's still five others. John and… Hitomi-sempai, and Ayako. Yasuhara-san and Lin-san.' Mai smiled with relief. 'Thank goodness. We didn't forget them. I remember every one of them.'
"… It's Kirishima Yuuki," Naru said.
"—Who's that?" Mai asked.
"Didn't you read the copy of the newspaper article?" Naru asked. "It's the teacher who died."
"And what does Kirishima-sensei have to do with this?" Mai asked.
"The one behind the phenomena happening here, the person who is pulling the strings has to be Kirshima," Naru said. "Do you think children are capable of such a complex plot? In the end, they are only small children. If they can only erase someone who has been left alone though our vigilance is increasing, then the children have to cause our group to make that mistake and also dispel our alertness. This isn't the children's will and it isn't the children's wiles. Kirishima is behind it."
"… Then the one we actually have to exorcise is Krishima-sensei?" Mai asked. "But first we have to find him… Eeeh? But where would he be, though? And to say that once the teacher is removed, this should be dispelled—Umm… Umm..."
"Making snap judgements can be dangerous, however, I would say that the possibility is high that he is one the first floor," Naru said. "If we assume that they are all imprisoned here in the school building, the classroom he used, or the teacher's room? Which one would it be?"
"!" Mai said. "Naru, you can't do it!"
"Then are you going to give it a try, Mai?" Naru asked.
"Ah! Do you think I would be able to…?" she asked.
"Exorcism is quite intense, I think," he replied.
'I thought so,' Mai thought, slumping in defeat.
"Persuade them," Naru said.
"—Eh?" Mai said, looking up at him.
"You should persuade Kirishima," Naru said. "I'm not able to sense a spirit's intentions or communicate with them. If it's you, then I think it's possible."
'In the past, I have always been rescued by everyone else… This time, I have to save all of them…?' Mai thought. "Can—Can I do it, you think…?"
"You're always giving me hell, so you should be ambitious enough to do something like this, right?" Naru said.
"… I understand," Mai said, clasping her hands together. "I'll try it."
"All right, let's go down to the first floor," Naru said. "To make it easier for you to correspond with the spirits, I'll use suggestion to put you into a trance state."
"Trance state?" Mai asked.
"It's a state where it's easier to manifest your spiritual powers," Naru replied. "With people like spirit mediums, at the times when they channel spirits, they are in that state."
"G-Got it," Mai said. Naru reached out and held her hand so they wouldn't get separated. '—!!!' Mai thought, blushing.
"Let's head downstairs," Naru said. "Don't let go of my hand."
"Ah! Hold on!" Mai said. She pulled the vajra out of her pocket and handed it over to him. "Here… Bou-san's vajra. He threw it over to you earlier."
"Bou-san did? To me?" Nari said. He looked at the vajra in his hand. "… Is that what he said?"
"What?" Mai asked.
"It's nothing," Naru said. "It seems like I have been underestimating Bou-san."
"?" Mai said.
"We still have time. At any rate, let's get going," Naru said. They went down the stairs and through the small door, holding hands the whole way. But then, as Mai was just coming out, the shelves from the barricade they had set up came crashing down. It happened so fast. The next thing Mai knew, she had moved back the way they came, sitting against the bottom step.
"—Mai, are you all right?" Naru called.
"… I-I'm fine," Mai said. "How about you—" She looked at her empty hand that had once been holding his. 'Oh no…! I let go of his hand!' She started feeling her way around and felt resistance when she tried to put her hand through the small door. "Wh-Wha? It looks like the shoe shelves we put up at the entrance have blocked it up?"
"Can you get out?"
"Yeah," Mai said. She bonked her head on the shelf. "Eyow, ow, ow, Ho… Hold one a minute." she rubbed her sore head. "I'm looking for the place it looked like you passed through." '—Huh? Uwah… what should I do? It's pretty much closed off. And Naru's hand, where it's coming from is strange—'
"What's wrong?"
Mai's eyes widened.
'… Just now, that was Naru's voice, but since he's been cut off from me, shouldn't I not be able to hear him? It looks like we already made it down the staircase leading to the first floor though.' Mai felt a chill. She started shivering. "… Na… Naru..."
"What is it?"
'Just now his voice became more distant,' she thought. Yet, someone was still holding her hand. 'Then, this is… whose hand is this!?" She looked at the hand again and saw that was boney with long nails that were like claws. "—Who is it!?" Mai yelled, terrified. The darkness seemed to swirl and suddenly it was not just one hand but many holding her. It was the children's spirits, and there was something inhuman about them.
"Onee-chan..."
"What's wrong?"
"Onee-chan, who have you mistaken us for?"
Mai ripped her hand free from their grip.
"—Rin pyou tou sha kai jin retsu zai zen!" Mai said, performing the nine cuts. The children seemed to lose their form for a moment. Mai turned and ran up the steps and into a classroom. She slammed the door shut. '… I've been isolated...' She thought, breathing heavily. "—Uhuu—wa… U—wah," she cried. "… Stop crying already…!" 'Even if I cry, no one can come to save me. I can't cry, I have to fix this myself! Otherwise I can't save everyone…!' "… I've got to pull myself together… calm down…!" She made herself stop crying and looked around at the empty classroom. "… First, what should I do…?" 'I have to do something right now. First, I should search for Naru and the others—' "—… No, that's not right." 'If it was Naru, at a time like this, he would make finishing the job his first priority. At any rate, in order to do anything I have to find a way to sneak out of this room first. And so far everyone has completely disappeared from sight when we tried to find them. Right now, I can't even figure out how that happened.' She slapped her cheeks. '—Naru said that I should try to persuade the children and Kirishima-sensei. But, I needed Naru's suggestion to go into a trance state for that, and he isn't here anymore. … The thing is, I've never done this by myself. I've always gone into that state while I was dreaming. In order to do that, I need to go to sleep though.' She hugged herself. 'Don't be nervous. I have to relax. If I can't sleep, maybe I can at least go into a sleep-like state.' She was shaking. 'I can't be shivering like this. Calm down and relax. It's okay, it's okay…'
BA-DUMP.
Her heart was beating hard.
'Calm down and relax.'
BA-DUMP.
"One sheep, two sheep..."
BA-DUMP.
'Sheep… what do they look like again?'
BA-DUMP.
'Their hair is fluffy, and they have horns.'
BA-DUMP.
'They're white...'
BA-DUMP.
"Please, calm down…!" Mai yelled at herself, holding her hands over her ears with her eyes squeezed shut.
BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP.
BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP.
BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP. BAD-DUMP.
Something shined in the darkness.
BA-DUMP. BA-DUMP.
'… Eh?' Mai thought. 'Just now, something glittered.'
BA-DUMP.
'This light, it's definitely the one from after Bou-san does a seal. I'm not alone. It's protecting me completely.' She stood up, looking at the lights from his seal. "Wow… It's so beautiful..." There was a larger ball of light. 'That light is different from Bou-san's' "—Another one. Could it be, this is from the talismans Lin-san used to make the first floor's barrier?" she wondered. "!" she gasped and spun around. "Ah—!" 'I can't see a light there… which means, maybe the barrier talisman in the stairwell came unstuck? Now that I think about it, the barrier fell over then. If it just returned to its source, there's no way to confirm without checking the talisman itself.' "… And then Hitomi-sempai vanished from the second floor."
"—Exactly," a familiar voice said. Mai turned her head to look. She saw dream Naru smiling at her. She was so relived.
"… Thank goodness."
"You managed to fall asleep," he said.
"Still… no one else is here," Mai said.
"Why don't you take a closer look."
The walls became transparent, and Mai could see a cluster of spirits.
"In the first floor's waiting room, lots of onibi have gathered..."she said.
"Yeah. Right now, they're in there. Do you see anything else?" he asked.
"The first floor hallway. They're sort of wobbling around in circles in there too."
"And then?"
"… What do you mean?"
"Is there anything else?"
"U-Umm..." Mai said, looking around. She saw something surprising. Her own body in a sitting position slumped against the wall. "… It's me—?" Mai sweat-dropped. "I really have left my sleeping body behind..." Then she noticed someone else. "… Bou-san!" He was standing with his back to her and he was glowing. "He's still alive, right…?" Mai asked, looking at dream Naru. He smiled at her. "—Could it be? Bou-san was taken and vanished, weren't we sure of that? Is everyone else also like that? John and Masako and Hitomi-sempai and… everyone?"
"Exactly so. Most likely."
"No way… Eh? … Ah…!" Mai could see the first floor, by the door. There were people there. 'It's Naru, and Hitomi-sempai…!' They appeared to be sitting right next to each other. 'And Yasuhara-san!' He was sitting close to Naru and Hitomi. 'There's Masako, John's here too.' Those two were pacing the room. John had his rosary out. In another hallway she saw two more familiar faces. 'Ayako and Lin-san. But everyone somehow looks kind of strange—' Ayako and Lin walked right past each other without any hint of acknowledgement. "What the…?"
"Everyone is still here, but they aren't aware of each other's existence," dream Naru said.
"So that's how is is..." Mai said. 'And then something else is strange. Even when they're together, their appearance is kind of scattered.' Mai fell into a squat and hugged her knees. "Oh, thank goodness..." 'They're all okay. Absolutely everyone is. I'm not left hanging alone.' "… So then, what should I do?" Dream Naru kneeled down and put a hand on her shoulder.
"You've already been steadily appearing more and more capable by yourself, so you should be okay, right?" he asked.
"… You didn't hear what I said?" she asked.
"That's not it," he said. "—Still calm?"
"… Yeah."
"It will still be safe here for a little while. However, for my peace of mind there's still one thing I need you to do. There's some resistance keeping me from getting out, so I can't go out there with you."
"… Go out there yourself? Then—this entire time, Naru has been allowing me to see these dreams? By suggestion?"
Dream Naru smiled at her.
'Naru is—' Mai thought, blushing a little.