II.

Dawn found five young women huddled together on the bed in the master bedroom of what had once been the Fujino Estate. They were sitting with their backs to each other in a tight circle, draped in blankets, and resting against one another for support. The bleary look in their eyes as the first rays of sunlight forced their way through the curtains was testimony to their sleepless night.

"Ghosts," Natsuki scoffed, rising from the bed and causing the rest of the young women to fall over in a heap, "As if."

"You saw it, too, Kuga," Nao said with what was supposed to bee a heated accusation, but tired as she was it came out as more of a yawning protest, like a child begging for five more minutes of sleep before school.

"It was late at night, it was dark, and our eyes were playing tricks on us because of that portrait," Natsuki fought off the urge to yawn, herself, figuring it would detract from her rather sound arguments.

"Portrait?" Mai blinked.

"The one in the study," Natsuki said, opening the curtains.

"Kuga…"Midori looked concerned, "We never saw the study."

Nao was sitting upright again, a very grim look on her face.

"Show us, Pup."

Natsuki led them to the study, where the portrait of Shizuru Fujino hung on the wall.

"We never saw this last night," MIkoto reaffirmed.

"Maybe not," Mai squeezed her own shoulders for warmth, "But we saw her. That's the woman from last night. I'll never forget those eyes."

"Yes, Mistress Fujino had very striking eyes," Sakomizu appeared in the hall, causing the sleep-deprived women to jump in surprise.

"Don't sneak up on people!" Natsuki protested.

"Apologies. I'm guessing you've all had your first run-in with Mistress Fujino's ghost."

"Mistress Fujino?" Mai asked, "You worked for her?"

"I've been the caretaker here since Mistress Fujino was a child, and stayed on after her parents died in a plane crash, and then after she passed. No one lasts more than a month, here."

Natsuki crossed her arms, "Is that so? Well, I like a challenge."

"Natsuki," Mai chided, then she turned to Sakomizu, "Excuse me, but…what does the ghost of Mistress Fujino do that drives people off?"

"Usually? She just appears. Here and there. Randomly. Usually right out of the corner of someone's eye."

"You said 'usually'," Nao noted, "What are the unusual instances?"

"Flung objects. Voices. One woman who tried living here reported feeling a hand moving along her back in the shower."

"All very interesting," Natsuki sighed, "But I'm starving, and I need to find out where the breaker box is to turn the power back on. I'm sure the food has all gone off, too. Gonna have to do some shopping."

"I can show you where the breakers are," Sakomizu said, "The box is actually inside the house, in a supply closet off of the kitchen. But none of the breakers tripped. The power outage was over half the city. That was a heck of storm, huh?"

"Well, that's good to know," Natsuki said, "Can't blame that on a ghost, now can we? But, it doesn't change the food situation. Everything in the fridge and freezer are probably no good, anymore."

"Tell you what," Mai perked up, "Why don't you get acquainted with the house, while Mikoto and I do the shopping. Nao?"

"I've got to jet. I've actually got a shift, today."

"And I have to put some final touches on my paper for my thesis," Midori said, "But this place is interesting. I'd like a chance to study it a bit, Natsuki."

"Fine by me. I'm going to set up in the study. And maybe have a chat with our 'ghost'."

"Hey," Mikoto piped up, "How did Miss Fujino die, anyway? I mean, she was pretty young, still, so…"

Sakomizu looked a bit concerned.

"You know something?" Natsuki asked him.

He sighed, "I'm not sure I should say anything. I don't want to sully the reputation of the Fujinos."

"There aren't any Fujinos left," Natsuki said, "And it's not like I'm going to go running around yelling it from the rooftops, whatever it is."

Sakomizu looked her in the eyes for a moment, as if deciding whether or not to believe her, then nodded, "Mistress Fujino died of a broken heart. After the deaths of her parents, she took control of the family company and immediately dissolved an arranged marriage so that she could pursue the person she loved. But when she went to tell her lover the news, she found them in bed with someone else. She never recovered."

Natsuki was setting up her laptop in the study so that she could work on her novel. She looked up at the portrait of the crimson-eyed young woman, "Sorry things didn't work out for you. It sucks when the people you love betray you."

She thought that the eyes in the painting looked at her with mockery, as if they were saying, "How could you understand?"

"When I was a little girl," Natsuki sat at the desk, turning the chair to look at the portrait, "my parents split up. Mom wasn't what you'd call a traditional girl, doing the whole Office Lady thing of getting married by twenty-five so she could retire to be a housewife. She was a doctor, and a good one. But…she wasn't home a lot, and Dad decided that wasn't good enough for him. So…he ran out on us. He never actually divorced Mom. He didn't want it said that his daughter came from a broken home. But he made no secret of the fling he was having."

She sighed, having no idea why she was pouring her life story out to a painting.

"Of course, Mom had her problems, too. The humiliation of it hit her hard. The final straw, I think, was when that tabloid reporter came to her that night and asked her about it, showing her a photo of Dad in bed with this twenty-something actress that he was seeing. Mom shoved me in the car and took off. She shouldn't have been driving that night. I don't think she could see the road, through her tears. She certainly didn't see traffic cones until it was too late. The car went off the road, into the sea, and I went with her."

Natsuki wiped at her eyes, "She didn't make it. And I almost didn't, either. And Dad? He walked out on me again. Sent me cash to live on, but never put in an appearance in my life again."

The eyes in the painting seemed saddened.

"Oh, but I don't want you to get the impression that my life has been all bad," Natsuki said, "I met some good friends at school. Mai, and Mikoto, and Midori, and Nao. Those are the girls you freaked out last night. Go easy on 'em, huh. They're not used to being haunted."

"And you are?"

"Well, I've been carrying around my mother's memory since she died, so I have a bit of practice at being haunted by…"

That question had been asked out loud. It wasn't some imaginary voice in her head that she conjured while staring at a dead woman's portrait. It had been voiced aloud in the room, echoing faintly off of the timbers of the high-end furniture in the room. A real voice had qualities to it that an imaginary one simply didn't, and Natsuki had been dealing with the voices in her head long enough to know the difference.

She turned the chair slowly, looking as far ahead as she could out of the periphery at the corner of her eye, and saw a young woman standing in front of the desk, with long tawny hair fluttering in a breeze that did not exist, and crimson eyes that regarded her with soft sympathy, and an enigmatic smile that could have put the Mona Lisa to shame. And, Natsuki noted with a sense of unease, she could see the rest of the room through the woman. She was looking at the ghost of Shizuru Fujino.

"I honestly don't know that that place is good for Natsuki," Mai sighed, picking groceries off the shelf and putting them in the cart.

"She'd be alone a lot," Mikoto agreed, "You know what she gets like when she's alone."

"Yeah, a regular brooding mess," Mai acknowledged, "And that place is so big. Too big for one person. It's empty. And the last thing Natsuki needs in her life right now is emptiness."

"She'd probably be better off if she had a boyfriend. Or even a girlfriend," Mikoto mused, "Wonder why she won't date Nao."

"C'mon, it's obvious, right?" Mai said, "Natsuki and Nao would never work out as a couple. They're way too alike."

"Huh?" Mikoto frowned , "Isn't it good to have stuff in common with the person you love?"

"It's complicated," Mai shrugged, "It's good to have a bit of overlap, sure. Some shared interests. Shared moral values. Things like that. But Natsuki and Nao are like two north ends of a pair of magnets. They're both stubborn. They're both uncompromising. They both have mother issues. You take two strong personalities like theirs and put them together, and there'd be some heat and passion in the beginning, but then they'd start fighting. Because all couples have their disagreements. But neither of them would be willing to back down and compromise. So the fights would only get worse."

"Oh."

"I think Natsuki realized that, when she turned Nao down. That, or she might just not be into girls. Just because you and Nao can go both ways doesn't mean every girl can, Miko."

"Shame," Mikoto shrugged.

"In any event, that house is too big, too empty, and to be honest, it's kinda gloomy. It's like those haunted houses in movies and books, y'know. I'm not sure that's a healthy atmosphere for Natsuki to put herself in."

"It didn't exactly feel scary, though," Mikoto said, drawing on the fighting instincts that her studies of kendo had given her, "More…sad. Lots of places have feelings to them, you know, Mai. Like your house always feels warm and happy. But that house felt sad."

"Well, if what that Mr. Sakomizu said was true, then it's a small wonder. But sad might be worse for Natsuki than scary," Mai decided that she'd do well to pick up three jars of mayo.

"Why's that?" Mikoto asked.

"'Cause you know what Natsuki is like. She doesn't do 'scared'. Something tries to scare her, she fights. And fighting…it's not the best solution, but it definitely shows her will to live. Sad? Sad doesn't provoke a fight. Sad invites you to join it. And Natsuki has lots of reasons to join in with the sorrow. Misery loves company, and when someone is too sad for too long….Well, you know what it did for the last woman who lived there."

"So, what can we do about it?" Mikoto asked, suddenly very concerned for their friend.

"I'm not sure, yet," Mai said, "But we should probably think of something. Because I'm worried about Natsuki. And I don't think what we saw last night was our imaginations."

"What about Yuuichi's friend? The Miko from Fuuka Shrine."

Mai gave Mikoto a sour look, "You want me to call Munekata in to do an exorcism for Natsuki? Seriously? That's your best solution. My romantic rival?"

"You still hang out with my brother, even though it makes Yuuichi jealous," Mikoto pointed out.

"Ugh. I hate it when you make sense, Mikoto," Mai rubbed her forehead to ward off a headache.

"Y-you're…"

"Shizuru Fujino," the spectral woman said with a cheerful tone and a soft Kyoto-ben, "But you can just call me Shizuru."

"Shizuru," Natsuki repeated, not to affirm, but out of incredulousness.

"And who might you be?" Shizuru's smile grew. There was something oddly reassuring about it.

"Natsuki Kuga," Natsuki managed after a moment.

"I have a feeling that you and I are going to be very good friends, Natsuki," Shizuru giggled, a soft fufufu noise, and then she was gone. No "POP" of an object vanishing. No wisps of smoke trailing away. One moment she was there, and the next, gone.

Natsuki blinked, then pinched the bridge of her nose, sighing, "At least she's not going to spend her time trying to scare me."

"Natsuki! We're back!" She heard Mai calling from the hallway.

Natsuki rose from her seat to go meet them, "I have a feeling that my life just got a whole lot more complicated."