Yoshiko' house was relatively close to Himuro Mansion. In fact, it was one of the closest houses to Himuro. From what Yoshiko had told Mikoto, her parents didn't believe in the curse of Himuro Mansion, and neither did she.

Mikoto had been having a good time so far – they had eaten an early lunch and then gone out to play in the backyard. While Yoshiko's house was significantly smaller than Himuro, it was a lot cozier – something Mikoto appreciated.

As Mikoto followed her friend to her bedroom, she heard what sounded like crying through one of the doors.

"Who is that?" she whispered.

"It's my grandmother," Yoshiko responded. "One of my cousins died a while back while she was still a baby, and poor Grandmother hasn't really gotten over it…"

Mikoto averted her eyes. "Oh…"

Yoshiko smiled. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure she'll be fine – she's made of some tough stuff, you know?"

The girls smiled at each other and continued down the hallway.

Yae sat in the Koto Room, thinking. So many odd things had been happening lately; ingredients were switching cabinets, Ryozo had been losing diary entries, and there was a strange seal on the Doll Room door that no one had figured out how to remove. The door itself was shut tight, too.

Was this place really haunted? Ryozo had listened to her worries, but she feared that he didn't care whether the house was haunted or not. The classic "Interesting vs. Dangerous" battle that Makabe-san had fought…She could remember him somewhat, and she knew that he had died in her village, although she didn't remember why or how.

She looked over at her camera. Mikoto really had found that interesting, hadn't she?

"Perhaps I'll take a few pictures…" she murmured.

The four friends sat in a circle around a makeshift campfire in the Yoshiko's backyard. It was really a few sticks and a candle, but none of them cared – it created the right mood.

"My mom said that she's going to let me keep going to your house," Mitsuko said. "She says she thinks I'll be okay."

"Your mom is so paranoid," Katsu commented. "I couldn't stand to have someone restricting me like that." He picked up a twig and snapped it in half.

"Yeah, it's pretty annoying," Mitsuko admitted. "Although I was kind of nervous, too. I mean, it's just so inbred in us that there's something wrong with that house…"

"I just don't get why ghosts are supposed to be so dangerous, anyway," Yoshiko added. "I mean, why would a ghost attack a person? It doesn't make any sense!"

"I think that if ghosts were real, they'd be kind of like guardian angels," Katsu said. "You know, keep us from going into a dangerous situation or help us get out of one."

Mikoto looked at the candle. "I think that they'd just go on like they did when they were alive," she said. "Like, if a man's daughter died, he would spend his time as a ghost trying to find her ghost."

Mitsuko looked at her. "That makes sense," she said. "Wow, can you imagine dieing and not even realizing it?"

"How could that happen?" Yoshiko asked. "I think I'd notice if I drowned or got my head cut off or something"

"Well, you know…maybe if you died in your sleep, you'd never know."

Katsu leaned back. "That makes sense, I guess. But, then again, I don't think ghosts are real anyway."

The group lapsed into silence for a few seconds, and then began talking about other things.

And, just once, Mikoto found herself looking at Katsu. And, just once, wondering what it might be like to kiss him.

Ryozo found himself wandering the house yet again, looking for a clue. He had finally unlocked the "Demon Mouth", a large, orange-tinged room with a set of double doors that were locked. According to his research, a "Blinding Mask" was required to gain entry. He had seen an illustration of it in one of the tomes, and had a pretty good idea of its grotesque purpose…

So far he had found nothing. He needed another key – like the Angry Mask to unlock the spinning door in the foyer. That would be nice…

Yae stood in the front hallway of the manor. That woman – the one in the bloodied kimono – had walked through here. Yae hesitated for a second, and then began walking after her.

She eventually found herself in a stairwell. She began to ascend the stairs…

"No!"

She froze. Who had said that?

There was a muffled thumping sound as someone ran on the floor above. Yae began to back down the stairs, preparing to run away.

An elderly woman appeared at the top of the stairs, a look of complete frenzy in her eyes. She began to run down them, but tripped and fell. Yae slammed her eyelids shut, hoping that what she knew would happen might not.

When she opened them again, the woman was lying in a heap on the floor…and another woman was at the top.

A woman covered in tattoos.

Yae screamed and began to run.

Yae didn't get anymore sleep that night.

So? You liked it, right? 8P

I don't know when my next update will be. I'm taking Driver's Ed (sob), so it may be a while…but I'll try to get something over the weekend, at least.

Valete!