Chapter 10:

"Please, come in." Harima politely offered. The young girl nodded and stepped through the gate.

Harima noticed the girl was wearing the same dress she wore the last time he saw her. The sleeves were overly large and reached past her hands, but the rest of the dress fit her perfectly. He had never seen any girl with clothes like hers before. The sandals she had on were also white with red stripes to match her dress. Her footsteps were strangely bereft of sound as if she was wearing feathered footwear. Harima felt a cold draft when she passed him but shrugged it off to the weather and followed her.

Before they got to the house, the girl suddenly stopped walking, causing Harima to nearly bump into her. Shiba was in front of her, looking at the girl with an expression Harima had never seen in the gentle big dog before. The sheepdog looked hostile with his fangs bared under his furry mouth and his posture in a defensive stance.

To avert any trouble, Harima quickly took a step between them and challenged the animal to a staring contest. Before long, Shiba scampered away with a whine and went inside the house.

"Sorry about that." Harima apologized to the young girl. "Shiba isn't usually like that. We don't get many visitors around here so he might have mistaken you for an intruder."

The young girl had her eyebrows slightly knotted in confusion from the staredown earlier. "It's no problem." She said softly, returning to her blank expression.

"Let's just go to the veranda instead if he's inside the house." Harima said. "There's also a cat that is really grumpy at times so if you don't mind, it's probably best to stay outside." The girl humorlessly chuckled and the two sat on the veranda. Harima offered to get her some snacks but the girl refused, saying she wasn't hungry. He simply shrugged. It was best not to leave the girl all alone anyway.

"You know, you leaving so suddenly last time made me worried." Harima said casually. "And I thought you said you wanted to check on something. May I ask what it was?"

"...I simply wanted company." The girl replied in her usual nonchalance.

"I noticed that this neighborhood doesn't have many people around and you're the first kid I've seen around here." Harima remarked. "Don't you have any friends in school?"

The girl gave him a questioning look but it vanished a split second later. "They don't share my interests," she answered. "And most of them I cannot relate to."

Harima gave an amused grin. "Well then, welcome to the club. I think I could sympathize with you on that one." He then asked, "Where are your parents? You didn't answer me last time. Do they know you're here?"

"They're gone." The girl answered quickly.

Harima made a confused look, "Like on a business trip or vacation or something?"

"They're not here anymore."

"What? Do you mean they're..." Harima's voice trailed off as realization hit him like a bullet train. He looked away from her, feeling sorry for being so slow to pick up on what she was saying. He couldn't blame someone of her young age wanting company if they were forcibly deprived of it.

"I'm very sorry." Harima quickly apologized. "I didn't know so I'm-"

"Don't worry about it." the girl replied. "It is what it is." Harima was visibly shocked by how she put aside such an incident. She then glanced at him and continued, "They say sharing your experience with others may double your happiness or may halve your sorrow…do you believe that?"

Harima composed himself before answering. "I'm not really into quotes or sayings but if it's anything that will save a person from misery, then I'm up for it."

"Memories are a strange thing. Does remembering them day by day make it any easier to live with?"

Harima looked up to the blue sky, leaning back on his hands. "Memories are nice but that's all they are. Sometimes they drag me down and the worst part is when they seem to pop out of nowhere." He narrowed his eyes and continued, "But those things are in the past and I cannot change it, no matter how badly I want to. So I simply hope for the future instead of worrying about the past. I think that's a much better alternative to think about, right?"

When Harima glanced to his side, he noticed the girl was staring at him. He chuckled faintly, "Well, who am I to tell you such things? I can't even find my bike keys when I'm sure I'd just seen them seconds ago."

"I see."

"So your parents... What happened to them?" Harima didn't want to talk about this subject any more than talking about politics but her question about memories and whatnot raised his curiosity. He had heard from his cousin that to ruminate on an incident or accident usually took away its power to cripple oneself, allowing one to heal and recover from trauma. Harima wasn't really paying attention when she had said that since he didn't want to talk about it, more so to his intruding cousin. But her words had resurfaced in his mind when the girl said something similar. The young girl was so strangely casual about such an experience. If Itoko's quote actually worked then it was worth a try.

"My mom passed away during childbirth and my father was in a car accident." The girl answered. "I didn't get to know my mother but I have many memories with my father."

"It's unfortunate you didn't have the chance to be with your mom but at least you spent time with your dad. Do you know what he did?"

"He was a novelist. He spent most of his time writing books of different themes, especially children's books. He was busy but he always had time for me. Even though he's gone we still gain royalty from his books and that helps us to live day by day."

"He's still helping you even after all that, huh? Wait, we? Do you have relatives living with you?"

"I have an older sister and we are cared for by some of our relatives."

"It must be hard on you but at least you have an older sister to depend on, right?"

"You have no idea." The girl murmured.

"What?"

"What about you?" The girl suddenly asked. "What about your parents?"

Harima smiled. "Tit for tat, huh? Well, since you've opened up I think I'll share something of mine. My father is gone too. Accident on the road. We're quite similar on that part. My mom married again and she gave birth to my little brother, but I'm not on good terms with my stepfather so I left. They didn't even look for me when I ran away."

"If you didn't live here originally, how did you end up here?"

"It's a long story," Harima said quite embarrassed. "Long story short, my cousin kicked me out of her apartment because of some shallow reason. I considered going to Mikoto, a classmate of mine, after that Rich Girl - I mean, Eri, also a classmate of mine, refused. She has a huge mansion and we can live at both ends and not see each other at all but she got angry all of a sudden. I'm not a person who'll abuse someone's hospitality. I don't know why I even bothered going there in the first place. Luckily, Yakumo welcomed me into her house after her older sister left for America."

"Yakumo?"

"Oh, you didn't know her? I'll take it you're also new here if you don't know her yet. She's the owner of the house. I'm good friends with her. We also have Sarah who's her best friend staying here. I can say Yakumo is a very good person."

"I see." The young girl tilted her head and asked. "Do you like her?"

"Of course I like her." Harima replied instantly. "We wouldn't be friends if I didn't like her, would we?"

"Then do you love her?" Harima was really surprised by her question.

"What?! It's not like that!" Why do people always immediately presume that?!

"I was simply curious." Harima calmed down his inner tantrums, given it was just a young girl who was asking.

"Now that I think about it," he said putting a hand on his chin. "You two look quite similar. Even your names sound the same. She even named her character "Ya'mo" in my manga. Quite a coincidence, right?"

"Yes, coincidence." the girl said in a nonchalant manner. "So if you have a manga, I take it you're a manga artist?"

"Well, yeah, sort of." Harima replied sheepishly. "How I became one is also kinda a long story..." He narrowed his eyes when he remembered something in particular. He brushed the thoughts away, not wanting to dwell on it a second longer and said, "Storytelling isn't really one of my strengths so I have Yakumo as my assistant. She's helped me numerous times now and I owe her for everything she has done for me, including letting me stay here."

"Is that the reason why you like her?"

"Back on that, are we?" Harima replied quite amused. "I guess so but it's also a 'no' in some way."

"So you dislike her then?"

"No, of course not!" Harima quickly answered. "I don't like – I mean, I like her but I don't - God, this is confusing!"

The girl chuckled. "Have you loved someone before?" she asked. Harima again was taken aback by her question.

"To tell you the truth, yes," Harima said with a heavy heart while lying down on the wooden floor. "I've been in love before just like a lot of people – though they might try to deny it as hard as they can. Sometimes it just comes to you even if you don't ask for it." After a few seconds, he suddenly became aware of something. He just realized he'd been talking so openly about himself, and to an almost complete stranger too. He didn't know where this girl had come from and he forgot to ask her where specifically. The questions she asked were also strange, not things a kid would normally ask.

Why did he welcome this stranger to a house he didn't own?

Who is this girl? And why the heck am I answering all her questions?!

The girl stood up. "I think this is enough for now. Can you not tell anyone about my visits here, including those who live with you?"

"Uhh sure. May I ask why?" Harima waited for a reply but when several seconds passed by without hearing anything, he slowly sat up and saw no one at his side. He looked to the gate and saw a sliver of a silhouette at its edge. He scrambled to his feet and rushed towards it, but nearly bumped into someone when he almost got there.

A girl yelped in surprise. "What the! Oh Harima, good afternoon."

Harima discovered the girl to be Sarah. "Oh, I'm sorry Sarah." he quickly apologized. Thinking she might have seen the young girl leaving, he then asked, "Say, have you seen -" He stopped short when he remembered the young girl asked him not to tell other people of her visit. He didn't know her reason but he was a man of his word, even if he had said it hastily.

"Um, did you say something?" Sarah asked.

"No, it's nothing." Harima quickly replied. "So how was work?"

Sarah made a confused look but answered nonetheless. "It was okay. Mr. Chen left us by ourselves again for another emergency which turned out to be a false alarm. Asou is starting to get suspicious, wondering if it is really an emergency he's attending to." She continued her rant but Harima stayed silent, lost in thought.

Chinese Restaurant. Maybe I should treat Yakumo there? Itoko took me there when she blackmailed me to spill the beans about Tenma. The food was pretty good. Would it be okay for Yakumo, I wonder? What about Sarah? She works there so maybe I can get a discount or something.

"Harima? Hello?" Harima woke up from his thoughts. "Are you okay?" Sarah asked.

"Of course. Sorry about that. You were saying?"

Sarah frowned a little bit and replied, "I was just asking if you'd greet me to the house like a good gentleman." Harima grimaced.

Oh spare me. Not this again.

Harima extended a hand towards the house and bowed in a most forceful way. "I apologize for my impertinence," he said in the most sarcastic way he knew of. "Welcome home, Ms. Adiemus."

Sarah smiled and walked to the house, feeling rightly deserving of her "grand" welcome. Harima continued his mock gesture until Sarah was inside. He wondered how Nakamura could stomach this kind of job, especially if it was Eri he was serving. He would likely say "go to hell" if someone of her caliber demanded him of it, and it was very likely he would have said it to Eri herself if it weren't for this engagement thing he was tangled into. His two housemates he could bear since he owed them a lot. Sarah was a nun and those people should be respected for their position, even though it was annoying when she almost insisted on it. On the other hand, he couldn't imagine Yakumo would do the same thing, though he felt that of all the people he knew, she was the one who most deserved to be respected in all manner and ways.

He went back inside the house, determined to think of a good way to repay his trusted assistant somehow.

x-x-x

Yakumo got back home several minutes after Sarah. She again looked weary and exhausted from her work so Harima volunteered to cook again. He hadn't done anything in particular the whole day like last week so it was okay if she took a break. This time Yakumo gratefully thanked him and Harima expected the usual tease from Sarah. But when the nun said nothing of the sort, he went to the kitchen somewhat pleased to be spared for once.

The two girls sat in the living room watching TV. Yakumo noticed Sarah was strangely quiet. Her best friend would have been thinking of a way to tease her or Harima but she seemed pre-occupied with something else. At times Sarah would quickly glance to the kitchen as if to check up on something and then she would get back to whatever she was doing. There was curiosity or even suspicion in her expression that made Yakumo worried about her.

Did something happen earlier?

"Sarah, are you okay?" Yakumo asked when Sarah finally settled herself at the small table.

The blonde put down the book she was reading and answered, "Uhh, yeah. Why do you ask?"

"It's just that you looked –"

A pink blur suddenly whooshed past, squealing loudly in panic. The two girls quickly looked at the pink blur that was Napoleon running erratically around the room in circles.

"Napoleon!" Harima stormed from the kitchen. "I'm just cooking pork miso! I'm not gonna use you as an ingredient, you silly pig! I was kidding back then!" He chased after the terrified piglet that was running for its dear life.

After several minutes of unsuccessful chasing, the pig was finally pacified. Maybe it was due to exhaustion, or because Yakumo had put Napoleon on her lap and reassured him they weren't going to harm him at all. Sarah held Iori, continually stroking his chin to prevent the cat from doing something equally chaotic. Unlike the last incident when the pig panicked, nothing was broken. This made Harima sigh in relief. He was already in debt, and his pets ruining the place might earn him another ticket to kiss-your-ass-goodbye. Bringing an unruly pet had gotten himself banned from attending the Suou family stew party for an indefinite amount of time.

Good thing Shiba didn't get himself involved in the chase. The dog simply slept through it all as if nothing was happening. It really was like he was just there for decoration.

"You're cooking pork miso, Harima?" Yakumo asked. Napoleon flinched a little bit but she stroked his back to calm him again.

"Well, yeah." Harima replied, embarrassed about his pet's misbehavior. "I'm sorry about Napoleon. I thought he got over his fear when he ran amok in Mikoto's stew party. I was only joking, honestly."

"No, it's okay." Yakumo calmly said. "We usually had this kind of trouble between Tenma and Iori so it's alright."

"If you say so." Harima replied, scratching the back of his head. He turned around and continued, "Be back in a second and sorry about that." He went back to the kitchen to continue his cooking.

With peace restored, Yakumo contemplated talking to Sarah again but decided not to ask her for now. She didn't want to think the ghost had appeared to Sarah too. If so, then maybe this was the right time to do something about it, though she didn't know how to handle such supernatural problems with other people. She probably didn't ask Harima about it for the same reason.

No one believed her when she finally told her classmates she could read people's minds. She was afraid that people would treat her as some nutjob if they knew her secret. To her surprise however, her friends merely laughed at her for making such a ridiculously bad joke and being so embarrassed about it. Of course, they'd think she was kidding. The only one who had deduced she had psychic powers of some kind was Harima, and that had just been a wild guess because it was plainly obvious that his manga was based on his own life.

Yakumo got the feeling that maybe she was just jumping at shadows. If Sarah continued to behave this way then she would ask like a caring friend, not like a paranormal investigator.

Weird. She had briefly seen herself as a red-eyed paranormal detective, prowling for any supernatural events just for the sake of it.

She realized manga was now starting to affect her imagination. It wasn't a bad premise for a story, was it? Maybe she could pitch this idea to Harima to use in his manga. It couldn't hurt to try.

x-x-x

The three housemates ate their dinner while watching Harima's favorite show. Yakumo was impressed by Harima's cooking again. Tenma really liked the pork miso they made during the Suou family stew party so maybe Harima practiced cooking this dish to perfection to impress her. Too bad Tenma wasn't here to taste it – and she was also missing the show.

She could never forget to consider her sister no matter how long it had been since she'd left for America. Although it wasn't all bad since it meant Yakumo had the opportunity to try out Harima's miso instead.

One thing that still bothered her was Sarah. The blonde simply thanked Harima for his efforts and then silently joined him watching TV. There were no jokes or any small talk initiated by her. Harima seemed to be grateful for her rare silence but Yakumo suspected something must have been troubling her if she was that quiet.

After their dinner, Yakumo volunteered to wash the dishes. Sarah quickly volunteered too, which surprised Yakumo. Harima thanked them both as he went to spend some time with his prodigal pig.

The two girls washed the dishes in silence. Yakumo thought that this was her chance to find out what was worrying Sarah. "I really wanted to ask—"

"Yakumo, have you noticed anything strange about Harima lately?" Sarah cut in.

Yakumo reeled in surprise. "No, I've not noticed anything… " she replied. "Is he sick?"

"No. It's not that. What I'm saying is sometimes he... acts... weird, like, disturbingly weird." There was an uneasiness in her tone that Yakumo knew all too well. It made her uncomfortable if Sarah was being this indecisive with her words.

"I don't really follow. What do you mean?"

"I don't want to jump to conclusions but when I saw it again, I started to worry."

"Is that why you're acting strange too?"

"Oh, so you noticed? Well, yeah. I saw it last week and then again this afternoon. It's about Harima, though. It's like he's not himself at times."

"Just like when he's in school?"

"No, it's way different this time. I wanted to tell you about it earlier but I was afraid you wouldn't believe me."

"What is it, Sarah?" Yakumo put a little stress in her tone, not liking being made to wait in suspense this long, especially if it involved Harima.

"It may sound crazy and weird but," Sarah quickly glanced over her shoulders to make sure Harima wasn't around and said in a low voice, "I think he's talking to himself."

Author's Corner: Whoop! I'm back! It's been too long I think. There was a crap load of things that delayed me coming back to this story. The updates might still be a little shaky (okay, very shaky) but it's better than nothing, I guess.

Getting back to the story. There's a funny coincidence about Yakumo's thoughts of being a paranormal investigator. There is a character named "Yakumo" in a different anime who has red eyes and is psychic too. He's male though but pretty good looking. I didn't know about that until I searched 'Yakumo detective' in Google. Surprise, surprise!

As always, reviews are very much appreciated.