--I would like to thank kezee and mistruthfully for submitting a review on my previous chapter.
Special thanks to Isidora for giving her time and effort to review and check my work. Thanks a lot!

Disclaimer: I don't own Daa! Daa! Daa! How I wish I could add this story in anime/manga. I'm not kidding! (v)

Chapter 4

Almost 6:30pm

It was a dark and stormy night. The rain was pouring so hard that in a few seconds the house was completely drenched. The lightning struck in the east side of the town. Electricity went off and the whole village was engulfed by a huge darkness. In that moment, Miyu was still sitting on her bed, sobbing. She looked around and wiped her tears. The whole room was covered by pitch darkness. She was, again, terrified, she adjusted her eyes and tried to stand up and looked over around the room but all she could see was darkness and only darkness. It was dark but the frequent lightning helped her see where she was headed to. She hurriedly walked towards the door and quickly opened it. Due to her nervousness and clumsiness, she accidentally hit her right hand on the door and ended up hurting herself. She quickly held her hand and watched as the blood began to ooze out of her wounded hand.

Lightning struck. Miyu covered her ears and almost sat on the floor as she heard every thunder that burst from the sky. She was so scared. Suddenly Miyu heard something in the dark. She tried to figure out from where the noise actually came from. She realized it was coming from the hallway. Shivers ran down through her spine. A sudden thought crossed her mind. Could it be the ghost of the little girl or could it be Kanata? However, she thought that the former didn't make sense if she continues considering that idea, she knew that it will end up in nothing because nobody would care to believe and consider her story a true.

This tension was killing her so much and she couldn't just sit there in the dark waiting for Kanata to look after her. Her heartbeat was increasing every second. She could even feel the blood rushing up to her head and her hands numb too. She decided that sooner or later she will face the ghost courageously, so why not get over with her as soon as possible? She bravely stood up and started to walk downstairs.

"Kanata! Are you there? Where are you?" asked Miyu nervously as she slowly stepped down in the stairway.

"Kanata! Where are you?!" Miyu shouted.

She reached the foot of the stairway and went through the main lobby. However, there was no sign of Kanata there. She walked straight to the kitchen and fretfully peeped inside. Suddenly thunder struck again and to her surprise, something cold and wet jumped on her face.

"AAAAHHHHHHHH"

She fell backwards and accidentally hit her back and head on the bookshelf that was placed in front of the kitchen door. She was so shocked that she became unconscious. After that everything went blank. She quickly gained consciousness when a book fell down and hit her head.

"Ouch!" Miyu shouted in frustration.

"Meow!" The cat stood silently beside her, failing to understand why Miyu reacted in such a manner.

"Oh, what happened to me?" Miyu said as she rubbed her head and tried to sit on the floor. "Hey!" said Miyu as she looked at the cat sitting beside her. "Ori, are you the one who jumped on my face?" Miyu asked the cat.

"Meow!" answered the cat.

"Oh, really? You scared me, huh!" said Miyu as she gently stroke the head of the cat.

"Hey, do you know where Kanata is? Did you see where he went? Do you want to help me? Okay, come on let's go and find him." Miyu said as she took the cat on her arm.

She almost got-up when her eyes fell upon the book on the floor. She slowly put down the cat beside her and picked up the book. She decided to return it back to the shelf, but before she placed the book on the ledge, she noticed an old pink paper slip and fall to the ground.

She quickly picked up the paper and returned it to the book, but before she did, she became curious of what was inside. She looked closely at the paper. It was nicely folded with a heart shape stick at the center of the opening. Although the pink paper looked old, it still smelled of a scent.

"Hmmm… maybe this is a love letter which came from a secret admirer." Miyu thought as she giggled. The place was too dark and it was hard for her to read the letter if she will just rely on the frequent lightning. She opened the drawer assembled in the shelf and looked for a candle and a match. Luckily, she found the two. She slowly lit the candle and placed it on the floor of the main lobby. She opened the letter and read its contents slowly. It said:

Around the corner, I had a friend
In this great city, that has no end
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on
And before I knew it, another year was born
And I never saw my old friend face
For a life is a swift and terrible race
He didn't know I like him just as well
As in the days when we always played
We played hide and seek
And swung under the tree
We ran over the garden full of glee
We laughed and laughed until we were fulfilled
Not knowing what that future has to be

Now we are busy, tired in school
Looking for the things that looked so cool
Tired of playing foolish games
Tired of trying to make a name
Tomorrow I will say, "I will visit him"
Just to show that I still cared for him
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes
And distance between us grow and grows
Around the corner, yet miles away
I got sick that has no cure anyway
I keep on thinking if he still remembers me
And no idea why he didn't visit me
But I promised myself not to forget
Being a friend of a hard to get
I keep on waiting until he comes
But no friend entered till it dawned
And that's what I deserve in the end
Still waiting, I, a vanishing friend.

"Hey, this is not a letter, this is a poem!" Miyu talked to herself. It was such a very touching poem written by a sick friend, who still waiting for her longed best friend to visit her before she died.

"I wonder if she's still alive." Miyu thought.

"Why didn't this stupid guy bother to visit his best friend? Didn't he know that his friend was sick?" she almost shouted as she said those lines.

"Who are you talking to?" said the voice came from the door.

"Huh!" said Miyu as she turned around to see the person who is talking.

"I said who are you talking to?" It was Kanata who asked that question.

"Kanata, you're here! Where have you been?" asked Miyu with smile on her face.

"I just went outside to look for Ori… she ran outside because she was so afraid of thunder. Fortunately, you have her!" said Kanata.

"Yah…actually I was so scared when she appeared to me awhile ago. Did you know that she jumped over my face!" said Miyu as she looked at the cat with annoyance.

"Oh, really? Ha-ha!" laughed Kanata.

"What's funny about that? She gave me a heart attack!" said Miyu as she placed her hand on her chest.

"So you're okay now, ne?" asked Kanata "or still afraid of ghost?" he added.

Miyu breathed heavily, she ignored Kanata's question and changed the topic. "Well, granny is not here yet, I wonder where she is now…"

"Yah… I also thought of that, she said she will be here before sunset. But still she's not here." said Kanata as he looked at the front door.

"Do you think, we should look for her?" asked Miyu with concerned in her eyes.

"I don't think so… besides it's still raining. We don't know this town yet and what danger lies beyond if we tried to walk outside."

"Yah, your right!"

"All we have to do is just wait for her return."

--

The two decided to sit on the floor at the main lobby facing the front door of the house, hoping for the old woman's safe return. The clock struck at 8:00pm, but no old woman entered. Then the time turned to 9:00pm……..9:30pm…….still no sign of old woman. Miyu yawned and started to close her eyes, while Kanata on the other hand was still sitting, waiting attentively.

10:30pm...Miyu is now sleeping soundly as she sat not knowing that her head is now slightly bent on Kanata's shoulder. Kanata looked at Miyu with astonishment and wonder. Maybe that was her first time to sleep peacefully in the house, so he decided not to bother her. Then suddenly he noticed a wound on Miyu's right hand. He took the blonde's hand and carefully examined it.

Miyu's eyes suddenly popped up and slowly looked at Kanata bewildered.

"Kanata, why are you holding my hand?" asked Miyu, confused.

Kanata looked at her in surprise. They looked at each other for about 6 seconds, their face was mostly about an inch, close enough to see each other images in the eye. They moved their face quickly and looked at their opposite side, bright crimson colored their cheeks.

"Miyu what happened to your right hand?" asked Kanata still holding the blonde's hand.

"Oh… this… it's nothing, actually…I..I…I…accidentally hit my hand on the door." answered Miyu

"Ohh!...Next time be careful!" said Kanata as he let go Miyu's hand.

"Oookay!" nodded Miyu, her face still red.

--

11:45pm

"Do you think we need to stay up this long? I'm tired of waiting, it's almost 11:45pm. We better look for her… something might have happened." said Miyu worriedly.

"But we do not know where she is!" said Kanata

"We can start at the park." Miyu suggested.

"I don't think we can be able to ask someone at this time."

"That's your fault! We should have looked for her awhile ago but you insisted not to!"

"Don't blame me! I was just after our health."

"What?? But, how about granny?"

"Alright! Alright!...then I'll go look for her." said Kanata, defeated.

"Then let's go!" said Miyu as she stood up.

"Hey! I said I'll be the one to look for her, you better stay here and wait for me."

"What?! I don't want to just sit here and do nothing. I want to go with you!"

"NO! Stay here and wait for me! Got it?"

"I don't want to! Why don't you just let me go with you? Besides I won't be a burden."

"I know… but it would be better if you just stay here. Maybe at this point granny was already on her way home. Just wait while I search for her. You can call me on my cell phone if she's back."

"But…"

"No buts! Just wait and call in case. Okay?"

"Fine!" said Miyu dismayed.

"Don't worry I won't take long."

"Okay!... take care of yourself."

"Sure!"

--

Kanata walked outside the house and start searching for the old woman. He didn't know where to begin. He was just following where his feet will direct him to. He tried to go to the park…but because the town was too big and he had no idea where it is, he asked one of the bystanders. The bystander didn't know the place as well because he was also new in the town. Instead, he directed the brunette to go to the left side of the street to ask somebody out there. Kanata passed by an open restaurant and looked for someone who is capable of answering him correctly. He asked the lady who was standing outside the restaurant. "Miss, do you know where the park is?"

"Hmmm…Yah! I'll tell where it is…if you give me a sweet kiss…" said the young lady as she held Kanata's arm and gave him a flying kiss.

"What? No thanks, I'll just ask somebody out there!" said Kanata as he shrugged the lady off.

"Oh…you're so cute when you're angry… why don't you just come inside and I will sketch the place to you clearly."

"No, I better go!" said Kanata irritably as he tried to get rid of the lady.

"Hmmp! Stubborn kid!" said the young lady as she went back to her position.

--

Meanwhile, inside the house. Miyu was still sitting on the floor waiting for the old woman's return. She was hoping that Kanata might able to find granny and return to the house safe and sound. Her eyes felt sleepy and tired. It was almost 30 minutes since Kanata went out. She tried to keep her eyes focused but she couldn't fight it anymore, so she decided to just take a short nap to relax her eyes. As she fell into a deep sleep, she began to dream. In her dream, she was laying on the couch in the living room while listening to music, when suddenly an unexpected BOOM startled her. There was a knock on the front door, a slow methodic pounding – Boom! Boom! Boom! She went to the door and answered it "Is that you, Kanata?" When she opened the door, no one was there. She stepped out on the front door and looked at the yard. The sky was dark and covered with clouds. There was a strange glowing fog blanketing the garden beside the house.

As she looked at the garden, she saw a little boy and a little girl playing hide and seek. Their ages were somewhat 5-6 years old. They laughed with excitement as they found each other's presence. They ran over the garden of flowers and sat on the swing under the old oak tree. The garden was echoed by their laughter with delightful and friendly pranks, one will see in their movements that they are truly happy. The gracefulness of youth flowed within their youthful faces. Innocence lied behind their eyes as they laughed and played at the swing.

Miyu started to walk on the garden. She went near the path were the two kids were swinging. She looked closely at the two, when suddenly the girl appeared quickly behind her and asked "Who are you? What are you doing in here?" The voice was soft and sweet, but her tone sounded annoyed. Miyu was so shocked at the sudden appearance of the girl, but this time Miyu asked the girl bravely "Who are you?" she demanded with asperity "What is your name?"

The girl showed an angelic smile, although she was not evidently amused. She answered, "I asked you first, so you must answer me before I answer your question."

"Well, okay-okay! I'm Miyu…Miyu Kouzuki… I was just walking and looking over this place when I saw you two playing… I was just happy looking at you two." Miyu answered smiling.

"Really? Is that so? OR YOU JUST WANT TO TAKE MY BESTFRIEND OUT FROM ME?!" shouted the girl.

"Oh-no-no-no, of course I won't do that… I was just…" explained Miyu nervously.

"Never mind… just ignore my question. Well by the way my name is Kezee, I'm Mrs. Esperanza's grand daughter, I live in that house." she pointed to the place where Miyu and Kanata were staying "My friend came over here to visit and to play with me." added the little girl.

"Oh, really?" those were the first words that came to Miyu's mind. She was surprised when the girl pointed to the house where she lived. It was the same house where she and Kanata were staying. She didn't bother to ask the girl how, because she didn't want to make their conversation longer.

"So Kezee, what's the name of your friend?" asked Miyu as she pointed to the boy playing on the swing.

"Him? Well, his name is……….Ka-na-ta!" answered the girl smiling."

"WHAT!?" Miyu was so shocked as she looked at the brunette. Yes, that boy was actually Kanata! But, how did he become small? Was she dreaming or what? Actually, the boy's face resembled closely to Kanata's. But how come? Did an alien abduct him and made him young? No, No, No, many people had similar faces. It could be a look-alike, compared to an actors or actresses or it can be people everywhere. Yes that's it! And that will be the better conclusion. Those thoughts crossed Miyu's mind, not noticing the little girl is now leaning at her side, then she asked:

"So-do-you-want-to-play-with-me?"

Miyu quickly looked at the girl and to her surprised, she saw the girl's head turning 360 degrees.

Miyu was so terrified that she fainted on the spot!

--

Later she was revived back when Kanata sprinkled some water on her face. "Miyu! Miyu! Wake-up!"

"Hey, I told you to wait for me inside the house, not outside!" said Kanata furiously.

Miyu's eyes opened. Soon she saw herself lying on the front door stair outside the house. How did she get out of the house? She thought to herself. Looking up at Kanata, she said "I'm fine, maybe I just dozed off while watching the full moon." She lied.

"Don't you know that you might have to caught a cold if you stayed in here for so long?!" Kanata said, still angry.

"I'm sorry… " Miyu said as she lowered her head.

"Come on…let's go inside!" said Kanata as he grabbed Miyu's right hand and dragged her inside.

"Ouch! You're hurting me!" Miyu cried "Can't you see my hand is hurt?" she added as she shrugged Kanata's hand out of her.

"I'm sorry…I didn't notice that……I think we should treat that before it gets worst…wait for me here, I'll just take some bandage and ointment." said Kanata as he quickly went upstairs.

"No need!" said Miyu as she stopped Kanata.

The brunette stopped as he looked back at blonde "Hm! What do you mean no need?" he asked.

"I'll be fine besides this is just only a simple scratch… this is not a big deal."

"Are you sure? You almost yelped when I held it." asked Kanata unconfidently.

"Yes, but don't worry about it, I'll be fine!" said Miyu.

"Okay! You said so…" said Kanata as he put his two hands at the back of his head.

"By the way Kanata, did you find granny?" asked Miyu worriedly.

"Yah!" answered Kanata.

"Where did you find her? Where is she? How is she doing? Is she hurt?"

"Hey hold on for a second… Actually, I saw her in her room sleeping soundly."

"Really? How come we didn't see her?"

"I don't know why. I wanted to ask you the same thing."

"Wow! That's weird…she didn't even tell us that she' has already arrived. What's up with her?"

"Maybe, we should just ask her tomorrow morning."

"Yah, you're right!"

"Come on… let's go back to our rooms. I feel so tired!"

The two decided to go upstairs.

--

While walking in the hallway, Miyu asked Kanata.

"Ahmm… Kanata…"

"What?"

"Hmmm… can I ask you a favor?"

"What is it?"

"Hmmm… well…is it possible for you to allow me to sleep in your room?"

"Huh?"

"Hey! Don't think of anything…. I just want to…."

"What?"

"Well…"

"Don't tell me your freaky scared"

"…" Miyu clasped her hand and looked at Kanata.

"Hmmm! I guess I'm right! Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!"

"Okay fine… but please I'm begging you. I don't want to be alone."

"Alright, but you will sleep on the floor." Kanata decided.

"What?"

"So…you're against my decision, ha! Okay, forget about sleeping in my room."

"No! I have no intentions of opposing. I will gladly sleep on the floor."

"Good, so it's decided!"

The two decided to sleep together in one room. Kanata opened the door and slowly went inside. Miyu entered the room and looked over the place. She didn't feel anything weird in the room. Now she was confident that she will be able to get some sleep without being bothered by a ghost, although she didn't want to be in the same room as Kanata's. Miyu placed the futon on the floor while Kanata was now peacefully laying on his soft warm bed. Miyu was so annoyed as she looked at the brunette. She placed her futon and quickly laid on it and closed her eyes.

"Miyu, will you please close the door? I forgot to shut it."

"Why me! Aghh! Okay I'll close it" Miyu stood irritably and went to the door.

"Thanks!" said Kanata as he returned to sleep.

"Thanks your face!!" muttered Miyu as she went back to her futon.

"What did you say? Huh?"

"Oh…nothing, I said you're very much welcome…and I really appreciate your goodness by letting me stay in your room…you're such an accommodating person! ha-ha" said Miyu as he looked at Kanata fiercely.

"Oh…it's quite long…how come it is been placed in a short cut mode?"

"Oh-ho-ho-ho… You're thinking too much…I know you're tired, go back to sleep!"

"Okay! Good night!" said Kanata.

"Good night too!" said Miyu.

Then the two slept peacefully.

--

After a few hours, the temperature in the room became colder. A strong breeze went across the half-open window of Kanata's room. Miyu suddenly felt a chill. She felt her entire body was shivering causing her to wake up from a deep sleep. She pulled her blanket tightly against her to feel its warmth. She fell back again to sleep but this time she was awakened by a creaky noise coming outside the room. She opened her eyes and looked at the bedroom door. She saw the doorknob turn slowly as if someone was about to opened it from the other side. Then she felt a presence that she could not explain. It was as if there was someone who wanted to enter the room. She quickly shut her eyes nervously. She was so scared to open her eyes because she was so terrified on what she might see. She couldn't help herself from being frightened. She breathed heavily and opened her eyes. She bravely stood up on her futon and decided to wake Kanata up. But when she turned around, she was shocked on what she saw. The ghost of the little girl was sitting on Kanata's abdomen while her face leaned closely into the brunette.

Miyu stood up in horror not knowing if she would scream or move from her place. Finally, she decided to cast away the ghost by shouting "LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Kanata jolted. Now he was already awake. "WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" asked Kanata totally disturbed.

"Kanata, I was just trying to help you…" explained Miyu nervously.

"Helping me not to sleep?! What's up with you?" said Kanata really annoyed.

"Kanata…I saw the girl again …she was sitting on top of you…and she's leaning in front of your face as if she was going to eat you!"

"What a dream… Bravo! Bravo! Go back to sleep or else I will deport you back to your room." said Kanata as he went back to sleep.

"Kanata… I'm not kidding and I'm not dreaming! I swear to God, I saw it…believe me please! Believe me! " pleaded Miyu.

"Okay…fine…fine… I believe in you. Now let me go to sleep." said Kanata as he started to yawn.

Miyu was again disappointed. She really didn't know what convincing words she needs to say to make him believe that she wasn't lying. She sat on her futon for about twenty minutes, her heart still beating so fast. Sleeping for her wasn't easy and to think that another scary thing might happen to her again as soon she as she falls sleep. Eventually her heartbeat slowed down which calmed her down again. After a few minutes, she heard a loud yelp.

Now it was coming from the other room. Another strange feeling of genuine fear engulfed Miyu. She quickly turned to Kanata and shook him. "Kanata! Kanata! Wake up! This is terrible! We need to get out of this house as soon a possible. I don't want to be here anymore, please! Wake up…wake up!" said Miyu trembling.

Kanata didn't respond. Miyu jumped into Kanata's bed and continued shaking him. "Kanata, Kanata…don't scare me like that…please I'm serious…wake up! Please wake up!!

Kanata didn't move. his eyes still shut. "Don't be stupid! I know you can hear me! I'm going to punch your face if you don't wake up! I'm warning you! At the count of 3…..1 2 2½ 3!" But before she could hit Kanata, she began to hear a laugh, a laugh coming from somewhere 'Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!' It sounded like the laughter of a witch. Miyu was terribly stunned for a moment. She knew the sound came from far away but now it seemed that the sound was getting closer and closer. Miyu was now shaking heavily, tears started to fall from her emerald eyes. Kanata was still sleeping. She didn't know what to do. Suddenly she felt the bed move on the left side for about an inch, she laid quickly on Kanata's chest and started to cry. The bed started to shake faster and stronger. She almost fell backwards. She quickly wrapped her arms around Kanata's neck and started to scream and shout at the top of her lungs…

"WHAT DO YOU WAAAANT!!"

To be continued

Ahvs: So how was it? By submitting a review, it would be a great help for me to keep me on writing. Flames are welcome.