(A/N): Ok this is just annoying now I can't believe this. So at the beginning of the summer holidays, I thought, "Yay I'm going to have so much time to write my fanfiction and update it!" But I've just spent the past two weeks in some holiday homes, and my parents failed to tell me that THERE WAS NO WIFI AT ALL WHATSOEVER so while I could still write I just haven't been able to update. I can't apologise enough, especially after I promised I would be quicker with my updates. I am very annoyed about it, and I'm so sorry you've had such a long wait. I really am so, so sorry.

At long last, after what felt like an eternity, Takigawa removed the wooden plank from underneath the door handle, and we climbed out the laundry closet. By now, I think we had both managed to calm our nerves.

"That…was too close." Takigawa was still breathing hard. "Way too close."

"Let's leave. Before they come back." I did not know if they would – after all, one man had mentioned a 'job' that needed to be completed – but I was not going to risk it.

"Bou-san! John-kun!" Mai bounded out from the bedroom she had been hiding in, with Yasuhara following quickly behind. At least they were ok.

"Are you two ok?" Yasuhara asked us, looking at us anxiously.

"Oh my gosh, who were they? One of those men came in here! I don't think he saw us, but who were they?" She frowned. "And that guy…what was he singing?"

"We'll think about that later, we need to go now." Takigawa began to push them towards the stairs. "Come on, I heard their car leave. They'll have gone now."

Hurrying out of the front door, we reached Takigawa's car with no problem. They really had left. The white van was nowhere to be seen.

Takigawa reached to open the front door, but paused. "Hey, kid…"

Yasuhara frowned. "What is it?"

"You recently learnt how to drive, right?"

"…Yeah?" He tilted his head.

Takgiawa let out a sigh, and then reached into his pocket and pulled out some car keys.

"Right, young man. I am trusting that you treat this car like it's a new born baby. If anything breaks, you're paying. Got it?"

Yasuhara grinned. "Got it." Takigawa threw him the car keys, which he caught cleanly. Then, opening the door, he got inside the car.

"Mai-kun, you sit in the front." Takigawa opened the back seat door and got in, beckoning me to get in as well.

"Um, ok…" Mai got into the car. "Why? Why are you letting Yasuhara-kun drive? You do realise he's going to crash this thing? And what about insurance?"

"If he does crash, I'll just pretend that I was driving. And anyway, there's a good chance those guys might still be hanging around." Takgiawa explained.

"Oh…so, if you and John-kun were sitting in the front, then they might see you?" Mai understood.

"Yeah, and that would be bad. They think that it was just some teenagers at the house, and they're fine with that. If they realised we had been there too, it could threaten all our lives."

In no time at all, Yasuhara was racing the car along the winding, tarmac road. The speed at which he drove was, frankly, worrying. At each corner, we were lurched this way and that. Frequently, Takigawa would shout,

"Hey, slow down, will you?"

To this, Yasuhara would simply say "Sure." He never actually slowed down.

"How did you pass your test?!" Mai demanded after she had been crashed into the window for the 7th time.

"I didn't." Yasuhara admitted openly and without guilt.

"What?! You said you can drive!"

"I can, I know how to. I just haven't taken my test yet."

Mai groaned. "Gee, you could have mentioned that before!"

As soon as we arrived back at the office, Takigawa slammed the door shut and locked it tightly.

We all let out a shaky breath.

"Wow." Mai laughed nervously. "That was scary."

"What, almost being caught or kiddo's driving?" Takigawa leant against the door, exhausted. I knew how he felt – now the adrenaline was gone from our systems, it left us feeling tired and deprived of energy.

"Both." Mai glared at Yasuhara. "I am never going in a car with you again."

Yasuhara smiled sweetly. "Well, you never know…" He was carrying a duffle bag that I only vaguely recognised.

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's what we found down that trap door." He placed it carefully down on the small coffee table and sat down on one of the sofas.

"I wonder who it belongs to." Mai sat down next to him.

"It belonged to one of the men who came to the house." I explained, as Takigawa and I sat down opposite them.

"We heard him mentioning that he left his bag down the trap door."

Almost tentatively, Takigawa unzipped the bag, opened it up and looked inside.

"Holy crap…" He breathed.

"What? What is it?" Mai leant over and peered inside. Her eyes widened.

Takigawa pulled out a sleek, black hand gun, and lowered it gently onto the table.

"Why-why would there be a gun?" Mai stared at it, aghast.

"Do you think these men were armed already?" Yasuhara asked.

"It's a definite possibility." Takigawa looked sullen. Now I knew what Kazuki meant by 'hell will break loose'.

"What else is in there?" Mai sounded unwilling to look herself.

"Not much, to be honest…" He rooted around in the duffle bag. After a moment, he pulled out several wads of yen notes.

"Just some…woah!" He examined them closely, in disbelief. "These are 10,000 yen notes!"

"What?!" Mai grabbed them and fumbled through the notes. "You're right…they're all 10,000 yen notes…"

Although I found Japanese currency quite confusing, I knew this was a lot to leave lying around down a trap door, especially considering the quantity there was.

"Wait a minute…" Yasuhara looked a lot calmer than Mai. "Do you think this could be connected to the dream you had, Mai-kun?"

Mai frowned. "I don't know, what makes you think so?"

"Well, it's strange that when you have a dream involving a large amount of money, we just happen to find a large amount of money in the place connected to your dream."

"Hm…" Takigawa scratched his head. "Mai-kun, did you happen to see either of the men at the house?"

She shook her head, so he asked, "Well, did you recognise any of the voices?"

"No…I wasn't really listening…" She frowned. "I heard that tune, though. What was with the weird melody he sang?"

"I don't know…" It troubled me. I did not remember ever hearing that tune, apart from when the colleague sang it briefly. Yet somehow, I knew it was bad. My body had begun to shake, my heart beat had sped up, even though I wasn't consciously scared. It was some kind of…reflex, maybe. A knee-jerk reaction. But why? What was worse, I couldn't seem to get the tune out of my head.

"Whatever it was, he was using it to check if we were there or not." I continued.

"Why? How would that work?" Mai asked, bemused.

"I think it was to try and make us…react. Speak up." There was no other explanation I could think of.

"What, to try and creep us out or something?" Yasuhara asked.

"Something like that."

"Hey…" Takigawa, who had been searching the bag again, spoke up suddenly. "I found something." He took out a small, crumpled scrap of paper.

"…Some paper…?" From Mai's tone, she seemed confused about why it was important.

"There's something written on it." Takigawa unfolded the paper and smoothed it out into full size. Even now, it was torn and small. I leant closer to Takigawa, reading the black writing that was hastily scrawled on the paper.

"It's…a phone number…?" There was a line of different numbers.

"It could well be, it definitely looks like one." Takigawa agreed.

"Who does it ring?" Mai asked.

"Well, there's one easy way to find that out." Takigawa walked to the desk and picked up the telephone. Pressing the speaker, he dialled in the number. I followed him over.

The tone began to ring. We both held our breath. Then someone answered the phone.

"Hello?" A gruff man's voice was on the other end.

"Hello, who is this?" Takigawa asked.

"This is Tokyo Car Heap, can I help you?"

"Car heap? For broken cars?"

"Yeah. Why, is there a car you need to get rid of? Or pick up?"

Takigawa hesitated, so I quickly spoke up. "There's a car we're looking for."

"Well, why don't you come over and have a look around for it?"

The location of the car heap was not too hard to find, but it had stopped raining and already the traffic was awful as people rushed back into the city centre. In the car with Takigawa, we travelled alone this time. He had not allowed Mai or Yasuhara to come along. The discovery of the gun had unnerved him.

"What if those people come again?" He had argued. "We shouldn't mess with these guys, that gun proves it. I'm not putting either of you at risk."

Reluctantly, Mai and Yasuhara agreed, so now I was alone with Takigawa.

"So…" We were sitting in a long line of traffic. "I never got to ask, did you see any…spirits? In the house?" His question was surprisingly exact.

"…Could you tell?"

"I was just wondering…you seemed very anxious about the trap door very suddenly, when you'd been fine a few moments before."

"You're very observant." I remarked.

Takigawa just shrugged. "Who was it?"

I rested my head against the window tiredly. "…Kazuki."

"What?" Takigawa stared at me. "So…"

"He's dead." I confirmed his unspoken question. "Kazuki was the man from the screens, when we first went to the house. And…" I sighed. "…he was the man from the burning building. The man who led me out."

"What was he doing there?"

"I don't know, he wouldn't tell me. He wouldn't even say why I was there. But…" I frowned. "Something he said struck me. He advised me to stop investigating."

"He did?"

"Yeah, he talked about 'curiosity killed the cat'."

Takigawa looked puzzled. "What does that mean?"

"Oh, sorry. It's an English saying. Basically, he was telling me that if I was too inquisitive, I would end up in trouble. But he slipped up, he said 'it's the same as last time'. So I think that maybe I was looking into something that someone wanted to stay a secret."

Takigawa considered this, troubled.

"Do you think it has something to do with Mattaku?"

The suggestion sounded very likely. "I think it may be."

"I mean, you kept on mentioning it at the river, right?" He continued.

"Yeah, I just kept on telling people not to let me forget about it." I stared out of the window, unhappily. "And guess what I did."

Takigawa patted my shoulder consolingly. "Hey, it's not your fault, ok?"

I nodded solemnly, and he went on. "So, maybe you found out who Mattaku us, and the colleague decided he didn't want you to find out."

Again, I nodded. "It makes sense. When I spoke to Sayomi-san, she said the reason she died was because she 'knew something she shouldn't have'."

Takigawa bit his lip. "This means that Kazuki-san was probably involved in some way, and probably for worse."

"What?" I stared at him. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, why else wouldn't he tell you about why he was at the burning building?"

"No, it's not like that. You see, he told me that there are a lot of disturbed spirits in that house. They've become site-bound spirits, and a lot of them don't know who they are or why they're there. Instead, they're just filled with negative emotions. The more the spirits focus on those negative feelings, the quicker they become just a mass of anger and fear. He said the only way to slow down that process is to try and focus on the good memories. I think that's why he didn't want to talk about it."

Takigawa said nothing for a moment, and instead focused his attention on the slowly moving traffic as the car inched forwards. Finally, he spoke up again. "…Ok. Who is this Kazuki-san to you, anyway?"

I shifted in my seat. "Well, I'm pretty sure we were good friends. He certainly seemed to think so. In fact, he said I was his…only friend." I paused. "He seemed a very lonely person. I wish I could remember more about him." Once more, Takigawa said nothing to this. Was he still mistrustful about Kazuki? It seemed so.

The traffic was still moving slowly. We had not moved particularly far in the minutes we had been talking. It was 5 o'clock, and the clouds had lightened. As we ground to another stand-still, I rested my head against the window again. Takigawa noticed immediately.

"Hey, you wanna get some rest?" He suggested.

"No, I'm fine." Although I said this, in truth a rest sounded very appealing.

"I don't mind. Honestly. And, who knows, maybe you'll remember something."

I smiled. "This must be what it's like for Mai-kun all the time, huh."

He smiled back. "Yeah."

Maybe a rest wouldn't be so bad. And remembering something would be helpful. Before I closed my eyes, I looked at Takigawa.

"Takigawa-kun?" I spoke his name quietly.

"Yeah?"

For a moment, I hesitated. There was so much I suddenly wanted to say, but no way I could think to phrase them. What would I talk about? The guilt about Kazuki eating away at me, for hardly remembering him when no one lese would? The fact that, by saving me, he died? Or something else? The melody that replayed over and over again in my head?

In the end, all I could say was, "Thank you. For helping me."

Todayis the 20th January. The ground now has a mere film of icy snow on the ground, but even so the air is sharp and cold. As I walk to Church, I am glad for the thick, warm gloves that Kazuki lent me. I see him a lot now, for we have become good friends. Actually, I am meeting him after Church. I look forward to it.

When I am nearing the Church gates, I hear someone calling.

"Excuse me." An old man approaches. His beard and thinning hair are grey, and he walks with a limp. "Are you Father Brown?"

"Yes, may I help you?" I can't say I recognise the man.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but, well…the thing is, I'm not a church-goer, but my granddaughter is. And…she's quite…ill right now. I think…would you be able to say a word for her in the bidding prayers today? It's just, I think she would like that…and no one else will do it. We only have each other, all our other relatives have passed away." He shuffles his feet nervously.

"Of course. I'm not performing the mass today, but I can talk to Father Toujou if you wish, and ask him to mention her. What's her name?"

"She's called Watanabe Sayomi. And I'm Itsuke." He adds. "Watanabe Itsuke."

"Alright, I'll have a word with him. Forgive me for asking, but is she in hospital?"

His head hangs. "Yes. Yes, she is."

"I'm so sorry. I hope she recovers soon. What exactly is she suffering from, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Well…The doctors are still…diagnosing her." Somehow, his strange emphasis makes me suspicious, but I say nothing further.

"I hope it's not anything serious. Tell her that I wish her a good recovery."

"I will. Thank you." With that, the old man limps away.

After mass ends, I am not able to hang around for long like I normally would. Father Toujou agreed to mention Sayomi Watanabe in the bidding prayers, and I noticed Itsuke Watanabe sitting in the pews. At least he'll able to tell his granddaughter that she was mentioned in confidence.

Walking outside, my eye is immediately drawn to Kazuki, standing outside the gates. He notices me and beckons to me, so I hurry over.

"Hey, how was mass?" He asks as I approach.

"It was good. It's cold in that Church, though." I pull on the gloves. He notices them.

"Are they any good?"

I nod. "Oh, definitely. Thanks for lending them to me."

He smiles. "No problem. I'm just glad your hands aren't frozen off." He looks towards the crowded streets. "Say…wanna come to my apartment? Have a coffee?"

"How did I know you were going to suggest coffee?" I grin. "But sure, if you want to."

He pauses. "Well…do you want to?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want to? You always ask if I want to do something. What about your own opinion?"

"I don't really mind…"

He insists, "No, really, what do you want to do?"

"Um…" I shrug. "Actually, I'd quite like to see your apartment. If that's ok."

He laughs. "Of course it's ok. I'm the one who suggested it. But seriously, you should always speak up if you don't want to do something."

Kazuki's apartment is very spacious. There is not much furniture – a small coffee table, a sofa and a television are in the main room, but nothing else. Not even a rug on the floor. The kitchen consists of only the necessities, and a small table to eat on. This must be why it feels so…empty. There aren't even any pictures on the plain walls.

I remark on the emptiness of the rooms.

"I guess you could call me a minimalist." He says, shrugging. Walking to the kitchen, he calls back over his shoulder,

"You take yours black, right?"

I nod, sitting down on the sofa. I notice that the window on the wall is very large. In fact…looking closer, I realise it is a glass door with a balcony on the outside. Curiously, I slide open the glass door and step out.

It is freezing cold, and because the apartment is on the top floor, it is even colder. Even so, I am impressed by the view that stretches across Tokyo. The neon lights, the tall offices, the busy roads…in the distance, I can even see the Shibuya crossing.

"D'you like it?" Kazuki's sudden appearance makes me jump.

"Yeah, it's impressive." He stands close behind me. "It's cold out here, though." I comment.

"It's because we're so high up."

"Hey…how come we are so high up? I mean, why did you get a room that's on the highest floor of the building? Surely the air's thinner. Isn't that bad for your lungs?"

"It is. I get light headed easily out here. But I'm used to it. And I like being on the top floor."

"Why?"

"It feels more…isolated."

"Isn't that a bad thing?" I turn around to face him.

"Well, the thing is…can I tell you a secret?" He lowers his voice.

"Of course." I reassure him. He looks…embarrassed? No…scared.

"The thing is…" He begins again. "…You're my only friend. I only have one friend, and that's you."

This is a shock to me. "Really?"

He nods sadly. "Well, I'm not particularly…sociable, you could say."

"You were sociable with me."

"I was friendly with you. And I am friendly with other people. But I'm not sociable. You're an exception. See…" He looks troubled. "…I get scared easily."

"Scared of what?"

"I'm scared of…I don't know. I don't like people getting too close to me."

"Why?"

"Because it will only end badly. I know it."

I sigh, and put a hand on his shoulder. "You can't live like this for your whole life. It's too lonely."

"Isn't lonely better than hurting people? Getting hurt? Letting people down?"

"You don't know that's going to happen. The chances are, it won't. You have to try and trust yourself. Trust other people. I know it's all very easy for me to say that, but it's just what you've got to do."

"What if you trust the wrong person?"

I smile sadly. "There's no way to tell, is there? You've just…"

"Got to hope it's the right person." He finished my sentence, and looks at me. "And what about you?"

"Hm?"

"You're a very nice person, John. You're very kind. It's a quality that seems to be underestimated a lot these days. And it's a quality that seems to be getting rarer and rarer in these times. There are too many people that take advantage of kind people. And it is very easy for these people to take away that kindness completely and leave you bitter and scarred."

I nod. "I know. And it's something I've experienced first-hand. But…well, I have this friend. The monk I told you about. He's a Buddhist, and he talks a lot about karma. He says that if you are unkind, that unkindness will come back to you. All I can do is hope it works the other way, too. That kindness comes back as well. Call it naïve. If it doesn't, then too bad. But all I can do is hope that it does."

"Hoping doesn't always work."

"Of course it doesn't. I know that. But hope is all you've got left, sometimes. I know to watch my back. I'm not stupid. But sometimes, in the worst of situation, all you can do is hope. When you give up that hope, you're as good as dead."

There are still a lot of feelings I keep hidden. I know this, and Kazuki knows this too, I think. He doesn't say anything, though. Instead, he wraps his arms around me and hugs me tightly. It is quite unexpected.

"Kazuki? Are you ok?" His head is buried in my shoulder. Again, he doesn't say anything. He just grips me tighter.

At last, he speaks up. "Let's go inside." His voice is barely audible. "It's cold out here."

I woke up just as the car slowed to a halt. We had arrived at the car heap, finally.

"Well, here we are." Takigawa had parked the car outside the entrance of the car heap, alongside several vans and lorries to transport broken vehicles.

I rubbed my eyes. "That took a long time, didn't it? There was so much traffic…"

"Yeah, it's not normally so busy." Takigawa stepped out of the car, so I did the same.

"I know it's a bit late to ask…" Takigawa leant against the car. "But why exactly did you want to come here? Was the finding-a-car thing just an excuse, or…?"

"I was wondering if Watanabe-san's car would be here." I told him. "Apparently, he was victim of a car accident involving failed brakes."

"That's how Doctor Nakumura died, right?"

"Yeah. I just wondered if his car would be here. If it is, we could check the brakes and maybe prove that they had been tampered with, and if it isn't, we can still find out why this number was in that bag."

"Good idea. Oh yeah…" He looked at me. "Did you…remember anything?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I remembered Itsuke Watanabe. He came to me before Church, and asked me to mention Sayomi-san in the bidding prayers. Apparently she was in hospital."

"What with?"

"I don't know, he seemed a bit…uncomfortable when I asked. He said the doctors were still diagnosing her, but I think he might have been lying. The way he said it…he definitely didn't want to talk about it. Not in a sad way, more in…an embarrassed way, almost."

"So, what would be bad enough to make him lie?" Takigawa frowned in thought. "An STI or something, maybe?"

"I guess we'll just have to find out." I looked at my feet. "There's something else we'll have to check out, too."

"What would that be?"

"I remembered going to Kazuki's apartment. I remember the address. We should try and visit the place." Takigawa looked unsure, so I added, "You know, you were right. I don't think he's involved in this for worse, but he's definitely involved in some way, like you said. There might be a clue in that apartment to help us."

Takigawa hesitated, then nodded. "Right. Well, let's have a look around this place first, now that we're finally here." He looked nervously at his car. "I hope they don't think this is scrap and take it away."

"I'm sure they won't." I reassured him, smiling.

At the gates, a security guard was sitting inside a booth, reading a newspaper. The gates were shut, so Takigawa walked to the booth and tapped on the glass impatiently.

"Hey." He called in. "Can you let us in, please?"

The guard, disgruntled, put down his newspaper and pressed on a speaker. "Why're you here?" His voice came clearly through the glass.

"Uh, we're looking for a car. Why else would we be here?"

The guard scowled. "Just answer the questions. Name?"

"Houshou, Takigawa Houshou. From Shibuya Psychic Research. This is my friend and co-worker, John Brown." He gestured to me.

The guard looked down at a list. "Oh yeah, you wanted to look for a car. Correct?"

"I said that a few seconds ago." Takigawa seemed to be in an irritated mood after the frustrating traffic on the way.

In response, the guard rolled his eyes and pressed a button. The gates opened slowly.

"First on the right, you'll see another building. Uotoni-san will be in there, he's the guy you want to speak to." At once, he picked up his newspaper again.

The building that the guard spoke of was small and dirty. The fumes from large vehicles passing through with broken cars had stained the metal roof with black soot, and the brick wall was scratched and chipped. Outside, a tall man was speaking to an orange-clad worker.

"Don't do that without my permission again. Ever. Or else you'll find yourself out of a job." The tall man was shouting at the worker. "Got that?" He loomed threateningly over him. The worker nodded, ashamed, and scuttled sheepishly away. Then the tall man turned his attention to us as we approached.

"Oh, may I help you?" His tone was civil, as if he had not been shouting a few moments before.

"Yeah, I'm Houshou Takigawa, I rang about a car I wanted to find." Takigawa explained. The tall man nodded in recognition.

"Yeah, I remember you. My name is Hatori Uotoni, I'm in charge here." He turned and walked into the building, beckoning us as he did so.

Inside, cobwebs hung in the corners of the ceiling, and dust was collected in the corners of the floor. A large wooden table, with a battered computer, was in place.

"Right. So, I'm assuming you're looking for your car?" He sat down behind the computer.

"Actually, no. We're here on behalf of a friend. He was in a car accident and passed away, and we think his car should be here." Takigawa explained. "His name is Istuke Watanabe."

Hatori typed quickly on the computer. "I recognise that name." He muttered. After a moment, he nodded.

"Yeah, his car was transferred here a few months ago. In late February, I believe. Unfortunately, it's been destroyed."

"What?" I felt dread beginning to creep up on me. "Did someone ask for it to be destroyed?"

"Well, I don't know. I didn't even authorise it, one of my workers allowed it without permission and then didn't record who had requested it." My heart sank. The colleague had beaten us here.

"However," Hatori went on, "we emptied the car of all items when it arrived. Would you like those? I mean, this might not be the person you're looking for, but who knows."

"Yes, please." Well, at least the colleague had missed something. Maybe there would be something useful.

As Takigawa filled out a form, Hatori hurried away and returned with a cardboard box.

"Here you go." He passed it to Takigawa. "You're lucky, these were on the verge of being thrown out. We have a three month policy. Any longer than that and it's thrown away."

"Thanks." Takigawa bowed his head gratefully. "We really appreciate it."

Back in the car, we looked through the box before joining the long line of traffic once more.

"So, anything useful?" Takigawa asked as I searched through it.

"Um…" There was a few pieces of litter, a SatNav, a car freshener and…a wallet.

"This should be useful." I pulled out the wallet, and opened it up. "There should be something in here that helps us to find his address."

"Do we even know if this is the right guy?" Takigawa sounded sceptical. "I mean, it could be anyone."

"Well, the whole business with the unauthorised destruction sounded suspicious, at least. And Uotoni-san said that no one had claimed the items left behind in the car, and that would make sense. Watanabe-san said that it was only him and Sayomi-san left in their family. And if it's the wrong person, we can always apologise."

"Hm…you're right. Well, is there anything in there?" He peered into the wallet as I leafed through yen notes, old receipts and credit cards.

"Umm…" My eye finally fell upon a laminated licence. "Here we are." I looked at the face on the drivers licence. An old man looked back at me.

"This is him." I confirmed. "This is who I remembered."

"Great, is there an address?"

"Floor 5 of the Western apartment block, on Green Lane."

As the car re-joined the long lines of traffic, I felt Takigawa's gaze on me. After a while, he spoke up.

"So, what were you doing with Kazuki-san?" He asked, almost suspiciously.

"Not much. We talked. Had coffee." I felt this information was private.

"What did you talk about?"

"A lot of things. Hope. Trust. Karma. Things like that." I said no more, for I had already given away more information than I was happy with. Takigawa lapsed into silence for a minute, and then spoke up again.

"Oh yeah. When we were in that house, what was with that melody? When that guy sang it, you began to shake. You looked scared."

I sighed. "That's the thing. I wasn't scared, but it was like…my body was scared. Or my subconscious. For reasons I don't understand. The only thing I can think of is, maybe it scared me but my amnesia has wiped out my awareness of this fear. So while I still recoil, I don't feel scared."

Takigawa nodded in understanding. "What about now? How do you feel?"

"Fine. I can't get it out of my head, though." The melody was still ringing around my ears.

"Well…if it gets any worse or…something like that happens again, tell me." Takigawa said the last words firmly. "You have a habit of not speaking up when you have a problem or you don't want to do something, or obliging anyway. If there's something you have a problem with, you should always speak up."

I nodded simply. Inside, I was thinking of all the things I had a problem with. Things that scared me. Things I should speak up about. I looked over at Takigawa, his eyes concentrated on the road. I trusted him, I knew that. No matter what Kazuki had said to me at the abandoned house, about the colleague's ability to 'change people', I knew I could trust him. That fact would never change. Maybe in the future, if there was something I had a problem with or something that scared me, I would tell him instead of keeping quiet. Like how the melody in my head was getting louder and clearer, and it was beginning to scare me.

I opened my mouth to speak, then my eye fell on something. A large, red firetruck. The sirens were blaring, and traffic parted hastily as it went screaming down the street.

"Is there a fire…?" Takigawa wondered vaguely.

"Follow it." Something inside me had become suspicious. I didn't know why, but suddenly the firetruck was very important to follow.

"What?" Takigawa glanced at me in confusion.

"Please, follow it." Takigawa hesitated, then obliged to my request. He broke out from the traffic line and followed the firetruck down a narrow street.

"Where is it going?" He asked, as it roared past startled passer-bys.

"I don't know…" I did not recognise the area.

At last, the firetruck pulled up outside a large, apartment block. Flames ravished the concrete walls. Smoke billowed from out of windows, as a fire destroyed the building.

"Oh my God…" I stepped out of the car, looking up at the apartment. An ambulance was parked nearby, and a crowd of people stood at a safe distance from the building as it disappeared behind smoke and flame.

"John, why are we here? We shouldn't be here, there's a fire!" Takigawa began to protest as he got out of the car. "It's dangerous!"

A news reporter stood by the ambulance, microphone in her hand, while a cameraman recorded her. As I neared, despite Takigawa's warnings, her words drifted into earshot.

"…so far, there have been no fatalities, but the apartment housing many inhabitants caught fire today at 6:30pm. Most of Green Lane has been evacuated for safety reasons until the fire is put out and the cause is determined."

Green Lane? I turned to Takigawa, sharing a horrified look.

"Hey," Takigawa caught the attention of a fire worker, "is this the Western apartment block?"

The fire worker nodded. "Yeah. There's no hope for the place, the whole thing is going down in flames. We're not going to save it in time."

First the car, now the apartment. The colleague had beaten us again.