CHAPTER 17

"Nakamura, party of three? Welcome. Please seat yourself and someone will be with you shortly."

The meditation room had a cozy feel to it. Statues and greenery surrounded the Nakamura siblings as they knelt on the mats and fell silent. Uchiro left to explore other parts of the temple.

Three minutes passed. A woman walked in wearing a crimson robe with golden embellishments.

"Greetings," the woman said. "I am Sakura, an associate Mystic of this temple. My superiors, fellow associates and myself are here for your spiritual enlightenment and enrichment."

"I am Kari Nakamura, and this is my sister Hana and brother Sota."

"A pleasure to meet you all. If you don't mind my asking, what were the circumstances leading to your arrival in this world?"

Sota was the first to reply. "Our home was broken into by a group of burglars, they may have been gang members. Our parents were out running errands at the time. They took us all hostage, including our oldest sister Yuri. They threatened to shoot us dead unless Yuri helped find them something valuable." He paused, getting a little shaken, but continued. "She panicked and tried to look all over, but they shot us one by one. I was the last of us to die, so I don't know what happened to Yuri."

"Oh dear. I'm very sorry to hear that," Sakura replied. "That was very courageous of you to recount that incident. I know how it must feel... I myself was the victim of a stabbing attack, and I ended up here quite distraught. Learning to cope with my experiences, finding ways to relieve my stress and trauma, and sharing my story with others helped me achieve peace with myself. How long have you existed in this world?"

"We've been here about four months now," Hana chimed in. "We came seeking your guidance because of a recent vision we all shared... involving our sister Yuri."

"And when did this vision happen?"

"Three days ago. It was all like a really vivid dream. I was floating... maybe flying... to this big school in the middle of nowhere. There were a lot of students at the school, walking, playing, just hanging out... then I hear someone cry out in agony, yelling stuff like 'Why, God, why did you do this to me, you took everything from me'... angry stuff like that. I go to see who it is, and I find out it's Yuri."

"Did you try talking to her?"

"Yes, I wanted to calm her down, let her know I was there, but I guess she couldn't see or hear me. That's when I woke up."

Sakura turned to Kari and Sota. "And you say you had a similar dream with Yuri?"

"Yes," Kari replied. "It was pretty much the same. I was suddenly in a school courtyard, with boys and girls all around me. I heard someone crying, rushed over and saw Yuri and tried to comfort her. My arms went straight through her body, though, and she wouldn't respond to me. That's when I thought, am I a ghost? Am I back in the living world? But I was told here that something like that wasn't possible. Anyway, I woke up soon after that."

"I had the dream just like Onee-chan's," Sota interjected. "I was floating over a school, heard Yuri-san yelling out, flew over to her, I wanted to hug her but I couldn't."

"I see. So your oldest sister Yuri, how old was she?"

"Fifteen," Kari replied.

Sakura fell silent for a few seconds. "There may be a possibility that your sister Yuri has recently passed on from the living world as well."

The three siblings sat there, stunned.

Sakura continued. "You are correct about the living world and how we are unable to return to it, in ghost form or whatnot. Even if that were possible, no one has ever been successful in proving that they crossed back over and witnessed some kind of living-world event. But there have been some accounts of souls in the afterlife, who may not occupy the same BLW, and were not able to communicate to each other, but were still able to see what they were doing. In the Between Life Worlds, souls with strong spiritual connections to each other, such as blood relatives or soulmates, may experience shared instances in dreams, sometimes in hallucinations. The recent visions you have of your sister may indicate that she is in another of these worlds, and experiencing some stressful moments herself, and thinking about you and your siblings in the process. And you may experience more visions like that in the future."

"Do you think she's able to do the same thing, dream about us and see what we're actually doing?" asked Hana.

"That is possible, but I'm sure the circumstances have to line up just so," Sakura replied. "The passage of time tends to distort itself between worlds, so there's no telling if you're experiencing another world's past or future. At any rate, I suggest that you keep a pen and pad handy whenever you go to sleep, so if you do have another vivid dream about your sister, you can write down what was going on in that dream before it's lost to memory. This may help you later on if you try to reach out to her in some way."

"That sounds like a great idea," Kari said. "Thank you very much for your help."

"My pleasure. And please do not hesitate to speak with us or a local spiritual counselor if you have any more unsettling visions in the future."

The sun was setting as they left the temple to rejoin the festival atmosphere.

"If she can see us in her dreams like we can see her, I wonder if we can send her messages," Hana told Kari.

"Yeah, but how do we do that? How do we know she's watching us?" Kari retorted.

Hana paused for a second. "Do we... wear a sign around our necks saying 'Yuri, we're doing fine' or something?"

"Oh man, that's sooo crazy," Kari laughed. "I would never wear that all day, if at all. Besides, how do we know that Yuri-san IS dead and in another of these worlds?"

Hana looked at Uchiro as he finished eating his taiyaki. "Should we bring that up at the next Journalism Club meeting? Maybe they can help us."

Uchiro gulped and replied "It's worth a shot. Hey, are we gonna stay for the fireworks? We should probably find a good spot to watch them."

"Oh yes, we gotta see how good the fireworks are here!" Kari exclaimed.

Hana noticed a sizable crowd in one of the gardens. "That one's filling up fast. I wonder why..."

Sota ran into the commotion. A minute later he re-emerged. "It's Benée! She's getting pictures taken here!"

The other three joined him in the crowded garden. They made their way through the sea of spectators until they could get a good view of Benée. She was reclining at the edge of a reflective pool, barefoot, with a bright purple yukata hanging off one shoulder. On the other side of the pool a man was vigorously working his camera.

Another man announced to the crowd, "Please stay clear of the photoshoot! Benée will be available to sign autographs and take pictures with you a few minutes after the fireworks start!"

Just then a burst of lights appeared in the sky, followed by a loud bang.

The photographer stood up and called out to Benée, "It's started! Let's move to the rose bushes!"

Benée got up, slipped her sandals on, and walked to different spots by the roses until the photographer stopped her, with the fireworks providing a colorful backdrop for the shots.

Uchiro and the Nakamuras turned their attention to the fireworks show.

The picture-taking continued for a few more minutes.

"Let's stop here," Benée told the photographer. "I want to mingle with the fans now!"

The four fireworks spectators were suddenly engulfed in a crowd frenzy.

"Ugh! What have we gotten ourselves into?" Kari exclaimed. "Where's Sota?"

"Let's just get to a peaceful spot and watch the fireworks," Hana shouted. "Sota will be fine!"

"Are you crazy?!" Kari shot back. "What if he..."

"Look!" Uchiro was standing on a bench and pointing towards the crowd. "Sota's with Benée!"

Sota approached the purple-clad supermodel with an awestruck face, oblivious to the crowds and his awestruck sisters. "Can I get a picture with you and the fireworks?"

"Sure, sweetie!" Benée put her arm around Sota, took his phone and snapped the selfie.

Sota then ran back to the bench where the others were waiting. "I got a picture with her!" he exclaimed, waving his phone.

"Unbelievable... how did you manage that?" Hana asked.

"I just managed to worm my way through, and I somehow got past her bodyguards or whoever they were!"

Just then a firework blast went off on the hill below, shocking some of the spectators as they gasped and pointed.

"Whoa!" Uchiro exclaimed. "Did something misfire?"

Kari focused on a group of kids at the blast location. One of them was clutching his bloodied face while the others laughed.

"Daredevil Club. I should've known."