Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [65]
“So you went?”
“Went where?” Wataru asked, even though he knew the answer. Mitsuru meant that place over there, there…what was it called again? He couldn’t remember. Uh-oh. He was sure that just a moment before he would have been able to remember, but for some reason his mind was drawing a blank.
Mitsuru turned and, for the first time, looked Wataru straight in the eye. “You went to Vision, right? Beyond the gate.”
Wataru opened his mouth. Vision? Was that the, that place—right, the desert. Something horrible had attacked him, he remembered that much. Wait, but hadn’t that been a dream?
Mitsuru stared at Wataru and took a step closer. His eyes narrowed, and the pupils became hard and focused.
“I…I went into the haunted building,” Wataru said with a shudder. “I went with my uncle.”
“Yes, I know. We met there.” Mitsuru said. “I haven’t forgotten. It was only yesterday.”
“Yeah, but…”
Mitsuru turned his head and spat. Wataru started wondering why he always felt like a fool whenever he met this boy. Still, he heard a voice inside saying that somehow, it was his own fault. It was a little Wataru inside him, shouting as loud as he could, jumping and waving his arms, trying to get his attention, and yet still growing smaller and fainter by the moment.
And then, the second before that tiny, tiny Wataru disappeared, it shouted out one thing with all its strength.
“You will forget about this place before you see one sunrise and one sunset.”
Wataru’s mouth opened and the words came out, but the voice was not his own. It was a low voice that resonated with power.
Mitsuru, who had been looking off, suddenly whirled around. His eyes were wide. Wataru, flustered, still not entirely convinced the voice had come from himself, put both his hands to his mouth like a giggling schoolgirl.
“I see.” The corner of Mitsuru’s mouth curled upward. “So one of the karulah caught you, did he.”
Wataru looked up at Mitsuru. That handsome face was smiling. He seemed very pleased. He looked as though he might break into dance any moment.
“The officiants do not lie. So,” he chuckled, “you’re not qualified. You’ll forget everything about Vision in a day.” Mitsuru went on, sounding immensely pleased with himself. Wataru had no idea what he was talking about. “Your memory won’t go away immediately. That would leave a suspicious blank. They allow it to linger for a day—no more. That way if kids think they’ve had a particularly vivid dream and tell their parents about it, it’ll sound like an absurd, unbelievable story. Nothing to worry about.”
He clapped his hands together, as if making a grand realization, then, looking up at the sky, Mitsuru began to laugh. Wataru stared at him, wideeyed. He’s crazy, and I’m getting mad.
“What do you want with me?” Wataru asked. “Why do you always make fun of me?”
Mitsuru, still chuckling, folded his arms again. He shook his head. “I never made fun of you.”
“Sure you did.”
“When?”
“The other day. When I asked you about the ghost picture.”
“Oh, that?” Mitsuru nodded. “Well, what you were saying didn’t make any sense. Sure, I gave you the benefit of the doubt. Yutaro said you weren’t a dummy, but when I talked to you, well, you seemed a little childish. It was funny.”
“Then again,” he added, “Yutaro’s a bit childish himself.”
Something about that made the bile rise in Wataru’s throat. He stood up from the bench. “Yutaro’s a good guy!”
Mitsuru was still smiling. “Who said he wasn’t?”
“You just said he was childish!”
“Well, it’s true. Being childish isn’t bad, you know. Why, if it was, kindergartens would be the most evil places around!”
“Now you’re being ridiculous.”
“Oh? Is that what mommy and daddy say when they scold you?”
“Mommy” and “daddy” were the last words Wataru wanted to hear that day. Mitsuru’s way of saying them only made it worse.
“What do you know about my parents?” Wataru flew at Mitsuru. He swung a fist with all his strength and hit only