Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [82]
“Wataru, are you okay?”
Wataru jerked upright and looked around from where he was on the floor. No one was there, of course. That sweet, mysterious girl’s voice.
“Don’t cry, Wataru. I’m with you now.”
The words seemed to come from nowhere. Immediately, Wataru felt the pain in his chest lighten.
“Where are you?” he asked the air around him, and the girl answered, “With you, like I said.”
“Then why can’t I see you?”
“I can see you, but I’m afraid you can’t see me.” He heard a light sigh. There was nothing to see, no touch of breath upon his cheek, but he had the distinct impression that if she were here, her breath would smell like candy.
“You’ve forgotten about me, haven’t you, Wataru? You’ve forgotten what I told you.”
This was true. With all that was going on, Wataru had run out of room in his head to ponder the mystery of a girl who couldn’t be seen.
More than that, all his memories of that time, the mysterious girl’s voice, searching his room for the source, taking pictures—all those memories seemed vague, shrouded in a misty veil. They were there when he thought about them, but they seemed so distant.
“You’re right…I-I forgot about you.”
“Because the Watchers didn’t pass you as a Traveler,” the girl said, a sharp edge to her voice. “You came here once, didn’t you? But they kicked you out. That’s why your memory of me has faded.”
Wataru didn’t have any idea what she was talking about. It all seemed to make sense in an odd way, but he couldn’t imagine why. “Wait a minute, where is ‘here’?”
The girl sighed again. “Why Vision, of course. Not that that word means anything to you now.”
No, no it doesn’t.
“In any case, I’m your friend, Wataru. If you can make it over here, I can help you out in lots of ways. Please, try to find another way into Vision. I know you can do it.”
Wataru started to wonder if he was dreaming. Maybe the shock of the phone call had knocked him out. That had to be it.
Wataru didn’t tell Kuniko about the phone call from the other woman.
His mom already seemed tired enough as it was. He wondered where she had been out shopping, because when she came home after the long summer day, her shoes were worn and caked with grit.
That night, when Kuniko fell asleep, Wataru snuck outside.
He didn’t know where he was going at first. He walked aimlessly, gazing up at the night sky, thinking maybe he would cool off a bit before going back home. He could go to the park and ride on all the swings. He could do whatever he wanted, anything to get his mind off the earlier events of the day.
As he walked he had an idea. I know, I’ll go see Katchan. Summer vacation was the day after tomorrow. Mr. and Mrs. Komura would undoubtedly allow him to stay. Then they could play Streetfighter Zero III all night. His mom wouldn’t get mad at him for staying at Katchan’s, either. Not now.
He walked, slowly formulating his plan, and when he looked up again he noticed that he was standing in front of the haunted Daimatsu building. Trees at the Mihashi Shrine swayed back and forth in the thick summer night air.
This isn’t the way to Katchan’s. Why did I come here? He had a funny feeling that someone had called him here.
Someone was inside the building—behind the wall of hanging tarps. It was more than one or two people. They were talking in hushed voices. Actually, they were arguing.
Wataru lifted up a stretch of tarp and slid quickly inside. He immediately bumped into a pair of grimy legs and feet wearing rubber flip-flops.
“Whoa! What the—who’s he?!”
The owner of the legs cried out and stumbled back, then lashed out with a foot. Wataru quickly rolled away so as not to be stepped on, but he was too late. A well-aimed kick caught him in the side at full force, knocking the wind out of him. Everything went white.
“One of your friends?” Wataru heard someone saying through a haze of pain. He clung to consciousness for dear life.
“Don’t tell me you called him to help?”
“Not much of a backup, heh.”
Gradually, the world came back into focus. His side smarted where he had