Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [90]
“Have you…” Wataru began; then a ray of light stabbed through the chaos in his mind. He can help me. He grabbed the priest’s sleeve tightly with both hands. “Have you seen a boy, like me? He comes here a lot. He’s got a pretty face, like a doll. His name is Mitsuru. He lives near here—have you seen him? Do you know where he lives? Have you ever talked to him?”
Wataru yanked on his sleeve, but the short stocky priest stood firm and unmoving—though his expression was one of surprise. Peering at Wataru, he asked, “This boy, he’s around your age?”
“Yes, that’s right!”
“Mitsuru, yes, I see him here quite often. I’ve even spoken with him. He lives in the apartment building behind the shrine here. Is he a friend of yours?”
“Which apartment building is it?”
Two apartment buildings stood behind the Mihashi Shrine, one with a miniature red water tower on its roof, the other one taller, with chocolate-colored siding on the walls.
“Now that I’m not sure of. Never asked for his address.”
Wataru turned and tried to dash off, but the priest caught him by the arm. “Son, wait. Tell me what’s wrong. You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.”
Forgive me, but I don’t have a second to lose.
“I’m sorry,” Wataru said, knocking the priest’s hand off his arm. He ran straight into the shrine grounds, feet pounding over the gravel, and out the rear exit. The priest didn’t follow. He probably wouldn’t have been able to catch up to him anyway.
Wataru headed first toward the apartment building with the water tower. It was closest. He ran into the main entrance lobby, and stood before the mailboxes. Breathlessly, he checked the nameplates. The name Ashikawa was nowhere to be found.
He checked a second time. Nothing. He ran back outside. The other apartment building with the chocolate-colored walls stood with its back to the shrine, so he had to run down the length of the building to get to the entrance. Sweat ran into his eyes, making them sting. As he ran, wiping at his face with his hand, an ambulance siren sounded in the distance. It came closer and then faded away. It went off in the direction of the school.
He finally reached the entrance, finding a doorman in a moss green suit sweeping the floor by a pair of open automatic doors. He turned and looked over his shoulder, broom still moving, as Wataru ran past.
This building had almost twice the number of mailboxes as the last one. Before he could start checking them, he doubled over and put his hands on his knees, catching his breath. The tiles were so brightly polished he could see his reflection. A single drop of sweat fell to the floor.
The Ashikawas lived in apartment 1005. Wataru charged headlong through the entrance hall, running straight into a set of automatic sliding doors with a loud smack! The sound startled him.
This building had a security system. To get to the apartments, he had to go through another set of locked doors, with an intercom for calling people’s apartments.
Just my luck!
There was a panel with a button and a microphone directly to the left of the door. Fingers shaking, Wataru punched in the number 1005, when someone grabbed his shoulder from behind. It was the doorman he’d seen on the way in.
“You all right, kid?”
The doorman turned him around, and the man’s hand on his shoulder made his legs go weak.
“You ran straight into that door! Look, you’ve got a bloody nose.”
Wataru felt a warm trickle down his lip.
“You don’t live here, do you? What are you here for? Shouldn’t you be at school?”
As he was talking, Wataru heard a woman’s voice come from the intercom behind him saying, “Yes, who is it?”
“Ms. Ashikawa?” Wataru said, turning back toward the microphone. “I’m a friend of Mitsuru’s! I’m looking for him. Is he home? Can I see him?”
There was a brief pause, and the woman responded. She sounded worried. “You’re in Mitsuru’s class? Then, he didn’t go to school?”
Wataru felt the blood drain from