Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [96]
Wataru’s body froze. Was the boy Mitsuru Ashikawa? Was he the lone survivor?
Hearing no further protest from Kuniko, Sanae’s mother went on. “Now the Ashikawa boy in our school was living overseas for a while, but before that he lived in Kawasaki, and he’s not living with his parents now—when Sanae told us that, my husband and I knew he had to be the one. We wished the best for him then—really, we did. But with all the goings-on today, it’s starting to sound like the Ashikawa boy is tied up with Kenji’s disappearance somehow.”
“They don’t know that for sure,” Wataru’s mother said. “He could have just run away from home.”
“Well, I wish it were a simple coincidence too, but I’m starting to think it’s not.”
“But…”
“So I talked to my husband. Of course, the school must have known about the Ashikawa boy’s past from the beginning, right? They knew and they didn’t tell us, and now look what’s happened. Well, we think they should tell the PTA, they owe it to us. Other parents might have put two and two together by now too.”
Wataru’s mother was quiet for a while, then she finally asked in a weak voice, “And you wanted to talk to me why?”
“Well, when Sanae said your boy was friends with the Ashikawa boy, I thought maybe you had noticed something too, so I came to talk to you first. Of course, it sounds like they aren’t friends at all. I’m afraid I’ve made quite a mistake.”
“I’ve never heard Wataru talk about the Ashikawa boy. I’m sorry.”
“No, no, I owe you an apology.” Wataru heard the sound of a chair sliding. “I’m sorry to have taken up your time. It’s just, it didn’t seem like the sort of thing one could talk about on the phone, and you live so close. I’m sorry. I’m off to the school. Good night, Mrs. Mitani.”
Sanae’s mother was halfway out the door when the phone rang again. His mother picked it up. Then, after a few tense words, she hung up. Wataru heard her walk over and knock on his door.
“Wataru?”
Wataru opened the door and looked up at his mother. He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t find the words.
“They found the missing sixth-grader. They found Kenji Ishioka.”
He had been discovered lying down on the lawn behind his own house. Wataru’s heart thudded once in his chest, loudly.
“He was unharmed. Not a scratch. But something…apparently, something was wrong. He doesn’t respond when spoken to. I’m not sure this is the right way to describe this, but on the phone they were saying it was like his soul was missing.”
His soul…missing?
“But the two kids they found first are fine besides that amnesia. Maybe they’ll be able to learn more from them. Wataru, there’s been an emergency PTA meeting called for tonight, so I’ll be out. I want you to stay here, inside, okay? You should lie down. You look pale.”
His mother fretted over him a few moments, then picking up her bag, she walked outside and locked the door behind her. He could hear her calling someone on her cell phone, probably the next person on the emergency contact list.
Kenji had come back. His friends too—with only a little memory loss to show for it.
But not Kenji. He lost his soul.
No, he didn’t lose it. Balbylone ate it. That’s what it was, Mom. I know what happened. I was there.
And it was Mitsuru who did it. I know.
Mitsuru, the little boy who lost his mother and his baby sister when his dad went on a killing spree. Mitsuru Ashikawa, the little boy who’d been next in line to be murdered. Mitsuru Ashikawa, who tried to commit suicide.
Wataru curled up in a ball on the floor. He couldn’t control his shivering.
His whole body shook until the bookshelf behind him was rattling.
So long. Goodbye.
Wataru knew now why Ashikawa had gone to the other world. He didn’t have a place in this one. Vision was his home now.
Chapter 12
The Witch
A day passed, then two, then three, and Mitsuru didn’t come home.
Kenji’s friends went back to being their normal nasty selves, although they still had no memory of the night they went missing. Kenji was the same as he had been when he was found: vacant, soulless.