Mecchen House Chapter 21-2

Chapter 21 – Shards

I went inside first with the others close behind. Carolyn was tidying up. I smiled. He smiled back and said, “Welcome to our shop. Can I help you girls?”

Jamie ground his fist into his hips. “I’ve had enough of your teasing!”

Carolyn straightened up. “Oh… my sincere apologies. Uh… sir?” He gave a mystified-looking blink at Jamie. I could already tell something wasn’t right about all this.

Jamie brushed a sleeve. “That’s better. I suppose you want an update on our situation. We still seem to be… female. And this is the one responsible!” He launched an accusing arm to point out Hitomi, who leaned against the glass. Her mouth clenched shut and her eyes narrowed.

Carolyn gave each of us a look. Akiko peeked over the side of my hip and seemed to pick at the scabs on her hand.

He scratched at his forehead a few times and flipped back a bit of hair. “I think you five may have me confused with someone else… maybe. Or I’m just really confused.”

Jamie’s face went slack. “Wha… Carolyn Tomas…u?”

He nodded. “That’s my name, yeah.”

Akiko dashed over to grab a black comb on the table. Only I noticed. Keiko and Jamie were focused on Carolyn, and Hitomi had her eyes shut. Seeing what she had been able to do with the girls in Mecchen House, I had a pretty good hunch about what she had done here. Akiko pressed the teeth of the comb into the palm of her hand.

Keiko stepped closer to Carolyn. “You don’t remember us? We’re your friends.”

Carolyn leaned on his broom and gave each of us a careful look. “Friends… uh… huh. What are your names?”

The three of us gave our male names first.

This left Carolyn perplexed. “The names sound familiar. But those are all boy’s names. Did we meet in Brookville?”

Jamie gave a sigh of relief. “At least you remember that. Yes, we did meet there. We were friends and you and I dated for a little while. I was a boy then.”

Carolyn mused on this information and brushed a floor a bit more. “I… uh… it’s strange. I can feel something, but as soon as I try to grab at it, it’s as though the memory is picked up by the wind and blown away. I guess that doesn’t make much sense though.”

Jamie turned a focused glare on Hitomi. “It makes more sense than you’d expect…” It was enough to make Jamie tighten a hand but not do much more than that. Shaking Hitomi around would likely perplex Carolyn even more and thus far violence hadn’t done us much good.

Carolyn seemed perplexed enough anyway. He strained as he looked at us, but his empty expression remained. Akiko had bright red marks on her palm. She scratched at them a little. I asked Carolyn, pointing to Hitomi, “Have you seen this woman before right now?”

He brushed back his hair, gave her a good look, and said, “She kinda looks familiar but I really can’t say from where. I’m afraid this is all very confusing.”

We prodded Carolyn a little. Keiko asked gently with quick, soft questions. Jamie asked tough ones, grilling Carolyn on his old life and trying to fill in our details. I asked only one more.

“Are you happy today?”

He chuckled. “It’s odd you would ask me that on a day like this. But it’s strange, despite not knowing how my parent’s house will fare or anything, I feel this strange serenity flowing through me. I suppose that doesn’t make any sense, but there you have it.”

I bowed to him and said, “I thank you for listening to us. We won’t bother you about this any more. I hope you have a safe evening.”

He bowed back. “I appreciate that. I’ll be fine. I’m closing up soon anyway, seeing as there hasn’t been a customer all day.”

Jamie glanced at me with alarm and held her arms. “Wait! Could you trim my hair a bit?”

Same as twice before, Carolyn’s tools couldn’t change the hair one bit, leaving her ever more bewildered. With a sigh, Jamie hopped down from the chair, shook her fist at Hitomi, and said, “I HATE YOU!”

Hitomi didn’t waver, though she looked a little pale. It seemed she was holding her breath. We said quick and polite goodbyes to Carolyn, who told us, “You’re welcome here anytime. Sorry I couldn’t be of any help.”

I felt a pang looking back at Carolyn as we left.

-----

Jamie assaulted his legs with his hands a few times until he gave a long sigh. “I don’t want you coming inside when we visit Shioriko.”

Hitomi gave no obvious reaction. Keiko stopped beside Hitomi and looked between her and Jamie.

Akiko clenched the comb in her hands again until it looked like she was in pain. I pressed her hand a little and she glanced at me. Though it probably didn’t mean anything to her, I told her in a quiet tone, “No. Stop it.”

I pressed her hand till her other hand relented and she was just holding the comb. Hitomi walked ahead. She watched me and Akiko for a moment then gave a nod to Jamie. She said, “But as you can see, I didn’t harm her. Far from it.”

Jamie leaned forward. “You blocked us from Carolyn’s memory. Why?”

“She became too influential an ingredient in my recipe, though not the most. Things have to be managed.”

I felt warm anger throughout my entire body. I wondered, was this from my element?

Jamie scoffed. “She is a human being!”

“Yes, merely a human being. Not one of us.”

Jamie shook his head. “So what? She has the right to live her life without being some… ’flavoring’ of yours!”

Hitomi took a breath. Some color returned to her features. “Of course you’d think that. Your minds are all still bound within human confines. Soon though, you’ll understand all the effort your sister had put into liberating you from this human prison.”

Jamie put his face right in front of hers. “And what are all these ‘efforts’ and ‘influence’ and whatnot you refer to? I’ve had it with vague hints!”

Her gaze traced Jamie’s features. “Specifics, huh? Try this…” She held a hand to herself. “Why do you think Keiko found that anime shop to begin with?” A little gust curled around her and drifted past Jamie, against the flow of the storm.

She walked around Jamie and down the street. He seemed stunned but quickly turned. “W-w-ait a second. You!”

We all rushed after her. I had to strain to keep pace while holding onto Akiko. She seemed hesitant to move. She nearly tumbled once with a grunt.

My mind was tracing backward. Hitomi had already admitted to using Nana to leave those memory figures in specific places. And I suspected her hand was in other things. But if she was connected with how all this began… then how much after that was her doing?

Jamie got to her first and turned her around. “Explain!”

The face that turned revealed a fearsome aspect. Hitomi curled Nana’s cheeks and brought forth her teeth. Keiko staggered back. I narrowed my eyes and Jamie held his ground.

“Why should I explain?! So I can endure another round of hatred from those I love?”

Jamie stammered a bit and finally said, “You claim to care so much for your ‘sisters’. You think those sisters are us. So explain for the sake of keeping confusion from your ‘sisters’.”

Hitomi leaned her head. “Confusion is a human flaw. When you’re all cleansed, then there will be no confusion about what I’ve done. We will all know and understand completely.”

Akiko held out her comb. She tossed it towards the street. A car rolled over it, splintering the teeth and rendering it useless. I tugged Akiko away from the street. She kept watching the cracked remnants.

Keiko caught the meaning in Hitomi’s statement before the rest of us. “You can’t remember everything…”

Hitomi bowed her head. “I know the critical details, but I know only the path I laid out for myself. The rest is either beyond the reach of this shell I wear or has been scattered.”

Jamie folded his arms. “What do you mean ‘scattered’? In those weird animal figures?”

Hitomi smirked. “Not quite, though the same basic concept.”

My hand suddenly felt empty. I looked out into the street. Akiko jumped from the curb and into the path of a rapidly-advancing truck. I felt a rush of heat and repeated memory.

I dashed across the pavement, yelling words that probably made no sense to Akiko. She looked between me and the truck. Time stretched. I wondered if her thoughts had any recognition of her actions. I scooped her up, lifting her off her feet, ignoring any protests.

The truck was too close. With Akiko and myself together, I wasn’t strong enough to carry her the rest of the distance.

I heard a roar in my ears. I felt lifted across the ground like I was being carried by a massive hand. I clutched Akiko tight.

The sound quieted. Jamie and Keiko yelled and dashed carefully across the street to see if I was safe. I looked down at Akiko. “Don’t do that ever again!”

Still, her face betrayed no recognition of my words. I pinched a bit of her skin, and she whimpered and hid her face from me. I hoped that would work. She held my shirt but didn’t hold my hand.

I told Jamie and Keiko I was fine as we rejoined Hitomi. She looked out of breath. She trembled and took a few long breaths before finally saying, “A sister’s love three times repaid.”

Jamie frowned, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Hitomi laid out her hands. “My most ‘grounded’ sister’s little brush with reality. A hand holding the fire back. And just now.”

Again, Keiko put it together first. “When Jamie nearly got hit when we first arrived here… and when Nana stopped Kelly from that run-away truck.”

So that was connected, I thought to myself.

Hitomi seemed to permit herself a glimmer in her purple eyes. “Reflected fragments…”

Jamie pressed on the clamps in his hair. “Are you saying… that you’ve been directly involved… in stuff like what happened when I… uh made a serious mistake?” He curled his hands inwards across his shoulders.

Hitomi brushed Nana’s hair a little in response. “I’m saying that I’ve been ‘directly involved’, as you say, in everything. A careful cook and a watched pot.”

She walked ahead a little. Not far enough to encourage us to run after her, though we had to hustle to keep pace. Jamie stretched out his hand, ready to punctuate his next question, but the words drifted away from him.

Keiko stuck closer to Hitomi. Jamie, Akiko, and I lingered behind. No more swift cars barreled by. The city center looked abandoned. Most shops were closed. Lost curls of paper drifted through like wandering children, slumping in place until a breeze urged them onward. They each journeyed alone, never once finding one another.

The train platform was empty and a simple note was placed on the ticket machine. All fares were free till further notice due to the storm.

Hitomi and Keiko spoke in hush tones. I caught a word or two occasionally.

“…kind of loss…”

“…can’t imagine…”

“…don’t want to hurt…”

I stretched my back on the bench and sat Akiko beside me. She sat on the bench obediently, her eyes searched low and didn’t look up. I didn’t know if she was still upset with me. I folded my arms, and Jamie sat beside with his hands clenching the edge of the bench.

He asked softly, “Why are we doing this?”    

“What do you mean?” The arm position made me feel warm.

Jamie shrugged his shoulders. “Why all this? Why let her tell us where to go?”

“I asked her to prove to us that she didn’t harm our friends.”

He shut his eyes. “Is that so? So how come I feel like we’re tracing exactly the linear path she means for us to follow?”

“She did claim to be orchestrating everything.”

Jamie smacked his hands together. “Exactly! We should be challenging her more, we should be fighting back against what she’s done to us!”

I glanced at Hitomi. Her head was turned away but the wind was blowing from us to her. I suspected she could hear our every word.

“Physical pressure hasn’t done much for us so far and besides, she mentioned contingencies.”

Jamie snorted. “Well, I’d like to call her bluff.”

“Really?”

His hands drifted apart. “What else can I do?”

Akiko leaned in to sniff at my hands. She blinked a bit as the wind ground at her hair and toyed with mine.

I answered, “I don’t know but I think… if we are patient, an opportunity may present itself to us.”

Jamie pressed against the back of the bench and gave a head gesture towards Hitomi. “Don’t go sounding like her…”

I gave Jamie a shoulder-to-shoulder poke. His shoulder felt rigid.

I said, “I promise to try my best. I told you I would set things right.”

He laid his head and his mass of bound hair against back of the bench. “And you promised you would get us home. Heh. Actually, you didn’t need to. We never left.”

Jamie gave a morbid chuckle and brought his hands over his face. “And now everything is gone or a part of her… recipe. Whatever the hell that means. Maybe there’s no way out…”

I clutched his shoulder. “Don’t talk like that.”

“How do you know it’s not all inevitable?”

“I don’t. But I also know Hitomi isn’t perfect. She’s made mistakes.” My back tingled with warmth.

Jamie turned away. “What if those mistakes mean nothing? What if they’re intentional?”

I urged him with a half-whisper. “We don’t know…”

He only breathed as an answer, his face turned away from me.

I stood, keeping a careful hold on Akiko. “So what will you do?”

He revealed part of one eye. He set the plush down on the bench and curled the end of Tara’s sweater. “I only have one thing. I’ll be as much myself as possible. A closed-off, guyish slacker.” He gave the plushie a shove. He pulled off the sweater, briefly flashing his stomach, and set it atop the plush. Akiko eyed the soft lumps curiously.

When the train rolled into the station, Jamie stood without picking either up. He took a few steps forward before finally turning back and clutching the fabric ball with one hand like a fluffy rag.

Keiko and Hitomi kept to themselves on one side of the train, and the three of us had the other side. Jamie narrowed his eyes at Keiko, who bowed her head apologetically.

Hitomi cleared her throat and said, “I remember we used to ride the trains all the time. The four of us.” She glanced at Akiko and laid her hands on Keiko’s hands. “My body would always get motion-sickness, so you would sit with me, Arisu. Kimi would sit with a book. I’d tease out a bit of air from an open window to play with your hair. You would give me this look that I think you learned from Toki.”

She caressed the back of Keiko’s hands. “And Keiko would be up and about, testing the train like the deck of a land-locked ship. With my eldest sister’s warm presence near, I felt safe and happy.”

Her eyes trembled again. She used one hand to steady them and brush back Nana’s hair. “But that was another time and another place…and another life.”

She stood. “This body needs to use the toilet. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Keiko rose as well. “I need to go too.”

And so we were left there with the undulating, gray features of Ogawa sliding through the windows. Akiko leaned around me to glance at Jamie’s lump of cloth and plushie. She cautiously reached around me, but Jamie set the lump in his lap and Akiko darted back. Jamie didn’t notice, he just told me, “Those two are getting a bit too friendly. I should remind Nathan that she’s the enemy.”

I rubbed my hands together. Akiko watched me. I had to wonder, if I was fire-related, then why was Akiko so interested in my warmth?

I thought back to the dark place. The warmth inside surged out of me then and formed those patches of light. It fit with what Hitomi said. I could influence flame. And the dark creature ate it up.

I stared at Akiko, and she stared back. I laid a hand on her shoulder and focused heat and warmth. My palm suddenly felt hot. Akiko squirmed in place and huddled close to me. She seemed eager to take every bit of warmth.

I kept going till I heard Hitomi say, “STOP!”

My focus on the flame stopped, like a brush of wind snuffing out a candle. Hitomi stood with her hands slowly dripping but drying in the air. Keiko rushed from far behind to catch up.  

Jamie answered for me. “What was that?”

“I wasn’t talking to you. Arisu, don’t waste energy on that creature. It’s nothing but a bottomless pit. It only takes endlessly.”

Jamie waved a few fingers and contested, “And what about last night when ‘it’ couldn’t eat any more for dinner?” I felt bothered by their mutual usage of ‘it’, despite the fact I knew Jamie was taunting her from his inflection of the word.

Hitomi leaned her head back. Keiko stood beside her and held her wet hands together.

“Clearly, a human imposition.”

Jamie shook the lump a little. “Meaning?”

Hitomi sat across from us again. Keiko sat on the same side but a little further away than before. “It had never physically eaten anything. Spirit and influence-eating is different. In fact… maybe.” She clenched her mouth and stared towards the floor. Keiko leaned over with a concerned look.

Jamie didn’t share the same concern. He huffed and asked, “What? Something you don’t know, oh perfect planner of the universe?”

Her eyes flew up. “There are things which I cannot comprehend in this body. The same goes for each of you. But what bewilders me the most is how Arisu did what she did to that thing over there.” I twitched a little as she pointed to Akiko.

Jamie shrugged. “I thought you’d know more than us about turning people into girls…”

Hitomi waved her hands. “People are a different matter. They can be influenced many ways. But this… just imagine…” She searched a moment. “Imagine a virus suddenly becoming a human. It’s just impossible.”

Jamie set his eyes on Akiko and turned them back to Hitomi. “Clearly… it wasn’t because she’s right there. What do you have to say to that?”

She stared at the floor a moment with a bit of air curling around Nana’s hair. The train slowed and she looked up.

“This is our stop.”

-----

Hitomi kept to herself once we exited the train. Keiko tried to trade smiles with her, but she looked away.

Jamie kept a grin for himself as we took the stairs, he mashed the fabric-lump under one arm. Akiko went slow, stumbling a little at first.

The foot-traffic was the same as before. Only a few people were out and they hustled, as though in their own little worlds.

The library was darkened inside, but the door opened when I pulled on it. Akiko peered in through the window. Jamie stood in front of me and said to Hitomi, “I don’t want you going inside to cloud anyone’s mind.”

Hitomi turned away and leaned against the wall without any protest. A gust curled at her face. Keiko clenched her hands a few times as Jamie beckoned her inward, made a little step, but said, “I’m sorry, I have to stay with her.”

“Why?” Jamie pressed his feet into the ground.

“I just… I dunno. She seems so lonely. I can relate to that feeling. And it seems like I owe her…”

Jamie clenched his fists. “Those are just her tricks!”

“Are they really? Do you know that?”

Jamie aimed his finger. “She stole everything from us. Our families, our lives, and more. She owes us.”

Keiko pulled on her collar and said softly, “I just want to help. I don’t want to see her suffer.”

Jamie shook his head. “You can’t have it both ways…”

Keiko took a deep breath. “I will stay with her till you get back. Make sure Shiori is okay.” She stepped to the other side of Hitomi. She moved like a slow wave, she seemed to flow with each step. I blinked and held my breath. Jamie blew another snort and pressed ahead of me through the doorway.

Inside, the main lights were off. The only illumination was the sullen static gloom from the skylights in the ceiling. Akiko seemed captivated by it all. I found Shiori hefting an armful of books onto a counter. The wind from outside howled through the front doors. She took a long breath and glanced over at us.

I didn’t take long to realize she didn’t remember us either.

“I’m afraid we’re pretty much closed due to the approaching storm. All the computers are down anyway, so I can’t check anything out for you.”

Jamie walked up to her. “Don’t you recognize us?”

She adjusted the stack of book and slipped her bulging, lavender purse on her shoulder. “Excuse me? Umm. Were you ladies in here earlier? …Sorry, it’s been a hectic day.”

Jamie whirled around, swatted at the air around us, and muttered, “I swear I’ll knock her out or worse…” Akiko glanced at Jamie a second before going back to marveling at the dark interior.

Shioriko looked ever more bewildered. I approached her and asked, “Do you remember what you did yesterday for lunch?”

She gave me a few blinks before hesitantly saying, “I went down to a sushi bar a little ways from here with some people I knew. I… wait… I remember getting upset, but I can’t recall about what.”

Jamie turned back. “Look at us. Could we be the people you had lunch with yesterday?”

A pained expression dug into her face. “Umm… well. You two somewhat… I dunno. I’m really sorry. My co-worker Mei-chan says I can be so absent-minded sometimes.”

Jamie shook his head. “It’s not because of you. Someone is doing this to you. They are trying to control your thoughts.”

Shioriko pulled her purse closer and looked over the three of us. “Wha? You mean I can’t remember because… someone is controlling me?”

Jamie nodded. “She’s the same person who turned you into a girl in the first place.”

Shioriko gasped and said quietly, “How do you know that?”

Jamie’s eyes gleamed like bright, brown gems. “You told us yourself.”

She fidgeted a bit and frowned. “Hmm. I have these weird feelings. It’s like playing tug of war against myself. I somehow understand and yet, it’s like something is missing.”

Jamie touched her shoulder. “As I said, someone is affecting your mind.”

She nodded a little. “You said… ‘she’. Do you know who is doing this?”

Jamie smiled. “Better than that. I can show you her.”

-----

Keiko and Hitomi were in the same place. I caught the last snippet of a word from Keiko expressed to Hitomi before they both fell silent. Shioriko locked the doors behind her.

Jamie led Shioriko to Hitomi and said, “This is who is responsible for everything. She’s responsible for what happened to you, for this world, and for this storm as well.”

Shiori looked at her and asked only, “Is what she said true?”

Hitomi sighed, flicked her eyes at Jamie, and said, “I don’t know what purpose this serves… but yes, what she says is reasonably accurate.”

I didn’t know what to expect next. Shioriko bowed her head and asked, “Why?”

Hitomi glanced at Jamie and said, “What happened to you was just a side effect of changing this world. And I did that to be reunited with my sisters.” She spoke quickly. It seemed obvious to me she didn’t have much regard for Shiori, who clenched her fists and lowered her head. Akiko leaned closer to Shiori.

“What did you do to me?”

Hitomi let her arms go slack and looked Shioriko over. “I did very little to you directly. Today, when you were unaware, I clouded a few of your memory connections to my sisters so as to simplify my task ahead. Otherwise, I gave you a good life to keep you happy.”

Shioriko’s head dashed up. “And what is my life to you?!?”

“A tool to achieve my goals…”

The slap that followed seemed to echo throughout the entire city center, as though all other sounds had fallen silent. Hitomi’s cheek welled up bright red.

Shioriko’s eyes looked glossy. “I am not… your tool.” Keiko stepped away from Hitomi and closer to Shioriko.

Hitomi touched a hand to the red side of her cheek and laid out her other hand. “So, is that all?”

She shook her head. Shioriko’s glossy eyes looked a little moist. “I exist… and my existence is my own and no one else’s…” She coughed a little and finally said, “And that’s all. I’m going home.”

Jamie dashed in front her. “Wha… wait. That’s it? Come on, together we could take her!”

Shioriko looked back at us. “I’m a person of words. I said my piece.”

Jamie shook his head. “So that’s just… it?”

“I’m sorry I can’t remember any of you. I wish I could do more, but I need to get home before the weather gets really bad.”

Jamie jerked his free arm at Hitomi and the fabric lump nearly fell. “But she’s causing this storm! If we can stop her, then we stop it!”

A strong gust pressed at Shioriko. She gave a deep bow. “I’m sorry… I have to go. Please take care!” She rushed off, waving behind her. Hitomi braced the back of Nana’s head with her free hand.

Jamie ran at Hitomi and tackled her to the ground. I could hear Nana’s head bump against the ground. Jamie yelled, “I TOLD YOU TO STOP!”

He yelled again and again for her to stop. Keiko rushed over and pulled her off of Hitomi. Jamie pushed at Keiko, and I stepped between them. Akiko’s watched with wide eyes. It seemed almost as though she was enjoying the conflict.

Once we’d separated and everyone had caught their breath, I turned around to check on Hitomi. She was unconscious, likely from the hard bump.

I lifted her up and snapped my fingers in front of her a few times. Nana’s head just lolled around. Jamie huffed, “Good. We won’t have her controlling everything for a while.”

As soon as he spoke, the winds suddenly peaked and whipped around us like a dam of air had suddenly broken loose. Trees bent vertical. A few upper windows shattered. Air blasts flowed across the everything and seemed to take the last of the color with them.

We leaned against the wall, and I dragged Hitomi with me. Akiko looked up with her hair whipping around and fingers clutching her mouth in a look of anticipation. Jamie’s hair clamps held, and Keiko’s blue locks leapt everywhere like a wall of spray off the ocean.

Just when the tempest seemed ready to rend the entire city apart, Hitomi brought Nana’s head up and looked at me. Moments later, the beastly weather died off and all felt still. Some color even returned as a patch of sky above seemed to glow.

I helped Hitomi up, and she dusted herself off. She didn’t look at Jamie but she said, “Want to call my bluff again? That was my failsafe. The unattended pot.”

Akiko gave a look of disappointment mixed with something else I couldn’t quite discern. Keiko coughed a little and fixed her hair. Jamie’s body stood slack. He gave no expression.

Hitomi took a long inhale and stepped on the curb. “One last place to go. We should take a cab. That way we will be back at Mecchen just in time.”

Keiko clutched a bit of her hair with her hand. She still kept a distance from Hitomi. She asked, “In time for what?”

With a wave of her hand, a cab pulled to the curb. She held open the door and answered, “For my recipe to be done.”

The lump slipped from Jamie’s limp arm and he barely caught it with a gasp. He looked at the lump and stretched it out. The cloth was badly wrinkled and the plush Yumeko’s face was flat. Jamie looked at it a moment, quickly slipped the sweater back on, and clutched the plushie close to his heart.

He got inside without any protest and the rest of us followed.

-----

The cab driver took Hitomi’s swiftly-spoken directions that ended with “hanpa” and raced down a side street. He didn’t make any effort to talk to us or take his eyes off the road. His face and presence seemed entirely generic.

Jamie leaned onto the window and I pressed up against him with Akiko clinging to my right. Keiko and Hitomi took what was left of the other side.

We made so many changes of direction that I lost track of which street we were on. Jamie rubbed a bit of sweater-sleeve with his fingers. I set my hand on his shoulder. His head dipped back against the cushion of the seat.

“What’s the use?” I could barely hear his question escape his lips. I rubbed his shoulder once. Akiko sniffed at and pressed her face against a soft patch of seat. Hitomi whispered something to Keiko, who leaned a bit towards Akiko but didn’t move. Hitomi whispered again.

I cleared my throat and asked Hitomi, “So what’s going to happen to Shioriko and everyone else after your ‘recipe’ is complete? Will everything be as it was ‘before’ for them as well?”

Keiko watched Hitomi, who traced a finger along the glass of the window. “I can’t tell you what is going to happen to everyone because this is my first time doing something like this. My teacher gave me ideas of what might happen.”

Akiko curled up on a small patch of seat and edged over till her head was using my leg as a cushion. Hitomi’s gaze hardened on her.

“Are you talking about Toki?”

Hitomi shook her head. “My first teacher only held me back. My true teacher freed my full potential, and I reached beyond even her expectations.” She gave a smile.

“Who?”

She traced the crease between the window and the door. “You’ll remember her soon enough.”

The cab hit a bump. Jamie caught a bit of residual bounce and brought his arms back to his chest. He sighed. “Does your ‘true teacher’ by any chance wear a black robe and carry a glowing, red sword?”

Hitomi smiled. “No, but I have seen those movies. We used to watch so many together.”

Jamie looked out the window. “Whatever…”

The cab slowed. Hitomi tapped on the seat and announced, “We’re here.”

That seemed faster than I expected but then we weren’t back at Mecchen yet. The area around the cab seemed vaguely familiar. I glanced around a few times till I realized where I recognized it from.

I remarked, “This area looks just like the Ishida family home from the records Shioriko found for us.” Jamie raised his head and looked around a few times before giving a nervous nod and drawing Tara’s plushie closer to himself. Keiko confirmed this as well.

Hitomi walked along the curb as the cab zipped off. “In a way. It’s based on my memories. And a bit of imagination.” She gestured for us to follow.

I felt a weird sensation as we walked. It felt like a scenery strip from an old cartoon. The same set of houses repeated with one styled like the Ishida house in the middle.

Jamie coughed. “Imagination, huh?”

Hitomi waved her hand. “I paid less attention to small areas I didn’t expect the three of you to visit. So I just filled them in with little reminders of our past.”

Keiko rubbed her hands. “So you never expected us to visit Nina?”

“Not until now.” She paused and turned into a driveway. We followed her up to the door and she gave a hard knock.

Silence save the slow flow of the wind followed ‘till a lock turned inside, and the door cautiously opened out. Nina poked forth her head, and her eyes caught sight of Hitomi. With a sudden push, she sailed out the doorway and into Hitomi’s arms, hugging her profusely.

“You’re back! Thank you again!”

Akiko darted away. Bewilderment flowed between us as we exchanged looks. By the nervous expression I saw on Hitomi’s face, I figured she hadn’t entirely expected this as well.

She cleared her throat. “You don’t have to thank me. I just… uh… did what I had to.”  

Nina backed away carefully. “I can’t even imagine the words to thank you.”

Hitomi twitched a little. “It was just a side-effect. I wanted to keep everyone in line and happy.”

Nina blushed and her nose twitched. “You really didn’t have to… it’s such an honor that you did.”

Jamie sighed. “What in the heck is going on here?”

Hitomi declined an invitation of Nina’s to come inside. I had to ask Nina, “Do you recognize us?”

She gave a little nod. “Of course, and I especially remember your beautiful sister, Hitomi.” While she didn’t seem entirely normal, her memory certainly seemed unbothered.

Hitomi sat down and grumbled a bit. “Stop that. I didn’t do anything deserving of praise.”

Nina bowed again and offered us tea, which Hitomi again declined.

“You turned me into a girl. I don’t know how I can repay you!”

“You don’t.”

“But I must! I’ve always lived with a fear and reverence of women which bound my life. What you’ve done has freed me. I am in your debt.” Akiko stuck her nose out at Nina.

After rubbing her forehead a little, Hitomi said, “I was going to do something to you today.”

Nina smiled. “You gave me this life. If you saw fit to take it away then…” Her nose twitched again and she looked at Akiko. They both regarded one another with their noses out, like an impromptu smell-off.

Akiko turned away first to explore a bit of curb with faded grass growing from it.

Hitomi took a few, long breaths. “But I did do something to you.”

Nina gave her a nod back. “I know, I could feel it when the others seemed to recede from me. I can only sense them in little snippets now.”

Keiko scooted a little closer to Hitomi. “What do you mean ‘the others’?”

Nina seemed to reach for something atop her head and looked surprised and alarmed when she found nothing. Her head dashed around for a moment before she seemed to remember where she was. “Why the voices and memories in my head. The white room where I once saw the sad little boy who reminded me of how I used to be. The… bars… no, that’s the same place. No, it’s somewhere else.”

Her eyes narrowed a little and her voice took on a sultry tone. “Hm. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is power. The power to take little boys and make cute, quivering girls out of them. Katsumi’s will, plus my inspiration will ravage this world in the embrace of loving darkness…”

As soon as that voice came, it passed, and something more resembling the normal Nina emerged. She crouched and tried fruitlessly to hide behind the open door. She brought her hands together. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why that one came out right then.”

Hitomi leaned against the wall as a projection of wind flicked at her hair. “It’s the others trying to reconnect with you…”

She turned to us. “Literal explanations would pass over the three of you right now. Instead, think of a plant spread across a vast, underground area. It projects upwards here and there, but you can’t see the intimate ties between each of the projections.” She fanned her hands. “One being, one spirit, but confined by many smaller existences with only brief glimpses of the whole.”

Jamie fiddled with one of his hair clamps, Keiko kept rapt attention, and I tried to visualize such a plant in my mind. Hitomi brought her hands together. “Again, a human name for them would be inadequate. Think of them instead as shards of a mirror, reflecting one another but shining on their own. Little pieces, a single existence.”

Nina hid her face behind the door, and Akiko took a keen interest in her.

Jamie pressed on his forehead near his eyes, creasing his skin. “Fair enough. Wouldn’t be the oddest thing. So then what did you do to her, if not blow away her memories?”

Nina peered out with those large, brown eyes. Akiko crept nearer, as though she were trying to hunt her. Nina made a squeaking noise and dashed behind the door. Akiko blinked but held her ground.

Hitomi flexed her wrist. “If she were any normal person with a connection to the three of you, I could have easily muddled her memories to make sure I limit her… ‘lumpyness’. But because each piece is distributed, I needed to take more direct measures.”

She fingered the wind charm on her neck with a frown. I wasn’t sure if I liked where this was going. Keiko seemed unsure what to next, and Jamie glared at Hitomi. Akiko was still creeping her ways towards Nina. She kept a tenuous hold on me as well, though she was at the limit of her reach.

Hitomi stood beside Nina, who looked up with concern, and put her hand on her shoulder. “I saturated her roots. It wasn’t my first choice, but it had the most benefits for me.”

Nina’s nose twitched again. Eventually letting go of me, Akiko snuck beside the open door. Jamie rubbed the plush and asked, “Which means?”

Before Hitomi could answer, Nina lept at her as Akiko made her move. Akiko clung to the wall and watched Nina hug Hitomi tight.

With a sigh, Hitomi replied, “It means she’ll be confused for long enough.”

The wind suddenly picked up and the rain started again. Keiko scooted closer to Hitomi and asked, “Will she be okay?”

Nina answered for her. “I’m fine. My thoughts are a little woozy, but I’m so happy I could thank the one responsible for healing my life.” She stepped away from her embrace of Hitomi with her head bowed and cheeks dusted with red. “Whatever time you’ve given me, I feel honored for every moment, and I will treasure them all my life.”

Hitomi looked away from her. I thought I saw her face give a little spasm. She took a ragged breath and said, “Go inside. Stay in the center of the house, away from anything heavy, and keep yourself safe.”

Nina nodded quickly. “I promise.”

Hitomi pressed her hand against the wall. “We… have to go.”

Nina added a little smile to her next nod. “It has been an honor. See you!”

Hitomi dashed to the street.

I tugged on Akiko. It took a great effort to separate her from the porch. Hitomi was doubled-over and standing in the street. Her eyes trembled like when I first met her. She panted.

Keiko touched her on the shoulder. The rain seemed slower but heavier. Jamie held the plushie Yumeko over his head ‘till it seemed clear it didn’t block the rain, and he returned it to hiding. He used his free hand instead and occasionally brushed off a stray droplet. Nina snuck back inside and shut the door.

Hitomi raised herself up.

“It’s not a memory. It doesn’t matter.”

Jamie rumbled a loud sigh. “Start making sense!”

Hitomi looked down the street. “Soon… it’ll all make sense… soon.” And she said something softly into the wind and spray which sounded like, “I hope…”

We caught another cab.

-----

The driver seemed virtually-identical to the last one. He had no brightly-colored hair like the cab driver yesterday, nor did he seem to possess any sort of personality. A Johnny Cab would’ve seemed more human.

We sat in the same positions as the last cab trip, only Akiko had a little more room because Keiko sat closer to Hitomi. She gazed out, as Jamie did. Her eyes still trembled a bit.

I gave Jamie’s shoulder a nudge. He coughed. “Why are we doing this?” Keiko turned her ear to listen.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

He shut his eyes. “We didn’t leave Mecchen when things got weird. We didn’t get out of town. We didn’t fight this. We’re still not fighting this…”

Hitomi turned. Her eyes had calmed. “Do you think you ever had a choice?”

“Of course we did. Everyone does.”

It seemed like Hitomi wanted to say something else. Instead, she just turned back to the window. Keiko put her hand on Hitomi’s shoulder.

Akiko curled up near me and pressed her face into the softest part of my arm. She shut her crimson eyes and seemed to sleep, but only for a moment before flashing them open again and jerking her head around. She soon settled again, only to do the same.

I felt warm feelings of aggravation and confusion about Akiko. It felt nice that she was here. At times, her presence just became a routine reality. But I kept reminding myself that she was the reason Ami was gone. If I didn’t, then it felt like Ami never existed at all. I also reminded myself, no matter the joy Nina expressed, that the face leaning against the far window was Nana’s face.

But I didn’t feel angry, same as I didn’t feel angry for what she had done to the ‘lumps’. I felt regret at revealing so much to Shioriko. She only seemed distressed in the end, especially compared with Carolyn. Nina seemed so joyful as well, despite her supposedly-disrupted connection to the rest of her ‘spirit’.

I stroked Akiko’s hair, and she pressed against the warmth of my hand. I didn’t look to see if Hitomi was watching, I figured she knew what I was doing.

The windshield wipers scuffed once.

The cab slowed and the brakes squeaked.

We were back.

-----

The cab sped off as we stood near the steps leading up to Mecchen House. The driver again asked for no fee.

The rain seemed heavier. Keiko huddled near Hitomi. The wind swirled a bit.

I thought I could hear far-off thunder.

Hitomi turned around.

“It is time, my sisters.”

The wind pressed us towards the steps.

Jamie leaned back. “No! Why? What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to free you from your confinement.”

My heart seemed to flow with warm, pulsating sweat despite the cold, damp wind. I asked, “How?”

“In the way I learned.” Hitomi took the first step.

Keiko took the same step a moment later. Jamie and I held to the curb.

Jamie yelled through the wind, “THIS IS WRONG!”

Hitomi spoke softly against the wind, her words even clearer. “It was my plan from the beginning. It’s why I created this place, why I crafted Mecchen House and all those who dwell within it.”

A phantom calm came over all things.

I could feel only my heart pushing warmth through my body.

I looked at Jamie. He panted, his head twitching just a little.

Akiko squeezed my arm to the point of numbness.

Keiko’s question, spoken with gentle serenity, came next. “What do you mean?”

On the second step, Hitomi spoke again, her words resonated as though she were right next to my ear.

“I made the girls of Mecchen House into what they are. I traced Toki’s original… illuminations… in places, but I did what I had to do. And now… all of them will serve the purpose they were intended…”

Jamie screamed, clutched his plushie, and burst up the steps like a fissure in the ground itself. He launched himself past Keiko and Hitomi and out of sight. I rushed after him, Akiko tugging against me as I ran.

She whimpered in my ear and grunted again and again. I felt her hand slip out for a moment. I looked back and seized her at the wrist.

Jamie shut the door just as we made our way to the top. I slammed it open again and neglected to remove my shoes on the way in. I slipped a few times against floor and staggered around ‘till I came to the living room. All the girls were gathered there and Tara held the dress that was once Ami in her lap. Tarps and storage boxes covered a few areas.

A breeze filled the room.

Tara looked right at me. She bowed her head. “I’m so sorry…”

The rest seemed in a trance.

Hitomi walked in with Keiko right behind her. She went up to Tara and gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Are you ready?”

Tara shut her eyes. “No. My regrets feel so heavy.”

She smiled at Tara. “You made all this possible, Aaron. Thank you.”

Tara shook her head. She seemed much older. “I made a mistake. I took pity on you. You reminded me of my daughter… so long ago.”

Hitomi pressed her lips. The breeze blew around the room. “Well… it doesn’t matter. I don’t need you to help me anymore. I just need you for Kimi.”

Tara curled her hand around a bit of her shirt and looked at Kimi. “Do what you wish to me. My life has already ended once. I am not afraid.”

Jamie took a step away. He, like I, seemed dumbstruck.

Keiko tugged on Hitomi’s arm. “I want to help you. But I don’t want anyone to get hurt. I just… I just don’t want there to be any more suffering.”

Hitomi gave only a faint smile and said, “I made all this for you and our sisters. Each girl in Mecchen House was specially-placed. This is their purpose. This is their destiny… And yours.”

Keiko squeezed her arm a little and gave a little nod to herself. “Alright… sister.”

Jamie shook his head with such force the clamps tumbled from his hair.

“NO!”

Keiko blinked. “What’s wrong?”

“All of this! Everything!” I held Jamie’s shoulder as he staggered.

I looked at Hitomi. My flame inside rose upwards. Mami shimmered a bit from her place on the couch. Her color flickered.

Jamie stared at Tara, who dipped her head low.

I held back the flame, but Mami’s color still seemed eager to flow at me. It felt like fuel that my flame was eager to engulf.

Hitomi gestured upwards. “Yes, sister. She is meant for you. I saved those random scraps of paper that day. I saved them so they could be kindling for your brilliance.” She held her hands high.

The air tingled. The walls shuddered, as though breathing.

“It is time to serve my recipe to my sisters, so they may be nourished and awaken to their true selves!”