Mecchen House Chapter 23-2

Chapter 23 - Mecchen House Rebuilding - Conclusion

Downstairs, Hitomi had just woken up. Questions came at her from everyone in continual bursts. Reiko fired the hardest. She reached over to shake Hitomi but I stepped between them.

Reiko glared at me with her teeth bared. Hitomi covered her head protectively from Reiko’s advance. When she realized I’d stepped in her way, Hitomi’s lavender eyes looked up at me brightly.

“Sis!” She reached a hand out to touch me.

I took a step back and out of reach. Hitomi’s mouth slipped open and she reacted as though slapped.

I cleared my throat and said, “You have a lot to answer for.”

Hitomi clenched her necklace and nodded slowly. “I know. I tried my best to fix what I could…”

She looked to me and said, quietly. “I couldn’t bring Ami back but I helped her brother…as much as I could. I wish I could do more.”

Reiko hyperventilated through her teeth. “Why did you let me live?!!!”

Hitomi frowned. “You chose to… I remember just a little, but in those moments I was giving back… your split presence sought me, pressed at me. So I put you back as you were.”

Reiko’s head twitched. Sumi reached out a comforting hand with Pussy at her feet but Reiko shook it off and responded, “YOU LIAR! YOU DO NOTHING BUT LIE! If anything, that ‘presence’ wanted you to destroy it not return us to suffering!”

Hitomi shuddered. “I couldn’t…”

Reiko snarled. “You drain life. You ruin lives but you can’t take them?!”

Hitomi hid her face. Reiko shook her head. “You’re useless.” She stormed away with Sumi and Pussy trying to follow.

Jamie stood over Hitomi, plushie at his feet,  and cracked his fingers. She twitched. Keiko stood beside Jamie. The others lingered and listened.

Jamie pursed his lips and said, “So you said that you can’t do anything more…”

Hitomi nodded and held out her hands. She strained. “I feel really weak. I’m sorry, sister. I don’t know what happened to… the humans who were your…family.”

Jamie nodded slowly. “You mean you didn’t care to keep track of them in your grand plans?”

Hitomi pressed her hands together and Jamie shook his head, “What about all the strange little things like that weird phone call or who said what or Nana’s part in all this and …Tara’s part.” He cast a glare at Tara, who had taken to brushing Mami’s hair.

His gaze softed a little before hardening on Hitomi. “Explain all that.”

She moved her legs a little and sighed. “It was really like cooking. Little things like a stir changed the entire composition. I had to be careful here and there. I’m afraid can’t tell you why… this human-like mind feels locked in place to even describe it.”

He wavered in place. “So… you’re human now?”

“Somewhat. It was a choice. Not quite like the choice it seems you three made when you left. But I think I’m halfway like the three of you are now. I hope.”

Pink dress Ami was still on the couch.

He made a turn, the sleeves of the sweater swung a bit. “Explain halfway and explain what the girls here are now.”

Hitomi put a hand to her mouth. Ms. Ishida was still listening attentively but Mami’s focus seemed to waver with the playfulness of Tara. Miki came in from the hallway.

After a bit of silence, Hitomi said, “Halfway is like what Arisu did with the nameless being in Ami’s room. She is still human-ish, but she can change things. All four of us have that potential right now. It’s not like when we’re fully-awakened, but it’s still there.”

She rubbed her hands close together and added, “I think Arisu’s half-influence would be the strongest right now, but that’s only a guess…” She gave me a small, guilty look.

Ms. Ishida leaned closer. “And us? What about us?”

Hitomi’s head jerked and her eyes widened as though she didn’t expect to hear from Ms. Ishida. She regarded her curiously and answered, “Umm… well. I didn’t expect any of you to… continue this long. I’m not sure what comes next. Each of you are human by nature but you’re still connected with… an arrangement of pieces from me and about my sisters. But I’m not controlling how those pieces run together anymore. Anything could happen.”

I felt myself relax. Katsumi and the others were free of fate. And it seemed the three of us were too.

I had to confirm. I asked Hitomi, conclusively, “Does that mean that each of us is free to choose how and who we want to be?”

She blinked at and regarded me with a befuddled glow from her purple gaze. “Well… if you think of what I did as that… then there are no controls for what happens now. It’s all in the Hands of the Ae.”

I returned her blink. “Ae? Who?”

She bowed her head. “Sorry. It’s a saying. It means that it’s out of my influence.”

That confirmed it, at least, but now I was curious about the Ae. I asked her directly.

“The Ae? Well… the Ae is not really a thing or person or anything. But the Ae is why we all exist… the humans too. The Ae is…” Her mouth opened several times to form the next words but it seemed as though she were gasping in a void.

She shook her head. “Sorry. I can’t really articulate it in words, nor can this human-form mind really grasp it.”

Jamie snorted. “Convenient. Well, anything else?”

Hitomi swallowed and her eyes sought Keiko and Jamie and came to rest on me.

“I love my sisters so much.”

Jamie pressed out a few breaths before saying, “I will never think of you as anything even approaching a sister. And even then, never liked my sister all that much. But she was still better than you are…”

Hitomi’s eye grew moist. She bowed her head. “I see…”

Mami came forward and asked, “What am I, to you?”

She looked Mami over but before she could offer an answer, Mami added, “What about any of us? Are we just your tools like with… Nana… and Ami?” My eyes slid back to the pink dress on the couch.

Hitomi paused, as though expecting Mami to add something else. She said no more and folded her arms in a tight pattern.

Hitomi answered, “Yes, all nine in Mecchen House were my tools. And I intended to use each of you up for the sake of my sisters.”

Mami gave the smallest of nods with her eyes set to the floor.

“As for you in particular,” Hitomi continued. “I liked your texture and color. The papers I saved were interesting, but unremarkable. I used them because I was running low on resources.”

Mami fluttered a bit in place. She pressed her hands together and gave a soft, “Oh…”

I went to her side and put my hand on her shoulder.

Akiko touched Mami’s side with curiosity.

Miki came closer and asked, “Tell me about the dog, please.”

Hitomi’s head jerked around and she carefully answered, “Well… umm. The dog’s name was Miki but that wasn’t in Japanese, unfortunately. Keiko really cared for her when her owner was away. And Kimi really cared for… the owner.”

Jamie gave a loud cough and stared at Hitomi. It didn’t deter Hitomi, who added, “Kimi didn’t think I was watching but I was. I saw her… and I saw them go inside the owner’s house afterward…”

He spasmed with his teeth clenched. Jamie fanned at his hair as though he were trying to get something out of it. He growled at Hitomi. “I would never!”

Hitomi seemed calm. “You were rather flirty at times, especially as a human girl. Even more so as a human boy… you still liked the boys. That’s why I put Ami and Carolyn both near you.”

Jamie picked up the plushie and pressed it to his ears. “I’ve had quite enough of this…” He stormed off and stomped up the stairs with a Katsumi-like flourish.

Tara, who had kept to the back of the crowd, took a few steps towards where Jamie had gone and peered around the corner.

I asked Hitomi, “What happens to Ami now?”

She blinked at me as though I’d asked such an obvious question. “She was an old dress. It’s a Japanese belief that old objects gain a soul and life over time. Ami was close to being a life… but not close enough for her happiness.”

Her eyes lingered on Ami with an air of regret. “Now… I don’t know what will happen to her. Given time, she may one day be ready to be human again.”

I felt a flicker of hope. “How long?”

Hitomi’s eyes remained on Ami. “Likely many years before her spirit will be ready.”

The flicker wavered.

Tara came closer to Hitomi and seemed ready to ask a question but Ms. Ishida approached first and asked, “Who is my mother?”

Keiko picked up a wisk full of sparkling fragments of glass.

Hitomi grimaced. “Umm… well. I’m not sure if those terms work. The better way to think of it would be ‘emanations’.”

I could just imagine the face Jamie would’ve given at that term. She struggled to explain, with verbal glue and tape, how the five she made were more fashioned together than born. For Mami and Ms. Ishida, it left them only with headaches.

She finished with a tentative, “I suppose…”

I chimed in with what I’d gathered from Tara earlier, “What about the Dreamers?”

Hitomi seemed surprised. She stuttered a bit before finally saying, “I’ve never believed in the Dreamers. It’s a human idea, like the Three Realms. Humans like to believe they’re more important than they really are… and have more Influence. But there are probably very few so-called Dreamers out there.”

I took a step in place. “Your three sisters were in human form, sleeping.”

She bit into her frown, covered her mouth in her arms, and finally said to Ms. Ishida, with a muffled voice, “I guess… I’m the closest thing… all of you have to a mother.”

The room felt suddenly cool. Ms. Ishida and Mami turned away from Hitomi and both looked uncomfortable. Tara slowly approached and said, “I don’t know if this is a good time… but I’ve wanted to thank you for the new life you gave me.” She bowed before Hitomi, who brightened a bit.

She held her hand out to Tara. “Aaron was always nice to me and supportive… I’d always wanted to give you the best gift ever. I’m sorry it came with so many strings attached.”

Tara shrugged. “It evened out in the end.”

I felt a warm tingle and asked, “Who was your ‘other’ teacher? Can you tell us now?” Keiko flowed closer.

Hitomi rubbed at her shirt with her fingers. “Her name was Tokugawa Raiko. She hated Toki so much. I think that’s why she let me do things that Toki wouldn’t.”

I noted the name and tried to detect any familiarity. Other than how much it sounded like ‘Reiko’, I could find none.

Keiko spoke next. “What about Nana?”

Hitomi squeezed her fingers. “As I said… I tried and she just slipped away from me.”

Keiko squeezed her own fingers. “Is there a way to find her?”

Hitomi brushed her hair back. “I don’t think she wanted to be found.”

“So what will you do?” Keiko crouched near the couch.

She stared at Keiko. “I told you… I tried.”

She shook her head back. “But look at all the effort you put into what you did for your… for us. Isn’t Nana at least as important?”

Hitomi’s fidgeted in place and clutched her necklace. “I don’t know… I used a lot of myself doing what I did. To find her would take… a lot more. Or it may not even be possible.”

Keiko looked at the carpet. “But what if she’s all alone…?”

I gave a shudder, took a deep breath and said softly, “We have to find her.”

Keiko gave a little nod. “Well, I do at least.”

“Why you?”

She brought her arms close. “I feel responsible for what happened to her.” She cast a little glance at Hitomi, who hung her head. “I didn’t do enough for her. I have to make it up to her. I was weak.” Keiko’s arms tightened. “I have to be strong again.”

Ms. Ishida moved over to Keiko’s side and brushed her shoulder. “You don’t have to take everything on your shoulders.” Keiko jerked away from the contact.

She brushed her face with her own hand. “I feel so fake. I defined my life by the loss of my mother. When I saw others in the support groups withdraw or lash out at those who wanted to help, I told myself to be strong…not to get angry at others. And there were times when I could honestly, truly feel my mother near me and I wanted to honor her spirit.” Tears flowed in heavy streams down her face.

Her cheek quivered quietly until she asked Hitomi, in soft words, “Was my mother ever real?”

Hitomi took a long time answering. Her gaze wavered until she finally said, “I don’t know. I’m not responsible for the world of your male shell… but…”

Keiko hid her face. Hitomi grimaced. I wished I could sooth what Keiko was feeling.

Hitomi set her legs down and her back straight against the couch. “But… thoughts and ideas have a reality. You’re my sister… so your thoughts, whatever influenced them, have strength.”

Keiko slowly looked up. “I made her real?”

Hitomi curled a bit. “I mean… that presence you remember feeling… was true, even if it came from you.”

Keiko still looked a bit confused. “Does that mean… I have a chance of finding her some day… the rest of my family too?”

Hitomi winced. “Well, you have family right here… um… but yeah…” She didn’t give a smile but her presence seemed to rise as she finished, “There’s always a chance you’ll find what you’ve lost.” She slipped a shy glance at me.

Keiko had stopped crying. Ms. Ishida offered her some tissue, and she blew her nose. Ms. Ishida brushed back Keiko’s blue locks and smiled at her. Akiko slipped behind Ms. Ishida and looked at all of us.

Keiko bowed her head to Ms. Ishida and said to Hitomi, “I still wish you well, despite all that’s happened. What you did was bad. But I think I understand what pushed you to that point.”

Hitomi pressed her fingernails together. “…I’m sorry.” She gazed around. “I’m sorry to everyone. Truly. I lost myself in my plans. I don’t deserve to be in this house anymore…” She rose as though to leave but Ms. Ishida approached her.

She set her shoulders and said, “While the things… Toki… taught me are in question, they are still a part of who I am, and I choose to live by them. That means you are welcome here as a guest, no matter your past.”

Mami’s melancholy seemed to pass. She twirled a bit in place and hummed to herself. Tara clapped for her, and Mami blushed in return. Mami seemed to regard Tara cautiously for a moment but when Tara told a little joke around Mami’s ear, they both started smiling.

Ms. Ishida clapped her hands, as if clearing a spell from the air. She turned around. “My goodness, we really should check on the rest of the windows and shutters.”

The group moved into action. Hitomi and Keiko both volunteered beside each other with a blush. I helped too.

Miki checked the outside for debris. Slowly, the whole of Mecchen House went to work on the damage done.

Hitomi regarded each broken window with a quiet grimace, as though a failure on her account. I approached her from behind with Jamie returned and pressing some glass flakes into a pan. He watched as I gave her a comforting squeeze on the shoulder.

Ms. Ishida announced the damages. Some broken windows and torn shutters. Nothing too serious. A few would need a repairman, but others could be done by hand. Keiko and Mami went to work.

Mami in particular sat with one of the torn panels and regarded the wounds with special care, as though tending to an ancestor. Keiko tried her best with the glass repair before Miki had to step in and demonstrate a few times. Before long, Miki posed repair challenges to her, which Keiko politely accepted.

Ms. Ishida gave Akiko the task of drying off a few items in the upper floors which had gotten damp. She copied Ms. Ishida’s example with clinical precision.

For myself, I regarded the subdued but active mood with relief. But then, neither Sumi or Reiko showed.

I slipped around to the front door at a quiet moment and took a long look outside.    

The sky was a vivid shade of blue. The field of depth seemed striking as I turned around and watched as much as I could. The view seemed like even more than a clear day. It felt like someone had expanded the sky, like blowing a balloon up all the way.

Jamie grumbled beside me. His brown eyes dashed all over. “She didn’t mess anything up out here… did she?” He forced back a clump of his long hair, grunted, and said, “First chance I get, Carolyn’s cutting this… umm… he’s alright, right?”

I folded my arms and pressed my feet against a bit of moist grass. Little droplet gems sparkled in the sun. “Carolyn is fine, but what if he still can’t cut it?”

Jamie shook his head. “It was while you were away. Hitomi said she was the one holding our appearance in limbo or something with her so-called influence.” Jamie tapped his foot on a patch of ground and kicked up a little soil.

“So supposedly I can influence through the ground… I don’t see it.” He scratched at his soft cheek and coughed. “So things seem to be settling down for now. You want to head off and get those haircuts?” He took a step back, ready to dart for his shoes.

I put my hands atop my head. “Right now?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I just want to get out of here for a bit.”

“And it’d be better out there?”

He kept his glare rooted to the ground. “It’s away from Hitomi.”

“It’s also away from the others.”

He pressed his back against the wall. “Maybe I want to be away from them too. And maybe I don’t need your permission either…”

He took a step. I sighed. “Ever the so-called ‘ronin’, right?”

Jamie stopped. “I have to do this. I feel like I’ve been trapped here for too long.” He took another step before he turned around and put on his shoes.

He paused on the steps leading down. “You can still come with me if you like.”

“My hair length is okay with me.”

Jamie turned to look me over. “And what about the rest?”

I flattened my foot against the pavement. I worried about tracking dirt inside, so I receded to the doorway. “It’s still very confusing. But then it’s confusing for everyone.”

Jamie tightened his hands. “I don’t want it to be confusing. I don’t want it… at all. I guess I’m the only one who wants to put things right.” He tugged on his shirt to raise the neckline. At the same time, it gave him a sliver of midrift.

He assumed his regular position with arms folded to shield his chest, regarded me a moment, and turned to walk away. I cleared my throat and said, “I want to put things right for everyone, even those who aren’t with us… right now.”

He stopped and asked, “And what about what we’ve become? What about this place?”

I shut my eyes. “What have we become?”

His feet scraped across the step. “Bunch of passive girls… and when…”

He gave a few long breaths through his nose. “And when Hitomi nearly got me. It was like I turned into someone else… with the parts of my sister which annoy me the most.”

I couldn’t recall enough about Jamie’s sister to affirm or refute that, and I doubted my memory would matter if I could.

Jamie seemed to catch a bit of the same thought and shook his head. “…Whatever. It all felt better when I shut off and didn’t care or worry.” He sat down on the step with his hands pressed to his face. I walked along the side of the step and looked at him.

He looked down. “If she got me, then would I even mind that I’m wearing a bra? Would I be me?”

I crouched beside him. “What use is it to dwell on things that didn’t happen?”

His mouthline rippled with a countless, half-felt expressions, each laid bare across his features. Jamie seemed to reach for some invisible cover around his shoulders, instead he just touched his shoulders with a tentative grasp. He still shielded his front with his forearms.

“Because none of the girls in there knew they were just puppets of Hitomi. When Hitomi… affected me, I felt just as clueless in that moment…” He gave a little shudder. “Ug… I don’t even want to think about it. But… if they didn’t know, how can we know for sure about… anything.”

I felt a few spots of sunlight peek through on the back of my hand and burrow a bit of bright heat against my hand.

I spoke clearly, “No, we can’t know absolutely, but we know more now. We can ask those questions. Same with the others. We can choose.”

Jamie glared. “Choose? Know more? We don’t know anything! And how am I supposed to choose? If I could really choose, then I’d be able to choose to go back home and everything would be the way it was before!” A thoughtful pause came.

His words only caused a cricket to belt out a song.

He gave the earth a little sock with his hand. “But I only get to choose how long I want this overgrown hair to be, and whether or not I even want to see this place anymore.”

Jamie stood and went down another step. He started to turn, as though to say goodbye, but he just kept walking.

I was alone with the filtered sounds of the city and the last embers of voices finding me from inside Mecchen. I considered following him in haste like I’d followed him before, and followed Hitomi in the sleeping vision, and followed Akiko in the conscious nightmare. But I just rubbed my sock on the top step and looked at the underside. I’d gathered a coat dirt from the ground.

I slipped the socks off and walked barefoot back to the front of the house. I paused and wondered what sort of barefooted fun Tara would imagine if she were out here. I curled my toes and pressed into a bit of the still-soft earth. When I pulled away, a shallow imprint of my foot was left.

I smiled at it. I considered how its inherent beauty reminded me of the artistic glow of this entire place. I thought about the other footprint on the opposite side of the house. But mostly, I just enjoyed making it.

I cleaned the underside of my foot before walking over to the door. I looked back across the steps dropping out of sight and the trees above. I wondered on stepping outside to this sight for every day that followed.

I staggered a little as the thought passed through my mind. I leaned against Mecchen House for support. I was about to go back inside when I noticed a flash of blond rising above the horizon, growing to reveal a slow-moving Jamie, who cautiously approached me and asked, “Umm… did Carolyn say if her place was open today?”

I’d forgot to ask and told Jamie as much, as well as mentioning that she had some broken glass.

He gave a little ‘oh’ and said, “Well… we could probably try tomorrow.”

I smirked. “I think there are other barbers in town…”

Jamie kept his arms folded protectively. “I’d rather it was someone we know… who at least knows me as… a guy.”

I gestured towards Mecchen House. “I’m sure there’s someone inside who can give you a rough trim at least.”

He scoffed. “I don’t want my hair to look bad… I mean this hair to look weird. I attract enough attention already.” Jamie’s head darted back, as though he expected someone to be right behind him. He dropped his shoulders and came around to the side of me.

“So no escaping from Mecchen House?” I enjoyed a ray of light which caught the side of my face.

Jamie elbowed me a bit as he passed. “I chose to come back...”

I gave him a smile. “Yeah, you did.”

He snorted through his nose. “And keep in mind, just because I came back doesn’t mean anything in particular. I mean…we both got some fresh air.”

“Is that so?” The smile curled on me past the point of being able to contain it.

“We got out…” Then his mood suddenly swelled. “In fact, as I was walking, I noticed a little break in the sidewalk off the side. That’s different…new…old. Whatever. But I remember that feature from before all this. That’s gotta be something, right?!”

I couldn’t offer him much so far as a reaction. I couldn’t remember anything of the sort before. Still, I gave him a nod.

It was his turn to smile. “Of course it is. That means there’s plenty left from before. And I’m going to encourage it.” He slipped his shoes off and stepped through the door.

I followed him, but wasn’t able to catch him in his haste as he skipped across the floor like Tara at her most energetic. I doubted he even noticed the similarity. Tara was helping Keiko tidy up her room. Keiko cautiously placed her bagged items in closets and around her folding bed. Tara arranged with gusto, pausing only to wave at me.

She left and returned with various decorations of the cutest nature. She mentioned she had hugged Jamie on the way. This room had no broken glass, but there was a wooden board laid across the far wall.

I gave Tara a little hug myself and asked her, “Do you ever like to stick your feet in mud?”

Her face brightened and she just about twirled off on an ode to fresh mud to skip through. She gave a high giggle as she described it, as though transported back to the moment of ecstasy.

I told her, with a gentle satisfaction, what I had done in the mud. She squeaked and laughed as though I’d tickled her. Tara clapped and said, “I’m glad you had fun. I have tons of ideas for more fun later! Maybe we can get everyone involved!” I answered with a hopeful nod.

Tara hugged a loaned plushie in her arms and passed it to Keiko. “I hope you don’t mind these…”

Keiko stared at Tara. “Why would I mind?”

She folded her arms and rocked in place. “Well. I’m still not sure how much… original you will come back… but you were never huge on girlish things. But you did sometimes have cute-ish things on your mind…” She gave a playful wink.

Keiko squeezed the plushie in her arms a little and brushed back her blue locks. “Oh. Well. I don’t mind it a bit now. Thank you very much.”

Tara bowed with a grin. “No worries, Keiko-chan!”

I asked her, “How was I back then?” I wasn’t sure if I was ready to hear more about my ‘before’ but it was as good a time as any to ask.

Tara tapped her cheek a bit and swung herself in place a bit, as though her motions would help with the memories. “You liked books a lot, you liked the drawn ones in particular. You were very much the ‘elder’ sister type from shows. Warm, enveloping… and wise.”

It sounded encouraging that this other ‘me’ wouldn’t be too different from me. Although, I had no idea I could be wise, especially like I’d witnessed when ‘she’ took over for me. I asked a little about Jamie. It wasn’t the news Jamie would’ve liked.

Kimi was just as the Hitomi-motivated glimpse implied; girlish with feminine drives. We absorbed Tara’s words. I soon left to check on the others but gave Tara a wave as she encouraged Keiko to pose the plushie on her bed.

Reiko was still absent, but Sumi toiled with mending. Akiko kept her arms on Ms. Ishida’s leg. Both seemed comforted by one another.

Miki dashed down and back through the hall with repaired panels, returning them to their original places.  Mami now worked with a paper panel which had received water damage through the broken windows. She lavished careful, affectionate care on the bits of paper.

I crouched beside her and asked, “Need any help?”

She folded her legs to get closer to the delicate work. Her flaming hair licked at her neck. “I’ve got it. I do have one request. Remember we were going take a bath together? I still think it might be fun.”

I remembered it, back then I still figured Mami intended to take me for every dollar I had left. I watched her expression. I couldn’t really read her even now, but she seemed sincere. I gave a little nod and she returned to her work.

Miki paused long enough to give me a motivational-pat and a smile. She turned her motivation on Sumi, who seemed mildly-amused at Miki’s efforts.

Hitomi blew on some glue. I noticed Ami still lay on the couch. Hitomi coughed a little and looked up at me.

I watched her as she worked. She pressed her lips together and said, “The glue pools into bumps along the edges. I don’t like it.” From her tone, it seemed as though she expected me to do something about it.

I sighed and shook my head. Akiko looked over at me but still kept close to Ms. Ishida. I crouched beside Hitomi. “I haven’t done anything like this before, but I think it looks good. Show Ms. Ishida.”

Hitomi tentatively held up her panel. Ms. Ishida smiled and said, “Good job.” Hitomi kept her eyes on me and asked, “You think it’s good?”

I gave Hitomi a nod.

She set the panel down and went to work on another bit, blowing on the glue to hurry the drying process. She blushed as I walked away and worked with a bit more energy.

Miki wove her way through my path as I walked over to Akiko and Ms. Ishida. They seemed so comfortable with one another, just like the other night. Ms. Ishida didn’t let Akiko handle any of the glue, glass or anything sharp or fragile, but she still found things for her.

Akiko breathed in the smell of a dirty rag and glanced up at me. She leaned towards Ms. Ishida and hid her face beneath her black hair. I watched her and I could still see Ami lying on the couch.

I stood there, between the two responsible for what had happened to Ami. I should’ve been able to gather up some level of burning anger for them. But instead, I felt warm. .

Ms. Ishida brushed Akiko’s hair between careful cutting. Her presence seemed stronger when Akiko was near. I backed away carefully and gave the slightest hint of a bow to them. Ms. Ishida just gave me a little smile.

I walked over to the couch and picked up Ami… I had a moment of considering her a dress, but soon tried to clear it from my thoughts. I laid her fabric over my arm with the greatest care and took the stairs all the way to the third floor and went in the room next to Katsumi’s.

My room.

I set Ami across my bed and started to organize the room in much the same way Keiko had done. I put some clothes away and lumped the storage items together so as to give the most floor space.

It took a while before I was satisfied with the way things were arranged. I wasn’t sure what to do with Ami though. I held her in my arms, wondering if that might help me to understand what she wanted, if anything.

I stood with her cloth for several moments, but no inspiration struck me. I folded her neatly and set her near the window so she could look out..

It wasn’t much but at least it wasn’t the dark depths of a dresser. I watched her motionless cloth and wondered a few things. I wondered first if my affection and care for Ami were genuine or merely bolstered by Hitomi’s plans. This thought soon passed.

Then, I wondered if I could do the same for Ami which Hitomi had done for our sake. Did I care enough to lose myself for her? I reflected on the idea.

I certainly wouldn’t do what Hitomi had done, knowing what I knew now. But, I wondered, if put in the same place she had been, would I have acted the same?

My immediate, visceral reaction was a firm “Never!” but a part of me still wondered if it was possible for me to get to that same point.

I shook off those concerns, gave sun-bathing Ami a little wave, and left to go back downstairs.

Katsumi stood in the middle of the hallway. She flashed me a ‘look’. I tried to remember if I’d left the door to the room open. I hadn’t.

She had the notebook under her arm and a purple pen poised over her right ear. I returned the kind look she’d given me and asked, “Doing better?”

She patted her notebook. “Quite. However…drawing what I like is one thing, but I’ve resolved my goal will always be to make it happen for real. I’ve seen it happen, so I know it’s possible…”

I leaned in. “So…?”

“I want you to teach me how to do it.”

I frowned. “Wait… what?”

She shrugged. “Not right now. But over time. Nina and her so-called demonhood, whatever… hasn’t panned out well for me. And who knows if she even remembers what she said back then.”

“She seemed fine,” I chimed in.

“Well, I need to cover all my opportunities. Keep in mind I’m still going to ask your friends and Hitomi as well. I’m really hoping I’ll get something out of Hitomi. But if you feel… something or learn something I just want you to pass it along, okay?”

I wasn’t quite sure what to say. But I gave her a nod of affirmation. “Okay…”

She brought her hands together with a laugh. “Yesss. One way or another… you better watch out world! …I am coming to make the boys quake with my presence!”

I was glad to see her ‘happy’…

She scampered down the steps. I waited a bit and found myself turning back to face down the hall. The gray door looked back at me. I slid it open and gazed at the dim shapes of computer consoles.

The wires were a little neater and the computers seemed to be grouped in rows of three. I figured that was Hitomi’s doing. I walked around the room with quiet steps. I went over to the closet where I’d first found Nana.

I could still see her shape clenched in that small space, gazing up at me a few days ago. I crouched before the opening and scooted inside. The area was as tight as I imagined but I fit.

Begrudging any fears, I shut the door and sealed myself in darkness. I laid there, pressed by walls in all directions. I could imagine the appeal. A second womb.

I wondered if Nana was in a place like this, a world away. I promised, without a word, that I would do my best to bring light and warmth to her darkness. Slowly, a faint glow, like a small fire, began to shade the corners of the closet. I shook my head, sighed, and opened the door.

I blinked a few times and noticed a voice calling for me from the hallway. I opened the gray door and looked out. Miki peered through the door to my room and then turned to smile at me.

“Oh! There you are. You have a phone call. Some nice-sounding lady.”

I made my way back to the kitchen and picked up the receiver. The voice on the other end spoke first.

“Hello, daughter. It’s Toki. Are you well?”

The phone nearly slipped from my hand. I tightened up.

The others were nearby but still out of ear-shot. I spoke with a hushed tone.

“Toki?”

“Yes.”

I held the phone firmly. I wondered if strange phone calls were a family thing.

“You… want to know if I’m well?”

She spoke rather softly too. “You. Keiko. Kimi. And the others. Is everyone fine?”

I considered my answer. “There are problems. But those who are still here seem to be coping.”

“Yes. The conditions are tough in many places.” She sighed softly through the phone.

I brought the phone as close as I could. “How are you?”

“I am managing.” I could hear her fiddling with something on the other end. I waited and listened.

I had to ask, “Why did you… call?”

The fiddling stopped. She seemed to adjust the receiver.

“Since Hitomi ran away, I have had my suspicions and concerns. But I recently learned for certain what she and others were involved in….”

She moved the phone.

“My deepest apologies. I am an old and idle woman. I fear I ruined your test and so much else.”

I creased my forehead. Hitomi mentioned a final examination. Was that what Toki meant? “Wait… what ‘test’ are you talking about?”

“It’s best I not speak at length right now. I’ll save any further words until I arrive.” Her tone was level throughout. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, save she didn’t sound much like the woman from the vision.

“Arrive?”

“Yes. As soon as I am able. Please tend to matters as best as possible till then. Farewell, daughter.”

And with that, the dial tone returned.

I set the phone down carefully. Where my ear had been pressed to the phone felt especially warm.

I looked back towards the others of Mecchen House… my friends. My ‘siblings’ in other cases. And one who was perhaps even something like a ‘daughter’. Ms. Ishida looked towards me. She had probably heard my use of ‘Toki’. I watched them as they watched me.

Akiko jumped up and clung to me, pressing her head against my stomach. I wasn’t sure if she latched onto me because of my swirling concerns or if she just wanted to hug. But I brushed her hair and enjoyed her embrace.

So I set my shoulders, looked out at the expectant faces, and told them everything.