Without bothering to fix her disheveled white hair, Old Lady Matsuura continued to stare at them, trembling with each breath. Yoshiki turned his back to her, and Hikaru quietly followed, saying, “Ah! Wait up!”

Though it would be a bit of a detour, Yoshiki decided to take another route home. The sound of the cicadas faded away. Now the boys could hear only a loud chorus of croaking frogs coming from the orange-tinted rice paddies.

Meanwhile, the face Old Lady Matsuura had made as she called Hikaru “Nounuki” remained seared into Yoshiki’s mind and wouldn’t leave.

“See ya tomorrow,” Hikaru said, standing in front of Yoshiki’s house.

“Hey…,” Yoshiki began. Then, before he could stop himself, he asked, “Hikaru really is dead, huh?”

He avoided looking into Hikaru’s eyes, but he could still feel Hikaru’s gaze on his bangs.

After a long, drawn-out silence, Hikaru finally nodded and said, “Yeah.”

Then he put his hand on his chest as he murmured steadily, firmly, “This body has a pulse and warmth to it, but it’s already dead.”

It’s already dead—those words dragged something out of Yoshiki that he hadn’t been able to confront until now.

“So, did you…?” Yoshiki started.

“Oh, no way! He was breathin’ his last when I came upon him. No doubt about that. I ’member wanderin’ ’round the mountains for some time. Was like that for a good long while—just not feelin’ anythin’. I was pretty much like a machine on autopilot all that time.”

It didn’t sound like Hikaru was making excuses. He wasn’t the one who killed Hikaru. Yoshiki had a vague sense of that.

“Then Hikaru was about to die, and before I knew it, I was like this.”

“And you like me?”

Yoshiki’s abrupt question caused Hikaru to gasp and respond, “Huh…? What?”

Yoshiki wasn’t expecting an answer.

But as Yoshiki reached for his front door, Hikaru clearly said, “I do.”

He actually said it.

“I’m crazy for you.”

The setting sun illuminated one side of Hikaru’s face, while the other half was cast in shadow. As a result, Yoshiki could see just half of Hikaru’s expression, but he could tell that Hikaru was smiling.

Hikaru never said a thing like that before, was Yoshiki’s honest impression. He swallowed those feelings and took a breath.

“If that’s so,” he said, “then never disappear on me ever again.”

Yoshiki didn’t look at Hikaru’s face after that. He opened the glass door at the entrance to his house and closed it behind him. The sound of it shutting was louder than he expected.

And beyond the orange-tinted frosted glass, all he could hear was the sound of croaking frogs.

—-

“Stay away! Stay awaaay!” Matsuura shouted at her front door from under a comforter pulled over her head. Her muffled breath caused sweat to trickle down the tip of her nose.

The floorboards at her house’s entrance gently twinkled in the moonlight that filtered through her glass door, making the woodgrain lightly visible. Above it, her skin-and-bone hands trembled.

It was just past midnight. With all the lights out, her home was dark and silent. Matsuura’s breathing was the only sound.

And yet…

“Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! I’ve got a delivery for you. Mrs. Matsuuraaaa?” a young man called out from beyond the pitch-black entrance. It wasn’t the voice of Satou, the deliveryman who usually delivered packages here.

In the quiet night, when everyone in Kubitachi was fast asleep, the man’s voice was all that echoed through the village.

“I ain’t openin’ the door…!”

After Matsuura managed to force those words out from the back of her throat, something hit the edge of her comforter with a clatter. The dish of salt at the entrance of her house had been knocked over.

In the darkness, the talismans posted on her walls glowed white. But the voice did not stop.

“Ohhh? Maybe she’s not here? Hello! Delivery…!”

“There ain’t no way a package’d…c-come this late…”

She tried to get the words out, but her trembling throat wouldn’t let her. Her breath was shallow, and cold sweat ran down her cheeks.

“You’re home, aren’t you? We’re both gonna have a problem if I don’t deliver this package, you know… Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa!”

The voice wouldn’t stop.

“Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa! Mrs. Matsuuraaaa… Mrs. Matsuuraaaa!”

“I—I—I…”

She began to stutter something, but as soon as she managed to say, “I won’t let’cha in,” she heard a cheery voice from behind her.

“I’m already inside.”

When she turned around, there was nothing but a dark hallway.

There was no sound, no sign of anyone—just the dark hallway.

***

CHAPTER 2

Undeniably Hikaru

1

“Come on, Yoshiki. I’m beggin’ ya here!” Yuuta Maki pleaded, almost as if he was rebelling against the scratching sounds of the desks being dragged across the floor.

The characteristic dry and dusty smell of cleaning time swirled about the classroom as Maki, with his buzzcut—the kind you’d find next to the dictionary entry for high school baseball team—looked at Yoshiki with desperate eyes.

That’s why Yoshiki instinctively replied, “Naw, don’ wanna…”

Maki exclaimed, “Whaaaaa?!” and collapsed onto the desk he had just finished moving. “Come on! It’ll only take a little bit!”

“I already told you I don’t wanna deal with any creepy stuff.”

But that wasn’t enough to make Maki give up, so Yoshiki, with a broom still in his hand, turned his gaze away. This was the third time this exchange had happened since they began cleaning.

“Hey, what’s goin’ on? Yer bein’ awfully loud…,” said a girl.

With a slightly annoyed look on her face, Yuuki Tadokoro walked over toward them with a garbage bag in hand.

“What happened?” she asked.

From her shoulders, which were much lower than Yoshiki’s and Maki’s, the tips of her pigtails slunk down as if they had just let out an exasperated sigh.

“Well,” said Maki, “you know how I always take the mountain path from the eastern gate to get back to Ashidori?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Most of the students who attended Kibogayama High School were graduates of nearby middle schools. Their school was a typical, unremarkable prefectural high school in an out-of-the-way area, so barely anyone enrolled from far off.

Yoshiki, who was from Kubitachi, and Yuuki, who lived in Kibogayama, attended different elementary schools but went to Kibogayama Middle School together. Maki graduated from a middle school in the Ashidori area where he lived.

Kibogayama High was built halfway up the mountain overlooking the town, and as Maki had mentioned, the shortest route from the school to Ashidori was the mountain path that continued from the eastern gate.

“See, the tunnel there’s under construction, so now I gotta use another way through the forest. One I don’t normally use.” Maki paused and took a quick breath before continuing. “But that forest path is spooky as hell!”

“Huh?” Yuuki cocked her head in confusion.

“And that’s why he wants me to go with him,” Yoshiki clarified.

Yuuki heaved an exasperated sigh. “That’s stupid…”

“But bein’ scary ain’t the half of it… I can’t look into the forest. It’s like my eyes can’t move away from the path in front of me.”

While Yuuki remained puzzled by Maki’s incomprehensible explanation, a tall female student suddenly jumped into the conversation.

“Whoa! Freaky!! Really gotta wonder what that’s all about!”

Swaying her short, soft hair and speaking in a voice with the crisp brightness of a freshly fried croquette, the girl repeated her interest in their conversation.

“Sounds fascinatin’! Real fascinatin’!”

The girl, Asako Yamagishi, was Yuuki’s best friend who had gone to the same middle school as her. She was over five feet, six inches tall and was abnormally strong at arm wrestling.

“So, is it that you can’t look into the forest ’cause it’s so scary?” she asked, leaning forward eagerly.

Encouraged by her interest, Maki became more energetic. “Naw. Wasn’t scary at first, you know? But it’s like, even if I try to look into the forest, before I know it, my eyes are back on the road. That’s what really got me spooked. And that’s why I’m askin’ ya to come with me, Yoshiki!”

Here we go again, thought Yoshiki.

“Nope,” he said. “Sounds way too scary.”

“You can think of it as a test of courage!”

“A test of courage…? The only people who do that are stupid tourists who come through every now an’ then.”

Kibogayama Town had a surprisingly large number of haunted places. There were even tourists who came specifically to visit the town’s famous tunnel.

“But yer seriously good at tests of courage,” Maki said. “You were amazin’ the last time we went.”

“Naw. That was just—”

Yoshiki started to explain, but Asako cut in, laughing, and said, “You were movin’ like you were doin’ an RTA speedrun.”

In reality, Yoshiki had been rushing to get to a toilet and was scared out of his mind. Just as he was about to make that excuse, he heard light footsteps approaching, signaling the arrival of the very last person he wanted to get involved in their conversation.

“Sounds real interestin’ to me!” Hikaru remarked, entering their circle. “I wanna go, too!”

Surprised by this, Maki, Yuuki, and Asako widened their eyes and, in unison, said, “Huh?”

Confused by their response, Hikaru shot back with his own, “Huh?”

“Y-ya sure ’bout that? You’re the worst at handlin’ these things, Hikaru,” Maki cautiously pointed out.

Yuuki nodded. “Ya passed out for two hours when ya saw that horror movie.”

“Oh, yeah…” Hikaru scratched his cheek awkwardly and slowly turned his gaze toward Yoshiki. “Well, I’ve gotten better with that stuff lately. Ain’t that right, Yoshiki?!”

Hikaru sought Yoshiki’s agreement.

Asako glanced back and forth between the two boys before finally keeping her eyes on Yoshiki, who managed to squeeze out an “Oh. Yeah…”

Maki, taking that to mean the matter was settled, smiled. “All right, then. So it’ll be Yoshiki, Yuuki, Asako, and Hikaru. I’m so glad y’all are comin’. For real.”

Taking a quick glance around the room, Yoshiki noticed that the cleaning was mostly done. Pale sunlight seeped through the windows and reflected off the neatly arranged desks.

The red scarves on Asako’s and Yuuki’s sailor uniforms looked oddly vibrant.

“Okay. See ya at the eastern gate after school,” Maki said brightly.

Their homeroom teacher, Coach Hara, arrived shortly after cleaning time looking tired. He spoke in an equally tired and slightly lazy tone. Hikaru had always been good at impersonating him.

“All right, I’m startin’ homeroom now,” Coach Hara drawled before sharing some news. “So, there was a dead body found over by Kubitachi this mornin’. They’re sayin’ there was no foul play involved, but the whole thing’s causin’ a stir. And, well, don’t be too surprised if you see police cars around. All right, then.”

The school bell rang—and though they shouldn’t have sounded anything alike, the bell overlapped with the police sirens Yoshiki had heard earlier that morning.