Ghost of a Chance

The Forgotten Children (Part 5)

"I'm ashamed of myself, being so shocked by something like that," Masako said. "It was a big fire, but why should I cry about the spontaneous combustion of a room?"

"Yeah..." Mai said. 'But that's not all. I have a feeling that something much worse happened.'

"I felt like crying, too, for some reason," Hitomi admitted.

"You did?" Naru asked.

"Yes, why?" Hitomi asked.

"No... It's nothing," Naru said, though he was surprised.

"Onee-chan, can I have some juice?" Mariko asked.

"Of course, I'll get it," Mai said. "Which cup was yours, Takato-kun?"

"The cow one," he replied.

"Mine's the rabbit!" Mariko said. "And Shigumi has the crab one, right?"

"Yeah!" Shigumi said. Mai poured the juice and smiled at them while they grabbed their cups.

"Here Shigumi, make sure you don't spill it," Mariko said, helping him with his. Hitomi started pacing. She walked over to the doors and stopped when she looked out the windows in them.

"... Hey, who drove the cars here?" Hitomi asked.

"What, are you half asleep?" Bou-san asked. "I did."

"We have two cars," Hitomi said. "Who drove the second one?" She knew it wasn't her but couldn't remember who actually did it.

"... Ah," Bou-san said. He drew a blank.

"I did, Hitomi-san," John said.

"Really? Huh?" Bou-san said.

"You can drive, John?" Mai asked.

"Yes... I... can...?" he said.

"You don't sound sure," Hitomi noted.

"Hitomi-onee-chan," Mariko said, tugging on her kimono sleeve.

"Hm?" Hitomi said.

"Shigumi lost his coin," Mariko said.

"Eh? Where?" Hitomi asked.

"Upstairs, it was the entire five hundred yen I've been saving," Shigumi said, on the verge of tears.

"Oh my, that's terrible!" Hitomi said.

"I dropped it at the second floor's entrance, near the thing that looks like a medal," Shigumi said.

"You want to look for it?" Mai asked, coming over to help. Shigumi nodded. "Then I'll go with you."

"Mai, your abilities are still unstable, so you shouldn't wander around," Naru said.

"But it's just a little—" Mai said.

"Absolutely not," Naru said.

"It's fine!" Shigumi said. "It's my coin, so I'll go!"

"But it'll be dangerous all alone, so someone should go with you," Hitomi said.

"That's right," Mai agreed.

"No!" Shigumi cried.

"Shigumi-kun," Naru said firmly. "This is a dangerous place. That means we can't walk around alone."

"I... I won't go alone," Shigumi said. "I'll go with Mai-onee-chan and Takato-kun."

"Hey, since it's just going a little way upstairs—" Mai said.