“Who…who is that?” Mio asked.
“Ritsu Mikishima, the wife who went missing in that complex,” Kaname replied matter-of-factly.
The women held their silence, wide-eyed and alarmed, wreathing their agonized tea party companion.
Unperturbed by their presence, Kaname explained, “Half a year ago, two women died at Sawatari Apartments on the same day. One was Hiromi Sawatari, the wife of the designer who handled the complex’s renovation. The official report is that her son pushed her off her veranda.”
He paused, then continued without looking at Mio.
“The other was Keiko Kashiwazaki.”
This name was unfamiliar to her.
“Late at night, after Hiromi Sawatari’s death, she fell from the hallway of the south building and passed away. That same night, a wife went missing from an apartment with a direct view of the fall. The woman lived in Unit 515, which is where this dog came from. Just before she disappeared, Keiko Kashiwazaki was seen violently banging on her door and calling for her, according to eyewitnesses.”
Kaname took a deep breath.
“The deceased, Keiko Kashiwazaki, lived in Unit 201 in the south building, and introduced herself to others as Kaori Kanbara.”
“Ahhhhhh…”
There was a wail—not loud, but mournful. It came from the mouth of “Ritsu Mikishima,” the woman Hatch sniffed. The dog yapped adorably with great concern and care. “Hyip.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Hyip!”
She’d heard it that day, too.
And then she remembered.
I am…Ritsu.
Ritsu Mikishima.
My husband is Yuuki Mikishima. My son is Kanato Mikishima.
The barking dog is my pet, Hatch.
That night, I saw Kaori Kanbara climb over the handrail and fall.
Yuuki and Kanato went out to get dinner, and while I was home alone, she rang the doorbell over and over and over. Kaori Kanbara was there…
“Oh, Ritsuuu.”
“Let’s go and see the dead.”
Bam-bam-bam, bam-bam-bam, bam-bam-bam, bam-bam-bam, ding-dong, bam-bam-bam, bam-bam-bam, ding-dong, bam-bam, “Riiitsuuu,” bam-bam-bam-bam, “you can’t say you didn’t know her this tiiime,” ding-donnng…
“Hyip!” Hatch barked at the door. “Hyip! Hyip!”
He’s barking frantically. I’m frightened, so frightened, and I clutch the little dog for comfort.
“Ohhh, Riiitsuuu…”
The voice called for her from beyond the door.
I hold my head. The air feels thin. I can’t breathe.
“We need to tell Kanato, too. Asahi’s mother’s dead, after all. He’ll be very sad, and he’ll want to say good-bye. I can tell him about it. Let’s go, Ritsu. Shall I go to him?”
Stop…
She only recognized the wail at the mention of her son’s name as being her own when the pain in her exhausted lungs started. She was going to open the door. Open it and jump out, into the hallway…
Pressure squeezed her chest.
Kaori wasn’t there. Then she looked to the side with a gasp.
“Boo!” Kaori shouted, leaping out from behind the door. Ritsu shrieked and jumped away, using every reflex and muscle to evade.
Kaori launched herself onto the hallway handrail at full force. Her body tilted, hard.
“Ah,” a voice gasped—whether Ritsu’s or Kaori’s, she couldn’t tell.
Ritsu collapsed to the floor. Her legs felt weightless. And then…
Bang. The sound of something bursting.
The sound of a fall.
Yuuki had described it as a wham. The noise instantly grew dim. She was engulfed in silence.
Well, that’s that.
Kaori Kanbara had fallen right before her eyes.
Ritsu took the shock of that impact in with her entire being. She couldn’t will her muscles to work, and she didn’t want to peer down. She wished to close her eyes, but even that was impossible. And yet her vision was growing darker.
Flap-flap, fwup-fwup. Something was billowing in her ears. Through fading wits, Ritsu realized what the sound was—blue sheets.
The movers’ tarps that covered Sawatari Apartments beat in the wind, all at once. A gigantic creature breathing in and out.
Her consciousness was rapidly fading.
The last thing she heard before falling into darkness was Hatch barking, “Hyip!”
She could hear Hatch again, loud and clear.
A bell rang, too.
Riiing, riiing, riiing.
The fog had shrouded her mind for what felt like ages.
She tried to think of something, to remember who she was, and the fog instantly felt much, much heavier. It was like the fog took physical form and became cotton. When she tried to resist it, even slightly, it grew heavy as though it had absorbed water, clinging to her mind and body.
But…
The ringing of the bell burned the fog.
Flames erupted from the center of the mist. The core of the cotton that she believed was empty crackled like bamboo splitting apart. The burning vapor charred her body from the inside. She screamed at the agony coursing through her, and as she did, she realized, Oh, the fog and cotton were always such a dark color.
It was shadow.
Ring, ring.
The fog dispersed with the ringing and the terrible, searing pain. Darkness was purged.
“Ritsu Mikishima,” a voice called. She’d never heard it before, but it sounded very familiar and nostalgic. “Ritsu. Come back to us, Ritsu.”
“Here,” she mumbled.
At last, her lips moved of her own will, quivering imperceptibly.
Ritsu struggled as hard as she could to move. She called out, “H…atch…”
I am Ritsu Mikishima.
Not Kaori Kanbara. Ritsu Mikishima.
✦ ✦ ✦
“The family replenishes itself.”
Kaname didn’t face Mio, or wait for her to respond or urge him onward.
“When they go down a member, they take over and absorb someone involved with them at the time and force that victim to fulfill the same family role. They find someone of similar age to play the role of mother, child, or whoever, to maintain the family. That’s how they keep spreading darkness and death.”
His words didn’t make sense to Mio right away. She tried to chew on them, to ingest them, but her mind refused to follow. Kaname didn’t wait for her to catch up.
“In order to fill the hole left by the dead Kaori Kanbara at Sawatari Apartments, the family picked her to be the new Kaori Kanbara.”
Hatch stared concernedly at the collapsed woman’s face, refusing to leave her side. Perhaps he was protecting her. Even if Mio didn’t understand everything that was happening, the sight of the dog’s tender care plucked at her heartstrings.
“Ritsu. It’s all right,” Kaname said. He’d finally stopped ringing the bell. After releasing a deep breath, he placed his palm over the inner corner of the woman’s eye.
A single tear ran down her face. Gently, so gently, he told her, “You can sleep now.”
Her lips convulsed into movement. Mio thought she imagined it, but it sounded like the woman whispered “Okay.”
“Excuse me,” said an extremely perturbed voice.
Time had stopped when Kaname and Mio appeared, but the other women were still sitting around the table in the center of the room. All except for one, who was on her feet and looking extremely irritated. She was a pretty woman with eye-catching features, wearing a flower-print skirt.
“Who are you people? What are you doing in my home? And what happened to Mrs. Kanbara? What is all this nonsense about going missing and being pushed and all of that?”
Her voice shook, making it impossible to distinguish anger from fear. Presumably, she owned this apartment. Mio had no idea how to respond, so she left it to Kaname.
“Your lives have been saved,” he said, but, unlike moments ago with Ritsu, his voice was emotionless and cold. That statement alone wouldn’t clear up anything for the women, yet they recoiled. Their eyes were wide and fixed upon Kaname.
They must understand what he means, Mio realized.
She knew because it had happened to her. When Itta Kanbara wore her down, she understood that something was slowly going crazy in her life. She definitely had the premonition that something terrible would soon befall her. These women undoubtedly sensed the same thing.
“I have a request for all of you,” Kaname announced. “Tell me what you know about this Mrs. Kanbara’s current family and residence.”