“Stuff this into the suitcase!”
A red dress hurtled through the crack in the bathroom door.
They were in a passenger cabin on the Primavera that had been set aside as Mito’s greenroom. It was on the fourth deck, one level above the lobby.
The dinner party was over, and everyone had come up so Mito could change into her regular clothes.
“Fine, fine. Talk about bossy,” Mayuka grumbled, picking up the dress and shoving it into the open suitcase on the floor.
“And these shoes!”
Now it was a pair of red pumps. Hinata picked them up and put them in their shoebox.
“Be careful with the violin! I’m supposed to play it again in a week, when the ship comes back to port. I’ll be borrowing it until then.”
“We know, Miss Mito. Your father told us all about it…,” Kobayashi teased. He brushed his fingers over the violin case resting on the desk by the wall. “I’m touching an instrument worth three hundred million yen…”
“I know, it’s unbelievable!” Mayuka said, frowning as she took the shoebox from Hinata and shoved it in the suitcase, too.
Hinata looked around the room. The rug on the floor was white and gray with geometric patterns on it. There were two beds, a sofa, a table, a large glass door, and a balcony.
He pushed the curtains open to get a better look outside. He could see the terminal building, all lit up.
Mayuka walked over and gazed out over his shoulder. “Once the ship leaves, the only thing you can see from here is ocean. I wish I could go. Chihori said they’re leaving port late tonight. The ship’s going north across the Pacific, then through the Tsugaru Strait into the Sea of Japan, and two days later, it’ll be in Vladivostok!”
“I wonder what it’s like to travel by ship…”
Hinata got the feeling that staying in a place like this would just frazzle his nerves and exhaust him.
There was a loud thump, and Mito emerged from the bathroom. She was dressed in the same black dress she’d worn on the trip there. She pulled the rubber tie out of her hair and shook the strands loose.
“Oh, I’m so thirsty! May I drink this?” she asked, reaching for a red beverage sitting on the round table.
Mayuka nodded. “Chihori brought it for us earlier. I was going to wait for you to finish changing before trying it. She said it’s the Primavera’s special pomegranate juice and that it was a gift from someone… I wonder who.”
Mito lifted a glass of translucent red juice and held it out. “Then…a final toast to our time on this ship!” Now finished with her work, Mito wore a satisfied smile.
The others quickly grabbed glasses, too, and clinked them against Mito’s.
“Cheers!”
Mayuka downed hers at once. Her eyes widened, and she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “Oooh, this is really good!”
“I can tell it’s a luxury cruise’s special blend,” Kobayashi agreed, impressed. He stared at the ice left in his now-empty glass.
Finished, Mito clunked hers back onto the table, sending droplets of water flying.
“Let’s go, then,” she said. “We’ll close up the suitcase, grab the violin, call for Chihori, and have her take us back to the lobby. Daddy called the taxi for us already.” She started to shove the top of the suitcase down in an attempt to close it.
“I-I’ll go and pick up Chris,” said Hinata. “Can I meet you in the lobby?”
“All right. Just don’t get lost,” she said, yanking the suitcase up into a standing position. Then, all of a sudden, she put a hand to her forehead and sat down on the bed.
“What’s wrong, Mito?” Kobayashi asked, concerned.
Hinata, who had yet to reach the door, turned back. Mayuka quickly went to sit down next to Mito.
“Are you feeling tired?” she asked. “You had a busy day.”
“No, this is nothing… But for some reason, I feel…sleepy…”
She flopped onto the bed.
“M-Mito…” Mayuka moved to get a closer look at her. But before she could, she fell down right next to her on the bed and was still.
Huh? Hinata tried to go see what was wrong with them, but his legs wouldn’t work.
What’s going on? His back prickled.
He turned to look at Kobayashi. The young man’s eyelids were twitching as he desperately tried to keep them open.
Wh-what’s happening to everyone…?
That was the last thought to run through his mind before he fell headlong into darkness.