Her mistake had been in getting so close.
Sakura slapped her, open-handed, with such force that the sound echoed off the stone wall of the school. As Ume reeled away, Sakura followed. Grabbing a fistful of her hair, she punched her in the face hard enough that blood squirted from both nostrils.
“Jesus, cut it out!” Kara shouted and grabbed Sakura by the arms, hauling her backward.
Sakura managed to launch a kick that hit Ume in the gut. The taller girl fell to her knees and vomited in the grass. As she wiped puke and blood from her lips, the two boys by the door began to cheer and the other soccer girls started for Sakura. Even the ones who had seemed unsure before looked like they had made up their minds now. They were going to take Sakura apart.
“Stop it!”
They all turned to see Miho and Hachiro coming around from the back of the school and running toward them. Hachiro had been the one to shout.
“What’s wrong with you? All of you?” Miho asked, rushing to help Kara escort Sakura away.
“Do you want to be expelled?” Hachiro shouted at the others.
He stayed there, warning them all not to follow, and nobody did. Maybe because Hachiro had been so close to Jiro, maybe because they trusted him, or perhaps just because of his size, they all listened to him.
Except for Ume.
“I’m not haunted!” she cried after them.
“Yes, you are,” Sakura whispered to herself.
Miho and Kara walked on either side of her, around the front of the school building and down the street. Kara didn’t know where Miho was leading them, but at the moment, anywhere was better than here. It was a miracle none of the teachers had come out during the scuffle. They were lucky it had been so quick. But the headmaster would hear about it soon enough.
“Are we going for candy?” Sakura asked, softly.
Miho smiled. “Yes.”
“You’re going to give me sugar after that?”
Kara glanced at Miho. “Is that a good idea?”
“For her, yes. For us, maybe not so much.”
They all laughed, just a little. But as they walked, Kara kept stealing glances at Sakura, until finally the other girl shook her head.
“You want to ask, so ask,” she said.
“Fine. What was all of that about?”
All trace of humor left Sakura’s face. “I don’t know for sure if Ume was involved in Akane’s death. But if she didn’t kill my sister, I think she knows who did. They think I’m doing something to them, but they’re wrong. I haven’t done anything.”
She stopped and looked at Miho and Kara. “It’s Akane. She’s haunting them. Her spirit’s still here at school, still lingering where she was murdered. I hope she drives them all mad.”
Sakura walked on.
For a few seconds, Kara and Miho only stared after her, wide-eyed. Then they set off after her. Someone had to stay with her.
But all the while, Kara thought about what she and Ume and Maiko had said about their bad dreams. Kara hadn’t even known Akane, but the nightmares were haunting her as well. She thought about mentioning this, explaining to Sakura that it proved she was wrong. Even if she believed in ghosts or spirits, if Akane really was haunting Ume and the others, the spirit wouldn’t bother with a girl who’d been living halfway around the world when she was murdered.
Then she thought about the cat she’d seen in school that day, and her dreams, and how badly Sakura seemed to need to believe Akane’s spirit still hung around Monju-no-Chie School, and she decided to keep quiet.
There would be time for logic and reality-check questions another day.
For this afternoon, there would be candy.
8
M id-morning on Thursday, while she was supposed to be paying attention in her history class, Kara couldn’t stop thinking about Ume and Sakura’s behavior the day before. Not even twenty-four hours had passed, and she was already sick of watching her back, waiting for whatever Ume might do in retribution.
At least Kara had gotten some sleep. Her father had given her Ambien. She didn’t like taking the pill-it made her feel groggy in the morning, and she didn’t want to have to rely on medication in order to get some rest-but at least she’d been able to sleep, and she hadn’t dreamed at all, which was a major bonus. This morning she felt more alert, more aware, and only now did she realize just how much her restless nights had begun to wear on her. As bad as she had looked-the dark circles under eyes, her sallow face-she’d felt even worse.
Today she found herself more able to concentrate, and that meant a focus on recent events that she hadn’t been able to manage earlier in the week. What seemed surreal and impossible just the day before now seemed vivid and credible. Others were having bad dreams-Ume and the other soccer girls, some of the boys they hung around with, Sakura, and Kara herself. But Miho claimed she hadn’t been troubled by nightmares, that only Sakura’s sleeplessness had interrupted her slumber.
So where were the connections?
Sakura claimed Ume had something to do with her sister’s death, and that Ume and her friends were being haunted. Despite the cat and the terrible dreams she’d had, Kara couldn’t bring herself to believe that. But clearly, something was troubling them all. Ume thought Sakura had drugged them, but that seemed not only improbable but ridiculous.
Kara had no answers, only questions. Foremost among them was how she fit into the whole scenario. She had never known Akane. If Ume was right and Sakura had done something to them, why would she include Kara? She wouldn’t. And if Akane had decided to haunt Ume because the girl had been involved in her murder, again, why haunt Kara as well?
None of it made any sense. And, as much as she thought the girl was a shallow bitch, Kara didn’t think Ume capable of murder, or even of being an accomplice without falling apart. Sakura had lost her sister; it made sense that she couldn’t be objective.
But maybe she’s half right, Kara thought. Maybe Ume knows who did it. Maybe they all do, and what’s haunting them is guilt.
Not that Sakura would talk about it. Neither she nor Miho had elaborated any further on the reasons for the animosity that seethed between Sakura and Ume. After the clash with Ume and her friends, going to buy candy had seemed like a silly thing to do, but Kara had seen it as almost a last supper. After all, as soon as Ume reported the violence, Sakura’s punishment would be swift. Ume’s friends would support whatever version of the truth the girl wanted to put forward. Kara had no doubt that Sakura would be expelled, or at least suspended.
She glanced at the clock and wondered how long before Sakura would be called in to see the headmaster. Had it already happened? If not, then why not? If there weren’t any repercussions, that meant Ume hadn’t reported the assault. And the only explanation for that was that she was planning some other form of retribution.
Someone knocked lightly on the door.
Every student in the room turned to look, but Joken-sensei completed his thought before surrendering command of the classroom. Looking perturbed at the interruption, he went to the door and slid it open.
Through the gap, Kara caught a glimpse of Mr. Matsui, which surprised her. He must have had a class to teach, so what was he doing out in the corridor?
Joken-sensei stepped into the hall and the two men spoke in low voices, not quite a whisper but not loud enough for the students to hear more than muffled inflections.
Oddly, it was Mr. Matsui who poked his head back into the classroom.
“You will be on your own for several minutes. Misbehavior will not be tolerated. See that you conduct yourselves properly until Joken-sensei returns.”
Without further comment, he withdrew, sliding the door closed.
For perhaps ten long seconds, the class remained silent, staring at the door and at one another. Then a current of murmurs swept the room as they began to wonder aloud about what had just happened. Had Joken-sensei had some sort of personal emergency, a terrible message Mr. Matsui was delivering? Or-given the grim expression on Mr. Matsui’s face- had he been called away to handle another school crisis?