“Why didn’t Kagura tell us about any of this?”
“Auntie said she never really talked about it, though Kagura had been to Aokigahara several times looking for him.”
Callie sighs. “And now she’s missing too. Personally, I don’t know what to make of it. It’s not like anything weird happened before she’d left, right? Auntie says lots of people have lost their way inside Aokigahara. Something about GPS devices and cell phones not working when you’re inside. And from what I can tell, it’s a pretty big forest. Tark, are you listening?”
Callie’s words jog something inside my head. “Sorry, you were saying?”
“Honestly, Tark! I’ve been prattling on and on, and you haven’t listened to anything I’ve said—hey!”
She scowls at me as I take a picture of her with my phone. The flash makes Callie look pasty white, though it does nothing to hide her full-on glare. I show it to her, chuckling.
“I’m kidding,” I say. “I heard every word. And now it’s my turn to tell you not to worry. Go and take a dip in the hot spring or something.”
She smiles at me. “Yeah. Maybe I will. I need a soak. As long as you promise to stop looking through those old books and get some sleep.”
“Cross my heart. Can I ask a favor?”
“What is it?”
“In the event, you know, something happens to me—and I mean that in the most hypothetical sense—you’ll do everything in your power to fi—”
Before I can finish, Callie bounds to my side and claps a hand over my mouth. “Absolutely not,” she says severely. “I absolutely refuse to do anything on your behalf, Tarquin Halloway. The last time you said something as half-assed as this, you tried to stab yourself and I spent a week in a hospital. So you’d better take care of yourself and not do anything stupid. Because I’m not gonna bail you out again. You hear me?”
I mumble a “yes” through her fingers and hold up my hands in surrender.
“Good. Now I feel like I need a drink.”
“Me too?” I ask hopefully.
“Nope.”
“Meanie.”
“Not my fault you’re underage.”
“You were too until a couple of months ago.”
“I know. Ain’t that great?”
“You’re getting to be a real alcoholic these days, Callie.”
“Shut up.”
I keep grinning until she leaves. Then I stare down at the phone in my hand before taking a picture of myself. Okiku watches me as if she already knows the outcome.
The picture flashes on the screen. Maybe I already know the outcome too, because I’m not surprised by what I see.
“Figures.”
Taking my own advice, I shed my clothes and step out into the hot spring, the heat of the water and the biting cold of the night warring against my skin.
I find a comfortable spot and sink in to my neck, closing my eyes and breathing deeply because I’m not sure when I’ll be back here—if ever. When I open them again, Okiku is lurking by the spring’s edge. She turned away when I began shedding clothes, but now she is looking down at the water, and her longing pulls at me.
“Ki, you can come in with me if you want.”
“It is not proper.”
“If it wasn’t proper, it wouldn’t be communal. Come on.”
For all my bravado, it’s my turn to face away and wait, listening for the splash that never comes. By the time I realize ghosts don’t make ripples, Okiku is already in the water, still fully clothed. The rising steam fogs my vision, so all I can make out is her mass of hair near the farthest edge of the spring.
“I’m sorry, Ki.” I say.
“Why?”
“You saw the photo I took of myself. You know what that means.”
“It is never too late for anything.”
Another minute passes before I speak again. “You sure you’re not mad at me anymore?”
“It is of no consequence.”
“You know, that’s girl code for you’re still mad at me.”
She says nothing.
“Okiku, can you do something for me? Can you promise not to kill anyone without at least talking to me first? When you start feeling these urges, I would rather you give me a heads-up so I can look for alternatives. Like, you know, maybe keeping out of the guy’s way and not publicly antagonizing him in the first place.”
“Do you not trust me?”
It’s hard to pick up emotion from her dry monotone, but I can tell she’s hurt by my suggestion.
“Okiku, don’t be ridiculous. I trust you with my life, and that’s kind of the problem. What we did nearly put us in the spotlight, and that’s the last thing we want if we don’t want to get caught. Well, if we don’t want me to get caught anyway. You’re beyond the scope of legal jurisdiction. Do you understand?”
“Why do you do this?”
“Well, killing someone under the assumption that he might hurt someone in the future…”
“No. Why do you fight for him when you feel nothing for his death?”