Read Online Book Girl and the Famished Spirit by Mizuki Nomura - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Mizuki Nomura
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stomach. It might not be his body that was damaged, but his spirit.
I had a very ominous image of Tamotsu Kurosaki, a man whom I had never met.
What was he trying to accomplish?
“I want a story with animals in it,” Maika said, beaming at me.
“Then we’ll have to find one as soon as we eat our snacks.”
“ ’Kay!” Maika agreed happily.
I took her hand, and we went downstairs. When I caught the scent of sweet potatoes, my stomach rumbled softly and my mouth watered.
I had a normal appetite now.
My spirit had been damaged once, but now it could function properly despite the occasional glitch.
The thing about my recovery that made my throat close up in pain and despair, though, was that it made me feel as if Miu’s presence was moving farther and farther away from me.
I knew I was being contradictory. Even though I usually throw a veil over my memories and try desperately not to look at them, I didn’t want to forget her.
After dinner, I rode my bike to a dollar store to buy more lead for my pencil. My mother had asked me to get some food and a few small items, and I was on my way home. But something was nagging at me, and I swung by the school.
It was probably the brief rain shower that had made the air socool. Moonlight glinted where it struck the wet ground. The school building loomed pale in the humid darkness.
Tohko would never go so far as to stake out the mailbox on a Saturday—would she?
I wasn’t sure about that. I stood astride my bike and gazed at the school building.
Just then, a black luxury car stopped outside the gates.
The door opened and a willowy woman got out.
That’s—
My heart almost leaped out of my chest. I was positive it was Amemiya, carrying a black bag in one hand and wearing the old-fashioned sailor uniform. She took fluttering steps into the building.
The car smoothly pulled away from the gate. I couldn’t see the driver’s face all that well in the darkness, but he looked like a tall, slender man.
Could it have been Kurosaki? But why would he bring Amemiya to school? Did he know about her eccentric behavior and leave her to it?
I pedaled hard to circle around to the back gate and park my bike at the bike racks; then I ran to the courtyard.
Amemiya was plunked down on the wet grass, writing in a notebook, then tearing up what she had written and putting it into the mailbox. Her frail back and twig of a neck were exactly as I had first seen them.
What should I do? Should I call out to her?
While I debated with myself, Amemiya put her notebook back into her bag, then stood up and walked off.
She did not go toward the gates, but instead headed down the walkway and went into the school building.
Huh?
Shouldn’t it have been locked? I wondered why it wasn’t.
At this rate, I was going to lose track of Amemiya. I hurried after her.
Bathed in moonlight, the hallway was like a dark canal. Amemiya moved through it, bobbing like a gondola on the waves.
She climbed the stairs and moved down another hallway until she came to the chemistry lab. There she turned to the door and passed inside.
The lights snapped on in the room.
Pressed against the wall, swallowing nervously more times than I could count, I held my breath and listened. I heard a clattering and then a clang.
Was that… the sound of metal? A locker opening? And something being taken out of it? Then the sound of running water and a chair being moved…
Huh?
Everything got quiet all of a sudden.
Worried, I opened the door a crack and peered inside, but Amemiya wasn’t there.
Sweat coated my body instantly.
How could she—Where did she go? We were on the third floor. She couldn’t have jumped out the window!
I opened the door and went into the room. The lights were on, and the windows and curtains were all closed. I caught the bitter smell of chemicals; there was a blackboard at the front of the room and shelves full of beakers and equipment at the back. In between were neat lines of black
I had a very ominous image of Tamotsu Kurosaki, a man whom I had never met.
What was he trying to accomplish?
“I want a story with animals in it,” Maika said, beaming at me.
“Then we’ll have to find one as soon as we eat our snacks.”
“ ’Kay!” Maika agreed happily.
I took her hand, and we went downstairs. When I caught the scent of sweet potatoes, my stomach rumbled softly and my mouth watered.
I had a normal appetite now.
My spirit had been damaged once, but now it could function properly despite the occasional glitch.
The thing about my recovery that made my throat close up in pain and despair, though, was that it made me feel as if Miu’s presence was moving farther and farther away from me.
I knew I was being contradictory. Even though I usually throw a veil over my memories and try desperately not to look at them, I didn’t want to forget her.
After dinner, I rode my bike to a dollar store to buy more lead for my pencil. My mother had asked me to get some food and a few small items, and I was on my way home. But something was nagging at me, and I swung by the school.
It was probably the brief rain shower that had made the air socool. Moonlight glinted where it struck the wet ground. The school building loomed pale in the humid darkness.
Tohko would never go so far as to stake out the mailbox on a Saturday—would she?
I wasn’t sure about that. I stood astride my bike and gazed at the school building.
Just then, a black luxury car stopped outside the gates.
The door opened and a willowy woman got out.
That’s—
My heart almost leaped out of my chest. I was positive it was Amemiya, carrying a black bag in one hand and wearing the old-fashioned sailor uniform. She took fluttering steps into the building.
The car smoothly pulled away from the gate. I couldn’t see the driver’s face all that well in the darkness, but he looked like a tall, slender man.
Could it have been Kurosaki? But why would he bring Amemiya to school? Did he know about her eccentric behavior and leave her to it?
I pedaled hard to circle around to the back gate and park my bike at the bike racks; then I ran to the courtyard.
Amemiya was plunked down on the wet grass, writing in a notebook, then tearing up what she had written and putting it into the mailbox. Her frail back and twig of a neck were exactly as I had first seen them.
What should I do? Should I call out to her?
While I debated with myself, Amemiya put her notebook back into her bag, then stood up and walked off.
She did not go toward the gates, but instead headed down the walkway and went into the school building.
Huh?
Shouldn’t it have been locked? I wondered why it wasn’t.
At this rate, I was going to lose track of Amemiya. I hurried after her.
Bathed in moonlight, the hallway was like a dark canal. Amemiya moved through it, bobbing like a gondola on the waves.
She climbed the stairs and moved down another hallway until she came to the chemistry lab. There she turned to the door and passed inside.
The lights snapped on in the room.
Pressed against the wall, swallowing nervously more times than I could count, I held my breath and listened. I heard a clattering and then a clang.
Was that… the sound of metal? A locker opening? And something being taken out of it? Then the sound of running water and a chair being moved…
Huh?
Everything got quiet all of a sudden.
Worried, I opened the door a crack and peered inside, but Amemiya wasn’t there.
Sweat coated my body instantly.
How could she—Where did she go? We were on the third floor. She couldn’t have jumped out the window!
I opened the door and went into the room. The lights were on, and the windows and curtains were all closed. I caught the bitter smell of chemicals; there was a blackboard at the front of the room and shelves full of beakers and equipment at the back. In between were neat lines of black
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