desire. It was easier to let myself be carried away by instinct, but every hour I refrained was proof of the possibility. Still, I always chose to succumb. The constant anger aimed at myself then, was because deep down, I knew all I truly had to do was make a different choice…
It was harder than David thought it would be to find a secluded place in the museum. It took five minutes of prowling the first floor before they found an alcove isolated enough to pull Tsubasa aside.
“You can see ghosts?” Takumi hissed once they were alone.
“Sure, I’ve been able to see them for months. Apparently, you can too. How come? I figured it out by accident,” Tsubasa said. He turned the same curious stare he always had while researching motors, gadgets, and computers in the school library on David. “What did the obake say before he disappeared?”
“You’d better go first,” David said, reminded that he was supposed to keep everything to do with samurai and spirits secret. Tsubasa just stared back. “Fine, the obake asked us not to forget what we saw here. He must be the one who died while standing before the window. His friend was standing right next to him yet he survived. The ghost wanted to make sure someone would remember what his friend said in his video message.”
Tsubasa stared back at them as if expecting more of an explanation, but shrugged his shoulders. David might have sighed in relief but something about the boy’s look said he had not given up on getting answers.
“You know I’m in the electronics club right? Well we are always building stuff, playing with circuits. Well a year ago Kenta and I decided to try to make x-ray glasses. You know, kids’ stuff. We ended up with a kind of mirror that had an electrical current running through it. I had it at home, and when I looked in the mirror, I caught a glimpse of an old man. When I looked up, my grandfather was standing right there.” Tsubasa turned and gestured as if his grandfather would show up right next to them all. “He had died about a year before that, so it scared me, but three times since I have seen ghosts, and even talked to them. Kenta didn’t believe me, but we still worked on it together. I guess once you see one, you can see them all. So what about you two?”
“Ah, well I’ve always been able to see them,” David said. “Takumi too, I think the one in here had been waiting for someone to hear him. He must have been satisfied when I acknowledged him. You should be careful though. Not all the ghosts you meet are nice.”
Tsubasa’s stare told them he remained unconvinced. David sought for something to say that might ensure their classmate would keep quiet, but the rest of their class began walking up the long curving exit ramp. Tsubasa followed David’s gaze to the giant cruise missile hanging from the center of the room, then shrugged, and headed off after the others. With the Matsumoto secrets somewhat safe for the time being, David and Takumi followed behind.
‘It’s a good thing Natsu wasn’t with us,’ David thought once they were outside the museum and following their guides through a series of parks. ‘She still freaks out when she sees Ryohei. She wouldn’t have liked the obake in there.’
‘Definitely. I think we should convince Tsubasa to let us borrow his mirror though. The other Matsumotos could benefit from being able to see Ryohei and other ghosts,’ Kou replied within David’s mind. He had kept quiet since the plane ride, but David could tell the young tiger was getting restless. They had both grown used to being able to transform every night. David missed the feeling of wind through his fur, and the increased senses were addictive. As they walked, Natsuki and Rie fell into step alongside them.
‘You don’t have fur. All you have is that peach fuzz you call hair.’
‘Dude, not cool. You have fur, and when we’re a tiger, I can feel it just the same as if I did have fur.’
The second years walked through a large park with several statues that their tour guides explained, and then viewed a bit of ground from the explosion excavated and preserved behind thick glass. David focused so much on trying to read every movement Tsubasa made that he missed most of the scenery. As they walked past a stand of trees, David froze as Natsuki, Rie, Takumi, and Tsubasa all stopped at the same instant. He saw Natsuki start to cringe away even as the rest of his classmates walked on, oblivious of whatever had stopped his friends.
David ran ahead. The ground fell away before them as concentric circles focused on a tall monument in the center of a wide clearing. Off to the side, the ruins of a building stood surrounded by grass and paved stones. As the rest of the second years walked down toward the center, listening to their tour guides, David realized what the others had seen before him. Throughout the entire area, there were translucent apparitions milling about in old uniforms and clothing from a different era.
Just ahead, Natsuki’s skin had tuned sickly pale with fright. She was just shy of bolting. Beside her, Takumi had closed his eyes in concentration as he focused on not turning into Reimi. When Natsuki had been his partner, Kou had transformed to comfort her whenever she had become distraught. As her new partner, Reimi would want to do the same, though having Takumi transform into a phoenix would be horrific for their covers as normal students. David stepped forward warily.
“Don’t worry, we will keep you safe,” David whispered from behind them. “They aren’t here to hurt you. Look, they are all just sad. I think they just want someone to recognize they were here, and not forget. Stick close to Takumi. Things will be fine.”
About halfway down the path, Tsubasa turned, his gaze sweeping the area everyone else would have thought vacant. When he turned past the girls, his casual eyes took on a knowing look. David was thankful his observant classmate did not wait to ask more questions, but instead followed the other students. Below, Moriyama gestured for them to hurry as the class lined up for a picture.
Before they could move, a little girl in an old-fashioned kimono appeared before them. She was small, cute, and as transparent at a light breeze. David hid a smile as Natsuki attached herself to Takumi’s arm in fear.
“Will you remember me?” the little girl asked in a barely perceptible voice, her words laced with sadness fostered by years of unanswered questions.
David noticed a tear glisten in Natsuki’s eye, and she nodded. With a radiant smile, the little girl danced away on the wind, disappearing among the trees. Although there were still many other obake about, Natsuki relaxed a little.
Realizing what she was doing, Natsuki extricated herself from Takumi’s arm. They made it to the center of the clearing for a picture before the epicenter monument without any of the other obake stopping them. Their guides soon led them out of the area.
The incident rattled David. It reminded him that this school trip could turn from a string of fun new experience to something far more dangerous if Chul Soon or one of his allies showed up. Resolved to be more vigilant, he continued walking with his classmates.
A short distance from the clearing, their guide led them up a long flight of stairs that ended before a fountain. A tall bronze statue rose in the distance, taller than the cascading water. Past the fountain, they walked through more ruins, statues, and monuments, closing on the giant statue of a man sitting, one hand raised to the sky, pointing with two fingers. As they approached the statue, David saw the same gray uniformed students he had seen throughout the tour, ten of them, standing before the statue as a photographer took their photos.
“That’s not a very big class,” Rie said.
“They’re from a small island way east of Okinawa,” Kenta replied from Tsubasa’s side as the class lined up.
Mizuki stepped forward to read a speech, and then
