LITMIR.BIZ

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face scrunched up in confusion. I pulled the tab of the soup back and took a sip; it was like drinking hot creamed corn.

      “What do you know about this?” Tomo said. We made our way into the living room, where Ishikawa slumped back onto the couch. He definitely made himself at home here. I sat down on a zabuton, a cushion on the floor near the coffee table.

      “It was him,” Ishikawa said. “He killed Hanchi.”

      Tomo turned to look at me, his face pale. “You went to see him?”

      The soup can radiated warmth in my hand. “I know it wasn’t a good idea, but...”

      “He could’ve hurt you!”

      “Calm yourself,” Ishikawa said, tipping his head back over the couch arm to empty the can of soup into his mouth. “I was with her the whole time.”

      Tomo rolled his eyes. “Like I said. She was completely defenseless.”

      “Oi,” Ishikawa said, tilting his head upright to glare at Tomo.

      I reached for Tomo’s hand, slipping my fingers into the curl of his. “We needed to know,” I said. “We had to talk to him.”

      “What if he’d attacked you, or kidnapped you? We can’t trust him, Katie. He wants to kill me, and what if he hurts you?”

      I stopped, remembering the nightmare. Why had I thought Jun might still be on our side? Of course he was dangerous. I had to protect Tomo. “I’m sorry,” I said. “It was stupid to go.”

      He shook his head and ran a hand through his copper spikes. “I just... I hate to be trapped in here, not knowing what’s going on. I don’t want to see your life destroyed because of what I am.”

      “It’s not just you,” I said. “This affects me, too.”

      “And me,” Ishikawa said. We both looked at him. “What?” he said, putting his soup can on the coffee table with a clank. “I may not be a Kami, but I am Yuuto’s best friend. And I have an objective view of what’s going on.”

      Tomo leaned back against the wall. “That’s a big word for you.”

      “Uruse.” Ishikawa flipped him the finger. “Here’s the thing. It’s not just about you lovebirds anymore. Jun’s going to set the world on fire, one tree at a time.” He rose from the couch and approached Tomo, resting a hand on his arm. “This affects everybody. It’s everyone’s problem. He’s more screwed up than I am, man. He said he wanted to ‘purge you from the world.’ Who says that?”

      Tomo gasped and doubled over like the air had been knocked out of him.

      “Tomo!” Ishikawa and I each grabbed one of his arms as he keeled backward toward the hardwood floor. Gravity pulled him down as we tried to keep him upright. We lowered him gently as he shook.

      Whispers gathered on the air, a cacophony of voices that grew louder as Tomo writhed on the floor. I’d heard these voices before, and I checked Tomo’s eyes, frightened. His pupils flooded with black, large and vacant.

      “Oi, Yuuto! Snap out of it.” Ishikawa tapped Tomo’s cheek, trying to wake him from the nightmare overtaking him. “We’re right here. Come on, man.”

      “Tomo,” I said again. “Don’t let it win. Find yourself.” Tomo let out a cry, and ink welled up underneath his shirt. It poured down his arms, dripping onto the floor.

      Ishikawa leaned back, his eyes wide. “Kuse!” he swore. “What is that?”

      He could see the ink, too. Oh god. This was bad.

      Tomo yelled, but his voice didn’t sound right. It echoed like the voices on the wind. He curled his hands into fists, his fingers slippery from the greasy black ink.

      I grabbed his hand, the ink warm on my fingers as I wrapped them around his. “Tomo, it’s okay,” I said. “It’s okay.”

      He looked at me with those large eyes; he shook with fear. “No,” he said. “No!”

      Ishikawa looked at me with panicked eyes. “No what?”

      I knew then. Not me, but something inside me knew. Tomo and I spoke the words together, as if I’d said them a hundred times.

      “No escape.”

      The ink lifted into the air in a dust of fluttering gold, and Tomo closed his eyes, falling into a heavy sleep.

      “You guys are freaking me out with your synchronized weirdness,” Ishikawa murmured. We were sitting on the couch, watching Tomo sleep on the floor. We’d discussed carrying him up to his room, but figured it was better to put a blanket over him and watch him for now.

      I sat with my feet pulled up, my toes curled over the edge of the cushion. “It’s the Kami blood,” I said. “Amaterasu and Tsukiyomi warring in him for control.”

      “Creepy,” Ishikawa said. “Like, real kami? As in he’s possessed or something?”

      “I don’t think so. More like awakening to the destiny he can’t escape. He’s Kami and human. He’ll become the whole person he really is.”

      Ishikawa sneered. “Don’t be an idiot. I know who he is. He’s Yuuto. That’s all.”

      I blinked. I’d never thought of it like that, but he was right. Tomo had spent his whole life creating his own identity, becoming who he was. To suggest he was some other person, some time bomb that would destroy the world...that wasn’t him.

      I must have stared into space too long, because Ishikawa frowned as he looked at me. “What, Greene?”

      “I was just thinking that you haven’t bleached all the brain cells out of your head.”

      “Hidoi,” he complained. That’s cruel.

      I ignored him. “What we need to do is silence Tsukiyomi. That’s all we need to do, and Tomo’s suffering is over.”

      “That and stop Takahashi.”

      Tomo grunted and we stopped talking, watching as he slowly turned onto his side and continued to sleep.

      “It’s getting late,” Ishikawa said. “Don’t you need to get home?”

      I pulled out my keitai and checked the time. “Crap!” I’d missed text messages from Diane asking if I was coming for dinner. We both had so many late nights at school—it was common in Japan for students and teachers to stay for after-school clubs until even eight or nine—that we didn’t have the chance to eat dinner together as much as we had when I’d first arrived.

      “Go home,” Ishikawa said. “I’ll stay with Yuuto and make sure he’s okay.” I hesitated, but he just smiled at me. “The worst is over, yeah? And you need to stay on good terms with your aunt so she doesn’t stop you guys from seeing each other. As much as that would make my life better, it would make Yuuto’s suck, so get going already.”

      He had a point. “But you’ll tell me if something happens, right?”

      “Of course. Now get lost.”

      I texted Diane to let her know I’d eaten and that I was on my way home. It didn’t feel right to leave Tomo lying there, but Ishikawa tried his best to look reassuring. Maybe he’d finally listened. Maybe he was straightening his life around. I took a last look at Tomo, who really did look fine now, and headed out the door toward Suruga.

      I pulled the ends of my scarf tightly around my neck as I headed home. The streetlights lit the concrete paths of Shizuoka City, autumn leaves crumpled in piles around the lamp poles. It

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