Asa ran down the street as fast as she could. Evening was descending on her and she could feel chills all over her body. She had to find out what was going on with the police officer. Was she hallucinating when she saw his skin color begin to change?? Didn’t anyone else see? Didn’t Himari notice anything odd about him?? She thought over and over again. And along with these thoughts came another. If this suspicious thing was heading towards Daiki’s house, she had to warn them right? 

On her way, she kept stopping at alleyways, checking to see if the thing had somehow turned one of those corners. Nothing in sight. People on the street gave her judging looks as they walked back to their homes. Some carried groceries from the town’s convenience store, some carried vegetables and meat from the market, and a few were returning from office jobs in the city. Asa slowed down. A group of teenagers, stepped out of a corner shop and gave a few head turns at Asa now walking briskly. The street is still crowded, she thought, how could he have escaped unseen? Did anyone notice him??

She spotted an old lady sitting on a small chair outside a candy store. Without a care in the world, she seemed to be observing everyone that passed by. Suddenly Asa realised something, I gotta talk to her. Usually, talking to strangers was the most annoying thing in the world for her. But now she just had to. She had to know where the thing went. Asa hurried across the street to where the old lady was sitting. 

“Hi uhh old lad– no uhh, ma’am. Hi ma’am”, she stammered awkwardly. The old lady looked up at her obliviously. Great, Asa thought, she’s probably senile. “Uhh ma’am have you seen a police officer pass by?” 

“P o l i c e  o f f i c e r…? W e l l   y e s , i n d e e d. H a n d s o m e  f e l l o w..”, she said, speaking slowly and feebly. 

Asa’s eyes grew wide. “Can you tell me which way he went??”, she said and added, “p-please.”

The old lady leaned forward from her little chair and glanced from left to right. Then she glanced back at Asa, smiled, and slowly raised a wrinkly finger, to point upwards, towards the sky. 

“U p  t h e r e...”, she drawled and smiled wider. 

Asa looked up as well. There was nothing but the fading crimson glow of sunset. Her heart beat rapidly. Is this old woman for real?? Can I even take her seriously?, she wondered and looked around. Everyone else on the street seemed too busy to have noticed anything. Some on their phones, some just hurrying into their homes before lights out. After all, the old lady seemed like the only person who had been there observing people for a while. 

No time to waste, Asa thought, and began running again. She figured that what mattered was making sure Kaede, Junichiro, and the rest were at home, safe. Passing a couple more alleyways, which she didn’t forget to check, Asa finally arrived at the Nakamura house. The lights of the living room were on. Holding her knees to catch her breath, she looked around. No police officer in sight. She inched closer to the gate and squinted. Through the window curtains she could catch a glimpse of Kaede bringing a plate of homemade mochi and two glasses of iced tea and taking a seat beside Junichiro on the sofa. The TV was turned off and the two slouched over the snacks as they nibbled on them. Kaede seemed to heave a slow sigh and place her head on Junichiro’s shoulder. Asa felt the pounding in her chest recede. They’re okay, she said to herself. 

She suddenly wondered why she was scared in the first place. Getting stirred up and springing into action was very much unlike her. She straightened up and analyzed the situation. If the officer was some evil creature in disguise and his disguise was waning, then he would have definitely taken off. He wouldn’t have stepped into Daiki’s house. But somehow if his disguise was intact, he would have simply come and talked to Junichiro about the “investigation” as he did with Himari before. It seemed out of place for him to suddenly attack someone. 

But how could I have known for sure?, she thought, I had to see and find out for myself. Then she felt odd. Is this what Daiki feels like on a daily basis? Diving head first into action without understanding anything?, Asa shook her head, Well, false alarm for now. I better head back.

“Looking for something?”, Botan’s voice came from behind her.

Asa jumped and turned to find Botan and Himari staring at her. Botan had a confused smile on his face. Himari on the other hand wore an oddly comforting smile. She didn’t look confused anymore. 

“Botan.. Himari-san..”, Asa greeted, still trying to catch her breath, “Sorry, I ran. The officer. Very..very suspicious. Y..you didn’t notice??”

“Uh, no?? He was just a normal guy. What are you talking about?”, Botan asked quizzically. 

Asa looked from Botan to Himari to Botan, “But his hand-”

“Kobayashi-san, Aoki-san”, Himari interrupted, “It’s getting really dark. I think the two of you should head inside for today”. Asa began to protest but Himari cut her off again, “I don’t want defenseless children out of their homes past lights out”, she said warmly. 

“Wow it’s high school all over again”, Botan joked. 

Himari smiled and added in a low voice, “There is another meeting with my..friends. Tomorrow morning. Be there”. Asa and Botan exchanged glances. 

Just then the front door of the Nakamura house opened. “Asa-chan, Botan-kun”, Kaede said with a surprised tone, walking over to where they were standing, “W-what are you guys doing out here??”

They looked guiltily at her, “N-Nakamura-san, we can explain-”

Before they could finish, Kaede hurried towards them and put her arms around the two, tightening them to herself in a warm embrace. It was a warm night filled with cries of cicadas echoing in every direction. But somehow Kaede’s warmth was comforting. Asa felt her face burn up red, unable to remember the last time she’d hugged someone. She glanced at Botan from behind Kaede. Botan glanced back at her with a reassuring smile. 

“Come, let’s go inside and have dinner. You can have mochi and iced tea afterwards.”, Kaede said, smiling haggardly. She thanked Himari for accompanying the kids and walked them inside, closing and bolting the front door behind them. 

Himari breathed a sigh of relief and stared up at the sky. Will there be stars tonight?, she wondered. Ever since she was little she had loved roaming around at night. Something about the darkness mixed with the gleaming lights of buildings and houses comforted her and thrilled her at the same time. It was at that time that little Himari had wandered outdoors and let her imagination of mythical creatures and fantastical things run wild. As an adult, she’d felt it was at night that her spiritual powers were at their strongest. 

She looked around to see if anyone was still out, or perhaps watching from their windows. Then, with a partially anxious, partially giddy heart, she took a step forward. Then she took another; then another and another, until she was picking up her pace and heading down the street, towards the mountains. 

In her head, she calculated how long it would take for her to reach the foot of the mountains. Daiki’s house was 5 km away from it. Everyone knew this because there was a 5 km mark on the opposite side of the road for tourists who used to visit back in the day. The city was 3 km away from Haguko and Himari occasionally went there by foot when she felt like it. Covering that distance on those occasions took her about 30 minutes. By that estimate she should arrive at the mountains in about an hour. Good workout, she thought. 

And so she walked, passing houses, small shops, workshops owned by the town’s artisans, small cultivations and farms, the town’s bookstore and library, a flower shop, an alleyway with a couple vending machines. The wind blew gently in her face as she turned her head, taking in everything around her. Stray dogs slept on street corners. A few cats were awake and getting up to no good. Passing by another vending machine, Himari fought off the urge to get a can of milk tea. Growing up she used to love Royal Milk Tea. And right now she wished to be as close as she can to who she was as a child. She felt that it was drifting away from her. And scarier bigger things were closing in. Like the disappearance of her only nephew that she loved so much. They were once very close. Best friends. Why did they have to grow apart? Why couldn’t she talk to him? Why couldn’t she protect him?

As she approached the foot of the mountains, in the more sparsely populated area of Haguko, Himari felt a sharp pain in her chest. She stopped walking and grabbed onto her robe tightly with both hands. Warm tears rolled down her face and hit her slippers. Finally she didn’t have to hold it in. Finally there was no one around that she had to be reliable for. At last she could cry for the pain of losing Takashi and the fear of what could have happened to him. The warm breeze felt cold against her teary cheeks. A few minutes later, Himari straightened herself up and wiped her face with a corner of her robe. She cleared her throat and stared at the mountains, a determined look on her face. 

Just then, out of nowhere, a strong whirl of air circled her and flew past. Himari gasped, taken aback by the sudden movement and turned to look behind her. 

“Well well, Himari-san. Quite an awkward situation we have here”, a dark figure stood a few feet away, hidden from the lone street light. Himari tried to get a better look but felt too scared and surprised to approach him. She squinted, trying to make out his silhouette. It was most definitely a man. The voice and the broad build gave it away immediately. 

“Ooh don’t remember me?”, the figure said in a mocking tone and proceeded to walk slowly into the light. “I’ll give you one hint, Himari-san. We met this evening”.

With that, Himari’s eyes grew wide. She quickly stepped back and glared knowingly at the figure who’d finally come fully into the light. The police officer stood in front of her, assuming a formal stance and wearing a scornful smile on his face. His long, thin face looked creepy under the fluorescent light. 

“Officer!”, Himari exclaimed. 

The man frowned and tilted his head in confusion. Himari’s knowing look was suddenly replaced with one of innocence and surprise. He could have sworn that a second ago, it almost seemed like Himari knew exactly who he was. Who he really was. 

He tried to return to his cocky smile, “Drop the act, witch doctor. You know who I am.”

Himari raised an eyebrow and laughed in disbelief. “Of course, I do, officer. We spoke today. At my place? About the investigation? Of course I remember”, she said in a dumb carefree tone. 

The officer rolled his eyes and began laughing too – a bit louder than Himari and a bit annoyed. “Ohhh hahaha I know what you’re doing.”, he said and began pacing towards Himari, “You’re doing the whole playing dumb thing. You think that, that way, you can get out of trouble?”, then he said fiercely, “Drop the act, witch doctor. You know who I really am – my true form”, he lowered his voice and added, “I know who you really are too.”

Himari stopped smiling ignorantly and blinked, “O-officer, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I thought you’ve already left”, she then tilted her head innocently, mimicking the man’s previous action, “Are you okay?”. The officer’s smile vanished again. His eyes searched Himari’s face for a hint of pretension – some sort of giveaway. But she wouldn’t crack. Is this woman for real? He felt intense rage rising from within his heart. Is she making fun of me??, he thought. He scowled and whirled rapidly towards Himari in a movement that resembled a mini-tornado. Himari backed off but soon found herself grabbed tightly by the neck. The officer looked viciously into her eyes and breathed down on her as she slowly choked. 

“Drop. The. Act! I know you realized who I am, the moment you saw me. Admit it without pissing me off even further. Trust me”, he laughed scornfully, “It’s for your own good, witch doctor.”

Himari flailed her arms around a bit but finally managed to get a grip. She stared at the officer in silence for a few seconds. He stared back, getting hopeful by the second that she would finally crack, his grip on her neck loosening unknowingly. Then suddenly, a hint of gotcha gleamed in the corner of Himari’s eyes as she swiftly turned her head towards a row of nearby houses and screamed. 

“HELP!!! HELP ME!!!”

The officer froze in bafflement. Himari continued to scream as low murmurs of alarm came up from a couple houses, “HELP!! THIS OFFICER IS TRYING TO HARASS ME!! HELP-”

“Sssh ssh ssh sssshhhh!!!”, the officer quickly backed away, “SHUSH!”, he hissed with a finger on his lips like a child. No way, he thought, there’s no way this woman is for real. He looked at Himari in absolute disbelief. But boss asked me to watch out for her. Did I get the wrong person??? Is there another witch doctor in this town??

“I-I’m sorry, I’m sorry”, he pleaded, looking around watchfully. The last thing he wanted was trouble with the townsfolk. Or else, his mission was as good as failed, “I’m sorry, Himari- no, ahem, Ito-san. I-Ito-san I’m sorry, listen to me. I’m uhhh actually I-I’m an… aspiring actor uh on the side”, he stammered as Himari coughed, trying to recover from the unexpectedly tight grip of her neck, “I was uhh… actually when you walked here, I was in a corner practising for an audition”. 

For a second Himari stopped the coughing and the yelling and looked at the officer with a raised eyebrow. That’s your excuse?, her face seemed to say. Then quickly she began coughing again, “HELP!!”, she screamed.

“Ssh ssh Ito-san,please, we don’t need to wake everyone over this. I was just practicing for an audition.”, the officer pleaded

“Well officer, you're a really bad actor. I hope you fail your audition!”, Himari said in between melodramatic coughs.

“Yes, yes of course. I uhh I will practice harder”

“Stop practicing on innocent people and practice in your room or something”, she advised.

“Aah sure sure.”, the officer said while slowly backing off.

“Now get out of here before I scream some more!”, Himari said with a theatrical wave of her hand.

“Ssure I will take my leave. I will uhh return to my off-”

“Just go!”, Himari bellowed with a final swing of her hand. Then the officer jumped, startled by the sudden loudness of her voice and bowed his head, before walking away and turning a corner. Himari put on an excessive fit of cough and tiredness until the officer was completely out of sight. She followed him with her eyes, waited a minute after he’d turned the corner and slowly checked the alleyway which he’d turned to. Realizing that the officer was actually gone, her expression quickly changed. Her brows furrowed and her jaws clenched. She’d run into an unexpected situation. Now she was focused. Her blood was pumping and her temples throbbed. Himari attributed it to the sudden shock of what had just transpired but that didn’t matter. She felt focused and determined. A few meters ahead of her, towards Haguko, was a bike rental shop. Walking all the way back home was out of the question. She couldn’t risk running into another, possibly much bigger threat that was lying in wait. She had to get home fast. 

Himari rented a push bike and began pedaling. As she rode against the wind, she tried to analyze the situation. What was his motive?, she thought, if he was behind the disappearances why did he disguise as a police officer? The answer came almost immediately to her. Himari’s eyes grew wide and her heart began racing harder. “Oh no”, she muttered as she remembered the man’s words before he left her house that evening, ‘My officers will be coming around tomorrow morning’. “The two officers!”, she said to herself and began pedaling faster. 

As soon as she reached home, she parked the rental carefully and rushed inside. Genji and his wife sat awake on the couch and were startled when Himari burst in through the front door and ran straight to her bedroom. 

“Himari, come and eat dinner!”, Mrs Ito called after her but Himari ignored it. Closing her bedroom door behind her, she picked up her phone to call someone. She fidgeted impatiently as she waited for them to pick up. Then they finally did.

“Hima-chaaaaan”, the person on the other end said in a sing-song voice.

“Akiko-san”, Himari greeted the woman back.

“Tch, Akiko?? Come on, you can call me Aki-chan, I’ve told you this” 

“Akiko-san, listen to me.”, she demanded, ignoring Akiko’s request, “there was an incident.”

Silence on the other end. A few seconds later Akiko replied in a low serious tone, “What happened?”

“I’ll explain tomorrow-”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Listen”, Himari said and held out for a reply.

“I’m listening”, Akiko answered.

“Tomorrow morning, come to my place earlier than we had planned.”

“How early?” 

“Way early”, Himari said intensely, “As soon as the sun rises”

Silence again. In a few seconds came the reply, “Understood”

“And um..” Himari frowned and lowered her voice, “Bring Murasaki-san with you when you come. I have.. Something important to tell you”

“What about the others?”

“I just need the two of you for this”, she said, “the others will join us later”

“Hm understood”

Himari hung up and exhaled deeply. 

It was a quiet night in Haguko. Save for Himari’s encounter with the officer. Junichiro sat awake and alone on the sofa watching TV quietly. There was no sleep for him. As was for Kaede. When she descended the stairs to the living room, her husband was already sitting in front of the TV watching the highlights of a football match. There was a sad smile on his face. Fifteen blocks away, in Takashi’s house, Genji found his wife sitting on Takashi’s bed, sobbing into one of his T-shirts. He sat down next to her and brought her close in an embrace. Asa and Botan lay awake in their beds without sleep through the night, and so did Himari. She took a box of pocky out of her drawer and started nibbling on one, replaying her plan for the coming day over and over again in her head.