A Winter of Ghosts

by Christopher Golden

  Now she hurried down the streettoward the school, hoping that his parents had already left, though that seemedunlikely. If they were gone, Hachiro would have called her by now. She slippedher cell phone out of her pocket and double-checked — with her hat on andthe thickness of her new winter coat, perhaps she hadn't heard the ring tone — but there'd been no calls.

  She crossed the street to thearch at the edge of the school property, but immediately veered off of the paththat would have led to the front door. With the short winter day's lightalready dimming toward late afternoon darkness, she passed beneath the shadowof the school building, its architecture still so reminiscent of some ancientfortress out of feudal Japan.

  A cold wind blew off the baybehind her, whipping around the corner of the school, but now she put thebuilding between herself and the bay and the wind dropped to almost nothing. Thelast of the day's sunlight glowed gold through the trees to the west. Her newboots crunched in a patch of snow left over from the last storm, though most ofit had melted away from the low-lying areas for now.

  Sakura and Miho had only visitedfor a couple of hours. They had rushed right over to visit her upon theirarrival, and had to get back to prepare for the next day's resumption ofclasses. Plus, they wanted to eat dinner in the dormitory's dining hall withthe rest of the boarding students.

  Kara had hung around at homeuntil her father had come back, about two-thirty in the afternoon, and they haddiscussed their own dinner plans. But then Kara had finally gotten a text fromHachiro telling her that he was back on campus. Her father had recognized thelook on her face immediately and told her to go, but to be back by six o'clock.

  She walked across the quad tothe dormitory, noting the cars in the lot to the right of the building. Someparents were only just now dropping their children off, and several studentswere walking up from the parking lot. A guy she vaguely recognized used his keyto unlock the dorm's front door and Kara picked up her pace to catch it beforeit closed again.

  Hachiro's parents couldn'tpossibly still be here. He hadn't brought anything but a suitcase home, sodropping him off should only have taken a few minutes. But he hadn't calledyet. She told herself he was just putting his things away, but a part of herfelt hurt by this. Miho and Sakura had rushed over to see her first thing, notbothering even to unpack, but Hachiro seemed in no rush. Had he had secondthoughts during the holidays? Had he met someone in those two short weeks?

  She told herself she was beingfoolish, but still quickened her pace up the stairs and down the hall to hisroom. After hours, girls weren't allowed in the boys' halls, but for now thecorridors were busy with friends getting reacquainted, laughing and gossipingand trading small New Year's gifts. She and Hachiro had agreed on no gifts atthe holidays. People tended to put too much weight on such things, interpretingany gift as if it defined the relationship, and she didn't want that kind ofpressure for either of them. Now she regretted it a little. A sign of hisaffection would be nice.

  Oh, great. Doubting him already.He just got back. She rolled her eyes at her own insecurity, even as sherealized that she had never cared so much about what anyone else felt abouther, except for her parents.

  Amused at her own nervousness,she rapped on his door. She waited eight or ten seconds before knocking again,bouncing impatiently. Kara glanced up and down the hallway, wondering if hemight be visiting Ren or one of his other friends. That wouldn't bode well,either, priority-wise, though he had texted her, so that counted for something.

  As she debated whether to knockagain, the door opened.

  In his Boston Red Sox cap and arumpled sweatshirt, he looked very cute. She had often told Hachiro he was herown giant Teddy bear, which always got a shy smile from him. But for a moment,as he pulled the door open, she caught sight of a look on his face that wasanything but a smile. He seemed sad and tired.

  And then he saw her, and hisface lit up in a grin, and she knew that all of her angsting had beenpointless.

  Without a word he pulled herinto his arms, crushing him in his massive embrace, and she squeezed back forall she was worth. Hachiro kissed the top of her head — receivingwhistles and hoots from other boys in the corridor for the effort — andthen took a step back, holding her hands in his as he looked down at her.

  "Hello," he said.

  Kara exhaled contentedly. "Hey."

  Hachiro lifted her chin and gaveher a gentle kiss. She pulled off his Red Sox cap, revealing his unruly mess ofhair, and donned the hat herself, setting it backward on her head.

  "You gonna let me in?" she asked.

  "Of course," he said,standing a bit straighter.

  Hachiro had been raised to be aproper Japanese boy, with all the courtesies and formalities that implied. Karahad broken him of some of those manners, but he still treated her as a guestwhenever she visited his room. Now he stepped back to let her in, and she wentto his desk and slid herself up to sit on top of it.

  He left the door open. Theschool had rules governing all areas of conduct, and were very strict about theinteraction between male and female students, but Kara thought he would haveleft the door open anyway so that no one would get the wrong idea about whatwas or wasn't going on behind closed doors.

  Not that she would have minded alittle time behind closed doors. But that was what late night walks were for.

  "Happy New Year," shesaid.

  Hachiro gave her a very formalbow, but she knew that now he was overdoing it for effect. "Happy NewYear," he said in English.

  "I'm sorry I didn't waitfor you to call, but I have news and I really wanted to share."

  Hachiro sat on his bed, lookingmore than ever like a giant bear. The bed was too small for him. "Whatnews?"

  "Well, there's a littlebad, but also some good. Which do you want first?"

  His smile faded and she saw atrace of that uneasiness and exhaustion again. "Bad first, please."

  "Don't worry, it's not thatbad," she said, swinging her legs where they hung over the edge of thedesk. "At the end of this term, my father and I are going home — "

  Hachiro glanced downward,disappointment etched into his face.

  " — for two weeks. Andthen we'll be back for senior year."

  He laughed out loud. "You'restaying?"

  Kara nodded. "Staying."

  Hachiro got up and went to her,picked her up off the desk and swung her around. When he set her down, she feltlike she was still flying. He brushed a lock of her blond hair away from herface and traced his fingers along the cheek and the curve of her jaw. Karaswallowed hard, staring into his eyes, and for several long seconds she wasspeechless, despite a thousand unsaid things that blossomed in her heart.

  He kissed her again, not nearlyas gentle as before, and they only stopped to breathe.

  With a quick knock on the opendoor, Ren stepped into the room. "Hachiro, can I borrow — " hebegan, halting abruptly when he saw them and covering his eyes. "Ahhh, I'mblind."

  Kara and Hachiro both laughed.

  "What do you need?" Hachiro asked.

  Ren shook his head, longbronze-dyed hair falling across his eyes. "Nothing. Go back to what youwere doing. I'll come back later."

  Before either of them couldargue or ask him to say, he darted off down the hall. Kara hugged Hachiroagain, but as she did she found herself looking around the room, realizing thatsomething was out of place. Or, rather, not at all out of place. Hachiro'ssuitcase had already been stowed away, whatever clothes he had brought homealready integrated back into his school wardrobe. Even his books for the newterm were organized on his desk.

  A little tremor ofdisappointment went through her as she stepped back from him.

  "You've been home forhours."

  Hachiro's happiness fell awaylike a mask and she saw again the sadness that weighed on him. He seemedexhausted by it.

  "Since last night,actually," he confessed.

  Her heart sank. Part of her mindimmediately started making excuses for him, mostly to make herself feel better,but the hurt was too much.
/>   "What? You didn't. . whydidn't you tell me? Or come see me?"

  "I meant to," he said."I came back on the train. I wanted to surprise you, but somethinghappened on the train and I've been trying to make sense of it, trying tofigure out if I really saw what I think I saw."

  Kara felt a chill dance alongher spine. "What do you think you saw?"

  Hachiro looked away from her,out at the darkness beyond his window. When he looked back, his face had gonepale.

  "Jiro's ghost."

  Her breath caught in her throat.Jiro's ghost. Oh, my God.

  "Are you sure?"

  "I'm not sure of anything,"he said. "Once I would have said it was impossible, but — "

  "But 'impossible' doesn'tmean much anymore," Kara finished for him.

  "What do you think itmeans?" Hachiro asked. "Do you think it's just. . I don't know,symptoms of the curse? That we've brushed up against so much of thesupernatural that we're more aware of it now? Or do you think it's somethingelse, that something else has come to try to finish what Kyuketsuki and theHannya started?"

  Kara shook her head. "I don'tknow. But we've got to keep our eyes open. We have to be on guard."

  "I'm always on guard thesedays."

  He took her hand, then, and shestepped into his embrace, relishing his warmth and strength and how safe shefelt in his arms. But she knew it was an illusion.

  As long as the curse remained inplace, they were never really safe.

  Chapter Three

  By Saturday morning, Kara'sschoolwork was already suffering. She sat in the back of 2-C while her homeroomteacher, the gray-eyed Mr. Sato, droned on about the drop-off in attentiveness — and thus test scores — that many students showed during winter term. Sheknew she ought to be paying attention, since he might as well have been talkingspecifically about her, but his voice was such a monotone that it lulled herinto a stupor.

  For the past few days, she hadbeen able to think of nothing but Jiro's ghost, and what it might mean. Shefelt uneasy most of the time, an awful paranoia creeping up on her in quietmoments. Hachiro had been unnerved at first, but with every hour that passed heseemed less and less sure of what he had really seen, and now he acted almostembarrassed by his ghost sighting. Kara had not witnessed it herself, so therewas no way she could know for certain what he had seen, but she had a hard timethinking the apparition had been nothing but Hachiro's imagination, and hecouldn't claim that it had been some other boy who looked like Jiro, since thekid had been barefoot. . on a train. . in the middle of winter.

  So either Hachiro hadhallucinated, or he had seen a ghost. And after what they had all experiencedover the course of the school year, the supernatural explanation seemed morethan likely.

  Though Hachiro had beenreluctant to talk about it any further, Kara had insisted they tell Miho,Sakura, and Ren. If this were indeed a sign of new supernatural activity, theyhad a right to know. They had discussed whether to mention it to Kara's fatherand Miss Aritomo — and by extension, to Principal Yamato and the police — but decided against it for the moment. If anything else happened, they wouldreport it right away, but Hachiro had sensed no menace in the apparition. Hehad thought it seemed sad, but not evil, and in the days that had followed noneof them had seen anything remotely out of the ordinary. In the past few days,the strangest thing any of them had seen was the bright orange tie that Mr.Sato had worn on Wednesday. Kara took some comfort in that, but still, the ideathat ghosts were wandering around Miyazu City disturbed her.

  People were always reportingghost sightings. All over the world there were places that were believed to behaunted. Japanese folklore was rife with ghost stories. And despite what Karafelt, they could not deny the possibility that Hachiro really had beendreaming or half-awake and imagining things. It might not have anything to dowith Kyuketsuki's curse.

  Still, much of the excitementand enthusiasm they had all had about the new year had vanished. Kara knew thatshe had not been alone in thinking of the new term and the change in thecalendar as a fresh start, but they would not escape the curse so easily. Suchthoughts troubled her so much that she had been finding it very difficult topay attention in class, so much so that even her father had noticed. Herhomework had been rife with errors and she had started having difficultyretaining what she had read. All of that, and they had only been in school fora few days.

  She wished she hadn't had tocome into school today. It had been hard for her to get used to having classeson Saturday mornings. This weekend she really needed a break, and something funto distract her. But at least she would have this afternoon and all of Sundayoff. Maybe she could talk her friends into going to a movie tonight. She hadalready decided to try to persuade them to go tubing. She doubted her fatherwould have time to take them up to one of the mountains tomorrow, but theweather reports had been hinting at a potential snowstorm. If it arrivedquickly enough, they could go someplace nearby. She knew a hill not far fromthe school that seemed promising.

  Mr. Sato finished his lectureand glanced at the clock. Soon the bell would ring to signal the end ofhomeroom period and the teachers would all move to their first classes of theday. That was one thing Kara loved about school in Japan. It made so much moresense for the teachers to be nomads, roving from room to room for each class,instead of sending hundreds of students herding into the halls between eachperiod.

  "Miho," Sato-senseisaid. "I believe you have responsibility for the toban today."

  Hearing her friend's name, Karaperked up for the first time this morning. Miho's shyness had lessened over thecourse of the school year, but as she stood up and went to the front of theclassroom she looked like she wanted to crawl out of her skin. No matter howmuch she might come out of her shell, Miho did not like to be in the spotlight.

  She took a clipboard from Mr.Sato and turned to face the class, adjusting her glasses. Her long hair fell ina curtain across her face and she did not push it away, choosing instead tohide behind it as if it were a veil. Toban was a rotating duty schedule for thehomeroom. Every day a different student took attendance and made announcementsand every time it was Miho's turn, she got stage fright, which was funnybecause she loved Noh theatre so much. If she had the opportunity to be on anactual stage, portraying someone else, she would probably be fine. It was onlybeing herself that made her self-conscious.

  One by one, she called the namesof their classmates. When she got to Kara, she glanced up and Kara gave her alittle wave, which made Miho smile.

  After attendance, she flipped apage to announcements and immediately her eyes lit up. Then Miho grinned.

  "This year's ensokuwill be on Monday," she announced. "The entire school will be visitingTakigami Mountain Observatory. Appropriate footwear and winter clothing arerecommended."

  Immediately the excited chatterbegan. Kara smiled so wide that her face hurt. It felt like her prayers hadbeen answered. She had just been thinking about how badly she needed a break,something to take her mind off of Jiro's ghost, and now their Monday classeshad just been replaced by a field trip. The English translation of 'ensoku' wassomething like 'far feet,' and from what Kara had read, sometimes they literallyentailed much farther journeys than Takigami Mountain Observatory, but as faras she was concerned, any field trip would do.

  Mr. Sato tapped his fingers onhis desk and gave the class a dirty look, which would normally have silencedthem but today only managed to diminish the chatter to whispers. When hefrowned and took off his glasses, that had the desired effect. It was like hehad superpowers or something. Anytime he took his glasses off, they knew thathe meant business and that from that point forward any infraction would lead topunishment. Someone would be kneeling on the hard, cold floor of the corridor.

  "I will see you all at theend of the day," Mr. Sato said. "Do not let your excitement dull yourfocus on your studies."

  Kara smiled. The news of theensoku would not dull her focus. On the contrary, it finally gave her somethinggood to focus on.

  When the wind gusted, it becamequite cold on top
of Takigami Mountain. The morning had begun with a clear bluesky, but as the day went on it had gradually turned a stark white and then anominous gray. Even so, Kara did not feel very chilly except when the windpicked up. She had worn her new boots over two pair of socks, so her feet werewarm enough. Her new jacket — which Miho loved while Sakura attempted tohide how much she hated it — had been the perfect choice. When the windstarted to gust she put the hood up and felt very cozy.

  Buses had taken them from schoolto Takigami Park, where the cherry blossom festival would take place comespringtime, and they had walked up the long, wooded path to the observatory,which had taken the better part of the morning. Far feet, Kara hadthought. They've got that part right.

  Now they all sat at outdoortables around the observatory eating the lunch they had brought along. Kara andher friends had claimed a table for themselves. She sat between Hachiro andRen, with Miho and Sakura across from her with a third boy, Sora, who sat infront of her in homeroom. Having Sora join them had been unexpected but not unwelcome.She was especially glad to have him along because his presence prevented themfrom talking about anything having to do with ghosts or curses.

  Her father and Miss Aritomo hadbeen chaperoning their own homeroom classes, but now that the students were alleating lunch they had managed to take a few minutes for themselves, eatingquietly at a small table for two at the edge of the observatory. They probablyhad the best and most romantic view available, and Kara smiled at the thought. Theviews from the observatory were spectacular, not only of the city but of thebay and of Ama-no-Hashidate.

  As Kara had predicted, herfather had been unable to take them tubing on Sunday and the snowstorm theforecasts had been expecting had not materialized, so she had spent the morningstudying and then gone for a long walk and a late lunch with Hachiro beforespending a quiet night at home. But she had not minded at all, considering theplan for today.

  The wind gusted again and Karashivered as she packed away her bento box.

  "It's so beautiful up here,"Miho said, standing up. "And the air is just so fresh. I feel more — "