Mai took a long drag and blew out the smoke. Her expression had turned hard.
"Not any more," she said.
Sakura looked at her. "I'm sorry."
Mai glanced up in obvious surprise. "You're sorry? Why? I would think you would have been happy."
"Happy that Ume confessed, and the truth has come out at last? Yes. But happy that your friends turned out to be . . . something other than what you thought they were? No."
Mai nodded. "Thank you for that."
"Fortunately you have other friends," Sakura said. "Wakana. Reiko."
With another puff of her cigarette, Mai studied her. "You. Miho. Kara."
Sakura arched an eyebrow. "Are we friends?"
"Believe me," Mai said with a smile, "I'm as surprised as you are."
Kara woke in her own bed, awash in sunshine that poured in through the window. She blinked at the brightness of it, realizing how late she must have slept. The events of the previous day — the previous week — came flooding back to her, and she lay there for a moment relishing the warmth of her bed. She would have loved a day to indulge herself, to stay in bed and read or, considering how sunny it was for January, to wander Miyazu City and take photographs.
She threw back the covers and bounced out of bed, grabbing a thick black sweater and tugging it over her head. The repercussions of the previous day needed attending to, and she had already slept too late. Her father was still in the hospital and she wanted to get down there as early as possible to see him, and to see Master Kubo as well. The Unsui had astounded them all by living long enough to get to Ume's car, and then astonished them further by surviving all the way to the hospital. Kara had to know if he had amazed the doctors just as thoroughly.
A glance at the clock told her it was nearly ten a.m. and she frowned deeply. Why hadn't anyone called? Sakura. Miho. Hachiro. They couldn't all be sleeping.
Troubled, she tugged on a clean pair of blue jeans — she had taken a hot shower the night before and washed her hair, and now that she was running so late she didn't want to take the time. She went to her desk and scooped up her keys and what little money she'd had in her pockets the day before, but her cell phone was missing. The charger was plugged into the wall, but the cord ended in nothing.
Frowning in confusion, she brushed her hair in front of the mirror and tied it back with an elastic. She plopped back onto the bed and pulled on her boots, trying to solve the mystery of her missing cell phone. Now that she was fully awake, it took only seconds. With her father in the hospital, it would not have been appropriate for a teenaged girl to be alone in the house, so Miss Aritomo had spent the night.
She must have taken the phone to let me sleep, Kara thought. Which was all right, actually. If anything vital happened, Miss Aritomo would have woken her.
They had all gone to the hospital the previous afternoon. Ume had driven Kubo out as far as the main road to wait for the ambulance. When it had arrived, the EMTs had insisted that Ren go along with them as well. He had been having trouble breathing because of sharp pain in his chest and they suspected broken ribs, which turned out to be true — three of them.
Mr. Yamato had ridden to the hospital with Ren and Kubo, while Ume drove the rest of them back to Miss Aritomo's car. The principal would have to get his own car today, but the previous afternoon he had not wanted to be parted from Kubo's side. At the hospital, they had all been checked for frostbite. Several of Kara's fingers had turned a soft, eggshell blue, but the doctors managed to get the blood flowing properly again.
Another hour or two and this might have been a very different story, a young, handsome doctor had told her. And, in truth, as her hands warmed up and the blood started to flow properly again, it had hurt like hell.
Kara's stomach grumbled, but she ignored it. A quick glass of juice would be enough to keep her until she could get some lunch with her father at the hospital. They were supposed to let him go home today, and she wanted to be with him when he was discharged.
She left her bedroom, stepping out into the short hallway and heading for the bathroom. Three steps away, she heard voices in the living room. With a frown, she changed direction, walking down the hall. Even as she stepped into the room, she recognized the voice, and then she saw him.
Hachiro sat at the table with Miss Aritomo. As Kara entered, they both looked up. Miss Aritomo said something, but Kara did not hear a word of it. She grinned so wide that it hurt her face and she rushed to him, a giddy feeling fluttering in her chest. While he had been missing she had been so full of fear that now, to be without it, made her feel light as air. Yesterday they had both been exhausted and in shock and overwhelmed, surrounded by people. At the hospital they had held each other and, when no one was looking, had shared half a dozen tender kisses.
But that had been the aftermath. Even then, the sky had been gray and snow had been falling lightly.
Today, though . . . today was a new day, bright with promise.
"Good morning," Hachiro said.
"Good morning to you," Kara replied, still grinning, knowing she must look foolish but unable to stop herself. "What are you doing here?"
Hachiro laughed, and it was the most wonderful sound she had ever heard. Kara had been so afraid that she would never hear him laugh again, never hold his hands or feel his kiss.
"I knew you would be going to the hospital. I thought I would come along. Miss Aritomo said it would be all right."
He nodded to the art teacher and Miss Aritomo nodded back.
Kara looked at Miss Aritomo, who smiled as well.
"Your father asked me to make sure you were able to get plenty of sleep," Miss Aritomo said, almost apologetically, as she handed over Kara's cell phone. "I am afraid I have made Hachiro wait for nearly half an hour."
"I didn't mind," Hachiro insisted.
Kara grinned at him again, then sighed and forced herself to stop. She knew she should say something, but feared the idiot babbling that she knew would result. Instead, she looked at Miss Aritomo.
"Thank you."
Miss Aritomo nodded her head. "Whenever you two are ready, I will drive us to the hospital."
Kara could not stop looking at Hachiro, wanting to touch him to reassure herself that he was actually there. She was about to say she was ready to leave right then, but then she felt the slick griminess of her teeth and realized that she had not brushed them.
"Just a minute!" she said, and she raced to the bathroom wondering how awful her breath was and whether or not Hachiro had been appalled by it.
She brushed quickly, wished that she had showered after all, and then hurried back into the living room. Miss Aritomo and Hachiro had put their jackets on already. Kara felt emotion surging up inside of her, words screaming for release.
"Um, Yuuka . . . I mean, Miss Aritomo, I just need to get my coat. If you want to start the car, Hachiro and I will be right out."
Miss Aritomo narrowed her eyes for a moment and Kara knew she was about to protest. It would be inappropriate for her to leave Hachiro and Kara in the house alone together. But she hesitated, and then smiled in understanding.
"Don't be long," she said, going out the door.
The moment she closed the door behind her, Hachiro turned to Kara with a curious look.
"What was —" he started to say.
Kara silenced him with a kiss, reaching up to pull him down to her. A new warmth spread within her, much stronger than the cold of Yuki-Onna's storm.
"I almost lost you," she said between kisses, breathless. Then she stopped and pressed her face against his chest.
"You didn't," Hachiro said, stroking her hair. "It's all over, now. The curse is broken."
And it was. Last night she had sat by her father's hospital bed and they had spoken of many things, but mostly of the future. For more than half a year, the curse of Kyuketsuki had tainted their lives and filled their time in Japan with tragedy. And yet even in the midst of that tragedy, they had found happiness, and love. Her fat
her loved Yuuka, Kara had no doubt about that now, and he did not want to leave Japan any more than she did.
Kara and her father had started over, just as they had set out to do, but they had been in the shadow of the curse. Now they were both looking forward to spring — and another year in Japan — hoping for less drama and more time to appreciate the beauty of the nation. Kara would graduate from Monju-no-Chie school, perhaps even attend university in Japan, since she doubted her father would want to leave. They had begun this new life together, and they would always be close, but now they were establishing new lives of their own, separate from one another. Her father loved Yuuka, and Kara . . .
She laughed softly.
"What is funny?" Hachiro asked.
"Me. Love. People," she said, trying to form an answer. "Once I was afraid to be in love with you because I knew that I would only be in Japan for a year or two before I would have to go home."
"You know that I had the same fear," Hachiro said.
"We were stupid. You don't get a choice, Hachiro. You can't just decide that you are not going to love someone. It would be like trying to stop the sun from rising or the spring from arriving. We can pretend otherwise, but it just happens."
She gazed up into his eyes. "I don't want to pretend anymore."
Hachiro smiled. "I love you. And I will love you even when you return to America. And I am content to be have you here with me for as long as I can. As to what the future will bring . . ."
"Who can say?" Kara finished for him.
Hachiro nodded. "Who can say?"
"I love you, too. And I'm not planning on going anywhere. This is home, now."
They stole one last, quick kiss before Kara put on her jacket, and then they left the house, walking out into the sunlight. Kara had been living in the shadow of Kyuketsuki's curse for so long that she had forgotten what it was like to be truly light of heart.
Laughing, she raced Hachiro to the car, giving herself a good head start.
- END -
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of such novels as Of Saints and Shadows, The Myth Hunters, The Boys Are Back in Town, and Strangewood. He has also written books for teens and young adults, including Soulless, Poison Ink, and The Secret Journeys of Jack London, co-authored with Tim Lebbon. His current work-in-progress is Cemetery Girl, a graphic novel trilogy collaboration with Charlaine Harris.
A lifelong fan of the "team-up," Golden frequently collaborates with other writers on books, comics, and scripts. He has co-written three illustrated novels with Mike Mignola, the first of which, Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire, was the launching pad for the Eisner Award-nominated comic book series, Baltimore. With Thomas E. Sniegoski, he is the co-author of the book series Magic Zero and The Menagerie, as well as comic book miniseries such as Talent, currently in development as a feature film. With Amber Benson, he co-created the online animated series Ghosts of Albion for the BBC.
As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies The New Dead, The Monster's Corner, and British Invasion, among others, and has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, and a network television pilot. Golden was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His original novels have been published in more than fourteen languages in countries around the world. Please visit him at http://www.ChristopherGolden.com.
Connect With Christopher Golden Online
Official Website
http://www.ChristopherGolden.com
Twitter
http://twitter.com/ChristophGolden
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/christophergoldenauthor
No Rest for the Wicked Blog
http://christophergolden.blogspot.com/
Join the Wicked Street Team
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wickedstreetteam/
THOMAS RANDALL is the author of the popular children's fantasy series Adventures in Strangewood. He lives in Tarrytown, New York and frequently vacations in places that only exist inside his own head.
OTHER WORKS BY CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN
THE WAKING
Dreams of the Dead [As Thomas Randall]
Spirits of the Noh [As Thomas Randall]
A Winter of Ghosts [As Thomas Randall and Christopher Golden]
THE BODY OF EVIDENCE SERIES
Body Bags
Thief of Hearts
Soul Survivor
Meets the Eye
Head Games
Skin Deep
Burning Bones [w/ Rick Hautala]
Brain Trust [w/ Rick Hautala]
Last Breath [w/ Rick Hautala]
Throat Culture [w/ Rick Hautala]
Strangewood
Straight On 'Til Morning
The Ferryman
The Boys Are Back in Town
Wildwood Road
The Secret Backs of Things
The Shell Collector
Bloodstained Oz [w/James A. Moore]
The Seven Whistlers [w/Amber Benson]
The Ocean Dark [As Jack Rogan]
The Collective [As Jack Rogan]
Baltimore, or The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire [w/Mike Mignola]
Joe Golem and the Drowning City [w/Mike Mignola]
Father Caetano's Puppet Catechism [w/Mike Mignola]
SLEEPY HOLLOW HIGH
Horseman [w/Ford Lytle Gilmore]
Drowned [w/Ford Lytle Gilmore]
Mischief [w/Ford Lytle Gilmore]
Enemies [w/Ford Lytle Gilmore]
THE VEIL
The Myth Hunters
The Borderkind
The Lost Ones
THE HIDDEN CITIES
Mind the Gap [w/Tim Lebbon]
The Map of Moments [w/Tim Lebbon]
The Chamber of Ten [w/Tim Lebbon]
The Shadow Men [w/Tim Lebbon]
THE SHADOW SAGA
Of Saints and Shadows
Angel Souls and Devil Hearts
Of Masques and Martyrs
The Gathering Dark
Waking Nightmares
THE MENAGERIE
The Nimble Man [w/Tom Sniegoski]
The Tears of Furies [w/Tom Sniegoski]
Stones Unturned [w/Tom Sniegoski]
Crashing Paradise [w/Tom Sniegoski]
GHOSTS OF ALBION
Astray [w/Amber Benson]
Initiation [w/Amber Benson]
Accursed [w/Amber Benson]
Witchery [w/Amber Benson]
WANT MORE
CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN?
VISIT HIM AT:
http://www.ChristopherGolden.com
A Winter of Ghosts (The Waking Series) Page 21