FLCL

much time around this area, so everyone wondered why there'd be an accidental fire in a place like that.

The small building burned splendidly.

It was fortunate there were no buildings nearby, but the flames were high—and powerful enough that complete destruction was unavoidable.

Sparks from the flames danced up into the sky.

Naota was part of the crowd; they were cast in a red glow. Stunned, he watched the blaze.

That's right. A real fire is hot like this.

Naota recalled the last fire he'd witnessed: It was the burning school Tasuku and he had watched together. Back then, Naota had been in kindergarten.

Fire… that's it!

Suddenly, Naota realized he'd remembered a place where Mamimi might be hiding. Maybe she'd be there now. Maybe she was crying.

At the charred site of the Mabase School, the wooden building's remains stood under a coating of ash. Nearby residents sometimes used the grounds to garden.

From the section of the old school garden located on the riverbank, the boathouse fire could be seen on the opposite shore. The river reflected the blaze, and the fire engines roared from across the way.

On this side, the school garden was as dark and quiet as a theater box. As if it were onstage, being watched by an audience, the fire across the river was a curiously unreal, fantastic scene.

Mamimi…

Just as Naota had guessed, she was there. The dark schoolyard was lit up with small red lights. It seemed she had put cigarettes in the ground instead of candles.

What are you doing?

Illuminated by the fire from the other shore, Mamimi strangely swayed in time to some internal rhythm. When she stood, she reached her arms up to the sky; then, she crouched down, hanging her head to pray. It looked like a ritual dance.

No, maybe she intended it to be an actual ritual. When Naota looked closer, he could see Mamimi was drawing a magic symbol with her feet.

Nearby, Canti stood, unmoving. The robot looked like part of her ritual, but he was merely a passive observer.

'Mamimi,' Naota called.

She looked back at him with cold eyes—the eyes of a witch, interrupted in the middle of casting her spell.

'Why did you come here?'

Naota tried passing her the game machine he still held. 'Here.'

'I don't need it anymore. It's yours.'

He didn't have any response.

'Do you remember the fire here?' Mamimi was looking at the old school building. 'No, you wouldn't remember. You were so small back then.'

Though he didn't reply, Naota did remember that fire six years ago.

That was when everything had started.

It had been right before the start of spring.

That night, Naota nearly had fallen asleep when the town fire alarms began to ring.

Naota had asked his brother what the commotion was.

Tasuku opened the window to look outside and said, 'A fire. It looks like the school. Let's go and see.'

Sneaking out in the middle of the night was a big deal to the young Naota. He thought about going to see the fire with his brother, and his heart jumped a little. It was a rare chance for an evening adventure. Anyway, no matter what might happen, Tasuku was with him, so he would be okay.

Everyone was headed toward the fire. Mabase Elementary School—which Tasuku still attended back then, and where Naota would begin the following year—crackled with flames.

To Naota's young eyes, the fire was a glorious sight. He was excited by the waves of heat, which he hadn't experienced before.

It's so warm, isn't it, brother?

His brother told him not to say that kind of thing.

In the wide schoolyard, a large number of people gathered.

'Wait here for a minute,' Tasuku said, disappearing into the crowd.

Suddenly, Naota felt uneasy. He wasn't that far from home, but he was uncomfortable being left alone in what felt like an alien world.

'Brother! Where are you, brother?' he yelled, running after Tasuku.

Despite his brother's orders, Naota ran after him, searching desperately. The fear that his brother had gone to the other side spurred him on.

How long had he looked around? The school building had two stories. In the back of the unburned part of the building, Naota finally found Tasuku: his safety blanket, his brother.

Tasuku was with a girl Naota didn't recognize. She was bigger than Naota, but smaller than Tasuku. It looked like she had been crying. When Tasuku spotted Naota, his brother gently stroked the girl's hair and laughed that his little brother had followed him.

The girl, seeing him for the first time, turned to Naota and happily told him that Tasuku had saved her.

Saved her?

Naota didn't ask what Tasuku had saved her from.

The girl was Mamimi Samejima.

After that fire, Mamimi and Tasuku had started dating.

That's right, Naota remembered. Mamimi was bullied back then, too. That's why she always said she hated school.

Over the ensuing six years, he had forgotten about their first meeting. It all happened such a long time ago, and he'd come to think of Mamimi as nothing more than a carefree girl.

Could it be…?

Naota had a terrifying thought. How could he have forgotten until now? Back then, they'd said that the school fire had been arson, but they'd never caught the culprit.

'I hate it here,' Mamimi said. 'I'm glad it burned down. Besides, that's how I met Tasuku.'

What was I thinking? Naota wondered to himself. I didn't know. I didn't know anything.

Of course, his brother had known everything. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to rescue her back then.

'Although it's all burned down, the ruins are still here.'

Naota didn't reply.

The charred remains of the old school building had been left essentially intact. They stood there, illuminated by the fire.

Mamimi pointed to the burning boathouse and said, 'Endsville is burning.'

She wasn't talking to Naota. She was addressing Canti. 'Now, Lord Canti, a kiss as my reward.'

Looking absorbed, Mamimi walked toward Canti. Naota hadn't seen such a suggestive look in her eyes before.

Finally, Naota thought he understood what Mamimi wanted from Canti. At the time when he'd first met Mamimi here, his brother had comforted her and softly stroked her head. That gesture probably supported Mamimi during hard times.

In fact, that one memory had kept this seemingly carefree girl going, all this time.

Mamimi stood on her tiptoes to kiss Canti; her expression was that of a devotee, offering everything to her god. Naota felt a pain in his heart.