The two of them shared another look and a laugh at what must have been a private joke between them. From Sakura’s tone, Kara got the implication. Miho would be very depressed if she found out that Ren was gay. Kara wasn’t going to be the one to tell her.
“Let’s go,” Sakura muttered. “I need a cigarette.”
They said their good-byes to Ren and went out through the front doors. The shadows had already grown long. Kara wondered how she would feel about being in school during the worst winter months, when she would be arriving shortly after sunrise and heading home after dark. Winter would be very long. Fortunately, it was far off, and they had all of spring and summer stretching before them.
“You and Miho really have to come over for dinner one night,” she said as they headed around to Sakura’s smoking spot.
“Your father really wouldn’t mind?” she asked.
“I’m sure-,” Kara began but stopped mid-sentence.
The soccer girls were there, gathered around like some 1950s gang waiting for a rumble. She knew a lot their names, now. Chouku. Hana. Reiko. In their sailor fuku uniforms, they looked like a real-life version of something out of one of Sakura’s favorite manga.
Ume started toward Sakura. Maiko grabbed her arm, trying to hold her back. Ume shook her off. A couple of other girls murmured hesitations, glancing around, worried there would be trouble and they would be caught up in it.
“Sakura…,” Kara began.
But she had no more luck than Ume’s friends. Sakura stormed toward her smoking spot. A couple of spiky- haired boys, obviously friends of Ume’s, were standing in the recessed doorway, but they did not try to help or interfere. They were there just to watch. They smiled.
To Kara, they all looked tired.
“You’re going to stop!” Ume jabbed Sakura in the chest with one long finger.
Sakura scoffed. With her jagged slash of hair and sleepless eyes, she actually looked dangerous, like she might at last be just as wild as she always tried to appear.
“Stop what? Breathing? Sorry, I’m not going to make it that easy for you.”
“You know what I’m talking about,” Ume said, almost snarling, stepping in close.
Kara tried to separate them.
Ume slapped her hand away. “Don’t touch me, bonsai. This has nothing to do with you.”
Kara looked around at the other girls and the boys watching from that recessed doorway. They all looked ragged and on edge. She thought about her own behavior earlier, and the way Ume had sniped at Maiko that morning, and she knew, suddenly, that things could turn very ugly here. Not just ugly-violent.
“Maiko,” she said, turning to the other girl.
But Maiko looked away. None of them would meet her gaze. Some glared at Sakura expectantly, waiting for a fight, practically salivating over the possibility. Others looked like they wished they were anywhere but here, as though they thought maybe Ume was acting a little crazy but didn’t want to be the first to say it.
“You are going to stop,” Ume went on. “I don’t know how you’re doing it, but you’re putting these things in my head.” She spread her arms to indicate the others. “In all of our heads.”
A terrible smirk appeared on Sakura’s lips. “Oh, I get it now. You’re having dreams, too, aren’t you? Bad dreams.”
“See!” Ume said, triumphantly, pointing at her again and turning to the others. “I told you! She admits it.”
“She didn’t admit anything,” Kara said. “A lot of us are having bad dreams.”
Ume stepped in close to Sakura. She was taller and glared down at her. “It isn’t just in dreams anymore. Some of us… we’ve seen things while we’re awake, too.” Her voice dropped almost to a whisper. “Things that shouldn’t be there.”
Maiko took a step closer to them. But instead of menacing, she was pleading. “What did you do, Sakura? Is it some kind of drug? Or did you poison us? Please, you have to stop.” Her bottom lip quivered. “I’m falling apart.”
Maiko sounded so full of despair that Kara couldn’t help feeling badly for her.
“You’re haunted,” Sakura told Ume. She glanced around at the others. “You’re all haunted, as you should be. None of you should be able to sleep.”
Kara stared at her. What the hell was she talking about?
Ume laughed. Nobody else did.
“I knew your sister was crazy, but I didn’t realize you were just as bad,” Ume said.
Her mistake had been in getting so close.
Sakura slapped her, open-handed, with such force that the sound echoed off the stone wall of the school. As Ume reeled away, Sakura followed. Grabbing a fistful of her hair, she punched her in the face hard enough that blood squirted from both nostrils.
“Jesus, cut it out!” Kara shouted and grabbed Sakura by the arms, hauling her backward.
Sakura managed to launch a kick that hit Ume in the gut. The taller girl fell to her knees and vomited in the grass. As she wiped puke and blood from her lips, the two boys by the door began to cheer and the other soccer girls started for Sakura. Even the ones who had seemed unsure before looked like they had made up their minds now. They were going to take Sakura apart.
“Stop it!”
They all turned to see Miho and Hachiro coming around from the back of the school and running toward them. Hachiro had been the one to shout.
“What’s wrong with you? All of you?” Miho asked, rushing to help Kara escort Sakura away.
“Do you want to be expelled?” Hachiro shouted at the others.
He stayed there, warning them all not to follow, and nobody did. Maybe because Hachiro had been so close to Jiro, maybe because they trusted him, or perhaps just because of his size, they all listened to him.
Except for Ume.
“I’m not haunted!” she cried after them.
“Yes, you are,” Sakura whispered to herself.
Miho and Kara walked on either side of her, around the front of the school building and down the street. Kara didn’t know where Miho was leading them, but at the moment, anywhere was better than here. It was a miracle none of the teachers had come out during the scuffle. They were lucky it had been so quick. But the headmaster would hear about it soon enough.
“Are we going for candy?” Sakura asked, softly.
Miho smiled. “Yes.”
“You’re going to give me sugar after that?”
Kara glanced at Miho. “Is that a good idea?”
“For her, yes. For us, maybe not so much.”
They all laughed, just a little. But as they walked, Kara kept stealing glances at Sakura, until finally the other girl shook her head.
“You want to ask, so ask,” she said.
“Fine. What was all of that about?”
All trace of humor left Sakura’s face. “I don’t know for sure if Ume was involved in Akane’s death. But if she didn’t kill my sister, I think she knows who did. They think I’m doing something to them, but they’re wrong. I haven’t done anything.”
She stopped and looked at Miho and Kara. “It’s Akane. She’s haunting them. Her spirit’s still here at school, still lingering where she was murdered. I hope she drives them all mad.”
Sakura walked on.
For a few seconds, Kara and Miho only stared after her, wide-eyed. Then they set off after her. Someone had to stay with her.
But all the while, Kara thought about what she and Ume and Maiko had said about their bad dreams. Kara hadn’t even known Akane, but the nightmares were haunting her as well. She thought about mentioning this, explaining to Sakura that it proved she was wrong. Even if she believed in ghosts or spirits, if Akane really was
