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jjba_bang((*cracks knuckles* Finally not feeling sick/dehydrated/minorly-semi-depressed, so let's just put up what we've got in totally random order. Huge thank you to everyone who actually put in the work to make this happen, and sorry for disappoint everyone with the lateness.))
“I seriously didn’t see that guy. I checked and everything!”
Of course he didn’t. It was done in an instant. In a unique time that only one person saw. Justice was done in an instant.
“Didn’t see that coming. Killed by a truck…” One of the voices broke our shocked silence. He survives all that fighting just to get hit by an ambulance.
“The police couldn’t touch him. This is what he deserved,” It’s hard to watch a man die so suddenly. I had to remind that this is what we had been fighting for.
“We didn’t get along well, but he was my father,” said Hayato, clutching a breifcase. “This guy killed my father. I hope… I hope he gets what he deserves.” And then he just sat there, doing everything he could not to bury his face in that bag.
The scars in our small town run deep even though everything was over But that was what we had to remember. Everything was over. We had stopped the murders. We had avenged everyone who’d fallen victim to a madman, and now all those victims could rest in peace.
All of them.
It’s been about two weeks since then. Our time playing amateur detective happened towards the end of the summer break, so everyone is back in school now. It’s good, too, because that’s given me back some of my lost work hours. When you’re the kind person who can live in a several million yen home, you don’t get to be near death scenes without the police wanting to take some of your time. The influence that Mr. Kujo and Mr. Joestar were able to throw around helped to allievate that somewhat, and I can convince anyone of anything so long as I have a pen, but there was still a lot of work to be done just talking about the scene with the ambluance. On top of that, I’ve been helping that Hayato kid out with some money on the side now that they lack for an income, and it’s not fun keeping that under his mother’s radar.
Even for someone of my drawing skill, keeping up with all this as well as my comic duties is more complicated than I’m used to. It’s not a problem with as skilled as I am, but even I need a day to take care of my personal business.
Today, September 15th, is one of those days.
*knock, knock*
“That’ll be him now,” I said, standing up from my current page. I step over to the closet and consider getting a coat since it’s fall but decide against it. I shouldn’t be gone long.
I open the door and look all the way down to see a good friend after what felt like a long time. Koichi had been even busier than I was in the aftermath investigation. As much influence as Mr. Joestar, Mr. Kujo, and myself can put out, we only had to answer to the authorities. Koichi had to answer to his parents. Him going through all that extra effort is a little unfortunate, but thinking of Josuke getting the same replaces any pity I may have had with pure joy.
“How is your work going, Mr. Kishibe?” he asked so politely. As bold as he had become, one of the key figures in our victory is still so cordial even to a friend.
“As well as I always do. Solving a murder case is no excuse to lose my pace,” I say with confidence. “If anything, it’s going better now that I have all this extra inspiration from the past few months.”
“That’s good. This most recent plot is really holding me in. Having to wait for another chapter would kill me,” he said with a somewhat embarrassed tone.
“Are you trying to tell me your worried about me getting my work done?” I asked while roughly grabbing his head. Maybe he had gotten tougher than I thought, the little punk.
“Not at all, Mr. Kishi- owww,” he said, trying to pull my arm away. He looked up, a little pained, but we laughed about it. It’s good to have someone you can be like this with.
And then we stood there, just sort of staring into space. There was tension, like when you’re waiting for bad news. You’re worried that if you say or do anything, you’ll just make the worst happen faster.
“So…” he said, trying to get us going, “Are you ready?”
I tilt my head back and press on my brow. “Yeah. Let’s go ahead and get this done.” I closed the door and locked up. I shouldn’t be gone long, but you can never be too careful even in a relatively small town like this.
We had walked down to downtown Morioh. It was busy all over, this being a holiday and all. I’ve never enjoyed walking around in crowds, even less so when I’m actually trying to get something done.
“Maybe it’s good I didn’t try going to that restaurant with Josuke and the others,” said a barely audable Koichi from somewhere vaguely in front of me. “That place has gotten really popular recently, and this crowd would only make it worse.”
Oh, good. While I try forcing my way through a holiday crowd, that idiot with an out of fashion hamburger stuck on his head is enjoying a nice meal. Maybe I should put a command on Koichi to use Echoes to weigh it down until it gets a better shape.
“Mr. Kishibe.”
Maybe I could write into that chef guy to rub a rat on his next plate. They’re going to that restaurant anyway…
“Mr. Kishibe!”
“What…” I said while coming back from my fantasies. Koichi was calling to me from a familiar alley corner between a comic shop and a pharmacy.
“We’re here,” he said, waving me in. “It is here.” He’s right in a way that makes me somewhat sick. He’s right, but he shouldn’t be. This road doesn’t exist, but he’s standing right in it.
“Welcome back to the ghost alleyway,” I say under my breath. I’m not happy to be here. I’m not happy that there is a “here.” “Well, let’s go. Maybe it won’t have anything to do with us this time.” After all, it wasn’t like it was her alleyway. It was ghost alleyway. It was a place where a ghost from Morioh who couldn’t move on gets stuck. We’ll just run into a guy who’s business failed because he fell in a manhole on the way to a meeting or some fat teenager who can’t move on because he didn’t buy enough gunpla in life or something.
Thinking about it like that made it easy to stroll right in. That’s right. People die with heavy regrets all the time. The scenery will even be different. It’s not like we’ve walked by a-
“There’s the dog house,” said Koichi, his words stabbing into me like a insulting speech balloon in a gag comic. I stop and turn towards it. Unmisktably, we had come to a dog house near a vending machine with no power and a pile of crap with a shoeprint in it. I looked at the house for a moment, pausing so that I couldn’t make something bad happen on accident. I wanted this to just be a dog house that was here for no reason. People have dogs, so it’s not like a random dog house would be significant.
*Bark Bark*
But I know better at this point. No matter how much I want to wish it away, this is the ghost alley, and there’s only one reason it would be here.
“Hello there, Arnold,” said Koichi from behind me. I slowly turn myself around to see him pantomiming petting the dog even though he can’t touch it. And right there beside him is the reason we’re here.
“And hello to you too, Sugimoto,” I said. A perpetually young girl stands next to Koichi and Arnold, smiling at the two playing as best as ghost can with a living person.
“I’m glad you came to visit, Hirose. And you too, Rohan,” she said liked we’d known each other for so long. I don’t like that she acts so familiar with me.
Koichi steps back over to stand beside me, and Arnold to Sugimoto. They look exactly as they did when we first met: Arnold dripping all over the pavement, and Sugimoto with that look of distant sadness on her face. Would it kill her to look a little satisfied?
“So did you hear? Your muder has been avenged,” I said curtly. That I have to say anything at all is annoying, and it’s slipping out in the way I’m talking.
“I know. I dealt the finishing blow myself in a way,” she says. “Well, I really just drove home the message that he died. Whatever it is about this place is what really did him in. Of course, Arnold here did his part too,” she said while kneeling down to pet him. Praising him was the only part she said with any joy, like she was more proud of him remembering to be a guard dog than she was happy that her murder had been solved and the killer finally punished.
“So…” said Koichi, afraid to point out the elephant in the room.
“What is it you’re still doing here,” I bring up myself. “You don’t really have any reason to be here, right? Or are the joys of Heaven just not enough for someone with an empty house and dog crap right on the street next to them,” I said. I laugh a little sarcastically, just loud enough for them to hear. “Your grievance is over now, Sugimoto. Abide by the ghost rules and move on with your death already.”
She stares blankly at me, like she hadn’t hear a word of that. “Yes, I suppose I should be moving onto the afterlife by now. I should.” She turns around and folds her arms behind her head. “But I guess I have something else holding me down.” And then she just stood there while Arnold stares at us. We all stood there like that for a minute before I turned away myself and faced towards the way out.
“Sounds like a real problem for you,” I said. I start my stride towards the exit, and I can feel Koichi begin to stare me down. “But we can’t stop to help you every time you need something from the living world. We’ve got our own things to take care of there.” I said it firmly. They had to understand why we were leaving.
I could still feel Koichi’s stare on my back. I could hear Arnold panting. I couldn’t tell what Sugimoto was doing. It’s like she was trying to convince me she’d moved on after what I’d said to her.
I was past the mailbox. I was at the corner where I needed to turn, and I didn’t break stride even once.
“Yeah, you’re right,” I heard her call from way back there. It got me to stop, I’ll give her that. “I’m sure you do have plenty of important things to take care of back in your world.” I kept my back turned. She seemed to understand fine. “But you’re here now, right?”
That was a lot closer. I turned around to make sure I hadn’t teleported back, being where I am and all.
“Too close!” I yelled when I saw a big blast of Sugimoto face all of a sudden. I stumbled backwards for a second catching myself just before falling. That would be embarrassing, but that’s probably what she wanted based on that childish grin on her face.
“Heehee.” A childish laugh to go with that childish smirk. I’d take out the page with her memory of it, but I only get access to what happened before she died. “Like I said, you’re here now. You obviously got some time away from whatever it is you do out there.”She stared walking backwards with a bounce in her step. “You’re right that I can’t hold living people to this place just because I’m trying to be unstuck from it, but if you’ve got the time to come here in the first place, why not hang out with a girl and her dog for a while?”
It caught me off guard. When we met Sugimoto the first time, she was so set on catching her killer that she told us her story immediately. She had been desparate, not having anyone to tell it to for fifteen years, but even so. She’s stuck in what might be an even worse position now, not only being stuck but not being sure why, but now she’s being so casual about being in limbo.
“Hmm, maybe,” I said back, “but this is a small gap in my schedule. I’m not any less busy, especially in the case’s aftermath. There’s a lot of pages to be drawn, dialogue and storyboards to be fleshed out. Honestly, I really should be getting that done instead of being here.” It wasn’t like I was lying. She looked disheartened, but she said it best herself. The dead have no right to impose on the living. “So I’ll be taking my leave now. Come on, Koichi.”
But Koichi stands there, giving me a desparate look. It looks somewhere between trying to resist terror and the realization that there’s no bathrooms here. I furrow my brow and my mouth crinkles up.
“Didn’t you say that pompadour loser Josuke and the others are at that restaurant? You have things you have to take care of too.” He has his obligations just like I have mine. He should understand, but he just keeps staring at me like that while building up sweat. “If you’re not into that, we could go back to my house. It’s been a bit since you’ve gotten to research for me.” Nothing there either, just a cold set of eyes. Arnold has left his side and is now saddling up with his master. She bends down to pet him, the distant look returning to her face.
I’m at a loss. I can’t handle this from two sides.
“All right, all right,” I say exhasperatedly. “An hour or so won’t put a huge dent in my schedule. We can stay here for a bit.” Koichi’s expression brightens back up immediately into a wide grin. Arnold barks and runs back over to him where they start playing again, and Sugimoto just puts on a small smile and starts following them back.
“If you’re going to be staying here, I should probably show you some hospitality. Despite how it looks, there’s more to this place than a broken vending machine and a dog crap someone stepped in ages ago.” She turns her head back, showing a much happier grin than I’ve seen out her since meeting her. “I’d have probably gone crazy if that’s all I had for fifteen years.”
I put my head back and press on my brow. “Yeah, I’ll believe it when I see it. Even if you’ve been around longer than me, you’re still the ghost of 16 year old.” My fingers are on my brow, but there is a smile on my face. Who knows what’s in the world of every day ghosts? Maybe there’s dinosaurs and concerts and flying around. It could be interesting with a guide.
“No way, how did you get that item while in 3rd?”
“Oh no, that’s my little secret.”
This isn’t funny.
“Man! Your little ‘secret’ just put me back in 5th.”
“You don’t get this good if you’re going to show mercy! That cup is mine!”
Why…
“Oh, this isn’t over yet. Putting me back there only lets me get better items.”
“That might put you back in the Top 4, but you’re not catching back up to me.”
Why is this even…
“Ah, crap. I only managed to get back up to 3rd. Good race, Miss Sugimoto.”
“Well, I’ve had a lot of time to practice. Do you want next in Rohan?”
“Why… do you have this?!” I jumped out of my chair stolen from the kitchen. “How do you even have a Super Family Boy and games for it?”
“They were just in my house when I got stuck here,” said Sugimoto like I’d asked how she manages to walk. “Is that weird?”
“Yes. That thing didn’t come out until almost ten years after you died, why would it be in the ghost version of your house, and why does it even matter?! If I wanted to screw around not working, I can do it at home.”
“Yeah, maybe, but then you wouldn’t be hanging out with your friends, especially not me,” she said back with an infuriatingly “cute” tone. “Isn’t it better this way?”
“No, no it isn’t. I could be working right now.” I threw my arms up and started pacing. “Instead, I’m watching two people play a game that shouldn’t even be here. This isn’t dinosaurs, concerts or flying around!”
She cocked her eyebrow and turned back to her game with Koichi, already picking another character. “I don’t know who told you we have things like that.”
“We’re in a ghost world. I expected some sort of weird things going on that might be kind of interesting.” I sat back down and rubbed my temples. “We’re smack dab in the middle of a supernatural hot spot in a town that happens to be particularly weird.”
“Yeah, but this isn’t ‘The Ghost World.’ This is just my house. There might be a ghost world somewhere, but I wouldn’t be able to get to it even if it is.” I looked over at her holding the controller and staring at the ready screen. This is probably the first time she’s ever gotten to play with another person. Hours and hours of playtime logged against a CPU with dozens, maybe hundreds, of digital trophes to show for it all.
I sighed heavily and rocked myself up and out of my chair. “Pass it over, Koichi. I’ll give it a round.” I sat down in front of the system while Koichi took my chair. “I haven’t played this since back in middle school. Let’s see what I can- hey! You picked the big fat guy!” I turned back and glared at Koichi, but he and my opponent were just laughing away.
We lost track of the time and what we were doing. However many races between the three of us, and I think I won something like two against Sugimoto. I might have won a few more over all, but Koichi left to go see that Yamagishi girl during their day off from school. It was fine. Sugimoto’s house was more interesting that I initially gave it credit for. A lot of what she did was play games or watch old tapes that were left over, but there were a lot of rooms. It was a place based on her memories of her life, so anything she’d seen in the house was something we could interact with. Old clothes, toys, books. It was like a place perfectly preserved in the past that you could just visit.
We also found some old art supplies laying around in one of the rooms. I have plenty of abilities, but nothing compares to my art skills. She would have never been able to see it, so I drew her old pages from my own manga. It was weird to draw my old works in my current style. Old characters looked unfamiliar, and I caught myself wondering what I could do differently now. But those thoughts didn’t really matter. Sugimoto was enamored and enjoyed the little “rerun” issues I could show her. I also drew her a few times in some of the clothes we found, Arnold playing around. It was all valuable experience that I could use for later art and stories. It was all valuable memories for everyone.
It was fun.
“Ooh, this is rough. We’ve only got one healing item left and you’re almost out.”
“Yeah, but you can just remake me if I get killed, so let’s not worry about using it just yet.”
We’d gone back to playing games after an impromptu art session. We were playing co-op partly because I wanted to play a new game and partly because I wanted to play a new game she couldn’t stomp all over me in.
“You just want me to remake you now? We’ve got the electric power right here.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty good for this boss.”
“It’s pretty good for this game.”
“Yeah, I guess. I like the martial arts power all the same.”
“Well, if we see it again, you can always get it then.”
“You know, I met a guy who reminds me of that power during the case. He was really helpful in dealing with all the aftermath. Ooo, go high, it’s going to use that walking fingers thing.” I clutched onto the block button like it was a lifeboat.
“Yeah? You’ll have to tell him I said thanks if you get the chance- Ah! Just barely ducked under that one.” She’d started moving the controller around like it was another way to move.
“I’ll try, but he’s probably knee deep in narwhal by now.”
“What’s a narwhal? I never heard of thaaaa-YES, last lucky shot!” She jumped up and did a little dance. I did everything I could not to laugh at her.
“You’d think a person who only had things like this to do wouldn’t get so excited when winning,” I said flashing a snide grin.
“Yeah, but I don’t usually have to carry around all this extra weight that showed up in my house,” she shot back just as snide. “Well, we’re on the last boss. You ready to take this on?”
“Yeah, but I don’t even know how long I’ve been here. This’ll probably have to be the last thing we do.” I turned back to the screen, expecting her to sit next to me, but she was stuck staring out the window. A soft, orange glow washed over her face.
“It’s actually gotten later than I thought. It’s already sunset.” I looked over at her and walked over to the window. I had to blink to take in the sudden light after sitting around staring at a TV screen most of the day. “You’ll probably have to get going soon.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I left some pages half done back at my house. I need to get those done pretty soon.” I sat back down with the controller and rolled my neck. “But we have enough time to finish this off.”
“Actually…” she trailed off there for a moment, still stairing out the window. “Would you like to go for a walk?” She started over towards the door and put on her shoes. Arnold was sleeping over in the corner of the room or he’d have probably jumped to go out with her. I put my controller down and turned off the SFB.
“Yeah, though I don’t know where we’re going to go.” I walked over to the door and opened it. The sudden flush of orange was harsher on my eyes than it was from the window, but Sugimoto didn’t seem fazed at all. In fact, she looked more excited than she had all day.
“Don’t worry. I know a place. We can get there pretty quick if keep a good pace.” She had that bounce back in her step as she walked out to the street. She turned back to me and extended her hand. “You might even be able to draw something pretty nice based on it.”
I walked out passed her extended hand and kept going towards the alley. “Now that’s what I like to hear. Lead the way, Sugimoto.” I walked fast. She was the one that said we needed to keep a good pace to get where we’re going.
“I can’t lead the way if you try and leave me behind, Rohan,” said her slowly shrinking voice. I heard her running up and braced myself for her to push me, not remembering that she can’t do that. “But something like this should work.” That was much closer, right undernieth me. I looked over and saw she was around my arm.
“How are you…” Even though I could tell she was touching me from my sleeve moving, I couldn’t feel her.
“I can’t really feel this either,” she said. “I think it’s because I’m a ghost, but I still…” she trailed off there, looking away from me. I wonder if she was remembering doing this from years ago.
“It’s all right. I’m probably not going to have to use Heaven’s Door on a walk like this,” I said. “If I really did, I can just use my left hand, so I think I can spare an arm for now.”
“Thanks.” I felt a part of my sleeve rustle. I glanced over and saw she’d put her head on my arm. It was probably taking her a lot of effort not to just fall through me.
“We’re here.” She let go of my arm and sat down on a bench near a garbage can.
We hadn’t actually gone anywhere. We were only about thirty feet away from the house, having exploited the looping nature of the alley. The sun was much lower in the sky, and you could see the first few stars peaking out. It was a good scene. I’ll have to figure out a reason to draw it.
“Even in this world, the early evening sky is so pretty,” she said. Her face looking happily at the handful of stars was still washed with what little sunlight there was left. “You can still get a good view of the sun touching the horizon from here. You should check it out.”
I sat down on the bench next to her. Half a red circle was across the way. I felt part of my sleeve moving again, and saw her back on my shoulder. “You can’t be comfortable like that.”
“You’d be surprised,” she said while holding back a yawn.
“I didn’t think ghosts needed to sleep.”
“Again, you’d be surprised.”
We sat there like that for a little bit. There was only a tiny red line left, and it was dark enough to start seeing star formations. I was absentmindedly looking at them and not thinking about how I’d get Sugimoto back to her house if she fell asleep here.
“So how do you feel,” she asked all of a sudden. I looked at her on my arm, and she was still just looking ahead.
“Fine. What kind of question is that?”
“I mean about the case. How do you feel about everything that happened?” She was more serious. I guess she felt like it was time to look for the closure she couldn’t move on without.
“Well, we stopped a murderer and brought him to a justice that he’d never have gotten any other way.” I said it confidently. It’d be wrong to not show any pride for what we’d done for this town. “So, good. That’s how I feel.” There was more silence. I felt like a fish ignoring a fishing hook.
“I’m glad you can feel that way about it.”
I know what she wants, but I don’t have it. I answered her distress. I couldn’t give her anything else that would matter. But that’s not why I’m here. I have to remember that.
“It is how I feel.” I said it firmly. My sleeve started shaking. “I didn’t stop that madman out of some sense of obligation. I’m not a police officer. I’m not a hero.” My sleeve got lighter. I felt the wood of the bench shift. “I’m just someone who wanted to stop evil.”
The bench seat shifted down very suddenly. She must have sat down hard. “And that’s the only evil. You just have to stop the final boss and suddenly you have no more evil to stop.” She was trying to hurt me back. “You don’t have any more reason to-“
“Maybe I should say it differently.” I stood up and looked at her. She looked back at me, and I could tell she’d run off if I didn’t give her the answer she wanted right now. “I feel good about what happened because that case wronged so many people, and stopping the killer was part of putting things right.” I leaned in and got closer to her. “Because that’s what I want to do, not something I have to do.”
“But-“
“And if things aren’t all the way right,” I said, sitting back down. “Then I guess I’ll just have to do more.” I leaned back and closed stared at the near full moon. “Playing video games is really going to eat into my schedule, though. I might have to get some others to help in case I don’t have the time.” I looked over with a proud smirk. With how well it shifted around her mood, I think I get to be proud of how well I worded that.
“You’ll have to tell me all about them.” She was smiling again.
“They’re friends of Koichi’s, so you’ll like them. Except that one guy. He can go jump off a cliff. And I may not be able to get Mr. Kujo now that he’ll be busy studying marine biology.”
“That reminds me. You never told me what a nar-something is.”
“Oh, yeah. Hold on.” I took a piece of paper and a pencil out of my pocket and doodled a quick picture of a narwhal. “It’s a sea creature with a horn like this. They’re known to duel with them and use them for mating.”
“Wow. I didn’t know there was something like this out in the ocean.”
“I can probably get Mr. Kujo to tell you more about it when I see him next.”
“Sounds good.” She rested back on my shoulder. “For now though, lets just stay here for a bit.”
“Whatever you say, Reimi.”
We sat on that bench under a sea of stars just talking.
*chirp chirp*
I rolled around for a bit. Birds aren’t supposed to be out this late.
*vrrrrrm honk!*
And who the hell put a ghost car here? I should look at this.
I opened my eyes, my vision hazily coming together. My back hurt from falling asleep while sitting up. Being on a bench probably didn’t help.
“Do you have memories of cars being around here or something? Your ghost powers are something.” I couldn’t feel Reimi on my arm anymore. Maybe she’d gone back? It’s not like she could have woken me or carried me. “Ah well. I’ll ask her before I head back.” I was surprised to see it was day, but was still pretty early, only just past sunrise. I stood up and stretched, trying to work the new knot out of my back. I felt something hit my foot. It was that pen falling off my lap taking the picture of the narwhal I’d drawn late last night. “Not my best. I need to look up what these things look like in case I ever want to put them in my comic.” I stuffed it and the pen in my pocket and walked off in the direction of Reimi’s house.
*vrrrrrrrm*
A car drove by on the street behind me. Huh? Why did a car drive by? How did a car drive by? Where did it… Street behind me? I turned around to look and saw a cross street with some foot traffic on the sidewalk. It was only a few people, but there were people here. No one should be able to be in the ghost alley, so why?
I turned around and looked back behind me and just saw a row of buildings. The back of a pharmacy and a comic book store, I recognized the signs above their back doors. How did I get here? I walked out to the front of the stores, and I was at the place where the ghost alley appears, but there’s nothing here. The stores are next to each other now.
“What the hell is…” and then I remembered the drawing in my pocket. I that was there, I knew I had gone to the ghost alley. I pulled it out and looked at it to make sure I didn’t just imagine all that. “Yeah, that’s my drawing all right. Wait.” The sun was on the other side of the drawing, and I could see something on the back. I turned it over.
“You’ve grown up into a fine man, Rohan Kishibe.
Reimi”
I kept looking at it over and over. I’d turn it over and look at the drawing just to make
sure it was really the same paper. I’d never seen her handwriting before, but it was a very young, feminine style. And it was the only paper and pen she would have had. I looked back to the bench behind the two stores as I said that to myself. There was a bench, but it wasn’t the bench we sat on. There was a place behind those stores, but it wasn’t her place.
She had moved on.
I was in an airport terminal in my way out of the country. My comic had taken a bit of a different direction, so I needed to travel in order to research some architecture. Sitting waiting for a plane to take off is really terrible.
“Now boarding Flight 2647 to Florence, Italy. Now boarding Flight 2647 to Florence, Italy.”
The voice rang out through the terminal, and I saw a handful of people standing up to board. Families on vacations, young students maybe on their way to study, a few businessmen. I threw my satchel over my shoulder and grabbed my carryon. The terminal lines aren’t much better, but at least I’m doing something now.
As I’m walking to my next time to wait, I see a young couple asleep in some of the seats. I wonder if they’re heading for Italy like me. Boring as it is, you really shouldn’t fall asleep while waiting for something as important as an airplane.
“But then again, I guess I understand falling asleep like that.” A small smile came to my face. Still, I needed to wake them up. “Hey, you two,” I called out to them. The young man stirred awake and looked at me trying to get his barring. “Are you two on 2647?”
“Ahh, yeah, yeah we are. Is it ready to go?”
“Yeah, the boarding call just rang. You need to get going.”
“Aha, thanks for letting me know, mister.” He shook the girl next to her. “Come on, honey. Our flight’s boarding.” She also took a second to get up, stretching.
“Try to be careful falling asleep like that.” I started off towards the line.
“You never know what important things you might miss.”
The End
“I seriously didn’t see that guy. I checked and everything!”
Of course he didn’t. It was done in an instant. In a unique time that only one person saw. Justice was done in an instant.
“Didn’t see that coming. Killed by a truck…” One of the voices broke our shocked silence. He survives all that fighting just to get hit by an ambulance.
“The police couldn’t touch him. This is what he deserved,” It’s hard to watch a man die so suddenly. I had to remind that this is what we had been fighting for.
“We didn’t get along well, but he was my father,” said Hayato, clutching a breifcase. “This guy killed my father. I hope… I hope he gets what he deserves.” And then he just sat there, doing everything he could not to bury his face in that bag.
The scars in our small town run deep even though everything was over But that was what we had to remember. Everything was over. We had stopped the murders. We had avenged everyone who’d fallen victim to a madman, and now all those victims could rest in peace.
All of them.
It’s been about two weeks since then. Our time playing amateur detective happened towards the end of the summer break, so everyone is back in school now. It’s good, too, because that’s given me back some of my lost work hours. When you’re the kind person who can live in a several million yen home, you don’t get to be near death scenes without the police wanting to take some of your time. The influence that Mr. Kujo and Mr. Joestar were able to throw around helped to allievate that somewhat, and I can convince anyone of anything so long as I have a pen, but there was still a lot of work to be done just talking about the scene with the ambluance. On top of that, I’ve been helping that Hayato kid out with some money on the side now that they lack for an income, and it’s not fun keeping that under his mother’s radar.
Even for someone of my drawing skill, keeping up with all this as well as my comic duties is more complicated than I’m used to. It’s not a problem with as skilled as I am, but even I need a day to take care of my personal business.
Today, September 15th, is one of those days.
*knock, knock*
“That’ll be him now,” I said, standing up from my current page. I step over to the closet and consider getting a coat since it’s fall but decide against it. I shouldn’t be gone long.
I open the door and look all the way down to see a good friend after what felt like a long time. Koichi had been even busier than I was in the aftermath investigation. As much influence as Mr. Joestar, Mr. Kujo, and myself can put out, we only had to answer to the authorities. Koichi had to answer to his parents. Him going through all that extra effort is a little unfortunate, but thinking of Josuke getting the same replaces any pity I may have had with pure joy.
“How is your work going, Mr. Kishibe?” he asked so politely. As bold as he had become, one of the key figures in our victory is still so cordial even to a friend.
“As well as I always do. Solving a murder case is no excuse to lose my pace,” I say with confidence. “If anything, it’s going better now that I have all this extra inspiration from the past few months.”
“That’s good. This most recent plot is really holding me in. Having to wait for another chapter would kill me,” he said with a somewhat embarrassed tone.
“Are you trying to tell me your worried about me getting my work done?” I asked while roughly grabbing his head. Maybe he had gotten tougher than I thought, the little punk.
“Not at all, Mr. Kishi- owww,” he said, trying to pull my arm away. He looked up, a little pained, but we laughed about it. It’s good to have someone you can be like this with.
And then we stood there, just sort of staring into space. There was tension, like when you’re waiting for bad news. You’re worried that if you say or do anything, you’ll just make the worst happen faster.
“So…” he said, trying to get us going, “Are you ready?”
I tilt my head back and press on my brow. “Yeah. Let’s go ahead and get this done.” I closed the door and locked up. I shouldn’t be gone long, but you can never be too careful even in a relatively small town like this.
We had walked down to downtown Morioh. It was busy all over, this being a holiday and all. I’ve never enjoyed walking around in crowds, even less so when I’m actually trying to get something done.
“Maybe it’s good I didn’t try going to that restaurant with Josuke and the others,” said a barely audable Koichi from somewhere vaguely in front of me. “That place has gotten really popular recently, and this crowd would only make it worse.”
Oh, good. While I try forcing my way through a holiday crowd, that idiot with an out of fashion hamburger stuck on his head is enjoying a nice meal. Maybe I should put a command on Koichi to use Echoes to weigh it down until it gets a better shape.
“Mr. Kishibe.”
Maybe I could write into that chef guy to rub a rat on his next plate. They’re going to that restaurant anyway…
“Mr. Kishibe!”
“What…” I said while coming back from my fantasies. Koichi was calling to me from a familiar alley corner between a comic shop and a pharmacy.
“We’re here,” he said, waving me in. “It is here.” He’s right in a way that makes me somewhat sick. He’s right, but he shouldn’t be. This road doesn’t exist, but he’s standing right in it.
“Welcome back to the ghost alleyway,” I say under my breath. I’m not happy to be here. I’m not happy that there is a “here.” “Well, let’s go. Maybe it won’t have anything to do with us this time.” After all, it wasn’t like it was her alleyway. It was ghost alleyway. It was a place where a ghost from Morioh who couldn’t move on gets stuck. We’ll just run into a guy who’s business failed because he fell in a manhole on the way to a meeting or some fat teenager who can’t move on because he didn’t buy enough gunpla in life or something.
Thinking about it like that made it easy to stroll right in. That’s right. People die with heavy regrets all the time. The scenery will even be different. It’s not like we’ve walked by a-
“There’s the dog house,” said Koichi, his words stabbing into me like a insulting speech balloon in a gag comic. I stop and turn towards it. Unmisktably, we had come to a dog house near a vending machine with no power and a pile of crap with a shoeprint in it. I looked at the house for a moment, pausing so that I couldn’t make something bad happen on accident. I wanted this to just be a dog house that was here for no reason. People have dogs, so it’s not like a random dog house would be significant.
*Bark Bark*
But I know better at this point. No matter how much I want to wish it away, this is the ghost alley, and there’s only one reason it would be here.
“Hello there, Arnold,” said Koichi from behind me. I slowly turn myself around to see him pantomiming petting the dog even though he can’t touch it. And right there beside him is the reason we’re here.
“And hello to you too, Sugimoto,” I said. A perpetually young girl stands next to Koichi and Arnold, smiling at the two playing as best as ghost can with a living person.
“I’m glad you came to visit, Hirose. And you too, Rohan,” she said liked we’d known each other for so long. I don’t like that she acts so familiar with me.
Koichi steps back over to stand beside me, and Arnold to Sugimoto. They look exactly as they did when we first met: Arnold dripping all over the pavement, and Sugimoto with that look of distant sadness on her face. Would it kill her to look a little satisfied?
“So did you hear? Your muder has been avenged,” I said curtly. That I have to say anything at all is annoying, and it’s slipping out in the way I’m talking.
“I know. I dealt the finishing blow myself in a way,” she says. “Well, I really just drove home the message that he died. Whatever it is about this place is what really did him in. Of course, Arnold here did his part too,” she said while kneeling down to pet him. Praising him was the only part she said with any joy, like she was more proud of him remembering to be a guard dog than she was happy that her murder had been solved and the killer finally punished.
“So…” said Koichi, afraid to point out the elephant in the room.
“What is it you’re still doing here,” I bring up myself. “You don’t really have any reason to be here, right? Or are the joys of Heaven just not enough for someone with an empty house and dog crap right on the street next to them,” I said. I laugh a little sarcastically, just loud enough for them to hear. “Your grievance is over now, Sugimoto. Abide by the ghost rules and move on with your death already.”
She stares blankly at me, like she hadn’t hear a word of that. “Yes, I suppose I should be moving onto the afterlife by now. I should.” She turns around and folds her arms behind her head. “But I guess I have something else holding me down.” And then she just stood there while Arnold stares at us. We all stood there like that for a minute before I turned away myself and faced towards the way out.
“Sounds like a real problem for you,” I said. I start my stride towards the exit, and I can feel Koichi begin to stare me down. “But we can’t stop to help you every time you need something from the living world. We’ve got our own things to take care of there.” I said it firmly. They had to understand why we were leaving.
I could still feel Koichi’s stare on my back. I could hear Arnold panting. I couldn’t tell what Sugimoto was doing. It’s like she was trying to convince me she’d moved on after what I’d said to her.
I was past the mailbox. I was at the corner where I needed to turn, and I didn’t break stride even once.
“Yeah, you’re right,” I heard her call from way back there. It got me to stop, I’ll give her that. “I’m sure you do have plenty of important things to take care of back in your world.” I kept my back turned. She seemed to understand fine. “But you’re here now, right?”
That was a lot closer. I turned around to make sure I hadn’t teleported back, being where I am and all.
“Too close!” I yelled when I saw a big blast of Sugimoto face all of a sudden. I stumbled backwards for a second catching myself just before falling. That would be embarrassing, but that’s probably what she wanted based on that childish grin on her face.
“Heehee.” A childish laugh to go with that childish smirk. I’d take out the page with her memory of it, but I only get access to what happened before she died. “Like I said, you’re here now. You obviously got some time away from whatever it is you do out there.”She stared walking backwards with a bounce in her step. “You’re right that I can’t hold living people to this place just because I’m trying to be unstuck from it, but if you’ve got the time to come here in the first place, why not hang out with a girl and her dog for a while?”
It caught me off guard. When we met Sugimoto the first time, she was so set on catching her killer that she told us her story immediately. She had been desparate, not having anyone to tell it to for fifteen years, but even so. She’s stuck in what might be an even worse position now, not only being stuck but not being sure why, but now she’s being so casual about being in limbo.
“Hmm, maybe,” I said back, “but this is a small gap in my schedule. I’m not any less busy, especially in the case’s aftermath. There’s a lot of pages to be drawn, dialogue and storyboards to be fleshed out. Honestly, I really should be getting that done instead of being here.” It wasn’t like I was lying. She looked disheartened, but she said it best herself. The dead have no right to impose on the living. “So I’ll be taking my leave now. Come on, Koichi.”
But Koichi stands there, giving me a desparate look. It looks somewhere between trying to resist terror and the realization that there’s no bathrooms here. I furrow my brow and my mouth crinkles up.
“Didn’t you say that pompadour loser Josuke and the others are at that restaurant? You have things you have to take care of too.” He has his obligations just like I have mine. He should understand, but he just keeps staring at me like that while building up sweat. “If you’re not into that, we could go back to my house. It’s been a bit since you’ve gotten to research for me.” Nothing there either, just a cold set of eyes. Arnold has left his side and is now saddling up with his master. She bends down to pet him, the distant look returning to her face.
I’m at a loss. I can’t handle this from two sides.
“All right, all right,” I say exhasperatedly. “An hour or so won’t put a huge dent in my schedule. We can stay here for a bit.” Koichi’s expression brightens back up immediately into a wide grin. Arnold barks and runs back over to him where they start playing again, and Sugimoto just puts on a small smile and starts following them back.
“If you’re going to be staying here, I should probably show you some hospitality. Despite how it looks, there’s more to this place than a broken vending machine and a dog crap someone stepped in ages ago.” She turns her head back, showing a much happier grin than I’ve seen out her since meeting her. “I’d have probably gone crazy if that’s all I had for fifteen years.”
I put my head back and press on my brow. “Yeah, I’ll believe it when I see it. Even if you’ve been around longer than me, you’re still the ghost of 16 year old.” My fingers are on my brow, but there is a smile on my face. Who knows what’s in the world of every day ghosts? Maybe there’s dinosaurs and concerts and flying around. It could be interesting with a guide.
“No way, how did you get that item while in 3rd?”
“Oh no, that’s my little secret.”
This isn’t funny.
“Man! Your little ‘secret’ just put me back in 5th.”
“You don’t get this good if you’re going to show mercy! That cup is mine!”
Why…
“Oh, this isn’t over yet. Putting me back there only lets me get better items.”
“That might put you back in the Top 4, but you’re not catching back up to me.”
Why is this even…
“Ah, crap. I only managed to get back up to 3rd. Good race, Miss Sugimoto.”
“Well, I’ve had a lot of time to practice. Do you want next in Rohan?”
“Why… do you have this?!” I jumped out of my chair stolen from the kitchen. “How do you even have a Super Family Boy and games for it?”
“They were just in my house when I got stuck here,” said Sugimoto like I’d asked how she manages to walk. “Is that weird?”
“Yes. That thing didn’t come out until almost ten years after you died, why would it be in the ghost version of your house, and why does it even matter?! If I wanted to screw around not working, I can do it at home.”
“Yeah, maybe, but then you wouldn’t be hanging out with your friends, especially not me,” she said back with an infuriatingly “cute” tone. “Isn’t it better this way?”
“No, no it isn’t. I could be working right now.” I threw my arms up and started pacing. “Instead, I’m watching two people play a game that shouldn’t even be here. This isn’t dinosaurs, concerts or flying around!”
She cocked her eyebrow and turned back to her game with Koichi, already picking another character. “I don’t know who told you we have things like that.”
“We’re in a ghost world. I expected some sort of weird things going on that might be kind of interesting.” I sat back down and rubbed my temples. “We’re smack dab in the middle of a supernatural hot spot in a town that happens to be particularly weird.”
“Yeah, but this isn’t ‘The Ghost World.’ This is just my house. There might be a ghost world somewhere, but I wouldn’t be able to get to it even if it is.” I looked over at her holding the controller and staring at the ready screen. This is probably the first time she’s ever gotten to play with another person. Hours and hours of playtime logged against a CPU with dozens, maybe hundreds, of digital trophes to show for it all.
I sighed heavily and rocked myself up and out of my chair. “Pass it over, Koichi. I’ll give it a round.” I sat down in front of the system while Koichi took my chair. “I haven’t played this since back in middle school. Let’s see what I can- hey! You picked the big fat guy!” I turned back and glared at Koichi, but he and my opponent were just laughing away.
We lost track of the time and what we were doing. However many races between the three of us, and I think I won something like two against Sugimoto. I might have won a few more over all, but Koichi left to go see that Yamagishi girl during their day off from school. It was fine. Sugimoto’s house was more interesting that I initially gave it credit for. A lot of what she did was play games or watch old tapes that were left over, but there were a lot of rooms. It was a place based on her memories of her life, so anything she’d seen in the house was something we could interact with. Old clothes, toys, books. It was like a place perfectly preserved in the past that you could just visit.
We also found some old art supplies laying around in one of the rooms. I have plenty of abilities, but nothing compares to my art skills. She would have never been able to see it, so I drew her old pages from my own manga. It was weird to draw my old works in my current style. Old characters looked unfamiliar, and I caught myself wondering what I could do differently now. But those thoughts didn’t really matter. Sugimoto was enamored and enjoyed the little “rerun” issues I could show her. I also drew her a few times in some of the clothes we found, Arnold playing around. It was all valuable experience that I could use for later art and stories. It was all valuable memories for everyone.
It was fun.
“Ooh, this is rough. We’ve only got one healing item left and you’re almost out.”
“Yeah, but you can just remake me if I get killed, so let’s not worry about using it just yet.”
We’d gone back to playing games after an impromptu art session. We were playing co-op partly because I wanted to play a new game and partly because I wanted to play a new game she couldn’t stomp all over me in.
“You just want me to remake you now? We’ve got the electric power right here.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty good for this boss.”
“It’s pretty good for this game.”
“Yeah, I guess. I like the martial arts power all the same.”
“Well, if we see it again, you can always get it then.”
“You know, I met a guy who reminds me of that power during the case. He was really helpful in dealing with all the aftermath. Ooo, go high, it’s going to use that walking fingers thing.” I clutched onto the block button like it was a lifeboat.
“Yeah? You’ll have to tell him I said thanks if you get the chance- Ah! Just barely ducked under that one.” She’d started moving the controller around like it was another way to move.
“I’ll try, but he’s probably knee deep in narwhal by now.”
“What’s a narwhal? I never heard of thaaaa-YES, last lucky shot!” She jumped up and did a little dance. I did everything I could not to laugh at her.
“You’d think a person who only had things like this to do wouldn’t get so excited when winning,” I said flashing a snide grin.
“Yeah, but I don’t usually have to carry around all this extra weight that showed up in my house,” she shot back just as snide. “Well, we’re on the last boss. You ready to take this on?”
“Yeah, but I don’t even know how long I’ve been here. This’ll probably have to be the last thing we do.” I turned back to the screen, expecting her to sit next to me, but she was stuck staring out the window. A soft, orange glow washed over her face.
“It’s actually gotten later than I thought. It’s already sunset.” I looked over at her and walked over to the window. I had to blink to take in the sudden light after sitting around staring at a TV screen most of the day. “You’ll probably have to get going soon.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I left some pages half done back at my house. I need to get those done pretty soon.” I sat back down with the controller and rolled my neck. “But we have enough time to finish this off.”
“Actually…” she trailed off there for a moment, still stairing out the window. “Would you like to go for a walk?” She started over towards the door and put on her shoes. Arnold was sleeping over in the corner of the room or he’d have probably jumped to go out with her. I put my controller down and turned off the SFB.
“Yeah, though I don’t know where we’re going to go.” I walked over to the door and opened it. The sudden flush of orange was harsher on my eyes than it was from the window, but Sugimoto didn’t seem fazed at all. In fact, she looked more excited than she had all day.
“Don’t worry. I know a place. We can get there pretty quick if keep a good pace.” She had that bounce back in her step as she walked out to the street. She turned back to me and extended her hand. “You might even be able to draw something pretty nice based on it.”
I walked out passed her extended hand and kept going towards the alley. “Now that’s what I like to hear. Lead the way, Sugimoto.” I walked fast. She was the one that said we needed to keep a good pace to get where we’re going.
“I can’t lead the way if you try and leave me behind, Rohan,” said her slowly shrinking voice. I heard her running up and braced myself for her to push me, not remembering that she can’t do that. “But something like this should work.” That was much closer, right undernieth me. I looked over and saw she was around my arm.
“How are you…” Even though I could tell she was touching me from my sleeve moving, I couldn’t feel her.
“I can’t really feel this either,” she said. “I think it’s because I’m a ghost, but I still…” she trailed off there, looking away from me. I wonder if she was remembering doing this from years ago.
“It’s all right. I’m probably not going to have to use Heaven’s Door on a walk like this,” I said. “If I really did, I can just use my left hand, so I think I can spare an arm for now.”
“Thanks.” I felt a part of my sleeve rustle. I glanced over and saw she’d put her head on my arm. It was probably taking her a lot of effort not to just fall through me.
“We’re here.” She let go of my arm and sat down on a bench near a garbage can.
We hadn’t actually gone anywhere. We were only about thirty feet away from the house, having exploited the looping nature of the alley. The sun was much lower in the sky, and you could see the first few stars peaking out. It was a good scene. I’ll have to figure out a reason to draw it.
“Even in this world, the early evening sky is so pretty,” she said. Her face looking happily at the handful of stars was still washed with what little sunlight there was left. “You can still get a good view of the sun touching the horizon from here. You should check it out.”
I sat down on the bench next to her. Half a red circle was across the way. I felt part of my sleeve moving again, and saw her back on my shoulder. “You can’t be comfortable like that.”
“You’d be surprised,” she said while holding back a yawn.
“I didn’t think ghosts needed to sleep.”
“Again, you’d be surprised.”
We sat there like that for a little bit. There was only a tiny red line left, and it was dark enough to start seeing star formations. I was absentmindedly looking at them and not thinking about how I’d get Sugimoto back to her house if she fell asleep here.
“So how do you feel,” she asked all of a sudden. I looked at her on my arm, and she was still just looking ahead.
“Fine. What kind of question is that?”
“I mean about the case. How do you feel about everything that happened?” She was more serious. I guess she felt like it was time to look for the closure she couldn’t move on without.
“Well, we stopped a murderer and brought him to a justice that he’d never have gotten any other way.” I said it confidently. It’d be wrong to not show any pride for what we’d done for this town. “So, good. That’s how I feel.” There was more silence. I felt like a fish ignoring a fishing hook.
“I’m glad you can feel that way about it.”
I know what she wants, but I don’t have it. I answered her distress. I couldn’t give her anything else that would matter. But that’s not why I’m here. I have to remember that.
“It is how I feel.” I said it firmly. My sleeve started shaking. “I didn’t stop that madman out of some sense of obligation. I’m not a police officer. I’m not a hero.” My sleeve got lighter. I felt the wood of the bench shift. “I’m just someone who wanted to stop evil.”
The bench seat shifted down very suddenly. She must have sat down hard. “And that’s the only evil. You just have to stop the final boss and suddenly you have no more evil to stop.” She was trying to hurt me back. “You don’t have any more reason to-“
“Maybe I should say it differently.” I stood up and looked at her. She looked back at me, and I could tell she’d run off if I didn’t give her the answer she wanted right now. “I feel good about what happened because that case wronged so many people, and stopping the killer was part of putting things right.” I leaned in and got closer to her. “Because that’s what I want to do, not something I have to do.”
“But-“
“And if things aren’t all the way right,” I said, sitting back down. “Then I guess I’ll just have to do more.” I leaned back and closed stared at the near full moon. “Playing video games is really going to eat into my schedule, though. I might have to get some others to help in case I don’t have the time.” I looked over with a proud smirk. With how well it shifted around her mood, I think I get to be proud of how well I worded that.
“You’ll have to tell me all about them.” She was smiling again.
“They’re friends of Koichi’s, so you’ll like them. Except that one guy. He can go jump off a cliff. And I may not be able to get Mr. Kujo now that he’ll be busy studying marine biology.”
“That reminds me. You never told me what a nar-something is.”
“Oh, yeah. Hold on.” I took a piece of paper and a pencil out of my pocket and doodled a quick picture of a narwhal. “It’s a sea creature with a horn like this. They’re known to duel with them and use them for mating.”
“Wow. I didn’t know there was something like this out in the ocean.”
“I can probably get Mr. Kujo to tell you more about it when I see him next.”
“Sounds good.” She rested back on my shoulder. “For now though, lets just stay here for a bit.”
“Whatever you say, Reimi.”
We sat on that bench under a sea of stars just talking.
*chirp chirp*
I rolled around for a bit. Birds aren’t supposed to be out this late.
*vrrrrrm honk!*
And who the hell put a ghost car here? I should look at this.
I opened my eyes, my vision hazily coming together. My back hurt from falling asleep while sitting up. Being on a bench probably didn’t help.
“Do you have memories of cars being around here or something? Your ghost powers are something.” I couldn’t feel Reimi on my arm anymore. Maybe she’d gone back? It’s not like she could have woken me or carried me. “Ah well. I’ll ask her before I head back.” I was surprised to see it was day, but was still pretty early, only just past sunrise. I stood up and stretched, trying to work the new knot out of my back. I felt something hit my foot. It was that pen falling off my lap taking the picture of the narwhal I’d drawn late last night. “Not my best. I need to look up what these things look like in case I ever want to put them in my comic.” I stuffed it and the pen in my pocket and walked off in the direction of Reimi’s house.
*vrrrrrrrm*
A car drove by on the street behind me. Huh? Why did a car drive by? How did a car drive by? Where did it… Street behind me? I turned around to look and saw a cross street with some foot traffic on the sidewalk. It was only a few people, but there were people here. No one should be able to be in the ghost alley, so why?
I turned around and looked back behind me and just saw a row of buildings. The back of a pharmacy and a comic book store, I recognized the signs above their back doors. How did I get here? I walked out to the front of the stores, and I was at the place where the ghost alley appears, but there’s nothing here. The stores are next to each other now.
“What the hell is…” and then I remembered the drawing in my pocket. I that was there, I knew I had gone to the ghost alley. I pulled it out and looked at it to make sure I didn’t just imagine all that. “Yeah, that’s my drawing all right. Wait.” The sun was on the other side of the drawing, and I could see something on the back. I turned it over.
“You’ve grown up into a fine man, Rohan Kishibe.
Reimi”
I kept looking at it over and over. I’d turn it over and look at the drawing just to make
sure it was really the same paper. I’d never seen her handwriting before, but it was a very young, feminine style. And it was the only paper and pen she would have had. I looked back to the bench behind the two stores as I said that to myself. There was a bench, but it wasn’t the bench we sat on. There was a place behind those stores, but it wasn’t her place.
She had moved on.
I was in an airport terminal in my way out of the country. My comic had taken a bit of a different direction, so I needed to travel in order to research some architecture. Sitting waiting for a plane to take off is really terrible.
“Now boarding Flight 2647 to Florence, Italy. Now boarding Flight 2647 to Florence, Italy.”
The voice rang out through the terminal, and I saw a handful of people standing up to board. Families on vacations, young students maybe on their way to study, a few businessmen. I threw my satchel over my shoulder and grabbed my carryon. The terminal lines aren’t much better, but at least I’m doing something now.
As I’m walking to my next time to wait, I see a young couple asleep in some of the seats. I wonder if they’re heading for Italy like me. Boring as it is, you really shouldn’t fall asleep while waiting for something as important as an airplane.
“But then again, I guess I understand falling asleep like that.” A small smile came to my face. Still, I needed to wake them up. “Hey, you two,” I called out to them. The young man stirred awake and looked at me trying to get his barring. “Are you two on 2647?”
“Ahh, yeah, yeah we are. Is it ready to go?”
“Yeah, the boarding call just rang. You need to get going.”
“Aha, thanks for letting me know, mister.” He shook the girl next to her. “Come on, honey. Our flight’s boarding.” She also took a second to get up, stretching.
“Try to be careful falling asleep like that.” I started off towards the line.
“You never know what important things you might miss.”
The End
