The Last Leaves Falling (21 page)

“Yes!” my mother answers, though her voice is tired and breathy from getting me back home.

“I’m glad. It’s good to see you.”

“You too!”

The elevator lurches upward, taking too long to reach our floor.

Come on come on come on.

We stop outside our door. Mama pulls her handbag from the handles of my chair and rifles for her keys.

I imagine my computer humming gently on the desk, waiting for me to return.

Come on come on come on.

Finally, she finds them, puts the key into the lock, and turns.

“Right.” She breathes, pushing the door open wide. “Will you be all right for a minute? I want to check the mailbox, then I’ll come and help you to unpack your things.”

“It’s okay, Mama. I can manage.”

“Are you sure?”

Yes. My friends are down the hall, and I want to be alone with them.

KyoToTeenz.jp

My fingers feel heavy on the keyboard, as though they have forgotten what to do.

BRrRrRrRrRrRrR

YOU HAVE THREE MESSAGES

HI, MAN!

I KNOW YOU’RE AWAY, AND YOU PROBABLY WON’T GET THIS YET BUT EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I BEAT HIM, THE TOP BOSS GUY. SHOT HIM IN THE HEAD, AND IBEATHIMIBEATHIMIBEATHIM.

WHICH, ACTUALLY, IS PRETTY WEIRD. LIKE, THERE’S THIS HOLE IN MY DAYS. WHAT DO I STRIVE FOR NOW?

ANYWAY, HOPE YOU’RE HAVING A ZINGING TRIP. SPEAK SOON.

DUUUUUDE!

I FOUND MY NEW THING, THE THING TO REPLACE SERGEANT ASSWIPE AND HIS RENEGADE SOLDIERS. AND IT’S SO MUCH BETTER.

Another game? I hear you say, another game with guns and hiding behind rocks to throw grenades?

Well, I thought about it. Honestly I did, but nothing grabbed me. And now I’ve found my onetruecalling.

COME HOME, SO I CAN SHOW YOU! :D

I’m home, I’m home! Come online, I want to see!

I click on the last message.

Come Baaaaaack.

YOU’VE BOTH LEFT ME AND I’M LONELY. WHO’M I SUPPOSED TO TALK TO NOW? D-:

Both
left him?

Where is Mai? She’s always online, every day.

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Hi Kaito!

I’m BACK! Tell me all about this wondrous new obsession!

The trip was wonderful but I’ve missed you both so much. I need to talk to you IMMEDIATELY :D

HIIIIIII! (-: YOU’RE BACK! HELLOOOO!

Yes! Hello!

HOW WAS IT? TELL ME EVERYTHING.

It was wonderful to see my grandparents. And the air up there is lovely.

THE AIR? THAT . . . DOESN’T SOUND VERY EXCITING. WHERE WERE THE GUNFIGHTS? THE GIRLS? THE WILD ADVENTURE?

Hahaha, I was with my mother, and my elderly grandparents . . .

Although there was one thing . . .

WHAT WHAT WHAT?

Well, there was a small, teensy run-in with a BAKENEKO! O_O

BAKENEKO???

Cat demon.

YEAH, I KNOW, BUT WHAT HAPPENED? DID IT JUMP OUT FROM THE BUSHES AND TRY TO MAUL YOU? DID YOU SLICE OFF ITS HEAD WITH . . . WAIT, I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE WEAPON OF CHOICE IS WHEN YOU’RE FIGHTING SPIRITS.

YOU GOT A MYSTICAL KATANA?

No, no, and no.

DID IT MOVE ALL THE FOOD INTO DIFFERENT CUPBOARDS?

OR SWALLOW THE NEIGHBORS WHOLE?

Are you going to stop guessing and be quiet so I can tell you?

YES. *CLAMPS LIPS FIRMLY SHUT* *TIES HANDS BEHIND BACK*

All right.

So, my grandfather SWEARS that since their cat died, they’ve been haunted by a bakeneko. It crept into their dreams at night, and laid half-eaten mice up on the porch.

O_O IN THEIR DREAMS? THAT’S NASTY STUFF!

Isn’t it? Every night.

AND? DID YOU SEE IT TOO?

I heard it. It woke me up. It was like the sound of a hundred tortured wolves, and the roar of hurricanes.

>_<

WHAT DID YOU DO?

We found the one thing that can beat a bakeneko.

???

A cat.

We got him from the shelter. An old tom, with so much personality that no spirit cat would DARE to come anywhere near his territory.

A CAT?

Yes!

CATS ARE COOL, I GUESS.

IT WOULD’VE BEEN COOLER IF YOU’D SLICED HIS HEAD OFF WITH A SWORD.

Hahaha, speaking of . . . what is this THING you discovered?

THING?

OH, THE THING.

SOOOOOO, I TRIED ALL THESE GAMES, BUT THEY JUST DIDN’T STICK, I COULDN’T FOCUS.

That doesn’t sound like you.

I KNOW! ANYWAY, I DECIDED I WANT SOMETHING NEW, AND I THOUGHT, WHAT WOULD SORA DO? AND I THOUGHT, BOOKS. SO I WENT ONLINE AND LOOKED FOR “BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR” AND TO BE HONEST I WAS A BIT LOST, BUT HALFWAY DOWN THE PAGE WAS A MANUAL ON DIY WEB DESIGN. AND LIKE, I LOVE THIS PLACE, AND IT WOULD BE SO COOL TO BE ABLE TO MAKE SOMETHING OF MY OWN ONE DAY.

AND IT’S REALLY HARD, THERE’S SO MUCH TO REMEMBER, BUT IT MAKES THINGS HAPPEN. I CAN MAKE THINGS HAPPEN WITH MY FINGERTIPS!

SHORT: I’M LEARNING CODE. I’M GOING TO MAKE WEBSITES, MAN. CHECK ME OUT.

That’s BRILLIANT!

I can’t wait to see.

OOOOH, IT’S A LONG WAY OFF YET.

Yeah, but still, when you’re ready.

:D

YOU HAVE GOT TO TELL MAI THE BAKENEKO STORY. SHE WOULD LOVE IT.

Yes. Where is she?

I DON’T KNOW, MAN. THE DAY AFTER YOU LEFT, SHE HAD TO RUSH OFF, SAID HER MOTHER HAD “BIG NEWS” AND SHE HASN’T BEEN BACK SINCE.

Big news?

YEAH. BUT WHAT CAN BE SO BIG YOU DO NOT WANT TO SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS?

I can think of one thing.

I
hid it from
them
for as long as I could.

But . . . knowing what she knows, she’d tell us, right?

I don’t know. Whatever it is, I’m sure she’ll tell us when she’s ready.

YEAH I HOPE SO. I DON’T KNOW. I’M WORRIED, MAN.

Don’t be. She’s probably just making up for a less than perfect test result or something, doesn’t want our sweet voices distracting her.

YEAH. MAYBE. I HOPE YOU’RE RIGHT.

Me too.

Hi Mai,

I’m back! And I have STORIES.

I missed you.

Sora.

PS Hope your week has been amazing.

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HAVE YOU SEEN HER?

No :(

:(

I THOUGHT SHE MIGHT COME BACK WHEN YOU RETURNED. I THOUGHT MAYBE SHE NEEDED A HOLIDAY TOO, OR SHE WAS WAITING UNTIL THE GLEESOME THREESOME COULD GET BACK TOGETHER.

I don’t know. I don’t know why she’s gone, or where. But I’ve left her a message.

She’ll come back. I know she will.

YEAH? :(

42

Dearest Ojiisan,

Did you know that no two star deaths are the same? When they run out of energy they collapse, but how that happens is different, depending on how big they are and what’s around them. And we’re finding out more every day. Here’s a printout of some of JAXA ’s programs. Aren’t they brilliant?

I wonder what it would be like up there. Exciting, I guess, but I think I’d miss the trees. Would you go, if you had the chance? If they offered you a place in a shuttle to the moon, or Mars or . . . to explore?

Oh, also, the dust and debris and gas left behind provide everything needed for new stars and planets to occur. I like that. Maybe you would find a whole new galaxy!

Grandson first, space explorer second,

Abe Sora

43

Hey NoFace!

How’s it going?

YEAH, OKAY, I SPENT LUNCH IN THE IT ROOM TODAY. I’M TRYING OUT MY HTML. IT’S ONLY THE BEGINNING, BUT IT’S COOL.