There was a chance that Kyle was making fun of me. That he was messing around with me, but looking at him, and seeing his genuine laugh, I could feel that he wasn’t joking.
But as I stared at the picture again, all I could see was Kyle, two fingers raised in a peace sign, his body leaning slightly to the left. He looked slightly older than in the previous photos. Teenage years.
I could tell from the picture that there was someone who was supposed to be there.
But…
’I can’t see anything at all.’
Why?
Why was this the case?
I looked at the other photos.
I could see myself in those. There were no problems with those photos. Then…? Why did that photo not have me in it? And why was it that Kyle could see it?
’Is it possible that he’s the only one who can see it? What if I show the photo to someone else? Will they react the same?’
“Oh, look at this—”
“Wait.”
I stopped Kyle before he could shift his attention to the other photos.
“Hm?”
Feeling him look at me, I licked my lips while pointing at the previous photo.
“Let me have that photo. It looks quite funny.”
“This one?”
“Yeah.”
Kyle’s eyes narrowed all of a sudden, and my heart skipped a beat. Did he notice something? Was this a prank? Was…
“You’re not going to burn this, are you?”
“Huh?”
Kyle moved the photo away from me.
“Looking at you, there’s a high chance that you might burn it since you don’t like it. I’m not giving it to you.”
“That’s nonsense.”
“What? You think I don’t know you well enough? I’m sure you’re just trying to burn it because it looks too embarrassing.”
“Well…”
Thinking about it, this really did sound like something I’d do.
“I won’t, I promise.”
“Your promises are worth nothing.”
“You…”
Looking at Kyle’s neck, I felt tempted. So very tempted.
“Haha, I’m just kidding.”
But eventually, Kyle handed me the photo.
“I was just joking. Here. Have the photo.”
“…Thanks.”
Grabbing the photo and moving back a couple of steps in case Kyle tried to snatch it away, I took a good look at it. Missing.
I was still missing from it.
My eyes narrowed further as I looked at Kyle.
’Now that I think about it, I don’t even recall going to a dentist in the past.’
What exactly was going on here?
***
The next day.
Following the previous discussion, we separated into two groups. I was paired up with the rat, and Zoey and Kyle were together.
The two of them were set to head for the town while the rat and I were set to stay at the orphanage to see if anything else happened.
“We’ll probably be back by the end of the day. If something happens, I’ll send you a message.”
“…Okay.”
I stood by the orphanage door, watching Kyle and Zoey leave as a strong wind swept through and faint raindrops began to fall. The sky hung heavy and gray, with distant rumbles hinting at the storm on its way.
’Yup, I made a good decision to stay.’
I didn’t even mind being with the rat. So long as I wouldn’t have to go out with the type of storm that was about to come.
“Oh, and another thing, if something does happen to us, I’ll use this thing.”
Kyle tossed me a small black ball.
It was the size of a button, and as I was busy looking at it, he explained what it did.
“It’s an emergency device. It shows my location and where I was last seen. I doubt I’ll need it, but just in case. Same goes for you, if you press it, I’ll get the same alert.”
“Oh.”
Why did it seem like he was raising a flag?
“We’ll be leaving! Don’t forget! If something happens, use it!”
Kyle and Zoey rushed towards the distant car.
Watching as the two gradually entered a black car and left, I stood by the entrance for a short moment before turning around and facing the rat.
He smiled politely at me, the dimples on his face clearer than ever.
“Since the two of them left, should we start investigating?”
“Right, we should.”
Entering the orphanage, I closed the door behind me.
Clank!
At last, free from the harsh wind, I felt much better. I ruffled my hair and glanced around, my gaze settling on the rat.
“It’s best if the two of us split up for now. You can stay here in the playroom and look at the children. See if there’s anything new with their drawing. I’ll go check the other areas, like the teaching area. Since I’m more familiar with the place, this might be for the best.”
“Are you sure? We can do this together, if you want.”
“Yeah, but we can cover things faster this way.”
“Sure.”
The rat smiled again.
He didn’t seem to have a problem with my arrangement, as he followed along with what I said. Eventually, he turned around and moved towards where the children were, his dimples growing even more pronounced.
“Hi~”
“Uncle Myles!”
“It’s Uncle Myles!”
Unlike me, the children liked him.
“Tsk.”
’If only they knew how he really was…’
Well, how he was ’supposedly’. He could be different from what I remembered.
Whatever the case was, I moved around the orphanage, heading specifically towards the teaching area, which was connected to the play area. Within a long and narrow corridor, several doors greeted me on both sides.
By the side of each door were several colorful papers that said, [Math], [Science], [Language], [Music], [Art].
There were in total five rooms, each one dedicated to its own subject.
I remembered each of the rooms as I opened the doors slightly to see that some of them were full of children inside, alongside a caretaker.
The Matriarch wasn’t the only one running the place.
“Oh, this.”
But soon, my gaze paused on a certain room.
’I remember this room.’
I slowly opened the door to reveal a modestly sized room, a faint musky scent drifting into my nose. The space was dimly lit, with the only light coming from a large window at the far end, where rain lashed against the glass as the storm outside grew fiercer.
“It’s been a while…”
The [Music] room.
This was the very same piano that I used to learn on when I was young. I could still remember the teacher scolding me for not getting my posture correct when playing the piano. In the dim light, several other instruments loomed in the distance, somewhat worn out from time, while scattered papers rustled faintly under the faint breeze that lingered in the room.
Looking around, my gaze settled onto the piano. For some reason, staring at it, I felt a sudden urge to play it as I made my way towards it and sat down.
Dang!
I played the first note, feeling it gently stir in the air.
It sounded a little out of tune, but it wasn’t anything bad.
I was just about to press another key when I stopped. Slowly raising my head and staring at the reflection on the piano, I paused.
“Eh…?”
I looked at my own reflection.
It was staring back at me.
But…
Smiling?
Why was it smiling?
“——!?”
“Someone… has been slacking lately.”
Before I could react, a long, lanky hand settled on my shoulder. The touch wasn’t painful, but it pinned me in place, as if I’d been nailed to the spot.
And then, a whisper curled cold and close against the shell of my ear.
“…You’re not going to disappoint me, are you?”
The conductor.
He was here.