The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

THE STUFF THAT NIGHTMARES ARE MADE OF

Masako was in the same class as Bunichi Morimoto again. They’d been in the same classes all the way through primary school, but had been placed in different ones the previous year, when they started secondary school. Bunichi had grown quite a lot in that past year, and now Masako only came up to his shoulders, so sometimes felt a little awkward standing next to him. But they were good friends who always spent their breaks working on their homework together. Their classmates teased them about this, but they didn’t let it bother them.

One day, towards the end of summer, Masako was packing her books into her bag when Bunichi came up to her and asked, “Are you going to volleyball practice today?”

“No, I’m going home. I have way too much homework.”

“We can go home together then, if you like,” said Bunichi. “But won’t your team-mates be upset that you skipped practice?”

“They won’t mind. I’m too short to get much time on the court anyway, so I think it’s okay to slack off a little from time to time.”

And with that, the two of them walked out of the school gates side by side and onto the street, to where the sycamore leaves were already turning yellow and a cool breeze danced around them.

“Bunichi?” said Masako in the tone she reserved for asking favours. “Do you think you could help me with today’s math homework?”

“Yeah, sure. Why don’t you come over to my house?”

“No way!” cried out Masako, surprising even herself.

It simply wasn’t like her to react that way.

“There’s no need to shout. I mean, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“I’m sorry,” said Masako, feeling bad. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“You’re a strange one sometimes, Masako.”

As they carried on walking, Masako wondered why she’d shouted like that. Was it that she really didn’t want to go to Bunichi’s house? There wasn’t any reason for her to feel that way after all. So instead she searched her mind for an explanation and started to think of Bunichi’s young and pretty mother, whom she hadn’t seen in a while.

“I just… didn’t want to disturb your mother,” offered Masako.

“Oh, is that what you were worried about? That’s so not like you!” said Bunichi, laughing. There wasn’t much you could do to dampen Bunichi’s spirits, and that was one of the things Masako liked about him.

“All right then,” said Masako, “I guess I could stop by just for a little bit.”

“Great!”

When they arrived, Bunichi’s mother seemed a little surprised to see Masako.

“Why, Masako, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? I haven’t seen you since your primary-school graduation ceremony!”

“Yes, it has been a while,” said Masako, doing her best to sound older than she was.

“You’re so tanned, and you haven’t grown one bit!”

“Hey! I’m kind of self-conscious about my height, you know!” said Masako in a sulky tone.

Bunichi’s mother laughed. “I’m sorry. It’s just that Bunichi has grown so much this past year, so it’s a little funny to see you haven’t changed at all.”

“Come on, let’s go up to my room,” said Bunichi impatiently.

As Masako followed Bunichi to his room, his mother called out from behind them. “And try not to faint this time, Masako!”

“Faint?” said Masako, turning around. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t you remember? Last time you went into Bunichi’s room, something startled you and you fainted.”

That’s right, thought Masako. She had seen something terrifying in Bunichi’s room. But what was it that had scared her so much that she’d fainted?

“You know, I really don’t remember what it was that startled me so badly.”

“Maybe it was so scary that you erased it from your memory,” said Bunichi’s mother, laughing. “That’s not so unusual, you know.”

When Masako heard that, it made her not want to go into Bunichi’s room.

“Bunichi?” she said. “That scary thing… is it still there?”

“Yeah, sure it is. Come up and see,” he replied with a smirk on his face.

“No way!”

“Okay, then you wait here. I’ll go ahead and put it away.”

“Do you remember what it was?” Masako turned to Bunichi’s mother, who was now pouring tea for them.

“Well,” said Bunichi’s mother, looking a little unsure. “I didn’t really pay so much attention to what it was that scared you. My main concern was that you had fainted. I do recall that it was actually something quite silly, though.”

“Masako!” called out Bunichi. “You can come in now.”

“Are you sure you’ve put it away?” asked Masako as she anxiously approached the door.

“Yeah, it’s fine. You can come in now.”

Slowly and cautiously, Masako stepped into Bunichi’s room. And as soon as she did, out jumped Bunichi from behind the door with a mask on his face! It was a “Prajna” mask from one of the stories Bunichi liked, with hollow eyes, a gaping bright-red mouth and an expression so fierce it could only belong to a creature from another world.