Tomb Ghost took one last look at the end of the road stretching away from the foot of the mountain.
There was no one there.
It turned and drifted back up the mountain.
"Ghostie, Ghostie..."
The girl ran all the way to her mother's grave.
One hand carefully covered her shoulder bag,
so that the things inside wouldn't get jostled by her vigorous running.
"Huff~ Huff~"
The girl bent over, panting heavily.
Then she looked up. "G... Ghostie?"
The smile that had yet to fully emerge on her face froze, then slowly disappeared.
"Ghostie?"
The girl turned to look around. "Ghostie?"
She turned too quickly and nearly stumbled.
The girl didn't care.
What she cared about was... why wasn't Ghostie here?
Where had Ghostie gone?
The girl hurriedly searched nearby.
She kept calling, "Ghostie, Ghostie..."
Tomb Ghost had naturally heard all the commotion the girl was making.
But as it listened to the girl calling again and again, it had no intention of appearing in front of her.
Not just yet, at least.
It was a little angry.
Although it knew they hadn't arranged when they would meet again,
the girl was free to come whenever she wanted.
But when it thought of how eagerly and expectantly it had waited before, of how foolishly it had spent the whole night waiting at the foot of the mountain...
Tomb Ghost couldn't bring itself to appear in front of the girl as if nothing had happened.
It was just that petty.
Tomb Ghost was a little huffy.
It didn't feel the least bit embarrassed about holding a grudge against a child.
Hm?
Why had the sound stopped?
Tomb Ghost curiously twitched its ears, trying to catch the familiar voice.
Maybe it was too far away, and it