After turning a corner, the child and the cat were gone. Only the sound of the child running echoed through the inn.
The others weren't suspicious. They continued down the corridor and soon reached a fork. They saw no sign of the child along the way. Even now, no one was worried. Even the Shimada family felt guilty, thinking they'd disrupted the crew's work.
"It's fine. Let's find the child first."
"We can handle it ourselves. He couldn't have gone far."
"Just make sure he doesn't wander onto your set. We're really sorry."
"Then let's split up and look."
The group scattered.
They didn't call out loudly, but quietly tried the child's name.
"Little Daiki."
"Shimada Daiki."
"Let's check this room."
The man with Honda slid open the paper door beside him.
He went inside to look, while Honda waited at the entrance.
"No one here. Honestly, where did he go?"
The two continued on and soon reached another fork.
"I'll take this way."
"All right."
At last, Honda was alone.
I grew even more vigilant.
If something was going to happen, it would be now.
"Daiki? Little Shimada Daiki? Your mother's looking for you," Honda called softly.
The only sounds in the corridor were his voice, his footsteps, and the creak of the wooden floorboards.
"Daiki..." Honda gradually made his way to the bathing area in front of the large hot spring pool.
There seemed to be water running inside.
Honda stopped and listened. The sound came from the men's bath.
"Is anyone there? Daiki?" Honda lifted the curtain, went inside, and slid open the inner door.
The changing room was empty.
I floated into the bathing area ahead of him.
There was no one inside.
A faucet was leaking. A drop of water hit the tile with a