Chapter 345: Ghost?

Memories of past moments surfaced, and at this moment, Hanakami Junko finally understood her mother's kindness.

She also realized her own mistakes.

She shouldn't have run away in a tantrum; she shouldn't have made her mother worry over her childish moods.

Sometimes, only when separated do you learn to cherish, to recognize the other's goodness, and to fully understand what you once ignored.

But…

"Boss, can I borrow your phone? I want to call my mother."

Hanakami Junko wiped her tears.

Thinking of her mother still holding photos and asking strangers on the streets if they'd seen her daughter—perhaps even now asking, worried for her, suffering for her—Hanakami Junko's heart ached, and guilt flooded like a spring.

The young boss fell silent, watching Hanakami Junko's sincere, pleading gaze, her face still streaked with tears, the tears not yet dried.

Then, he shook his head.

Seeing this, Hanakami Junko grew anxious—anxious that her mother was still worrying, wanting to apologize to her mother as soon as possible, wanting to reassure her, to stop her from worrying.

"Boss, please let me make one call. I just want to tell my mother something. Don't worry—I won't use it for free. I'll pay you. I… I don't have money now, but when I get back…"

At that moment.

The young boss interrupted Hanakami Junko.

"Even if you call now, Ms. Hanakami won't be able to answer…"

…

Arakawa Ward, Tokyo, Japan, cemetery.

Matsukawa Chiri and Kamikawa Chiye stood before a grave.

The tomb bore a black-and-white photo of a woman, engraved with Japanese characters: "Tomb of Hanakami Tomochiko."

Matsukawa Chiri lit incense, clasped her hands together:

"Ms. Hanakami, I'm sorry—I still haven't found your daughter. But don't worry. I have a friend who promised to help you find her. You've probably heard of him—he's Kamikawa Zun, a Transcendent.

With him involved, I believe your daughter will be found soon.

Also, if we find your daughter, Ms. Hanakami, don't worry—I'll visit her when I have time and help her. I hope your spirit may rest in peace, no longer burdened by worry for your daughter."

Kamikawa Chiye added beside her:

"Ms. Hanakami, my brother will find Hanakami Junko soon. Rest assured."

As if in response.

After Matsukawa Chiri and Kamikawa Chiye finished speaking, a gentle evening breeze swept past—soft, tender, as if thanking them.

Then—

"Mama!!"

A heart-wrenching cry.

Behind Matsukawa Chiri and Kamikawa Chiye, space rippled, and in an instant, Kamikawa Zun and Hanakami Junko appeared there.

Seeing the woman in the photo on the tomb—her mother, Hanakami Tomochiko—Hanakami Junko, who had already been weeping uncontrollably, broke down even harder, her sobs as if tearing her heart out, filled with guilt, despair, shame, disbelief…

Not long ago, she had learned from the young boss—Kamikawa Zun—that her mother had died of leukemia.

She couldn't believe it. She refused to believe it. It felt as if the sky had collapsed in that instant.

Now, seeing the grave, Hanakami Junko understood Kamikawa Zun hadn't lied—her mother was truly dead.

"Mama! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Hanakami Junko repeated "I'm sorry" endlessly, weeping like a child who had lost everything—and it was true: her only relative, her only everything, her mother Hanakami Tomochiko, was gone.

Thinking of how, at her final moments, her mother still worried about her.

Thinking of how her mother had hidden her leukemia, just to keep her from worrying—while she, Hanakami Junko, had run away for half a year over a petty argument.

Thinking of how, at her final moments, her mother had begged others to tell her: she didn't blame her.

Her guilt drove her nearly mad; her self-reproach made her want to die right there. If she could, she would gladly trade her own life for her mother's.

"Mama, I'm sorry. I was wrong. I was wrong.

I'll never make you angry again. Please come back to life. Please…

I'll never talk back to you again. I'll come home on time. I'll listen. I'll study hard. I'll go shopping with you no matter how late you shop. Please come back to life, Mama!"

"Mama, I know I was wrong. Please don't leave me, Mama."

Hanakami Junko's weeping broke hearts; she kept crying out in remorse before the tomb, her eyes never leaving the photo of Hanakami Tomochiko on the gravestone.

In the photo, Hanakami Tomochiko smiled—but Hanakami Junko would never see her mother's smile again.

Hanakami Junko's cries were heartrending; Matsukawa Chiri and Kamikawa Chiye couldn't help but weep too.

They wanted to comfort her, but didn't know what words to say—no words could comfort in such a situation.

No matter how they comforted, no matter how beautiful the words, the lost could never return.

"Mama…"

Hanakami Junko stared at the photo on the tomb, tears streaming endlessly. She truly, truly wanted her mother to come back to life—she would pay any price, just to have her mother alive again.

But… once a person dies, they're gone. No one could help her.

No!

One person could help her.

Hanakami Junko suddenly turned, and in the next instant, she scrambled forward on hands and knees, crawling desperately toward Kamikawa Zun, then crashed to her knees before him.

"Mr. Kamikawa, please save my mother. I'll do anything—anything at all—if you can bring my mother back to life."

All dignity, all self-respect—she discarded them all.

She banged her forehead against the ground before Kamikawa Zun, ignoring the hardness of the concrete, not caring that such force would surely split her skin and draw blood.

But Hanakami Junko didn't care—if it could bring her mother back to life, she would smash her head to pulp.

Just as her head was about to hit the ground, it was as if an invisible great hand supported Hanagami Junko's forehead, preventing her from landing and sparing her from cracking her skull open.

Hanagami Junko raised her head, her gaze full of yearning.

"Mr. Kamikawa, I know my request is excessive, but I don't want my mother to die. I beg you—you're a transcendent being more powerful than gods and demons—you must have a way to resurrect my mother. Please, I beg you, resurrect my mother."

Her eyes were filled with prayer and wild hope.

"As long as you can resurrect my mother, you can take my life if you want."

Saying this, she was about to kowtow again.

Before her eyes, only Kamikawa Mitsu could save her mother. Apart from Kamikawa Mitsu, no one could save her mother, because she didn't know any other gods or demons, nor could she be sure that if she prayed to Japanese deities, they would help her—after all, this violated the cycle of life and death.

Kamikawa Mitsu was her only hope.

However, Kamikawa Mitsu, who had casually used divine power to lift Hanagami Junko up, did not look at her.

In fact, while Hanagami Junko had been busy crying earlier, Kamikawa Chie and Matsuka Chisato had been watching the grieving Hanagami Junko. None of them had noticed that after Kamikawa Mitsu brought Hanagami Junko to the grave, his expression had become stunned.

His gaze was fixed on Hanagami Tomoko's grave, never once leaving it.

To be precise, he was staring at a being beside Hanagami Tomoko's grave—a translucent creature seemingly composed of a soul.

That being looked exactly like the Hanagami Tomoko in the grave's photograph.

Ghost????

Kamikawa Mitsu was a little dumbfounded.

……