We Have a Situation

Masayuki looked up at the endless white above him.

How long are we going to do this? I have to get her soul back.

You will. You just don’t have to get catch.

The boy sighed. Am I going to have to go again?

That’s right.

Masayuki felt himself up being lifted again. He had gotten used to this by now. His only worry was that he would not be able to get back.

----------

Izumi stood over Baby Doll.

“So that’s it,” she said. The angel took in a deep breath.

“Everyone! I think I’ve found the problem!” she yelled. It didn’t take long for everyone in the apartment to crowd around Baby Doll’s non-moving form.

“What’s wrong with her?” Ben asked. He reached down to touch on the shoulder. Liz slapped away his hand.

“Ow,” he said.

“Don’t move her!” she shouted.

“Okay, okay,” Ben said. “Geez.” He looked down at the angel on the floor.

“How did she end up like this?” Kele asked.

“I would guess that her soul is elsewhere,” Natalia said. The other angels looked at her.

“Are you saying…?” Yoshiko began to ask. The main angel nodded. Izumi dropped her shoulders and sighed.

“That would explain everything,” she said to herself.

“So what do we do?” Taro asked. Natalia shrugged.

“There isn’t much we can do at the moment,” she admitted. All eyes fell on her.

“You can’t be serious,” Makoto said. The angels looked at each other for a moment.

“We can’t really explain it ourselves,” Himeko said.

“And what about Masayuki?” Michio asked.

“That’s the thing…” Natalia said. The children looked up at her.

“What?” Taro asked.

“We can’t find him,” Izumi said.

“What?!” the boys asked. The angels didn’t know what to say or how to explain.

“Can you at least get him back?” Michio asked.

“We can try,” Natalia admitted. “We just have to find him first.” The whole room went silent. Naturally, the angels didn’t have an answer for that either.

---------

He gritted his teeth. Every time he gets close, the boy’s soul disappears. Someone has to be pulling him along out of his reach. He doesn’t like this. He looked over at Botan sitting trapped in his chair. He’s been very quiet lately. Too quiet.

He walked up to his dazed captive. Nothing in his eyes. He clicked his tongue. Just as he expected. He waved his hand in front of his face.

“This is your doing, isn’t it?” he asked. No answer. He clicked his tongue. This would not do. He was going to have to change the game to fit his goals. Lucky for him, he had a new idea to change tactics.

----------

Masayuki looked up again. A chill ran down his body.

Did you feel that? He didn’t hear an answer.

Hello?

Someone grabbed him on the shoulder. Masayuki whipped his head around. Baby Doll was floating behind him.

“Baby?” he asked.

“We have to go! Now!” she shouted. “He’s catching on to us!”

“Huh?” the boy asked. Once again, they disappeared in another flash. Only this time, they would end up going deeper into the other side. Would they be getting back? He didn’t know. All Masayuki knew was that they had to keep going in order to survive.