Now I’m peeved. This was so close to being a perfectly good day. “You know something, you’ve got some nerve. Of course I get it. And I’ve understood Japanese for the past seven years. Just because I’m not Japanese doesn’t mean I’m an idiot. You need to chill out, you know. My successor may not be so willing to take your crap.”

Something about that last remark makes Lieko open her mouth to say something, but I don’t give her the chance. I head back to my room. The washroom door is wide open, which means Hitomu’s waiting for me. Good timing. Another moment of standing in this woman’s presence and I’d probably take a swing at her. At least, that’s what the old Cybelle would have wanted to do. The new and improved Cybelle is still as professional as ever. And for the sake of staying sane for the next three months, I can swallow my words and keep my cool for this little boy.

I stop just outside Room Four to take a few deep breaths. It’s quiet in my room. In fact, all of Zozo is quiet. I can barely hear the staff meeting down at the other end of the school. I don’t even hear Lieko at the reception desk. All I can hear is Hitomu’s quiet, quivering voice, murmuring something. He must be singing to himself again. Poor kid. I’ve kept him waiting long enough. I continue down the hall to Room Five. “All right, Hitomu! You ready for some bubbles …?”

Hitomu is not alone. There’s a woman in here. An old, dishevelled-looking woman. Her back is turned to me, but I can tell by her long, greying hair and her greying rags of a dress that she should not be here. She’s standing over Hitomu, who is cowering under the tables pushed up against the wall, squeezing himself into the corner of the room so hard his tear-stained cheeks are turning red.

“Tabetai,” the old woman croaks, tottering closer and closer to where Hitomu hides. “Oishi-sou, yawaraka-sou. Tabetai.” So tasty, so tender. I want to eat.

The puzzle falls from my hands. I don’t know what to do. Do I shout for Lieko to call 119? Do I burst in on the staff meeting to get help? Do I tackle the old woman and tell Hitomu to run for it? I’m frozen in place, watching a horror movie unfold before my eyes. I seriously don’t know what to do.

“Please,” I hear Hitomu whimper. “Don’t eat me. Please don’t eat me, please don’t eat me.”

“Tabetaaaai …” I want to eat.

“No. Please don’t.”

The old woman wobbles back and forth, moaning over and over again. “Tabetai. Ta. Be. Ta. I. Tabetaaaaaaaai.”

“I don’t want you to eat me,” Hitomu whispers one more time.