"Hey, when did you get a camera?" Kumiko stared at the black leather case suspended from around Tsutomu's neck while the two of them walked upstairs with a persistent Yukari in tow.

"Futoshi gave it to me. He said it might help me to help you with your plan," Tsutomu replied matter-of-factly as if such an answer wasn't confusing at all.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"We'll talk about it later. She can hear us right now."

Kumiko looked back at Yukari. The other woman gave her a thumbs up while grinning like some female movie villain, so she turned around and remained silent until they reached the door to her apartment.

She unlocked it before they filed into the narrow hallway. Yukari felt the need to share some confronting news.

"You know, I was actually here yesterday. I saw everything, including the toilet and bedroom."

"What?" Kumiko glanced at Tsutomu in alarm, but he appeared just as stunned.

"It was all thanks to your Dad," Yukari continued. "I tracked him down, and he was scared enough to give in to my demands right away."

Kumiko thought of Futoshi's ways as a trickster and decided that such words couldn't be true. "All of the apartments in this building are laid out in a similar manner. You must have just confused his place with mine."

"Oh, no. The bedroom definitely belonged to a lady. I could tell."

"Well, then," Kumiko said, wishing to change the subject. "Why don't you wait in the living room? We have a private matter to get off our chests."

Yukari frowned. "How private is it?"

"Private enough that you don't want to see or hear," Tsutomu replied. "Unless you enjoy being a voyeur..."

Kumiko's immediate reaction was to gasp. Then, she stared at the camera resting against his chest and swallowed in dread. He wasn't about to make a pass at her again, was he?

"Fine." Yukari stormed off, leaving them alone. "Have fun together!"

Tsutomu cleared his throat, prompting Kumiko to look up at his sheepish face. She tapped her foot while awaiting an explanation.

"Let's go to your room," he suggested as his cheeks reddened. "I'll tell you there."

Kumiko wasn't amused. "Why does it have to be that place? Can't you do it here?"

"Uh..." Tsutomu grasped at the camera's leather case. "There's a door. It will muffle our voices."

"All right. Whatever you say," Kumiko relented. She walked ahead and led the way to her bedroom, opening the door so that he could enter first. If he tried to do anything inappropriate, she could simply teach him a lesson through self-defense.

She followed suit and shut the door behind them. "Okay. What is it?"

Tsutomu removed the camera from its case before holding it out. "I had an idea. Instead of starting from scratch, you could use a real-life model as inspiration."

Kumiko had difficulty understanding what point he was trying to make. "Yes. And?"

"That's what this camera is for. You can take pictures of me."

"Of you? Why?"

"Familiarity. You know this body better than any other, don't you?"

Tsutomu's intentions finally became clear. She scanned him up and down, knowing that if there was any form she could do justice to, it would be her Ichiro.

Nevertheless, she feared for her own level of self-control and took a step back to consider the situation. Same body as her husband or not, it would still be an act of infidelity to give in to lust and romance another man.

Unless... Kumiko thought back to Thursday night and the pleasure she'd given herself in bed. Such activity had sufficed at the time, so she reassured herself that it would continue to do so until she could enjoy Ichiro's company again.

"Very well," she announced after taking a deep breath. "Pass me the camera, and show me what you have."

Tsutomu left the case on her dresser, removed the camera strap from around his neck, and placed the device in her open hands. He took off his jacket before focusing on the hem of his white t-shirt with a sigh. "Here goes..."

Kumiko almost choked as he pulled it up over his head, revealing his lean and toned chest. She sought to suppress her desire by looking up at his face, but those shapely lips and smoldering eyes were just as tempting.

Heavens...

"Are you okay? Should I stop?" Tsutomu's voice pulled Kumiko out of the trance. She tore her gaze away from his face, only to be startled by his undone fly and the white briefs that peeked out at her.

"Yes, please," she replied while becoming aware of a moistness upon her chin. "I need time to compose myself..."

Kumiko turned around to fixate on her bed and drive out impure thoughts of what lay beneath Tsutomu's pants. She had to approach this task as if he were a work of art, and she was the photographer who wished to capture his beauty in a static image.

There is nothing filthy going on here, she told herself. Just an appreciation for the male form and its wonders...

Gripping the camera tight, she spun back to face Tsutomu. "I'm ready. You may continue."

"Okay." He nodded, then proceeded to strip down to just his underwear. Kumiko turned the camera on, positioned it steadily in front of her face, and shuffled backward until his whole upper body was in the frame.

Tsutomu dropped his pants on the dresser with everything else and straightened up to look her in the eyes. She exhaled while placing her index finger upon the shutter button.

"Ready, set, cheese!"

******

"So, where are you from? I find your accent hard to place..." Ichiro spoke up after several moments spent admiring lush green trees and grass from his curved wooden seat. This 'park' was more vast than any garden he had ever seen and also boasted more botanical variety than he'd once thought possible. A part of him yearned to spend his existence just admiring landscapes like this, but knowing that Kumiko was more important, he'd made an active choice to draw information out of the fellow ghost beside him.

Eiko lowered her colorful map and gave him her attention. He found himself intrigued yet again by the young girl's plaited hair and strange dark blue garments.

"Hiroshima. I'm trying to find my way back there."

"I've never heard of that place. Is it nice?"

"Sometimes," Eiko replied with a blink. "My family and I lived close to the bay. We went to the beach a couple of times when I was a child, and I would go swimming with my brothers and sisters, as well as hunt for crabs and shellfish."

Ichiro felt curious about this life that had been so different from his own. He decided to inquire further, hoping that Eiko had answers about how the world had changed so much. "That sounds like a pleasant existence. May I ask how many siblings you had?"

"Two brothers. Two sisters. I was the third child."

"I see," Ichiro remembered how lonely he had been after the loss of Isa. "I envy you. I lost my only sister when I was a child..."

Eiko shrugged. "Believe me, I never enjoyed being picked on by Kenji and Hisako. Or fighting for food at the table."

Ichiro assumed that she had just named her two older siblings. "What about your parents? And how did you all make a living?"

"My father started off as a fisherman, but later, he went to work in a munitions factory. My brother Kenji went there too until he was conscripted. Hisako and I had to replace him."

"I don't know what munitions are, but I take it that you lived through a war?"

"No." Eiko's expression became sullen as she lowered her head. "I never got to see the end of it."

"Oh." Ichiro could empathize with her plight to an extent, yet he was also aware that it would be of poor form to begin talking about his own troubles. "I don't know what to say..."

"There were so many things I wanted to do as well. But, now I don't think they'll ever be possible..." She reached up to rub at absent tears. "And I'm scared too. What if I go back, and everyone's changed so much that I don't recognize them?"

With hesitation, Ichiro placed a hand upon Eiko's shoulder to comfort her. He reflected on his own relationship with Kumiko while figuring out how to lift the girl's spirits. "Hey, it's all right. With a large family like yours, some of them are bound to remember and miss you..."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course," Ichiro insisted despite being plagued by his own doubts. "People change, and there's nothing that can be done about that. But, if they have any shred of decency, then I daresay their love remains the same."

Eiko sighed while giving her map a shake. "I really hope you're right. I'll have nowhere else to go if this fails."

Ichiro remembered how he'd become lost in a vast underground tunnel the previous night and that it had been her patience that had eased him out of his panic. Afterward, he had found a way out with her help, and now he just wanted to return the favor by offering some final reassurance. "Sometimes, the best we can do is hope. And, even if things don't turn out right, I'll be waiting here as your friend."

"Really? Do you promise?"

"I promise," he said with a nod. "Now, I must ask you something. Have you seen or heard of a woman named Kumiko, by any chance?"

"No, I haven't. I'm sorry..."

"I see." Ichiro's chest heaved in disappointment. "Well, let me know when you plan to head off. I don't-"

"Right now," Eiko interrupted before realizing her misstep. "No, what I mean to say is that it's been nice spending time with you. You remind me of my older brother, only wiser."

Ichiro allowed himself to smile again. "Those words flatter me. I was not known for such a thing when I was alive."

"Oh, that's a shame." Eiko stood up from the wooden seat. "I'm grateful for your help, but I should be off now."

"The feeling is mutual. Thank you for all you've done."

"Goodbye."

"Farewell. Have a smooth-" Ichiro did not finish his sentence, for it seemed like Eiko wasn't eager to waste any more time. She sprung up on her toes, and before he knew it, the young girl had slipped through the nearby trees to begin traveling to a location that remained alien to him.

He leaned back to think of Kumiko once more and what she could be doing at the moment. There had been a time when he would have wanted her to move on after his death, but now that he was back in the mortal world, the possibility of her finding new love didn't seem so favorable anymore.

Tell me that I still have a place in your heart. I don't know what I'd do otherwise...