The Lost Village (迷家)

Where am I?

Mitsumune!

D-Dad?

I'm so glad, Mitsumune.

Mitsumune, I'm so...

Mitsumune?

I'm Mitsumune...

The Lost

Village

Danger Past, God Forgotten

Will strawberry milk do?

You remember what I like?

Huh?

Tokimune liked mixed fruit milk, so...

I remember.

Tokimune liked mixed fruit,

and you liked strawberry milk.

Deep down, your mother probably knows the truth, too.

I can't believe this. What is the world coming to?

A tour to leave reality behind?

Kids these days try to run away from everything at the drop of a hat.

That's not the real issue here!

This is just like mass suicide in a sense.

What are their parents doing—

Mom, why are you watching that?

Mom!

You don't have to answer.

But...

Hello, Sakai speaking.

Oh, Sakai-kun?

It's been a while.

I'm Yokota. We went to the same elementary school.

Remember me?

We met at the reunion five years ago, too.

I heard about what happened, and I was just so worried!

So I got your number from Nakayama-kun.

Are you okay?

Given what happened to your son—

How could I be okay?!

Damn it!

Damn it all...

Mitsuko, did we wake you up?

So I killed another one...

So I killed another one.

Killed another one?

She knows you're not Tokimune.

But she still can't accept the truth.

She thinks she's responsible for Tokimune's death, and she hasn't been able to let it go.

But we're almost there!

She's so close to getting better!

So please, Mitsumune...

But Dad, I...

You don't want to come home, after all?

That's not it. But...

I have unfinished business,

so please wait just a little longer.

Unfinished business? What's that?

I can't tell you yet.

Why not?

Because I don't think you'll believe me.

I see...

Of course you wouldn't trust me.

No!

That's not it!

It's okay.

I'm ashamed to admit it,

but I was so scared they'd be gossiping about you

that the first thing I did was take off our nameplates.

Sakai Hidetoshi, Mitsuko, Kimiko, M**s**n*, Tokimune

The press may already have your name.

If I left our nameplates up, they'd found out where we live.

I know, it's stupid.

M**s**n* Tokimune

But that's when I understood what I've been putting you through all this time.

I said it was all for Mom,

but I just dropped everything in your lap!

I'm so sorry.

You should do whatever you want...

whatever Sakai Mitsumune wants to do.

Dad...

And you can come back whenever you want.

It doesn't have to be right away.

That's what he stressed to me, too.

"He"?

Yes, the man who found you.

He was of great help to us.

He said your being found would cause an uproar

and that we should stay quiet for a while.

He found us this hospital, too.

Bullshit!

We have to do something about Masaki if we're going to live here!

Why're we getting cold feet now?!

It's not about getting cold feet or anything.

But... y'know.

Huh?

Right.

Monsters are scary,

but Masaki's just a girl.

We'll be able to handle her just fine.

Yeah.

Don't worry.

I'll protect you, Piitan!

Our love is eternal!

Oh, thanks.

Huh?

What's wrong? You're not acting like yourself.

What a pain. Give me some breathing room. You're being way too clingy.

I've been feeling all sluggish since last night, too.

And looking for Masaki-chan seems like a drag in its own right.

A drag? Did she just say that?

Now, now. Calm down, Mikage-san.

There's no point in getting riled up.

We decided to stay here and live together.

Let's just chill.

Huh?

Dahara-san, you're a smoker?

Koharun seems to hate cigarettes,

so I was trying not to smoke in front of her.

Being on good terms with Koharun comes with quite a few benefits.

She's popular among the professors,

and she's not half bad looking.

Wow, he's being real with us!

Cool!

Hey!

You're the organizer. Pull yourself together.

Does it even matter at this point?

That's so irresponsible.

And what's with your attitude? Put that cigarette out!

Well, I don't have it as hard as Piitan-san,

but my head's kind of all fuzzy, too.

I need my nicotine fix.

Now that you mention it, I'm feeling lethargic, too.

Aren't you always?

Oh, but I feel ya... Did I get it from you?

What's the point of arguing like this?

Why don't we get some rest?

You're right.

Huh?

Maybe the fatigue is starting to catch up to them.

I hope it's not some weird bug.

Forget it!

We'll do this ourselves!

What's the matter?

Well, I was just thinking that maybe Masaki is never coming back.

Yeah, right?

She's probably more of a pussy than we thought.

But you guys were so gung-ho about this before!

Say, when did you become our leader?

Good question.

One thing led to another, and we started listening to you,

but we have no reason to let you boss us around.

Wha—

Forget it! This is pointless!

I'm done with you lot forever!

There he goes.

Done with us forever, he says.

Why does he have to make such a big deal out of everything?

He's a real drama queen.

Now that the noisy one's gone,

let's just go to sleep.

I'm beat.

Yeah, I agree.

Nighty night-night!

Is tea okay?

Oh, sure.

As long as we still have propane,

we can have hot tea.

Have you been living here all by yourself?

Yeah.

There were several others, but they're all gone now.

Gone?

Yeah.

They just vanished over time.

So you had friends?

Did you guys fight?

I wouldn't call them friends.

We were living together,

but I only talked to my companion for the most part.

Companion as in "girlfriend"?

Maybe?

What's her name?

What?

Nanko, you actually like hearing about people's love lives?

Masaki.

No way!

Then you're Reiji-kun?

So you do know Masaki.

Wow, this is amazing!

Hey, you should come with us, too.

Don't stay here all alone!

Maimai.

Wh-What's with the scary face?

Is Masaki doing okay?

Well, I'm not so sure.

She's kind of fallen out with everyone, so things are tense right now,

but I'm sure things will work out.

I can't go with you.

What? Why not?

Isn't Masaki important to you?

She likes me, but it's one-sided.