Do you think

 Music blared against the low chatter of the crowd. With the never-ending rain, it seemed like every day the damned mall was almost overflowing. For crying out loud, we lived in Himeji, not some giant metropolis like Tokyo.

“What do you think of this? It’s so cute!” Next to me, Chiyo held up a sleek witch outfit with a flowing purple robe.

“I don't know, the seams look a bit cheap.”

“So? It’s cute! I’ll just re-stitch them myself if anything happens.” She said, nearly taking the costume out of the store without paying. Chiyo was lucky. Worst case, she was so short the staff could mistake her for a kid. In someone much smarter that height would be a weapon. “Have you found anything yet?”

“Not really,” I said. Grace had taken over way too much of my mind. Costumes were around fourth on the priority list right now. I grabbed a random costume off the shelves. “What do you think about this?”

“It’s, uh, bold. But you could get away with it!”

“What the hell did I grab?”

Oh. Everything clicked. In my hand was a faux leather bunny outfit, which I spent no time shoving back on the shelves. “I don’t think the teachers would approve of something that skimpy.”

“They don’t need to know Mari,” Chiyo said. “They want us to all dress as nuns while the guys are allowed to have fun. Why can't we wear what we like?”

“I don’t know if we exactly have the same definition of fun.”

“Your loss. Hey anyway, I’m going to go try this on, wait here.”

“Yeah sure,” I muttered. Something about all the costumes stacked to the ceiling was suffocating. Bright colors blared in every direction while the store’s music seemed to get louder by the second. “Hey, meet me outside the store, ok?”

“Sure,” Chiyo said, skipping off–completely oblivious as usual.

I leaned against the wall outside the store, closing my eyes and breathing a sigh of relief. I’d finally escaped the orange-packaged confines I’d been trapped in. The blaring music was so much quieter out here, and the sounds of all those people walking along, the hustle of everyone moving past each other to a hundred different locations, was all gone.

Everything was completely quiet now.

Worldly, completely and utterly quiet.

I snapped open my eyes. Where the aisles had been jam-packed seconds ago, now there wasn't a single person in sight. Even the stores across the mall didn’t have a single staff member.

“Hey, hello? Anyone there?” Not a soul called back. Ok, weird. I thrust myself off the wall, slowly walking past the empty shops. People didn’t disappear this fast.

Part of me felt tempted to snatch something from one of the abandoned shops. If there was no one to watch them, it was their fault if things happened to go missing. Who’d notice a single missing dress anyway?

“Ow!” I grinded my teeth, pinching myself. Those days were better left to the past, forever.

This was getting really weird. I rode down the escalators, heading towards the food court. Soba and Ramen signs brightly stayed alit, the smells of the food behind their stalls almost irresistible, yet not a single person stood ready to take my money, even as I could see pots boiling through the foggy kitchen panels.

My feet stopped in their tracks, eyes narrowing. Between the McDonald's and a random bookstore, a small sliver of light emanated out from a generic old service door.

It wasn't like the lights of the mall, or the colorful displays of the neon menus, rather the silvery light felt almost… holy.

“Mari!”
I froze, my body forcefully thrusting my muscles to turn around. That voice, light and airy, yet stricter than any of my teachers my a landslide. There was only one woman in the world with a voice like that, but… hearing that voice was impossible.

“Don’t just ignore your mother like that, come here.”

Mom held out her hands, wearing the same dark red dress she always wore to work as a little treat.

“M-mom, how, I–”

“No need for you to stutter like a child. Come here.” She snatched me up in a tight hug, embracing me like the old days.

Cold. That was the first word that flashed into my mind. Despite the air, every inch of her felt cold as ice, with her skin lacking any of the softness I’d come to know. “It’s been so long since we’ve embraced like this.”

“Y-yeah,” I muttered, barely stuttering my words out.

“But don’t worry, I’m here now, and I won’t ever leave you again. Your friend secured you a ticket to paradise.”

“Wait, what.” I shoved her away, Grace’s words just before flashing in my mind. “What do you mean paradise.”

“Why, what lies beyond of course? Where do you think I’ve been all this time? You’ve changed so much Mari, I’m so proud. You have become such a beautiful young woman in my absence, and now it's time to move on.”

“Stop speaking in riddles! Tell me what you mean.”

“The next world. I’m sorry Mari, I don’t know how to make this clear to you. Something better awaits you, so why wallow away here when you’re inches away from reaching something better.”

“And, how do I reach this better place?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“You still have that knife, you know which one. It’s drawn your blood before, why not let it have one final meal?”

“Shut up! You’re not my mom!” I turned on my heels, running with every bit of strength I could muster in the opposite direction.

“You can’t run forever!”

“Yeah? Try me bitch.” What the fuck, I blindly ran ahead, lungs screaming in outrage. I needed to run, it didn't matter where, didn’t matter what store I ducted into. Whatever place was the furthest from her was the absolute best place I could be.

“Mari, you can't run forever,” Mom’s voice sounded out over the loudspeaker. “Heaven awaits. Why waste so much time when your ticket has already been approved.”
“Shut up!” I shouted, tossing my shoe at the nearest speaker.

“MARI, COME HERE.”

“MARI”

“Mari?”

“Stop!” My eyes shot open. Chiyo was staring up at me, fear in her eyes.

“Hey, are you ok? You were muttering something about your mom.” I looked around, studying the endless sea of people walking from shop to shop.

“Y-yeah,” I muttered. What the hell was that? It had felt so real, so nice for those sweet few seconds. No dream could have that much pure vividness.

I grabbed a random angel costume off the shelf and marched towards the counter. “Come on, let's get our costumes and head home.”