The Beginning
The village had no name. Having virtually no contact with the outside world, those who lived within it had no need for one, so those outside who knew of it could only refer to it as “the village.” Of course, it rarely ever came up in conversation, as its existence remained concealed.
It was a taboo place—none knew why it existed. The “powers that be” avoided sharing any information about it. Not only would getting involved with the village threaten the foundation of their own authority, but, albeit in an incomplete way, they understood that it would put the entire world in jeopardy. All they had to do was...nothing at all. They only had to suppress the childish instinct to exert control over everything, and pretend there was nothing there. That was the best course of action.
But what about the people who lived in that village and protected it? At first glance, they might appear to fully understand the taboo under their care, acting as guardians of the world.
However, in the end, those who kept careful watch over it since ages long past still had no idea what it really was.
◇ ◇ ◇
Everyone in the village was involved. Every single one of them bore responsibility. Even something as simple as bringing it food was a job that they had to take turns carrying out, regardless of their position in the village. The system was set up to work even if someone were to suddenly die.
Rikou’s first time encountering it was when he was ten years old. Compared to the others in the village, his family held a leadership position. He found it in a room of the mansion. It was Rikou’s first time being given a job related to it. All he had to do was bring the tray of food to its room and then leave, but he was still nervous.
It felt totally empty. He had no idea what it was thinking. It had long hair, wore a white kimono, and stood aimlessly in the middle of a dark room, even during the day.
Rikou didn’t know what it was. It looked like a person, but he couldn’t tell whether it was a man or a woman, or even how old it was. It was obviously not a child, but it somehow looked both young and elderly at once. In the end, he could get nothing but vague impressions from it.
The adults seemed terrified of it, but Rikou didn’t understand why. Though it was a bit unnerving, and maybe even gross, there was nothing scary about it. It was actually harmless. It had no interest in what happened outside, content with just being alive. But when Rikou brought the tray in, it lifted its gaze to look at him. As one might expect, it had taken an interest in someone coming so close to it.
“Please get along with him,” it said, its voice hoarse and gravelly from disuse.
Now that it had spoken, Rikou could tell it was a woman. Surprised that it had suddenly spoken, he hurriedly put down the tray and fled the room. It would be a number of years before he understood what those words meant.
◇ ◇ ◇
It led a peaceful life, entirely lacking in stimulation, until one day it suddenly vanished. Apparently, it had moved into another building, one very different from the others in the village. Rikou had been told that entering the building was forbidden, so he asked what it was. His parents only told him that if he went there, he would die. They didn’t tell him not to go. It was as if they didn’t think anyone would be stupid enough to go there at the cost of their own life. Rikou certainly wasn’t.
A few years passed, and the old room in the mansion was used once again. This time there was a small child there. The woman Rikou had met before was never seen again. Most likely, the child was hers and she had died. There was something about the child that reminded Rikou of her. It seemed disconnected from the outside world in the same way, and just like its mother, it never spoke. That said, as expected of a child, it still showed affection to those who took care of it and even responded to toys.
No one ever spoke the child’s name. It probably didn’t have one. They called it Lord Okakushi, but its mother had been called the same thing, so it was probably more of a title. Rikou didn’t feel anything was odd about the child. He didn’t see any reason to be afraid of it. It looked like any other stupid, boring kid. That was his impression just from seeing it, but that was also around the time Rikou was starting to develop a sense of pride in his family’s station.
The people who lived in this village weren’t normal. There were supernatural beings in this world and supernatural powers. There were youkai and monsters, curses and other spiritual forces. The people who lived here were skilled in those spiritual powers.
As Rikou grew, he became aware of these powers and learned to control them. As he grew stronger, he was able to understand how strong others were as well. He learned that no run-of-the-mill youkai could stand against them and just how much his own people were feared.
That naturally led him to question what the purpose of his village was. Every person who lived there wielded supernatural powers, any one of them capable of facing off against an army on their own. But these super-powered people all hid in this remote village, taking care of some powerless child. He didn’t understand.
Even among this village of powerful people, Rikou was especially blessed with strength. As he grew, so did his power, until none in the village could match him. It wasn’t long before he started looking down on his fellow villagers just as much as he did Lord Okakushi.
Most of the villagers didn’t even know what they were doing there, only carrying out the instructions left by their ancestors. They questioned nothing, repeating the same actions over and over. Their ancestors had come from foreign lands and had spent hundreds, thousands of years repeating the same stupid lives.
Something was wrong with this place. Rotting here for no reason had to be wrong. Rikou’s dissatisfaction grew. If that child was being protected by so many powerful people, it must have been special somehow. Just what was Lord Okakushi? What were his people doing here? Rikou asked the elders of the village, but they gave him no proper answer.
This was their mission since ancient times. Failure meant the end of the world. They just repeated the same inane prattle as always. There was no way answers like that would satisfy him. With their power, they should have had the world under their thumb. And yet, they hid in the wilderness, taking care of some stupid kid.
The village had sunken into stagnation. Nothing ever changed, and no one ever tried to change it. He couldn’t expect anything from the others, so he had no choice but to abandon them. At the age of fifteen, Rikou decided to leave the village behind.
The village didn’t allow anyone to leave, but that wouldn’t be much of an obstacle to him. Though they kept watch to stop anyone leaving, they couldn’t keep watch everywhere at every waking moment. Finding a chance to slip out unnoticed wouldn’t be that difficult.
But Rikou made no effort to do so. His pride wouldn’t allow him to sneak away like that. Late at night, he headed to a room in his house, the room where that dumb kid the village was protecting lived.
“If you just wanted to leave, we wouldn’t have stopped you.”
His father was standing in front of the door to the child’s room. He acted like he knew exactly what was about to happen. Now that Rikou was here, there was nothing that could be done to avoid it.
They both moved at the same time. Their power erupted, creating a storm that tore apart the corridor around them. The paper sliding door behind them was blown away, revealing the boy sleeping behind it. Seeing him finally wake up to the commotion, Rikou was reminded how stupid that child was.
Their fight had left a scratch across Rikou’s cheek. In exchange, he had taken off his father’s left arm. Rikou only had to protect himself, while his father also had to worry about the child behind him. The difference in their positions was evident.
Others from the village began to arrive. There was no way they would fail to notice something happening here. Each and every last one of them would give their lives to protect the boy’s life.
“Is taking my arm rather than killing me your idea of compassion?” the father asked, standing alone across from his son.
Whatever emotion this sparked in him was of no concern to Rikou. He’d known this would happen if he came for the boy. He had come prepared to fight the entire village. His father’s pathetic resolve was nothing to him.
The villagers didn’t hesitate to attack Rikou, who struck them down. The only ones who offered any real resistance were his own family members. Most were only nameless grunts. Before he knew it, Rikou’s rampage had ended with only him and the boy left alive.
Of course, Rikou wasn’t totally unharmed. He had small wounds all over and had likely broken a few bones. But they were all injuries that would heal with time. The boy was covered in blood, splashed on him by his slain defenders. Their desperate defense had kept him unharmed so far.
“I didn’t know you could make a face like that.”
Though the boy showed little emotion, the tragedy unfolding around him had managed to elicit a response. His face had paled, and his eyes were open wide with shock. Rikou lifted a hand towards the boy. There were no more people to act as his shield. At this point, the boy would have to protect himself, but he did nothing. Though disappointed, Rikou wasn’t surprised. In the end, the boy had no power at all. The people of the village had protected him with a religious fervor, but in the end he was nothing.
His life or death meant nothing to Rikou anymore. However, he also felt like there was value in finishing what he started. Rikou created countless blades of wind, firing them towards the boy. The powerless child would be torn to shreds. It wasn’t even a fight, just cleaning up after himself. And yet the boy was unharmed, while Rikou was slashed to pieces.
“Huh?”
Beheaded, his arms dismembered, his torso split in two, Rikou fell to the ground. He should have died instantly. And yet, despite the fact he shouldn’t even have been able to think, the head rolling across the straw mats was still conscious. He saw the hem of a kimono. Someone was standing in front of the boy.
“We were going to leave this to the humans since he’s a human too, but you can’t even take your own attack slapped back at you?” He heard a woman sigh. There shouldn’t have been anyone around him, but she had suddenly appeared and reflected Rikou’s attack. “Hey, wait, where are you going?! Ah, jeez... Nothing I can do about him. This is your fault!”
The woman stomped a bare foot onto Rikou’s head, crushing it. That was the last sensation he felt while alive.
◇ ◇ ◇
On the way home from middle school, Yogiri Takatou was walking alone. A half-hearted conclusion had brought him to this state. If he didn’t want to cause problems for anyone, living alone underground might be best. But what was the point of a life like that? Humans were social creatures. They couldn’t live without others. If he wanted to be human, he needed at least some degree of interaction with people. So he went to school and studied. He kept his interactions with his classmates to a minimum, avoiding contact with them as much as possible.
Of course, that didn’t make any difference to the people targeting him. No matter how little he interacted with them, someone might take his classmates hostage to try and get the upper hand over him. In order to gain some measure of freedom for himself, he had threatened the powerful people and organizations that had their eyes on him under the pretense of negotiation. He had shown off his power, letting them know what fate awaited them if they tried to harm him or those close to him. As a result, those organizations had stopped making overt moves against him. They may have been observing him from a distance, but as long as they didn’t try to mess with him, he was fine with that.
Of course, that wasn’t enough to avoid all trouble. There were plenty of underground organizations, superhumans, and supernatural threats in the world that would appear when they heard rumors about him. However, these beings were tiny in comparison to the global organizations he had already dealt with, so none of them were especially concerning. Yogiri didn’t even have to deal with them himself. A protective bodyguard was set up around him, dealing with any such attackers, all without Yogiri ever knowing about them.
At present, his power was sealed away. He couldn’t actively choose to use his power, nor would it automatically activate. Not knowing what would happen if someone were to try and kill him in this state, the Institute assumed the worst. With Yogiri no longer able to protect himself, they had become even more desperate to protect him. Thanks to their efforts, he had been able to live a relatively peaceful life recently. He wanted nothing more than for his life to continue in that way.
But on his way home, a bloody monkey jumped out in front of him, forcing him to come to a stop. It looked like a Japanese macaque but significantly larger and more muscular. When Yogiri met its gaze, it bared its teeth, threatening him.
Yogiri stopped to think for a moment. Being attacked by a wild animal was unfortunate but natural. He couldn’t be bothered to release his seal every time something like this happened, and it would be normal enough for him to die in such a situation. But a giant monkey attacking the area around his house was strange, to the point where it may have been planned by somebody. He couldn’t just stand by and let that happen.
As he puzzled over how to deal with the monkey, someone leaped out from the front yard of a nearby house. It was a small boy, wearing an elementary school backpack. He was already injured and had a gleaming Japanese sword in hand. The cold, naked blade was clearly not a toy.
“That looks illegal...” Yogiri murmured without thinking.
“Now’s not the time for that!” the boy shouted, leaping towards the monkey. He swung his sword, the blade passing over the monkey’s head. It looked as if he had missed, but for some reason, the monkey dropped to the ground. The boy immediately picked up its body.
“Are you okay?”
“Tch!” It looked too large for the young boy to carry, but he just clicked his tongue in frustration at Yogiri before leaping over a nearby wall and disappearing from sight.
“What was that all about?” Being treated so rudely after being genuinely concerned about the boy, Yogiri felt a little hurt.
◇ ◇ ◇
The Ninomiya family was responsible for protecting Yogiri. Of course, that included not only the times he was home, but also when he was at school and on his way to and from either. Their pride was in their ability to fulfill their mission, all without the target of their protection being aware of it. From that perspective, Ryouta Ninomiya’s actions today had been terrible.
In the living room of the Ninomiya residence, Ryouta’s two older siblings, Ryousuke and Ryouko, were lecturing him. Their parents and grandparents were in the middle of guarding Yogiri, so they weren’t present.
“It’s a pain in the ass. Wouldn’t it be easier to just protect him openly?” The highest priority was the safety of their charge. Ryouta felt that focusing on keeping themselves hidden was unnecessarily complicating the situation.
“The reason they tasked us with this mission was because we could do it stealthily,” his sister Ryouko said at his side. The Ninomiya household was a family of ninja. Their people had integrated themselves into the city as ordinary people. They had been requested to use those resources to protect Yogiri without anyone knowing.
“You’re already in the same class as him, aren’t you? That’s no different than him seeing me.”
“I don’t think he’s taken notice of me. Never mind a bodyguard, I doubt he even notices me as a classmate.”
“You expect me to believe that?” Even being biased against her as her brother, Ryouta could tell his sister was reasonably attractive. Even an elementary school student like him couldn’t imagine a middle school boy failing to take an interest in her.
“It makes things an awful lot easier, actually,” she replied.
People occasionally targeted Yogiri at school. Ryouko’s job was to eliminate them without anyone knowing. Of course, no middle school girl could handle such a task alone, so the Ninomiya family also had agents among the school’s faculty.
Ryouta attended an elementary school in the same area, his primary job being guarding Yogiri on his way to and from school. The entire Ninomiya family had invested itself in this great project, even to the point of hiding among the elementary school children to keep an eye on Yogiri.
“Anyway. Don’t let him see you again.” Ryousuke brought the conversation to a close. He wasn’t especially interested in condemning his little brother for doing his job. “As much as possible, at least.”
“So, what exactly was that monkey?” Ryouko asked.
“It was being controlled by some kind of evil spirit. Once I cut the spirit down, the monkey stopped moving too.” It had been something like a marionette. Something had been hovering over the monkey’s head, controlling it. “The monkey itself was already dead. I saw a number of them around the area.”
Ryouta wasn’t the only one to have fought those things. A considerable effort had been put into taking down the other corpse puppets—not all of them monkeys—without the public knowing. Of course, the other agents didn’t let Yogiri see what was happening.
“There’s a high chance they’re targeting our charge. We’ll be doubling his guard from now on,” Ryousuke announced.
“You think those things’ll be back?” Ryouta slumped, remembering his fight that day. Maybe because it was already dead, the monkey had been extremely reckless in its attacks.
“It doesn’t look like they have any intention of hiding themselves, so they may attack you without regard for their surroundings. Be careful.”
“Yeah, easy for you to say.”
Ryouta was thinking that this really wasn’t a situation that could realistically be resolved stealthily, when suddenly the doorbell rang. As it was around dinnertime, they weren’t expecting any visitors. Ryouta stood up, immediately suspicious. As he headed to the front door, the unnatural presence he felt there made him stop. He instinctively knew that he shouldn’t open the door.
“O...”
“OOOOOOO...”
“OKAKAKAKA...”
“KAKUSHISHISHISHISHI...”
“LORD OKAKUSHI...”
“HERE? HERE? HERE? NOT HERE?”
“WHEREWHEREWHEREWHERE?”
The door rattled, shaken fiercely by whoever was on the other side.
“Damn it, why’d they come here?!”
It was a type of phantom. It wasn’t the kind of opponent Ryouta could handle barehanded. He ran back to the living room to get his spirit blade, where he found his brother collapsed on the ground. Ryouko had her own sword drawn, watching her surroundings.
“What’s going on?! I thought phantoms couldn’t get in here!” Just like the creatures outside couldn’t enter through the front door, phantoms shouldn’t have been able to enter the Ninomiya residence without being invited in.
“He just picked up the phone...” Ryouko answered. Ryousuke’s head was bleeding.
“WHERE? LORD OKAKUSHI, WHEEERE?”
“HERE? HEY, HERE?”
Ryouta could hear voices coming from his brother’s smartphone. Ryouta ran to the couch where his weapon lay and immediately drew it from its sheath.
“They came in through the phone?!”
“Probably. But why now? Why here?”
Shadows suddenly appeared in the room. First one, then two, then more. Ryouko hurled a kunai at the phone, smashing it and cutting off the voices. Ryouta slashed at one of the nearby shadows. He felt no physical resistance from it, but he could tell his attack had worked. The shadow split and began to dissipate. Apparently, Ryouta could take them on himself.
Just as he was starting to feel relief, the house phone began to ring. The TV turned itself on, voices coming in through the white noise. The lights started to blink on and off, and he could hear the sound of the front door opening. The spiritual protections for their house had been breached.
“Run!” Ryouko leaped out of the window into the yard. Ryouta hurried to follow but immediately regretted it. A nauseating malice filled the air outside the house. The inside of the house was far, far safer.
Ryouko was floating in the air. A shadow had caught her, constricting around her. It was a difficult sight for Ryouta to believe. Even if spirits could possess people or animals and control them, he had never heard of them being able to interact physically like this.
“WHERE?”
“LORD OKAKUSHI.”
“YOU?”
“ARE YOU LORD OKAKUSHI?”
Darkness had fallen over the area around them. Malice and hatred filled the air. Ryouta was shaking with fear. He couldn’t think of a single way to fight back, blinded by despair. Shadows writhed within his own body, the curse already eating its way into his gut. There was no more escape for him.
“I-I know! I know where he is! So let my sister go!” Throwing away his pride as a ninja, Ryouta begged the creatures for mercy.
◇ ◇ ◇
After dying, Rikou became a vengeful ghost. Perhaps due to his unusually high spiritual strength, he retained the majority of his memories. Of course, he wasn’t exactly the same as before. He was now ruled by an uncontrollable hatred. His grudge against the boy was all-consuming.
The boy hadn’t killed him. His killer had been someone else, but that didn’t matter. With his memories of the time around his death so vague, he chose to believe that the boy was responsible for everything, and nothing would convince him otherwise.
Though he had become even more powerful than he had been in life, that didn’t mean he could carry out his revenge immediately. When he had returned to consciousness, he didn’t know how much time had passed or where he was. There was no sign of the boy nearby, and he had no idea where he had gone. No matter how much power Rikou had obtained, if he didn’t know where the aim of his revenge had gone, there was nothing he could do.
So he spread himself out across the entire world. If that boy was still alive somewhere, someone like Rikou’s family would be protecting him. So, if he could find places where his hatred was regularly being purged, those became more likely hiding spots for the boy.
Though maddened by his lust for revenge, he retained the rationality to develop and carry out his plan.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Do you think there’s a reason I’m so unpopular?” Those were the first words out of Asaka’s mouth when she made it home that night.
“Maybe it’s just hard to see what’s great about you?” Yogiri gave a half-hearted answer, not looking up from his video games.
“And what is great about me? Please, tell me,” she said, flopping down onto the couch, bouncing Yogiri slightly into the air beside her.
“Uhh...you’re reliable?”
“I guess. But I feel like reliability isn’t exactly what guys are looking for in a woman these days.”
“You know, if you’re trying to find a boyfriend for my sake, I don’t think you need to bother. Of course, if you want to get married, I’m happy to cheer you on.”
“Well, like, it’s not that I dislike taking care of you, Yogiri, but it feels weird for it to be a job. So if I get married and become a professional housewife, it’s more normal for me to spend my time taking care of my family. That’s what I was thinking.”
“I can’t really see you as a housewife. What about being a teacher? I think you’d be good at it. It’s not like I’ll be a kid that you have to take care of forever.”
“Ahhh. I don’t know if I want a real job. I don’t think I’d be able to fit into normal society anymore. It kind of feels like I never did.” After graduating from university, Asaka’s first job was at the Independent Higher Order Life Form Research Institute. Her role was to take care of Yogiri, something that didn’t feel like a proper job.
“Do you really have to work?” Yogiri asked. He was being provided enough of an allowance to lead a fairly luxurious life. It was more than enough for the two of them to live comfortably.
“Yeah, well, it’s not like I never thought about it...but that would kind of hurt my conscience.”
“Oh, so you do have a conscience.”
“Even you’re talking like that now, huh? Of course I do. I’d feel guilty bumming around with no job.”
“Well...I guess I have to think about getting a job eventually too.”
Yogiri was living as an ordinary middle school student. Though there were problems from time to time, things were working out somehow. At this rate, high school, college, and eventually employment seemed like a realistic future, and one he was interested in pursuing.
“Do you know what kind of job you want, Yogiri?”
“Not yet. I figured I’d think about it after I find out what I’m good at.”
“You should probably focus on studying while you can. Not that your grades have been anything to worry about.”
Yogiri saved his game and turned off the console. “What are we doing about dinner? I think we still have leftovers from yesterday.”
“I’m feeling mapo tofu. How about we go to Yuukarou?” As tired as she seemed, Asaka jumped up off the couch. Now that she had thought of dinner, it seemed her energy had returned.
“Works for me,” Yogiri said, standing up and getting ready to go out. Asaka had just flopped onto the couch immediately after getting home, so she was already good to go.
◇ ◇ ◇
Ryouta and Ryouko had somehow managed to survive. Thanks to Ryouta’s desperate pleas, the darkness relented.
“Ryouko...” Ryouta sobbed pathetically as he looked at his sister. As the darkness dropped her to the ground, she made no effort to chastise him. She must have realized they had no other choice.
“WHERE?”
Ryouta heard a whisper beside his ear. He had no time to relax. If he didn’t answer the shadow’s request, or if it thought he was lying, he would be killed instantly.
Ryouta began walking to the apartment building where Yogiri lived. It was an absolute failure for someone who was supposed to be a bodyguard. A true shinobi should have been willing to give his life to prevent any information from making it into enemy hands. But neither Ryouta nor Ryouko had that kind of determination. They were only children.
Ryouko didn’t follow. The shadows were still wrapped around her, holding her in place, likely trying to use her as a hostage.
If he went to the apartment building, he would come across allies. The veteran, skilled shinobi of the Ninomiya family should have been able to resolve this situation, even if Ryouta couldn’t. Though it felt pathetic, he couldn’t think of anything he could do on his own.
Beside the apartment building, Ryouta saw his grandfather in hiding. Naturally, his grandfather noticed his approach. The old man drew a kunai. Ryouta assumed he was going to be killed and wasn’t surprised in the least. He had brought an enemy directly to the place where their charge lived. Even if they weren’t interested in punishing him for it, killing him would avoid the most trouble. But his grandfather was crushed where he stood. As if a huge weight had dropped on him from above, he was splattered onto the pavement.
“Ah... Ahhhhh...” Ryouta moaned wordlessly. He had wet himself, but that fact barely registered. His mother and father were there too. All he wanted to do was make sure they avoided meeting the same fate.
He saw Yogiri and Asaka leaving the apartment building. Ryouta felt a small amount of relief. If they died here, the tragedy would be over. That was all he could think about.
◇ ◇ ◇
Yogiri and Asaka left their apartment behind. Yuukarou was a restaurant specializing in Szechuan cuisine, with mapo tofu being one of their flagship dishes. It was a common destination for the pair.
“Hey, do you feel like someone is following us?” Asaka asked.
“Probably. I don’t know for sure, though.” Yogiri was always being watched. He assumed that was the case now as well, but he couldn’t actually see anyone. He felt a little bad for making his watchers follow him whenever he went out, but staying home for their sake felt ridiculous. “Oh, right, I think I met one of them today.” Yogiri told Asaka about his encounter on the way home from school.
“They’re using kids as bodyguards?!” Asaka was appalled.
“Now that you mention it, that is pretty weird. Maybe I should ask them to stop using kids.”
“Hmm... I don’t know. We don’t know for sure he’s a bodyguard...but I guess it doesn’t hurt to say it anyway. Just to let them know how we feel.”
The shopping district was only a short walk away, but as they arrived, they could tell something was wrong. Everything was far too quiet. There was no one in the street. The opening of a shopping mall in the area had made the area less popular, but for it to be deserted at dinnertime was unnerving.
“Something’s going on, isn’t it?” Asaka said.
“Probably.” Even if the streets just happened to be empty, the shops should have had people in them. They peeked into a nearby seafood shop.
“Ugh.” Yogiri winced. The smell was awful. The fish inside were rotting. There was a man who looked to be the owner lying on the floor farther in. He didn’t look dead, but he hardly looked healthy either. With his powers locked away, Yogiri couldn’t see killing intent, but he could still tell that something was wrong. He had a terrible feeling about it.
Yogiri released the seal on his powers and immediately felt a waving of killing intent wash over him. The area around them was filled with it.
“We need an ambulance!” Asaka pulled out her cell phone. “Huh?” The charm on her phone’s strap was in tatters. It was a protective amulet that she had received from the Institute, one with supernatural powers. Yogiri checked his own amulet, which was also starting to fall apart. “No good. I’ve got no reception here.”
“Let’s go home.” This wasn’t the kind of situation where they could be casually going out for dinner. When they stepped out of the store, they saw a young boy standing in the entrance to the shopping district. “Huh? Aren’t you that kid who was fighting the monkey? Are you okay?”
“Obviously he isn’t!”
As Asaka said, something was clearly off about him. His face was pale, his eyes looked empty, and his footsteps were unsteady. He was holding a sword like when Yogiri last saw him, giving him a dangerous impression.
“H...elp...” the boy managed to squeeze out. Yogiri stepped forward to try and help the boy, at which point the boy froze.
“O...OKAKU...LORD OKAKUSHI...” Something changed in the boy’s demeanor. “FOUND YOU.”
Darkness spilled out of the boy. The pitch black shadow covered everything in moments, the killing intent covering the area turning even thicker.
“Huh?” Asaka blurted out. Yogiri was speechless, equally surprised. The scenery around them had transformed. They were now standing on wooden boards, in the corridor of some house. In front of them were paper sliding doors, and behind them was nothing but darkness.
“This looks...kind of familiar. Oh, right! Is this the mansion under the Institute?”
Like Asaka said, it looked similar to their old home underground. He felt like he could predict what he’d see if he walked left or right from here.
“I don’t know. It does look similar.” It did look familiar, but Yogiri had the feeling it wasn’t the mansion from the Institute. It could have been the tangible feeling of malice filling the air around them. Though it didn’t seem interested in killing them right away, there was clearly an unnatural presence here. The air felt sticky and was filled with a sour smell. It wasn’t the kind of place he wanted to spend much time in. “I guess we shouldn’t just stand around.”
Yogiri opened the sliding door in front of him. As expected, behind the door was a room with a straw mat floor, and sitting in the middle of it was a woman in a white kimono. She had long hair, but the way she slumped made it impossible to see her face. When Yogiri tried to get a closer look, the woman vanished.
“There was a woman there, right?” Asaka asked.
“Yeah. But she didn’t seem real. It feels like we’re in a nightmare.”
Yogiri stepped into the room, though he felt a little bad for walking in with his shoes on. Heading to the other side of the room, he opened the next door. The smell of blood washed over him. The room was drenched red, with pieces of ruined human bodies scattered across the floor. But the sight only lasted for an instant. A moment later, the room was empty. Yogiri continued, opening door after door. Each time he saw something, but he couldn’t tell what it all meant.
“What’s going on? This place feels kind of gloomy...”
“I don’t think you need to believe what we’re seeing here.”
As they progressed, Yogiri’s premonition of something bad happening grew stronger and stronger. As that ominous feeling peaked, the boy from earlier appeared in front of them. He was entirely different now. He was wearing all white, giving off a sinister aura.
“Those look like the clothes you used to wear, don’t they?” Asaka said.
Something they couldn’t see was in control of this space. The two of them could clearly sense its feelings of resentment and hatred. That concentrated malice was easily enough to kill a person. So the boy suddenly collapsed.
“What? No way, you didn’t...” Asaka looked at Yogiri, worried.
“I didn’t kill the boy,” Yogiri hurriedly answered, afraid she had misunderstood. The killing intent had been coming from whatever was possessing the child. He had only killed the source of the malice.
A moment later, they were back in the shopping district. Whether it had all been an illusion or the spirit had actually taken them somewhere, they were now back where they started.
“Hey, if anyone’s out there, can you take care of him for us?” At Yogiri’s words, a shadowy figure leaped out of hiding, grabbing the boy and taking him away. Yogiri felt he could probably leave the fallen people in the shopping district to them as well.
“Umm...let’s go home,” Asaka mumbled.
“Yeah.” He wasn’t really in the mood for eating out anymore. Turning back, they made their way home.
“That evil spirit thing...or whatever it was, it seemed to know you. Are you sure it was okay not to hear what it wanted? Was that woman maybe your mother?” Asaka asked. Apparently, she had seen the same things he had. They had likely been visions of the old mansion in the village where Lord Okakushi had been worshiped, as well as the tragedy that had occurred there. In that case, that woman may have been the previous Lord Okakushi, which would make her Yogiri’s mother.
Yogiri didn’t have strong feelings about his lack of parents, but he realized that wasn’t normal. More than anything else, he felt bad for making Asaka worry about him.
“It didn’t seem like a being we could really talk to. And I don’t care about something from so long ago anyway,” he explained.
At this point, knowing about his parents wouldn’t change anything. His only parent now was Asaka, and that was enough for him. Even if his birth parents were alive somewhere, he had no real desire to meet them.
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