The moon was full and the stars were twinkling on the clear night sky.
Away from the smoke and light pollution of the city, the universe seemed so much closer than it actually was.
At this moment, it really was a great thing to experience sitting in a hot spring, surrounding oneself in steam, and just relaxing underneath the stars.
But, in every good thing in this world, there must be something that eventually ruins it.
And, in this case, that thing just happens to be a creepy man leaning over the divide of the baths, trying to peek into the women's side.
"Um... That ojii-san..." Whispering hesitantly, Shimizu leaned towards his brother, unsure of what to do in this situation. "Is he perhaps a pervert?"
"Probably not?" Suguru frowned, finding the strange man's appearance familiar. He was probably on the same bus as them earlier. "I remember that he introduced himself as a policeman earlier?"
"Eh- really? Then isn't that more problematic?!" On Suguru's other side, a mysterious child with dark brown hair and blue eyes lighter than Shimizu's appeared out of nowhere.
Where did this kid come from?
Suguru smiled slightly but otherwise made no comments about the unknown child's intrusion. "Well, it's really not everyday that we get to see a policeman trying to peep into the women's bath."
"Still... It's really creepy to encounter an old perv." Shimizu shuddered.
"Yeah. Policeman or not, that guys a perv!" The other child nodded.
"Oi! You kids over there! I can hear you clearly from here!" Suddenly, the topic of the conversation shouted and pointed at them. "And I'm not a pervert! I'm just trying to see if my Ran-chan is fine!"
Who's Ran-chan?
"Dad! I'm fine! Stop being creepy!" From the other side of the divide, a young girl's voice shouted, audibly annoyed.
"Ah- is that so, Ran-chan? Do you really not need Dad's help?" Unfortunately for the girl, her dad just happened to have a skull as thick as the Great Wall of China.
"I'm fine!" And, here, the moment when a little girl's patience broke was clearly heard by all listeners. So, it wasn't really a surprise when they saw a wooden bucket flying over the divide from the women's side to the men's.
Plonk!
"Ouch!" Thus, the bucket landed perfectly on top of the strange man's head. 10/10 a perfect score!
"..."
The might of a little girl's anger silenced the world.
"By the way, my name's Kudo Shinichi!"
"I'm Geto Shimizu!"
And just like that, because of a strange old man and his daughter, a new friendship began.
"It seems it really was a good idea to take a vacation at this time. Shinichi seems to have made a friend." Watching the children a short distance away, Kudo Yusaku, a famous detective novelist muttered to himself in relief.
...
"Ran-chan, are you okay? Did you manage to bathe well on your own?" Some time later, after everyone had finished bathing, the strange man was seen outside the entrance of the women's bath, nervously looking at a toddler all over.
"Dad, stop it! I'm really fine!" With blushing cheeks unknown if it were from the steam or from embarrassment, the little girl tried to push her dad away and pointed towards two women who had just exited the baths. "See? I got the help of these pretty onee-sans!"
Although still unsure, the man chose to trust his daughter, inwardly feeling guilty about the fact that he had inadvertently caused his daughter to need to mature faster because of his and his wife's recent disagreements.
If things continued at this state, they might end up separating soon.
"Is that so?" The mind smiled stiffly, as he turned towards the two women pointed by his daughter. "Ah, thank you very much. It's the first time we came out with just us father and daughter. To be honest, I really have no idea what to do."
Scratching the back of his head, the man really made it clear how new he was to single parenting.
"Oh, no! It was my pleasure to help such a cute little lady!" One of the women said politely. Somehow, she kind of looked familiar to the man.
"Ah, me as well!" The other woman said, smiling. This woman, the man recognized being in the same bus as him earlier. "Actually, I've always wanted to have a daughter of my own, but, unfortunately, I only have two sons..."
"Ara~ I too, only have a son as well!" The first woman giggled. She really looked familiar, but the man just couldn't remember where he saw her.
"No, no! I'm really very grateful to the both of you." The man spoke, feeling awkward as he cleared his throat. "Ah, if ever you two are in Beika Town in Tokyo and are in need of help, please call me. I'm a police officer, Mouri Kogoro."
"So, you're a policeman! In that case, my name is Kudo Yukiko. Actually, I came here with my husband and son. Coincidentally, my son is also about your daughter's age! Perhaps they could end up becoming friends." The first woman smiled and gave the quiet little girl in Mouri Kogoro's arms a meaningful glance.
"Ah, I'm Saiki Kurumi. Also with my husband and younger son. But, that boy is already 13 this year..." Saiki Kurumi drifted off regretfully. "Though, my neighbor's children came with us too, and their youngest son is also around your daughter's age!"
"Your son is a teenager?!" Kudo Yukiko looked at Saiki Kurumi in surprise. "You look really young!"
"Oh-hyu~ Really?"
"Really! Your skin is in such good condition that I thought you were my age or younger!"
"Arara~"
As the adults were talking here, the children, on the other hand, were off elsewhere.
"Shinichi, at this rate, I think we'll end up finding a ghost first before we find that samurai statue you were talking about." Freshly out of the bath and wearing a yukata, Shimizu roamed the wooden corridors of the hotel with his newfound friend, Shinichi, a self-proclaimed future detective.
Apparently, his father was a famous novelist who inspired Shinichi to pursue a dream of crime solving and criminal catching.
"A-reh~?" Tilting his head in confusion, Shinichi walked around the same spot several times as if to check if his eyes were just playing tricks on him or if the thing he was looking for really disappeared. "It was just around here a while ago..."
Waiting patiently, Shimizu sat on the floor and shook his feet. The wooden clogs he was wearing felt really tight around his toes, causing them to turn red from the lack of blood circulation. "Can we look for it later? I'm getting kind of hungry."
Tap. Tap. Dong!
A muffled noise from a closed room made Shinichi pause his steps.
"Wait, Shimizu! I think I just heard something inside here!" Leaning on the wooden sliding door, Shinichi stuck his ear on the panel, trying to listen closer.
"Ah, but my nii-san said we need to hurry or else the food will be cold!" Although he said so, Shimizu who did not want to stand just yet, took off his clogs and crawled closer towards the door.
"Just a second will be fine! I just want to see." Shinichi whispered, but his voice was so audible that he might as well have spoken loudly.
"But, isn't that the storage room?" Shimizu tried to be the reasonable one out of the two, but the sight of him sticking closely to the door made it clear that he was curious too. "I don't think we're allowed there..."
"We're not going in! We're just peeking." Said Shinichi, acting innocently.
"Oh... If you say so." Shimizu shrugged.
Though, as the two were distracted with making excuses with each other, acting out a play of (I persuade you to do, You persuade me to not), unnoticed by them, the wooden door beside them was slowly being opened.
"Boo." From the darkness of the storage room, a single gloomy eye peered out.
"Ah! Murderer!!!"
"Ah! Cursed Spirit!!!"
This is where the divide between two different dimensions becomes obvious.
"BAHAHAHAHA!!!" Following the screams, a loud bellowing laughed greeted the two children as the door fully slid open, revealing the large man who stood behind it. "Wow! You kids sure are interesting!"
"..." For a moment, Shinichi and Shimizu just awkwardly stared at the man in silence.
After exiting the room and sliding the door closed once again, the tall man looked down at the two children who only reached the top of his knees and smiled broadly.
Heheh. Two little kiddies. How cute.
"By the way, you kids might want to run along now. Dinner will be served five minutes from now. Don't wanna miss it right?" The man squatted down and patted their heads. "I heard they're serving special Sakura shaved ice to kids for free."
Almost immediately after he said that, the child that looked a bit more like a blueberry than the other one brightened up.
"Wait, really?!" Shimizu's eyes were sparkling visibly. "Shinichi, let's go! Shaved ice! Shaved ice!"
And just like that, without even bothering to wear his clogs, the boy grabbed Shinichi's hand and took off running.
"Ahh???! Wait, don't drag me, Shimizu-ahhh!??"
Watching in amusement, the man chuckled to himself. "Heh. Kids."
From an unseen corner of the corridor, a dark figure stood quietly.
...
It was a dark night, and the forest was cold and ominous.
Recently, there have been rumours amongst the locals that people had been disappearing into the forest at night.
'Spirited Away', they said, lamenting about the lessening number of tourists per year and the increase of people who left their homes to chase for a better life in the bigger cities.
It was a chilling topic, as the older folk gossiped about the number of people who went missing.
Yet, that still didn't stop some curious people from exploring the unknown.
Such as in this case, for example.
"Oi, Kindaichi. Where do you think you're going?" With a stern face, the vice-captain of a middle school volleyball team from Miyagi called out to his sneaky juniors.
"Geh- Iwaizumi-senpai!" One of the juniors with hair that resembles a turnip nearly jumped out of his skin in fright. "It's uh-"
With eyes looking at every direction except at his senior's face, Kindaichi tried to find an excuse for why they were in the forest late at night, but came up blank.
In the end, his much calmer companion sighed and took over.
"Oikawa-senpai forced us into a Test of courage." Came the very honest answer, making it obvious that he wanted no part in it from the start. In all honesty, he'd much rather be sleeping in the hotel right now than in a creepy, insect-filled forest.
"Kunimi-chan~! You snitch!" But, unfortunately, their unreliable captain seemed to have his own ideas.
"I should have known it had something to do with you!" Iwaizumi said through gritted teeth and cracked his knuckles upon seeing his captain and childhood friend's unrepentant face. "You know we have a practice match tomorrow and you still dare to play like this!"
And thus, began the chase.
"Ow! Iwa-chan~!" Into the cover of the shadows, the voice of pain and fear gradually went further away. "Don't- don't! Anything but my face! If I don't have it, my fans would be really sad!"
"Even more reason to destroy it!" An angry shout in the distance rattled the trees while the two juniors left in place sweat-dropped.
"Ah, by the way, Kunimi." Trying to ease the awkward atmosphere, Kindaichi set his attention elsewhere. "That car over there... Now that I look closer, there's actually a lot of leaves and dirt covering it, don't you think?"
"Yeah." Kunimi answered simply, not really caring about anything.
"How long do you reckon it's been abandoned for?" A cold wind blew, causing both boys to shiver.
"Probably a few weeks at least." The forest was strangely silent. Even the chirping of the insects seemed to disappear.
"Where do you think the owners are?" Kindaichi looked around him, somehow feeling as though something was watching them in the dark.
Contrary to him, though, Kunimi didn't feel anything but crippling boredom. "I don't know. Probably eaten by a bear."
"A bear?!" Kindaichi's eyes widened like saucers, subtly inching closer to Kunimi while looking around him in fear.
Although it was a joke, after seeing Kindaichi's funny reaction, Kunimi didn't bother clarifying it.
"Wait... Where's Kageyama?" Suddenly, Kindaichi asked, belatedly realizing that someone was missing.
"Ah..." Kunimi responded. "Probably eaten by the bear."
...
At the back of the hill where the Onsen Hotel was located, an old village stood where two rivers would intersect.
Every spring festival, paper lanterns would be released into the eastern river to welcome the beginning of the farming season, while, by late autumn, paper lanterns would be released into the western river to mark the end of harvest.
Eventually, the tourists who heard of this tradition, began joining in as well, treating it as an interesting seasonal event.
Like here, for example.
After enjoying the hot spring at their hotel, the Saiki family, and the Geto brothers who had just finished eating dinner in the Onsen, heard about the tradition of the village and decided to participate in it, thinking that it would be best to try it tonight as there wouldn't be too many people since it wasn't the peak of the spring festival yet.
And, indeed, when they arrived at the river, there were hardly any people there. Which wasn't actually that strange if you take in the village's remoteness.
Perhaps, the visitors would increase during the peak of the Spring Festival.
"Nii-san~!" In a daze, Suguru seemed to hear Shimizu calling him from a distance. But, it wasn't until he felt a small creature bump into his legs that he shook himself out of his thoughts.
"Hmm? What is it, Shi-chan?" Suguru placed the paper lantern that he had painstakingly made himself on the ground as he crouched down to face his younger brother.
Did this kid run off again? Really, why is he so restless?
"Do you know how to find a River God?" Shimizu asked out of nowhere.
For a moment, Suguru's brain halted and he was unable to process the question. If this scene were in a comic strip, three big question marks would be seen floating on top of Suguru's head.
"A River God? What for?" With furrowed brows, Suguru asked. Just where did this strange question come from?
Playing with his fingers innocently, Shimizu thought back to the conversation he just had with the local elderly some time ago. "That- actually, a while ago I-"
...
Beach, sand, beach sand... Ocean.
It was all so repetitive that he could vomit. But, because Kohei somehow managed to win two free tickets for a trip to Osaka from a popsicle he bought at a conbini, Iori was finally able to experience something different! (Conbini=convenience store)
Onsen hotel! A picturesque village! Mountain shrines! And clear rivers!
But, there was bad news.
"Eh?! There's no crabs in the river?!" Kitahara Iori was in disbelief. "Why?"
Ah, he'd been looking forward to catching freshwater crabs in a mountain river at dawn for a long time too! That was at the top of his bucket list of things to do in Osaka!
Just when he thought he'd be able to live an Inaka-life dream! (Inaka=Inland/village/slow-paced)
"Not just crabs. In truth, nothing can survive in this river." As the old lady spoke, Iori was gradually turning into a greyed statue while his dreams were turning into ash before his eyes. "Not even reeds."
"How about the other river? I remember there were two rivers intersecting in this area." Imamura Kohei mused to himself, trying to recall the map of the area he had seen in the bus.
"Ah, the West river." The old lady sighed and shook her head in dismay. "That river's no good too, I'm afraid."
"For real? Why?" This time, even Kohei was shocked. It was really rare to find a natural river which was perfectly clean and clear yet have no life surviving in it. Much less two!
Was this area affected by a chemical spill or something?
Unexpectedly, the answer was very different from what he thought.
"Must be because the River Gods have forsaken this place." The old lady poked her walking stick into the mud sadly.
"River Gods?" Iori, who had just come back to life, asked in confusion. Now that he thought about it, he did remember passing by a Torii when their bus got lost earlier.
Was there a shrine in that area? Seems a bit run-down for a shrine though.
"Mn. It's our fault, really. We didn't take care of the river and allowed it to get polluted some years ago. It was only recently that the river became clean again." The old lady explained, causing both college boys to be surprised. Was the river polluted? It looks so clean! "But, ah..."
Shaking her head, the old lady pointed to the river with her walking stick as if to prove a point.
"It was too late. The River Gods have already left."
In silence, both of them didn't know what else to say. Perhaps there was a scientific explanation for why this happened, but directly casting aside the beliefs of the locals would appear quite rude of them as tourists. It was so awkward.
But, fortunately, they were interrupted before the awkwardness penetrated too deep.
"Then, isn't that easy?" A childish voice spoke from behind them, prompting them to quickly turn around. And, upon doing so, the two college boys vaguely recognized the speaker to be a child they saw traveling with them on the same bus.
"Just look for the River Gods and tell them the river is clean again." The child proclaimed confidently, as though what he said was an easy matter.
"Huh?" Three people tilted their heads in unison. Just what was this kid talking about?
"If this river is the River Gods home, then, they would want to come back to it too, right?" The child tried hard to explain with his limited vocabulary. "Everyone gets homesick when they're away from home for too long! That's common sense!"
Yes, that is indeed common sense... If it weren't for that fact that he was talking about gods.
"But, boyya... How will you find a River God?" The old lady spoke gently, trying to make the child realize the difficulty of the matter without sounding harsh.
"Oh..." The child looked down thoughtfully, finally coming to the conclusion that he had no idea. But! He had a backup plan.
"My nii-san is great! He probably knows how!" The child declared with no hesitation. It was clear to all how much he looked up to his brother in just these two sentences.
But, even if his brother was Superman, he'd probably still have no idea how to do this kind of thing. Thinking so, Iori and Kohei sweat-dropped, feeling pity for the mysterious older brother.
Unlike them though, the old lady was smiling in support. "Oh-ho! Is that so? Then you should work hard!"
...
"Basically, I promised the villagers that I would find their River Gods for them!" After explaining the situation briefly, Shimizu stood in front of Suguru in anticipation.
Meanwhile, Suguru himself, had no idea how to react. Perhaps, he should be happy that his younger brother thought of him so highly, but, on the other hand, he really had no ability to call upon gods.
In any case, before he figures out a way to resolve this matter, what he needs most at this moment is something to distract Shimizu's attention for a period of time.
If only the world was just convenient that way!
Bang!
"AAaaAaHHH!!! DAISUKE-SAN!!!"
A loud banging sound accompanied by a woman screaming in terror suddenly erupted from the Onsen hotel, causing all the people nearby to look in surprise.
Wow. That woman has a loud scream. Suguru thought in a daze, judging the distance between the river he was next to and the hotel. So far away, yet her scream could still be heard so clearly.
"..."
Wait a moment... Just when he needed a distraction, something really did happen!
Could it be... Do gods really exist?
...
[The word count suddenly increased... Btw, please point out any spelling mistake or grammatical error you find. Comments are always welcomed even if it's just gibberish or trolling.]
Question #1: From the first chapter to the current chapter, how many cross-overs and anime cameos have appeared in total?