As I came out into the open, I found myself confronted to an angry mobbing.
Apart from the ginger-haired guy, all the members of the organization who had been in the hall earlier, were waiting for me in the front yard of the building.
My throat tightened.
'Hey, you! We don't like criminals!' spat the red-haired boy and he shoved me violently backward by my shoulders, causing me to fall headlong on the ground.
I picked myself up into a sitting position immediately, my heart fluttering.
'No one wants you here!' the blond lashed out at me. 'Get lost!'
I staggered to my feet, watching them all in apprehension.
As they took a step towards me, I began to retrogress fearfully, until I backed up into something.
Turning around, I saw a tree there.
Cornered, I looked back around in distress, meeting the ravenous eyes of the seven members of the organization, who seemed to be ready to pounce on me.
'May I know what's going on here?' demanded a soft male voice, out of the blue, coming from the back of the mob, and everyone backed off instantly.
The voice belonged to the ginger-haired guy I had seen in the hall earlier.
They stared him in awe.
When the master had announced my recruitment, he had appeared just as shocked as everyone else, but it had lasted only for a brief moment, before his expression had gone back to casual.
He was the only one who hadn't protested.
'Katsuya, I didn't know that you're here!' the blond breathed. The latter looked like a little boy who had been caught red-handed doing something wrong, just like the others.
I could tell that they all had great admiration for the ginger-haired male, maybe, because of his hunting abilities.
'Oh, I was here all along and I've assisted to the whole meeting,' he stated.
'Well then, doesn't the master's decision enrage you?' demanded the redheaded boy, peevishly, without meeting the older male's eyes.
'No,' he replied, in a gentle tone. 'I have complete faith in Master Kagami and so, I respect his decision. I believe that you should all do the same.'
No one seemed to agree, but they didn't argue with him either, and simply pouted, sulkily.
Casting at me murderous looks, they began to walk away after that, while the ginger-haired boy drew up to me, inquiring, 'Are you alright?'
I was feeling extremely weak, the stress having triggered a mild episode of cataplexy, but I couldn't tell him this.
I nodded, timidly.
He didn't look convinced.
'My name is Katsuya Hattori,' he said with a smile, which I returned with some hesitancy.
I noticed that his eyes were amber.
'Ayame!' he called over his shoulder, abruptly, at the blond teen who was leaving.
The latter paused down and half-turned to face him.
'Will you walk her home, please?'
The younger male turned completely around, taken aback by the request. 'Why-Why me?'
'Because I'm asking you, Ayame Tsuge,' answered Katsuya Hattori, his tone polite.
The blond flushed up and accepted without any further ado.
I realized that Ayame Tsuge did not simply admire him like the other members of the organization; the blond revered Katsuya Hattori. I recognized the look in his eyes; he saw the ginger-haired boy as his idol, an older brother.
This was how the blond ended up walking me to my place of residency.
The walk went by in complete silence.
Ayame Tsuge put as much distance between us as possible, keeping his balled up fists buried in the pockets of his jeans, his sapphire blue-eyes staring straight ahead; his expression sullen.
'It's okay. You may leave if you want,' I told him, timidly.
He took a glance at me, before he went back ignoring me, making as if he didn't hear anything.
I guessed that he respected Katsuya Hattori too much to accept one of his requests and then, not go to the length of it.
The organization was found in Kuribayashi neighborhood.
All the houses in this part of Toda resembled one another. They were all white, two-storied and surrounded by high walls. The river ran close-by. It was the safest and most peaceful area of town.
My apartment was found in Shiratori neighborhood which was a livelier area than this one for, a good number of commerces could be found there.
As I let my eyes wandered to keep my mind off the discomfort of the situation, suddenly, I caught sight of a little boy, who was stoning a bat that had gotten itself caught in the barbed wires of an empty field down the street on my right.
'Wretched animal!' he cursed.
Reacting on the spot, I rushed at the boy and caught his wrist, stopping his hand.
Startled, he went still and looked up at my face.
'If I was you, I wouldn't do this!' I said in a murmur, putting on a lugubrious expression. 'In my province, a strange tale is told about cats that become yōkai upon their deaths to exact revenge onto the people who have wronged them in their living. I know that this small animal is no cat, but still, if I were you, I wouldn't take any chances. Unless you've got a wish to be cursed for life, I think that it'd be better for you if you'd stop ill-treating animals.'
The kid blenched and paled, letting out a small squeak.
I let go of his wrist, fighting back a grin; I doubted that he takes on animals ever again in his life.
I turned towards the small winged animal, then.
It was trapped in the barbwire with no chance of freeing itself on its own, with one of its wings severely torn by the metal spikes.
Without making any brusque movement, I held the bat with one hand and carefully began to free its wings from where it was caught in the barbed wire. The small animal remained very quiet, letting me do, knowing that my intention was to help it.
Once I had freed it, I held it in both my arms and showed it to the little boy, telling him, kindly, 'You may caress it if you want.'
Some color returned to the kid's face. Hesitantly, he lifted his hand up and brought it over the head of the bat in a caress.
When the small animal allowed it, a wide grin spread across of the boy's face.
'Yo, Sen!' called a voice, at that moment, from afar, and I looked at the three young boys who had appeared in the distance and were signaling to the kid to join them.
'Coming!' exclaimed the latter, and excusing himself from me, he began to rush away to catch up with his friends.
Turning around, I hurried up to Ayame Tsuge who was waiting for me.
'I'm sorry that I made you wait,' I apologized, feeling a bit ashamed of myself.
He didn't say anything and simply continued to frown.
As we set back walking again, I watched the injured bat in my arms anxiously.
'I should get it treated-'
In all of a sudden, I was brutality cut off by being shoved against the side wall with an arm crushing my throat.
Reflexively, my hand went up to grip Ayame Tsuge's forearm, but I stared at him, staggered.
'You're just one bloody hypocrite, you know that?!' the blond spat at me, utterly furious. 'If you think that you can fool me with your goody-goody show, you're deadly wrong! And don't expect me to be grateful towards you for the incident with the Karasu-tengu! For me, you're not any better than those monsters out there that I hunt!'
Backing off, he stomped away in a furry, leaving me there, gasping for air and appalled.
I couldn't blame him though, after all, for the world I was a psychotic murderer.
I stood there for a whole minute, before I continued my way down the street, dragging my feet under me.
If I was not wrong, the street ended onto a boulevard in Shiratori neighborhood.
***
Of course! I remember now! I knew it! I was sure that I've seen this girl before! Heihachi Myōjin thought to himself, as he stared up at the face of red-haired girl who was carrying him in her arms. This girl is known to have brutally killed all the habitants of her village in a single night. She had pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
He gulped hard.
Oh boy! You're one unlucky fellow to fall right onto her!
But what is she doing out of prison anyway?
He remembered that the blond teen who was accompanying her just a while ago, had mentioned monsters and he had called himself a hunter.
Heihachi Myōjin scrutinized the girl's face properly.
Is she really a murderer? He had some difficulty believing that. She can't be that bad; she saved me! It's so out of character of a psychopath to be an animal-lover!
As they came out onto a boulevard, suddenly, he realized that something was amiss with the red-haired girl. The latter's eyes were half-lidded and she was walking in a strange way, seeming completely inattentive to her surroundings.
Heihachi almost jumped out of his skin when she began to cross the road without paying any attention to the traffic.
What the hell does she thinks she's doing?!
There was a car speeding in their direction!
Ignoring the state of his wing, he instantly flew out of her arms- not without pain- and surged at the car to prevent the redhead from getting run down.
As he expected, very swiftly, the driver turned the steering wheel of his vehicle to avoid the flying animal, hitting on the brakes at the same time.
The car screeched to a stop, ending half-way onto the pavement, while Heihachi crashed on the asphalt, his wounded wing unable to support the effort any further.
He looked at the red-haired girl then as she remained completely oblivious to what just happened. Not only that, she didn't even seem to see the electric pole standing right ahead of her and went head on into it.
Gosh! What's the matter with this girl?!
***
My head banged into something hard and I fell down heavily onto my behind.
Automatically, my hand went up for my forehead and I winced as my fingers entered into contact with the terrible bruise I had there.
Blood was oozing out of the broken skin.
Past the first moment of confusion, I became aware of my surroundings and realized with stupefaction that I had made down the street, and crossed the boulevard, only to bump into an electric pole head-on, during a bout of sleep, thanks to automatic behavior.
I searched for the small winged animal I was carrying, on the spot, and my eyes fell onto it where it was lying on the asphalt a distance away, close to a car which had apparently escaped an accident by just.
I could already imagine what happened.
Jerking to my feet, I rushed to the small animal and picked it up.
I was relieved to find that it was still breathing.
It began to struggle in a panic and I apologized, without thinking, 'I'm really sorry. It's not funny to be narcoleptic.'
At this, it ceased to move and stared up into my eyes, giving me the strange impression that it had understood what I just said.
'Hey, girl! Is that animal yours?!' shouted an angry male voice at that moment, making me jump.
I turned to face the man, who was behind the wheels of the vehicle, as he brought it car back onto the road.
'Take better care of that thing, will'ya?! It almost gave me a heart attack!'
'I'm really sorry,' I said, bowing my apologies to the man several times.
After he had driven away, I turned my attention back onto the small animal that had saved my life.
It seemed to be suffering a lot from its injuries, especially after the exertion it had just made.
Extremely worried, I headed for Doctor Tsunan Hitachiin's clinic, which was only close by, situated in Shiratori neighborhood itself.
The clinic's building was small, one storied, with a tiny courtyard. The front door opened onto a spacious corridor lined with benches on both sides; this was the waiting area. There were two doors in the corridor, one on the right, the other on the left. The door on the left opened onto a room with machines like x-rays and others, while the doorway on the right led to the consultation room.
The examination bed was found against the back wall of the consultation room with curtains all around that could be pulled. There was a set of windows on the left side of the room while several cupboards lined the right-hand side wall. Two desks sat in the middle of the room, with rolling-chairs in between.
The sun had already set by now and the clinic was empty at this time for it was nearly the closing hours.
The Doctor Tsunan Hitachiin was putting some order on his desks when I entered.
He looked up at me, stilling. 'Shun?'
'I found this bat earlier,' I told him, timidly. 'Its wing is severely wounded. Could you have a look at it, please?'
'You know that I'm doctor for humans and not animals, don't you?'
'I know, but I'm not that familiar with this town yet. I don't know any veterinarian in the area. I didn't know what to do. I don't even know first-aid,' I explained, blushing a little.
'Alright, I'll see what I can do,' he said, and I smiled at him, gratefully.
He walked up to me, and I handed him the small animal.
'You should get it seen by a vet, though. I have a friend who's a veterinarian but he's gone on a congress outside of town tonight. I'll bring him at your place tomorrow.'
I nodded, giving him another smile.
He examined the extent of the bat's injuries, and I watched him quietly while he worked onto its wing, bandaging it.
When he was done, he handed the animal back to me.
'Thank you,' I murmured.
I was about to hop off the examination bed when, he stopped me by stepping in front of me.
'How did you get hurt at the forehead?'
Reflexively, my hand went up to touch the swell I had there and I winced.
'I- I bumped into an electric pole,' I replied, giggling in embarrassment.
He turned around to search for something to clean the wound and I panicked.
I didn't want to make abuse of the doctor's time.
'It's okay,' I told him, very quickly. 'It's nothing serious.'
But my words fell on deaf ears.
Brushing my bangs out of the way, he quickly cleaned the wound and put on a sticking plaster.
'Thank you,' I whispered.
'Are you sure you don't want to follow any treatment for your narcolepsy?' he asked me, then.
I was only seven years old when the symptoms had appeared. Medication helped reduce the incidence of sleep attacks, but they had side-effects and there were risks of possible abuse, which I wanted to avoid.
'Yes, I'm sure about it,' I said, getting down to my feet.
'Wait! I'll drive you to your place. It's on my way home,' he declared, and I acquiesced.
I watched the doctor close the place down, and together, we made for his car which was parked in the alley on the side of the building.
Doctor Tsunan owned a 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback, black in color.
The trip to my apartment lasted ten-minutes and it went by in a comfortable silence.
The building in which I lived was two-storied, old and crappy. On the ground floor was a restaurant which has been closed for years now and it was also, on the ground floor that lived the landlady- an old woman who lived all alone, with her cat for only family. On the upper floor were found several apartments which were all vacant and not for rent.
It hadn't been easy for Master Kagami to convince the landlady to give me one of the apartments, but it wasn't given to everybody to refuse him something.
My apartment was the first one on the left in the corridor. All the apartments were similar in dimension and provided with furniture.
The front door opened up directly onto the bedroom. On the right was a double bed with the headboard placed against the wall, while on the left side of the room stood a set of drawers, next to a door that led into the kitchen, and to the bathroom.
There was a long couch that sat by the window, which was found just opposite of the front door. It gave off onto the street below.
Doctor Tsunan walked me up to the door of my apartment.
When some people would look at the doctor, they would think that he's scary because of his austerity, while in reality, he had a kind and gentle heart; he simply lacked the ability to open up to others.
My heart picked up speed when I noticed that the door of my apartment was slightly open and there was light coming through the crack.
Looking up into the doctor's eyes in alarm, I pushed the door completely open with my hand, and what greeted our sight was an apartment turned completely upside down.
All the lights were on. The lock on the door had been broken. The bed sheets were completely undone. The lamps on the bedside tables were lying on the floor, amongst broken pieces of porcelain and glass. The set of drawers had been emptied, its content dumped on the ground. And on the wall above the furniture was tagged the word "MURDERER" in bright red paint.
Unconsciously, I had stepped into the room, my emotions in turmoil.
'Is it Ayame- no, it's Shirane's handwriting,' Doctor Tsunan mumbled to himself. 'Though, I doubt that he was alone. The girls must have helped him.'
I guessed that it wasn't very surprising that some members of the organization resort to bullying to shout their disagreement over my recruitment and to get rid of the psychopath that they believed me to be.
And yet, I couldn't help but feel extremely embarrassed, even ashamed, that Doctor Tsunan had witnessed this.
'Do you want me to help you clean up?' he asked me.
'Th-Thank you, but no. Good evening to you!' I replied, unable to meet his eyes, and hastily- almost in a reflex- I closed the door onto him, utterly disheveled.
I pressed my eyes shut and rested my palm and my forehead over the surface of the door momentarily, until I heard the doctor's footsteps receded.
Taking a deep breath then, I turned back around my eyes traveling across of the room.
Suddenly, I remembered something and panic shot through my veins.
I dashed for the bed and placed the small animal I was carrying onto it, before I got down onto my knees on the floor by the side of the bed and lifted the round carpet onto which the furniture was rested, to find my secret stash.
One of the planks of wood in the flooring there could be removed; I recognized it from its broken edge.
I pulled off the plank of wood to find the object I was looking for, still in its place.
No one seemed to have discovered the place of stash. No one seemed to have touched, nor seen the half-burnt picture.
I sighed in relief.
It became more obvious than ever to me at that particular moment that the safest thing to do was probably to destroy this picture, like Master Kagami had suggested, but I didn't know why, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of this piece of souvenir, despite the danger that it represented.
I supposed that this made me someone weak and in some way, masochistic.
Picking the picture up in my hands, I gazed at it, filled with nostalgia.
Sometimes, I wished I could return to those days…
After a small while, I set the picture down into the secret stash again and put the wooden plank back into its place, covering it with the carpet, before I looked up at the small winged animal which was watching me.
Standing up, I went into the kitchen to fetch it some food.
The kitchen was quite small, with a table and four chairs in the middle, and a refrigerator on the right, next to the door of the bathroom. There was a window above the sink.
The kitchen hadn't been spared. All the chairs were knocked down on the floor, with vegetables and fruits rolling out of the open refrigerator, while the kitchen counter was covered in flour.
I closed the refrigerator's door and pulled the chairs upright, putting them back into their places, before I began to collect the aliments on the ground. Most were good for the dustbin, but I could still save some.
Grabbing a few apples, I brought them to the small animal and placed the latter on the couch by the closed window.
I had no appetite to eat and decided to clean the kitchen, before anything else. After I had done so, I came back into my bedroom to put everything back into order. I began cleaning the debris off the ground. The objects that had been broken were mostly flower vases, lamps and kitchen utensils. I would need to refund them to the landlady at the end of the month.
I was grateful towards Master Kagami for having paid the rent of my apartment for the current month and for having given me enough money to buy expenditures, until I would begin working and earn money by accomplishing missions.
The world was full of unearthly creatures, most of them malevolent.
For some people, monsters existed only in books and the cinema, but it was a reality for the vast majority. Getting rid of troublesome and dangerous entities was the job of the members of the organization in exchange of an income.
The world of the members of the organization was all new to me and I still had to discover it.
Also, who were these people deep down?
Who was Kagami Gushiken really?
There were three things that I was sure about the latter. First, he was someone trustworthy. Second, he considered the members of the organization as his children. And third, the man had utmost faith in them.
I looked up at the tagging on the wall opposite my bed, my heart clenching.
I'm not a murderer. No, I'm not a murderer. But no one knows it. And no one should know.
Humping my back, I went to fetch a sponge and some soapy water in a bucket to rub off the graffiti. It didn't come off easily and it took me hours only to wipe the first half of the word into a big red smudge.
I supposed that it'd be easier to remove with chemicals. I was going to have to buy some tomorrow.
Feeling exhausted, I went to take a shower, before I threw myself into bed, turning off the lights.
***
Heihachi Myōjin took a glance at the sleeping figure on the bed, before he got down onto his knees on the floor to take a silent look into the red-haired girl's secret place of stash.
He found the object he had seen her put there earlier; object that had picked his curiosity. The girl had appeared particularly panicked over the picture having been touched or rather, discovered.
Taking another glance at the sleeping redhead, he reached down into the small confinement and picked up the picture.
He couldn't see anything at first, but when moonlit finally hit the picture, his eyes went wide in shock, his heart skipping a beat.
Shun Shutsuki was innocent.
He simply knew it.
Thank you for reading!
Glossary
Yōkai - a class of monsters, spirits, etc.