'So, this is what you've seen?'
It wasn't really a question but still, I nodded at Hatsu.
We were back at our hotel and we were in my room. I wondered if Satoru-kun had showed me his souvenir intentionally. Maybe, before he died, he wanted someone to know his story.
I murmured, 'People like Satoru-kun have known sufferings that even death cannot relieve.'
'Yes, and what's even more tragic is that, even after having known what suffering is, he has made others suffer at his turn. This is probably why he has let a few of his victims alive. Because he could create havoc in their lives.'
Hatsu let out a heavy sigh where he was leaned against the wall, facing me. Unfolding his arms, he prepared to leave.
'I'm gonna leave you to rest now. Good night.'
'Good night.'
He disappeared through the door.
***
The next day…
'Are you done packing, Shun?' Hatsu called at me as he entered the doorway of my hotel room.
I closed my bag and turned around to say yes when, suddenly, a feminine voice called behind me, 'Is it over? You're leaving?'
Our eyes zeroed onto the red-haired girl who had entered through the window of my room.
I was astonished to see that it was Kokkuri-san!
'You!' exclaimed Hatsu, with scorn. The spirit simply glanced at him, her expression detached before she closed the distance between us and held out to me the violet flower she had in her hand.
I stared at her and the flower in puzzlement.
'Go on. Take it.'
'Don't touch it, Shun! It's probably bewitched!' Hatsu warned me, peevishly.
'It would be a crime to bewitch such a beautiful thing,' stated Kokkuri-san.
I didn't believe that it was bewitched. Though, I couldn't help but wonder why she was offering it or anything to me. Still, I took it and realized that it smelled really good.
'You resemble a lot to the older sister I once had. Do you think that we could see each other again?'
Her older sister? Was the latter a spirit too just like her? Or maybe, a human Kokkuri-san had befriended?
'Uh...' I hesitated a minute, not knowing what to reply. I couldn't blame her for having attacked us the day before yesterday. Hatsu and I had started and she had only defended herself. Nevertheless, there was undeniably something sinister about the trickster spirit.
'You summon me through the game and I'll appear!' she said, turning around to leave, without hearing my answer.
'O-Okay...' I whispered, baffled.
Once she was gone, Hatsu muttered at me in a scary tone, 'I'd better not catch you playing Kokkuri-san ever in your life!'
I giggled awkwardly.
He was still very bitter over his small trip to the hospital.
***
Later…
Heaven. Hell. Life. Death. The After-Life.
All these subjects are beyond us. We think that we know a lot, but in fact, we don't know much of anything.
Last night, when Satoru-kun had mentioned Subaru, I had finally understood why so many people summoned him or Kokkuri-san or other entities of the like.
The parents of the kids who've disappeared would never know what had actually happened. They were never going to have the certitude that the disappeared are alive or dead. And even if we were to tell them what happened and they accepted to believe us, it would be even more difficult to live with, knowing that their children were in hell.
Those who have survived and escaped this terrible fate, would never know what they had risked.
'Ne! Ne! Chin up, soldier!' declared Hatsu as we were walking through town, heading for the train station. 'All missions will not necessarily end well!'
I thought about that for a minute. It was only the tragic truth.
'What's going to happen for Shimura-san and the boy Hisagi?' I inquired, anxiously.
'He's not going to pursue the boy. It risks putting the latter's future in jeopardy. In fact, I don't really think that the sensei is homophobic.' He glanced at me. 'Speaking of that, there's something I haven't told you about me.'
He seemed embarrassed suddenly and I gave him a questioning look.
'In fact, the thing is that, I like girls but... I also like boys; mostly boys.' He lowered his eyes and admitted, 'It's true that cross-dressing has nothing to do with people's sexual orientation, but if I disguise myself as a woman sometimes, it's mostly because I have difficulty to accept that part of me who likes boys.'
It was obvious that it wasn't easy for him to reveal something like this to someone. Even today, love between two persons of the same gender was considered a taboo within certain groups or area and people who did were treated as pariahs.
'But there's truly nothing to be ashamed of,' I told him. I hung my head, then, admitting with melancholy, 'Even if, in a certain way, I can understand you. I'm myself extremely ashamed of my narcolepsy. I know that it's stupid but I just… can't help it.'
I looked up at him and he seemed appalled.
'I'm sorry that you feel this way,' he said and I gave him a creaky smile.
There was a minute of silence between us after that, before he asked me, 'About Satoru-kun, do you mind if I ask you, who is Subaru?'
I jerked to a stop. Of course, he had heard everything last night. I had expected him to ask me this question at some point. Though, I still hadn't been able to decide about what to answer.
He paused to look at me where I had stopped, waiting for an answer on my part. I turned my face slightly away, staying mute, feeling a bit restless.
'You don't want to tell me? Okay! It's alright! But in compensation, you're gonna have to buy me a drink!' he exclaimed, cheerily.
Finding back my spirit, I chuckled, agreeing, 'Deal!'
***
At sunset, the same day...
I looked around of myself as we got down from the train at the wrong station. This town wasn't Toda but Tsukiyama. It was small, with a mountain range northward of the town.
'What are we doing here?' I asked Hatsu.
'We're here in my natal town. It's here that I have taken birth, grew up and spent my whole adolescence. I used to go to the local high school and went out with a few girls in town,' he replied, then explained, 'I was fifteen when I realized that I also like boys. It wasn't question of hiding it; I didn't want to deceive the people around me. When I talked about it with my parents, I have to admit to you that they took it rather very badly. I was lucky that they didn't disown me.'
His voice became filled with sorrow.
'When I saw the shame in their eyes, I felt sick with myself and that's when I started disguising myself as a girl. It helped me to accept myself better. When I turned eighteen, I took my independence and joined the organization. It turns out that, my family is into the fabrication of anti-monster firearms and ammunition; fabrication secret that only the members of my family know. All the weapons that I possess come from them.'
He grinned.
'As you must doubt it, it is only due to the blood flowing in our veins that we can handle these weapons. In the hands of any other person, they become any ordinary weapons. Apparently, it is an ancient deity from immemorial times who granted this ability to my family.'
His expression fell a bit once again.
'My parents were pretty happy to see me leave for they felt embarrassed in society because of me and I, I was delighted to be with people who accept me like I am; even if I don't hold any grudge against my parents.'
He added, excitedly, then, 'Twice a year, I come to visit them and take advantage of it to revictual myself in ammunition and novelty.'
'I see.'
'I know that I should have asked you first, but I hope that you don't mind to accompany me on this visit.'
'No. It's alright.'
I tagged along with him, heading for his parent's house.
This, was situated in the middle of the city. The Sho lived in a manor. It was extremely big, like a palace, painted in white, the verdant domain as large as that of the Hitachiin's.
A wide and tall golden iron gate opened onto a long, paved pathway that led to the house. Security guards were posted at the gate and the main entrance of the manor.
The inside of the building had even more in splendor than the outside. The front door opened onto a hall where a staircase covered in red carpet opened in the middle. The inside walls were equally painted in white, the floor tiled black. A magnificent chandelier hung above head in the entrance.
On the right, was an open doorway that led to the living room which had the size of a four-roomed house. A large set of sofas sat in the middle of the living room. There were statues of angels displayed on every furniture around the room, the walls covered with paintings of Japanese mythological creatures.
Mr and Mrs Sho were both of average height and size. Hatsu's father was in his mid-fifties, his wife, in her mid-forties. The woman was dressed in a sumptuous kimono, her black hair tied in a chignon and adorned with a few Kanzashi, while the man had gray hair and was clothed in a suit.
They seemed happy to see Hatsu, though they appeared to be distant.
'Is she your girlfriend, Hatsu?' said the senior male Sho, half-tauntingly. I glanced at the blond and saw his expression fall a bit, but he fixed it almost immediately, exclaiming, with a goofy smile, 'No. She's Tsunan's girlfriend!'
I stared at Hatsu, flushing up madly. The latter simply giggled at my reaction.
'Oh, you're Doctor Tsunan's fiancée! Nice to meet you!' said Hatsu's mother, shaking my hand.
I smiled, awkwardly.
***
The following day...
Since it had been quite late when we arrived yesterday, Hatsu had decided to stay for the night and so, I ended up spending the night at the Sho too.
'Follow me!' Hatsu told me after we had had breakfast and he led me behind the manor, where there was a large clearing which apparently served as training field for long distance attack practice. There were wooden boards shaped in human figures standing sparsely in the clearing.
Why has he brought me here? I wondered, giving Hatsu a questioning look.
'I used to train at shooting here,' he informed me, with nostalgia, before he asked, 'Have you ever tried to control each of your shakujō individually?'
'No. In order to kill a monster, I need to impale it with all five shakujō together.'
'I think that you should try it. Who knows, it might serve you someday.'
He was probably right. I had a terrible disadvantage when I was confronted to more than one target. Also, it might be useful to incapacitate an enemy without killing it. But was it actually possible to control each shakujō of the five individually? That was the big question.
On Hatsu's behest, I activated my Godai Shakujō to find the answer to this question.
'Alright now, concentrate your mind onto a single shakujō at a time and try to control it independently of the others to aim at the closest wooden target.'
'Okay,' I replied with determination. Doing as he said, I concentrated myself onto one single shakujō out of the five and aimed at the target mentally.
The positive side was that I didn't miss the target. The bad side though was that all five shakujō moved together, striking the target down, the impact blowing it to pieces.
That was a big disappointment.
'Try again.'
After numerous trials and failure, I almost gave up, if it hadn't been for the fact that I had actually been able to move one of the shakujō individually, even if, by moving, I meant just slightly. The chosen shakujō had simply shook onto place. It happened only once. But for Hatsu, that was enough to persevere.
'You know what? I think that I have an idea that could help you!' he declared, suddenly. 'The trick is for you to visualize them distinctly from one another and I know a good way to do this. Wait for me here! I'll be back in a minute!'
He rushed indoors and came back after a few minutes with a piece of paper. There was something written on it.
'This is a spell that's in my family since generations. We are the guardians of it.'
A spell? I had a very bad feeling, abruptly.
'With this spell, you can make any weapon temporarily take human form. To reverse the effect, you only have to say the spell again.'
'Uh, Hatsu, I don't think that it's a good idea-'
Even before I was done talking, he was already saying the spell.
Unexpectedly, a bolt of lightning flashed above head, while it was a perfect sunny day.
I stared up at the sky for a minute in puzzlement, before I lowered my eyes and saw the five persons standing a small distance away from Hatsu and I in the clearing.
They were three boys and two girls; all teenagers.
The three males were quite muscular, measuring average height. One had spiky blond hair. The second had bright red hair. While the last was dark-haired. The blond and the redhead were clothed in casuals while the one with black hair was clothed like a high school student.
The girls were of average height too. The first had generous forms and had ginger hair that came down to her waist. She was dressed in a long skirt and a blouse. The other girl had dark hair that was just slightly shorter and she was clothed in a short pleated blue skirt and a white shirt.
'I'll leave you to manage with them now. You already know how to reverse the spell. I'm off to my family workshop,' Hatsu told me.
I opened my mouth to ask him to stay with me for I was feeling a bit jittery, but even before I could speak, he had already gone out of sight. I returned my gaze onto the five manifestations of my Godai Shakujō.
The effect of the spell was startling. It seemed to give them their own unique personalities, their own free will.
'Damn! It's such a pain to take this form!' grumbled the boy with the red hair, complainingly.
'Mind your language, will'ya?! Be respectful towards our mistress!' the blond scolded him and the latter retorted, 'Shut up! I didn't ask you anything!'
'Don't tell me to shut up, you brat!'
'Who are you calling a brat, brat?!'
The redheaded boy fisted the blond by his collar, the atmosphere between the two becoming electric.
Uh-oh!
They glared at each other for a minute before the redhead's fist went ablaze and he punched the other boy in the face, knocking the latter off his feet. The blond crashed on the ground several meters away.
I gasped; shocked not only by the power of the blow but also, by the animosity between the two.
'Oh no! There they go again!' whimpered the ginger-haired girl, seeming to be on the border of tears, obviously afflicted by the two boy's fighting.
'I see that you're get hot under the collar as usual!' the blond snorted at the redhead, sitting up. Brushing the back of his hand over the bruise at his face, he spat, 'I'm going to cool you down a little!'
Out of nowhere, a current of water crashed over the red-haired boy, drenching him and all of us- who have been standing close-by- along the way.
Kōmori-san had flown off just in time.
I was drenched to the skin. I made a face. Just what did I get myself into?
'I'm gonna make you pay for this!' the red-headed boy growled, peevishly and the blond retorted, 'You asked for it!'
'It's you who started!'
''What a bunch of idiots!' the dark-haired girl muttered to herself under her breath at that moment and unexpectedly, she broke into a furry and slammed her fists onto the ground which shattered to form a large crevice between the two boys who had been ready to jump at each other's throat.
'Will you stop it, yes?!' she snarled at them.
My mouth hanged open. What does she think she's doing?!
I stared with shock as she kicked the faces of the two stunned boys like a violent freak, knocking them down on the floor.
'That's my Chi-sama I'm so fond of!' the dark-haired boy exclaimed, flamboyantly and he jumped at the girl to hug her. The latter punched him in the face before his arms could close around her, breaking his stride.
'Back off, you pervert!'
He fell on his back, holding his bleeding nose. 'This punch is worthy of you, my goddess!' he mumbled, with a goofy smile, pretty knocked out.
She turned towards the ginger-haired girl next, ready to strike her too in the flurry.
'Wah! I didn't do anything!' the latter cried, blenching away.
The dark-haired girl paused to stare at her for a minute, took a deep breath, before she exhaled, lowering her fists.
She turned to me then and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
'Hello! I'm Chi!' she called, before she pulled the blond boy and the red-haired boy up mercilessly by their hairs, causing them to moan out in pain to present them to me. 'And these two excited here are Sui and Hi.'
'What?! Did you ever take a look at yourself, yeah?!' sneered the blond- Sui.
'Let go of us, you sadist!' Hi growled.
'What did you two say?' Chi demanded at them, in a scary tone, her eyes throwing daggers at them. They quit struggling and gulped hard.
'No-Nothing!' they answered together but this didn't stop her from banging their two heads together in punishment, knocking them half-unconscious.
'The maniac on the ground is Fū and the girl there- who's not going to present herself- is Kū,' she carried on.
'He-Hello,' the ginger-haired girl greeted me timidly, squirming and blushing in embarrassment.
The others were looking at me too.
'Hello!' I giggled, nervously.
I had surely not expected them to be this powerful. Each shakujō represented an element and apparently, their powers have been released in their brute forms.
I didn't dare imagine Hatsu's parents' reaction when they'd find out about what happened to their clearing. I had to reverse the spell immediately.
If I let any one of them continue like this, they might very well bring the whole place down!
My heart jumped to my throat when I realized abruptly that, when I had gotten drenched, the paper onto which the spell was written had become wet too and all the ink has faded into an unintelligible smooch.
'Oh no! The spell...' I moaned out, showing it to them.
'Duffer! It's all your fault!' Hi snapped at Sui and the two were about to start fighting again when, Chi gave them both an elbow kick on the head, snapping, 'Don't you start again, you two!'
They whined, holding their heads with their hands.
She gave the dark-haired boy a severe look then, demanding, 'And you Fū, don't you think that it's time for you to get up?'
'On the spot, Chi-sama!' he exclaimed, sitting up like a proud and loyal soldier.
'We're going to come with you to search for your comrade!' she told me, turning to face me again.
I flinched at the idea. 'Eh?'
I had no way to know when Hatsu was going to come back. It could very well be in the afternoon. I couldn't leave them here by themselves either.
'Is there a problem?' she demanded with a frown and I broke into cold sweat. Her mood swings were quite frightening.
'No. No,' I answered, very quickly.
Thank you for reading!
Glossary
Chi - Earth
Sui - Water
Hi – Fire
Fū - Wind
Kū - Void