'Your sundae would taste even better with some liquor topping on it, you know?'
At the suggestion, I looked up at the young tanned woman standing behind the counter of the bar.
'It's on the house!' she added with an insisting look.
Mokusei looked the same age as Hatsu and the two apparently knew each other well. The bar belonged to her father and from what I had understood, after his retirement, she became in charge of the place.
She seemed to be at ease at her job.
'No, it's okay. Thank you.' I refused, politely.
I glanced at Hatsu then who was talking loudly with some friends he had come across when we had entered the bar. After all the drinks he had had, I was surprised that he wasn't completely drunk by now.
This bar was his habitual place for a drink whenever he came to Tsukiyama.
'Do you know Hatsu since a long time?' she asked, and I shook my head, replying, 'No. Not really. And you?'
'Hell yes! We were in elementary school together and later, we went to the same secondary school,' she declared with nostalgia, half-grinning. 'We started dating in upper high school but it lasted only a few months.' Her eyes went wide then and she quickly said, 'Oh, but I appreciated him a lot! It's just that...' She let out a sigh. 'It's a little hard to go out with a boy who's fond of disguising himself as a girl and who has also got a crush for guys.'
'If you broke up, it's only because I was a lot sexier than you in girl; it's as simple as that!' taunted Hatsu, who came back to join us at that moment.
'What did you say?' Mokusei shouted and unexpectedly, she jumped at Hatsu and hit him like he was a punching ball, before she ran away, peeved.
I was startled not only by her reaction, but also her prowess in combat. I guessed that it was necessary to have some fighting skills when we worked in a bar.
'I think you should go apologize,' I said to Hatsu, who picked himself up from the floor, moaning out in pain from all the blows he had took. He shook his head, trying to catch his bearings. I was sure that he was still seeing stars.
'Keep an eye on the cash register!' he called at me over his shoulder, running out of the bar after the girl.
I chuckled.
***
We spent the rest of the day at the carnival where we watched the Bon Odori. The local dance and music were absolutely marvelous. And then at dusk, it was time for the Tōrō nagashi ceremony on this last evening of the Obon festival.
'Uh, Shun, why did you buy seventy-four lanterns at all?' Hatsu asked me in bewilderment, his expression awkward.
I couldn't blame him for his reaction. The man who had sold me the lanterns had reacted the same way.
I had been able to find a tranquil spot for myself by the river, far away from the crowd, where the forest started.
Hundreds of wood and paper lanterns with candles inside of them were drifting down the river. It was a beautiful sight. It was a beautiful way to help guide the souls of the departed to the spirit world.
I was very far from my village but still, I wanted to do this gesture; thing I never thought I would have had the chance to do.
'Seventy-two; it's the number of habitants of my village who have all perished during the massacre,' I replied in a murmur, lowering my eyes. 'The two others are for my parents.'
I glanced at Hatsu and found him staring at me.
'Do you want me to leave you alone?'
I gave him a tiny smile.
'Yes. Thank you.'
'See you later.'
Taking Kōmori-san along with him, he strode away.
I turned back to the river.
On each lantern, I had written the name of a person of my village. Their names were forever carved into my memory ever since that night; there was no way I could ever forget them.
Two by two I sent the lanterns afloat, keeping the ones for my parents for the last.
After this was done, I sat myself down, with my knees against my chest, watching them drift away.
I found myself thinking about Tsunan who had lost his parents too just like me. I wondered if he had liked the bento, I had prepared for him.
And there was also Naoto. And Ayame's family.
Suddenly, I heard somebody arrive behind me.
As I looked over my shoulder, jerked to my feet instantly, horrified at the sight of the person holding himself there, only a foot away from me.
'Hello, Shun!'
'Tadashi!'
I stared at him for one long second, petrified, before I flung around and tried to run away. But he caught me from behind, wounding his arm around me in an iron grip, his other hand seizing my jaw, trapping me against him.
A choked cry escaped my mouth and I pressed my eyes shut; my whole frame wracking with tremors.
He tilted my face slightly up and a shrill ran down my spine as I could feel his cold breath over my skin when he leaned in to speak into my ears.
'You're trying to flee? Is this a joke? How pathetic!' he said, his tone sardonic. 'But go on! Run! Run and cry miserably!'
He let go of me, shoving me to the ground where I fell.
I turned around to face him, utterly terrorized.
'How I love this expression of yours! Seeing your face deformed with terror excites me!'
My heart shook.
Instinctively, I picked myself up and took to my heels while he chased me down.
As I ran desperately, my foot suddenly caught into the roots of a tree on my way and I fell down heavily, hitting my chin on the floor.
My heart felt like it was trying to claw its way out of my chest now.
Taking support from the trunk of the tree, I picked myself up when, out of nowhere, Tadashi's hand shot past my face, slamming against the trunk. I flung around and at the same time, he seized my right shoulder with his other hand, shoving me against the tree violently.
'I guess that this is when you're supposed to let out a terrified screech!'
I stared up into his eyes frantically, voiceless, as he hovered at me.
I was cornered.
'This expression of despair on your face; it attracts me!'
At this, I closed my eyes for a second and shoved his hand- the one which was rested on the tree- away and attempted to flee him. But this time, he didn't let me run away.
Seizing my wrist in a bone-cracking grip, he yanked me to a stop, causing me to fall onto my knees. Then, he pulled at my arm mercilessly, making me shriek out in pain.
I pressed my eyes shut, sobbing.
'How lamentable you look! I went to see you at your apartment, you know? Your things weren't there anymore. It's the second time that you tricked me like this. I believe that you deserve a punishment!'
'Tadashi, no!' I pleaded, shaking even more violently.
'Are you scared? You have reasons to be! How about if I rip your arm off? What kind of cry will you let out when you'll feel your muscles being torn apart and your bones breaking, eh?' he asked, sadistically.
'Shun!'
My eyes blew open at the sound of that voice exclaiming my name.
I stared at a stupefied Hatsu who was standing a yard away from us.
The first thing that I felt was shock.
'What's going on here?' he demanded, too stunned to react, his eyes darting from Tadashi and me.
Then, panic followed. And finally, distress.
'We'll see each other again, Shun! You know that you can't escape me!' Tadashi told me, before he released my wrist and took off into the forest, disappearing into the darkness.
'Shun, are you alright?' Hatsu shouted at me as he ran up to where I had ended up on all fours on the ground, shaken and still trembling. My wrist was aching very badly; my emotions in turmoil.
'Who was that?' the blond demanded at me as he got down onto the ground to be at eye level with me.
A sudden intense weakness took over my whole being in that instant and I found myself unable to hold myself up anymore, my eyes refusing to stay open; I was having a severe attack of cataplexy.
Hatsu caught me before I could hit the ground, shouting my name, and shaking me but it was just impossible for me to move, speak or open my eyes.
***
The following day…
After last night's event with Tadashi, Hatsu had tried to question me a lot about him and what he had witnessed, but I had preferred not to answer him.
It had shocked him that I refused to tell him anything.
And now, as I took a glance at him, he looked unnerved, where he was sat opposite of me in the train heading back to Toda. He was simply worried for me, I knew it. On my side, I felt quite disturbed.
When we reached Toda by mid-day, I decided that I was going to hand over my report to Master Kagami on the next day contrarily to Hatsu and I parted with him at the train station to head directly to the Hitachiin's.
Instead of passing through the entrance door of the house, I decided to enter directly by the living room.
'We don't understand your decision,' said an unfamiliar voice, coming from the living room as I approached it. I paused down under the veranda just outside the door, my eyes landing onto the three persons in the room with Tsunan.
The voice belonged to the old man whom I recognized to be the doctor's grand-father. The latter was tall, with a white moustache and long white hair combed backward, his eyes cerulean blue. Over his dark-colored kimono, he wore a sleeveless haori.
The middle-aged man alongside him was Tsunan's uncle- the younger brother of his deceased father. The doctor and he bore no physical resemblance. He was a short dark-haired man with a square face. The dark-haired woman with them was the uncle's spouse.
I had caught sight of them from afar the day I had moved in, even if we hadn't been officially presented.
'That girl is a criminal. She shouldn't be here,' Tsunan's aunt stated while his uncle told him, 'You have to ask her to leave.'
Th doctor's eyes fell onto me at that moment and following his eyes, everyone looked around at me, noticing my presence only then.
'I- I'm sorry,' I whispered, in a panic.
I turned around swiftly and began to scoot away. I heard urgent footfalls arrive behind me but I didn't dare to look around to see who it was, until I felt a hand close around mine in a gentle hold.
'Shun, wait!'
I turned around to face Tsunan, meeting his troubled look. He released my hand.
'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop,' I told him, feeling so ashamed of myself. 'And I'm really sorry for putting you into this situation; for embarrassing you in front of your family.'
Their reaction to my stay was only perfectly normal.
'No. It's me who apologize to you,' he said. 'You should never have heard that!'
'It's okay,' I reassured him. 'I- I'm going to leave.'
'No, Shun! Don't leave!'
I blinked, surprised by the small catch in his voice.
'But-'
'Please! Stay!'
I stared at him. I could read unusual agitation in his eyes. I was suddenly confused over what to do.
If I leave, he might think that I'm vexed. Which is not the case!
'Alright,' I murmured, giving in.
Keeping my eyes down, I followed him back to the house quietly. We paused down outside of the living room under the veranda and I looked up to meet the eyes of his grand-father, uncle and aunt who had fallen into silence.
They stared at Tsunan for a minute before their eyes shifted onto me. Feeling intimidated, I cowered behind Tsunan, clutching at the latter's sleeve instinctively.
He took a glance at me before he looked back at the three present members of his family.
Guessing out Tsunan's decision, they simply left without arguing.
I kept my eyes down and my head lowered as they strode past me.
Without any doubt, they weren't the only members of the clan to be unhappy about my stay.
Shortly after this episode, I learnt from Tsunan that Shuko and Shiragiku had moved in Toda on this day and it was for this reason that he hadn't gone to work at the organization.
He had been at their new home to help them settle down.
This lifted up my spirit a little but nevertheless, I continued to feel horrible for putting Tsunan in such a position where his family was in disapproval with him.
***
The next day, in the late afternoon…
When I reached the organization that late afternoon, the building was near empty.
Apart from Cho Kururugi, Agasa Tsudzuri and Yanagi Hakushū, all the members of the organization had left on a mission each one on their sides, sometimes before Hatsu and I had returned from mission.
Handing over my report to Master Kagami wasn't any petty issue. It earned me a good scolding for the whole "bait" thing, a few embarrassing explanations for the bizarre expenses I had made, to near disagreeable moments for the destruction of public property.
After we were done, I decided to head back home.
As I was walking down a small desert alley in Shiratori, suddenly, a voice called at me from behind, 'Hey you, the narcoleptic!'
I turned around to see Cho, Agasa and Yanagi.
They looked extremely upset, as upset as when I had come across of them earlier at the organization, and even more upset than I had ever seen them before.
Have they been following me? I wondered and tensed up despite myself as they moved up to me.
I took two involuntary steps backward.
'I've come across a lot of depraved people in my life but you, you beat them all!' Tsudzuri muttered at me.
My heart accelerated in my chest.
'Already, we hated it that you roam around Tsunan and now, you've found your way to his place, in his house, with his family!' Cho Kururugi gritted out and unexpectedly, she hit me at the face with her folded fan.
The impact caused my head to whip to the side roughly. I winced, my cheek stinging with pain, some blood dripping out of the corner of my mouth. I brushed it off, giving the ginger-haired girl and her two friends a staggered look.
Without any warning, Yanagi Hakushū shoved me backward brutally by my shoulders. I stumbled and fell down onto my behind violently. Even before I could look up, she poured a bottle of water onto my head, drenching me and Kōmori-san along.
Tears welled up my eyes, threatening to fall, as I stared up at the three younger girls.
'Oh, what is it? Are you going to cry?'
They laughed in amusement and a sob escaped my mouth.
'And what are those hair?' scoffed Tsudzuri as she bowed down at me and grabbed a lock of my wet hair. 'Don't you find her hair too long, girls?' she called over her shoulders at Kururugi and Hakushū who nodded in approval, giggling wickedly.
My eyes went wide in shock as Agasa pulled out a katana- in fact, the handle of her umbrella hid a katana- and she brought it under the lock of my hair in her grip, ready to cut it off.
I was way too floored to react.
Thank you for reading!
Glossary
Bon Odori - Bon dance
Tōrō nagashi ceremony - floating lanterns ceremony