The rain settled into a drizzle after an hour, before it ceased completely.
Whether it was temporary or not, I knew that I couldn't remain where I was. I had to get moving and try to find my way back to the inn before it would get dark.
Getting to my feet, I looked at the hokura, feeling very grateful for the shelter it had provided me from the rain.
The small Shintō shrine was in a pretty bad state. I realized that it had been abandoned; the Kami living there long forgotten. The latter no longer had any devotee to take care of the shrine and bring him offerings.
Saddened by this, I repaired the half-dilapidated hokura with what I had under hand and grabbing a large leaf, I placed three Onigiri onto it, as an offering for the Kami.
'Raito- Raitogami,' I read the name of the Kami, written on the hokura.
Joining my hands together, I closed my eyes and addressed my thanks to the Kami for having provided me with a shelter and for him to kindly accept the food offering.
'Oi!' came a voice, in all of a sudden.
Looking over my shoulder, I was more than surprised to see Agasa Tsudzuri coming into my direction, her expression undecipherable.
'Don't ever do this to me again!' she told me, grumpily when she closed the distance between us. 'We're on mission! Don't make me lose my time searching for you!'
I stared at her without blinking.
She was out looking for me?
It started to rain again at that moment and she opened her umbrella to protect herself from the rain.
'Don't expect me to share my umbrella with you!' she muttered, and letting out a snort, she flung around and began to stride away.
Without much ado, I followed after her.
***
On the other side, in the evening...
The first time Heihachi Myōjin had been to the manor of the Sho, it had been after that mission in the town of Narita involving Satoru-kun.
But this evening, the splendor of the manor had nothing to do with that time before.
It was simply incomparable.
All the rooms on the first story were decorated subtly with flowers, all the chandeliers burning, making the atmosphere private and elegant. The manor was all but quiet, the rooms crowded, but not in the claustrophobic way; soft music playing in the background.
The entire aristocracy seemed to be present. Some people were dancing, others conversing with one another, either standing in small groups or sitting at the small, round, draped in white, tables.
A tall big cake sat on a large and well-decorated table in the middle of the living room.
Caterers were serving champagne and small cakes amongst the guests.
Even if Hatsu had grown up in the middle of the high society and was, without any doubt, used to such parties, Heihachi could sense a certain edginess in his boyfriend's behavior.
He knew exactly the cause of this.
Hatsu's parents hadn't reacted very well when their son had presented to them his boyfriend. They hadn't said anything about Hatsu and Heihachi's relationship but their deprecation had been obvious on their faces.
Mr and Mrs Sho didn't leave Hatsu's side even for a minute during most of the evening. Heihachi- sensing that his presence was undesirable and not wanting to add more friction between parents and son- allowed Hatsu some freedom. He kept away, mingling and chatting with the other guests, but remaining at a close distance with his boyfriend to let him know that he had his support.
'How are you, my nephew?' came a booming voice, suddenly, and Heihachi took a glance over his shoulder to look at the man addressing Hatsu in the small distance.
'Ojisan!' greeted the latter, mechanically.
'What do you become? You must be married by now! Do you have any children?'
'Hatsu isn't married yet. And even if one day he does get married, unfortunately he won't be able to have children!' replied Hatsu's father in his son's place and staring at the blond male bitterly, he added, 'Of course, he can still adopt a child but the latter won't be able to handle our anti-monster weapons- which is our legacy- for he won't have the blood of the Sho running in his veins.'
Astounded, Heihachi stared at Hatsu's baffled expression; the latter's uncle looking more confused, than taken aback.
'Excuse me!' said the blond male, politely, and turning away from his parents and uncle, he strode away.
Anxious about him, Heihachi excused himself from the couple he had been chatting with and he went after his boyfriend. He found the latter in the corridor which connected the living room to the dining room.
The blond male was leaning against the side wall, topping one glass of champagne after another, his expression upset.
Edging his way up to him, Heihachi grabbed Hatsu's occupied hand, as he was about to bring yet another glass to his mouth.
'I think that you've drunk enough for tonight!' he told the older male in a murmur and taking the glass away from him, he set it down onto the small table by their side, before he returned his anxious gaze onto the blond.
'Hatsu,' he began to say, grabbing his shoulder, but the latter shook Heihachi's hand off, as a few people passed by them in that instant.
'No! Not in front of others!' mumbled Hatsu, averting his eyes in shame.
Staggered, Heihachi went still, his eyes widening at his boyfriend.
'I want to be alone for a moment,' Hatsu told him and still not meeting the dark-haired male eyes, he walked away without looking back.
Heihachi stood there for one long moment, feeling so hurt that he wanted to cry but he managed to hold back his tears.
The party seemed to stretch on after that.
Hatsu never came back.
When all the guests had left and the manor became quieter, Heihachi decided that it was time for him to leave too. But not before having told Hatsu's parents the depth of his thought.
'You're leaving?' asked Mrs Sho, without hiding her joy, taking a glance at the luggage bag Heihachi was carrying.
They were in the entrance hall.
'Yes,' Heihachi replied, swallowing the lump in his throat. 'But there's something that I wanted to tell your husband and you before I leave.' Building up his confidence, he balled up his fists and stated with fervor, 'Your son is someone really marvelous! It's really sad that you can't see it!'
Mr and Mrs Sho stared at him, voicelessly.
No matter if they took it for impudence, Heihachi truly believed what he had told them and he knew that he'd have regretted it if he had left silently without telling this to them.
Hatsu was someone deeply loyal, who held on to what was right. His friendship was life-long. He was an intense and passionate lover. And even if Hatsu's behavior of this evening had hurt him, he couldn't blame the blond male for it.
Without speaking another word, Heihachi came out of the door and left.
***
Sitting all alone in the darkness of his ancient bedroom, Hatsu began thinking about the way he had pushed Heihachi away from him earlier.
Dammit! How could I have done this to him?
Growing frustrated, he cursed and hit himself mentally.
Because he found it hard to accept his sexual orientation sometimes, Hatsu would disguise himself as a girl; this reassured him. When he was in the presence of his parents, that feeling of shame and insecurity would become stronger, and overpower him.
Gosh! I've behaved like a real jerk! I've hurt Heihachi!
How he hated himself for it!
His eyes grew huge suddenly, as a terrible thought popped up in his mind.
And what if Heihachi hated him too now?! He would never be able to live with it!
Feeling utterly panicked and distressed, he rushed to find Heihachi to apologize to him, but he didn't find the dark-haired male in his room. Worse! His luggage bag was gone!
He rushed downstairs on the spot, his heart palpitating in his chest.
With some luck, Heihachi hasn't already left Tsukiyama!
He staggered to a stop when he overheard a private conversation between his parents in the living room.
'Maybe, I've gone a little too hard on Hatsu during the party,' he heard his father say.
'Yes. The young man- Heihachi- didn't lie. Our son has many qualities! I think it's time for us to accept him like he is!'
Oh, Heihachi!
Barging out of the front door, Hatsu ran his way up to the gate and once he was on the other side of it, he looked athwart of the street, searching desperately for Heihachi with the eyes.
Unexpectedly, he caught sight of the latter walking his way down the street, a good distance away, his luggage bag in hand.
Hatsu would have cried in joy if his stomach wasn't twisting with dread that the dark-haired male hated him now.
He dashed for Heihachi and hugged him from behind, his emotions in turmoil.
The younger male froze into place, his luggage bag slipping his hand.
'Heihachi, please, don't leave! I'm so sorry for having pushed you away from me! I'll never feel ashamed of my sexual orientation ever again, because this is what makes you and I a couple!'
Tears welled up Heihachi's eyes. 'It took you so long to realize that?'
He turned around to lock gaze with Hatsu, and the latter whispered, 'I love you!'
***
It had rained unrelentingly during the whole evening and it was only sometimes before midnight that the whooshing sound of the rain across of the roof had disappeared.
In the morning, the weather was still gloomy, the sky covered with dark gray clouds, but the rain seemed to have well stopped; it wasn't even drizzling.
With the road opened, we were finally able to make our way to Ogita Village. That still left us with the task to find the house of the person who had contacted the organization, requiring our assistance.
Ogita was quite big with the houses standing far apart from one another.
As we came across of a group of farmers working in a field in the village, we decided to ask them our way around.
'Excuse me,' called Agasa, 'Can you indicate us the way to Shūshin Daidōji's house?'
The small group of farmers dropped their tools to stare at us, bitterly.
'Why are you looking for him?' demanded one of the them.
'Are you here because of the strange ailment afflicting his family?' demanded another.
'He's got only what he deserves! It is the wrath for his sacrilegious actions!'
'Don't listen to them!' called a loud masculine voice behind us and we turned around to face the man who was working in the field on the opposite side of the dirt road.
The latter was in his mid-forties, having disheveled black hair, his beard not well kept.
Mumbling unintelligible words, the other farmers went back to their work, beginning to ignore us.
'My name is Shigeru Sōo. Let's go talk somewhere else!'
Agasa and I were very puzzled by the way the farmers had reacted at the mention of Shūshin Daidōji's name and intrigued, we followed the man Shigeru Sōo to his house which was only a hundred meters away.
'As far as I can remember, the people of the region have always refused to bury the corpses of the suicided in the local cemetery and to conduct funeral rites for them,' he told us, as we took seat in his kitchen, which was also the living room.
'What?' I gasped, astounded.
Why wouldn't someone who has committed suicide deserve a proper sepulcher and funeral rites?
'Not adhering to this mentality, Shūshin-sama- who possesses a large piece of land a kilometer away from here- has made it a cemetery for those who have committed suicide and being a Buddhist priest, he takes care of their funeral rites himself. As you might doubt it, no one sees this from a good eye, considering it as unholy to perform rites for a suicided person. And to tell you the truth, I was of the same opinion too, until sometimes ago.'
The man lowered his eyes onto the table.
'My daughter was still a baby when my wife had passed away. I brought her up all alone. She was everything to me. She was only eighteen when she discovered that she has the same incurable disease that has deprived both of us of the love of her mother. Unable to support the physical pain anymore, she committed suicide last year.'
A lump formed in my throat.
*Flashback*
'Please, I beg of you!' sobbed Shigeru Sōo, holding the lifeless body of his daughter in his arms, getting on his knees in front of the villagers.
'Begging us will serve you nothing!' the villagers told him. 'You know perfectly well, Shigeru, that performing funeral rites for the suicided and putting them in the earth is considered as a taboo!'
***
'At that moment, I understood the distress of the parents of a suicided child; the distress that is felt when a defunct loved one is refused peace.'
His expression was filled with grief.
'I was crying my eyes out in the middle of the village with my baby in my lap, everyone having turned their back onto me when, Shūshin-sama has arrived. I will never forget what he did.'
He smiled creakily.
'He had put his hand down onto my shoulder, and looking at me straight in the eyes, he told me not to worry, that he'd ensure himself that my daughter finds peace; she was going to have a sepulcher and he'd perform her funeral rites.'
He sighed.
'You can't imagine what I felt at that precise moment; the peace of mind it had brought me. I am forever grateful to him.'
Looking up at our faces, he asserted, 'He's a good man! He doesn't deserve what's happening to him! The villagers have been persecuting him and his family until the last ones have turned against him too.'
A frown creased him forehead and his voice turned into a mumble, 'That was sometimes before they fell sick, afflicted by a mysterious ailment.' He added with rigor, 'You must absolutely help him and his family! Please!'
'We will,' I murmured, and Agasa seconded, 'That's why we're here!'
After that, he indicated us the way to the old man Shūshin Daidōji's house.
The latter lived in the temple at the northward boundary of the village with his family.
The Buddhist priest was a short, thin, tanned-skin, bald man, in his late sixties. The soft features of his face were disrupted with worry.
'Thank you for coming!' he said, as he received us in an unfurnished hall-like room. 'The situation is really critical.'
'Tell us everything,' Agasa told him as we sat down onto the cushions on the wooden floor, facing him.
'One and a half week ago, seven members of my family have suddenly taken ill. They had high fever. I called in for a doctor but the latter couldn't find the cause of their state nor was he able to treat them. Within a week time, the fever had killed them. And seven other members of my family have fallen sick similarly. They've all said the same thing. They have seen a specter before they took ill. Strangely, the last seven members who have fallen sick didn't see the specters of unknown persons unlike the first seven ones; they say that they have seen the specters of the seven members of our family who have passed away during the last week.'
I cupped my chin thoughtfully, his story sounding familiar to me.
'I think that we're dealing with the Shichinin misaki,' declared Agasa, abruptly.
'The Shichinin misaki?' I asked.
Thank you for reading!
Glossary
Ojisan - Uncle