"Ken, Mom and I are going to buy some ingredients for dinner, so you and Grandpa will be alone for a while," Motohama Kaho smiled gently as she looked at her son, lying on his back on the floor of an empty room in her parents' house.
"Okay," Ken mumbled from his spot lying on the floor, not bothering to turn around and look at her.
"Do you want us to bring you something specific while we're out there? Maybe some Dango?" Kaho hid a mischievous smile as she watched her son try his best to hide a shudder going through his body at the mention of buying him Dango.
"No, I'm fine..." Ken said, still lying on the floor, his foot trying to angle a nearby electric fan to point down towards him. Kaho watched him try to move the fan with his foot for ten seconds before he gave up and returned to simply lying on his back, "Actually, Can you buy some Arare? And some fizzy orange juice? Please?" Ken spoke up, bending his neck and back backward so he could look at his mom, even though he was now looking at her upside down.
"Sure," Motohama Kaho said with a smile as she walked into the mostly empty room and pointed the fan down at her son, "I'll bring the ones with Peanuts that you like so much," She leaned down and patted him on the forehead, smiling at his failing attempt to wriggle out of her affectionate grasp before she stood back up and left him alone, letting Ken enjoy the peaceful feeling of lying on the floor like a bum.
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Sitting outside under the shade of a tree beside the Koi pond, I spent what must have been an hours just watching the fish move in their hypnotic patterns.
Out here in the countryside of Kumamoto, There isn't a lot of things to do at home. Sure, there's a wifi-router, but it only works in one room and I don't have anything to use it on, unless I want to start texting my friends on my knock-off Nokia, then sure I guess I could, but why would I?
And Grandma's computer is so old it can only run basic search functions and Solitaire, so no video games, but that's also fine.
It's 2005, not much I can do about that.
Because I'm here to enjoy my time relaxing with my family, and if that means spending an hour staring at Koi fish doing nothing, then that's what I'm going to do!
"Ken-Chan! Let's go have some fun before the girls return!" I turned my head away from the Koi, who I already named in my boredome, and watched my Grandfather walk out of the house, his eyes squinting into barely open slits underneath a pair of thick white eyebrows on top of a bald head.
"Like what?" I ask as I stood up.
"Let's go dip our feet in the Kikuchi, It's a walking distance away," Grandpa said as he stood beside me, looking down at his face reflecting in the Koi pond, "We can talk about all the things you've been doing at school so far,"
"Sure, Let me just go grab my sandals," I said as I ran back into the house in order to get some protection on my feet, ready to hang out with my grandpa.
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My Grandparents live in Kumamioso, a small village in the Aso district of Kumamoto, with a population of around 9,000 or so, known for it's agriculture and Hot Springs. An out of the ways farming village with a bit of a touristy touch thanks to the hot spring resorts it has.
The only stand out location in the entire village is probably the a Shinto Shrine located just a bit south outside the village, dedicated to the local Kami.
According to what Susanoo taught me, the Kami in small villages like this aren't really anything I need to worry about, Just show them some respect and they leave you alone for the most part.
I'll probably go check the place out tomorrow, If I'm being honest.
But right now, Me and my Grandpa, Motohama Hirosuke, Are making our way to a small stream of water that was split off from Kikuchi river.
"So, Ken-chan, How's school?" Grandpa asked me as we made our way down an old dirt trail, pushing aside the tall grass along the way.
"Good, I'm basically top of my class, and as long as I keep it up my future is set," I shrugged as I answered, not really knowing what else to say, It's not like I can talk about the Supernatural stuff or anything.
"Are you making any- oh, watch your step here- Are you making any new friends?" Grandpa asked after almost falling into a small hole in the ground.
"Sure," I answered, avoiding the hole, "Issei and Oki are still with me, and Aika's not as annoying as she tries to be,"
"Ooooh, A girl?" Grandpa stops and turns to smile at me, a glint of mischief shining underneath his squinting eyes, "Why didn't you say you already have a girlfriend,"
"Grandpa!" I groan with a smile, "It's nothing like that, she sits next to me and is trying to get a higher score than me on all the tests we have, she's just a friend,"
"And you're already on a first name basis with her?" Grandpa said with that annoying old man smile of his, "You might be able to hide it from Grandma, and I won't spill your secrets, don't worry, Hehe, But don't you become a heartbreaker, you hear me?!" Grandpa barked out a laugh before he changed the subject and we resumed walking toward the river.
I wanted to try and refute his words, convince him that she's just a friend who is also a girl, but I decided to let the old man have his fun. He's only joking after all, no reason to make myself look like a fool by trying to argue with my grandpa.
It wasn't long after that we reached the stream we were looking for, It was a small thing, five meters wide but only deep enough to reach our knees.
"Aha! There it is!" Grandpa said with a smile as he took his sandals off, sat on a nearby stone, and dipped his feet in the water, letting out a sigh of relaxation at the feeling of the cool spring water washing at his feet.
Following his example, I took my own sandals off and pulled my pants up, rolling the ends so they'd be halfway up my thighs as I stepped into the water, and just like my grandfather I let out a relaxed sigh as the cold water washed my calves, contrasting with the scorching summer heat that we walked through to get here.
"This is nice," I whispered to myself as I moved my feet a bit, letting them splash in the water. Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, focusing on the feeling of the water flowing between my legs, of the suns rays hitting my back, of the soft wind caressing my sleeves.
I stayed like that for a minute, just standing in place and enjoying the feeling of being in nature.
When I opened my eyes, I felt my heart momentarily stop.
The sky was purple.
The sun was gone.
I quickly turned behind me to look at-
Motohama Hirosuke was not there.
All that remained of him was a pair of sandals strewn on the ground beside a soft stream.
I felt my heartbeat quicken, I was panicking, I knew I was panicking but I couldn't do much about it.
"Grandpa!" I called out to him, my legs dragging me out of the water as I quickly put my sandals back on, "Grandpa where are you?!"
I started looking around for clues, for signs of where he could have gone, of what could have happened.
My breath started to run out, I was hyperventilating before I even noticed what had happened, I needed to slow down and catch my breath. I felt my legs buckle as I fell onto the stone Grandpa sat on, letting me take a moment to try and think things through.
If the sky was this unique color, that means we were currently inside of the Otherworld, a supernatural reality that exists alongside our own, according to Susanoo it's where most Youkai live, away from Humans.
If we were currently inside of the Otherworld, then that means that... something supernatural was happening close by and the magical energy of it pulled me inside.
Usually, that wouldn't be much of a problem, whenever someone gets pulled into the Otherworld all they have to do is walk far enough away from whatever Supernatural thing dragged them inside in the first place and reality should turn back to normal. The other option is to go to whatever Supernatural entity dragged you inside in the first place and ask it to let you out.
The third option is to fight your way out, By defeating whatever pulled you in, either by knocking it out or... The magic should disperse and reality should return to normal, something that I doubt I'll be able to do at my current level. Not to mention I'm unarmed.
However, I don't know who dragged me into Otherworld right now, and even worse than that.
Grandpa is in here as well.
Usually, whenever someone is dragged into the Otherworld, Only they themselves enter, however, sometimes regular humans get caught if the person that pulled them in has poor control of their power.
I kneeled down and picked up the pair of Sandals my Grandfather took off before he entered the water. If It was only I that was dragged in here, then these Sandals would have remained in the regular Human world, not this Supernatural reflection that is Otherworld.
However, since these Sandals are here, that means so is my Grandfather, but I have no idea where he is. It's almost as if he disappeared when we got pulled in here.
"Wait a moment..." I froze as an idea hit me.
"If I was the one dragged here, and Grandpa was caught in the crossfire, then I would have heard him scream, or exclaim, or something like that," I started talking to myself, giving voice to my train of thought as I started to walk in circles around the stone.
"However, He was silent, I didn't even notice that we got pulled into Otherworld until I opened my eyes," I started clapping the sandals in my hands against each other, the rhythmic noise helping me concentrate as my brain kept theorizing.
"But, what if it wasn't me who got pulled into Otherworld, with Grandpa caught in the crossfire..." My legs stopped moving, I continued clapping the sandals together as I pulled them closer to my face.
"THAT'S IT!" I exclaimed as the truth hit me.
"It's not me that was pulled in here! But Grandpa! Grandpa was pulled in here and I was simply collateral! WHICH MEANS!" I felt a buzz in my chest as my sacred gear activated.
"I'LL SAVE YOU GRANDPA!!!" I yelled, my chest shining like a beacon from a lighthouse, my loud voice scaring away a flock of birds from deeper into the tall grass.
Birds should not exist in the Otherworld, meaning that they are either Youkai birds, or that they too were dragged in here by whatever it was that dragged Grandpa in by virtue of being close enough to whatever it was when it opened the way to the Otherworld.
If I wanted to find my grandfather, I had to run towards those birds.
And so without any further wait, I ran through the stream, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of water between my feet and sandals, as I exited the other side of the river and ran into the tall grass.
I had no Sword, no talismans, and no idea how to properly use my Sacred Gear as something that wasn't a Flashlight or a coating of magic.
What I did have, however, was Grandpa's sandals, a very bright flashlight in my chest, and the will to save my family.
No... Will isn't a good word.
I'm not Willing to save my family.
I AM saving my family.
And that is a Motohama Ken Promise.
No... A Motohama Ken Guarantee!