Hikaru Kageyama swept the shrine's chilly stone floor with a broom, its stiff bristles scratching. Inside, the air felt thick filled with a light charred incense smell mixed with the aroma of ancient wood drenched in endless devotions. While the wind sang between the trees outside, a dense silence enveloped the inside—a pressing quiet, as if the shrine's mass was bearing down on him.
He took a break and propped himself up with the broom. His arms throbbed after a morning spent scrubbing away, and his legs felt the burn from dragging loads of firewood around. The fest that's coming up had him swamped with tasks, with every single job seeming to merge into the next one. Sneaking a peek behind him, he saw the forest framed by the huge open doors. The sunshine beamed inside, bright and teasing.
"Kageyama quit your daydreaming, will ya?"
The head priest's keen voice sliced through the silence making Hikaru jump. , the old man stood in the corridor, his robes creating a soft sound. "You're aware this shrine won't tidy up by itself. Tomorrow brings visitors, and a single dust particle left behind paints a poor picture of all of us."
Hikaru managed a low, "Understood sir," his hold on the broom growing firmer.
Narrowing his eyes at Hikaru, the priest let out a breath. "Also, straighten up a bit. You're almost blending into the ground with that slouch."
The old man vanished down the corridor, and once again, Hikaru was by himself. He exhaled and got back to his sweeping. Yet, the sweep-sweep rhythm couldn't shake off his deep thoughts.
He didn't despise the shrine; it had always been his shelter. But now, it all seemed like too much. A tight web of rules, the dull repeat of ceremonies, and the thought he would have to give his whole life to guard this hallowed spot.
'Hallowed'. , that term seemed empty. What was the point of guarding old treasures and chants when outside, folks were scraping by just to survive?
He stood there frozen. That weird low steady hum was going right through the shrine. This noise wasn't normal, like the creaking of old wood or the swish of robes sliding past each other. Nope, this was deeper, the kind of sound you feel more than hear right down in your chest.
Hikaru snapped to attention, the broom slipping from his mind. His words cut through the silence. "What's that noise...?"
The humming got louder, and it kinda yanked his eyes toward the passageway that went to where they kept all the storage room stuff. It was like the shadows on the wall were dancing around, with something sneaky moving just where he couldn't see.
A shiver of cold raced up his back. He shot a look at where the priest should be hanging out, but nope, nobody was there.
"Only gonna look real quick," he murmured to himself. Yet before he knew it, his feet were already shuffling him down the corridor.
Ahead stood the storage room door, its surface etched with symbols to keep bad spirits away. Hikaru paused, with a ton of cautions ringing in his head saying: You shouldn't mess with stuff you don't get. Some seals should stay untouched.
Yet the buzzing sound drew him in turning more vivid as it got louder. , his fingers grazed the latch.
With a groan, the door swung open to show a tight room lit by shaky candle flames. A cloud of dust danced in the beam of light, and a mix of old paper odors and the tang of corroding iron overwhelmed him. Relics crammed the shelves lining the walls: ancient scrolls cracked figures, and weapons cocooned in fabric.
In the room's heart, a charred box took center stage, a sight foreign to Hikaru's eyes. As if alive, the carvings on it shimmered, their luminosity weak yet synced with the buzzing sound.
Pulse racing, Hikaru inched forward. Heat intensified with his every move, perspiration dotting his forehead. His shaky hand reached out and grazed the top.
Silence smashed the buzzing dead.
A dreadful quiet swallowed the space for a split second. Then, with a burst from the cover, flames engulfed the room.
A scream tore from Hikaru's throat as intense pain blasted his arm knocking him to the floor. A whirlwind of red light and warmth enveloped the room making the relics rattle and crash from their places. The box's symbols spun out searing into the air as they went.
Something began to stir amid the turmoil.
Out of the red chaos, a shape took form outlined in fire. Molten lava-like eyes bore down on Hikaru while it unfolded its arms, the blaze curling around it in odd patterns. Its chuckle, deep and making your bones go cold, bounced off the walls.
"Ah... I understand. Walking this world is something I haven't done in ages."
Hikaru gripped his arm tight where a bright mark seared into his skin. It throbbed making him suffer with pain in every pulse.
"W-what… who are you?" he choked out, his voice all shaky.
That towering, freaky looking thing took a step closer. "Kagutsuchi, that's me, kiddo. And you… well, you're about to be my new home."
The floor under Hikaru got all shaky, and cracks whipped through the stone ground as the shrine quaked. Outside, the woods went dead quiet, like the whole planet was waiting for something big.
Kagutsuchi reached its hand out, all sparking with flames. "Okay, time to get this show on the road."
Hikaru attempted a hasty retreat; however, the symbol seared into his skin glowed immobilizing him. He parted his lips for a shriek, yet silence ensued whilst the fire roared in his direction.
The area surrounding Hikaru had a strong scent of destruction.
Wisps of smoke meandered up through the broken roof of the shrine bringing with them a bitter odor of charred lumber and another more disturbing scent—it was sharp like metal similar to festering blood. The air felt heavy and hard to breathe blanketing his taste buds as if he were swallowing ashes. As Hikaru forced himself to stand, every inch of him shook, his muscles shouting out their resistance pushing against an invisible burden.
His eyes dropped to his arm, and he couldn't breathe.
His forearm bore a jagged bright mark. It throbbed with a crimson shine, like a heartbeat throwing weird soft shadows on the walls close by. The mark made his gut churn, and a sharp zap hit his hand when he tried touching it.
Hikaru bent double gripping his arm while pain tore up to his shoulder. His breathing turned choppy and uneven, his mind whirling with questions. What's this thing? How'd it happen?
"Oh, you're up at last," came a voice slick with menace.
Hikaru stopped cold. The voice was not from the outside but echoed in his mind twisting through his thoughts like fog.
"Who's speaking?" he managed to croak, his voice scratchy.
"The name kid. You've heard it before. Say it out loud," the voice commanded.
Memories flooded back to him—the scorched container, the blaze, that terrifying shape rising from the fire. He couldn't help but speak. "Kagutsuchi..."
The word left a strange sharp taste, as if he pulled it from someplace deep and forbidden.
His arm's marking flared up in response prompting a cry from him as he stumbled backward, hitting the wall. Loud and taunting, Kagutsuchi's laugh resonated in his head.
"Quick learning is in your favor. It'll help a bunch—if you make it through tonight."
Hikaru felt a cold shiver. The walls seemed to squeeze the air out of the room making it feel tinier and like it was hard to breathe. The shrine, a place that was comforting and known now filled him with an eerie feeling.
"What... what's this about making it through?" Hikaru got out, his words quiet like a secret.
"Hey, you broke my seal," Kagutsuchi remarked, a hint of fun in his voice. "All the bad energy that was holding me back is now all over the place. It's going to attract some creepy things—Entities, they come from people's fears and sorrows. Looks like you're gonna be their first snack."
Hikaru felt queasy. He didn't get all of what Kagutsuchi meant, but the word "snack" made his brain go wild. His thoughts tripped over each other trying to figure out this scary mess.
, he caught it.
There was this deep rough snarl from far away, but clear as day.
The noise kind of tiptoed to the very limit of his hearing making his teeth feel all weird and jumpy. wasn't any critter noise he knew about—it was booming and calculated, like whatever was making it wanted to make sure you could hear it.
"Huh… what's that?" Hikaru's voice quivered as he spoke.
"Consider that your hello committee," Kagutsuchi replied sounding way too excited about it.
Hikaru got back on his feet shrugging off the head-spinny feeling that hit him. He lurched toward the exit, his fingers sliding over burnt wood for a bit of balance. His heart was pounding so loud in his chest it pretty much washed away any other thoughts just as he walked outside.
Everything was super quiet that night. The kind of quiet when you can't even hear the wind making the trees dance like it does. Shadows looked all creepy throwing weird shapes across the yard, and man, the place that used to look all nice and clean was now a mess with junk everywhere.
Then, bam, he spotted something.
At the start, it was just something flickering out the corner of his eye—like a weird shadow shake near where the trees got thick. But then, this thing just walks right out, and dude, he couldn't even breathe for a sec.
This monster was like nothing he'd ever seen, all made up of different bits of meat and skeleton. Its arms and legs were way too long and didn't match. Where its face should be, things were moving all over, and the only thing that stayed the same were these bright green eyes. This eerie black smoke was coming off it, and where it walked, it left these freaky scratch marks in the ground.
When the stench hit Hikaru, his gut wrenched from the foul blend of decayed flesh and sulfur.
"It's a Manifestation," spoke Kagutsuchi, his tone laced with glee. "It's the villagers' dread of dying that brought it to life. Ain't it a sight?"
"A sight?!" blurted Hikaru as fear surged within him. "This creature's gonna wreck our shrine!"
"Gotta update you: you're its first target," Kagutsuchi remarked.
The Manifestation let out a growl fixing its gaze on Hikaru. It charged with a creepy quickness, its warped frame hurtling toward him. The earth gave a slight shudder beneath its mass, each movement marked by the crunch of broken sticks and the harsh grating of soil.
Hikaru staggered backward, thoughts racing. He gazed at the emblem on his arm that throbbed with the monster's nearing steps.
"What's my move?" he muttered with growing desperation in his tone.
"Rely on me," commanded Kagutsuchi with an edgy haste. "Absence of my strength, and you're a goner. Reckon you can escape from this beast?"
"No way I can trust you!"
"Pity. Guess you'll perish then."
With an ear-splitting bellow, the Manifestation sprang, its claws razing the earth right near Hikaru fracturing the shrine's stone steps.
He felt a rush of panic and grabbed his arm because the mark was burning way hotter. That burning feeling went through him like fire that's been melted, and down he went onto his knees. Inside, he sensed the strength of Kagutsuchi getting ready wanting so bad to burst out.
"Alright!" he hollered, with his voice all breaking up. "Just don't let me kick the bucket!"
Kagutsuchi's chuckles boomed like thunder that just keeps going. "That's the spirit. Now we're gonna show 'em what happens when they dare to mess with a deity."
Hikaru stood surrounded by a burst of light, and fire swirled into a shield that separated him from the Manifestation. The beast pulled back pissed at the heat's bite, while Hikaru was kinda out of it feeling like he was falling to pieces and getting put back together at the same time. The fire grazed his skin without marking him.
His mark beamed brighter and Hikaru, arm raised, watched as fire twisted around his shaky hand.
"Come on," he whispered, voice wobbly. "Show me what you're packing."
With another bellow, the Manifestation dug its claws into the dirt gearing up to blitz.