Prologue - Hajimari

 

It was a bright sunny day in the outskirts of Furubira, Japan.  Two small 4 year old girls were playing games with each other with their families nearby.  One of them was named Inoue Yuki, and the other was named Kurosawa Mariko.  They were running around beginning to come out of sight of their families.

“Kurosawa-chan!”  Shouted Yuki.  “You’re too slow.”

“I’m sorry Inoue-chan.”  Said Mariko.  “I’m going as fast as I can.”

Mariko eventually made it up to Yuki and stopped to take a breath.  They were on a hill that overlooked a pond that was like a bath of crystals.

“I wanted to go swimming in that!”

“Swimming?  But Inoue-chan, I don’t want to get my Kimono wet.”

“Then take it off.”

“But I’m not wearing anything under it.”

“Kowai Neko.”

“I’m not a Kowai Neko!  I just don’t want to get in is all.”

There was loud screaming coming from the direction of their family.

“What’s that?”  Asked Mariko.

“I don’t know.”  Said Yuki.

They ran back to their family to see a man holding a katana, and on the ground beneath him, was Mariko’s father, bleeding from his neck.

“Otousan!”  Shouted Mariko.

“Kurosawa-sama!”  Shouted Yuki

The man who had slain Mariko’s father turned to her mother and slit her neck.

“Okaasan!”  Shouted Mariko.

The man then ran at Mariko.  Yuki tried to get in his way to stop him.

“Get out of the way kid.”  The man said.  “You’re not my target.”

“Stay away from Kurosawa-chan!”  Yuki shouted.

“Yuki!  Stay away from him.”  Shouted Yuki’s mother.

“Last-chance, get out of the way.”  The man said.

Yuki didn’t move an inch.

“Have it your way.”  The man swiped the katana across Yuki’s face, slicing into her eyes.  Blood was coming from her face, she couldn’t get off of the ground.  The man stepped to Mariko and thrusted the katana through her left eye.  Yuki’s parents ran over to Yuki.  Her father ran at the man and pinned him to the ground.

“You monster!”  He shouted at the man.  “Why!?  Why did you do this!?”

“My orders were specific.  Locate and kill the Kurosawa clan.”

“Clan?  That means…”

“Yes, I killed everyone in their entire family.”

The man kicked Yuki’s father off of him.

“Who made you do this!?”

The man stood there smiling, and said.  “My mission has been completed.”  He then ran the katana into his abdomen and into his heart.  He fell to the ground a lifeless corpse.  The father went back to Yuki to try and comfort her.

“It’s alright, we’ll get you to a doctor.”  The father said.

The mother called 911 and informed the police of what happened and called for an ambulance as well.  After a bit both had appeared.  The father stayed back with the police and the mother went with Yuki in the ambulance.  It was clear that Yuki was crying, except for the fact that nothing but blood would come out of her eyes.  They made it to the hospital and she was rushed into the infirmary.  After a while, the father got there.  They didn’t know how things would be until it was all over.  Eventually the doctor came out.

“We stopped the bleeding.”  He said.  “And we did our best to fix her eyes.”

“Really, her eyes are better now!?”  Said the father.

“Well…  No…  I said we did our best.”

He paused before speaking again.

“She will never see again.”

 

2: Chapter One

Ch 1 - Eien buraindo

exactly 12 years later

 

A pink haired girl was on her way walking to school.  She was wearing a very small grey shirt and over that was a white and pink jacket.  She had a blindfold over her eyes, but she still knew where she was going.  She grabbed a piece of paper in her pocket and held it out.  She ran her fingers on it.  It was a picture of two girls, one was the pink haired girl, but as a little kid.  The other was a girl with long black hair and a black kimono.

“Kurosawa-chan.”  She said to herself.  “I wish I could have helped.”

“Hey, Inoue!”

Behind her was a young man with a green dress shirt on and beige pants and He had bright orange hair.  His name was Odayaka Kenji.  He was running toward her.

“Inoue Yuki.”  Said Kenji.  “You didn’t wait for me today?”

“Sorry Odayaka.”  Said the now grown up Yuki.  “I just…  Forgot where you live.”

“Yeah nice try.  I know you’ve learned how to feel vibrations to know where you are.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot I told you that.”

“Yeah, You told me when we first met.”

“Whatever you say Odayaka-kohai.”  She said as she started walking again.

“K-Kohai!?  I think you mean Senpai.”

“I know what I said.”

“Hey!  No fair!”

Yuki and Kenji kept walking on to school talking on the way.  Yuki had been at her new school for a little under a month after moving to Tokyo.  The school had promised to get Yuki a helper for her assignments, and word was that they were finally coming today.  Before she just had to go off of trust from the other students.

When she got to school, Kenji helped her get to her first class like usual.  Yuki tried to find her way to her desk, but felt something over her foot, making her fall.  Some girls started laughing.  One of them had tripped her.

“You should look where you’re going.”  One of them said.

“Yeah, what are you, blind?”  Said another one.

“Maybe she needs glasses.”

Yuki stood back up trying to suppress her rage.  She didn’t show it much with Kenji, but she was furious today.  After all, it was the anniversary of her best friend’s death, and the tripping didn’t help with her mood.  She whipped the frown off of her face and took a deep breath.

“Yeah, that was funny.”  She said with a false smile on her face.

“Is that so?”  Said one of the girls as she walked closer to Yuki.  “Then this’ll be hilarious.”  She forcefully pushed Yuki back onto the ground.  Her and the other girls began to laugh again.  Two men walked into the room.

“What’s going on here!?”  He asked.

“Oh Fujimaru-sensei.”  She spoke in an over dramatized voice.  “We were just trying to help Yuki get to her desk.  But she said.  ‘I don’t need help from a skank like you!’  And she tried to attack me, but she missed and fell.  Isn’t that right girls?”

“Yeah.  That’s right.”  The other girls said.

“Inoue.  Is this true?”

“No!  They were tripping and pushing me.”

“Well of course she would say that!  She just doesn’t want to get in trouble!”  Said the girl.

“I’m sorry ladies.  But I believe Inoue.”

“What!?  How could you believe someone who’s only been here for a month more than me!?”

“Well, she hasn’t given me any reason to believe that she would lie to me.  Yes, I’ve known you longer, but in the time I’ve known you, I’ve seen that you aren’t above lying to get what you want.  Not to mention, it’s easy to take advantage of someone who’s blind.”

Fujimaru helped Yuki to her feet and lead her to her desk.

“Arigato.”  She said.

Fujimaru directed his attention back to the girls.  “Now, you girls take your seats.  Now everyone, I would like to introduce Mashoko Yune.  He’s going to be here to help our Inoue.”

Yune had really short spiky hair and a kind expression on his face, he had a turtleneck sweater with 喜び(joy) on it and regular jeans.

“Why does she get so much special treatment, She’s just blind.”  Said One of the girls.

“Well, think of it this way.”  Said Yune.  “If you were blind, wouldn’t you want extra help?”

“I guess.”  She scoffed.  “But I’m not blind.”

“Well, I never said you were.  It was, of course, Hypothetical.”

Yune walked over to Yuki.

“Well, It’s very nice to meet you Inoue.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Mashoko-sensei.”

“Well, all that sensei stuff isn’t necessary, just call me Mashoko.”

“Alright…  Mashoko.”

Yune chuckled and stood beside her desk.

“Well, if you need anything, just let me know.”

“Okay.”

“Well, you can resume now Fujimaru-sama.”

“Wait.”  Said a boy in the class.  “Sama?  Do you two know each other?”

“Yes, His family use to serve mine.”  Said Fujimaru.  “Now, time for roll.”

 

***

 

The school day passed normally.  Yune would help Yuki with things like going up and down stairs, and would help her do her homework by writing her answers down for her, and reading her the problems.  She was great at History, but she struggled at Math.  After school, Yuki introduced Yune to Kenji.

“Hmm…  So what exactly is your job?”  Asked Kenji.

“Well, I guess you could say that I’m like a seeing eye dog, but a human.”  Answered Yune.

“And you’re here to help Inoue?”

“Well, yes.”

“What the heck is that?”

“Well, what?”

“That’s what!  Do you just say well before everything!?”

“Well, Maybe.  I’ve never really noticed.”

“I did notice that you said well a lot too.”  Said Yuki.

“Well, it must be a subconscious thing.  Oh, now that I know that I do it, I just kind of noticed.  Do you want me to stop?”

“It’s fine, you don’t have to stop.”  Said Kenji.

“Well, alright.”

They didn’t know that as they were walking that they were being watched.  A mysterious girl in black was holding out her hand aiming the palm at them.  There was a red eye on her palm.  Small amounts of blood came from the eye as if they were tears.

Yune helped Yuki get back into her get up to the door.  She felt she didn’t need help with this one, but she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.  She said her goodbyes and went inside.  She slammed the door shut unknowingly.  She quickly made her way to her room.  All of the doors in the house was marked in braille, so she could know what door led to what.  She slammed the door yet again and plopped down on her bed.

“I wanna go back to Furubira.”  She said to herself.

On any other day, Yuki would be happy and cheerful.  It was always this day of the year, August 31st, that brought her down, for obvious reasons.  Just as so, her mother would usually get on her for slamming the door, but she understood why she would be like this today.

“Inoue-chan!”  Said a girly voice.

Yuki quickly got up off of her bed.

“Who’s there!?  How do you know me!”

“Inoue-chan, how could you forget about me?”

Yuki followed the voice over to her window.  Out side the window was a girl with long black hair and one red eye.  The other was missing.  She wore a black kimono with æ­»(death) on it.

“Aw, you’re all grown up!”  She said happily.

“Who are you!?”

“I’m your friend.”  She giggled.

The girl grabbed Yuki and tried to pull her out the window.  Yuki shook herself from her grip.

“What are you doing!?  This is the second floor!”  At that moment she noticed that it was the second floor, and she was standing directly outside the window.  “How are you there!?”

“I’m floating, now, hurry up and join me.”

“I would fall and die!”

“I know.  That’s why I want you to fall out the window.”

“What!?  What’s going on!?  Who are you!?  Why do you want me to die!?”

“Oh, Inoue-chan, I guess you really don’t remember.  I died 12 years ago.”

“What, that doesn’t make sense.”

“I’m Mariko.”

Yuki backed away.  “That’s impossible, you’re dead!  And if you were Kurosawa-chan, you wouldn’t want me to die!”

“Okay, I guess it’s your choice whether you want to die or not, but it’s really fun being dead, I thought you would like to have fun with me.”

“There’s no way you’re Kurosawa-chan!”

“I am though.”

Yuki couldn’t think straight, she sounded like Mariko, she even had the date of death correct, and she obviously already knew Yuki.

“Tell me something only Mariko would know!”  Yuki demanded.

“Oh, Well, I was only 4 when I died, but I’ll try.  Oh!  On that day, when we were away from everyone, you wanted to swim.  But I didn’t want to get my Kimono wet.”

There was no denying it, it had to be Mariko, no one else could have known about that day except for Yuki and Mariko.  There was just one thing else that needed to be answered.  How is she here?

 

3: Chapter Two

Ch 2 - Shinde saikai

So far this is Seinfeld

 

“How can you still be here!?”  Asked Yuki.  “It’s not possible!”

“I don’t know how I’m here.  The last thing I remember is being stabbed in the eye.”

“Um…  Now that you’re dead…  Is your eye back?”

“No, There’s just a hole where it should be.  But now I have eyes on my hands.”

Mariko lifted her hands almost forgetting that Yuki couldn't see them.

“How did you find me?”  Asked Yuki.

“I’m not sure, I just felt like I could sense you somehow.”

“So, are you a ghost?”

“Maybe.  I haven’t been out for long, just about maybe 3 hours or so.”

Yuki didn’t know what to think, everything was happening so fast.  She’d never expected that she’d see, well, hear Mariko again.  They didn’t really have much time to think anyways.  Yuki had to shoe Mariko away because her mother was coming, and she didn’t want Mariko to be seen by her.  Mariko floated away while Yuki’s mother walked into her room.

“Who are you talking too?”  She asked.

“No one, just myself.”

“Okay.  The kid’s at school aren’t giving you a hard time are they?”

“No, it’s fine.”

This was the first time Yuki has ever lied to her mother, technically the second time with her giving two lies right after one another.

“I’m glad to hear that.  I know things must be hard today, with it being the anniversary and all.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Oh yeah, I also wanted to tell you, someone named Mashoko Yune called.  He said that he’ll be around to pick you up in the mornings.  I take it the school finally found someone.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay, good.”  She said as she walked out of the room.

Yuki lied back down on her bed.  She dozed off until her mother woke her up for dinner.  Yuki, her parents and her two year old brother, Inoue Ichiro, all sat down at the Kotetsu, ready to eat.

“How was everyone’s day?”  Asked the father.

“Just the usual.”  Said the mother.  “Just stayed home and fix stuff around the house.”

“That’s good, how about you Yuki?”

Yuki wasn’t paying attention, she was still thinking about Mariko.

“Yuki!?”

“Huh?  Oh yeah, it was alright.”  She finally answered.

“Yuki, your eyes might not work, but your ears do.”  He looked at her to see she wasn’t paying attention again.

“You seem to be a little…  Forlorn.”

“Can you blame her?”  Asked the mother.  “Her best friend died today 12 years ago.”

“Oh, I hadn’t realized that was today.”

“You do this every year.”

“Hey!  I’m just always busy!”

“She’s your daughter!  Why can’t you actually be a father and take care to remember important days in her life!”

“Why would you even want to remember that day!  Our friends were slaughtered in front of our eyes!  That’s not something I would like to remember!”

Yuki was getting tired of this, it was the same argument that she heard every year, for the past 10 years.

“May I be excused please?”  Yuki said quietly.

“Huh?  Yes, you may leave.”  Said the mother.

Yuki got up and found her room.  When she got to her room she lied down on her bed and tried to fall asleep to pass the day.

 

***

 

In the morning Yuki was woken up by her mother.  She had fallen asleep in her clothes and had forgotten to take of her blindfold.  She was told to take it off every night, but she’s so use to it that sometimes she forgets it’s even on her.

“Oh Yuki, you're still in your yesterday clothes.”  Said the mother.

“Sorry.”  Said Yuki.

“It’s fine, here are your clothes.”  She handed Yuki new clothes for today that looked exactly like the ones she had yesterday.  Her parents figured she would care what she looked like, so why not by her the same type of clothing, whatever would be the cheapest.  Yuki knew this, but she didn’t mind.  She got dressed and headed downstairs.  Yune was already waiting there for her.

“Well, hello there.”  He said.

“Hi Mashoko.”  Said Yuki.

“Well, Are you ready to go to school Inoue?”

“Yes.  Bye Okaasan.”

“Good bye Yuki.”  Said her mother.

Yuki and Yune walked out to Yune’s car.  As they were driving to school they started talking.

“Well, how are you feeling today?”  Asked Yune.

“I’m fine.”

“Well good, I was picking up on some negative vibes from you yesterday.  If you don’t mind me asking, what was it that was getting under your skin?  Was it those girls.”

“They were just part of it, I don’t really feel like sharing it with you.  Sorry, but it’s kind of really personal.”

“Well, I understand.  You don’t have to tell if you don’t want to.  Now, Perhaps you wouldn’t mind telling me how you lost your sight, assuming you weren’t born with your blindness.  This is just a question I like to ask my patients.”

“Well, My blindness is kind of part of the thing I didn’t want to tell you.”

“Well, was yesterday perhaps an anniversary of the day you lost your sight?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“Well okay, maybe you could tell me when we get to know each other better.”

“Okay.”

They got to school and Yune helped Yuki into her first classroom and desk.  All the girls were there, and sure enough, they found a way to heckle her even with Yune there.

“So, you’re some kind of princess now?  You can’t leave home with you bodyguard?”  Said one of the girls.

“Should we be kissing up to you, your majesty?”

“Well, I think I’ve figured you out.”  Said Yune.  “You get off by making others feel bad.”

“What!?  How could you say such a rude thing!?”

“Well, you kind of started it.”

“Ah!  You’re so rude.”

“Well, Me?  Rude?  What’s so rude about sticking up for a friend?”

“I guess nothing Mr. Wells.”

“Well, this again?  I don’t make fun of your speech pattern.”

“Well, there’s nothing to make fun of.”

“Well, you don’t even belong here.”  Said another girl.  “Well, she could do just as well without you.”

“Well, I wish it would have come to this, but, Take this.”

Yune handed both of the girls a slip of paper on it.

“What? Is this a detention?!  You can’t give us a detention!”

“Well, yes I can, Fujimaru-sama gave me the authority to do so.”

“Fujimaru-sensei would do something like that!”

“Well, I guess you don’t know your teacher like you think you do.”

The tardy bell rang.  Fujimaru wasn’t anywhere to be seen, he’s usually late, but not this late.

“Where is he at?”  Asked one of the students.

“Maybe he’s in the bathroom?”  Said Yuki.

“Don’t be stupid princess!”  Said one of the girls.

“Well, there’s no need for that.  It is a possibility.”

“What do you know!?”

“Well, Just about the same as you I guess.”

About a half an hour passed and still no sign of Fujimaru.  Yune was starting to get antsy.

“Well, I’m going to go look for Fujimaru-sama.  Inoue, why don’t you come with me.”

“Why do you need me?”  Asked Yuki.

“Well, I just don’t want to leave you here with the girls.”

“How insulting!”  Said one of the girls.

“Yeah!  I’m gonna report you for sexual harassment!”

“Well, I'm sure you will, but there are more important things going on right now.  Are you coming Inoue?”

Yuki and Yune walked down the hall looking for Fujimaru.  They checked the bathroom first, and he wasn’t there.  Next they checked the teacher’s lounge, he wasn’t there either.  Then they checked outside, in the parking lot.  His car was there, but he wasn’t to be found anywhere.

“Well, He’s not here either.”  Said Yune.

“Mashoko, maybe we should ask some of the other teachers.”  Suggested Yuki.

“Well, That’s a good idea, Let’s get going.”

They walked back inside, and went to the classroom next to Fujimaru’s.

“Well, hello?  Is Tsukibasu-sensei here?”

“No.”  Said one of the students.  “She didn’t show up at all.”

“So her too?”  Asked Yuki.

“Well, It seems so.”

“Let’s go to the office.”

“Well, Alright.  Kouchou-sensei might know what’s going on.”

Yune ran to the office while holding Yuki’s hand so she wouldn’t get lost.  They got to the office and nobody was there.

“Well, what the hell is going on!  Pardon my french.”  Said Yune.

“What?  What’s wrong?”  Asked Yuki.

“Well, Nobody’s here either!”

“Do you know where they could be?”

“Well, no, All of their cars are out in the parking lot, It doesn’t make sense.”

Sweat was rolling down Yune’s neck, He was running his fingers through his hair.  He was getting really stressed out.

“Psst!  Inoue-chan.”  Said a voice.

Yune looked over to see a girls face sticking out of the wall.  Yune jumped from being freaked out.

“Kurosawa-chan, is that you?”  Asked Yuki.

“Yes.”  She said as she phased through the wall.

“Do you know where everyone is at?”

“Yes!”

“Where are they?”

“Oh, I’m sorry Inoue-chan, but I can’t tell you, The man said not to tell.”

“Well, the man?  What does that mean?  Who’s the man?”  Asked Yune.

“Um, I can’t say that either.  But he told me something really cool.  He said that if I think being dead is fun, that everyone else should have fun with me.  Not just my friends.  Oh, well, I guess friend.”

“Well, what is really going on?”

“Oh, I guess I should tell you now.”  Said Yuki.

4: Chapter Three

Ch 3 - Yūrei no chāmu

 

Yuki explained to Yune the story of how Mariko died, and that she’s somehow back.  Yune nodded, understanding it all.

“Well okay, I think I get it now.  Is this what you didn’t want to tell me earlier?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you also said that your sight is kind of connected to that story, how did you become blind?”

“I tried to stop the guy from killing her, and he cut my eyes open with his katana, see.”  She said as she took off her blindfold.  There was a large scar across her face, and her eyes had slits going across the length of her eyes.

“Well…  Now i understand why you wear a blindfold instead of those blind glasses.”

“You’re the first person aside from my family to see my scar.”

Mariko started to scream in pain.  blood started to pour out of her empty eye socket.  He covered the hole with her hand.

“Kurosawa-chan!  What’s wrong!?”

“He’s…  He’s calling…  for me…  I have…  to go!”

With a poof she vanished.

“Well, I hope she’s alright.”  Said Yune.

“Should we keep looking for the teacher’s?”  Asked Yuki.

 

***

 

In a shrine like building somewhere in tokyo, a man in a suit was ringing a little bell.  Mariko appeared at the building where he was.

“What do you want?”  She asked.

“Kurosawa…”  The man said in a deep voice.  “You’ve been naughty haven’t you?”

“What do you mean?  I wasn’t naughty.”

“Don’t lie to me Kurosawa!  You know what I said if you were naughty.”

“No!  I wasn’t naughty!”

“Oh, then perhaps you can explain to me this.  Why would you mention me, and what I told you!  I told you to keep your mouth shut!”

“Please don’t!  I’m begging you!”

The man pulled out a sheet of paper that had 悪魔を追い払う(ward off demons) written on it.  He held it out to Mariko.

“AGGGH!”  She cried.  “Stop!  It hurts!”

“I won’t stop, This is what you get for deceiving me!”

“Stop!  Please!”

Blood was gushing from her missing eye like crazy.  The eyes on her hands where bleeding severely as well.  Her screams were agonising, every inch of her body was in pain as if she just took a bath in acid.

“STOOOOOP!”

He slowly put the charm away.  “I hope you learned your lesson.”

 

***

 

Yune and Yuki checked the boiler room.  The boiler room smelt incredibly vile, but they checked it anyway.  Inside of the room, there was a pile of bodies on top of another.

“Well, oh my…”  Said Yune.

“What is it?”  Asked Yuki.

“Well, Fujimaru-sama, Tsukibasu-sensei, Himimaru-sensei, all of the teachers, they’re…”

“Wh-what!?”

“Well, I’m checking their bodies now.”  Yune checked every one of the dead bodies, hoping to find a pulse on at least one of them.  “Well, Nothing, they’re all dead…”

“What, no!  How!?”

“Well, I don’t know, There doesn’t seem to be any wounds on them.  But why were they in the boiler room?  We need to alert the authorities.”

Yune called 911 to get the police.  They got to the school and Yune explained what had happened.  The police also checked the bodies, and couldn’t find anything about what could have caused their deaths.

“You know anyone who could have done this?”  Asked one of the cops.

“Well, no.”  Said Yune.

“What about you little girl?”

“I don’t think so.”  Said Yuki.

“Okay, we won’t give up just yet, but as it looks right now, I don’t think we’ll be able to find much.”

“Well, Inoue, I think I’ll take you home now.”  Said Yune.

“But school isn’t over yet.”  Said Yuki.

“Well, with no teachers you can’t really have school.”

“Oh…  yeah.”

“Alright, we’ll evacuate all of the other students.  As far as we know, this school is a crime scene.”

“Well, alright, let’s get going Inoue.”

Yune started to drive Yuki back home.”

“Well, how could this have happened?”  Yune said to himself.

“How do you think they died?”  Asked Yuki.

“Well, I don’t know, There didn’t seem to be signs of struggles.  I don’t want to say it, but it maybe, could it be suicide?”

“Why would all of the teachers gather in the boiler room and commit mass suicide?”

“Well, that’s what so far-fetched to me.  And why were they even in the boiler room?”

“What will happen to our school?”

“Well, I assume it’ll go out of business, I don’t think the administrator will even be able to sell that building, nobody will ever buy that place what with so many deaths happening in it at once.  I think they’ll send you all to new schools.  There are a lot of schools in Tokyo, so it’s likely you won’t be in a class with your old classmates.”

“I liked Fujimaru-sensei, he was always so nice to me.  Unono-sensei was also really nice…  Um, you don’t think Kurosawa-chan had something to do with it?”

“Well, Once again, I don’t know.  She was really freaky, but She didn’t seem like the type to kill.”

Yune pulled up to Yuki’s house.  He went up to the door with Yuki to let her parents know what had happened.

“Oh my…  How could that happen?”  Asked her mother.

“Well, we don’t know.”  Said Yune.  “The police are investigating as we speak.”

“That’s good.”

“Well, alright, take care now.”

“Yes, you too.  Come on Yuki.”

 

***

 

Later that night, the family sat down to watch the news.  Although Yuki technically just listened to it.

“Today, there were 11 teachers who were reported mysteriously dead.”  Said the news lady.  “There didn’t seem to be any injuries or struggle, and were found in a boiler room for some unknown reason.  The police are doing everything they can to find more details.  Among those dead were:  Himimaru Sarutobi, Tsukimori Sasuke, Fujimaru Wabisuke, Unono Tsubaki, Hakamaru Hitomi, Tsukibasu Akiko, Yusuke Kakashi, Akamaru Tobira, Murasaki Nagato, Aburame Rokuro, and Hashimoto Kaiga.”

“Only 11, If all of the teachers died, should there be more?”  Asked the news man.

“It was a small school.”

“That’s just terrible.”  Said Yuki’s father.  “How could this happen?”

“That’s what Mashoko was saying.”  Said Yuki.

“I don’t entirely trust this Mashoko guy.”

“Why not, he’s really nice.”  Asked the mother.

“Well, he’s an adult man who’s hanging out with our daughter, Not to mention, soon after he appeared, all of the teachers at the school die.  How do you know his niceness isn’t just a facade?  Plus he says well a lot, and that’s weird.”

“You’re being paranoid.”

“He stuck up for me a lot at school.”  Said Yuki.

“What do you mean by that?  I thought you said everything was going fine at school.”

“Oh…  Um…  I meant that he…”

“Yuki…  Did you lie to me?”

“Yes.”  She sighed.  “I’m sorry, I just didn’t want you to worry.”

“Yuki, I thought we raised you better.”

“You raised me just fine, I just didn’t want you to worry.”

The mother sighed.  “How about you just go to your room.”

“Okay.”  She said sourly.

She walked up to her room, dragging her hand across the wall so she can feel the braille.  While she was feeling across the wall, she found a door that didn’t have a braille sign on it.  She was filled with curiosity, but she would be able to see what was behind the door anyways, she just decided to ask her mother about it when she got the chance.  She moved along until she found her room.  When she was in her room she lied down on her bed.  She took off her blindfold just incase she fell asleep.

“Inoue-chan?”  Said a familiar voice.

“Kurosawa-chan?”

“Yep, It’s me!”  She said happily.

“What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see you, you’re my best friend.”

“Oh, Alright.”

“Inoue-chan, you look sad.”

“Oh?  I hadn’t noticed.”

“What happened?”

“A bunch of the teachers at school died.”

“Oh…”

“Kurosawa-chan, do you know anything about the deaths?”

“Um…  No…  And if I did, I couldn’t tell you.”

“But we’re best friends, you’re not suppose to keep secrets from best friends.”

“Yeah, but if I tell you, He’ll hurt me…  OH NO!  I mentioned him again!”

“Who is him?”

“I can’t tell you!  I’m sorry, I wanted to ask you something though.”

“What is it?”

“What’s school like?”

Yuki had forgotten that Mariko had never gotten the chance to go to school.  She didn’t know quite how to describe it to her.  She didn’t even know what school looked like.  Then she wondered how people would treat her if she could still see.  Maybe those girls would be such jerks to her.  Maybe she wouldn’t even live in Tokyo.  She tried to describe school in the best way she possibly could.

“School is a place where you go to learn things, there are other people there around our age called students.”

“I know that much…  I want to know about the kind of people there.”

“Oh, well, It depends.  Not every school has the same type of people.  And next time you ask something like that, be more specific.”

“Okay.  What are the people like in your school?”

Yuki went on to describe everything to her.  About the Jerk girls, Kenji, Yune, and Even some of the teachers.

5: Chapter Four

Ch 4 - Jisatsu

 

Yuki finished her story on the people at her school, and had explained that she might have to go to a new school.

“Is that all?" Asked Mariko.

“Yeah, that’s about it.”

“Okay, I should probably go anyways, He punishes me if I’m late.”

Yuki didn’t even try to ask who he was this time, she knew she would just get the same response as usual. As Mariko left, Yuki Lied back down on her bed trying to fall asleep. She wondered how things might turn out, how quickly she would be transferred to another school. She knew that she might not be with Kenji anymore. Aside from Yune, he was the only other person that was actually a friend to her. After staring into inky blackness, she was finally able to fall asleep.

 

***

 

Mariko had gotten back to the shrine like building with the man. He looked back at Mariko with some pleasure in his eyes.

“Looks like somebody isn’t getting the charm today.”

“Really! Domo Arigato!”

“Uh huh." He said uninterested. “Now, I have a new assignment for you.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“I need you to persuade another person to kill himself.”

“Like with the teachers?”

“That’s right, except for this death will actually matter in the grand scheme of things.”

“You mean the Teacher’s deaths…  Didn’t matter?”

“Huh? No, of course not. They were just used as a test, to see if the whole project could actually work.”

“And what is the project?”

“Ah ah ah, Let’s not get cocky. You haven’t earned enough of my trust to convey that to you.”

“Okay, I understand.”

“Good, now you’ll need to know who your persuading. His name is Akanaki Rokuro, he’s the head of a very important business, and that business needs to fall.”

“Why?”

“It’s…  Evil.”

“Huh, but If he’s evil, he should be allowed to have the fun I’m having.”

“Don’t question it, you just do what you’re told.”

“But-”

“I know you don’t want me to take out the charm…  Do you?”

“No…”

“Good girl. Now get out and Make him stop breathing.”

“Okay…”

 

***

 

It was morning. Yuki’s mother didn’t wake her up today, due to no school. Yuki slowly woke up putting her blindfold back on. She made her way downstairs where her mother was fixing breakfast. As the mother saw Yuki she began to speak.

“Just so you know, you’ll be home alone for a bit today. I’m taking Ichiro to doctor, he’s been coughing quite a bit.”

“If it’s just a cough, why do you need to take him to the doctor?" Asked Yuki.

“You say that now, but when it turns into the flu-”

“Okay, I get it.”

“Yeah okay. Just eat your breakfast.”

Yuki sat down at the Kotetsu and felt in front of her to find that there was no food.

“It’s not done yet." Her mother said.

“And how was I suppose to know that?" Yuki asked.

“I don’t need any attitude from you missy." She said as she sat the plate down in front of Yuki. “Now it’s finished.”

Yuki ate her breakfast and waited in the living room. Her mother left the TV on the news channel so she’s have something to listen to. The news was really one of the only things that she liked on TV, everything else just didn’t connect to her. Her mother soon left with Ichiro. While Yuki was listening to the news they mentioned the dead teachers again.

“After further analysis, it has been revealed that they were all poisoned. All leads point to suicide. But the question still stands. Why would all of the teachers of that school gather in the boiler room just to commit suicide together?”

“So they did commit suicide?” Yuki asked herself.

Yuki sat on the couch for a while and then the phone in the kitchen began to ring. Yuki followed the sound of the ringing to find the phone. She almost tripped on the Kotetsu but she still made it to the phone just fine. She picked up and answered.

“Well, hello, Is Inoue Yuki there?” Said the voice on the phone but I’m pretty sure we all know who it is.

“This is Yuki.” She said.

“Well good, this is Mashoko.”

“I didn’t notice.”

“Well, okay, I just wanted to make sure you’re alright.”

“I’m fine.”

“Well, good, Now did you see the news?”

“I heard the news.”

“Well, I’m sorry, It completely slipped my mind.”

“It’s fine. I assume you mean about that they committed suicide.”

“Well, yes. Isn’t it odd?”

“Yeah.”

“Well okay, I just wanted to check up on you. I’ll see you when they enroll you in a new school.”

“I won’t.”

“Well gosh dang it! Sorry, How about I just hang up.”

“Alright, bye.”

Yuki hung up the phone and walked back to the couch. She listened to the news some more and fell asleep on the couch. She was woken up by the slamming of a door. Yuki’s father had ran into the house and saw that the news was already on, He saw Yuki on the couch, but he seemed to have something more important on his mind.

“Another suicide has been reported at Akanaki Industries. The founder of the company, Akanaki Rokuro, was found on the floor of his office with a gun in his hand, and a hole in his head.”

“What’s going on?” Yuki asked sleepily.

“Sadly this means that the company will go out of business, and everyone who worked there will lose their jobs.”

“GAH!” Yuki’s father shouted.

“Um… Isn’t Akanaki Industries where you work Otousan?”

“Yes.” He growled.

He got up off of the couch and headed upstairs muttering some japanese profanity on the way up to his room. Yuki had had enough for today and went up to her room. She walked passed the unmarked door again, but didn’t think it was the appropriate time to ask about it. When she got to her room, she lied down on her bed and found that there was a piece of paper underneath her. She grabbed the paper and learned that there were holes poked into it. She felt it further and saw that the holes where in the form a braille. it read “I’m sorry, I can’t see you anymore. Love Mariko.”

“Kurosawa-chan…” She said sadly.

She heard someone opening her front door. The person who had entered was her mother and she began to yell for the father. She seemed to be upset about something, likely the fact that Yuki’s father was home and not at work. They argued a lot, It even went on through the night. Yuki just did the best she could to stay out of it and fall asleep.

6: Chapter Five

Ch 5 - Masumasu waruku e

 

In the morning, Yuki woke up to the sound of yelling, It was a lot earlier than normal as well. 5 o'clock in the morning. First she didn’t think to much of it, because she was chastising herself for falling asleep with her blindfold on. After she was done, she listened to the yelling outside her room.

“Why can’t you think about the children even once!?” Said her mother’s voice.

“How can I when everything else is turning to hell as we speak!?” Said the voice of her father.

“The world doesn’t revolve around you!”

“It doesn’t revolve around the kids either!”

“You can be so inconsiderate! Don’t you even love your kids!?”

“You want the truth!? YOU REALLY WANT THE TRUTH!?”

“Yes!”

“No! No I don’t! Yuki is a cripple, and Ichiro was an accident! Do you know how many people at my workplace make fun of Me for having a blind daughter! She brings shame upon this family! It pained me just to keep up the facade!”

Yuki had wished that she didn’t listen. She buried her face into her pillow so it would muffle her cries. While no tears came from her eyes, she still cried the hardest she ever had in her life. There was a sound of somebody stumbling. She eventually cried herself to sleep. When she woke up at 9 o’clock. She kept telling herself that what she heard earlier that morning was just a dream even though it obviously wasn’t. She walked downstairs and she called for her mother but there was no answer. She walked further into the living room and tripped over something. It was sort of soft, nothing like any furniture. While she was on the ground, her hand was in something wet and warm. It didn’t feel like water, it was too thick. She turned around to feel what it was that she tripped over. She felt something that was like an arm, she went lower to fell fingers. The hand was smaller and had fairly long nails. She went up, hoping for the best. She felt the head with long hair, when she got to the neck, it was cut open. She began to weep. It was too much for her to take in all at once. She looked for the kitchen phone and counted the buttons to nine and then pressed the one button twice.

“Hello, emergency hotline, please state the nature of your crisis.”

“I… I found someone on my floor with their neck slit open.” She said with her voice cracking.

“Okay, please stay calm dear, We’ll send someone over right away. Now where do you live?”

“I… I don’t know, I was never told.”

“Is this some kind of joke?”

“No, I don’t know where I live. It’s not far from the school that had all of the suicides.”

“That could mean anything. If you’re not going to take this seriously-”

“No! Please! I’m blind! I have no way of knowing where I live!”

“Miss, do not raise your voice to me. I’ll just use caller ID to see if I can pinpoint where you’re calling from.”

“Oh, Domo Arigato!”

She waited for the police while on the floor. Eventually there was a knocking on her door. She stepped over the the body and opened the door. They came in and one of them held Yuki still, they had no way of knowing if Yuki could have been the killer or not, even though most of them thought it might turn out to be suicide, but they couldn’t be too sure.

“Alright boys, Looks like this time we have a murder case. You see, there are obvious signs of struggle, not to mention the murder weapon is nowhere to be found. Now little girl, If you tell us where the weapon is, this will all go smoothly.”

“I don’t know where it is. I don’t even know who’s on the floor. I found her like this.”

“Yeah, like we’re going to buy that blind crap!”

“What do you mean!? I didn’t do it!”

“We tried to do this the easy way, but you leave us no choice.”

The officer grabbed her blindfold and ripped it off.

“Wow, you’re committed, you even used makeup to make it look like you have a scar.”

“I didn’t do it!” She cried.

“Well see what the court has to say about that.”

 

***

 

Another day passed. Yune was home and turned his TV on to watch the news. On the news he saw something that shocked him severely.

“Just yesterday, this woman who has been identified as Inoue Hitomi, was slaughtered in her own home.”

“Well that’s Inoue Yuki’s mother!” Yune said to himself.

“The murderer is believed to be the woman’s own daughter, Inoue Yuki.”

“Well, Oh my god… It’s not possible!”

“The girl claims to not have done it, but there is no other evidence to point otherwise. She will probably be looking at 20 or more years in prison. She is currently awaiting her trial.”

“Well, I have to do something quick.”

Yune ran out the front door. He was determined to get to the Police department as quick as he possibly could. He drove as fast as he could running any stop signs and red lights. He didn’t care, he would pay the fines, he just needed to get to the police department. He arrived at his destination and barged into the building.

“Well, Inoue!” He shouted.

“Mashoko!” Said Yuki who was handcuffed to one of the benches. “Please Mashoko, tell them I’m innocent.”

“Well, I’m sorry, but I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that. Their going to have to take you to court. But once that happens, I’ll be by your side the whole time. Do you have a lawyer?”

“No.”

“Well now you do, I happen to be a valid Lawyer, Granted I only went to law school for a week, but I’m still a valid lawyer.”

“Does it really work like that?”

“Well, what they don’t know won’t hurt ‘em.”

“Okay, I trust you.”

“Well, Arigato. Now where’s your blindfold?”

“One of the cops tore it off of me.”

“Well, all the nerve. I’m gonna buy you a new one alright.”

“Okay, Domo Arigato.”

“Well, don’t mention it. I’ll be back before you know it.”

Yune left the building, happy to know that Yuki was okay. He left for a store to buy Yuki a new blindfold like the one she had.

 

***

 

Back at the shrine building, The man was holding his chin admiring the stories on the news.

“I must admit Kurosawa, You’ve made me proud. Everything is playing out how I hoped it would.” Said the man.

“Um, Now can you tell me the plan?” Asked Mariko.

“Ugh, why must you ruin my moment with your questions?”

“But-”

“But nothing! You must have no knowledge of the plan, but I can tell you why Akanaki had to die. You see, his company is one of the most important in Tokyo. If it falls, so does the society, the ecosystem… the people! It was the what I needed to drive the city into chaos! and It looks like it’s working, Some one already killed someone, I might not even need you as time goes on.”

“This all sounds evil…”

“What, oh how you doubt your gracious master Kurosawa. You must be disciplined for this.”

“No! Please, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it!”

The man reached for the charm in his pocket and held it out to Mariko. She screamed in intense pain as the man just stood there watching with a smile on his face.

 

7: Chapter Six

Ch 6 - Saibansho to bengoshi

 

About a week passed, Yuki and Yune were sitting in the court in the defendant box. She was being tried for murder. The judge entered into the room and banged his gaval.

“Inoue Yuki! You are here because you allegedly murdered your Okaasan.” That line made Yuki’s heart fall into her stomach. She had no idea that the person she had found was her own mother. She continued to sit there with a blank expresion on her face. “It is unknown what happened to your father, But all of the facts point to you killing your Okaasan. How do you plead?”

“Not guilty.”

“Very well, Let the case begin. We will start with the Plaintiff. Please state your case.”

The cop who had accused Yuki of murder stood up and began to speak.

“It was 9:03 when we received a call from a house that was where she lived. Her and the dead Okaasan where the only people in the house, There were obvious signs of struggle and the murder weapon was nowhere to be found, suggesting that she hid the weapon. She was pretending to be blind in a hope that we might go easy on her, but I saw right through her little ploy.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes sir.”

“Okay, now for the defendants side of the story.”

“What!? She’s obviously guilty, why even bother!?”

“Please sir, this is a fair court, I will not have any of this, sit down and be quiet.”

The police man sat down with his arms crossed. Yuki stood up and began to talk.

“I woke up at in what I assume was the middle of the night by yelling outside of my door, I went to listen at what the yelling was, and it was Okaasan and Otousan. They were arguing, but worse than usual. Otousan said things that made me regret listening. I went back to bed and woke up later that morning. and went down stairs. I tripped over a body but I didn’t know who it was. I called 911 and the cops came over.

“Objection your honor!” Said the cop.

“What is it!?” The judge said.

“If she actually was blind, how could she have called 911?”

“Hmm, that’s a good point.”

“I can still feel things.” Said Yuki.

“Hmm, that is also a good point.”

“She’s obviously not blind!” Said the cop.

“Well, she is blind, I was called to her school for that exact reason, to help her out.” Said Yune.

“Huh, what are you then, a seeing eye man or a lawyer!?”

“Well, a little bit of both.”

“Stop your bickering!” Said the judge. “How about we take a recess.” He said as he banged his gavel.

 

***

 

Deep in the shrine like building, was a white room with a desk and four monitors on the wall in front of it. The dest had a plaque on it that said “Akanaki Jiro: Tokyo, Japan.” The monitors also had plaques on them. Going from left to right, was “Alexander Hugh: New York, USA”, “Joshua Copperfield: London, England”, Jaidev Beva: Mumbai, India”, and “Nikolai Karp: Moscow, Russia”. The one that said Joshua had a silhouette of a man on it. The man who was controlling Mariko walked into the room and sat down on the dest.

“Jiro, The others are not yet here.” Said the Joshua monitor.

“I can see that Josh.” Said the man now known as Jiro.

The monitor label with Jaidev turned on and showed a silhouette of a man.

“Hello, Thank you for calling customer service.” The silhouette said.

Joshua chuckled while Jiro gave a chastising look.

“Jaidev, please don’t adhere to stereotypes.” Said Jiro.

“Oh calm down Math Genius.” Said Josh.

“Just keep sipping your tea Josh.”

“I will.”

“So I guess we are the only ones right now.” Said Jaived.

“That’s right.” Said Jiro.

“Oh hold on.” Said Josh. “Looks like Nikolai is coming.”

The monitor labeled Nikolai turned on and a silhouette appeared on it.

“What did I miss.” Said the silhouette in a thick Russian accent.

“You didn’t miss anything Nikolai.” Said Jaived. “We’re still waiting for Alex.”

“While we’re waiting, why don’t we tell each other how each other's days are going.” Said Joshua.

“I am being great!” Shouted Nikolai. “I have finally found-”

“Save it for the meeting big guy.” Said Jiro.

The monitor labeled Alexander turned on and a silhouette appeared on it.”

“Sorry I’m late guys.” Said the silhouette.

“You’re always late Alex.” Said Jaived.

“Alright, now that everyone is here.” Said Jiro. “We’ll get to the first matter of business. Who has found the one they’re looking for?”

“I have!” Shouted Nikolai. “I am full of joy!”

“Okay, calm down. I have also found my target.”

“I don’t think I’m doing it right.” Said Alexander.

“What don’t you get Alex?”

“I don’t know what to look for.”

“Don’t you have the anomaly tracker?” Asked Joshua.

“Anomaly tracker?”

“Yes, It can find the family in your region that might have the power to turn into a spirit after they have died.” Said Jaived.

“Yeah, it won’t tell you who it is exactly, that’s why you need to hire someone to kill the whole clan, and eventually they will resurrect and you can control them but you have to catch them first.” Said Jiro.

“ugh, Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“No, I’m not. Josh, Jaived, how are your searches doing?”

“I have killed the targets, I’m just waiting for the one to resurrect.” Said Joshua.

“The same here.” Said Jaived.

“So Alex is the only one who’s behind. Leave it to an American to be the stupidest one in the group.” Said Jiro.

“Hey… That’s kind of mean.” Said Alexander.

“Quiet down Alex. Now, Nikolai, how much progress have you made with the spirit you caught?”

“Not much, I just got him.”

“Interesting, So far I’ve killed the whole faculty of a school, and the head of Akanaki Industries.”

“What? Why would you kill your youngest brother?” Asked Joshua.

“Rokuro and I had our differences, besides it was part of the plan to take down the figurehead of business in our respective regions. If that goes well, we will then spread to the rest of the world, that is, If they haven't killed each other yet. Just recently A little girl killed her own mother.”

“Really? That’s harsh.” Said Jaived.

“He would have died eventually.”

“I guess that’s right.” Said Alexander.

 

***

 

Back at the courthouse, Recess was over, and everyone was back in their spots. The judge banged his gavel and they returned to the case at hand.

“Look, I would very much appreciate if we wrap this up quickly. Now can one of you just admit that you’re wrong or just confess?” Said the Judge.

“You heard him! Just confess!” Said The Cop.

“Well how about you admit that you’re wrong.” Said Yune.

“I’m not wrong, I’m never wrong.”

“Well theres always a time to try new things.”

“Why you…”

“Order in the court!” Said the judge.

Just then Yuki thought of something, While she didn’t like what she thought of, she still had the idea.

“Mr. Judge.” She said.

“Hey! You can’t address him as such!” Shouted the cop.

“I’ll allow it. What do you want Inoue?” Asked the judge.

“I think I know who did it.” She said.

“Who did the murder?”

“Yes.”

“Because it’s her!” Shouted the cop.

“Order! Who do you call to the stand Inoue?”

“… Otousan…”

“Hmm… Do you know where he is?”

“No.”

“We’ll look for him, and then we'll bring him up to the stand.”

“Okay Arigato.”

“In the meantime… Just sit there, It’s too early for another recess, so please be patient while we look for him.”

Everyone waited for about an hour until Yuki’s father arrived. The bailiff guided him to the stand and had him swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth.

“Now, what do you know about Inoue Hitomi?” Asked the judge.

“She was my wife.” He answered monotonously.

“Was?”

“Yes.”

“Why was?”

“I killed her.” Said Yuki’s father while everyone reading this says “Yeah, I saw that coming.”

“What!? You mean Inoue Yuki didn’t kill her!?” Asked the cop.

“No, It was me.”

“Why Otousan!?” Asked Yuki.

“Don’t call me that anymore… Now to answer your question, I simply couldn’t take it anymore. I had to do something. I couldn’t stand to be in that family anymore.”

Yuki made crying noises and laid her head down.

“That’s enough for me, Take him away please.” Said the judge. “Now, not that it isn’t obvious, what does the jury say?”

A man stood up and said. “Not guilty.”

“Right, looks like this is all over… Finally.”

Everyone got up ready to leave. The cop walked over to Yuki with his head down.

“Hey… I’m sorry for accusing you of murder.” He said.

“It’s fine.” Yuki sighed.

“So, Are you really blind?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, I’m really sorry.”

“It’s fine.”

“Well, Inoue, you’re free to stay at my place since you… Well, you know.” Said Yune

“Arigato.”

Yune and Yuki got into Yune’s car and he went on to drive back to his house.

“Well, If you need anything, I’ll be here.” Said Yune.

“Okay.” She said quietly.

Yune looked at her with sorrow in his eyes.

“Well, how about I take us to get a bite to eat?”

Yuki didn’t answer.

“Well, Inoue?”

“Okay.” She said.

8: Chapter Seven

Ch 7 - Kurōzetto no naka ni bokkusu

 

Yune took Yuki out to Kabuki for Dinner. Whenever Yune would ask Yuki a question, she would always leave him with a small answer such as Yes, No, or I don’t know, or no Answer at all. Yuki barely ate any of her food.

“Well, Inoue… You haven’t touched your food at all.”

Yuki shrugged and just felt her plate.

“Well, I wish there was some way I could help.”

Again, Yuki did not answer.

“Well,how about after this, We’ll go over to your house and we’ll pick up your stuff and clothing.”

“Okay.” She said quietly.

Yune looked down at his plate.

“Well, listen… I’m very sorry about what happened. About everything.”

Yuki just kept looking down at her plate.

“Well, how about I get you Ice cream after this? Would you eat it?”

“I thought we were going back to get my stuff after this.”

“Well, that can wait till after the Ice cream, But You’ll have to promise me that you would eat it.”

“I’m sorry, I’m just not in the mood to really eat anything.”

“Well, it’s alright, We’ll just pack up your leftovers and take it home.”

“Okay.”

“Well, Alright I’m going to go pay the bill. You go wait in the car.”

“Okay.”

Yuki walked out of the restaurant and looked for the car. She remembered that he parked close to the entrance, so she wouldn’t have to go far. She found a car and brought herself to the passenger side. She opened the door and sat down inside. She heard what sounded like a gunshot and yelling outside her door.

“The world is falling apart!” Said a Man’s voice.

The other person who was the one who was shot Was screaming bloody murder. Yuki sunk down in her seat, she was scared to get involved. The man who shot the other ran off, and the one who was shot just lied on the ground. Yune walked out of the restaurant and back into the car. He that Yuki had a terrified look on her face.

“Well, What’s wrong Inoue?” Asked Yune.

“I heard someone get shot.” “Replied Yuki.

“WELL, WHAT!?”

Yune ran out of the car and looked for the person who was shot. He found them lying on the ground and he ran quickly over to them. It was a man, and he was bleeding from his shoulder. Yune tore the left sleeve from his sweatshirt. and wrapped it around the man’s shoulder and then he applied pressure.

“Well, don’t worry, You’ll be just fine.” Yune said to the man.

“Are… You a doctor?” The man asked.

“Well no, but I have a medical license.”

“Thank… You.”

“Well, It’s no problem at all.”

Yune called 119 for the ambulance and stayed with the man until it arrived. The paramedics took the man into the back of the ambulance and left. Yune walked back to the car and started to drive off.

“Well, It’s a good thing you told me about that, Otherwise that man probably would have died.”

“What did you do to him?”

“Well, I just used my sleeve to try and stop the bleeding, or at least slow it down.”

“Your sleeve?”

“Well, yeah, but It’s fine, it’s a really cheap sweater I can always get another. Now lets go get your things.”

“Okay.”

Yune drove to Yuki’s old house to retrieve her things. As they arrived, Yune felt an odd and scary atmosphere about the house. They both walked into the house regardless. The Dead mother was no longer on the floor as they walked in. Yuki brought Yune up to her room and he grabbed her clothes from the dresser and took them to the car. When Yune finished, Yuki remembered the unmarked door.

“Mashoko, could you do me a favor?” Asked Yuki.

“Well, what is it?” Answered Yune.

“This door isn’t marked with Braille. I want to know what’s behind it.”

“Well of course, I’d be happy to help.”

Yune opened the door slowly and looked inside.

“Well, there’s a box here.”

“A box?”

“Well yeah, other than that, It’s just a closet. The box says Hakake Tenmyouji on it. Do you know anyone by that name?”

“No.”

“Well, then I’ll take a look inside it.”

Yune opened the box and looked inside.

“What’s inside?” Asked Yuki.

“Well, It looks like some clothes in it, There’s some sort of balls three to be exact, and… Is this a spell tag?”

Yune held up a piece of paper with パージ(Purge) written on it.

“Well yeah, I think this is a legit spell tag, made by an Onmyoji.”

“Onmyoji?”

“Well yeah, Onmyoji are people that make spell tags to protect against demons and ghosts. Sometimes you get the rare guy who isn’t an onmyoji that can still make spell tags, but they tend to be fakes and what’s written on them usually isn’t what you would find on a real spell tag. The fake ones are usually called Charms.”

“Would a fake spell tag not work?”

“Well no, they work just as well as a real one. I’m guessing that whoever this Tenmyouji guy is, He might be an Onmyoji.”

“Tenmyouji the Onmyoji.” Laughed Yuki.

“Well, I’m glad to see you’re starting to feel better.”

“Yeah, okay, How do we find this Tenmyouji?”

“Well, I don’t know. We could always ask around, but if we were to search for him online, we would need his middle name as well.”

“I guess your right.”

“Well alright, I’m going to take this box with us if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind.”

“Well good, we’ll go home and get your stuff put away alright. Then we’ll try to find out who this Hakake Tenmyouji guy is.”

9: Chapter Eight

Ch 8 - In'yōshi o sagashite

About a week later

 

Yuki woke up in Yune’s room. Yune was sleeping in the livingroom on the sofa because he thought Yuki would be happier in a bigger room with an actual bed. She was starting to get over her parents, and nobody even knew what happened to Ichiro. She wasn’t used to the alignment of Yune’s room and ended up walking into a wall, she felt around the wall and started to panic. She called for Yune who walked into the room she was in on the complete other side of her.

“Well Inoue, are you alright?” He asked.

“No, I’m stuck, I can’t find my way out.” Yuki said hysterically.

“Well, I thought you could see with vibrations.” Yune said while walking toward her.

“I just said that so people wouldn’t think I was helpless. I don’t know where anything is, the only way I can get around is if I know how things are arranged.”

“Well, you’ve walked to and from school before haven’t you?”

“Yeah, but that’s kind of easy. The sidewalk's easy to keep up with and plus I had Kenji to help me.”

Yune chuckled as he led her to the living room.

“What’s so funny!?”

“Well, nothing important.”

“Yeah okay.”

“Well, Let’s just see what’s on the news.”

Yune turned on the news while Yuki just scoffed at his choice of words.

“Tokyo has been lucky in the past week.” Said the news lady.

“That’s right, no suicides have been reported lately in a long while.” Said the news man.

“Well. Maybe whatever’s been happening has stopped.” Yune wondered out loud.

“Hopefully.” Yuki said in return.

“Well, do you think we should see about finding that Hakake guy?”

“I nearly forgot about him.”

“Well, yeah, it has been a while.” Yune said as he grabbed his laptop. “Let’s see.” He typed in the search box, Hakake Tenmyouji. “Eh, there are so many. Maybe if I type in Onmyoji.” Yune type Onmyoji along with Hakake Tenmyouji. “Well what the!? No results!”

“You can’t find anything?”

“Well, no.”

“Maybe can we ask people around the City?”

“Well we’d have to go through everyone in Tokyo, that would take maybe at least a month.”

“So what do we do?”

“Well… I don’t know.”

 

***

 

Back at the shrine like building, Jiro was waiting impatiently for the arrival of Mariko. She finally showed up and Jiro looked at her with fury in his eyes.

“Oh no… What did I do?” She asked.

“Oh… It’s nothing you did… IT’S WHAT YOU DIDN’T DO!” Jiro snapped.

“What?”

“You know what I’m talking about, there hasn’t been a single death in over a week!”

“But you said-”

“But you said.” Jiro said in a mocking voice. “I know what I said! But that doesn’t mean you can just go out and not make people die!”

“I’m so-”

“NO! You don’t get to be sorry! I have a plan, and you're putting it in jeopardy!”

Jiro reached into his pocket and pulled out a charm and held it out to Mariko. She screamed loud in pain. Blood began to rush out of her missing eye, and from the eyes on her hands. This went on for half an hour until Jiro got tired of it and put the charm up.

“Have you learned your lesson?” He asked.

“Yes… Yes…” Mariko cried.

“Good… Now go make people stop breathing… I don’t care who… Just do it.”

“Okay…” She said shakily as she left.

 

***

 

The next day at a library, Yune and Yuki where looking up books about Onmyoji, in hope of finding Tenmyouji. They found one book that mentioned famous Onmyoji, But it was only of dead Onmyoji, and the one they were looking for wasn’t there, the book was recent too, so not many inaccuracies. Eventually the librarian came up to them. He had slick black hair, and a dark shirt which had some strips of paper on them.

“Can I help you with something?” He asked in a condescending voice.

“Well, Yes, We’re looking for and Onmyoji who goes by the name of Hakake Tenmyouji.”

“Is that so?” His eyes widened, he must have known something. “Come with me.” He motioned to the back room and started walking towards it. “Okumura, you’re in charge while I’m gone.”

“Yes Sir.” The boy said.

The Man opened the door and let them in first. As Yune and Yuki walked through the door and The Man followed. He sat down in a large chair.

“So how did you hear of this Tenmyouji guy?” He asked.

“There was a box with his name on it in my house.” Yuki said.

“Is that a fact? Let me ask, what is your surname girl?”

“Inoue.”

“Inoue.” He repeated. “I knew you looked familiar from somewhere.”

“Well, you know her?” Yune asked.

“Of course I do, she’s almost family, I was good friends with her parents. But then I moved to Tokyo.”

“I don’t remember you at all.” Yuki said.

“I don’t blame you, You were only a little baby when I last saw you.”

“Well, so who are you?” Yune asked.

“I’m the man you’re looking for.”

“You’re Hakake Tenmyouji?” Yuki asked.

“Indeed I am.”

“Well, wow, you don’t know how long we’ve been looking for you.” Yune Exclaimed.

“No, I don’t. Now, what is it you need?”

“Oh, we didn’t think about that.” Yuki said.

“Well, we just tried to find you because your name was on the box.” Yune said.

“Ah I see. Well if you ever need anything, just give me a shout.” Tenmyouji said.

“Well alright, we’ll be sure to do just that.” Yune said as they walked out of the library.

“He seemed nice.” Yuki said.

“Well yeah, and him knowing your parents explains why they had a box with his name on it.” Yune added. “How about we get home Inoue?”

“Alright.”