The Rain Patters Down like Blood

Chapter 14: Never-ending Dream

He woke up with a fuzzy feeling.

Fluttering his eyes open, there was glass on the floor, with the wine spilling out. It ruined the carpet, but that was no worry.

It was 4 AM. Nobody was awake, so Sanemi got his uniform ready and took a shower. After said shower, Sanemi wore his clothes and went to Ikeno Yuri.

Ikeno Yuri was not too far away. The grace of the sun reflecting on the metals of Oyakata's car as the sea-esque breeze flows through the winter air.

This time, the snow didn't bother Sanemi's hair. He was using a jacket gifted by Kanae. He felt like his mother's arms were wrapped around him, and the ice-cold statues of the people outside were suddenly warm.

It was the ending of winter. It was about to be spring. The coldness of Sanemi's heart would be gone, right? It would be replaced by flowers like the cycle, right? Would he be alright, even?

Sanemi had a scent of nothingness in his dead eyes. Genya's death was now a misty memory, his siblings' too. The guilt and loss now gone like a cloud on summer days, like the winter's harsh cold becoming spring. It was destined to be like it.

Shinobu hurried to Sanemi. To Sanemi's instincts, that was bad. She only ran to people on bad occasions.

"Sanemi! We need to go to the Ajuuka forest for a mushroom or two after school. We need it to cure Obitum."

"Alright. We have to hurry up." Sanemi's eyes deepened.

Soon, they were in their classroom. They had English, Japanese literature, Math and more.

First subject was Japanese literature. There was nothing really interesting. A few hours later, it was lunch.

The hashiras walked together to their usual table. They already had their lunches packed. Sanemi looked beyond Iguro's shoulder.

The birds fluttered among the wind with unpredicting speed. Graceful, yes. Their haste reminded Sanemi about something he couldn't grasp right. The flowers smelled like autumn leaves still and a scent of lavender. It didn't smell too good, though it would be spring in a few days.

He continued to eat his lunch, just the usual ramen. The noodles were not too chewy or hard, and the broth tasted good with the spring onion. He also got his ohagi. He has a weird addiction to ohagi. He also had matcha. Sanemi has a weird addiction to ohagi and matcha.

After classes, they were at Ajuuka forest. Or, to say, the mostly seen part of Ajuuka forest at a 6-story building.

"Ara, ara," Mitsuri sighed. The last snowflake of winter had already fallen down the dreary sky. Spring was ending. "Why did you choose to go at 7 in the evening, Shinobu-chan?! I'm scared!"

Sanemi would understand. There was a translucent mist of fog around them, and flashlights on with about an hour of battery. It was ghost-quiet, and they couldn't see anything that dodged the moon. Right now, though, they could see the path with ease as soft beams of moonlight shone on them.

"I asked Oyakata-sama if we could skip curfew," she smiled. "he said yes. I chose this time to help us in defeating the Obitum. He says that if we couldn't find it today, we could do it tomorrow."

"At least we wouldn't get attacked by monsters, if they even exist! You have the thing," Mitsuri pointed to Shinobu. "and Sanemi's a skilled fighter with his sword!"

Sanemi's sword was attached to the belt he wore. He also wore his club uniform. To complement, he wore his usual white haori due to their looseness and sneakers.

"Don't rely on me too much." Sanemi scoffed, rolling his eyes. He regained his posture, naturally. A pause of peaceful silence followed. At least, by this time, Sanemi could truly scan the forest.

It was cold. Cold as ice, wind swift as lightning. It had been 15 minutes since they came into the Ajuuka forest. With that, it was already dark. Sanemi froze once there was a swift human yet non-human-like movement in the bushes. He exhaled once he found it was just a fox.

That was when they found the corpses of Sanemi's siblings. All Sanemi could do was nothing.