Saving Touma

Chapter 2.I - Tengu

"I'll go get some air," Yukimura announced, quieting the room once again.

Before Yukimura could reach the corner, two figures popped out of it—an old man and a child. The child was holding a small pot with a small flame coming out of it. 

He got curious and immediately asked about it without introducing himself.

"Hey, what's that thing you're holding?" he asked. The two were startled but immediately composed themselves, realizing the man didn't mean harm. 

Before Ryosuke could answer, Genjiro ran up to Yukimura and held both his arms.

"Must leave! Must leave! Must leave! Must leave! Must leave!" he exclaimed, growing louder and faster with each repetition. 

Yukimura and Ryosuke were shocked by his grandfather's actions. Perplexed and embarrassed, Ryosuke pulled his grandfather away.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Let's go home, ojiisan," Ryosuke apologized as he dragged his hysterical grandfather by the arm.

Meanwhile, the commotion caught the attention of the other boys. They all went outside to check it out.

"What happened?" Katsuo asked Yukimura from the deck.

"Nothing. Just a confused old man. Must have mistaken me for someone," Yukimura explained as he watched the two fade into the darkness. He then went back inside with the others.

"What was that about, ojiisan? Do you know that man?" Ryosuke asked, worried, but his grandfather didn't answer as if trapped in his own world, still mumbling the same words.

"Must leave! Must leave! Must leave! Must leave!"

Ryosuke didn't know what to do, so he let his grandfather be and started preparing supper. He boiled some bamboo shoots and sweet potatoes. 

These had been their staple as far as he could remember. He wanted to cook rice once in a while, but it was hard to come by in the mountains. There wasn't enough space to farm rice, so they settled for root crops and vegetables. 

Bamboo shoots were abundant in the wild. They didn't need to grow them. There were also various fruit-bearing trees in the wild that Ryosuke loved to climb in autumn. 

There were wild peaches, persimmons, loquats, and plums growing all over the field, and the villagers were free to pick their fruits during harvest season. They even held festivals and fun games around the harvest.

Supper was finally ready. Ryosuke invited his grandfather but received no response. Realizing his grandfather wasn't coming, he went into the bedroom and found him asleep, the wooden box barely clasped in his arm. 

Almost immediately, Ryosuke's curiosity got the better of him. He crept into the room and gently extracted the box from his grandfather's arm. Then, he took it to the kitchen to see what was inside.

He placed the box on the table and stared at it for a good twenty seconds before beginning to examine its surface. He initially thought it was made of wood, but now that he had a closer look at it, he realized it was made of something else. 

He picked it up again to get a feel for its weight. It wasn't heavy, which meant it wasn't metal either. He shook it and there was nothing moving inside. Either it was empty or full.