Who are you?

Part 39

Shiori was confused. Instead of waking up outside, she woke up in the library tonight. She was a bit sad since she planned to show Oni a gift she was working on, but she decided to wait.

By now, she knew that there was a purpose to these nightly activities, and she had to glow with the flow, or it wouldn't end. There must be something here she had to see.

She looked around but saw nothing out of the ordinary in her immediate vicinity. It wasn't going to be that easy, so she got up and started walking around. Everything seemed as it always was. Nothing stood out to her.

The books were neatly on their shelves, the room was clean, and everything was too ordinary. The purpose couldn't be for her to check every single book for sure since it would take too much time, and it was also possible for her to do it during the day.

She decided to check the record book. Maybe she had to look for books recently taken from the library. As she was heading there, she saw it. The door to the back room was open, and some light was coming from there.

She knew she had to check it out, so she slowly walked there, trying to keep her footsteps silent and her presence hidden. The light coming from the room was dim and flickering, probably from candles.

The temple tried not to use artificial lighting, such as candles, since it was costly for such a big place, and their funds were limited. They valued natural light a lot, and Shiori was sure that no one would just leave a candle unattended in a room.

Someone must be inside, then. So, she made sure to be as silent as possible as she approached. She couldn't hear any sounds coming from the room. She slowly pushed a tendril of chakra to explore.

Now, she was sure that the room was empty, so she decided to look inside. No one was in, so she finally stepped in. It was a small room with many boxes stacked on each other on one side. On the other side, there was a bookshelf and a small table.

The candle was on top of the table. She walked to the table. There was a book left on it. The book looked very old. The cover seemed to be red at some point, but now it was more of a dark brown.

The cover was barely holding, and some papers were sticking out. Shiori bent forward and reached for the book. Just as her hand was about to touch the cover, she was grabbed from behind and pulled back.

A hand covered her mouth, and the arm wrapped around her body was solid. The only thing that kept her from attacking was the fact that this person grabbed her instead of attacking her when she was completely unaware of their approach. She was still tense and was trying to wiggle out of the grip.

If they wanted to hurt her, they had the opportunity. Then it hit her: the familiar smell of herbs. "Calm down, Shiori-san," the voice told her in a whisper.

She knew that voice. It was Daichi. So she let herself calm down. When Daichi was sure she wouldn't scream or attack when let go, he loosened his grip. Shiori slowly turned to face the man.

"Shiori-san. You know that you should not be here or out of your room at all at this hour. What are you trying to do?" He asked in a severe tone that didn't leave room for argument.

Shiori could tell the man would not accept flimsy excuses even if he wasn't trying to intimidate her. So she decided to be honest. "I woke up here." She saw the skeptical look in Daichi's eyes. "I... I..." She took a deep breath. "I think it would be better if I start from the beginning, Daichi-san. But it's going to be a long story." Shiori said. Feeling defeated.

There was suddenly a loud crashing sound from the outside, and Daichi froze. Shiori was sure that for a moment, she saw fear in his eyes, but it was brief.