Help from the Shadows (Open Novella Contest)

1 (Akino)

As a Japanese, I could never really understand the Singaporean concept of things, since I'm more used to traditional tea ceremonies and the like. My best friends, Rau Maui and Kam Choiseung, could agree with me on that, being from Hawaii and South Korea respectively, but that doesn't stop us from getting along with everyone. Singapore is a nice place to live in if you can handle the high prices and difficulties here. 

Oh, by the way, I'm Akino Kin. I'm 20 years old, and I like to watch anime after a long day in an editor's office for a newspaper. Most people can recognise me by my short black hair, light brown eyes, peach skin, and medium size. When I'm not working, I wear a green t-shirt, blue pants, red shoes, and orange socks, also adding a pair of spectacles.

Anyways, everyday, we would meet up at my apartment and watch some anime together straight from Animax, a popular anime TV station, and then discuss about it. One of our main favourites is Youkai Watch Shadowside, the sequel to the original series and featuring new human characters. We really liked it because it helped Rau and Choiseung get better at Japanese. (Don't worry, we also watch some K-dramas when we have the time and Rau teaches us the native languages at Hawaii.)

My life, alongside my friends' ones, have been quite normal, in general. 

However, we never expected it to be interrupted by the characters of the anime that we liked watching.

Our lives were turned upside down in one day. 

/\/\ Help from the Shadows /\/\

That fateful day, we had been watching Youkai Watch Shadowside episode 37 after working in the evening, exhausted because it had been a horribly tough day, especially for Rau, who is a scriptwriter, and Choiseung, who had come back after another long case in the police office. Luckily for us, we were neighbours in an apartment complex, so we didn't have to worry too much about staying up late together. Choiseung's dad, Ren Chenhua, was another neighbour of ours, staying beside Choiseung's apartment to run a clinic for the inhabitants of the complex

Anyway, when it ended, we began chatting about the episode. 

"I can't believe that Natsume's the princess!" Choiseung remarked. We nodded. Despite the fact that we had suspected thanks to the preview from the previous episode, the truth was still shocking to us. 

"But I wonder why the さくら (sakura = cherry blossom) branch reacted to Keisuke," I mused. 

"I don't know, but, to be honest, I never expected the Princess to be an reincarnation of a Youkai ruler before the Enma tribe," Rau admitted. 

"Well, neither did I, but then again, Shutendouji and Douketsu were really funny at the end of the episode," Choiseung chuckled, causing us to giggle uncontrollably, recalling how they had tried to insist to help her, only for Keisuke and the others to interject. 

"...Honestly, I really can't help but sympathise with Keisuke," Choiseung suddenly confessed. "I mean, if I were introduced to a new world in one day and reunited with my best friend, I would have been shocked too." 

"True," I immediately agreed. Rau just nodded in agreement. That kind of shock must be difficult to register. And considering that Keisuke was eleven... Well, we really could understand Choiseung's point. 

Just then, the bell to my apartment rang. We blinked as we looked at one another, a bit confused. 

Who could it be?  was the unspoken question. 

That's why Rau poked me. So did Choiseung. Almost immediately, their intention was obvious. 

They were asking me to get the door. 

I sighed. These two... Giving up with them, I stood up and walked to the door. 

Once I was in front of the door, a sudden thought flew into my head. I froze.

Is it someone who wanted to harm us? 

That would sort of make sense, since Choiseung had brought a lot of people behind bars as a detective. But why come here? No one knew about our secret tradition. 

I ultimately decided to open the door, of course, because who knew who it could be.

But what I saw caused me to yelp out in shock. 

Why?

Because Himeno Ayame, one of the protagonists in Shadowside... was right in front of me, limping and horribly beaten up. 

From my point of view, I could clearly see some heavy wounds here and there. She looked tired and pale, only managing to mutter "P-Please help them..." in Japanese before she collapsed on the ground, unconscious. 

"Oi! Himeno Ayame! Are you okay?!" I shouted out in response, using my native language while scooping her up and shaking her. 

Choiseung and Rau, who had been brought out by the noise, froze in shock too once they realised who I was carrying. 

"Guys, we have to go to Uncle Chenhua's place!" I quickly urged. Luckily, they managed to snap out of their trances and helped me carry her to Uncle Chenhua's clinic. 

Once we got there, I immediately set her down on a bed while quickly explaining what had happened to Uncle Chenhua. Fortunately, he could decipher my quick speech and pushed the three of us out before he began to deal with her wounds. 

The unspoken question weighed down on our minds as we waited for the results.

What on Earth happened to Himeno Ayame?