The Last Higanbana

Chapter 4 : Orphanage

Feeling no pain.

What a blessing that is.

But of course there is a price to pay for such an advantageous condition.

Rihito, after his true reality faced him, couldn't bear such a heavy responsibility and ran away. He ran away from everything, because he was........ weak. It was morning again, when he sat next to his mother's grave after washing off all the blood he had rejected the other day. He eventually lay against the tree, where the soft, lush green grasses brushed past his legs.

The tree leaves rustled alongside the fresh winds, letting a few strands of light warmly land on his figure. Pale white fair skin, a childish, but slightly handsome features and short, silky black hair that lay freely across his shoulders. At a glance from afar, the scene depicted a story like atmosphere, where an otherworldly prince would sit peacefully amidst the nature. It was just that when the villagers approached him, what they felt was pity. Or rather, the villagers found it difficult to process what was in front of them, with such emptiness and despair present within the boy's eyes.

Sitting beneath his mother's favourite tree, his eyes lost its liveliness, as he stared into a blank space unknown to the adults before him. His lack of reaction and emotions plunged everyone's heart into sadness. After his mother passed away, the rumours that a child was left in their house spread like wildfire, reaching the village chief's ears. Making up their minds, they decided to visit the child after making preparations to send him to an orphanage of the neighbouring town. As a somewhat poor village that was only able to live normal lives due to their few numbers, the families couldn't afford to take care of another child.

"H-hey little one..." A friendly looking man spoke to the unresponsive child before him. There was a few seconds of awkwardness until the man sighed. This was because as expected, the response he received from the child was silence. Continuing their attempts to get a reaction from the boy, the villagers desperately tried to talk to him. Of course, it ended as a failure. After chattering amongst themselves for solutions, someone stepped in.

"We're going to send you to a new home." A muscular man forcefully grabbed Rihito's skinny arm and dragged him onto his horse. Without resisting, Rihito was taken to the neighbouring town. Unlike their village, this town was flourishing with precious goods, jewels and had a crowded population. Their attractions were the wide variety of products they sold, especially with food and drinks. However, the two figures, one tall and one short, rode past the busy and noisy streets into a more silent area.

As the rowdy stalls and markets passed by, they entered into a more dark and shady pathway. The only difference was the amount of people that were present on this street. There were some children lying against the wall, obviously malnourished and fatigued as they just stared at the skies. Although they looked as if they were starving, they displayed no pain nor suffering, but instead had an aura of peacefulness, as if..... they were released from something.

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After stopping in front of a small, wooden cottage, the man dragged Rihito in, where he talked to the manager of the orphanage and then swiftly left. It was just that suspiciously, the man received a bag that contained a few gold pieces before leaving Rihito in the cottage. Unknown to Rihito, he didn't realise just what kind of 'orphanage' he was taken to. With his clouded mind, he didn't realise how strange the children within the cottage were behaving. Usually, an orphanage would have a variety of children, from many ages, especially the younger ones, as the older ones would have to leave in order to help relieve the financial stress of a charity based organisation.

Yet, the only children that were present were older than Rihito, probably ten to twelve years old. The children were cheerfully playing board games and talking to each other which looked normal, however, if one were to be extremely attentive, one could tell that the children were slightly trembling. Not moving from where he was sitting, Rihito blankly reclined onto the soft, smooth chair and sensibly stayed where he was, maintaining his stillness. The children in the orphanage never tried to talk to him, and Rihito never spoke to anyone in the first place.

Time passed by until the skies were painted in beautiful sunset colours, smeared with fluffy clouds that reflected the colours of orange, red and blue. The sun gradually travelled across the skies, dimming the light that pierced the skies during the day. The orphanage's staff members went to close the doors and gathered all the children together. After confirming that no one was around anymore, the caretaker pulled out a golden key and opened an underground door. The door was hidden, with a mechanism working to conceal the entrance of the passage.

When the door was opened, a gush of cold air floated towards the children, including Rihito. The children began to tremble, breathing heavily in fear. Biting their lips, they followed the caretaker down the long stone stairs that lead further down into the underground. As every step was taken, a few children began to form teardrops in their eyes, desperately holding back their impulses to scream in terror. The silence continued as the whimpers of children grew louder, quivering at each pace.

After finally reaching an iron door, there were two tall and burly men wearing armour standing on either side of the door, with various weapons that were hung on their waists. The caretaker took out a stone tablet that had some words carved onto it. The guards opened the doors immediately and then.......

The view behind those iron doors were........ horrendous.

A magnificently large and spacious area, at first glance looked to be an exquisite place that treated the children unexpectedly well. Ironically, there were iron cages on either side of the walls. Many, many children sat in those cages, as they dreadfully watched their daily 'live shows' that were happening in the middle lane.

Rihito raised his head, only to witness that this 'environment' was only going to be torture for him.