Hanabi

Chapter 44: Light

INFO:

 

Izanami-no-Mikoto: a goddess of Japanese mythology, responsible for creation and death, mother of several other deities and wife to the god Izanagi-no-Mikoto. When the goddess died giving birth to another deity, it is said that she went away to Yomi-no-kuni and never returned.

 

Yomi-no-kuni: Yomi is the world of darkness, the land of the dead where some believe everyone goes after life ends. Izanami-no-Mikoto is its ruler. It is said that once you enter Yomi and feed from this world, it's impossible to get out. Mythology says that the god Izanagi followed his wife to Yomi when she died, but it was too late to bring her back. Yomi isn't really hell, neither heaven; it's a world where the dead just keep existing forever as shadows, never able to leave the place.

 

Imouto: younger sister.

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A slight pain spread over his hand, but he banged on the gate once again. Just like before, there was no answer, no result. On top of all his worry and the horrible feeling he had, now there was an aching fist. He tried to call numerous times, but none of the girls’ phones seemed to be working. Not Tomomi’s, not Haruna’s, not Rina’s.

Ethan watched the gate to Mami’s house in silence, trying to deny the already established fact that no one was there to answer him. He remembered Haruna’s truck very well, he saw the girls before when he was just finishing shopping, just like he saw the creatures. He froze again just with the memory.

So those were Oni, exactly like in the book he sold to Tomomi, exactly like he was told they existed. Those were the things responsible for that girl’s awful state when he answered Tomomi’s call and picked them up in that graveyard.

He knew they were in danger, it was obvious. He knew, but he had no idea where they were or what to do in order to help them. It frustrated him to no end. None of his friends would believe him if he asked for help and told them a crazy story about a group of girls in danger because of Oni. If he invented some kind of believable story about danger his friends would just call the police, and Ethan doubted the police could be of any use in the present situation.

For some reason he couldn’t ignore the bad feeling he had, the knowledge that those girls probably needed assistance. He barely knew them, but he had this instinct to help. Tomomi and Rina were such sweet girls, and even the grumpy and angry Haruna left him with a positive impression after what she did in the shop. Even Mami who barely exchanged a couple of words with him, a girl he saw only once in his life and covered in blood.

Adding up to all his worries, was the darkness. The sky shouldn’t be dark right now, it was barely time for sunset. It was as if the sky suddenly decided it was time for night and wouldn’t take no for an answer. He looked up and could see the stars, though the moon still wasn’t visible. It was awfully dark, but all those people in the festival probably didn’t notice or didn’t care.

He couldn’t ignore the feeling that told him the darkness had everything to do with those Oni. It was too much for a coincidence. Taking a couple of steps back from the gate, finally accepting their clear absence, he tried to call again. Of course, the call couldn’t even be completed. He squeezed the phone in his hand so hard that it hurt.