Blackened Blade (Murasaki x OC)

Chapter 3: Scenic Route

The morning arrived all too soon. I had barely slept last night, plagued by waking up what felt like every hour. A strange feeling of foreboding falling over me as I lay there in the night. Finally at 5am my alarm went off. Bleary eyed, I stumbled through my morning routine and rushed out the door.

Outside was the same car from yesterday, pulled over with Hebijo-san in the driver seat, talking on his cell phone. He looked up and waved me over, motioning to his passenger seat. As I opened the door to get in he seemed to be trying to get some sort of farewell out, but kept getting cut off. Finally he was able to finish his call and we pulled out of the alley.

"Bosses." He said with a sigh. "You'll understand someday. If you don't mind me asking, what do you plan on doing after you graduate?"

"Can't say for sure." I said, crossing my arms. "Adults always tell me about job markets and certain jobs being in demand or not and how that's always changing. If I were to pick now like everyone says I have to, who says what I pick will still be around? Too many variables. Figure I'll choose when I'm out of school and in the current market." I stopped myself from going on. This is why I dont talk much, when I do I talk TOO much and annoy people.

"Not many people these days see adaptability as the strength that it truly is. Just look at what happened to you; I'm sure you had plenty of plans before you were whisked away to a foreign land." I was glad he felt that way. Dad always got annoyed when I didn't know what I was going to be doing for the rest of my life.

We drove a little longer as he pointed out the different sights and local spots if interest. Restaurants, stores, arcades, etc when he asked another question. "You ever do any sports?"

"I ran cross country back home. But the school I'll be attending doesn't have a team. Figure I'll just go for runs on my own and grab myself a part time job."

Hebijo-san nodded and turned down a road leading into a more forested area. "Theres a shrine up here. Figure I'll give you a crash course on local customs. Tell me, do you believe in spirits? Perhaps the supernatural?"

I thought about it for a minute. I always kinda hoped ghosts and stuff were real. "I've done my fair share of paranormal searches online. Never given absolute proof but I'm sure there's gotta be something out there."

We got out of the car and approached the shrine. Small and practical in its design, not many ornate carvings and the wooden archways or gates seemed splintered in places and in need of some new red paint. Must not be a popular shrine to visit. Hebijo-san showed me the correct order and amount of bows and claps to honor the shrine. We stood there in silence for a moment as the wind rustled through the trees.

"Times of peace where its just you and the trees like this are rarer and rarer as you get older,kid. Don't forget to take in these moments when you can." He produced some yen coins from his jacket pocket. "Since you don't have that part time job yet I'll donate enough for the both of us." He said with a smile and left the offering.

We were heading back to the car but he stopped me before I could enter. "I'm going to be driving the rest of the way. Here." He handed me a map with a route clearly traced in red pen. "You'll be walking from here. Dont deviate from the path marked here." I started to protest but he held up his hand and with a smirk, drove off, leaving me alone with only the wind and swaying trees to keep me company.

I cursed and looked at the map. My destination had to be like 5 miles away based on the distance markers. I cursed again and began making my way there. As I walked i noticed my house was also marked on the map. Much closer but in the opposite direction. I looked at it for a minute but ultimately decided against it. This at least is a task and I can't wallow in self pity forever.

As I followed the path laid out on the mad I realized it took me deeper and deeper into the forested area. Never too far from civilization, barely a mile as the crow flies but with more dense tree cover between this path and and any houses or anything. After what had felt like and hour of following this outlined path I began hearing sporadic rustling in the brush on either side of the path or even up in the trees. That bastard must have gotten my head full of thoughts of ghosts and spirits before sending me on a nature hike. Still, it did unsettle me that no animals or other discernable sources for the rustling revealed themselves.

I arrived at what appeared to be a large school with an 8 foot wall around it, iron gate in the center with a crest that resembled a cross with snakes around it and a large kanji in the middle. Based on what Hebijo-san wrote on my map it probly meant that this was the Hebijo Clandestine Girls academy. Clandestine? What was that all about? And who puts a school all the way out here? Didn't have much time to think about that because thats when I felt a hand on my shoulder.