[fanfic] Nine Days' Wonders: first story - the reckoning
Title: Nine Days' Wonders
Pairing: Akame
Genre: AU, Japanese mythology, mystery, supernatural
Summary: Akanishi Jin, (soon) 19 years old. Kamenashi Kazuya, 17 years old. Pretty much best friends since childhood. Jin likes Kame a lot, but he doesn't like Kame's profession, thank you very much. Why does his friend have to deal with ghosts and that sort of thing anyway? And why does it look like he has to deal with them as well?
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I altered existing characters and places to my own liking, and I don't own anything but the plot and the OCs in this fic.
A/N: First of all three big 'thank you's to aureril (for discussing stuff with me), somaisgood (for your batshit google-skills, or whatever they are) and mienai1582 (for beta-ing /star)! ♥♥♥
I added quite a bit of footnotes to explain some of the Japanese terms (because they either don't exist in English or the translations sound really awkward). I hope it's not too confusing. P:
And to be honest, I wrote this fic just because I like this kind of setting. Haha. Oh, scaredy-cat!Jin, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways... *coughs*
Word Count: 5,714
first story - the reckoning
Kame considered himself lucky: On a night like this, hardly anyone was awake in Hinode-machi1 at half past ten. Not even a stray cat on the street appeared before him during the 15 minutes walk to the bus stop.
It was good that no one saw him, for his costume was rather strange. He was clothed in a white kariginu2.1, a long, loose silk outer robe with little to no pattern; beneath which he wore a dark sashinuki2.2, and his waraji2.3 over white socks. The tate-eboshi2.4 he was wearing was tall and black, covering almost all of his neatly tied-back dirty-blond hair and showing his forehead. His mother used to complain about it, because she couldn't understand why Kame had to wear hats of this fashion when he had yet to become an adult; though it appears her main concern was that it made his face look too long. Kame, however, didn’t mind it much himself and was glad he had the hat at all. People tend to take him more seriously with the hat than without.
The night sky was clouded over and drizzles filled Hinode-machi by the time Kame reached the bus stop. All lights of the houses nearby were out, the scarce street lamps providing the only illumination in the darkness. The lamps were attached to old power poles, which contributed electricity to the households since decades ago and have also been in need of repair ever since. The artificial street lights were dim, yet strong enough to attract moths to circle beneath them.
The street lamp right above the bus stop was still working, in comparison to some other street lamps that were as pitch black as the surrounding night, or the street lamp two poles away from the bus stop that flickered every now and then. The 17-year-old boy counted the times it flickered to pass time. He leaned slightly against the bus stop sign, and stared into the blurry distance, waiting for Jin to arrive with the last bus.
Kame didn't want Jin to get involved in this. He knew how scared Jin was of that kind of thing.
Jin, his best friend, who was reckless and never thought much about what he was doing, never thought much about anything at all or questioned anything. Kame didn't want to get Jin involved in the whole business at all, and yet Jin was already involved. Sure, Jin was just a boy whose spirituality was more sensitive than the average guy on the street, but he was a normal boy who had nothing to do with it. He didn't have the right to ask him... Kame bit on his thumb. Jin had nothing to do with it. Jin had nothing to do with it.
Yet Jin could help him.
Jin's call had come at the most opportune time. Just when Kame thought he had reached a dead end, when he felt lost and didn't know how to go on anymore, the ringing started.
Kame had beamed a professional smile at the scared-looking Yamamoto family members that were gathered at the living room on the first floor. They had looked frightened and utmost helpless when he excused himself and went out of the room to answer the call.
“Hello?” Kame said after flipping open his cell phone and accepting the call.
“Finally,” Jin exclaimed. “Kame, where are you? I've tried to reach you countless times but your signal was always out of range.”
“... Jin?” Kame asked, startled.
“Yes, me. Do you have any other friends that would call you this late at night?” Jin said sarcastically, and added a snort at the end. Kame had this goody-boy image most of the time and Jin's favorite past-time include making fun of him.
Kame could hardly hear him because of the loud noises in the background. The connection was either extremely bad or Jin was at some annoyingly loud place. He was sure that he had put a protection ward on his cell phone, so that only emergency calls could pass through-Kame thought of emergency calls, and asked nervously, “Jin, what happened? Aren't you supposed to be working?”
“Hah, I quit the job,” Jin said proudly. Kame heard a crackle and suddenly the noises were gone. He felt the presence of a third being. Someone, or something, was overhearing the conversation.
“You got fired?” Kame asked carefully.
“I didn't get fired! I quit myself, alright?”
“Alright.”
“Yes, and now I'm celebrating my newly gained freedom! Come and join the fun. Where are you right now?”
“Hinode-machi,” Kame answered absentmindedly. His attention was taken up else where as he tried to recall the track-back chant inside his head.
“Hinode-machi?” Jin repeated, surprised. “What are you doing in such a rural place miles from anywhere? Whatever, can't you come back?”
“No, Jin, I can't. Sorry, but I-” Suddenly Kame heard a new kind of crackle.
“Where exactly are you in Hinode-machi? I'll come over.”
“What, no, Jin...” There was another crackle.
“Okay, gotcha. Pick me up at the bus stop.” Then Jin hung up.
“Shit,” Kame whispered, and tried dialing Jin's number immediately, but in vain: his cell phone wasn't working anymore.
Someone, or something, he wasn't sure yet, wanted Jin to come over because it noticed that he didn't want him here.
A bright flash of light appeared from afar and approached with a growing din. The bus was closing in.
Kame straightened himself and looked out for Jin.
The bus stopped before him and both the front door as well as the back door opened. The bus driver shouted to the back, “It's your stop!”, and eyed Kame with a raised eyebrow, whereupon the boy shook his head and raised his hand in apology. The bus driver shrugged, focused on the dark road ahead and paid no further attention to him.
Kame looked to the back of the bus and saw Jin stretching himself sleepily and getting up with a yawn. He didn't have any luggage with him as he stood up slowly and got out of the bus. His hair was messed up from sleeping in a somewhat comfortable but awkward position. Jin ruffled his hand through his hair in order to fix it but made it look even messier than before.
The engines started roaring wildly and the back door began to close impatiently before Jin had even set his second foot on the grounds of Hinode-machi. As the bus was driving away Jin greeted Kame half-awake, rubbing his eyes.
He said, “Hi, Kame.”
“Jin.” Kame sighed.
“What are you wearing, man?” Jin blinked and looked at him just as bewildered as the bus driver. “Is this a cosplay or something? Change into some normal clothes so we can go back and hang out somewhere in Shibuya3. Come on.” Jin nudged him.
“Jin, I can't leave. I'm on duty.”
“What, but you told me to pick you up, and even told me how to get here.”
Kame sighed again. “I didn't.”
“What do you mean, you didn't,” Jin said, more awake now. Then he looked at Kame anew, and it dawned on him. “Oh my God.”
Kame gave Jin a knowing look.
“When you said you were on duty you mean that you're executing your job as a on-, uh, onmyōji4?”
“Yes.”
Jin's face went pale. He grabbed Kame's hand and said hurriedly, “We're leaving this place right now.”
“Jin, I told you I can't.”
“Oh yes. Right. Okay. So you stay here, but I'm leaving.”
“Jin, you just came with the last bus for today, and the last bus going back has already left 20 minutes ago.”
“What?” Jin sounded panicked. “What should I do now? How am I supposed to get away from this damned place?”
“We should try to call a taxi. Well, you should, because my cell phone is not working anymore.”
“A taxi. Brilliant idea, Kame,” Jin said, and got out his cell phone. The very next moment he cried out in disbelief, “I have to recharge? Why? I just recharged this thing in the morning!”
Kame frowned. “I think your talk with it messed up the functions of your phone.”
“It?”
“The ghost that told you how to get here.”
Jin stared at him. “Kame, please tell me that you're joking.”
“I think it would be best if you found a place to stay warm and away from the rain, and waited there for the first bus in the next morning.”
Jin protested at the top of his voice immediately, “Are you kidding me? I'm not staying out here in the dark all by myself.”
“But the only other option you have besides that is to follow me to my job.”
“Are you kidding me? I'm not setting one foot in a haunted place! I'd rather stay out in the dark and wait,” Jin said determinedly.
“Yes, perhaps that's the best choice.” Kame nodded. “Find yourself a place to rest, and wait until daybreak. Leave with the first chance you get. I'll see you again at school. Bye.” Then he walked away.
“Kame, you can't leave me all by myself like this,” Jin whined.
Kame pretended not to hear him.
“Kame, you're a heartless, soulless, mean-now wait for me!”
“I thought you didn't want to go to a haunted place.”
“Shut up,” Jin mumbled, catching up with Kame.
“But Jin, I'm not sure if it's safe-”
“I said, shut up.”
Kame bit on his lower lip and felt guilty for what was about to happen. “Jin, you'll get compensation for putting up with me tonight.”
“Like what? Money?”
Kame nodded. “You can get half of what I'll earn after this job is done.”
“And how much will you earn?”
Kame said a number.
Jin said, “I'm in.”
“But I'm telling you. This is the first and last time,” Jin said, and fidgeted uncomfortably with his clothes, stopping before the concrete, waist-high front gate. He glanced nervously at the door sign that indicated the family name of the owners: Yamamoto.
The house belonging to the Yamamotos was built in the early '70s, and in contrast to the imposing skyscrapers constructed in Shinjuku5 in that period, it was a typical traditional timber construction; thin walls, two-stories, and on its top an overlapping gabled roof, covered with dark-gray ceramic roof tiles.
It didn't look much different from the neighboring houses, but it seemed creepier than all of them. Jin was convinced that the house was creepier because he could sense it, and not only because Kame had already told him that it was haunted.
Kame stepped ahead of Jin, and upon reaching the door, he pressed the beige door bell button thrice.
The door swung open hesitantly. A woman in her late 40s peeked out from behind the door carefully, and was obviously relieved when she recognized Kame; whereupon she opened the door and invited them to enter the house. She was decently clothed and styled, like an average housewife, but Jin couldn't suppress a shudder at her sight. He thought her face looked pale, as if she was sick, and her eyes looked so inanimate, as if she was already dead.
The woman led them into the living room, where the rest of the Yamamotos were assembled; Yamamoto Masaru, 53 years old, and his two sons, Hideaki and Akira, 29 and 20.
Jin assumed the pale-looking woman who had greeted them at the door to be Yamamoto Setsuko, the wife, who had just turned 49 that month.
Kame had summed up everything to the present day for Jin on their walk to the house, and reminded him not to speak freely about anything once they're inside the house, because the troublemaker was a jibakurei6, a spirit that was trapped in the house after its death. Its power didn't work beyond its own sphere; however, it had control over the entire premise in every nook and corner. They would be within its realm the moment they entered the grounds that belonged to the Yamamoto family.
Which we just did, Jin thought most uneasily. He looked at the Yamamotos and admired their braveness for not leaving the house although they knew it was haunted. Hideaki even came back to stay with them, as Kame told him. Jin would have tripped over himself rushing to run away if in their place.
Yamamoto Masaru's widowed mother Yamamoto Chiyoko, 73 years old, and his sister Yamamoto Akemi, 49 years old, both fell victim to the ghost and were absent. The former was found dead in her room, and the latter was said to have lost her mind.
Yamamoto Setsuko, maiden name Shinya Setsuko, was Yamamoto Masaru's second wife. His first wife, Yamamoto Mayu, maiden name Shinya Mayu, suffered from fatigue after giving birth to Hideaki, and passed away when Hideaki had turned three. Yamamoto Masaru remained unmarried for five years and then married Shinya Mayu's sister, Shinya Setsuko, who helped him raising Hideaki along with the mother and the sister. Nine months later, Yamamoto Akira was born. They lived a prosperous life. Hideaki was the only one who moved out of the house after a happy marriage seven years ago.
The Yamamotos continued living peacefully until the disturbing incidents that began two weeks ago. The women claimed to have heard strange noises in the night, and in the morning they would find an upset chair, dishes or vases scattered on the ground and several other mysterious disturbances. At first they thought it was a stray animal that had gotten into their house, and let the matter rest after setting up several traps.
But Yamamoto Chiyoko was found dead in her room shortly after. A sudden heart attack, the doctors said. And in the night after the unfortunate incident, Yamamoto Akemi started screaming for her life in her locked room, and when Yamamoto Masaru finally broke open the door with the help of two neighbors, who had also heard her screams and rushed to their house, the screaming had stopped and they found her lying unconsciously on the floor.
After that, Yamamoto Setsuko had insisted on hiring an onmyōji. She said she had no doubt that it was an evil spirit doing its work. She was certain that the house was cursed, and that she would also fall prey to the evil spirit if no one killed it.
“And that is why I'm here,” Kame added at the end.
“What am I supposed to do, Kame?” Jin asked in a low voice, as he moved closer to Kame who was creating a more secure protective area by attaching more ofuda7 to the walls of the living room.
“Just stay with me here in the living room,” Kame answered, and moved to the north edge of the room, where a little cobalt blue pot with incense sticks was set up. Jin also saw an ink slab and a brush lying on it beside the pot. Kame sat down elegantly, took out a folding fan, unfolded it with a snap, and began spreading the smoke of the incense sticks with steady and slow weaves.
“I don't have to do anything?”
“Nothing at all.” Kame then began murmuring chants that Jin could not make out at all.
Jin glanced around him, but avoided eye contact with the Yamamotos. For some reason they all gave him the creeps. He sat down close to Kame.
“And what now?” Jin asked when Kame stopped chanting and just sat there with eyes closed.
“Now we have to wait.”
Jin didn't like that answer. He wasn't any good at waiting, and the surroundings appeared to be creepier to him the longer he stayed in the room.
“Kame, don't you think something is strange with the people living here?”
“Something strange?”
“They all look so, I don't know, so fake. Like they're not really humans.” Jin cast a brief glance at the father, the mother and the sons. They all looked like dead to him. Then he noticed that Kame was staring at him with a strange, intense look.
“Did-did I say something weird?”
“No, not at all. I was just surprised,” Kame said, and began fanning the smoke, which was slowly rising and spreading across the whole room, anew.
Jin wanted to ask more but he decided to change the subject. “Do you know the identity of the ghost?”
“Not yet. I have an idea, but I'm not sure yet. However, I'll find out the answer soon.”
The air was growing thick with smoke, and Jin started to feel sleepy.
“Will it be dangerous?”
“I don't know. But don't worry Jin, I'll protect you,” Kame told him.
Jin leaned against the wall while he listened to Kame's soft and soothing voice, and he felt weariness taking over him. Although he tried not to fall asleep, he dozed off as soon as he closed his eyes.
The next thing Jin saw was a female hand with slender and beautiful fingers that took him by his own hand. Her hand looked sickly white and belonged to a woman who was wearing the fanciest kimono he had ever seen. Her black hair was tied up neatly with a stunning-looking, golden hairpin. He followed her wordlessly as she walked ahead of him. As they walked on he heard the tiny bell ornament that was attached to the obi8 of her scarlet kimono chime with each step she took. There were no other sounds. Endless darkness stretched out before them, next to them and also behind them.
Where was he?
Where was Kame?
Where was he going?
Who was this woman?
Was it dangerous?
Why wasn't he afraid?
Jin asked himself all that but still he kept walking with the woman, faintly registering the rhythmic, clear sound of the tingling bells in the back of his mind.
He heard voices emerging like whispers from the darkness, and then they stopped walking.
“... But your mother and your sister hate me.” Jin heard a young woman say.
“No, they don't. And you're the only one I want. Please. Please marry me.” He heard a young man say soothingly and his voice sounded full of hope.
“Congratulations, my dear sister.” Jin heard another young woman say with a shaking voice.
“Are you happy now?” a third young woman screamed with a hoarse voice. “You always get what you want, but have you ever thought about the feelings of Setsuko?”
A new-born baby was crying.
“It's a boy!” he heard a nurse exclaim.
“Make your meal yourself,” an old woman said full of disgust. “Don't get all cocky just because you're married to my son now. I'm not here to babysit you, and I'll never approve you as part of the family.”
“Mayu... Mayu... Mayu...” he heard a man cry in front of a grave. It was the same man whose voice had sounded so young and hopeful just some while ago.
And Jin heard many, many more voices. He didn't want to hear them any more, but he couldn't move his hands to cover his ears and the voices filtered down to him.
Then she started speaking.
“When I died, I was very mad at first,” the woman said slowly. “I wanted to take revenge. My husband who was oblivious to what was happening to me at home, who didn't believe me when I told him that I was mistreated. My mother-in-law who ignored my pleads to help me when I was sick. My sister-in-law and my sister, who were friends and didn't do anything but watch me die. Shortly before I died, the only one dear to me was my son, Hideaki, and I wanted to take him with me once I have taken my revenge on them all.”
Jin tried to look at her, but he couldn't make out her face.
“But I forgave them. I forgave them all because my husband, my darling, cried in front of my grave so wretchedly. Not only him. They all cried. My sister cried simply because I was her sister. My mother-in-law and my sister-in-law cried because they felt frightened and guilty. But my darling cried of grief because he loved me.”
She sighed in pleasure, thinking back on those memories.
“All of them cried for different reasons, but they cried for me, and I decided to forgive them. It was as if his tears, and their tears, had washed away all of my anger and hate. I knew he still loved me.”
She paused, and then continued.
“I watched over them. Protected them from any harm, and I was happy to see them happy. I was also happy for my sister who finally entered his heart; she has loved him for as long as I did. I was bitter that Mother had accepted her so soon but rejected me even in my death. Sister saw her as her best friend, so of course she was happy. Even Hideaki saw her as his mother instead of me. I felt bitterness for a while, but it was the best for them. And as long as they remembered me, I forgave them. They visited me and put flowers on my grave every year. But then... ”
Jin could feel the surroundings become colder with each syllable she spoke. It was all too realistic to be a dream.
“Then Akira got accepted into Tokyo University. The letter of acceptance came in on my death anniversary. And they went out to dine and celebrate, and they've all forgotten about me. Akira got into Tokyo University. What's so great about getting into Tokyo University? Is it more important than me?”
Her body began to shake violently, as did the bells on the ornament attached to her obi.
“They've forgotten about me. Even Hideaki,” she said bitterly. “They all deserve to die.”
Jin watched in silent horror as her hand turned ugly and terrifying. He tried to shake off her hand, but he couldn't escape from her tight grip. Help, he thought. Help me, Kame-
Suddenly Jin felt a sharp pain on his left cheek.
“Jin, wake up!” Kame's shout came from afar.
“Kame,” Jin murmured, coming back to his senses. His left cheek hurt a lot. He touched his cheek, and looked at Kame accusingly. “Did you just slap me?”
“You were possessed by the jibakurei. Sorry, I couldn't think of a less painful way to wake you up. Jin, are you alright?”
“Yes,” Jin said. “Kame, I know who the ghost is. She is really angry and-”
“Be quiet. I know. I saw your dream.”
“You saw...” Jin started, and then stated with realization. “You made me fall asleep on purpose. You planned all of this.”
Kame didn't reply.
“In order to lure the jibakurei to show her true face and come out of her hiding-place you made me fall asleep. You were following us the whole time. That's why I wasn't afraid, but-why didn't you tell me beforehand?”
“If I had done so you would have been conscious about it the whole time, and the jibakurei would have noticed, and then the plan would have failed.”
“You don't trust me at all, do you?”
“Jin...” Kame wanted to deny Jin's accusation, but his words were cut off by a sudden, strong influx of negative energy.
The next moment the ghost manifested in front of them. The beautiful kimono appeared worn and decayed outside of the dream world, and her once beautiful hair fell into her face, making her look wild and terrifying. Jin would have screamed out in fear if he still had the strength left to do so.
She spotted the remaining four family members on the spot and lurched forward with a terrible growl. They tried to move away, but their movements were way too slow.
“Stay here and don't do anything,” Kame told Jin.
Jin didn't know what he was thinking, he only knew that Kame's tone angered him and made him want to do the exact opposite of what he was told. When he heard Kame yell his name in shock he was already running towards the center of danger.
Without any plans Jin threw himself in-between the Yamamotos and the attacking ghost. As he prepared himself to receive the wrath of the ghost and closed his eyes in fear, he heard the ghost scream in pain.
He felt the air becoming warmer in front of him. Carefully, Jin opened his eyes and saw the back of a giant dog that had appeared out of nowhere. It was as tall as he was, had colorful hair ranging from brown to gray-black, and it protected him from getting hurt. Jin thought that the dog spirit, or whatever it was, looked very familiar, but he couldn't tell why.
The ghost was still screaming, trying to rid herself of the ofuda that was put on her.
Kame ran past him and the dog, and said angrily, “Jin, I told you not to do anything.”
He threw more ofuda at the ghost, but she ducked away, and lurked forward to attack again. The dog spirit dragged Jin aside, and the ghost's attack met Yamamoto Setsuko who screamed loudly before her body vanished. Jin watched the scene unfold before him in horror.
The ghost's wrath intensified. She turned to Kame and cried, “You have deceived me, you wretched, young onmyōji! They're not real! Where are they? Where have you taken them? Where have you hidden them?”
The negative energies increased and swept across the remaining three Yamamotos. They all vanished into thin air, but this time Jin looked closer and saw that where their bodies had been there were paper-cut human shapes lying on the tatami floor. They weren't real. That's why Jin had thought they looked lifeless, because they were mere replacements, most likely created by Kame.
The ghost moved towards Kame, but was suddenly stopped completely by an invisible force. Jin looked beyond the fur of the dog in front of him and saw Kame holding another ofuda in the air.
“Let me go!” the ghost demanded angrily.
“Your existence will end here and now.”
“This is not fair! 27 years,” she hissed. “I've watched over them for 27 years. Is this the reward I get for protecting them for so long? They can't get away like that. This is not fair-”
“And what are 27 years?” Kame interrupted disparagingly. “This is nothing compared to the life of an average zashiki-warashi9. At times they get angry at the inhabitants, too, but no matter how angry they are they will never harm them. You devoured the zashiki-warashi that used to protect this house. You took over the zashiki-warashi's power because you wanted to, and it's your responsibility to protect this house no matter what happens. But now you're hurting the ones living in this house. You're nothing more than a vengeful spirit now, and it is my job to stop you.”
The ghost struggled to get free, but Kame had absolute control over her because he knew her name now.
“Yamamoto Mayu, maiden name, Shinya Mayu,” Kame said, and flipped the ofuda around. In rapid movements he summoned the brush that had been dipped in Chinese ink from the ink slab next to the incense urn to his hand and with it he stroked nine cuts, four vertical and five horizontal, across her name on the ofuda.
The rest happened very suddenly: a blinding, purifying white light encased the unseen circle the ghost was trapped in, and in the next moment she was gone with one last scream.
Jin had to blink several times before his vision returned to normal. He looked at the spot she had been and saw the remains of a broken bell ornament, which he recognized to be the one he had seen on her kimono. Kame picked up the broken ornament and wrapped his hands around it carefully. When he opened his hands again and let it dangle, the bells started chiming. To Jin's surprise he saw a tiny something-maybe a little boy-pop up from the ornament. The little dwarf-like being bowed at Kame, and then at him, before it went away in a hurry, probably going after its business to restore the balance of the house.
Kame held up his hand and the giant dog dashed towards him. The boy smiled at it, patted its head gently, and it disappeared. Then Kame looked at Jin exhaustedly, and asked him if he could wait outside until he had spoken with the Yamamotos, who would arrive shortly afterwards.
Jin was surprised to find the bright morning sun greeting him in the horizon. The sun had risen long ago, but he hadn’t realized until he stepped out of the house. It had been so dark in the Yamamoto house with the sun rays completely blocked out.
He waited for Kame at the bus stop. In the end he never got to meet any of the Yamamotos face to face, but he was glad he hadn't.
When Kame finally appeared before him in normal clothes, carrying a huge rucksack, Jin didn't question anything. He wondered briefly whether a dog could fit into a rucksack that size, and whether it was heavy to carry around plus the onmyōji outfit. He offered to take the bag for Kame, but was denied. They didn't exchange another word until they got seated at the very back of the bus that went in the direction of Central Tokyo.
Jin was the one to break the silence. “You didn't tell them anything in the end, did you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You didn't tell the family about the ghost's identity.”
“Why should I?” Kame sounded tired. “Yamamoto Mayu is believed to have died of sickness, not because she was starved to death in her own house, and was thus turned into a vengeful spirit. They all think of her as a beautiful and untainted woman who was an angel and a saint at the same time. Shouldn't they keep this pure image of her? And shouldn't they keep the wonderful image of a happy and perfect family, where there's no hate but only love? Do you really want them to know about the truth?”
“I don't like the way you talked to her,” Jin mumbled. It had bothered him the entire time.
“How should I have talked to her instead?” Kame questioned him.
“No, I,” Jin said, “I just feel sorry for her. She didn't deserve to end like that.”
“She chose to come back here, with evil intentions. Her hate made her miss the road to her afterlife and she came back here. Is it better to let her roam the living world aimlessly, only knowing hate, forgetting about everything else; only seeing the darkness, never the sun, only feeling envious of those still living until she is completely sucked up by the darkness and kills them all?”
“Kame, you know how she died,” Jin said, annoyed, “why she became like that and everything.”
“But she's already achieved a lot, hasn't she? One of the women who was responsible for her death is diagnosed as crazy, and the other is dead.”
“No, I don't mean that. You know I don't mean it that way. What about the truth? What about the truth behind her death? Is there nothing we can do for her?”
“Nothing. I'm just an onmyōji. And you're just a high schooler. We're neither criminal investigators nor policemen. We can't prove anything, and neither can we do anything, and frankly speaking, I don't want to destroy this family any further.”
Although Jin still didn't like the outcome, he couldn't help but agree with him silently. “Do you have to deal with ghosts like that all the time?”
“This is the most difficult case I've had so far. To be honest, this job exceeds my current abilities. I wasn't sure I would make it out alive when I accepted it-”
“What? And you dragged me into this-” Jin started in a high pitch.
“-but then you came along, and I thought that I could do it. With you.” Kame ended his sentence loudly, covering Jin's protest.
“Really?”
Kame just stared out of the window.
“But why did you accept it to begin with?” Jin changed the topic when he noticed that Kame didn't want to talk about it.
Kame said, “I don't have any other choice.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nowadays, people don't believe anymore. They think this is all just for show. They're correct. Most of what we're doing is nothing but useless hocus-pocus. 90% lies and only 10% truth. As little as it might seem, the 10% is significant. But it's worth nothing to them. Paying an onmyōji has become expensive, too. Most people like to hire someone from a lower rank, someone like me, for less money than someone who's really capable of exorcising the offending demon or ghost. This is why we have more lower ranked onmyōji than high ranked ones nowadays. And this is also why more and more young and inexperienced onmyōji lose their lives so early on.”
“Kame...”
“Sorry that I started babbling. I'll try to catch up some sleep now. Wake me up later.”
Jin wanted to say something, but kept quiet in the end. He looked at Kame's profile for a while.
“Kame,” he said finally.
Kame grunted in annoyance.
“I just wanted to say.” Jin paused, then he added carefully. “I don't know if I can be any help at all. But I'll be glad to help you, if you ever need me again, okay?”
Kame didn't say another word. Jin thought that Kame had fallen asleep and didn't hear him. Jin sighed. Just when he wanted to be brave, Kame missed out on it, he thought. He leaned back onto his seat and closed his eyes; feeling very, very tired all of a sudden.
Before he drifted into a deep sleep he thought he heard Kame whisper, “Thank you, Jin.” But only vaguely.
Later he wasn't sure he had heard it at all.
To be continued
A/A/N: The footnotes and the according HTML codings killed me. Never mind the research bit. sdkjfkjdsf If there's anything you'd like me to change about the footnotes, please tell me, since I intend on using this format for the later chapters as well.
I hope the first chapter was not too hard to read, despite the Japanese terms. It's hard writing a fic of this sort in English, because so many terms just don't exist as such in the English language. Well, I tried my best to explain everything. XD If you still have questions, feel free to ask. I'll try to answer them as soon as I have some free time.