2.5 いつまでも MIDNIGHT SESSION Part 3

When Junna went to the underworld to find Ibuki’s soul, they already knew this piece of folklore, and they knew they would not make the same mistake. They weren’t looking for Ibuki’s physical body anyway, just a piece of her spirit that needed to be grabbed before it passed on; Junna was going to finish the ritual within seven days, before Ibuki got to the second stage of her trip through the afterlife. June 30th, the date of death, to July 7th.

While Ibuki’s body rested on the floor of her room under the long cloth noose that had taken her life, arms neatly folded over her chest, eyes closed like she was sleeping, Junna rode trains back and forth across central Honshu picking up ingredients, killing and absorbing spirits in violent exorcisms, and preparing the talismans that would let them walk through Yomi with no escort.

They’d collected dozens of goldfish spirits that had died after only short lives in pet stores and koi from unkept garden ponds, their preferred spirit familiars. They painted hundreds of ofuda with thin, messy characters in their own blood: talismans for protection from the conditions in the underworld, talismans to increase their own strength and speed, talismans for good luck and to ward off evil spirits. They crossed the Sanzu river and fought and killed every oni that so much as looked toward them. All of this earned them exactly as much of Ibuki’s soul as they thought they needed.

There was no exact amount. They placed Ibuki’s soul back in her body at 7:07 am on the seventh of July. Ibuki’s eyes shot open. Before Junna could even call her name, her hands were around Junna’s throat.

Well, Junna was nothing like Izanagi. They brought Ibuki back and who knew how many living beings she planned on killing? Not more than 1,000 an hour, Junna hoped. They didn’t have any way to make sure 1,500 living beings were born in their place.

Junna offered Izanami their onigiri and the Calorie Mate, and Inunaki their last bottle of tea.

“I know these offerings are meager but you caught me off guard with the sudden invite, so please excuse me.” Junna bowed their head and stood up.

“They are sufficient. Will you take leave, then?”

“Yeah… I should probably get back…” Junna thought they might see if they could stay the rest of the night at Nana’s place, but they felt as if Izanami would judge them as lazy if they mentioned taking a nap. Junna still greatly revered and admired Izanami. They hadn’t addressed the comment about Izanami being their tutelary deity because the idea was preposterous to them. What could Izanami possibly see in Junna that she would allow this falsehood to remain? Perhaps she just didn’t care about the opinions of the Heavenly Court.

Inunaki tossed his bottle of tea up in the air and caught it, nodding to Izanami as if to say she needn’t raise a finger. Izanami turned the onigiri over in her hand, examining it with mild interest.

“This way, if you please, Tea Fish.”

Inunaki narrowed his eyes at one of the ghostly fish floating around behind Junna. They’d pulled quite a stunt with some of those fish the last time by sending them up the Sanzu River and back.

Oh hell… he remembers my familiars, doesn’t he…

Inunaki led Junna back to the alley through which they’d entered Yomi, slipping into the shadows with a bow of his head after Junna thanked him. Now alone again, Junna looked up at the pitch black sky; no stars were visible in Tokyo. All the lights were on the ground with them. They weren’t sure if they missed seeing the stars out in the country or not. There was something painfully nostalgic when they imagined it, something they didn’t want to poke at.

“Ah… I still probably shouldn’t go back to my apartment.” The sun wouldn’t be up for a few hours. Ibuki might even still be hanging out of the TV, although it would be hard for her to emerge fully into the land of the living using that. Even if she did, she wouldn’t be able to leave the apartment… Would she…?

Junna decided to go to Nana’s place.

>minor emergency, I’m coming to your place

>sorry in advance if I wake you up

>actually emergency is a strong word more like inconvenience

They took a deep breath and pressed their hand against the dirty brick wall in front of them. Most people, no matter how much supernatural capability they had, could not make gates. The few that could often needed to plan in advance; they would need to choose the right time and location to enhance their own power. It might be a specific time of day or day of the week or certain weather. They might only be able to make portals near water or in a place with a lot of trees. Using that, they could reach a different location in a snap, although the amount of energy required would probably make it a one way trip.

Junna didn’t need any of that. They just felt around until they found a place that was thin: the barrier between the human world and the spirit world was more malleable. Once they’d done that, they’d push through it and arrive at the banks of the Sanzu River. The air at the riverbanks was usually toxic to living people and would gradually suffocate them; while it had an effect on Junna, it was more like standing next to a smoker for a few minutes. They would take quick walks through the ashy sands, winding around thorny dead plants and watching the raging waters that divided the living shore and the other side. Sometimes they saw will-o-wisps or weird shadowy creatures with wobbly, liquid eyes scurrying around. On the other side, there were lights—mostly lanterns and torches, the hulking forms of oni, or even humanoid figures of shinigami. If they walked along the banks for a kilometer or so, they might run into someone trying to cross.

“River’s a little high today…” they muttered as they felt around for the spot they wanted to push through to get back to the world of the living near Benihime Inari Shrine. The geography didn’t match at all, but Junna knew where it was. That might be another reason no one used Sanzu River Shortcuts; other people didn’t understand the navigation that was intuitive to Junna.

When they stepped back out onto solid ground in the realm of the living, their phone buzzed with a LINE message.

“Nana? I hope I didn’t wake her up…”

The message was not a reply from Nana, but a new conversation from a user ID that was a string of random numbers.

“What the hell?”

Junna’s contact information hadn’t changed since before they left Tokyo, but they’d never gotten a message from a name or number like that before.

The only thing in the message was a link.