Old Beginnings

Wajima station, a week later.

“That’d be a thousand yen each. Must be tough, travelling alone with five kids,” said the bus chauffeur as he lit a cigarette.

Akihiko did not answer at first, instead just chose counting the money and giving it to the old man. However, just as he was leaving, he remembered to ask about the area: “I’m going to Northern Noto, can you tell me anything about it, please?”

“That’s where you’re heading? No wonder you’re stopping here. No bus or train goes anywhere near that part of Noto anymore. Roads get thinner the farther you go, and half of them don’t even show up on maps.”

He took a drag of his cigarette.

“What are you looking for out there anyway? There’s nothing in Noto but old farmers, scattered villages, and woods so thick you can lose track of the hour inside them. People only go in if they’re visiting family, and even then, they don’t stay long.”

Akihiko bowed and thanked the man, “I’m just visiting someone, they’re not really a city person.” He then joined his disciples.

“Where are we going exactly?” asked Shouta.

“Exactly, I don’t know...” Akihiko answered, “but roughly...” he pointed his finger at the green-covered mountain, “We’ll walk, I’ll go get us something to eat before we leave.”

In the meantime, Yuusuke drew near Himawari, who to him seemed the easiest to approach of all four—that, she indeed was. He asked her to tell him about the group.

“Oh, so you want to blend in, way to go, big guy.” She answered teasingly, which was a good alternative to an introduction, as it said about her more than anything she could put into words.

He gave her an annoyed look—he’d been quiet for so long that it got easy to forget how easy it was to get on the guy’s nerves.

She continued, “Easy, easy, where do I begin… Seishiro was the first to be taken in by sensei. He was very young at the time—that’s what I heard; we all count on him a lot here. Inori joined the two soon after. Honestly, I don’t know how good of an idea it is to have you around her; the girl’s even more ill-tempered than you are.” She grinned and added playfully, “Can you imagine?”

With a sigh, he shrugged off her comments and asked, “They look roughly the same age, Seishiro and Inori, yet I don’t think I’ve ever seen them talk to each other... What kind of relationship do they have?”

She didn’t answer right away; the question touched on something personal. It had been that way for a long time, and she’d never really had the chance to let it out—to talk about it with someone.

“They have lived and travelled together since childhood; it is only natural that some feelings would arise from that…” Himawari stopped to choose her next words. “Inori recognises her feelings… I can’t say the same about him; none of us knows what’s on his mind really. One thing I know is that it’s making her pissed.”

Yuusuke frowned without answering. Awkward silence tented on them thereafter until Shouta cut through the silence like a thunderstorm.

“Hey, Yuusuke, was it? Dude, you’re huge! How tall even are you?” The boy asked.

“One hundred and eighty-seven…”

Shouta’s jaw dropped.

“Anything looks giant when you’re that small.” Himawari cut in, “Wha’dya want?”

“Get lost, you witch,” he turned back to Yuusuke: “You look very strong as well, can you carry my backpack? If I keep lifting that thing, I’ll stay tiny forever.”

“Sure…” before Yuusuke could finish, Shouta’s bag was on the ground, and him nowhere to be seen.

“Good luck buddy.” Said Himawari as she tapped his back.

The group began walking as soon as Akihiko came back with some food, hats for the sun, and lots of drinking water. They knew that intense heat, bugs, moisture and slippery roads were all waiting for them, but they did their best to enjoy every last bit of it. Chatter filled the air between them more than the dust could. They got to know the newcomer better on the walk… But they neither questioned Akihiko, nor did they speak of the recent events that forced their trip; whatever social contract they had going on, it was sustained by avoiding such topics.

There were signs that said, “No trespassing”, ones which they ignored altogether. Who’s stopping them anyway?

Aimlessly walked the six of them, putting blind trust in Akihiko’s directions, who despite not knowing the way, was confident in his guidance.

They decided to take a break after not much more than three hours of walking. Their stop was a little bald area inside the forest. The air had a fog—far from the norm of summer—only thick enough to take away the colours of the forest and replace it with a ghost-like greyness. Suspiciously was there no fauna—no birds, no bugs, nothing that breathes or budges.

Yuusuke invited Akihiko to talk. They said that they needed to scout the area, and took their leave.

“It’s been a week now, feeling any better?” The teacher asked.

Yuusuke nodded.

“Good, I will need you to be ready just in case.” Akihiko met the boy’s eyes with a smile.

Silence snuck in between their lines like a parasite. Like a dark bruise, it spoke that the wound was still healing. Eventually, it would turn into a silver scar—the mark of growth—but not just yet. Healing is a slow process in which only time is a factor.

“About the myth you told me.” The boy demanded, “I have a lot of questions.”

“Ask away.”

“First of all. What’s ITs name?” He asked with very little hope for an answer, it just seemed like the mysterious kind of knowledge that he would have to earn. To his surprise, the answer came far quicker.

“The name, I suppose you’ll need to know, better sooner than later… they used to call it The Great God of Paleness, a common name nowadays is Awako. Pale’s Awa and the Ko of solitude, though tend not to use any of ITs names, it brings bad luck.”

“Awako, sounds strangely lovely for such a wicked name,” he spat. “How do I use magic?”

“You’ll find out when you find out.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Anger was starting to get the best of him; he was never a fan of this mysterious wise mentor style.

“I can’t teach you to feel something at will, it must be triggered. You will know the feeling when you get it.” He tapped on the young man’s back, “Let’s go back.”

Side by side, the two headed back. They took no tricky turns so there was no room for them to get lost even in woods so thick. In a minute, they were already a few feet away from meeting the rest of the crew.

Suddenly, Akihiko stopped. “Yuusuke, you’re bleeding.”

Yuusuke felt the blood coming from his nose with his hand, “I… I am, don’t worry it’s just a nosebleed.”

As they entered their campsite, they could only see three of the four children.

“Seishiro, I’m back. Where’s Inori?” asked the teacher.

No answer.

“Seishiro,” he repeated as he reached out to the boy’s face only to see blood on his nose and eyes. “Yuusuke, check the rest, please.”

He acted accordingly, and the result was: all three were unconscious, faces red with blood, and Inori nowhere to be found.

Trouble finally found its way back to them.