Chapter 5 - Whispers in the night

Rena had trouble trying to sleep, despite the night being quiet, something was keeping her tossing around. Tail frantically twitching beneath the blanket, out of nowhere she had an overwhelming sense of fear. Leaning over the sign of the bed, she poked Haruki who was just about to close his eyes.

“Haruki, I think something is here...”

“Hmmm, what do you mean?”

Pushing her hands into the sides of her temples, her head started to feel like it was throbbing with some kind of pressure.

“Something followed us!”

“On the walk home...? Are you sure?”

“No Haruki... from the shrine... I can’t take it.”

That’s when Haruki also felt something strange. Thoughts started entering his mind that weren’t his own. Getting louder and louder, they became like voices whispering directly into his head.

Clutching at her chest while sitting up in the bed, Rena’s eyes were opened wide with fear. What was even more out of the ordinary, is they started letting off a faint blue light.

“Rena, what is going on!”

Touching her on the shoulder, she felt abnormally cold. Not reacting to the feeling of his hand, instead she continued blankly staring at the open window.

“I have to go...”

“Wait, go where?”

Rena jumped out of bed and started walking down the hallway towards the stairs. Still barefoot and wearing only her baggy white t shirt, she didn’t seem to care. Haruki started to wonder if she was sleepwalking.

“Hey, Wait!”

Wasting no time, Haruki got up and followed her down the hall. Once he could see where she was, she had already gotten to the front door. Moving forward as if something was in control of her body, it was an eerie sight. Before opening the entrance, she paused for a second and turned to look back; her eyes were glazed over with an alarmed expression.

Haruki could still see the strange blue light emanating from her eyes, but now it was starting to envelope the rest of her body as well. Looking past her, even more bothersome was a faint purple glow seeping through the window of the front door.

What on earth is going on...?

Opening the door and slowly making her way outside, she continued as if she was on autopilot. Reaching the front porch, once again she stopped before stepping off. Gazing out into the forest, Rena could feel an ominous presence coming to meet her.

By the time Haruki caught up with her, she had already reached the front yard. The whole scene looked incredibly frightening: hanging lowly above the ground a thick fog floated from the forest. Haruki noticed just like at the shrine, for some reason there was no sounds of life. Crickets that usually sang were silent, and there was no nighttime breeze.

Continuing to walk down the path towards the forest edge, Rena seemed to be drawn to something. Chasing after her further, that’s when he finally saw whatever it was. Coming out of the mist like some kind of ghost, there were dozens of them.

Tiny drifting lights floated into view, but unlike balls of light you hear about in fairy tales, these looked more like shadows. Each one of them drifted like smoke, and contained a pulsating red core.

Haruki’s heart started beating rapidly as confusion and fear started to sink in. Unsure if this was some kind of evil spirit or entity, all he could do was try and save Rena.

That must be where purple light was coming from, but what are they...?

Whatever these things were, Haruki felt they were not good. The noises in his head continued to get louder as they clouded his thoughts with things he didn’t want to hear. Overwhelming pressure filled his head, it was getting hard to focus on anything else. Pushing the thoughts away the best he could, he knew he had to do anything to get her to snap out of it.

“Rena, we have to get out of here!”

Still no response, and as he finally caught up with her he could tell something was off. The look in her eyes was full of fear. Where the blue light was glowing, now slowly it was turning red.

“Rena?! Are you okay....?”

Like loud voises coming from within, suddenly they became louder and it was too much.

“You’re not supposed to be here.”

“Again, you failed everyone.”

“No one remembers you.”

Dropping to her knees, she covered her ears in protest. Tail lashing behind her erratically while her breathing began to quicken into frightful gasps.

“STOP IT... STOP IT... NO, YOU’RE WRONG!”

Rena screamed louder than anything he had ever heard before. Standing there paralyzed and covering her ears, desperately she tried to block out their voices.

Circling closer, the Hollow-Spirits, at least that’s what Haruki named them, pulsated brighter. Without a second thought, Haruki launched himself between Rena and the shadows. Holding his arms out wide to block them from moving any further, he gathered all the courage he had.

“Leave her alone!”

Deep down he knew he was powerless and only human. There was no special abilities or powers, he wasn’t a hero. Still, from just his actions, they hesitated for a moment. Then flickering their red cores, they appeared to focus attention back on Rena.

Haruki turned his head and met her eyes, then stepping back until he was directly in front of her he grabbed her and wrapped his arms around.

“Rena, don’t listen to them. You're not alone.”

Trembling and falling to her knees, she shook her head as tears started to fall. Staring at her hands like they were not real, all she could feel was pain in her heart.

“Haruki... I can’t... I don’t remember who I am... Maybe I shouldn’t be here.”

Shrieking through the air like high pitched thunder they let out a cry. Hollow-Spirits started rapidly gathering around Haruki. With nowhere left for him to run, it was too late and they were trapped. Both their backs were against a large tree, and the rest of the area was forest. The path back to the house was completely blocked.

Circling together as they enclosed on them both, it seemed they were starting to take formation to attack. Unexpectedly they started to join together and drift as one. That’s when the impossible happened, they slowly combined into a large figure of a fox spirit.

Haruki had a hard time believing what he was seeing: standing before them both was some kind shadow Kitsune. In the center of it’s chest was a bright red glow. Shadows around it slowly started to form further until it appeared to be a feminine figure in a flowing red dress. It looked like an evil sorceress you would see in movies.

Walking towards them slowly, the way it moved looked like it was floating just above the ground. It’s eyes were dark red and with no sense of emotion. Fixated on Rena it started moving at a quickened pace in her direction.

Rena was still on her knees in a panicked state. Memories which felt real to her were filling her head: the portal ripping her past life away, old familiar faces she couldn’t recognize, and the comfort of her old home.

Glaring directly at Rena while an evil grin grew across it’s face, slowly it start to raise it’s hand out towards her.

“I finally found you....”

Haruki could hear it’s words like they were in his head. Seeing the look on her face, Rena could also feel it’s evil thoughts.

As Haruki tried to pick Rena up from the ground, he felt something in the air change. Out the corner of his eye he could see a red electric energy starting to form. Then In a split second before he could react.

Red lighting shot through the sky directly at Haruki.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Closing his eyes as he covered himself, he prepared to take the hit full on.

That’s when something in Rena started to change. Hidden powers from within began to surface, as blue light sparkled at her finger tips. Her hair blew in every direction as if there was a sudden gust of wind.

Rena snapped out of the trance she had been in. She got off the ground and jumped in front of Haruki. Eyes glowing brightly as her body radiated with a shimmering light. Covering her body was a blue Aura of energy.

“Haruki!”

The red lighting reflected off her body and shot up into the sky. Bouncing off her body like a force field, she remained unharmed.

“Don’t touch him!”

No longer looking like she was in pain, a look of determination was now on her face. Gently pushing him behind her, she stood between him and the enemy. She knew no matter what she couldn’t let anything harm to the boy she had come to like.

The ground began to tremble, and cracks started to form beneath their feet. Raising her arm into the sky and opening her hand, energy stirred at her fingertips. A ribbon of thin silver spiralled from her palm like she was pulling it out of thin air.

Diiinnnng~

Echoing through the night out of nowhere, the sound of a bell began to chime.

Silver light in her hand formed into a long silver staff with 3 golden bells up top connected by a ring. Shining with a golden light as she lowered it in front. She held it firmly like a weapon, creating a barrier between them.

“Rena?!” What is....?

No time to answer, instinctively she knew what to do. Slashing the staff through the air in wide arc, a wave of energy shot out like a giant blade.

Haruki was shocked by the sight in front of him. Feeling the pressure from the air around him, he watched as the attack hit the evil spirit.

The shadowy fox figure that was standing in front of them, was suddenly torn in two. Both sides hung in the air before a flash of light and smoke made them vanish.

Nothing but stillness remaining in the air around, once again it was just the two of them. Silver light pulsating from the bell staff she was still holding, Rena stood still clutching it firmly.

Haruki thought he could see the outline of her aura form around her. Covering her body it looked like a transparent spirit energy. Gently it started to fade away as the light dimmed. The staff she was holding vanished into sparkles as she returned to her normal self.

Once she looked like the Rena that he had become accustomed to, Haruki ran over to grab her hand. Nighttime seemed to resume, along with the sounds of crickets and other woodland creatures. The sky was clear and lit up with stars, everything felt back to normal.

“Rena, what exactly...”

While she was gazing out into the forest, her eyes closed as her legs started to give out. Reacting quickly to keep her from falling, Haruki caught her in his arms. Dropping to his knees and holding her close, he could feel heat radiating from her skin. She looked a bit flushed as if she just exhausted herself a bit too much.

Just as he was about to become worried, her eyes fluttered open.

“Nyaa~ thanks for catching me...”

“You almost scared me again!”

“... sorry about that, I think I overdid it a bit.”

Feeling a bit more relieved that she was okay, he didn’t rush to stand up. Sitting on the ground together, Haruki didn’t want to move until she was ready. Part of himself felt like he needed to protect her, with whatever way he could. At least he could provide her some kind of support emotionally, as he knew he wasn’t very strong.

As he looked around their surrounding area, he noticed that the earth was scorched. If he were to describe it, he thought some kind of fire or explosion happened. Some areas of the ground were burnt where it looked like energy had touched. Haruki felt like he was sitting in the aftermath of a battleground.

Trying to calm himself from the scene he just witnessed, it was a lot for him to try and understand. Breathing in deeply while trying to settle his emotions, he looked down at the cat girl in his arms. She looked peaceful despite what had just occurred.

“Hey, you doing okay?”

“Nyaa~ I think so.”

That’s when an odd blue glow started to emanate from just above the old tree near his house.

“What is that?”

Squinting his eyes trying to get a better look, the colour got brighter and started to move. Coming towards them rapidly, Haruki thought it might be some kind of firefly. Rena turned her head to look as it drew closer.

“I need to get up...”

Trying to get up by herself, she felt a bit shaky. Haruki held on to her as they both gently stood up from the ground.

Taking one step closer to the light, Rena felt a familiar feeling of something. She started to stumble as she tried to continue forward.

“Whoah, let me help you.”

“Haruki, look!”

The light started to change shape into bright blue diamond. Floating above them in the night sky, it looked as if it wasn’t perfect. Parts of it seemed broken, like it was only a fragment of something bigger.

Hovering in the air for a second before it started to move again. Slowly it started to float down towards Rena.

Reaching her hand out to try and interact with it, before she could touch it she hesitated.

“What is it...?”

“I’m not sure, but I think it somehow belongs to me.”

Hands trembling, she gently poked it. Then in swift movement it flew into the air and started letting off rays of light. Swirling around in the air it started to make it’s way back down, and then in one quick movement it dove into her chest.

Another bright flash came from her body as she gasped for air. Her eyes widened as she felt something within her change.

“What just happened!?”

Placing a hand over her heart, she looked up at him. Smile creeping across her face, she grabbed his hand.

“Haruki, I remember something!”

“Wait, what do you mean... What is it?

“I feel like something, even if it’s small.... returned to me.”

“What is it that you remember?”

“Well, it’s not much but I remember someone calling out to me. From somewhere very far away...”

“Is there anything else?”

“Maybe it was a memory from where your home is”

Haruki figured that if Rena were indeed a Yokai, then she was from another place not like their current world. From what he knew Yokai came from another realm that humans could not visit. That’s what his mother had taught him during her time as shrine maiden.

Rena looked down at herself where the fragment had merged with her body. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so she tried to start walking back towards the house. As she walked she tried hard to focus on anything else that she might remember.

“NYAAAA~!”

Her legs gave out again as her body still wasn’t fully recovered. Falling down on the ground, she landed softly on her butt.

“Hahahaha... sorry I’m not trying to laugh.”

Sitting down next to her, he patted her on the head and smiled.

“Let just sit for bit. Besides the night sky looks beautiful.”

As he said that she looked up and gazed into his eyes. He swore he could see the reflection of the stars with the way she stared. Feeling a bit awkward from how she was looking at him, he felt like his comment was meant for her.

“Haruki, what am I?”

Her words snapped him out of his daze. Not wanting to look embarrassed, he pretended to up at the sky. Haruki had been raised hearing tales of the Yokai and spirit realm. His mother would often talk about strange things at the shrine or her encounters as a shrine maiden.

“If you are what I think you are, you’re not from anywhere near. But... I am not really sure.”

“What do you think I am?”

“A Yokai.”

“Nyaa~? What is a Yokai...?”

“From what I have been told, a spirit.”

Rena thought about that for a moment. She knew that she was different than him, and that she wasn’t from this place, but she didn’t think she was something as special as a spirit. Looking up at the stars, she felt they looked the same as the ones from her home.

What is a spirit anyways?

“Haruki...?”

“Yes, Rena?”

“Are you afraid of me.”

The question surprised him. There was no reason he felt he should be afraid of someone like Rena. Everything about her was different but, that was also what he felt was special.

It must be hard being so far from home.

“Why would you think I would be afraid of you?”

“Because I am not human like you.”

“That doesn’t mean I am scared of you.”

“So you don’t think I am scary?”

“No I think you’re something much more than that.”

She looked surprised, at his statement. Her tail started moving in the air behind them, as she tried to understand what he meant.

“What else do you think I am?”

“A cute cat.”

“Nyaa~!”

Her face started to blush while she looked down at her bare legs. Tail moving more flustered now, it seemed to reflect her emotions. Being called cute was never something she expected from him.

“So this person that you remembered, who was it?”

“I don’t really know, but they were holding on to me, like I was important to them.”

That statement made Haruki feel a bit anxious, or jealous he wasn’t sure which. Rena was quite beautiful, it made sense she had a previous lover.

Seeing how he looked a bit down from her previous statement, she felt it was important to clarify what she really meant.

“...Not someone like you, but same kinda of safe feeling.” 

Leaning in closer, he reached his arm around to hug her. Hesitating for a second as he unexpectedly grabbed her, eventually she relaxed into his embrace. Rena enjoyed being around him, she felt like he accepted her despite who or what she may be.

After they sat quietly watching the stars for a bit longer, Haruki was starting to get tired. Looking over at Rena, it appeared she also felt the same. It was getting hard for her to keep her eyes open while being cuddled.

“Come on, lets go inside. I will carry you.”

Lifting her onto his back, he pushed himself up as he held his arms around her thighs. Rena rested on his back and wrapped her arms around him. Haruki felt the soft parts of her body squishing into his back as she pressed against him. He did his best to not feel embarrassed.

Oh well, there’s nothing I can do about it...

Hiking his way back up the short trail towards his house, he carried her like she was a backpack. Once he finally reached the entrance, he realized there was a large set of stairs to his room.

I can do this...

Trudging his way up with the full size girl on his back, by the time he reached his room he was exhausted. Turning his back to face his bed, Rena let go and flopped down onto the mattress.
By the time Haruki turned around, she was already snuggling into the blankets with her eyes closed. He covered her with the sheet and turned to leave the room.

“Hey, where are you going...?”

“Sorry, I’m just going to get a drink of water, don’t worry.”

“Nyaa~ ookay.”

Goodnight Rena

Even though he was tired, there was a feeling that was still bothering him. Making his way back down stairs, he walked out onto the balcony. The night was peaceful and there was no sign of anything off. Haruki leaned against the railing as he recollected the nights events. Rena having a battle with an evil spirit, her loss of memories, weird fox like entities: None of it made any sense.

Who was she really...? And what am I supposed to do... is it wrong to live with a Yokai?

He felt that she was counting on him to have all the answers. But all he had was more questions. Whatever task was being presented to him, seemed impossible.

When the fragment connected with her it caused some sort of memory to trigger, but not just a piece.

Why did she fall into this realm on her own...?

What does this all have to do with me...?

Thoughts racing thorough his head as he stood there. He didn’t know what it was he could do to help her as he was only human. The more he thought about things, the more he knew this was something bigger.

Stepping back inside the house, he closed the door and walked over to the couch. He didn’t think there was anyway he could fall asleep tonight. Deep inside himself underneath all the confusion, he knew that he had to help her.

Maybe, I am supposed to help her, in whatever way that might be. But still... why me?