女面 - Bungo Stray Dogs Fanfiction

第三十三話

Fumiko opened her eyes. She felt herself lying on her back on the tatami mat in the dark. Turning to the left side, she placed her right hand on the floor and slowly pushed herself up as her eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness. She began looking around, trying to comprehend her surroundings. She was inside a traditional Minka home, abandoned with its dusty and quaint pieces of furniture. Shoji doors were torn, and the tatami mats were decomposed. Light penetrated through the holes in the doors and walls, but not enough to illuminate the house.

Where was this place? One moment she remembered bidding her grandfather goodnight, and then she woke up in this alien place. No doubt the girl was scared. Her heart raced, it was starting to get overwhelming for her. "Hello?" she hesitantly called, her brittle voice echoing in the empty house. "Is anyone here?"

A faint peach flame suddenly appeared, flickering softly in the dark across from her. She gasped, taken aback by the abnormal phenomenon, and stepped back in wary. The flame soon intensified and grew, manifesting into a kimono-clad figure which glowed brightly. The sudden brightness hurt her eyes. Shutting them, she held her hands up as she tried to shield her eyes from the glaring light. She waited until she felt the light dim, to which she hesitantly opened her eyes.

The house was brighter now caused by light emitting from the lady levitating across from her. She wore a white hikizuri kimono, a dark grey obi around her waist secured with a taffy pink obi, accessorised with a cluster of pink and white camellias on her left side. Her legs were invisible, for the same miasma shrouded the bottom half of her legs. On the right side of her head was an extravagant headpiece made from pink and white camellias, and her long white hair cascaded past her knees floating in the air. But what caught the girl's attention the most was the Fukai noh mask on her face.

The two stood in silence, with Fumiko dumbfounded as she wondered who this mysterious woman was. All of a sudden, with her pale bony hands placed together at the front, the woman bowed 90 degrees. Their surroundings immediately lit up, giving her a better view of the dilapidated Minka house, before the brightness started to become overwhelming. Fumiko shut her eyes and raised her hands again before faintly hearing the words trailing off in a disembodied voice, "Onnamen."

"...-ady..."

"...-ke ... up..."

"Fumi, wake up!"

The said girl was jolted awake. Her eyes snapped open, and she abruptly sat up. She was taking shallow breaths, feeling her heart pound rapidly after becoming conscious so suddenly. It took a while, but once she realised where she was and remembered the voice that woke her up, she turned her head to the door. There stood Watanabe and Natsume at loss for words, their eyes widened and jaws went slack, hanging open loosely. She was confused at their expressions until she noticed the state of her room. Cupboards, both the small one on the left side of her bed and the taller one placed in the right corner of the room, were open and her clothes were scattered on the wooden floor. The vanity on the right side of her bed, placed right next to the windows, was in disarray. The jewellery box toppled on the side, causing her accessories to splay all over, and her hairbrush landed on the floor. Even the table lamp shade on the small cupboard, as well as the canvas painting hanging above the bed, weren't spared as they were both tilted tremendously. Should they tilt further, they would've fallen off, especially the portrait which could've then fallen on her. Had she not hugged her rabbit companion to sleep, it would've joined the blanket on the floor as well.

"What happened?" she uttered.

Carefully avoiding her belongings on the floor, Natsume entered the room and sat on the edge of her bed. The wooden frame creaked slightly with the weight. "Are you okay, Fumi?" he asked concernedly. "Were you having a nightmare?"