Stranded in the Future

Chapter Twenty-Three: Caged Grasshopper

Ichiro's heart continued to pound as Kumiko stopped shielding him and turned to face the shinigami that had burst forth from their bathroom wall. Her hands curled in rightful indignation while Hideo wore an expression of nervous amusement.

"Greetings." The shinigami gave a half-hearted wave with his upper arm. "I said that I would be back, didn't I?"

"Yes, but not this soon," Kumiko snapped. "You scared us both."

Ichiro remembered his own desire to be her match one day and forced himself to stand so that he wouldn't be seen as a coward. He met Hideo at eye level, then asked the first question that came to his confused mind.

"Why are you here?"

"Don't you remember?" Hideo took a step forward, only to slam against the interior of the bathtub. He shuddered, then managed to clamber on to the floor with briefcase still in hand. "You requested a letter from your sister."

"Oh, right." Ichiro nodded in understanding as Hideo sat down on the bathtub's edge and balanced the briefcase upon his lap. With a practiced flick of his wrist, the shinigami unfastened it as usual, causing a metal structure to spring out with such speed that Ichiro flinched.

Immediate inspection told him that the structure was a cage designed to hold a small animal, though what stunned Ichiro more was the fact that Hideo had been able to store it inside such a compact briefcase.

"How did you do it? That should be impossible..."

"I'm not surprised," Kumiko remarked. "Bending the laws of space and physics sounds about right for a god or goddess."

"You'd be right," Hideo confirmed her assumption. "I was lucky to receive this from Izanami when I was sworn into my position." He lifted the cage up by its handle. "But this is what you should be interested in tonight. Come, take a look."

Ichiro glanced at Kumiko, and she nodded before stepping forward first. She crouched down to stare into the cage, then gasped. "My goodness, what is that?"

"A grasshopper," Hideo said matter-of-factly as if the twitching husk on the cage floor was nothing to be concerned about. "And one of Lady Isa's prized pets that I had to bribe her for. She even named it after you as an act of affection."

"What?" Ichiro gaped at the tiny and deformed creature that had clearly lost its ability to hop. "This is outrageous..."

"Not to your sister. Her only memories of you are from when she was a child, and she says that you were always compared to a grasshopper."

Ichiro remembered the nickname that his mother used to call him because of his scrawny build and felt a pang of sorrow. Chances were that he would never get either of his parents back again, so the best he could do was cling to the sliver of hope in front of him.

"Hello," he whispered, placing his hand against the bars of the cage. He was still a little shaken by the power of the television and wondered if anything was real anymore. "So, you're my sister's pet. I hope she takes good care of you, but judging by your sorry state, I doubt that she does."

Hideo's chuckle startled Ichiro into withdrawing his hand. "Appearances are misleading. This grasshopper is as healthy as an underworld creature can be. It just feels tired in the world of the living."

"Pardon?" Ichiro noticed that Kumiko didn't look very surprised. Perhaps, she had seen this sort of thing before and would have to enlighten him later.

"This grasshopper is technically dead," Hideo explained further. "And, unlike me, its reconstructed body lacks the stamina for prolonged activity."