Zero stepped out of the house, Tokumei waiting for him patiently, sat on the stairs. As they both walked down, Kiyomasa walked out onto the patio, turning to Zero. "By the way, there's a shortcut by the parking spot." "Oh, thank you." Zero and Tokumei walked over to the cluster of trees, a wooden gate with the sign reading 'shortcut' painted on. Tokumei raised an eyebrow, looking at the thick plants covering the path," This is the shortcut?" Zero shrugged, leading the way. The plants were thick and obstructive to say the least, not to mention it was on a slope. Tokumei yelped, sliding down slightly and twisting his ankle. Zero held out his hand for the boy to take, Tokumei taking it with a hum. The entity led the ten year old across a log and onto the road that the car had travelled on. He couldn't help but notice how cold his hands felt. The shortcut seemed to lead to another plot of thick grass before reaching the final road. The two walked the rest of the way to the post office, the building with a blue roof and glum display. Zero quickly headed to the red box, slipping the letter inside it as Tokumei watched. Luckily, there was nobody there to question them. Or so he thought. "Boys just drive me mad!" "It's tough being a class president." Tokumei gasped, alerting Zero to the people arriving. It was a mother and her daughter. Her mother was smartly dressed and smug; whereas her daughter was chubby, wearing a pink school outfit. "Ah!" The daughter gasped," I need to drop off a letter." Tokumei gasped, grabbing Zero's hand and making them run away from the girl approaching. The girl immediately noticed, frowning. "Hey, mum, who was that?"
Tokumei pulled Zero along, the entity's breath fluctuating with each step down the stairs leading to the marsh. The entity glanced back, praying that the girl wasn't following. He yelped, both him and Tokumei losing their footing and rolling down the steps onto the sand. The marsh bird squawked, flying away, as both landed fast first onto the hard sand. Zero groaned, pulling himself up. He gasped, standing up suddenly. In the distance, illuminated by the sunset, was a mansion-like home. It was the other side of the marsh, set on top of a hill. Tokumei stood up, just as startled by the home. There was something about it. Something so... "Tokumei...why is it...that mansion feels familiar...?" Tokumei nodded, clutching where his heart was, his eyes wide. "Let's go take a look," Zero hummed. Tokumei shook his head, violently. "What's wrong?" Tears built up in the boy's eyes, as he buried his head down, miserably. "I can't...I... I'm going back, you investigate..." Before Zero could protest further, the boy ran off. Zero wasn't expecting him to act so upset by the mansion, yet Zero himself couldn't shake off the strange feeling it gave him. Like he knew it.
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The entity slipped off his shoes and his socks, holding them in his hands as he stepped barefoot into the marsh. He waded through the shallows, thankful that the tide had gone in, trying his best to stick to grass and mounds of earth. He swayed slightly, occasionally stumbling on a bit of uneven marsh, before regaining his balance. He couldn't explain why that house drew him over, yet it felt like he had to go there. He finally reached the large stone paving as steps; clearly used for boats when the tide came in. Zero reached the archway, a rusted metal gate standing in front of the stairs leading to the home. Surely nobody would mind? The gate was already slightly adjar, so the entity pushed it open, walking up the steps quietly. The garden seemed overgrown and most of the outdoor chairs strewn down onto the floor. "What a big house," Zero hummed. Zero walked over to the steps leading to the patio, peering through the glass. The home was dusty and peeling at the wallpaper, and all the left over furniture was covered in white sheets. "I guess there's nobody here..." The entity walked over to a wall, pushing himself back to look at the home. He couldn't explain why, but his gaze met two blue windows on the second floor, of the right-hand side of the house. For some reason that was the most familiar thing to him about the mansion.
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Zero groaned, waking up in the grass, lying on a stack of wood. It was sunset. He stood up gasping. He'd fallen asleep at the mansion! He ran down the stairs, prepared to run back to the Oiwa's home and apologize profusely for being so late. He had to stop himself from running down the steps, gasping in horror. The tide had risen whilst he'd slept. He was stuck, it'd be too deep to wade along the shallows, since there was none. Zero gasped, stepping back as a cold wave washed over his feet. "Oh no..." His panick was cut off by the noise of wood grating beneath the pressure of the water. Approaching, was the man in the wooden boat that Zero had seen before on the balcony. He rowed to the home, not even looking at Zero as he parked beside the house. "I'm sorry, thank you," Zero nodded, blushing as he stepped into the boat carefully; sitting down. The man rowed him back, neither of them looking at each other on the way, neither speaking. The old man seemed even more socially awkward than Zero, but the entity didn't mind. He's like a bear. No, maybe a sea lion. Zero smiled slightly at the thought. The entity turned to look back at the house, expecting to see what he'd seen before. He gasped. The lights of the house were on. "Eh?" When he blinked, the lights were off again. Zero furrowed his brows. Something was off about that home.
