Will probably be a while until I update this again, but yay~
It was a field, with overgrown grass lining the earth for a good portion of what the eye could see. At the threshold of my vision, I saw a bridge. A bridge where a girl had supposedly committed suicide once upon a time, though now it was barely more than a legend some tried to pursue. The waves lapped against the rocks at the foot of the bridge, washing away whatever sins and troubles that once lay there. I stood amidst the green plains, the occasional breeze ruffling my hair and running down the back of my shirt. It was refreshing.
And yet, I had no clue why or how I ended up in such a place. It was as if I'd always been here, though a chunk of my memory had been taken out. I glanced at the blond haired boy beside me, sitting on the grass with his feet stretched out in front of him.
“Something wrong, Sage?”
I smiled slightly at the question. It was near impossible to answer.
“It's like I've forgotten something important...”
Hizumi laughed in response. It was barely more than a soft chuckle, but his amusement escaped with the sound nonetheless. I feigned anger at that.
“It might come to you later. Don't lose sleep over it, Sage.” Hizumi tilted his head backwards a bit, tufts of hair falling away from his face as he gazed up at me with the same mischievous smile.
“What the hell are we doing here anyway?” I interjected after a moment. I knew I'd never get anywhere racking my brains for certain purposes or names that I had held onto, but trying to find out how I got here might help.
“Waiting for the ninth-graders. The we'll go for dinner somewhere, to celebrate the Tanabata festival.”
“Tanabata?” I raised an eyebrow in wonder.
“Yeah. Down at the capital, they've got stalls and food and other cool stuff.” Hizumi tucked his feet in, bringing himself into a crouch before standing up. His phone rang, and he pulled it out of his pocket to answer it. I silently watched as he spoke into the receiver, the sun beginning to set as the sky itself changed into a mellow orange. At last, he lowered the mobile, ushering me towards the road. “We're going now. It's a short trip if we take the train...” He paused. “Oh, my sister's performing too.”
“Performing?” I blinked, wondering what on earth someone would perform at such a festival. Singing? Dancing? Neither of which seemed like what Kirihana would do. I laughed at the thought, climbing over the black and yellow tape that separated the field from the road.
It said No Entry.
I gave it one last glance, feeling a nostalgia of some sorts that I failed to place a finger on. With a sigh, I then ran after Hizumi, towards the train station that stood nearby.
Half an hour later, I found myself at the train station again, but heading away from it now. We'd finally arrived at the Capital, and by then it was early in the evening. Crowds of people, all ages, flooded the stations and seeped out of it onto the streets. I gaped at the very scale of the said festival, for the first time realizing the prominence it. There weren't even so many people in Rimona itself.
Hizumi beckoned for me to follow as he wove through the crowd and into the dimmed streets. Night had really began to set in, and the ever-moving sea of people seemed no more than shifting silhouettes now. A new sense of dizziness gripped me, but the excitement urged me on.
Then I saw it. I heard the entertained gasp that rippled through the people, less densely packed now that we'd filed onto the streets. Only then did I see the flames that danced in the distance, on a raised platform supported by bamboo sticks painted in bright colors.
“What are they doing, Hizumi?”
He grinned at me, standing on the tips of his toes to get a better view of it. “Paying tribute to apparitions...”
I squinted, trying to make out the figures that danced on the stage with sticks alit with fire. The amber light formed elegant swirls in the air, fading out into a duller trail of smoke before dispersing into the air altogether. Then, the performance ended, and the fireworks started. I watched as the red, blue and green lights were launched into the air, exploding into tens and hundreds of tiny rays. Time seemed to flow by mysteriously quickly, and only when a hand tapped me on the shoulder did I turn around.
It was a man with bleached, close-cropped hair and pale blue eyes, clad in a dark jacket and a pair of jeans.
“Excuse me, do you know where the information stall is?” He asked softly, an accent lacing his voice. I paused for a moment, scanning the bright signs that spotted the darkened area. I had no idea where it was, but I figured that I needed an excuse to get out of this crowd for a bit.
“Um...” I began to walk, following a series of road signs that were stuck to lamp posts and eventually coming to a small booth. That should be it. I pointed it out to the man, he thanked me, and I walked away.
The part of the Capital that I had wandered into proved to be a few times more tranquil than the center, where the shows took place. A lone store stood brightly, its elderly keeper advertising paper dolls and iced strawberries on sticks. I wondered past, eyeing what there was on display.
I found myself at the steps that led even further away from where I'd come from. Beyond that, there was a twisted path laid with cobblestones, leading to one of the smaller streets that branched out from the center. I walked onto the first of the steps, curious as to where the path would lead.
“Sage~” A voice sounded behind me, and I turned to see Kirihana. Her silvery hair was done up in fashionable ribbons, a long, matching robe draped across her lithe body to give an air of royalty. She pouted with mock disappointment. “You weren't watching me, were you?”
“I was!” I protested sharply.
“Alright, fine.” She looked around, past me and onto the darkened path behind. “Where are you off to, anyway?”
“Looking for the toilets,” I lied.
“They're not there.”
“Oh?” I replied, doing my best to sound genuinely surprised.
“Yeah... check that hut over there.” K shrugged, pointing at what looked like a small wooden house down the road. “If that's not it, come back and I'll see what I can do...” She turned, taking a few steps towards the doll-selling store herself as I started towards the hut. I cursed, having never thought that such a tiny lie would come to such a bit commitment.
The structure seemed to get darker as I drew nearer and nearer to it. I eventually came to stand before a wooden door, antique in style whilst being new. I pushed it open, wondering what lay inside. And, I was probably better off not knowing.
The wooden house seemed abandoned, deserted by even rays of light that might have once fallen on it. I pulled out my phone, letting the monitor illuminate the area, and found that a series of tools lined the wall. Gardening tools? I took a step closer for a better look, and found that they weren't rakes and shovels. Hatchets, tridents and a few torturing devices leaned against a rusted rack by the wall, slightly weathered away by age.
My heart skipped a beat. I backed away from the collection and out the door. Only then, I ran into a slightly taller figure, clad with a black coat that ran all the way to his knees. I looked up, gawking as I caught the glint in his eyes.
“There you are.”
I froze for a moment, paralyzed on the spot. At the back of my mind, something clicked. I stared at the figure before me, my mind struggling to make a connection that would bring back my lost memories.
“...”
The figure reached out, pulling me towards him as the snippets of events began to fill my head. Hatchets. Corpses, illusions, and the school. I gave a sharp gasp, my momentum shifting as I stumbled forwards.
“... Akito!” I flailed, finally freeing myself as a sharp burn rushed to my face.
“You know, it was kinda scary when I thought you died.” He grinned at me then, turning around towards another street. “Come on, you probably want things explained, right?”
