NEFELIBATA

.kuchisake-onna 2.

...

KAYO HAD offered to give Akio a brief tour of the town and he agreed.

Akio was pleasantly surprised by the young lady's generous offer. It felt refreshing to be hanging out with a person who had a more innocent and cheery personality. Kusuriuri was a nice enough guy, he was just very hard to talk to. Akio was never the type of person to take initiative and always being with the medicine seller has pushed him into that awkward situation more times than he would like.

"This is another fisher man!" Kayo was smiling awkwardly as she showed off the middle aged man, snapping the redhead out of his musings. The man was sluggishly chopping the head of a fish. The fish itself was relatively bog but compared to the man's hand, it seemed like a small sardine.

Smelling the rotten stench of the deceased fish, Akio stepped away from the shop. Kayo pinched her nose, trying to keep the smell away from her. The two quietly decided to walk away.

It was a port town so it was expected to have many places selling fish but this was over the top.

"It seems there's a lot of um..." he looked all around hoping to find something other than fish to talk about. With nothing in mind he simply chose to finish his sentence. "There's a lot of fish isn't there." Awkward. He made it too awkward.

"I know a great seafood restaurant! We can go there." Kayo chimed in. Her voice had a frantic undertone, one that  Akio understood, he could feel it on another level. He felt a soft tug at the end of his sleeve. His eyes trailed up to Kayo, then to the direction she was pointing at. It was a dark alleyway. An unnatural ominous ambience oozed out of it.

A cold sweat dripped down his brow.

"A-Are you sure the restaurant is that good." His voice shook a little. There was no way he was going through that alleyway. Not when he didn't have someone like Kusuriuri accompanying them.

"C'mon, don't be such a coward." She teased him, however, it was obvious she to was terrified. Akio heaved an exhausted sigh, he came here for a reason. To leave behind all the horrors he's seen, he was not going to let himself be persuaded!

---

He couldn't believe he let Kayo talk him into this.

The pair were currently holding onto each other like their life depended on it. Akio scanned the area wearily while Kayo focused only what was in front of her. Though it had been a sunny day, this slim place was somehow deprived of light. A single drop of light couldn't be found. Almost as if they were transported into a shadowy relm. The alleyway hungrily sucked up any light that found its way here. Even the bright yellow color of Kayo's kimono had gradually turned into a darker shade. Chills ran down his back. A soft breeze flew right passed him, causing another round of chills.

None of them uttered a word. Too afraid if they spoke a syllable, something horrifying would happen. Akio could hear low beat of a drum-- no his heart-- pound in his ears. Having a low steady beat being the only thing he could hear wasn't the most calming.

Though Akio was terrified, nothing had happened, at least for now. As time went on, the closer the end of the alleyway was, the tension he felt began to dissipate. Kayo seemed to have sense that Akio has calmed down, before long she had stopping gripping him so tightly and opted to hold onto him gently. She must've done it subconsciously because fear was still strongly embedded into her eyes.

Feeling a slight change in the atmosphere, Akio glanced down to Kayo. Supposedly Kayo felt the same shidt and glnaced up at him as well. The two stared into each others eyes for a while, then smiled softly at each other.

Maybe it was getting used to the dark or the reassurance he had gotten from Kayo, but the end of the alleyway seemed to be coming closer much faster than before.

Warmth. He could feel the warmth of the sun hit him. Akio hadn't realized how cold the alleyway truly was. The bustling streets and the sound of children's giggles flooded into his ears. Akio had never missed the sound of babies crying as much as he did now.

The two had let each other go for a while now. Akio had just realized this. He looked down at Kayo and she look up at him. Grins broke out onto their face. Akio chuckled. The Kayo followed in suit.

"How did you even discover the restaurant in the first place?" Akio has both incredulous and amazed. Kayo grinned and began to unravel her tale.

"It was a complete coincidence," She started off. Starting to walk, Akio follwed right behind. Her eyes lit up childishly as she recalled the other half of her story. Seeing her eyes shine so bright also made Akio's shine.

"Thankfully I was lucky enough to have gone with a whole group!" She exclaimed.

"It was definitely less scary and somehow way quicker. We ended up walking for a while, hoping to find a place to rest." The sudden pause didn't escape Akio. He rose a brow in confusion. He stared down at her. Waiting for her to finish.
Kayo had stopped walking causing Akio to stop walking too.

Looking back at it, Akio should've recognized the dread he felt.

The sharp chilling feeling he felt in the alleyway.

The feeling he only got when a Mononoke was near by.