"Urgh. I think I drank too much."
A middle-aged man stood hunched over in an alleyway, with one hand on the wall. Dealing with the aftereffects of overdrinking, he was uncontrollably throwing up. He had a pretty rough week. He was single and lived alone, all the while working at a white-collar job that didn't give much pay. And now that he was in danger of losing his job, he did his best to drink away his problems.
"What am I even doing with myself...?"
He thought about the life he was currently living. This definitely wasn't what he dreamed of. But his youth seemed to be already gone. Not much he can do about that anymore.
"Well, I should probably get back home. The last train comes in about half an hour."
Wiping his mouth, the office worker took his hand off the street lamp and turned to leave.
Hold on. Street lamp? Since when was that there?
Before he could even react, several long, black arms pierced through his torso. Blood spurted out of the man's eyes, nose, and mouth in a gurgling scream. Dying instantly, the man's body was thrust up into the air, dripping blood and innards everywhere.
A pitch-black face adorned with a fedora rose to examine the dead man's body. Satisfied, it threw him to the ground like a limp, torn doll, his eyes unblinking. Slowly fading back into the darkness, the tall man would wait for its next victim. A slit on the creature's once-empty face opened to reveal several pointy teeth, in a ghastly smile.
_________________________________________________________
Three days after my encounter with the Kuchisake-Onna, I found myself sitting on the couch watching the news.
After avoiding getting cut in half, I was never more glad to reach my house. Not long after, I received a text from Mika.
[Sorry, looks like my parents want to go on a short trip back to our hometown in Hokkaido before I get busy with school. I'll have to see you once school starts again.]
The text both relieved and disappointed me. On one hand, Mika had gotten home safely. On the other hand, I now had nothing to do for these last couple of days of break.
Well, I had more pressing matters at hand, anyway. The next morning I had sat on my bed, wondering if some sort of god-lady did save me.
I thought about how I could possibly see her again, when she appeared right next to me, which nearly gave me a heart attack. Unfortunately, she couldn't seem to talk and was restricted to nodding or making expressions whenever I talked to her.
"Should I tell my parents about what happened? Would they even be able to see you?"
The woman shrugged. It seemed she was as clueless as I am.
"Where did you even come from, anyway?"
Shrug.
"Do you have a name?"
She crossed her arms into an x.
She was like a mime, only without all of the absurd makeup. I giggled at the thought.
"Well, how about I give you a name?"
Nod.
I thought for quite some time. What do I call her? I'm not the best at naming things. Then I got an idea.
"How about... Since you glow like a star... How about I name you Hoshi?"
The woman smiled and formed her hands into a circle.
"Alright, Hoshi it is!"
Now I was sitting on my couch, with nothing to do. My parents were out running errands, and my brother was still sleeping. Thus, Hoshi and I passed the time by being bored together.
"Wanna play cards?"
Nod.
As I walked back into the room with a pack of cards, the news reporter's voice caught my attention.
[...last spotted at a bar in the Akihabara district, the 46-year-old had gone missing without a trace. Neighbors have reported that he has not returned to his apartment in days. If anyone knows of his whereabouts, please call the police.]
The reporter's words hit me like a hammer. "Hoshi, I couldn't see you yet, but were you there when I was at Akihabara?"
Hoshi shuddered and nodded.
I thought about the incident there, and how I narrowly escaped death. But wait.
"Hold on, why didn't you come out there then? I almost died!"
Hoshi looked apologetic, but based on the time I've spent with her, she seemed to be trying to communicate that she wasn't able to.
"Ah, well, glad you appeared when you did. More importantly, do you think that maybe... the missing person has to do with what we saw in Akihabara...?"
Hoshi made a shocked expression. She wasn't exactly the fastest, huh? Regardless, she nodded while carrying a look of worry.
Damn it. If that person ran into the monster from that alleyway... my heart sunk and my mind felt like ice. ...he's probably dead.
"Hoshi."
She looked up from the ground with a gloomy expression.
"We have to go back. More people could die if we don't take care of that thing."
Hoshi nodded with a determined look.
I didn't want to go back and relive that terrifying experience. But now that I had Hoshi, I had to do something. Still, thinking about that monster made me shudder. Even though the Yuuki Onna was scary, it didn't have nearly as much of a presence as that tall man...
Lost in thought, I realized with a jolt that Hoshi was trying to get my attention. Except, her way of doing that was sticking her face directly in front of mine.
"Ow! Don't do that, you're too bright!"
Hoshi floated back and had a determined look on her face. She kept repeatedly pointing at the dinner table, mouthing something.
"Huh? Table? You want us to bring that?"
She shook her head, then started to move her hand in a flipping motion. It looked like she was flipping a pan.
"...cooking? Are you hungry? Do you even get hungry?"
She slapped her forehead with her hand and pointed at the table while flipping her hand.
"Oh... a meal? You mean like breakfast?"
Hoshi nodded vigorously, then looked as if she was thinking hard. She suddenly made an expression of triumph, pointing her finger to the air, with a light shining above it like a lightbulb. What is she, an anime character?
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
Her naginata materialized in her hand, and she raised it. I put up both my hands to stop her.
"Woah woah woah, you're going to break the house."
Hoshi stared at me blankly, before facepalming again. This idiot. She put away the weapon and settled on using her finger instead. She took her finger and started to wave it through the air. Is she writing something?
Squinting my eyes, I looked at her carefully. I think she's writing the kanji for Mom: ?. Thinking carefully, I finally realized what she meant.
"Do you mean that conversation I had with my mom the morning after Akihabara?"
Hoshi's expression brightened and she nodded, then pointed to herself.
"She did say to tell her and Dad if anything weird happened, but didn't we agree that they probably wouldn't believe me?"
Hoshi shook her head with a determined expression. Somehow, I understood her. Even if they didn't believe me, it was worth a try. After all, I had no reason to hide this from my parents, no matter how bizarre it would seem. Not just that, but I wanted them to be aware of those monsters, in case... in case... I shook the thought away from my head.
"Alright. I'll tell them tonight."
I never really understood why characters in fiction would awaken powers, only to never tell their parents. Friends I understood, but your parents deserved to know.
At the same time, I understood how the characters felt. How would I even begin to tell them about this? Hoshi and I spent the whole day brainstorming ways to break the news to my parents.
"Maybe if I have you lift something in front of them or something... even if they can't see you, surely they'd have to believe me when they see you doing stuff."
I made up my mind. After dinner I would first tell them everything, starting with Akihabara, up to Hoshi.
During dinner, my anxiety only grew. Of course, being my parents, they noticed quickly.
"You okay Yuri? You seem a bit out of it."
"Yeah, but... Mom, Dad, can I talk to you about something after this?"
"Of course. We're always here to talk."
My brother started to sprinkle furikake on his rice, and asked "A boy?"
The question almost made me choke on my food.
"No!"
After everyone finished eating and cleaned up, Kenta went upstairs to read in his room. My mom and dad sat at the table and motioned for me to sit with them. Swallowing, I walked over and sat on a chair. Underneath the table, my hands were fidgeting.
"I know you probably won't believe this, but..."
I told them the whole story, all the while stumbling over my words. By the end of it all, I just wanted to evaporate like the Yuuki Onna. My parents looked at me with dumbfounded faces. I internally crumpled. I knew that it was hard to believe a word of what I said, but I had secretly hoped that they somehow wo-
"Not her too," my dad groaned. His palm hit his forehead, and started to slip down his face.. "and I was letting myself start to think that maybe she wouldn't have to deal with all of this too."
Hold on a minute here. My brain struggled to keep up.
"Not her too... you've seen these... monsters before?"
My parents glanced at each other, before looking back at me with grave expressions. "Yes," my mom replied. "not just us, but your brother too."
"Honestly, we knew you probably would be able to see them sooner or later. But... to think that you'd run into such dangerous ones..." My dad's face was pale.
I was so dumbfounded and had so many questions that I didn't know what to say first. "I... you..."
My mom smiled a little. "You must be confused. I'll do my best to explain."
"It's going to take a while. I'll get something to drink." My dad went over to open the fridge.
"Where do I begin? Well, first of all, those monsters that you ran into are what we call Youkai. As their name suggests, they're essentially spirits."
Coming back with the milk, my dad added "Well, we don't exactly know what they are, but we do know that most people can't see them. Not only that, but a few of them take the form of urban legends and myths, just like the Kuchisake-Onna that you met. In fact, they're probably the cause of these stories being passed down to begin with."
Now that I thought more carefully about the form of the Kuchisake-Onna... something seemed off.
"But the one I met, she didn't carry any scissors. Instead, her arms split right down the middle to form scissors instead."
"Well, they're not always exactly like the urban legends. Things get changed here and there as they get passed down from generation to generation."
"Most Youkai are simply troublemakers, but some of the stronger ones can cause serious harm to people." My mom shuddered. "Never did I think you'd meet two of them like this."
"Well, given how you've awoken your Kami, that explains it." My dad smiled slightly. He added to my mom, "I told you she was talented."
"Kami? You mean Hoshi?"
My mom laughed. "I should've figured you already gave her a name. Yes, she is what we call a Kami. As their name suggests, they're like guardian spirits, but in reality, they're a piece of your own soul come to life. Very few people can see Youkai and even fewer have strong enough spiritual energy to awaken a Kami. The Youkai must've been drawn to your strong soul."
So Hoshi was a part of my soul... That seemed to explain why I felt a sense of familiarity with her. Without a warning, Hoshi appeared next to me.
"Gah! Who said you could come out?!"
My parents looked at Hoshi with looks of wonder.
"Amazing. She really does look like a guardian spirit... I never got to see one in person." My dad's mouth hung open.
Puffing her chest out, Hoshi did a couple of spins in the air, to the applause of my parents. Showoff.
My mom laughed. "Looks like we have another family member. Although now that Yuri has awakened, we're going to have to inform the Agency."
"Agency?"
"Oh, that's right, I forgot to tell you. The Paranormal Agency is an international organization that handles Youkai-related matters. In fact, they're only really called Youkai locally here in Japan. The official name given to them is Anomalies, probably because of their seemingly impossible existence. Given the secretive nature of the Anomalies, they're essentially invisible to the public. They provide support to anyone affected by them, and their agents hunt down any Anomalies that might be a danger to people. Now that you've awakened, we're going to have to inform their local Tokyo branch.."
To think that even the government was involved... There was a whole world like this hidden from the public? At least it seems that they also protect the public from these Anomalies... Ah!
The face of the man reported missing on the news flashed through my head.
"This morning... I saw on the news that someone had gone missing in Akihabara... I was wondering if it had to do with the Youkai I saw."
My parents stopped smiling, and the mood abruptly darkened again. My mom sighed deeply.
"Oh dear. I pray that they're not related, but we should inform the Agency regardless. We'll make sure to tell them about the Youkai you found in Akihabara, and they'll send someone to hunt it."
"That's a relief."
Now I was glad that I didn't try and fight the Youkai myself. It definitely seemed stronger than the Kuchisake-Onna and might've ended in disaster. But there was something I was still concerned about.
"Mom, Dad, what's it like being able to see Youkai?"
My mom rested her hands on the table.
"Well, Yuri, it's a very strange life. But thankfully not as dangerous as you'd think. Whenever we do see a Youkai, it's the small, harmless ones. In fact, we can't even see the large ones. Only people with stronger spiritual energy can. On top of that, they're more drawn to people with stronger spiritual energy, which explains why you had two dangerous encounters so close to each other."
Does this mean that it'll be a regular occurrence? The thought terrified me.
"Honestly, we don't know too much about the Youkai or their origins. We're just given whatever information the Agency deems necessary, and they give us both resources and protection from them. Of course, we have to sign a contract swearing not to talk about the Youkai to those who can't see them, but that's just an extra precaution."
My dad chuckled a bit.
"Can you imagine if we went around insisting that we saw ghosts? Times are changing. We'd probably be laughed at. To be honest, that's probably for the best. If the public knew about Youkai, there'd be mass panic."
That... does make sense. I was also curious about another thing, however.
"How long have you two been able to see Youkai?"
"Mmmm... I think I started seeing them right after college. Your father, on the other hand, started seeing them a little later."
"Yeah, your mom's more impressive than I am. But you and Kenta are even more impressive!"
My dad smiled.
"The agency told us that on average people start to see Youkai when they're middle-aged, but the especially gifted ones can as early as college. But to awaken a Kami in high school!"
I couldn't help but feel a little bit of pride in my dad's praise. But a yawn managed to escape my lips. All this new information was overloading my brain.
My dad checked the clock on the wall.
"It's getting late. How about you go to bed? I'm sure you've had a stressful week. We'll inform the Agency tomorrow."
That sounded like a good idea. After all that happened recently, I needed some rest to adjust.
"Goodnight."
I got up and stretched, but just before I turned and left, my dad stopped me.
"Just one more thing, Yuri. You've already gone through a lot, and I can't imagine how scary those experiences must have been for you. But just remember that your mother and I are always here if you need anything. After you go to the agency, you'll be given protection. Everything'll be alright."
I smiled at my parents with their anxious faces, before heading up the stairs, where I saw my brother. I thought he went to his room to read, but it seems he was listening to the conversation the whole time. Not that that's a surprise. I'd be curious too. He patted my head.
"Glad that you're okay, Yuri."
"Mmph."
He waved at Hoshi (It's just like Joejoe!) before going back into his room.
I collapsed on my bed. This wasn't how I thought things would go, to say the least. Hoshi sat on my bed next to me and started playing with my Poke Mons plushies. As a pillow flew through the air and hit me in the face, I thought about how I was not going to get used to this anytime soon.
do you think the author will actually go anywhere with a international plotline?
