The sudden scream caused chaos in the house, which was only natural.
Sota dashed into the house and closed the door. Hearing that sound from another house would definitely lead to a lot of headaches.
Of course, that didn’t mean he could completely block out the noise.
After closing the door, it seemed the screams only got louder.
“Older brother…”
Shii tightly held onto Sota’s clothes.
The scream sounded somewhat different from mere agony.
It felt like a sound made intentionally, not just a reflexive noise.
…How he came to distinguish such things, even Sota himself couldn’t say.
But because of that, he thought it was even more dangerous.
“W-what’s going on!?”
Nanami rushed out of her room, also in her pajamas, just like Sota and Shii.
“Nanami.”
Sota quickly grabbed Shii’s hand as he looked at Nanami.
“Older brother?”
“Shii, can you stay with Nanami for a moment? Nanami, can you protect Shii?”
“Uh, um, that shouldn’t be too difficult…”
“Older brother!”
“Shii.”
Sota placed his hands on Shii’s shoulders and spoke.
“I’m sorry. But I can’t take you with me since I don’t know what might happen.”
“But…”
“I have a way to confront the yokai, just like Yuka.”
Sota lowered his gaze a bit and locked eyes with Shii.
“Don’t worry too much. I will be safe.”
“That can’t be…!”
Shii held onto Sota’s hand, which was already bandaged. That hand was Sota’s frequently used right hand, making Shii feel especially concerned.
“Shii.”
This time, it was Nanami who spoke.
Even though the two often fought, Nanami’s nature wasn’t the type to pick a fight even in such a situation.
“It might actually help if we separate.”
“……”
Nanami tried to say it as gently as possible, but it seemed Shii didn’t fully understand those words.
While feeling guilty seeing Shii like that, they heard footsteps from upstairs; Yuka was coming down.
In one hand, she held a sword—dressed in shrine maiden attire. In the other hand, she held what seemed like a bundle.
Sota, who had visited Yuka’s room a number of times, recognized it. It was the talismans Yuka usually kept in her closet. Unlike the newly made talismans for immediate use, those had somewhat diminished effectiveness, but they could be quickly retrieved in a hurry.
“Shii, Nanami. I have a slightly troubling request, but can you stay in the room together? That would be the safest.”
Had she heard the conversation just moments before? Nanami appeared a bit disgruntled at Yuka’s words but eventually nodded.
“What about Fukuda?”
Yuka asked Nanami.
“I told him to stay in the room. He probably doesn’t want to show it, but he seems a bit scared.”
“That makes sense if it’s the first time seeing something like this today. Good job. Take Shii with you back to the room. I’ll put talismans outside.”
Yuka glanced back at Sota.
Her expression was stiff. It might just be Sota’s perception, but Yuka looked even tenser than usual.
“Sota. You need to come with me.”
“Shii. Don’t worry and just wait. It should be over soon.”
Yuka didn’t explicitly agree to that, but Sota thought it was better to say it like that for now.
*
Yuka pushed Fukuda, Nanami, and Shii into the guest room connected to the living room, sticking several talismans on top of them—far more than usual. She even went so far as to put a bundle of them inside the room and urged to stick them here and there on the walls. She left a chilling warning, one that sounded as if it came out of a horror story: “Don’t open it until we do.”
“Will this be enough?”
Sota felt a bit sorry that Yuka’s house had turned gloomy with so many talismans, but he couldn’t help but ask.
“…It should be okay.”
If it were the old Yuka, she probably would have just said “I don’t know.”
“The reason for keeping the kids on the first floor is to create an opportunity for them to escape. We’ll put talismans at the entrance and around the living room.”
“You want to keep them as far away as possible from that thing.”
“Exactly. If it comes, it’ll probably be targeting Kurosawa. Just saying we’re not interested may not be enough.”
So, it meant they were deliberately creating a ‘place we want to avoid’ to lead it directly to Kurosawa.
“Thank you, Yuka. Really.”
“…It’s what I should do. And everyone getting caught up in this is partly my fault.”
“This isn’t your fault. Even if you told us not to follow, we would have.”
“Even so, it’s my fault.”
Yuka abruptly cut off Sota’s words and hurried to move.
The screams had considerably quieted down. Although Kurosawa had come here for a meal, she hadn’t been able to eat properly, possibly due to being starved for so long.
After screaming for such a long time, it was only natural to tire out.
Sota could hear heavy breathing and sobbing.
Did she have a nightmare?
According to Yuka, people dealing with yokai-related matters shouldn’t take such things lightly. The dream world was closely tied to the afterlife, and events occurring in that dream world could often serve as prophecies or warnings.
“Let’s go.”
Yuka said that, and Sota nodded, following behind her.
The place they headed to was also another room attached to the living room.
It was too cramped to be called a guest room. If one were to categorize it, it was more fitting to call it a small storage room.
However, the room had no items or furniture at all.
It looked as if it had been purposely prepared for such an occasion.
On the floor were illegible characters hastily written down in an ancient style. They formed a circle around Kurosawa, who lay in the middle of the room.
There were talismans stuck there too. Unlike the hastily placed ones Yuka had put up, these were arranged systematically along the circle.
“What’s going on?”
Yuka asked as she entered the room.
Kurosawa’s grandfather and father, who were sitting across from her, looked at Yuka.
“……It seems she had a dream.”
The grandfather said.
“Did she say something is coming this way?”
He politely asked Kurosawa.
Kurosawa, who was lying on the ground and breathing roughly, nodded.
Sota was a bit surprised to see her face. Her bangs were disheveled, and her eyes looked dark, but from where he stood, they appeared very red.
“That thing, that thing is coming this way…”
Yuka and Sota exchanged glances.
To speak frankly, Sota thought there was no way the reason she screamed so loudly could be just that.
Even if Yuka couldn’t entirely overcome it alone, it shouldn’t have turned into such a one-sided situation with all the preparations in place.
Moreover, hadn’t she already called for help from others? If they were being supported…
“……”
Suddenly, Kurosawa’s movements ceased.
She looked as if she had forgotten even how to tremble.
The fear of what was approaching seemed to have made her forget every way to move.
Yuka drew her knife and moved outside the room.
The grandfather stood up, holding a bow and arrow that had been nearby. Only Yuka’s father remained in the room.
“It seems the thing coming is not just what you saw today.”
Yuka’s grandfather said.
“It appears the situation concerning the Kurosawa family is more complex than we thought.”
Just when Sota was about to follow Yuka’s grandfather outside, he heard a sound.
This time, it was coming from the direction of where Sota and Shii had been just a moment ago.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone was knocking on the living room window.
“Ah.”
And as soon as Sota saw that face, he stopped in his tracks.
On the other side of the window was…
“……Kurosawa?”
“No.”
Yuka glared at it and said.
“No, that is…”
On the other side of the window stood Kurosawa.
As if asking to be let in, Kurosawa tapped lightly on the window.
Her hair, as usual, partially covered her face, making her appear somewhat eerie in the midnight light.
But yes. Like Yuka said, something felt strangely off about her. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was different, but…
As they stood there quietly without opening the door, that Kurosawa-like figure tilted her head and lowered her hand.
Then, rattling the living room window, she spoke.
“……Let me in.”
It was Kurosawa’s voice.
“……Let me in.”
“Yuka.”
“……Just a moment.”
When Yuka looked at her grandfather, he stood up with a bow and nocked an arrow.
“It seems she will be coming in soon. Get ready, Yuka. …Can you handle it?”
“……Yes.”
Yuka said that while gripping the hilt of her sword.
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