This forest is vast; a sea of green dappled in shades of sun and dark, leaves constantly falling even when a breeze isn't breathing to shake them. The ripple of air through leaves is like a wave of viridian, shielding me beneath their long arm-like branches that give the trees the personas of caring mothers reaching out to embrace me.
This is a safe place.

And deep in this forest, hidden at the base of a giant oak, I try to not exist.

As if it was dark before, I see a flicker of foreign light, disturbing me from my calming arrest. Just when I thought I was completely alone.

I realized I was standing when my back grazed against the rough texture of the gentle oak. The glow was slowly approaching, bringing an unsettling and eerie presence into the clearing, and I tried to back up against the wall of bark that now seemed trapping and enclosed.

And now that everyone and everything had gone, and I had never asked or expected for them to return, nor for a replacement, I didn't shy away from this perpetual light that invaded my silence. Instead, I took a step forward.

I wondered if I still had everyone and everything, and if I had kept them and expected them to stay by me, I wouldn't have accepted this light. I probably would have turned and ran, and never looked back, and returned to my normal life.

That would have been my worst mistake.

Chapter One

Ten years ago, if anyone had told me that I would end up in the Japanese countryside, alone in a bungalow living off Pot Noodles and cheap 400 Yen cereals without a single ounce of technology or transport, I would have laughed in a whimsical manner and sent them on their way.

I had that thought with a self-pitying smile as I laid lazily across the tatami mat with a tin of tuna and the tinkle of a wind chime drilling into my brain.

And I would have stayed like that for the rest of the day if I hadn't scheduled to meet with some random chick I'd met in the woods.

As suspicious as that sounds, I had no bad intentions in mind at all when it came to our secret rendezvous. The day before I had been sulking deep amongst the trees after having a really bad day, and she had found me by chance. She was the strangest person I had ever set eyes on; her wide orbs were a dark, disconcerting shade of crimson and she had flat, straight hair trailing down to her hips. What was most disturbing about her appearance, however, was not even her zany neon pink locks that had the hints of a strange teal turquoise, but the two horns that spiked up from her skull like some kind of strange demon costume accessory.

And it was merely that weirdness that made me ask her to meet again.

I wasn't lonely. In this bungalow all by myself. Barely fluent in the native language.

Of course not.

Deciding to actually get off my ass and get ready to meet said girl, I yawned widely and rubbed my golden orbs into wakefulness, blinking them rapidly as I tried to un-blear them. It felt like all of my bones were creaking like an old door when I got to my feet. Sometimes I wondered if sitting around like this all day would turn me into an old man by the time I was 20… Ugh. As I comprehended that thought my lips curled into a regretful frown and I physically shook my head to clear it away.
For the first time in a while I was trying to get back into the usual morning routine. I didn't usually brush my teeth, but I was actually going to see someone for the day so I didn't want to put her off by smelling of the tuna and curry noodles I had as a substitute for breakfast, so I went through that menial hygiene plan. It went by quickly for once; my mind was too occupied. Japanese phrases were flashing through my mind at a fast pace; I'd only started learning the language three years ago, and because I lived in England it was very hard to find tutors or people who were interested in helping me. I was only 13 years old when I had started.

Hopefully I would be able to have a fluent conversation with this strange girl. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I slipped up, though.

By the time I had downed the last of my medication dry and slipped on my trainers, I already had a script planned out in my mind. Now it was just time to go back to that same clearing in that forest; where we had first met. A feeling of decisive finality came over me and combated any sense of anxiety or nervousness that began to brew in the pit of my stomach as I stepped out into the mid-morning haze of Asian summer.

I continued to babble on in my head as I trod down the path, my girlish face probably set in a piercing gaze of deep concentration that even turned pedestrians' eyes away from my own. I fiddled with my wallet in my pocket that barely held any coins as I had not received my weekly allowance in the mail. I expected to hear at least some kind of chink of money scratching together in there, but I was left sighing disappointedly with no response, the chirping cicadas sounding like laughter from the thickets.

After visiting this forest almost every day since I had arrived in this village, stepping over logs and dodging tangled vines seemed like second nature to me now. Before I knew it I was already in the clearing of yesterday. The sun beat down and made the air swell with heat, illuminating the scene that remained unchanged from the previous day's activities. Not a creature lurked anywhere; all that accompanied the sound of my heavy breath was the chattering of various insects that crawled around the trunks and branches.

"Hello."

I clamped a hand over my mouth to stop myself from screaming out in shock at the high-pitched Japanese phrase that seemed to come out of nowhere. Whipping my head around to catch the suspect, I sighed with deep relief as my eyes rested on the figure of yesterday's girl, her hair swaying slightly in the summer breeze. Her brows were knitted into a confused expression and her soft gaze followed me with concern, though she didn't seem apologetic as if she was used to that reaction.

"A-are you real?" was all I managed to splutter out as a reply, leaning on a tree trunk to support myself. I only realized how stupid I sounded when her lips pulled into a small, amused smile. Her demonic red eyes showed a silent question though, as if she was asking herself the same words in her mind.

"Don't you remember me? I'm Ayo."

Crap, how had I forgotten her name? When she told it to me yesterday I must have been so bewildered that it had gone through one ear and out the other. I mentally kicked myself in guilt.

"Are you okay?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. "You don't have to tell me your name if you don't want to."

I inwardly kicked myself again as I apprehended the situation. She was meeting me out of the kindness of her heart, even though she knew nothing about me, and I was blabbering like a scared idiot.

"I'm sorry," I said, straightening my back out and clearing my throat with a serious look, trying to make myself look apologetic. "My name is QT. QT Bonne."

Ayo watched me curiously, her strange eyes focussing on me and sending chills up my spine. She was like someone from another world.

"Your accent is weird," she spoke, completely breaking the mysterious ambience that my subconscious had created.

"I'm English." Deciding that going into the details that I was actually half French too would be troublesome, I left it at those two simple words.

The girl nodded in comprehension, as if her vision had been blurry before but now she could see perfectly. As another short period of silence hung between us I found my eyes locked on those strange pointed horns atop her skull, protruding out like twin trees on a pink lawn.

"It's rude to stare," she murmured, although there wasn't an ounce of anger or reprehension in her tone. Heat rushed to my face and I cast my gaze down at the softly swishing grass instead. As always I knew how to make a situation more awkward than I thought was possible.

"So, Miss Ayo," I began, trying to be as polite as one could to a strange, alien-looking stranger, "Thank you for meeting me here today. It's very kind of you."

She only nodded in reply. I was starting to wonder whether there was any point in meeting with this girl in the first place, apart from curiosity. What could she do for me that anyone else couldn't? Even though she looked so strange, she was probably just a normal person like anyone else. The realization of my own judgemental thoughts weighed down on my chest.

"You were over there yesterday," Ayo said, pointing at the base of the tallest tree. "That's a good place to rest, isn't it?"

I nodded affirmative. "How did you find me?"

"I know all about this forest. I know a lot about this village." The rose-haired girl has a sombre expression and her locks seem to hide her eyes from me of their own accord. I caught a tug of sadness at her voice as she continued, "I know the most."

"Why's that?" I asked. I realized with slight smugness that my lack of Japanese knowledge gave nothing away about my personality, and I probably looked like an innocent young foreigner.

"Ah, secret." For the first time since I had met her she looked like a child as she flashed a mischievous smile at me through her straight bangs, eyes sparking gently like a soft flame.

I let out an entertained sigh, feeling myself grin too. "You're strange, you know."

"You're just as strange, QT." The way she said my name in a cute way made me smile even wider in happiness. For the first time in a long while, I sensed a pull of friendship towards this girl, one I had not experienced in months and especially not since I'd arrived here in this village.

"I won't deny that," I retorted, all apprehension towards her now vanished as my trusting attitude allowed. "So where do you live? Next to the forest?"

"Yes. I live in the forest, actually."

My mouth formed an "o" of admiration. "Really? That's cool. Do you live alone?" I wondered if I sounded like a stalker as I continued the questions.

"No, I don't. I live with my friend." Her answers were strangely vague but I waved it off as shyness.

"Ah, I see." I scratched my jaw habitually, as I was nervous. "I live alone, just outside the forest, that way." I pointed a finger in the general direction of my abode. She looked generally bored of the conversation, as if she knew it already.

Wait, what?

"Would you like to see my house?" she asked casually. I was unusually pleased that she had given out an invitation already, despite the fact that we'd only known each other's names for mere minutes. When had we evolved from acquaintances to friends so quickly?

"Sure, why not?" Almost as soon as the words left my lips she had turned around and was heading off in the opposite direction, beckoning me with the curl of a finger. Like a sheep I followed instinctively, almost forgetting to place my footsteps cautiously on the thick, ensnaring undergrowth.

The forest sure seemed like a labyrinth on this side. I had only ever wandered around the half closest to my house. The turns and twists became more complex the more you travelled, until it was like one of those tricky mazes I filled in on newspapers in my morning boredom, almost unsolvable.

Ayo stopped and dragged me down behind a bunch of shrubs so suddenly that my breath hitched in my throat. She pressed a finger to her lips with stern eyes, indicating for me to be silent, and pointed at a figure stood a few metres away. I couldn't make out any clear features, as the trees blocked out all light that may enter the clearing. My heart was beating faster than I liked it to, creating a sharp pang of pain in my chest. Ayo was simply watching the silhouette silently with that curious red gaze that was her signature.

After about half a minute of agonizing stillness, the third person drifted off like a spectre, thankfully towards the trees opposite us. Ayo stood up and brushed down her dark pink pleated skirt, holding her hand out and helping me to my feet. My legs felt a little numb from being in an awkward position ducked behind the brush so I staggered clumsily towards the small building that loomed before us,

It was about the size of a shed, old with grumbling grey walls and sloppily aligned bricks. There were stone monuments placed around it with scribbled kanji that I didn't have enough knowledge to read. As I walked around to the front entrance, framed with ancient wooden planks and various offerings and slips of paper, I recalled what one of these small buildings was named: a shrine.

During the whole time I was staring the shrine down inquisitively, Ayo stood at the door with her hand placed gently on the front doors. The handles were chained together with a huge lock that looked a bit flimsy and scratched. It was hard to tell, since no sunlight managed to seek its way through the overbearing branches above.

The petite Japanese girl's eyes followed me always. They looked like pinpricks of blood, never tearing away from me amongst the bleak shadow that hung over us. However, it didn't seem disturbing or unsettling at all.

In fact, her gaze made me feel safe. A protective warmth.

"So this is where you live?" I enquired, returning her stare with a charming smile.

"Yes."

"Wait… Really? You live in a little shrine like this?" I furrowed my eyebrows in puzzlement. She replied with a nod. Letting my eyes wander back to the shrine, I wondered if the little building had any heating or basic necessities required for living. It certainly didn't give off that vibe from the outside, but maybe it was larger on the inside, like the TARDIS from the show I used to watch back at home with my family every Saturday night.

"Can I look inside?" I noticed that nearly every sentence I had uttered to Ayo was a question. Maybe it was just because she was so interesting; she coaxed so many words out of me.

"No, not today." As always her voice was calm and steady like a flat surface of water. It was irritating because even though I knew things about her, her words didn't tell me anything about her.

"What was the point of bringing me here then?"

"I just wanted to let you know where it was, if you ever get sad again."
I felt my face burn again in embarrassment. Our first meeting must have given her the impression that I was an utterly weak coward. Which, physically, was indeed true, but I'd like to think I was at least a bit of a man emotionally.

"It's okay, really," I said, politely denying her invitation. "I'm fine on my own."

"You didn't say that yesterday."

I twitched angrily as a smirk graced her features for a mere moment that I almost didn't catch. Who was she to act so smug?

"Then thanks for the offer." It looked like she wasn't going to let this go so I gave in anyway, though I had no intention of coming crawling to her when the going got tough. There was no point in dragging innocent strangers into my mess, I knew that. Some people are stubborn, however, as I had learnt the hard way.

"I know what you're thinking," she spoke up, breaking my concentration. Instinctively I reached up to rub my hot neck sheepishly; I had been staring at her the whole time I had been babbling to myself in my brain. She was only smiling gently, though. She had the air of a mother that would forgive her son for everything, a strange air that made me squirm uncomfortably under her caring gaze.

"What are you, a mind-reader then?" I joked with a nervous laugh.

"Something like it."
Really, I was starting to wonder if she had a few screws loose now. Even though she was the most bizarre person I had ever met, to me it was like she had a magnetic pull that wouldn't let me escape. It was the most unusual feeling, and although I wanted to run away back to my house, more than anything I wanted to keep walking through the woods with her.

"Destiny?"

"Huh?" she muttered, her blood-red eyes widening at the word that had slipped out of my mind as a sound. I was breathless for a good 10 seconds, the blood rising to my cheeks, before I clutched at an excuse in my rapidly jumbling conscience.

"I said… westiny!"

For another while there was no noise apart from the hum of the cicadas chirping. Then Ayo's features broke into the first genuine smile.

"You think I'm weird," she said plainly between fits of giggles. There was a certain spark in her eyes that hadn't been present before that I had ignited with my own idiocy.

"H-hey, don't make fun of me because my Japanese isn't that good!" I retorted, bringing out the I'm-foreign-so-bear-with-me card. It only caused her to grin more - she looked even prettier when she was happy; radiant.

The next few hours consisted of Ayo treating me to an ice cream at the local stand (which I only objected to because I, of course, am a gentleman) and simply talking about trivial things as the sun began to set. The village was bathed in a rich amber glow and the moon was peeping over the horizon.

"We should meet up again some time," I suggested, still holding a half-chewed ice cream cone. I never really liked wafers for some reason.

She bobbed her head in agreement. "I would like that very much."

Rising to my feet and stretching my arms with a groan, I checked my wristwatch. 21:49. We had been out for 9 hours in total. I'd never been out with a friend for this long before, I realized with a sense of achievement.

"Today was really fun."

"Will you be okay walking home on your own?" I asked with concern, tossing the remainder of my treat into a rubbish bin.

"I'll be fine, don't worry." She returned my worried look with a reassuring smile, brushing some stray bangs out of her face that were blown there by the warm breeze.

"I'll see you later then." I waved my hand lazily, turning and plodding down the dusty path that led east towards my house. I didn't usually do this much exercise so all of my limbs felt heavy and sore, especially since I wasn't physically strong to begin with. They weighed down my slight frame with every step, labouring my breathing.

I looked over my shoulder one last time, but Ayo had already disappeared.

I was so exhausted my mind didn't register as I changed into my usual night attire and crawled into my warm futon. I pulled the covers over my head in a vain attempt to hide myself, as even though I was back home, there was still that sensation of being watched that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I still had the image of Ayo imprinted into my memory as I drifted off.

The darkness of the night was only broken by two shining red eyes.