So this is my first fanfic. I finished the series recently after a friend recommended it and liked it a lot, despite in ways I felt there should have been more to the story. So with prompting from my friend, I decided to try a hand at continuing the story. I put it under M to be on the safe side since there may be violence and who knows what else ;)
Disclaimer: I do not own Shiki in anyway. It belongs to it's rightful creators.
ooOoo
It had been almost a year since Sotaba fell to ruin, most rendered to nothing but smoldering ash and blackened debris. This was denoted by the fact fall was settling in after a summer that hadn't been as stifling as the prior one. Sotaba faced no deaths this year, if only because nearly the entire village had become inhospitable or suitable to live in save the most determined. Even more so, there was no okiagari left to claim the lives of people who no longer lived so isolated. The end result was no deaths.
He couldn't deny it however as he stepped up onto the bus after tossing away his cigarette. As he settled into a seat on the last bus of the day that would take him back to Mizobe, he allowed his eyes to peer out the smudged glass window. Dark bags encircled under his eyes, showing tiredness but behind that was a sharpness not to be underestimated. He may have lost the village in a sense, but he had at least stopped the okiagari from taking over the village.
At least, that was what Toshio Ozaki told himself to sleep at night.
Sotaba was being rebuilt, slowly but surely. It was mostly a project of the survivors wishing to return to old ways now that supposedly there would be no corpse demons to prey upon them. Out of the thirteen-hundred who had called the village home, only about six hundred of them would be returning. Not because all of them had died, but because most feared returning and rightfully so. They feared a repeat performance by the okiagari or some other creature who would try and take over. Doctor Ozaki was one of the few funding the project. He had easily gotten clinic work in a neighboring city, but it wasn't his style. Plus, they hadn't finished all of the okiagari off. Not that he had seen to anyway. Sotaba could set the stage that if any did survive, he had a chance to get to them as opposed to searching the world over.
Sesshin was missing still and so was the Kanemasa girl his former best friend adored so much. He had no doubt Sesshin had managed to out-fox the mobs chasing him and thus, the girl who was behind all of the events leading to the downfall of Sotaba likely had escaped as well.
Part of Ozaki knew they likely found another place to call home if they had survived. But some small part of him wondered if the revival of Sotaba might not draw out Sesshin. Would the monk keep his distance or would he be lured back, possibly by the child-monster he guarded so faithfully? The good doctor did have to wonder.
Something caught Ozaki's eyes as the bus chugged off back towards the city with a rattle and rumble. In the gloom of dusk, he saw a phantom among the trees. It was often when he was exhausted that his eyes played tricks on him and he saw one of Them as an illusion. But he swore this time in the trees, he did see one. Squinting, he turned in his seat a bit to peer out the back window but anything that had been there was now gone. Sighing and mentally scolding himself, he sank back into his seat and closed his eyes to both rest them and to keep from seeing figments of his imagination birthed by paranoia.
Why couldn't public buses permit smoking?
ooOoo
The doctor made it back to his apartment not long after hopping off the bus. It was tidy, clean and small compared to his old house but it was sufficient for him. He barely spent any time there at all with his busy schedule of clinic work in the mornings and helping rebuild Sotaba in the afternoons. He skipped trying to rustle up a meal and instead decided to shower quickly and then collapsed into bed. The clock on his nightstand barely read 9:46 but he supposed he should sleep while he could. He had to be up by 6 am to start his day and considering he rarely slept peacefully, it couldn't hurt to get a head start. Sleep reached him easily for once, even if he was plagued by the usual nightmares.
The calm knock on his door struck at four different times before it woke him. Even though his apartment was cooled by the a/c unit well by now, he was covered in sweat from his dreams. The knocking stopped and he realized it hadn't been a part of the dream itself. He looked at the clock which read 12:04 and rubbed at his eyes.
Making sure he was somewhat decently dressed, he crept towards the door. He stopped just before it and felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as an uneasy feeling fell over him. What if it was one of Them? He nearly chuckled a second later, deciding his nightmares had just made him paranoid. But still, he knew to be cautious and clearing his throat spoke loud enough whoever may be on the other side of the door could hear him. "Who is it?"
Only silence resounded through the door. Had whoever it had been left already while he was waking and getting up? He had no peep hole to check and without opening the door, he wouldn't know the answer to that for certain. For a split second, his heart skipped a beat. What if it was Sesshin? What if the man had returned and found him? The thought had him unlatching the door and yanking it open.
What Toshio Ozaki was met with hadn't been what he expected. His mouth dropped down just a bit in a surprised and startled expression as he peered at who was before him. When he reined in the shock, his lips suddenly quirked into a partial smirk. He remained just beyond the boundaries of his door due to old habits as he dug out a pack of cigarettes, placed one between his lips and lit it with a cheap plastic lighter. He took a deep drag, exhaling before removing the cigarette.
"I thought you were dead, kid. Then again, I swore I saw you today in the Ruins just as the bus was leaving."
ooOoo
Sorry to leave it on a bit of a cliff hanger and so short. I will update the story as I come up with it.