Chapter 7: Town Terror, Love Triangles, & A Terrible Torrent

"Did you find what you needed?" Ms. Oksana welcomed them at the door.

"No, not at all." Nolan said rather irritated.

"Are the townspeople always so standoff-ish when it comes to the Youma problem?" Kazuma sat on the sitting room pillows.

"I was afraid of that. Honestly I don't know if people understand youmas… we haven't had any since I was young. People don't remember them, and if they do I think they've chosen to ignore them. None were this … persistent. Our town wasn't so feeble. We are one of the few traditional and self-supporting towns around. But –"

"But what?" Kazuma asked.

"I can look in the archives of what I have from the past. My father worked for the local newspaper back when this town was really growing. We did have a golden age back in the days… I'll look later tonight." Ms. Oksana looked determined.

"Well I'm going to see if I can get some service and look up more information about this town. Its history has to reveal something." Kazuma held his phone in the air and went to his room.

"Could you start on those windows Nolan darling?"

"Oh-right." Nolan sighed. His moment to spend alone with Ayano was now gone because he'd tried to look noble. He smiled and nodded at the old woman, before giving a scowl as he left to the spare room.

"Do you need help?" Ren asked following him.

"No. Not at all." Nolan closed the door before Ren could follow. Ren retreated to his own room.

"So Ayano did you get those groceries for me for dinner tonight? I was hoping to make stew."

"Oh-no." Ayano looked shocked. She swallowed. "I'll get them now-"

Nolan, in the other room listened, just outside the door as he collected the supplies Ms. Oksana prepared for him.

"Oh no darling, it's going to rain soon-I'll…I'll just…" Ms. Oksana paused. "…We'll figure something out. Don't worry!" She left the sitting room to the kitchen.

Ayano felt really guilty. She looked outside. It wasn't raining yet. Plus it was just rain what could it matter…she'd just use her firepower. She looked around nobody was there. She slipped out the door and left before anyone could stop her.

Nolan smiled. Perfect he could go after her in a few and she'd think he came out to look for her. Then he could talk to her alone…he'd never get anywhere without privacy. Ayano didn't seem very discrete…she reminded him of the American girls, but with a much more foreign beauty and at the least…was the heir to the Japanese family fire clan. Now about these windows…

He looked at them. He looked at the rotten wood and the shattered thin glass. He'd have to use at least ten pieces… and the blisters… he sighed. If only he'd have thought this through…

Ayano looked towards the town. Most of the doors were already closed, and windows shut. She felt a few drops on her head. It sent a shiver down her spine. She had to find this store quick…

She walked under the roofs of the buildings until she saw the shop. As soon as she came in she noticed it had started to come down harder outside. She sighed. So much for making it before the storm…

She looked to the money and list in her pocket. "Hi, I'm here for Ms. Oksana, she needed some groceries if you have anything left-" She raised her head and looked up to see the same man who'd come at them earlier. "…Uhm…Mr. Iwao was it?" She said lightly.

"It's you! That fire girl! What the hell are you doing in my shop?" He towered over the counter.

"I'm sorry about earlier." She backed up towards the door. But it was pouring out now! She couldn't just go back with nothing…

"Well I-" He began walking towards her.

A bell chimed as someone else walked into the shop.

"Mr. Iwao, I'm sorry to come this late, but I always need to be prepared for my brother and father to come back, so if you have anything left I-" The woman was young, and had ebony black hair that fell down the sides of her face. She looked rather plain but had kind warm brown eyes. She wore a plain looking Kimono too. "Oh I'm sorry were you dealing with another customer…"

"No Miss Izanamu I wasn't." He gave a glare towards Ayano. Ayano contemplated threatening him, but she wasn't about to burn the whole shop down. She sighed.

"Oh." The woman looked at Ayano. She leaned into her discretely as she pretended to look out the window and whispered. "Wait here and follow me when I come outside." She nodded and looked to the shopkeeper as if she hadn't said a word.

The woman then left to pick up the last of the goods. Ayano waited for the woman outside under the shelter of the protruding roof, out of pure hope she would receive a similar kindness as the woman appeared to display. She'd acted too quickly to consider that half of the town didn't even care for her or her group…and what more the luck of finding out Mr. Iwao owned the shop! She sighed. She looked at the skies. Why didn't she bring a parasol or an umbrella? The inn must have had them?

"You're one of the people that came from the Fire-Clan to help our…problem right?" The woman asked her as soon as she exited the shop with a good three bags of rice, vegetables, and other spices.

"Should I answer that truthfully?" Ayano asked delicately. She didn't want another enemy after Mr. Iwao.

"Don't worry I won't scold you off like the others did today. My name is Azumi Izanamu. If you'd like stay at my place for a while and I can give you some of my groceries. I couldn't do it in front of Mr. Iwao. He's quite rash but he looks out for the people of the town when it comes to rations. It's too rainy now anyway for you to go back empty handed. Ms. Oksana is kind, I'd hate to see you all starve there."

"My name is Ayano of the Kannagi family and Japenese Fire Clan. To be truthful I'd hate to cause you trouble. But if that's fine with you I'd have a hard time declining?" Ayano asked.

"Of course." The two shared her umbrella as best they and entered another older residence of the town.

"I really don't like that rain. It sends shivers through my body every time it touches me." Azumi looked at the umbrella. She sighed. Another hole in it…she'd have to sew that up tomorrow.

"Did someone actually pass away because of it?" Ayano asked.

"Well… we think it was from the malnutrition of the town as well, but yes she did. She caught a bad sickness, and when this all first happened we didn't have people leaving the town and traveling for other places for food. But enough about the depressing stuff, let me divide the rations here."

"But don't you need them?"

"No, I don't actually believe my father and brother would return just yet…"

"Why? Where's your family?" Ayano sat down at the table on a pillow, drying herself in the quaint warmth of the home.

Azumi smiled. " If you must know, my father married my mother when she was young. She died during childbirth of my younger brother Daisuke. He's really trying to take over with my father in supporting us, so they left to try to find work outside the town. They've gone fishing outside our lake too, but it's nearly been a week. They're both so stubborn I know they won't return until they have enough to show for. My grandma always said we had bad luck in this town…but …it's not just that."

"What do you mean?"

"I asked you here because I have a story to tell you…just bare with me...if you don't mind." She left the room and then came back.

"Look, you can take some of my groceries. For now I'm only supporting myself, and my brother and father should bring back goods but if you'd listen-"

"I will." Ayano nodded. The woman looked distracted.

"Honestly, I asked you to come with me to see if you'd hear me out. I also would have eagerly helped you if I didn't have this to say but I really needed the leverage. People don't believe my story. My grandmother used to tell me this story actually. She passed when she was 70…but I always remembered this legend she told me. She used to tell me growing up, a tragic love story about two lovers in this town…she told me it again on her deathbed…and I realized she wasn't just telling me some Romeo and Juliet story, it was much more…"

"What do you mean?"

"Let me start from the beginning. She told me that many moons ago, a young couple fell in love. The girl was held to a strict family…she could only marry who her family chose for her. This was common, but for her it was part of her religion - part of who she was. The boy, and his family knew this and did not want him to fall in love with a girl or a family with the obligations to which they held. When they hit the age of adulthood to which they could not prolong their parent's restraints and wishes to have them wed to someone else, they went on the cliff by the lake and promised to jump off when the moon hit the sky at midnight. That way they could be with each other forever…happiness in escaping the physical life that had grounded their heart to the bodies and obligations of blood. They left when the sun began to fade and made their way up the hill…"

"What happened?"

"Ayano, this is where it changed. For years I thought they fell off together. Another tragic love story, of crossed stars… until my grandmother was nearly on her deathbed I realized it wasn't so. She told me this last time that although the girl was willing to fall to her death for love, the boy had actually met another girl, who, in no means of betrayal, had accidentally found himself with much more than admiration for her. This girl, who his parents brought to him, he originally had no intentions of falling for."

"So it was a love triangle?"

Azumi nodded. "But it was also in these moments, as the moon rose that he was going to give his star crossed lover a ring, a promise ring before they fell to signify their own love and promise of eternity together… but when the moon hit the sky he hesitated. He never gave her the ring. More so in the last moments of before falling, he decided dying wasn't the answer. He thought they could to find out what more there was to life- he had found a glimmer of hope that maybe they could move beyond their parent's restraints…but he didn't have the face to tell her until he realized it in that fraction of a moment on the cliff. The girl however oblivious fell to her death in the lake, and although he tried to save her, she never returned to him."

"That's tragic!" Ayano was wide eyed at the woman.

"I know… but what I found out after was worse…my grandmother gave to me this." She took a small box out of her kimono and opened it. In it was a golden ring with three small pearls on it. It looked aged, and outdated for this era. "She told me that the man had kept the ring, and eventually gave it to the woman who his parents had set him up with. I always thought it was ironic that there was three pearls…a symbol of each lover…a trinity. Anyway, he fell in love with the second woman as well, but never got over the pain of knowing he'd caused his first young lover's death. He never told a soul either, until his time of passing. He told his wife. He told it so she knew the truth, not to cause her grief but to be open and maybe in hopes of repenting in the moments of this passing. His wife had never really worn the ring either. It never fit on her hand quite well enough. When her husband passed too early for her liking, she kept the ring. She hated herself for getting in the way of another couple's love, but she also was thankful that she was the reason her husband ended up living. The ring was something she couldn't dare get rid of…the ring was-" Azumi bit her lip.

"The ring was your grandmother's wasn't it?" Ayano's eyes widened. "And that means your grandfather was the man in the story?"

"I believe so, yes. My grandfather I knew for 10 years of my life. I was young when he passed but he was noble man. He died of a heart attack…now I believe his heart couldn't handle the weight he held in it. He told my grandmother the truth in his last hours just as she told me. Nobody else would believe me but I think the haunting could be this woman's spirit – I think maybe this ring might help. Maybe something has happened and she wants people to answer for her death…I think there is something tragic about it but I don't know enough. Or maybe it was a just a story. But I think you and your friends can help figure it out. I don't know if I'm helping or sending you on a path to nowhere. But my grandmother said she met my grandfather in 1964…the same year they fell in love. It was long ago and I don't know what it means to now but… I also … I want to know who this other girl was. I think my grandmother wanted me to return this to her – or something… so here."

Azumi gave the box to Ayano. "Take this and the spare groceries. Even if it doesn't help maybe in the process you can find out more about this story…the girl… my grandfathers heart may have been in two places, but he found a home with my grandmother and I've never found two people more in love. Maybe, even if she isn't the spirit haunting the town, she can find piece in knowing he still thought of her, and repented for it years after it happened."

"Are you sure you want to give this to me?" Ayano looked at it.

"Please. If you can't do anything with it you can return it to me after you find out what's going on with our town. But I believe you and your friends can do it." Azumi smiled.

"Thanks." Ayano stood up somewhat hopeful now. "I owe you for these groceries though."

"You won't owe me one thing. I gave you the burden of finding out my grandfather's past, the least I could do was share my groceries." She smiled. "But I'm afraid the rain still hasn't stopped."

Ayano looked outside. She'd wait a bit longer, but it was nearing the evening and she didn't want to starve everyone back at the temple. She now would have two bags to carry and a ring, which she'd have to make sure not to get wet. She'd probably leave soon. Hopefully a bit of a heat over her head would keep her dry…although she didn't want to parade around the town pointing herself out like a red flag…


"Hey Nolan, where did Ayano go?"

"No clue." Nolan gave Kazuma a side eye. Hell if he was telling him.

Kazuma looked at his work on the window. "You need help?" He leaned against the door frame.

"No. The wood is rotten and-" He'd been trying to leave to go after Ayano himself but Ms. Oksana kept coming in and checking on him. And now Kazuma was too. He hated it. His hands were getting blisters and frankly he'd normally hire someone to do this kind of stuff. It was pathetic.

"And you have little experience with handiwork. I get it. Your sister wasn't really into the hard work thing either until I enticed her to try to beat Ayano." Kazuma shrugged.

"Ayano won though. Is she that strong?"

"She is. She doesn't realize it truly though…and at times she thinks she's stronger than she is…she's interesting at the least." Kazuma answered.

"Are you two, like, dating?" Nolan ventured deviously. He wanted to hear straight from Kazuma.

"Me and Ayano? No… We're not. How'd you get that idea?" Kazuma looked off to the place on the floor where her bed was and he'd found her the night before.

"No reason. Just thought it was strange how close you two were. But it's funny she said the same thing to me when we met in the city. You know I'd like to go look for her myself… would you mind if-"

"No sorry kid. You signed up for that job. Not even getting paid for it either." Kazuma tapped the ladder and Nolan nearly fell off. Nolan wondered if Kazuma had sounded irritated then… did he hit a note by asking about him and Ayano?

"I'm no kid. I'm the same age as you. I'm 2-" Nolan persisted.

"I'm 22. Your 21 still younger, still a kid in my books." Kazuma said dryly and walked out of the room. He nearly walked into Ms. Oksana. "Do you know where Ayano is?"

"I thought she was in her room. I told her not to go get the groceries she forgot to get earlier because of the storm, but I'm afraid we'll be eating bread crumbs tonight. I hope she didn't go out…" Ms. Oksana looked fearful. "I'm afraid I keep leading that poor child on the path of destruction. Jugo will surely never answer a request for spiritual help again from me…"

"If she did, she-" Kazuma looked to the umbrellas. He'd seen three earlier today and three remained in the bin. "She's stubborn enough to go, Ms. Oksana, on her own. And she's stupid enough to not bring an umbrella either."

"I don't know if an umbrella would last in winds like these anyway. I hope Nolan gets the windows done soon…." She looked nerve wracked.

"Get Ren to help him. But I think I might need to go make sure she's not stupid enough to make her way back in this if she did manage to get your groceries."

"But you'll get soaked dear; I can't have you getting sick-"

"I'll be fine. My wind powers can easily divert the water off me. Her firepowers might be stifled by the rain and wind on the other hand. Plus she's …well who knows whether or not she'll realize that lighting herself up would only bring more attention to her…the towns people didn't really seem all that keen of us." Kazuma sighed. Had he signed up for a babysitting job? She really liked to get herself in trouble this time around.

He left the inn and made sure his powers kept an orb of wind around him. He moved over above the town to see where she was. He couldn't see a soul in the weather. Nobody was dumb enough to go out into this kind of stuff…

…of course except for Ayano.

He saw her, she wasn't more than a yard from the temple, but her fire powers clearly were only used after she left the town because she was sopped wet. She was holding two bags tucked under her arms and was trying to keep something hidden in her shirt form what he could tell.

He went down to her and saw her.

"You really decided to do this alone?"

She looked up at him. He couldn't here her talk over the rain. He let her in his wind-"sphere" and took her under his arm.

"You didn't have to do this." She said. "I was close."

"You're soaked. Plus why the hell wouldn't you at least bring an umbrella? Or I don't know, me?"

She groaned. She took out the box she was trying to keep dry. "Put that in your pocket and keep it dry. I may have actually found an answer to our youma problem. That's why I couldn't light myself up. Its hard balancing the groceries and not turning them into a barbeque."

They landed on the front porch of the inn.

"Fair enough. But –" Kazuma opened the door and looked at Ayano. "Ayano your face is red. I didn't even do anything you know."

"What! I'm not blushing!" Ayano said.

"Well you should be, your shirt is nearly sopped to hell." She tried to cover herself as she noticed her shirt was stuck to her bra and nearly dropped the groceries, which she'd made sure to stay dry in the plastic bags.

"Don't worry about it." He took them and put them on the floor as she walked in the doorway. "But your face is red. Are you alright?" He raised a brow.

"I'm fine." She said, just as she took a step forward and had to support herself on the wall.

"You look drunk. But your not because your not 20 yet so-unless you decided to be a rebel while you went grocery shopping…" His voice was skeptical.

"I'm just a little dizzy from the walk." She said annoyed and pushed herself up straight.

He came up behind her and put his hand on her forehead. She was surprised to feel him that close behind her.

"You're face is hot as hell. That's what you get for walking home in the rain. Plus you don't even know if the rain is linked to the spiritual energy of the youma… why did you do this to yourself?"

"Because I told her I would." She blinked her eyes slowly and accidently fell back into Kazuma. He caught her and in his arms.

"Oh good you found Ayano." Ren came over with Ms. Oksana and Nolan.

"Oh I found her all right. Her, some groceries, maybe a clue to our a youma problem, and apparently a nice fever from that rain out there." Kazuma sighed as the others took in the sight of the fallen groceries on the floor, and Ayano whose unconscious face looked nearly the color of her hair in Kazuma's arms.