Chapter 11
"Corpse what?" Ebisu asks her, still in shock.
"It is…it is" Annan keeps on trying to say something.
"What? Come on, speak D-cup!"
"You…you know that one anime? Title is Magical Abenobashi Shopping Arcade?"
"Not-" Ebisu immediately stopped talking, mouth still open for another word and looking at Annan suspiciously.
"How about breaking the fourth wall? Like…like Rika in Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni?" Annan continues.
Connla looks oddly at her upon the phrase 'breaking the fourth wall'.
After a few moments of openmouthed silence, Ebisu continues talking, in a tone of denial.
"No. No, no, no-" he says, to be interrupted by Annan.
"But according to what you said, it appears that is the case-"
"I can accept that I am the product of the imagination of man, there is evidence of that for everything supernatural. However, I refuse to believe that the entire world I live in is the product of the fantasy of someone from your world D-cup."
…what the hell.
What. The. Hell.
"Hey. We once speculated this might happen, after all we are all proof that many-worlds theory is correct, no?"
She points to herself, to us, and then upwards for some reason.
Why upwards?
"Speculation. Speculation in our first get together eight years ago, drinking bottle after bottle of mead and sake along with the other supernatural friends of otaku ilk from different worlds. Not actual…proof."
He says the word proof in a faint voice.
"Ebisu, dear? Can you explain to me just what is it that you and Annan are talking about?" Waka-ush asks him.
Ebisu looks at her, and then at Annan in desperation, with the kind of look one gives when asking for help.
Help arrives from an unexpected quarter.
"Your holiness, I think what Annan and Ebisu are talking about is this. The situation that was covered up by the lower rank kami that you helped capture is the setting of something fictional in Annan's world." Juri answers Waka-ush's question.
Waka-ush looks at her, and then at Ebisu and Annan with a face that says 'Really?'
Both nod at her.
"And what fictional medium is the situation based on? Novels?Anime? Manga?" she asks.
"Corpse Party Blood Covered is one of the most famous dojin games ever made for the PC-98 series-"
"NEC's cash cow? That computer I have at home?"
"Ye- what?" Annan asked, blinking in confusion.
"I bought one eight years ago, as a birthday present for my husband." Waka-ush admits with a smile.
Annan looks at both of them and then shakes her head, getting back on topic.
"Anyways, the original game, Corpse Party, appeared in 1996, winning the creator 5 million yen for second place in a competition by ASCII Entertainment. It then next appeared as a Microsoft Windows game whose title is Corpse Party: Blood Covered in 2008-"
"2008? How can that be? It's just 2007 right now" I interrupt her.
"-in 2008," she continues, ignoring me "which I have the privilege of playing a few months ago thanks to Thalia, Muse of comedy who also happens to be a fan of manga. She resides in a universe that is 5 years in advance of ours. And as of three weeks ago, I received the sequel Corpse Party: Book of Shadows, released in 2011. And I finished it a week ago."
Annan then turns to me.
"That answer your question?"
I nod.
She turns back towards Ebisu.
"The basic premise of the franchise is the same as what you said, although it also showcases several bad endings. Tell me, what is happening to the kids that got out as of right now?"
"Well, Nakashima Naomi is believed to be insane by everyone else other than those who survived by insisting that Shinohara Seiko is real. Shinozaki Ayumi is delving deeper into the magical arts trying to counteract the magic woven by the kami's involved in the cover-up. Mochida Satoshi and Yuka and Kishinuma Yoshiki are…mid-level in their academics, worrying about Nakashima and Shinozaki."
"So Yuka is alive. Chapter 5 Real Ending then." Annan mutters to herself.
"Real ending?" I ask to myself in dismay. I then turn to the others of my own generation and before in that room.
"You guys still follow what they are talking about?" I softly ask while in the background the gods were talking to each other.
"Nothing regarding computer games. Otherwise yes." Thuc answers.
"I don't even know what a computer is." Javin said.
Yung Ho pretty much said the same thing.
"I…think I have my granddaughter, son and daughter-in-law to explain that to me…some time from now." Kojiro looks at the said people, who look at each other and…had expressions of wondering how to explain things to someone…old.
"I know the terms since I also played one." Connla raises his hand.
I look at him in wonder.
"What's the deal with that anyway? How come you learned how to operate a computer, and even play a computer game?" Thuc ask him.
Connla shrugs.
"Annan. I saw her assembling a computer along with Daesun and Ratri back when they were just new friends. I joined in."
I see.
Well, that's enough reason for me.
I turn back to the gods, to hear Annan asking what is the plan of the Japanese gods in dealing with the situation.
"The plan…the plan." Ebisu slowly said as if unwilling to release his thoughts.
"I don't like the sound of that" Annan replies to that.
"You shouldn't, Annan."
At Annan's curious look Ebisu explains further.
"Well…there is a big argument over it. Mixed feelings were everywhere, the kami were even taking sides to defend or put down those involved. Some did it for family shame, and some did it for friendship. My mother came in the middle of the interrogation. Then when it ended, she declared that she doesn't know whether to applaud the fool lower kami who started it for helping her goal…or to curse him for a hundred years for barging in to her work."
"Izanami said that?"
"Yeah. After that the assembly erupted into accusing mother that she orchestrated this event. She denied it and then asked the implicated kamis what they were thinking by hiding like worms and not trying to solve this thing."
"And?"
"The one who started it all said he had no other option. He could not seal the place away eternally since it was already very, very big by the time he discovered it. And he tried exorcising it once from the inside. And he said he almost never got out alive."
The last sentence silences the whole room.
A god almost never got out alive? I thought a god isn't supposed to die, right?
Right?
"He then asked for help from friends and levered favors from others. They went in there as a group, and again they barely managed to get out alive. What they saw inside convinced them that exorcising human souls is an impossible task if the souls can't get out of that place. And it is much more of an impossible task when they are outnumbered by enough grudge bearing ghosts to form a private army. They then tried sealing the place away even further from reality but it only ended up making things worse since now they, and by extension any other kami, can't even get back into the place to try again…and in the meantime that place is still getting more victims."
"Ouch." Annan whispers with a wince.
"Scared of what they had done by turning a previously accessible place into an inaccessible one, and rightfully thinking that they are the ones who will be blamed, they started a cover-up of massive proportions. Or should I say the first cover-up in Japanese supernatural history. They wiped the memories of everyone involved and erased their own spiritual tracks to hide that there was ever a problem there in the first place. They even set up wards to hide it from any other kami's notice."
I shake my head at the ass-covering assholes. I honestly expected that bureaucrats in another religion's heaven would be better than those here on Earth by virtue of being gods.
"So, now it is in the open. The full force of the Yamato pantheon, and possibly the Ainu kamui, is looking over the problem. What is their plan?"
Ebisu remained silent and looks down at the floor. His wife is just as sad and she reaches over the table to hold his left hand tightly.
We waited for a few more moments until it dawns on everyone there that there was no plan.
"What a fuck up." Annan says, quickly glancing at the corner of her eyes to Kojiro and his family.
"Kids are dying every day…some of them were entrusted to me by their parents…and we can't help them. We, the kami…can't help them." Ebisu whispers to himself.
Annan shakes her head and went ahead.
"Well, I feel bad for that so let's move on to other topics."
"Like?"
"Well, you still remember that favor I asked of you? And remember me asking three weeks ago how I can pay it back? Well…here I am and a retinue of bodyguards."
She points at us with an almost brilliant smile.
Ebisu stayed silent and dejected. Annan is left pointing to us in mid-air and smiling like an idiot, waiting for any sign of life from him.
"What is the condition again?" Waka-ush saves Annan's dignity, taking over for her husband with an apologetic smile at her.
"It has to be something a human can do-"
"Something a human can do." Ebisu interrupts her.
He suddenly looks up at Annan, and then at us, his eyes brightened up as if his head suddenly had a storm of thoughts.
"Humans." he says while looking at us.
"Favor." he looks at Annan with a manic kind of hope starting to show on his face.
"Reel." he looks down at the most beautiful fishing pole I have ever seen that he is suddenly holding in his right hand.
He then looks up with a grin.
"Yur…orika…oh never mind. I have an idea!"
He shouted out, looking rejuvenated with a manic grin full of hope.
"I have a bad feeling about this" I heard Thuc say from beside me.
I nodd, since I also had the same sentiment.
"What is your idea?" Annan asks him, interested in Ebisu's idea.
"Your retinue could perform the Sachiko ever after ritual to go into the dimension where the school is located. In the meantime, us kamis will use them as the fish hook to pull the dimension the elementary school is in back here to the real world by the use of magic that is attached to them."
He ends his explanation with a smile, only to be met by silence from our group.
"There's a problem with that Leech man." Annan sais moments later while raising a finger into the air.
"What?" Ebisu quickly replies.
"It has to be something that a human can do safely. That's the agreement remember?"
His smile turns dim and his hopeful expression looked like it was poleaxed by reality.
"But some human kids escaped." Ebisu tries to complain.
"And three members of the group from Kisaragi Academy died in there. That does not count as safe Ebisu." Annan states.
"Oh." he finally says moments later, his joy gone.
Poor children…
Poor children?
…That agreement is because of me right?
Even without me, my granddaughters already had Ratri's protection from the curse of Annan.
…But at stake here is the eternal peace of hundreds of kids, no?
…Couldn't somebody else do this? It's not my job. It is not…
Something deep inside me is compelling me to ask a question that suddenly came into my mind.
I feel that I had the choice to refuse, and yet I am compelled to ask, knowing that I will make a decision that might result in death when I do ask this question.
And yet if I say yes to this decision I feel that I will be happy and joyful doing His…
…His work…and that He will walk me through the valley of the shadow of death, thus I…will not die.
Is this you, God?
God, give me a sign here.
"Annan, what are the souls of the dead doing in that dimension? Are they just trapped there?" I ask.
She looked at me sadly.
"They are trapped there forever feeling the pain that they experienced when they died, and driven to insanity by it and the despair of never getting relief from the pain. In short, they are in hell without being condemned to the everlasting fires of hell."
I close my eyes, while in the background I hear Annan mutter "What on Fiodh-Inis did I just say?"
I see…
I see.
God has called, and I…
I shall answer.
-
"You know, that was very unexpected of you Ward" Annan says to me while she is seated in front of me.
"Children's lives…afterlives are at stake here. You think I will not risk my life when I am in the position to save them?" I reply back at her, peeved at the disbelief in her voice.
"When you already said you want to return alive to your granddaughters? Well yes. I do think so." she said in a matter-of-factly tone.
I gritted my teeth in the face of her disbelief.
I never thought anything could become a pet peeve of mine in just a matter of minutes, yet here I am. Someone I dislike not believing I can do something so self-sacrificing, something good, irritated me more than anything else in my adult life.
"Don't underestimate us veterans, your holiness" Yung Ho defends me "Look at me. I admit I still hate the Japanese, but here I am going along on an exorcism to free some young Japanese souls from eternal torture they did not merit yet."
"Yet?" Thuc blurts out, looking incredulously at Yung Ho.
Yung Ho crosses his arms and says "I'm sorry. Never mind what I said."
"Do you hate these people that much?" I ask him, worried about Yung Ho.
"Herbert, please stop." Yung Ho pleads with me with a tired look on his face.
I concede to his request, but I swear I will talk this over with Yung Ho…someday before I return home.
I now look at the other two members of our group in our coach, seated behind me.
Javin and Connla are both staring in awe at the morning scenery that our train is passing by outside at the speed of 120 kilometers an hour.
We are currently riding a train towards a town called Kasamatsu in the province of Gifu two days after I made my decision.
That night, moments after I made my decision known to the gods, Thuc excused the both of us and led me to a quiet corner of the room. He asked me if I am sure of my decision while the others are looking in the background. After I had assured him that I am completely serious with my decision, he patted me on the shoulder and grinned.
He then looked behind him and said that it looks like we have a mission.
Except for Annan, who still looks confused on why she spouted off something straight from the Bible, and for Yung Ho, who just grunted and looked away with a neutral expression, everyone else looked…like they are anticipating a victory that will inevitably come.
Other than Juri and her parents, who went off to sleep since they had jobs and a school to go to the next day, everyone sat up the whole night discussing and revising the plan that Ebisu had just cooked up. And then we, as in Annan's human bodyguards, slept the whole day.
In the end, the resulting plan went like this.
First off, the highest levels of the Japanese government, who will be debriefed by a possessed 6 year old imperial princess, will order an evacuation of the town due to something that they will invent, and at the same time a nationwide internet blackout will be ordered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications to stop the inflow of victims into the place. At the same time the Japanese gods will weave magic so as to make Japan believe it and quickly follow orders.
After the town has been evacuated a ring of checkpoints is established by the Japanese Self Defense Forces outside the town, the immediate area around Kisaragi Academy will be cordoned off by as many human specialists that could be brought to the area as possible, with the provincial police assisting them in certain tasks. Needless to say, the Japanese gods will be present, disguising themselves from the police by intermingling in with the exorcists and psychics, who would doubtlessly know their identities and help with the disguises.
After that is where our party comes in. We will go into the grounds of Kisaragi Academy and perform the Sachiko ritual in plain sight of everyone there, while a metaphysical thread of magic is woven around us. After we had already been in there, the Japanese gods will immediately start…pulling at the dimension that Tenjin Elementary School is inside of, and bring it to the real world, where all the gods and the specialists will subdue the ghosts and bring them back to their senses.
In short, we were the fish hook, the gods were doing the role of the fisherman, magic is the fishing reel, line and pole. And the haunted elementary school is the fish.
"Are you two enjoying the scenery?" Kojiro asks from the opposite seat from those of Connla and Javin.
"Yes, elder Takayama. I have never been in the countryside of another country other than Letha and Eriu. There is…a different feeling to these forests, compared to those back home." Connla replied, looking towards the mountains.
"It should be. Japan and France are on opposite sides of the world, so the very trees must be different." Javin says while looking at the people we pass by.
"How about you, Mr. Lad?"
"What meets my eye here Connla, is how much humans can do to the countryside in…a hundred and fifty years after I died." Javin says.
He points at the mountains that we are passing by, giving special attention to the roads, the houses and the electric posts built on the mountainside.
"In my day no one would build their houses on a mountainside, and yet I see what appears to be a city that is built on the mountainside, with roads and rails and tunnels literally carved out of the mountains, and telegraph wires crossing over the mountains not far from the city."
"Does it marvel you?" Kojiro asks.
"It horrifies me! Where would you get wood if all the forests would be cut down for homes and roads wider than one needed? And are those houses safe where they are? No landslides, no wild predators lurking around those houses? A dense forest is not a sign of how firm the soil is, and is more a place that wild animals may be around. And the houses are built on the seaward side of the mountain. Would they stand strong in the face of a storm coming in from the sea?"
Kojiro has an awkward expression at Javin's answer.
"Oh. So that is what is bothering me." Connla mutters to himself as he looks toward the windows on the other side of the train. In the distance, the sea is visible by reflecting the light of a rising sun.
I softly chuckle in deprecation and looked back to my own window, looking at the scenery of the pleasing structures in the midst of the mountains.
-
We arrived at Kasugacho temple, a temple that is close to Kisaragi Academy around 11:30 in the morning. We were quickly introduced by Kojiro to the Shinshoku there named Momoi Hayato. It felt like he WAS not pleased to see us, human and goddess alike. Nevertheless Momoi welcomed us into his temple and gave us a vacant room in the temple's administrative office. After that, Kojiro said that he has to return to Tokyo, since he still has priestly duties do perform.
He did say that we will see him and Juri again after the plan had started, since they are among those who will be in the cordon. Before he left, Annan gave him three 10,000 Japanese Yen paper bills and three honest to goodness golden necklaces just like the one she is wearing as her show of appreciation for escorting us to Kasamatsu.
Kojiro thanked her profusely and left with a big grin on his face.
An hour after that, Momoi informed us that a room for dining in the temple is available but apologizes for the fact that he could not provide us food since his temple is short on funds. So we told him that all we need is a place where we can cook with fire since we had brought our own food.
He brought us to what appears to be the backyard of the administrative office, which is a garden full of bushes with flowers. There he gave each one of us a plastic chair and then he bowed down to us and went back into the building.
"Friends, do you have the feeling that this particular Brahmin does not want us here?" Javin softly says to us while he pulls out a mat from his bag, laying on top of it a napkin wrapped around something. When he unwraps it, it turned out to be a stack of flatbread.
"I don't think it is us Elder Javin. It is more likely that fact that he is living only a few hundred meters from a cursed site without noticing it. That would have made him look bad in front of his contemporaries." Connla said as he was looking at Javin's flatbreads.
"Then why is he taking it out on us?" I grumble as I open up a can of sardines and gives it to Annan.
At her raised eyebrow, I say "Can you please heat this up?"
She tak it in her hands, blew on the content, and then gives it back to me with the contents already cooked and hot.
I then offer the sardines to Javin saying "Here's some filling for those flatbread. I just want some, ok?"
Then something came to mind and I continue.
"By the way, do you also have unlimited food by way of a magical bag?"
"Why yes I do Mr. Ward. And I thank her holiness Ratri for it…Connla, do you want a Chapati?" Javin took one of the chapatis and holds it out to Connla.
Connla shakes his head, saying "No need to. Annan will give me the game that I will eat, right Annan?" he turned his head towards Annan with an expectant look on his face.
Annan is looking everywhere but at him.
"Right Annan?" Connla repeats the words again, this time with uncertainty in his tone.
Annan points up to the sky, where birds are circling around our position.
"You want some Japanese quail?"
I looked up for a closer look at the birds. And as Annan said, those are quails.
Suddenly a fast, flying object collided with one of the birds, bringing it down a few meters away from us.
Then another object went flying, to bring another of the birds down.
I look down to the source of those objects, to see Connla putting away his sling and the bag of stones into his backpack.
He then walks towards the dead birds.
"I think that is illegal." I comment.
"It would be illegal if someone were to say something to the Japanese authorities." Annan replies in a sing-song.
I sigh as Connla goes back to our chairs and starts the process of…preparing the two dead birds.
I look away and try to get back to the prior conversation.
"As I was saying, why on earth is Momoi taking his frustration out on us?"
"I bet it's because we are foreigners." Yung Ho remarks as he set about eating an MCI ration just heated up by Annan.
"Here we go again." I mutter while looking up the sky.
"Maybe that is the reason" Annan speaks up, surprisingly.
I look at her in surprise, prompting her to explain further.
"Well, many members of the Yamato supernatural world are…what do you call this…right wing nationalists. Anyway, those people would think we are outsiders who have no right to meddle around in 'internal affairs'."
"And Momoi's one of them right wingers?" I say in an incredulous tone.
How on God's green earth is saving tormented souls mixed in with POLITICS?
Jesus Christ, help us.
"Maybe." she shrugs with indifference.
I am speechless.
"Might we not make the whole plan go faster so we do not…offend these right-wingers more, you holiness? I know their like back home and believe me when I say you do not want to become their target." Thuc asks with a little urgency in his tone as he is eating Banh Mi from a Styrofoam package with a corporate logo of some Vietnamese fast food chain on the cover.
"Well…I'll check with Ebisu." she said, taking out her cell phone and calling him.
I quickly say my Grace and then finally start to eat, taking a chapati from Javin's mat, using it as a wrapper for a sardine the same way, and biting into it.
It tastes like that tortilla from that shop in Louisville near Annie's home, only with the addition of sardine and butter flavors.
The experience is spoiled only by the smell of blood from Connla's butchering of the quails. Speaking of which…
"That's fast." I commented.
He's already done with the heads, entrails and the skins of two quails in…less than five minutes.
"It is because I had a lot of practice, elder Ward." he proudly replies to me as he is washing the bodies with water from Yung Ho's canteen.
"Where are you going to put those entrails?" Thuc asks.
"Bury them in-"
"I'll do it." Annan interrupts Connla while she is texting Ebisu with her right hand.
She snaps her left finger and suddenly the entrails, heads and the blood on the soil of the temple sank down like quicksand, leaving a barren patch of ground. And then suddenly grass covered the barren patch, leaving no trace of the butchering done there by Connla.
"Thanks An." Connla said and continue to wash the quail breasts.
"Just cook me a good meal Con." Annan continues texting.
I see Thuc grin, hidden behind the Styrofoam container.
I also have the same sentiment.
-
After we had eaten our fill, and in my case said Grace again, an hour later, Annan informed us to the current state of affairs regarding the Kisaragi Accademy situation.
It was a FUBAR.
Less than 30 specialists would be able to go to Kasamatsu in the next seven days. Everyone else is busy with other exorcisms and other things. Fortunately that number would increase to around 1000 in twenty days.
The Japanese government however, is surprisingly making two demands in exchange for following the lead of the Japanese gods in regards to Kasamatsu. The first demand is that they want a 'closer' working relationship between the native Japanese specialists and the JSDF (which I interpret as 'draft into the JSDF') and between the Japanese gods of luck and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.
The second demand is the non-participation of foreigners, meaning our group in particular, in what they consider an 'internal matter' of Japan.
To replace us, they insist on sending their own people from the JSDF's Japanese Special Operations Group along with a Japanese god who wants to volunteer for the job of leading them inside.
A further complication is the Japanese Imperial family who were just informed about what happened to their precious child. Now they not only face a crisis of faith, meeting their supposed ancestor, but their child is possessed by a god almost 24/7, leaving the child's body only to let the child eat and sleep.
The mother and father had only been able to talk to the child during mealtimes.
…we choose to concentrate on the problem that would affect us.
"So, do we give over Annan?" Connla asks Annan.
"Are you joking? Me and Leech man have already agreed that this would be my payment of the favor. I can't see any way of renegotiating without breaking the agreement, which would be bad."
"How bad would breaking an agreement be for you in the first place? All I got is that something bad will happen." I ask in curiosity, remembering that topic during my first time meeting with Ratri.
Except for Javin, who seems clueless about the deal with agreements, they all looked at me in mild terror. Then they look at each other, seemingly trying to find someone to be the spokesperson.
After a few more moments, Thuc volunteers to do it. He turns to me and ponders for a while. Then he starts speaking.
"Imagine that you lied to your mother regarding the promise that you will not look into a certain kind of website again. Now one night you looked at one such website, again. Where do you expect your punishment will come from? How severe will it be?" he asks me.
"I think I will be banned from the computer." I answer.
"No. What happens next is that your computer suddenly bursts into fire. In the process of putting out the fire you also get electrocuted and end up with a partially burned and permanently paralyzed hand. And before I forget, your house also burnt down, taking with it the houses of your neighbors."
What comes into mind from Thuc's story is this one event from the Bible. Numbers, Chapter 16. Dathan and Abiram rebelled against Moses' orders. So they were swallowed up by the earth, along with their tents, their wives and their children and their servants.
All of them dead.
…damn.
It's the Old Testament wrath of God kind of bad thing.
Damn it.
Thuc continues to speak.
"Whatever bad thing that will happen, it always comes from the object that you made an agreement for in the first place. And even with magic, the gods and spirits can only mitigate the damage. And worse, it is disproportionate AND indiscriminate."
…double damn.
Yung Ho suddenly adds in his own input.
"Don't worry Herbert. Us humans only die once. It's the gods that have to worry about dying permanently."
"Is that supposed to be reassuring?" I ask him in a flat voice.
Yung Ho nods.
That nod broke the camel's back.
I quickly turn towards Annan.
"Who are these Japanese, to stop us from doing the Lord's work? I say we go train as a group tomorrow, and then go into the Kisaragi hellhole the next day."
"And who is going to pull us out of that place?" she asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Ebisu and Waka-ush?" I ask rhetorically.
"No, no, no. We already talked about this. We need more magic here. More Magic." She emphasizes the word 'more' by extending both of her arms to her sides.
"How about some more gods? Volunteers?" I suggest.
"I know Ratri and Daesun will help. And maybe they could bring their siblings here. But at most that would account only for…less than eight gods. We need more than that! But if I ask more unrelated gods to help, I would have more debts! More of them! What's the point of paying off a debt with more debts?!" she complains.
"Then what if Tokyo managed to convince the Japanese gods to use Japanese Special Forces? Where does that leave us?!" I am starting to lose my patience here.
I don't want to die here because of some unavoidable bad luck!
I want to die with my head held up high! Fighting!
"I don't know! I DON'T KNOW!" Annan is starting to panic, her hands curling up in distress, her eyes dilated and her hair starting to sway in a non-existent breeze.
"Well is there any other source of magic we can tap into?" I ask, feeling desperation coming on to me.
"Well, there are you humans but-" Annan suddenly cuts herself off.
She has this openmouthed look on her face that says 'how did I not think of that before?'
"Annan?" Connla asks from beside her.
"Human belief" she mumbles.
Human beli-
Thuan Thien and 4444th gun!
"Hallelujah" I softly mumble to myself.
"No, we need a lot of people to do that. Besides, who is going to contain or exorcise the ghosts once Tenjin elementary has been dragged into the real world?" Annan says to herself while massaging her forehead with her left hand.
"Why not leave a message for Ebisu telling what just happened? Once we have the people to believe in what we want to happen, the Japanese will have no choice but to follow the plan, or risk hundreds of deaths from rampaging ghosts." Yung Ho said.
"So we will make an accomplished fact? Won't the Japanese be angry with us for forcing their hand?" Javin questions.
"What if we had Ebisu smooth things out for us? After all he is the one who wanted this crisis solved by us" I ask, looking at Annan.
She thinks about it, with her hands crossed over her chest while looking at the ground. Then she looks up at me.
"On one hand Ebisu is a controversial figure in the Japanese Yamato supernatural world, with who he married and his very friendly ties to the Ainu. On the other hand, Izanami has been trying to make up with Ebisu all this time. She is just…a crappy mother to Ebisu."
I wince at the image that brought.
"If Ebisu says to her that this will bring them closer to reconciliation, Izanami will give all her support to Ebisu, and by extension, us." Annan continues.
Well, at least the mother is trying hard to reconcile.
May God help them.
"…yeah. Yeah. Ebisu can do it. Now the only question is, who will we get to pray and believe Tenjin elementary into the real world? We can't make more people know about the presence of the supernatural."
Annan went silent after that monologue.
Silence reigned in the backyard.
A minute passed.
An hour passed.
The sun is almost coming down and we cleaned up after ourselves.
"How about those survivors and the relatives of those who died?" Connla suddenly asks.