Episode 11: Regain What was Taken
Hajime twitches slightly as his senses began to return, feeling the full constriction of the mud surrounding his body. He didn't know how long he was trapped down here, but judging from the emptiness above him, it was morosely clear Kai's one time of understanding admiration has been shattered by his lack of courage to step in and get him out. If Yin hadn't batted him around like a human baseball, he would have been able to show Kai quicksand isn't as deadly as many people and media had led him to believe.
Mustering what strength he could, he stretches his hand as high as possible, feeling soggy soil slipping off his fingers and hand until he felt his arm strain to a stop, leaving him wrist deep in the mud; indicating he hadn't sunk that far while stuck in a belly down position. Drawing more energy into his mud-constricted body, he curls into a fetal position and stretches upward, digging his legs deeper into the mud while his upper body pushes towards the direction of his wrist, barely managing to pull half his head through as he tips it back enough to free his nose and mouth and gasp some much needed, fresh mid-afternoon air to sooth the world of pain he's still in.
Using the hand he freed up, he pulls his glasses off, leaving an oval-shaped area of cleanliness around his eyes, and shakes the excess mud off before sticking them back on, getting a good look at his surroundings. Only a mere foot from the edge of the bog before losing consciousness from the pole-batting, weight constricting ordeal; if Kai didn't think just winding up in quicksand-like substances is fatal enough, watching him sink over his head was more than enough of a red herring to drill the presumption of his death into his traumatized mind.
Muffling a curse in English, Hajime used his lone hand to drag the rest of his body through the mud, finally managing to haul himself onto grassy, more solid ground. Once back in the open field surrounding the lake, he assesses the damage to his uniform; aside from the obvious cakes of mud, there were two slashes on his coat, exposing most of his bare chest.
Sensing the tension in the spiritual atmosphere, he was sure the rest of the squad was aware of what happened and have also presumed him dead due to how little they knew him. He would've ran over to them to at least let them know he was okay; but the "new" appearance may give them the wrong impression. Luckily they aren't at the Phoenix Pond so he would save them the shock-fest (Though at the cost of his only chance of getting to know them better).
After trudging through the forest for half an hour, Hajime is eventually greeted by the warm steam emitting from beyond a large fence of wild bushes. Passing through them, he comes across a large lake standing in front of a cold waterfall, with a large family of stalagmites sticking out the center. The stones decorating the edge of the lakes and walkway indicate he wasn't the first one to discover it.
Hajime pulled off his uniform, wincing at the tearing sound resulting from the slash marks Yin cut into his coat earlier, before taking the trunks given to him by the other members of the squad and walking over to the waterfall.
A spare, wooden bucket full of bath assortments had been left near the pond surrounding the waterfall, suggesting one of other members of the squad was aware that he wasn't as dead as Kai may have blathered earlier that morning; Ryuta most likely since he's practically the guru of spirit reading.
Taking anything other than just standing under the waterfall and freezing for several seconds, Hajime picks up the bucket and begins using the contents inside to scrub the mud and muck from his body before sticking the bucket into the waterfall to fill with crisp, cold mountain water, and dumping it onto his body several times to wash away the suds; giving a quick shiver before slipping the swim trunks on and heading over to the lake.
He sat down near the edge and dunk his feet into the spring, wincing hard at the near scorching temperature; nearly three times as hot as the manmade springs he used to relax in. Looking over the edge, he sees molten veins glowing at the very bottom of the lake, reminding him of the dangers of bathing in natural hot springs. Luckily there were slanted stalagmites sticking out near the surface, acting as stools to sit or stand on and rest when he grows tired of swimming.
Heaving a nervous sigh, Hajime slips deeper into the spring, gritting his teeth harder as the near scorching pain rides up the rest of his body. If this wasn't part of the squad's training to tolerate any pain that hits them, he would think they were obsessed with burning themselves. He heaves another sigh before pulling his hands away from the corners and pushes off a few feet from the wall while sinking up to his chin, taking in a few breaths before submerging completely to allow the searing heat to surround his entire body.
After a moment, the pain slowly subsides to warm relaxation seemingly massaging the aches and constriction he suffered in the past couple of days. As he was preparing to fall into a calm trance, he heard a familiar voice calling to him.
Hajime....
Hajime snaps his eyes open as he turns upright and pokes his head through the surface in time to see two ghostly arms wrap around and pull him into a relieved hug.
Hajime...thank goodness you're alright....
Hajime trails the arms towards the edge of the hot spring to find Yatto crouched low enough to reach him.
"Oni-san?" he asked as he felt Yatto's arms weaken, slowly slipping him back into the spring, "I would've thought you'd stop by the dojo first since Yin wasn't...." he trails off when the water passes over his mouth and nose; not bothering to tread as it eventually folds over his head.
Yatto furrows his eyebrows a bit as he places his knees on the cobblestone ground, I was going to...but then I sensed the old man's irate desperation shoot through the roof, followed by Kai's distress and your weakening spirit...I had to abandon what I was doing to check up on you....
Hajime swims towards one of the slanted stalagmites sticking 3ft under and uses it to pull himself to the surface while sitting on it, "I might've lost consciousness earlier, but I'm fine now. Wish I could say the same for Kai though. I felt his hysteria as I was sinking in that quagmire; probably thinks I'm dead due to those stereotypical physics about quicksand, and has probably told the squad about it, leading them to think I'm dead."
Yatto's furrowed eyebrows tighten as he grabs the feather-shaped key hanging off the fire-shaped rosary beads around his neck, I can't go on like this any longer.... I need to get those Wings before the old man figures out why he can't get the trunk to open with just a nurturing prayer....
"Well, getting tensed up about it isn't going to help you come up with a better game plan," Hajime said before leaning back against the jagged stalagmite sticking out of the water, "Maybe you should take a break and relax a while. Try taking a swim in this spring; the heat from the water should ease your tension and help you think more clearly."
Yatto didn't seem sure of the invitation. Sensing Yin's confidence that the "true gods" will be realized, he felt he should run back over to the dojo and take the Wings before he returns. But the hypnotic sense of warmth emitting from the hot spring wraps around his paranormal body, seeming to nudge him towards the water. Sighing slightly in ease, he climbs into the spring, completely disregarding the tradition of undress, wash and rinse; then again, him being a ghost who can't hold a bar of soap for more than a few seconds doesn't seem to put too much of a damper on his Japanese etiquettes.
Once the water reached his shoulders, the full extent of warmness embraces him, easing him into letting go of the edge as his body floats on the surface.
Water is the only physical object ghosts can control outside Vermillion Village, allowing their bodies to sink or float depending on how much they absorb into their body. By only letting the water reach his shoulders, Yatto doesn't have to put much of a swing in his joints to keep from sinking. But as he was letting the heat massage his body, the fire-beaded necklace and the key attached to it began to glow a dim, fiery color.
At first, Hajime didn't notice the glow until he saw Yatto begin to sink further into the spring.
"Um...Oni-san, you don't have to sink that far to let the water ease your tension," he mutters, a bit nervously.
I'm not.... Yatto mutters before suddenly taking notice of the water reaching his nose. Panicked, he pulls his head back while shaking water from his body in a vain attempt to keep himself afloat only to feel an unusual increase in weight on his shoulders as the necklace and key glow brighter, pulling him deeper into the spring until his entire body becomes too full of water to maintain buoyancy.
Hajime blinks in shock as he staggers off the stalagmite he sat on and swam over to try and grab the key only to miss by a few inches; watching in confusion as it pulls Yatto deeper underwater and towards an opening near the bottom of the spring. He tries to go after him, but by the time he reached the archway, his lungs inflated from the lack of air, forcing him to abandon the chase and rush to the surface, gasping loudly upon breaking through.
He floats on the surface for a few minutes, eyes squeezed shut as he concentrates on his breathing in an attempt to draw in enough air to keep him sustained for when he dives back down. But as he was doing so, the sound and sensation lulls him into calming trance, causing him to slowly stop treading while his body begins to sink into the lake until he felt water shooting into his nose and mouth.
Startled, Hajime scrambles to pull his head back up, coughing and snorting out the water he nearly inhaled while trying to figure out what made him space out in the first place. He vaguely remembers falling under the same trance when he was sinking in the quagmire back near the lake; how he was thinking of nothing but gathering enough air to keep him alive only to feel himself slip into a sense of calmness that eased him to stop breathing once his nose became clogged with mud.
Thinking further on this strange sensation, he remembered it being a common practice in Vermillion to concentrate on their breathing when in danger of entering asphyxiating environments; he then wonders if the squad used the same technique to help strengthen their stamina during long-winded performances that involve chasing after the distressed whenever they sense them hitting a roadblock.
Hajime can sense Yatto's movements come to an abrupt stop several feet from the springs, a weakened spark indicates he may have passed out, perhaps from the shock of being dragged around by an unknown entity. Desperate to get to him and see if he was okay, Hajime closes his eyes and concentrates on his breathing again, feeling himself being lulled back into a calming trance as the water starts to brush over his body, feeling his jugular close up once his nostrils touched the surface.
After a few minutes, he opens his eyes to find himself staring at the old cavern archway, surrounded by pitch darkness with only the molten veins indicating where the walls are. He felt hesitant to go in at first, but upon refocusing on Yatto, he senses his presence about 10ft higher than where he is, indicating there may be a surface on the other side of the tunnel.
Curious, Hajime decides to take the risk and enters the tunnel, staying leveled with the roof and molten veined ground while remaining calm and less focused on his need for air.
"Why can't I see my brother!?" exclaims a frustrated, child-like voice, "I wanna see my brother!"
Yatto wheezes as he opens his remaining eye, greeted by a bamboo ceiling sheltering over him. His lungs felt like they were being constricted by an anaconda; he can't breathe, yet he was able to regain consciousness and stay that way.
He sits up to survey the rest of his surroundings, too suffocated to remember how he got here.
It appears to be some kind of study room, containing shelves full of books on one end of the wall, while a row of large scrolls hung over a small stage on the adjacent wall, each bearing the Japanese kanji of nine virtues: righteousness; justice; loyalty; courtesy; serenity; faith; wisdom; obedience; piety.
Before he could ask where he was, a mighty voice speaks below the scroll of Serenity.
"I cannot burden you with such a grotesque sight," the elder mutters in remorse, "You are much too young to be traumatized by what my brash pupil has dealt onto him."
Sitting below the scroll of Serenity is a man, three times older than those Yatto has met in the city, wearing a pure white uwagi, with red dots stitched on the sleeves, and hakamana, and holds a red flagpole with the Japanese flag draped by his side as though it were a constant companion.
Standing beside him is his little brother, Kai, tugging on one of his sleeves with a devastated look on his face.
"But if I don't let him know I'm okay, he'll think I'm dead and be too devastated to continue training for the Martial Arts Tournament!"
Kai.... Yatto mutters, staggering to his feet and moving towards his distraught little brother, What're you talking about...? I'm right here...!
The elder sighs as he places his hand on Kai's head and rubs the black, bristly hair sticking out of it, "He knows you are alive, young one. But he worries if he let you see what the doctors are doing to fix him up, you would be too traumatized to want to see him again. He has asked me to look after you until he recovers from his ordeal."
Yatto furrows his eyebrows in confusion as the elder gazes upon the scroll depicting the Japanese kanji for "faith", "He is a strong Muay Thai fighter like you have proclaimed. If he can best the strongest warriors in the sport of hand-to-hand combat, he will fight the pain of his wounds and one day return to embrace your worried soul."
Wh...why're you doing this...? Yatto mutters hysterically, Why're you talking like I'm not even in the room...!?
Kai jumps back and pumps his fists in excitement.
"Really!? Alright! Until then, I'm gonna train under you and learn everything about cheering so that when he does return, I'll have the knowledge and courage to cheer him through every tournament he enters! We'll be able to buy a house away from the slums and never have to live in danger again!"
He then scampers towards the doorway leading out of the study as Yatto starts to panic over his ignorance to his presence.
Kai, wait...! he calls out, dropping to a kneel as he throws his hands out to catch him. But the attempt fails as the oblivious boy not only passes through his arms...but his entire body as well. His eye widens in shock as he stares at his stretched out hands to find them a ghostly, transparent blue, then snaps his head down to find a rectangular-shaped hole in his central body, exposing the once red innards of his gakuran trench coat.
What...!? he yelps as he grabs his coat and yanks it shut, What happened to me...!?
It was at this point that everything he had forgotten up until now came flooding back into his ghostly brain; the accident that led to his horrific demise by the monster man who thought he was challenging him for control of the world.
This can't be happening.... he mutters in fright, grabbing his head in hysteria, This has to be a nightmare.... There's no way this can be happening...!
Before he could think of a solution to his problem he heard a sharp, yet calm voice calling from the doorway Kai ran out of.
"Relinquish your curse from my little brother," it demands with mild distraught. The leader's smile fades to sternness, not bothering to look towards the source of the voice. Yatto on the other hand does, seeing Yin, wearing the black, white dotted samurai outfit that now belongs to Kai, march into the study with a distraught frown on his face; but that wasn't what shocked Yatto about his presence.
Upon gazing at him, he can see a transparent blaze of dark blue fire surrounding his frail being, giving off a sense of dread and sorrow that made Yatto want to pity whatever left him in that state. His furrowed eyebrows tighten as he looks down at himself, wondering how he was able to sense these and why they were urging him to feel sorry for someone he's never met in his physical existence.
"I have discussed this with you before," the leader said rather gruffly as he goes back to reading his Buddhist tome, "Back in the days of our acquaintance, your brother has displayed more than hatred towards the spirits, the Gods, and the people they watch over; and I have struggled to tame him for many years. But yesterday, he has executed one of the most brazen, inhumane acts I have ever laid eyes on! Therefore, he will carry the name Dancho until he learns of its negative meaning and pleads with all life in the universe to lift it from his persona!"
"My brother has save us all from being led down a path of vengeance and hatred," Yin protests, "The deities have finally broken through his stubbornness and proved to him that their way is the only way to bring peace to the world. The death of the demon who has slain many to gain power was my brother's way of repenting for his sheer misunderstanding."
The leader slams the book with one hand as he eyes Yin, "I have made this clear to you many times, Yin! Martial Arts is not a demonic ritual giving humans the power to dominate the world and gain access to the heavens! Even the humble Buddhist monk trains his students in the art of fighting to defend their temples from intruders and attain enough income to keep their traditions alive!"
Yin's frown tightens as his long brows begin to flutter upward, the blue flame surrounding him fluxing between light and dark as if struggling to decide who he should believe more, "Besides, the brothers seem to have little choice in the matter. Inexperienced youngsters misinterpreted the meaning of love and bore children because of it; the oldest suffered the worst from their mistakes, only sharing a year of happiness before a dreaded kitchen accident not only took out his left eye, but also sliced the love right out of their hearts."
The leader lowers his head in sorrow, "And it worsened when little Kai was born. The strain was too much for the mother, killing her and driving the father into a state of depression so great he ended his own life, leaving them to fend for themselves."
His eyebrows furrow in more sorrow, "I cannot bare to see what will happen when he learns that his brother is dead...."
Yatto looks over to the leader, seeing his emotional fire pure blue, giving off a sense of sorrow that urged him to want to sympathize and trust his decision to lie to Kai in order to avoid shattering his confidence and driving him down to deep depression.
Yin stood near the doorway in silence, while the leader goes back to reading the Buddhist tome, before marching further into the room, "If what you say is true, then the boy must be dealt with before he gains the strength to steal your power away!"
Yatto snaps his head towards the irate elder, seeing his dark blue aura dim to the point of the pitiful sensation turning to one of slight hesitation, while the leader's frown tightens, never taking his eyes off the tome.
"The boy goes nowhere! He has suffered enough growing up in a world of darkness where men fouler than the demons depicted in folklores threaten him for their own pleasure and greed."
"All the more reason to remove him from this world!" Yin protests again, "All his life he has known nothing but vengeance and hatred from his demonic brother, who only thirsts to raise him as his replacement should he fail to ascend the heavens and feast on the power of the Gods. If we continue to let him live, he will continue where his brother left off, slaying more lives until the world falls into an era where vengeance is the only way to cope with their problems!"
The leader muffles an angered growl as he slams the tome shut again and shoots up to his feet; his pure blue flame of concern turns to pure red, giving off a nerve-wracking sense of dread that details just how angered he was at Yin's words.
"You dare try to prove your brother is pure and innocent by throwing his most violent tendencies upon that poor child?" he exclaims furiously, "You are just as low and disgusting as he is if you think I am stupid enough to fall for your blind, uninvestigated assumptions!"
Yin shudders in fright as the leader rises to his feet, staring daggers into his heart, "Children are not like goldfish! They do not rely on one emotion to help them cope with the changes in the world! They rely on the experience of the adults to help them adapt to the reality of this world! And as long as I continue to breathe, I will see to it that this child is given the best possible life I can express; even if I have to throw you both back to the place where I found you so many years ago!"
Yin's eyes widen in bewildering shock over the leader's decision to spare Kai despite knowing the dangers of keeping a child raised by inexperienced parents. His blue flame continues to flux between light and darkness, once again giving off mixed senses of pity and foreboding. It was hard to tell what Yatto should be thinking of the elder; if he should be fearing for Kai's wellbeing, or trust him in the hands of someone he hardly knows and let him deal with the situation.
Even more confusing is the sense that Yin is having problems trying to accept the harmonious union of humanity as a form of peace shared by all who walk and protect the earth. He wants to believe it to be true, but is fearful of turning against his own beliefs pertaining to what Deities or Gods consider true peace to be. And it seems the leader has tried everything he could psychologically think of to get him to understand how much they care about how humans have lived and strived for what future suits them best. But judging by the stress building up within his mighty heart over what he had just heard from Yin, it seems the attempt had become futile and he appears to be on the verge of giving up.
The elder turns sharply and storms out of the room, leaving the leader to watch him leave before going back to reading his tome. Yatto looks between them before getting up and following after Yin. Even if this was some kind of nightmare he can't wake up from, he should still look after Kai just in case this really was for real.
By the time they got to the room, Kai had accidentally rammed into Yin's knees, causing his distraught spirit to shoot to twice his size as he "calmly" snaps his head down to the innocent little boy staring back at him.
Kai's spirit is ever the purest of white, always willing to learn, understand, and help those he sees. Because their grandparents disowned their parents for giving birth to Yatto, Kai has only known elders as kindhearted old people who always appreciate nothing more than a formal gesture from the younger crowd. Not once in his young life has he ever come across one so fragile and terrified of what constitutes evil that he would even consider a child a demon after his very life.
After a long, painstaking minute, Kai sports a cheery smile, "Hey there, Oji-san! You wouldn't happen to have any large, red stickers around, would you? I wanna put them on that white coat with the black dots so they look like the one the man who's gonna teach me how to cheer to the world wears!"
Hearing Kai's request causes the darkness of Yin's distraught spirit to deepen with a sense of sheer hysteria striking Yatto's nerves as though he were sealed within an Iron Maiden.
"The ones our leader wears?" Yin mutters, his body trembling in fright, "So I was right all along.... You are scheming to take us down and use our squad to throw the world into an era of vengeance!"
Yatto's eyes widen in horror as what little blue remained within Yin's darkened spirit is consumed by a blend of red. If that wasn't enough to make him fear more for Kai's wellbeing, the elder's tightened frown and sneering bravado was, sensing his will being controlled by these emotions as though they had a mind of their own.
"I cannot allow it to manifest to fruition...." Yin seethed furiously, "He must be removed from this world in order to prevent such an era from reaching the corrupt minds of all who walk it!"
At that point Kai's innocent demeanor disintegrates into terror and confusion, backing away from Yin only to slip on a piece of clothing and crash into the leader's closet, yanking down one of his coats and, in a fit to get it off him, accidentally pulls it on.
Seeing this innocent mistake inflates Yin's spiritual mass of irate hysteria to ten-times his own size, thinking Kai panicked over being found out and scrambled to get into uniform in a vain attempt to steal control of the squad.
"Here is where your life will end, little demon!" he sneers as he draws his arm back and charges the terrified youngster, thoroughly intent on driving his brazenly justified fingers into his presumably corrupted heart.
Yatto's eyes widen in sheer horror as he leaps towards Yin in a vain attempt to tackle him only to fly right through his body and land on the floor. Lifting his head, he sees the collapsed, terrified position of Kai sitting before him, then whips around to see Yin dangerously close to them, completely unfazed by the futile tackle of the ghost as he gathers the strength in his lone hand to thrust straight into his intended target.
But just as he was about to execute his deadly blow, a hand grabs his elbow, almost snapping his shoulder in half as it stopped him in his tracks. All eyes turn to the back of the center of the room to see the mighty leader standing over Yin with his right hand grasped hard on the irate elder's elbow with an angered sneer on his face and an even larger, pure red flame that overshadows the dark purple aura surrounding the attacker.
Seeing the leader only darkens the violent flux of emotions glowing around Yin, with a sense of confidence in his brazen mind that he will succeed in convincing the seemingly oblivious leader into believing his word over Kai's.
"See now!" Yin preaches, pointing an accusing finger at Kai, "The little demon has taken advantage of your kindness by stealing your power and using it to bring about an era of vengeance and hatred to the world!"
Yatto snaps his head back over to Kai to see him trembling in sheer fright before scrambling to get out of the uwagi.
"Oji-san!" he screams as he scrambles over and glomps the leader's leg in fright, "I'm sorry, Oji-san! I didn't want to steal your position! I just want to wear something that shows how much I like you!"
Yin's fluxing emotions explode even more as he turns his attention back to Kai, his confidence wavering to desperation as he tries to get the leader to side with his point of view, "You know nothing of what love truly is! You only pretended to know to fool our leader into nurturing you until you grow too strong for even the Gods to contain!"
He tears his elbow from the leader's grasp and picks up the wooden hanger torn from the closet, yanking the metal hook into a straight line, "We must do away with him if our future of bringing peace to this world, riddled with confusion and deception, is to be realized!"
Yin arches his hanger arm back, aiming the metal point towards Kai's trembling little body, and prepares to thrust it towards him when a hard hand slaps him across the face, forcing him to drop his hastily crafted weapon while his head nearly snaps off its neck from the impact.
The leader retracts his hands, placing both on Kai's shoulders in a bid to ease his fear while glaring at Yin so infuriating he just about wet himself gazing into them.
"You dare strike the boy over an uneducated guess!?" he seethes, "You will never be worthy of this squad, or the heavens, if you continue to act out your fears upon those YOU think will be a threat to our future!" he thrusts his finger towards the door of the wardrobe room, "Return to your room and meditate for an hour! I want your selfishness contained by our next training session!"
Yin stares at him in utter shock while rubbing the sore on his cheek, his fluxing emotions shrinking back to its original, dark blue aura, before shooting a vengeful glare at Kai and storming out of the room. Yatto's furrowed eyebrows tighten as he looks back over to the leader, feeling his determination to protect Kai from anymore brash abuse from the elderly time bomb.
Though he should be sticking around a little longer to see how Kai was fairing so far in this nightmare they were forced into, Yatto was curious about why Yin was so terrified of what the Gods think to even control the temptations of his own emotions.
He finds the frail elder sitting in the center of the study, facing the scroll of Righteousness, one of the many signs he doesn't trust how the leader runs his squad. His legs were crossed, Indian-style, and his eyes were closed, appearing to be in deep meditation as par the leader's demands.
But just as Yatto was about to assume that was all Yin was going to do, he heard something seeping through his closed mouth; snoring.
Even his stamina is frail, falling asleep at the very minute he closes his eyes and stops thinking. And while he sleeps, his spirit once again fluxes with the light and dark contrast of fear, suggesting his dreams were the reasons he was having so much trouble trying to believe the serene words of his master. This made Yatto even more nervous about leaving Kai in the care of this squad. At any given moment, even when the leader's back isn't turned, Yin will find every possible opportunity to attack and kill Kai to appease whatever nightmares he thinks is the true sight of the Gods.
And then there's the monster man that killed him last night. If this Dancho is the same person, then it won't just be Yin Kai will have to watch out for. Yatto wishes there was some way he can get his tangibility back so he can not only turn the leader's lie into an actual promise, but also make sure Kai's life isn't cut before he reached his Seijin celebration.
After what felt like minutes passing through the dark, intertwining tunnel, Hajime eventually sees an opening lit by more molten veins. Upon entering it, he finds the surface and swims towards it, being greeted by a stalactite-covered ceiling 6ft overhead. He eventually finds Yatto laying sideways on the rocky embankment, appearing to be unconscious.
"Oni-san...." Hajime mutters before swimming towards the ghost and climbing out, placing a hand on his shoulder. In reaction, Yatto stirs with a moan and pushes himself onto a propped position on his hands.
Where are we...? he mutters, immediately acknowledging Hajime's presence. The Ouendan newcomer looks towards the water he came out of.
"It looks like we're in some kind of human burrow 10ft below the surface," he mutters as he stood up and looked towards the key around Yatto's neck, "Something must have caused the key to drag you down here."
Yatto stands up and clutches the key in his right hand, But what...? The key only fits in the padlock used to seal the trunk the old man stole....
Hajime looks towards an open cavern in front of the embankment they washed up in, then the key as its head began to glow.
"Maybe the key is some kind of compass guiding us to a safer route to the trunk," he said, "It probably needed some source of heat to activate it. And if we just follow it down these caverns, it might show us how to get to the trunk without being seen."
Yatto looks between Hajime and the key before sighing in hesitation, At this point I can take anything that won't scare him into killing us and making sure we stay dead....
The two head into the cavern, monitoring the glowing key while observing where they are and where to go.
End Notes:
1. Oni-san is a relatively cutesy word for "big brother", but it can also be used to address an unrelated male in almost the same way as "mister", or "sir".
2. If you haven't already figured out the other meaning to "dancho" and why the late leader treated it like a curse, it will be explained later on.
3. I revised this chapter again because I felt it didn't make as much sense as I once thought.
