This story is a series of one-shots. So, every chapter is a story. Stories with "to be continued" in them will be labeled as "(Story name) a" then "(Story name) b".
Osaka, Japan. Sunday April 14th 2010, 10:30pm.
"God Dammit Shun!" a woman yelled at her husband, Shun Amaterasu. "When will you learn that you'll never get anywhere gambling all of our money away? Not only have you blown through your son's college fund, who is graduating this year by the way, but also the money we set aside to pay off the bills, which are ALL at least a month behind!"
"Kikuyu, baby, you don't fully understand". Mr. Amaterasu began. "Those were just minor setbacks. You see, I'm going to hit it big very soon! I found out this special system to win-" Shun tried to say to his enraged wife, who cut him off.
"What? Win what, the 'Home Foreclosure Race'?!"
This happened to be their fourth fight this week about Mr. Amaterasu's gambling problem. Their children, however, found their own little ways to ignore them when need be.
Their son, Saijoe, tricks himself into writing out a complicated algebraic equation and spends hours trying to figure it out. Ironically, it only solved the arguing "problem". This time, he was fortunate enough to already be focused on the maintenance of his stereo system. Coincidentally, he was listening to rock music on his iPod.
The second child and eldest daughter, Chianti, had no choice but to listen. So, she decided to try to drown them out with her favorite book. Usually, she would just watch TV with the volume all the way up, but she couldn't find the remote and had already entered the danger zone.
The last child, Faith, was standing at her bedroom door. The lights were dimly lit. She didn't have a TV, stereo or anything like that. The only books she had were baby books and she couldn't read them, let alone read at all. She was hugging her scruffy teddy bear, looking down at her feet with a very dull expression on her innocent face as she listened to her parents' quarrel.
"Look you Jackass!" Kikuyu yelled through tears. "You're going to do one of two things right now... A: Give up gambling for the sake of your family or B: Pack up all your crap and get the hell out of this house!"
A shocked and appalled Shun Amaterasu went to the room he shared with his wife, filled two duffel bags of clothes, grabbed his coat and car keys and left the house, slamming the door as he made his leave.
"DON'T EVER COME BACK, YOU BASTARD!" Mrs. Amaterasu yelled at the top of her lungs. Suddenly, the sounds of soft crying were heard off in the distance. As she wiped her tears away, she walked towards the source of the sounds, which happened to be coming from Faith's room.
Mrs. Amaterasu opened the door and saw her baby daughter standing there. Her eyes bled water quietly and furiously onto the back of her stuffed animal's head. Faith looked up at her mother and coughed." I-is daddy...coming b-back, mommy?" She asked as her mother brought her into a tight hug.
She whispered to her in a gentle voice, "I don't know Faith... Maybe not..." Her words brought more tears from the pair, just loud enough to be heard through the whole house.
Two shadows appeared in the light that cast in the room from the hallway. It was Chianti and Saijoe.
"...you okay, ma?" Saijoe asked to break the silence with a sigh of frustration. Kikuyu nodded, rubbing Faith's back.
"So... how long is this going to last?" Chianti asked, having doubt in her mind that anything about this fight would change from everything she's seen before between her parents.
"I don't know... Hopefully, things will get better soon." Mrs. Amaterasu said in response.
"Sure, like every other time was supposed to get better?" Chianti asked patronizingly.
"Now's not the time for this Chianti." Mrs. Amaterasu, setting Faith down on her bed, responded in a stern tone.
"Can you two not start this... not in front of Faith?" Saijoe asked, rubbing the back of his head nervously as he moved between Chianti and their mother.
"You were always clueless when it came to stuff like this..." Chianti muttered under her breath, but just loud enough to still be audible. Then, it suddenly hit her.
SMACK!
A sharp, stinging sound was heard throughout the house as Chianti fell to the floor, holding her cheek, in pain. Her mother, just as quick as Chianti's own tongue, had reached around her eldest and socked her daughter square in the jaw because of her words and disrespectful attitude.
"Mother," Saijoe yelled as he pushed Mrs. Amaterasu back a step from Chianti. "Did you really have to do that?!"
"You watch your tongue young lady!" Mrs. Amaterasu fumed, swatting Saijoe's hand down and off of her.
"Why? Why should I, huh?!" Chianti said as she got off the floor, her eyes beginning to water from the pain. "I'm not going to just sit around and watch him ruin our lives, mom! I'm so tired of you just letting him do it!"
"What makes you think I want to?!" Kikuyu yelled back, her fists clenched and posture cocked forward. Her chest had puffed out from her anger, though she slowly retracted after realizing what she had done.
"Well, since you haven't done anything about dad and his gambling problem, it looks like you don't care about what happens to any of us!" Chianti screamed as the tears seemed to bleed from her eyes now.
"That's not true! I care deeply about each one of you!" Mrs. Amaterasu said defensively in response. "You know I do, I always have. You just don't understand how hard it is to keep a family from crumbling beneath itself."
"Then start acting like it!" Chianti continued to yell through her tears, only stopping to wipe a few from her face.
"You think it's easy to live like this? You think you can do a better job? Then why don't you go out and start a family by yourself!" Kikuyu said to her child, emphasizing her point with the stomping of her foot.
"Both of you stop it! This has gone far enough, so you both need to calm down now!" Saijoe exclaimed as he attempted to gain control, his gaze darting between his younger sister and his mother.
"Shut up, Saijoe!" Chianti screamed, almost hurting her vocal cords. "I hate you, I hate you so much!" She screamed at her mother before running off to her room, slamming the door shut, locking it and wailing away softly into the pillows on her bed.
Saijoe, having failed at being the neutral party and trying to de-escalate the argument, shook his head in disappointment at his mother and left the room.
Mrs. Amaterasu looked back at her youngest child, who had curled into a ball of fear as she watched the event play out in front of her young eyes. Kikuyu stepped over to console the child until she was calm enough to fall asleep in her arms, tucking her into her bed and turning out the lights to her room but kept the door open.
She then returned to the room she shared with her husband and sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at her feet with the emotion and stress of the altercation with Chianti now gone from her face. Her phone chimed and buzzed on the night table next to the bed, grabbing Kikuyu's attention and made her reach over to check it. It was Mr. Amaterasu, asking for permission to use their joint bank account to pay for a hotel room for the night. She didn't respond, instead, she sat the phone back down on the nightstand and cut out the light. She crawled under the covers, closed her eyes, and prayed herself to sleep.
The next morning, following all the chaos from the night before, the Amaterasu family prepared for their day. Saijoe helped Faith not make a mess at the table while he tried to get ready for school, Mrs. Amaterasu was in the kitchen cooking breakfast for her children, and Chianti was in the bathroom, looking in the mirror at her bruised cheek.
"Thanks a lot, mom…" she said to herself. In an attempt to cover it up, she reached for the foundation makeup that her mother kept in one of the cabinets behind the vanity mirror above the sink, applying a small amount to the visible spots of the bruise and blending the makeup well.
"I can always make up a lie..." she told herself before walking out of the bathroom, adjusting the neckerchief around the collar of her uniform.
When she entered the kitchen, she looked at the monotonous conglomerate that was her family now, allowing the level of callousness in her heart to rise. Even looking at her own baby sister struck anger inside her.
"Morning..." Saijoe said to her as he was cleaning Faith's mouth of saliva mixed with eggs.
There was no response as Chianti walked over to grab her backpack from the corner of the dining room, bringing it to the table to stuff the textbooks and notebooks that she had left there the previous evening. She didn't even look at him.
"Chi-chi, Saijoe said good morning to you." Faith had managed to get out as Saijoe juggled wiping her mouth and fixing his own uniform.
"No, he didn't," Chianti said back to Faith. "He said 'morning'. Not 'good morning', there's a difference." She continued, not looking at Faith the same way she neglected looking at her brother. She noticed that a few of her words had come out a bit slurred, mostly due to the punch from her mother.
"He said something to you either way," Mrs. Amaterasu said as she brought a plate of breakfast out of the kitchen for Chianti, setting it down in front of her and wiping her hands on the bar towel that she carried around in the kitchen. "Say something back."
Chianti stared at her mother for a moment, partly in disbelief that she said two words to her after what happened the night before. Nevertheless, she looked at Saijoe. "Morning." she vocalized insincerely. Saijoe rolled his eyes slightly and glanced down at his watch, standing up to grab his bag for class and a piece of toast off of his own plate.
"I gotta head out, or else I'll be late.." he said to no one in particular as he made his way towards the door after kissing his mother on the cheek. Before walking out of the front door, he turned around to look at both Chianti and Kikuyu. "Please don't kill each other while I'm gone.." he pleaded before walking out, closing the door behind him.
Kikuyu watched her eldest leave and stood still for a moment, resolving to return to the kitchen to break down the wares and cover her food. "Do you have to stay behind today for practice?" She asked Chianti through the doorway of the kitchen.
"Yes, about an hour or so," Chianti responded, through bites and chews of her breakfast. The practice that her mother mentioned pertained to piano lessons. Chianti had been taking them since she was about 7 years old or so. She had become so adept in it that she started participating in competitions for it when she was 10. "Just like usual." she continued as she finished her food and wiped her mouth.
"Will you need a ride home?" her mother asked her as she walked out from the kitchen, wiped Faith's mouth once again and picked her up from her high chair. As soon as it came time for Chianti to leave for school, Mrs. Amaterasu would be taking Faith to daycare and going to work herself. She typically got off right when school would end for Saijoe and would grab all of her children in one fell swoop.
"No, I should be okay walking home. It's not supposed to rain today." Chianti said as she grabbed her umbrella anyways, along with her school bag and left for school just like her older brother. She was usually wrong about the weather.
The day went on, clouds gathering in the sky from what seemed to be out of nowhere as school let out for students in all the districts in the city. As per usual, Mrs. Amaterasu made her rounds to pick up her children as she was let off work. Usually, they would all gather to meet Mr. Amaterasu at work then go out to eat to talk about how their days went. However, given the events of the night prior, things didn't go exactly that way. Of course, Chianti went to piano practice and would be gone for some hours. Saijoe had made plans to hang with a few buddies after school, to help keep his mind off things and finally indulge in the social life that his parents wanted him to have so badly. Mrs. Amaterasu took Faith to the nearby park where Faith got to run around and play with the other kids her age. Kikuyu watched her daughter closely but still found a way to relax, finding comfort in the company of other moms that had brought their children to the park to play.
Mr. Amaterasu didn't have many fortunate events going for him. In fact, he'd consider this particular day one of the worst he'd ever lived through. As Vice-Chairman of The Red Rose Electronics Corporation, Mr. Amaterasu was relieved of his position due to his terrible gambling habits. Apparently, his losses spilled over into his work, leading him to embezzle money from the company to pay for his entry into some of his games. Needless to say that the embezzlement investigation came back with all fingers pointing to Shun. So along with his letter of termination, he was also slapped with a subpoena. Now unemployed & penniless, Mr. Amaterasu resorted to the one thing he knew how to do better than anything in the world, gamble. He found himself at the horse track near his former work-site, spending whatever was left of his cash and on his credit cards in an attempt to win something, anything. Through nothing short of a miracle, he managed to win just enough to get him through the next couple of days. But, anyone that knew Shun Amaterasu would win the wager of Shun not being able to go a whole day without gambling and losing all his earnings.
As she shared a laugh with a few other moms on the park bench, Kikuyu's cell phone rang. When she went to check it, it was nobody other than Shun. She sighed and stepped away from the bench to answer his call.
"What do you want?" She asked her husband bluntly as she crossed her arms, her dominant hand being raised up to her ear.
"I just want to apologize...genuinely baby, I'm sorry for everything that I've put you through... Everything I've put the kids through.. I'm looking into getting some counseling for my gambling addiction. I'm just an idiot for not realizing how bad it actually was. Is... until now... They fired me from work and I'm trying to stay above water. Please, let me come home to see you and the kids." Shun managed to squeeze out over the phone to his wife, without skipping a beat.
How could she resist that? The man she's married to, hearing him 'sincerely' apologize and tell her that he's looking for help. She teared up a bit as his words struck her ear and eventually her heart. "Do you really mean it. That you're gonna get help?" She asked him, wiping away the few faint tears as she double checked her line of sight for Faith, who was playing in the large sandbox usually reserved for the smaller children.
"Yes baby, I do... My phone is about to die so I will try to call you later when I get back to the hotel okay? I love you.." Shun said to her, these words more genuine than the last group that left his snake-like mouth.
"I love you too..please be safe." Kikuyu let out before hanging up and wiping away the last of her tears. She walked over to get Faith from the sandbox, telling her that they were going to get ice cream, much to the infant's tremendous joy and of children's envy.
At her piano lessons, Chianti was known as the best player in the entire district, making it all the way to the national levels in recent years. She's won her fair share of tournaments, leading others to regard her as a force to be reckoned with. Whispers and scattered remarks were made about her as she played her own rendition of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. In her version, she played the same notes as the sheet music but was skilled enough to fix the broken patterns later on in the music and not have it sound out of place. When she finished, her peers and instructors all applauded her work as she stood up and removed herself from the seat of the piano. She bowed humbly before walking over to her belongings to pull out her cellphone from the pocket on her jacket. She had a few new text messages from her mom, brother and even her father. As much as she was still bothered by what happened the night before, she was even more upset and spiteful of her dad's actions overall. However, she decided to read the message from her mom first. It was from earlier that morning before she arrived at school but didn't notice as she kept her cell phone on vibrate in her bag before and during school hours.
"We need to have a serious sit down when you get home from practice. I'm not asking, I'm telling you." The message read.
Her face sneered at the message for a moment, making her scoff and roll her eyes as she pondered whether she should respond to it or not.
"Hey, have you heard about the 'hell correspondence' website?" A voice among the scattered talks and side conversations said loud enough to catch Chianti's ear, causing her to look up from her phone's screen long enough to focus. "The one whose popularity is spreading like a wildfire? They say that if you type someone's name in a request tab on the website, it'll send that person straight to hell."
"Pfft, that's just an urban myth!" Another voice responded in disbelief. "My older sister tried to find it a few days ago and all that pops up is an error message. The whole 'page is not found' crud.."
"There are certain conditions you have to meet first!" The first voice said in a defensive tone. The student it came from turned about to face the other in a small debate. "You have to wait until midnight exactly, or it won't work at all!"
Chianti listened closely to the two students bickering, as this was the first time she had heard of this 'Hell Correspondence' website. She looked back down at the text message from her mother, staring blankly at it for a few more moments. She hit the back button on her phone and checked the message from her father.
'My sweet angel, daddy loves you and will be home soon. Stay sharp or the keys will end up cutting you down to size' It read. Something they'd come up with as a running gag from when Chianti first started playing. She used to be afraid of pianos because they were always bigger than her, especially the keys which made her space her fingers out too much as she played. So, to give her a little motivation, Mr. Amaterasu taught her to treat the keys of the piano like they were all Goliath from the Bible and she was David.
"Midnight, huh?" Chianti thought to herself before putting her phone away for the rest of the lesson. Outside, just like clockwork, it started to rain heavily.
Later in the evening, The Amaterasu family gathered around the table for dinner. Well, everyone except for Mr. Amaterasu, who was still expelled from the house. Throughout the day, he and Kikuyu kept in touch with each other through text messages filled with sweet nothings and the likes of that. Kikuyu served all her children their plates of food, led the table in prayer to bless their food, and sat down to eat. After a few bites, she looked up at Chianti, swallowing the food she was chewing and wiped her mouth before she spoke.
"How were your lessons today?" She asked a bit dryly, cutting up some of Faith's food to help feed her.
"They were fine," Chianti responded tersely, avoiding meeting her mother's gaze as she placed more food in her mouth. "We chose the students that would represent our district for competitions next month. I made the cut."
"That's awesome little sis," Saijoe said with a bit of food in his mouth, something that bothered both Kikuyu and Chianti. "Proud of you. Have you chosen what you're going to be playing yet?"
Chianti shook her head as she continued to look down into her plate. Her mind was elsewhere, pondering the authenticity of that phenomenon her classmates mentioned earlier. A website designed to send someone straight to hell, it had to be fake. Considering that it was banter about something over the internet, the probability of it being plausible felt low to Chianti.
"Your father and I spoke today…" Kikuyu said to all her children, making Saijoe and Chianti pick their heads up and look their mother in the eyes. "He told me that he was going to seek help for his addiction. And he wanted to let you all know that he loves us, very much." She wiped Faith's mouth and continued to feed her through bites and chews of her own food.
Chianti lowered her fork to the table, closed her eyes and took a long breath. She knew her mother's heart was in the right place, but she also knew that Kikuyu was blinded by her love for Shun. So much so that she'd believe his words over his actions so readily.
"I don't believe that". Chianti muttered dully, looking back up at her mother, doubt evident in her stare.
"That he's not going to get help?" Saijoe asked Chianti before taking a sip from his glass of water.
"That he loves us…" Chianti responded. "Was this the sit down you wanted to have? So that you could try to convince us that we shouldn't give up on dad?" Chianti asked her mother.
"No. Yes... Not exactly, but it's something along those lines." Mrs. Amaterasu said in a guilty tone of voice. "Your father DOES love you Chianti, you need to believe that."
"Right, he loves me. He loves us. That's why he gambled away Saijoe's college fund? That's why you're always struggling to pay bills until I win competitions?" Chianti asked, her arms crossing over her chest.
"Do not start…" Saijoe said to his little sister, glaring at her. "Same goes for you, mom. I know things are… less than stellar with everything going on. But, I want to just sit down and have dinner with my family without at least two people screaming at each other for once this week. Is that too much to ask for?" He looked at his mom and Chianti, the unhappiness noticeable in his voice.
The small tension that was beginning to build was cut short successfully this time as both Chianti and Kikuyu remained silent for a time after Saijoe made his point. Kikuyu kept feeding Faith until the food from both of their plates were gone. Chianti allowed her food to sit and grow cold, claiming that she had lost her appetite. She chugged the rest of the water in her glass, picking up her plate and taking it to the kitchen.
"You didn't ask to be excused from the table". Kikuyu said to her as she got up and left, watching her every move.
"Didn't want to..." Chianti responded, scraping the food from her plate into the trash. After placing the plate in the sink, she retreated to her room, closing the door behind her. Leaving her family in the dining room, Chianti took homework out from her school bag and began doing it, as she had no intentions of being a slacker. Though fairly spoiled, she was never the type to shirk her duties when it came to academics or extra-curricular activities. However, her Achilles heel was her speed, in that her homework took hours to do. Her family had been well off into their slumber right around the time that Chianti finished her homework.
"Ten minutes until midnight, a new record..." she had muttered to herself, wiping the sweat from her eyebrows before putting her books and papers away. She glanced at the electronic clock on her desk and deliberated a choice. To indulge herself in the rumors that she heard earlier or go to bed and put it out of her head. "I guess just taking a look won't hurt anyone..."
It took a few minutes to fully boot up her PC, but she signed on with ease and opened the internet browser. She found the web address bar, typed in what she believed to be the proper website domain and awaited some search results yet, nothing yielded success. "Ha... Too good to be true." She mumbled as she saw the 'Page not found' screen pop up. Her eyes fell over to her digital clock and her eyes widened a bit with hope. "It's only 11:59... they did say you had to wait until midnight." She thought to herself, just as the clock changed the time to read Twelve o'clock midnight.
Chianti feverishly turned her head back to face her screen, scrolling the mouse over to the refresh button on the web browser and clicking it. The screen then turned black, momentarily flashing the image of a candle being self-lit before disappearing and being replaced with a skinny white box with a caption over it.
"We will take revenge on your behalf..." She read the caption softly to herself. Her eyes darted all over the blank screen before her head turned to look around her darkened room before focusing back on the screen. She moved the mouse up the box and clicked on it before resting the bottoms of her palms at the base of her keyboard. Maybe it was all just a hoax as the other classmate suggested. Just one big joke on anyone dumb enough not to realize that there was no connection to any form of the spirit world to the human world. But, even in her state of suspended belief, she couldn't help but wonder what if it was real. Hypothetically speaking, who would she really want to send to hell?
"S-H-U-N A-M-A-T-E-R-A-S-U" She typed in the box, chuckling slightly to herself after she hit the enter key and the screen disappeared. "It was just a myth after all..." She thought to herself as she looked over at the clock again, it read Twelve O'Three. She shook her head, closing out of the tabs and windows open on her desktop before shutting the computer down altogether. Once the light from the monitor disappeared and made her room that much darker, she took notice of a red light shining dimly from the opposite corner of her room. The light emitted from her school bag, directly from the pouch that housed her cellphone. She walked over to it, curiously, reaching into the pouch to grab her phone and unlock it. The red light disappeared for a brief moment before reappearing in the form of a text message that she received from a blocked number.
"Your request has been received..." The message read.
Chianti gasped a bit, convincing her definitively of the authenticity of the website. "Wh-what kind of joke is this...?" She asked herself softly. Before she could take another breath or think another thought, she looked up and her room had disappeared only to be replaced by a desolate hilltop at sunset. There was a large mansion behind her as she stood looking out over the hill next to a giant Banzai Tree. Her eyes widened in awe as she moved some hair out of her face and rubbed her eyes. "W-where is my room? And, what is this place?" She thought to herself as she took in her new surroundings. As her gaze fell upon the Banzai Tree, there was a young lady standing underneath it who didn't appear to be that much older than Chianti. Her hair was as black as night, her skin as pale as the surface of the moon, clad in the uniform of a high school girl, some equivalents from which her brother would attend classes with. Her eyes, though seemingly welcoming, were as crimson in their glow as fresh blood when it was spilled. The young lady's eyes met Chianti's instantaneously, petrifying the young girl.
"W-who... Who are you?" Chianti asked, cautiously.
"You've summoned me." The girl responded stalely.
"Summoned?" Chianti questioned, the current situation incomprehensible to her. "I don't know who or what you are! How could I have summoned you?"
"My name is Ai Enma." The girl said, introducing herself. She gave a small nod in Chianti's direction, though not to her.
"That's our Mistress for you," a voice coming from behind Chianti spoke. It had the texture and roughness of an old man's voice, which caused Chianti to turn around slightly and see three people standing behind her. The first person, whose voice Chianti just heard, was an older man who wore a homely kimono, red neck scarf, and a gray fedora hat. The second person was a lovely young woman that dressed like a veteran geisha. The sequin fan that she displayed, in her left hand, stayed fluttering in said hand to keep away the heat making her sweat, thus damaging her make up. The third and final body standing behind the frightened teenager was a young man that looked an awful lot like one of Saijoe's old friends, Dawning a pair of black sneakers, green sweatpants, and a white & green hooded jacket, he was, aesthetically, the youngest one of the trio. "Was never one for welcoming introductions."
Chianti turned around fully and saw the three people standing there casually, startling the poor girl which sent her falling down to her behind and made her crawl away a few feet before standing back up with her knees buckling under her. "Please, I don't know what you all want from me… but just don't hurt me, I beg of you!" Chianti pleaded, frantically as tears fueled by fear welled up in her eyes. She turned around to face their leader, Ai Enma, who had moved swiftly to be a mere foot away from Chianti during all of her hysteria. Ai held out a black straw doll, with a red ribbon tied around its neck, in her hand. She extended said hand out to Chianti, who in turn stared blankly at the doll before looking back up into Ai's gaze. "What's this?" Chianti asked.
"If you truly wish revenge, just untie the scarlet thread from its neck. Pulling the thread binds you into a covenant with me. I will ferry the soul of your tormentor straight into the depths of hell…" Ai explained to Chianti.
"Straight to hell… So you are real… Okay, let's do it then." Chianti responded as she gently took hold of the doll and pinched one end of the ribbon around the doll's neck.
"However," Ai started again, stopping Chianti and making her hesitate. "Once vengeance has been served, you will have to deliver on your end of the bargain."
"My end? What do you mean?" Chianti asked, taking her fingers away from the ribbon and lowering the doll to her side.
"There always has to be a price. When you die, your soul will also belong to hell." Ai continued her explanation, keeping eye contact with Chianti the entire time, even as her face grew in awe and comprehension. "You will never know the joys of Heaven; you will be left to wander through a world made of pain and agony for all of eternity."
"W-wait a minute!" Chianti began to say, reaching out towards Ai to grab her hand. However, Ai's body had become engulfed in flames, transferring said fire to Chianti's body. She screamed hysterically, believing that she was now being burned alive by the person who offered her the chance to kill her father, only to realize moments later that she had returned to her room unscathed. She checked her body and clothes for burn marks yet found nothing, placing her hands on top of her head to take a deep relieving breath. She noticed that, in her right hand, laid the black straw doll that Ai had given her in the other world. "It was real..." Chianti whispered to herself. She placed the straw doll in her school bag, crawled into her bed and drifted off to sleep.
The next morning had begun like the previous, Saijoe getting ready for school and feeding Faith while Mrs. Amaterasu cooked and cleaned. Chianti took her time getting ready for her day, dressing slowly and distractedly as she continued to think about the power she now had. She could take swift vengeance against her father for the rut that he left their family in because of his problems. But then again, that was also her father, even deep down she knew she cared about the man and loved him dearly. This conflict was especially difficult for her, so she decided to wait until there was no other option left. She left her room, fully dressed in her school uniform and joined her family at the table. It was quiet, minus the noises that Faith made as she ate.
"I'm sorry about last night..." Chianti said to nobody in particular before she started digging into the plate that was set at her place at the table. Astounded at the apology from her, both Saijoe and Kikuyu stared at each other in awe as they smiled slightly at one another.
"I'm sorry too…" Mrs. Amaterasu said in response to her daughter. "It's wrong of me to misplace my transgressions with your father onto any of you. It's not fair."
"Don't worry about it mom, lets all just try to have a good day today," Saijoe said, remaining the neutral party. "Have you heard from dad since yesterday?"
"No, not yet," Kikuyu responded, sort of playing with the food on her plate. "But, I'm hopeful."
Time passed as the Amaterasu family ate and got ready for their days respectively. Both Saijoe & Chianti left for school together, leaving their mother to take Faith to daycare before heading to work herself. At school, during their lunch periods, both Saijoe and Chianti checked their phones for new messages. Both children received the same message from their Father, which was surprising, to say the least.
'Come to the Crown Royal Plaza in downtown Kyoto today after school.' the message read.
The pair of siblings traveled together, the hour-long train trip only made shorter by the banter of a brother and his younger sister. Chianti never really noticed, but she missed genuinely hanging out with her older brother. They used to spend so much time together before their father's gambling addiction drove a wedge in their bond. She smiled the entire ride, forgetting that they were going to meet their father and simply enjoyed being in the company of her older brother. Once they arrived, they stepped off their train and walked down the platform to reach the streets of Kyoto. It took them awhile, but they found the plaza their father mentioned in the message, spotting him by a large water fountain dressed in a dirty sweatsuit. He was happy to see his oldest children, regardless if it was reciprocated or not.
"And here I thought neither of you would come. Thank you both." Mr. Amaterasu said to his children, removing himself from the ledge of the fountain to step over and hug them both. It wasn't well received, as either child barely hugged back. Mr. Amaterasu stepped away and cleared his throat, looking down at the ground before back up to them. "So you're both probably wondering why I've called you here… I wanted you both to be present for my first therapy session." He revealed. "There's an office building just a block over and I specifically stated that I wouldn't go through with it unless my children were here."
Much to the surprise of both Chianti and Saijoe, they smiled affectionately and nodded in agreement to join their father for treatment. Mr. Amaterasu led both of them to an office building that was nearby, going inside with them and hopping on the elevator. They rode the carriage up eleven floors before getting off and walking down a long corridor with only one exit. They made their way over to it, walking through and into a very large office. In the office sat a rather portly man, surrounded by what looked like paid armed-thugs. The man smiled at the trio entering and nodded to one of the thugs who was standing by the door to close it and lock it behind the trio.
"Mr. Shun Amaterasu… I must say, for as much debt that you're in, you never shy away from keeping your promises. These are your children, I assume?" The man asked, examining both Saijoe and Chianti respectively.
"Yes… My eldest children, just as we agreed." Mr. Amaterasu responded, pushing both of his children forward into the clutches of the thugs. The men quickly subdued Chianti and Saijoe, binding them by their hands and feet and held them up by their shoulders as they struggled to get away. Their school bags were tossed a few feet away, to discourage them from trying to escape.
"Dad! What the hell is this?!" Saijoe exclaimed before being punched in the gut by one of the thugs, folding over in pain. Chianti drew tears as she saw her brother hurt, looking to her father. "Daddy! I thought you said this was supposed to be a therapy session!"
"That's the lie he told you?" The portly man asked before snorting. He stood up and walked around the desk to address the children face to face. "Kids, your dad is a bad man with worse habits. Hell, he could convince a drowning man that he was thirsty if he wanted to. But, your dad owes me some money… Coincidentally, he seems to think that your lives are worth the same amount as his debt, one billion yen."
Chianti and Saijoe's eyes widened upon hearing the amount, staring their father down who had been looking away from them the whole time.
"So, your dear old dad decided that he wanted to strike a deal with me. He'd play to get out of debt, using his kids as his wager… I gotta admit, gambling is much more fun when lives are on the line." The man said as he turned to walk away, turning back slightly as he thought of more to say. "Not mine, of course. But yours, now, that would be just fine."
"You're a horrible man!" Chianti screamed through fearful tears. The man sneered at her, drawing his hand back a delivering a sharp slap on her face, the same side that her mother hit the other night. She shrieked out as he made contact with her face, the tears now ran profusely as the pain reminded her of the night her father left. The man shook his hand out as the slap stung his palm a little, perversely staring at Chianti. "Say Amaterasu, you never mentioned that your daughter had quite the body… Looks like she's filling out in all the right places…" He said, sliding his hand down her face and neck. His palm sidled up to Chianti's chest, groping her inappropriately as both Saijoe and Shun watched in pain and silence respectively. Chianti looked away in terror, struggling to move away but was held in place by the thug and the man's hand on her body.
Once he felt that he'd humiliated her long enough, he slithered back to his desk, opening the top drawer to pull out a pair of dice. He tossed them to Shun, smirking at the man. "Best two out of three games, Shun. You win and you and the kiddies leave relatively unscathed. You lose, and well… you know what we agreed upon…"
Mr. Amaterasu nodded softly, his emotional awareness of the situation void of any honor or dignity. He shook the dice in his hand, ready to roll them on the desk. As they watched everything play out, Chianti took notice that her right hand wasn't tied up properly and that she was able to slip it out of the bindings. She managed to do the same with her left hand but remained still enough to not draw attention. Mr. Amaterasu rolled the dice swiftly onto the desk's surface. The dice displayed a six and five respectively, giving him eleven and winning him the roll. He smiled and looked at his children gleefully, only to look right away, remembering why he brought them here in the first place. He collected the dice, shook them vigorously and threw them again, this time rolling a six collectively. He bit his bottom lip nervously, as he realized how imperative it was for him to roll another six, or he would lose the roll, giving the point to his debtor. He collected the dice again, shaking the dice and then letting them go. He rolled an eight, losing the roll.
"One and one… The next roll you make better count, Amaterasu…" The man said snidely to Shun, making the afflicted man shiver with nervousness. As all the eyes intently stared at the ongoing game, Chianti slightly wiggled her way to loosen the bindings on her and looked over at her bag on the floor. If she could just get to it, she could grab her doll and put an end to all of this or at least call the police. She watched the game play out, keeping her peripheral vision on Saijoe, making sure that he was okay.
Mr. Amaterasu threw his roll and landed the six that he needed to keep rolling. He smiled and quickly collected the dice, his debtor trying to stop him. He was on the streak that he needed to fix things and wasn't going to let anything stop him from doing just that, especially when it meant getting his children to safety. He blew on the dice for good luck and gave them one final throw, landing the seven that he needed to win. He rejoiced loudly as he smiled at his kids and then at his debtor. "There! I've won! Now let us go in peace." Shun exclaimed, happy that his demons seemed to pay off for once in his life. Chianti breathed a sigh of relief, looking over to Saijoe in glee as he seemed to look back at her. There were going to be free, they would go home and live their lives normally from that day on.
"But Shun… Wouldn't you like to play double or nothing?" The man offered, wiping the smile off of Mr. Amaterasu's face. "I mean, sure, your debt's all free and clear and now you've won your freedom back, along with the safety of your children… but, what about the other bills you have to pay? What does our little game mean to your bill collectors if you don't have the money to pay them, hmm?" The man continued, standing up with a fresh pair of dice in his hands. "New set, clean slate, winner takes two billion yen… Whaddya say?" he asked.
"Dad, don't do it!" Saijoe yelled. "Let's just leave while we still can, we can figure out everything when we get home!"
"Daddy please, we're scared and we just want to get out of here!" Chianti said to her father, who didn't seem to be paying much attention to the words of his children. His hand rose to exchange dice with his debtor and hold them in his hand. He turned to look at his children, his face carrying a desperate look on his face. "… Just one more roll and then I promise that we're leaving."
"DAD!" Both Saijoe and Chianti yelled, but it was too late as Shun already begun shaking the new dice in his hand. The debtor, smile still wide on his face, watched the family quarrel as his victim threw the dice for the final roll, the one that would make or break the rest of their lives.
"Snake eyes…" Shun muttered as he watched the dice fall to the desk. His heart sank and so did the joy that came from his small winning streak. He looked up at his debtor, who stared back at him before grabbing his collar.
"You lose Amaterasu… Time to pay up…" The man said, looking over at the thug who held Saijoe. The thug stood the boy up on his feet, keeping his already tied hands behind his back. Another goon placed a black bag over Saijoe's head and brandished a pistol, cocking it, and placing the barrel of it next to the young man's head. Chianti's eyes widened in fear as she looked over at her father in disgust. "What exactly did you wager daddy?!" Chianti shrieked as her knees buckled under her.
The debtor smiled maniacally at Chianti as he collected the dice on the desk. "He bet his children's lives, didn't I tell you this already?" He asked her. "If your father won, his debts would be wiped clean and he'd no longer have to deal with my services again. But, if he lost, he'd give me his eldest son and daughter's lives. But, unfortunately, there's enough testosterone around here already. So, your dear brother is not needed." The man said, nodding to the thug with the gun. The thug nodded back and grinned at Saijoe's bagged head. "Say 'goodnight' kid." The thug muttered to him.
"No, wait! Please don't-" Saijoe attempted to get out, his knees buckling under his weight and the pressure mounting on him. But, it was too late for pleas, as the thug pulled back on the trigger, releasing the bullet from his pistol and letting it fly through Saijoe's head. The bag contained the gory mess that would've been the young man's blood and brain matter before his body fell to the floor with a resounding thud. Traumatized, Chianti stood there, petrified at the sight of watching her brother die in front of her eyes. Mr. Amaterasu didn't seem so concerned about the well being of his son or daughter as he desperately clawed at the desk for the dice the man had taken from him.
It became clear to Chianti of what she needed to do. Spontaneously, she drove her right elbow into the groin of the thug that held her captive, making him fall backward in pain. She then ran for her and Saijoe's school bags, swiftly picking them up from the floor and sprinting towards the door. She managed to quickly unlock it and hightail it out of the office, running as fast as she could towards the elevator down the hallway.
She was followed by a thug or two as she ran, but she was light years ahead of them as she reached the elevator, called it, stepped on and closed the doors behind her. She promptly pressed the ground floor button, feeling the carriage buckle under her before sliding down its shaft. Her head reeled with all the new information to process now that she had time to actually think. She couldn't wait any longer, things had become so terrible, it made no sense to wait any longer than she already had. She reached into her school bag, digging around for the straw doll that was given to her by her contractor. She found it and pulled it from the pouch that stored it, staring at it before placing her fingers on the thread that rested on its neck. "He doesn't care about us and never did…" she said to herself before taking a deep breath and pulling the string. The doll then began transforming into black sand in Chianti's hand, scaring her into dropping it to the floor of the elevator, where it disappeared altogether.
"Your grievance shall be avenged…" a voice called out to her from beyond to confirm their contract. Chianti looked around in bewilderment as the doors to the elevator opened slowly and revealed the lobby of the building she walked into with her brother and father. She bolted from the carriage, heading to the front desk to tell the attendant of the actions that took place on the top floor. She promptly phoned the police and took Chianti to the back office to ensure her safety.
Back upstairs in the office suite, Mr. Amaterasu looked up into the diabolical eyes of his debtor. Life was now over for the poor man as he had put himself in double the amount of debt than before. There was no way, in his current position, that he'd ever manage to pay any of it back.
"Th-this isn't fair… I was winning… I won…" Shun muttered to himself.
"Yes... But life has a really funny way of cutting us all down to size when we're riding high on life." The debtor said to Shun as he sat back in his chair. "Now, as for you Mr. Amaterasu... Let's discuss your new payment plan.." The man began, disappearing right before Shun's eyes as the rest of the room began to fade into blackness. It was replaced by the distorted resemblance of a casino, with run down card tables and broken slot machines. Normally casinos would play lively pop music over their PA systems to create a party-like atmosphere, but this nightmarish replica played something so horrendous that it was reminiscent of something one would hear at a funeral. Shun no longer found himself slumped over his debtor's desk, but a craps table. A fresh pair of dice sat in front of him, waiting to be picked up and rolled. Shun's terrified expression turned into a grateful one as he picked up the dice and gave them a swift roll. The dice bounced against the back wall of the table, rolling back to their starting position in front of Shun. He looked down at the result of the roll, grimacing at what stared back at him. The dice read back respectively, 'You lose'.
"What a shame.." a voice said from behind the gambling addict. "Even after losing everything, you still find the motivation to continue gambling away."
"Maybe it's time for a divine intervention to occur.." another voice said, this one more feminine than the first.
Shun spun around quickly to face three specters, in fact, these were the same three entities that visited his daughter. "What do you want?" Shun asked them all, standing up proudly with his chest out. "You come to rub my losing streak in my face too?" he asked them, turning around to give them the cold shoulder. Facing the opposite direction, he met the deathly gaze of Ai Enma. She stood there, silently, staring back at the man before her with such an emotion that could only be described as cold hatred. "And what's your problem?" Shun asked her.
"My word, no such respect or etiquette when talking to a young lady... I can only imagine how you must have felt to lose your one and only son." The young male specter said to Shun as he took a few steps over to him and the table, picking up the dice and tossing them in the air to catch them.
"... A small price to pay.." Shun muttered as he looked down and away from them all, looking up only to snatch the dice midair. "But with my luck, I know I can make reparations for what I've done." He continued as he threw the dice again, only to have the same results repeat from earlier.
"Have you no shame in your actions?" The female specter asked him, grabbing his shoulder and spinning him around to look at her. "You had your son killed because of your addiction, your eldest daughter being sexually assaulted and the rest of your family practically bankrupt. And yet, you stand there unfazed by any of it?"
Shun said nothing to her as he turned around to grab the dice and try to roll again.
"I guess there is no helping this one.." The eldest of all the specters muttered as he looked over at Ai, tipping his hat in her direction. "Mistress, it's all up to you."
Ai reached down and grabbed the dice on the table, lifting them up and crushing them in her grasp. As she continued to stare at Shun Amaterasu, demonic beings reached up from the casino floor, grabbing Shun's limbs tightly. They began to drag him down into the floor, causing him to struggle against their grip and hold onto the craps table, which lowered itself right as he was being dragged down.
"Oh, pitiful shadow lost in the darkness, bringing torment and pain to others.." Ai began to say as she stepped onto the lowering craps table and stared down into the eyes of the dying man. "Oh damned soul, wallowing in your sin.."
"Let me go! Just one more roll! Please, I know I can win!" Shun pleaded with Ai, clawing up at her before the table all the way into the floor.
"Perhaps.. It is time to die." Ai finished, blowing the dust of the dice gently into Shun's face and clouding his vision. When it cleared up, he found himself laying down in a wooden boat. He sat up, looking around and discovered that the boat was floating down a river, ferried by no one other than Ai Enma.
"H-hey! What is this? Where are we going?!" Shun yelled at her, turning around to face a slot machine, lit up beautifully. He clamored over to it, grabbing the lever on the side and yanking it down. Sevens appeared on the screen of the machine, making Shun's face light up with enjoyment. Coins started to rain down out of the jackpot drawer, to which Shun started to grab and toss in the air. "Yes! I did it! I did it!" he exclaimed, blinded by his greed yet again.
"This is vengeance.." Ai responded. "So I am to ferry you straight to hell.." The boat continued to drift down the river, crossing over a gigantic Torii gate.
Back in the realm of natural order, The debtor and thugs stood in disbelief of the sudden disappearance of Shun. The debtor ordered the thugs out into the hallway to find him, just to have them stopped by the police who flooded said hallway to bust the debtor's gambling operation. Escorting them all down into the lobby, they were all met with cameras and reporters trying to get details on the operation and the whereabouts of Shun. Chianti kept watching from behind the concierge's desk as her mother arrived with Faith. They all watched as the criminals were escorted out of the hotel, one by one. Even as paramedics brought down a covered up Saijoe Amaterasu. Tears filled the eyes of both Chianti and Kikuyu as the day seemed to stretch on into forever. With no word on the whereabouts of her father, Chianti looked down at her own feet, holding onto the secret of what really took place.
A month later, against all odds of doubt and negative press, Chianti took the stage for her competitive piano recital. Since her brother's funeral, she hadn't found much reason to practice playing, only resolving to play her requiem for the loss of her father and brother. She was the last in the competition to take the stage, as was normal practice in most of her tournaments. Most thought that because of how skilled she was, she would play one of history's greatest masterpieces. She decided to travel a different route, playing an original piece that she wrote, titled 'Lux Pain: The Loss of Family'. Her notes and techniques captured the hearts and minds of the audience, even the competitors and she poured out her sorrow for the events that took place for her family. When she was finished, she did not stand and wait for the audience to begin clapping, she instead left the stage immediately.
This left the audience befuddled, but they applauded her bravery and skill nonetheless. The judges took their time deliberating on which student would be moving on to the national competitions. All the students, Chianti included, were called to the stage where they announced the runner-ups and the champion. It was none other than Chianti herself. The audience clapped her, her mother and baby sister crying tears of joy from backstage where the families of the students were allowed to wait. This particular portion of the tournament awarded prize money for the champion, which turned out to be just enough to get Chianti's family out of debt and still have some money left over. She bowed to the crowd, a smile never appearing on her face the entire time.
As she stood there, accepting what the crowd offered her in recognition, she knew that she didn't deserve to be there. To be loved by the thousands of people who knew nothing about her, nor the actions she chose to take. Under her dress, where it covered her chest, burned a black mark into her skin permanently. Even as her skin was exposed, she was the only person there who could see it, the identification symbol of someone destined for hell when they died.
Back in the world where Ai Enma existed, she carved Chianti's name into a candle. The candle was constructed of a special wax that burned slowly to match the life expectancy of the person it was made for. Ai lit the candle and placed it on a mantle that sat thousands more just like it. Some standing taller and burning more brightly than others, while some were burning out just as Chianti's candle was placed.
Ai stared at Chianti's candle as if she were watching the piano prodigy for the rest of her life.
"Your grievance… Shall be avenged."