I originally intended to do everyone's experiences with The Footsteps™, but I'm writing pretty much all of the prompts this year during breaks at the host school I'm at for my January-May internship (so no manga access) and these were the only two characters I could directly remember. Keiichi stop being a POV hog and let the others experience the long slow slide into paranoia, please and thank you.
June 15th, 2022
Keiichi's heart was a solid knot of pain in his chest as he trudged down the dirt road, feeling sticky and dirty with the dried mud and grime crusting the edges of his clothes, the back of his neck damp with sweat. The way Mion had shrunk back when he'd refused yet again to join the club after school today, the soft hurt in Rena's eyes…
Damnit, damnit, damnit!
He angrily kicked a rock, the metal bat he'd chosen to defend himself dragging behind in the dirt. He hated rejecting his friends like this, hated needing to carry this damn weapon in his off-hand, worried that someone was going to attack him. But what else could he do!? The whole village was clearly hiding something from him, and all his friends were in on it. He couldn't shake off that bone-chilling feeling as Rena's slitted pupils had peered into his soul and her cheerful leer had distorted her kind face into a mask, the terror that even now made his hands shake.
If he didn't want to die, he couldn't afford to trust them. He couldn't afford to get "transferred" like Satoshi-kun.
His sneakers ground angrily against the dirt, and Keiichi's shoulders tensed as he heard a scrape of gravel behind him. Was Rena back, even though he had warned her away?
"Now what do you want!?" he snarled as fear pierced his heart, turning around to confront her –and beheld an empty road, with the dirt track unraveling into the distant summer heat-haze.
Despite the sticky, sultry warmth that made cicadas chatter in the air, a chill slid down Keiichi's spine to coil in his stomach. There was definitely no one there, this part of the road was verged with meter-high stone walls to keep the field around him level.
"Was I…imagining things?" he asked himself, shaking off the unease. I felt like someone was there. But I guess I'm just being paranoid…?
He kept a sharper eye out, nonetheless, as he continued trudging home. Every nerve was on alert, ever sense pushed to its keenest edge, and Keiichi relaxed a little as he pushed open the door to his house, confident that his vigilance had been rewarded. No one had followed him home, so he and his parents could…
"Mom and dad are out?" Keiichi blinked, looking at the empty shoes rack as the door swung shut at his back. He shrugged to himself, moving to toe off his sneakers, and froze as there was the distinctive, unmistakable sound of a footstep behind him.
Footsteps again…something is definitely here.
Keiichi grip tightened slightly on the bar he still held in his left hand.
Th-that's ridiculous. I was so careful not to be followed. No one should have been able to get near me.
His eyes fell nervously to the polished linoleum beneath his feet, the step up into the regular hallway out of the landing well he was in. There was an overhead behind him, right above the door, and it flicked on automatically for about five minutes when the door was opened. It was dim, but it still threw his shadow onto that step and the floor in front of him, a vague outline of head and shoulders and body.
There aren't any shadows here but mine. There's no way anyone's here. Keiichi thought, trying to reason this out.
He swallowed.
…there's no way anyone's here…so why do I feel like someone's watching me? Just "what" is behind me? If I turn around now, I might find out.
Sweat poured down his face as Keiichi tried to stiffen his legs and straighten his spine against the fear that was looming like another presence entirely over his shoulder.
But if no one's behind me…will I be able to accept that?
"Wh-who's there…?" Keiichi whispered, his heart hammering like a sickness in his throat.
There was a soft breath behind his shoulder as Keiichi's body turned to ice.
The sound of inhaling…! He thought as the shaking overtook him. Something is there. Something inexplicable is after me!
A desperate cry tore itself from his throat as Keiichi whirled, lashing out blindly with his bat. The impact of it hitting something jarred from the bones of his hands all the way up to his shoulders, and before Keiichi could really even process that he'd just hit the shelf for the family's shoes he was swinging the bat again, hitting blindly twice more, like the panic-stricken smacking of spiders that he couldn't see. It was a more apt comparison than he realized, since when Keiichi finally got himself under control again, breathing heavily, there was nothing there at all, nothing but dents in the wall and a smashed shoe rack on the ground.
There's…nothing here.
The front door was as solidly closed as it had ever been, and Keiichi made sure that nothing would come through as he hastily stepped forward and locked it –double-locked it, clicking the door lock shut and adding the chain as well. He dropped his bat and turned, fleeing blindly up the stairs until he reached his room, where he dropped his satchel and turned his back to the sliding door.
What was that just now? Keiichi thought, wiping his chin clear of sweat. There was no one near me. But I'm sure there was something behind me. I heard footsteps and breathing.
They're not here, but they are here…that's impossible!
"Ngh! Uwaaah!" Shion cried, sinking down to the base of the telephone pole. "Satoshi-kuuuun!"
'I'm sorry, Shion.'
The voice was frailer than a whisper, but it was there as Shion brought her head up, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Why are you apologizing, Satoshi-kun…? She thought, and her face crumpled up as she buried it in her knees. I'm the one who should apologize…I said I would wait for you forever. I believed that my feelings would never be shaken…but before I knew it…I had left myself wide open.
The Satoshi-kun inside me…is gradually slipping through the cracks all over my body. Seeping through…and leaking out. You keep disappearing from inside me…
Satoshi-kun's face was grave.
'Are you suffering…because I'm with you…?'
Wh-why would I!? You're precious to me, Satoshi-kun! Don't say that I'm suffering because of you!
'I was always with you, Shion. But if I stay with you forever…in the end, my existence will hurt you.'
"You're lying!" Shion cried aloud. "It's not true, it's not true, it's not true! Then where are you?! You're not with me at all!"
'Which would you prefer, Shion?' he asked. 'If my being with you will cheer you up even a little, then I'll stay by your side forever. But if my being with you makes you suffer, even a little…then I'll go away somewhere, without a second thought.'
"Don't talk like that…" Shion sobbed, rubbing at her overflowing eyes. "I want you with me…I want you with me…I want you to be with me forever, Satoshi-kun!"
'Okay…' he murmured, but then his fragile voice started to grow even more dim. 'I'll stay with you…Shion…always…'
"Satoshi-kun!" she cried desperately, lunging forward, only to narrowly miss clipping her arm on a white van as it barreled pass, giving an angry honk towards the girl on the side of the road. Wind rushed past her, before settling into the quiet, ever-present drone of the cicadas. Shion's shoulders slumped.
I should hurry back to Okinomiya… She thought, managing to stagger to her feet, her eyes red and raw and her knees shaky, her legs feeling like lead. You're with me, right? You're still with me even now, right…? Satoshi-kun?
She took several steps forward, then hesitated, coming to a halt.
Shuff.
Shion jumped, turning around. One extra footstep…!
The grassy road was empty behind her, but Shion's jaw was still tight.
I'm not the only one here. I sense someone…
She clenched her fist against her heart.
There's no doubt about it. Someone's here…
She gulped, then spoke.
"Who…who's there?"
No one said anything, no one spoke, but a fresh, clear wind swept over the grass, blowing bits of detritus part her and filling her heart with a dear, familiar presence as Shion's tension turned to incredulous joy.
Satoshi-kun!? She thought as her eyes lit up, spinning around to watch the bits of grass and leaves cascade down the road. She chased after them, laughing. You're here! You're here with me! I can't see you…but you were always with me, weren't you!? Satoshi-kun…!
After that, my strange shared life with Satoshi-kin began. I'll never get tired of my days with him. I mean, he's so playful. He always matches his footsteps with mine, but if I stop suddenly, he panics and walks one extra step. It's just so adorable. It pulls at my heartstrings~
Shion went to the festival because she knew Satoshi-kun would like seeing her enjoying herself with the others, but she went into the forbidden shrine for her own reasons. If Takano-san was right and it was humans that were behind the curse, then it was Shion's obligation, Shion's duty, to hunt them down like the mad dogs they were. There might be clues in the Saiguden, hints that she could use to unravel the mystery.
A thump in the darkness beyond Takano-san's lantern made her jump, whirling around. Did Takano-san drop her scrapbook or something…?
No, she was still talking with Kei-chan, scrapbook in hand.
Thump-thump!
Shion turned again, about to give Takano-san a sharp warning for trying to mess around with her, but neither of them had so much as changed position. Takano-san's expression was excited but calm, eager to share her ghoulish knowledge with Kei-chan but not at all grinning and giggling in the way she did when she was messing with someone.
It wasn't Takano-san!?
Shion turned back to the shadowy room, trying to listen. Listen…
Thump-thump-thump!
The noise was close to the floorboards, repetitive and steady.
It sounds like stomping…footsteps?
Shion moved a worried pace forward, sudden realization striking her. Is that you, Satoshi-kun!?
What had she been thinking –if Satoshi-kun had been demoned away, then of course he would hate this dark and scary place! Shion had brought him here, to a place filled with the trappings of Oyashiro-sama, and he must be so upset.
Are you angry, Satoshi-kun?!
The stomping continued unabated as a thin chill wound down Shion's throat to curl in her gullet.
Thump-thump-thump!
She swallowed nervously, her mouth parting in a tentative, ginger half-smile.
Hey…you are…Satoshi-kun, right?
Utter silence fell, as sudden as plunging into an icy abyss, and an oppressive dread swooped down to envelop Shion in a choking shroud as blood drained from her face.
You're…not Satoshi-kun?!
"Ah…ah…!" she gasped, staggering back with an ashen face, fleeing to the comparative safety of Takano-san and Kei-chan. She clung onto him, and he turned around with a yelp of surprise.
"What's wrong, Shion?" Kei-chan asked when he recovered, looking at her with an exasperated smile. "Don't tell me you're scared?"
"Ah-ha-ha, isn't it standard in haunted houses for a girl to cling to a boy?" Shion managed to laugh, attempting an approximation of her usual cattiness. "You know you like it."
Thump! Thump!
Shion's fingers dug in to Kei-chan's sleeve as the distant stomping sound resumed again, growing louder by the second.
"Now that I've told you all that, you understand, right?" Takano-san asked, her lips curling in a gleeful smile. "These oddly shaped devices are tools for killing people!"
Shion jolted and gasped as the thumping seemed to grow even louder, banging on the floorboards almost directly behind her.
"Shion, are you okay?" Kei-chan asked, looking at her with an amused grin.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
"Yes, I'm fine." Shion managed over the noise. "Anyways, you look pale, Kei-chan?"
Why? Don't they hear it? she thought, seeing his careless expression, and then squeezed her eyes shut as the thumping continued. Don't let it bother you! If you don't think about it, you won't hear it! That's right! Ignore it! Ignore it…
"So…you're doing research to see if those customs are still around today, right, Takano-san?" Shion asked, leaning in, and Takano giggled as she flipped the page.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
"In Hinamizawa village, formerly known as Onigafuchi village…"
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
"In fact, around the end of the Meiji era, a body was found brutally murdered…"
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!
"Such brutal inhumanity-"
The stomping sounds were so loud now, thudding like a mallet against her ears, and Shion stared in terror at Takano-san as she continued speaking and Kei-chan listened raptly –but to the entirely wrong thing.
Hey, are you sure you can't hear this!? Shion thought frantically as the loud thudding sound wove in between Takano's words, frequently drowning them out. Hey!?
Hey…!
8.53 AM, USA Central Time
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