Chapter 1 / My Normal Days Were Met With a Fateful Encounter
["As the case of the disappearances continue onwards, investigators have been painstakingly searching for further answers to the mystery. As a pretense to this story, five people over the course of three months have been reported missing by friends and family. As it seemingly started out to be a search for a single person, it quickly started to accumulate with similar reports coming in over time."]
["Investigators are wary that this may all be related, but with nothing more than a theory, they haven't found much confirmation on what little evidence they hold. Police are asking in reminder, on behalf of those investigators, that if there is any withheld information that may prove useful, they wish to collect it to quickly progress in discovering the source of these disappearances."]
["As a further update to the investigation—"]
Not again. They're always covering this story.
I turned the television off to another channel. It was tucked up in a corner of the cafe, giving the customers a perfect view of the little distraction. Though, we typically use it more for a radio than watching anything on it. Occasionally, there would be sports playing out, but music videos were a common sight on the screen.
Though, I always liked to tune on the news every so often whenever it was a slow day. A quick slap on the remote under the counter and I let it play out as I do my work. It was unfortunate that it ended up with another one of those new stories. Or rather, I should say it was the continuation of it.
Many people were eager to keep up with what was happening within the Tokuwa District, but I wasn't one of them. I found them to be depressing, especially when I hear how much progress they've made. In other words, absolutely none. God, I could already feel the stress and despair that the victims' families are going through, just hearing that again.
The customers must have felt it as well, so I tried to make it a habit to avoid letting people hear news about it in the cafe. It was switched over to a channel filled with twenty-four seven music videos, similar to the ones I listen to while I study. Placing the remote back, I sighed heavily.
"Do you think they're going to ever drop the case?"
Although there was barely anyone in here, there was still a guy who sat right up to the counter. I would say he was giving me some company, but that would be giving him more credit than he deserved.
"Who knows?" I talked back, feigning an ignorant tone. "I would hope not, but they keep hitting too many dead ends from what I hear."
"Seems like I haven't been keeping up as tightly as you are."
"When you work as a waiter in a cafe, you hear things from time to time. It's only natural. It's just a shame that all of that was happening. I wish I could do something about it."
"If you could, the case would already be solved."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."
The customer's slicked-back blonde hair and unnecessary neck accessories made it look like he was a delinquent. Despite having fairly tame clothing, his almost-permanent scowl erased any other pretenses to which a stranger would approach him. I've told him on numerous occasions that if he returned his hair back to black, he wouldn't have much of that problem.
Riku Aizawa was my childhood friend, so I knew him the best. As much as he looked like he would beat someone up in a street fight, which he technically could, his nature was not oriented for that. If people would give him a chance, they would quickly discover he doesn't act the way that he looks.
"After five people vanish like that, you would think the police would have more urgency in not letting it happen again. It's clearly some type of kidnapping, right?"
"We don't know that for sure. Besides, it's not as if the police could ever be a step ahead of the disappearances. There's seemingly no connection between victims, setting aside the fact that they've all disappeared. Not even the locations have been the same."
"Yeah, I've heard that, at the very least. It kinda sucks."
"And it's hard to believe that three whole months have gone by. While you would think more clues surface with every passing victim, nothing else comes up. They're basically still stuck at the starting line when it concerns the disappearances."
"I can only imagine that the police have their headaches. Not to mention that people are starting to get scared that they might be the next one to be reported missing."
"You can't blame them. The victims don't have any related correlations with one another. When there does seem to be a pattern, the next victim breaks the chain."
"I thought you didn't like this mystery. but you know a fair amount of it."
"And I just told you, my knowledge is inevitable because people keep talking about it here. It's not like I can be rude to the customers and tell them to take their business elsewhere."
Giving me a smug look, Riku continued to sip on his milkshake. I feel like he pretends to ignore what I'm saying to fool around with me. Did he forget what he was drinking?
It was one of the specials that he liked to order while hanging out here. It didn't take much for me to make it, so I decided to let him have some in the house whenever he wanted. Riku was damn lucky that my father was the one to run this cafe, otherwise I wouldn't be able to get away with things like that. He was more lucky that I had better tolerance for this.
"Won't that ruin the business here? With less people going out, that means less people would come buy stuff here. It's basic logic!"
"I don't know. I haven't noticed a huge gap in customers lately."
Admittedly, I don't glance at the finances of my father's business. I'm a mere highschool student working part time at the cafe. Most of his work doesn't need to see the light of my day, but if I had to take a guess, there was likely a small dip in sales. My father wouldn't dare tell anyone else though, being likely to pretend that nothing was wrong.
"It's better safe than sorry," I sighed. "Look, I don't want to hear anyone else going missing on the news again. If that means business has to slow down a bit, I'm all for it. I work less, while people stay unmissing. Everyone wins."
"C'mon, man. You're talking like you don't get bored with nothing to do."
"Yeah. I have nothing to do, especially when I got my summer homework all dealt with already."
"What!? Already!?"
"Say, I'm curious. Have you even opened your books yet?"
Riku started to laugh. If I had to place my bets, he was going to leave it to the last possible moments and then ask to copy my work for completion's sake. I've got to mentally prepare myself to refuse his one-sided request this time around.
"So sales haven't been too bad over the months! At least, it hasn't been as bad as your attitude!"
"What part of this supposed attitude was bad? The part that pointed out the inconvenient truth?"
"Hehe!"
Don't laugh it off…
As I playfully bantered with Riku, I noticed one of the other customers was getting up from a booth. Their dishes were left empty, thus they were leaving with a filled stomach. They've already paid for their food, so they were free to depart whenever they want. Nevertheless, they took some time to come over to me and being the person that I am, I had to shift myself over a professional attitude.
"Kurogane!" they called out to me. "The food was great as usual! Your father is a wonderful chef! I still can't believe this cafe has food better than any high-class restaurant I've been to!"
"I'm glad to hear it. My father and his kitchen staff puts one hundred and ten percent into every meal. That goes to say that I have to give it my all out here too."
"You don't think he would be willing to pass me the recipe, right?"
"Sorry, I'll have to politely turn you on that front. My father says it's business secrets and all, but I'm sure it's nothing special. Besides, you wouldn't be a returning regular customer if you knew how to make the food and drinks here."
"Ah, that wouldn't be true! It's awfully relaxing to just come in, order and have a quick dine in. On the days I can't stay, your take out options are so convenient!"
"Then I'll look forward to your next patronage."
"I'll even make sure to bring some of my friends. Oh, mind if I take one of the take out menus to show them? I think that would convince them even more."
"You're one step ahead of me. Please help yourself." I gestured to the rack holding our stack of paper menus as the customer grabbed a few. "Hope to see you again soon."
A quick bow ended the conversation, leaving the customer to depart with a casual wave. It was always important for me to keep a smile during my interactions with them, branding this business as a friendly atmosphere. My father wanted this space to feel like a home, rather than a service, and that's the ideology that kept this cafe running in the front for years.
However, I could see my friend smirking while sipping down on his milkshake. He wasn't even trying to hide his amusement, having a slight twitch at the corners of his mouth.
"If this particular customer has any complaints, I would love to hear it out," I sarcastically announced. "What might the issue today be? We shall address it immediately!"
"Oh, I'm just thinking about how you're able to snap from personality to personality like that. Being dry with friends, but immediately being warm to the customers. It almost takes some good skill to flip back and forth like that."
"Oh, shut up," I growled. "It's just part of the job. My dad wouldn't appreciate it if I acted to the customers like how I do with a childhood friend."
"Hey, wait. I'm a customer too, right?"
"Last time I checked, you weren't paying for shit."
Riku smirked, chuckling at the joke that he wanted me to follow up on. He leaned a bit forwards, distracting himself in thoughts. I started wondering what he was thinking about, but I probably wouldn't like it if I overheard.
"You know? I wonder how you would act if you had a girlfriend."
"Not this again."
My response was as instantly done as my will to keep up with this topic.
"Oh, come on! Don't be like that, Kurogane! Surely, you've fantasized about having a girlfriend of your own dreams at some point! You're a healthy highschool student, right!?"
"Sorry to disappoint."
Was love something I already had to be thinking about at my age? I hadn't even gotten through high school and from what I've seen of it, it felt like a distraction that needed much investment. I still had more important things to address in my life, like keeping up with my grades and learning more about my father's business. I don't think it's a far-off assumption to say that I'm in line to inherit the cafe from him, so once everything settles down, maybe I'll start looking into a love life.
As it stands, it was as I said to Riku. Honestly, I never actually met someone that I've fallen for and I wasn't intending to. Harboring such feelings seemed a bit bothersome, ironically because of the guy that;s sitting right in front of me. Not only does he constantly bug me about it, but also…
"Look, can you get off my back on that? It's just as annoying as the first time you brought it up."
"You just haven't put in the effort! With your appearance, I'm certain you would be able to find someone without any problems! Just put yourself out there and you'll be surprised!"
"I still have a long life ahead of me. There's no need to rush."
"And let your youthfulness go to waste? They always say that youth is wasted on the youth, so this is the prime chance to put our advantages to work!"
"Shut up already. You're not a fortune teller."
I subtly glanced over to the mirror installed behind me. Riku kept talking about how nice I looked on an objective level, but I had a feeling it was the subjectiveness of his own agenda.
My wardrobe choices weren't always the greatest in following the latest trend. I typically throw on whatever I find in my closet, ranging from monotones colours to black and white. My waiter uniform was probably the classiest thing I own, teetering on the edge of a butler outfit.
The only thing that might make me stand out from the crowd was my own hair. While Riku dyed his entire hair blonde, I might have done some liberties of my own, although not as drastic. I only gave myself white highlights, streaking vertically with my short, black hair. When I was younger, I thought it looked cool, but I can't be bothered to do anything about it now.
Especially when a certain someone decided to copy my style.
"Look, listen. If you ever need to get hooked up with someone, I'm sure Eriko would love to help you out. With her social network, it wouldn't even take more than a day to set up a date! I do hear that people with blue eyes are a craze among girls our age."
"I know what you're trying to do. You just want to go on double dates."
"I mean, guilty as charged, but you're missing the point."
"Can't miss the point if it's the only thing there." I found myself groaning in exasperation. "The relationship will sprout up naturally. I'll find someone one day, but that's a bridge I'll cross for when that happens. Right now, I just want to get through life."
"You sound like you're going through a midlife crisis."
"You sound like someone who wants to be punched."
The chimes of the cafe rang before our conservation could reach its dead end. My prayers were answered, giving me an excuse to break away from my friend and attend to the work I was being paid for. I didn't even pay attention to who it was, automatically playing out my scripted words.
"Welcome to the Yoshida Cafe. Please have a seat and—"
"Ya'ello! Ah, it's Kuro and Ri-Ri! Thought I might find you guys here!"
I promptly turned back to Riku with a tired expression. I even leaned onto the counter, showing my displeasure to him. Something told me I wasn't going to be too fond of what was going to happen.
"Hey, your girlfriend's here. Guess it's time for me to be the third wheel."
"And see what I'm talking about? This is why I don't like it when you aren't in a relationship yourself. You just don't understand how great love is. As a bonus, it even gives me an excuse to hang out with you and my girlfriend, all without making it awkward."
"I'm fairly certain Eriko doesn't care."
"Hey, hey!" Eriko jaunted right up to us, plopping herself down right next to her boyfriend. "What are you two muttering about? I'm right here, you know! Don't make me into the third wheel!"
"Nothing important."
"Then it's fine that I know, right!?"
"It's suddenly super important."
"Aw, don't be like that!"
It wasn't as if I couldn't match her personality's energy, but given the moody weather outside, I suppose I was letting myself be a victim of pathetic fallacy. I tried to turn around from her nosey attitude.
"Where did you even come from, Eri?" Riku asked, getting the bigger question out of the way first. "I thought you were busy with family matters today. It's the only reason I didn't text you that I was coming here."
"Hear me out. Everything was just so boring there that I wanted to be anywhere else except next to my dad. I already did what he asked me to do, so it's not like I left him to fend for himself…" Eriko sighed, slumping over the counter. It was like her ghost was leaving her body, but I had a feeling we needed to be ready for a rant, if it so chose to surface here. "So I slipped out the first chance I got, throwing on whatever random things I could grab, and here I am!"
"Random things, huh?" I wasn't sure if that was supposed to be a flex, considering how her outfit is just as fancy as any other one of her casual wardrobes. "Sure. Whatever you say."
"I was going to solve my problems with a drink, but having Ri-Ri here makes it all the more better! There's nothing better than clinging to him like this!"
She leaned over for a tight hug against Riku's arm. Colour restored back into her face almost immediately and Riku held her to reciprocate without hesitation. They didn't even care about the fact I was watching while they snuggled up, but I'm used to it.
"Want anything to drink before you get too cozy with Ri-Ri?"
"Oh! One mango smoothie, please!"
"The usual request. Yeah, I got it."
If you asked me when Riku and I started middle school, I would have never guessed that my childhood friend would be in a romantic relationship with one of the most popular girls in the school. We somehow got along with each other pretty easily and before I knew it, Riku confessed his love for her and she accepted. It's been three years, coming up to their fourth year anniversary.
She was the classroom angel that everyone adored. People would always talk about her accomplishments in sports and academics, being the top standard of what a great student would be like. Among peers, she was known to be a social butterfly and extremely extroverted. If that hadn't been enough, her beauty was enough to skip the hearts of both guys and gals alike.
Her straight, well-groomed, ebony hair draped down to her hips, being as lustrous as it could have been as if it never experienced a single bad day before. The same could be said for her soft and tender skin, toned in a silky colour that complimented her hair. The structure of her face, from the long eyelashes and curved cheekbones, only made it that much better.
Needless to say, I never really fell for her charming appearance. It was reinforced even more since she became my best friend's girlfriend, but that was enough background information for now.
I finished up her drink in the meanwhile and I slid it down to Eriko for her to catch it in her hands. Alongside Riku, she was another person that was permitted with free drinks on my behalf. Outside of the pair, there wasn't anyone else that had this perk.
"How about an extra apple pie slice on the side?"
"Don't push your luck, Eriko."
It doesn't mean I can start giving shit out for free like it's a buffet. I swear, she always tries to see how far my generosity would go. And keeping a little klutz expression, as if she didn't know any better, isn't going to budge my decision.
"Anyways, what were you guys talking about?"
And here I thought she would drop that topic already, but knowing that she wasn't getting an answer from me, she turned to her boyfriend. Left alone to his own device, he would have certainly exposed it to her, so I merely gave him a little death glare as warning.
"E-Erhm, we were just… talking about those disappearances lately. The ones that have been the talk of the district for a while? You've heard of them, right?"
"Oh, right. Those disappearances? I haven't kept up with much of its news, but some of my friends talked a bit about them. I haven't been paying much attention to them though, but they're coming up with their own baseless theories."
"With the police not getting anywhere with their investigations, I guess there's bound to be some theories flying around." Although it wasn't as common a topic as the general news of the case, I've heard some things here and there. Honestly though, it was all something a child could come up with, holding no concrete to the ground.
"Oh, I think I've seen some of that online. They say that a mysterious figure is the one taking the victims. They show up out of thin air and abduct the folks, leaving no traces behind. No one can decide what the mysterious figure looks like though, from what I remember."
"You know, people could try and make these theories reasonable."
"Don't you think it would be a fun theory, Kuro?"
"I'll believe something like that if I see it for myself."
"Well, my friends talked about that theory for themselves. They actually think this has to do something that one forest that children keep talking about. Some of them even say that they've seen that mysterious figure looming around the forest occasionally."
"Kids say a lot of things. They're just having some fun."
"Wait, that one forest?" Riku tilted his head, trying to figure out what she meant by that.
"Yeah, but the name of it is slipping from my tongue."
"You're talking about the Mihoji Forest, right?"
"It's that one! You know it, Kuro?"
The Mihoji Forest was something like an urban legend for children within the Tokuwa District. It's an unusually dense forest off the side of this residential area and parents would always tell their kids not to run off into it. It's easy to get lost between the trees and bushes, especially considering the large acre or so that it covers.
However, children started to make their own folktales about the mysterious forest as they began to ignore the request of their parents and head in anyways. Some would be on dares, while others do it for the fun of it. The first time I heard about it was when I was also a child and I remember always being interested in it. It wasn't like that nowadays, now that I've grown out of it.
One of the prominent ones had been the disappearing manor. They say that a manor was within the acre of land that the Mihoji Forest occupied, but there was never any real proof of it other than witness accounts from other kids. And even when someone claimed to have seen it, they could never figure out how they got there. It's the reason why the Mihoji Forest was also called "the Manor Forest".
"A bit," I responded. "You moved to the Tokuwa District for middle school onwards, so you probably never really heard much about it in your childhood. If you were a kid here, you would definitely know about it in some regard."
"Ah, that's unlucky," Eriko sighed. "I mean, I came to visit my dad here in Japan when I was a kid from time to time, but I heard nothing about it."
"You're not missing much. It's really nothing special."
"Actually, I think Kurogane was one of the people that saw the mysterious manor."
I was too slow to react to that. In all senses, I should have known that if we were talking about the Mihoji Forest, Riku would definitely bring that of all things up to the conversation. I wanted to forget all about it, but since Eriko heard its untamed allures, she was certainly going to ask about it.
However, her expressions were not as I expected. I thought she would be more frontforward about what Riku said, but instead, she looked at me in perplexity. Was something wrong? I was about to ask that, only for her to dismiss the opportunity.
"You… saw it? Really?"
"Again, it's probably nothing. I probably made up the entire incident as a kid to get more attention to myself. That's how kids can be sometimes."
"Oh, don't say that, Kurogane. You were the one to say that you actually entered the damn thing! Not many people would even have the courage to take a step forward when they claimed to have seen it."
If I could shut Riku up by taping his mouth, I would love to do that.
"You… walked in?"
"Again, I probably made it up. I don't even remember any of that happening when I was a kid."
"Is that right? You really don't remember?"
"I remember he got sick in the few days following his bold claim and when I got the chance to talk to him about it, he kept saying he didn't remember how to get there anymore. I wanted to pull him over to make another attempt, but he kept making excuses to not go."
"Because it was stupid. Leave me alone about that, Riku."
"That's…"
What was her case about this? She seems oddly fascinated by my fantastical entry to these mysterious grounds, despite knowing very little about it. Though, fascination probably wouldn't be my first guess based on her stunned reaction, but it's the only reasonable one. How else could I describe it?
"Just drop it where it stands. It's embarrassing in retrospect."
"Well, uhm…" Eriko stammed slightly from nervousness, truly a rare sight to behold. "If you don't want to talk about it, I guess there's nothing I can do about it. It's still a shame."
"What is?"
"If you really did say it existed at some point…" She rubbed her chin a bit. "Hear me out now! My interest has peaked and I kinda want to see if I can find it for myself. I had something I needed to do beforehand, but now my plans are going to change! Some adaptive scheming might not hurt from time to time!"
"Eriko, I'm telling you this, so you don't waste your time. Don't bother."
"Too late! I've made my mind up!"
"Riku, please convince her otherwise."
"Ri-Ri! Come with me! Show me around this Mihoji Forest!"
"The Mihoji Forest is not a tourist destination!"
I was almost at my wit's end with this girl. For her own sake, I would rather not have her walk off into that forest. Being optimistic, she'll spend time that wasn't worth spending there. Worse case scenario, something does happen and I'll be powerless to do anything except be a third-handed witness testimony.
"Are you sure about that, Eri?"
Why are you doubting this? It's absolutely a bad idea. I was basically begging Riku to be the reasonable one in the relationship, but given how Eriko was more assertive than him, my odds were less than favourable. It doesn't mean I can't be hopeful.
"If you want to head out to the forest, shouldn't we wait on Kurogane?"
"It would be too dark. He'll get off at closing time today, right?"
Oh, now you want to be reasonable!?
"Then I guess there's no other choice."
Yes, there are other choices! Riku, please!
"I'll come along with you, Eri. That way, you'll be kept safe if anything does happen."
"I really appreciate it, Ri-Ri!"
"I don't."
My muttering was overwhelmed by Eriko's exclamation. "As expected as the best boyfriend ever! If Kuro won't help us out, we'll figure it out ourselves. You know about the Mihoji Forest, so we won't be entirely lost or anything!"
I couldn't help myself to facepalm. If I ever admitted to something, Riku and Eriko were probably one of the other reasons why I wasn't so interested in pursuing love yet. It looked so cheesy from the outside and while I know they were blissfully happy together, that didn't change the fact that I had to cringe a bit whenever I'm in the shadows of their infatuation.
"Whatever," I surrendered. "If you lovebirds are heading out to the Mihoji Forest, just go look out for each other. Not the first place I expected for a honeymoon though."
The couple laughed at my joke.
"Well, maybe we should get a headstart on it," Eriko said. "I don't want us to get trapped by the forest when it turns dark."
"How long do you plan to stay there?"
"Until I find the manor," she winked.
"Of course," he sighed heavily. "Riku, look after her in her stead. She clearly won't be careful."
"Obviously. I can't let anything happen to my girlfriend. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I let something happen to her?" he said, smiling so optimistically.
"Whatever." I smirked back at them. "Take care, you two."
Grabbing their drinks to go, I greeted them with a farewell. The chimes rang as they left, leaving the cafe to me, myself, and I. Without another customer in the cafe, I suppose I was free to watch whatever I wanted. Taking the remote, I swept myself over to the customer seat of the counter, changing the channel to some news. The story of the disappearance had long gone by, transitioning to the weather forecast.
["And for today, there's going to be a light shower over the Tokuwa District tonight. If you're planning on heading out in the evening, I'd recommend bringing an umbrella. It won't be raining hard enough to warrant staying indoors, but you wouldn't want to get sick either."]
Those darken clouds certainly supported the forecaster. I wondered if Eriko and Riku were aware that it was going to rain eventually. They should have been able to see the signs, but even if they didn't, they both lived nearby in the area. It was really easy for them to swing by and grab their umbrellas.
Riku lived in the other direction to the Mihoji Forest, so it might be inconvenient. Though, I still don't know where Eriko lives. Riku said that he's been to her mother's house downtown, but apparently her dad had a home somewhere in this residential area. It would make sense, considering how she popped right over after saying she was with her dad.
It's not really my place to figure that out though. His privacy is her business.
However, the vacant space in the cafe made something more prevalent when my eyes briefly scanned around the shop. There was a familiar wallet lying down next to one of the seats. I swung myself off in disbelief, reaching out to pick it up.
It was Riku's wallet. I couldn't believe the guy would somehow drop his wallet here. He didn't even have a reason to pull it out in the first place, but he was going to figure out it's not in his pocket eventually. When he realizes, he's going to turn back immediately.
With another customer coming in, I had to put that little distraction on hold. I tucked it behind the counter without a second thought and greeted the patrons to their seats. I completely forgot about it as I continued my shift.
"Oh shit. His wallet is still here."
I only remembered that Riku should have returned back to the cafe once it was closing time. With the clock striking an hour to midnight, I was in charge of flipping the sign and cleaning up the front space of the cafe. As I was behind the counter, that's when I got the glimpse of his wallet.
"Did that idiot really not come back for his wallet?"
"Meow…"
As I grabbed the wallet, a cat jumped up onto the counter's surface.
His name was Kuko, my cat. My family actually lived on the floors above the cafe area and despite the size, it was surprisingly spacious with two additional levels of this building. With that said, Kuko would come down from the second floor to the cafe to hang out with me for a little while. Some of the customers were really friendly to him and as a cat, he loved the attention and excess head petting.
However, it was never enough. Kuko stuck his head, rubbing it against me as I leaned in next to him. My hand automatically went to play with him, but the expression never really changed from the matter before me. Why didn't Riku come back?
It's still raining out there. The weather forecast understated its call, because I could hear the strong patterings of the droplets hitting the glass windows. Excuse me for being slightly worried for my friend, but I hoped nothing bad happened to them.
"Maybe I should message him."
"Meow."
"Yeah, I know. I probably should have done it beforehand."
I pulled out my phone, placed down the wallet first, and scrolled over to Riku on my contacts list. After shooting him a quick message, summarizing his incompetence in a playful manner, I closed it up to continue my cleaning. I was expecting a hasty reply, but even when I finished the work I had to do, he still didn't send anything back.
He didn't even read it.
"That's… odd…"
It was getting late. Midnight was already approaching. I should have believed that the idiot was just so occupied that he didn't even bat an eye to a missing wallet, but this was starting to worry me. In that case, maybe a call would be more sufficient.
My phone rang a few times after dialing his number, but I was sent immediately to voicemail before it could connect. As unfathomable as it was, my concerns only grew. Alternatively, the only other option was to contact Eriko, so I dialed her number instead.
Maybe it was the pessimist inside of me, but I was really surprised when she picked up.
"Hey, Eriko?"
"Oh, Kuro! Is there anything you need this late at night?"
Her voice sounded off, like there was some static trying to cover it up. I ignored it though, thinking nothing much about it. "Yeah, your boyfriend forgot his wallet at the cafe and he hasn't been responding to my messages. Could you pass the message along to the idiot?"
"I'll certainly do my best. Though, I can't promise it will get to him."
… The hell does she mean by that? An ominous shiver crept on my spine, but for the second time, I ignored the bad warnings that were trying to reach me. If I had to say, her voice seemed to enunciate certain syllables and spoke in a careful tone.
"Anyways, while I'm here, I should ask," my curiosity stepped in. "Did you find the manor at all? Probably not though, since it doesn't even exist in the first place. Like I've been trying to—"
"We found it."
"... Excuse me?" I blinked, sitting on the vacant seat in frozen ice.
"It wasn't that difficult, but…" Her words trailed off, spiking my concern. She certainly was still speaking, but I couldn't hear her clearly anymore. Static started to cover up the words I wanted to hear.
"You can't be serious, right? You're pulling my leg here."
"Oh, I'm totally serious, but…" A whimsical tune was hummed from the other side. "Maybe I should tell you to come on over here. Maybe you'll believe it for yourself."
"Wait, hold on a moment! You two are still at the Mihoji Forest!?"
If Riku was talking about how I entered the manor when I was child, there was no way that Eriko would pass up the opportunity to replicate the experience if she somehow found it. Though, that line of line spreaded out to another concern.
"Wait, where's Riku?"
There was no response from the other end.
"E-Eriko? Hey, Eriko!?"
"Like I said. Maybe you should come over here to see for yourself. As quickly as possible, if I may be willing to add. Don't keep yourself waiting or you might miss it."
"W-What are you talking about!? Hey, Eriko!"
The line hung up. As frantic as I could do it, I dialed her number again out of prue exasperation and tried to make contact, but it was no use. She wasn't picking up her phone again, causing me to swear under my breath. All that was left was the provocation to come to the Mihoji Forest.
Why, though? Why does she want me to come there? What's going on!?
"Meow?"
Kuko noticed my stress and was trying to alleviate it by jumping on my lap. He rubbed his head against my stomach and while that provided some immediate relief, that didn't disturb the rest of it.
"Don't worry about it,Kuko. It's nothing a cat should concern himself with."
"Meow, meow!"
My father already packed up for the night and headed upstairs. My mother and my sister were probably asleep by now. If I were to follow Eriko's instructions, I would be in the position to do it. All I had to do was turn off the lights before I headed out into the night.
Something bad is going on here and if my friends were being involved, I'm not sure if I have the liberty to stay still and wait for the entire mess to heave into the morning.
Scratching the back of Kuko's ear, I sighed.
"You know, you should get some sleep."
"Meow?"
"No, I can't come with you. I got things to finish up. Why don't you go sleep in Shiro's room tonight? I'm sure her door is still open by now. She's got the habit of forgetting to close her doors tightly."
"Meow, meow~"
Kuko jumped off my lap and started treading lightly into the back area. It was where the stairs leading up to the upper floors were. I don't actually know if Kuko understands what I'm saying, but he follows orders pretty well. Kuko's pretty smart for a cat, but that was enough digressing for now.
Heading to the back area myself, I instead walked over to the closet near the back entrance and grabbed some of my stuff. I changed out of my uniform, taking up some casual outdoor wear, alongside a rain jacket for the weather out. With my keys in hand, I took my step out into the night, trying to be as quiet as I could.
The biking distance would be around ten minutes if I pedal hard enough. My bike was tucked inside the nearby shed and it wasn't difficult to pull it out. As I got everything in order, the restless thoughts never ceased to bother me. My heart was wallowing in worries, kicking myself off at a decent speed down the street.
Even with my rain jacket, my clothes were starting to wet. I didn't really have a choice of an umbrella if I was biking over there, but I should have brought one for when I had to travel through the forest on foot. It was impossible to get a bike through that dense greenery.
"Please be safe, please be safe…"
I kept muttering that as I travelled down the next few streets. The path to the Mihoji Forest felt longer than I remembered it, but there was something weird I noticed along the way. Some of the street lights appeared to be broken with a ruined fuse and as I came close, there were more street lights that suffered the same fate.
Before any longer, the streets were covered in darkness as I approached the Mihoji Forest.
Oh, this is ominous or anything!
In for a penny, in for pound or so the proverb goes. I couldn't tell if the water on my face was from the rain or from my sweat, but I probably did the most questionable thing in my life and laid down my bike to start heading in. Using my phone as a flashlight didn't exactly give me any range, but it was better than stumbling through without a light source.
It's been a while since I've stepped inside the Mohoji Forest. I never really thought that I would be coming back anything soon, especially not in this scenario.
The last time I came here was Riku's mention of me. When I heard about the rumors of the manor when I was a kid, I was eager to find it for myself. I even spent some time alone to search for it whenever my friends from childhood weren't available to play. It was one of those few days that I apparently discovered the manor for myself and claimed that I entered it.
My sudden illness after my discovery prevented me from immediately showing it to my friends, but once I was on my feet again, I happened to forget where it was located in the forest. As I grew older, I became more suspicious of myself in actually seeing the manor, so I simply dismissed it.
These paths did seem awfully familiar, but I'm only going into a random direction. An acre of land was a lot of territory to cover and with my limited range, I wouldn't be surprised if I walked right by where my friends were. It would have been so much easier if Riku stood his ground and said something about going here, but what was I supposed to do now?
If they did find the manor, it shouldn't be too hard for me to rediscover it, right?
On that note though, I frowned when my mind started to wander.
Why didn't I ever return here to confirm what I saw? If I knew it existed as a kid, then it would have stood to reason that I would have tried to find it again, right? I'm not saying that kid Kurogane was right in his baseless claims, but if he believed his own sightings, he would have surely returned.
Nevertheless, the day that I apparently saw the manor was the last day I went into the forest.
Ugh, crap…! My head started to hurt for some reason. Images of memories started to flicker back and forth, being too quick for me to even see what it was all about. I winced in its pain before it disappeared as suddenly as it showed up.
What was that all about? There was hesitation to call it out, but I couldn't tell what was happening. When I tried to recall it, my body instinctively trembled, as if it was trying to forget something terrible I came across here. If that was the case, what did I see? It would explain why I never returned if I was scared, but if I didn't know what it was, there was no reason to be scared.
I shook my head to try and clear it up. There was no reason to dwell any further on that. I must have been going crazy and besides, I needed to find out where the lovebirds went. As I trekked through the forest, my foot started to feel heavier with every step. My chest felt like it was being pressed down and my vision was wavering every few moments.
This was not normal, but I couldn't stop myself. I was being pulled unconsciously into the depths of the forest, not questioning what reasons I have to continue through this irregular condition of mine. More flashes of images started to spot itself as I went further, but they were starting to be clearer.
I saw a manor. I saw how my little body ran up to the door and noticed that it was unlocked. The hallways, although vague in details, were large and expansive and I wandered through without a care in the world.
This was real, right? Then did I actually find the manor for myself as a kid?
It was a paranormal experience, as if my soul was seeing it for myself while my body was unable to catch up with what was happening. I had a hard time believing that I was the person in that perspective, grabbing my head in the hopes that the pain would stop.
However, the states of normalcy ended there. The image of my perspective descending to the basement, for whatever reason, appeared and I saw something strange. Its image was distorted in my memories by when I found myself stumbling into the clearing, it suddenly became clearer than ever.
"H-Huh? W-Where am I?"
Inside this certain clearing, I did not find the manor. Instead, there was a circle that looked like it came straight out of a fantasy game, like one of those magic spells a mage would cast on their opponents. Its beautiful shape managed to steal my breath away for a moment, but that didn't break away from the problem at hand.
"What the actual hell is this? Did I just intervene in a cult ritual site or something? What was this even doing inside the forest?" With so many questions, I looked around, but it didn't seem like there was anyone that could answer me. It was just me, myself and this weird circle.
At some point, the rain stopped. There weren't any trees blocking the skies and even weirder, there weren't any clouds left to suggest the former weather. I flipped back my rain jacket's hood in response, being mystified by the phenomenon. There was no way that I was in the forest for so long that the weather changed entirely.
None of what I was seeing here felt real.
Alarms were flaring as bright as they could be. Even despite that warning, I still needed to figure out a way to find where Eriko and Riku were, even if my body was mysteriously feeling a bit rigid.
Perhaps Eriko would start picking up her phone, but when I pulled mine out, I was stunned to see what was happening. No signal, no data, I didn't even have access to the time; it was just a software glitch, jumbling all of the pixels to unreadable numbers.
Great. Now, how am I going to find them?
"Hey! Riku! Eriko! Can you guys hear me!? Anyone!?"
There was no response, leaving only a frustrated me at the end of it. It might have been better to turn back and pray that they were safe by the next morning. However...
My eyes wouldn't depart from the mysterious circle, glowing its fascinating light. No matter how much my brain was telling me to move on, my body wouldn't budge from the sight. It was because this was what I saw in those flashes of memories, I'm sure of it. This was what had been distorted, but that leaves more questions than it does for resolved answers.
It was still very foggy, but my interest got the better of me. If curiosity kills the cat, will satisfaction truly bring it back? It was time for me to find out.
Kneeling outside of its perimeter, I reached out and touched its interior. It didn't look like it was doing anything crazy, but when I got closer, a sudden headache consumed my nerves. An overwhelming emotion of familiarity was starting to emerge from somewhere.
"Hey. Get a bit closer, kid."
"Huh?"
I looked around, trying to find the source of that voice, but no one was there. The voice echoed inside my head again, causing my head to head like it was trying to split open. Then, as if a strong gust of wind came along, my body pushed into the circle.
It didn't do anything immediately, giving me time to scramble onto my feet. When the grace period ended, the magic circle suddenly lit up brighter than my eyes could take it. I tried my best to back up before I was caught, but the magic circle held the same idea. It kicked it out rather forcefully and I rolled onto the ground a few meters away.
It really hurted, but I couldn't pay attention to my pain as equally as my surroundings. The wind violently howled, as if energy around it was being pulled into the circle. As difficult as it was to explain, there was power being originated within its center, but I was forced to look away because it was so damn bright. A loud noise slammed onto the ground, like a lightning bolt from the heavens.
What was it that happened here?
Was this real life or was I dreaming right now?
And those vivid images of the manor, was that somehow involved in all of this?
"What's going on here…? This is…?"
Smoke was emerging from where I was looking. It forced me to hag and cough it out from my lungs. Some type of explosion must have happened and there was no way it couldn't have been heard from a five kilometer range, but my curiosity didn't end there. If I was a sane person, I should have run the first moment I got and quickly make my way back home to forget all of this happened.
And yet, that wasn't what I did.
As I stood back on my feet, I watched as the light died down. Within the smoke, I noticed there was a shadow of someone's figure within its center. It could have been a threat to my life, but something held my feet to the ground. An inexplicable force kept me there, letting me watch the shadow as the smoke cleared up.
My jaw slowly dropped and my eyes widened.
What the hell was I seeing?
Who was I seeing?
As if out of thin air, there suddenly stood a woman where the magic circle had been.
Her verdant clothing had been particularly odd. Its skirt almost leapt out from the black stem with a golden pattern lined along from her modest chest to her slim stomach. Her blonde hair had been sketched out and kept untidy, as if every strand had a different direction it wanted to end at, but it all came together with her green bangs; it was kept mostly away from her calm, collected and dignified expression.
Her stern eyes held some type of softness underneath the layers of unspoken emotions in the emerald-amber eyes. And in the midst of her fascinating sights, her ears had twitched, but they weren't ones of a human. Instead, they were cat ears that were positioned on her head, just as a cat would have on their own. Not to mention that a tail followed her rear, reaching a bit past the levels of her knees which had been covered by an alluring set of black leggings.
I couldn't look away. Her focus hadn't been on me, but on her surroundings as if she was trying to find something. As if I was prey, staying motionlessly to evade the detection of my lion predator, I didn't move a single muscle to blend myself in. My mind was filled with inaudible stammers like someone was holding onto my throat tightly.
As her eyes locked with mine, she slowly walked up to me. My chest tightened.
Was I scared? No, that wasn't it. This wasn't fear that was wallowing in my heart, but this mysterious emotion was making me want to come closer to her. I tried to hold my chest to try to get it to calm down, but it wouldn't ease itself. My face started burning up in a sudden heat.
She was beautiful. There wasn't any other way to explain it.
"I ask of you," the woman spoke with a commanding air, holding a black framed bow. Her voice was intoxicating to my consciousness. "Are you worthy of being my Master?"
Honestly? I should have been concerned with whatever new problems were arising for me. There were so many things I could have addressed in the moment. All of the confusion, muddled with the overpowering warmth in my heart, was too much for me to handle. My brain turned off, forgetting the reasons why I was here and missing the possible threats that could stand before me.
All that stood in my attention was this beautiful woman.
What was this feeling? Despite my disorientation, I… already knew the answer.
I fell in love at first sight. I was absolutely smitten by her appearance and grace. In a single moment, she managed to capture my attention, my awe, and my affection. The only thing that I regretted in the moment was that, the fact that I hadn't been thinking anymore.
And thus, my normal days were met with a fateful encounter.
"Please!" I shouted, bowing down to her. "Please marry me!"
[Author's Notes]
Welcome to [The Beloved Catgirl Archer - Telikós Kynígi Calydonia].
Actually, I had a different version of this story out when it originally published, but I decided to perform an overhaul on what I want narrative of this story to be. In any case, I would like to set up some groundworks in the hopes to prepare you for what may transpire in the story that I'm crafting for everyone. If I can tell you what my intentions are, it will certainly save people time on deciding whether to follow through with this story or not. In any case, it's time to lay it out.
Why am I writing this story?
To simply put it, I really like Atalanta. I wanted to write for her a story, so this came out of that yearning. It wasn't as if there were other stories circulating around Atalanta that weren't enough, but I don't think she'll mind another story dedicated to her. Atalanta, in my opinion, doesn't have enough fanfics to her name, so even if it's an extra one, I wanted to lend a contribution. And in doing so, I wanted to explore her character a bit more, past what we might have already seen. Perhaps a bit of adlibbing while I'm at it, but I don't think it'll be the end of the world if I get a few things wrong.
What should you expect from this story?
I wanted to give Atalanta a setting where I could do said exploration, allowing that affection of mine to grow in such an environment. This will end up being something on the lines of having two sides of the coin. One will be called "The Seeds of Normalcy" and the other, "The Actions of Fate". In simpler terms, there will be parts where I go about a simple life for Atalanta and her Master to go through (think of it as a slice-of-life section), but it will eventually thrust them back into the true nature of the Holy Grail War where they must fight (think of this as your traditional stakes in Fate media).
So this, by all means, is an original Holy Grail War. This story does not take place in the world that could reference the Fuyuki Holy Grail Wars, nor even the site of Romania for the Greater Holy Grail War. If it does in anyway, know that the events of Fate/stay Night and Fate/Apocrypha (or any order Fate media) will not be talked about during this story. There are only new set of seven Masters involved and returning faces of seven Servants, all intertwined in this original narrative. One of them is evidentially Atalanta as Archer, but to the other six? That will be something to find out for the future, if you choose to persist with me during this writing journey of mine. I can say that you can narrow it down to those that show up in Fate/Grand Order, but as a wise man once said, "do you know how little that narrows it down!?"
There won't be many surprises for my narrative choices. I do have a preferred tendency to pick up on some foreshadowing and sometimes even read between the lines. And if you're asking if this is going to be power fantasy, that isn't the direction I'm most interested in heading to. I don't see much appeal in it for myself, but I can fully understand one's enjoyment for it. I'm sure there are other stories worth your time than this one, in that regard.
But if I learned anything about writing, it becomes much easier to write with a goal in mind. It is this goal that I was severely lacking when I first published this story to the site, only to find out that I was stumbling along with a vague direction of what I wanted to write about. That was, I merely wanted to write about Atalanta and a Master that would show her some days of normalcy to her life. Apparently, that wasn't enough for me to keep going on the original train of thought, but this time around, this is at least a definitive plan for the first set of chapters and a guiding theme that will help pave the way for the future.
And it is what I will leave the readers to ponder about, as we unravel ourselves to a story that's dedicated to Archer of Red, or in this case, I guess she's simply referred to as Archer. Now, it won't be going too deep, since I'm no philosophy major nor have I taken any classes on the subject matter. It's simply a pondering of a university student who likes to write in his spare time.
What exactly is happiness?
It doesn't exactly need an answer for now, but it's the primary exploration for this story.
Whatever it is, it is something I wish Atalanta to have, even extending those warmth wishes to the greek myth she originated from. As I go off to farm more bond points for my max-grailed Atalanta/Nyalter in my Fate/Grand Order account, I'll leave that question for you to unravel through this story.
The next time I'll speak to you as an author, it shall be at the end of the first climax - which shouldn't exceed thirteen chapters by my draft, but we'll see how it plays out. I bid adieu for now and if you choose to continue supporting this story of mine, all I could ask is for you to sit back and enjoy. If you want to say anything in the reviews, feel free to do so. Likes, dislikes, remarks or criticism. Many thanks.
... Oh? There's one more question? What does [Telikós Kynígi Calydonia] mean?
Well, I suppose there's only one way to find out. You might be able to translate it from Greek, but perhaps you wouldn't know what significance is behind those words.