Light in the Dark
Chapter 4
"Ren, it's time for school!" Masame called out as she slipped on her lavender shoes to complete her pink shirt and denim pants ensamble.
"Hai, coming." He put his black sling bag on top of the sleeve of his blue shirt, slipped one hand into the pocket of his khaki pants and met her at the entrance.
"Shall we go?" She smiled.
"Yeah." He put on his blue rubber shoes, took her hand and they left.
"You know Masame, I feel bad for Wanyuudou." He told her from the passenger's seat.
"Is he the one who turned into the doll?" She said without letting her eyes leave the road even for a second.
"Yeah. How long has it been now?" He asked as he combed his black hair with his fingers.
"I'm not sure. Maybe a month?" She said as she used one hand to tuck her long brown hair that she let loose behind her ear.
"That sure is long. I'm surprised you haven't decided yet." He took the doll into his hand.
"Hey buddy, are you okay there?" He asked the doll.
"...My neck is so stiff..." The old man complained.
"Deal with it!" Ren laughed.
"It's not funny kid!"
"It's funny to me!" He replied to the straw doll.
"Ren, stop it." She tried to stiffle a laugh.
"Oh, alright." He winked at her. "So, about your decision?" He became more serious.
"Well, I'm having a hard time deciding because I keep thinking about the pros and cons." She sighed.
"Well then, tell me." He said, putting the doll down by the windshield.
"If I do send her to Hell, she'll never terrorize anyone again, and I will avenge my family. But then I would go to Hell and I'd never see them ever again. Then if I don't send her to Hell, she'll continue her horrible deeds. But I would be able to meet my family in Heaven. I'm just so confused by it all, so I'm sorry, Wanyuudou-san." She sighed.
"I understand. Don't worry about it." The old man's voice rang with an understanding tone.
"Arigato gozaimasu." She giggled.
"We're here!" She parked the car and took her bag.
"Wanyuudou-san, will you watch the car while we're at school?" Masame said before opening the door.
"Of course. Have fun now." He replied with a deep, yet kind sounding voice.
"Hai!" She smiled before Ren opened her door for her.
"He really is a nice guy." She smiled at Ren.
"Yeah, he has his soft spots..." He closed his eye and smiled.
"Well then, I'll see you at lunch. I made your favorite." Ren grinned.
"Ebi tempura?! Yahoo! You rock!" She hugged her awesome friend.
She blushed slightly, and quickly kissed Ren on the cheek, causing him to turn a dark shade of red.
"See you later!" She smiled and ran off.
He stood there mesmerized by the girl's action. He held his cheek, smiled and went on his way.
"She really is cute..." He told himself.
~Lunch~
The two met at their usual spot under the sakura tree. Ren took out two boxes and handed one to Masame.
"Itedakimasu!" She smiled at the sight of tempura.
"Enjoy." He smiled.
"Sugoi! This is delicious Ren!" Her eyes sparkled.
"Glad you like it." He smiled.
They sat there and ate in silence. Not an awkward silence, but more of a peaceful one. The wind gently blew a few leaves off the tree and onto the ground. And then one lone flower was blown off it's branch. The pink flower slowly floated down in the middle of a sea of green. The broad petals were beautifully sprawled out on the ground when it landed. Two hands reached out to take it. One thin hand with long, slender fingers touched the other, bigger, rougher hand. They had held hands many times before, but for some reason this touch made both of them turn ruby red.
They looked each other in the eyes. Their hearts were pounding inside their chests and time stood still for one second.
They both turned brighter shades of red, if even possible, and they quickly turned away.
'Wh...what is this? Why is my heart throbbing? Wait, I thought I didn't have a heart...' Ren thought as he turned his head ever so slightly, to take a quick glimpse of the human that made him feel so confused. The girl that made him feel this weird and unfamiliar feeling.
'Wh...what's wrong with me? I don't think I ever felt this way before... Have I?' Masame was also deep in thought. She looked down at the lunch that Ren made especially for her. 'Don't tell me that... I...' She thought some more as she felt her cheek getting hotter with one hand.
"S…Sorry…" Ren whispered.
"No, i… it's okay…" She whispered back.
"...We should go, it's time for class…" He said while standing up, trying to change the subject.
"Ah, y… yeah…" She agreed, and packed up her lunch.
"Need a hand?" He reached out and smiled.
"Thanks." She took his hand and stood up.
"Well, see you after class…" He said, scratching the back of his head.
"Yeah, see you later…" She blushed and walked to her class.
'What's up with me today?' Ren thought to himself.
~After class, Masame's car~
"So, I was thinking of going to Ojou's when we get home. Would you like to come?" Ren asked the only human who constantly went to the Eternal Twilight.
"I'd love to!" She replied.
They reached their simple cream colored house and put their bags down.
"You don't have any homework, do you?" Ren asked as he put down his things.
"No, do you?" Masame returned the question.
"None. So then, let's go!" He smiled.
He took her by the hand and they appeared in their familiar after-school hang-out.
"Oh, Yamaoka-chan, you're back." Hone-Onna smiled.
"Hi Hone-Onna!" She smiled back.
"Wanyuudou-san, why don't you use your human body for awhile, so you can stretch and all." She brought out the straw doll.
A second later, the doll turned back into the nice old man wearing his old-fashioned kimono, red scarf and hat.
"Aaaah! It feels good to stretch! Arigato, Yamaoka-san." He bowed slightly.
"So does that mean you are ending the contract?" Ai suddenly asked.
"Ah! Enma-san, when did you get here? Well, no I'm not ending the contract. I just felt bad for Wanyuudou-san because he was in that doll form for how long now." She explained.
"…Come inside. I want to talk to you." Ai suddenly said and walked towards the house.
Masame of course, followed her inside.
"What is it?" Masame asked as she sat down on the wooden floor.
"You've been coming here very often." She looked at Masame neither with a smile nor a frown.
"Hai… Is there something about my coming here that bothers you?"
"No, it's not that. It's just…"
"What is it?"
"It is obvious that you are taking some time to decide." She said with her usual airy voice.
"Yes, I know... If it's annoying..."
"No, I'm not saying that. You are... a record-breaking client. Not only have you had the doll for over a month, you always come here. This... isn't like most clients, that's all." She said as she got up and walked closer to Masame.
"Is...that a bad thing?" She stood up as well.
"No, but I want to tell you something." She said as she stood a foot away from the taller 19-year-old.
"What is it, Enma-san?"
"Onegai..." She said as she looked straight into Masame's lavender eyes.
"Ne?"
"You come here very often... We get to talk to each other a lot."
"Yes, I suppose..." Masame was confused.
"That is why..." She closed her big, round, crimson eyes.
"...Nani?"
"That is why... I would like to consider you..." She opened her eyes again.
"My friend." She said with a smile barely noticable, but nonetheless, a smile.
"Enma-san..." Masame said, surprised by the rare expression on the Jigoku Shoujo's face.
"Please... Friends need not be so formal." There was that smile again.
"Hai... Gomene... Ai-chan." Masame smiled.
"Would you like to join me in the pond?" She reached out her hand.
"Sure. But... I didn't bring clothes." She remembered.
"That won't be a problem." Ai said and in an instant Masame had a white kimono just like the one Ai uses in the pond.
"Ah! Arigato!" Masame smiled again. She was obviously used to these inhuman actions.
They stepped out of the house and headed for the pond. Ren, Hone-Onna and Wanyuudou stood in the huge field of red flowers some meters away.
The two new friends walked to the pond whilst talking to each other. As they passed by the 3 Hellmates, Ai smiled that tiny smile again at Masame.
"Ah!" Ren was surprised.
"Is that what I think it is?" Hone-Onna was equally mesmerized.
"Yep. Ojou... Is smiling." Wanyuudou grinned.
"Well I'll be..." Hone-Onna couldn't help but be happy.
"Masame... She really is something else..." Ren sighed.
"Hey, I think I know what that's supposed to mean." Wanyuudou teased.
"Ooh, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Hone-Onna joined in.
"Wh...what are you talking about?" Ren was starting to blush.
"I saw what happened this morning." Wanyuudou grinned.
"Ooh, tell me, tell me!" Hone-Onna sure was excited.
"Right before they parted ways, I saw Yamaoka-san kiss Ren on the cheek." He teased more.
"Aw, that's so cute!" Hone-Onna laughed.
"Hey, quit it! It's not my fault that I don't understand what this feeling is!" Ren pouted.
"Well, describe it, we'll help you. We were human once you know." Hone-Onna patted his back.
"Well... You know that we're used to holding each other's hands right?" Ren sighed as he remembered what had happened at lunch.
"Yeah, what about it?" Hone-Onna asked.
"Well, earlier at lunch, we reached out for something at the same time and our hands touched. I don't know why, but I felt my heart pounding and my cheeks were burning up. I don't know what's wrong with me!" Ren was obviously unaccustomed to these feelings.
"It's called love, kid." Wanyuudou pulled his hat over his eyes.
"Huh? But I thought love was when you liked something a lot." Oh Ren...
"Exactly." Hone-Onna winked.
"No, I thought it meant like as in, you know, favorite food or trait or something! I didn't know it meant for people too!" Ren was going nuts!
"So then you admit it?" Wanyuudou asked.
"Admit what?" Ren was absolutely stunned.
"That you really like her, silly." Hone-Onna giggled.
"I... I don't know... I mean... Agh, I'm so confused!" He gripped his head with his hands.
"Aw, c'mon Ren, we won't tell." Hone-Onna smiled.
"C'mon kid, you can trust us." Wanyuudou smiled one of his famous shiny smiles.
"Well, okay... I guess it's the only logical explanation..." He sighed and put both hands in his pockets.
"That you like her?" Hone-Onna tried to sum up what Ren said.
"No... That... I love her." Ren sighed and sat down.
"Y'know kid, you should really tell her how you feel..." Wanyuudou sat down as well.
"But what if the feeling isn't mutual?" He groaned.
"Trust me, it is." Hone-Onna joined them and sat down.
"How do you know?" Ren asked.
"I just do." She winked.
~At the pond~
"I wonder what they're talking about?" Masame said as she looked at the 3 sitting in the field.
"Hm?" Ai looked at what her friend was looking at.
"Hone-Onna and Wanyuudou-san are laughing..." Masame said as she combed her long brown hair.
"But Ren doesn't look like he's having so much fun..." Ai noticed.
"I wonder what's wrong with him..." She stared at him. Her expression slowly changed from pondering to admiring.
Ai immediately noticed. "...You like him." She said as she looked at Masame.
"Wh...What?!" She panicked.
"You like Ren." She teased(which Masame wasn't quite sure of, thanks to the emotionless voice).
"What made you say that?" Masame said as she buried her face in her hands.
"You blush when you look at him. And when you talk about him or glance at him, your expression changes." Ai laid out the obvious facts.
"I do?! Aw, man!" She let herself sink into the water.
"It's nothing to be ashamed about..." Ai said as she lay back and let her long ebony black hair float on the surface of the water.
"What do I do...?" Masame sat back up.
"You should go talk to him." Ai stared up at the eternally red-orange sky.
"I can't... I'm too scared..." She sighed.
"Well in the end, the decision is yours, and yours alone." She stood up and let the water drip from her kimono.
"You're right... Arigato, Ai-chan." Masame stood up and did the same.
"Of course... Masame-chan." Ai led her guest back to the house.
"...Ai-chan, I've been wondering..."
"Hai?"
"If the 3 of them are busy with my absolutely long case, how do you answer the other clients that look for you?"
"Since Ren lives with you and Wanyuudou is the doll you possess, Hone-Onna, Kikuri and I personally investigate. Hone-Onna is always the doll though." Ai explained and changed back to her sailor uniform instantly.
"Who's Kikuri?" She asked as Ai used her power to dress Masame up with clean clothes.
"I am!" A little girl wearing a dark blue long-sleeved kimono with a purple sash suddenly appeared. Her short hair curled outwards and she fiddled with the red flower in her brown locks. Her large purple eyes stared intently into Masame's smaller, lighter ones.
"Oh! Hello. Strange we haven't met before..." Masame said as she bent down to look at the girl.
"I thought so myself..." Ai looked down at the girl.
"I was busy playing, is that so bad?" She smiled such an innocent little smile.
"No of course not." Masame smiled and patted the little girl's head.
"So is this the girl that you said comes here a lot?" She asked Ai.
"Hai. She's the one who's had the doll for over a month now."
"Why don't you just pull it?" Kikuri asked.
"It's not that simple..." She sighed.
"Yes it is! Just take one hand and hold the end of the string..." She said as she pretended to pull the string of an imaginary doll.
"Kikuri." Ai warned her.
"Oh alright." She pouted.
"Why don't you go play Kikuri?" Ai asked.
"Okay!" She smiled and ran out the door.
"She really is quite troublesome, isn't she?" Ai's grandmother asked from behind her screen.
"Hai." Ai nodded.
"But she seems kinda cute." Masame smiled.
"..." Both Ai and her grandmother didn't respond.
~To Be Continued~
