A/N : We're sorry for the very late update, we're busy because of our school
And, thanks for the review : Dr. Nusakan, it means a lot for us! We'll try our best to keep updating this story.
Chapter 1
Kaito opened the door, the door were heavy, but he managed to opened it by adding more power. He walked through it, "Hmm… What kind of place wi—"
He couldn't feel the ground and he realized that he was falling. Thud!
"Ouch!" he groaned and looked up, the door was already disappeared. "What's with that door… And, where am I?"
He looked around, he was on a huge grass field, "Whoa, it's green everywhere… This grass field is so large… This is my first time being in a place like this, Tokyo is too crowded by buildings… It's more beautiful than I expected…" he said, stunned by the scenery.
Suddenly Master appeared in front of Kaito. "Whoa!" yelled Kaito, surprised.
"Kaito, I forgot to tell you… You'll have to leave one world after two months… After that you'll be sent into another world. Be sure to complete your task between then," told the black haired man.
"Oh? O-Okay, two months…" he noticed something and said, "Hey, Master! I can speak again!"
"Oh yeah! Congratulations! No…That's not important! Anyway, just be careful, good bye. I just come here to tell you that. Good luck!" he said, waving his hand and faded away.
Kaito blinked a bit, "Master sure is strange sometimes… And I forgot to ask about the door, do I have to fall and fall again after two months..?" he imagined it and furrowed, "Well, now, where should I go?"
He noticed the setting sky, Kaito walked around the grass field but he found nothing. No buildings or light were seen, just a huge grass field and mountains. The sky was getting darker and darker.
"Wait, it's already night time here? Err… I think I should… sleep here tonight…"
He lied down on that green field, accompanied by the moon and stars. Both of his hands were on the back of his head. It was so quiet that he could hear the sound of crickets and owls. He looked up to the sky, thinking about how nonsense this kind of event is in real life, but it do happened to him, I guess there are much more things in life that were unexpected by anyone… he thought, and closed his eyes... The night was pretty cold and he could feel the night breeze.
The next morning…
Kaito opened his eyes and yawned, his right hand covering his mouth, "Hmm..? Morning already… I still want to sleep more…" he mumbled and turned his body to the side, "Nah, my time is limited here… I must get going!" he said and turned his body again, his back facing the ground.
He looked up to the sky, still laid on the ground lazily, "Whoa… The sky is so clear and blue, it'll be a sunny day, I guess… Let's do some morning exer—Gahh!" someone stepped on Kaito's body just when he was going to get up and stretched.
"Waaah!" yelled someone, falling. It was a girl voice. Thud!
"Ouch! What's with that, stupid rock…" she mumbled.
"I… I'm not a rock… And it was really hurt! Duh…" Kaito said as he held his stomach with his hand. He got up and saw a woman with short brown hair, she was wearing a red clothes. Kaito realized there was something different about that girl. Her clothes were strange, like it was an old model. Kaito kept looking at her.
The woman narrowed her eyes, her hands on her waist, "Hey! What are you looking at? And why did you sleep in this place? Are you a beggar, or a pauper?" she took a look at Kaito, from head to toes, "You're wearing weird clothes too," she commented.
"I'm not a beggar, nor a pauper! How cruel… I'm… err… I'm just a wanderer," What a fast talking and…'energetic' woman… Kaito thought.
The brunette raised one of her eyebrows, "Oh, a wanderer? Then why don't you search for an INN?" she said, putting emphasis on the 'INN' word.
"But… err… I don't have any money..?" said Kaito, more like a question than a statement.
"Then you're a pauper… Or beggar," stated her.
"No! It's not like that! Do I look like a beggar? Look, I'm not smelly… My hair is tidy and my clothes is still in good condition..!"
She then sniffed on Kaito's body, "Oh, right, hmm… Tidy hair, okay… But, why are you wearing clothes like that? White and blue robe, and… blue scarf? Where are you from?" she asked, observing him once again.
"Well I just like to wear this clothes… I'm… I'm from a place called Earth," told Kaito. He couldn't tell her he was from another world after all.
"Earth? Never heard of it before… Is it far from here?"
"Y-Yeah, probably. It's really far from here," told Kaito, his eyes looking the other way.
"Oh, so… How long have you been wandering?" said the woman, she was full of curiosity.
"I think it's about… Three years… Yeah, three years…" I'm sorry… I must lie to you…
The brunette eyes lit up, "Whoa, three years… Then you must have a lot of experience by now!"
"Ah, yeah… Ahaha…" replied the blue haired man, laughing stiffly.
"So… What's your name, scarf man?" said the woman, smiling.
"Scarf man… What kind of nickname is that? My name is Kaito Shion," told Kaito.
Hmm… I think he's about the same age as me… "Okay, nice to meet you, Shion-kun! I'm Meiko Sakine," she said, offering her hand to a handshake.
Kaito smiled as he accepted her hand and replied, "Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you, Sakine-chan… Oh, by the way, why do you come here today?"
Meiko frowned, "Well… I'm not in a good mood today, so I come here… My parents scolded me this morning because I dropped a plate and break it while I was cleaning…"
"They're mad just because of that?"
"Yeah, you know… My family is not rich, so…" trailed Meiko.
Kaito noticed what Meiko means, "I see… Well I'm sorry to hear that… I shouldn't have thought like that…"
"No, It's okay," said Meiko, shaking her head. "When I'm not in a good mood, I always come to this place, it's beautiful isn't it? The scenery and all…" she continued, looking up into the sky as she said so.
"Y-yeah, I think so too… So, you live around here?" Kaito asked, while looking into the sky too.
"Yes, I live in a village. It's not far from here… Well, the people in my village are friendly, would you like to come there?" asked her excited.
Kaito turned his face to face Meiko, "But, is that okay? I'm just a stranger, you know…"
"Of course it's okay! Duh…" she answered, laughing, "Stop being so shy like that!" she added.
Kaito smiled, "Ahahaha… Sorry…"
Meiko then took Kaito to her village, the people were very friendly, just like she said. It was a pretty big village, it was said that the village was the one of three biggest villages in that country. Meiko showed Kaito some places in her village. The houses there were built by woods, plants and flowers were planted along the road. There was a beautiful river, the water was crystal clear, sunlight was reflected on the water, some children were playing there. What a peaceful place… I wonder what I have to do to help these people here… They kept walking, and Kaito took a sight of something unusual. It was not beautiful like any other place they just past. There was quite a large land, in the middle stood a pole with a trace of burnt, and big rocks were placed around the land, like it was a place for ritual. It was kind of creepy. Kaito stopped in his track and kept looking to that direction.
Meiko stopped talking as she noticed Kaito was looking at the pole. Her face turned into a frown, "…That was a place for offering, do you want to know about it?" she asked.
Kaito snapped back to reality, "A-Ah, is that so… Well, if you would like to tell me…" he said. Somehow I feel that it won't be a good story…
Meiko took a deep breath before she started, "You know, a long time ago… There were a number of big disasters that struck this land, many people died and so much suffered after that. People then believed that it was because the anger of the land god. So every year, we would offer a human to be… burnt in that pole, and then we praise the god around the pole by singing and chattering some spell…"
Kaito eyes widened, "What? A human? That's cruel…"
"Yeah, but… It's for the sake of this land… It's true that after we gave offerings, there were no more disaster… Because this village is the main supplier of grains, it would give a big loss to the kingdom if disaster happened. That's why the king ordered us to do the ritual. Because the disaster made his kingdom suffered a great loss, he wouldn't care if one or two person died for the country, right?" she said, she twitched her eyes remembering about the king.
"Is that so..? He's a king who has no heart… Even if it's just one life, it's still important, no matter what!" Kaito said with anger, hearing the story from Meiko already made him angry.
Meiko turned her face to see Kaito, "I know! But if we don't do it, many life, more than just one person, will die!"
"Not about that! I'm sure the disasters were not of anyone fault, disasters just come suddenly!"
"What do you know? You just come here, you don't know anything!" she snapped.
"Do you, do any of you, including the king, have proof that it was because the anger of the land god? It just a belief because you don't know what causing it, right? I think there must be another reason…" he said, he thought of something before he added, "If it was really, because the anger of the land god, then don't you think there must be something that caused it? It made nonsense if the land god were angry because of nothing…"
Meiko got silent and tried to think about it, after she calmed down she replied, "Sorry for snapping at you… After you say that, maybe you're right… But I wonder what is it..?"
"I don't know, let's search about it… Or this kind of ritual will happen again and again," Kaito suggested, "But first, let's just continue our 'tour', you haven't showed me everything in this village... Plus maybe it can help us investigate…"
"R-Right… Let's go," Meiko said, she stopped frowning and smiled again.
After they were done, they walked down the village. Kaito saw something interesting, he saw an artist who sold his works on the side street, just like him when he was still 'alive'.
"Um, Sakine-chan, can you please wait a sec? I want to see that artist's paintings over there… Can I?" asked Kaito, interested.
"Oh? Okay, you must be pretty tired because I drag you everywhere. We'll have a rest for a moment here then," Meiko replied, smiling. She took a seat on one of the bench.
"Thank you," said Kaito, he approached the artist and take a look at the drawings. Somehow he felt nostalgic, I missed the day when I was selling paintings just like these, even if my life wasn't the happy one… I guess life is precious, no matter what kind of life you are experiencing… They continued on walking after Kaito was done.
Time flies fast, and without the two of them noticed, evening came already.
"Eh? It's evening already… Time sure flies, are you tired, Shion-kun?" Meiko asked.
Kaito laughed, "Yeah… But, it's fun to look around your village. Thanks for showing me around," he smiled.
"Good then!" Meiko smiled back. They already forgot the talk about the ritual and have fun.
Kaito looked at the dark sky, "Do you want to go home now? It's getting darker…"
"Um, yeah… I'm sure they'll scold me for going home late," the brunette said, furrowing.
"A-Ah… I'm sorry," said Kaito, scratching the back of his head.
Meiko giggled and said, "It's not your fault! After all, I'm the one who want to show you my village… Anyway, what about you? What will you do from now?"
Kaito thought for a bit before he replied, "Uh, I don't really know… Maybe, find a place to sleep…"
Meiko eyes lit up, "How about staying in my house for tonight?" but then she sighed, "Oh… But my parents will kill me for sure if I bring you home…" she laughed again, a bit disappointed.
"Ahaha, it's okay, really. I think I'll accompany you to your home," he said, giving an assuring smile. She really is a good girl…
Meiko blushed a bit, I just notice that… he's kind of handsome, not to mention that he's nice too… I was too distracted and excited about the walk that I didn't realize it… "Eh… Um, okay then… T-Thanks!"
"Hm?" Kaito took a glance at Meiko, "Something wrong?" he asked.
"N-Nothing!" she waved both of her hands in panic.
They walked to Meiko's house, chatted a bit as they do so. Her house was around the outskirt of the village. After quite a long walk, the brown-haired woman's house could be seen.
As Kaito saw her house, he frowned. It's true what she said before… Her house doesn't look good, it's even worse than I imagined… Poor Sakine-chan, though she was a good girl and all… I wonder if I can do something to help her… But what? Finding a job? My time is just two months here, and I have my mission… I wouldn't make much money… I still don't know about what to do in this world too… And about that ritual… There's many things to think about… he thought.
"So, we're arrived," said Meiko, waking Kaito from his thought.
"Ah, yeah…" Kaito replied, he faced Meiko who was somehow frowning, "Then, I should be go— Wahh!" before he could finish his sentence, Meiko took Kaito's hand and dragged him into her house.
"H-Hey! What are you doing?" Kaito asked in a whisper, surprised by the action.
"Shhh! I will take you quietly into my room… They are having their dinner in the kitchen so we can sneak in…" told Meiko, putting her index finger in front of her lips.
"B-But…"
"Duh… Just be silent, or they'll hear you… Follow me!" she commanded in a low voice.
"…" the blue-haired man just nodded, he had no choice but to follow this woman now.
They walked silently and slowly, passing the kitchen, their heart beating so fast in tension. Luckily the door was half closed, covering the brunette parents view. They successfully passed the kitchen and head towards Meiko's room.
Kaito put off his shoes and sat on the floor. He asked softly, "Hey… Are you sure this is okay?"
Meiko was silent a bit but then replied, "Don't worry, Shion-kun… You'll be safe here. They never checked my room, so it will be okay."
Kaito sighed, "Okay then… Thank you Sakine-chan," he smiled warmly.
Meiko blushed when she saw his smile, "A-Ah… Yeah, my pleasure to h-help yo—" she stuttered and realized something, But, it means he'll be here the entire night! A boy… In my room… When I'm sleeping… Aaaaah! she imagined and screamed in her thought.
She blushed even more after she realized those things, and smacked her head mentally for imagining those. Her eyes blank a bit, and paused in her track.
"Eh? Is anything wrong, Sakine-chan? You were kind of strange since this afternoon… Do you have fever? Your face is kind of red…" Kaito asked with worry. He approached Meiko and was going to place his hand on her forehead when suddenly she backed away and punched him in the face. "Aaaaaaah!"
Kaito put his hands on his face, "Ouch! That hurt a lot… What's with you..?"
Meiko realized what she had done, "Oops, I'm too loud…" she covered her mouth.
They heard a step and panicked, "Meiko? Is that you? What happened, screaming like that? Why didn't you knock the door when you came home? Do you know what time is it? You'll disturbed the neighbors by screaming that loud!" it was Meiko's father, he keep on scolding Meiko's from outside and Meiko just sticked out her tongue, assuring Kaito that it was fine.
Meiko gestured Kaito to stay away and stood behind the door. After Kaito did so, Meiko opened the door and got out from her room. She faced her father and replied quickly, "Sorry dad, there's an insect in my room, don't worry, everything is under control, I casted it out already…"
Kaito overheard it, An insect… That's right Meiko's father, she punched me and then everything is under control… Hahaha! he thought with a bit of sarcasm.
"About the door, I was chased by a dog, so I ran fastly and opened the door without knocking it… Sorry I played too much and forgot the time," she explained and bowed slightly.
Her father calmed down a bit, "Don't do that again next time! It's dangerous for a girl to walk in nighttime!" he replied, his voice still contained a bit of anger.
"Okay dad," Meiko answered. She walked back to her room and closed the door.
Kaito glanced at Meiko and said, "You sure good at lying," he sighed, and grinned afterward.
"Y-Yeah… And sorry for p-punching you n the face… It was just… reflex," she apologized while blushing, feeling embarrassed.
"It's okay… Just don't do it again without reason," he laughed.
"Yeah…" she answered in low voice, Without reason? It was because… err… because you're too close… she thought with her face red. "Anyway, I'm going to take a bath, stay silent and don't do anything strange, okay?" she said.
"Okay, I won't. Sakine-chan, your face… very red, did he hit you?" he asked, concerned.
"…" Meiko stay silent, her eyes twitching a bit as her face got redder and redder, she slammed the door hardly.
"Hey Meiko! What's that? Are you angry with me? Don't close the door too hard!" her father shouted from the kitchen.
"Sorry father… Don't worry! My hand just 'slipped'!" she replied.
"A-Ahh… Hahaha…" Kaito sweated from the other side of the door, confused.
How dense can you be, Shion-kun! she thought, stomping her foot to the bathroom.