Chapter 4

The Ghost of Otesu

Sparkling.

Everything was sparkling. The once verdant and lush forest was now at the mercy of the night. The moon that stood as a spectator of the darkness graced the land with its light, replacing the colors of the day with its silver splendor. Deep into the woodland lies the smooth surface of a lake as it glistens with every wave. The trees that grew near the edges of the banking seemed to bend towards the charm of the water as the blades of grass dance with the silent music of the wind. Across the endless sky millions of stars were scattered immortalizing the ethereal beauty that behold the innocent eyes of Yuuta. For a moment he gazed at the tranquility in front of him, taking in the serenity and otherworldly grandeur of Mother Nature as he drank the scene with adoration. In his young mind, this was the epitome of the peace. It would have been a perfect night if not for one minor detail –he was lost.

"Help! Anybody!" his companion yelled at the top of his lungs. Beads of sweat were accumulating between his knitted brows. "Can someone hear me?" he strained his ears to pick up any sign of reply but the only sound that came was the echoes of his own pleas.

Looking over his shoulder Yuuta noticed the exhaustion that marred his friend's face. "Kenta, we should rest for a bit."

The boy who was wearing red rimmed glasses stopped screaming. Face all puffy and red from bellowing his eyes shot up to him, annoyed and tired.

"Look, we've been calling and shouting for ages and so far nobody has come to look for us. I think the campsite might be farther than we thought," explained Yuuta as if to answer his unspoken question.

Kenta understood and sighed wearily, "You're right. Let's just stay here for a while. Maybe sooner or later someone will notice that we're gone."

"I hope they do. If my mom finds this out I'll be grounded for a month," Yuuta grumbled as he trudged past him towards a willow tree where he found a decent spot to sit down.

Kenta turned sideways, "Forget about getting grounded, I'm more worried about when Katsu-sensei finds out."

Yuuta couldn't help but wince at the mention of his teacher's name. To them Katsu-sensei was justice personified. He was their idol. Their hero. Both of them put him at a pedestal where no other male could reach; he was by far the perfect version an adult could be. But being the responsible adult that he is Yuuta was sure that their mischievous stunt wouldn't go unpunished. If he learns about their little escapade they would have to face a serious case of upbraiding.

"You're right, we're never gonna here the end of it," Yuuta sighed as he leaned his back on the trunk of the willow tree. Resting his upper half against the hard surface of the bark he reached inside his pocket and brought out a candy bar. He tore the wrapping open with his teeth and took a huge bite. As he chewed the delightful treat he suddenly felt two eyes boring on him. Cocking his head to the side he caught Kenta staring at his candy. Realizing his mistake Kenta immediately averted his eyes.

Yuuta swallowed the chocolate, "Oh, I'm sorry, do you want some?"

"No thanks, I'm not really hungry," Kenta blushed as he tried to look anywhere but the candy bar.

"Are you sure? I mean we haven't had anything since lunch. For all we know we can get stuck here a little longer," Yuuta urged him.

Kenta gulped and eyed the candy bar longingly. He didn't want to admit it but he was in fact really hungry. He hadn't eaten much at lunch due to his excitement about this trip. For the first time, he could enjoy the rest of the day without constantly checking his back for bullies –thanks to Katsu-sensei. Not only that, he now had someone to share stories and adventures with. His days of sitting at the back of the bus, alone with the company of a rubix cube and a manga were over now that he has a friend. He was far too happy to care about food, which was why six hours later he could no longer control his rumbling stomach.

Grugurgrpgurrghghghg

Kenta stiffened.

"I heard that," Yuuta said as he flashed him with a knowing smile.

"Okay fine. I am hungry..." Kenta blushed profusely as he looked down, " ...and starving."

Yuuta laughed.

"You don't have to make fun of me!" Kenta yelled hotly, his cheeks turning red in embarrassment.

"S-sorry, I didn't mean to laugh at you," Yuuta struggled for air as he tried to stifle his laughter.

"Whatever. J-just give me the chocolate," Kenta answered testily to hide his mortification.

Yuuta wiped the corner of his eye and tossed him the candy bar. "Just don't eat it all, okay? That was my last batch."

Kenta nodded as he peeled the candy bar.

"So, what do we do now?"

"I don't know," Kenta answered as he gnawed at the food heartily, "Maybe we can just sleep here or something."

"Well, I guess it's better than walking in the dark." Yuuta had to suppress a shudder at the thought of the dark. Darkness bothered the boy enough to have countless nights of crying underneath the covers of his bed. When his hiccups would reach his mother's ears she would squeeze herself on his tiny bed and let him sleep in her arms as she sings him to sleep. However, when circumstances had called for late hours at work his mother would leave him at the company of Mr. Charlie. Suddenly, he missed having the blue plushy.

Kenta's eyes scanned the area as he tried to look for a comfortable place to sit and stretch his aching foot. Unbeknownst to his friend, Kenta sprained his ankle from tripping on a rock. It didn't hurt that much a while ago but it was hurting now that all the adrenaline was out of his system.

Yuuta noticed his friend's searching gaze, "Why don't you sit beside me. There's plenty of room in here," he waved to his left.

Kenta examined his surroundings again but didn't find any dry spot to sit on so he just shrugged and made his way towards him. But before reaching the willow tree he made the mistake of stepping on an uneven ground twisting his injured foot.

"Owww!" Kenta cried, dropping the candy bar as he kneeled to the ground.

Yuuta stood up. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

"N-nothing's wrong, I'm just having a c-cramp," Kenta managed to answer in between hisses. His hands nursing his twisted ankle protectively.

Yuuta's eyes narrowed in suspicion, "That doesn't look like a cramp to me." Before Kenta could object he dashed forward and stooped down. Prying Kenta's fingers away he gingerly took his foot.

Kenta drew a sharp breath as Yuuta's thumb slightly brushed his injury. "O-ouch!"

"I knew it," Yuuta frown ed as he inspected the swollen ankle. Kenta's right ankle was twice the size of his left one. The flesh below his shin was an angry color of red that was bordering on purple. Yuuta almost flinched at the sight of it.

"This is all my fault," Yuuta whispered as fat tears started to peek out from his eyes. "If it weren't for me…hic…if it weren't for me...hic… you wouldn't be hurt," he sobbed as the tears rolled down his cheeks and eventually into Kenta's foot.

Kenta sat rigidly on the ground not knowing how to comfort the crying boy. He was used to tears, that he was sure of. He cried a lot especially after receiving a beating from bullies, but it was usually him that was being comforted, not the other way around. Not sure of what to do or say, he said the first thing that entered his mind.

"Um, Yuuta, you're snot is dripping on my foot."

Yuuta stopped sobbing and blinked.

Kenta worried as he watched his friend blink rapidly, "Err, Yuuta?"

Suddenly Yuuta's shoulders were trembling. Kenta panicked. That was definitely not what he should be hearing right now, he thought. Kenta's eyes looked left and right as he racked his brains for any words of comfort. Then without warning a big and hearty laugh escaped the ginger headed boy.

"Bwahahahaha," he chortled, his entire body shaking with vigor.

Bewildered by his unexpected outburst, Kenta deepened his frown as he continued to laugh hard. Tears of guilt turned into tears of joy as Yuuta wiped at them. A smile stretched Kenta's lips joining his friend in merriment.

When the sounds of their laughter died down Kenta started, "You know… it wasn't entirely your fault."

Yuuta looked at him questioningly.

"I mean, this whole thing," he raised his hands as he motioned around, "…was all because of my stupid idea," he finished with a sigh.

When he didn't continue Yuuta answered, "But you only insisted on doing it because of me. You just wanted to help my grandma get better." Despite Yuuta's efforts to mask his mood, Kenta could tell that his friend was sad about his grandmother's health.

Kenta offered him a half decent smile and tilted his head backwards. Propping his elbows on the soft earth he closed his eyes remembering the events that started their ordeal.

"But is it really true?" asked a girl from 1-C.

"Of course it is. My onii-chan would never lie," replied her friend as she handed her a ladle. "You can even ask Suichiro from class B. He told me that when his father was his age he went there with his brother to ask Otetsu to cure their father's cancer."

"And then what happened?"

The girl who was telling the story looked around wearily and with a shaky voice she said, "They offered something to Otetsu."

Her friend gasped in surprise, "Something? Like a sacrifice?"

"Uh-huh. I don't know exactly what it was but I guess it worked because after 3 days their father got better. "

For a moment there was silence among the group.

"You think we should go?" interjected another.

"No way! I'm too scared, what if Otetsu asks for my soul in return?" cried the girl who was steering the pot of misou soup.

"You're right. I mean we have to pass that scary forest before we can reach that abandoned shrine and I heard from the lady who sells cabbage that people tend to get lost in it."

"Ughhh! That is so creepy. I will never ever go there."

"What does Otetsu even look like?"

"I don't know, he's a ghost, so maybe he'd look like a pale guy wearing white clothes with long black hair," joked the other girl as she raised her arms like a zombie.

"Stop it Chiriko! You're really freaking me out," yelled the storyteller.

"Relax, I'm just yanking your chain," she laughed. "And besides that forest is way over there," she pointed towards the valley up south, "Otetsu will never reach us here."

"That's not funny," her friend grunted as she put the fire out.

"Oh cheer up will you? Why don't we just finish this so we can eat and go to sleep early."

"Yeah, besides, I'm getting hungry already," added the other girl.

"Hey Kenta?" jolted from his reverie, Kenta felt Yuuta's finger tapping his shoulder vigorously.

"Hmmm?"

"What was that thing that you told about Otetsu?"

"About him being able to grant wishes?" he said without opening his eyes.

"Uhm. No." By this time Yuuta had lowered Kenta's foot slowly. His haunch tense as if ready to bolt.

He arched a brow and continued to guess. "What? Is it about the sacrifice? Don't worry about that, I think we only have to bring something of importance to us." He patted his sling bag containing his most prized manga with Masashi Kishimoto's(1) autograph.

"N-not exactly," Yuuta's voice trembled with apprehension.

"Oh, was it about him being a ghost?"

"Y-yeah. Remember what you said about the pale guy with white clothes?" There was a lilt in Yuuta's tone that made him sounds nervous.

"Uh-huh? What about it? Don't tell me you're chickening out cause we―" Kenta didn't even get the chance to finish his sentence when he made the mistake of opening his eyes. Up ahead he saw a man wearing a white robe. The material was so long that it reached past his feet. The edges of the robe were caked with mud as it trailed behind the wraith like figure. On top of its ominous lithe body was a bush of disheveled black hair. The dark mane was parted in the middle and there, peeking in between its tresses, stared back two of the blackest eyes they have ever seen.

Kenta was never brave. As a kid he was always afraid of something, like his neighbor's dog, Godzilla, his dentist's assistant, Mr. Matsunaga, the creepy Noh mask that his grandfather kept at their attic or even his sister's creepy doll, Marissa. Kenta has always been scared of a lot of things, but all of his fears were trivialized by this mammoth of an apparition.

With knees as soft as a jelly Yuuta tapped Kenta's shoulder once more, "K-kenta, I think now would be the right time for you to stand up."

Kenta couldn't move nor utter a word so he just sat there watching the thing that he can only describe as the ghost of Otetsu.

The ghoul lifted his hands in the air, his spidery fingers beckoning them to move closer. A gentle breeze passed through them carrying the sinister moan of the ghost before them. "Come here," it whispered in a scratchy voice, "…stay where you are… don't move…" he beseeched them. His feet were moving slowly, shortening the distance that lay between them. As it was approaching it emitted a soft and breathy murmur that made all the hairs in their body stand up.

"Kenta... Yuuta… I'm… gonna k-kill you..."

The two boys' eyes widened with terror .

Sweat trickled down Yuuta's forehead. "It knows who we are." They looked at each other in disbelief. Mouths hanging open as it poised for an ear splitting scream.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Both of them yelled as hard as they could until they can no longer breathe. In Yuuta's fright he rushed towards Kenta and grabbed his arm to wrap around his shoulder.

"W-what are you doing?"

"I changed my mind. Let's find some other way to make my grandma better," he said as he struggled to lift his friend.

"Are you sure?" Kenta asked as he tried to not put some weight on his injured foot.

"Positive."

"B-but, what about the wish?"

"Do we have to have this conversation now?" Yuuta eyed the approaching ghost, "I'm not a coward, Kenta but I don't think I can handle a ghost sucking the life out of me."

Kenta was quick to agree as he leaned his weight on Yuuta. The ginger headed boy tried to walk a little faster, however with his limping friend and bad landscape their escape was far from easy. They manage to wobble a little further but their speed wasn't putting enough distance between them and the ghost. Yuuta realized this a little too late as spindly fingers grabbed his elbow halting his movement. In his blind panic Yuuta flailed his arms in a desperate attempt to free himself. The hand holding him slipped from its tight grip but Kenta was flung to the ground in the process. Yuuta whipped his head to the side to find his friend in a puddle of mud and grass. To his horror, the ghost of Otetsu shifted its attention to his injured friend, its arms reaching for Kenta's curled form. Yuuta's eyes grew. Tossing all fears aside he made a dash forward tackling the specter in the gut. The ghost fell backwards with a crunch, which was later on followed by a howl and a string of colorful curses.

"I didn't know ghosts could swear," groaned Kenta as he recovered from his fall. Glancing around, he saw Yuuta in a heap of tangled limbs and what appeared to be a white blanket. "Huh?"

Yuuta was the first to move. As he untangled himself from the ghost, his belt buckle caught the edge of the blanket pulling the fabric away from the massive form. A mop of ginger hair sprung out along with a familiar face that was contorted in pain.

"Katsu-sensei!" cried both children as they scurried to their hero's aid.

A/N

And done! Yey! This took a long time to write. I know you guys are waiting for the long due reunion. Don't worry, *spoiler* they'll be seeing each other in the next chapter. Hehehehe…

1 Author of Naruto