It was the moment of truth. The moment that everyone had been waiting for for however long they were stuck in this mansion. From the start, Ayako had a draw to Mashiro. At first she herself wasn’t quite sure what it was. She always trusted her instincts and because of this, she pursued the boy with the hopes of figuring out his purpose in her life. She expected him to be important. She expected him to hold some sort of significance in all of this madness. What she hadn’t expected, however, was the possibility of falling in love with him
She was raised to be indifferent. Not to take sides, wrong or right. Most would think that a priestess should vow to always do what’s best and is right, but Ayako proved long ago not to be the type of person everyone expected. She was her own breed and would live life by her own means. Falling in love was never a plan, but it didn’t necessarily feel like a roadblock either. Mashiro was kind and he understood her, as much as anyone could understand someone so secretive and vague. He listened to her and protected her. In this dangerous mansion where death lurked around every corner, Ayako felt safer than she ever had outside the walls as long as she was by Mashiro’s side.
The night they were attacked, the pieces of the puzzle fell into place for her. The image became clear and it was then that she began to realize his place in all of this. As he protected her like a knight in shining armor, swinging a weapon to save their lives, she began to remember small tidbits. She had met Mashiro before. His aura was familiar at first and strikingly beautiful, even now as he took another life. While she never took sides, Ayako found herself desperate to protect him the way he had protected her. He had killed for her. Whether or not he was the reasoning behind all of this chaos in the first place didn’t matter. He was the one she wanted to be with, the one she wanted to run away with, and the one she loved. Ayako had finally found a sliver of happiness in her eternally dark world and she wouldn’t let anything take her Mashiro from her. Even if it meant protecting a murderer.
As Mafuyu’s soft, childlike voice travelled to her ears, Ayako felt as though she had heard it before. It was sweet and gentle, very reminiscent of her Mashiro’s voice. This must’ve been the sister he’d told her so much about. This must be the sister and family she’d promised to help protect.
So when the time came to decide her own fate, Ayako found her feet feeling as heavy as bricks and she couldn’t quite find the strength to lift them. Falling to her knees, she struggling to organize her thoughts. Her odds against the Oni were very slim. Even a strong, full-grown man would stand little chance against him. She was frail, weak, and blind. Fighting against him, even for the sake of Mashiro, would be utterly useless and foolish and she knew this.
To run and save herself and Mafuyu, or to stay and die alongside Mashiro. Those were her choices and she’d never thought she’d have trouble choosing one. Saving herself was always her priority. Then she met Mashiro and he changed everything. She no longer found herself wishing to be a lone survivor. If dying meant being with Mashiro forever, then it may be a choice worth making. But Mafuyu didn’t deserve to die, and Ayako had promised Mashiro to take care of her no matter what happened. The thought of leaving Mashiro behind broke her heart, a thing she had long since forgotten she possessed. Mashiro surely wouldn’t blame her, she knew that, but Ayako knew she’d blame herself. As the seconds ticked by, Ayako slowly rose to her feet and straightened her posture. This was it. This was the only thing left to do.
“Readings? What kind of readings?” Being a priestess sounded difficult… So did a lot of things actually, but that’s beside the point. “All in all, it sounds interesting” Eri looked around the room around them, it didn’t seem paranormal…. minus the Oni roaming around.
“I have no issues with sharing but I don’t think it’s something people wish to hear.”
“Spiritual reading normally. Whether they seek a conversation with a passed loved one, or wish to know how their future paths continue.”
“You would be surprised at the things I have heard in my days. People from all over the world travel to my shrine for services. From China, to Korea, even some from Egypt. I have heard many interesting things, but with many interesting stories are some very, very boring ones.” She attempted to chuckle, but it sounded more like a sigh. Thinking about those stories gave her a headache. “I’m sure your story is much better than the ones I’ve heard.”
“Well… I’m not to amazing of a cook, but I know a few recipes, since both of my mothers were hopeless romantics, I kinda picked up a few romantic dishes from them.” She takes a second to let out a breath of air, to try and calm herself down. “We’ll have to see what the kitchen has, and make something with the ingredients on hand.”
“Wait… You’re not good at dancing?!?! We might have to try and fix that! We’ll probably just slow dance then, that’s one of the easiest dances out there!” She punches her fist in excitement. “Do you think you can do that? If not I can try and teach you, dancing is one of the few things I’m actually really good at!”
“Mothers?” Ayako opened her eyes and flicked her gaze to Aya. How strange and unfortunate. She knew most people had a mother and a father, but she didn’t know it was possible to have two mothers. Ayako frowned slightly. She could barely manage to have a father. “I never had one.”
She cleared her throat and smiled weakly, looking forward to changing the subject. “I usually only follow the music. I have no knowledge of actual dancing. But I would like to dance with Mashiro. Shall we practice together?”
If there was one thing Mashiro hated feeling, it was confusion.
Surprise was one thing. Mashiro was definitely surprised by the loss of yet another two of their number. He did feel a little bad - he had established a pretty good rapport with both Mari and Nikko, and while he couldn’t consider them close to him like, say, Ayako and Eri, he still had some form of friendship with them, and their brutal deaths were a shock to him.
Anger was another. Speaking of the brutal deaths, whoever murdered Mari really had a sick sense of humour. He couldn’t elaborate on it for some reason or another, but the way they had desecrated her…yikes. Then came the fact he literally tripped over Nikko’s corpse on complete accident. Seriously, the fact they were dead was bad enough, but then they were made to look like dolls too? That was disrespectful, and it made him mad.
But this…this was murder without motive. Mashiro was extremely confused. The Oni hadn’t even began to offer any incentive! Everything was splitting apart at the seams…just what the heck was going on?!
Ayako stood in silence, chewing quietly on her fingernail. It was a habit she had dropped long ago, but the stress of the situation was getting to her and showing in even small ways.
“I’m quite puzzled.” Her voice sounded calm to the normal person, but if anyone knew her they would be able to sense the light shakiness in her voice. As a Priestess she was used to the supernatural and things that were hard for some people to understand. She considered it her gift to understand them. But when something was so out of place that it flustered even Ayako, it caused a chain reaction of emotions to brew in her.
Confusion, frustration, and even a small shred of fear. She had been warned of a death, but not two. And not this soon. The mansion was disabling her abilities slowly. It was as if there was a dome over this place that changed more than just the energy around them, but also the spirits. Her guides were flustered and this only caused more annoyance for the girl.
“Yeah! That’s the perfect room to hold it in!” She hits her hand with her fist enthusiastically. “Like you said, it serene and nobody goes there so we won’t have to worry about others ruining the moment!” Aya seems practically brimming with energy. “All we would need to do is make a little set-up and get some good food and we have ourselves a romantic date!” She scratches the back of her head with a smile. “Then we can do something like dance in the ballroom.”
“I’m very excited.” Her words were sincere but her monotone voice seemed to make them sound odd. She smile, however, and hoped it showed that she was being honest. “What shall we cook for them? I’m only good at making tea, but I’ll assist in whatever I can.”
Ayako paused for a moment, looking down. “I’m not really all that skilled at dancing. It sounds childish and rather idiotic but,” She said looking back up to Aya. “Although I know Mashiro cannot see me either, I fear I may make myself appear incompetent or stupid if I were to dance with him.”
The echoes of water droplets hitting the surface below her brought Ayako to a startled wake. She sat quickly, allowing her eyes to adjust to the lighting around her. The air was thick and the moisture clung to her skin in dew droplets. Her hair was pinned up in a traditional bun, but when she looked down she could see that she lacked clothing.
In her dreams, she often had sight, but because of this one thing was usually taken from her as well. Having sight made her feel more vulnerable, ironically. Because of this, her mind manifested her feelings into the physical embodiment of feeling naked. Ayako didn’t really mind though. Her body was nothing to fear or be ashamed of.
As she got to her feet, struggling to stay upright on wobbly knees, she glanced around in a somewhat frantic manner. Her heartbeat was steady and she wasn’t necessarily afraid, but this place caused chills to dance up her spine.
All around her was darkness, except for the light of unknown original twinkling across the ripples of water below her. The black waters came to her ankles and, while she could see the stones sparkling below the surface of the water, her feet seemed to disappear below the line. She looked up again, trying to will her vision to enhance.
Her foot moved on its own, bringing her body closer to a small dot a wide distance away from her. Her feet dragged through the water, causing larger ripples to emanate from her. They didn’t fade out as they went, but instead they continued on until the darkness ate them up. It was eerily silent around her. Her heightened sense of hearing had lessened with her gained eyesight, but the quiet was still overwhelming. Only the sound of softly rippling tides and dripping of water from above rung in her ears.
But as soon as that thought registered in her mind, it all stopped. The ripples ceased to exist, as did the sound of water splashing as she moved. As Ayako spun around looking for something to walk towards, the water below her made no noise. The silence was piercing and soon it became unbearable. The Priestess was brought to her knees with her hands clenched tightly over her ears. A scream rose in the back of her throat, but no sound came out. The water made no noise as it engulfed her legs underneath the murky liquid. Her throat was raw, but no screams were heard.
The silence only grew louder and more painful, and soon it felt as though two large hands were gripping her skull like a vice. As she opened her eyes, the reflection of a large creature could be seen in the water. It’s large Blue hands clenched her head with such great force that Ayako could hear the bones cracking in her ears. Even over the deafening silence, her skull caved in with sickening crunches as the Oni erased her.
Her body crumpled to the ground. Although her head was destroyed and her pulp disappeared into the water, her spirit was still there. Her soul left her body, and she could see it floating above her as she sunk deep deep down into the abyss. The Oni’s silhouette absorbed her corpse and soon the light casting shadows vanished as well, leaving her in complete darkness. The water was bone-chilling and her lungs were expanding to point of demolition, but the Priestess felt oddly at peace. The pain was calming and the water’s icy grasp on her felt more like a mother’s warm embrace. Succumbing to this ending didn’t seem to bad.
But as she closed her eyes and allowed herself to sink farther down into the arms of death, the muffled sound of yells could be heard. They broke the peaceful silence and soon Ayako shot up out of the water, her butt resting softly on the rocks below. Her soaked clothes weighed her down and she gasped for air, brushing her matted hair out of her eyes. She was frantic now. That voice sounded so familiar. It must’ve been important. Who was it? What were they saying?
She clambered to her feet, falling over once before managing to stand. She spun around looking at all sides for the origin of the voice. It must’ve been important. Not only did it rescue her from sinking, but it pulled her out of Death’s iron grip. A movement caught her eye and Ayako did a 180 to catch the source.
Wait! She screamed, but again no sound escaped her mouth. The shadow froze. It had heard her, even through the dead silence? It remained back to her for what seemed like hours before turning on it’s heels to face her.
Ayako inhaled sharply. This face. That voice. How.. How did she not recognize it? How did she forget him? He had pulled her out of her fate and she didn’t remember him until he was placed in front of her. Tears escaped her eyes, although her face remained stuck in its confused, but stony look.
You.. It was like a silent movie playing out. Only her lips moved, but this figure seemed to understand her completely. She sobbed and the figure just remained there, smiling sadly at the Priestess. Her Savior stood calmly before her and she couldn’t gather the strength to do anything but sink back down slowly into the water. Her lips fought to move one last time before her head disappeared under the surface. Thank you.. Mashiro.
“Well, we can try and cook for them and make a romantic dinner.” She brings her hand to her chin looking kinda thoughtful. “We’ll also have to set up an area as best we can with the materials we have.” She glances over at Ayako and smiles brightly. “We can totally make this an amazing day in the constant hell that is this place!”
“Alright. I am a bit ignorant when it comes to cooking or romance, so I will follow your lead. Perhaps the Tatami Room would be a good location? Its quiet and serene. And it is usually quite vacant. Perhaps it would work as a good place for romance to bloom, yes?”
“Priestess-” Eri went silent as Ayako bowed, was she supposed to bow now? “You work with ghosts? do you see evil spirits or demons?” Eri was curious about what kind of supernatural things Ayako worked with.
“Trust, that might take a while, multiple events have felt me feeling that I can’t trust anyone”
“I work with a wide variety of things. Whether it be readings, charm making, or,” She gestured to the room around them. “Investigating paranormal occurrences or legends in order to solve them. Overall, I am responsible for bringing spiritual well-being to those I meet.”
“I understand.” Ayako nodded, offering a sincere smile. “Trust should be earned, not expected. But I hope that one day I will be able to earn it from you. However, if you would ever like to share these events to relieve your conscious, I have open ears.”
Aya scratches the back of her head again. “Alright I guess that makes sense, I guess I’ll return a bow or two back, but no matter what, I don’t think I can change how informal I am when I talk, that’s just how I’ve always been.” She stops and looks at Ayako and bows her head a bit. “I’m not really doing this because I’m feeling pressured to, I guess it’s a sign of respect? I mean… That’s what I’m meaning it as.”
She brightens up at the idea of planning a double date. “While Sayuri wouldn’t mind anything, we should definitely make it a romantic occasion! Make sure our dates feel like they’re really loved! Just do everything we can to make this as nice and romantic as possible.” Her voice seems to brighten even more as she brings her hand to her chin. “A homemade dinner, a dance, and…” She blushes. “Time alone with our significant other at the end of the night.”
Ayako simply smiled and nodded. Aya was kind to her and it made her feel a bit odd, but appreciative.
“Romantic?” She sat on the word for a moment, letting the taste of it linger in her mouth. She didn’t know how to be romantic. She barely knew how to show any emotion, but perhaps Aya was more knowledgeable about it than she was. “That sounds very nice. What kind of dinner would you think best for this sort of occasion? I wonder if the Oni would provide us with any materials for such an event.”
discoholicmusic
jacobvanloon
andulkaphoto
vaporwave
annaxmalina
