It's hot and suffocating.
I could hear screams from everywhere... Mothers looking for their children, soldiers shouting at the enemy, and the raw heat from the pillars of fire blasting up the ground.
"No... Stop it..."
The intense heat and the suffocating air where it feels as if you cannot even breathe... it feels like hell.
But no matter how much dread I felt, I would always hear her voice.
"...!"
It is the voice of someone I knew and she is close to me. Even if I'd never be able to make out what exactly she's saying, just her voice alone is enough to give me strength to continue forward.
Once I got back on my foot and started walking away, away from all the chaos and eventually I'd always wake up no matter how bad and terrifying the situation becomes.
"!..."
It is the same old ceiling that I have stared at for the past few weeks. Even if it is dark I could still tell.
It has been a few weeks since Old man Fujimoto took me in, but very often I'd wake up to the same nightmare.... And whenever this happens, I have no recollection of the dream whatsoever.
All I am left with is a feeling of dread and sadness. Left with only the emotions, without the meaning behind them.
It makes me feel extremely frustrated for not remembering the only clue I have to my past.
"Is it the same nightmare... again?"
The boy sleeping on the mattress next to mine asked... Haruto and I slept in the same room, but we never really talked that much because we don't know each other well.
"It's been a few times since I hear you weeping in your sleep. I try my best to ignore it but... I can't stand sitting here not being able to help."
"Mmm."
An awkward silence soon followed.
While the boy and I aren't exactly at odds with each other, we don't know each other that well either. This creates a weird, awkward tension between us.
"I will go back to sleep..." I said as I turned over to the other side.
"U-uhm... Would you like to see something?"
"What...?"
"Tonight is full moon so the sight will be great. If you can't sleep properly then I'm sure sitting outside and watching the sky will ease your mind."
"..."
Without a word, I got out of my mattress and headed out for the door.
It was dark but the moonlight dimly illuminated the room, just enough for me to see my way out.
"Ah..." He was right. Tonight is a full moon and the sky is full of bright, shining stars. I could see streaks of white even farther than the stars... It's the galaxy.
The galaxy...? Where have I heard of that before....
"You know, when I was small and had nightmares, Oji-san would come and hug me as he slept."
Haruto had already sat down next to me at the window, watching the night sky as well.
"Of course I grew out of this hugging thing, so I would just comfort myself like this whenever I woke up from a nightmare. And of course there's no way I'd just come and hug you since that's... weird."
"You speak a lot."
"Sorry, it's a bad habit of mine... I talk too much whenever I get the chance to."
"No, I am just amazed."
"Oh?... Ahaha, I am flustered....
Well, I like do like to talk. It's not that there aren't kids my age for me to talk with, it's just that everyone complains when I ramble on too much."
"...Is that so?"
"By the way I have never introduced myself properly even though you're here for days already. I'm Haruto."
"...I know. Stupid."
"Haha, of course I know you knew. This is just for formality. What about you, what's your name?"
"I... I forgot."
"I see... that is troublesome indeed.
Why don't we come up with a temporary name then? At least until you remember your actual name, then we can just treat this as a nickname."
"Mmm."
"How does Shiro (white) sounds? I mean your hair is white and all."
"How unoriginal..."
"Not that huh.... How's Hana(flower) then? Ao (blue)? But you're white so that's weird.... Ah I know, I'll just call you red eyes!"
"...I think I'll take Shiro."
"Haha, happy to know you Shiro!"
The moonlight shone dimly on Haruto's face, I could barely even see his eyes but I'm sure they're looking at me.
"If you need someone to talk to the next time you have that nightmare again I'll be here. I don't like to hear you cry, I'm not a weirdo, so I'd be glad to help comfort you."
"...You are a weirdo."
"Huh? Why?"
"I'm tired, I'm going back to sleep."
_____________
(The next morning....)
"Shiro, will you help Haru run some errands together?
You're new to the village, that's why you should show your face around. Get the villagers to know you."
"It's not that I don't want to go but... won't the people here hate me?"
"What are you saying? Everyone here are just peasants that don't know better, they won't dislike you just because you are different. In fact, I think they might welcome you...
Don't worry, Haru will show you around the town. Just don't talk to any priests or priestesses, I'm sure they'll be very interested in your eyes."
"I'll make sure no priests dares to even approach her, I'll cut their fingers off and feed it to them if they dare!"
"Please don't... only the foul Nobunaga himself would do something like that.
Anyway go get some firewood, Grains, Vegetables, you know the rest. Get some sweets for Shiro too... Here's the money."
"Okay, Ji-chan."
And so we departed for the village....
Fujimoto's house is at the edge of the village, right besides the forest. We had to walk a bit of distance before we reach the center of the village.
"Shiro, you've never seen the village right?"
"No."
"Hmm. The village is built on a small hill overlooking the sea of trees. That huge mountain you see up north next to the forest? It's Mount Fuji."
"Mount Fuji...? That's the mountain next to Tokyo right?"
"Tokyo? Haha, did you mean Kyoto? That's extremely far away!
The city next to mount Fuji is Edo, Shiro. You'll know your way around once you lived a while."
But those names sounded so familiar. Have I heard of them somewhere before?
"Mmm... I don't get it."
Only an hour went by and Haruto has already got all the things he needed. He was an efficient shopper.
He ordered a cart of firewood to be taken to the shack. Then he bought a whole basket worth of food - vegetables, rice and beans.
"And the final thing on the list.... Let's go to the tea house."
"You didn't have to get the sweets for me..."
"Ah it's alright, I want some too. Have you tried mochis before?"
"No..."
"Then let's have some, it's tasty!"
(At the teahouse...)
After he ordered the snacks, both Haruto and I took a seat in the restaurant. It was in the middle of the day so there wasn't a lot of customers.
Soon, the teahouse owner carried plate of sweet mochis over.
"Ah, Haruto-kun. It's been a while since I last saw you- wait, is that who I think it is?"
"Yeah."
"So you're that girl the old man took in..."
The shop owner stared at me from top to bottom...
"Hey, you're scaring her."
"Haha, my bad! You have been the talk of the town for thess two weeks, and they say that it's a miracle you weren't dead.
Tell you what? I heard that the shrine kidnaps little girls to serve as their priestesses and shrine maidens... with a beautiful girl like you around town, you'll have to be careful!"
"...."
"Hey, Oji-san will beat your ass if he knows this."
"Hahaha, it's just a joke of course! They won't kidnap you, but they do need a younger and more talented priestess around the shrine.
If you have nothing else to do, then consider it will you?"
"No."
"At least give it some thought before rejecting it."
Now I know why Old man Fujimoto told me not to speak with any priests around town... They sound dangerous.
"And Haruto-kun, help me pass some information to your old man, I'm sure he'll be interested in this."
"What do you want to tell him?"
"Just yesterday, people we have never seen before came for shelter.... Apparently they're from the next village and a group of bandits had attacked them at night."
"Hey.... Isn't this very serious?"
"Yes. The chief was pretty bothered by it but he never had the chance to tell Fujimoto. So would you do us a favour and tell him for us?"
"Alright then."
"Now then I will stop bothering you kids from enjoying your snack. It's on the house, as thanks for your help."
"Eh? It isn't much trouble for me to tell Oji-san that, I can't-"
"Don't be so polite just eat it. This is also for the little girl as well, she's a first timer so I must set a good image!"
"Alright... Thank you for these, shop owner. And you have been eyeing those mochis for a while now, Shiro."
"Gulp..."
"Well since the shop owner is so kind, I guess we'll have to enjoy it to our best. Go on, let's eat."
I grabbed the soft, sticky mochi with a chopstick and took a bite out of it. I could taste a subtle sweetness coming from the cake, and it was very chewy.
"Mmm...."
"You like it?"
"Mmm."
"Hehe, is that so?"
"By the way... Is Fujimoto-san important around these parts?"
"What's this all of a sudden?"
"The shop owner was speaking as if Fujimoto-san has something to do with the village chief... so I got curious."
"Ah... I see. He's pretty important, because he's the best fighter in the village."
"A fighter?"
"Yes. He is extremely good with a spear, I'm sure you've seen us train a few times."
"...Is he a warrior in the past?"
"Or so I have heard. Seeing as he's so proficient with a glaive, it makes sense. But outside of rumours I have never directly asked him myself.
Honestly, you're better off asking him or the chief yourself if you want to know more about his past. I do know that he's practically like a hermit of the village and that he takes the security of the village very seriously, but outside of that I don't know much."
"I see..."
The old man is a strange person isn't he?...
Nursing someone back to health is one thing, but who would willingly let them stay for so long afterwards?
And to top it off he is a warrior in the past.
"...He is mysterious, but he's not a bad person. I've seen some real villains before, and he's totally different from them! If you have no one to trust at least you can trust him. And me, I'm always trustworthy hahaha!"
"Mmm. Definitely not."
(Chapter end)