(Art: “The Rescue,” by Mai-sensei)
We arrived home from our abortive trip to Shiomi’s aunt early in the morning. It was early and there were still stars in the predawn sky. Stars, a blessed change from that other world. I parked and we quietly let ourselves in. Not quietly enough apparently because Tomo leapt from the couch. He stood gaping at me for a moment and then ran forward and swallowed me in an enormous bear hug. “Where have you been? I’ve been calling for days!”
“My phone malfunctioned. Wait… Days?”
I untangled myself from Tomo, took out the phone, and looked. Sure enough, there were half a dozen messages from him, and it showed three days had passed. Tomo’s presence in the living room was explained as well. It wasn’t early morning but evening, around nine. There didn’t seem to be anything that the other dimension didn’t mess with.
“We got lost… In another dimension, Muko, I guess. My phone stopped working, and well… I had no idea. It seems like just one long, hellacious night.”
At this point, Tomo noticed my companion, who stood to one side, looking awkward. “I see you came back with Shiomi-san.”
He said her formal name with an icy tone. The look he gave her matched, to which she contritely looked down and bit her lip. It was the first time I had seen that exact expression. I’d seen pissy, angry, grateful, even self-loathing, but not contrite. I had to admit it was endearing. Cuteness 7 and rising on a cuteness scale.
Jeez, there I went again. I couldn’t even be sure it wasn’t an act. I just couldn’t tell with her. — No, I was being unfair. There had been times she had been vile, but never insincere or deceptive.
“We discussed her behavior, and we came to an agreement,” I interjected.
“Yabai, I hope so.”
Then he turned to her. “No loud music and leave my cigarettes and booze alone.” His tone softened, and he added, “At least ask first.”
“And I suppose you both will want something to eat,” he added.
“In a bit,” I said. Food was an unwelcome thought, but I hadn’t eaten in a while, so I probably needed to.
Shiomi looked down. “I’d like to just go to sleep.” She sounded like she didn’t think she had the right to ask.
“Look,” Tomo continued, “why don’t you go sleep in the bedroom? We can sleep out here. That way, I won’t disturb you when I use the kitchen. Besides, I need to talk to Ume ‘privately’.” He finished by shooting me a dirty look.
“Thanks. — I’ll do better, I promise.” Shiomi said.
She moved toward the bedroom and stopped. “Ume-san, if you could have a list of chores for me tomorrow, I can start helping right away. I’m not much of a cook, though. Mikawa said she wouldn’t feed my cooking to a dog and barred me from the kitchen except to clean up. And Tomo-san, I’m sorry. Don’t be too hard on Ume-san.” Then she bowed and disappeared through the bedroom door.
Tomo looked after her, his eyebrow raised like he was puzzled. Then he returned his attention to me. “You seem to have put the fear of God into her. I hope it lasts.”
“So do I. You have no idea what happened out there.”
“You didn’t sleep with her, did you?”
“No! I didn’t mean that! Why would you say that?” I said.
“Good, I was worried. I kept thinking maybe you’d taken off with her. She’s crazy enough and you… You’re infatuated. Shiomi’s going to be nothing but trouble for you.”
“She actually isn’t as bad as she seems at first. There’s a ton of trauma and a deep fear of abandonment. But if you get past that, she seems sweet.”
“That’s what I mean,” anger and frustration showed in his voice. “She treats you like shit, and you find excuses. I don’t care why she acts the way she does. Bad is bad, no matter the reasons. You’ve bent over backward for her. Been her champion and even saved her life. Then she treats you like that.”
Being called a champion stung. Shiomi had called me on that. No one was happy with me. I had rarely heard Tomo speak like that, so I took it seriously. But…
“Tomo, don’t yell at me. I don’t understand it either.”
“We’ve been together a long time and I can’t stand watching you ruin your life over someone like that. Please let her go. She isn’t your responsibility.”
“Please Tomo, give her one more chance. I can’t explain it, but I feel responsible. Please!”
“Yabai, you are totally out of the fort! Just promise that if she doesn’t live up to your agreement, you’ll ask her to leave. No, that you will remove her and NOT bring her back!” His voice was getting louder and louder. I worried Shiomi would hear.
“Okay.” As I said it, I realized I didn’t know if I would if she went off the rails again.
“Promise, Ume.” He pressed me. “You’ve said you always keep your promises.”
“Trapped,” I thought. “I promise, Shizu-san. If she acts up again, I’ll see that she leaves.” I seldom used his family name, but it made the promise more real.
“Let me tell you about my night,” I continued. “I don’t know if it’ll help you understand how I feel. I don’t even understand myself, but you have a right to know how messed up things are.”
He looked resigned. “Let me get you a beer, and I’ll listen.”
“Better make it coffee. This will take a while and a beer would put me to sleep. I’m knackered.”
“Okay, coffee.” He reached out and touched my cheek. “Ume, I’m glad you’re back. I really was worried. You left with that crazy woman and then just disappeared.”
A few minutes later, he found me nodding and offered to put off the story, but I refused. Tired as I was, I felt compelled to tell it.
“The first part of the trip was pretty normal.” I began. “Some weird voices but…”
Tomo listened patiently as I told him about my journey into Muko, the faceless man, and my near accident. There were a few times he looked like he would interrupt, but he didn’t. By the time I reached our emergency entry into the parking lot, the coffee was gone and half a dozen butts, most of them mine, filled the ashtray. I was getting as bad as Shiomi.
Stretching, I stared into space for a minute, thinking about what to say next. I was so tired and still had the last half of the trip to talk about: the tunnel, kitsune lights, and Swallow Lady, Tsubame Onna.
Tomo misinterpreted and asked, “That it?”
“No, there’s more.”
“Let me get you some more coffee and something to eat.”
The fatigue, coffee, and an overdose of nicotine had left me nauseous. The sound of food was anything but welcoming, but food would help settle my stomach and I hadn’t eaten since I had left early that night. Or was it three days ago? I decided and told Tomo, “Something simple might be nice. Just dashi ochazuke, my stomach is upset. Or pudding?”
“Pudding? Fat-chance of that after worrying me that way.”
“Hahaha, funny guy.”
He left the room and soon came back with the rice and a mug of coffee. Rice went a long way in settling my stomach and the coffee, which he had laced with whiskey, helped with my jangled nerves.
“Before you continue, could I ask you a question?” Tomo asked as I plucked the last grains of rice out of the bowl.
“Shoot.”
“I don’t understand. It sounds like she was pretty beastly to you most of the time. Then she acts like a normal person, and you melt. She’s not even going to stay with you. As soon as Mikawa shows up again, she’ll disappear, leaving you heartbroken.”
It was true. The thought left me sad, both for her and myself. What was that book they made me read back at U-Dub? “Don Quixote.” That was me riding around on my nag, rescuing damsels that didn’t want rescuing.
I was about to say I thought that deep down she knew Mikawa was dead, but he continued first. “Why? Why this girl? I’ll give you she looks good when she’s cleaned up, but there’re plenty of other good-looking women out there. Just tell me why.”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re not even sleeping with her! I don’t understand!”
“Funny, she said the same thing,” I said, introducing the next part of my story.
*** Rocinante (ロシナンテ) (Ume POV) ***
(Art: “Ume Fumiko,” by Mai-sensei)
We had just left the parking lot when she looked over and asked, “Do you want to sleep with me? I’m not trying to exchange it for rent. Sorry about that. I was drunk.”
For a moment, I considered the question, or more specifically, how she had asked it. It seemed a genuine inquiry. No derision or contempt. I got the sense that if I said yes, she would agree.
“No. I don’t think that would be a good idea. It would complicate things.” I knew this was the right answer, for many reasons.
“Tomo?” she asked.
“No, Tomo wouldn’t mind if I sleep with someone else. Our relationship isn’t like that. In fact, he encouraged me to flirt with you, to begin with.”
“I don’t get you. You seem to want me. You were interested back when I worked at the konbini, and keep interfering when I think I’ve found Mika. Why are you acting this way? You’re not even getting any. Are you a saint or something?”
“No, I’m not a saint. People are complicated. Maybe I’m just a white knight who mistook you for a damsel in distress.”
“Damsel in distress! You have no idea. No, maybe you do. I’ve told you enough, I guess. My last rescuer, Mikawa, wanted her pound of flesh. But not you.”
“I’m not Mikawa.”
“No, you’re not. Where were you back then when I needed you?” Her tone was wistful, edged with regret.
There wasn’t an answer to that, so I focused on driving and waited for her to continue.
“You want to hear the next piece? I’m almost done.”
“No, I need to focus on the road. I think it tried to kill us.”
It sounded pretty bizarre saying the road tried to kill us, but Shiomi only said, “Good idea. It feels different now. Before, it was just alien. Now it feels hostile. I don’t sense your guardian spirit either.”
“Right, she didn’t help this time, did she?”
“I don’t think she likes me. She glares at me if I get close to her shrine. She gives me the creeps.”
“I was told she doesn’t like women.”
“Oh… Then how did you get married to her? You don’t have to tell me the whole story, but it seems weird for her to marry you if she doesn’t like women.”
It seemed like a good time to set the record straight. I wondered how Shiomi would take it.
“She thought I was a guy. Everyone did. I’m trans.”
“Really? I don’t think I’ve ever met someone that was trans. That I knew of, at least. Except Tomo and that’s the opposite, isn’t it? I’m glad you told me, especially after the way I’ve treated you.”
Actually, I wasn’t sure why I had told her. It was something she could use against me when she had been drinking or was in one of her black moods. I hadn’t needed to tell her. I don’t tell many people. They don’t need to know, and you never know who might turn nasty. I think that was why Tomo had trouble holding down a job. A bad back was an excuse. He didn’t pass as well as I did.
Shiomi had started another smoke before she continued, “That’s not why you turned me down, is it? I wouldn’t have cared. Butch girls are my fav and that’s what you are to me. I like your energy and always have.”
“No, that isn’t it. It felt like you offered more out of duty than any interest in me.”
She didn’t deny it, instead said, “Nothing like Mikawa. A real white knight.”
By this point, we had reached the bridge just before the Senryukyo Tunnel, and I pulled into the parking lot again. High in the sky, the yellow moon shed light on the mountain on the far side of the bridge. The bridge seemed to lean at a crazy angle, almost as if there were no supports, only their shadows. The supports must have been at a thirty-degree angle. By all rights, the bridge should have collapsed into the river gorge.
I smelled peach smoke and when I looked over, Shiomi handed me a Pianissimo. Two secondary kisses in one night. My luck was running strong.
We smoked quietly, looked out, and I considered the mountain.
“What are you thinking?” Shiomi asked, breaking my ruminations.
“That I don’t want to cross that bridge or go through the tunnel. It was creepy last time, but this time I think it’ll be worse.” I was thinking about the side tunnels and the paintings. All manner of things could crawl out of those passages. I especially remembered the snake kami and the severed limbs.
“Do we have a choice?” Shiomi asked.
I pointed at the road across from the parking lot. “We could use the old 400. I remember from the map earlier that it bypasses the tunnel. There’s another bypass at the second tunnel as well. We could avoid both tunnels and whatever they contain.”
“You must be kidding? We have no idea what’s down that way. Nothing good I bet.”
“That’s what I was thinking. Probably not a good idea. Old road, old terrors, right? But it’s tempting to skip the tunnels and bridges.”
“Tunnels are bad, so I guess you could go around.” She sounded dubious. “It’s not like I have any choice in things. I wouldn’t be here if I did.”
It looked like my luck had run out. The bitter tone was back.
My smoke finished, I slowly pulled out of the parking lot and drove toward the bridge.
Stopping at the beginning of the span, I assessed the situation again. The angle of the supports was wrong, but the bridge seemed solid. At the far end, there was a round hole darker than the rest of the mountain, a black void eye. The memory of the faceless man made me shudder.
On a whim, I opened the car door and stepped out to get a view unobstructed by the ash that streaked the windshield.
The smell of smoke was stronger than when we were here before. An acrid odor of sulfur mixed with a pungent metallic smell. The small hairs in my nose prickled unpleasantly. There was no sound of night insects, wind, or human life. But the night wasn’t silent. There was a thin wailing sound, like tortured souls. I thought it was the river calling me at first, but the sound and direction were wrong. It came from across the bridge, from the tunnel.
That decided it. I would take the old road and hope nothing waited for us on it.
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Note: Not to be trite, but what could possibly go wrong? Old road, old terrors. Join me in the next chapter and find out what goes wrong.
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Story by Nara Moore
Twitter/X:@nara_moore
Mastodon: sakurajima.moe
WordPress: Josei Yuri and Paranormal Romance
Art by Mai-sensei
Twitter: @Maiisheree