*** The Red Door (Tomo POV) ***
*** 赤いドア ***
I woke to the smell of tobacco smoke. It took a moment, but then I recognized the sweet odor of Ume’s cigarettes. It was hard to mistake that slightly fruity smell. But what was she doing here?
Sitting up, I looked around, and in the bedroom’s corner I saw a shadowy figure sitting at Ume’s writing table. The glow of a cigarette flared up and then dimmed, accompanied by the fate crackle of tobacco burning.
“What are you doing here, Ume? I couldn’t reach you on the phone.”
The cigarette flared again, and then I heard her speaking. “Surprised? We ran into some trouble on the road. I thought you’d be pleased to see me again.”
“I am, but I thought something happened to you.”
There was a low laugh, and the cigarette flared again. The room reeked of Ume’s cigarettes. How long had she been sitting there? I was sure she hadn’t been there when I went to bed.
“Something did. But why should you care? You have them out there.”
“What? Who? It’s just a woman from Mikito-sensei’s temple. She came to help.”
There was that laugh again. It made me uneasy. It was a wry chuckle. Ume’s laugh was usually entirely good-natured, even when I was scathingly humorous. She would just say, “Touché.” But this time there had been a slightly bitter laugh followed by, “Yes, those fuckers. The cult people. Do you want to know what delayed me? They ambushed me. We got to Daienji, and they tried to take us away. Crazy shits.”
“I don’t understand. It wasn’t Mikawa?”
“We had it all wrong and Shishi had it right. Mikawa isn’t the villain here. She really is Shishi’s true love.”
“Ume, we heard her at the door trying to get in. She’s dead. She killed Kawanami. You saw her.”
“Did you ever see her? No, you didn’t. I was mistaken. She loves Shishi and Shishi loves her.”
“Mikawa attacked me on the phone.” I was getting less certain. If Ume had changed her mind, maybe it was all a mistake.
“It was the cult.”
The cigarette flared again. The sweet smell of peaches was overpowering, but behind it, there was a foul odor it couldn’t cover.
“You need to remove the wards they put up. They’re cursssed.” The voice was eager. Too eager. Something was wrong here.
“Why don’t you do it, Ume?”
“Becaussse I’m outssside. I can’t get inn.”
“What?”
“You need to wake up Ssshizzuu. Wake up and let me in.”
I sat up in bed. The smell of Ume’s cigarette still hung in the air, along with another odor. The smell of something foul. I would have to find what caused that smell later.
I got out of bed and crept out into the main room, past the sleeping form of Kan-chan.
Outside, I could faintly hear Ume’s voice. “Let me in Ssshizuu. It’sss coold.”
I went to the door. I couldn’t let Ume stand out in the cold. It was so like her to lose her key.
It was dark, and I was still sleepy, so I steadied myself on the door frame or tried to. I jerked my hand away. The paint around the door was still tacky, like half-clotted blood. Why had we painted it red? It was something Kao had said to do. “Make it like a shrine door,” she had instructed.
Only that didn’t make sense. Ume had specifically told me not to paint it red. Why would I do that?
“Let me in, Sshizzu. I’m cold.”
Why was Ume calling me Shizu? She always called me Tomo. I raised my hand to my face and smelled. Instead of the pungent smell of paint, I smelled the coppery odor of blood.
“Let me in Shizu-san.” It was now the voice of the priest, Kawanami. “We want to come in. We want to help you. You’re in danger.”
It was hard to speak. The smell of peonies had replaced the smell of peaches, but the rotten odor remained threatening to suffocate me. “You’re dead. I won’t let you in,” I choked out.
“And whose fault is that?” Kawanami said.
Then the voice changed. It was the voice I had heard the other night begging to get in, but it wasn’t begging now. Instead, the voice was laden with threat. “Let me in, Sssizu-ssssan. I have Ume, and I’ll let you have her if you let me in. You ssshouldn’t let your property wander around like that, whooo knowsss what might happen to them.”
Suddenly, there was a hand on my elbow, and I shrieked. How had she gotten in?!
But before I could jerk my arm away, the person holding it spoke. “Don’t let her in. If she had Ume, she’d also have Shiomi and wouldn’t need you to let her in.” It was Kan-chan’s voice.
When I turned, I found Kan-chan looking at me with concern.
“I wasn’t going to. At least I don’t think I was. It was all wrong.”
“Next time, you may not be so lucky. You were sleepwalking. I’ll sit with you for the rest of the night. — You don’t have any shochu, do you? It would make the wait easier.”
We both got rather tipsy as the night passed. I learned a lot more about Kan-chan in the process. She didn’t talk much until she’d had a few drinks, but then became talkative. I learned she had always wanted to be cute and that she sometimes roleplayed as a cat or maid. Given how she dressed, I had no trouble believing that.
We had finished the shochu, and I had come back from the kitchen with beer, and she giggled, “Shiro would be disappointed in me, drinking with a client.”
“Who’s Shiro?” I asked. It wasn’t the first time that name had come up, and I was curious.
“She’s my mistress. We’re all a family. Kao even went to Canada and married Shiro.”
“Mistress, like in BDSM?” I had to ask.
She nodded.
I blurted out, “That wouldn’t work for me. I mean, sex turns me off. Ume’s a gem. She hardly ever bothers me. And not really bother; she just gets frustrated sometimes. I even told her to date someone. That’s where Shiomi came from. I just never thought it would be someone like Shiomi.”
I stopped, realizing that I might be more than a little tipsy.
Kan-chan put her beer down and looked at me, eyes wide. “I thought I was the only one!” There was a pause and then she continued. “Shiro never makes me do any of that stuff. She… You’d like Shiro. She doesn’t understand, but she accepts and tries.”
Kan-chan picked up her beer again and raised it. “Kanpai.”
We sat silently until she finally said, “I think the sun’s up. We should get some sleep. When I get up, I’ll call the temple and explain that I’m staying here until your wife gets home. In case Mikawa tries again.”
I awoke in the afternoon to the smell of fresh rice, broiled fish, and coffee. For an instant, I thought how nice it was for Ume to make breakfast for me. Then I realized it couldn’t be Ume. It had to be Kan-chan. I was a trifle taken aback that she would take over my kitchen without asking, but then I saw the breakfast she had made. No one had made me breakfast like this since I was a kid. Like magic, my irritation melted away. I could get used to this.
“I thought you might like something nice to eat after all you went through yesterday,” she said. “And Shiro says I can stay a few days, if you would like.”
I agreed and after negotiating a few things, like not taking over my kitchen without permission, we spent the next two days quietly. For the moment, Mikawa had given up on her attack.
I enjoyed Kan-chan’s company. She didn’t bother me with lots of chatter or flights of fancy. At times, she was overly blunt, but I wasn’t in a position to complain. The pot shouldn’t call the kettle black. It might have been idyllic except for the constant worry about Ume, the threat of Mikawa, and the dreaded phone call from Ume’s employer asking where she was.
Things changed suddenly on the fourth day. It was snowing lightly, and we were playing Hanafuda. Kan-chan wasn’t very good at it, but was a good loser. I had just laid down five bright winning the hand when the wind dropped. I wouldn’t have noticed, but Kan-chan laid her cards down, saying, “Hanayome-shin’s gone.”
My companion had her phone out in the next instant and made a call. “Kao, something is happening. Could you get over here… At the temple, good. Have Satoshi-san do a divination… No, no, no, we are not being attacked, the guardian is gone. She left.”
She looked over at me as she waited for information from the other end of the line. “Good, you’re wearing the charms. Don’t look so worried. Hanayome-shin wouldn’t have left if we were in danger. I am just getting Kao in case. — Wait, Kao’s back.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay.”
Then she addressed me again, “They did a divination, and they said there’s a confrontation. Kami and youkai both came up. Best guess Hanayome-shin and Mikawa are facing off again. My bet is on Hanayome-shin.”
Kan-chan put her phone away and dealt a new hand of cards.
She had either gotten much better or I much worse because she won the next three hands and was about to deal a new hand when chaos erupted. The entire house shook and there was the sound of breaking glass and splinting wood.
Our wait had ended.
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Note:
Mikawa just won’t give up. I hope you don’t either because now we have three couples, not counting Mikawa to Shiomi. That’s two romance arcs and whatever Tomo and Ume decide to do with their relationship.
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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
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