窒息性陰
*** Suffocating Shadow (Tomo POV) ***
I took advantage of the time off Miyazaki-sama had given me, to deal with the police. They were upset that I hadn’t talked to them the day before, but I couldn’t have dealt with it then. Eventually, they let me go by midday and promised they would soon apprehend the home invaders. I doubted it, but who knew?
I debated if I should go to work or return to Kan-chan’s. Ultimately, I decided that work would help keep my mind off my problems. When I arrived, I took the cult fliers from the grocery bag. Amid the events of the day before, I had forgotten the fliers even existed. I probably should have taken them to the police now that I remembered them, but handling them made me feel gross. Instead, I threw them into the trash. For a moment, I considered tossing a match in after them. But that would have led to trouble. Starting a fire in a mechanic’s garage would get me fired.
It was such a powerful vision I even saw smoke spilling over the rim of the trash can, flowing into the shadows, and disappearing. I hoped I’d imagined it. With everything that had occurred recently, I couldn’t discount supernatural explanations. With that in mind, I texted Kan-chan.
>Something weird just happened.
>Tell Shiro a youkai may have moved into the motor pool.
It felt silly, but I’d seen too much at this point to discount that something nasty might have invaded my workplace.
The day started fine. I did some paperwork in the office. When I was done, people were working on all the vehicles, so the supervisor sent me to inventory parts. It felt like the supervisor was watching me, even though I never actually saw him, so I was meticulous. Outside the storage room, I heard workers complaining. Saying things like: “I can’t breathe,” “Someone turn on the fan,” and “I just should go home.” It seemed to be one of those days.
After lunch, I was assigned to change the oil on a truck. No sooner was I under the vehicle than it felt like a weight was crushing me. The air seemed thick and oily. I struggled to breathe. It was so bad I thought I would pass out. Lightheaded, I emerged gasping for breath.
The supervisor saw me panting and said, “Look, Shizu-san, you’d better go home. Miyazaki-sama sent me a message to keep an eye on you in case you weren’t doing well.”
I couldn’t argue with him. I wasn’t well, so I went to Kan-chan’s place.
When I arrived at work early the next day, all the motor pool’s lights were on, including the office and garage. That wasn’t all. I called out to my supervisor, “Hay look,” as I pointed to dead rats lying in the corners of the garage.
“Looks like Enjin was busy,” the supervisor laughed. Enjin was the motor pool mascot.
“Couldn’t have been Enjin,” the night guard said as he left. “The mutt started howling soon after I arrived and then ran off. Didn’t come back either.”
Remembering yesterday, a cold chill ran down my back. This was bad.
“Maybe we should call Miyazaki-sama,” I blurted out.
The supervisor gave me a weird look but didn’t comment. Instead, he said, “I need you to look at van five. It’s not starting. Probably the battery or starter.”
Miyazaki-sama later told me he didn’t call her, but even then, I realized it would be weird to call the boss and tell her the dog ran off.
I spent the early part of the morning working on van five. It felt like someone was watching me, but when I checked, no one was there. I’d about finished when the supervisor came over. “When you’re done, take over for Yamada-san. He had to go home sick. He was working on the car four’s transmission.”
At first, I was apprehensive about entering the mechanic’s pit under the car. My memory of getting sick yesterday, combined with the odd occurrences today, made me leery of it. To avoid problems, I tried to get two bright lights to hang underneath the vehicle, but they were popular today, and I had trouble getting even one.
Shadows danced in the light as I entered the pit. Dark, inky shadows that twisted in funny ways. Strange sensations, like icy fingers stroking my back, disturbed me. I tried to convince myself my imagination was working overtime but failed. And if it wasn’t my imagination, I should leave. Only I couldn’t; keeping this job was important. Ume’s income was undependable and once I sent in the last installments of her story, that would run out. I also had my pride on the line. It had been a long time since I’d held a steady full-time job. People treated me well here, and I didn’t want to disappoint Miyazaki-sama after she had gone to bat for me. So I stuck it out, hoping nothing bad would happen.
Things seemed to go well once I was working. I was careful to focus on my task and staying out of the shadows. It was awkward, but everyone else was acting the same way. I wished I could tell them the problem was a youkai, but who would believe that?
I started thinking I would get through the day when Sasaki-san in the next pit over screamed, “I can’t breathe! Get it off me!!”
The noise caused me to turn involuntarily toward the disturbance. The light was now at my back, and I was staring straight into my shadow on the far wall. For a moment, it looked back, and I glimpsed red ember-like eyes. Then everything became indistinct, like looking through dense smoke. I gasped for air, and what I sucked in clogged my throat and lungs. My hands went involuntarily to my throat, clawing impotently. Staggering back, I slammed into the light, which fell and shattered.
“This is it, I thought,” as I collapsed. My vision dimmed while spots floated in front of my eyes. My lungs felt like they would burst.
Momentarily, a wind stirred the stifling darkness and touched my face. The pressure on my chest eased slightly as I gasped for breath. The breeze also carried a rustling sound like leaves, which whispered, “The charms. Use the charms.” Then the breeze was gone, and the darkness pressed down again, crushing the air out of my lungs.
“Charms,” I thought. “What charms?” Oxygen deprivation had dimmed my wits. I fumbled for what the voice meant, and a brief flash of memory punctuated the growing darkness of my mind.
Kao was reaching out, trying to present me with a handful of Shinto charms. “Here, take these. They’ll protect you.”
“I have plenty. Thanks,” I’d said, showing her the collection of amulets Ume, Kawanami-san, and Mikito-sensei had presented me over the last few months.
“Those are for Mikawa-san and ghosts, these are more general,” Kao urged.
The image receded, but a sluggish realization occurred to me. “Oh, those charms!”
My hand was already at my throat, and I fumbled to pull the charms out from under my shirt, but my fingers couldn’t find the cords the amulets hung from. Next, I attempted to unbutton my shirt but lacked the coordination. The buttons slipped out of my deadened fingers.
“I’m going to die,” I thought, and using the last of my strength to tear the shirt open, buttons flying, and grasped a charm. I prayed it was one of the new ones, not a ghost charm.
“Ahhha,” I could breathe momentarily, and the darkness receded. Then it slammed back down, along with a weight on my chest, keeping me from breathing.
“I want to see Ume and Kan-chan again,” I thought, and another flashback flickered through my brain. This time, Kan-chan was teaching me a chant. “This is the most common mantra I use for protection,” she said. “‘Yatagarasu ga mamotte kureru. Anata no tsubasa ni tsutsuma rete.’ Repeat it.”
The memory only lasted a moment, but with numb lips, I muttered, “Yatagarasu.” In response to the divine name, I saw a dim spark beckoning me in the darkness, and the pressure lightened on my chest.
Yatagarasu ga mamotte kureru
Anata no tsubasa ni tsutsuma rete
The mantra came out in gasps, and the pressure lightened still more. It was enough that I could draw a few ragged breaths.
Yatagarasu ga mamotte kureru
Anata no tsubasa ni tsutsuma rete
A charm next to my hand grew warm. “This must be the right one,” I thought and let go of the charm I held. I fumbled for and then grasped the new amulet. As if from far away I heard someone order, “Shizu breath.”
Yatagarasu ga mamotte kureru
Anata no tsubasa ni tsutsuma rete
The chant was stronger, and I drew a deep breath between each line. Then there was a bright light. A blazing white sun with a huge crow flying up into its light. “Yatagarasu, Amaterasu’s messenger,” I thought.
“He’s breathing,” I heard someone shout, and the blazing light resolved into a lantern and the voice into my supervisor’s. The vision was gone, but not the awe. Was this what they called a near-death experience?
The rest was anti-climatic. I was carted off to the hospital, where I endured a series of tests that showed I hadn’t had a stroke and that my heart and lungs were fine. Miyazaki-san, Kao-san, and Kan-chan visited me, reporting Kao and Kan-chan had cleansed the motor pool, driving out a shadowy youkai.
What I remembered most was the end of their visit. I was apologizing again for being a bother. “Miyazaki-san, I’m sorry for the trouble I caused. I’ll find a place to stay soon and stop disturbing your house.”
I was ashamed I’d brought them the same chaos that had accompanied Shishi.
“You don’t need to feel that way,” she said. “You haven’t caused that much trouble. Certainly, it’s nothing we are not used to. Why don’t you stay with us, at least until Ume comes back?”
“I’m just a mechanic in your company’s garage. I don’t want to trouble you. What would people think?” I would embarrass her, I thought. She was a stylish but conservative dresser, and her language was always polite to the point of stiffness. A proper upper-class lady, unlike me, a mechanic from humble origins.
She laughed. It was a charming sound. She was a charismatic person. Even with how little I had been around her, I could tell. “I may look conventional, but if you continue staying with us, you’ll find I’m not. Just think about it: I’m a lesbian with two wives, both of whom work as kitoushi. And that is only the surface. Besides, Kan-chan is much happier when you’re around. Stay.”
I looked at Kan-chan, who was looking down, fidgeting. “Kan-chan, do you want me to stay?” I said.
“Yeah, I would like that.” Her head dipped lower. So low I could see the white crown of her head amid her pink hair. “A lot, please.”
“Yabai,” I thought.
I looked at Miyazaki-san and Kao. They were smiling. Kao even gave me a thumbs-up. While I was looking, Kan-chan took my hand, which surprised me; she didn’t like to be touched. “Did she care that much?” I wondered. My attention returned to her. Now she was looking at me; her face flushed.
“Sure, I’ll stay,” I said.
“Ume is going to have a field day with this,” I thought. “After the fuss I’d made about being monogamous.”
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Note: That’s one ship dealt with, Tokan. If only Ume and Shishi could do as well.
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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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