The weekend had come like a blissful dream, and Dares had the feeling he’d enjoy the garden more thoroughly in the morning when he was still fresh than at the end of the day when he had time to realize what his life was about. Drifting among the flowers, he could let himself forget.

Until he heard sobbing.

Dares stepped out of the brush into a flat patch by the gateway, where he saw Jun standing over a rabbit, limp on the ground. Jun had fallen to her knees, and her tears pattered softly into the rabbit’s fur, making dark splotches where they landed. Dares felt a wave of mixed fright and bitter disappointment beyond Jun’s beacon of sorrow, and he looked in that direction to a fox that was sprinting down the road and out of sight.

“I see. So that’s what happened.” said Dares.

“It got the mother rabbit… she had babies and now they’re all alone… It’s not fair!” said Jun, cradling the creature in her arms now.

“No. No it’s not. But, life isn’t supposed to be fair, whether or not we want it to be.” Dares’ answer was met with silence. But, that was okay. After a few minutes, when Jun’s tears had begun to taper off, and the mauled creature had begun to stiffen, Dares spoke again. “But, you could also look at it from the fox’s perspective. It was just trying to feed itself, and now it’s wasted that energy on a meal it can’t keep. It didn’t choose to be born a predator.”

“I know that… It’s just…” Jun wiped her eyes.

“We are what we are. Concepts like ‘fair’ and ‘unfair’ don’t factor into it at all. The world won’t cushion your falls. But,” Dares bent over and scooped up the corpse despite himself, feeling, for just an instant, savage jaws clamped around his throat and breaking his neck. He gritted his teeth and spoke on. “That doesn’t mean people can’t cushion each other’s falls.”

Dares carried the dead rabbit to the base of the weeping willow, and set it down carefully, then began clawing away mounds of soft soil, opening up a crevice in the ground.

“Wait!” Jun halted him, giving herself a moment to part with her deceased unmet friend. Solemnly, she stroked its blood-matted fur, then gently closed its eyes. Dares let her, and then tenderly lowered the thing into the pit, and replaced the dirt.

“This story does end well for someone.” said Dares.

“Who?” Jun inquired behind reddened eyes.

Dares touched a hand to the trunk of the tree. “A tragedy for one, and nutrients for another. It’s strange, when we die, our elements don’t really go away. They just scatter and become the lifeblood of something else.” One touch, a thousand years Dares stood sentry over the field that would one day host Koizumi House. A thousand years in an instant, wind and rain and sun. And when those years passed to the present second, Dares felt a new essence join with the willow’s own, making it just the slightest bit grander. A soft breeze whispered through the leaves, and then was gone.

“So this is where you’ve gotten to.” a familiar voice pulled them both out of their melancholy.

“Hello, Shunpei.” Jun said reluctantly, not trying especially hard to not look soured by his presence.

“You.” said Dares.

“What a warm welcome.” Shunpei laughed, what Dares was noticing seemed to be his default response. “We seem to keep running into each other.”

“Hardly. You’ve never taken this path back from school. What are you up to?” Jun grilled him.

“Okay, you caught me.” Shunpei threw his hands up. “I was just coming by to remind you that tomorrow's the big event. I know the anticipation is killing you.”

Dares and Jun exchanged perplexed looks.

“What do I have to do to make you go away?” asked Dares.

“Join my troupe.” said Shunpei.

“I don’t think so.” said Dares.

“Please?”

“No.”

“Pretty please?”

“Hell no.”

“How about now?”

“Jesus Christ, are you five years old?!”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Knock knock.”

“No.”

“Knock knock.”

“I’m not doing it.”

“Knock knock.”

“What?!?”

“Join my troupe.”

“Fuck off!” - Dares felt his entire body trembling with barely contained rage.

“Hey now, don’t get riled up! It’s just my sense of humor.” Shunpei grinned ear-to-ear.

“How many people are even in this troupe of yours?” asked Dares.

“About three if you want to count her?” Shunpei cocked a thumb at Jun.

Dares felt his flesh quiver and his eyes narrow into tunnel vision. His hands flexed and unflexed, meager muscles straining against his skin.

“Your eyes have changed. Are you going to show me something interesting?” Shunpei asked, his face painted with focused anticipation and excitement. Dares realized he was playing right into his hands. Shunpei was gauging him, trying to see what really lay underneath the tip of the iceberg. As soon as he realized this, Dares let it all go, and felt numb again. The angry mask broke away.

Shunpei’s shoulders slumped and he pouted like a child who had just lost an exciting new toy. “Hmm, I guess taunts alone aren’t enough to make your blood boil. Oh well. I can tell you’re holding back. You aren’t ready yet.”

“What kind of joke do you think you’re having at my expense?” said Dares, wearily.

“No joke. I’m entirely serious. I know you want to see it too - what lies outside this town. Maybe you just haven't realized it. But your potential is too great to waste loafing around here.” said Shunpei.

“There are some things you can only do once while you're a kid. Something is moving into place to open a door for us. The world is about to expand. I can feel it.” said Shunpei, tasting the air.

Jun marched up to Shunpei - and slapped him. The sound was crisp and clean.

“Get out.” Jun growled at an uncomprehending Shunpei.

“Excuse me?” said Shunpei.

“I said ‘get out’, you idiot. How can you have so little tact? Can’t you read the situation at all?”

“What do you mean?” said Shunpei.

Dares nodded over toward the willow, where the young rabbits were sniffing at the mound their mother laid beneath.

Shunpei’s eyes lighted with realization. “Oh. I… didn’t realize…”

“And you.” Jun turned on Dares. “Why are you bickering with him? How can you be so insensitive when the dirt is still fresh on your palms? Why can you snap back so quickly? Just leave, both of you.”

“I see. So that’s how it is.” said Shunpei. “Then let me offer this as an apology.” Shunpei held out his hand, pinky extended. Moving deliberately, he closed his other hand around the digit. He locked eyes with Jun.

“What are you…?” said Dares.

Shunpei wrenched to the side. There was a sickening snap as the bones broke cleanly. Jun recoiled in horror.

“What… why would you…” said Jun, eyes wide and lips trembling.

“If this isn’t enough,” said Shunpei, grasping his ring finger.

“Don’t do it!” said Jun.

Shunpei stopped, serene. “Its just a finger or two. A small sacrifice. I’m sure it can’t compare to your pain.”

“What is wrong with you? Do you even have a concept of pain? How can you do that to yourself?” said Jun.

“A concept of pain? Sure. My body registers damage. Does that make you feel any better? Seeing me in pain?” said Shunpei, smiling.

Jun grabbed his wrist and wrenched his hand away. “You’ve made your point, so just stop! Don’t hurt yourself anymore!”

Shunpei gently cupped her face with his good hand, and Dares saw the pinky on his other hand bent out at an unnatural angle.

“As you wish.” said Shunpei, staring at the tears still gently streaming down Jun’s face as they rolled onto his hand, as if contemplating their meaning. His hand came away wet, and he observed it with some interest and that same serene smile.

I see. He distracted Jun from her own pain by redirecting her attention to his. He sacrificed a finger to take her mind off of the rabbit like it was nothing. Dares realized. “A door is about to open?” he repeated the words slowly, letting them sink in. He remembered the dark creatures.

“None of the adults seem able to notice it. But I have the feeling you can. Ever since I first laid eyes on you. You're the key to that door… and my ticket out of here.” Shunpei announced.

“What are you-”

“My game is tomorrow. Be at the field at three. I can’t explain it, but I think there will be some kind of sign for us. If after its over, you’re still not convinced, I'll abandon my claim to you.” said Shunpei.

“Sorry.” said Dares, feeling himself plunged into freezing darkness in the back of his mind. “I don’t believe in fate.”

Shunpei smiled serenely, and something about his eyes changed. Dares couldn’t pin down what exactly, but it unnerved him.

“Alright. I’ll make a wager with you. Let's weigh my devil's luck against your denunciation.”

Shunpei pulled what first appeared to be a small red ball out of his vest. Looking closer, Dares saw that it was a mass of smaller red balls interconnected by a tangled web of twisting fuses - a crow’s nest of cherry bombs. Shunpei, to Dares’ and Jun’s rising horror, struck a match and tossed the sparkling mass into the air over his own head.

“What are you thinking?!?” Dares heard himself shriek in panic, while Jun’s gasp of terror seized in her throat.

Shunpei closed his eyes and stretched his arms out straight to either side of him. The tranquil smile never left his lips, even as the nest fell back to Earth as a rain of hissing time bombs.

“You’re gonna blow your face off, you idiot!”

It was too late.

There was a deafening thunderclap as the pellets exploded into a fiery hail all around Shunpei.