Harumi seemed a little lost, her narrow eyes scrutinizing Ariyama over and over, before she seemingly finally noticed who he was, and gave him a small smile.

"Oh hello, dear. How was school? Is Yaranagi-kun doing well?"

Harumi didn't exactly approve of her son's relationships with the well-known bully at Sasura Academy, but she at least respected it and didn't push for their separation.

Ariyama wondered for a moment what his father would've thought, had he ever even met Yaranagi. He doubted anything good would come of it, but Ariyama banished the thought from his mind.

"Oh, yeah, school was OK. The classes were pretty boring, so it's nice to be able to relax. I have got assignments due tomorrow, but I can rest for a little bit today… Actually, Mom, speaking of today, there's this get-together me and a couple friends are going to go to. I was wondering if it was OK to go?"

Harumi's eyes flickered with a hint of uncertainty.

"Hm, a get-together? With who? Yaranagi-kun, I presume?"

"Yeah, he's going. So are a bunch of my other peers. Machi, Odomura, Matsuragi, and some more."

At the mention of Kazura, Harumi's face lit up substantially. While she wasn't a fan of Yaranagi as Ariyama's friend, his other childhood friend was another matter entirely.

"Ah, Machi-chan? How lovely! It'll be great fun to go there if she's coming too, right? Of course you can go, darling."

Even by calling her by her first name, while sticking with 'Yaranagi' as opposed to 'Yasuke', it was clear from the get-go that Harumi had her eyes on Kazura Machi. And what was worse was that she'd practically been trying to get her and Ariyama together for years.

'Oh, my dear boy, Machi-chan would make a stunning wife. You two would be a lovely couple,' she'd say, which would lead to Ariyama rebutting with something along the lines of, 'No, we're just friends.'

It had gotten to a point where Ariyama had begun kind of dreading seeing Kazura everyday at school, because it brought back all those memories of his mother's insistence on them getting together.

Even if something like that did happen, not that it ever would, he'd want it to be gradual and not anything sudden or out of the blue.

But this time, Ariyama just sighed at his mother's obvious show of affection towards his friend, and tried his best to ignore it.

"Uh, yeah. OK, thanks, Mom. What do you plan on doing today?"

"I just think Machi-chan is the cutes– Hm? Oh sorry, darling. As for me, I'll be doing my regular schedule. Housework, then cooking something nice for dinner, then watching my reality TV at 8:00."

If there was one thing Ariyama knew not to mess with, it was interrupting his mom as she watched her reality TV show, about some people who makeout on an island or whatever…

"Well, I'm supposed to be at that get-together with the others around ten, so I'll be around when you start your TV. I'll be sure to not disturb you. If you need me, I'll be upstairs."

Harumi nodded, and Ariyama gave her a weak smile as he walked past.

Feeling a little numb for some reason, Ariyama dropped his bag on the table next to the couch in the living room, then made his way upstairs.

What was wrong with him?

Seriously, what was wrong? Even that small chat with his own mother felt so off.

Was he depressed or something? It was a bit of a stretch, but maybe that would explain his overanalyzing, his worries about his status in the school, and more…

But no, it would make sense for it to be something as definable as that. The way he was now, Ariyama could be happy, joking one minute. Then the next, he'd feel pretty down on himself and act like not being normal like the others was the worst and most important thing in the world.

But he supposed he always thought that, consciously or not. Another reason to hate that money. Another reason to make his own legacy and rebel, if destroying his family's fortune wasn't possible.

And even if it was, would he have the guts to do it? Tear down his one childhood home, where his mother had secured her love for things like classic arts and piano? Where he had some many memories from years upon years of him staying there?

No.

No way in hell.

And yet he still asked himself, would he do it, if he had the conviction to?

Ariyama was already upstairs now, heading across the hallway to his bedroom, when he just paused and closed his eyes.

No point thinking about 'what-ifs'. He knew nothing good came of them, and that it would just make him more upset. Right now, he should be focusing on the get-together at ten o'clock sharp later that night.

He had to prepare.

Ariyama went about quickly showering in the bathroom, relaxing against the warmth of the cascading water hitting his back and shoulders. He liked how the water eased his tense muscles, like undoing a tight knot on a rope or unraveling a ball of yarn.

As he stepped out and dried his sopping body with a towel, he glanced at his reflection in the mirror. He had to make a double take, just to ensure he was seeing things right.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

There wasn't anything particularly wrong with him, from the outside at least, but he still felt oddly unsettled by the way he looked at the reflection of the mirror.

He looked almost dead, with a sunkenness to his onyx eyes, his matted hair framing his face like a sheet of black. Even his body, which was slim but still healthy, was so much bonier.

It looked as if he had been starved for months.

But he knew it was just his mind playing tricks on him. He'd never look this defeated all of a sudden. If anything, it must have been something that built up over time, right?

But then how come he didn't notice it until now?

He guessed he just needed to take better care of himself. None of his friends had mentioned anything to do with a hollow appearance from him, so he just stuck to the idea of it all being in his mind.

So there definitely was something very wrong with him…

As Ariyama pulled on a simple pair of jeans and black shirt, walking towards his bedroom, opposite the bathroom, he thought over what might even be the issue.

Was it some dietary issue? Was he even eating enough? Was he going to the bathroom enough? Did it have to do with the get-together that night? Was he nervous about that for some reason?

No, he was definitely nervous.

But it didn't make him look so tired, and instead suppressed down to a clenching feeling in his stomach, as if it was about to explode.

Everyone was going to be there, after all.

Ariyama wasn't worried about the likes of Matsuragi or Odomura or even Kazura being there, but the main three he was on the lookout for were Jack, Yaranagi and Takemichi.

Jack wouldn't let the expedition go on without causing some sort of trouble for them, as he always did. Ariyama didn't believe Jack was going to go to this place for just some 'fun', after all.

Yaranagi was ignoring the fact he was leaving Ariyama in the dark while they chatted during school, so Ariyama honestly was hoping it would stay like that and he wouldn't mention it, in case it caused things to get awkward.

And as for Takemichi, Ariyama had sworn to protect him from anything that could cause him harm at a meetup, which obviously included the likes of Jack and his lackeys. Ariyama wasn't ever properly bullied before, but he was feeling quite empathic towards Takemichi. He couldn't imagine the struggle to go to school everyday, into an environment where you were the prey and your predator was after you at every turn.

Ariyama couldn't even ignore Yaranagi's work in hammering this idea of helplessness into the poor brain of Takemichi either. If anything, he could be another person to add it to the list of people who he'd need to protect Takemichi from.

Still soothed from the relaxing cascade of the shower, Ariyama entered his room, inhaling the natural and familiar scent of the small room. It was at least something he could recognise and use to pull himself from his mental war.

First off, he went and kneeled by his shrine on the right wall, closing his eyes and clasping his hands together in prayer. He was religious, probably more than most people his age in the area, but he didn't really care what they thought.

If there was just one thing he couldn't care less what others thought of, it was his religion.

After spending just five or so minutes in silent worship, Ariyama got to his feet and went to his wardrobe. On his way, he passed his cracked mirror, noting once again his weathered appearance. He just hoped a good night's rest would do the trick.

But with the get-together happening that night, Ariyama doubted he would get any sleep at all.

Ariyama opened his wardrobe with a whispering creak of wood. Inside was a rack filled with jackets, shirts and hoodies, all things that were regular prices at most, but nothing that'd be referred to as 'expensive'. Ariyama had perhaps spent a bit too much time making sure that'd be the case for every piece of clothing he bought.

But below that line of tops, was a small shelf level with his knees, that held a row of books that he'd read every so often.

And this just so happened to be one of those times.

Ariyama bent down and skimmed the books for anything he might have found even a little interesting.

His finger stopped suddenly on one spine, with the title 'A History of Sumura's Local Legends'.

It was an oddity, jammed in with the other fiction novels and occasional school textbook. But it was actually a perfect read for him.

He was going to that 'abandoned building' later that night, no? Maybe an ancient haunted house would be thrown in somewhere in a book of Sumura's local legends.

As Ariyama pulled the book from its confines, he shut the wardrobe door and dusted off the layer of dust on the book.

All of these books were mainly gifts from his father, so it was no winner why most were left untouched for so long.

In fact, the only reason they weren't ashes in a bonfire yet was because they were some of the only gifts Ariyama Gotou had ever given his son, so even though they didn't hold any sentimental value, they held value nonetheless, if nothing more than a way for Ariyama to remember his father being an actual person.

So in a way, they were important to him.

Skimming over the blurb at the back of the book, Ariyama sat himself down on top of his futon, finding a comfortable position with his back against the wall. Bleaching the memories of the day from his mind, even if only for a little while, Ari opened the book and scanned the contents page.

As he read over the titles, one of them caught his eye: Ancient Structures + Shrines.

This could be the jackpot.

And sure enough, as Ariyama flicked to the allocated page and began to read, the first picture that showed up was exactly what he imagined the place they're going to would look like.

A flat, wide building made of gray, cracked bricks, windows with the glass shattered, and a huge gaping hole in the roof.

"Interesting…"

Ariyama murmured to himself as he read ahead, taking in information about the many locations and brief origins of different abandoned places around the town.

Ariyama hadn't exactly been given a direct path to follow in order to reach the abandoned building, but he assumed Jack would give out an address sooner enough so they could get there for ten sharp.

Pages and pages filled with crude drawings and blocks of text detailing the histories and mysteries around these places flashed before Ariyama's eyes.

Ariyama expected this to be just a brief history, nor a full breakdown of the whole legend around these dilapidated structures. Just how deep did this rabbit hole go?

His mind jam-packed with information, Ariyama was just about to close the book, making his mind up to flip one last page before giving up.

But that was when something caught his eye.

Among the black sketches and black writing, there on the next page was majorly taken up by a large drawing of a weird circle in red ink, a stark contrast to the dull colors of the rest of the old book.

The circle itself was a bit off, more like an oval. Inside it was some sort of closed eye, with long lashes and an addition of faint wrinkles around the edges.

The attention to detail was baffling, but what was under that blood-colored drawing was even more of an oddity.

'Shrine Gate/Unopened Eye/Door Into Darkness'

They must have all been different names for this weird symbol. And what was this about a 'shrine gate'? What kind of gate looked like that?

Glancing back at the previous page, Ariyama discovered this was some sort of symbol that was carved into these so-called 'shrines'. Even that was a weird word to use when describing an old building.

Reading on, it said that these 'gates' could only be opened in a certain way…

And if this was the type of place Jack was bringing them all, Ariyama would need to know this to be able to enter, right?

'Chant, "L'Unnlak, l'Unnlak. Oner teta dem drore". Then, using your index finger and thumb, pry open the eye to gain access'.

What kind of cult crap was this? The symbol looked like a bloodied pentagram, to start off, and now it's saying he needs to make some incantation? And what language was that? Latin?

Regardless, this book was starting to turn from boring to creepy really quick. Even as Ariyama shut it closed with a puff of dust, he still had those passages burned into his mind.

'Shrine.'

'Gate.'

'Chant.'

'Pry.'

'Gain access.'

Access to what? The best Ariyama could come up with was that it was a fancy way of saying it led inside the building.

It didn't matter anyways. What type of building needed a satanic chant to open? Definitely not one Ariyama would get anywhere close to.

It was getting later and later anyways, and he still had some homework to do, as well as getting a bite to eat. Ariyama didn't feel like having another semi-awkward bit of small talk with his mom right now, so he just went to grab his bag to do his homework in his room.