Thinking about Reiko and Mirai, Ren was not able to sleep throughout the whole night. Although at first look, the situation could potentially be great, as there was a possibility of him ending up with both of them, there was a chance to mess things up, and he really didn’t want to lose his wife.
He kept going over and over what she told him before his departure. Each time her words were different, as he couldn’t remember them well, which caused a different scenario to take place in his head.
Fortunately, a knocking on the door of the small, dark bedroom freed him from the horrible repetition.
"Guest? The breakfast is ready," an unknown voice said.
It prompted Ren to get up, crawl on the floor in the darkness, and poke his head into the corridor. There was a saiin waiting there for him.
"Please follow me if you want to eat," she said looking at him from above, since she was standing. It was hard to say as the corridor was very dimly lit, but Ren was pretty sure she was smiling because of the situation, which made him feel slightly embarrassed.
He returned to open the shutters of his window, letting some more light inside, then grabbed his sword, and emerged on the corridor to follow her, eventually ending up in a large cafeteria of sorts, where at several tables sat slightly more than a dozen shinshoku. All of them were saiins, except the young Sora. There were also few guests.
The girl was in the company of Reiko and immediately looked at the young warrior. She waved to him, clearly inviting Ren to sit with them, which was quite awkward, especially because of what happened between him and Reiko. But to avoid them was also to hint to others that there was possibly something going on between them.
He was well aware that he was overreacting, and despite this panic, he was actually looking for an excuse to sit there anyway. This realization pushed him to actually do it.
Reiko looked at him as he was sitting down and only said a short "Good morning" before returning to her food.
"G-good morning," he responded, quickly beginning to eat as well.
"Good morning," Sora said cheerfully before she also focused on the food.
There was plenty of food, but only a few dishes. A lot of rice, some broth to drink. A little bit of meat, and quite the amount of vegetables. Raw, pickled, and even boiled.
They finished quickly, and then to avoid the awkwardness, Ren left the table to approach the old saishu, who was also done with her food in a different part of the space. One glance, that was what she needed to know what he came for.
"After me," she said, then got up, groaning from pain.
Ren followed her as she slowly made her way through the corridors. It was quite an annoying process, but he showed patience until they reached the small room.
It was quite dark, as the only source of light was a single wide gap under the ceiling, which allowed a bit of sunlight to enter. It was further obscured by thick smoke coming from the altar placed in the corner of the space. Incense was burnt there in several bowls.
The smell was heavy but not very distracting, which was quite a surprise to Ren.
"Close the door," the old woman instructed.
He did just that, then observed as she slowly sat on the ground, only to pat a spot in front of her, urging him to join her. He did that.
"This is our meditation room. It's perfect for what you need to do. I want you to put your sword on your lap, close your eyes, focus on the weapon, and meditate. Let your thoughts drift around this Maken and the ghost hidden within. It might take a while, but I used the same method in helping other candidates who asked me for help before you… Although none of them came to me with the Hearteater himself," a chuckle escaped from her mouth.
Ren didn’t find it funny at all, but he followed the instructions, carefully pulling the blade from the saya so the razor wires would not activate, and then closed his eyes.
At first, there was complete chaos in his mind, but the smoke and the silence had a calming effect, allowing him to relax. He obtained focus he never had before, and his thoughts began swirling around the ghost. Before he knew it, he was standing in somebody’s house.
He saw a peasant woman putting her two children to sleep, barely visible thanks to the light coming from the still-burning stove. The faces were too blurry for him to recognize, so he was only focusing on the silhouettes. He could hear the rain outside, playing its music on the roof of the building. The father was finishing his meal, clearly ready to get to sleep too. He seemed tired, probably after a long day of working. The wife slid the door to the kids' room closed, then sighed, slowly making her way to the last, third room of the house – the parents' bedroom.
The vision seemed so strange to Ren at first, but then he realized what was going on, as he had already witnessed similar scenes. Only to confirm his thoughts, the door to the house burst open, and a drenched, dirty man appeared. He had a sword by his belt, but his face was covered by wet hair, sticking closely to the skin. Despite that, he knew exactly who this man was.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
The wife gasped, while the husband grabbed a knife from the table and jumped to his feet. Chuckling, the Hearteater barged in, pulling his sword.
"What do you want?!" the husband yelled.
"We don’t have anything! We are just poor peasants!" the wife begged.
But their words didn’t matter at all. The ghost swung his sword, cutting cleanly the husband's hand that held the knife. Then, with a fluid motion, he stabbed his wife, only to transition to a cut, as he pulled the katana back, and took off the husband’s head, cleanly off his shoulders. The blood sprayed everywhere. The wife screamed, and the door to the kids’ room shot open.
Gasping, Ren awakened from his vision. He was drenched in cold sweat and could feel pain in his chest. No matter how deep breaths he took, it felt like he was not getting enough air, but before the panic settled in, the old woman placed her hands on his shoulders.
"Calm down. Breathe, and calm down," she said.
Her words worked, and he didn’t storm out of the room, instead, he got a hold of himself, gradually regaining control over his body. Despite the heavy smoke, he began feeling like he was indeed getting enough oxygen.
"I see you calmed down," she noticed. "That’s good. Let’s get out, stretch our legs, and eat something. You’ve been here for hours. I want you to tell me what you saw as we have lunch," she said, and then, groaning, got on her feet.
Ren only nodded in response, and then he also got up, following her out of the meditation room. They slowly made their way to the cafeteria, where a meal already awaited them, along with slightly more than a dozen saiins and none of the guests. Reiko was among them.
The saishu guided him to the side she clearly was used to eating at. There were a few vacant spots, so he just took the one on the other side of the table, so they could look at one another as they spoke.
The dishes on the table appeared tasty, but there wasn't much indicating that the life in the temple was rather simple. He paid barely any attention to it, as all he cared for was to tell her what he saw and receive advice, but she seemed to be more focused on the food.
She started eating as soon as she sat down, groaning from pain in her knees, then as she ate a bit, she finally said, "Tell me what you saw."
At that moment, he was already working to fill his belly, but he stopped to talk instead. He told her everything and then looked at her expectantly.
"When you awoke, you seemed scared," she pointed out.
"I was... disturbed," he acknowledged.
"You mustn't be afraid of him. He is trapped in your sword and can't escape. He is at your mercy. You need to understand that," she said.
"I... I do... I think." Despite the words, he actually thought otherwise. After all, the ghost was still able to possess him if he was to use the sword.
"You yourself don't seem convinced," she observed. Then eat some, before finally continuing, "I think that he is trying to scare you. I think he showed you this vision to make you afraid. He will keep doing it if you show any weakness. Be brave, bold! Don't let him scare you. You need to pierce through the walls he built," she said, then for good returned to eating.
At first, Ren thought that she might tell him more, but eventually understood that it was not going to happen, and then resumed eating. As they cleared the dishes, they left, heading back to the meditation room for the second try.
Just like before, it took some time, but eventually, they both were seated in the dimly lit room filled with smoke.
He again closed his eyes, letting the environment calm his senses, and pull him into the depths of his own mind, allowing the next vision to take place.
It came fast. He was now in the middle of a road between two fallows densely covered by tall grass. It was the middle of the day. Initially, he couldn't see anybody and even the sound was missing, but as he waited there, he began catching the hum of the grass moved by the wind. Then the buzzing of the bugs in the air joined. The final touch was two strangers in bamboo hats walking in the distance.
They had backpacks, indicating that they were on a longer journey to somewhere. He looked carefully at them, but none gave him the vibe of the Hearteater. He couldn't see their faces, but he already began assuming they would be blurry, as most did in those visions.
He waited there for quite a while, making his patience run out. As the two approached, close enough for him to normally be able to recognize their faces, the grass on one side of the road moved, prompting the strangers to stop.
They looked in the direction of the sound and watched, just as Ren did. The Hearteater, dirty as always, wearing bloodied rags, stumbled out of it. He seemed weakened, wounded.
"Are you alright, stranger?" one of the travelers asked.
The ghost responded with something Ren didn't quite catch. The travelers also didn't understand, as they looked at one another, exchanging whispers.
"Hello? Mister, are you alright?" The other man asked.
The Hearteater didn't respond. He reached the road, and then his direction changed. He began walking straight at them. They had to sense something, as one seemed to reach for something hidden in the confines of his clothes, but this attempt to be ready was a complete failure.
The ghost suddenly rushed forward, pulling a sword that he swung at one of them. The man dodged by stepping back, and his comrade jumped to defend him, already with a knife in hand. The one who retreated also pulled a similar weapon, but as they tried to fight for their lives, the ghost first sliced their hands off.
The scene quickly turned into another display of violence and carnage. Ren didn't pay much attention, but he saw them both getting cut down before the ghost used their own weapons to cut their hearts and consume them. Finished, he got up with his face all bloody and turned to Ren, then smiled in a very creepy way.
Ren awoke. He was breathing heavily and covered in cold sweat, but it was not as bad as previously.
"Tell me," the saishu urged.
So he told her everything with all the details he was able to recall, including his own behavior.
"Good," she deemed. "This is a start. It's late, so we continue tomorrow," she said, then began getting up.
He was much quicker than her, so he helped her, and then they both left the room. She guided him slowly in the direction of the guest rooms, but as they made it through the temple, Ren noticed Sora and Reiko cleaning the floors of the corridor.
"I'll help them. You go, saishu," he said to the old shinshoku.
She nodded but didn't say a thing, although her lips slightly curved into a smile.
Without a word, Ren joined the two. There were rags at the bottom of one of the buckets they used, so he grabbed one, squeezed the water, and then began scrubbing alongside them.
The atmosphere quickly turned awkward. Reiko would steal glances at him, and her eyes told Ren that she wanted answers. Answers he couldn't give her.
As soon as they finished, he left without actually speaking to her and began searching for the guest rooms. He found his temporary accommodation after a while, and immediately went to sleep, not even thinking about eating anything.