Chapter 6: Finally a chance to Chotto a Moment...
The girl has her knife in her hand, and the bigger kid has his sasumata. These two are clearly smarter than Tire Iron, as they don't even try and climb into the gap. Instead the bigger kid thrust his sasumata into the crevasse, attempting to shepherd me back into Tire Iron. The gabbled mess of screams and shouts from either side of me make my ears ring as the shout instructions to each other. None of them can reach me, but I also can't stay here forever — and there is no chance in hell they will just let me leave.
I find myself relentlessly ducking under the thrusts of the sasumata. But despite my best efforts I take a blow to the face, a prong hitting me on the left cheek and scrapping up the side of my face. I reflexively close my eyes but I can feel bruises already swelling up on the side of my face and the wounds I'd taken from the information centre window reopen as wetness trickles down my face. I can also that I can taste the coppery metal ugliness blood in my mouth.
The screaming from the metal heads continues. It buries itself into my brain. Like a power drill on the lowest setting and placed against my temple. It doesn't so much as punch a whole in my senses, as slowly tears it's way in one crank at a time.
'Ahhhhh! Alright you little shits, that's it!' I roar out, and snap my eyes open.
I turn away from the girl and the big guy and back to Tire Iron. I then take a step towards him. I can feel the fury in my blood like fire. The testosterone pumping through my veins makes the bites and scraps of the frayed metal wall feel like nothing more than tickles as I drag myself towards him.
I close now. Tire Iron realises I must now be in his reach. But what that fucker doesn't think of is that means he is now in mine – which is my Trump card. He snarls out a cackle and clutches out for me with one of his spindly hands.
His ugly hand comes close to mine, and I slash my hatchet at it – as hard as the limited space allows me.
Metal bites into flesh, then crunches through bone, finally it clangs against the metal shed wall as I sever all four of his fingers from his palm. The blade of my hatchet buries itself into the metal wall, fresh blood dribbling down its blade.
Tire Iron shrikes in pain and reals back. His gang-mates cry out behind me. But it is all nothing but white noise to me. I am getting the fuck out of here, and no one is going to stop me.
As Tire Iron reels back – his voice nothing more than high pitched squealing – I grunt and yank my body through the narrow gap. As I pull myself free, I see Tire Iron is sprawled out on the grass, cradling his mutilated hand and snivelling. At first he does not even notice me. But then the big guy and Hello Kitty scream something from the other end of the shed and he shoots his head up at me.
'K— kakk—' he spits out, his limbs shaking and words filled with spit and pain. He lets his wounded hand fall to the side. Then reaches out for his tire iron. As his fingers find it they slowly curl around the grip, tightening till his knuckles. He struggles to his feet in front of me. It was morbidly pathetic, and despite my anger I can't help but feel an ugly tugging at my heart. After all he looks almost identical to a human boy of around seven years old. It's hard to completely shut off my empathy.
He swipes at me with the bar of steel. But he is sluggish from pain and blood loss, so I easily side step the attack. Fatigue and stress makes my hatchet feel heavy in my sweaty grip, and the Summer sun rains down blistering heat on my skin and open wounds. But I bury my heels and brace myself.
He comes at me again, swinging his weapon high overhead, aiming for my skulls. However, with how slow his staggered movements are, I am able to snatch Tire Irons wrist with my free hand, stopping his attack. Then I drop my axe and thrust my other hand into Tire Iron's gut.
He chokes out a gagging sound and then topples to the ground. That is when my actions catch up with me, I realise I've been savagely beating on a child, and so naturally I feel like a dick.
However, I only have a few moments to take in the moment as I hear the Big Kid shout something, then the sound of stampeding feet as he and the Hello Kitty girl tear off — no doubt to loop back around the shed and catch me.
I shoot a look down at Tire Iron — bleeding and snivelling at my feet. 'I'm… I'm sorry… I guess,' I mumble, then I snatch up my axe and I start to run. I make it back to the main walking trail through the rice fields in a matter of moments. My feet are starting to ache from the relentless running — I was certain there were even some blisters starting to form. But I can also hear the pounding feet of the two remaining metal head kids behind me and I knew there would be no mercy if I let them catch me.
I dash down the track — gasping for air. My axe in my hand still damp with blood and the jostling weight of my backpack taxing my weary joints. It starts to get so intense that my spine aches and my vision is beginning to blur. I need to rest. I need water. I need to get the hell out of here. My skin is now so slick with sweat that it is turning clammy. But rather than let myself slow down I focus all my conscious effort into my feet.
At first I let myself believe for a moment that it is working. The voices of the metal kids heads are beginning to grow distant as I take step after step.
But – just as I allow a little confidence to crawl into my bones – is when I fell.
I am not totally sure what caused me to fall. Maybe I strayed off course and tripped in the irrigation ditch? Maybe a loose rock got caught under my foot. Regardless the next clear memory I have was skidding on the dirt track and toppling backwards to land on my arse.
Pain spikes up my spine from the impact of crashing into the earth and my left leg is burning from where I have clearly twisted my ankle. However, that is not all...
'Ah! Fuck!' I cry out as I try to move, but the burning in my leg flares up as I move. Pearls of sweat and blood trickle down my face and into my eyes. But I wipe then away with my sleeve so I can focus on my leg. There is a deep red gash in my calf from where I my hatchet has clearly bitten into my flesh as I fell.
The metal head's pounding feet and yelling voices are not far off now. But I can't even get to my feet at this point — let alone run.
'Rowr…'
The sound cuts through the spinning world and grabs my attention. Just like it had when I had first heard it at the station. I look up and across from the irrigation trench… the fucking cat from the station is sitting on its paws… staring at me with its head slightly tilted to one side. All in all it didn't look like it had a care in the world.
'Wh… what…' I slur out through a dry throat and lungs.
'Rowr.' The cat — appearing uninterested in my situation — gets up, turns around. Then casually starts to walk away.
'Hey… Hey!' call out – forcing myself to my very shaky feet – despite the absolutely crippling pain in my left leg. 'Don't walk away from me arsehole! I'm only fucking stuck here because I followed you out of the station!'
The cat continued to be a cat – that is to say— not care. It walks away towards the outskirts of the main township — appearing to not have a care in the world.
I narrow my eyes and grit my teeth. Then before I really knew what I was doing I had leapt over the irrigation trench.
The sound of my feet thudding on the tilled earth, followed by my cry of pain causes the cat to crane its neck around. It looks at me for a brief moment from over its shoulder. Then it snapped its head around and starts to run.
'Get back here!' I shout, following the damn feline. I feel disconnected to everything else. The metal heads behind me. The ground beneath me. All I see is that damn cat.
I watch the cat reach a fairly steep ledge. It casually bounces down, surefooted and out of sight. Senselessly I rush after it, loosing my footing at the edge and toppling over.
I tumble down the hill. I feel my ribs, head and limb crack and pound against stones and tree roots. The world swirls and I soon goes black as I fall out of consciousness.
******
In the darkness I am greeted by a face. A boys. Maybe four or five years old. He has pudgy cheeks and wickedly intelligent eyes. I try to figure out if I recognise him. But it is as though ever time I try to nail down his features beyond the basics he… He sides out of view. Like an old youtube video that only displays at 144p. All the parts of a person are there, but he constantly slips out of focus, making it impossible to define anything like the colour of his hair or eyes.
I reach out to him. But then he is yanked away from me. Like a rope is tide to his waist and then connected to a jet as it takes off. He suddenly is in the air and flying away.
I don't know why, but the idea of losing this child terrifies me. My heart races and I can't stop my dream self from sprinting after him. I stretch out my hand as I do so, grasping and clutching desperately for the boy. But it is pointless. He is a thousand miles away in little more of a second. Meanwhile I am being consumed by a shrieking. A high pitched whine of car tires and screaming people. A crying that is equal parts hateful and cold.
I am then pulled away. Not physically, but mentally – I'm not sure if that makes any real sense. But neither does this world I'm in. All I know is that – though I travelled nowhere – I suddenly found myself somewhere very far away. Somewhere that I know is the last place I want to be. But I get the feeling it may be what I deserve.
******
As I open my eyes I am greeted by a sideways view of the metal head kids — the big kid and the Hello Kitty girl at least. Obviously I cannot see their faces. But with neighbours like these I don't really have to see them in their Sunday best to figure out who exactly they are.
I can no longer stand. My wounds, blood-loss and exhaustion all make that very clear. But I roll my head around hoping for a more pleasant view than the two snickering monster children. Behind me I see the Shinto Shrine I had spotted on the map. 'Huh…' I manage to croak out from my throat. It is small, but charming. The beautifully decorated architecture. The soft lapping of the entrance fountain. The rhythmic swaying of a few banners. With no fight left in me, I mutter a silent prayer that they will kill me hear and leave me in this place of peace and beauty. So long as they don't go dragging me back to that shed and the hand beast within it. Regardless there is nothing I can do now.
I wonder… If I bite my tongue really hard, will I pass out and never have to know either way?
'Meow…'
The cat's voice invades through my consciousness in a way that grate on my ears. Let me die quietly! I think, even as I open my eyes to death-glare the feline.
But that was when thing took yet another step towards the insane. The cat is standing between me and the metal head kids. And it is clearly staring them down.
'Meow.' It says.
The metal head kids stop so suddenly in front of the cat that they look like they are about to topple over as they stagger to a halt.
'Meow!' says the cat again, but this time with a intense amount of spite in its tone. It also appears as though there was something more happening with the cat, something strange. Because in my delirium and narrowing vision, I swear I can see a second tail protruding from its back.
'Pzzat ka taaa!' screeches Hello Kitty.
'Zzzt kun!' shouts the big kid. Then they both turn on their heels and begin bolting away.
I pass out again in that moment. However, this time with the smallest sliver of relief. If the metal heads are gone, maybe I'll be okay?
If any dreams came with this sleep, I can't remember them. Only empty, cold blackness. The only thing my mind is at all conscious of is accepting that this is world is no dream. This is my life now. This pain and confusion is my day-to-day. This madness is my reality.
when I wake up this time it is with a sharp breath. I don't want to open my eyes. I want to keep this world at arms reach if only for a moment.
With nothing by the backs of my eyelids to look at. I naturally start to take stock of myself. My tongue feels like gravel. My head throbs like it has been put through a blender. My leg feels like it is about to rot and fall off.
The moment I remember the state of my leg is also the moment that I feel a spasm of hot and yet cold pain trickle through my body.
'Fucking Christ!' I seethe As I clench my teeth and fight back tears.
'Meow…'
Oh you have got to be fucking shitting me… I open my eyes and sit up. I am still by that small shrine. In front of me is that fucking cat. It is sitting there with smug acceptance and wearing that same half cocked stare that I had seen when I first collapsed in the rice fields.
'What the fuck do you want?' I grunt at the cat. It is back to the single tail, and I can't help but wonder if I had only dreamed the second in my fever.
The cat gets up and casually strides towards the main structure of the shrine.
I stare at it from where I am lying in the mud. I already know what I am going to do. It is the same thing I did when I arrived here. With excruciating and throbbing pain — I get to my feet, and followed the damn cat.
The cat doesn't run this time. Instead he leads me to the front of the shrine. Specifically, he leads me to the offering box. The cat then glances at me. Then it glances at the offering box. I raise an eyebrow.
'Meow?' it says. It seems to puzzle at my confusion.
I is pretty clear what the cat is after — as bizarre as it sounds. And as tired, confused and sore as I am, I'd be dead if this cat hadn't come to my rescue. with a roll of my eyes I mutter, 'fuck it,' under my breath. Then I retrieve a 100 yen piece from my wallet, and toss it in the offering box.
The cat looks at me. 'Meow,' it say with more irritation than I ever expected to hear from an animal.
'Okay — whatever,' I grunt. Then I throw every coin I have left in my wallet into the offering box. I am not sure how much there is. But thanks to the vending machine incident the day before, I would guess at around 950 yen.
The cat seemed to nod with a face that — while not impressed — seems satisfied enough. Without another word it gets ups, and struts casually over to a small structure off to the side of the main shine. I recognise it in an instant as a shrine shop — the kind of place where you can buy talismans, goshuins and other trinkets. These shops are often built into the main structure at larger shrines. At medium locations they will be part of the local priests accommodation. But at a tiny, backwater village like this one, there are no resident monks or priests. So small shed-like buildings like this one get built. They are only ever opened two or three times a year for major holy days.
I follow the cat over towards the building with pathetic, hobbling steps. I mentally make a note of needing to find painkillers and some kind of disinfectant as soon as I possibly can.
The cat is sitting by the door to the shine shop. It looks up at me with vivid blue eyes. It is becoming all to clear to me that this is no ordinary cat. But how much did it really understand? For now it seems happy with pocket change. But what good is cash in a place like this?
The cat looks up at the handle of the door to the shrine shop and nods. 'Meow,' it says.
'Okay…' I grunt. 'Why the hell not?' I take hold of the handle, and turn it.
I had expected it to be locked — like the tourist information centre. But to my surprise, the latch clicks and the door swings open. I feel my eyes crawl up my brow in surprise as I open the door, and see a small room — maybe 3 meters by 5 meters. It is carpeted with an ugly blue, rough rug. To one side there is a counter with countless, colourful talismans, charms, and other shrine goods. But what catches my attention more than anything else is what is at the far end of the room. There I can see a desk. A desk with a grey Toshiba laptop on it.
With what energy I have left I find my self taking a seat behind the computer — clicking and sifting through the menus. The folders were all in kanji — so that isn't going to get me anywhere. But what did give me a breath of relief, was the Internet. There seems to be some strange firewall in the computer. I can't find a way to turn it off, and it is blocking me from having total freedom. But I seem to be able to access a number of news pages and other websites. That includes the one that you are reading this on now.
So here I am. Sitting in this weird fucking shrine, with this weird fucking cat in this weird fucking town in this weird fucking world. What do I do next… Well I can't really say. But for now I have the supplies in my backpack. The cat seems to keep away the metal heads, and with the bleeding wound on my leg… Let us just say I don't plan to go anywhere for a while...
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone