Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The horror story falsely claiming
Naming you servant of the night
Now rise up by the name I'm calling
Your soul returning to the light

Once more the ocean's a Lake
 So alike a land awake

The lyrics was sung. A Dark Ocean Summoning. Ghostly projection of a three-pieces band mirrored the Old Gods of Asgard performance on top of the van.

Red midst, a red orb, a tear in reality formed in the lake.

“It’s now or never, Saga!” Shouted her partner.

Agent Saga Anderson of Federal Bureau of Investigation walked to the shore with the Clicker in her hand, her leather shoes dipped slightly into chilling lake.

Hoping for the best, she pressed the light switch.

Tom never said anything about this place.

"We reached him. That's what matter. We can retrace our steps later."

The voices were familiar. But as I drifted toward consciousness, light seared my retinas—too bright, too harsh, like I was staring into the midday sun. I tried to lift an arm to shield my eyes, but they felt like they were weighted down, bound to something heavy, like an anvil.

"Tom's awake," the gruff voice remarked, footsteps echoing against the hard floor as they approached.

I forced out a whisper. "T-too bright."

A shadow passed over me, dulling the light's intensity. The relief was immediate, but I still had to squint as I cracked my eyes open to Odin.

Not the one from the legend, rather, it was the man who had taken his name.

He loomed above me, younger than he had any right to be with fewer wrinkles on his face.

"'Sup, Tom," Odin greeted, casual, like we were just old friends meeting again.

"This isn't the place for beauty sleep," his brother, Tor voiced. His jet black beard gleaming under the lights wasn't how I remembered it to be.

Odin reached out. I took his hand, and he pulled me upright.

As my eyes slowly adjusted to the glare, I noticed floor monitors arranged in precise formation at at the edge of the platform I was standing on. Below us stretched an empty auditorium big enough to hold at least three hundred bodies. The room smelt like sweat and perfumes.

"This is a… stage?" I murmured, more to myself than anyone else.

"It sure as hell isn't that bastard's shows," Tor replied.

I turned back to them. My mind finally catched up with the details that didn't fit; the brothers' younger faces and the energy in their stances. They were supposed to be old geezers.

"Why you two look… young?" I asked.

Tor exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. "The million-dollar question. You look young yourself."

A creeping sensation suddenly crawled on my back. A pair of stalking eyes.

I turned, fast—too fast. My vision swam before settling on a figure in the shadows backstage.

A girl.

Her hair was styled into odd buns that resembled cat ears. She was clutching a broom against her chest, gripping it like a lifeline. Young. Barely twenty. Human. Unmarked by the Dark Presence.

The moment the Andersons followed my gaze, she let out a small 'eep!' and took a step back into the dark, bumping into a speaker.

"Who is she?" I asked.

Odin shrugged. "She wasn't there before."

That wasn't reassuring.

Slowly, I raised my hands in surrender, and forced a smile. I took a cautious step forward.

"I don't mean any harm," I said.

The girl sucked in a breath—then took a hasty step backward.

"Wah—!" She wobbled, nearly tripping over a cable. Again.

The girl wasn't a bait. It couldn't be. The Dark Presence wouldn't create things that felt fear, and her wide eyes were filled with it.

"My name is Wake. Alan Wake. I'm a writer," I said, speaking in English.

Her breath hitched.

"H-how did you get here?" her voice trembled. She also wasn't speaking English. The words were sharp, yet soft, rhythmic. Korean, maybe? I shouldn't have understood her, but I did.

"It's difficult to explain," I admitted. "What about you? Are you trapped here?"

"T-trapped?" she echoed.

She wanted to run. I could see it in the way her muscles tensed. But she didn't move. Fear anchored her in place.

"Tsk, tsk. Tom, I'll handle this."

I barely had time to react before Odin clapped a hand on my shoulder and confidently strutted forward.

"I'm sure you're just as confused as we are, miss. Let's start with introductions."

Odin placed a hand over his chest.

"I'm Odin. Odin Anderson. I play guitar. Here, let me show you."

Without hesitation, he hoisted his electric guitar slung over his shoulder and let his fingers glide over the strings. A riff rang out, thought it didn't sound like an electric guitar at all and more like the twangs of accoustic.

The girl's eyes flickered—caution conflicting with curiosity.

Encouraged, Odin gestured toward Tor. "That's my brother, Tor. He plays drums."

Then, with a sly grin, he pointed at me. "And this handsome guy? He's Tom Zane. He's an auteur."

The girl's brows knitted. "B-but… Mister Tom said his name is Alan Wake. He's a writer."

Odin smirked. "It depends on the perspective. Isn't that right, Tom?"

I shot him a look. The kind that said, What the hell are you talking about?

"Just call me Wake," I said firmly, turning back to the girl. "What's your name?"

The hesitation returned, "I..uh... can't say."

Odin, undeterred, smiled. It was a softer smile than usual—the kind I'd seen my estranged father-in-laws used when interacting with children.

"That's fine. No pressure," he said. "But—you were watching my fingers real close when I played just now. You a musician?"

The girl jolted.

"W-wait—h-how did you—?"

Odin chuckled. "That look in your eyes gave it away. Only musician takes interest in another musician's skill. So what part do you play? Lead guitar? Rhythm guitar? Or vocalist?"

"I-I play guitar! And I sing! Rhythm guitar and vocals!" all the fears, the anxiety, they were gone, replaced by enthusiasm, a connection. A good sign. That meant she was beginning to trust us.

"That spot doesn't look comfortable. Why don't you join us over here?" Odin beckoned.

The girl hesitated for half a second before stepping forward into the light—carefully avoiding cables, moving with an odd mix of caution and eager energy. I finally saw her clearly, and I immediately understood her initial fear.

She was really short, barely reaching above my chest. To her, we must have looked like giants.

"Why were you standing over there?" I asked.

She fidgeted. "I, um... thought you were...trying to kidnap me?"

Tor snorted.

"But! Mister Odin, Mister Wake and Mister Tor appeared out of nowhere! Like—like poof!" She threw out her arms in an exaggerated motion.

Odin chuckled in amusement. "Fair. What did it look like when we 'poofed' in?"

The girl frowned, recalling the moment. "There was… dark smoke. Like shadows on the stage. And then you were just… there."

"Were you hurt?" I asked. Knowing I had dragged an innocent person chewed into my conscience.

She quickly shook her head. "Nope! I mean, I think I'm okay? I don't feel dizzy or anything—just super confused on how you do that?" The girl asked.

"The 'poof' part?" Odin guessed.

The girl nodded fervently.

We looked around, but we felt no oppressive air from the Dark Presence. No clouded mind and the girl was perfectly normal. I glanced at the Andersons. Their expressions mirrored mine. Hopeful. We were no longer in the Dark Place.

"Long story short, we were trying to rescue him," Odin gestured at me, " and defeat an eldritch horror beyond human comprehension by playing a metal song, until we were...teleported here. That's why I have a guitar. "

"Hell, seriously?" Tor deadpanned in Finnish, mirroring my disbelief. It was the truth, yes but why would she believe—

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!? TELEPORTED?!"

Her entire body jolted like a struck chord.

"WAIT—WAIT—WAIT—DO YOU MEAN LIKE, SCI-FI TELEPORT?! OR—OR MAGIC TELEPORT?! ELDRITCH HORROR?!" She flailed, waving her broom around in pure disbelief.

I should've known better than to misjudge Odin.

Odin raised a brow. "Hard to say."

"W-WHOA—!" She pressed her broom to her chest, her entire face lit up like she was about to burst. Then, suddenly—

She gasped dramatically, pointing at us. "THAT MEANS YOU GUYS ARE FROM OUTSIDE THIS PLACE, RIGHT?!"

"That's the idea," Odin said.

The girl inhaled.

And then—

"KYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

I flinched.

The girl hopped on the spot, gripping her broom like it was her own floating magic broom. "THAT MEANS THIS IS, LIKE—LIKE AN ACTUAL ADVENTURE STORY!"

Tor pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

This wasn't a game. Lives were at stakes. But I couldn't bring myself to snuff her positivity. I knew better than to believe in happy endings, but I also knew that optimism—hope, however naive—was the only that kept me from falling apart in the Dark Place.

I breathed out an exasperation and let it go. Maybe she was in denial. Human act weird when they were met with the impossible.

But the girl quickly regained her marble and asked, "Wait, you said you are trapped. You didn't expect it to be here?!"

At least she wasn't screaming this time.

"Something like that," Odin muttered.

She clasped her hands together, her eyes practically glowing.

"Do you need help?!"

"Sure, one moment," I said to her before turning to the Andersons, "do you have cellphone?"

"No." Tor replied.

"Why wouldn't Wheeler buy you phones? You two forced him take you on a tour across the States didn't you?" I asked.

"He did, but we left them back in the nursing home before we drove to the lake. An oversight on our part, we weren't exactly expecting this scenario," Odin replied.

Tor sighed out loud before nodding his head toward the girl, who was eavesdropping with the worst attempt at fake disinterest I'd ever seen.

I sighed again. "Miss…"

"Toyama! Toyama Kasumi," the girl beamed.

"Right, Miss Kasumi, where are we?"

Kasumi jolted like she'd just been shocked.

"E-EHH?! DID YOU JUST CALLED ME KASUMI?!"

I frowned. She became very loud, again, "...Yes?"

Kasumi turned right red. "T-that's so casual! And we just met!"

Odin raised an eyebrow. "You're freaking out over that?"

Kasumi flailed. "Well—it's not a bad thing, but it's so sudden—!"

Kasumi's face flushed red slightly. Then, after a deep breath, she clenched her fists and shook her head wildly.

"Kasumi is fine too!"

"You sure? You seem like you might explode." Odin asked.

I sighed for the umpteenth time. "So, Miss Kasumi—"

She twitched.

"Can I borrow your cellphone?" I asked.

"Sure! One second," Kasumi hummed, flipping her phone around as if double-checking for anything private. After a moment, she held it out,"Here! Mr. Wake!"

I took the phone but immediately frowned at the interface—all written in words that had intricate stroke. I was never the one to care much for technology since the Dark Place didn't exactly keep up with the current technological trend, let alone changing system settings.

"Can you switch the interface to English?" I asked.

"Uhhh…" Kasumi scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "I don't know how to do that, sorry."

"It's fine," I said. At least the call icons and numbers were universal. He turned to the Andersons. "Do you remember Saga's number?"

Odin shook his head. "Didn't get the chance to ask her, but I do remember Wheeler's."

"Wouldn't they charge you extra for calling international numbers?" Tor mused.

Kasumi interjected, "If it helps you, please go ahead with the call, Mr. Wake!"

"I'll pay you back, I promise," I muttered, suddenly aware of how absurd it was to be borrowing a teenager's phone.

Tor rattled off the number, and I dialed, before tapping the call icon.

"Put it on speaker," Tor said.

I tapped the speaker icon. The dial tone rang loudly once—

"Who's calling?" a man's voice answered.

Wake straightened. "Wake. Alan Wake. Is this Barry Wheeler?"

A beat of silence. Then—

"Nope. Wrong number."

Before the man could hang up, I spoke quickly, "Do you know about Alan Wake? The author of the bestselling Alex Casey crime novels?"

"Look, buddy, whoever this Barry Wheeler is, it's not me. I don't know anyone named Barry Wheeler, a'ight? Good day Mister Wake."

The line was cut.

"Shi—" I caught himself mid-word as I noticed Kasumi looking at me.

I exhaled sharply and handed the phone back. "Thank you, Kasumi."

"You're welcome!" Kasumi beamed, pocketing her phone.

"Where are we?" I asked.

Kasumi jumped, "You're at RiNG!"

I frowned. "What is RiNG?"

"It's the name for this live house!"

"…Live house?" I asked.

"Live House is...umm...it's a place for bands to perform to audience. RiNG is the recent live house to be built in this city," Kasumi explained.

"I think a Live House is a music club," Odin guessed,"Is that right, miss Kasumi?"

"School music club?" Kasumi tilted her head.

"Live venue. Concert venue," Odin clarified.

"Ah! Yep! You are correct!" Kasumi nodded enthusiastically.

"I don't remember anyone calling a concert venue a live house," Tor muttered.

I let their words settle for a moment before returning my gaze to Kasumi. "What country is this?"

Kasum replied as if the answer was obvious. "You are in Japan! Tokyo!"

..

A beat of silence.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" Tor shouted, exasperated. I shared his sentiment.

Kasumi blinked in surprise at Tor's sudden change of tone, "What do you mean?! Where were you before the… t-teleportation?!"

"We were in United States," I replied.

"America?!" Kasumi furrowed her brows, then dug into her jeans pocket and pulled out a smartphone. She furiously tapped at the screen. A few seconds later, she frowned.

"Yes, Bright Falls," I said.

"Where is Bright Falls?" she asked.

I wasn't sure what she was up to, but I figured it wouldn't cause any problems to tell her where we were. It might help her understand what's going on.

"It's in Washington," I said.

Kasumi tilted her phone toward them. The screen glowed with a message.

結果が見つかりませんでした

"What does that mean?" Tor asked.

"It says no result found." She turned back to me, suspicion creeping into her voice. "Are you sure that's a real place?"

"It's real," Tor's hand clenched into a fist.

Kasumi suddenly gasped. Some sort realization struck her, "W-wait! You speak Japanese, right? But you can't read?"

I stared at her, frowning.

Kasumi paled. "I-I didn't mean it like that! I swear! I just—!" She waved her hands frantically, nearly dropping her phone in the process. "You sound fluent! But you can't read! It's super weird!"

"I'd wager it has something to do with the teleportation," Odin said.

Kasumi pouted at the response as she went deep in thought.

"Why were you searching for Bright Falls?" I asked

Kasumi hesitated, "I was...curious. How are you going to get back?!"

Before any of us could come up with an answer, the heavy double steel doors under the stage swung open.

"Kasumi, have you cleaned the floors? We're closing for to…day…"

A girl, about the same age, and with a matching blue-collared black shirt to Kasumi stood frozen in the doorway. Deep blue eyes like the sky on a sunny day, but a much deeper, more intense blue that even I can see from the stage. They flicked between us and Kasumi. She had a brown hair tied in a ponytail. They were unnatural colors.

"Who are they...Kasumi?" The blue-eyed girl trailed.

"Saaya!" Kasumi greeted cheerfully as she jumped down the stage to run towards her. We walked to catch up.

"Saaya. This is Alan Wake, Tor, and Odin!" Kasumi introduced us.

"O-okay…? Why are they here?" The blue eyed girl—Saaya— had

her hand was close to her pocket.

"It's—" Kasumi inhaled dramatically, about to launch into an explanation—

I cut her off, "We were just about to head out."

Odin took the hint and smiled politely. "Why don't you lead the way, Miss Kasumi? We don't know the exit."

"But how are you going to head back to America?" Kasumi asked.

"We'll think about it later." Odin replied.

"Okay!" Kasumi led us to a balcony overlooking the main lobby. Saaya suddenly grabbed Kasumi's hand, clenching it tightly.

"Saaya?"

"I felt like holding your hand," she lied.

"Your hands are cold."

"Are they?" Saaya asked.

"And...I-it hurts."

"Oh, sorry," Saaya loosened her hand.

We reached the staircase at the end of the balcony, passing by a cafe as we descended to the main lobby. The place was massive—more plaza than a music venue. A large tree sat at the center, surrounded by glass walls.

A few staff members had gathered at the counter, eyeing us warily when we approached.

"Do we have a booking after closing time, Saaya-chan, Kasumi-chan?" one finally asked.

"Um..."They teleported into RiNG after sealing away an eldritch horror with metal music!"

She said it so matter-of-factly, as if this were the most normal thing in the world. Tor barely stopped himself from rubbing his temples while Odin snorted in amusement.

The staff deadpanned. "…What?"

The situation was about to spiral into complexity.

I stepped forward, diplomatic. "Believe us, or don't. I just need to know if we had broken any rules."

The oldest staff member hesitated before slowly shaking her head. "…No."

"Great. We'll be going now," I said quickly before the staff could point out to trespassing.

I herded the Anderson brothers outside through a glass double doors to the outside.

The sky was pitch black. Not the deep, open blackness full of sparkling stars of Cauldron Lake, but the crowded glow of neon stretching across a skyline. The artificial light painted the streets in electric blues, reds, and greens. The humidity, both artificial and natural, clung to our skin, thick and heavy.

It was a summer. It was also at that moment reality hit us.

"What the fuck do we do now? How do we get back? Saga needs our help!" Tor said.

"Search for the manuscripts?" Odin suggested with forced optimism.

"How the fuck are we going to search for manuscripts? They were seconds away from calling the cops on us! If we were deported back to the States, there wouldn't be second chance!" Tor snapped.

"Why wouldn't we get a second chance?" I asked

"Why do you think they have weird eye colors,? Why do you think Cauldron Lake didn't exist?" Tor asked.

"Yeah...we are not Danny Torrance here, for some reason. But...!" Odin added before enthusiastically turning to his brother, "You always wanted to travel, no? Finland and the Midwest mountains were getting old. At least with these younger bodies, there's less chance of you passing out in your own vomit."

"Fuck you," Tor growled, showing Odin the finger.

"Can we get back on track?" I interrupted.

Tor shifted the weight of his gaze towards me, irritation on his face fading into expectation. "Your ass was the one we tried to save, Tom. You sent us here." He stabbed a finger at me in the air.

"Relax, bro. Being angry wouldn't help us," Odin gently said.

Tor took a deep breath, "right, sorry."

"Got any idea, Tom?" Odin asked.

My mind raced.

Music venue. Door had me walk through a musical to make me remember. Maybe they were connected. Musical. Music. Music was an expression. Music was art.

"Why did the Dark Place bring us here of all places?" I asked out loud.

Tor and Odin glanced at each other.

"You said you were performing a song to pull me out of the Dark Place, right?" Alan asked.

Tor asked, "How is that connected—"

His eyes went wide as he understood my implication right after.

I continued, "What if this venue acted as a beacon for the Dark Place? A way for it to latch onto something familiar. It doesn't explain why you two got younger, or why we are here out of all places, but it's the best theory I have right now.."

"That girl said a dark cloud spat us to that stage," Odin said, "That stage must also have way out, like a door, Maybe someone or something had performed on that stage that teared open a path to the Dark Place."

I glanced back at the venue glass walls, they were occasionally glancing at us from inside.

"Maybe the girls know something." I said.

"Yeah, the quickest way to jail," Tor deadpanned.

"We don't have time to worry about appearances. We need to settle this fast before the Dark Presence could spread. You said it yourself that you couldn't use your power here. Maybe, that means the Dark Presence haven't got a foothold," I added.

The Dark Place was an infinite expanse, encompassing all reality, but if this reality was not connected...Zane must've written this story to happen. Odin and Tor must've realized this too as their faces turned grim.

"Let's go face the music," Odin remarked.

"That's the best you got?" Tor frowned.

I sighed. Bracing ourselves, we walked back into the building.

"You are back!" Kasumi greeted with a bright smile plastered on her smile, though that wasn't shared by the rest of the staff.

"Hello again, Kasumi." Odin smiled.

"RiNG is closed for today. If you'd like, I can find a free slot if you want to book the stage," the staff at the counter said politely.

"We are not here for that," I shook my head, "I need to ask you a question," I began.

The staff eyes raised their eyebrows in interest, "how can I help?"

"Who performed here on that stage, the one we came from recently?" I asked straight to the point.

"I can't answer that, sorry." the girl with long dark hair said.

That information was supposed to be public knowledge. It's clear she didn't like us.

"It was—" Kasumi blurted.

"Kasumi..." The girl, Saaya, stopped Kasumi before she could spill the bean.

Before the consequences could set in, Heavy oppressive air washed over us, making it harder harder to breathe. Even the people unfamiliar noticed the obvious sign of the flickering light.

"Why is the light flickering?" Kasumi pointed out.

I demanded from the staff, "I need a flashlight."

"I can't, I apologize."

The wind howled, causing the doors upstairs to crash open and slammed shut. The light bulb on the second floor shattered. It went completely dark, leaving only the ground floor—their floor illuminated.

"EEP!" Kasumi's face went deathly pale.

"I need it! The most powerful you got!" the request turned into an order. I looked the staff straight into her eyes.

She complied thankfully as she reached under the counter and handed me a heavy-duty lantern.

"We need the flashlights too," Tor interjected.

"I only have these," the staff pulled out two standard flashlights.

"These will do," Tor picked them up and handed one to Odin.

"Odin, can you stay here? I'll go with Tor," I said.

"Yes, be careful." Odin nodded.

I reached for the holstered in my right belt, only to grab empty air.

"I don't have any gun with me," I said.

"A gun?!" Kasumi remarked.

I ignored Kasumi.

"Here, bro, use my guitar. " Odin handed his guitar to me, "smack them in the head."

"Thanks." I said before turning to address the staff, "You are safe here. So, please don't go into the dark or follow the whispers. Otherwise, you'll disappear."

"What's going on?" The staff at the counter asked.

"We'll explain everything once we got everything under control." I said.

"I'll go with you," the staff said.

"It's dangerous." I said.

"I need to document everything, otherwise I'll be liable for the damages," she replied.

Bureaucracy was a pain, and she was a dead weight. But she could also a trusted witness when this blow over. I clenched my teeth and made the hard decision.

"Tor I need you to protect her," I said.

"My name's Matsugi," the staff replied.

"Right. Miss Matsugi, grab a flaslight, or any source of light. Its weakness is light." I ordered.

"Will this do?" Matsugi produced her phone and turned on the flashlight function it.

"No. You need a flashlight." I said.

"We don't have any more spare flashlight," she replied.

"...That will do. Stay close to Tor." I ordered.

We sprinted all the way back to the second floor through the staircase. Evading axes and all the running I did in the Dark Place seemed to ironically build my stamina. Tor had no problem keeping up either with his younger body, but we made sure we didn't leave Matsugi behind in the literal darkness.

The room we appeared in earlier was now covered in eerie dark red glow.

"Can you find it?" I asked Tor.

"No. Its influence is very weak."

"Explains why nobody was trying to kill us." I said.

"Who's trying to kill you?" Matsugi hesitated, she pulled out her phone and recorded everything.

"We'll explain later," I repeated.

"That's the source." Tor pointed at a floating black orb defying the law of physics. Shadows around the orb writhed, as if they were dark tentacles being burned by our light.

"We'll destroy it. Be ready for anything." I informed Matsugi. She gripped her phone tightly.

Pointing my lantern at the shadowy orb, I willed that there should be light. The light beam from my lantern grew brighter than the thousands lumen spotlight used in a stadium, brighter than I expected. The orb immediately burned away, and the red hue gradually crawled back into the darkness before the orb shattered.

The room would be thrown into complete darkness if it wasn't for the emergency lights.

In the orb place, laid several manuscripts pages that floated to floor.

"Is it over?" Matsugi asked.

"I don't know," I said, crouching to gather the pages.

"What...was that? How did you make the lantern shine so bright?" Matsugi asked.

"We'll explain everything, let's get back to Odin," we went back downstairs.

Odin had his elbow resting on the counter. She was chatting with Kasumi, Saaya and the rest of the gathered staffs something about 'rock ' from his past.

"You three alright?" Odin said.

"There's no Taken, and we only destroyed the connection," Tor reported.

"That's a relief," Odin breathed out.

"I found some manuscripts," I raised the manuscripts for them to see.

"Really?" Odin went wide-eyed, "give me a favor and read us the manuscripts then?"

"With them around?" I gestured to the gathered people. I haven't had the time to check the content.

"Why not? We'll eventually have to tell them everything anyway," Odin said, "I'm sure miss Matsugi is curious on what had happened too."

"Okay..."

Taking the first manuscript page, I read aloud:

RiNG was Shifune. And Shifune was RiNG.

Music had shaped her life. It wasn't just sound—it was memory, identity, the pulse of something greater than herself. In a world filled with fleeting noise, she wanted to carve out a space where music meant something. Where it could be more than just enter tainment.

From SPACE to the walls of CiRCLE, RiNG was the natural evolution. Not just a live house, but a home. A place where young women could take the stage, pick up guitars, and play with everything they had. A place where a song wasn't just performed, but lived.

More than anything, she had hoped—prayed—that her granddaughter, Raana, would find her own path. Would let it carry her the way it had carried Shifune. The way it had carried Yuri when she lost her way. The way it had carried Kasumi when she lost her spirits. T he way it had carried Tomori when she was lost in isolation. Music gave them direction to their turns and the way they should go.

She wanted RiNG to be that stage—a stage to perform that music. And that, above all, was what Shifune had always wanted.

"Yuri...Ushigome is Rimirin's big sister, right?" Kasumi whispered to Saaya.

Saaya nodded, color also leaving her face.

"How would you know these information?!" another young staff with long black hair demanded.

Kasumi and the other exchanged uneasy glances, but no one stepped in. Maybe because they were just as disturbed as she was. The details were very intimate, and shouldn't be in the hands of old men like us.

"It's not us," Odin replied.

The black haired girl glared at Odin.

"Have you even seen us around before?" Tor came to his brother's defense.

"No. But that could only mean you were stalking us!" the black-haired staff said.

"We couldn't fake what had happened just now, girl. Use your head." Tor replied.

"For all we know, you tampered with the setup to make it look haunted," the black-haired staff scowled.

"Do you even hear yourself speaking?" Tor growled

It was going to escalate.

"Okay…" Odin stepped in, "I understand that tonight's event is...stimulating. But, a shouting match here would benefit no one" Odin looked at Matsugi for help, she was the authority figure.

"Odin-san is right," Matsugi said, and that silenced her.

"Continue to the next manuscript, Tom," Odin said.

I observed the staff. Kasumi had her face buried into Saaya's chests while Saaya gently stroked Kasumi's head. This staff called Taki crossed her arms while glaring at me.

"Are you sure? They are scared," I said.

"I wasn't expecting the manuscript to have that details. They are in this now. Keeping them in the dark wouldn't make any difference. Might be safer that way.." Odin said. He had a point.

"What do you think miss Matsugi?" Odin asked.

"Does the second manuscript contains...personal details?" Matsugi asked.

I read through the content briefly before saying, "No, it might be a method to defeat it."

"It...should be fine then. If anything happens, we can process it together," Matsugi hesitated.

She had made her choice, so, I continued:

Nine bands. Nine different sounds, each carrying their own weight of dreams, passion, and their own interpretation of music.

Today, they had come together for one reason—to create a song to seal the tear in the fabric reality.

When the Dark Place is bridged with the real world, music was no longer an expression. With the right words, the right melody, it could do more than inspire. It could reshape reality.

The Dark Presence already had their eyes on this unsullied reality when Zane had written the bridge into existence, but their power were weak. It was content on lurking in the background, watching the bands rehearsals, feeling the growing power in each ver se, in each note they played. It didn't need to act, until the song was finished, for that last piece to fall into place.

"Hell..." Tor wiped his face.

Everyone processed the words.

After what felt like forever, I began, "We need to speak with the owner of this building. If it breaks free, people will get hurt."

Dying or driven to insanity were too strong of a word when the girls were on the verge of tears, even if they were trying to hide it.

"You still owe me an explanation, mister Wake," Matsugi said.

"I know. But it's better if we explain this to everyone to avoid miscommunication and misunderstandings," I said.

"I'll contact the owner, but..." Matsugi relented, turning towards the teenage staff,"Kasumi, Saaya, Taki, you three should go home and rest. Your parents will be worried if you get home late."

"N-no w-way! I don't want to walk a-alone." Kasumi's voice trembled,

"Kasumi." Saaya softly said, grasping Kasumi's hand, "why don't you sleep over at my place tonight?"

Kasumi sniffed, "C-can I?"

"I'll ask my parents to let you stay," Saaya said.

"O-okay,"

"You should join us room, Taki." Saaya turned to the girl with long black hair, whom was eyeing them.

There was a pause as she visibly took a deep breath. "I''m fine. I don't want to trouble you." Taki replied. Even I could tell her bravado from how much she fidgets around and avoiding eye contact.

"I really don't mind if you join us." Saaya smiled.

"Please join us, Taki-chan!" Kasumi added.

"...If you insist," the girl say reluctantly, or rather, jumped on the opportunity. Though the girls looks like they wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.

"It's confined to this building. We'll make sure it stays that way. If you are scared, give Matsugi a call, we'll be with her," the assurance surprisingly came from Tor.

Odin snorted, "Didn't know you are such a softie, bro."

Saga must've softened him immensely if he didn't even try to deny it.

"Anyway, if anything, Kasumi, we'll be here all night trying to replace all the light bulbs on the second floor. I think I've seen several...dozens?"

"It's two hundred and fifty," the other adult staff said.

"What do you need all that light bulbs for?!" Odin said.

The staff shrugged.

"Back in my day, we didn't need these fancy LEDs to rock and roll for our stage. Just a couple of amps will do and maybe one working light bulb," Odin said.

"I went to that stage you DIY'ed. I almost got blown up by a firework" I added, trying to lighten the mood.

"Th-that sounds dangerous," Kasumi remarked between her sniffles.

Saaya giggled that sounded both fake and genuine, "We should probably get going, Kasumi. Tomorrow is Monday."

"Tomorrow is Monday?! Oh no..." Kasumi said.

"What is it?" Saaya asked.

"I...haven't done my homework."

Given everything that had happened, her problem was surprisingly mundane, and it grounded us to reality. For some reason, I wasn't surprised. She reminded of Rose.

"I'll help you when we get home," Saaya said.

"B-but I left them at my house."

"Oh. Well...we'll worry about that later."

The girls turned to us and the staff before bowing slightly, they said, "Thank you for your hard work."

As Saaya led the girls towards the exit, it was Kasumi this time that had reached out for Saaya's hand.

Kasumi stopped and looked at us, "You all will be fine, right?"

"Eh, we've had worse," Odin shrugged nonchalantly.

I nodded, "you can trust us."

Kasumi smiled.

When the girls were outside, Matsugi grabbed her smartphone and dialed.

"Hello madam Tsuzuki," the girl smiled on the phone.

"Yes we are closing for today, but..." Matsugi glanced at us, "If it doesn't trouble you, madam Tsuzuki, can you... Come to RiNG for inspection?" she asked.

"It's...complicated," she replied.

"No, it's not about broken equipment. It's something that can hurt people."

Matsugi nodded.

Thank you, madam Tsuzuki!" she closed her phone and sighed.

Matsugi turned to the remaining adult staff, "The second floor is dangerous, and everything is on the ground floor have been handled. You can go home if you want."

"Can I stay?" one of the staff voiced out.

"You can stay but don't expect any overtime bonuses," Matsugi teased.

"It's okay. I just need to...wrap my head around everything." the staff voiced.

"Just don't go to the second floor, okay?" Matsugi said.

"Understood."

Then, Matsugi turned to us, "The owner will be here in about 20 minutes. I'll get you three something to drink," she gestured to the benches around the tree at the center of the building, "take a seat in the meantime,"

We heeded her suggestion. We were served with bottled water.

Before long, an old woman with graying hair with a walking cane entered the building. I estimated that she was about several decades younger than the Anderson brothers actual age.

Matsugi stood up, and we followed her lead.

"Good evening, owner," Matsugi greeted.

"What is this about, Ririko-kun?" the woman asked, glancing at us.

"Please let me introduce you to them."

The owner gestured for Matsugi to proceed.

"This is Mister Wake, Mister Odin and Mister Tor. And this is madam Tsuzuki," The old woman slowly nodded at us in acknowledgment.

Matsugi continued, "there's a...supernatural incident that had happened tonight."

"Supernatural?" The owner raised her eyebrows in mixed surprise and skepticism.

"Yes, mister Wake can elaborate more on this incident," Matsugi gestured at me.

Alex Casey's novels had me stringing up words easy. But that wasn't the case here when I said, "There is a supernatural entity called the Dark Presence that wants to turn your music club into something dangerous."

"Huh?" the woman looked like she had just sucked a lemon.

This would go well.

Chapter Text

Odin looked at me, silently asking whether he should take over the conversation. I shook my head. Convincing people was not my forte, much less when it involved the impossible. But I had a feeling I needed to do it myself.

“We were sent here...” I began slowly before recounting our situation, starting with the reason behind our arrival until now. The alternate reality portion—about Bright Falls and Barry Wheeler was omitted. It was too soon for another can of worms.

The owner’s gaze locked with mine once I finished my story, scrutinizing my very soul for lies, trying to intimidate me. I stood my ground and stared back. 

It did something, I think, as she finally lifted her gaze to the second floor that would've been completely swallowed by the darkness if it wasn’t for the city light streaming through the glass wall, throwing warm rectangles across the balcony like misplaced stepping stones.

The owner turned to Matsugi. “Is this true?”

Matsugi fidgeted with her fingers, glancing between us and the owner before deciding it wasn’t worth the headache of keeping it a secret. Even then, her words came out as a reluctant confession.

“Mister Wake’s story is true. The other staff also witnessed it,” Matsugi said to the owner.

“There are cameras if you need more evidence,” Odin suddenly interjected, pointing his finger at the security camera installed on the ceiling just above the counter.

At Odin’s words, the owner commanded Matsugi. “Show me the camera footage.”

Matsugi nodded. She led the owner behind the counter before fiddling with the mouse of a flat-screen computer. She stepped aside for the owner.

The computer screen remained unseen, but I could see the owner’s jaw muscles tighten and release.

Then, the owner’s gaze snapped at me.

“Mister Wake,” she called, her voice could cut an object as she ordered, “that lantern in your hand. Make it brighter.”

The weight of the lantern felt natural in my left hand. I hadn’t realized I hadn’t returned it until the owner mentioned it. Regardless, there was no better evidence than a demonstration.

Pointing the lantern at the upper floor, I flicked the switch, like pulling the trigger of a handgun. At first, it functioned exactly like a lantern bought from any store: the light beam lacked the usual intensity I used to destroy the trace Dark Presence earlier.

Let there be light.

The lantern flared like a second sun for several seconds...before sputtering and dying.

“It needs a new battery,” I faced the owner.

The owner was intensely staring at the lantern as if it were a new, unknown technology. The staff who hadn’t been with me and Matsugi upstairs were recording me with their smartphones. I felt like a magician at a parlor, showcasing my trick. But the attention I was receiving also reminded me of those intrusive paparazzi.

I gestured for Odin to hand me the manuscripts before extending them to the owner.

“What is this?” the owner asked cautiously.

“Manuscripts from the Dark Presence I spoke about. You will understand once you read them,” I explained.

The owner’s gaze never left mine as she cautiously took the manuscripts from my hand. She put on reading glasses from a case she stored in her pocket.

I remembered I had a problem using Kasumi’s phone earlier. Maybe it was the same case for the owner? The manuscripts were written in English.

“Should I read it for you?” I offered.

“Unnecessary,”  she refused simply.

As she scanned the manuscripts, her forehead wrinkled more than a crumpled paper. I knew her reaction would be unpleasant.

“What’s the meaning of this?” the owner demanded. Her voice was low. Dangerously low.

“The Dark Presence observes every detail of individuals they have taken an interest in and turns it into a story. A story that has the power to change the fabric of reality.” I explained calmly.

“That’s ridiculous, what fabric of reality had to do with this?” a voice called out. We turned our heads to find the skeptic: a staff member whom I had yet to make an acquaintance with. She was covering her mouth with her hands. It seemed like openly showing her skepticism wasn’t deliberate.

“Shut up, girl,” Tor barked at the staff. She jolted and dropped her head low, and the owner wasn’t happy about it either.

“Bro..one moment.” Odin gestured for Tor to lean closer with his hand before whispering something into his ear. I couldn’t hear the words, but Tor huffed and crossed his arms. Displeasure was evident in his frown.

“Sorry, miss. We are quite on edge,” Odin said on his brother’s behalf to the staff.

I stifled a sigh at Tor’s abrasiveness. It interrupted my plan.

“We are lucky it hasn’t taken someone yet,” the words escaped my mouth in mild frustration.

“You mean, the Dark Presence... can take someone?” Matsugi asked. Her hearing was sensitive enough to catch my words, it seemed. Her question provided me with the much-needed track to return to the topic.

I nodded, “The Dark Presence can twist your thoughts, make you doubt your sanity until you lose your mind—turn you into a mindless killing machine. At that stage, you are beyond saving. You are already Taken by it.”

I gauged the staff reaction. They seemed neutral, at least on the surface. Matsugi, on the other hand, seemed like she had an epiphany.

“When you were performing a metal song to seal away the Dark Presence, that means it sent people that had been Taken to stop you, right?” Matsugi asked.

“I had to evade them,” I answered while my eyes were asking Odin for help. I knew exactly where this conversation was going. I wasn’t involved in the ritual at all. It was FBI Agent Saga Anderson.

“How did you evade them when the amp needs to be very loud to play that genre?” Matsugi countered.

I tried to come up with a plausible answer, but Matsugi beat me to the punch,  “Does it mean the people that had been taken... had to be...” Matsugi knew the answer, but she was afraid to finish her thoughts.

Odin came near me and whispered, “Take the bullet for us, Tom, yes?”

Son of a...

I clenched my jaws.

Odin had a point. I volunteered to be the negotiator. Claiming ‘It wasn’t me. I wasn’t there' would detract the story and overwhelm them with unnecessary details, and I’m not exactly clean either.

I closed my eyes and nodded,  “I had no choice but to put them out of their misery.”

Matsugi looked horrified. The owner was frowning while the rest of the staff had their eyes wide open.

Revealing that my hand was bloody wasn’t part of the initial plan, if it could be called a plan at all. They could’ve called the police on us at that very moment, but they didn’t. So I dared myself to capitalize on the heavy silence.

“That is why I want you to suspend your disbelief and do what is necessary. My story is ridiculous, I know. Even I couldn’t believe my own situation the first time.”

I turned towards the owner, looking straight into her eyes. “Kasumi, Saaya, Taki, they are all lovely girls. They still have their life ahead of them. Your staff are also among the hardworking and kindest people I have met. I don’t want them to get hurt. That is why I need you to cooperate until I put a stop to this, to keep everyone safe.”

“Planning to charge in by yourself again?” Odin asked incredulously.

“Until we— put a stop to this,” I corrected quickly.

The owner held her chin as she digested my words.

“What is the Dark Presence and what does it want?”  She asked. 

If she was asking questions about the Dark Presence. She was willing to give me the benefit of the doubt. It was good progress.

“Have you read any of Stephen King’s work or H.P. Lovecraft?” I asked, faster than my realization that they wouldn’t exist here.

“I do,” the owner quickly replied.

I let out a sigh of relief. “Then, I don’t have to explain the concept of a cosmic horror entity. The Dark Presence is one, and it wants to take over our reality.”

“Why hasn’t it done so?” the owner asked.

“Like several of Stephen King’s works, it cannot do so because of a seemingly arbitrary reason. In our case, it lacked the power of ‘creativity, work of art,” I explained.

The owner pressed both of her hands onto the cane, gesturing for me to elaborate.

“The Dark Presence is trapped in the Dark Place. A dimension where our creativity can reshape it, which in turn reshapes the places where the barrier between our universe and the Dark Place is the weakest. It’s called an overlap. That is why we performed a song to seal it away at a lake. That lake is an overlap.” I explained.

“Why can’t it simply take over an artist and make them create for it?” the owner asked.

“The artist still needs to think for itself. Completely taking over an artist wouldn’t work since it couldn’t fundamentally create art by itself. So, it resorted to kidnapping and manipulation, making the artist believe they’re creating a work of art to escape when in reality, they are creating the gate between realities,” I answered.

“If this Dark Place can reshape reality, why don’t you, as the writer, ‘write’ the Dark Presence to disappear?” the owner asked.

“It’s not that simple. For every happy ending, it must be earned, and I can’t create something that doesn’t exist into existence. Law of drama. Otherwise, it wouldn’t work.” I said.

“Then, how do we stop it?” the owner asked.

“We need to do what’s written in there,” I  pointed at the manuscript in her hand.

“You said it yourself that the manuscripts are written by people manipulated by the Dark Presence,” the owner scoffed.

“Like I said, the artist still needs to think for itself. The writer could’ve left a loophole for us to defeat it, like the ritual,” I said vaguely.

“Or the ritual was to set it free,” the owner crossed her arms.

I cringed. I realized my plan hinged on the assumption that the ritual would work in our favor.

The owner continued, “Assuming that we continue with the ritual, what would be the song, the music, the lyrics? What are the nine bands?”

“...I don’t know. Maybe there are other hidden manuscripts within this Live House,” I said.

The owner raised her eyebrows, “And, why would there be another manuscript within my Live House?”

“Your Live House is a music club. Music is art. That makes it an overlap where the manuscripts might’ve crossed over into our reality,” I explained.

“There are dozens of independent live houses in Toshima ward alone that can be an overlap. Why did it choose RiNG?” the owner countered.

“What is a...ward?” I asked.

“City Council Districts,” the owner said simply.

It was a hole in my earlier theory that I hadn’t considered; there were many music clubs outside of RiNG. Thankfully, my mind quickly came up with another explanation to keep up the momentum.

“Your Live House is within that overlap, where the barrier between the Dark Place and our reality is thin because your Live House has a story,” I asserted.

“Stories?” the owner asked.

I nodded, “Like a story about murder, or accidents that caused death and haunting. That sort of story that people suspect to be true,”

“There’s no such ‘dark’ creative work associated with my live house, mister Wake,” the owner replied.

It was a miss. I needed another answer.

My mind wandered to a Twilight Zone-style TV show I used to write. The name for that show coincidentally had the same name as a real town in Arizona: Night Springs. It was an Overlap because it was located at a thin, worn place in the world -- where dreams and reality flow together and life is always a little strange.

But it clearly wasn’t the case here.

The show also had millions of viewers and fans alike investing in the story.

The connection suddenly clicked in my mind. 

"A work of art that resonates deeply with people can weaken the fabric between worlds," I quickly added without stumbling.

I looked around at the RiNG lobby.

"This place—the performances here must have created the same kind of resonance. When musicians pour their hearts out on that stage with their songs, and the audience connects with that emotion, it creates a powerful collective experience. That emotional intensity is why the Dark Presence had chosen your music club."

I knew I was grasping at straws with this concoction of extrapolation. But to my surprise, Matsugi and the owner seemed to buy into it as they exchanged worried glances with each other.

I guess I was lucky.

“Did you remember what might turn your club into a target?” I probed, trying to make sense of their reaction to my story, which, to put it bluntly, was an asspull.

“I cannot tell you the specifics,” the owner replied.

“General information would do,” I replied.

“They are young performers, that much I can tell you. The rest would be a breach of privacy. However, there might be videos of them on the internet that might help you with your investigation,” the owner rubbed her temple.

“By young performers, do you mean teenagers?” I clarified.

“Yes. Teenagers, the youth.”

It made sense. Their emotions were all over the place. One minute they're ecstatic about something trivial, the next they're fighting because of another trivial thing. Teenagers… their angst and drama, that kind of raw, unfiltered emotional energy, when turned into a song, would be a powerful thing. 

But if that were the case, it would even be more troublesome. Like Kasumi, teenagers can be overbearing, annoyingly loud, and make really bad decisions at an important time.

“Just to be clear, you are saying we need to search this entire building for more of these manuscripts? That’s the only way to stop it?” the owner asked.

“That’s the gist of it, madam Shifune, or we can try throwing everything at the wall and hope something sticks, but I think it might end up backfiring on us,” I used the owner’s name, trying to build some sort of rapport.

“Shifune is my given name. Tsuzuki is my family name. In Japan, we introduce ourselves with our family name first. I’d like you to use my family name,” the owner corrected.

Tor rolled his eyes at the response, mirroring my disbelief that I kept to myself. Her priority was a bit misplaced in this situation.

“What’s wrong with using your first name?” Odin asked.

“What do you feel when a stranger appeared on your property claiming to fight against a cosmic entity, suddenly used your pet name?” the owner asked.

That explained Kasumi’s reaction earlier, but Kasumi rolled his tongue better than Toyama. He’ll ask her later if they meet again.

Matsugi used the lull to ask a question, “The Dark Presence weakness is light, right? So, will daylight stop it? ”

“Yes. Light is its weakness, and no, they can appear anywhere without a strong light source like the unlit corners of a bathroom,” I explained.

“How long do you need to settle this matter?” the owner asked.

I looked at Odin and Tor for an answer. They both shook their head.

“I don’t know,” I replied.

The owner tapped her cane on the floor.

“Then, closing down this live house is out of the question,” the owner said.

“The light on the second floor needs time for replacements. Why don’t we temporarily close it?” Matsugi piped up,

“Replacing the lights wouldn’t take longer than 3 hours,” the owner countered.

“You can say your Live House is renovating,” I suggested.

“That isn’t the issue here, mister Wake,” the owner sighed, “If I do exactly what you want me to do. People will ask why and go to another live house. A number of my staff will even lose their livelihood. I need a fixed timeline to plan and offset the losses .”

“Maybe you don’t have to close your Live House at all, madam Tsuzuki,” Odin entered the conversation, “me and my bro toured across America. I’m a guitarist and Tor is a drummer. Tom—Wake is a good writer too,” Odin, for the first time, used my real name. He continued,  “We can protect your patrons, even offer them service while we search for the manuscripts in return for a...favor.” Odin hesitated at the last bit.

“A favor?” the owner asked.

“We don’t have passports or money. We are stranded here,” Odin explained.

“So, you want me to put a roof over your head?” the owner asked.

Odin looked at me. The owner’s attention turned to me.

“...Yes,” I answered.

“Employing unregistered foreigners is against the law,” the owner said simply.

Tor let out an audible loud sigh, “Listen, madam Tsuzuki, you’d rather risk your patrons dying? You will bankrupt yourself if that happens anyway.” Tor came down like a hammer.

For once, Tor’s dislike for social niceties worked in our favor. The owner frowned, trying to find another counterargument.

In the end, the grudging reply from the owner to our compromise was, “There would be conditions.”

It was certainly better than nothing.

Toyama Kasumi was lying on the futon and staring at the ceiling. The bedding underneath was soft. Saaya's white nightdress she borrowed, was fuwa fuwa. The air-conditioner made the hot and humid summer night comfortable.

Yet, she couldn't catch a wink of sleep. So many questions swirling in her mind.

How did it know about PoPiPa's SPACE audition from two years ago? That she temporarily lost her voice and her kira kira doki doki? 

Maybe she should've asked Mister Wake before leaving. Walking to Saaya's home had her grab both Taki's and Saaya's hands tightly.

Saaya's parents didn't ask too many questions after inviting them in. Maybe it was because of her weak smile? Or was it because of her weak 'I'm okay'? They even offered to take her to a hospital if she wasn't feeling well. Kasumi refused because she wasn't sick or anything. Afterward, they informed her parents that Kasumi would be staying over.

She admired how nice Saaya's dad and mom were to her.

Kasumi closed her eyes again, hoping it would finally take her to sleep.

Kasumi ...

A barely audible voice suddenly whispered into her ears from the darkness.

Kasumi wasn't sure whether it was a hallucination, yet she immediately crawled over to Taki's bedding next to her, dragging along the blanket wrapped around her body before burying her face into Taki's shoulder.

"K-Kasumi-senpai?" Taki asked, startled.

"Sss-sorry, were you asleep?" Kasumi squeaked.

Taki sighed, "No."

"You can't sleep?" Kasumi asked.

"...Yes."

"I can’t sleep either," Saaya's voice came from the bed above. Kasumi turned around and saw Saaya's head peeking over slightly from the bed. "Taki, Kasumi, do you mind if I sleep with you?"

"You will?!" Kasumi asked. She was glad that there would be another person to make her feel safe.

"…I don't mind," Taki slowly replied.

Saaya brought down her pillow and blanket to the previously occupied Kasumi's futon, squeezing Kasumi between Taki and herself.

Looking back, it was a bit dumb to think the Dark Presence would be like the villain in a magical girl anime, where the power of singing would defeat them and seal them away. Mister Wake was a man and not a magical girl.

"Do you think they would be okay?” Kasumi asked no one in particular while twisting a strand of hair between her fingers.

"They are okay. Matsugi-san said we could come back tomorrow,” Taki assured Kasumi flatly.

Mister Wake, Mister Tor, and Mister Odin were nice people. She knew they would protect them. But... Speaking of mister Odin...

"Did you know that Mister Odin is a really good guitarist?” Kasumi asked randomly.

“Really? Why do you think so?” Saaya asked while Taki shifted slightly in her futon.

“His electric guitar was unplugged, but the stage made his guitar so loud! He can play really fast! Like, really, really fast! He also did some weird things with his fingers that made the guitar sound like a bell. I think it would be fun if Otae meets him. Rokka too.” Kasumi said with as much excitement as her lowered voice volume could.

“Maybe, we should ask Otae, Rimirin, and Arisa to come with us to RiNG too tomorrow,” Saaya added. A little smile on her face.

“That’s a good idea! I think Rimirin can help Mister Wake. She likes horror,” Kasumi replied.

Saaya softly giggled before saying, “Fufufu, that’s true. But maybe we should try heading back to sleep. It’s nearly five. We still have school, remember?”

Kasumi felt dread, not because of the Dark Presence, it was of the teachers. Her homework was back at her house on her study table was untouched. Maybe she should’ve gone to the hospital…

Chapter Text

With legs to their side, the five members of Poppin’ Party sat in either yokozuwari or wariza on the grass. They formed a circle under the shade of a giant decades-old tree. It was hot, but not enough to turn the school courtyard into a sauna.

Yamabuki Saaya unwrapped the furoshiki around her lunch box. For a moment, PoPiPa’s routine lunch made last night a distant nightmare.

“Oh~ Kasumi and Saaya have similar bentos. Onigiri and chicken karaage...!” Tae remarked. Her mouth formed an ‘o’.

Kasumi was holding her peach-colored bento chest-level.

“You’re right!” Rimi clasped her hands together before opening the lid of her own lunch box.

“Saaya’s mom made this for me,” Kasumi chirped.

“Did you and Saaya have a sleepover?” Rimi softly asked.

Kasumi nodded, “Yep! After our shift at RiNG last night, we went to Saaya’s house.”

“We? Was there someone else?” Arisa interjected.

Kasumi touched her right cheek with her finger, “There were Saaya, me and Taki.”

“Taki-chan from MyGO?” Arisa clarified.

“Yep!” Kasumi chirped again with a big smile plastered on her face. Rimi’s expression brightened at the mention of their underclassmen.

A big yawn tried to escape Kasumi. Kasumi quickly covered her mouth. Saaya stifled one of her own, caught from Kasumi.

“So, that’s why you dozed off in class,” Arisa remarked offhandedly, taking a bite from her rolled egg.

“Kasumi is always like that, though?” Tae added while her gaze drifted vaguely towards the flower bed while she ate her own lunch.

“I’m not! I-I did take notes...!” Kasumi pouted indignantly and turned to Saaya, “right, Saaya?”

“Saaya?” Kasumi called out again.

Saaya blinked. The entire conversation had been droning noises. Her brain was in power-saving mode.

“Sorry. I was zoning out. What were you saying, Kasumi?” Saaya smiled sheepishly.

“Zoning out is bad for you, you might trip on something,” Tae remarked.

“Someone needs to look in the mirror...” Arisa sighed.

Rimi giggled.

“In any case, it was not like Saaya to doze off in class too,” Arisa added.

“Saaya dozed off?” Rimi asked. She was unsure whether she was hearing Arisa correctly. Rimi and Tae were in another class together.

“Surprisingly, yes,” Arisa replied.

Saaya laughed nervously. “Hahaha. We couldn’t sleep last night.”

“Is it because of choco coronet?” Tae said out of nowhere.

Arisa turned to Tae, frowning.

“The what now?”

“You know, when you accidentally eat too many sweet things before bed? It keeps your brain all kira kira?” Tae elaborated.

“I get what you mean, but what does choco coronet have to do with it? Did you mean Saaya and Kasumi were eating choco coronet before bed?” Arisa asked.

“Choco coronet is choco coronet,” Tae answered, like it’s a well-known fact.

“Hah? I don’t get it,” Arisa pinched the bridge of her nose, “Actually, forget I asked.”

Saaya faked a small giggle before her gaze fell to the bento box she was holding, then to her lap.

“Saaya-chan,” Rimi softly called out.

“Yes, Rimirin?” Saaya looked up.

“Did something happen yesterday?” Rimi asked gently. Her brown-red eyes big and inviting.

The simple question put her under the spotlight. It made her self-conscious. Saaya could feel her forehead wrinkling as she tried to find a way to break down the story without sounding ridiculous.

“I-it’s okay if you don’t want to tell us, Saaya-chan,” Rimi backtracked.

Rimi had misread her frown. Saaya quickly put down her bento box and waved both her hands.

“I’m not upset, Rimirin! It’s just...I’m just trying to find the right words to explain what happened to us last night,” Saaya said.

The three uninitiated PoPiPa members raised their eyebrows.

“It was teleportation,” Kasumi said before Saaya could continue.

“Teleportation?”

 The three asked out loud at the same time.

Saaya was relieved she wasn’t the one to initiate the difficult part.

Kasumi began, “You see, right, I was sweeping the stage by myself before we closed RiNG, then— then ‘poof!”

Kasumi placed down her bento before mimicking an explosion by clasping her hands into a fist and spreading her arm wide.

“...”

Silence blanketed the group as Arisa, Rimi, and Tae stared blankly at Kasumi. Their head tilts were almost in sync.

“Magicians?” Tae asked.

“Nope! Not magicians! They are foreigners who were teleported from America!” Kasumi answered enthusiastically.

“Do they have guitars?” Otae asked randomly.

“No, that was the other man, Mister Odin! They said the Dark Presence was the reason they were teleported and could speak our language.” Kasumi clarified excitedly.

“...what?” Arisa said finally, “that doesn’t make any sense. Did you leave something out?”

“Nope! That’s the truth,” Kasumi replied.

“That’s the least complicated part of the story.” Saaya interjected.

“Is it more complicated than three foreigners appearing on stage?” Arisa asked slowly while Rimi nodded in agreement with Arisa.

“Actually...yes.” Saaya smiled nervously.

Arisa clenched her teeth. Tae and Rimi stopped eating, holding their breath for the next part.

“One of the foreigners, Mister Wake, found these manuscripts about our SPACE audition and Owner,” Kasumi continued.

“SPACE audition...and owner?” Tae muttered, curious by mention of the live house that was turned into a parking lot.

“Do you mean the audition when we first started Poppin’ Party to perform at SPACE?” Rimi clarified.

Kasumi and Saaya nodded at the same time.

After a short pause, Arisa hesitated, “Are you telling me these foreigners, these men who we had never seen before have manuscripts about our audition? The audition when you lost your voice?”

Kasumi slowly nodded, her smile slowly fading. The memory of losing her voice still stung her, it seemed.

Tae was now laser-focused. Rimi’s lips were a straight line. Arisa’s expression shifted from skepticism to concern as she put down her lunch box on the mat. Saaya could tell that they had the wrong idea; that the three men were stalkers or worse.

The air became thick with unspoken worries.

“Did you two try calling the police?” Arisa asked slowly.

“One of the staff wanted to but Ririko-san stopped her,” Kasumi replied, further cementing the misunderstanding.

“Were the men threatening Ririko-san?” Arisa asked calmly.

Saaya shook her head. “No, they weren’t threatening her. They were—”

“They are good people!” Kasumi butted in before Saaya could elaborate.

“At first, I thought they were trying to kidnap me, so I hid near the backstage. But Mister Odin noticed me and played his guitar. So, I came out and asked them what they were doing. He said he was a guitarist and vocalist. That’s how I found out about the Dark Presence.” Kasumi elaborated.

“You…” Arisa closed her eyes and flared her nostrils. Saaya could feel Arisa’s rising anger, even though she wasn’t the target.

“Arisa...?” Kasumi gulped.

“YOU IDIOT! THAT’S DANGEROUS!”

Arisa snapped.

“Will you follow someone offering you candy?!”

“But they’re not offering candies!” Kasumi countered.

“Even then, why would you go out of hiding when you think they would kidnap you?!”

“They played their guitar…” Kasumi’s voice shrank. It was a weak defense.

“Really?! That’s your reason?!” Arisa retorted in exasperation.

“I can't believe you,” Arisa muttered to herself and massaged her forehead. She seemed more disappointed in herself than Kasumi.

To Saaya, Arisa’s short burst of anger was more passionate, more intense than her usual grumbles. It was also completely different from the cold frustration of betrayal when Tae was late to the cultural festival to help CHU² as a support guitarist.

Or maybe that was Saaya’s own fatigue talking. Arisa always shouted and sometimes called Kasumi baka when she did weird things.

Either way, Kasumi hid her face by looking down, shut her eyes and repeatedly wiped them with her sleeves to stop the tears from spilling. But they did spill in droplets before turning into a torrent that fell on her white skirt.

“Kasumi-chan…” Rimi’s and Tae’s eyes drooped.

Arisa stiffened.  Nobody had to tell her what she did wrong.

But Arisa wasn’t wrong for being angry. Arisa cared deeply for PoPiPa even though she wouldn’t say it directly outside of very specific circumstances. 

Kasumi was too trusting of strangers. If it wasn’t for the supernatural happenings, she would be the one talking to Kasumi rather than Arisa, although she would do more indirectly.

“I’m sorry,” Arisa muttered.

Kasumi didn’t budge. Her body shook with each sniffle. The tears didn’t stop flowing either.

Arisa’s gaze landed nowhere near them. Her mouth visibly twisted before she managed an admission, “I’m just...afraid of you getting hurt. I thought they were bad guys. I really didn’t mean it when I said you were an idiot.”

Kasumi didn’t budge. Arisa’s words weren’t getting through.

Saaya managed to catch an hour of sleep, but by the time she woke up, Kasumi was already fully dressed to return home to grab her uniform and stuff for school.

Saaya should’ve known all along that Kasumi was wearing a mask since then. Her inaction in warning Arisa was the last straw that broke Kasumi’s back.

All she could do now was watch Arisa try to console Kasumi. She might end up making Kasumi worse. She was No Good.

Arisa took out a purple handkerchief with bear embroidery on the corner from her skirt pocket.

“Here, Kasumi...” she offered, her clenched jaws hiding panic underneath.

Kasumi didn’t even turn her head to look at the handkerchief.

Arisa bit her lower lip. She grabbed both Kasumi’s shoulders and shook them.

"Kasumi!" Arisa said out loud and shook her shoulders, trying to snap Kasumi out of her spiral.

Kasumi didn’t budge.

That was when Arisa did the unexpected, she wrapped her arms around her head, allowing her to cry into her shirt.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” Arisa said, almost tearful herself.

The scene caught curious glances from some nearby passing students and prompted whispers. Saaya could almost hear the gossip; boyfriend troubles, relationship problems. Arisa being the student council Vice President certainly fueled it.

Tae and Rimi were wide-eyed by such overt display of physical affection. Even Saaya was surprised.

But then again, Kasumi seemed like she wouldn’t calm down anytime soon.

There was no other way to turn the story into something logical. She had enough people being hurt just because she wanted to keep up appearance. So, she decided to tell everything.

When Kasumi’s cry subsided, Saaya slowly began, “the things that happened at RiNG last night were like something out of a horror movie. It scared us so much.”

The attentions were now on Saaya.

Kasumi was really, really, really terrible with horror. What if that horror was now a reality?

“But the foreigners, Mister Wake and his friends aren’t stalkers, they were the ones who helped us drive it away. The manuscripts were not written by them. They were written by the Dark Presence,” Saaya left out the part that it was according to Kasumi.

“Eldritch horror?” Rimi was surprised.

“Metal music?” Tae asked.

“I’m just at a loss as you are,” Saaya shrugged helplessly, “and we escorted foreigners to the lobby, and they left before we could question them. Ririko-san didn’t want anyone to call the police yet because she didn’t want to make a big deal out of it until Kasumi explained the situation.

But before Kasumi could, they returned and asked us about who performed on the stage. Ririko-san refused to tell them. That was when all lights on the second floor exploded.”

Saaya paused to observe the reactions. Kasumi was still latched to Arisa and had her face hidden. The latter had a frown expressing her skepticism. Rimi and Tae were receptive but completely silent.

Saaya continued.

“Strong wind came down from the second floor, causing the doors to slam close and open. It was hard to breathe. Mister Wake, Mister Odin, and Ririko-san went upstairs with flashlights while Mister Tor stayed behind to keep us safe.

Then, everything returned to normal. That’s when Mister Wake returned with the manuscripts. Ririko-san told us to go home after Mister Wake read us the manuscripts,” Saaya explained.

“That is a strange series of events,” Tae remarked.

“I don’t think strange is cutting it,” Arisa added.

“It was like the scenes in horror movies where protagonist’s friends encountered the ghosts after they didn’t believe the protagonist,” Rimi added softly, though there was a hint of fascination in her voice.

“But Mister—sniff—Wake said that it’s not a ghost, it’s a monster...” Kasumi said while slowly breaking away from Arisa’s hug, her eyes puffy and red. Arisa gently handed the handkerchief to Kasumi, which she quickly used to wipe away the remaining tears.

 “Last night, when I was at Saaya’s place, I tried to sleep, I thought I could hear it whispering—sniff— my name from the dark.”

Saaya also heard whispers of her name. She thought it was her hallucination, so she didn’t want to escalate when everyone was already tired. Maybe this was the right time to ask…even with Kasumi’s emotional state.

“Did you hear it whispering my name too?” Saaya asked.

“No, it only whispered my name,” Kasumi shook her head, scrunched her eyes shut and returned to hugging Arisa, much tighter this time.

The Dark Presence had followed them home. Saaya rubbed her right arm.

Did Mister Tor know this when they didn’t say anything when Ririko-san asked them to go home? Or maybe they had miscalculated since they claimed it was confined at RiNG?

Both possibilities were equally terrifying.

“Does this mean that you can only hear your name being whispered but not to other people?” Tae guessed, surprisingly on the mark.

“That’s…plausible. How did you come up with that?” Saaya asked.

“You were pale when Kasumi said it only whispered her name. It means that it was whispering to you too, but Kasumi could only hear hers.” Otae explained.

Tae could be surprisingly attentive when it comes to something she really cares about.

“If it happens to you both, that means it happened to Taki too…” Rimi was at a loss of words.

“I wonder if she’s okay,” Tae voiced Saaya’s exact thoughts.

Only Saaya and Kasumi, who frequently worked with Taki at RiNG, knew she could be quite the lone wolf, even when she’s with her band.

Arisa was suspiciously silent. She was staring straight into her eyes, searching for any sign that this was a prank. 

“Ririko, Taki, and RiNG staff witnessed it too. I think someone also recorded the incident.” Saaya added for Arisa.

After another bout of silence as all PoPiPa digested the story, Arisa said to herself. “So, what happened last night was because of foreigners showing up in RiNG,”

“Yes,” Kasumi answered, thinking it was directed at her.

“I see,” Arisa acknowledged regardless, “but what is the Dark Presence?” Arisa finally asked, her voice careful and measured.

Saaya shook her head, “We don’t know. Ririko-san told us to go home and come back today. I think Mister Wake and his friends wanted to discuss something without us being there.”

“So, you are planning to go to RiNG today?” Otae asked.

“Yes, after school with Kasumi and Taki,” Saaya nodded.

Before Arisa could respond, Saaya's phone buzzed from her pocket. She took it out and glanced down at the screen, her eyebrows rising slowly as she read the message.

“Is it from Ririko-san?” Rimi asked.

“It’s from Ririko-san,” Saaya nodded, “She’s confirming if we can come to RiNG after school.”

The three uninitiated members of PoPiPa exchanged glances with each other in apprehension.

“I guess we’re going to meet this Mister Wake person after all,” Arisa decided.

“Don’t you have student council work, Arisa-chan?” Rimi asked.

“I’ll try asking Okusawa if she could cover for me for today,” Arisa said.

“I’ll also ask Hinako to cover for my shift today,” Otae added.

“Me too. I’ll ask my mother to skip cram school,” Rimi added.

“Arisa...Rimirin…Otae!” Saaya smiled. Saaya felt a cocktail of determination and joy that touched her heart.

“We are in this together,” Arisa declared as-a-matter-of-factly.

“I think we should ask Taki to go with us, and tell Mister Wake what happened last night,” Tae suggested.

There was some chance that Taki would refuse the invitation but...

“I’ll text her right now, in case we didn’t have enough time for recess,” Saaya nodded. She took out her phone.

“Speaking of recess, we have several minutes left for lunch break,” Arisa gently reminded without an annoyed tone.

The four members of PoPiPa panicked.

The tears from Kasumi’s eyes were quickly wiped away with the edge of her sleeve. She smiled a bright ‘thank you’ to Arisa before releasing the embrace. Her eyes were still red, however.

The mundane happening parallel to the supernatural was off-putting and surreal to Saaya. Regardless, they chomped down their food while leaving nothing to the ants.

“Also…Saaya, Kasumi,” Arisa hesitated, “if you need to use the nurse’s office, just say so. I’ll take you two to the nurse,” Arisa added.

"I think I'll take up that offer, thank you Arisa," Saaya managed a tired smile.

"Thank you so much, Arisa!" Kasumi's hoarse voice betrayed her attempt to regain her usual energy.

"Finish up your food,” Arisa ordered. She turned to the other two, “Rimirin, Tae—”

“Un. Text us if you need anything,” Rimi said as she packed up her lunch box.

“We’ll ask the teachers for permission to exit the class if you need us,” Tae added, nodding along with Rimi.

After lunch breaks, the end of school day couldn’t come fast enough.

Chapter Text

Words were just scratches on paper and vibrations in the air. Yet, they could turn the abstracts into something tangible, something concrete. Through them was how I convinced Owner to give us the benefit of the doubt. But a question still lingered.

Where would we be staying until we deal with our ‘little’ problem?

We got our answer when Owner led us to a room on the ground floor. It was sparsely furnished, with plain chrome-colored tables and chairs in the center. The leather couch placed against the wall was probably the bare minimum for the staff as ‘morale booster’.

Every entrance would be locked. The police would be involved if anything went missing. Prohibited from trying to leave the establishment. These were Owner’s words before leaving the music club to us for the night. Like pouring an entire carton of salt into a fresh large gushing wound. We were basically prisoners. Believing in our story and trusting us were two separate things to her. It stung more than I expected it to be.

Sure, Owner didn’t owe me anything for everything I went through, but she could at least treat me like a human being.

I didn’t have time to dwell upon the matter. Tor wanted to run patrol covering the ground floor. One person would be on sentry duty while the other two rested.

Neither Odin nor I objected to the idea. The Dark Presence might still be active, and being swallowed by self-pity had no place in tonight’s itinerary. Despite this, nobody volunteered for the first watch, resulting in a standstill.

Odin suggested we did three rounds of rock-paper-scissors, which I’d honestly describe as out of place and childish, but the lack of alternatives forced us to play anyway.

I chose rock, rock, and rock….

And I lost all three rounds.

The Andersons picked and matched paper every single time that I was sure they had planned for this, but they had claimed they had lost their ‘seers’, or rather, mind reading abilities earlier tonight. Were they lying?

I agreed with Tor’s idea because I wanted to rest. Now with that plan ruined…I could only sigh.

On the bright side, my sleep wouldn’t be interrupted once my shift ends. I watched the Andersons disappear into the break room.

I was alone.

Deafening thoughts amidst the silence, jumping at every shadow cast by the headlights of passing late-night cars through the shutter gaps.

I didn’t dare to stray too far from the Andersons. I need to protect them in their sleep and to ensure they’ll be able to respond quickly if anything happens during my watch. Even though Owner didn’t turn off the lights, there were still unlit spots that I couldn’t see into.

Guard duty without coffee was difficult but I somehow pulled through.

When Odin relieved me, we shared a short conversation about his granddaughter—Saga Anderson before I went into the break room.

Tor slept with his arms crossed while his back sank into the couch.

The couch looked comfier than the makeshift bed of six plastic chairs arranged by Odin, but I wasn’t in the mood to fight over something trivial. I settled in Odin’s makeshift bed, hoping I wouldn’t bump into the table while sleeping and making his electric guitar on the table fall on my head.

Immediately, moisture stuck to my skin, made worse by the ceiling fan that kept circulating the hot humid air. Owner had turned off all the ACs so combined with the looming threat, sleep was hard to come by.

When it came, it was temporary, and painful.

By the time I woke up, my head and my neck ached from strain. It looked like midday—too bright, too clear. A glance at the clock on the wall revealed it was five. It took me several seconds to realize that summer solstice meant early sunrise even back in NYC.

The sunlight was like somebody with his thousand lumens flashlight shining it into my eyes. It was annoying. At least, it meant no overt threat of the Dark Presence.

I looked around.

Tor most probably went out on patrol as Odin had replaced him on the couch. After stretching my neck, rearranging the chairs and washing my face in the restroom, I found Tor surveying the second floor.

The second floor was a war zone. The full extent of the damage was concealed by the night.

Broken glass. Torn cables. Furniture on its side. All from a wind that wasn’t supposed to exist. The hazards strewn on the floor would make repairs difficult even for professionals, especially when it came to replacing the fancy hanging lightbulbs.

Tor noted my presence. Unspoken understanding formed between us as our gazes met; we need to report this to Owner. We didn’t have to wait long as we heard the shutter being raised an hour later—just as we returned to the ground floor and found Odin waking up.

Matsugi and four staff members who were involved last night walked in Owner’s footsteps.

Owner gave Matsugi a nod, who proceeded to take out lunch boxes from the two big plastic bags she carried earlier, and handed them out to the staff. The sweet scent of something made our stomachs growl.

I immediately told Owner about the damage, but she nodded nonchalantly before ordering us to “Eat up.”

Matsugi extended one lunch box for each of us. We accepted them.

Defiance, a risk. Complaints were luxury. Hunger overruled anything.

The four staff members had already disappeared into the break room we slept in for the night. We didn’t want to interrupt Matsugi and Owner who were hovering around the counter, nor were we in the mood to being stuck in an ‘awkward breakfast’ with the staff members.

I’m sure they felt the same way.

I’d imagine them thinking, ‘Those three insensitive Americans had just fucked up our livelihood with outlandish story that only a cocaine-addled junkies/writer could come up and they dared to strike up a conversation with us?’

After wandering, we found benches placed around bunch of trees.

Living. Giant. Trees.

We popped open the lunch box.

The portions were smaller than I was used to. Fish and plump sticky rice, they weren’t my usual diet, neither were the unknown slices of red fruit and the large number of greens. Whether it was drugged crossed my mind. Then crossed back out as the food in the lunch boxes disappeared anyway.

Sweet, sour, bitter and a tinge of spice paired with social isolation. It couldn’t have been any more authentic Japanese experience than this.

I finished up the food and headed to the staff room to wash the lunch box, passing by Matsugi and the Owner.

“Is it good?” Owner asked me.

I stopped on my track and nodded, “Yes,”

“Thanks,” Odin added as he and Tor caught up to me.

I took a step forward. Owner stopped me again.

“Put them back into the plastic bag,” Owner nodded at the empty plastic bags Matsugi carried for the lunch boxes on the counter, “The lunch boxes are one-time use.”

I suspected that was the case. The lunch box was made from thin black plastic that could be easily bent. Better to err on the side of caution. I also wanted Owner to understand we weren’t planning to be freeloaders.

We neatly stacked them in the plastic bags.

“Do you have spare clothes?” Owner asked again.

I shook my head.

Owner grabbed see-through plastic bags from under the counter polo shirts that would be similar the staff if the colors weren’t grey. Our own prisoner’s jumpsuit.

Owner handed them to us along with a black trash bag.

“Take your clothes off after you bathe. Your suit too, so I can send it for dry cleaning,” Owner said.

Owner looked... friendly? No. ‘Friendly’ was too strong a word. ‘Considerate’ might be a better fit. Sure, food was common sense, anyone starving to death on your property was bad for business, but to give us spare clothes?

“I don’t want you stinking up the place.” the owner stated firmly, as if she could read my mind.

Wishful thinking, I should’ve known. Though, I still hoped that was the case.

Nodding acknowledgements to the eating staff as we passed by, and a shower later, we gathered all our clothes and wrapped them into the trash bags before returning to the counter.

Odin set the trash bag down on the floor.

“Owner, we’ll help with the cleanup,” I said to Owner after placing down.

“That’s a given,” Owner said as a-matter-of-factly. She looked up from the screen and at us, “Go see Matsugi on the second floor.”

We went upstairs. We asked Matsugi for equipment. We began cleaning under her supervision.

Dodging sharp objects, chainsaws and explosives like something out of a Jason Bourne movie was apparently. The wear and tears accumulate overtime until everything came down at once. The de-aging was a blessing in disguise.

The repetitive nature of the work emptied my mind, allowing me to search for the manuscripts in the meantime, and the small chats (albeit stifled) initiated by the staff made hours fly within minutes. Lunch was also provided by Owner. And finally, the sight of students walking down on the street outside.

Pants, skirts, shirts and cardigans; they were wearing school uniforms. Similar in intention but different in design. Catholic and private schools seemed like they weren’t mainstream in Japan compared to States.

Clap.

Clap

“Let’s wrap up for today,” Matsugi announced.

The second-floor main area was at least presentable again, but still not fully cleared up.

Matsugi put up yellow tape on the stairwell to the second floor before sending everyone to the ground floor.

“Thank you for coming to help with the cleanup, everyone,” Matsugi addressed the gathered four staff.

“No problem, Ririko-san.” staff one replied cheerfully.

“When will we be reopening?” staff two asked.

“We can call in the contractors tomorrow, so we might reopen on Thursday,” Ririko replied.

The staff members let out relieved sigh.

“Owner bought some snacks in the break room. Feel free to drop by,” Matsugi said.

“Tell Owner we say thank you, Ririko-san,” one of the staff said.

“And once again, thank you for helping today,” Matsugi bowed.

“Will do,” Matsugi smiled.

“Matsugi-san, can I continue working by arranging our stocks after this? I figured I’d do something to help with the reopening,” the staff member asked, “I wouldn’t go somewhere dark.”

Matsugi looked at me.

“I think it should be fine. But he should strictly work in area lit by sunlight.” I guessed Matsugi’s intention.

It seemed to be the correct guesswork as Matsugi continued on my point, “It’s just like Mister Wake said. Don’t go to the second floor or anywhere that is not on the ground floor, just in case. Once it begins getting dark or when you want to get home, I need you need to report to me in the break room,” Matsugi said.

“I understand. Thank you, Matsugi-san,” the staff said.

The staff members walked into the break room.

“…Sure. Once they were out of view, Matsugi approached us, “Mister Wake, Kasumi and her friends said they’ll be here soon.”

Ah. I nearly forgot about them.

Kasumi, the overenthusiastic one, and the calm and responsible Saaya. Matsugi sent them home before they could listen to our explanation proper.

“How soon?” I asked.

Matsugi looked at her watch, “Half an hour, I think,”

“The heat isn’t letting up anytime soon.” Odin remarked. He placed his hands on his hips while looking outside.

Indeed, the air and ground outside were shimmering, but the students outside walked just fine.

I wondered how they went through the heat with all those layers. The boys could unbutton their top collars but what about the girls with cardigans and those ridiculous looking bowties/ribbons/neckties?

“Is this normal for Japan?” I asked, turning to Matsugi, curious whether Tokyo followed the same weather pattern as New York. It was a miracle how we were even able to sleep.

“The weather and heat?” Matsugi clarified.

I nodded.

“It’s generally more humid and hotter in the middle of summer,” Matsugi replied.

“I’m not sure if it’s worse than Coachella but I hope the girls aren’t planning to walk all the way here. They’ll be like roasted chickens by the time they get here,” Odin said.

“I think they’ll take the bus. The bus stop is just across that road,” Matsugi nodded outside.

“That’s convenient. Good thing for RiNG, eh?” Odin smiled, knowing the answer.

“Plenty of people also comes here for a live by bus,” Matsugi replied.

Blinked twice.

“Lives? Live performances?” I tried to clarified.

Matsugi nodded, “A concert, yes.”

“Speaking of concert and summer, that reminds me of…”Odin turned to Tor and smirked, “Bro, remember that time when you improv’ed ‘Coconut’?”

Tor huffed.

Odin snorted before singing and slapping his thigh like a drum.

“Brother bought a coconut, he bought it for a dime
His sister had another one, she paid it for a lime—”

“Shut. Up.” Tor grumbled.

Odin snorted before turning to Matsugi who had a small smile from their interaction, “Do you know Harry Nilson’s Coconut, Miss Matsugi?”

“I had heard of the name but…” Matsugi muttered.

“Then, you must be familiar with the 70s legends,” Odin added.

“They are not my cup of tea,” Matsugi finished, smiling politely.

“Ah,” Odin muttered, disappointed.

I used the beat in silence to steer the conversation back on track.

“I haven’t seen Owner since lunch; will she be joining us?” I asked.

“Owner went to other live house to arrange for something, so she wouldn’t be with us,” Matsugi replied vaguely.

Minus one pair of critical eyes. That’s a relief.

“Who’ll be present?” I asked.

“Only us and the girls,” Matsugi replied.

“And the staff members?” Odin asked.

“They’ll be sorting through the inventories,” Matsugi replied.

So, we’ll be with the girls with Matsugi as the intermediary.

I caught silhouettes in the corner of my eyes. I turned to face RiNG main entrance to get a better look.

It was Kasumi. She was wearing a white skirt and a blue shirt stolen from a World War Two naval museum. Flanking her were Saaya and three other schoolgirls I didn’t recognize wearing similar uniforms.

“Did you tell them to bring their friends?” I asked.

Matsugi shook her head, “They’ll ignore it.”

“What do you mean?” I said.

My jaws were clenched. Frustrated at the vague explanation and the unaccounted variables. More people exposed to ground zero meant more liabilities. They were at risk of being targeted – or worse, becoming a Taken.

“Ririko-san, Mister Wake, Mister Odin, Mister Tor, good evening!” Kasumi shouted, waving at us soon after entering RiNG.

“You’ll see,” A thin smile formed on Matsugi’s face just as the five girls entered.

“Good evening,” Kasumi bowed. The five girls followed.

“Good evening, Kasumi, everyone,” Matsugi replied.

“Good evening, Kasumi—” I remembered one second too late about Owner’s lesson in Japan naming convention.

“…Kasumi?” the girls’ eyebrows arched.

“Using first name is common back where I’m from,” I added quickly.

“It’s okay to call me Kasumi, mister Wake,” Kasumi pouted.

I scratched my cheek, unsure how to proceed. I wanted to respect Kasumi's wish but at the same time, her friends seemed not too fond of it. Japanese social etiquette was unnecessarily complicated. Adults call teens by their first name all the time in the States without honorifics, even as acquaintances.

“Are you working at RiNG now, Mister Wake?” Kasumi excitedly asked.

“No. We sent our clothes to be washed,” I replied.

“Where’s Taki-chan?” Matsugi added.

“She said she has important business to attend to.” Kasumi replied.

“What’s precisely more important than this meeting?” I asked calmly, too calmly.

“S-sorry Mister Wake. Saaya and I tried calling her earlier, but she said she’s busy.” Kasumi replied.

Odin quickly interrupted, “Are you all friends with each other?”

It derailed the discussion we were planning to have with them. I was angry. But I quickly realized I need to allow Odin to ease them into being cooperative.

Kasumi almost bounced with the “Yep!”

“Why don’t you introduce them to us?” Odin gently said.

Kasumi then gestured at the blonde, “This is Arisa.”

“Ichigaya Arisa.”  Ichigaya added firmly before bowing. Pig tails were stereotypes for naïve socially awkward high schoolers, which clearly wasn’t the case here with her badly hidden frown.

Kasumi gestured at the girl with curled ends on her black hair, “Rimirin.”

“Ushigome Rimi.”  Ushigome spoke softly, unsure as she eyed us. Her timid smile and stark red eyes reminded me of a rabbit. Rabbit could be considered adorable by most people, but they were also prey animal…

Kasumi gestured at the girl with silky black hair, green eyes and a detached expression, “Otae”

“Hanazono Tae.” Hanazono’s voice was almost monotone. Barely any emotions behind it. It was like trying to read a card player in a casino. The kind of card player that could’ve been a model if she decided to stop gambling by walking into ground zero.

Kasumi gestured at the last but familiar girl with dusty brown hair, “And…Saaya!”

“Yamabuki Saaya.” Yamabuki bowed.

Again, I was reminded of a clear summer sky when my gazes fell on her eyes. They were just as mesmerizing as her composure leading Kasumi away from us without tipping us off that they saw us as threat last night.

In any other circumstances, they would be endearing, and their youths charming. Right now, they were nothing more than a group of deadweights…

“We are Poppin’ Party,” Kasumi announced.

That saying, was Yamabuki the leader?

When they entered the building, Kasumi was the one seemingly pulling them along for the ride. Kasumi had to be the leader.

Kasumi faced her friends and gestured towards me.

“This is Mister Wake,” Kasumi began.

“Wake Alan. I’m a writer,” I slightly raised my arm in a small hello. Saying my last name first felt strange.

Then Kasumi gestured at Tor.

“Mister Tor.”

Tor grunted a half-hearted reply.

Lastly, at Odin.

“Mister Odin.”

“That’s me. Odin Anderson and Tor Anderson,” Odin gestured at Tor. He raised his eyebrows, “Poppin’ Party, eh? Is that the name of your band?”

“Yep!” Kasumi beamed.

“Rad!” Odin made the devil horns with his fingers.

“Ikasu?” Kasumi tilted her head.

Rad and Ikasu.

The two words shrieked in my head at the same time like statics.

“It’s an old slang. Shorthand for radical. Or cool as you youngins say it.” Odin explained made the devil fingers, “By the way, you can call us by our first names. We're both Andersons, so it's easy to get us mixed up.”

“You two are brothers?” Hanazono asked.

Odin nodded, “Yep. We are also in a band. Old Gods of Asgard.”

“Old Gods of Asgard sounds mysterious and cool…” Kasumi remarked.

“Do you know what they means?” Ichigaya asked Kasumi.

“Err…” Kasumi hesitated.

Arisa stifled a sigh. Odin smiled.

“Do your band play heavy metal, Mister Tor? Kasumi said that you can play guitar very fast,” Hanazono asked. I had no idea what she meant to say.

“I assume you are the lead guitarist?” Odin asked back.

Hanazono nodded.

“Depends. Is pop rock, rock?” Odin looked at Hanazono in the eyes.

“I don’t care much about genres.” Hanazono replied.

“You are not a purist, great! Yeah, we do metal, and rock, sometimes ballad,” Odin puffed his chest.

“What’s a purist?” Yamabuki muttered to Ichigaya.

“Haters who takes fun out of everything over semantics,” Odin replied, overhearing it.

“But isn’t heavy metal difficult to play? Why would they hate it?” Kasumi asked.

“Your guess good as mine,” Odin shrugged before continuing, “But, metal is not that difficult. You just need to practice properly. Pick a phrase you are stuck with and practice.”

“No wonder you are so good at guitar, mister Odin.” Kasumi remarked. If it weren’t for her bright smile, it sounded like a backhanded compliment.

“The phrases I played yesterday is just a simple fingerstyle. I still have a lot to learn.” Odin shook his head.

Hanazono’s eyes sparkled with curiosity when Odin said ‘fingerstyle’.

“Anyway, Poppin’ Party, right? Have you performed in front of audiences before?” Odin asked.

“We do plenty of concerts around Tokyo. We were also invited to play in Guam once,” Kasumi replied.

“Guam?! That’s Uncle Sam’s territory. I guess you had performed at Budokan too?” Odin said. Tor’s eyes were also on Kasumi after the mention of Budokan.

Kasumi nodded with a huge smile plastered on her face. “Yep!”

Odin whistled. “That’s impressive.”

“It’s only for battle of the band though,” Kasumi said but I could see the proud smile on her face. “What about you Mister Odin?”

“Hmm…Let me see,” Odin grabbed his chin.

Tor sighed exasperatedly, and loudly.

Ichigaya displeasure was evident while Ushigome and Yamabuki smiled bashfully when they saw Ichigaya. Neither of them interrupted the two, possibly out of respect for Odin as an adult and a stranger.

“Excuse me, Kasumi-chan, Mister Odin. Can we take our conversations to the staff room?” Matsugi beat me to the punch. The matter about Taki hadn’t been settled yet.

“Oh,” Odin blinked twice before smiling at Matsugi, “Guess I got carried away. Lead the way.”

We followed Matsugi and the girls to the empty staff room. A transparent plastic packet with red rectangle-ish jelly, and half-empty plates with sliced fruit sat on the table.

“Should we join the tables, Ririko-san?” Saaya asked.

“Yes.” Matsugi nodded.

“I’ll help!” Ushigome said.

“Me too.” Kasumi added.

The girls quickly connected two tables together into a long table. We realized too late that they were taking the initiative to set up for the meeting.

“Good girls, eh,” Odin remarked.

Matsugi and the Poppin’ Party girls settled on one side of the table. Then, I sat across Kasumi in the center with the Andersons flanking both of my sides. Nobody sat at the table head.

The girls, especially Kasumi were uncharacteristically tense compared to our short conversations earlier.

“Owner bought snacks for everyone. Make yourself at home,” Matsugi offered, trying to lift the atmosphere.

However, nobody reached out, not even Kasumi. Her shift from being enthusiastic to barely making eye contact with us was so sudden. I wondered if her earlier enthusiasm was to distract herself from what’s ahead.

“Should I start?” I asked Matsugi.

Matsugi nodded.

The girls’ gaze weighed on me. I took a deep breath.

First thing first…

“How much the three of you know?” I asked the girls.

“Kasumi told us about the Dark Presence and the manuscripts,” Ichigaya began.

At the mention of manuscripts, an idea appeared in my mind. If they are going to be involved one way or another, I might as well use it to my advantage while keeping their safety priority. Besides, showing is often stronger than telling.

I took out the folded manuscripts from my pocket and raised them for the girls to see.

“These are the manuscripts Kasumi mentioned. I’ll let you read them,” I said.

The girls gulped.

“But. Promise me that you’ll be careful with them.” I demanded.

They avoided meeting my gazes when I lingered one second too long to see their reactions to my demand.

“You are going to give them the manuscripts?” Odin asked.

“Just for references. They could help us,” I said.

“That’s not part of the plan,” Tor grumbled.

“Trust me on this,” I replied.

After seconds of silence, Kasumi gulped, “We will.”

I handed Kasumi the manuscript since she was right in front of me. The four girls quickly left their seats, gathered around Kasumi and peeked over her shoulder, though they were mindful to not press themselves against Matsugi. The manuscripts were passed amongst the girls.

In hindsight, reading the manuscripts like they were bedtime stories wasn’t really a good idea last night.

Done reading, the girls returned to their seats, visibly frowning deeply. Kasumi returned the manuscripts to me.

“You might ask, ‘why these men know so much about us?’” I asked rhetorically, “To be absolutely clear, we weren’t remotely close to Japan when these weritten. We weren’t the one who actually wrote them,” I began.

“Who wrote them?” Ichigaya asked.

“Was it…Obake?” Ushigome’s eyes were set on me with curiosity.

“No. Not Ghost.  It’s something much worse,” I replied, “Have you ever heard about Stephen King? Or H.P. Lovecraft?”

“I know them.” Ichigaya replied.

Ushigome‘s eyes widened when I mentioned Stephen King. Saaya seemed to recognize Lovecraft. Hanazono was unreadable.

But Kasumi, she was the only one staring at me blankly while tilting her head.

Sighing, I explained, “They are authors. Authors who write about monsters. Monsters that are incomprehensible to the human mind, like an octopus head with tentacles,” I explained.

“Isn’t the monster with octopus head is called Cthulhu?” Kasumi asked.

I raised my eyebrows. “Do you know what Cthulhu can do?”

“It causes people to go mad when you look at it?” Kasumi said, unsure.

Kasumi knew about Cthulhu, but not the author. Strange. But then again, how many people really read Lovecraft’s works that were scattered across multiple works?

“The Dark Presence works differently than Cthulhu. It doesn’t make people go mad. Instead, it...”

I told them the stripped-down version of what I told to Owner; from the Dark Presence’s goal, limitation and the ‘asspull’ on how to defeat them. I warned them about being a ‘Taken’ but left them hanging about the part of having to ‘put them down’.

Too many truths were counterproductive. They overwhelm, even if they were the truth. I first need them to process that their definition of reality has changed forever.

“The Dark Presence kidnaps artist.” Ichigaya muttered to herself as she grabbed her chin.

“To create an art that’ll free it into this world...” Yamabuki added, also muttering to herself

The table went silent as they pondered over my story until Ushigome asked, “Does artists include musicians too?”

“Music is art. So…” I didn’t finish letting them connect the dots by themselves. I could almost see the gears turning behind the girls’ eyes.

“If arts can come true, can’t you create arts that can destroy it?” Hanazono asked.

“Really? You think we didn’t try?” Tor scoffed, intimidating the girls into falling silent again.

Odin quickly interrupted, “We are also figuring that part out by finding other manuscripts.”

“I—is it the ritual from the manuscript tells you how to defeat the Dark Presence and return home?” Ushigome hesitated after sparing Tor’s expression a glance.

“That’s the gist of it, yes,” I answered vaguely.

“But who are nine bands? What are the rituals?” Ichigaya immediately fired.

Odin looked at me. I took over again.

“We are trying to piece together everything with Miss Matsugi and Owner by searching all the manuscripts,” I raised the manuscripts in my hand for emphasize.

Kasumi’s face hardened. Her lips were thin. It was like she was building up her resolve to—

“We’ll help! Where do you want us to start searching?” Kasumi announced before I can finish my thought.

"Kasumi—!"“ Ichigaya raised her voice.

“This ain’t no field trip, girl” Tor sided with Arisa before shooting me a side eye.

He was clearly dissatisfied with how I’m handling the situation. I’m sure it came from a place of care towards the girls’, which was a good thing, but the way he delivered his point across was up to debate.

Kasumi’s eyes were wide open, shocked and intimidated, so were her friends.

“Voi Helvetti,” Odin sighed in exasperation. I shared his sentiment.

"What Tor means to say is the Dark Presence is dangerous. So, he’d like you to let us do our job,” Odin rushed to salvage the situation.

“Your safety is our top priority. We only want you to report back if you happen to find the manuscripts, or someone having them on your way home for school, not actively search for them,” I added, looking at Tor. I’m sure he misinterpreted my plan since we hadn’t discussed this beforehand.

It was an improv on my part.

“Um…” Yamabuki raised her hand and exchanged glances with Kasumi.

“What is it, Miss Yamabuki?” I asked. A bad feeling about what Yamabuki had to say surfaced.

“Kasumi and I heard something whispering our names last night,” Yamabuki began.

My blood ran cold.

“Whispers?” Odin interjected, eyes laser focused on Yamabuki.

“When Kasumi and Taki stayed at my place last night after we went home from RiNG, we heard something whispering our name. Kasumi said she can only hear her name being whispered while I can only hear mine,” Yamabuki elaborated.

I looked at Kasumi. She nodded rapidly. Color draining from her face.

“What happened afterwards?” Odin asked.

“I think nothing…” Yamabuki looked at Kasumi for confirmation.

Kasumi continued, “…We couldn’t sleep, and we were almost late for school. Taki seemed okay when we woke up, but she had been avoiding us since then…”

Damn.

DAMN!

They should’ve opened with that first!

I knew something was off with that girl, Taki! Who in their right mind would skip this kind of meeting?! It was such a giant red flag that she might as well hang it from the Empire State building!

I repeatedly tapped my right foot on the floor.

“Is it the Dark Presence?” Kasumi asked the chilling question.

It was my turn to exchange glances with the adults inside the room. I exchanged silent glances with Andersons. Matsugi was narrowing her eyes towards us.

“Miss Matsugi,” I mentioned, hoping to take this discussion outside.

Matsugi seemed to catch on she said to the girls, “can you stay here for a moment? I’ll be discussing with Mister Wake outside. Please excuse us.” Matsugi stood up. We followed her outside.

It had been precisely ten minutes since the three American men left the room with Matsugi. Rimi and the members of Poppin’ Party were alone with their thoughts.

When Rimi asked her parents to skip today’s prep school, she was willing to make a concession, like replacing the next band practice with study or housework. Instead, all she had to do was tell them that Kasumi really needed help with something urgent. Maybe it was because of how she often talked about Kasumi at the dining table, about how Kasumi always brings (pulling) her to many events when she wasn’t the outgoing type.

Regardless of the reason, she was in a dilemma.

She was excited that horror stories weren’t fiction. On the other hand, she was worried.

Eldritch Horror, or cosmic horror was not something anyone can get involved without severe consequences. The stories were usually bleak; with the ‘good’ endings being the characters dying, driven to madness while the ‘bad’ endings make the characters suffers a fate worse than death.

Maybe some things were better left in fiction…

“Mister Odin is nice,” Otae began.

“He’s suspicious,” Arisa countered without missing a beat, “how do we know they weren’t the one who actually wrote the manuscripts?”

“The manuscripts are written in English, right…? Or was it my imagination?” Rimi hesitated.

“They are in English,” Saaya affirmed.

English wasn’t really Rimi’s strongpoint but…

“How are we able to understand it easily?” Kasumi asked.

Nobody answered.

“Matsugi-san and staff-san didn’t deny Mister Wake’s stories earlier too,” Otae added.

Arisa let out a sigh, heavy with frustration but she didn’t add anything to her counter.

Rimi glanced at Kasumi. Kasumi was staring at the table lost in thoughts.

If it wasn’t for Kasumi crying, Saaya’s lack of denial, the staff’s behavior and the sudden closure of RiNG, the missing lightbulbs, she would think Mister Wake and his friends were as what Arisa had described.

The door opened to Matsugi with the three American walking behind her. They resettled at the table.

“Can someone call Taki and ask her how’s she’s doing? She isn’t answering my call,” Matsugi-san began.

With the crease lines on her forehead, it seemed like the outcome of whatever Matsugi had discussed with Mister Wake and his friends outside wasn’t good.

“I’ll do it,” Saaya was the first to respond. She took out her phone and tapped a bunch of numbers on her screen.

“Can you turn on the loudspeaker?” Matsugi asked once Saaya brought the phone to her ear.

Saaya obliged.

The phone beeped until the familiar automated messages played. Saaya’s frown deepened every time she redialed the numbers only to get no answers.

“She isn’t answering,” Saaya said.

“Fucking callled it. Everything that comes out of that girl’s mouth are load of bullshit,” Mister Tor said it with sudden intensity that it made Rimi jolt in her seat

That could only mean that something had happened to Taki…Rimi hoped that wasn’t the case.

Rimi shook her head. Thinking about worst case scenario would only make it inch closer to reality. Taki probably put her phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode.

“Language, bro,” Mister Odin chided

“We need someone need to check on up her. Does anyone have Raana’d, or any of MyGo’s phone numbers?” Matsugi continued.

“I have Tomori’s.” Kasumi said.

“Say that it’s an emergency and we need her to report back,” Matsugi said.

“Okay,” Kasumi took out her phone and called.

Kasumi didn’t have to wait for the line to connect as phone as she immediately talked into it. Rimi wasn’t sure what was being said between Kasumi and Tomori, but when Kasumi hanged up, she said, “Tomori will check back once she gets there”

“What’s happening, Mister Wake?” Saaya asked.

“The whispers you heard last night were from the Dark Presence,” Mister Wake said.

“W-what does that mean?” Kasumi gulped.

“The Dark Presence is actively trying to—well manipulate you into freeing it,” Wake explained.

“Is it like what you said in your story?” Rimi asked.

Wake nodded.

“That means…it’s trying to kidnap me and Kasumi?” Otae asked

Mister Wake nodded again.

“But didn’t you say we would be safe outside in our homes?” Saaya said, her voice breaking.

“We miscalculated,” Odin interrupted, “We thought we were operating on a new rule since the Dark Presence had never been seen outside of Washington,” Wake admitted.

“Then, we are not safe anymore….” Saaya remarked. Hers and Kasumi face were that of a corpse.

“You are safe. Physically, at least. The moment it tries to step outside RiNG, it’ll become significantly weaker. That’s why you heard whispers rather than…experience something like what had happened on the second floor,”

“Was it because of the Dark Presence? The missing lightbulbs and broken glasses?” Otae asked.

“Yes,” Mister Wake said, “the Dark Presence wouldn’t haunt you 24/7, there’ll be days where it’s quiet. But just to play safe, avoid all dark rooms at all costs, and if really had to go in, turn on all the lights, use flashlights. Lights are important.”

Then, Mister Wake eyed Rimi, “Besides miss Toyama and miss Yamabuki, have you any of three experienced something weird last night?”

Rimi, Otae and Arisa looked at each other to confirm with each other before shaking their heads.

“No,” Arisa voiced.

“Is that a good thing?” Rimi asked.

“It means that you are not in its cross hair. For now,” Wake said.

“Can I ask you a question, Mister Wake?” Otae suddenly asked.

Wake turned to Otae, “Fire away.”

“You were teleported here from America, right?” Otae asked.

Wake slowly nodded.

“Are you married?”

Flicker of surprise shot across everyone’s in the room. Rimi had expected follow-up questions about the Dark Presence, not this. As expected of Otae…but Rimi felt like it was a faux pas.

“Wh-what makes you think that?” Mister Wake’s voice caught on the first word.

“The ring on your left hand,” Otae said, her gaze fixed on it.

How Rimi hadn’t seen it earlier was a mystery. The wedding ring was plain for everyone to see with the gold colors reflecting the light.

Wedding ring and the live house is named RiNG by Owner.

Were there connections they didn’t notice?

Wake’s eyes lowered to the table. His jaw worked, as if chewing over words he couldn’t swallow. The sheen in his eyes caught the light before he blinked hard.

Odin’s hand landed gently on his shoulder. Wake flinched, eyelids clamping shut. He scrubbed at his face with the back of his hand. When he lowered it, faint streaks of moisture glimmered under the fluorescent lights.

Were they sweat or tears?

“That was random,” Tor remarked.

“Yes. I’m married but it’s irrelevant to the discussion we’re currently having at hand,” Wake said.

“Why is it not relevant…?” Kasumi looked anxious on Wake’s behalf.

“Because it’s not going to help improve your situation,” Wake simply said.

“Maybe there are clues on the manuscripts in your past, Mister Wake?” Matsugi suggested.

Mister Wake snapped his head towards Matsugi so fast that he looked like an owl.

Matsugi quickly added, “That’s up to you. But, keep in mind that you have the girls’ secrets while they don’t have yours.”

“Right now? Are you serious?” Wake asked.

Mister Wake turned to Odin.

“I think Matsugi has a point. It’s the least we could do, ‘cuz they might understand the dangers better if you tell it to them,” Odin carefully said.

Mister Wake then turned to Tor. The latter only shrugged, “your call.”

For Rimi and the rest of PoPiPa, pretending not to hear the conversation was difficult. Kasumi, however…

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell us, Mister Wake. But…I’m a little curious too,” Kasumi assured.

Arisa sighed. She didn’t rebuke Kasumi for squeezing in the conversation between adults. However, if Mister Wake’s story was true. Kasumi and Saaya were in danger. They deserve to know despite the faux pas. Besides, Rimi herself was curious, and she was sure everyone else were thinking the same.

Mister Wake took a deep breath through his teeth, creating soft hissing sound, “Ask away.”

“Is it really okay?” Saaya hesitated.

“Just keep the questions short,” Wake slowly nodded. He seemed reluctant.

PoPiPa exchanged glances with each other.

“Is Miss Alice okay?” Kasumi asked.

“Yes. We were separated is all,” Mister Wake replied.

“How long have you been fighting the Dark Presence, mister Wake? When were you separated?”  Saaya asked the logical question.

“Thirteen years,” Mister Wake laced his hands together on the table.

Mister Wake seemed to be in his mid-twenties--approaching thirties. If Rimi subtracted Mister’s Wake age by thirteen, he had been fighting the Dark Presence when he was about to enter junior high school. Maybe he was older than his appearance suggested?

“You fight the Dark Presence it since you were a teenager?” Saaya asked, having the same thoughts as Rimi.

“I suppose,” Mister Wake shrugged.

“I’m sorry Mister Wake. You must’ve missed Miss Alice so much,” Kasumi said.

Mister Wake clenched his hand into fists.

“Yes, I missed her. I haven’t seen her for thirteen years after everything.”

When Mister Wake said that. Something crashed inside his mind, and his expression became like a sculpture.

“After everything...?” Kasumi gulped but she didn’t back down from the weight of Mister Wake’s gaze.

“The Dark Place is also where the artists it had kidnapped are being confined. For me, the Dark Place appears like the small attic of a wooden cabin.”

Rimi kept quiet, so were the rest of Poppin’ Party and Matsugi. She had a feeling Mister Wake was about to reveal something painful to him.

“Writing and dying were the only things I had been doing in there. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. Hell, I couldn’t escape the small decrepit cabin it confined me in.” Mister Wake simply said.

“Work of arts shape reality in there. That’s why I write, write, write and write…adjusting the stories the Dark Presence was trying to make me write. But every adjustment I made always ended up with me dying a bloody death. That thing kept resurrecting me again, and again. And no matter what I did to not write, the door wouldn’t budge. I had to write.”

Mister Wake’s eyes were empty, but his lips were quivering.

“Can you imagine, having no one to talk to for what could’ve been centuries? Being continuously killed? Feeling everything when your head was rolling down the stairs after being decapitated? Or that there was worse way to die than having your internal organs spilled?” Wake asked, “I even tried ending it you know—” Mister Wake mimed a finger gun to his temple “—but it won’t let me die. It revived me in the cabin. Everytime.”

Tears visibly welled up in Wake’s eyes, but they didn’t drop.

“I lost my sanity more time than I can count. The small blessings that come with it was I forget. I don’t want you to meet my fate. That is why I want you to not go out of your way to help us,” Wake showed the gold ring on his finger, “If it weren’t for my memories with Alice, I would go insane.”

“Are you satisfied?” Mister Wake said, frowning more at Matsugi than any of them.

Barely an hour had passed since they met Mister Wake. They now have more questions than answers.

However, Mister Wake’s emotions feel genuine.

“I’m sorry for prying, Mister Wake,” Otae said,

“Me too,” Kasumi said. Rimi noticed faint streaks of wet tears dropping across her cheeks.

“It’s not your fault,” Mister Wake sighed before continuing, “do you see the danger now? That’s why we don’t want you to go find the manuscripts. Now that Taki might be…”

Mister Wake scrunched his eyes shut and muttered to himself, “…God damn it.”

Mister Odin placed a hand on Mister Wake’s back.

Suddenly, Kasumi reached across the table and gripped his hand that was on the table with bond hands. Mister Wake jolted at the touch. He tried to pull away his hand, but Kasumi strengthened her grip further.

“Kasumi?” Mister Wake asked. Nobody corrected his usage of Kasumi’s name.

“The Dark Presence is scary. I don’t want to experience what you have gone through…” Kasumi began

“With us being here, you don’t need to worry about anything,” Odin tried to assure with a smile.

“Odin’s right. We wouldn’t let it come to you,” Mister Wake mustered a smile, “Can you let go of my hand now?”

“No. Because I want to help you too!” Kasumi looked at Mister Wake straight in the eyes.

“That’s—” Tor tried to argue on Mister Wake’s behalf but Kasumi immediately cut him off.

“You said that it wouldn’t come near us last night. You then said that you wouldn’t let it near us today.”

The adults in the room stayed silent.

“What about last night?” Kasumi asserted, “how do you know you are not wrong this time?”

“I…” Mister Wake tried to come up with counter.

Rimi had never seen Kasumi this assertive.

“That’s why I want to help. Not because I’m afraid…maybe a little. But I also don’t want you, Mister Odin and Mister Tor to carry this alone. I don’t want Mister Wake to go back to the Dark Place. I want Mister Wake to return home and meet Miss Alice again,” Kasumi said with such determination that even made Mister Wake to blink twice.

Even Arisa, Mister Tor and Matsugi-san were the only person who dared to intervene, but they didn’t say anything. Maybe they were confused by the very sudden turns of events that went from strategy meeting to raw emotional confession…

Kasumi had tears flowing down her cheeks. Saaya bit down on her lip. Maybe relieving last night’s memory with additional context from Mister Wake made Saaya deeply affected just like Kasumi too, but she didn’t want to express it openly around strangers and Kasumi.

Rimi hugged Saaya. Otae joined in. Arisa hesitantly hugged Kasumi.

A group hug.

While she hadn’t experienced what happened to Saaya and Kasumi last night, their fears were very much real. This was no longer exciting with Taki also being in possible danger.

Mister Wake reversed his hand and squeezed Kasumi’s hand tightly.

“We’ll see what we can give you. Miss Matsugi, do you have tissues?” Mister Wake calmly asked.

Matsugi-san produced a small packet of tissues and handed it to Kasumi. Kasumi

“Don’t want us to carry our burdens alone, eh?” Mister Tor slowly shook his head with a sigh.

“Emotions are running high. Let them cool down a little.” Odin said.

“I hope you get what you want from this, for both of our sake. And no, I don’t have any hard feelings. I’m not disagreeing with your method. It’s just…” Odin glanced at Rimi and Poppin’ Party who were comforting each other, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions…I suppose.”

Rimi wasn’t sure whether the others were listening to the adjacent conversations, but Rimi strained her ears to listen through Arisa and Otae comforting words to Saaya and Kasumi. Mister Wake stayed silent as he maintained the tight grip on Kasumi’s hand.

“The blame entirely falls on me. I really wasn’t expecting this kind of reaction…I’ll try to convince Owner to give you more freedom,” Matsugi said.

“So, we finally have your trust then?” Odin asked.

“Well…” It was Matsugi-san turn to sigh. She asked rhetorically, “you can’t fake everything to this extent, can’t you? I’ll have to make up with Mister Wake and PoPiPa one way or another…”

At Odin’s reply, Kasumi’s phone buzzed in her pocket.