The Water Spider Memory

[thricebitten]

The water spider of the shrine

[ Natsuno sits on his bed in the darkness of his room, clutching a heavy spanner, his body tense with anticipation. He knows they're coming for him, and he intends to fight. The only question is when. The clock on his desk ticks past midnight... and there's a soft tapping at his window. He looks up to see the shadow of a single finger, tap, tap, tapping.

He keeps the spanner in one hand, and his other hand slips to a makeshift cross of wood and wire resting on top of his bed sheets. It's small, and crudely made, but his father had thrown away all the other charms and crosses he'd tried to put up. This is the last one he has left.

The finger keeps tapping. Then it drops, and the shadow moves, a head and torso coming up into focus, frustratingly unclear through the washi paper screen covering the inside of his window - a window that the figure is now shaking. Wanting to be let in. Natsuno stands, tensing up, spanner clutched in one hand, cross in the other.

That shadow isn't Shimizu. So it really is him.

He imagines that he can see the man - the vampire he'd hit to save Kaori, and left half-buried, in the shadow. Come to pay him back. Shaking the window, jostling the lock. The shaking - stops, and for a long moment, he stares at the shadow through the screen, feeling him staring back. Waiting. The spanner rattles slightly with the shake of his hand. The figure turns, and walks away, around the edge of the house - Natsuno can hear him walking, leaves and grass underfoot, and he turns slowly to follow the movement. Imagines the figure walking around to the back door, and he can swear he hears the door knob turn - and the door open.

He opened it?! I thought I locked it!

A terrible realisation hits him.

Did dad open it?

He remembers his father telling him, when they first moved here, how there was no crime in the village, so the villagers left their doors unlocked, even at night. That that was how they'd be living from now on, too, and he wasn't allowed to lock the doors.

He's always been that way. ]

No, they both have.

[ Memories of his parents float through his mind, photos from the family album.

I was born while they were in college. But they didn't believe in the institution of marriage, so we weren't entered in the family register. That's why my last name is Koide on the register, after my mom. They go against the norm, believing their way is right. They moved to the beauty of the quiet countryside, convincing themselves it was for the best.

Natsuno presses himself against the wall, desperately holding onto the spanner and cross, his only chances of defending himself.

It's not funny! I'm getting out of this village no matter what! I'll escape from their influence and go to an urban university. There's no way I'm dying here!

The door creaks shut, and he imagines the shadowy figure stepping into the house. Stepping towards his room. He readies himself for it to come through his door - and is startled to hear that same rustling, creeping step moving back around the house, disturbing the plants outside.

He's back there?

He steps back to lean against the wall by the window, raising the spanner in front of himself, gripping it with both hands now.

Just try and come in! I'll capture you this time and show you to all the villagers!

The shadow becomes visible by his window again, and starts tapping with its finger once more. ]

Natsuno.

[ The voice calls, soft and small, and Natsuno can't help a short, strangled cry bursting out of him from the shock of it.

That voice... ]

It's me.

[ The voice speaks again, still low but more firm, edged with apology. All the tension floods out of him, and his shoulders slump, the spanner slipping from his grasp as it goes slack, dropping heavily to the floor. He leans back with his head against the wall, closing his eyes.

It's the voice of someone I care for, calling to me.

His head drops forward as he becomes certain of the shadow's identity, opening his eyes.

There's only one person who'd call to me that way.

He slides back the washi screen and stares at his own reflection in the glass of the window behind it. The forest outside is dark and empty, the bushes in his back yard giving way to tall, shadowy firs. ]

Who's there?

It's me.

[ He frowns, looking down to where the voice answered from, low to the ground. Outside his window, he can make out the back of someone crouching, their shirt a pale shape in the darkness. He looks at the lock on the window, still firmly shut.

I shouldn't open it. I know I should stay shut in here, defending myself.

Slowly, he reaches across, puts his hand on the lock. Holds it.

I know I should.

And unlocks it, sliding the window open. He leans out, putting his hands on the window frame to hold his weight as he looks down. ]

Hey.

[ A pale hand reaches up to grab his wrist, and he cries out at the coldness of its grip. He's being yanked outside - he slams his free hand against his window and holds on, resisting the pull, hearing the other boy straining with the effort of trying to pull him while keeping his back turned. Refusing to look at him. With all his might, he pulls backwards - pulls himself free, and the other boy turns to look at him in shock, his other arm falling from where he'd been holding it to cover his face. He stares at dark eyes with red rings shining tight around the pupils, soft blonde hair, an unnaturally pale face - a familiar face. ]

Tohru-chan?

[ On hearing his name, the - the vampire throws his hands up in front of his face, then turns and runs. Unwilling to simply watch him leave, Natsuno yells after him, voice rough, ]

Tohru-chan!

[ He shouldn't. He knows he shouldn't. And yet he must - he does. He jumps out through his open window and chases after Tohru-chan, yelling his name as he crashes through the underbrush into the forest. He can't see any sign of him, can't hear him, gets no answer, shouldn't find him - has to find him. Has to talk to him. He reaches the road and calls out again, voice loud enough to echo in his ears. ]

Tohru-chan! Tohru-chaaaaan!

[ He keeps running through the night, memories of Tohru-chans body lying dead and empty in its coffin floating in his mind's eye.

I didn't want to think about it. No. Truthfully, I'd been trying not to remember. They're the ones who took Tohru-chan away. So it's not unreasonable that he'd be revived.

He remembers Tohru-chan when he was alive, offering him a lift back from school in his car. Watering his family's garden with the hose in the heat of summer, the spray sparkling in the sunlight and forming a small rainbow as Tohru-chan smiled wide in welcome.

I wouldn't have cared if it was Shimizu or anyone else. So long as it wasn't Tohru-chan!

Pointing a finger at him as he called him Natsuno with a triumphant air.

Coming back to himself, Natsuno looks around and realises he's followed the road all the way to the roadside shrine built around a spring. The water flows steadily into the built-up stone pool, and out through a thin pipe in the front. Even with the wooden roof over it, leaves float on its surface.

All my memories of this village are filled with him.

He remembers standing in front of this shrine with Tohru-chan, in the heat of the summer day. Listening as Tohru-chan tells him that the water from this spring is known as the Healing Water, his voice enthusiastically emphasising how cold and refreshing it is. Tells him that he's heard you get smarter after you drink it. Natsuno remembers looking away, feigning an unimpressed "huhh", only to gt splashed in the face with water by a laughing Tohru-chan. "You'll have to pass your exams to get into a good college, so drink up!" He hears Tohru-chan teasing him as he shakes the water off, only to get splashed again, hands raised by his face but doing nothing to stop the cold water. "Quit it!" He protests - and gets splashed again.

That's right. Tohru-chan was... He was a good guy. Everyone liked him. Even Masao adored him. Why'd he like hanging out with me?

His gaze falls on a water spider, sitting at the bottom of the spring. Perfectly still, under the gently rippling surface.

I know I don't have a welcoming personality.

He kneels in front of the shrine and dips his hand into the cool water, slowly reaching towards the water spider without quite touching it. The cold around his hand reminds him of the cold grip of Tohru-chan's hand around his wrist, pulling him out of his window.

But he... ]

Why... [ He pulls his hand out of the water and rests both hands on the mossy stone of the pool wall. ] Why is his touch ice cold now?

[ He hears footsteps approaching him along the road. When he looks up, guarded, he sees... the tall, blue-haired man from Kanemasa. Not Tohru-chan. Someone far more dangerous, smiling innocuously at him and raising a hand in greeting. ]

Ya! You're Natsuno Yuuki-kun, right?

[ He stands up, keeping a casual air. As if he were greeting anyone. ]

And you are?

[ The man is just as casual, seemingly open, friendly. ]

I don't believe we've met before, have we? I'm Tatsumi. I'm a servant for the Kirishiki family. [ He glances back over his shoulder, up at the somewhat distantly visible European-style castle of a house that's set incongrously into forested mountainside. ]

So what do you want?

[ Tatsumi looks back at him, watching with lazily hooded, sharply golden eyes. ]

You're pretty sharp, aren't you? You were the first one to learn of our existence. Not to mention you're brave. After discovering the truth, you could have run away from the village. But you didn't. You didn't because you're very kind. You didn't want to abandon the village that's become your home this past year. Though few, you still have some friends here. But we've got a problem. It would've been nice if you'd just hidden under your bed in fear. But you went looking for us. Just like Doctor Ozaki. We can't have you hunting us. I won't allow it.

[ Natsuno frowns as he listens to Tatsumi talk, hearing the slowly growing threat in his tone, the anger uncurling as he speaks. He smiles, a strange sense of relieved tension hitting him. ]

So you want to kill me? [ He straightens, facing Tatsumi with a determined frown. ] I won't just surrender, you know. I'll run away as fast as I can.

[ Tatsumi smiles - chuckles at him. ]

While that does sound amusing, I have something a bit more amusing in mind. Megumi-kun, come on out here.

[ Natsuno makes a shocked noise, turning to see someone walking out of the forest onto the road behind him, trapping him between herself and Tatsumi. That pink hair, pulled up in twin ponytails, and the pink gothic clothing... there's no mistake. It's Megumi. ]

Shimizu...

[ She looks down at the ground, like a kid about to be scolded. ]

Tatsumi-san, I...

I know. [ Tatsumi replies with an indulgent tone. ] I'll make an exception. I predicted this would happen, in any case. Well, there's two of us now. [ He spreads his arms wide. ] Feel free to do whatever you please.

[ Megumi seems surprised, then pleased. She turns more towards Natsuno, and her eyes go wide and dark as she smiles, making a happy noise. This isn't good. Her voice is high and affectedly sweet, a twisted parody of cutely romantic when she speaks, slowly approaching him. ]

Yuuki-kun, try to understand. Aren't I better than a total stranger?

[ He grits his teeth and looks between her and Tatsumi - the man's eyes have gone black and red, and he's slowly approaching too, from the other side. But it's still Megumi who speaks to him, trying to draw him into the deadly version of her romantic fantasy, her arms outstretched towards him. ]

Right? Yuuki-kun.

[ He's backed up against the shrine, certain he's about to be taken by one of them - when he sees shock spread across Megumi's face. Behind him? He barely has time to think, to register pale hands reaching out beside him, before they're wrapped around him, under his arms. Pulling him back against Tohru-chan's chest, almost as if being cradled by him, the hold strangely gentle as Tohru-chan puts one hand over his mouth to block his scream, the other cold against the side of his face. He feels cold water splash against his face, his neck - no. Not water. Tears. The cold, unfeeling tears of a cold, unfeeling vampire. He can see Tohru-chan crying from the corner of his eye as he strains to see his face, to watch as his mouth opens, as his fangs extend, as he bites -

The pains blossoms sharp where Natsuno's neck meets his shoulder, and he hears the flow of water from the shrine. Hears Tohru's voice in his memory, telling him that the legend says the water spider is the guardian of this water, and it's been there ever since he was a kid. How it's strange, there's only ever one, never more or less - just one. Isn't that cool?

As he falls to the ground, eyes dull and skin ashen from the loss of blood, the water keeps flowing. ]