-Preparation for special training-
-From Mayu Ryomen's point of view -
There was only the winding, long, wooded road between us and the dormitory and we had finally reached our destination, which I had been longing for. Certainly not because I hadn't enjoyed my time with Satoru, but because the tiredness was dragging at me like a ball and chain. And I felt it with every step I took, which seemed more and more sluggish.
And yet the evening, which was now stretching into the deep, cool night, was never supposed to end. Could I just say how much I had loved this deep conversation with Satoru?
I finally got a slightly deeper insight into his character, behind which my interest had been creeping since our first meeting.
After my wave of questions thrown at him, it was of course not lost on me that he felt, how should I put it best, cornered...! Initially, his answers just gushed out of him, which were detailed, but with each subsequent answer he became more deliberate and withdrawn.
Incidentally, this was also based on reciprocity, as I was far from revealing everything on a platter, which in my opinion still had to remain hidden. But there were certainly other evenings or other opportunities to talk again. I felt that today was the first part of a larger series of revelations. Today was also the first time since my last conversations with Uraume about the curses that I was able to open up to someone else. And without them looking at me askance, peering around the corner or pointing a Jesus cross at me and already opening the bottom drawer or dialing the number of an exorcist.
All due priority to my parents...
The ones I needed it from the most.
The people who should have given me the greatest support and understanding that I had longed for...
But there was nothing. Nothing but the opposite. They were understandably afraid. They had vehemently decided against even trying to find out more about it. Instead, they dragged me from appointment to appointment. In the hope that they could turn me into a normal girl. To make it unmistakably clear to me that I was different after all.
Judging by Satoru's reaction, he had also expected a different kind of care that was usually given to his child than the one I had received. He was dismayed, even if his poker face spoke and showed otherwise. I clearly sensed and heard that he was displeased.
You could hold a face in front of my nose, but you certainly couldn't hide your emotions and feelings behind it. As a highly sensitive person, I immediately sensed any emotional movements.
We covered the last few meters and reached the dormitory.
Immediately after entering the entrance area, we took off our shoes after quietly closing the door behind us.
We tiptoed inside the building and crept halfway down the long corridor. Neither of the other two was still awake or had the light on in their room, as only the soft moonlight sparsely illuminated the dark wooden floor through the windows.
At first, we both headed for the bathroom at the same time, where we quickly disappeared and were promptly blinded by the bright light after quietly closing the door behind us. We exchanged meaningful glances and had to control ourselves not to laugh out loud.
"Like parents sneaking home," I remarked in a whisper, amused, and picked up my toothbrush.
Satoru did the same with a huff and gave me a smirk, "You look really tired," he remarked sympathetically - although he didn't exactly look awake and fit either.
"Tha-at been if-," I replied incomprehensibly, with my toothbrush in my mouth, and at the same time we started to get ready for bed.
I quickly removed my make-up before our ninja mission went into the second round and left the bathroom again as silently as possible, walking quietly through the corridor. Satoru ran ahead and more or less pulled me along behind him. We passed Megumi's room, from which not even a small noise could be heard.
We continued quietly past the next door - Kento's.
From his room you could clearly hear his deep breaths, which gradually turned into snoring. I could hear Satoru stifling his laughter again, which of course immediately infected me. I squeezed his hand admonishingly.
"Shh," I hissed, trying to hold in my amusement, which I had probably only made worse.
He immediately put his other hand over his mouth and struggled not to let his sounds escape.
I hadn't expected him to be so amused by this, so I secretly hoped that I hadn't been snoring in my sleep.
I basically wasn't, but my ex-boyfriend at the time had already told me with amusement that when I had drunk a little too much alcohol, I would take rather loud breaths and squeeze a few louder snores in between. He called it cute at the time - but I called it embarrassing, especially now after Satoru's reaction to it. I could well imagine that it sounded funny to me too.
We crept on quickly and headed straight for my room door, which was the furthest one in the corridor. To the left of it was Satoru's room, in front of which he stopped abruptly and I ran straight into him again.
"Oops," I cried out quietly and promptly grabbed hold of his waist.
"You're enjoying running into me, aren't you?" he whispered as he turned to me and wrapped his arms around me, whereupon I found myself in his embrace. I hesitantly placed my arms fully against his back, nestled my head on the side of his chest and listened to his calm heartbeat while my nose was caressed by his fragrant, half-evaporated perfume.
I closed my eyes with pleasure and wished fervently that I could feel his warmth on me for a few more moments.
"Apparently I do and you do too, otherwise you wouldn't be standing right in front of me."
"There might be something to it," he whispered against the top of my head before kissing me, "Good night, Mayu. Sleep well and have a nice dream about me."
I grinned maliciously, "you too from me," I whispered back and stroked his back with my hands, "you sleep well too, Satoru."
And thank you for this wonderful evening.
We reluctantly broke away from each other at the same time and finally disappeared into our rooms.
What was the first thing a woman did when she got home? That's right! Take off her bra! And with it, my floral dress flew carelessly to the floor, which I slipped out of as soon as the door clicked shut.
I was more than dead! I hadn't been awake for such a long time. Not that I regretted it - not at all. But it had been several years since my last half-asleep night.
I disappeared into my cozy and soft retreat, threw on my pink negligee and the thin blanket and snuggled into my pillow. Even though I wanted to close my eyes immediately, I unfortunately had to turn my tired attention back to my cell phone.
As I had been horrified to discover earlier that my last visit to my parents was more than six months ago, I had to put the phone call with my two least favorite people at the top of my daily schedule.
And the best way to do this? By setting my alarm clock to wake up at the same time as the world's most over-punctual early risers.
Not that I didn't count punctuality among my qualities, but with them it had been far more exaggerated.
So I set my alarm clock and put it back on my bedside table. I yawned again, tears welling up in my eyes from sheer exhaustion, and not a minute later I let my sleep carry me off into the world of dreams.
Completely startled, I was immediately torn from my deep sleep by the ringing of the fucking nuisance known as an alarm clock. I hastily sat up bolt upright in my bed and let myself be dazzled by the brightly lit display of my cell phone while I was still completely sleepy, before I switched off this annoying bomb attack.
Jesus, who came up with this crap about getting up at certain times? Oh, myself. Because I had taken the pleasure of calling my beloved parents... There was nothing better...
Still fully suspended in the land of dreams, I stretched extensively and caught a few rays of sunlight through the drawn dark blue curtains, which were already bathing my room in a warm morning light. By God, I was still dead tired. It was definitely too late last night. But I couldn't possibly interrupt this wonderful experience. I didn't, but I didn't like the receipt for it at all. I fell back into my pillow and pulled the blanket up high under my nose.
I still had a few minutes left.
Which didn't mean I could close my eyes again, because I certainly wouldn't have woken up so quickly from this sleep, but at least I could now scrape together my thoughts and sentences for my upcoming phone call. And then it came over me in an instant. That queasy feeling in my stomach.
I didn't like talking to my parents on the phone at all. Even though I never spent more than a minute chatting with them, it was definitely not one of my favorite things to do. I wonder what they would say to me if I mentioned the late visit? I didn't even want to imagine it. To be honest, I had never made this mistake before. It promised to be exciting.
But to open the door straight away and point out that I wanted to bring Satoru with me? And for two nights? I usually only ever stayed one night. But it was also too bad that I couldn't have clarified this with a message. But more than a 'Hi, how are you? I'm fine' was never possible. And even that was too much, it was more of a sporadic message than genuine interest.
I would have liked to have taken a hotel to stay in each time - the less time with them, the better it was for me, but Satoru decided last night that we would stay in my girls' room.
Well, yes. The call had to be made first.
It was best to call with 'yo, here's your troubled daughter who needs to visit you again, so I'll come the weekend after next with one or mine' ... Oh, crap. Who should I have called Satoru?
That night last night...
It had meant a lot to me. Not only our conversations throughout the evening, but also the fact that we had become closer. But well, I couldn't make more of him than just a friend. At least not in front of my parents. Breathing in heavily and sighing just as much, I sat up and gave myself a more alert look in the closet mirror.
Oh shit - what did I look like!
My lilac-colored hair was also celebrating more than it should have during the night, as it had died in all directions.
"Tell me, how soundly did I sleep? I've never looked like this before," I mused to myself and untangled the disheveled party look on my head before picking up my phone again.
But now back to the unpleasant topic - the phone call.
Would I rather call my father or my mother? The end result was always the same. The two of them were more than a well-coordinated team. They were practically two bodies with one brain, one mouth and one opinion and emotional state.
Even Siamese twins had more privacy and opinions of their own than the...
Phew. Why had it been so difficult with them?
I scrolled to the last call entry, which was for my mother, and dialed her number, rolling my eyes. It rang and rang again before she immediately picked up.
"Hello Mayu," was her cold and almost hypothermic greeting.
So her joy had once again blown itself up when her cell phone rang, huh?
"Hello Yuna," I also greeted her emotionlessly, 'it's about time I came by", again I would have liked to add, but then preferred to stick to the friendlier level.
"Oh yes," she pressed through her thin lips in a short and exasperated voice, and I could immediately hear the drumming of the whistles in the background, "you're far too late for that! We had agreed that you had to show your face after six months at the very latest! What excuse do you have? After all, there's no reason why you didn't show up!"
I couldn't help but grin mischievously. Yes, probably the worst time ever, but I couldn't help it.
"I moved again within Tokyo two months ago and unfortunately missed making a new appointment for the visit."
I was no longer even trying to sound credible.
I could have told her that I had been run over by an airplane. Or I could have spent several weeks in hospital because of an illness. Everything was an excuse for this woman.
"I see, and you've been so busy that you've just forgotten about our agreement?"
I nodded as if she could have seen it through the phone. How I hated her patronizing tone. No understanding or concern whatsoever. It could really have been that something had happened to me. But even if it had, they would probably have been happy about it. This reprimand had only served to demonstrate their power to me.
"Of course," I replied cheekily, because I had nothing to lose anyway, "so what about the weekend after next?"
"Just a moment, please. I need to see if we have any appointments and if we have time for you."
Don't feel pressured.
"From when to when, please?" she wanted to know, while I heard the rustling of paper in the background. Her second lover, or as some called it - calendar.
"From Friday lunchtime to Sunday evening," I answered neatly, but made a disgusted grimace as I looked up at the ceiling. How was I going to survive those two days?
"What?!", she exclaimed in horror, "two days? Why in God's name so long?"
I wondered the same thing, but Satoru wanted it that way.
"I'd like to bring my boyfriend and show him where I grew up," I blurted out unabashedly before I realized what lie I'd just seen flitting naked across the red carpet.
Oops...
"I see. Your boyfriend then? How long have you been together? You haven't told me anything about him," she threw contemptuously at my feet, as well as angrily in her voice.
I'd like to know, but how long have you been interested?
"It's only been about two months," I rambled on.
"Didn't you just move two months ago? I really hope you didn't get yourself into someone else's house by being unchaste."
I gave myself a horrified look in the mirror.
I had been used to a lot from her, but I hadn't thought it would go in this direction. Especially as I only let a man get close to me when I had developed feelings for him.
"That shows once again how much you know me, Yuna. Not at all, actually. You haven't even asked me how I'm doing here in Tokyo or how my new job is going. Nothing. And then you insinuate that I'm having sex with strange men-" I interrupted myself in my incipient tirade of anger, "to answer your disgusting question - no."
Calling me a slut indirectly made me unspeakably angry.
"We don't care about that either, Mayu. You're an adult. God will know which way you're going to go. Whether you're happy or not makes no difference to us. Anyway, I've made an appointment with you and your new boyfriend. Next weekend from Friday lunchtime to Sunday evening. God forbid he's not just as much of a lout as your ex-boyfriend Kei."
"You'll never forget him either, will you?" I alluded to my ex-boyfriend, who had given them a piece of his mind shortly before we broke up, "Don't worry. He's the opposite."
If only they knew how Satoru had reacted to them yesterday, I could have just stayed at home.
"Let's hope so, miss. I don't have any more time or desire to talk to you now,
Mayu. May God forgive your sins. Bye," she said goodbye briefly and succinctly and hung up.
Unmoving, I let the rest of the tooting echo in my ear before I simply dropped the cell phone into my cross-legged position. In a state of shock, I continued to fixate on myself in the mirror, my vision gradually beginning to blur. I couldn't stop her words from hitting me again.
As they had done so many times since I could remember.
I hated it! I hated beyond words that she had once again managed to make drops of emotion burn down my cheeks because of her, while my anger built up inside me. That stupid cow wasn't even worth a tear and she had still managed it. Again!
We don't care about that either, Mayu.
You're an adult.
Whether you're happy or not makes no difference to us.
I gripped my cell phone tightly and put it back on the bedside table more roughly than I intended, before taking a penetrating look at the drawer underneath.
I kept Uraume's letter in there.
Which I knew by heart, but which I almost always reread when my emotions about Yuna got out of control. I would have done the same now, but instead I swallowed hard, quickly wiped my traitorous feelings from my face and began to smile.
"Don't forget, Mayu. They're not worthy of you shedding a single tear for them," Uraume's calm yet gentle voice echoed through my mind.
Nevertheless, I sighed in and out heavily before I left my bed exuberantly and walked towards the large closet, having pushed aside the dark blue curtains to let the summer weather shine in.
I took out my midnight blue dress uniform, which Satoru had pointed out to me last night, and slipped into it. I quickly adjusted the lace fabric on the sleeves before buttoning the golden buttons on my chest and putting on some smoky gray socks.
My next destination was the bathroom to get ready for the unknown day ahead.
Once I was in the bathroom, tamed my hair into a half-braid, applied my everyday make-up and finally got ready for the day, I disappeared into the kitchen opposite. Because I certainly couldn't and didn't want to do the kind of secret training that Satoru had made of it on an empty stomach.
So I quickly prepared a small meal for myself.
"Good luck, Mayu. And don't forget to pay attention to the little details I told you about."
I winced and immediately looked over my shoulder at Megumi's all-too-familiar as well as uplifting voice color. Exactly the person who knew how to restore my still half-ruined spirits.
"Thank you," I replied with a smile and turned to him, 'surely you must know what the gentleman has planned for me, right?' I tried to catch a glimpse of my soon-to-be fate.
Otherwise he would never have given me this tip. But it soothed the grumpiness that was rising when I thought about the next few hours.
I had learned all kinds of tips and tricks from Megumi. To be precise, we had tinkered with my close combat together on one or two missions. Not much, but enough to be able to defend myself for the most part, for which I was extremely grateful.
"Yes, of course. But I'm not supposed to tell you a word about it. You know, top secret and all."
"Not even a hint?"
"Unfortunately, no. And no, stop looking at me like that. I'm not allowed to reveal anything!" he remained firm and looked provocatively to the side, "ok. Curse spirit! That's all I'm giving away..."
Yay! A hint that I unfortunately didn't like at all, but I had expected it. At least my pleading look had worked on Megumi again.
"All right," I mused, giving up, 'I hope it goes well,' I tried miserably to build myself up.
"Of course," he grinned at me, 'I've got something for you too,' he began, which made me curious.
I watched excitedly as he dug something small out of his trouser pocket and held out his clenched fist to me. A small white capsule was placed questioningly in my outstretched hand. The turquoise curse energy wafted around it, as I had already seen when Megumi had summoned his shikigami. "What is that?" I wanted to satisfy my curiosity.
"Our conversation last time got me thinking. I've been tinkering around a bit over the last few days and have extracted some of my curse power in here. You're my guinea pig today and you get to test it. When you open this capsule, you can summon my white hellhound. It's important to make sure that you open it in the shade. It's best to place it on the ground and trace my shape with your finger, which I use to summon it. If my calculation works, it can neither attack nor is it actually physically there, but it can help you search for clues and curse spirits. He'll also keep you company. And don't worry - if he is attacked, he disappears via the shadow technique and loses none of his curse energy. So practically speaking, he works like you," he grinned, referring to my non-existent curse powers, which made me laugh.
"Mega," I admired delightedly, "I'll let you know if it worked. Thank you, Megumi," and I immediately hugged him gratefully.
That had really meant a lot to me and the fact that my spinning about these curse powers had made him think about it made me happy. Now I was really curious and excited to see if it had worked, which I had fervently hoped it would.
"It's just a little thing," he told me sheepishly and stroked me gently down my back – a small gesture with a healing effect against Yuna.
"No, it isn't. At least for me," I revealed honestly and moved away from him again, "at least I'm not completely alone, because I don't think I'll be doing this training with Satoru."
"I'm still not allowed to say anything," he whistled with feigned ignorance, "by the way, he shouldn't necessarily get wind of this, ok?"
"Yes, yes. I know," I played along innocently, "I'll get back to my special training. He must be waiting for me outside by now."
I tucked my somewhat anxiety-relieving capsule into the pocket of my skirt.
"I'm sure he will. I'll see you later, Mayu. And take care of yourself."
"Of course. See you later and thank you again, Megumi."
"Good morning," I greeted them both courteously and bowed more to Kiyotaka, who was dressed in a black suit, than to Satoru, who still didn't think much of formalities.
"Good morning, Mayu," the equally bowing Kiyotaka greeted me in a friendly manner and was already opening the driver's door.
"Good morning, my apprentice," Satoru gushed, "did you sleep well?"
Pah! He had a lot to say. If this haunting had been over, I would have been found in bed again.
"Yes, but far too short. You?" I asked as we got into the heated car.
"Sufficient and good."
Did I want to know how long he had stayed awake and got up this morning? I could have bet that I had been awake before him.
"Is there any news, Kiyotaka?" Satoru immediately asked our driver, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
And so I mentally disappeared back to my thought tree and took root once again. I asked myself all kinds of questions about the training I was about to undergo, or curse, as Megumi reluctantly told me.
"Not for that."
So I left the well-protected dormitory behind me and went outside. I was immediately embraced by the almost hot rays of sunshine that I had let into my room earlier. The immaculate blue sky wouldn't have tolerated even a tiny cloud today. Couldn't we have gone to the swimming pool today? Surely there would have been enough ghosts to scare away...
Well - I couldn't avoid it in the end and headed straight for the two people waiting for me, consisting of our assistant supervisor - Kiyotaka, who was standing next to the black car, and my teacher Satoru.