“Why are we doing this again?”
The wry, slightly aggrieved tone of the teacher's voice left Shou
struggling not to laugh. “Because you lost our bet, sensei,” he
purred. “My prize is your company on this little adventure.”
Aoshi cracked his eyes open just enough to study the man next to him.
“I already told you, I don't believe in ghosts. If you're just
trying to get a rise out of me you'll be sorely disappointed.”
“Oh my, sensei. If that was what I wanted I would have been
much more direct.” Shou's deep rumbling chuckle sent goosebumps
skittering over the teacher's skin. “It's supposed to be the most
haunted place in all of Japan. I just want to see why it has such a
dark reputation.”
“Weak fools who wanted to be scared,” Aoshi declared. “People
see what they want to see.”
“So the thought of dinner with the devil doesn't even give you
pause?”
“Devil, schmevil, can't be any worse than some of the human
octopuses I've dated.”
“Let's hope you're right.” Shou pulled off the road onto a
twisting drive. Conversation ebbed as he turned his concentration to
the narrow rutted track. Mushrooms of all shapes and sizes had taken
root in the pitted surface, churning to a slippery ooze under the
tires. The vehicle slipped and slid, scraping against the encroaching
underbrush until it finally burst into a small clearing.
The house itself was ordinary enough, wood faded to a soft grey, the
surprisingly intact shoji tightly shut. If he didn't know better,
Shou would have assumed it to be carefully maintained by a loving
owner.
“Are you sure this is the right place?” Aoshi's question jolted
him out of his daze. “It doesn't look haunted.”
Shou didn't reply, instead he busied himself gathering their
supplies. He grasped the teacher's arm at the elbow and steered him
up onto the engawa. “Last chance to back out.”
“As if I'd give you the satisfaction. Aoshi slid open the door and
stepped inside, yanking his friend in behind him. “Looks harmless
enough.”
Light filtered in through the yellowed paper on the shoji, giving the
space a warm amber glow that was almost welcoming. The aged tatami
creaked and rustled under their feet, each step kicking up a cloud of
dust. The teacher shook out the blanket he was carrying, spreading it
in the middle of the floor and pulling his companion down to sit.
“This is as good a place as any. I'm starving.”
As unimpressive as the room looked, the tiny hairs on the back of
Shou's neck prickled with danger. He rummaged in the picnic basket,
pulling out three lacquered bento boxes, chopsticks, sake, and three
tiny saucers.
“Three?” Aoshi asked. “Is someone joining us?”
“Can't have dinner with the devil and not feed him.” Shou poured
sake into three saucers and lifted his in a toast. “To a most
enlightening evening.”
“Kanpai.” The teacher took a sip, sighing as the warmth slid down
his throat and started a glow in his belly. “That is nice. I just
hope you didn't make these yourself. I've seen the glop you call
food.”
“And risk insulting the prince of darkness? It's from that sushi
place near your apartment, the one you always rave about.”
“Then let's eat.” Aoshi clapped his hands together.
“Itadakimasu,” he murmured as he grabbed a pair of chopsticks.
“It's rather impolite to start without your host, don't you think?”
The surprisingly mellow voice grew closer. “It's been a long time
since I've had guests, especially on this night.”
“What night?”Aoshi croaked. He kept his eyes stubbornly fixed on
the tatami as bare feet and the hem of a man's kimono passed next to
him.
“Why, All Hallow's Eve, of course. The night when restless spirits
walk the earth. I tend to forget you don't celebrate it here.” The
newcomer settled himself cross-legged, hands reaching for the waiting
saucer of sake.
Shou idly noted the man now seated opposite him kicked up no dust as
he moved. He clamped down hard on the nausea bubbling in his throat,
lifting his eyes to the middle of the figure's chest. From the neck
down he looked ordinary enough, a slight man in a simple dark kimono.
A tiny part of his mind gleefully urged him to look up and disprove
the myth once and for all, but his natural paranoia overrode it.
“Your companion is quite lovely. I can certainly see the
attraction.” The deceptively simple statement triggered protective
instincts Shou never imagined he possessed.
“He's mine.”
“Really? He doesn't smell like you.” The stranger inhaled deeply.
“But he does smell sweet. Why don't you and I make a little
trade. I'll let you go, and you leave him to keep me amused.”
“Never.” Shou leapt to his feet, pulling the teacher behind him.
“Don't look. Just back out through the door.”
“You're being very rude.” Aoshi clamped his hand over his
traitorous lips in an attempt to stop the words that flowed from his
mouth, in his voice, but were certainly not his. “We intruded on
his solitude,” he continued to mumble around the obstruction. “The
least we can do is finish our meal.”
“That's an excellent idea.” The stranger reached to take the
teacher's hand, but Shou pivoted, fingers digging into Aoshi's biceps
before flinging him through the open door.
Cold seared through him, the outstretched hand now resting
companionably on his shoulder. “It's amazing how often that works.”
“Wh-wh-what?” Shou stammered. The door shook as Aoshi pounded on
it from outside, but the sound was curiously distant.
“I mean, think about it,” the stranger continued. “What would
someone like me want with someone as nice as your friend. You on the
other hand ...” Shou squeezed his eyes shut and prayed to all the
deities he had never believed in, “ ...you have possibilities.”
* *
*
The police dismissed it as a lover's quarrel. A perfunctory visit to
the caved-in ruin of a house guaranteed they would not believe him.
Shou slipped out of conversation, then memory.
Yet every year on October 31, Aoshi returned with dinner for three.
“I've brought our dinner,” he'd announce. “Are you tired of him
yet? He really can be an asshole, sometimes. But, if you're done with
him, I'd love to have him back. We never finished our date.” With a
respectful bow he'd lay out two bento and pour two saucers of sake,
then retreat to the engawa to eat his portion under open sky.
