All the tension in the air made him stand up and leave to pack his bags, ignoring the questions thrown at him.
Locking the hotel room’s door to make sure he’d have a few moments of peace and quiet, he sat cross-legged on the floor, next to his luggage. The clothes he wore last night peeked from underneath his other garments. He pulled them out, untying the knot of the first bag, then of the second bag. The smell was proof that he’d been to the Castle of Bones. And yet why did he have such a hard time believing it?
His finger hung onto something thin on the jacket cradled in his lap. He held onto it and raised it up to the light. A long strand of raven hair.
Seiho. He isn’t a figment of my imagination.
A man trapped in that cursed castle, with that disgusting ghost, wasting away his life for a monster. Guilt overwhelmed Nagisa, knowing he’d abandoned Seiho. He had to see him again. To talk to him. To try and help him. He wasn’t sure how, but he’d find a way.
Before his friends even finished lunch, Nagisa was well on his way toward Hone-jo.
~ * ~
He didn’t answer his phone until he reached Osore-zan Buddhist Temple.
“Where are you?” she exclaimed. “The receptionist said you paid for two more nights.”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“I’m staying,” he said.
“I figured that. I’m asking why!” Exasperation poured out of her voice.
Nagisa winced, feeling sorry for making her worry, though he didn’t regret not spending the rest of the trip with Eikichi. “I like it here,” he lied, “so I want to spend some time on my own.”
“I don’t believe you. Is it that man you met in the castle? Are you going back to look for him?”
“And if I am?”
“It’s madness and you know it.” She paused, sighing. “Listen to me. Do you realize how it sounds? A guy stuck in a haunted castle? What kind of messed up fairytale is that? It’s not possible, Nagisa. Please, come back.”
Nagisa took his time answering as he walked toward the shore of Lake Usori, its sulfurous smell making him scrunch his nose. Even with the heavy rain clouds above, its surface shone a beautiful emerald color. The shore had more piles of stones with Jizo statues in their middle—the patron deity of deceased children. And, supposedly, beyond Lake Usori ran the waters of Sanzu River which guided spirits to the other side.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be safe,” he replied.
“Alright,” she said. “Will you get the plane back to Tokyo?”
“Yeah. I’ll return by Wednesday. See you then.”
He hung up and sat on the sand, Nagisa contemplating his rash decision. Why had he really returned here? Just for Seiho? Or to prove to himself that he wasn’t crazy?
Nagisa stood and covered his head with his hood. Little drops of rain fell and soon he was soaked. Tourists ran inside the temple for shelter as the rain intensified. It washed away some of the sulfurous stench, but now his clothes hung heavy on him.
Just as he stepped around the corner of the temple to head for the hill where the castle was, theitakoshaman from the morning walked in front of him. Nagisa gasped, almost running into her and quickly backed away.
He bowed. “I’m sorry.”
She closed in, her cane clicking on the rocky ground and grabbed his wrist, holding it tight. Nagisa winced, astonished at the strength of her wrinkled hand.
“You’ve been touched by death,” she said, her head tilted up to him.
“W-what?”
“There’s a darkreiryokulingering on you.”
Nagisa managed to pull his hand away from her grasp. “I’ve no idea whatreiryokuis.”