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Chapter 4 - Chapter 4 — The Village of Smiles

The engine rumbled quietly as Akari guided the car along the winding mountain road. The rain had stopped, but the mist hadn't lifted. White veils of fog curled around the trees, swallowing the world outside the headlights.

Izan perched atop the car roof, floating just enough that its weight left no dent. The great eye turned slowly, scanning the woods as if every shadow might move.

Akari kept one hand on the wheel, the other drumming softly against the door. He didn't like driving into unknown villages. In places like this, secrets weren't hidden — they were grown, passed down like heirlooms.

Up ahead, a lone figure waved from the roadside.

Akari slowed.

A man stood there in a weathered coat, face lined with age, his hand raised in a casual gesture.

Akari (muttering): "A hitchhiker? Out here?"

His foot hovered over the accelerator. His instinct was to keep going.

From above, Izan's voice pressed into his thoughts.

Izan: "Stop."

Akari: "…Why?"

Izan: "Because I tell you to."

Reluctantly, Akari braked. The man opened the back door without asking and slid in, folding his hands neatly in his lap.

Stranger: "Much obliged. Didn't expect kindness on a road like this."

Akari said nothing, eyes fixed forward.

The ride stretched long in silence, broken only by the occasional cough from the stranger. When the mist thinned, the first outlines of the village appeared — squat houses with slanted roofs, clustered around narrow, twisting streets.

Stranger (softly): "Welcome."

When they pulled up to the edge of town, the man finally spoke again.

Stranger: "You're here on business, aren't you?"

Akari glanced at him in the rearview.

Akari: "And what's it to you?"

The man smiled faintly, though his eyes didn't match the expression.

Stranger: "It's to me because I'm the one who runs this place. Chief Hayato. And in a place like this… it matters who comes and why."

The words landed heavy. Akari's hands tightened on the wheel.

From the roof, Izan blinked once, slowly.

Izan: "This one is not ordinary."

---

That night, Akari found himself standing in front of his client's modest home. She greeted him with a bow, ushering him inside with nervous haste.

Akari: "I'll need to stay for a week. That's enough time to see what's moving in this place."

She hesitated, then nodded.

Client: "Of course. If it helps."

He sat down, shrugging his coat off, and poured himself a cup of water.

Akari (offhand): "By the way… I never asked your name."

Client: "Sae. My name is Sae."

Akari filed it away. Names mattered.

---

The next morning, chaos tore through the village.

A crowd had gathered at the far edge, their voices sharp with panic. Akari pushed through, Izan hovering silently above.

The woman on the ground was pale, her eyes wide open but unseeing.

Villager (weeping): "Ayaka… Ayaka's gone!"

Her body was untouched — no wounds, no blood. Just a hollow shell, emptied of something unseen.

Akari crouched beside her, staring at the stillness in her features.

Above, Izan's voice rumbled low.

Izan: "Do you feel it? The whole village is wrapped in it. A malevolence old and patient. Every corner, every breath of wind… is its domain."

Akari's mouth tightened.

Akari: "So we're already inside its nest."

Izan: "Yes. You'll need more than your words and empty hands. Let me mark some talismans. Blessed, or cursed — whichever you prefer. They may hold it off, for a time."

Akari didn't answer. His gaze lingered on Ayaka's body, then on the pale faces of the villagers watching him, waiting for something he wasn't sure he could deliver.

---

That night, Sae sat in her home, the shadows pooling thicker than usual. She rubbed her arms, unsettled by the silence.

Something flickered at the edge of her vision.

In the far corner of the room, where the lamplight didn't reach, a shape stood.

A figure. Tall. Still. The curve of a mouth stretching far too wide.

She turned her head sharply — and the corner was empty.

But the smile lingered in her mind's eye, sharp as teeth.

---

END

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