𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗛 𝗦𝗖𝗘𝗡𝗘 ─ 𝗥𝗘𝗜𝗛𝗢-𝗝𝗜 霊峰寺 𝗧𝗘𝗠𝗣𝗟𝗘
𝗛𝗔𝗞𝗨𝗔 𝗡𝗢-𝗦𝗔𝗧𝗢.
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It was the weekend.
The morning sun filtered softly through the wisteria vines at the Reihō-ji Temple in Hakua-no-Sato.
Reika who had returned back from school for her break stood gracefully on the weathered wooden veranda, her long black hair with violet tips swaying in the sea breeze. She wore a simple lavender yukata as she watched her little sister with gentle eyes.
Yuki, in a cute purple yukata dotted with white flowers, gripped the thick rope of the large bronze bell with both tiny hands, standing on her tiptoes.
"Rei-nee… Can I ring it now?" she asked, eyes sparkling with excitement.
Reika smiled softly and nodded. "Yes. Ring it once, close your eyes, and make your wish with all your heart."
Yuki pulled the rope with all her small strength.
GONG—
The deep, resonant sound of the bell echoed beautifully across the temple grounds and toward the distant sea. Yuki squeezed her eyes shut tightly, making her wish with utmost seriousness.
When the echo faded, she looked up at Reika with a bright smile.
"I wished that Haru-nii will be at home so we can all eat dinner together again!"
Reika's expression softened. She knelt and gently adjusted Yuki's yukata collar.
"That's a wonderful wish," she whispered. "I made the same one."
After offering a quiet prayer at the main hall and hanging a small ema plaque, the two sisters left the temple grounds. Just outside the red torii gate, a row of modest street stalls had set up along the stone path leading down the hill.
The warm aroma of freshly grilled food filled the air.
"Rei-nee, look!" Yuki pointed excitedly.
They stopped at a small stall selling warm taiyaki and dango. Reika bought two freshly made taiyaki — one filled with red bean paste for herself and one with custard cream for Yuki — along with two sticks of sweet mitarashi dango.
Sitting side by side on a wooden bench beneath a large camphor tree, they enjoyed their snacks while overlooking the sparkling sea in the distance. The gentle sea breeze carried the salty air, mixing perfectly with the sweet scent of the grilled treats.
Yuki took a big bite of her taiyaki, custard cream slightly smudging her cheek. "It's so yummy!" she said happily, swinging her little legs.
Reika wiped the cream from Yuki's cheek with a soft smile and took a bite of her own.
The peaceful atmosphere of Reihō-ji Temple and the simple joy of the moment made the day feel just a little brighter.
That same day....
Shiharu slid the wooden window open. Soft evening light filtered into the modest apartment, carrying the distant hum of evening waking streets and the faint, earthy scent of last night's rain. He pressed a hand to his hollow stomach. The hunger had returned—deeper, more insistent.
Lately, even the simplest meals slip from my mind like smoke.
Skills he had once perfected in his small kitchen now felt distant, as though belonging to another life.
Come to think of it… I haven't truly eaten in days.
Yet he still moved. His black hair, once neatly kept, had grown unnaturally long and heavy, cascading like ink down his back. He gathered it messily and secured it with a simple clip.
He drifted to the refrigerator and opened it. The cool air washed over his face.
And then the world shifted.
Shiharu stared at the onigiri in his trembling fingers.
"I'm so hungry… so why…?"
He took a bite.
The food turned to rot and iron on his tongue. His stomach rebelled violently.
"Ugh—!"
He spat it out, eyes watering, chest heaving.
"I can't… eat this anymore?"
The emptiness inside him sharpened into something ancient and ravenous.
Desperation drove him to tear through the fridge—cold rice, miso leftovers, packaged bread—each bite more vile than the last.
Everything tasted of ash and decay.
"Why does all food now taste like this…?"
His nails dug into the counter. The hunger twisted, no longer human. It whispered from the depths of old, half-forgotten tales his grandmother used to murmur about yokai who wandered between worlds.
"…Blood."
The word fell from his lips like a curse.
His eyes widened in horror.
No… not that. Anything but that.
He staggered back, clutching his head as memories—not entirely his own—flickered through his mind. Stories of those who had fallen to the blood thirst, cursed souls who could no longer partake of the living world's blessings, forever bound to drink life itself.
Please… anything else I can still stomach—
He forced himself to keep eating until the fridge was in chaos and the floor was littered with ruined food. Nothing satisfied. The hunger only grew fiercer, burning through his veins like forbidden onmyouji magic.
Then came the pain in his gums.
Fangs slowly pushed through, sharp and gleaming—marks of the old bloodline awakening.
Shiharu turned toward the mirror with dread pooling in his chest.
The reflection that greeted him was pale as moonlight on a grave, eyes tinged with crimson, features sharpened by the yokai curse now claiming him. A creature caught between man and monster, much like the legends of those who drank blood under the cover of night.
"—Arghh!"
In fury and terror, he smashed his fist into the mirror. Glass exploded outward in a shower of shards, some slicing deep into his arm. Crimson blood welled up immediately, its rich, metallic scent flooding the room like an offering to dark kami.
The smell nearly drove him to his knees.
His vision narrowed. Thirst roared inside him, ancient and insatiable.
In the corner, the cat watched with wide, fearful eyes. Shiharu lunged before he could stop himself, claws of instinct reaching out—
No! That's....
He wrenched himself away at the last moment and hurled himself against the wall, gasping.
The cat darted under the bed with a terrified cry.
Shiharu slid down to the floor, trembling, arms wrapped tightly around his knees as blood dripped from his wounds. The broken mirror fragments reflected dozens of fractured versions of his new, monstrous self.
"What's happening to me…?" he whispered hoarsely.
Have I become one of them? A vampire… a blood-drinking yokai born from shadow and forgotten sin?
Shiharu curled tighter on the floor, blood still dripping from the cuts on his arm. The scent was overwhelming. His tongue felt thick, his throat scorched.
Driven by unbearable thirst, he brought his wounded arm to his lips and sank his newly lengthened fangs deep into his own flesh. Warm blood filled his mouth—his own blood—but it was not enough. It only stoked the fire higher.
His gaze fell on the thin red thread tied around his wrist.
Fear sharper than any hunger gripped him.
*If this breaks… I'll lose everything.*
He clenched his jaw and used his fangs to tighten the thread brutally, knotting it again and again until it bit painfully into his skin. It would not come off. Not now. Not ever.
Then the ringing began.
A deep, resonant temple bell tolled violently inside his skull—*gong… gong… gong*—each strike echoing like a curse from the yokai realm.
I'm hungry… I'm hungry… I'm so very hungry…
The voice was not his own. It was older. Starved. Something that had slept for centuries and now clawed its way out through his body.
The front door slid open with a cheerful rattle.
"Brother! I'm back from school~! We're home!"
Reika's bright voice rang through the apartment, followed by little Yuki's excited footsteps.
The moment they stepped into the room, both girls froze.
Shiharu looked up—eyes glowing with crimson hunger, fangs bared, blood smeared across his mouth and chin. Broken mirror shards glittered around him like scattered moonlight.
"Ni-nii…?" Yuki called, the snacks she brought for him slipping from her fingers.
He tried. Gods, how he tried.
He scrambled backward, slamming his head against the wall again and again, hoping the pain would silence the bell. Blood trickled down his temple.
"Get out…! Run—!"
But the ringing only grew louder.
Hunger... Yes..I'm hungry… Eat... Eat them.
Sanity fractured.
His unnaturally long fingers scraped gouges into the wooden floor as he lunged forward. He tore through anything in his path—chairs, scattered food, the low table—moving with terrifying speed.
"Onii-sann—?!" Reika screamed falling backwards out of fear that consumed her.
The sight before them was no longer that of their loving and affectionate older brother but that of a blood-thirsty creature.
A strong hand suddenly seized the back of his collar and yanked him backward with surprising force.
"Take the girls out. Now!"
Mr. Hotaru's voice was low and steady, but strained.
The nanny, pale-faced, immediately scooped Yuki into her arms. The little girl burst into loud sobs.
"Ni-nii! Ni-nii's scary! I don't want him to be scary!"
Reika stood frozen for a moment longer, eyes wide with horror, before the nanny pulled her away too. As they retreated down the hallway, Reika clutched the nanny's sleeve, tears finally spilling over.
"Is my brother going to be okay…? Is he in pain? But… I just prayed for him at the temple today… I prayed really hard…"
Her voice broke into quiet, heartbroken cries.
In the room, Mr. Hotaru wrestled Shiharu down. The boy thrashed wildly, strength far beyond human now, yet something inside him still fought the monster. Thick chains were brought out—old, heavy ones kept for emergencies—and wrapped around his arms and torso.
Shiharu could have shattered them. The kyuketsuki blood surging through him screamed for it. But a sliver of his remaining humanity clung desperately to him.
He stopped struggling.
Instead, he curled in on himself, chained and trembling, the temple bell still tolling mercilessly in his mind.