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Another morning had arrived over Inoshima as the sun gently creeped its head above the mountains. Critters of flesh and keratin or bolts and wires yawned and stretched as a new day began in this strange corner of the world. But while most of the townsfolk were still asleep, one hard working maiden began her routine early. The ever so mundane [Sleep Mode] message disappearing and making way for two purple dots blinking away the morning haze, Megumi’s eyes scanned her room, hundreds of drawings and pictures of frogs greeting her back into the waking world as a smile formed on her face. From her HUD, she saw that it was 5:30 in the morning, a full half hour before her alarm was meant to set off. Feeling a sense of giddy from having woken up earlier than expected, she jumped out of her bed, ready for a busy day. Not wasting any time, she quickly adorned her shrine maiden uniform and bolted down the hall, making sure to not wake up her folks. A sharp turn to the left and she made her way outside, eager to start cleaning the shrine and trim all the plants.
”Good morning, Inoshima!” she exclaimed, trying her best not to scream in excitement as she grabbed the broom that always waited for her every morning.
”Today is going to be a great day!” starry eyes glistened with excitement as she held the broom close to her body.
But before a proper step was even made, she fell face first, the soft grass preventing her visor from cracking. Turning around to see what she had tripped on, she was both shocked and not surprised in the least.
”Suika!” she exclaimed as the shelled fog stood behind her, red eyes momentarily focused on her before moving in whichever direction they pleased, a small croak escaping the amphibian’s throat.
”I told you to stop waiting for me right at the entrance!”, but Suika paid little mind to the Drone's words, eyes still moving in random directions.
”Sigh, but since you're awake as well, I guess you really want to help me with work around the shrine, huh?”, a smile creeped on the corner of her mouth as her eyes softened.
Another croak from the seemingly absent minded amphibian.
”Then let's get moving! There's a lot we have to do today, including cleaning the torii at the front entrance!” Megumi excitedly exclaimed as she ran towards the heart of the shrine, Suika lazily hopping as best as he could after his master.
The shrine itself was spotless, the stone and wood almost glistening, but Megumi still insisted on cleaning the whole thing, not a single spot left untouched. Even the stones around the structure looked like they had been polished, yet the shrine maiden continued scrubbing at them until she could see her reflection in them. Suika just stared at one of these rocks as he kept puffing up, thinking that another frog was staring him down, his throat sack expanding more and more as he tried making himself look more menacing. The yorishiro (sacred trees) were in pristine condition, crowns a deeper shade of green than most emeralds, but Megumi still checked each and every one of their leaves for possible pests, knocking on their bark to make sure no worms had infested them. Suika’s eyes rotated with no pattern to them as he mindlessly ate the leafcutter beetles scurrying around before they reached each tree Megumi checked. The haiden (hall of worship) was next, her trusty broom sweeping every single spec of dust before mopping the entire place, the floor glistening to such a degree, you could skate on it with just your bare feet, which if what Suika was doing as he kept trying to get a grip and stop sliding around, all the while letting out an annoyed and stretched out reeee. All the komainu she had moved from the overgrown gardens were given a similar polish, same with the sessha (mini shrines), all the lanterns were emptied of their old embers before new flames were breathed into them, the main road to the shrine was swept of even the dirt by its sides as every single blade of grass poking from the spaces between the stones were plucked with surgical precision, and finally the massive Torii gates at the shrine’s entrance were scrubbed clean and given a new coat of paint, even though the old layer hardly even chipped away.
Catching her breath as she slowly backed away, Megumi stared in awe at all her hard work, the Ito shrine looking like it had just been built. All the while, Suika was sitting lazily next to her, barely acknowledging the almost plastic shine everything had. Taking a quick glance at her HUD, she saw the time and realized. She had done all of this in just 2 hours, the digital clock showing that it was barely past 7:30 in the morning.
”Wow, new record! And it's still early in the morning too! Which means that we have all the time in the world to tend the gardens!”
Not wanting to waste any more time, the Drone bolted towards her father's tool shed, ready to take the large hedge branch cutters and garden shears, knowing fully well the dense jungle of weeds she was going to venture into. But she stopped dead in her tracks when she heard a loud cackle in the air.
One she was all too familiar with.
Eyes widening into panicked circles, she hid behind one of the komainu as the cackle grew louder before a hard thump was heard coming from the haiden’s rooftop. Her mind was screaming at her to not look and stay hidden, but her curiosity won her in the end, escaping the smallest of peeks. On the rooftop was a Banshee, slowly turning its head around as it observed its environment. The Sentinel then jumped off the building, flapping its wings to break its fall. Reacting quickly, Megumi crawled to the back of the statue, trying her best to not make a sound. The Banshee was now moving forward, letting out quick shrieks and grunts as it seemed to be looking for something. As she tried to stay out of sight, a number of thoughts began bubbling from her mind. Yokuryuu? Here? They almost never enter deep in Drone settlements, preferring the wilds or the mountainous areas, and even when they come nears towns and villages, they just fly by, rarely, if ever making a touchdown. And yet, an event from a week ago flashed in her head. She and Haruka were tasked with a disappearance deep in the woods and eventually found the person in question, while they were being chowed down by a group of Banshees. In fact, as she looked at the Sentinel, she could see that it was oddly small compared to other Banshees she had seen. Right at that moment, the memory of her looking behind her as she and her friend were running only to be flashbanged by one of the pterosaurs appeared. Was the Banshee here to reclaim its prey? If so, how did it know where to find her? Or was it just her bad luck that led the Sentinel right to her location without even knowing that she lived here, judging by how utterly confused the thing looked? But those thoughts were cut short, as a sudden burst of movement caught the Banshee's attention.
A sweeper bug had found its way at the shrine and it seemed to have been spooked by the Banshee just as much as Megumi, but unlike her, it tried to make a run for it, but the pterosaur’s reflexes were way faster, the bug barely escaping its clasping jaws and it was now wildly running around. It tried to follow Megumi’s plan and hide behind the statues, but the Banshee wasn't having it, its long neck allowing it to reach around the base of the statue and almost catch the bug. It then finally hid behind the statue Megumi was using as cover, looking up at the Drone and seeing her face, frozen in abject terror. She could hear the Banshee's claws scrape on the komainu’s rocky mane, the grunting signaling that the Sentinel was looking around, but not yet underneath it. But just as it seemed like she was preparing to make a desperate run for it towards the haiden’s doors, a loud croak could be heard from not too far away. She couldn't see the source because of one of the statues, yet she knew who did it. Another croak echoed, followed by another, this time even louder, but the Banshee had heard the message the first time loud and clear. The Sentinel took flight in a cackling frenzy, diving straight towards the source of the croaking. Rushing by the statue, but still trying to stay out of sight, she couldn't help herself from gasping.
It was Suika, trashing between the Banshee's jaws as he began taking in air and inflating into its defensive form. The Banshee tried to hold a tight grip on the frog, but Suika had already expanded to the size of a basketball, forcing the pterosaur to let him go and fall to the ground, bouncing like an actual ball. But the Sentinel wasn't going to give up so easily, trying to cut into the shelled frog with its claws and poke with its beak at the front opening, desperately trying to grab a hold of one of the thing's legs. Horrified, Megumi tried rushing to help her pet, but instantly stopped herself. She had nothing to fight the Yokuryuu with, and even then, what was she going to do? She wasn't Haruka, she didn't have a ghost friend that was seemingly immune to their death flashes so she could fight them in her place. Yet despite this, she still eyed her broom sitting at the entrance of the building, all the while hearing the Yokuryuu trying to eat her friend. She had made up her mind right then and there, tearing the towel she had scrubbed the Torii and the stairs with that was still in her hand and wrapping it around her head, before bolting for the broom. Now with pure determination in her glare, she took a good look at the Banshee’s location before pulling the towel down over her eyes.
The Sentinel was still trying to grab at least a finger, but the folds of skin were closed shut, preventing any harm to be made, yet it could feel that the shelled frog had shrunken a bit in size, motivating it to keep trying. A large broom then hit the side of its face, halting its thoughts and causing it to reel back in shock. Not giving it an inch, Megumi striked again, hitting its wing before going for another swipe, now hitting its neck.
”BEGONE FOUL CREATURE!!” she followed as she kept hitting the Banshee.
Many of her swipes didn't connect as she couldn't see a thing, but the few that did kept taking the Banshee by surprise as it let out cry after cry. The Sentinel then had enough and began using its stun flashes, but it was useless as Megumi made sure she wrapped the thicker part of the improvised blinds around her visor. The Banshee then struck the miko with one of its wings, almost knocking the broom out of her hands and causing her to fall on her rear. Now angered, the Banshee was preparing to change at the Drone, but the shelled frog it was trying to kill just a few moments ago hopped in her lap and screeched loudly.
”Suika!?” Megumi exclaimed, as she tightly hugged the fog and ducked to the side, narrowly avoiding the Banshee.
Raising back up, she was struggling to keep a hold of the frog and the broom, but Suika eased her burden by hopping on her shoulder and then on her head, resting on top of it. He then let out consecutive croaks, almost alerting his master of the Banshee’s location judging by how he was positioned.
”Suika…..are you going to be my eyes?”
The response was a loud reee as the Banshee hurried towards them, Megumi instantly slamming the broom in the side of the Banshee’s face. The two were now locked in combat, the Sentinel trying to bite the miko while constantly flashing her, but Suika let out screech after screech, Megumi striking the pterosaur’s face more times than she missed, barely avoiding its swiping claws. The Sentinel then got hold of the broom and yanked the straws out, but this was almost a blessing in disguise, because now Megumi could use the broom’s handle like she would her gohei (staff/wand), striking with all her might at the Sentinel's head, trying to hit its eyes. The Banshee was able to bite on her sleeve, which she promptly removed off her arm, letting it dangle from the Sentinel’s jaws as she resumed her attacks, all the while Suika was warning her of each and every move of her foe. Finally, the two were caught in a standstill, and even though she couldn't see it, Megumi knew the Yokuryuu was pissed, yet exhausted from the struggle. But before she could resume their fight, she heard a rapid set of footsteps before a slashing sound echoed in the air, followed by a hard thump on the ground. Confused, she cautiously lifted her blindfold to see what had happened, only to be elated at the sight. It was Haruka, her blade glowing an incandescent colour. Looking down, she saw what had happened: the Banshee had been decapitated, her friend breathing heavily as she too lifted her trusty bandana.
”Haruka-chan!” the miko exclaimed in joy as she hugged her, thanking her for saving her.
”Sure was a close one, damn.” the ronin said as she looked at the fallen foe.
”Haruka-chan.” Megumi now spoke in a much more stern tone.
”Oh come on! You still care about that rule even in a time like this!?”
”No swearing near the shrine.”
Haruka sighed loudly as she rolled her head and eyes.
”Sorry.”
Megumi’s frown turned back into a smile as her eyes lightened up.
”Still, thank you so much for saving us, Haruka-chan.”
”Us?” she exclaimed, before a croak redirected her eyes at the top of the miko's head, locking eyes with Suika before they began rotating in random directions.
”Oh, right. You're welcome too, Suika, hehe…”
But while she was still tightly hugging her, Megumi also noticed the garment she was wearing.
”Haruka-chan?”
”Yeah?
”Why are you dressed up like a maid?”
She instantly became flustered as she remembered that she hadn't changed back to her usual clothes.
”I-I uh, uh, helped Yujiro-sama with cleaning last night!”
”You didn't have to dress like this, though, especially since you've helped him numerous times before.”
”You do look cute in it, though.”
Haruka became even more flustered as she heard Aoi giggle.
”She’s right, you know~” the specter’s voice echoed in her head.
”SH-SHUT UP!!” her embarrassment making way for anger, yet that somehow made her look even cuter.
Shaking her way out of her friend's vice grip, she sheathed her sword back, trying to put on a cool look, but her trembling mouth betrayed her inner turmoil.
”Btw, Haruka-chan?”
”Eh?”
”How did you know that I was fighting a Yokuryuu?”
”I left Yujiro-sama’s house early in the morning since last night's fog had long cleared and was ready to get inside and change clothes, when I heard that thing's shriek and saw that it was heading east of town. I quickly picked up my blade and ran towards the location it was heading, but I lost it a bit while passing by some houses.”
”Still, there was only one other big location in the east of importance, which was the shrine and I was afraid of what might happen. Turns out I was right on the money and arrived just in time.”
”Now, if you excuse me.” Haruka said as she stretched.
”I'm gonna head home now. I need to burn these clothes.”
”W-Wait, Haruka-chan! What do we do with the Yokuryuu?”
”Dunno, it's not on my property, I just helped get rid of it. Although it seems like help has already arrived.” she said as she pointed at the Sentinel's corpse.
A bunch of cleaning bugs were nibbling at the Banshee’s body, lapping up all the black fluid that had puddled at the tip of its neck.
”So, chyao I guess. See you later.” she said as she sprinted down the stairs.
Among the cleaning bugs, one of them turned at the miko, taking her by surprise as it waved at her, making her realize that it was the same bug that had narrowly escaped the Banshee. While the bugs were hard at work, she knew that it'd take several days before they broke down the entire body, so they'd still have to relocate it. Fortunately, the rest of her family was due to wake up soon seeing how close it was to 8:30, so her father could call the fire brigade or some other townsfolk.
”But out of all of us.” she said as she picked Suika off her head.
”You're the one I'm the most proud of.”
The amphibian let out a simple croak as its eyes kept looking around.
Some time later
”So yeah and that's how I was able to get a perfect score.” Haruka gloated.
”Sounds like a pretty hard game, Haruka-chan.” Megumi said.
”Hm, it's not that hard once you get a hang of the controls. What's important is that-” but her words were cut short as the two noticed the crowd that had gathered at the town's gates.
Rushing to see what the fuss was all about, they were shocked to see a civilian, badly injured and being carried by two fire brigade members. Besides them was Mr. Takahashi, with a worried look on their face.
”Takahashi-sama!” they both exclaimed at the same time, catching his attention instantly.
”What happened?” Haruka asked.
”Was it another Yokuryuu attack?” Megumi said, worried.
”No. Way worse.” he said with a grim tone.
”D…Disassembly Drones!” the injured Drone called out.
Both the miko and the ronin’s eyes widened.
”They…..they attacked Sinshei! They slaughtered almost everyone that didn't manage to head underground, and took the rest as hostages.”
”Hostages?”
”For what?” Haruka asked angrily.
”A concert!…..in the town hall. I was one of them. When they were done, they killed them all, but I was able to escape.”
”I….I don't know just how many they killed and how many are in the bunkers, but I know one thing.”
”What is it?” Mr. Takahashi asked, his tone almost scaring everyone in the crowd.
”They're heading for Inoshima. I heard them talk about it being the next location on their “tour” before I ran away.” and with that, the Drone dropped to the ground in exhaustion, losing consciousness.
”Take him to the town hospital, now!” Mr Takahashi barked, the two fire brigade members following his orders as they ran past the crowd.
Looking at those that were still left, the Drone could tell that everyone was shaking in their boots, and for good reason. Disassembly Drones hadn't shown their faces in Takamagahara in a long, long time, and the last one that did was a loner. Now suddenly an entire squad of them showed up and had seemingly slaughtered Sinshei in a single night, and they were apparently next. But before he could ponder further, Haruka approached him, a cold stare dominating her face.
”So we only have a day to prepare, huh.”
”Yep.”
Haruka unsheathed her blade, letting it catch the sun's rays as she stared deep in the forest. Mr. Takahashi stood beside her, also eyeing down the thick vegetation and the path that eventually led to Sinshei.
“In all my years, I didn't think that I'd have to face a Disassembly Drone again, let alone multiple at the same time.” he said as he pulled his ever so reliable notepad out of his bag, grip so tight he could feel the wood bending a bit.
Haruka let out a quick chuckle before smiling.
“If these bozos think that they can come in, decimate an entire town and then move on to the next like it's some game, then let's really give them the warm welcome only the people of Takamagahara know how to.”
Mr.Takahashi also chuckled a bit.
“Death's knocking at our door and you're more fired up than ever. That's the Inoshima Hero I know.”
The jaded Drone then spun around to look his men in the eyes.
“ALRIGHT, EVERYONE!” he barked with a tone only a true leader possessed.
“We have exactly 7 hours until nightfall, I want every single woman, child and elderly escorted to the bunkers and all men on hand to start the preparations for our greeting party!”
“The clock is ticking and we only have a single chance. If you want to wake up to the sight of your families next time when the sun rises, then follow my orders to the T. MOVE! MOVE!!”
Haruka and Megumi looked on as Mr.Takahashi and the fire brigade began to work on their plan, with the two of them knowing that they too would have to contribute to this spectacle.
“Are you afraid, Megumi.” Haruka asked.
The miko held her gohei close to her chest, an almost impossible to hear sound of teeth clattering emanating from her.
“I am, Haruka-chan.”
Megumi's eyes looked at the sleeve that the Banshee tore up and that her mother stitched back together.
“But it doesn't mean that I won't help my friend in defending our home.”
Haruka smiled.
“Go tell Okaasan and everyone else to head for the shelters, I'll wait for you here.”
“Hai!” and with that, miko was also gone.
Turning back to face the forest, she let her sword catch one more ray of sunlight. A gentle breeze passed by her, hair flowing and dress dancing as she focused forward.
“Come at us, Disassembly Drones.”
“Because it sure as hell won't be you that will stay standing when morning arrives.”
“I promise that.”
