I’m Really Unnerved In Tokyo

"These trees look so strange, are they pruned on purpose?"

Standing at the bottom of the narrow stone steps, Sousuke Araki looked curiously at the trees shrouded in resentment on both sides.

Because of the custom of "appreciating cherry blossoms in spring and maple trees in autumn", cross planting of cherry blossom trees and maple trees is a normal gardening technique.

But ordinary trees all grow in the same direction because of their phototaxis.

But the deformed trees on both sides of the ladder, no matter the left or right, all lean towards the central ladder.

The twisted branches twisted and closed in mid-air, weaving into a dense natural vault.

It is conceivable that even in the hottest summer, the sun should not be able to reflect on this stone step, so it must be a good place to cool off.

"Let's go, go to the top of the mountain to have a look, if there is nothing unusual, you can get off work today, find a ramen shop along the way..."

"Yeah, I'm very familiar with Shinjuku. There are a few good shops where you can take Mr. Araki!"

Worried about Araki Sosuke being offered a reward, Kotori Yumasumi has actually been continuing the "Journey of Exorcising Spirits" with anxiety.

Seeing that this journey was about to reach the "end", her mood jumped up a little.

Thinking about it carefully, before I knew it, soul dust equivalent to nearly a hundred spirit bodies had been collected tonight...

If the matter involving Mr. Araki and the "Taketori Picture Scroll" was not top secret, the efficiency of "100% becoming a Buddha" was spread, enough to make the immortal Mochizuki who spent hundreds of years overturn the coffin board, Let the jaws of the members of the association who are dedicated to exorcising spirits drop to the ground.

Thinking of this, Yu Mayumi Kotori finally understood why the matter involving Mr. Araki was the top secret of the association.

The man standing in front of him at this moment is undoubtedly the strongest spirit remover in the world.

The trees are beautiful in the forest, but the wind will destroy them.

So strong that even the association had to hide him as a treasure.

"Wait, let me go ahead."

Araki Sousuke reached out to stop the little bird Yumami who was about to step up the stairs, and stepped on the first stone slab before her.

His intuition vaguely told him that there was something not so good ahead.

The ancient slate stairs did not show any abnormalities, and they still lay lifeless in front of them.

Only the dense resentment around him, like a tired bird returning to the forest, flowed into his body non-stop.

"Eh? Could it be that I feel wrong?"

"Pfft... Teacher Araki, it's rare for you to be cautious."

Seeing Araki Sousuke's sluggish expression, Kotori Yumami covered his mouth and smiled, reached out and gently grabbed the corner of his clothes: "Then please, go ahead and lead the way."

Being trusted by the girl to hold the hem of his clothes was a delicate experience that Sousuke Araki had never had before.

He nodded silently, and continued to step up the next stone step.

Looking at the broad and familiar back of the man in front of her, memories of the Obon festival night flooded Kotori Yumasumi's heart, and a tinge of pink rose on her fair cheeks.

At that time, I was sitting on the back seat of the bicycle behind him like this, strolling in the courtyard, ignoring the ghosts and ghosts in the sky.

At this moment, silence speaks louder than words, and an inexplicable strange emotion began to spread in the hearts of the two of them.

As the two walked up slowly, the trees standing on both sides of the stairs looked more ferocious, like beasts that could choose to eat at any time.

This is a dull and suffocating atmosphere that cannot be felt under the stairs.

"Tick tock..."

In the darkness, it was so quiet that even the sound of water droplets sounding from somewhere could be clearly heard.

"Tick tock..."

It seems that there is an extremely evil power that is constantly accumulating, and is about to usher in the most violent eruption.

"Teacher Araki..."

Perhaps it was because the atmosphere in front of them was too weird, but the bird You Mayumi softly broke the silence between the two.

"...Did you feel that something is wrong?"

At this time, the two had reached the middle of the old, narrow staircase.

"I thought I was too nervous, so you feel it too?"

"Tick tock..."

"There seems to be some sound..."

Hearing the sound of some kind of liquid dripping again, Araki Sousuke stopped and turned around.

In the darkness, on the stone steps that were as wide as one person, the little bird You Mayumi who was walking behind had already buried his head and slammed into his arms before he had time to react.

"ah……"

Exclaiming softly, the little bird You Zhengong's heart was pounding like a deer, his footsteps were chaotic, and he fell straight towards the stairs behind...

"careful."

The strong and powerful arms embraced the girl's slender waist in a gentlemanly manner, and pulled her back steadily.

On the narrow stairs, the two leaned so tightly together.

"No, no, no, no... all right?"

The reaching out just now was just a conditioned reflex.

At this moment, I feel the delicate waist that can be grasped with one hand, the savory fragrance of a girl, and the fiery tender body in my arms...

"So, is it so thin? 』

Araki Sousuke felt his brain go blank, and his body turned into a stiff stone statue.

"No...it's okay...thank you..."

Yumasumi, the little bird who buried her head on his chest, responded like a mosquito.

She carefully raised her hot red face, just in time to meet Araki Sousuke's golden and black pupils, blurred like jewels.

The four eyes met, and the two of them were not willing to look away for a while.

I just feel that some kind of emotion that I don't know when I started to accumulate in my heart is constantly interweaving and conveying through the sight.

It seems to have returned to the moment when the two of them stood facing each other under the sky full of fireworks during the Obon Festival.

"Little bird Youshi..."

"Um."

Just when Araki Sousuke licked his dry lips, as if he wanted to say something...

"Tick tock..."

The stone steps on the top of the mountain where the two of them were, seemed to be lit by someone, and suddenly filled with bright red light.

The surrounding scene changed accordingly.

"Woo... woo... woo..."

The cries of endless resentment and hatred seemed to be squeezed out of the throat, lingering in the wind, and resounding across the top of the mountain.

"Tick tock... tick tock..."

The strange sound of water droplets also became more urgent and louder.

"This, the lantern... I remember that there should be no one before, right?"

Under the sudden light around them, the two subconsciously took a step apart, and their eyes fell on both sides of the stairs.

Starting from the bottom of the stone steps, a series of small wooden vertical lanterns that appeared at an unknown time, painted red like blood, were extending along the outside of the handrail.

As if there was an invisible hand, with blood-colored flames, the lantern was lit up one by one from bottom to top, dyeing the things in the eyes of the two people a deep red color.

Under the night, surrounded by the woods, bright red and slightly bright lanterns surround the ancient stone steps and stretch up...

It was supposed to be an extremely beautiful scene, but at this moment, because of the bloody light in the lantern, it became extremely sad and treacherous.

"The trees on both sides are weird! Mr. Araki, look..."

Under the illumination of the blood-colored lights, it can be clearly seen that from the thick tree trunks on both sides to the branches that extend out and cover the top of the head, there are all shriveled, emaciated, indistinct corpses wriggling in pain.

The weeping that resounded through the forest came from those corpses.

As the line of sight draws closer, one can even see thick black iron nails with blood grooves, piercing the body surface of those corpses, going deep into the trunks of those trees, and nailing them to them.

The sound of "tick, tick" was caused by the blood on the corpse flowing into the tree trunk along the blood groove and sliding down.