After a long nap and a quick bath, dinner was a short affair—an appetizer for the ice cream feast they had planned. The dining space was rather empty; Okumura dropped by to let them know everyone was safe and most were taking dinner in their rooms to re-center after the Door fright.
They ended up at the beach, a balled-up spare yukata holding their ice cream haul slung over Nanae's shoulder. Yasu led the way. The markings and fluffiness had disappeared after the battle, but he still looked different—there was something brighter about him, and the world seemed to know.
The seagulls and crows watched him, and the trees seemed to bend to try and touch him with their pine needles. The sea glittered particularly in the night, and the stars seemed to twinkle brighter for him.
They sat down in the soft sand, legs folding and yukata splaying. Kohaku threw their phone out on their lap—left to charge in their room all day—and turned on some soft, quiet music.
"Soundtrack. For ambience," they said.
Nanae opened up the makeshift sack.
Yasu leaned in. "Are you guys matcha people?"
The others all voiced their opinion at the same time. Though outnumbered, Kohaku's howl of "no" was the loudest. Hisako laughed, and the smile that stayed on her face was so bright it made her face ache.
"Okay, okay!" You're a sweet tooth then, huh?" Yasu chuckled. He sifted through the pile and pulled four of the choco-mint-matcha bars. "This should be a good start."
Kohaku dug in without hesitation. "Mm. Alright."
Nanae and Eiji nodded in approval.
They sat in a rough circle as the ice creams progressed. Hisako and Yasu ended up near the surf, slippers to the sides and sandy water lapping at their heels. Yasu dealt the ice creams near-absently as he looked out over the ocean, as if he could see another continent.
Maybe he's looking at Hawai'i, Hisako's sleepy mind imagined. She wondered how many people dreamed of Hawai'i.
"What are you thinking about?" she asked.
He shrugged so minimally it was more like a rogue chill, eyes still unfocused and far. "Tomorrow."
She smiled. "Plans?"
He sighed. "I should probably go home, finally."
She hesitated, then nodded after a moment. "It… It might be the right thing to do."
"Not so easy, huh?" he laughed.
"Never is."
"Yeah. They kinda always say that."
"Probably 'cuz it's true," she sighed. "Sucks though, yeah."
"Helping me… that wasn't easy."
She shrugged. "Doesn't feel so hard anymore. At the moment, maybe, but not anymore."
"I appreciate that," he said, finally looking at her. "I really do. "Nicest thing I've ever seen."
She briefly frowned, but she wouldn't let her smile fade. "I just wanted to help."
He stared her down, eyes reading hers. "You're a good person. For some of us, this is a job…or a thing we do because it's what our family wants. Or both of those things."
"You can quit," she said quietly.
He chuckled a little. "I enjoy it enough."
"Maybe try some hobbies," she suggested.
His face brightened a little. He sounded a little pleasantly amused. "Maybe I will. I, well, feel a lot more in control now. It's been a long few weeks… But I'll see you guys before I leave tomorrow—wish Nanae-san good luck, say my goodbyes."
Hisako hummed and nodded. She snapped open the last ice cream's wrapper to free a lavish but simple vanilla soft-serve cone. It was refreshing and quite delicious.
"Sounds like a plan," she said.
He nodded and fell into silence as he too enjoyed the ice cream.
"This is the best one," Kohaku announced.
"There's a matcha version, but the resort doesn't have it," Yasu said.
"This is perfect enough," Nanae reported.
Hisako chuckled. Perfect enough. She liked it.
***
Nanae was waiting for Hisako outside her door when she woke up. She looked calm, arms crossed and eyes peacefully closed. They opened when Hisako stepped out.
"Ready?" Nanae asked.
Hisako nodded. She glanced down the hall as Eiji's door opened and he emerged, already in his Doorkeeper athletic uniform.
"I'll go change."
"I'll wake Kohaku. Yasu said he'd meet us at the buffet."
Hisako nodded.
Breakfast was another brief event. Hisako and Eiji got plates similar to the carefully engineered breakfast Nanae gave herself; Yasu and Kohaku enjoyed the more fun side of the buffet. Afterwards, Yasu walked them down to the courtyard-rooms.
"See you around," Hisako said into their goodbye hug.
When he hugged Kohaku, he leaned down to whisper in their ear. Hisako saw Kohaku's face light up as he did.
"That's pretty cool," they said.
"Only when they're done," Yasu insisted.
Kohaku nodded dutifully, and Yasu waved before slipping away down the hall.
"What'd he say?" Nanae asked.
"His title. I get to tell you after you beat your Door," Kohaku replied.
Nanae let out an amused exhale—half a laugh, really, but she smiled with it. "Alright. I won't keep you waiting, then."
She turned to the center of the room and gestured. Her Door appeared immediately, springing into existence. Hisako realized she'd never taken a good look at Nanae's Door—it was always so brief, giving her the gauntlets and retreating soon after.
The frame of the rounded gate-Door was stone bricks, smoothly carved and assembled in a neat near-circle. The simple shoji doors slid open and poked out from the sides; it was almost amusing without a wall, but it was too gorgeous to complain about. The stone had moss and thin vines climbing up the sides, but the wood was clean and impeccable.
It was a lovely moon gate ready to welcome someone into a well-cared-for garden—one that welcomed imperfection yet remained controlled and clean.
On the other side was a garden, but it was washed dark blue and barebones. Hisako saw the strangled dark shapes of misshapen needle-less pines, casting eerie shadows as if the sun were far away.
She saw Nanae hesitate at the lip of the Door, then turn around to force a smile to welcome them.
"Shall we?"
Hisako blinked and nodded, already pushing herself forward. Eiji looked similarly surprised. They were prepared to join her, but they were equally prepared to wait outside should they not be invited.
"We shall," Hisako said.
Nanae stepped through first, then Hisako, then Eiji. Hisako waved at Kohaku, peering over her shoulder as she did.
Kohaku looked proud but a little afraid.
Is that the face I make? Hisako briefly wondered before being swallowed by a freezing chill as the world darkened and went blue.
The air was heavy and thick—for a moment, Hisako thought she was drowning before she forced a deep breath. Beside her, Eiji did the same in ragged gasps. She looked around to calm her panicked heart.
The Door had closed behind them but remained present. In the Door world, it had a broken-down wall to sit in, complete with the dead garden they'd seen from the other side. The pebbles between the shriveled plants were strewn wildly—Hisako found the lines and drag patterns violent, which only served to key her up more.
Ahead, Nanae stood at the edge of the garden, where a whole section of the wall was torn down. Beyond the wall was a town. An older, more traditional town than the Sasaki village but one similar in appearance, though far more leisurely. Hisako saw little empty pools dug on the bank of the river that cut through the town.
Overhead, the sun was indeed drowned. Light flitted down to them in broken green-blue rays, and dark shapes that weren't clouds swam overhead, blotting out the sun once in a while.
A drowned ancient Japanese town. Hisako rubbed at her cold arms, willing the goosebumps away.
"It wasn't like this before." Nanae looked around, a frown forming on her face. "It's completely different."
She stepped over the rubble, and they followed, cautiously exploring. Nanae clenched the borrowed sai, and Eiji and Hisako readied their weapons.
Hisako made her way to the pools she'd seen. They were small, only big enough for a few people. She stepped into one, Toraichi licking roughly over the stone edge.
The water inside, though she couldn't see it from the general look of the Door world, was warm—almost piping hot as she stepped closer to the river-source. She hopped out quickly, following her curiosity to the nearest structure.
It was intact save for a hole in the ceiling where a rafter had failed. Inside, she could see it might've been a teahouse or other recreational space. Maybe a bar. There were broken low tables and a long, dusty preparation table. What might've been an irori in the center of the building was half-buried by the collapsed roof.
She walked out and saw Eiji picking through the remains of a completely collapsed smaller building. She could see the ruins of a cast-iron furnace and the bent smokestack. His face was severe, a reflection of how she felt. He lifted an old wooden wagashi-pressing board stained with red.
What an odd world—they both felt it.
A war-torn hot-springs town was Nanae's new Door world.
Before they could have further silent conversation about it, Nanae let out a noise of warning.
From outside the crumbling walls of the town, soldiers were appearing from the shadows. They were humans—perfectly normal figures wrapped in Sasaki red, painted purple by the light.
As they approached, she realized they were beyond wrapped. They were mummified in red, fabric so tight it ought to have choked the blood vessels, and they were wrapped from head to toe with only slivers of skin peeking from sloppier sections of the wrap. They bore katana, but they held them awkwardly, restricted by the fabric binding them.
"Lots of family drama these days, huh," Eiji joked quietly as they regrouped.
"It's a good metaphor," Nanae replied with dry amusement. "I don't suppose you're next."
"No. Perfectly boring family here. Maybe that's what's missing from my arsenal," he chuckled.
"Mm, not sure. I'm pretty boring over here too," Hisako joked. "I'm sure you'll figure it out."
Nanae chuckled too, spinning the sai as the Doorwalkers approached. They were virtually indistinguishable in appearance, but each moved differently. In the distance, at the end of the wave of walkers, Hisako saw Nanae's father.
The proud walk was unique and painfully familiar.
"Feels like a rerun," Hisako said. She bumped into Nanae reassuringly. "It's always easier the second time around, right?"
"I don't lose the same battle twice," Nanae agreed. "Back me up this time?"
"Of course."
She didn't wait for the first walker to approach her; she threw a sai into one's head, immediately downing it. It didn't disintegrate or fade away; it turned to stone, cracking as it froze and hardened in a semi-slumped position, then once again when Nanae retrieved her weapon.
Unsettling and just in theme with the destroyed town.
The calcification seemed to start a cascade of consequences. A horde lunged at Nanae, and more surged into town near Eiji and Hisako.
Hisako swung Toraichi carefully, unsure what to expect. The walker folded under her blow, but Toraichi's edge connected with the katana, twisted and held close to the walker's chest.
She jerked back when the arm lashed out wildly, both restricted and boosted by the red fabric, like an external tendon.
The arm was faster than she'd anticipated—quick and reckless. The tip of the katana carved through her collar, from shoulder to shoulder. Nothing bad, but painful—the atmosphere made the wound burn as if it were bathed in saltwater.
She gritted her teeth and spun on her heel.
The walker blocked again, but Hisako threw them with the swing, slamming them into another incoming walker.
Eiji snapped them together with his chain, and Hisako was able to take a new angle and dash them in halves. As stone, they crumbled when they hit the ground. She heaved a breath against the oppressive air before running to the next and the next.
They bent in unnatural ways, but the twists of their red kimono gave away which way they'd twitch. She met a few of them mid-movement before the katana could block her, speeding up as she tore through the wave.
She glanced at Nanae when she caught a break.
Nanae was doing well, but her attention was split—she kept peering over at the proud walker slowly creeping toward the town.
"We support her," Eiji said, just loud enough for only Hisako to hear.
Hisako nodded.