Thud. Thud. Thud.
Sanju-maru's chest heaved heavily as he worked. The blistering heat radiated from the furnace in every direction, blasting his skin until he felt lightheaded and on the verge of fainting. Yet, he gritted his teeth and held his ground.
"Brother, do you need some help over there?" Shinju-maru asked, casually stepping toward him.
Sanju-maru looked up, breathing heavily. He was currently in the middle of splitting heavy logs into precise blocks, preparing them for the furnace to be baked into charcoal.
"No, I'm alright. Go on and play," Sanju-maru managed to respond. He raised his heavy iron axe high over his shoulder and brought it down with a sharp crack. The log split perfectly down the centre, clattering against the dirt floor.
"Huff... huff..." Sanju-maru wiped a thick layer of sweat from his forehead with the back of his Kimono's sleeve. He turned his head, watching silently as his younger brother turned around and strolled out of the workspace.
'Damn it... I just can't shake this awful feeling,' Sanju-maru thought, a knot tightening in his stomach. 'Ever since that day we saw that bizarre thing that was mimicking Obaasan Gayu's voice in her shop, Shinju-maru has been acting completely off. Just what the hell happened to him out there? And the fact that he said he didn't remember anything that happened there.'
The unsettling thought gnawed at his mind, but Sanju-maru forcefully suppressed it, forcing himself back into the rhythm of his labour. He kept swinging the axe, burying his anxiety in the exhausting work until the afternoon sun began to dip.
"Sanju-maru!" his mother's voice suddenly called out from the front of the house. "Come over here for a moment!"
"Haa..." Sanju-maru sighed heavily. He pulled his loose kimono back up over his shoulders, tying the sash properly to present himself decently, before walking into the main room.
There, he found his mother busily fastening woven bamboo boxes together with thick strips of cloth.
"Help me hoist this onto my shoulders," she requested, gesturing toward a rugged, backpack-like contraption woven entirely from stiff bamboo and dried straw.
Sanju-maru blinked, looking at the heavy load. "What is all this? Where are you taking it?"
"Didn't I tell you yesterday?" she replied, her voice instantly lighting up with warmth. "I am going to visit your father and brothers at the farms. It's been so long since they've had a proper home-cooked meal, so I thought I should bring them this."
Sanju-maru's brow furrowed with concern. "But mother, your body... You haven't fully recovered from your illness yet, have you? You shouldn't be carrying a load that heavy."
"Nonsense!" she huffed, offering a cheerful smile. "I'm perfectly fine. For some reason, these past few days, I feel like I've finally been regaining my strength." To prove her point, she playfully flexed her slender arms. "See? Strong as an ox."
"Pfft." Sanju-maru couldn't help but let out a soft giggle.
"What are you laughing at, you unruly child? Mocking your own mother!" she scolded, though her eyes danced with affectionate amusement.
"I'll probably be gone for about two days," she continued, adjusting the straps of the bamboo frame. "I'll be making the trek with Miss Inosuke and Hatano, so you don't need to worry too much."
Reluctantly, Sanju-maru stepped forward, lifting the heavy bamboo pack to help hoist it onto his mother's back. He secured the cloth bindings, making sure the weight was distributed evenly.
"While I'm gone, you make sure to take good care of your brother. You know the rules of the house, right?" Shiyazuke said, reaching out to gently pinch and pull her son's cheeks in reassurance. "I've already rationed out the meals you two should eat while I'm away. Be good, and take care of each other."
"Ah! I told you to stop doing that to my face!" Sanju-maru protested, blushing as he swatted her hand away.
Shiyazuke simply laughed. She turned toward the small family shrine nestled in the corner of the room. Standing before the worn wooden altar, she clapped her hands twice, bowed her head in a silent prayer, and rang the small bronze bell hanging beside it twice, its clear chime echoing softly through the quiet house.
"Protect me on our journey…" she whispered softly before turning and walking away.
"Bye-bye! Tell your younger brother I will be back soon!" Shiyazuke's cheerful voice drifted back on the wind as she walked down the dirt path, fading into the morning mist.
'I wonder when Father and my brothers are actually coming back... I miss them so much,' Sanju-maru thought.
His momentary longing, however, was violently shattered by the sound of hushed, tense voices passing by the edge of his family's property. He went entirely still, listening closely.
"Did you hear? That Mazumi kid has vanished as well."
"Huh? Surely you must be lying."
"It's the absolute truth. More and more children have been disappearing from the area lately."
"Oh, heavens… what has come of our village? Who could do such an awful thing?"
"Shh! Keep your voice down… but I don't think it's a person doing this."
"What? What are you trying to tell me, then, if it's not a person, what is it?"
"It's an evil spirit."
"Ha! What the hell are you talking about?"
"Haven't you heard the Shinto priest that were passing through? They called it Furubara. They say she wanders the streets at night completely nude, hunting in the shadows… and that she steals people's very voices and uses them to lure in her prey."
"What? That can't be, so you are telling me that there is a wandering spirit in our village." The other roared.
"I said shhhh… do you want to curse us?"
The moment those words registered, Sanju-maru's heart leapt into his throat. He dropped his tools, completely abandoning his work, and bolted out of the compound. A single, frantic thought raced through his mind, drowning out everything else: He had to find his younger brother. Now.
"Sanju-maru! Where on earth are you running to?!" Obaasan Gayu called out in confusion as he kicked up dust, sprinting past her small roadside shop without slowing down.