Ie, Sweet Ie

The first attack end comes from the flesh-cicada. It breaks free of Yellow Head's grip and dives at Big Guy.

Big Guy thrust out the hooked end of his Sasumata. It crashes into the beasts face with an almost metallic crunch as it collides against the bone-like mandibles.

The flesh-cicada seems unconcerned though. And it continues to push forward – snapping and snarling relentlessly. The sheer pressure of it's advance causing Big Guy to step backwards.

'Chiga-Chiga-ta!' barks Yellow Head, rising to his full height. He shoots an accusing finger at Big Guy rushes forward. However, Hello Kitty sprints past Big Guy to stand between them – raising her machete over her head.

I had assumed Yellow Head was unarmed this whole time – relying on his pet for protection. But that is when I see him reach for a chain that is strung around his waist like a belt. He unloops the metal links. Then takes a firm grip on the centre of the chain as he starts to slowly swing it around and around in an almost hypnotic fashion.

After a few more spins, Yellow Head lunges at Hello Kitty. Swinging the chain over is head like a whip, he strikes down at her location. But she proves to be faster than I expect. In the blink of an eye, she drops into a crouch as the links of metal whizz over her head. Then she swings out in front of her with her machete, making a wide arc at the clade cuts through the air. Yellow Head quickly staggers backwards to save his kneecaps and loses his footing for a moment. Hello Kitty presses her advantage. She gets to her feet and comes at Yellow Head with a series of blind and wild swings as she shrieked in fury. In a move of desperation, Yellow Head whips out with his chain, catching the machete blade and tangling it.

I realise this is my chance. With all four of then distracted by each other I should be able to make my way out with Tire Iron unnoticed. I keep my eyes on the fighting. But slowly make my way back to Tire Iron. He is still clutching my bag when I get to him, murmuring to it like a child would to a stuffed bear. I gently pull it out of his grip and sling it over my shoulder. But just as I do I hear a snarl from behind me.

I whirl around and see Big Guy has seen us trying to leave, and he's not having any of it. He thrusts his sasumata forward, crashing it into the skull of the flesh-cicada. There is a sickly sound of breaking bones, and the beast staggers backwards. Shit! I think to myself, considering if I should abandon the bag and just make a run for it. But I know if I did that I would be leaving Tire Iron to his die, and I just can't bring myself to do that.

Instead I brace myself with my hatchet as Big Guy rushes forward. When he reaches me he strikes out with his sasumata. I dodge it, and try to snatch it with my free hand. But it seems Big Guy is genuinely skilled with the thing. Because he quickly flicks it away and I'm left grabbing nothing but empty air.

I prepare myself for another attack. But then a high pitched shriek of 'creekt!' cuts through my ears.

The cicada is back and has launched itself into the air. Big Guy tries to avoid the dive-bomb. But it is too late. The insect collides with him. the sharp mandible bones burying into his gut, and they both crash to the ground in a mess of limbs, blood and screams.

I seize the opportunity to snatch Tire Iron's arm and to start sprinting – or as close as I can manage to sprinting. The shrine had to be about a kilometre away. So right now my main goal was about putting distance between us, and the others.

I can hear the sound of cries of fury and shrieks of pain from the fighting behind us, but I don't dare look back. It is only as we reach the turn that takes us by the kombini that I finally risk a glance back at the violence while we turn the corner.

I see that the flesh-cicada is still on top of Big Guy. However, Hello Kitty has grabbed the monster by the flanks and is trying to yank the thing off. However, she has to desperately dodge the swinging chain from Yellow Head at the same time. As I watch I witness Hello Kitty move just a fraction to late and the steel links crash against her back and limbs with meaty crunches that make my skin crawl.

I get that same feeling I had when I cut off Tire Iron's fingers. They were only fighting fight now because I had lured them into each other to save my own skin. I may have done what I had too. But I can't say I feel good about it.

With a final grimace I shoulder Tire Iron and start to press onwards to the shrine.

****

If there is anything else out here that is dangerous, thank God it didn't see us. Because I had no strength or sanity left for caution. Instead we hobble down the centre of the road. Both of us are staggering disjointedly, and gasping for air with every breath. But we are alive, and we have enough food to stop that from changing anytime soon. Which may not sound like much, but when it is the only thing you've got you have to take some pride in it.

Although we are beaten and bloodied, we do eventually make it back to entrance of the shrine. I feel a burst of adrenaline rush through my weary muscles as we do. But just as we come to stand in front of the torii gate, we are met with one final hurdle – one that I really didn't expect.

The cat is sitting in the middle of the main entrance. It's blue eyes fixed on me. It is blocking our way... and I don't just mean the normal "getting awkwardly underfoot" kind of blocking our way. I mean there is an overbearing force of energy coming from the boarder of the shrine. I can't see anything that would physically stop me from coming in. But a bit like a knee—high wall in a video game without a jump button, I can just tell that I am never getting past it. But why?

I figured the cat had to be responsible, I mean it was obviously more than any ordinary cat after all. That had been pretty obvious ever since it scared away the metal head kids. But I hadn't really how it could have done that until now. Because despite only being about two feet long. The entire perimeter to the shrine appears sealed by... something?

'Meow,' says the cat.

'Hey yourself...' I wheeze, a little lost for words. Did it not like Tire Iron? Did it want more money? Was it shitty that I didn't pick up any catnip while I was out? All options seemed pretty plausible in this insane world.

'Can I... help you?' I say, craning my neck around the cat to see if there were any obvious changes in the shine to explain the felines sudden hostile behaviour. As far as I could tell, everything was quite.

'Nnnnnng,' garbles Tire Iron, and I notice he is fumbling for the pocket in his tattered shorts with his free hand. He withdraws a shaking hand and reveals a handful of change – maybe around eight hundred yen in total. The cat perks up at this and leisurely gets to its feet, stretches out its hind legs and it starts to drift over to the offering box – as though we need to be told what to do with the cash?

As the cat departs, the felid of negative energy seems to evaporate like mist under the summer sun. I breath a sigh of relief as we enter and I finally have the chance to lower my guard. I have to admit, it surprised me that Tire Iron clearly knew the rules already. I'm also a little shocked to realise he is lucid enough to understand where he is and what is generally happening around him. Still, no point thinking to hard on it at the moment, and with careful steps I guide him down the shrine path.

The first thing we do is deposit the coins. The cat appears satisfied, but not thrilled by the amount. I can hardly blame him. With how out of control inflation has become, eight hundred yen is barely enough for a bowl of take-out ramen. I make a mental note that "Cat bribes" are now a thing I have to remember. After we pay the money I all but drag Tire Iron over to the fountain. I still wasn't able to get a first aid kit at the super market. But I have the alcohol and the fountain water, so I'm hoping that is enough to kill any potential infections.

I shift Tire Iron so he is sitting securely on the rocks next to the fountain. Then I take his hand and instantly feel a pit grow in my stomach as I examine the wound. 'Jesus Christ...' I mutter at his stumps for fingers. They are covered in gnarled black scabs that run down to his palms. The shape of them are unnaturally lumpy and clearly filled with dirt, pus, and other debris.

I glance up at Tire Iron's bucket head. 'This is going to hurt,' I say, knowing that he probably doesn't understand me. But I had to try and warm him. I then plunge his hand into the waters.

The shock to his system causes Tire Iron to cry out in a shrill scream. He starts to writhe and kick, splashing the water all about.

'Easy now! Easy!' I grunt, as I hold him down. I hope he understands that I am doing this for his own good.

I still have to clear the foreign objects. So with a grimace, I reach in with my other hand and scrub away at the wounds. Very soon the fountain turns to a pink-red as blood mixes with the water.

I notice that – despite railing and brawling – Tire Iron doesn't lash out at me with his free hand. That makes me hope he has at least some understanding of my intentions. But considering I caused the injury, it doesn't help much as I hear his cries of pain and fury.

The water has gone too dark with blood for me to see his hand any more. But I can tell feel that the wound is clean, and I pull out the injured hand.

'See, you did just fine, buddy,' I say to him, falling back on the kind of language and mannerisms I would use when my kids scrapped a knee, or bumped their head. I know it's not really the appropriate language for a kid who is missing half his hand. But I really have nothing else to go back on.

Now that his hand is free of the water Tire Iron seems a lot more at ease. I doubt he has any idea what is about happen next. I reach down to the bag and pull out the cheap vodka.

'Sorry buddy. It's going to get worse before it gets better,' I say, coaxing Tire Iron's hand over the grass. He follows my lead. Then I grip him tightly by the wrist and lean him against my side for support. 'Ahhh... Try to think of your happy place?' I comment. I then crack open the vodka and liberally splash it over his fingerless hand.

Tire Iron shrieks with ear-splitting fury. Then he keels over backwards and goes still.

'Oh shit!' I spit out as I worry that the pain was intense enough to trigger a heart attack or something similar. But I quickly notice that his chest is still slowly rising and falling, telling me he is still breathing and I let myself relax.

Still I couldn't leave that wound out in the open. I had to bandage it. The only issue was with what? I know in an action flick this is where our Rambo-esque protagonist would tear up his shirt for bandages. But looking at how stained my shirt is with blood and mud that really doesn't feel sanitary.

'Meow,' comes a muffled sound from behind me. I turn around and see the cat standing under one of the blooming sakura trees. Some kind of coiled, black and white fabric in it's mouth.

'Hey there,' I say. 'What's that you've got?' I walk over to it and take the fabric from its mouth. It is a long and narrow strip of fabric – very similar to a bandage. Only instead of being plain white this bandage is covered in various kanji characters. They are painted in a black ink and it is clearly all done with a steady hand. This raises two questions. Did it know I needed a binding? I know the cat is powerful. But if it could watch me giving first aid, and predict my needs, that means I must have near human intelligence too. The other question, is where the hell did the cat find this I'd have to take some time to rummage around the shrine soon. There must be all kinds of useful items hidden in the cracks of a place like this.

I decide can't look this gift horse in the mouth for now. So I thank the cat, then turn to Tire Iron. With him passed out, binding his wounds becomes fairly trivial. In about a minute or two I have his palm wrapped up in a tight fist.

My job is done. But Tire Iron is still unconscious. So I lift him up with both hands and take him to the shrine shop. The cat follows me – silent and curiously watching as always. I lay Tire Iron down on the sleeping bag, and roll him onto his side to make sure he doesn't choke on his tongue – assuming he has one.

It occurs to me that this is probably the first real chance I have had to see what exactly is under the helmets they all wear. After all it isn't as though Tire Iron is in a position to stop me from pulling his off.

Yet somehow I can't seem to bring myself to do it. It feels somehow, private? I guess. So I force down my many questions about how they see and eat with their heads covered all the time and step away.

'Alright,' I say with a sigh. 'You just focus on getting some rest.' Then close the door to the shrine shop.

I won't go over all the details of treating my own wound. After all it is more or less the same. Cleaning and pain. Disinfecting and pain. Dressing the wound with another of the cat's mysterious bandages, and the obligatory pain that I am become far to familiar with.

The sun has fallen by the time I am done. But despite the stress, exhaustion and pain of the day, I don't feel tired. Besides, with Tire Iron passed out in my bed I'm not even sure where I would sleep. Instead I go back to my pack, take out a packet of wasabi chips, a couple of black thunder chocolate bars, a can of what I hope is tuna, and the Suntory Whiskey. I then make my way over to the steps at the front of the shrine and take a seat, letting my legs stretch out.

It is a peaceful twilight. The air is cooling, the sakura is shimmering lightly in the breeze, and the liquor is taking the edge off my throbbing leg. I let my mind wander as I consider the day just gone. I can't help wondering if I will soon start to regret my actions today. After all, Yellow Head is the first thing I can claim to have had a "conversation" with since I got here. And there I go making him an enemy – on a personal level at that.

I also don't know what Tire Iron will do in response to all this. I'm convinced the bucket heads have human – or at least near human intelligence. He must know I helped him. But there are countless examples of humans stabbing even those they love in the back if they think they can gain from it. So I can't really assume he's going to feel indebted.

This though makes me frown, and I glance over to the shrine shop, considering if I should try and bar the door or something. But then I consider he could just roll up the shutter and jump the counter to get out and I realise turning the shrine shop into a kind of prison cell would be far more than I would be capable of at this point.

'Fuck...' I groan, leaning back and taking another swig of whiskey. I guess "don't get stabbed in my sleep" is another problem I have to add to my ever growing list.

'Meow,' I hear the cat say from beside me. I glance down and see that it is sitting on the steps beside me. Some kind of empty water dish sitting in front of it.

Our eyes meet and I see that the cats irises are rife with anticipation.

'Ahhh...' I mumble, glancing between the cat an the whiskey bottle. 'Is it okay for me to give you this?'

I remember reading once that cats were entirely carnivorous and it isn't a good to feed them vegetables. But it never mentioned what to do about liquids... Especially if your cat is secretly some local shrine kami... Or Yokai... Or something?

'You know what, fuck it,' I say, and splash some of the brown liquid into the dish in front of the cat.

'Meow,' the cat answers in a chipper tone.

'You know maybe this place is just driving me straight up crazy. But I swear I can hear an inch of gratitude from you there,' I comment as the cat starts to lap at the liquor.

We sit in silence as for a while. I am planning my movements for tomorrow – mainly getting proper first aid from the camping store.

The cat is assumedly thinking about what ever cats think about. Running mice? The weird places they could fall asleep? Global domination?

When the cat finished drinking I open the tuna can and scoop a share of the fish meat out into the dish before eating the rest. The wasabi chips and chocolate I keep to myself. Not that the cat seems interested. It isn't long after, that I shift myself up to lie on the shrines steps. Then I close my eyes and let sleep take its course.