Fanfic: Warashi

[mittens-220.livejournal.com]

Title: Warashi
Genre: Horror (maybe), more like creepiness
Characters: Rhode Camelot
Summary: It is believed in Japan that the Zashiki Warashi would give you good luck and you should always allocate a room in your house for it, even if your house is small. You should always leave treats out for it too. So what happens when Zashiki Warashi is scared off?
 

That room was supposed to be empty. At least that was what 7-winters old Yasukiyo thought. But just the previous night, he saw a shadow flitting into that room. He had asked his mother what the room was for, why that room only had tatami mats and nothing else decorating its bare walls. Their house was pretty small too so why keep an unused room? The mother smiled and told him to keep watch and find out for himself.

The boy crouched behind a huge vase (It’s empty. It used to have flowers) and stared intensely at the “tatami room” while trying not to nod off.

Mother must be hiding something inside. Maybe it’s an animal. He secretly hoped that it was a puppy. It would be a great gift for his upcoming birthday.

“Hee hee hee…” A young child’s giggling drifted to his ears. Yasukiyo turned but saw no one. When he turned back, he saw a bunch of colours in front of the room. It was a small kimono-clad girl. She slid open the door, looked into the room, shrieked in glee and ran in. Yasukiyo gasped.

A thief!

“Mother! Mother!” The boy yelled as he ran, half-stumbling, to his mother’s room. “There’s a thief! A girl!”

The mother opened her door and looked down at her panting son. She asked in a reassuring voice, “Is it the “tatami room”?”

“Yes!”

“Then it’s okay.” The mother walked back into her room and carried a small bag. “Shall we go look together, Yasu-kun?”

Yasukiyo stared at his mother in confusion.

“Who is she?”

“A youkai. (Demon)”

“What? Then won’t she eat us?”

The mother laughed. “The Zashiki Warashi is a good Youkai. She just wants to eat sweets. Come on, let’s go.”

Yasukiyo followed his mother back to the “tatami room”. Upon reaching the outside of the room, his mother took out the small bag and scattered its contents on the wooden boarding outside the door. It was flour.

“What’s that for?” Yasukiyo asked, curious.

“It’s just something for us to know if Zashiki Warashi came. If she came, we’ll see her footprints.”

“Is it important?”

“Zashiki Warashi’s presence can protect us and bring us good fortune. I put sweets in the room to attract her here.”

“No fair.” Yasukiyo grumbled. “You never give me sweets.”

“Because you’ll eat too much of it and hurt your stomach.” The mother pointed out. “Now you know who’s been coming, why not go to sleep? It’s very late.”

“Okay.”

*****************************************************************************

The next morning, when Yasukiyo went to inspect the flour, there were indeed tiny footprints there.

Nothing to be afraid of. She’s just a little girl who brings good luck. He thought.

Zashiki Warashi came every day until a few weeks later…

****************************************************************************

“Mother, she didn’t come.” Yasukiyo said, a bit disappointed.

“Really?”

“There are no footprints.”

“I see, maybe she got sick of the sweets I’m giving.” The mother said jokingly.

“Then we won’t have good luck anymore?”

“Only for a while.” The mother replied, stroking her son’s head. “Zashiki Warashi cannot just give good fortune to us. There are other people out there who need it.”

“Like?”

“Like the people whose homes have been attacked by monsters. They need the good fortune more than us, don’t you think?”

Yasukiyo nodded slowly.

“Now, Yasu-kun is a kind boy so you’ll wait for her to come back, right?”

“Yep!”

**************************************************************************

It’s been almost a week since Zashiki Warashi stopped showing up so Yasukiyo decided to do something about it. He snuck out of his room quietly with a bowl of sweets in hand. He bought those sweets from the market himself; they were the kind he liked. He wanted to replace the ones his mother put out.

Maybe Zashiki Warashi would like these kinds better.

He went to the “tatami room” and was in for a surprise. On the flour covered floor was, imprinted very clearly, prints. They weren’t footprints though. What he expected to see were small footprints like the ones he makes, not some weird shapes that looked like an egg plant and a half circle. (A bit weird here, dear readers, just imagine what an eggplant plus a half circle looks like.) Yasukiyo went to his mother’s room to ask.

“Mother? Are you awake?” Yasukiyo asked. He slid the door upon and found his mother lying in her futon.

“Mother?” He shook his mother. “Zashiki Warashi came back.” He shook her again, harder this time, but she did not rouse.

Maybe mother is just tired. Yasukiyo touched his mother’s face. It was cold. He pulled his mother’s blanket to cover her better and went to look for the Zashiki Warashi himself.

I’ll tell mother tomorrow.

**************************************************************************

“Youkai-san…” Yasukiyo called out softly as he entered the “tatami room” slowly and cautiously. “Are you in there?”

Then he heard laughing coming from above him. He looked up and saw a girl sitting on a folded umbrella. This girl looked a lot different from Zashiki Warashi. For starters, she wasn’t wearing a kimono but some strange garment which was definitely showing a lot of leg. His mother would have disapproved of it. She had said it wasn’t proper for women to show too much skin.

“Eh, Youkai san?”

The girl looked down at him, staring with a twisted smile on her face. Yasukiyo could feel a chilling aura coming from her. He shivered.

“What do you want?” The girl asked.

“Are you Zashiki Warashi?”

The girl laughed. She laughed till she looked like she was going to fall off the umbrella, which she apparently did. And landed behind Yasukiyo. He felt her hands touching his cheeks and wrist and then her nails dug into his skin. He wanted to run but couldn’t move at all. Small drops of blood oozed out of the wounds.

“Of course not.” The girl hissed into his ear. “I’m much more powerful and real than a half-assed demon you humans made up.”

“Wh…who…” Yasukiyo stammered.

“Say, boy.” The girl said, her voice smooth like melted candy but chilling like ice, “Do you want to play with me?”

“N…No…I don’t…want to.” Yasukiyo was trembling like an autumn leaf. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes.

“Sorry.” The girl said evilly “I don’t take no for an answer.”

******************************************************************************

“Ah…” Road Camelot whined. “Another doll broke. They’re so weak. That’s why I rather play with Exorcists.”

“Road-tama, we have to go back. Lero.” Lero complained. “You told your mother you were just taking that mutt for a walk. Lero.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” She said dismissively eating another sweet from the bowl. “I was bored. Mmm, this tastes nice.” Then she looked around.

“Hey, where’s Alex?”

“Dunno, Lero.”

“ALEX!” Road shouted. A whimpering was heard and a huge white dog trotted into the “tatami room”. The dog’s muzzle was stained red. Road smacked the dog lightly in the nose.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to eat everything you see?! Humans are the most disgusting!” Road chided the dog. He let out a high pitched whine. “Hmph, let’s go. We’ll have to get a Skull to wash you up.”

A door rose from the ground and the girl, umbrella and dog disappeared into it.

*****************************************************************************

The next morning, a neighbour found the dead woman and her son. He shook his head sadly and went to get help for their final rites.