A Beautiful Mirror Covered in Bloodlust

In the Southern region of Japan, a small village by the name of Okahama has been isolated and excluded from most of the world beyond its borders. At the age of thirteen, a young boy departs from a family with his father, in search of better education abroad. James Kiwasawa, is the name of this boy, who painfully watched the tears showering down the brave faces of his mother, grandmother, friends and younger sister as he leaves his village and small neighborhood in search for a more 'hopeful' life. He kept in his mind a fear, a fear that the last time he might ever be able to see his beloved family is at that very moment that he had been forced to separate from them because of a father who is seeking the means to give the best of knowledge for his beloved son. The unsightly struggle of this young boy who tried his best to convince his father to let him stay with his people and home, as he was being dragged away, marked a somewhat unbearable amount of hatred in the hearts of the boy's family. "Hey!? Hey! Wake up James!" Spouts a voice from above. A flash of light streams past the face of an exhausted man. While groaning, "Ahhhh! Come on, Alex, why must you shout this early in the morning, knowing how exhausted I've been since last night? And please, not so close to my face man, back off." "Didn't you say you had a flight you needed to catch at seven later this evening!? Well, look at the time sleeping beauty, it's almost three after noon!" Alex yells with immense frustration. With beads of sweat forming on to his forehead, twenty three year old James Kiwasawa, who's in an absolute state of shock; hastily prepares himself for his first flight back to Japan since the last time he had been there, ten years ago. A few days go by after James' arrival in Okahama, and learns about the fact that his mother and grandmother had both passed away due to a terminal illness that starts from the weakness of the body: most likely sprung forth from a state depression. An overwhelming sense of regret and remorse plunges deep into the heart of James. However, the pain of losing someone motivated him to form an oath with the last family member he has with him, his sister, Reina. Who had also found out that four years prior to her brother's arrival, about the death of their father. "I swear to you that I won't ever leave you or this place again!", James had promised his sister while choking on his breath as a stream of regretful tears poured painfully down his cheeks. While comforting the pain of his younger sister who has stuffed her hopeless look of a face into his shirt, he could but only whisper while squeezing the blood out of his tight-gripped fist, "If only I hadn't left...all those years ago..tch." -5 years earlier- Oct 25, 2004 A gust of wind passes gently over the small isolated village of Okahama. The cattle are grazing the freshly showered fields of vegetable gardens. Children are running freely throughout the alleys of the neighborhoods, and old men and women are relaxing their brittle legs on the porch of almost every house adjacent to another. In this small, yet amazingly peaceful village, one might ask what went wrong when only a few days later the joyous atmosphere that thrived in this beautiful community was replaced by a fear. One that would drive the village's elders crazy. The once profoundly seeming lively village of Okahama, was now claimed to be under the control of a demon. A demon thirsty for blood and hungry for every human morsel. --A few days later just as mentioned-- A dusty wind slips its ways through the empty alleys of Okahama and every house shut and blocked away from the outee streets of this village has now become a place of suspicion. "Hey, haven't you heard? Ever since the farmhouses were built up North right at the outskirts of this village, people had suddenly been disappearing." "That's absurd! Don't be ridiculous, the town might be experiencing some issues but we all know quite well that this village is cut off from society at large. People must simply want to move out of this place, after all, there isn't much a thing to do anyhow." "You haven't heard I'm guessing.. Apparently the only house near the farmhouses is the Kagamine residence and a few blocks away from their house there's the Kiwasawa family. Having being the only family where foreign blood is present, the family doesn't feel as secure and welcomed in the village. I feel bad for the poor saps, after all, only a few years ago did the Father and Son leave the place, and now they have to deal with being near a sketchy lot of people: the Kagamine family." " What do you mean by sketch-" "Seriously!? Have you been living under a bush or something? You haven't heard of the 'Stench'. Rumours have it that each and every single day, near the farmhouses, a strong yet rotten smell of iron fills the air...and not just any normal smell..... it's the smell of...blood. But not only that, it seems to be smelling fresh around dusk, as if the blood was being renewed....every single day. Anyway, I heard that the mayor of the village, Takarashi Ojihime, is issuing a curfew. However, this is causing an issue amongst the villagers seeing as how they are afraid of not knowing the fact that they might be in danger...And to top it all off, the elders are calling this Stench " Akuma's[Akuma (**) means demon in Japanese] Bloodlust". "How could all this be happen---!" "Intriguing, isn't it? " A figure in dirty rigged clothing, who looks about the age of forty, trudges towards these middle aged men whose faces are struck with a look of shock at this man's intervention in their conversation. "Quiet down, we're not supposed to be discussing this out loud", the mysterious man whispers in an intimidating manner as his posture draws near these group of men. "The Mayor has arranged to eliminate suspects of those who could possibly be associated with theses murderous crimes", he said bluntly with a stoic expression. The men rose from their positions trembling with fear, and one from amongst them spoke. With his eye-lids stretched to it's limit, "Murder-...", his mouth is slapped shut by another standing next to him. "Quiet you fool!", he spout, noticing a grim smile appear on the mysterious man's face. The mysterious man who rarely comes out in public, his name is Yakushima, Detective Yakushima. He was last seen publicly in his bleak beige shirt and roughed old black pants with a leather black coat and a small dusty top hat, at the celebration for the Mayor's victory, a few days after the village's elections. Every living soul in Okahama, to this day, has no idea as to why Yakushima wears such bewildering clothing; and where exactly he lives at. All of this is just as mysterious as he himself is. He's a man of few words, but his mere presence and connections with the Mayor, brings about a sort of untrustworthy feeling in the hearts of the villagers. Shortly after the detective's appearance, these same men who were discussing the condition of the village started to notice their ties with the other villagers had seemed to have gone out of order. Everyone who witnessed their chat with Detective Yakushima had been avoiding them and so were everyone in the community at large. The news throughout the small village would spread quickly, every man, woman and child never dared to look into the eyes of these very same people who were confronted by the Detective. --A few days later-- Oct 29, 2004 The night is young and the mellows of the livestock draws to a halt as the light slowly diminishes from the cloudless sky. A new ritual awakens in this village, one that is quite uncalled for in this peaceful community. In the outskirts of the village, opposite to that of the farmhouses, the elders gather together, and only a few other villagers follow. Cloaking themselves in dark clothing, to disguise themselves with the darkness of the night, they carry with them flamboyant torches. The whispers of these villagers fill the atmosphere of this venoumously brewed night. The whole village is silent as the night progresses. People's houses are shut and their families asleep. Amidst the absence of most of the townspeople, an execution is about to commence. "Silence! Let they who help the devil reap the rewards of doing so." Proclaims Nakamura, one of the twelve known elders of the community. "Let these men be a warning to all those who dare side with the devil! And have no doubt about it, we shall rid this village of the one whom the devil has possessed. Now! Light them with fire!" exclaimed the ruthlessly-toned Elder. A rowdy crowd chants, "Thy shall be purified!!" as the five young men who are impaled onto a wooden board dangling across the trunk of trees await their inevitable doom. Their bodies roast under the darkness of the night as the elders and the handful of witnesses commemorate the downfall of the "Demon Followers". An aphorism would definitely apply to this situation, but the truth of the matter is, is that the Elders of the village believed that whoever talks about the "Akuma's Bloodlust" even if they weren't directly involved with the deeds of the one behind the 'Stench'; they had to be "purified". The Mayor was a supporter of all this, the reason as to why he was is because he needed the people to be frightened by him and feel that they are under his control. He plotted to allow the Elders to do his dirty work for him, so if there ever was a dire moment in time in which he needed to prove himself innocent, he could very well be able to do so by placing the blame on the elders. The Mayor was a greedy man, lust, gluttony, and other sorts of desires, didn't mean a whole lot to him. All he wanted was to take and take and take: an endless amount of money. Taxes were laid heavily on the villagers, but they never had the chance to form a protest, because of their fear. The very next morning, the village carries on with its livelihood. Once again, living a life of freedom and joy, at least....that's what it seemed to look like at first. Okahama has now become a town filled with oppression, the unhappy are the most happiest of people, and the only ones who remain upset in these hard dictatorship conditions are...the dead. Those men who encountered Detective Yakushima had brought upon themselves the unavoidable call of death. Rumours about the 'Stench' were once again brimming within the very houses of those who were soon after executed like those men were; or according to what the villager's were informed in light of their unawareness of the treacherous unjust actions being committed, transported out of the village to a place where one may live a normal life. However, everyone knows quite well that beyond Okahama's boundary, there was no place for any isolated member of this village to call home. Years passed by, but the condition of the 'Stench' had gotten worse. The population of the village was declining due to rumours constantly sprouting, the curiosity of those who wanted to know the truth about this smell of blood lurking about lead them who spoke anything of it, to a fated end. Whether the true demon was the one behind the cause of the smell of blood or the Mayor and his goons silencing the voices of people, one thing was for sure; the 'Stench' became the breathing atmosphere of the village and the ashes of the silenced became the rain of this withering community. Jan 31, 2006 A twist of fate had sparked an uprising of this downwardly headed community, when a few years later an end to the oppressive state had finally took place. "Hurry! Towards the cabin, now! it's past the hour we're allowed out of our houses...Shhh! Remain quiet..You know quite well what happens to someone who defies the orders of the Mayor." A young woman in her early years of teenage age holds firmly onto the wrist of a young boy while making her way stealthily back towards a cabin. Siblings, in dire need of food, had went hunting for some elk in the forest right outside the borders of Okahama earlier. They had left this morning, but had returned from the forest at an hour past curfew. Hoping that they wouldn't be noticed they quietly make there way around the main streets of their district. However, a sudden figure grabbed hold of the braided hair of this brave young woman, precautions were taken by the Mayor; he knew someone would try something like this. So he made sure the guards stood watch from inside and outside the district of Okahama's neighborhoods. She jerked away her brother's hand who at the moment was in a state of terror. He could hardly make out the expression on her face as she struggled to loosen the grip of the bulky man hovering over her. But for some reason, he knew she was telling him to run away. "Where the hell do you think your going!" Echoed the voice of the now clearly visible man, a few torches had lit their way into sight. It was one of the guards the boy saw, these men who are ordered to surveillance anyone who would be daring enough to lurk around the streets of the village past curfew hours. The malicious look on the guard's face as he forcefully cuffed the hands of the boy's sister only brought about extreme determination and hate in the now fueled eyes of this boy. At the moment, the best he could do was run out into the forest as far as he could, away from the Mayor's Underdogs. Any man or woman who were to pay close attention to the face of this boy as he dashes quickly through the trees of this forest would be able to tell one distinguishable factor from any other tear-filled complexion. That is, the eyes of one determined to change pre-ordained events. After the boy runs as far as he possibly can beyond the borders of the actual village, he frantically looks around for any of the guards, while choking on air, trying desperately to catch a few long deep breaths. To his leisure he had found no trace of the men following him. He sits against the trunk of a massive tree. After a few moments he needed to recover from fatigue, he senses a wave of light racing past the right side of his face from amidst the darkness of this forest. He swiftly jumps back a few centimeters with his legs frozen in a sturdy form, his shoulders squared, and prepared to sprint at any sign of an enemy's approach. His muscles that were filled with tension now loosen as he realizes the faint light ranging from a distance far from up South of the village. A sea of fire...perhaps...No...A number of torches fiercely burning as the smoke-filled air coughed up into the sky, remnants of ashes. The devout followers, who acted as witnesses to the executions of those who spread rumours concerning the 'Stench', had only grown larger. However, not as large as the number of villagers who are forced to stay locked up in their houses during curfew hours. Many are still asunder as to why there are curfew hours, most people have been informed that they are simply being protected from the one behind the 'Stench'. Noticeably, the people have realized that the number of times the one behind the 'Stench' has ever been brought forth or has been made certain to exist with proofs is none compared to the amount of fear the government has stuck into the hearts of these people on behalf of the Mayor's orders. The people have started to think that perhaps the 'Stench' and 'Akuma's Bloodlust' is all a lie, and that perhaps the Mayor insinuated such a lie to perpetuate fear into the hearts of these villagers as a way of controlling them. This was only half of the truth. Yet all that seemed clearly visible to this boy, is the endless amount of smoke rushing forth into the sky, and the sea of flames waving left and right in its stagnant position. Perhaps their is finally news of the secret this village is keeping from its people, the boy thinks to himself as he scurries back towards the village . He manages to make it back into his cabin with a worriesome mother desperately awaiting the arrival of her children. "Where's your sister!?" She squeals as she rushes towards her exhausted son. She breathes heavily and cups the young boy's face directly into her chest as she weeps unbearably, realizing that her daughter was taken away. A few moments later, the boy informs his mother of what his naked eye had witnessed up from the forest up above the hill towards the South of the village. She stares dreadfully at her son, and with a devilish look in her eyes she quickly motions her hand across the boy's face. "DON'T YOU EVER MENTION SUCH A THING AGAIN!" Besides the burning pain stinging in the boy's cheek, he realizes that the villagers have become frightened to the point where the power of the government's grip on this vanquishing community has not only grown strong....but almost become unbreakable. However, this boy, Rutsuko Akagami, a few days later became the very hope of this village....at the cost of his own life. A few days after the incident of the boy's witnessing of his last moments with his sister he had been disowned by his mother. Who had scolded him and beat him senselessly all because he wanted to tell the village the truth behind the curfews. A riot had soon after started, as the boy had never wanted to leave the death of his sister in vain, thus, he marched across the village exclaiming, "THE FIRE UP THE SOUTH! THE ELDERS AND THE MAYOR ARE BRUTE KILLERS! DEFY THE CURFEW AND HEAD TOWARDS THE SOUTH!" Amongst the villagers were those who had waited for a sign of hope, and anything would do as long as there no longer had to be a curfew or dictatorship within the land. This young boy Rutsuko, had later been caught that day before sunset and along with his mother who's cabin is now torn to pieces were executed publicly as treason for being disobedient rebels simply lying to over throw the Mayor and his government. This method was used to strike fear into the hearts of the villagers and remove suspicion off of the government. However, it simply boar a greater grudge in the hearts of the people for the government, and later on after the execution a gathering had taken place. Where a riot of rebels and those who sought a revolution from amongst the villagers had formed. An allegiance to a man named Saitama Otarashi had been established. Amongst the whole lot of people a burning hate for the government was implanted into the heart of this man. It wasn't because of the shameless suffering the people were dealing with nor the obedience they were forced to comply with, rather it was his anger of feeling helpless and unable while many of Okahama's residents were either missing or claimed by the government to 'have left the village' for a 'better life'. His ambition and persuasive speech earned the trust of the villagers. Just as nightfall came near during the hour right before curfew, the villagers had locked their windows and houses and ran towards the meeting which is being held near the northern borders of Okahama. The guards of the village proceed towards the neighborhoods, and just as usual they hear not a single sound in the alleys of the village. Assuming the people have slept, they too proceed to their duty and stand at their assigned house of every single villager. A few meters from the place of the meeting of the rebels, a messenger hurries in a careful yet more cautious manner as he passes between the Kiwasawa residence and Kagamine residence. A place of secrecy that has earned it's infamously known title, the 'Akuma's First'. The rumour is that near these two residencies , the families who live nearest to the farmhouses, they had never been seen in the more central part of the actual village ever since the 'Stench' had become a known incident. Therefore, these families were labeled as the very first victims of the one behind the 'Stench'. Anyone who heard of the 'Stench' had been too afraid to go check on either family's well-being. Since most of Okahama's community joined as rebels except for the few who had too much fear of both the 'Stench' and the government, a messenger was needed to make sure the Mayor's guards didn't suspect anything other than the usual to have happened. Especially the fact that..most of the village during the curfew this time is actually empty. The other rebels manage to go around the West of the village to reach the outskirts of the North, however, someone brave was needed as a messenger to inform the rebels of the situation down at the village as quickly as possible. The only way for the messenger to do so was to pass directly through the North end of the village where no man dare set foot in, not even the Mayor or his goons. The messenger's name was Daichi Tomoe, a thirty year old man, who had brought along with him one of the few fine horses in the village. However, at this point in time, not even the the swift movements of a well tamed ebony-hair coloured horse well known to be the fastest ride in town can prevent the palpitation occuring in the chest of Daichi. Daichi's fingers start slipping from the amount of abnormal perspiration his body is going through, for all he knows his killer could be lurking about in the shadows towards his right or left. His pupils dilate to the utmost of it's ability as he scouts his surrounding twisting his neck at bullet-speed to his right, left, front and back, almost like that of an owl. His adrenaline is pumping thoroughly as cold wind streaks past his face in the midst of this dark territory. He pulls himself together and regains his concentration to focus on his mission as the messenger...A ray of light the likes of that of the sublime colour, crimson red, has shone on to the left side of his face. He looks to his left as he is cruising past a field of worn out weeds. A sudden pin-drop silence sensation has filled the aura of the atmosphere. Daichi has seen something darting its eyes directly at his. He froze in absolute terror, and surprisingly so did his horse. A hard fall and a temporary state of paralysis...to his misfortune he is still in the state of consciousness and he could but only wish that he was blind because of the horrors of that which his eyes has laid its vision upon..... "We shall reveal the Mayor's dirty secret and make sure him, the elders and his guards suffer for it!", Shouts Saitama with such tenacity. Apparently people had started noticing that although the government had control over the weak, when it came to the elders the Mayor hadn't bothered to do anything about their constant public warnings of the 'Akuma's Bloodlust', this lead many people to believe that perhaps the elders are siding with the Mayor. A few moments later, Saitama and the whole army of rebels grabbed whatever weaponry they had at their disposal. For the most part, they carried with them tools and other utensils used for manual labour. An angry mob of men are now stampeding around the Northern border heading towards the fire at the South. Noise has begun to grow audaciously loud. Finally, the guards near the village, started to hear this and witnessed with their own eyes that most of the villagers were actually up North. However, before Saitama can continue to lead the people up towards the South, he manages to quiet them down and tells them that they must await the messenger. He knows now for sure that the guards will not make their way through the Northern area, but rather around it coming from the West. The men and women are now impatiently waiting. The people start assuming the worst, and those very few who had seized believing in the fact that there was a killer behind the 'Stench' have now started to question their senses. Saitama and the villagers, decide to simply head up South and hope that nothing has happened to Daichi, their brave messenger. All at once, the quiet forest is now echoing with the voices of these villagers, "We shall stop the useless bloodshed!" They proclaimed as they moved in a single united movement. The sparks of fire start drizzling into the night sky, a beautiful full moon covers the whole village at the peak of its eclipse. Another execution is about to take place, but before the elders are able to carry on with their ritual. Running towards them with a desperate and anxious struggle of heavy panting a man from amongst the witnesses at the execution storms through the impenetrable colony of deciduous bushes from outside the Southern borders of the village. "Come quickly!" He shouts. The witnesses and elders are astonished to this man's interruption of the ritual. "WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS BOY!?" scowls an elder as he stares directly at the frantic panicking of this fatigued man. "Near the North of the village a group of villagers had dispersed on their way here in pursuit to stop the execution! They stopped the raid and separated while taking precaution... SOMETHING HIDEOUS WAS THERE! THEY SAW.....I HID FROM AMONGST THEM WHEN I SAW IT!!...IT WAS TOO MUCH....IT..HAD TO DO WITH THEIR MESSENG--" "THAT'S ENOUGH!" yells an elder at the top of his lungs. The crowd of witnesses start murmuring....what could possibly have happened to the rebels messenger? And what took away the burning ambition fueled inside the souls of every villager who wanted to take part in this revolution?.....All these questions..were...soon... answered. However, the damage to the village's social security and healthy lifestyle had been completely turned about. A few days later the news spread that the Mayor had left the village. The elders acted senile, wrongfully taking advantage of their old age remaining oblivious to the executions that had been persecuted because of their decisions. The village had no longer lived with a leader handling situations for the community of Okahama, rather everything was decided based on the number of votes people had placed in for any affairs, events and rulings that were decided in the village. There were no more curfews and the Mayor's guards were no longer there patrolling the streets at night. From the outward appearance the village may have looked like it went back to normal...but...there is still something that remained and continued to grow stronger alongside disappearances of villagers...this was....the 'Stench'. -The Area Between The Northern and Southern Borders- An unknown figure....trot's about..... It stops near a blood-coated stick held firmly in the ground.. A message smeared onto their ground right in front of it. 'Be a dear and wait for me...but here have some... won't you?', the message wrote. A hysterical laugh chokes free from the throat of Detective Yakushima as he stares directly at the disembodied beheaded figure of a human. An ebony coloured horse's head is placed on to the headless and fingerless corpse of a human, and with little to no recognition the head lodged onto the end of this stick placed in front of it's own corpse...is no doubt about it the head of... Daichi Tomoe. "How intriguing to see such bliss! Challenge is accepted... wretched killer." Exclaims Yakushima as he cackles away at the excitement of this case......The 'Stench' had finally left it's mark of recognition in the hearts of Okahama's people.... ....TO BE CONTINUED....