8
Hidekazu
Hidekazu’s cheek stung when he roused. He raked his fingers across his flesh to knock the hornets away, only to find that there were none, and his skin undamaged. He lay in the grass, not in a world of white as expected. Where had Naoji brought him this time?
At least there really were no hornets. Hidekazu’s nightmares had been full of them since his last trip to the Ikai, and he would be happy to never encounter another.
The scent of charred meat came with the breeze, and he sat up in search of the source. Pristine grass shifted over the hills about him, but on the edge where the field met layers of cracked shale, he found the bodies. Dozens of them, the earth torn apart beside them, with more falling into the fissures.
Hidekazu had seen this vision once already. He didn’t
