Chapter 26: Flow

Asuka showed not a trace of remorse. Ma En already knew she adored Terahana — this was idol worship, and he understood the concept, but this was the first time he'd seen it practiced with such fervor. Letting her turn the entire magazine display into a Terahana shrine felt like an insult to the shop. Had the manager and staff truly never noticed? Ma En couldn't believe it. If they'd seen it and said nothing, it meant they were hopelessly soft on this girl. He'd only just arrived in Japan and didn't know how shops here were run, but he was willing to bet that Asuka's little rearrangements wouldn't fly everywhere.

And yet, watching her today, he was fairly certain she'd pulled the same stunt in other shops.

What a headache of a kid.

Ma En watched with some resignation as Asuka set about placing another Terahana cover at the front of the rack. While she was still at it, he pulled off his hat, stepped in, and pressed it down on her head. Asuka yelped — "ah, ah, ah!" — and crumpled, forced to bend at the waist. She tried to straighten up, tried to bat away the hat covering her eyes, but Ma En kept a firm hand on the crown of her head and steered her to the side.

He set down the books he'd been carrying, used his body to block Asuka, and — before any staff members drifted back to this section — restored the magazines she'd rearranged. One sweep of his gaze was enough to grasp the shop's organizational system. A few deft moves and the Terahana covers thinned by half. When he finally released her and Asuka was able to stand upright, the indignant expression on her face froze mid-formation. It melted into astonishment. Her eyes swept the shelves, then circled back to Ma En.

"You actually put them back." She sounded like she wasn't sure she believed it. "You're really only here for the first time?"

"Yes. First time." Ma En cut off whatever she'd been about to say, caught her by the hand, and pulled her back to the counter. He set his books down. "Asuka caused you some trouble back there. I apologize."

"Mm — the staff have had their share of headaches," Tetsuzou said. He clearly knew what Ma En was referring to. "But everyone's fond of Asuka and Terahana-san, so nobody's said anything." He smiled and picked up the books to check their prices. "I did say twenty percent off..."

"I'm not her boyfriend," Ma En said lightly.

"That's right, that's right — make him pay full price!" Asuka, sensing an opening to redirect attention from her own guilt, seized it.

Tetsuzou blinked at the two of them and turned to Asuka. "Didn't you say you wanted magazines?"

"Oh — I forgot. Hold on." Asuka threw Ma En a withering look. "This is your fault. I'm going to get them. Don't follow me."

Ma En lifted the hat from her head, put it back on his own, and reminded her: "You heard what the manager said. Don't make trouble for the staff."

Asuka snorted and trotted back to the magazine section. Seconds later she was running back with two magazines in hand. Ma En glanced at them as she set them on the counter — not a single Terahana cover. No ghost stories either.

"I thought you were buying reference material for your manga," Ma En said.

"This is reference material. Ghost story manga isn't all ghosts," Asuka muttered. "Local landscapes and cultural customs are crucial for character design and setting work."

She was right. The magazines she'd chosen were landscape photography and regional culture publications.

"You're not getting a Terahana or two? Given how much you love her." Ma En added: "Don't worry — I meant what I said. My treat."

"No way." Asuka's tone was flat, as if stating the obvious. "I'm not that shameless."

Ma En and Tetsuzou exchanged a glance.

Says the girl who just rearranged the entire magazine section.

Ma En couldn't hear the manager's inner thoughts, but he was fairly certain they matched his own. Small matter, though — no point dwelling on it. Ma En pulled out his wallet, paid, and had Tetsuzou bag everything together — his books and her magazines. The three of them traded a few more pleasantries before Ma En and Asuka left the shop.

"Where are you headed next?" Asuka carried her paper bag with an air of idle boredom.

"Sanchoumoku Park." Ma En didn't hesitate. Every thread of information had been laid out so plainly it was practically shoving him in that direction. Even if he'd had a dozen excuses not to care, the sheer conspicuousness of it was enough to produce curiosity — and that curiosity was more than sufficient to overcome whatever reluctance lingered. But unlike other people, Ma En wasn't going because of curiosity. Even if the words "Sanchoumoku Park" had never surfaced once, he would have gone eventually. It was tied to Room 4. No amount of procrastination changed the fact that he'd need to see it sooner or later.

Besides — Ma En loved this sort of thing. The abnormal, the uncanny, the inexplicable.

He also doubted that whatever dangers might exist there would surface in broad daylight. This wasn't experience talking — it was data. In nations where the Red Party International held dominant influence, daytime life was overwhelmingly peaceful. This had been established through systematic surveys conducted across numerous countries by the post office network and the Red Party International apparatus. Japan was politically unstable compared to some, its religious reforms had stalled, and organized crime and cults persisted like weeds — but in its major cities, these elements rarely operated openly during the day.

The moment Asuka asked the question, Ma En knew what was coming.

"I want to go too." Right on cue.

"Fine — let's go together." Ma En didn't object. If Asuka was this invested in these things, and had already gathered material on them, she'd inevitably visit the places mentioned in her research. Better she did it in daylight with him than snuck off on her own.

"You're not going to argue?" Asuka looked startled. She hadn't expected him to agree so easily.

"During the day, with me, that's fine. But when you're alone — don't go to these places." Ma En fixed her with a steady, serious gaze.

Asuka felt the pressure hit her like a wall. This man she'd only just met — this man she'd already been roughhousing with like an old friend — seemed to become someone else entirely. He was simply standing in front of her, looking at her, and the weight of it was crushing. Her heart hammered. Her breath caught and held without her telling it to.

The sun was bright. The road, the signs, the storefronts — everything reflected light. Every pedestrian walked in brightness. Ma En stood in the same sunlight. But somehow, on him, the light didn't land. His colors were dark and deep, as if that dark suit were drinking the light as fast as it fell. And within that darkness, that impossible shadow cast in open air, his hat and the deep red tie leapt like flames — two points of fire in a void, illuminating half his face.

She had never felt anything like this before. Had never encountered a person who produced this sensation. It was as if she'd fallen, in a single heartbeat, into some hallucination born from her own mind — because imagery this vivid, this singular, could not exist in broad daylight.

It lasted an instant. She blinked, and the overwhelming pressure, the unnatural vision, dissolved as if they'd never been. Now she was certain: she'd imagined it. Afterward, when she tried to recall the sensation, tried to reconstruct what she'd seen, she couldn't even come close.

Standing before her was just an ordinary young man. Ma En. At most, old enough to pass for an older brother.

"What's wrong?" Ma En had the impression she hadn't been listening.

"Oh — no, nothing." Asuka's voice dropped, carrying a faint stutter. "I understand. I won't go to those places alone."

"Good." The severity in Ma En's expression melted like snow, and Asuka felt the tightness in her chest loosen.

They set out for Sanchoumoku Park.

The park was a considerable distance from the bookshop. Ma En hailed a taxi, and Asuka immediately upgraded her assessment of his finances. In the car, they picked up the subject of Sanchoumoku Park again. Unlike the taxi driver from the previous night, this one jumped right into the conversation. When Asuka brought up the park's supernatural reputation, the older driver kept pace without missing a beat. He mentioned recent television programming — how supernatural shows seemed to be trending upward this season. That genre had always been a cornerstone of Japanese TV. Every year brought fresh content; established haunted locations could be featured over and over and audiences never tired of them. Discovering new ones was even more popular.

"Mark my words — Sanchoumoku Park is about to blow up." The driver spoke with the confidence of a man who'd done the research. "I keep statistics on these programs, analyze what subjects they'll chase next. The trend lines are clear — at least one network is going to do an episode there. Sanchoumoku Park has been covered before, sure. It's got some name recognition as a supernatural site. But it's been off the radar too long now. The producers will come around to it — that kind of gap is an opportunity. It's prime real estate."

The driver had clearly given this a lot of thought. Asuka kept up a polite front of agreement. Ma En wasn't about to call the man a blowhard, but privately, he had his doubts. Even if a network did film there, the reasoning probably wouldn't match the driver's analysis.

"A cult used to operate out of Sanchoumoku Park — got busted," the driver went on, lowering his voice to a conspiratorial register. "Word is, people have been going there again recently. Rumors about figures lurking inside at night." He checked the rearview mirror for his passengers' reactions and was disappointed to find neither of them particularly impressed.

"Know about Room 4?" Asuka asked abruptly.

"Room 4? What Room 4?" The driver was confused.

"An urban legend."

"...We're talking about Sanchoumoku Park, aren't we?" The driver's confusion deepened. He clearly knew nothing about the Room 4 legend, and had no idea it connected to Sanchoumoku Park at all — a complete outsider. Asuka went quiet.

"That's right — Sanchoumoku Park," Ma En said with a smile, smoothing over the moment for her. "You think the networks will film there. Any guess how many?"

"Hmm... one or two, probably. Programs in the same genre don't just pile onto the same location." The driver's attention swung back on track. He turned the wheel and continued: "Actually, I've heard a rumor — Terahana-san might be doing this kind of show. If that actually happens, I'm definitely watching."

"Terahana-san?"

"You don't know her? She's been all over the place recently — gorgeous, done a bunch of variety shows, some TV dramas too. Though she probably hasn't done a supernatural program before." The driver seemed uncertain about this last point. "Who knows — you two might get to Sanchoumoku Park today and run right into her filming."

"If it's that convenient, we'd have the gods to thank," Ma En said diplomatically. He suspected this older driver was something of a Terahana fan himself.

"Exactly, exactly — thank the gods." The driver launched into a collection of Terahana anecdotes that fleshed out Ma En's impression of her considerably. From magazine photos alone, you couldn't tell she was such a vivid person. Hirota Masami's description the previous night had made Terahana sound like nothing more than a sheltered young woman trading on her looks — all face, no substance.

A few more minutes and the taxi pulled up outside the main entrance of Sanchoumoku Park. When Ma En stepped out, he noticed several other taxis had followed them in and were pulling over behind. Farther up in the parking area stood a row of production vans. Crew members in work clothes moved in and out; those with nothing to do loitered by the vehicles, chatting and drinking water, their expressions not exactly relaxed.

"See that? TV people. Told you." The driver pointed.

"You mean Terahana-san?"

"Could be, could not be. Sanchoumoku Park is naturally scenic — all kinds of shows come here to shoot." The driver shrugged. "Anyway, take a walk around inside. You might get pulled into an interview."

It wasn't just the driver's tone; Asuka's expression, too, suggested this was all perfectly normal. Ma En's sense of the park's popularity sharpened.

He paid the fare and followed Asuka through the entrance. She'd already announced her intention to head straight for the rumored site, but Ma En gently turned her down. He wanted to walk the park first — take it in before he put the investigative lens on. He was a foreigner who'd arrived two days ago. Visiting a locally famous landmark and not bothering to look around would be a waste. His reasoning was sound, and Asuka accepted it with an "I give up on you" expression, leading him through several spots that had a solid local reputation. She'd obviously seen it all before and couldn't muster any enthusiasm, but Ma En took it in and asked: "You come here often. Haven't you ever been to the supernatural site?"

"Of course I have. But I never found anything." Asuka said. "Probably wasn't the right day. But the date from the Room 4 legend is getting close now. Maybe it'll be different."

"When did you start investigating Room 4?"

"Last year," Asuka said.