Kana From Hell Part Fifteen

 

Eight months ago, Ren was returning home from toiling in the fields.

It was a hot day, and he was hungry and tired, but there was something urgent he needed to do at home.

He rushed home, grimacing as his sore feet grew painful. When he reached the Minka, he felt his heart sink. 

His sister Emiko was looking out the window. Her face was drawn and pale. There was sorrow in her eyes as she watched the view.

When he came closer, her tired eyes fell on him and he saw a glimmer of relief and happiness.

Ren entered the house and the first thing he did was get his sister some water. He was thirsty too, but it could wait.

"It is time for your medicine," he told her and picked up a small bottle near her bedside.

Emiko placed a frail hand on his. "You know it isn’t working."

Ren's lips trembled and he wouldn't meet his little sister's eyes.

She was fourteen years old and intelligent for her age. She used to be beautiful, he mused sorrowfully. Their parents, before the floods took them away, were proud of Emiko and were certain she would make a good wife when she was of marriageable age.

Emiko was always keen on learning and Ren taught her everything he knew.

Their elder brother Kage, was in the army and barely at home. When their parents passed, Kage had laid down the rules. Ren was to mind the farms and Emiko had to marry quickly.

And then one day, while Emiko was on the farms, helping Ren, she collapsed.

The doctor informed them that she had an incurable disease. Her time was limited.

Kage was more angry than concerned. He refused to leave the army and help take care of Emiko. Whenever he returned from war, he would curse Emiko for bringing more problems to their family.

Ren and Emiko said nothing and would wait for Kage to leave after a few days.

Then one day, Kage returned in a foul mood. He had been discharged and his merits had been stripped. The emperor had replaced him with a younger and more skillful warrior.

Kage began to drink and when he ran out of money, he took Ren's.

When Ren refused because he needed to buy Emiko more medicine and clothes, Kage flew into a rage.

"She isn't going to live for long. We mustn't waste our resources on her."

Ren tried to argue but Kage pinned him against the wall and reminded him who the elder in the family was.

"She is suffering anyway," Kage told him. "It is time we put an end to her misery."

Ren watched Kage fall into a deep sleep that night and planned to take Emiko away.

But first, he had to tell Sakura.

Sakura was the girl he had known since childhood and his dearest friend. He hoped he could marry her someday.

The next morning Kage was in a better mood and seemed to have forgotten his threats from last night.

For days, everything seemed normal, until one night Kage came home drunk again.

Ren helped him through the door and brought him near a lantern. That is when he notices the specks of blood on his clothes and the scratches on his neck.

"How did you get hurt?" Ren inquired.

Kage chuckled. "You should have seen what I did to her. She needed to be shown her place."

Ren dropped his brother on his cot and stood back. "What did you do?"

Kage looked up at his brother and grinned. His eyes were bloodshot and his speech slurred as he spoke. "The fisherman's daughter. I had my eye on her for a long time. She had come to take her father from the inn after he drank too much. I told her to leave him and take me instead."

Ren swallowed and asked his brother what he had done even though terror mounted within him.

"She wouldn't obey me!" Kage punched his palm. "So I had to show her that she was just a woman and needed to do as I say."

"What did you do?" Ren repeated. He dare not speak to his brother in a louder tone.

Kage pulled Ren to sit beside him on the bed and threw an arm around his shoulders. He then whispered all the despicable things he had done to the girl.

Then he leaned back and shrugged. "Her father pleaded with me to marry her when he got sober. I told him I would." Kage laughed and slapped his knee. "Of course, I will not. The girl will take her life for fear of her name being maligned."

"Who was she?" Ren asked.

Kage chuckled. "I don't know. She's that old man's daughter. The one who goes in the dingy boat every morning all alone. He's too old to be her father."

"Sakura?" Ren asked through a lump in his throat.

"Who knows?" Kage fell back on his bed and snored loudly.

Throughout the night, Ren watched him, wishing he could rid himself of the violent thoughts against his brother.

Two days later, his worst fears came true. The girl had been Sakura and she had drowned herself.

Ren didn't weep for her but he saw the way Emiko looked at him.

"I heard him that night. I know what he did."

"You were supposed to be sleeping." Ren gave Emiko her medicine.

"You have done enough for me. You need to do something for yourself. I know you wanted to marry her."

"She is gone now." Ren kept his tears in check.

Emiko placed a hand on his. "Don't you hate him?"

Ren swallowed and when he didn't answer, Emiko placed a hand on his chin and made him look up. "I do not want to."

Emiko said nothing but when Kage came in, she saw the loathing in her eyes. Kage took one look at her and made a disgusted face.

"All that food wasted on her." He grumbled. Walking over to her, he picked up her untouched soup bowl and ate her meal.

Wiping his mouth, he left without another word.

"I'll get you more," Ren said.

Emiko nodded but he could see the way she continued to watch Kage through the window.

The next day, Ren hurried home again. He was late and it was time for Emiko's meal and medicine.

He had asked Kage to give it to her in case he was late but he was certain that his elder brother would not have done anything to help their sister.

When he reached home, he gasped.

Kage was lying on the floor, his mouth slightly open, his eyes glazed. He wasn't moving. Not even his chest.

Emiko was watching him from her bed.

Ren spotted a bowl next to Kage and the blueness of his skin.

"Emiko?" Ren stumbled towards her.

"You are free now, brother."

"What did you do?"

"Gave him the same medicine you have been giving me. In large doses, the medicine can be quite harmful. I remember the doctor telling me to be careful."

Ren ran to Emiko and hugged her. His sister was clearly in shock as she spoke. "Why did you do this? You killed our brother!"

"He wasn't our family. He never cared for us."

Emiko began to cough and fell sideways. Ren still had her in his arms as she spoke in a dull voice. "You are free now."

"Emiko! No!" But his sister was gone.

Ren wept. He had lost his family that day.

For a month, he grieved the death of his beloved sister. He realized he felt no sorrow for his brother.

Then one night, he smelled something burning in the house.

Certain that a lamp had fallen and caused a fire, he woke up with a start and ran around the house.

He stopped at Emiko's bed and gasped.

His little sister was standing behind her bed and screaming.

"Help!" She shrieked.

"Emiko!" Before Ren could reach out to her, she was gone.

Convinced his sister was condemned to hell, he met with a woman who lived outside the village. There had been rumors of her having knowledge of dark arts and of the world beyond this one.

He met with her and as soon as she touched his palm, she told him what he had already deduced.

"Your sister is in hell. She has killed someone and then killed herself."

"She was innocent. She did it to save me. She did this for me!"

"There is nothing that can be done."

Ren got to his knees and begged. The old woman took pity on him. "There is a way. You can enter the underworld and get back your sister. But it is going to be a difficult task."

"Anything. Anything for her."

"I will need the blood of eight yokai to perform the ritual and open a portal."

"Yokai? Their blood?"

The woman smiled. "It is unlike ours and very powerful."

"How will I find them? Where do I find them?"

"I cannot help you with that. You must find a way yourself."

And so Ren had traveled all over to find the yokai. The first time he encountered one, he had been too afraid and burned her.

But now he was ready. And he had found a way to the yokai.

All he had to do was stay close to Kana. 

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