Aminakari

Chapter 1:

There is what is, there is what is not, existance is relative but never forgot



Time... it was against her that day. She was more than definitely sure of it, staring at the clock above her sensei's head as the small red second hand seemed eternally stuck on half a minute from the end of the day, and the final bell. Tapping a thumb idly against the pink stub of an eraser, green eyes peered through loose strands of ebony hair, glittering with impatience.



The thin, older woman striding back and forth at the head of the classroom, light strands of silver highlighting hair as dark as the multitude of her students. She was reading from a text, unfolded in her hands, her own eyes behind lowly settled glasses were concealed by the suns glare as her words echoed over the students before her. She would very easily continue on this tangent until the bell rang, no matter the time of year or closeness of the holidays. Within moments however, there were far more than one pair of eyes focused on the clock overhead, though their sensei remained purposefully oblivious to their plight. Yet when the bell rang, the book was closed with a sharp rap as she swept behind her desk, taking a seat as the students scattered like autumn leaves, crowding the door before vanishing down the halls with their companions.



Soon only the sensei remained; calmly watching as a couple stragglers finished clearing their desks before heading out, eyes sliding to a calander to her left. A light quirk of her mouth was the only indication of good humor as the older woman steepled her fingers beneath her chin, things would soon be as they should be.



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The next day was like the one before, droll and tedious... with the added benefit of fifty six students crammed into a small city bus, headed into downtown tokyo to visit a shrine. Apparently there was a new tradition to bore students to death so as not to have to worry about anyone causing mischief on vacation. She sat alone, staring blankly out the window seperating her from the wind outside as the bus moved through the city, damn the windows for not opening and at least giving her a little fresh air.



As the bus stopped at the base of the shrine, a collective groan rang out from the students, taking in the sight of the many stairs they would have to ascend to even reach their destination, let alone all the wandering they would do once within the shrine, and then... coming back down, their nightmares would never be the same again. They were filed off the bus neatly, but quickly segregated themselves into mixed groups, males females, friends cliques... all grouping up and chattering about the typical useless daily affiliations she had little appreciation for. Her attention was more focused upwards, up the stairs. She'd visited a few shrines before in her life of course, and this one was nothing special at all, though the stairs would be a pain in the ass. Well, it was better to start sooner than later, and with that thought she began to climb the stairs.



Her assumptions about the shrine were only confirmed when she reached the top of the stairs, a large flat concrete square, a small two story home settled to one side and the main shrine around the other. There was a large tree standing tall, barren of flowers but radiating with age, a string of sacred sutra's. She shrugged it off though, glancing over her shoulder, green eyes rolled at the sight of students still struggling their way upwards. Looking back at the shrine she shrugged, it was a perfect opportunity to wander around on her own, she'd heard more than enough shrine stories.



At least it was quiet, as she made her own way through the shrine grounds. It was also mildly thrilling to avoid the clusters of classmates as they explored as well, and even at a distance she could hear an old man belting out ridiculous stories of demons and monsters laying waste to the world. She chuckled to herself quietly and slipped into a small building she'd been curious about. Unlike the other buildings this one was hidden away in a corner of the shrine, most likely unnoticed by most people who visited; a good place to catch a few minutes of blessed silence before she'd no doubt be found by some random classmate.



Inside, she coughed, waving a hand in front of her face as all at once her mouth and nose were filled with a fine dust. After clearing her airways of the material she managed to get a look around, vaguely dissappointed as she took in the barren room.



A few shelves dashed the back of the small room, some old pottery here or there, a few broken pieces on the floor. Nothing special, and not worth taking a closer look at. Her attention was drawn however, to the large wooden block at the center of the room, stepping down the two old creaky stairs onto bare soil she leaned over it.



"A dry well?" Her voice echoed strangely in the room and she felt a small shiver trace her spine before she straightened up. Wooden slats had formed a cover over the well, and what appeared to be a very very old paper sutra was plastered to the wood, holding it in place. Typically, she was never one to disturb such things, but this room looked like it hadnt been touched in ages, and curiousity tended to be her vice in certain situations.



The sutra was easily seperated in the middle, and she pushed the wooden lid forward, a hand clamping over her mouth and nose from the smell of ancient moss and old stale air wafting from the dark hole now revealed. Looking down into the well she arched a brow in surprise, bones? was there perhaps a dirty secret in the shrines history hidden away in such a place? Leaning forward more for a better look she frowned, they didn't look like human bones.



There was a sudden, harsh pressure on her left shoulder, so much that it pushed her awkwardly around as she lost her footing and grasp on the lip of the open well. Her eyes widening in disbelief as she fell backwards, she couldn't see anyone who could have pushed her....but, her eyes glossed with terror as she fell, she was going to break her neck! Instinctively hands curled up towards her face as knees drew into her chest, her eyes squeezing shut. She did not see the ribbons of blue violet energy reach out from between the cracks in stone, curling around her flesh, drawing out similarly colored energy which expanded, and became a harsh white light that radiated outwards, a pressure growing as her eyes finally opened...finding herself staring at a vast emptiness in all directions as behind her, the well vibrated, the mortar crumbling as stone and wood split apart and in the next moment, the well crumbled in on itself, leaving behind only a dirty hole filled with rubble.