Hoichi with Ears [Episode 3] White Hand (5)

Blind Hoichi and Miyo, who cannot speak, challenge the white hand

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Chapter 5: Prayer and Determination

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As the curtain of night wrapped around the village, Hoichi and Miyo were walking quietly along the village path.
There was an unnatural silence, with no rustling of plants or even the sound of insects.
There was no moon in the sky, only a few stars bleeding through the pitch-black clouds.

Hoichi's feet were moving steadily, but it was Miyo who was leading him.
Every time the shakujo staff rang faintly with a "sharin...", a quiet tension ran across Hoichi's face.

Before long, at the edge of the village near the bamboo grove, the atmosphere changed.

"H, help me...!"

A voice that sounded like something had snapped somewhere.
From the shadows of the grove, a ragged human figure came tumbling out.

"Heihachi...?"

At Hoichi's voice, Miyo stopped and silenced her footsteps.

Heihachi appeared, staggering with vacant eyes. His hair was still messy from sleep, his kimono was disheveled, and he was looking at something far away.
"Th, the white hand... the lady...!"


Repeating incoherent words, Heihachi stumbled toward the two of them.
Behind him—.

"Slither..."

With a damp sound, a single white arm stretched out from the depths of the grove.
Smooth, beautiful fingertips, like those of a woman.

They grabbed Heihachi's shoulder.

"Ugh, no—!"

Before he could even finish his scream, Heihachi's body was dragged backward and vanished into the darkness.
Miyo's eyes did not miss that moment.

She immediately took Hoichi's hand and wrote on his palm with her finger.

"A person was caught by the white hand"

Hoichi nodded slightly.

"...Let's go. To Heihachi's house."

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The house was at the edge of the village; the hearth was not lit, and the back was dark and silent.
When they opened the door, a slimy smell hit their noses. It was a scent like rotting sea, mixed with blood and soil.

In the back room, a woman lay alone—Heihachi's wife.

Miyo approached and wrote on Hoichi's hand.

"She is moving"

Hoichi knelt and gently placed his biwa to the side.

Heihachi's wife had her eyes closed, but her abdomen was abnormally swollen.
Under the skin, something was writhing as if it were alive.

Before long, her lips moved slightly.

"Hei...ha...chi..."

The voice, calling her husband's name with her last bit of strength, trembled slightly and became a raspy sound.

And then—
With a gurgle, the skin of her abdomen bulged for a moment as if pushed from the inside.

Hoichi grimaced.

"...Is this... the poison of the fangs?"

Miyo did not answer, but traced her finger on Hoichi's hand.

"She is leaving behind a grudge"

Her handwriting was trembling slightly.

Hoichi gently placed his fingers on the strings of the biwa.

"At the very least, may your soul find peace..."

A low, soft sound melted into the darkness.
Miyo also held up her shakujo with both hands, pressed it to her forehead, and closed her eyes.

"Sharin... sharin..."

Only that sound faintly shook the night air.

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After a while, the chest of Heihachi's wife stopped rising and falling.
And the swollen abdomen gradually sank, stopping its movement and leaving only traces behind.

Hoichi put his hands together as if in prayer.

"...Nothing... will be born anymore."

Miyo wrote this on Hoichi's hand just one more time.

"Let's go tonight"

Hoichi nodded.

"...To the Boat-Hiding Rock, then."

When they went outside, the night wind had begun to blow.
There was still no moon, the sky was heavy, and mixed with the sound of the wind, the faint sound of waves could be heard from afar.

The shadows of the two melted into the night.
Without knowing that the Oni-Hebi was waiting ahead—no, they were heading there knowing full well.

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