Chapter 753: 53. Dusk (7k)
“This is Tokyo, it’s beautiful.”
In the afternoon, Tokyo Bay, the sea breeze brushed against Jasmine’s cheeks, blowing a strand of her black hair. She smiled, leaning against the railing by the sea, pointing at the stormy sea outside Tokyo Bay and shouted loudly.
Fisher sat behind her on a public bench along the coastal path, smiling as he looked at her back.
The hurried crowd around them glanced over due to her shout, dressed in a JK uniform, filled with youthful energy, but soon returned their attention to their brisk pace and the phones wedged between their shoulders and ears, discussing topics like “stocks” and “work.”
Fisher slowly withdrew his gaze, unable to fully immerse himself in the pleasant moment. He was inevitably distracted, a sense of danger creeping closer in his heart.
Jasmine, however, was completely unaware. She admired the beautiful scenery around her; her peripheral vision suddenly spotted a thin, pale little girl in a tattered elementary school uniform wearing a watermelon hat, quietly watching her from a short distance away.
As the peaceful afternoon sunlight fell upon her, the little girl’s features were blurry. Before Jasmine could see clearly, the girl suddenly turned and pointed in the other direction, speaking softly in a slightly hoarse child’s voice,
“Over there. Taiyaki.”
Without waiting for Jasmine to react, the little girl turned away, revealing a loose backpack behind her, and ran towards that direction.
“…”
Jasmine stared blankly in that direction, and when she snapped back to reality, the little girl had vanished like a mirage, replaced by a faint aroma of food at the tip of her nose.
It was the smell of Taiyaki.
So, Jasmine hurried back from the railing and gently tugged on Fisher’s sleeve, saying to him,
“Fisher-sensei, I know a great Taiyaki shop over there. Shall we go and try it?”
“Taiyaki? What’s that?”
“It’s something really delicious, come on, let’s go!”
Fisher raised an eyebrow but still stood up according to Jasmine’s suggestion, following her towards the bustling street.
Jasmine held Fisher’s hand, watching her black eyes flicker, then skillfully maneuvered around the coastal park path, crossing through traffic lights into the commercial street, where the aroma of food intensified and wafted above the streets.
“Fisher-sensei, here.”
“Coming. Excuse me.”
With Fisher parting the crowd on the commercial street, Jasmine caught a glimpse of that little girl running ahead. She looked up and saw the girl gazing around with longing and timidity.
When a gentle breeze blew, carrying the aroma of food, Jasmine noticed that the girl in the watermelon hat, with her little backpack, slowed down and eventually stopped in front of a store.
Jasmine saw the girl touch her slightly shriveled belly with both hands, as if afraid of making an embarrassing sound.
Jasmine then noticed the girl looking up, revealing a yellow, thin cheek, staring wide-eyed at the store, emanating a faint steam and warm light. Her throat slightly bobbed.
After serving the previous customer, the Taiyaki vendor finally noticed the little girl standing eagerly on the street, and he kindly asked,
Jasmine saw the little girl bite her lip, a somewhat embarrassed expression crossing her face. She hurriedly glanced at the words written in water-based pen on her hand, then swallowed and decisively shook her head at the vendor.
Her frail little fingers defensively fiddled in front of her belly, and it was because of this that Jasmine faintly saw the crooked words written on the side of the girl’s arm.
“Tang Zeming Asuka will never be hungry.”
“…”
Jasmine’s pupils shrank slightly, and her entire vision seemed to be tinged with a faint shade of crimson, but at that moment, the vendor’s voice abruptly rang out, restoring all colors,
“Would you like to buy one, little girl?”
“Jasmine?”
“Eh?”
Jasmine blinked and looked up at the confused vendor staring at her.
Realizing she was oblivious, she finally turned to see a queue of customers behind her and the concerned gaze of Fisher beside her.
Unbeknownst to her, the palm she had clenched tightly started to bead with a thin layer of cold sweat.
Fisher lowered his gaze slightly, sensing her little movements, and voluntarily spoke to the vendor,
“One please, sir, thank you.”
“Alright, thank you for your business, please wait a moment!”
Jasmine opened her mouth, watching Fisher hand over cash from his wallet, then he took her aside to wait.
“What just happened? Do you feel a bit unwell?”
“I don’t know, just…” Jasmine’s face was slightly pale, but she still forced a smile and said to Fisher, “I think my head hurts a little.”
Jasmine’s complexion wasn’t good, but her peripheral vision kept glancing towards another direction at the street corner, as if she were looking for something there.
“The Taiyaki is ready.”
Fisher noticed this but first took the freshly made Taiyaki from the vendor and brought it back in front of Jasmine, asking casually,
“Jasmine, have you eaten this here before? How did you know about this good shop?”
“Eh? I shouldn’t have, right?” Jasmine blinked, covering her chest with a smile, and said, “But it smells really good.”
“Is that so?”
Fisher skewered a plump Taiyaki with a bamboo stick and held it in front of Jasmine’s mouth, watching as she slowly opened her mouth to swallow it.
“Nom.”
In an instant, the warm and crispy outer layer crumbled in her mouth, and the sweet red bean filling flooded her taste buds.
Jasmine widened her eyes, her cheeks bulging like a hamster, savoring every bit of the flavor slowly.
“…”
“Is it good?”
Jasmine’s eyes lit up, foolishly nodding, then raising her hand to touch her cheek, mumbling to herself,
“So this is what Taiyaki tastes like.”
Fisher also took a piece for himself, savoring the sweetness, and then sat on the edge of the bustling commercial street, watching the ebb and flow of the crowd around him.
But while eating, a passerby caught sight of Fisher and Jasmine enjoying their Taiyaki and suddenly smiled at them, saying,
“Hello, remember to go home before dark.”
“?”
Fisher looked up with a puzzled expression and saw the passerby, who finished speaking, walk away with a blank face.
Before Fisher could figure out what was happening, another passerby approached Fisher and Jasmine, saying,
“Hello, remember to go home before dark.”
“…”
Jasmine blinked and stood up, looking at the slanting sun, Fisher smilingly said,
“Let’s go, Fisher-sensei, it’s about to get dark, we should head to the inn.”
“…” Fisher was slightly taken aback but did not stand up, instead looking at Jasmine and asking, “What happens if we don’t go home at night?”
“What’s going to happen… I don’t really know. But everyone says this, and if you don’t follow it, something terrible will happen.”
Jasmine was momentarily speechless from Fisher’s question, and after pausing for a second, she began to explain to Fisher.
Fisher just looked at her and then slowly stood up, observing the coming and going of people around him, each one glancing towards him and Jasmine, repeating to them one after another,
“Hello, remember to go home before dark.”
“…”
One after another, it started with just a few passersby saying this, but later, whether they saw Fisher and Jasmine remaining still or not, more and more people began to speak up until everyone passing by looked at them and repeated the same phrase in the same tone.
“Hello, remember to go home before dark.”
Behind Jasmine, she cautiously reached out and tugged on Fisher’s sleeve, saying carefully,
“Fisher-sensei, look… everyone is saying this. Why don’t we just go back to the inn now?”
Fisher looked at the Taiyaki in his hand, and combined with Jasmine’s strange reaction earlier, he seemed to gradually realize something.
Tokyo, Tokyo
If the previous need to do those things while learning English came from Jasmine wanting her thoughts to haunt her, then what about the idea of needing to go home at night after arriving in Tokyo?
That’s right, whether it was to eat Taiyaki here or the thought of needing to go home at night, they both came from Tang Zeming Asuka.
Only Asuka lived in Tokyo during her childhood, and there must be traces of her life here.
As a child, the thought of going home at night was quite normal.
But Asuka was different from other children. Fisher had heard her share a small part of her childhood story, although not in much detail, but at least he knew Tang Zeming Asuka had not been treated well by her mother.
So why does the idea of needing to go home at night still remain so deeply ingrained?
Could it be that going home was her mother’s command?
Or could it be that there would be some kind of punishment if she didn’t go home?
Fisher’s footsteps did not move, but as the sunlight in the sky gradually sank, casting an orange-red hue on the horizon, behind him, the hand gripping Fisher’s sleeve began to tremble more.
Fisher came back to his senses and turned to look, only to find Jasmine’s face had turned as pale as a sheet. She looked earnestly at Fisher, her eyes pleading,
“Fisher-sensei, can we go to the inn? Please?”
“…”
Her pleading voice softened Fisher’s heart. He knew that if he just went along with Jasmine’s feelings, he could avoid the sorrowful gaze she had at that moment.
However, Fisher clearly understood that this sadness stemmed from Jasmine’s soul, from Asuka’s past.
Like a wound that hurts to touch, is it really correct to pretend it doesn’t exist just to avoid the pain, instead of treating it?
Isn’t that the essence of this beautiful dream?
Even disregarding the real-life peril, if this dream were truly as perfect as it seemed, then why would Jasmine, who was clearly in a beautiful dream, still avoid it and appear so terrified?
Fisher took a deep breath, bowed his head, picked up a bamboo stick, and stuffed the last Taiyaki from the box into Jasmine’s mouth, then said,
“Alright, after you finish this one, we’ll set off, okay?”
“…Mm!”
Hearing Fisher’s response, Jasmine let out a smile as if a huge weight had lifted from her heart. She happily ate the Taiyaki.
Mmm.
It was the matcha flavor she didn’t like.
After finishing, Fisher firmly grasped Jasmine’s small hand, leading her away from the commercial street.
As they passed through the crowd, Jasmine vaguely spotted the inn sign on a nearby signpost and quickly raised her hand to remind Fisher,
“Look, Fisher-sensei, there’s an inn over there.”
“…”
But Fisher in front kept walking on with Jasmine, softly saying,
“Those folks were saying ‘you need to go home at night’. The inn shouldn’t count as ‘home,’ right, Jasmine?”
“Eh? So are we supposed to go back to Kyoto now? Didn’t we agree to spend many days here?”
“…Yes, that’s also ‘home.’”
Fisher sighed, having led Jasmine to the entrance of the commercial street. Finally, he turned around, gazing firmly into Jasmine’s eyes, saying,
“But, Jasmine, there’s also a home here in Tokyo, right?”
“Eh?”
“Think well, we are going there now.”
Jasmine widened her eyes, momentarily stunned in place.
At this moment, the sunset in the sky cast its piercing rays down, hitting the bricks on the ground, vividly illuminating the girl in the watermelon hat who was standing nearby in a daze.
She must have finished school for a while and had been lingering around here, wandering in circles.
Clearly sensing the delicious smell of Taiyaki, clearly starving, but with no money in her pocket, she could only hurriedly escape, using “magic” to force herself not to think about the delicious Taiyaki.
She suddenly remembered that the little girl’s school was nearby, her home was also close, but why didn’t she want to go home for hours after school? Why instead would she rather roam outside?
Because that home was cold, and she didn’t want to return.
But why the firm insistence on returning before nightfall, when clearly no one was home for a lot of the time?
“Hey, give me a little insider news, Section Chief Maeda. If you tell me which stock, I’ll do anything!”
“Oh? You really would do anything?”
“Really, really! You see, Section Chief Maeda, my home is right in front!”
“Oh, in that case…”
“Mom!”
That innocent childish voice was like a thunderclap, making Jasmine’s pupils constrict suddenly, and simultaneously, the orange sunset in the sky began to change, gradually morphing into a terrifying crimson.
“You have a child?”
“Eh, this, that child isn’t… Section Chief Maeda!”
“Mom!”
“Slap!”
“You idiot! It’s your fault! Why didn’t you come home after school? What are you wandering around for?”
“Slap!”
“You were about to find out! Do you know who he is? He’s from the Ministry of Finance! You’re really…”
“Slap!”
“Listen well, Tang Zeming Asuka, if I catch you wandering around outside again tonight instead of coming home, I’ll kill you, do you believe it?”
“Slap!”
The watermelon hat fell to the ground, and the image of the girl with her hair being yanked by the woman, screaming, gradually spread in Jasmine’s eyes.
Before nightfall, you must return home.
Before nightfall, you must return home.
Before nightfall, you must return home.
“Fisher-sensei, it’s… getting dark.”
At that moment, Jasmine began to tremble all over, covering her face in pain, whispering softly.
And Fisher, who was holding her icy arm, gradually sensed something was wrong. He furrowed his brow, looking up at the sky to find the entire sky stained a blood-red color.
The western sunset descended like a dilated eye filled with blood, emitting a desperate scream, accompanied by the heavy echo of a woman’s voice,
“Why… don’t go home, Asuka?”
Fisher tightly grasped Jasmine’s hand, pulling her into his embrace. He turned his head and found that every passerby around had taken on the same expression.
Either they were men in deep blue suits, wearing dress pants and shoes.
Or women draped in purple dresses adorned with intricate jewelry.
Yet regardless of whether they were men or women, apart from their clothes, their skin appeared pitch black, as if from a realm of void, repeating the same actions.
The man turned away from the woman beside him as though in silent discontent, gradually merging into the ground, while the woman beside him, desperately reaching out to retain him, clenched her fists, her entire body writhing, swelling into an exceedingly frightening monster form.
“Why… don’t go home?”
“Fisher-sensei, quick… home, is over there.”
“Why don’t you go home?!!”
Countless female voices overlapped heavily, gradually becoming sharp enough to pierce eardrums like a drill. Fisher furrowed his brows and quickly hoisted Jasmine onto his back, sprinting toward the direction she had pointed.
That direction was only a few hundred meters away, separated by a street, to the tower.
“Ah!!”
From the bustling street, tall buildings, and among numerous structures, swarmed figures of women shrieking like cockroaches and monsters emerged, all dressed similarly, emitting the same piercing sounds that nearly ruptured Fisher’s eardrums.
“Why… don’t go home?!”
“I really—”
Though Fisher anticipated such a scenario would destabilize Jasmine’s dream, he never expected Jasmine’s—or perhaps Asuka’s—reaction to be so intense.
It was only amidst the overlapping cries from behind, from his nearly exploding head, that Fisher could vaguely glimpse the childhood of that beaten-up little girl.
“You listen well, Tang Zeming Asuka, if I catch you wandering around outside again at night, I’ll kill you, do you believe it?”
“Slap!”
“Slap!”
Jasmine, in immense pain, covered her head on Fisher’s back. No matter how hard she closed her eyes, the figure of that little girl, being slapped continuously under the sunset, staring blankly like a doll with no response, kept drilling into her mind, making her feel extremely distressed.
She gasped, instinctively pulling out a pen from her pocket, then extending her arm, aiming to write something on it.
Only by doing this could she ease the pain.
“Tang Zeming Asuka will never hurt.”
“What are you doing, Jasmine?”
Fisher was almost at the tower entrance but found more than one entryway. He turned around to see Jasmine, dazed, holding an unfamiliar knife, seemingly about to carve something onto her arm.
Gritting his teeth, he tried to pry the knife from her, then looked at the still-dazed Jasmine, shouting,
“Calm down, Jasmine! This won’t help at all!”
But each time she did this, she would feel no pain.
No, is that really her?
Who exactly is she, Jasmine or that little girl?
“Fisher-sensei, I—”
Fisher’s call snapped Jasmine back to her senses. Her perspective seemed to detach from the image of the abused little girl for the first time at that moment.
“We’re going into this building, Jasmine, hold on tight!”
“Mm, Fisher-sensei!”
Jasmine hurriedly slapped her face and tightly clutched Fisher’s clothing. But at that moment, Fisher was just an ordinary person and was panting heavily from running all this way.
And behind them, numerous black monsters were closely pursuing them on the walls, streetlights, and roads, with many close enough reaching out their vicious claws towards Jasmine’s skirt.
But at the last moment, as Fisher bit his teeth and charged into the ground floor of the tower, the entrance of the tower acted like an impassable barrier, causing the pursuing monsters to crumble into dust in an instant.
“Ah ah ah ah!”
“Why… don’t go home?”
The fierce screams behind them suddenly ceased, and Fisher’s legs went weak, nearly collapsing, but he still reached out to grip the nearby wall to avoid falling.
He took a few gasps, looked back, and found that all supernatural occurrences outside had vanished, as if those clawing monsters had never existed, leaving the crimson sunset hanging coldly in the air, staring down at all of Tokyo.
Fisher sighed in relief, gently placing the still-soft Jasmine onto the ground.
He stroked her pale and cold little face, softly asking,
“Are you okay, Jasmine?”
“I-I’m fine, Fisher-sensei! What exactly just happened? Why was I suddenly feeling so painful, and why did it subside when we got here?”
“…”
Fisher frowned at her words, glancing at the dimly lit lobby of the tower. The hall looked opulent, appearing to be very high-class, yet beneath the surface of the gold-plated façade, traces of long-neglected dirt were faintly visible.
In the reflected luster of that grandeur, Jasmine seemed to merge with a dark-haired woman’s outline, appearing as one yet distinctly separate.
That woman raised her hand gently in the mirror-smooth wall, pointing towards the direction of the elevator. Jasmine, seemingly sensing it instinctively, pointed towards it, saying to Fisher,
“Fisher-sensei, it seems like the direction towards home is over there.”
“Okay.”
Listening to Jasmine’s slightly dazed voice behind him, Fisher seemed to realize he was getting closer to the truth of the dream.
“Wow, Hela-sensei, look! The sky above is so red!”
“…If you’re scared, hold my hand.”
At the same time, outside the tower, Hela smiled as she patted Renee’s head, then extended her other hand, which wasn’t holding a paper bag, saying to Renee like this.
“So where should we go now?”
“Uhm, rather than where to go, I think we first need to change your attitude, silly child.”
Hela didn’t move her footsteps, instead, she stroked her chin and looked at Renee standing in front of her. Then she reached out, pointing at Renee at this moment,
“Straighten your back, lift your head—there we go! We came here to catch someone red-handed, why act so shy?”
“Eh, wait a minute, I just wanted to express my feelings… and besides, isn’t Fisher-sensei supposed to be with Jasmine? How can it be called catching someone red-handed?”
“Being together first doesn’t mean it can’t be called catching someone red-handed?”
“?”
Hela pinched Renee’s face, wondering why she had become so docile in her dream, and then asked,
“Now tell me, why did we come to Tokyo?”
“To catch someone red-handed?”
“Too quiet, I can’t hear you.”
“To catch someone red-handed!”
“Say it again, I can’t hear.”
“To catch someone red-handed!!”
Watching Renee so excited in front of her, Hela laughed, then gently took her hand, satisfied, walking towards the tall tower while encouraging Renee along the way,
“There you go, you must have the courage, alright, Renee? Now, let’s go up; the place we’re heading to is in that tower.”
“Mm!”
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*(End of this chapter)*
