It was evening on a certain summer day. A single car drove along the mountain road that stretched endlessly, lined with green trees.
Mayu Hasegawa and her family had driven to the mountain.
“It’s been a while since we’ve gone out on a drive with the whole family,” Minako, Mayu’s mom, who was in the passenger seat, said to her dad, Masafumi, who was driving.
“Yep. Work’s been so busy, I just haven’t been able to get a day off.”
“But we only saw mountains,” Mayu grumbled to her parents from the back seat.
They’d gone all the way to the summit, but she’d just seen mountains, mountains everywhere. So Mayu hadn’t been very impressed with the scenery.
“Is that so? Well, I liked the view.”
“That’s right. We used to drive up to the peak so often when we were younger,” Minako said.
To Masafumi and Minako, the mountains were filled with memories. Mayu personally thought it was just another boring trip.
We should have gone to an amusement park if we were really going out.
Mayu glanced at her older brother, Kazuya, who was sitting next to her. He’d been playing a game on his phone since forever ago.
“Kazuya, you bored?”
“Guess so. I think I would’ve had more fun playing a game.”
Kazuya, who was in his second year of middle school, didn’t think going on a drive with his family was much fun. In fact, he’d been half-irritated about it from the start and acted as though he was only tagging along because he had to. On the other hand, Mayu, who was in the sixth grade, had been excited about it. She’d never gone to a mountain before except on short hikes, so she was looking forward to the trip, but it wasn’t anything like what she had expected.
I can’t believe it’s been the same view no matter how far we go…
Even though her parents seemed to be thrilled, Mayu started to feel sick and tired of the trip.
Eventually, the sun started to set, and their surroundings dimmed.
For some reason, Minako started to become restless.
“How much longer until we get back into town?”
“Right, I think another hour?”
Minako looked worried when she heard that.
“But we’re getting a delivery at five. Isn’t there a shortcut we could take?” Minako said. Masafumi considered that as he glanced at the map displayed on the car navigation screen.
“A shortcut, huh…?” Suddenly, his face lit up. “Oh, looks like there’s a turnoff up ahead. We might be able to get to the base of the mountain in half the time if we take that.”
Mayu leaned forward from the back seat and took a look.
The screen showed another small road heading off the mountain path that led to the town without their needing to take the winding main road.
“All right, let’s try going that way.”
“Yes, let’s.”
And so, Mayu’s family decided to take the shortcut.
“Hmm? What’s that?”
Masafumi suddenly spoke as they approached the side road.
When everyone else looked in the same direction, they saw a boy standing alone at the entrance to the road.
“What’s a little boy doing in a place like this?”
Mayu tilted her head quizzically. They’d gone pretty far down the mountain by car.
The only thing around them was more mountain. Few people were in the area, and they’d barely even come across other cars.
“Was he hiking up the mountain?” Mayu asked Masafumi.
“Probably not.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well, look at his clothes. That’s not what I’d call hiking gear.”
The boy was wearing red clothes with a red hood, as if he were just going for a walk around town. He didn’t even have a backpack with him.
He really didn’t seem to be on a hike, just like Masafumi had said.
“Maybe the car he was in broke down and he’s looking for help?” Kazuya suggested as he peered into the distance.
“You think it’s car trouble?!”
“Now that would be an emergency!”
Mayu and Minako both started to shout, and Masafumi nodded along.
“You might be onto something there. All right, let’s go talk to him.”
Masafumi pulled over by the boy.
“What are you doing here, bud?” Masafumi asked after rolling down his window. The boy looked at them.
He appeared to be about middle school age.
Under his hood, they could see that his skin was pale and that he had large and clear eyes, a straight nose, and handsome but thin lips.
This boy was Fushigi Senno.
“Did your car break down?” Masafumi asked him.
Mayu also opened her window and waited for him to reply, but Fushigi just shook his head slightly.
“Are you all going down this road?” the boy asked, glancing briefly to the road that continued behind him.
“Yeah, that’s right,” Masafumi replied, and Fushigi turned to look at him.
“You shouldn’t go this way. There’s a forbidden village you absolutely can’t set foot in.”
Mayu’s entire family was confused when they heard that reply.
“A forbidden village? Now, what’s that supposed to mean?” Masafumi asked the question that was on everyone’s mind.
“Exactly what I said. If you head to the village, the people living there will attack you, and you’ll never make it out again. There have already been people who have traveled this way and never made it home.”
“You’re kidding me…” Mayu couldn’t believe anything Fushigi was saying. “Why would the villagers attack us?”
“They probably just don’t like outsiders.”
“What happens to the people who get attacked?”
“I think they’re killed.”
“No way!”
Mayu felt a shiver run through her.
“No way does a village like that exist!” Mayu yelled at him. She didn’t like scary stories.
The expression on Fushigi’s face didn’t change one bit as he stared right at Mayu.
“I’m not invested in getting you to believe me, but I’m warning you not to go for your own sake. By the way, the name of the village is Sugi—”
“There’s no such thing anyway!” Mayu cut Fushigi off because she was so upset. She looked over at Masafumi. “Dad, let’s head back to the first road!”
“But we don’t have time…”
“Who cares about that!”
Masafumi looked over at Fushigi when Mayu said that. “Want a lift?”
They saw Fushigi’s lips move slightly from under the shade of his hood.
“Don’t worry about me.”
“If you say so…” Masafumi looked back at his family in the car and said, “Well, let’s go back the way we came.” Then reversed the car to head back down the mountain road.
“What was with that kid…?” Mayu was the only one still irritated.
She looked again to see that Fushigi was headed the opposite way up the mountain road they were on, and when Masafumi noticed that, he asked, “Actually, want to try the side road anyway?”
Mayu stared at her father.
“Wait, what?”
“Don’t you feel like checking it out now? Let’s see if this forbidden village actually exists.”
Masafumi was someone who liked spooky stories and mysteries.
“No way!” Mayu cried out.
“But you just said the village can’t exist, Mayu. In that case, there shouldn’t be anything wrong with taking the side road.”
“I did, but…”
While Mayu was fretting, Kazuya chimed in, “I’m in.” He was even smiling.
“Sounds like fun to me. Let’s go!” Kazuya enjoyed a good mystery, too.
“What are you doing, Kazuya?!”
“Well, now that we’re not supposed to go, I’m really itching to head over. If we actually find a village like that, we can just scram.”