Chapter 13

"The weather is getting worse, I wonder how long it's going to be this way. I'm afraid at some point we have to leave the village." Looking into distance Mr Hanekama stood beside the cherry blossom tree waiting for Yoru.

Checking on his keys, Douma hurried over to him dodging a few sticks and leaves blown in his direction. 

"I can see why people are mad at you it's completely reasonable but it's not your fault I guess." Those words stung him but there was no denying they were true.

This isn't good but maybe I could just disperse the storm? But I'm afraid it's just going to be temporary as long as I continue using my powers the storm will return. There's nothing much I can do. Douma covered his face with his fan, quite fascinated by the state of the upcoming Winter storm he never expected to create such a thing.

Some trees and bushes were blown away across the grassy fields, it was dangerous to go out there. Douma wanted to tell Mr Hanekama to stay inside but he didn't want to upset him once Yoru found her keys they were going to leave right away they had other plans.

"Found them!" Yoru cried running outside frantically.

"That's great where did you find them Yoru?" Douma asked relieved that she managed to find them.

"In one of the kitchen cabinets it's ridiculous I know." The now exhausted lady sighed scratching the back of her head in embarrassment.

Mr Hanekama looked at her disappointedly. "How careless," Which made Yoru look up she held onto her keys tightly and walked over to Mr Hanekama getting ready to leave.

"Thank you Lord Douma, take care." Yoru said as both she and her gramps began walking down the steps carefully, waving at Douma.

The wind pushed them a little the steps were slippery too. Yoru managed to get a good grip on Mr Hanekama's wrist, he was still strong for his age. While walking down, he insisted on letting him walk on his own, Yoru didn't let him though it was risky. 

"I'm heading to the Rice Factory you're slowing me down!" 

"Calm down grandpa we'll get there."

The two figures were no longer in sight the mist made it hard to see anything beyond the path. 

Douma followed after them he had other things to settle in town and standing around wasn't going to do anything let alone stop this storm.

~~~

The town's entrance was blocked, cops were patrolling the area with some clues on the ground. Douma saw some people being interviewed one of them was Isaki he seemed to have a lot to share as the officer took down notes.

Besides the broken pieces from the shops there was no sign of the dead bugs, the young founder could only guess they had already been retrieved for investigation. 

"Hey kid it's too dangerous here." An officer walked up to him with a serious expression.

"I understand." Douma pretended to back away as he turned around walking back down the path while keeping an eye on the officers.

After a while he slowly went back the officers were talking to some witnesses now this was the chance for him to sneak in.

Quietly he snuck behind a bush close to one of the shops observing the situation in the heavily guarded area of town, the spot where he unleashed the final blow the ground was in crumbles with cracks and large holes carved in. 

Once the police officers started moving around from the area Douma got up and made a run for it, diving into the cracks under the restaurants and stores before anyone could see him.

There were no bugs anywhere just rubble and leftover food from the restaurants. Douma's hand nearly landed on a dead fish with bite marks on it, something that the cops should consider looking into.

"They were crawling everywhere! It was gross I couldn't even swallow my food!" It was the voice of one of the people being interviewed by the news as cameras were flashing and questions were raised.

This alarmed Douma he hoped there was no camera facing his direction it would be awkward to have someone crawling under the stores on television during the report so he quickly moved away towards the end of that section of town which was closer to the sea.

Douma got up from the last empty store and ran towards the port. Not too far away were some ships operations still had to continue nevertheless there was cargo and essentials like food, mainly fish and other sea creatures they were shipped all the way here, everyone just had to hope there were no creepy crawlies on board.

"This part of town sure is empty, it's going to take a while to fix this place," Douma fanned himself scanning the area. "It must be tragic for the business owners."

Suddenly an idea sparked in his mind. The blonde had been planning on going about it but with the devastating events this past few days he never had time to.

"I know, I'll pay the Tagami family a visit! Maybe they know something about this I hope they're OK!" Taking one last look at the sea, Douma hopped away towards the remaining stores he was certain there was some information out there.

Just as he was about to step on the path, he noticed someone standing near the port alone. Guess the town isn't empty after all. Douma thought he wondered what the person was doing here. Maybe they needed help with directions or something, the young founder would be happy to offer his assistance.

The closer he got to the port, the more noticeable this person's features were, a girl with purple hair and a butterfly clip behind it. Her eyes were the same color as her hair and shiny too. It seems she wasn't from around here, more like a visitor. But why is she alone especially at a time like this, no one's allowed in town for now.

"Hi there." Douma said trying not to come off as intimidating. "I wasn't expecting to see anyone here."

"Oh hello, me too it sure is quiet." The girl replied, looking at the ships moving past the port.

"So what brings you here?"

"I'm just taking a walk, the town's a mess now it's very unfortunate no one expected this to happen."

"That's true."

Silence fell for a while. Only the sounds of the waves were heard. They both stood there watching the ships sailing. Despite what happened in town, the sky was still bright like any other day with the exception of a few oncoming dark clouds indicating the storm's return. It was getting colder and windier.

"I'm Douma, what's your name?" Even though the girl was a visitor she didn't seem like the kind of person who would go around telling people about the talked about shrine leader she just met. The young founder felt like he could trust her, besides that's what everyone addresses him even the folks in Tokyo. 

"Shinobu."

"Nice meeting you Shinobu." Douma smiled, he made a new friend.