Haguko’s Curse

“No one cares that you’re gonna be an artist”, Daiki sneered at his brother from across the dining table.

Kaito rolled his eyes, “No one cares that you exist because you’re not gonna be anything”.

“That sentence doesn’t even make sense!”

“Children, for the tenth time, keep it down for God’s sake, I can’t hear this recipe video”

Whenever Daiki and Kaito Nakamura were in the same room, peace and quiet had always flown out the window. Their mother, Kaede, was often the tritagonist in these squabbles and played an angry and exhausted mediator.

“Sorry, mom” the boys chorused. 

“So you just act like a 4-year-old on a daily basis?”

Asa walked down the stairs followed by a heavily sleep deprived Botan scratching at his butt with barely open eyes. 

“Why? What did I do??”

“Yelling at the top of their lungs early in the morning is kind of a 4-year-olds thing”

Daiki lit up, “You guys, this is awesome. It’s like you live here now!”

“Not ‘like’, we actually live here now”, Botan croaked.

The two sat down before a breakfast spread that consisted of Eel onigiri, watermelon slices, Miso soup, and Aojiru. As soon as their butts touched the chairs, the atmosphere changed and Daiki leaned across the table, “Sooo how did it go?”

“Well we made a plan”, Botan unfolded a napkin on his lap

Kaito raised an eyebrow, “A plan for what?”

“None of your business, Picasso”, Daiki snapped, Let’s talk about it in my room”

Breakfast was bolted down, as anticipated, in no more than ten seconds and the three headed to Daiki’s room, their designated hideout for the duration of their secret operation. At one point Botan suggested calling it “Operation: Observe” which managed to make the other two cringe so hard they prohibited him from saying it ever again. 

“Whoa”, Daiki’s eyes widened at the complicated flow charts that came into view one by one as Asa unrolled the Bristol board, “This is crazy. How did you guys come up with all this stuff?”

“The internet mostly. But also Botan has some experience being a boy scout”

“What?? You were a boy scout?? Cringe”

“Dude I literally just helped you with this plan”

“Shut up you two. Focus on the plan”, Asa snapped. 

Daiki rubbed his palms together and moved closer to the Bristol board, “Alright let’s see”. He placed a finger at the top of the flow chart and traced down all the possible outcomes of their operation that Asa and Botan had come up with, including the likes of getting lost or attacked by a wild animal – or worse, being spotted by his mother while sneaking out. 

He swallowed loudly, “So uhhh you really think we’d get attacked by wild animals?”

“Well if it’s like any other forest, then yeah, there’s a big chance.”, Botan said matter-of-factly. 

“When I used to follow dad to work in the mountains we didn’t run into any wild animals”

“That’s probably because your dad took a safe route that led to a safe spot where they could work without any trouble. They’ve got that kinda generational knowledge about their hometown, you know”, Botan speculated and then took a serious tone, “But our mission isn’t about safety. It’s about going right into the lion’s den”

Asa rolled her eyes, “Yeah but also coming back home in one piece, so we have to be prepared for wild animal attacks”, she moved her finger from one spot on the flow chart to another, “... and getting injured, and bad weather, and getting lost”

“Yikes”, Daiki and Botan exclaimed in unison.

Asa continued, “We have to also prepare for the main event”

“Main event??”

“Yes, stupid. The main purpose of this…mission – figuring out who’s haunting the mountains”

Daiki laughed nervously, “Ohh yeah yeah of course, almost forgot that one”

“Seriously? Anyways, I’m thinking we leave home pretty early in the night and take our bikes. That way we can get to the foot of the mountain pretty fast. After that we need to hike up the mountain, looking for anything strange. When we get tired we should set up camp until dawn. We shouldn’t hike that far up the first time. Daiki!”

“Yes?”

“When does your mom wake up?”

“Crap, I don’t know. Back then she probably woke up at 5 but now that we sleep at 7 she probably wakes up at like 3 a.m.”

“That’s alright. We’re gonna have to figure out an alternative way to get back in the house.”

“Well we can set up a ladder below Daiki’s window and climb in”, Botan suggested.

Daiki frowned and scratched his head, “Yeah but where are we gonna find a ladder?”

“Every house has a ladder, Daiki”, Botan retorted, “It’s the other stuff we have to be worried about. If we’re hiking we need torches, boots, and a tent to camp in. We need weapons-”

“Weapons??” 

“Yes knives and stuff for protection-”

“-and as tools”, Asa asserted, “We should take some bear spray for protection. And we also need a night vision camera”

Daiki backed off and held his hands up in protest, “Whoa whoa hold on. Do we need all of this stuff? Where are we gonna get them?”

Asa sighed heavily, “Look, man, we can’t half-ass this. If you wanna find out who’s ruining your vacation you gotta do everything you gotta do”

“Asa, I’m with you a hundred percent but how are we gonna buy all this stuff?” Daiki’s eyes suddenly lit up in an epiphany, “WAIT! We don’t have to buy this stuff”

“Uh huh”, the other two chorused.

Daiki leaned back and laughed, as his friends looked on completely and utterly confused.

“Of course! We don’t have to buy this stuff”, he repeated and stood up with hands in his short’s pockets.

“Aright! get ready, you two. We’re gonna visit an old friend”