The next day:
Noroi woke up to the sound of furious knocking and loud screams from the enraged monk."Wake up, brat, you have work to do!"
Noroi shook off the drowsiness, rubbing his eyes and getting up. With a tired voice, he said,"Yes, Haruto-bosan, coming!" shouted the little boy with little emotion in his voice.
The knocking stopped as a grunt sounded from behind the door. The sound of footsteps echoed through the shrine as the monk returned to his labors. Noroi came out of the room and started walking toward the broom parked outside the shrine. He grabbed it and began cleaning the shrine while lost in his thoughts.
"Today visitors are coming. I wonder what they look like. I've only seen Haruto-bosan in the shrine, and he is always so angry," he thought, frowning. The way the old man beat him filled his mind with hate and anger. When he was younger and showed anger toward the old man, he was beaten harder and longer, his eyes burning with disgust and rage. So he learned how not to show his emotions in front of him.
Time passed, and while he was lost in his thoughts, two visitors arrived at the front of the torii gate. A little kid and an adult, both wearing traditional monk clothes of a deep blue color. The monk was a bald, short man. When he saw Noroi, he grimaced in disgust, his expression a mix of horror and revulsion. But the child, a little girl who seemed about six years old, with short brown hair and green eyes, looked at Noroi with a gaze full of curiosity.
After staring at them for a second, Haruto slid open the shrine door and stepped out with a smile Noroi had never seen before. His eyes widened as he saw Haruto greet and hug his friend with kindness. When had Haruto ever shown him even a bit of kindness? The answer was clear: never.
"Ren, my friend, how have you been?" Haruto asked the monk with a smile.
"I've been worse, Haruto. Thanks for your concern." The gaze that had been filled with disgust changed into a warm one when Ren looked at Haruto.
The little girl didn't look toward Haruto and continued to stare at Noroi as if he had grown a second head.
"Anyways, this is my child, Aoi. She is just like her mother—curious about everything and everyone," he said with a light laugh.
"She looks just like her mother," Haruto said with a smile as his gaze fell on the girl.
The girl, for the first time, showed a reaction."Thank you, Uncle Haruto," she said, a light blush appearing on her cheeks from shyness.
The monk laughed gently."Please, come inside. I prepared tea," Haruto said as he gestured toward the shrine.
The other monk laughed lightly and started walking toward the shrine."Thanks for being so thoughtful, Haruto," he said, but in the next moment his gaze hardened as it fell on Noroi. "What is that, Haruto? Are you housing a curse in your shrine?" the monk asked cautiously.
Haruto looked at Noroi with a disgusted gaze."It's not a curse, Ren, but it is a cursed child that someone abandoned at the front of my shrine. I was going to leave him there to die, but I needed a pair of hands to do the shrine work," he said cruelly.
Noroi lowered his gaze to the ground. Even if he didn't feel affection toward the man, he had felt a bit of gratitude for letting him live there, but now that disappeared. He was only being kept alive to be a slave. His gaze hardened as he started brushing the ground again, lost in his thoughts.
"Let's go inside so we don't have to see him, my friend," Haruto said to Ren.
"Let's go then," Ren accepted.
The little girl stopped a few steps from the shrine, looking back at Noroi before entering.
Noroi returned to his room and sat down, staring at the wall, lost in his thoughts. Suddenly, a knock came at the door, and a soft, childlike voice sounded from the other side.
"Are you in there?" Aoi asked innocently.
"Go away," Noroi responded. "If they see you talking to me, he will punish me," Noroi said with a sad tone.
"But I'm bored, and they are talking about boring things," the girl said innocently, not noticing Noroi's sadness.
"…"
He didn't respond and remained silent.
"You know, I'm going to start school tomorrow," the girl said excitedly, without caring about the boy's silence.
"School?" the boy muttered curiously.
"You don't know what a school is?" the girl asked, surprised.
"What is a school?" the boy asked, his curiosity making him ignore the punishment he would receive if he was found talking to her.
"A school is a big place where you can learn to write and make a lot of friends," she said with childlike excitement.
"Friends?" he asked uncertainly.
"You don't know what friends are? You are really weird," the girl said without malice, only the curiosity of a child.
"…"
Noroi fell silent.
"Friends are those who appreciate you and support you in your life," the little girl said energetically.
"Appreciate… support…" Noroi had only heard those words in the prayers Haruto muttered.
"Hey… why are you so different from me?" the girl asked with curiosity.
"I don't know, I was born this way," Noroi said innocently.
"Aoi! What are you doing!" suddenly a loud shout came drom the other side of the door but louder and with a male adult tone. Noroi froze when he heard that voice.
With loud steps, Haruto stopped in front of the door."Aoi, don't be near this monster, or he could curse you," Haruto said gently to the child.
"But Uncle Haruto—" she started, but he interrupted her.
"Go back to your father, Aoi. He is deeply worried that this damn cursed child could curse you," Haruto said harshly.
"Okay, Uncle Haruto," the child said weakly before leaving.
"You damn curse. When they leave, your punishment will be painful," he said with scorn before walking away.
"Shit," Noroi muttered, frowning, repeating one of the many words Haruto used when angry. He panicked in his room until the sun fell. When night came, Haruto's heavy steps echoed as he approached. The door flung open, and Haruto entered with rage on his face and a rope in his hands.
"Put this on your wrists," he ordered harshly, dropping the rope in front of Noroi.
Noroi bound his wrists as Haruto watched, checking that they were tight. After five minutes, all four arms were bound together. With a grab, Haruto forced him to stand and pushed him toward another room. In the center of the room, a rope hung from the ceiling. Haruto tied Noroi's bound wrists to it, then pulled another rope, lifting Noroi off the ground. His gaze was fixed on the monk in terror.
Haruto tied the rope to a pillar and slowly approached Noroi with hatred in his eyes. Noroi watched in horror as the monk returned with a sharp knife.
"Please, no, no, no," pleaded the three-year-old child, but his words fell on deaf ears as Haruto began making small cuts on his skin.
"AHHHHHHHHH!"Grotesque screams made the birds around the shrine flee in terror.
"You killed my wife, you monster," Haruto muttered as the cuts grew deeper.
"PLEASE STOP, I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO DESERVE THIS!" Noroi screamed, tears falling like waterfalls.
"YOU RUINED EVERYTHING, YOU MONSTER!" Haruto shouted like a madman.
After an hour of venting his frustration, Haruto made a decision. Noroi, his face torn with pain, watched as the monk's face twisted into a maniacal grin.
"I'm going to kill you, monster, and end my pain," he muttered, raising the knife toward the child's heart, laughing as he enjoyed the terror on Noroi's face.
As the blade approached, Noroi's mind froze. His whole life flashed before him—the abuse, the endless punishments, the cold words. What a sad life, he thought. But before the end, someone had told him about something he longed for: friends. Appreciation. Support.
Anger and fear erupted from Noroi's heart. Blue energy with dark edges coated his body, his strength increasing as he broke the rope binding him. He grabbed Haruto's wrist mid-fall, twisted it, and the monk screamed in pain as the knife fell.
"YOU MONSTER!" Haruto shouted, falling backward.
Noroi lunged forward, landing on Haruto's torso. His four arms, glowing with blue energy, blows landed onto Haruto's face as Noroi screamed in rage. After ten minutes, Noroi stood over the lifeless body, breathing heavily.
"You are the monster," he muttered.
Bleeding and exhausted, he left the room, took clothes from Haruto's room, bandaged his wounds, and collapsed on the floor.
As he fell asleep, only one word echoed in his mind:
Friends.