Note: I have nothing to do with Here is Greenwood and its characters except to be a fan who enjoys the OVAs a lot. This story is my extrapolation of the storylines as seen in the OVAs. I apologize if this story doesn't quite fit in with the manga.
"Shinobu, it's raining."
"Yes, Mitsuru, I know."
"Shinobu, I'm getting wet."
"Yes, Mitsuru, I know."
Mitsuru gritted his teeth. "Shinobu, sensible people stay inside their homes when it's raining so they won't get wet."
"Yes, Mitsuru, I know."
Mitsuru fought down a strong impulse to reach out and strangle his roommate. "Shinobu, did you suddenly decide that we weren't sensible people and just forgot to tell me?"
"No, Mitsuru, I did not."
Mitsuru threw his hands up into the air in exasperation. "All right! Shinobu, please tell me what we are doing out in the rain, becoming extremely wet and chilled to the bone, when we could be doing the same thing as sensible people and be back in Greenwood in our rooms where we'd at least be dry, if not warm!"
"We're following up on some research I did," Shinobu said calmly.
Mitsuru glared at his friend's back, but he followed along. After all, it had been his fault that he was on this particular walk. He hadn't absolutely needed to accompany Kazuya and Shinobu to the doctor's office, but he had decided that he wanted to go.
Of course, if he'd known that they were going to go trekking off into the rain, he'd have done the smart thing and stayed back at Greenwood with Shun. Now it was too late: he was wet and getting wetter by the second, and he had little hope that either the weather would let up or that Shinobu might change his mind and go back to the dormitory now.
He could go back by himself, but he wasn't about to abandon Kazuya, not know that he was struggling to get used to the cane he now wielded in exchange for his crutches.
He'd been as surprised as the doctor at how quickly Kazuya had healed...especially in light of how Kazuya had told him the same doctor had been concerned with how slowly he'd been healing the week before. Now the cast was gone. In its place, however, Kazuya had to wrap a very long elastic bandage tightly around his entire calf. The bandage was soft enough, but with all the layers it built up around Kazuya's leg, it made it difficult for him to walk smoothly. Then too, the doctor had insisted that Kazuya walk with a cane "to keep the weight off his leg as much as possible."
It was all good and well that Kazuya no longer had to lug around those heavy crutches, but now Kazuya was stumbling along more abruptly than he had with the crutches. It seemed as though he wasn't quite certain which leg to put forward at the same time as the cane, and to hear him muttering, it seemed as though it was the broken leg that now felt stronger and more secure.
But while he watched Kazuya's unsteady progress, ready to leap forward and catch him if he toppled over--as he'd already done once in the doctor's office--he wondered exactly what Shinobu had discovered that had necessitated this walk in the rain.
He doubted that any of them had really had any peace over the recent vacation. Shun, he knew, had been worrying himself sick over the mummy's approach to Tokyo. Kazuya had his mending leg to deal with, along with whatever alterations Shinobu's stay had caused in his usual routine. Shinobu, he gathered, had been doing research over the vacation. It made sense, especially since Shinobu had taken the book with him and brought it back imprisoned in a series of protective wards from three major religions.
He'd been doing research, too, even going twice to the Buddhist college where his father worked. He'd gone through the library in hopes of finding anything that might possibly help, and he'd even badgered his grandfather for advice the entire vacation. He now knew of a number of things that might help them, but there were no guarantees. He considered researching Christianity to find out how that religion dealt with evil spirits, but decided that if the matter really came up, they always had their resident missionary back at Greenwood to advise them.
Shinobu, it seemed, had enjoyed better luck doing his research, but Mitsuru still wondered what they were doing walking in the rain when none of them had any clue as to the whereabouts of the mummy.
"Shinobu," he said, "exactly where are you taking us?"
"The koi pond," his roommate said.
Mitsuru blinked. "The koi pond? Why would the mummy be at the koi pond?"
"We're not going after the mummy," Kazuya said. "Do you remember the other things Shun summoned?"
Mitsuru thought for a moment. "A vampire, a succubus, and...and..."
"The last one is called a 'rusalka,' Mitsuru," Shinobu said without turning around.
"Okay, a rusalka," Mitsuru said. "So what exactly is a rusalka?"
"Kazuya," Shinobu said.
"Okay," the younger boy said, nodding. He dropped back to walk beside Mitsuru.
"Well, aniki," he said, his voice a little softer now that they were closer, "a rusalka is a Russian water spirit."
"Like a kappa?" Mitsuru asked, referring to the strange turtle-like goblins that had flourished in the folk tales his mother had told him as bedtime stories.
Kazuya frowned. "Not really. A rusalka is the ghost of a person, usually a girl, who drowned and whose spirit for some reason can't go on to the next world."
"Then why is it called a water spirit?"
"Because it is bound to natural bodies of still water," Shinobu said. "A rusalka usually haunts the lake or pond where it drowned."
"And you think someone who drowned in the koi pond will be coming after Shun?" Mitsuru said skeptically.
"I think that someone who drowned elsewhere will take up residence in the koi pond," Shinobu countered, "because that is the largest body of still water anywhere close to Greenwood other than whatever puddles are forming because of this rain, and the only place a spirit of this nature might possibly hope to maintain its existence."
Mitsuru had absolutely no idea what his friend was talking about. "So we're going to confront a rusalka then. What about the vampire and succubus? What are we going to do about them?"
"What can we do?" Kazuya sighed. "We don't know where either of them are."
"But there's only one logical place that the rusalka can be, though," Shinobu continued. "And if we can deal with this one, then we'll only have three more to worry about."
Mitsuru sighed, giving up trying to understand anything that was being said. "Okay," he muttered. "Fine. So what are we going to do when we get to the pond?"
"You'll see," Shinobu said.
Mitsuru gritted his teeth and fought down the urge to pummel his roommate into submission. He hated it when Shinobu kept secrets from him, especially when those secrets might directly affect them all.
* * *
Kazuya sighed.
Having spent so much time with his two friends--being tutored by them, being dragged into their various schemes, acting in Tochizawa's two movies--he knew them pretty well. He knew, for example, that Mitsuru would almost always distract him with conversation before swiping food from his plate...or wait until he moved his plate supposedly out of reach before stabbing out with his chopsticks and swiping pieces of this or that. He could tell exactly when Mitsuru would reach under the table for a rolled up magazine to hit him on the head with...not that knowing helped since he still couldn't dodge fast enough to avoid being hit at all.
And he could plainly see that Mitsuru was exercise extreme restraint over himself when it was obvious he wanted to shake some decent answers out of Shinobu-sempai.
Not that Kazuya blamed him. Their friend could be too secretive at times. He could remember at least a dozen occasions when Shinobu-sempai had kept something secret all the way up until the last minute, when they had to accept what he said--which almost always required some sacrifice on their part--and couldn't escape from his plans.
He took only small pleasure in knowing something about Shinobu-sempai's secret this time while Mitsuru knew nothing at all. Still, he also sympathized with his friend, even as he understood why Shinobu-sempai had to be so vague. After all, they couldn't simply tell Mitsuru that the "research" Shinobu-sempai had referred to was actually news and information that Haru had told them the night before.
They'd talked it over with Haru, and they'd decided that, for the time being, it was better that no one else knew of his presence in the dormitory. It wasn't necessarily that they didn't trust Mitsuru and Shun; it was more that they felt the fewer people who knew the truth, the safer everyone else would be. And it wasn't necessarily a physical safety that concerned them, but more the safety of each person's sanity.
Kazuya's primary concern was Shun. Under normal circumstances Shun was probably the most mentally stable and well-balanced of them all: he had a warm, loving family that he got along very well with--unlike Shinobu-sempai--and had no reason to feel apart from, as he and Mitsuru did. But what they were facing was hardly "normal." Shun had been worrying almost non-stop about the mummy almost to the exclusion of everything else; he only vaguely recalled inadvertently summoning three other spirits. If he ever found out that he'd succeeded in calling them and that one had actually taken up residence in Greenwood...there was no telling what effect such news might have on his already strained and frayed nerves.
And because Haru had been so certain that the rusalka had taken up temporary residence in the koi pond, he and Shinobu-sempai had decided to investigate on the way back from the doctor's office. They hadn't expected Mitsuru to come with them, so now they were forced to stretch and bend the truth to explain what was going on without really explaining.
Actually, Shinobu-sempai was the one doing all the stretching and bending. Kazuya was just going along--being dragged along, actually--for the ride.
He just hoped he didn't get hurt in the process.
* * *
"Okay," Mitsuru said, "we're here. Now what?"
Shinobu ignored his friend's irritated tone. To be honest, he was hardly more pleased about the situation than he was. He hadn't expected Mitsuru to come with them to the doctor's office, and he had been hard pressed to weave a convincing story about where they were going and what they were going to do. After all, he had to find a way to tell his roommate everything without telling him anything. And that was difficult enough.
But it was probably child's play compared to what they were about to do now.
"Now we see if my research was accurate," Shinobu said with forced calm. He stepped out onto the bridge over the pond, then held up his hand.
"Stay here," he told his two friends. "You can follow me out onto the bridge later, but for now I want the two of you here on shore where it's safe."
Kazuya jumped. "Aniki, if this is dangerous, then don't do it!"
"Kazuya's right," Mitsuru said. "We can always find another way to deal with this rusalka. I'm not about to let you risk your life to do this."
Shinobu shook his head. "I'll be fine," he said. "It's just that I don't want either of you getting any wetter than you already are." He turned and walked further out onto the bridge. He could hear the confused complaints of his friends, but he tuned them out.
He turned and gazed out over the pond. Drawing in a deep breath, he called out.
"Rusalka, I call you forth! Appear here before me!"
He wasn't a wizard, and he had no idea if his simple summons would actually work since he couldn't really apply any force if the rusalka chose not to appear. But, if he was right and the rusalka was as frustrated and irritated as he thought it would be, then the rusalka would jump at the opportunity to confront its possible tormentor.
He wasn't disappointed.
At first it seemed as though the sun were emerging from behind the clouds, because a single circular spot on the surface of the koi pond began to shimmer and glow. Then, a column of faintly glowing mist rose up from the pond, tumbling and folding in on itself as it grew. Then, gradually the mist took on form and shape. In a few long moments, the mist had faded and a young bedraggled woman in tattered rags floated before him.
She scowled at him, then snapped something in what he assumed to be Russian.
He shook his head. He was good with foreign languages, but he hadn't yet mastered Russian yet. "I'm sorry," he said. "I don't understand."
The woman glared at him, then waved her hand. "Is this better?" she demanded.
Shinobu's eyes narrowed. As far as he could tell, she was still speaking Russian, yet he'd understood her. And he had a feeling that if he spoke in Japanese, she'd somehow be able to understand him. "Yes," he said cautiously. "It is better."
"Good. Now, are you the one who summoned me here to this ridiculously minuscule pond?"
He shook his head, then gestured to Mitsuru and Kazuya. "May my friends approach? There are certain things that we must discuss, and I would like them here to assist in explaining all that has been happening."
The woman sighed. "All right," she said sourly. "Tell them to come."
Shinobu nodded, then waved to his two friends, who seemed to be completely shocked by the sudden appearance of the rusalka.
"Explain," the woman snapped when they were finally close enough to hear. "What am I doing here in Japan? Why did you summon me here?"
Shinobu held up his hand. "To begin with, we did not summon you here. However, we are friends of the one who did."
"I knew it!" the rusalka screamed. "You called me here to hurt someone!"
"Wait a minute!" Kazuya protested. "It's not like that! It was all a mistake!"
"And how do you make a mistake in a summoning?" the rusalka demanded. "You have to be pretty specific in order to get what you want."
"You make a mistake because it wasn't supposed to be a summoning," Shinobu said. Our friend thought he was reading a spell that would exorcise your kind."
The woman laughed bitterly. "Ludicrous! Don't you know that the only way to set me free from this world is to find the bones of he who drowned me, grind them into dust, and sprinkle it over my lake?"
"Our friend did not know that," Shinobu said. "He was reading spells that supposedly exorcised or warded off various spirits. Instead, the spells actually summoned those spirits."
"That's even more ludicrous," the rusalka snapped. "What kind of wizard doesn't even know what the spell he's casting is for?"
"Our friend isn't a wizard," Mitsuru pointed out. "He was only reading them out of a strange book that he'd been tricked into buying."
The rusalka blinked. "A book?"
Shinobu nodded. "It's a strange book that had spells written in all sorts of languages. By all rights, our friend shouldn't have been able to read a word of it at all, yet somehow he was able to pronounce every word and syllable."
"Where is this book now?" the rusalka demanded intently.
"Safely confined," Shinobu said. "It's currently sitting in a Catholic church, in a box sealed with a number of Shinto wards, and wrapped in paper upon which a Buddhist monk wrote the sutras."
"And you felt that book to be so very evil?" the rusalka asked.
"It radiates an evil power," Shinobu said curtly. "It is dangerous, and it is the reason that you are here, and it is the reason that an Egyptian mummy is heading in this direction, spreading disease and sickness as it comes."
"And why are you here?"
"We are here," Shinobu said, "because we want you to understand that it was never our friend's intention to summon you here, and that we are doing all we can to find a way to break the spell that summoned and holds you here. If you must blame anyone or anything for your current predicament, blame the book."
The rusalka was silent for a long while.
"Very well," she said at last. "I will blame the book." Then she glared fiercely at him. "But upon your word, I want your solemn vow that you will find a way to allow me to return to where I belong."
Shinobu bowed. "Upon my word, I will find a way."
"Good. Now go away and leave me alone."
As Shinobu straightened, he was able to see as the rusalka sank back into the pond without a ripple.
He took a deep breath, then turned to his friends.
"That's it," he said. "Let's go home."
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