The Shining Black Idaten（黒光りの韋駄天EN ver）

The Shining Black Idaten

For a moment, my heart went cold.

I know, this is a fear of them, instilled in humanity since ancient times.

I've experienced the Shining Black Idaten countless times, and it's probably lurking somewhere in my room.

"Damn, if only I hadn't screamed... I might not have lost sight of it."

I'd introduced an anti-insect weapon this year: mosquito coils. They're said to be somewhat effective against them, preventing them from entering. But I didn't light one that day.

"I can't believe I let them get in on a day like this. I'm getting old."

Should I go get the insecticide I keep by the entrance? I move my eyes to the corners of the room, the gaps between the furniture, and concentrate my ears. The wooden floor will surely carry the sound of their footsteps to me.

I forgot to wipe the sweat off my cheeks, and strained my eyes and ears.

I couldn't hear those terrifying, dry footsteps.

--Shall I go and get it?

I open the door to my room and quietly head towards the entrance.

"...Found it. Now I can finally sleep."

It's 11pm. I say an eternal farewell to the uninvited guest before bedtime. Clutching the cold can, I step into the room in question.

I hadn't noticed, but the room is filled with the aloeswood scent of mosquito coils. Today's mosquito coils have a luxurious scent that soothes humans.

All four corners of the room, okay. Gaps in the furniture, clear. Sharpen your ears, can you hear footsteps? All clear. They must still be hiding somewhere.

I put the long nozzle of the insecticide into the gap in the furniture, and the holocaust begins. The pungent smell of the insecticide makes me cough involuntarily.

Smoke overflows from the gap, ready to roast it out.

"He can't get away, I'll kill him when he's weak."

He doesn't seem to be in the low cabinet or behind the TV. That means it must be the picture frame.

The picture frame is a 3,000-piece sea and sky puzzle. Steadying my trembling hands, I place them through the gap and flip the switch. --Clear.

I see, he's not here either. It's 11:30 PM. The sound of the clock's second hand breaks the silence. --Where is he? No way...

I turn around and look at the bed. It's certainly a perfect place to hide. But...

"...You're not hiding in a place like that, are you?"

But to not kill him and sleep in this room with him... It's horrifying even to think about it. The miracle of sharing a bed with him is simply terrifying.

"Just to be sure, just to be sure..."

I fill the area beside the bed with insecticide smoke and wait for a while.

--Rustling!

The thing crawled out onto the duvet and turned over in agony, writhing and squirming in pain.

"--!"

I let out a voiceless cry, pulled out my ultimate weapon, the slippers, from my pocket, and swung them over. Again and again.

I didn't want anyone to see me sobbing, hitting the duvet with one slipper in one hand. But this was an emergency. I was pouring precise murderous intent into the slippers, aiming them at it.

Eventually, it stopped resisting, soaked its bodily fluids on the duvet, and departed.

"Did you do it?"

I hit the duvet to check if it was alive or dead. Mission accomplished!

"It's done, now I can finally sleep..."

--No. The fact that it was there just a moment ago and that it was gone will not go away. I grabbed five tissues, and just in case, grabbed a box and headed to the bed. It was his funeral.

I folded it, wrapped it in ten layers of tissue, and broke it. It was crushed, and the remaining bodily fluids exploded. It was always an unpleasant feeling to "dispose" of it. I put pressure on my mouth, rolled it up, and buried it in the garbage bag that I'll be putting out tomorrow.

I tried to scrape the bodily fluids that had soaked into the futon, but they wouldn't come off. Running the washing machine now would be a nuisance to the neighbors. I'll do the laundry first thing in the morning.

Midnight.

I rolled my neck and shoulders, trying to ease my mind, tired from fear. I poured water from a plastic bottle on the desk into it with force, and cleared my throat.

"So I'm going to sleep in that bed from now on..."

It was so unpleasant. If I went to sleep now, wouldn't I be sleeping with his ghost? Even if they said it wouldn't, I would say no, for my mental health reasons. There's its bodily fluids on the duvet, you know? That's impossible, I just can't do it.

"Oh well, I'll just sleep here."

I threw myself face down in front of the desk, pulled the blanket over my shoulders, and dozed off.

That day, I dreamed about it, and that thing chirping in my ear, and I didn't feel like I'd slept at all.

I suddenly got up and it was 7am to do the laundry. I wished I had a dryer at a time like this, but I stroked the groaning appliance, thinking that it would probably be impossible to dry a single duvet.

Suddenly, I looked up and there 'it' was.

"--!"

I let out a voiceless cry again, and began my game of hide-and-seek with it.