Oomi
It happened one summer, before I even started elementary school.I went outside, planning to visit a kid from the neighborhood—someone my age whose name I can’t even remember now.
Three minutes away, on the short legs of a four- or five-year-old.
It was a hot summer afternoon, the air bone-dry.I think I went to show him a bottle of cologne that my father was about to throw away and had given me instead.I didn’t really understand what cologne was, but anything that belonged to adults seemed enchanting. The strange shape of the bottle, more than the scent, made it feel like a power item that would make me stronger. I was secretly thrilled.
Even as an adult, I kept peeking into store counters, trying to find the same cologne.But to this day, I’ve never found anything that matches its shape or scent.Maybe the intensity of what happened afterward blurred those memories, too.
Anyway, I went out without saying anything to my mother. The shadows were still short—early afternoon, probably.
That kid’s house was tucked into a narrow alley where two bicycles could barely pass.It felt like a secret base, and I was jealous of it at the time.
To be honest, it wasn’t the kid I wanted to visit—it was the house.Especially that second-floor room where the sunlight never reached.I loved that space.
I could go on forever talking about that house, so I’ll stop here.What matters is, that day, I clutched that oddly shaped cologne bottle and stepped into the alley.
Just one step off the main road, and the temperature seemed to drop a little.Even that shift felt like the entrance to another world—just like in the cartoons—and it made my little heart race.
I turned the corner into the alleyway at full speed, almost tripping—same as always.
The only difference was the large object lying a few meters ahead.
—What is that?
It was too dim to make out clearly, but I instantly knew it was something ominous.
My body refused to listen to reason.Even though I knew I shouldn’t get closer, I slowly walked toward the strange shape.
If that moment is what triggered my ability to see the dead, then I hate the kid version of me who lost to his own morbid curiosity.
The first thing I saw was a foot in a shoe. It was big.I figured it was a man. Even before I saw the face, I knew.
This was a corpse.Not someone just sleeping—no peaceful option came to mind at all.
Then I saw his head.He had long hair.He looked exactly like an illustration from Gulliver’s Travels I’d seen in a picture book.Gulliver, pinned down by tiny people.That image had burned itself into my brain and haunted me at night.
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Now, something just like it was lying on the ground in front of me.
—I looked into the face.
A shaft of sunlight pierced the gap between two houses, lighting up the man’s face and making it even clearer.
From that moment on, my memory is almost gone.I know I saw his face, but that part of my memory is completely blurred out, like it’s been mosaicked over.
The next thing I knew, I was wrapped in a summer blanket, trembling.When my mom called out and I poked my face out, the sky outside the window was already dim.She was alarmed by my pale face and sweat-drenched body, thought I might have a summer cold.But when she saw I had no fever, she pressed me: “What happened?”
I don’t know if it’s the same for every kid, but at least for me, when something truly terrifying happened, I couldn’t accept it as reality.I told myself it was a dream.I had napped through the afternoon.I shook my head and was about to say something when—
“Good evening!” came a cheerful voice from the front door.
It was the woman from the very house I’d tried to visit that day.
Her tone was so carefree, it was hard to believe something like that had happened just steps from her own home.
I heard her chatting with my mom, saying something about cologne.Panicked, I sat up and pressed my ear to the wall.
“There was this expensive-looking cologne bottle lying there,” she said.“It was men’s, and there aren’t many fashionable men around here, so…”
Sure, that bottle must’ve been lying there. But wasn’t there something way worse?
Is this woman insane?I honestly thought that.
After she cheerfully said something like, “Thanks again!” and the door closed, I heard my mother’s footsteps heading my way.
I quickly pretended to be asleep again.
“You left an empty cologne bottle in the alley? You’re such a strange child.”
Thankfully, she didn’t push it any further.She just said, “Dinner will be ready in thirty minutes,” and left.That was my only relief.
—So what happened to the corpse I saw?Did someone call an ambulance? Or the police?I doubt they made it in time.
I don’t know why, but I was sure the man was completely dead.
A horrible thought suddenly crossed my mind.A chill ran down my spine.
—What if he came back to life?
♢♢♢
Suddenly, the wide dining hall went dark, and we all looked around at each other.
We knew the reason.The birds had come—so many of them they blocked out the light.
I grabbed both of their arms as they started to rise.
“Please… Don’t go. Don’t leave me alone.”
I knew they had completely different reasons for trying to stand, but I had to stop them both.
Neither of them shook off my hands, but neither of them sat back down.Their faces were tense, drawn toward different urges they could barely resist.
A cold presence flowed in through the dining hall entrance.
I whipped my head around hard enough to hurt my neck.
Standing there was the Harvester of Hearts.
“Don’t go outside. Don’t even go near the windows.”
He was terrifying—but I agreed with what he said.
Still, what I was really worried about right now was Aochi-san.It was because of this guy that he lost it earlier.
Without thinking, I stepped in front of Aochi-san as if to shield him from the Harvester.
“We understand.Until the flock leaves, we won’t take a single step outside.Please go.”
The Harvester smiled—for the first time, a normal smile.To my surprise, the lines in his face looked kind… when he smiled like that.
“I see.Glasses, I’m counting on you.The seniors look like they’ve been possessed.”
After watching him walk away, I turned to check on Aochi-san.Thank god. He looked okay.But there was still a trace of something unsettling in his eyes.
“Thanks. You really are reliable.”
That weak smile, from someone usually so strong, hurt to see.
I turned to Oze-san.He was staring at the square window with a frustrated look.
Out here, the sky was just a stretch of dark gray.You had to get closer to the window to see what the sky or the sea really looked like.
I’d already given up asking why he was so obsessed with catching the birds.
Suddenly, Oze-san looked at me and placed a hand on my arm.
“You okay? You’re shaking.”
Startled, I shook him off.
“I’m fine… Sorry.”
This guy was annoyingly sharp.The truth was, I was pretty shaken.I’d just remembered something.
That corpse I’d seen in the alley as a kid—the one whose face had always been hidden in fog or mosaic…
—It was the face of the Harvester who had just walked out the door.