"And I hope it remains that way." The man set coins down on the table. "Thanks for the drink."
The man stood and Kaito did as well. He had more questions for him. As he tried to pursue him however, a strong wind blew through the restaurant and the woman carrying a tray of food had it knocked from her hand by the gust. The platters and jug of sake fell to the ground with a crash. Kaito turned to see what had happened.
When he turned back to the man he was gone. Kaito leaped out onto the street to search for him. The wind blew through the streets, almost removing hats from heads and sending door coverings flapping in the wind. There was no sign of the strange man and people walking down the street gave Kaito a wide berth, watching him as he stared. That energy, not human but not yokai either. It was very similar to... he shook his head. He didn't want to go down that path.
Kaito tried searching for the man but his search was in vain. After spending the better part of the afternoon looking, he headed back toward the palace. As he was reaching the edge of town, he felt a yokai presence following him. At first he pretended not to notice anything, and continued at a leisurely pace. There was a nearby gap between buildings, and he walked down it, listening as footsteps followed him. Then without warning he turned on his follower. He launched into him, pinning him against the wall of a nearby building. Jirou gave him a devious smile.
"How did I know I'd find you here?" Jirou said, revealing his pointed canines.
Kaito bared his teeth back at him. "You were following me?"
"I came looking for you, brother. You were gone a very long time."
"Don't you have better things to do?"
"Not since someone took my place." He laughed as if it was all a joke, but he could see the resentment in his eyes. They'd always been rivals, but time had only made it worse. And his recent defeat could make him dangerous. Kaito would have to watch him.
Kaito let go and stepped back. "If you wanted to come drink with me you should have told me," Kaito said, laughing off the tension.
Jirou dusted off imaginary dust from his clothes. "In a human town?"
"Why not? They're harmless enough."
His brother glanced around the village, his nose crinkling. "I don't know how you can stand the stench."
He was trying to bait him, but Kaito wouldn't rise to it. "Better than how you smell."
His lips curled into a smile. "Have you always loved humans or was it just once you sheathed your sword in one?"
Kaito bit down on the rage that was threatening to bubble up inside him.
"Why did you really follow me?"
He strolled over to a nearby cart and stole a piece of fruit from it. "I came to warn you. It would be better if you distanced yourself from the humans."
Kaito balled his hand into a fist. "Is that threat?"
"Remember your kind, brother. The others may not know all the details but I do. I know you loved that woman, and you'd give your life to protect her."
"She's dead," Kaito growled.
"I wasn't talking about Kazue. I was talking about Suzume."
8
The shrine was a palace unto itself. A long walkway of multiple bright red torii arches separated the outside world from the holy place of the divine beyond. Hikaru stared at the long pathway. It twisted slightly and the red arcs blurred together to make a long red tunnel. For the past twenty years this place had been home for him. This place had also been his prison and he had not even known it. Trapped by his own forgotten past, he'd been cut off from the woman he loved for more than two decades.
As if reading his thoughts, Rin squeezed his hand. He turned to his wife. They'd spent centuries together, been through it all. But leaving her behind again after such a short reunion was the hardest thing he'd ever do.
"I lost you for twenty years, I will live for a few nights we are apart," she said, seemingly reading his thoughts.
He tugged on her arm, bringing her close to him. He rested his chin on the top of her head, inhaling the scent of her, burning it into his memories. How could I have forgotten her for even a moment? Every breath I took while we were apart should have been dedicated to finding her again.
"But how will I survive without you?" He ran his hand over her head, tangling his hands in her hair. Rin tilted her head back, a mischievous smile on her face.
"If you're not careful I might not let you go."
"Is that a threat?" He leaned in close, capturing her lips in a kiss. How he had missed this feeling. There had been an ache in him for so long that he could not fill. And it was this, feeling her hands around his shoulders, his lips against hers.
They pulled apart a little breathless and a little disheveled.
"I better let you go before things get out of hand." She smoothed down his hair and straightened his hoari for him.
"Come with me," he said, prolonging the inevitable.
"You know I would join you but the wards are too strong. Yokai cannot enter the temple grounds."
"Then use your fox-fire and burn the arches to ashes. We'll storm in there and demand answers." He grinned.
Rin pulled on his ear gently. "Don't do anything reckless. You're not Suzume."
"I suppose I'm not." He cupped her cheek, and Rin leaned into it. Neither of them wanted to go, but he was wasting time. The sooner he finished this, the sooner they could start their lives over again.
"Please don't do anything foolish. Whatever you might learn, it's not worth your life."
"You know me. I'm always cautious. What about you, have you settled in?"
Rin smiled. "Yes, we're staying at a human inn for now."
"It won't take long. It will be a few days at most, and then we will be together again." Hikaru kissed her lips and shared one last lingering embrace before she pushed him away gently.
"Go before I change my mind." She slapped him gently on the arm.
Hikaru walked backward a few steps, and Rin watched him with a half-smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Eventually he was forced to turn around and focus on the path ahead.
Questions had been burning in the back of his mind ever since he had regained his memories. Well, most of his memories. How did I become like this? It was why they had traveled to the shrine. Why Suzume had left Kaito behind. They had to know why Kazue's soul was inside them. Perhaps finding that out could help them better understand how they could defeat Hisato. As they were, they couldn't harm him without hurting themselves.
At the end of the tunnel of arches, Hikaru was greeted with a barren courtyard. It was late in the day and the priests of the temple would likely be in meditation. The courtyard was a sparse open space, swept free of even a single leaf. The only decoration was a giant gingko tree in the courtyard center. A string of ofuda was strung around the center of the massive trunk.
As always, Hikaru found himself drawn to the tree. He walked over it and pressed his hand against the rough bark. He could feel the pulse of the tree, the slow ancient thoughts, the energy force that ran through it. If he wished it, he could bend it to his will. For the past twenty years he had thought he could feel the tree, but he had convinced himself that it was all in his head. No human had that sort of ability. That was what the head priest had told him, but he wasn't human. Not really. And his attachment to this tree was due to his imbalance of earth in his soul.
He rested his head against the tree, letting its energy flow into him, rejuvenating him, bringing him back to life and giving him the motivation he needed to see this task through. Thank you, my friend, Hikaru said, and a tingling sensation brushed down his spine as if an invisible hand had caressed down his back. He had no doubt it was the tree's way of acknowledging him.
"You've returned at last," said a raspy voice behind him.
At first Hikaru thought it was the voice of the tree, but when he turned he saw it was the ancient head priest who smiled at him.
Without thinking, Hikaru fell into a deep bow. Twenty years living in the shrine had ingrained in him a need f
or ceremony. In some ways being here brought him closer to the man he was when he was just Makato and not Hikaru—the man he had been before Kazue's soul was put into him. It felt almost as if there were two versions of him. Two sides with independent memories warring for dominance within him.
The head priest gave a dusty chuckle. "Have you come back to pay penitence?"
"I came for answers, master."
He laughed again. "I'm sure you have." He gestured for Hikaru to follow him, and with his hands folded in the small of his back, he walked slowly toward the nearby shrine building.
Hikaru followed just behind him, head bowed, as was fitting someone of his rank. They passed by the main shrine building, an ornate structure. The eves and support beams were painted a brilliant red, and a complicated series of carvings decorated it. Just in front of it was an offering box, and deeper within the recesses of the building was the shrine proper, where the kami dwelled. Hikaru found his gaze lingering on that space. If Kazue had sealed the kami, then that space was nothing but an empty sham.
"Strange rumors have been going around since you left," the Head Priest said.
"Many strange things have happened since I left," Hikaru replied, turning his attention back to the priest.
The old man nodded his head in reply, but said nothing more. He led Hikaru past the shrine building to the dormitories of the higher-ranking priests and then to the Head Priest’s office. The Head Priest’s personal assistant was waiting for them and he opened the door while kneeling on the ground. Hikaru waited outside until the Head Priest had made himself comfortable. The assistant closed the door after them.
The Head Priest sat on a thick pillow covered in red fabric. When Hikaru had first arrived at the shrine, the head priest had been the second-in-command to the then Head Priest. He'd been quick to smile, and loved to spar. He'd always been more militant than the wise and deep-thinking Head Priest back then. Time had ravaged his body, and the once spry man had difficulty moving. Pain in his joints limited his ability to do much of anything at all other than to meditate and contemplate the world’s mysteries. Perhaps that was the cycle of man.
Hikaru knelt down in front of the desk. The priest leaned forward and steepled his fingers as he regarded him.
"You left your post," he said, not as an accusation, but more of a question. The Head Priest trusted him. They trusted each other.
"It was the emperor's orders."
"Ah."
The question he needed to ask was lodged in the back of his throat. Not because he was afraid to ask it but because his desire to adhere to tradition forced him to remain silent.
"You had a question?" the Head Priest prompted after a few painful minutes of silence.
"How did I come to this shrine?"
The Head Priest’s expression was wistful. "How long has it been now?"
"Twenty years."
His sharp gaze turned to Hikaru, and he appraised him. "And you have not aged at all since then." He laughed to himself.
Hikaru continued to stare without response. He was avoiding the question.
"You were the second then, so you must remember who brought me here." He left off his more pertinent question—'And why.' He doubted the head priest would know their motives.
The Head Priest sighed heavily. "They all come for different reasons. Their families cannot feed them, exceptional ability is discovered at a young age, or other tragedies..." He stared down at his desk, which was cleared of any clutter or paper.
"But I'm different."
The Head Priest nodded his head. "You are not like the others. Your ability has always far exceeded that of even myself." He smiled at Hikaru, attempting to draw a smile out of him as well.
But Hikaru could not return the gesture. The priest was avoiding the question. Hisato had returned all Hikaru's memories of the past, of Rin, who he had been. All of them calculated to manipulate Hikaru into doing his bidding. But he had not returned to him why he was this way. According to Suzume, Hisato had not been free from Kazue's spell until Suzume was born. Which would have been after Hikaru had been brought to this shrine, and that meant someone else had done this to him.
When Hikaru did not return the friendly gesture the Head Priest offered he shook his head. "I was the second at the time, and the emperor was always calling me away." He waved his liver-spotted hand in dismissal. "You still cannot remember your past?" He raised a single white brow in question.
Hikaru shook his head. "Perhaps you could consult the records? Each acolyte’s history is recorded there."
"Those years are in the hall of records." He rubbed his chin, pulling at the loose skin there, something Hikaru knew he did when he was nervous. "I would have to request it brought here. And the records are incomplete since the fire. We may not even find what you are searching for."
"It means enough to me that you would try." Hikaru bowed his head to show his gratitude even though the Head Priest had not agreed to do this favor.
The Head Priest stopped tugging at his chin. "Why are you curious about this now?"
"Is it wrong to wonder who I am?"
"All men who come here give up who they were before. It is better for you that you cannot remember."
"But our pasts shape our future."
The Head Priest stared off into the distance as if he was contemplating the weight of Hikaru's words.
Without looking at Hikaru he said, "There are rumors going about, dangerous rumors, that you've left the emperor's side."
"I would never betray the emperor," Hikaru replied, perhaps a little too quickly.
The old man turned to meet his eye. "Be careful. You do not want to make enemies here."
Hikaru nodded. "Let me know when you have the records."
The Head Priest bowed his head in acknowledgment, and Hikaru saw himself out. The assistant was still in the hall when he exited and he too bowed his head as he passed by.
If only he could go to the inn where Rin and the others were staying, but with the Head Priest already on alert and rumors flying he could not risk it. All it would take would be for the Head Priest to inquire with the emperor about Hikaru's mission and then he would be exposed. Hikaru headed to his chamber. Over the past twenty years it had been his sanctuary, a place where he could escape from the horrors of his day to day.
Though his simple futon would not be the same as the embrace of his wife, it would be satisfactory enough. He was weary from weeks on the road. Even though he was not human, he still fatigued. They'd tried to move quickly to the White Palace, especially after Suzume's dangerous run-in with the yokai, they thought it best they get to a human place.
He turned the corner in the dormitories approaching his chamber, and saw that there was a gap in his door, as if someone had entered and not closed it all the way. He may well have left the door open himself the last time he was here. But his intuition told him otherwise. Hikaru crept closer toward the door, drawing a dagger that he hid on his calf.
As he got closer, he heard thumping sounds from inside and the low murmuring conversation of two men. He peeked through the crack in the door to see two palace guards turning over his futon and digging through the drawer where he kept all his letters.
Hikaru stepped back slowly. If the palace guards were searching his room, it was already too late. Before he could get two steps away however, the door was slammed open and the guards came out into the hall.
"Stop right there!" they shouted.
He ran for the opposite direction, taking a sharp turn around the corner. But what he had not anticipated was more palace guards waiting to intercept him. Hikaru skidded to halt and turned around to see two more guards had joined the first two. He was surrounded. Though he did not want to use his spiritual power against humans, he had no choice.
The song rose up in his throat, but before the first notes could even leave the tip of his tongue a competing chant bound his power, tying his tongue to the roof of his mouth.
Without his song to
protect him, he was powerless. The men swarmed him, but he did not put up a fight as they bound his hands behind his back.
"Makato, you are under arrest for treason against the emperor."
9
Normally Suzume was the one being kidnapped, and being on the other side of the rescue plan was a surreal experience.
"They were waiting for him," Rin said. Her voice shook only for a moment, then she straightened her back. "I had a bad feeling as soon as we arrived, so I waited and hid just outside the temple grounds. Not long after Hikaru entered, I saw him being dragged out by guards. I followed as closely as I could. They took him to the palace prison."
"We have to go and save him," Suzume said, ready to jump into action.
Rin shook her head. "He wouldn't want us to put you in danger."
"I don't care what he wants." Suzume threw her arms out to make her point. "If the emperor has him it must mean we're on the right track."
"I'm going alone to save him," Rin said.
"What are you going to do against the emperor's army? Or the warrior priests? You can't face them on your own."
"He's my husband."
"Let us help."
"What are you going to do, Suzume? You can't even control your fire." Rin's words were like a slap across the face and Suzume took a step back. It was true, she couldn't control it and more than that, she was terrified to use it. But her pride wouldn't let her admit it. How many times had the others come to her rescue? It was her turn to do the same.
"You don't know what I am capable of," Suzume countered.
"I know exactly what you're capable of. You almost killed Kaito with your selfish actions and if I left you to your own devices you'd probably get the rest of us killed," Rin shouted, her chest heaving with each breath.
Suzume glared at her. She couldn't find the right words to express how she felt, but she didn't have to because Rin was the first to storm out of the room, slamming the door after her.
The Song of the Wind Page 6