“This doesn’t make any sense,” Akari said under her breath. She looked around the woods one more time. There had been another voice, the voice of a woman earlier. What had happened to her? Was she still here? Had she fled when she saw that the zashiki-warashi was no match for Akari’s skills? She listened, hoping to hear the fluttering of leaves or the crushing of twigs underfoot, but there was nothing. Whoever else had been here was gone now.
Akari walked quickly back to the village, the maid on her heels. A young man who looked similar to Lord Naeran approached Akari as soon as she returned.
“Is it over?” he asked. “Did you get rid of the zashiki-warashi?”
“Are you Naeran-san’s son, Galen?” she asked. “The one who lost the goats?”
“I am,” he said with a hint of pride.
“Where is your father? I must speak with him.”
“If he is not with the other village elders, then I assume he is in his home,” he said. “Come.”
They went past the main community hut they had been in earlier to a large home nearby.
“Otōsan?” the young man called, banging on the door. “Otōsan, the Sword Kissed has vanquished the zashiki-warashi. Come and thank her.”
But there was no reply. Glancing back, Akari saw the maid who had found her in the woods was standing there, her head bowed.
“I’m sorry, my lord,” the maid said, her trembling apparent as the tips of her ears fluttered. “But I have looked everywhere. I cannot find him.”
“What could have happened?” Galen asked.
“Your father, I think he mentioned seeing the zashiki-warashi,” Akari asked.
“He did,” Galen replied. “The day after the goats died, he went to investigate. He said he couldn’t send for the Sword Kissed without confirming the presence of the zashiki-warashi.”
Akari shook her head. “Anyone who sees a zashiki-warashi is given a blessing,” she said. “Or in the case of this…mutated creature, a curse.”
“After the village children saw it,” Galen said with a nod. “The well was poisoned. After I saw it, my goats died.”
“Maybe after your father saw it,” Akari said, “he was cursed to disappear.”
“What about you?” he asked. “You saw it as well.”
“But I killed it,” she said. “It can’t curse me if it is dead.”
“But my father…” he said, shaking his head disbelievingly, the truth of the matter seemingly sinking in. He swayed a bit, and the maid helped keep him from collapsing. “He is gone?”
“I’m so sorry,” Akari said, and meant it.
“No,” Galen cried out. “This cannot be!” He buried his head in his hands and started to weep.
Akari darted her eyes around, realizing many of the villagers were also crying.
“What are we to do?” someone cried out.
“What if another creature comes for us?”
“Do not worry,” Akari said. “The Sword Kissed will keep you safe.”
The whole crowd grew silent. She had a feeling they did not want to contradict her since she had just killed the zashiki-warashi. But killing one monster was not insurance the rest of the Sword Kissed—a group of humans—would continue to keep them safe.
“When I was in the woods,” Akari said, “I am sure there was someone else there. I heard another voice. I know there is something unnatural happening here. I will return, and I will protect you and your people. I give you my word.”
Galen stood up and gave Akari a small bow. “I look forward to seeing the strength of your word,” he said. After heading into his father’s house, he shut the door.
One by one, the rest of the villagers shook their heads in disbelief and returned to their own homes.
Akari got on her horse and headed back to Nasu. Something was wrong here. She only hoped Sera would agree with her and would give her the support she needed to keep her promise to the people of Kuji.
3
“Sakura, sakura
Blossoms on the trees
Blossoms in the sky
Are you a human
Or are you a fairy?
Sakura, sakura of mine…”
Akari couldn’t help but hum the comforting tune as she rode back to town.
“Why…why are you singing that?” Yoshimi asked.
Akari had hung around Kuji, patrolling the woods and helping them strengthen some of their outer defenses until Yoshimi got done with class. Yoshimi and Elwin were riding on their own horse. Both horses were walking slowly. They should have been home quickly since it was only a ten-minute ride to Nasu from Kuji, but neither Tanaka seemed in a hurry to get home. Yoshimi was clearly distraught over the death of Lord Naeran. He had been one of her largest supporters. He’d given her much encouragement to continue working with him on improving relations between the fae and the humans. She was certainly grieving his death, but also concerned for her future in Kuji as well.
Even though Akari was upset over the loss of Lord Naeran, the words from the song the creature sang played over and over in her head.
“So I’m not crazy,” Akari said. “It is the same song?”
“Of course it is,” Yoshimi nearly snapped. “I could never forget…” She sighed and turned back to the road with a shake of her head.
Their mother had died only a few years before. Akari was nearly an adult at the time, seventeen, and Yoshimi was away at college. Yet, their mother still sang the song to her before she went to sleep. Of course, she no longer tucked her daughter into bed at a certain time. Akari had put an end to that when she was thirteen, saying she didn’t need to be treated like a baby anymore. Her mother agreed, yet she always stayed up in another room as long as Akari was awake. And as soon as Akari turned out her light, she could hear her mother sing the song in a whispered voice. She didn’t know if her mother sang the song to help Akari go to sleep or only to comfort herself as her daughters grew up, but Akari never tried to stop her from singing. After her mother’s death, she couldn’t fall asleep on her own for months.
“The creature,” Akari said in nearly a whisper. “It was singing the song.”
“What?” Yoshimi asked. “How is that possible?”
“That’s what I am wondering,” Akari said. “Zashiki-warashi are known to sing folk songs to entice people to follow them, but why that particular song? It isn’t a common folk tune.” Akari assumed it was one her mother had made up. Did the creature somehow know the song held special meaning for Akari? It wasn’t possible, but who knew all the magical ways of demons? Akari shook her head and decided it was simply dumb luck that caused the creature to sing that song to her.
“Sakura, sakura,” Elwin started to sing. He clung to Yoshimi, the side of his face resting against her back.
Akari shot him a look. “Why are you singing that song? Do you know it?”
He gasped and looked away.
“He’s probably just mimicking you,” Yoshimi said. “It’s a pretty song.”
Akari nodded, and they rode the rest of the way in uncomfortable silence. When they arrived back at Nasu, they came to their home quickly, since it was on that side of town.
“Go on home,” Akari said. “I need to let Sera know what happened.”
Yoshimi nodded, but didn’t reply. Something was bothering her, but Akari couldn’t put her finger on what. She would have to try to talk to her about it, if it didn’t lead to a fight. Like all sisters, Akari and Yoshimi loved each other, but they had their disagreements and shared history they would rather not talk about.
“What happened out there?” Sera asked as soon as Akari returned.
“The creature,” Akari said. With a sigh, she fixed herself a cup of tea to calm her nerves. “It was a zashiki-warashi; at least, it appeared to be one at first. But something was wrong with it. It’s as though the creature was infected with something. It turned into a monstrous beast and attacked me. When I killed it, its black blood seeped into the earth and the plants pulled away.”<
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Sera put her hand to her mouth, which was pinched with worry. “Anything else?”
“The village elder, Lord Naeran,” Akari said solemnly. “He vanished before I could subdue the creature.”
“What do you mean he vanished?” Sera asked.
“Just as I said,” Akari explained. “He was there when I arrived, but when I returned to the village after fighting the creature, he was gone. I think the zashiki-warashi placed a curse on him.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Sera said. She walked over and opened a door, waving someone in.
“Akari Tanaka, this is Takeo Torgwyn,” she said when a tall somber man entered the room.
He was clearly fae, with his pointed ears and lithe build, but he was unlike any she had met before. His skin tone and facial features appeared completely human. Then she considered his name: Takeo Torgwyn. He had a human first name but a fae surname. She had heard that in some places, like Ryu, fae and human pairings were more accepted, but here in her more rural town of Nasu, she had never met such a couple.
“I wish we could have met under better circumstances, Tanaka-san,” Takeo said. He bowed to Akari, and she awkwardly returned the gesture, not taking her eyes off his entrancing face.
His features were angular and his eyes piercing. His hair was very long. It was bound on the top of his head, but the tail flowed freely down his back. He wore a black jacket embroidered with blue in the traditional style, armed with a bow and quiver of arrows slung over his back. He also had two daggers at his sides. So not a swordsman, she surmised.
“Torgwyn-san is from Ryu,” Sera said, forcing Akari to look at her. “As soon as my contacts heard about the lost fae boy and the zashiki-warashi, they sent Takeo instead of just a message.”
“We had not been looking for the boy,” Takeo said. “His parents disappeared weeks ago, so we thought he had vanished as well.”
“If they had gone missing, shouldn’t you have been looking for them?” Akari asked, crossing her arms.
Takeo cleared his throat. “Forgive me for being unclear. They did not go missing. They vanished. One moment they were there, and the next, they were not.”
“It sounds like what happened with Lord Naeran,” Sera said, and Akari nodded her agreement.
“Their bodies turned up just a few days ago, shriveled and the eyes black, as though their life force had been drained,” Takeo explained. “The boy was nowhere to be found, so we assumed the worst. Either the boy did not vanish and instead fled here, or he was taken as well and perhaps escaped, turning up here. Either way, I need to speak to him. Then I must return him to the Ryu fae community.”
“So they are all fae,” Akari asked. “The boy’s parents and Lord Naeran, they are all fae. Have there been more missing fae?”
Sera walked over to a table. She picked up several pieces of paper and handed them to Akari. “Torgwyn-san has been collecting these from villages around Chiyoko.”
The papers were all missing persons posters. The people were fae and human, old and young, men and women. The descriptions also all used the same word to describe the disappearance—vanished.
“There must be half a dozen missing persons fliers here,” Akari said, stunned.
Sera nodded. “But from all over Chiyiko, so no one thought they were connected until Torgwyn-san started investigating it.”
“I have been looking into missing persons cases for months,” Takeo said, reaching for the stack. Akari handed it to him. She wondered why he was so interested in the missing. “Of course, there are mundane causes behind disappearances all the time, but these are the ones I have found that seem to have no explanation.”
“And now you can add Lord Naeran to that list as well,” Akari said.
“I will,” he said with a small bow. “Thank you for your assistance.”
“So, what now?” Akari asked Sera. “It is possible infected zashiki-warashi are behind all the missing people? I think we should try to track them down. There could be a whole tribe of them.”
Sera cleared her throat. “I would like you to work with Torgwyn-san to try and find out what is going on.”
Akari shot a glance to Takeo, but his emotionless face revealed nothing. “Are you serious?” she asked. “A Sword Kissed working with a fae? In this town—”
“It is exactly what we need,” Sera interrupted with a note of finality. “The divisions between the humans and fae need to be dealt with. And the Sword Kissed should set an example.”
Akari wasn’t so sure about that. After all, there were no fae Sword Kissed. That was not a division created out of prejudice—it was natural. Akari wanted to protest. Working with a fae could hamper her search for answers. The humans wouldn’t trust Takeo while the fae would distrust Akari. But she knew better than to argue with her teacher.
“Whatever you say, Sensei,” she said with a curt bow. She then turned to Takeo. “Follow me, I guess.” As she walked away, she didn’t hear him following her, so she stopped. When she turned back, she found her nose pressed against his chest. She quickly stepped back. “Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t hear you.”
“Forgive me,” he said. “I am used to walking silently.”
His cool, impassive nature unnerved her. She couldn’t tell if he wanted to work with her or not. He seemed like the type to just follow orders no matter what.
“So where do you want to start?” Akari asked. They exited the building and headed toward the street. As she expected, as soon as Takeo appeared, the people started staring. Then their stares turned to her as he spoke to her.
“I would like to see the boy,” he said. “I have questions for him, and I would like to have him sent back to his people as soon as possible.”
Akari nodded. “He is at my house,” she said. “You can follow me.”
“At your house?” he asked. “You have a fae community here, do you not?”
“We do,” she said. “But none of the fae are connected to the Sword Kissed. My sister teaches at the fae school. She volunteered to take him in until we figured out what was going on.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Akari saw him press his lips into a disapproving line.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he said, staring straight ahead.
It was clear something was bothering him about the arrangement, but she wasn’t going to force him to tell her. If they were going to work together, they were going to have to be civil to one another.
They arrived at Akari’s home just as Yoshimi was filling bowls of rice. Yoshimi froze when she saw Takeo, her rice ladle in midair.
Elwin jumped up from his place on the tatami and ran to Takeo. It seemed to take all his resolve not to throw himself in to the elder fae’s arms.
Takeo kneeled to Elwin’s level and said something to him in faeish, to which Elwin excitedly replied.
Akari locked eyes with Yoshimi, asking her in their silent sister language if she understood them. Yoshimi gave a small smile in acknowledgement. She then filled two more bowls of rice and placed them around the table. Elwin took Takeo by the hand, leading him to the seat next to him. Takeo bowed to Yoshimi before sitting.
“I hate to impose, Tanaka-san,” he said to her.
“Please,” she replied with a bow. She waved her hand, inviting him to sit. “I only wish I had more to offer than this disgusting meal.”
“I am sure it is delicious,” he said, taking his seat. Elwin scooted over, sitting so close to Takeo he was practically leaning against him as he ate.
“You can call me Yoshimi,” Yoshimi said, filling more bowls with miso soup.
“I am Takeo Torgwyn, Yoshimi-san,” Takeo replied. “From Ryu, sent to help Sword Kissed Tanaka find some missing people.”
“And find out what has cursed the zashiki-warashi in the area,” Akari added, reaching to take a bowl of soup from Yoshimi.
“Yes, tell me more about this zashiki-warashi?” Takeo said.
“The one I fought today…” Akar
i started to explain, but she couldn’t help but shudder at the experience. She picked at her fish with her chopsticks. “It was…not right. Bestial. Violent. Then it caused a fae village elder to vanish.”
Elwin’s eyes grew big, and he shrank next to Takeo. Yoshimi shot her sister a look of annoyance.
“Don’t worry, Elwin-chan,” Yoshimi cooed. “You are safe here.”
“Thank you for taking the boy in,” Takeo said to Yoshimi. “I heard you teach at a fae school in the area.”
Yoshimi filled a small cup with sake for Takeo. “I do,” she said with a small smile. “I was very happy to help the boy in any way I could.”
“When I leave,” Takeo said, patting the boy on the arm, “I will take Elwin with me. Find a fae family in Ryu to raise him.”
Yoshimi gave him a nod and tight smile before replying, “I am sure that is for the best.”
Akari wondered just how attached to the child Yoshimi had grown in only a day. Yoshimi loved children, and desperately wanted some of her own, but she had difficulty finding a husband. Not many in town approved of her constant association with the fae. And even though the fae accepted her, none of the fae men had attempted to court her—not that Akari knew of. Even if one did, she was not sure Yoshimi would accept. She had asked Yoshimi in the past if she was interested in fae men, but she only shrugged and changed the conversation, so Akari had not brought it up again.
“Perhaps we could even find a fae family here to take him in in the meantime,” Takeo said with a smile at the boy. “I have no idea how long the investigation will take, so it would be good to place him with his own people while he waits.”
Akari could almost feel Yoshimi’s heart drop. She studied her sister’s face, seeing the fear and pain there.
“The boy is fine here,” Akari said to Takeo. “There is no need to move him.”
“Did you ask the boy what he wants?” Takeo asked. “Or did you simply take it upon yourself to keep him like a lost puppy?”
Yoshimi let out a gasp mixed with a choke, and she put her hand to her mouth.
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