Revenge of the Akuma Clan

by Benjamin Martin

  “David, um, people don’t go around licking each other,” she said, with just enough of a smile to tell him that she knew who had been in control. David’s eyes turned orange as Kou growled through their shared pain.

  “It seemed like a good idea,” he said. “I just wanted to see if it would provoke your connection to the deeper levels. I didn’t expect you to fall out of the tree.”

  David’s vision started to fade as his body’s resources focused on healing.

  “Hmm. Well maybe next time leave the kissing to the humans,” she said.

  When David woke the next morning, it was in his own room with his usual blanket over him. His thin Japanese futon was spread out on the tatami mats below him, and the room was still dark.

  ‘Tell me that didn’t happen,’ he pleaded.

  ‘It worked didn’t it? She summoned a rat. Too bad we did not get to eat it. I wonder why it wasn’t as big as the rabbit the first time she summoned one.’

  ‘NO. MORE. LICKING.’

  He threw off his blanket and rolled, testing his leg. With a grumble, he folded up the futon and put it in his closet. David threw the blanket and pillow on top and slammed the sliding door shut.

  It was still well before their training hour, so David used his old escape route under the floorboards in his room. Dressed in a light tracksuit, he took off through the Matsumoto forest. He extended his morning run well past the usual five kilometers. The memory of the incident had awakened more emotions than just embarrassment, and he worked hard to rid himself of them as his legs pumped over trees and rocks. David ignored Kou.

  He almost thought he sensed her moving toward him. It was impossible to decide what tipped him off to her presence, but soon he was sure Rie was running nearby. She caught up with him just as he turned down a steep incline that led back to the Estate. His legs, longer every day, pumped just fast enough to give him a taste of the speed he had enjoyed on his snowboard.

  “Try not to be too hard on him,” Rie said as she appeared a few feet away. She nimbly avoided an old log, springing over it to land beside him. “Kou was just being a tiger, if with your body.”

  David saw her smile, and could not help but return it, despite the fact he was sprinting down the woody hillside.

  “Well if you liked it so much, I’ll let Kou do it again,” David said. “Did you know that a tiger’s tongue can rip the skin off an animal?”

  “In that case, maybe we should just stick to me and you.” Rie bobbed in, his hand rose to defend, but she dodged and kissed him fleetingly on the cheek. He barely registered the tree as he smacked into it. “Now we’re even,” she called as she disappeared along the Estate’s wall.

  FIRE AND WATER(MELON)

  The awaited day finally came. Over long weeks, I had almost forgotten why we were there. The lie had been a pleasant one. Chul Soon had finalized his own plans though, and the day of ‘our’ revenge was at hand. I write it that way because as much as he used words like ‘we,’ ‘our,’ and ‘clan,’ it was never more than…

  The days swept by for David. The quick pace broken by lingering memories and the often-crippling uncertainty they brought. The unbidden thoughts seemed to slow time for brief periods, though not all were disconcerting. The high from winning the doubles badminton tournament with Takumi, who had also taken first in singles, was slow to fade, but David still remembered every second of the run as well. Kou had suggested returning Rie’s gesture as a way of helping her to focus her powers, but David pushed the thought from his mind.

  He had been horrified enough when Kou had licked her, but he was still in shock from Rie’s reaction to it. He could not tell if it had been her revenge on him for Kou’s actions, or if she might actually like him. The question filled his mind, but he quailed at the thought of bringing it up with her. He was just glad she did not hate him.

  ‘Takumi is going to kill me.’

  ‘Probably.’

  ‘There is nothing worse than a tiger who thinks he has a sense of humor.’

  It took him a week to get over being awkward again in the forge. Rie seemed to enjoy his difficulties, and unlike after the cultural festival, made things worse by refusing to act awkwardly herself. Her giggles were distracting as they worked over the hot metal of a sword. Her smiles drove him nuts at badminton practice. Finally, he had to admit to Kou, and to himself, that he liked Rie. Kou was no help.

  ‘I don’t think hunting a deer and bringing it back for her is the smartest way to ask her out.’

  He spared a glance as Rie ran through the sand with Natsuki. David splashed more water as flames shot out of the grill. As with the previous year, the Ashikawas hosted a barbeque at Matsuyama Beach for the entire 3B class. Their spirits soared as they realized Takaeishi had not come as he had threatened to the previous Friday. David and his homeroom teacher had had another battle of wills over the cleaning schedule. He was sure that Takaeishi would have his revenge soon enough. David had managed to keep from changing to Takeishi’s cleaning section by pleading his case to Aramoto-sensei.

  ‘I know we cannot provoke Takaeishi, but must we deal with the old man instead?’ Kou complained by playing one of the elderly teacher’s more inane speeches back for David.

  At Matsuyama Beach, the sun was shaded by thick clouds, but it was not cold. Since Kou could not be near the ocean, David kept his distance and helped Miu with dinner. It was not because Kou was a feline that he had problems getting close to the vast gray sea. Kou had no problem swimming in the pond or stream at the Estate, providing his fur had plenty of time to dry out. It was because the ocean was not part of Japan. No treaties about fishing grounds mattered to a kami. Kou was bound to the land.

  David splashed more water, and then helped stir the massive pile of vegetables. They were making yakisoba. David managed the flames as Miu wielded long chopsticks around frying vegetables and noodles. Pulling his gaze away from where Rie and a group of her friends where playing in the ocean, David eyed Takumi.

  His host-brother had even more problems than David did. Thanks to Reimi, Takumi could not enter the ocean, but worse she also made his eyes turn whenever he got too close to the cooking fire. David knew she would love to jump right in. Reimi was, after all, a phoenix. Takumi resorted to playing volleyball, which to David’s amusement turned out to be one of the few activities in which he was not naturally gifted.

  As another glut of flames leaped out from under the frying pan, David brooded on the latest email from Jess. Her endless small talk about her new boyfriend reminded David that Takumi would most likely not appreciate the feelings toward Rie that had taken David so long to define. His daydreams of hunting Jess’s boyfriend made him feel guilty about not telling Takumi about what Kou had done. The only thing worse than someone dating his own sister, was if they tried to do it sneakily.

  ‘I’m surprised Dad is letting her date. She must have talked him into it.’

  ‘The meat is burning.’ David vigorously poked at the coals, and then growled back at Kou when he noticed the meat was still red.

  ‘Just because you eat everything raw doesn’t mean my classmates want uncooked meat.’ Kou responded by pulling away from their combined mind.

  When the time came for watermelon smashing, the entire class turned on the boys, separating Takumi and David from the rest of the class. Left alone, they sat on a group of rocks watching various students send up gouts of sand as they missed.

  “Kou licked Rie,” David said once the rest of the students returned to the spectacle of Mizuki trying to break open the big watermelon with a stick.

  “Why,” Takumi asked as he watched Natsuki dodge past a group of students. David followed his gaze as another group crowded around her to keep her from getting to the melon before everyone had a turn.

  “Umm,’ David said losing his nerve.

  “Whatever, he’s a kami,” Takumi said. “Must be some ancient tiger thing, you’d know better than I.”

  “I was trying to help her summon a spirit,
” Kou said. “I noticed how she was making David feel-” Kou’s voice cut off as David put his entire will behind keeping his mouth shut. He flinched, sure Takumi was about to attack him.

  Takumi laughed so hard he rolled off the rock.

  “Kou was trying to kiss Rie?” Takumi gasped as he crawled back up. Kou growled within as Takumi recovered. “Wow. Well I don’t know what you see in her but good luck.”

  “You don’t care?” David said, surprised.

  “Look, Natsu and I are partnered right? It’s not like that has made things any easier between us though…I mean, you know I like her. Girls,” Takumi said with a curse. “Just do me a favor, don’t go giving Natsu any ideas. I know you westerners are all about holding hands or whatever, but remember its Japan and-”

  “Um, that’s ok,” David said. “I don’t have any plans or anything, and I don’t know what Rie thinks, just thought I should tell you, you know. Umm, yeah.”

  The boys glanced at each other, and then inwardly sighed as a commotion by the melon gave them an excuse to shift their attention. Most of the class had gone, and still had not broken the watermelon open. Rie winked at David, and then spun past a few students. Grabbing the stick out of Kenta’s hand, she twisted past Kaeda as she tried to trip her. With unerring accuracy, she broke free of the mob and split the melon in two.

  “Good, now we can eat,” she said with a smile. “You all were taking forever.”

  Most of the class laughed, Kaeda and Mizuki were the exceptions as Kaeda tried to brush rocks and sand away from her friend who had fallen in the tumble. She scowled and even refused to take any of the melon when Rie offered her some.

  ‘Strange,’ David thought as Kaeda stormed off toward the awnings.

  Rie and Natsuki landed in front of the boys with knowing smiles.

  “So what have you two been talking about?” Natsuki asked. Her smile widened as David squirmed. “I see.” With quick reflexes, Natsuki grabbed Takumi’s arm and pulled him up. “Come on bird boy, they’re about to start lighting off fireworks, we better disappear for a bit.”

  Rie took Takumi’s place next to David. He was hyper-aware of her as she handed him a slice of watermelon. The last rays of summer sun disappeared behind them as David took a bite. Rie smiled and together they watched as their classmates lit off sparklers and mini-rockets. Relieved at the comfortable silence, David enjoyed the rest of the evening beside Rie.

  Back in Nakano Valley, David was always busy. Despite the reputation he had developed with Kou in his head, he had never been a woolgatherer, and had no time to become one. Still, it was impossible to keep his thoughts from turning to Rie. He looked forward to spending time with her, but he was even more nervous around her. He felt ever surer she liked him, but he had no guide to tell him what to do next. David kept his distance, trying to find a balance between his fears and hopes.

  Takaeishi revealed his next strike against David on the Tuesday following the barbeque. From the girls’ expressions, David was sure Yuka and Kaeda had been behind it. Takaeishi made a big point of moving David to the front corner of the desks, and then moved Rie to the opposite at the back of the room. He then went into a long speech about focusing on schoolwork and not dating while looking pointedly between them. He did not even try to stop the class from giggling at the pair. David hated the fact he turned bright red. They were of course the center of gossip at Nakano Junior High.

  After a quick glance at Rie, who refused to do anything but look straight ahead, he turned his attention to Takaeishi, who seemed to enjoy David’s glare. To his surprise, Takumi avoided David as if he was infected.

  David waited until the end of the last class. While everyone filtered out to their team or club activities, David remained in his seat. Takaeishi also stayed at the front of the class, flipping through homework rather than returning to the teachers’ room. When only David, Rie, and Natsuki were in the room, Rie trying to get David’s attention, Takaeishi looked up.

  “I believe you have student council business to take care of Rie-chan, you too Natsuki,” he said. They both tensed, but Natsuki grabbed Rie’s arm and pulled her out of the room. She sent one last, unheeded, look of warning at David. David and Takaeishi were alone.

  “What the hell is your problem?” David seethed as he stood, his chair flying into the desk behind him.

  “You,” he replied in a dark voice. “You are my problem, one I don’t want. Do you know how trying it is, having to deal with all your classmates’ inane problems? I was the head of the Imperial Guard, but am here because of you, so please, go ahead and attack me, that way I can kick you out of here and go back to my important duties.”

  Kou and David were in near perfect harmony. The anger and hate they felt for their smug teacher boiled away at their combined self-control. It took all of their willpower to keep from leaping at his throat with claws and fangs bared.

  Takumi threw open the sliding door with a crash. He took in the standoff in an instant, and then dashed into the room and dragged David out, by his tail. Takaeishi’s harsh laugh followed them down the corridor.

  They stopped just long enough for David to be rid of Kou’s tail, and then David stomped away from their homeroom. As Takumi followed after, David let the tension leech out of him.

  ‘Things are difficult enough without that jerk making things worse.’

  “Just don’t start dating publically to get back at him,” Takumi said. “Please? If you think everyone is bad now, just think what they’ll say if they see you two together.”

  “Whoa, Rie and I haven’t said anything,” David said. “You and Natsuki are more together than we are. I noticed he didn’t say anything about you two disappearing.”

  “Yeah, strange huh?” Takumi’s tilting head told David he was not giving the whole story, but he was too annoyed to follow up. Instead, he put his frustrations into badminton practice. David played with such intensity he broke the strings on one of Takumi’s best rackets. The badminton team knew David and Rie well enough that they did not comment on the gossip. If they had anything to say on the subject, they said it where David could not hear.

  With a broken racket and a barely controllable rage running through him, David gave up on practice and headed for the Estate early. Just to ensure no one followed, he took the path Natsuki always took when she headed straight home.

  He had barely made it into the forest before Takaeishi appeared before him on the rugged trail through the trees. David’s training and anger merged into a well-balanced Matsumoto fighting stance.

  “You are so not going to give me any crap about leaving school early,” David said, his hands coming up into guard positions.

  “As much as I’d like to go a few rounds with you, that’s not why I’m here,” Takaeishi said. His words made David tense even more. There was none of the animosity that had filled his voice just a few hours earlier. “I did not want to be the one to tell you this, but the Crown Prince insisted you be informed. Now.” David took a step back. Takaeishi’s eyes refused to meet his. He had adopted his full military bearing, staring straight into David’s neck.

  “There was a fire-”

  David was gone. Kou leapt, his claws dug into the bark of a tree next to him, and then he was over Takaeishi’s head and running for the Estate.

  A small pink truck almost hit them as Kou raced out into the main road to Himeji without looking. A loud horn blared, but they dodged it and ran on. On the other side, Kou took to the tree branches. His four strong legs pounded along the thick upper branches, his claws propelling them toward the walled boundary of their home. Kou raced into the Estate looking for fire. Instead, he spotted Yukiko walking back from the vegetable garden with a basket of onions. Kou sprang at her.

  For most people, seeing a tiger paw toward them at top speed would be a major cause for concern. Yukiko smiled when she spotted them running over the short grass around the main house.

  “What’s the hurry, Kou?” she asked. That brought him up sh
ort. “I think Masao wants you to work on your katas this evening. And there’s a letter from Jessica for David on your desk.”

  “A letter?” Kou asked for David. “We did not know she could write. She always sends emails.”

  “Well you might as well go read it before the others show up… I know Masao will want to start practice as soon as everyone is here.”

  “Nothing wrong at the Estate?” David asked, confused.

  “Not a thing,” she said. “Why?”

  ‘Damn that Takaeishi,’ David thought. “Nothing. Thanks.”

  Kou jogged around the house to the veranda where his room was. Kou wiped his paws on a fresh patch of grass then leaped up. He took a second to ensure his paws were clean before nudging the heavy sliding door open to his room. He had grown far more conscious of tracking dirt in after he had started sleeping on the floor with his futon. Once Kou shut the door again, he transformed and David threw on a spare gi. Since he planned to change back into Kou in a few minutes, he did not bother with a more substantial outfit.

  As promised a regular envelope was waiting on his desk. As odd as a letter from his sister was, the shipping label brought him up short. She had sent it express, with a specific delivery day. With a shrug, David ripped open the corner and pulled out a single sheet of heavyweight paper. Jessica’s lettering was easy enough to recognize. It was the neat printing many elementary students seemed to prefer right after learning they did not have to use cursive. The words, however, sent a chill through him.

  May 31st,