Revenge of the Akuma Clan

by Benjamin Martin

  David. Oh, how I hope you have been enjoying yourself. Things had been quite difficult for a while now. Ever since you showed up, I’ve been annoyed with you. I had, of course, noticed you. Who couldn’t? Such a bumbling, uncoordinated idiot, making things more difficult. I was the special one, the foreigner everyone liked. It was going to be so easy to feed on them. I was even going to do them a favor and get rid of you. Surely, Rie would have been happy to be free of you. Then you had to go and get possessed. You had to go and mess up my plans. I am very cross with you, David. You got in the way of something too big. A stupid gaijin who never should have even been in Japan. Do you have any idea how long the pack had been together? Do you know how important Jahangir was, how hard it was to get my brother back? The least I can do is return the favor. After all, what’s a little more sacrifice?

  Kisses,

  Jess

  Every word instilled a new level of terror in him. His rage was so strong, Kou pulled away from his mind, leaving David alone with the nightmares that raced through him. His feet started moving. The sun was sinking behind the western trees when he found Takaeishi standing before the main gate, Yukiko blocking his way into the Estate.

  REVENGE OF

  THE AKUMA CLAN

  Whatever my feelings toward Chul Soon’s motivations, I could not fault his success. He had planned every blow with precision. The letter was the first strike in a battle that would break my brother’s only real competition. I was rather surprised how well I made out from the deal. It made me suspicious…

  David hoped she was dead. The alternative was just too hard to bear. Having her soul devoured by ōkami would be bad enough, but what if they tried to turn her into a yūrei? He was not sure if he could handle having to cut another corrupted kami out of someone he cared about. Worse, he was not sure he would be able to.

  ‘Do I even know her well enough? Would I be able to distinguish between the kami and my sister? If I miss, I would kill her. And if I succeed, look at the pain it’s caused Rie, and that’s without the shock.’ The one thing that kept him rooted to reality was the certainty he would see the Jeong brothers very soon. He knew what he would do to them. Then David remembered Takaeishi’s words. ‘The fire.’

  “Talk,” David said as he stomped toward his homeroom teacher. His despair, grief, and pain were burning within him as hot as the metal had been at the Matsumotos’ Shrine, almost as much as the pain of having his mind ripped into two beings when Kou was born. The pain fed his rage. Takaeishi’s face hardened as his hands came up palms out. Despite being wary of Takaeishi’s sudden appearance at the Estate, Yukiko backed away, giving him room to escape if needed.

  “We have just been contacted by the American Embassy. The Crown Prince is using every available backchannel to get more information. Our LA consulate has already sent a representative to Phoenix,” he said. David stopped, glowering down at Takaeishi with a disturbing intensity. “There was a fire last night. It took them a while to find out who the next of kin was. They’re having trouble confirming what, who, they’ve found.”

  The main gate, ajar from Takaeishi’s entrance swung wider. Rie, missing Takaeishi behind the door, ran to David. “I did it! I finally did it,” she called to him, brandishing a small crane. The live bird flapped in her palm. David ignored her. His mind blanked by the internal scream of rage within him, his full attention locked on Takaeishi. When Takaeishi remained silent, he turned and stalked deep into the Estate.

  The destruction David reigned through the forest surprised the small part of him that was still conscious of his surroundings. In his blind anger, he felled giant, ancient trees. Underbrush and saplings all but disappeared. It was as if David had set out to mark a new path to the Shrine, for the damage did not end until he collapsed into emptiness in the clearing.

  By the time he recovered from the injuries he had received from his rampage, it was deep into the night. David sat propped against a severely leaning tree staring at the ornate stonework above him, just visible by starlight.

  “What do I do? They’re dead.”

  David’s voice was answered with silence, and then a few chirping insects. It took him several long seconds to realize no answer had come, that Kou was silent. He turned toward the Estate, intending to sneak back for a quick change of clothes so he would not be too conspicuous on the train, then he saw the trees. Guilt ripped through him as he saw the destruction his Seikaku and fists had caused. A scar more ugly than any of Takumi’s had been ripped through the Estate.

  “This is going to hurt,” David sighed aloud, his rage gone in an instant. With practiced ease, he summoned his Seikaku in its wood form and began repairing the worst of the damage. He started with the tree leaning over the shrine. The true sword gave David the ability, but the results were limited by his mind. It had always been easier to destroy than create, since destruction was wild and free and required little concentration. Creation, however, required David to imagine every aspect of the rebuilding process. Without Kou to help him, he had to strain for the most basic changes. It took him ten minutes just to fix the single leaning tree.

  A big part of him was happy with the difficulty it took to undo the damage. It kept his mind off what might have happened back in Arizona, while also helping to assuage the guilt he felt at the damage around him. The forest had stood for centuries, and it would be impossible to put everything back the way it had been. The major damage began to disappear with each thrust of his sword, but Kou remained silent.

  The destruction was so prevalent that David knew it would take days. With a solemn promise to return, David whipped through the Estate and beyond. He arrived just in time to catch the first local train to Himeji.

  If one of the Matsumotos was following him, they gave David no hint. He arrived in Himeji and transferred onto an express to Kyoto, following the route they had taken the previous year when looking for a way to save Rie. The solitary train ride gave David the time to come to grips with the reality of what had happened, but also gave his imagination time to work on the unknowns. Without the certainty of proof, his mind created ever-worsening scenarios.

  The letter stuck in his mind. Jessica wrote the letter before the fire. Would they make her into a yūrei after all? Could they? Chul Soon would remember the lengths David went to save Rie. Would they risk becoming puppets again for the power? It was clear the Jeong brothers’ desire for revenge outweighed any fear of David. Would they give him the chance to save his sister in their hopes they could take him? He had to find out, and to do that, he needed more information.

  Kou roared. David had heard the kami within him growl often enough, but it was the first time he had unleashed such an unbridled wave of fury within David. The passengers across the aisle stared at David as his mouth hung loose in shock at the power that washed through his mind.

  ‘I am part of you, yet you endangered my very being. Do you realize how very close to the edge we came back in that forest? I am an earth kami. Such wanton destruction of the forest is a corruption that goes against the core of us. You could have created something far worse than a yūrei. Where would Japan be then?’

  ‘But’

  ‘We are going to put every tree back. I don’t care how long it takes. You might have felt guilty, but not enough. Just what do you expect to get from the Crown Prince that you can’t get from the Matsumotos? The Matsumotos care about you. They are your family now too. Yet you abandon them when you need them most.’

  ‘Screw your trees. They have my sister. My father may be dead.’ David choked on the thought but his rage was back. ‘I fixed some of your trees but now I’m going to get answers, and if you don’t like it shut up and leave the Jeong brothers to me.’

  David exited the train with a crush of people into the crowded late-morning station. Past the turnstiles, the buildings rose up around a massive square. David ignored the shops and restaurants as he moved to a long line of taxis. Part of him knew Kou was right, but the tiger’s long silence and the acc
usatory tone in his inner voice was not something David could deal with.

  David tried to ignore the cab driver, who kept looking into the mirror to check on him. He could not tell if the driver was afraid David could not pay, or if he was concerned David was traveling alone. He stared down the driver’s look whenever it appeared in the rear-view mirror. Although he was in a hurry and rage still ran through him, David still knew he had to be less direct than he would like to be. He walked from the corner of a busy shopping intersection until the taxi was gone. Out of sight, he turned down a wide street toward the same gate they had entered during their last trip.

  A long wall surrounded the palace grounds, much like the ones outside the Kumamoto Castle he had visited with his class earlier in the year. On the eastern side, there was a small gate used by the staff and the Imperial Family. David walked right up to it and began looking for away in. The old wooded doors looked quite solid, but he knocked anyway.

  “This way please, Mr. Matthews,” called a man’s voice in Oxford accented English. Backing up from the gate, David noticed a guard in a simple black suit staring at him from a doorway beside the gate. David shrugged and followed him in. The small door shut behind them and locked with heavy metal bolts. “We have been told to expect you. The helicopter is waiting.”

  “Helicopter?”

  “Yes,” a familiar voice said. David stiffened, that dangerous flame within him rising again. “The Crown Prince has requested an audience, but he is not here.”

  David’s hands rose away from his sides as his fingers balled into fists. His feet spread apart into a fighting stance as he half turned to face Takaeishi as he walked down an intersecting path.

  “I do not agree with Masao-kun,” Takaeishi said. “I refuse to let you wander around on your own. My instructions, unfortunately, are to bring you to Tokyo so that you can receive the latest news as it comes in from the Embassy. When you disappeared, the Crown Prince thought you might seek an audience, but he is not here, so he sent me to bring you to him.”

  “So you’re my driver then?” David said. “Good. Get me on a train.”

  “The helicopter is not optional. You do not waste the Crown Prince’s time,” he spat. As if realizing there might be others watching, Takaeishi paused to calm himself. “I thought you’d want to hear what we learned about the fire.”

  David had never been so tempted to hit someone. He wanted to erase Takaeishi’s superior, taunting smile. Even Natsuki and Koji had not created such a strong desire within him, but where his control had broken then, things were different. David was different. His sister was in danger and Takeishi would not get to him. Thanks to the Matsumotos’ training, he knew he could probably beat Takaeishi in a fight, but after what he had just done to the forest, he knew he could never let himself lose control again. As much as it grated to let Takaeishi’s attitude slide, he needed his help. David was supposed to be a Jitsugen Samurai, a protector.

  David never found out if Takaeishi knew anything more about his father and sister. Despite Kou’s attempt to withdraw, David found it impossible to concentrate while they were in the air. The whole time felt as if he was having a huge anxiety attack. The attack turned the annoying buzz he remembered from the previous trip into a painful headache as the view from the helicopter jerked in a bit of turbulence. It was so bad he ended up retching, though he at least managed to direct it toward his teacher.

  His pain and nausea lasted minutes after they touched down at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Even with the beautiful gardens around them, David felt weaker without the forests and life of the Matsumoto Estate. He had no idea how long the flight had taken, but he vowed to get a train back, no matter who was waiting.

  The Tokyo Imperial Palace had some similarities to the palace in Kyoto. There were manicured gardens and paths surrounded by high walls. Old buildings stood around the gardens, and security was everywhere. Takaeishi rushed David from the helicopter, before its blades even stopped, into a low building. The way Takaeishi’s head moved from side to side it was almost as if he was afraid someone would see them.

  David still felt sick as they hurried through modern, but isolated corridors and halls. If it had not been for the lack of people, he probably would not have noticed the other boy his age and the little girl standing next to him peering out from a doorway. The boy’s eyes narrowed as they stared back at David.

  ‘Great, one more person who hates me,’ David thought. His small laugh stopped Takaeishi. He turned around and David caught the surprise on the boy’s face as he tried, unsuccessfully, to avoid notice. Takaeishi surprised David even more by bowing low to the door before pulling David on through another corridor. ‘I’ve never seen Takaeishi bow to anyone.’

  They met the Crown Prince in a conference room that could have been any successful company’s boardroom. Plush chairs surrounded a long, rectangular table. Around the room, screens showed various video feeds from international news to other conference rooms with other Japanese government workers. Aside from Crown Prince Nakahito, a few aids were leaning over the table to discuss something in whispers, while more fiddled with controls or checked the headlines streaming from the televisions. David stopped as he recognized the woman next to the Crown Prince.

  “The cake lady.”

  “David-san, you’re here, good,” Nakahito said. David was surprised enough at the lack of ceremony that he almost smiled. Instead, he flicked his gaze to the screens. One showed a familiar news logo. Its focus was on what had once been his childhood home. “I am so very sorry we are meeting again in such a difficult time for you. Yes, you’ve met my assistant before. Please, sit.” Nakahito indicated one of the chairs. David relaxed a little as Takaeishi left the room.

  “What happened?” David asked in a small, dead voice. Nakahito looked uncomfortable as he shifted around a file in front of him. He gestured slightly to his aide.

  “David-san,” she said. “Your father is alive, but… someone called your 911 last night in Phoenix. When the first responders got to the house, flames were already coming from the roof. They were able to search most of the house and did not find anyone in it as they tried to battle back the flames. Unfortunately, it seems your father was near the center of the inferno. By the time they found him… his chances are not good.” She looked to Nakahito who nodded. “There are indications he was injured prior to the burns.”

  “My sister?”

  “They put out an Amber Alert,” she said. “I’m not sure what that is, but I think they are looking for her.”

  “I’m sorry to intrude your highness,” a voice said from one of the screens with a conference room in it. “There has been another development.”

  “Go ahead,” Nakahito said.

  “Witnesses report seeing the girl’s boyfriend and one of his friends as the last visitors to the house before the fire,” a suited man said. “Subsequent investigations have found she has been dating a boy for a few weeks, but the boy cannot be found. No one seems to know who he is or where he came from. Phoenix police have just issued a bulletin seeking two boys for questioning in the fire and attempted murder of Dr. Sydney Matthews.

  “As you may have noticed, the news companies here have caught wind of the fact that Dr. Matthews had a son and that he is in Japan. We feel it will not be long until they start pressuring NHK for an interview with him.”

  David felt sick, as if the room had a cloying evil smell. The faces on the screens seemed to blur, and all he could see was a mirror-house nightmare of Chul Soon’s smiling face mocking him from every screen.

  “Is there any way for me to get to Arizona? Any way at all,” David said as he fought down the vision.

  “No David-kun,” Nakahito said. A look passed between him and his assistant, and his voice cracked. “I’m so sorry. The fastest flights take almost ten hours one way. Even if you made it, the trip would kill you. Do you have any idea who could have done this? Not even the local police think it was an accident.”

  “It wa
s the Jeong brothers,” he said. Somehow, he had kept the letter with him throughout the destruction of the forest and even after changing his clothes before the trains. David realized he had been fingering it the whole time he had been sitting in the room. With a shudder, he threw it onto the table and slid it over to Nakahito. A guard caught it and checked it before handing it over.

  “If I’m reading the English correctly, it doesn’t sound like your sister wrote this,” Nakahito said.

  “She didn’t think up the words, but it was my sister’s writing,” David muttered. Remembering whom he was talking to, he shifted a little in his seat and tried to speak more politely. “Chul Soon used the letter to tell me he is in control of my sister. They must have been around her, maybe even feeding off her for some time. I think he is going to turn her into a yūrei. That way she will either kill me, or I will have to hunt and kill her. It is his revenge for my rescue of Rie and the destruction of his pack. According to Rie and some other sources, we might have delayed the plans of the Akuma Clan, a much larger group of ōkami based in Okinawa.”

  “This is very bad news,” Nakahito said with a grave frown. “If they are trying to revive the Akuma Clan things are far worse than we anticipated.” He turned to one of the men sitting around the table. “Find out why the Matsumotos did not tell us about the connection, and then send a scouting party to Okinawa.”

  “David-san,” the woman began, “There is no way for you to get to America. Even if we could get you there, you know the Jeong brothers will not stay.”

  “No. Chul Soon will come back, if only to gloat,” David said. His grief and guilt was draining away as he sat in the big leather chair, staring at the next Emperor of Japan. One by one, David wrestled with his wild emotions, just as he once battled against his unruly muscles. Every passing second left him more in control of himself than ever before. A single train of thought was beginning to eclipse all the pain and anger from the news of his sister’s disappearance and father’s condition.