Leaving her shrine after five hundred years had been difficult. She labored over the decision for days, sitting in front of the shrine she and Hikaru had built in contemplation. She had kept the guise of an old woman for too many years, and it scared her to think about resuming her place among the Yokai. Who will watch over the clan when I am gone? Who will clean the shrine? But knowing the Dragon was alive, she could not stay idle here.
She put her affairs in order, spoke with the Kaedemoris' current patriarch and told him she would be leaving on a journey. She promised to return, she wanted only to see to the Dragon and come back. Lord Kaedemori would not protest, she knew. He knew about Hikaru and her, though he had been a young man when Hikaru died. Only the elders of the Kaedemori and Shin knew. To the rest of the Yokai world, she was as good as dead. Dedicating your life to service to humans was unheard of, but Hikaru had sworn to protect his former clan and she had done the same.
While she had watched the Kaedemoris spin out their brief lives, generation after generation, the world had changed around her. She had kept herself separated from the world of her birth. In part to keep Hikaru safe and in part because she had never felt like she belonged. But while he slept, the Dragon's kingdom had fallen, and though Rin had remained safe in her shrine, the Dragon would have many enemies. The Dragon would need a guide. So she had left, with nothing on her back but her clothes. She had traveled at first as an old priestess, helped by passing humans and travelers, given places to sleep around the fires of villagers, treated like a respected guest. It was a sham; had they known what she was, they would never have let her into their homes.
She went first to the place where the Dragon had slept, where Kazue's spell put him into an endless slumber. The shrine was at the top of the mountain, and the songs of the priestesses filled her with memories of better times. She never expected him to linger there, but what better place to begin her search than where it all began. She felt his power surrounding it, leaving traces of him in every stone. It may not have started out as a holy place, but it was now.
She did not stop to talk to the humans there and passed by with her spiritual energy cloaked. But upon seeing the empty shrine building, she knew it was true at last. And in that moment she gave up the guise she had lived under for nearly five hundred years. From then on she journeyed in something akin to her true form, following the Dragon's trail.
She heard the whispers from her kind on the road, others like her who had adapted by cloaking themselves as human to move about unseen. They saw her and recognition would spark in their eyes. For a brief moment they were kindred, lost and wandering without a home. When the Dragon was sealed, many lost the security they once enjoyed. More than once she joined a Tanuki or a Kitsune at a roadside teahouse. They would eat and drink and talk of better times, though they had never met before. They would swap rumors and give warnings about powerful creatures and how to avoid them.
"There's a dangerous Yokai north of here," said one Tanuki as he slurped his tea. He disguised himself as a merchant, a pack on his back and a straw hat strapped onto his chin.
"Is it the Dragon?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No, though I have heard he is awake and travels with a priestess. Those who have seen him say he is not as strong as he was before. He uses the form of a human, and his energy seems depleted. He is no longer a threat."
"Do you know where he was headed?"
The Tanuki scratched his chin in thought. "East, I think."
Rin nodded. She was headed in the right direction.
"I wouldn't worry about him. The one you should stay clear of is the shifter. He takes any form and can change his spiritual pressure. You will meet a human on the road and not realize what he is until it's too late, or so they say. Be careful, I heard he has been seen east of here as well."
She nodded and smiled. "Thank you."
They parted and she continued on her way. The world was not a safe place for Yokai anymore. They were not the masters they had once been. After days of travel she finally found a trace of the Dragon's energy, mixed with humans as well. The earth was browned in places where his ice had frosted it over prematurely. Hoofprints in the ground led in the opposite direction. The humans know he's awake and they're looking for him.
There were signs of him everywhere. She followed his trail through the hills, into a spider's den where she found a dead spider, and out down the hill and to a roadside shrine. That was where the trail had gone cold once more.
She stopped to rest, and a prickling sensation raced down her spine. The energy within the shrine churned like a pot about to boil over. She stood and went to the opening that faced out onto the road. The figure inside, a squat fat man with a chain of gold coins around his neck, rocked back and forth on the pedestal. She tilted her head as she looked at it. She crept closer, wondering what was causing the disturbance. She did not feel anything living coming from it, but the figure itself seemed to be cloaked in the spiritual energy of a priestess.
She reached out to touch the figure, but before she could, the figure cracked on the top of the head. The crack grew, shuddering through the entire idol down the middle. Then the two halves split apart and a man the same size as the idol stared at her. She was so surprised she screamed. The idol screamed as well.
Then she backed away as the idol leapt up and over her shoulder out into the night. She stared after it, wondering what had awoken it. She looked back at the shrine once more. The villagers will be devastated when they find it empty like this. What should I do?
25
The hut was small and the old woman did not have much in the way of bedding. She gave Suzume some blankets and a place by the fire. After sleeping on the ground for weeks, even the blankets and a warm fire felt like a luxury.
Suzume curled up in a ball beneath the blankets. She emptied her mind of thoughts of Kaito's strange behavior and let sleep claim her. She had just closed her eyes when something soft brushed against her face. Suzume's eyes flew open. She peered up through the darkness to see Kaito leaning over her. He grinned and his white smile flashed in the darkness of the room. She shot up and slammed her head into his chin. She hissed through her teeth, rubbing her tender head. Kaito massaged his chin, without his smile faltering. He should have moved out of the way. She stared at him, wide-eyed, more than a little disturbed to find him watching her sleep. Was he stroking my face? She touched her cheek. What kind of lecher watches someone sleep?
"You disappeared," Kaito said in a stage whisper.
Suzume's back was towards the old woman. The old woman snorted in her sleep but did not seem to be disturbed by their late night visitor.
"What are you doing here?" Suzume hissed. Her voice was louder than she intended and she froze, afraid she would wake her host. She glanced over at the old woman, who rolled over in her sleep but did not wake. Good thing she's a heavy sleeper. I don't know how I would explain this… Suzume eyed Kaito suspiciously.
"I came looking for you. I was worried. When you said you wanted your space, I figured you would come back eventually," he said. He caressed her cheek with his fingertips. The touch of his flesh against her bare skin sent a chill down her spine. He's gentle when he wants to be. She shook her head. It's the spell, don't let it fool you. This is not the real Kaito.
"Stop doing that." She slapped his hand away.
A sad-puppy expression crossed his face and Suzume had to chide herself for feeling guilty about yelling at him. If the Kami could make Kaito this way, then he should be able to turn him back to his annoying self once again. I never would have imagined I would want him back. But I kind of miss the teasing.
"Are you still upset about learning that you're Kazue's reincarnation?" Kaito scooted closer to her on his knees. His hand brushed against hers as he took a seat beside her.
She recoiled and sat back on her knees. He's a crafty one. I'm going to have to keep an eye on him, or he may try to seduce me again.
"I am not her," she snarled t
o avoid the uncomfortable feelings his close proximity elicited. "You're under some kind of spell that's making you sappy and emotional."
He shook his head. "No, this is how I really feel." He pressed his hand to his chest to emphasize his point. His fingers were long and elegant and she thought about the way they brushed her face or pushed her hair behind her ears. She had been trying to figure out why it felt different when he did it. Men always thought she wanted them to touch her, as if they were giving her a gift with their attention. But Kaito like this was different. It seemed genuine and that's what scared her the most.
Wow. Get a hold of yourself. This has to be an effect of the spell. It's making me crazy. She clapped her hands onto her cheeks. It hurt more than it helped her focus.
Kaito regarded her with a bemused expression. "You should rest. I'll keep watch until morning."
She opened her mouth to argue, but talking to him in this condition was like arguing with a wall. Despite that, her inherit stubborn nature kept her from seeing reason even if it was staring at her in the face.
"Then keep watch outside. I can't sleep with you leering at me all night."
He laughed and her stomach fluttered. Come on, body, don't start betraying me now.
"I'm not letting you out of my sight. Remember the spider? I can't risk losing you now that I've found you."
Suzume resisted the urge to groan aloud. Talk about sappy… earlier today he was planning on letting the spider have me.
"What am I supposed to tell her, then?" Suzume jammed her thumb in the direction of the old woman, who slept on unaware across the room. Despite the increasing volume of their voices, she had not stirred.
He shrugged and there was that familiar mischievous gleam in his eye. "Not my problem."
Suzume glared at him. "You're really not going to leave, are you?"
He grinned. "Nope."
She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. They sat for several moments, just staring at one another, waiting for the other to crack. After about twenty minutes of this, Suzume's eyes grew heavy as if weighed down by sacks of grain, and her head drooped forward. She startled awake and resumed glaring at Kaito, only to have her eyes slide shut and her head bob again. I can't fall asleep with him here. How do I know he's not playing some kind of trick on me and he's just waiting for my guard to be down… Her head sank onto her chest, and she snapped back up, shaking her head and glaring at Kaito, who grinned back at her.
"Fine," she announced. "Be a creep and watch me as I sleep." She lay down and rolled over to face the fire.
After several checks over her shoulder and a lot of restless shifting, Suzume managed to fall back asleep. She awoke to the smell of frying fish and sunlight streaming through the door flaps that led into the hut. Suzume sat up, stretched, and yawned. The old woman was humming that same tune again. It was starting to grow on Suzume.
After Suzume rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, she looked for Kaito. She expected to see Kaito watching over her, waiting with a bowl of rice to force-feed her.
"Sleep well?" the old woman asked. She turned the fish over the flame.
Suzume sat up and pushed her thick hair over her shoulder. "Well enough." She paused, looking around for Kaito once more. "Anything interesting happen this morning?" I would think she would scream or something if she found Kaito standing over me as I slept.
The old woman poked at the fish with a long pair of metal chopsticks, checking if it was done. "Just an average morning." She smiled her gap-toothed smile at Suzume once more.
Suzume frowned. Where did he go now? He's slipperier than an eel.
"Any plans for your day?" The old woman came over to Suzume with the fish on a platter and a bowl of rice to accompany it.
Suzume looked down at the fish and the rice. He was so adamant about not being parted from me, yet he runs away at the first opportunity. She picked up the chopsticks the old woman had laid next to the bowl and poked at her fish with it. She broke off a piece and chased it around her plate.
"Nothing in particular, I was planning on visiting the shrine before I leave," Suzume replied evasively.
"Well, don't hurry away on my account. I was planning on heading to the shrine again today. I feel more energy since you are here, and I thought I might do a bit of tidying up. It's good to offer prayers to the gods before beginning a journey."
Well, that's convenient. Maybe I can get more information about the shrine if we go together.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt," Suzume said with feigned nonchalance. The old woman seemed to be rather devout, and maybe she knew how to communicate with the Kami. "Last night, you said that the shrine grants wishes."
The old woman was chewing when Suzume asked the question; not willing to wait for her to finish, Suzume continued on without waiting for a reply. "Have you ever known someone to have their wish granted… or wishes?"
The woman swallowed at last. "My grandfather said he got this house when he wished for it from the shrine, but I'm not sure if that wasn't a story he just liked to tell." She smiled and her eyes wrinkled as she did so. "Do you have a wish you want granted? Perhaps there's a young man you are fond of."
Suzume had to restrain herself from snorting. "No, nothing like that." She held up her hands. "I'm just interested in old customs is all," she lied. She couldn't bring herself to tell the old woman about the wishes, it was too ludicrous.
The old woman winked and said no more. They finished their meal and the old woman went to a small pen out back to feed her chickens before they headed back to the temple. Suzume paced the inside of the hut as she waited. She thought Kaito would come back, but he hadn't, and she was starting to get worried. The last time he had disappeared, she was trapped inside her own nightmare. Please, just no spiders this time.
The woman came in after finishing her chores and they finally left for the shrine. As they traveled, Suzume tried to access her spiritual power and see if she could sense anything. As usual it produced no results.
The old woman hummed the same tune, perhaps it was a case of getting a song stuck in your head. But the song seemed oddly familiar to Suzume.
"What's that song you're singing?" Suzume asked.
"Oh, just an old tune. I don't even remember the words anymore. I think it used to be something they sang at festivals when I was a girl. It's been so long that all I remember is the tune." She smiled and Suzume smiled back.
This woman has practically nothing, but she's very content. She thought back again to Akito. In her dream she had denied him because she had been so enchanted by the idea of wealth and power, but when it came down to it, she did not want to marry Daiki, even though he was probably the only person who would take her. I bet if I went and found him and explained about the spider, he would take me straight to the palace. Her opportunity was waiting, Daiki might even have the power to defeat the Dragon, but she couldn't do it. For whatever reason, she was sticking with the Dragon, even going out of her way to get him back to normal. I hope I don't regret this decision later on.
"Hmm," Suzume replied, not sure what else to say. They arrived at the shrine and the old woman went inside to offer her prayers. Suzume hung back and examined the bench where she had sat and the building itself. Nothing was unusual about it. It looked like a regular shrine. It's hard to believe a roadside shrine could have that much power.
"There you are, beautiful." She could hear Kaito's voice but could not see him.
She spun around in circles, looking for him. He can turn himself invisible!
He laughed somewhere behind her and she turned in that direction. "That's not fair! You can turn yourself invisible… did you use this power at the hot spring to peep on me?"
"I'm up here," he said.
Suzume tilted her head back and saw Kaito squatting on the roof of the shrine with that same mischievous smirk in place. Maybe he's back to normal?
"What are you doing up there? I thought you said you did not want to leave my side," Suzume asked. It was
silly to be upset over him disappearing, but her emotions had been all across the spectrum as of late, so she allowed herself the indulgence.
"I felt a powerful spiritual energy coming from the shrine, so I came to investigate." He smirked. "She's not going to like what she sees."
Suzume didn't like the look in his eye. The mischievous grin coupled with the compliments were too weird.
"What's inside the shrine?" she asked slowly.
"It's more like what isn't there."
Suzume frowned but took the bait. She had a bad feeling about his taunting but decided to take the risk. Suzume stepped inside the shrine. The old woman knelt on the floor.
She turned to look at Suzume as she entered; her face was pale. "I don't know…" She trailed off and turned back to look at the place where the idol had once been. It was gone and in its place a single acorn remained.
The Kami was missing and with it her hope of turning Kaito back to normal.
26
"What did you do?" Suzume spun around and pointed an accusing finger at Kaito.
He leaned against the doorway to the shrine. "I think you should be asking yourself that question, Kazue."
"Don't call me Kazue!" she snarled.
I wish he would decide on a personality and stick with it.
"Why would I stop when you make that adorable face whenever I call you by your old name?" He winked at her as he flicked his hand in her direction to indicate said face.
Suzume scowled at him. Even when he was acting out of character, he was infuriating.
"Miss, who are you talking to?" The old woman spoke up.
Suzume turned back around to look at her. She's got to be joking. How can she not see him? He's a head taller than me, at least. Suzume glanced between the old woman and back to Kaito. The old woman's brow furrowed and she glanced in Kaito's direction, but just past him out to the road beyond.
"Him." She pointed at Kaito. "He's standing right there." She jabbed with her finger for emphasis.
The Dragon Saga Box Set Page 18