Slate
By ANarrativeCloud
"There are five major types of techniques a kekkaishi can use: Nenshi, Kekkai, Zekkai, Mekkai, and Shinkai. The first is Nenshi, a technique similar to strings. It can be lengthened and shortened according to the kekkaishi's will. The second is Kekkai, the most basic of the techniques, usually comes in the colours blue or green, but can also exhibit other colours other than the aforementioned ones. It is a barrier which does nothing but separate the inside of the kekkai from the outside. It can come with as many specifications as the kekkaishi can handle. The most notable is Yukimura Tokine's two hundred and fifty nine specifications. A kekkai usually comes with four commands: Hoi, the placing of the barrier; Jyozo the pinpointing of the target; Ketsu, the command to create the barrier however, some kekkaishi who are skilled enough can use just Ketsu to employ a kekkai; and Metsu, the elimination of the target in the kekkai. The third technique is the Zekkai, a type of kekkai that immediately shreds and eliminates anything that comes into contact with it. It is usually coloured a deep dark inky violet. It surrounds the user like a protective sphere and rejects everything it becomes in contact with. Mekkai is a type of kekkai that grants absolute protection. It keeps anything—the kekkaishi may set any conditions to it—away but is only repelled. The last is the Shinkai. Truth be told, saying that it is a power rivaling a god's is no exaggeration. It sets a space where everything other than selected things be erased completely, the kekkaishi can choose which would be rejected and which would stay inside the Shinkai. Inside—provided that the kekkaishi has enough power and control—the kekkaishi can create anything and everything in the Shinkai. And though it is a very powerful technique, only two have been recorded to be able to use it. The Founder, Hazama Tokimori and the 22nd Heir of the Sumimuras jointly. Sumimura Yoshimori and his mother, Sumimura Sumiko, mother of the 22nd heir however not a legitimate successor. They were also rumored to have used a Shin'yuchi god's power."
-Excerpt from 'An Introduction to Kekkai Jutsu' by Sumimura Hanamori, 36th heir.
_._._._._._._._
The Ten no Kami almost never lowered themselves to even merely regard humans. Humans were foolish, they say. They're fragile and fickle. They were greedy and selfish. They were lustful and sinful. Tsukiyomi found them rather excessively intriguing. With nothing to do on the moon, the only thing he did was watch and do his duties—namely: regulating tides, keep the moon moving, filtering the light that came from the sun, etc.—that had been pestering him for millions of years. Humans intrigued him. The Ten no Kami never talked to each other, as prideful as they were, but Tsukiyomi never had much pride or shame anyway. He was quite open about his views and the other gods didn't quite like him. Their anger usually came in storms of dust and other petty things they could think of. They can't harm each other after all.
"Can you... hear me?"
Amaterasu was a completely different thing though, that woman was feisty. Whenever she was angry she'd create solar flares without even meaning to. Which scorches some parts of his moon. Thankfully, the earth's outer atmosphere could still handle it. If he forgot, well... That was his duty, though. He probably wouldn't forget.
"If you can hear me..."
Another prayer!? Damn it. Why did they agree that prayers should be heard anyway? Oh right. Maintenance of beliefs and whatnot. Who would stop believing though? The moon was in the sky almost every night!
"Please grant my wish."
Wait. That person was... And his wish... Well. Huh. That changed things. Lots of things.
"Screw the consequences. The others would probably enjoy some entertainment, anyway." He smugly concluded to himself. No other Ten no Kami would notice other than the ones keeping watch on the earth—which was no one besides himself. Land gods, no matter how powerful, would be affected by the spell he casted as would any other thing or person. Mahora and her assistant would probably notice and would probably scold him for doing something so dangerous on a whim, but other than that, they would probably do nothing. He grinned then stood lazily, raising up his hands slowly as he pulled out power from the moon. Then there was a momentary flicker of white that encompassed the whole earth. Then he yawned as he went back to his original position and gazed at the earth.
"Sumimura Yoshimori, hm?"
...now that he mentioned it, hadn't Unmei-sama asked him to do this a while ago? Something about losing too much Shin'yuchis? Ah, well... Whoops...?
_._._._._._._._._
Yoshimori opened his eyes blearily and he shifted on his futon. What time was it? He drowsily looked around as he reached for his trusty digital alarm clock. Where was it, damn it? He remembered putting it on his side table last night.
Wait.
Side table? Then why was he on a futon? He remembered having gone to Singapore for a contract for a building blueprint or something and he stayed in a hotel since his client had some kind of emergency matter he had to attend to. So where was he?
The last vestiges of his sleepiness was chased away by confusion and suspicion. His eyes were slowly adjusting themselves to the dim lighting and then he noticed it. There was a blue kekkai around him and he puzzlingly dismissed it. He dismissed it. That meant he was the one who put it up. He hadn't cast a kekkai last night, come to think of it, so who... But he had 'kai'ed it! It meant it was his. He wouldn't be...
GAH! He was never good at thinking too much and now his brain hurt. He rubbed his temples, and started pacing. Argh. This wasn't helping at all! He moved around and searched blindly for the light switch. It took him a majority of a minute to be able to flick the light switch open.
His room. At the Sumimori household.
Whoa.
He hadn't stayed here since he had gone to college and rented his own apartment! What the hell was he doing here? Maybe one of the Yagyou managed to catch him off guard in Singapore and brought him back here? No that was impossible. But if this was some kind of elaborate prank... But... No one had entered his room last night and there were no traces of other people tampering with his situation. He nearly growled in frustration but was cut off by his own large yawn. His right hand had automatically moved to cover his mouth and what he saw made him freeze. His hands... had none of the callouses he had accumulated because of time in construction sites.
His Houin. His Houin. It... It was there!
It wasn't something that could be easily replicated—it wasn't just a permanent marker mark, he knew for certain—and he could feel the energy flowing from Chushinmaru. Had the Shinkai failed? No. That certain event wouldn't happen in millennia. His mother had been guarding it together with the founder, after all.
Don't tell me...
He dashed quietly to his desk—if what he was thinking was true, then it would be best if he alerted no one of anything unusual—and started rummaging through the drawers—had he really been this disorganized when he was younger?—and fished out a notebook. He browsed through it furiously as he searched for the last date written. Then he found it. The last candy castle entry. June 12, 2007. That was impossible. There should be something even later here! There was none.
Damn.
His wish was actually granted. Well, the wish wasn't really... A wish, but more of a... suggestion?
He returned everything in a daze and he lied on his futon. He absently put up a barrier with a slight movement from his left hand and a silent 'ketsu' then sorted out his thoughts.
He knew what he needed to do. He'd run over dozens upon dozens of scenarios (with the occasional input from Tokine) about what he should do should this happen. Of course, she was only humouring him, but also pointing out the obvious faults in his logic. He'd never really expect to actually end up in this situation. Sure, he'd thought a lot about what-ifs and could-have-beens and most of them were quite realistic. He'd save a lot of people grief and loss. Deaths and broken promises...
He could do this. He needed to be able to do this.
_._._._._._._.
There was something off about Yoshimori and Shigemori couldn't put his finger on it. He was too calm and more absent minded than usual. Not to mention the fact that he woke up earlier than his usual when he would be complaining about more sleep. To be even stranger, he didn't take his daily coffee milk from the cooler.
There was only one possible explanation.
This Yoshimori was an impostor. (There were others too, but Shigemori thought it would be interesting not to think otherwise)
He decided to act.
"Yoshimori!" He called abruptly. And rather loudly "Come here."
The boy was puzzled, he could sense, but there was something off about his expression, more to prove that this was an impostor.
"Create a kekkai." He ordered.
"Hah? Why so early?" He grumbled, the boy's left hand twitched and made the motion to create a kekkai. And created one.
His left hand.
"You're using your left hand." Shigemori stated as he narrowed his eyes. He created a kekkai. Then it really was Yoshimori. It was still suspicious though. He had been acting too odd.
Yoshimori shrugged. "It's easier."
"Haven't I taught you to that using your right is what is correct!? It's improper to—"
"Meh." Yoshimori interrupted. "Improper or not, it's stupid to willingly handicap yourself."
Shigemori sighed.
"You don't talk to your grandfather like that!"
"I'm going to be late, soooo..."
He dashed off.
Well at least it was still Yoshimori.
_._._._._._._._._._._
Yoshimori lazily stood up and yawned, stopping in realization and went back to the kitchen to get a carton of coffee milk.
This was good. He hadn't had as much coffee milk as he would have liked due to his hectic schedule (his talent was in high demand!—his ego swelled) and black coffee had worked better to keep him awake than coffee milk.
He sighed, taking in the wonders of coffee milk.
He exited the compound and saw Tokine—she looked so young! but still as beautiful as ever—just as she exited her own house.
"Good morning." He greeted with a yawn, and proceeded to walk.
Tokine walked faster. Yoshimori did too.
"Don't act like we know each other at school, you hear?" Tokine stated harshly.
"Sure." He replied, eying her injured hand. He'd never forgiven himself for that, no matter how many times Tokine tried to convince him otherwise.
Tokine looked a little surprised, he didn't blame her. He wasn't acting like his younger self. He didn't plan to. The last time, he'd responded to it with obvious disappointment and asked her to revoke her decision with loud complaints. (Of course he still wasn't pleased, buy who was he to take charge of her life? Tokine had become much much nicer in the future.) He didn't want to act like such a kid anymore.
He wondered what changes he could inspire. He wanted to talk to a lot of people. Just... talk. To Gen. To Sen. To his brother. To Okuni. To Chushinmaru. He wanted to talk to Shichiro, too. That guy was easy to talk to, once he'd stopped flirting with Tokine, and it seemed that the first Shinkai incident had been rooted to his brain and he was thankful. The thought made him annoyed. Maybe he'd befriend him. That guy had a serious lack of proper role models. (His arrogant self cackled, ha. Role model.) They had talked often, after all that transpired, when both of them had free time. Shichiro had often called him to help with matters regarding the Ogi clan—Yoshimori didn't look like someone who could help in those matters. Don't get him wrong, the guy wasn't a lazy ass, the complete opposite actually, but he knew how to use his resources properly and the kekkaishi hated having too much free time (it made him feel useless). He was thankful to the Ougi heir too, since one of his colleagues in his 'normal' businesses had taken an interest in one of Yoshimori's candy castle constructions and offered him a scholarship in architecture. He never had anything planned, actually. He was in half a mind to just stay in his grandparent's house and freeload for the rest of his life (while making candy castles). Of course, there was always a lingering thought that he'd build his and Tokine's house by himself, but he'd never really acted upon it. He'd been quite a bit lost after his life long duties had been finished. Thank you, Shichiro.
It would probably only take thirty minutes to go to the guy's school via train... Hm... How should he make an impression? Shichiro had told him in no uncertain terms that he admired Sumimura Sumiko, because of the masterful balance of her hold on her emotions...
Yoshimori had barely noticed that he was already in Karasumori, with all the thoughts that went through his head. But when he did, he sent a silent greeting to Chushinmaru. He wasn't acknowledged, but he didn't expect to be. It was still morning after all, he was probably still asleep. Now that you mention it, what year was he in? Tokine had still been wearing the senior high uniform with the proper necktie for her year, so, being two years younger, he's still probably a freshman. It was fall, he noted as he saw browning leaves.
Spring...? Damn. It was the first day of high school, wasn't it? The first time around, the only thing he cared about was which class he ended up in, regardless of what schedule he had. Aaaand he still didn't care. He'd just do what he did last time: sleep through all his classes. He'd passed the finals last time, both middle and high school after all, even though both was by a hair's width. Toshimori refused to have him repeat. He said it was a shame to him. His little brother had somehow conned him into thinking that studying wasn't that bad, if he understood what was happening. He wanted to sleep... Oh. He'd left his pillow at home. Damn. He'd remember to bring it with him tomorrow.
There was an impressive crowd in front of the bulletin board and he didn't even look at it. He knew what class he'd end up in, anyway. That wouldn't have changed yet. Probably. He yawned again, he felt tired, as if he had stayed up overnight to reach a deadline or something.
Karasumori.
Oh. He wanted to punch himself for being so stupid. Back in the past. Kekkaishi duties. Of course! Why was he so stupid?
He headed to his class and chose a seat, idly noting that the room wasn't even half full yet. He dropped his head on his desk and slept.
_._._._._._._._._._._
"Tokine! How long has it been?" Madoka, Tokine's friend of two years greeted, they hadn't had time.
"Ah. Good morning." Tokine replied pleasantly as she hooked her bag on the hook by the side of her desk. "And we only saw each other last month, Madoka."
Madoka chuckled. "So, how is your little friend doing?"
Tokine frowned, remembering the odd way that Yoshimori had talked to her. "I'm not sure."
Madoka tilted her head, urging her to continue.
"He was odd this morning." She finally answered.
"Odd? In what way?" Madoka asked.
Tokine shook her head, deciding that it wasn't that big of a problem. "Nothing. Maybe he was just tired." Last night had been tiring. There were two or three intruders and Yoshimori had been running around a bit too much.
"How do you know that?" Madoka asked slyly.
Tokine sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not interested?"
"A mill—" The bell rung. Thank you, bell.
_._._._._._._._._._._._
Training. He didn't want to do it again. His puny twelve year old body was weak. Like hell. Sure he was more durable than most people his age, but he was still weak. He could enter Musou, since that was all mental anyway, but his body was crap and kekkai casting consumed plenty of stamina. Shiguma could be summoned too, he summoned him secretly a while ago—he was as talkative as ever—and canceled it after a few minutes, not wanting to be caught with a weird creature hanging around his shoulders (even if the others couldn't see it, Tokine and his family sure could). Since today was the first day of classes, students were required to have at least one club they would join in. The last time, he'd just 'joined' the economics club, and had full benefits and no responsibilities, since the club had a laid back adviser and didn't even know he was a part of the club. He wasn't quite sure what to do. Ah, well. There wasn't anything wrong with sticking to what works. He filled out his form and created a bird Shikigami to deliver it to the specific teacher's desk with deliberate orders to avoid being spotted by anyone (it was lazy, but he was tired). Yoshimori yawned and headed to the rooftop and lay down casting a kekkai to regulate the already somewhat cold atmosphere. It was also a precaution for dangerous smelly droppings and rain since he was in open ground. Hopefully the Shikigami would do its job properly.
"Lunch on the rooftop?" A familiar voice asked. Was that Tokine?
"Yup! I've always wanted to eat here."
"Then why don't we go to the high school's rooftop?"
"You see, the high school rooftop usually has plenty of people there, unlike the middle school one, which no one goes to."
"This... Isn't one of your ploys is it?" Tokine said slowly. She looked very reluctant.
The other one probably did something, presumably smiled, because Tokine sighed.
So it was already lunch? He could hear his stomach protesting and he dismissed the kekkai, jumping down from his position, and looked at the two girls with a sleepy look.
"Yoshimori?" Tokine said in slight surprise.
"Ah. Hello. Yukimura-san. Hiura-san." Tokine frowned, what was his problem? Yukimura-san? He'd never addressed her this distantly before. Even when she'd tried to convince him not to 'know' her at school. The bell rung a second time.
"Ah. Damn, I'll run out of coffee milk!" That was the last thing she heard from him add he dashed off.
"He's never called you that before?" Madoka asked curiously.
"No." Tokine replied lowly.
Madoka looked concerned for a bit and smiled. "Don't feel so down." She said pleasantly. "It seems like you really like him."
"I do not." Tokine replied instantly, her worry turning into annoyance.
'That guy could get hurt for all I care.' She dismissed.
Too bad she didn't feel the same.
_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._
When he got home, the first thing Yoshimori did was go to his room and meditate. There had to be a reason why he was sent back. His 'prayer' wasn't willful enough to be considered a wish... He easily slipped into Musou and tried to perceive the voices coming from the heavens. It was hard. He kept on trying for a few hours (his usual sleeping time at home, but he decided that he'd had enough sleep at school anyway) and utterly failed. It would take time, he thought. Of course it wasn't as easy as he thought. The Ten no Kami were gods of the highest order after all. Maybe he'd try this nightly. His alarm clock sounded, signaling the time he need to go to Karasumori. It was annoying. He wore the kekkaishi hakama and dashed to the Shin'yuchi they were supposed to protect. He exasperatedly tapped the rock where Madarao resided in—he'd grown out of the habit, but his younger self did it on a regular basis, (he'd usually just call Madarao, the stubborn dog)—startling the ghost-dog into corporeality.
"How rude!" Madarao plainted. "How many times do I have to tell you that tapping that rock—Oi, are you listening to me, brat? At least compensate by giving me some raw deer meat."
Madarao grumbled.
The run was uneventful, save for the occasional people disobeying the curfew. Madarao noticed something off about Yoshimori, but he couldn't place his... The Tenketsu. He was holding it in his right hand.
"Oi, Yoshimori." He called. "Why are you holding your Tenketsu in your right hand? How are you going to—" then he bumped into a kekkai. Damn that brat to hell. Madarao saw Yoshimori's left hand in a casting position.
"Your left?"
Yoshimori shrugged. "It's easier."
Madarao blinked. "Just yesterday you were using your right hand. You didn't train with your left at all."
His eye twitched. "It's easier." He repeated. "It was an accident, actually. I was holding something in my right hand and, well..."
Madarao sighed. You could never guess anything with this boy.
They arrived at the site in minutes, going through the usual roof route.
"Oh, late for work, huh." Tokine taunted with a smile. "Ah, don't worry though. You can go back if you want to."
Yoshimori groaned inwardly. He'd forgotten how little respect others, specifically Tokine, had given him back when he was younger. "That's because someone decided that sleeping was more important than protecting Karasumori." He said pointedly. Madarao ignored him. Hakubi was nowhere to be seen, probably scouting already.
"So where's your dog?" Yoshimori asked rudely.
"Oh, scouting."
"You go scout too, Madarao." Yoshimori ordered blandly.
"What's the point? My nose would be able to catch the scent even if I don't search for it." Madarao declared haughtily.
Yoshimori sighed mock disappointedly and then whispered conspiratorially, "Well I guess Hakubi just has a better work ethic. Who cares though, you are useless."
Madarao started in indignation. "Ha! That mutt's a useless dog compared to me." Then left.
Yoshimori smiled fondly. He hadn't spent much time with Madarao recently, what with him going around countries. It felt a little good to style back into the comfortable routine that he had gotten used to. When he was younger, he was resentful that he had to stay grounded around Karasumori, but he found that having such a routine was comforting after much thought and deliberation. Chushinmaru probably needed to be sealed again in a Shinkai but Yoshimori thought that preventing deaths and extreme destruction.
Yoshimori tensed as he felt a foreign energy pass through the barriers of Karasumori and noticed Tokine doing the same It felt like a medium sized ayakashi, most definitely something that he would be able to neat with his eyes closed, and without even moving from his spot.
He smirked.
Let the show begin.