Notes: Gah, I'm at it again with the notes… Anyway I'll keep this short. I felt it necessary to state that several things in this fic are made up due to lack of info in the manga. They are minor things and shouldn't affect the readability. I also wish to note that this was created for Sanzo Addict from Gaia. Please note that this is a cut version of the original, so if it seems choppy, that's why.
Pieces
As light began to stream into the room from the window, a boy wearing a complex maid's outfit and sporting cat ears and tail, walked through the closed door. The boy, Kanau, was sent by chief Priest Mikuni to awaken the occupants of the room. Kanau took a few moments to look at the two occupying the futon. He sighed to himself and pulled out the alarm clock he used to wake people. He pressed the little button on the back of the clock that set off the alarm. It took only a moment for one of the two boys to awaken.
"Good morning, Kanau." Hasunuma, the first boy to awaken replied, rubbing the last visages of sleep from his eyes.
"Good morning." Kanau nodded as he turned off the alarm. "I'll leave you to wake Misuo." He smiled and passed through the door.
Hasunuma watched the ghost boy flit through the sliding doors and stretched. Once he done stretching, Hasunuma looked over to his bed mate. The boy was sleeping peacefully and looking ever so cute. Hasunuma ran his hand through his boyfriend's hair and gently whispered in his ear, "Wake up." Mitsuo gave a small moan of protest at the disturbance. Hasunuma smiled and gently brushed his lips across his bed mate's cheek, "Come on Mitsuo, time to wake up." Mitsuo rolled over and slowly opened his eyes. Hasunuma gently ruffled the boy's hair and stood up. "I'll leave first." He informed his boyfriend, parted the sliding door, and exited the room.
Mitsuo sat up and watched the retreating back of his mates strong figure walk through the door. He rubbed his eyes for a moment to rid them of sleep, stretched, and got off the futon he shared with Hasunuma. Mitsuo looked around the room and sighed, he and Hasunuma had been together for several weeks now, and still hadn't 'done anything' as Mikuni put it. The problem was neither he nor Hasunuma wanted to submit to the other and 'play the female role'. Mikuni's advice didn't help much either. Mitsuo thought the priest had some great ideas, but anytime Mitsuo mentioned that Mikuni gave him the advice, Hasunuma would completely reject the idea. The boy sighed once more and opened the sliding doors. With one last glance at the futon, he exited the room and headed to the dinning area of the shrine.
Mitsuo walked down the porch-like walkway between the shrine's various buildings, and caught sight of Hasunuma. He jogged the short distance and caught up with his roommate. "You could have waited, you know." Mitsuo greeted with a slight pout in his voice.
"I know, but I wasn't sure you were going to actually get up." Hasunuma replied. In truth, he didn't want to be in the room if Mitsuo had decided to change out of his sleeping garments before going to breakfast. The shrine had a very relaxed atmosphere thus, neither Mitsuo nor Hasunuma worried about their dress too much. Since it was the weekend, the two boys would spend most of the day if not all day in their customary sleeping attire. If Mitsuo had had a reason to change his clothes and done it in front of him, Hasunuma didn't know if he could trust himself or not. He loved Mitsuo, but he didn't want to just push his boyfriend down and have his way. Hasunuma knew that when things came down to it, he'd be the one to play the lead, but he didn't want Mitsuo to reject him for being too forward or too forceful. Yes, it made things very frustrating, but Hasunuma felt he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The fact that Mikuni got a kick out of the whole affair and 'tried to help', made things almost unbearable.
The two boys waked in silence to the room used for breakfast. Hasunuma slid the door open to allow Mitsuo then himself to enter, but the two boys stopped dead in their tracks. The sight before them was shocking and yet very much within Mikuni's character. Poor Kanau was pinned to the floor by Mikuni's body. The ghost boy's expression was almost screaming for help and salvation from the perverted priest. "Don't you just hate interruptions?" Mikuni said as he leaned in a little closer to Kanau. Mitsuo stood speechless in the doorway, and Hasunuma was having flashbacks to the time when they first met Kanau and had been in a similar situation.
"Mi…Mikuni, breakfast." Kanau struggled to say.
"Fine, we'll continue this later then." Mikuni smirked as he got off of the ghost boy and walked over to the low table and sat on the floor at the head of it. Kanau made a quick escape to the kitchen, and the two boys took their place at the table.
"Did you two sleep well?" Mikuni asked Hasunuma and Mitsuo. Mikuni's voice was full of mischief, and Hasunuma didn't like it.
"We slept just fine." Hasunuma responded for both him and Mitsuo and shot a warning glare at the shrine owner.
"Oh good, then I'll announce a little surprise I have for everyone." Mikuni said with one of his smirks that said 'I'm up to something perverted'. Before Mikuni could expand on his statement, Kanau came back into the room carrying a plate of scrambled eggs.
"Surprise…?" Hasunuma cautiously asked the priest as Kanau set a plate of eggs in front of him.
"A trip to another shrine complete with hot springs." Mikuni replied in response to Hasunuma's query. Kanau set Mikuni's plate on the table in front of the priest.
Hasunuma shot an inquisitive look at Mikuni, but before he could say anything, Mitsuo enthusiastically thanked Mikuni, "A hot spring? Alright! Thank you Mikuni." With this reaction, Hasunuma didn't have the hart to decline the offer. "When is it we leave?" Mitsuo eagerly asked the priest.
"Right after breakfast and we will be taking a car that I have gone to the trouble of renting for us." Mikuni informed the two boys with one of his mischievous smiles.
Hasunuma shot Mikuni a questioning look, but held his tongue. A trip to a hot springs wasn't so bad. A trip with Mikuni wasn't great, but at least he might be able to sneak off with Mitsuo for a little while.
Before the discussion could carry too much further, Kanau generously dished the breakfast out to the boys and sat near Mikuni. The trio gave the traditional thanks with the word 'itadakimasu'. Mitsuo greedily dug into his food and Hasunuma smiled sweetly at the sight. Mikuni had to resist rolling his eyes. The two were so perfectly matched it almost disgusted the priest. Instead of watching the two would be lovers, Mikuni decided to bug his favorite ghost. He sidled a glance at his elaborately dressed toy, and noted the boy watching the couple with an almost longing expression. A smirk threatened to appear across the priests face. His whole plan just might work out after all.
Once breakfast was over, Mitsuo and Hasunuma excused themselves, and left the dinning area. On the way back to their room, Mitsuo could hardly contain his excitement. "Mikuni is the greatest. Our school trips don't even take us to hot springs." He elated as the duo came to their room. Hasunuma smiled at his love's happiness.
"How much do you think we should pack? Mikuni wasn't to clear on the length of time this trip would take." Hasunuma asked of Mitsuo.
"I don't know." Mitsuo unconcernedly shrugged as he began to go through the room and pick out various articles of clothing and over night gear.
"Don't forget to pack some talisman." Hasunuma whispered into Mitsuo's ear.
Mitsuo turned to face his boyfriend, "Do you really think I'll need them? It's only a hot spring, and Mikuni will be there…" He pouted.
"It's just a precaution. Mikuni might need to disappear for a job or something. Then what would you do?" Hasunuma stroked his mate's hair. The two stood facing each other for a few minutes, and Hasunuma leaned forward a bit.
Just before the pair's lips touched, Mikuni burst in through the door, "Well, you two ready?" He smirked.
"Mikuni!" The two shouted and jumped away from each other. Mitsuo's face was showing a light blush, and Hasunuma proceeded to shoot a glare at the priest, which Mikuni easily returned.
"W…we aren't quiet ready yet." Mitsuo stammered as her recovered his composure.
"Hurry up. I've got the car ready." Mikuni flourished as he left the boys to their devices.
Hasunuma had a vague suspicion that the chief priest had some telekinetic power that enabled him to know exactly where and what he and Mitsuo were doing. He glanced the way Mikuni had come, and helped his roommate pack their stuff. It took only a few minutes for the two to have enough stuff packed for about a week's vacation. They didn't expect to be gone for a week, but Mitsuo decided that Hasunuma's 'better prepared' idea was a good way to go. The two brought their bags to the car Mikuni had prepared and Kanau graciously, or more probably at the insistence of a certain priest, packed the bags into the trunk of the car. Mikuni was in the driver's seat and the awkward couple sat in the back, Kanau, again probably at the insistence of a priest, sat in the front passenger's seat. With everyone and everything loaded into the car, Mikuni took off for the hot spring.
After several hours riding in an uneventful car ride, the group arrived at the shrine, and a pair of identical priestesses cordially greeted the four guests. "Welcome, Chief Priest Mikuni, and guests." The two girls smiled at the leader of the quartet. Mikuni bowed in greeting and allowed the two to show them to the inner rooms of the shrine. Mitsuo and Hasunuma remained quiet and followed the lead of the shrine maidens.
The group walked past several buildings until they reached the very back of the cluster of the shrine's buildings. "These are the rooms for our male guests to reside in. You may choose any of the rooms, and make free use of the hot springs located behind the building." The two chorused in unison.
"Thank you." Mitsuo smiled at the two girls.
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." The girls replied, again in unison, and turned to walk away. Hasunuma watched them for a moment, and quirked an eye brow as he noticed the two of them glance at the group of boys and giggle. He turned back to his group to find Mitsuo giving him a slight glare. Hasunuma shrugged his shoulders and guided his boyfriend into the building before the boy could make any remarks.
The inside of the building looked like a dormitory. There were six rooms on either side of a mid length hall. Each room was set up like a sleeping chamber, and each one was empty and obviously, though clean, unoccupied. "Quaint." Mikuni remarked blandly.
"Is this shrine only house women?" Hasunuma asked.
"Ever since the shrine was founded it's been populated entirely of women. These chambers were added fairly recently." Mikuni explained. "This shrine has become very prominent and specializes in training exorcists. Many people spend time here to further their training. Since they've had a recent influx of males wanting to learn here, they built this building to house them and keep them from chaste priestesses."
"Oh, have you come for training then?" Mitsuo curiously asked the priest. He thought Mikuni's skills were good and that the priest didn't need any more training, but if Mikuni came here for training that would explain why they came. Perhaps the priestesses here could even teach him how to hone his own abilities.
"No, my great-great-great-and-several-more-great grandmother trained here. They invite me to come here from time to time and partake in their counsels." Mikuni replied to the interested face of Mitsuo.
The quartet divided and each selected a room. Mikuni and Kanau choose the first room to their right, and Hasunuma directed Mitsuo to the last room on the left. Hasunuma wanted to be as far away from the priest as he could possibly get. The two groups proceeded to unpack and get themselves situated. With everything sorted out, Hasunuma and Mitsuo decided to see if they could get something to eat. It had been several hours since breakfast, and the two boys were ready for a good dinner.
They wandered around the shrine for several minutes before finding a priestess to ask. "Umm… we were…" Mitsuo began when one the girl cut him off.
"Follow the building to your left. At the end of it is the dinning hall. You'll find plenty to eat there." She brightly interrupted and moved on past the boys.
The two stared after the girl for a few minutes then looked at one another and shrugged. They followed the directions and did indeed find the dinning hall. The hall was a large room with a buffet like table in the center. It appeared that the shrine didn't have a regular eating schedule, but rather one could come and go as one pleased. The two boys entered the dinning hall and were immediately handed a plate each.
"Please enjoy your meal." The priestess who handed them the plates bowed and ushered them further into the room. Without protest, the boys moved themselves to the buffet table and dug in. Off to the side of the food were some tables for them to eat at. Hasunuma let Mitsuo choose where he wanted to sit, and followed.
"This looks delicious." Mitsuo remarked before the two said the traditional 'itadakimasu'. Hasunuma smiled at his mate and ate the two were to busy eating to talk.
"Not bad." Hasunuma remarked as the two left the building.
"I agree." Mitsuo smiled at his boyfriend. "I'm glad Mikuni brought us here."
"Can we talk about something other than Mikuni?" Hasunuma asked with a hint of jealousy in his voice.
"Why? What is it you have against Mikuni?" Mitsuo continued taking the jealousy for anger at him.
"He's always getting in the way." Hasunuma declared simply.
"His ideas are great. You just don't want to follow them 'cause you didn't come up with them." Mitsuo jeered.
"Mikuni's just a pervert who enjoys torturing the two of us." Hasunuma returned.
"He's still a good person and he's helped us out a lot." Mitsuo relentlessly defended.
"If he and his ideas are so great, then why aren't you with him? Why are you standing here with me?" Hasunuma angrily asked and Mitsuo looked at him shocked and hurt. Hasunuma was about to say something to sort of apologize, but Mitsuo ran off toward their room before he got the chance. "Tch." Hasunuma hissed to himself before walking toward the forest around the shrine. Part of him was sorry he hurt Mitsuo with his words, but part of him felt he was completely just in his feelings.
Shaking his head, the boy wandered through the wooded surroundings. As he walked he felt calmer and decided that he'd let himself and Mitsuo cool off a bit before he returned. Then he could apologize, explain things, and fix their relationship. He knew their love was mutual, but somehow he wanted more than that knowledge. He shook his head again and decided that he'd been around Mikuni to long and was starting to become infected with the 'Mikuni pervert' virus. He sighed and continued walking.
After walking for several minutes, he found a little path that was becoming overgrown. Curious, Hasunuma followed the path. The more he walked along the path, the more he noticed how little used it was. Now, logic would say that in a shrine where there's a deserted sort of place one stays away, but Hasunuma didn't think about this. Besides, the people at the shrine were supposed to be good at exorcisms.
After about two minutes, the path opened up to a small man made clearing. In this clearing, there was a very small building. The building was built like the rest of the shrine, red roof that curved at the end to allow spirits to return to heaven and square arched doorway. With nothing better to do and a burning curiosity, Hasunuma entered the small building. Inside was a table that filled almost the entire room. Hasunuma had just enough room to walk all the way around the table and only the looseness of his garments caused him to touch the wall. On the table were three objects. The first one that caught Hasunuma's eye was a semitransparent sword. It was an old European style straight sword with a round hilt to protect the hand. There was a runic description on the blade that Hasunuma couldn't make heads or tales of. After studying the sword for a few moments, he reached his hand out to pick it up. When his hand touched the hilt, it passed directly through it and instead touched the table. Hasunuma quickly withdrew his hand and examined the other objects. The second of these that he examined was a rose. The rose looked like any other with the exception of its colour. It was red at the center, but the tips of the petals were white, almost as if something was sucking the colour from the flower. The last object on the table was an old Chinese lantern with the character for fire drawn on two sides of it. There was nothing particularly unique about the lantern, so deeming it safe, Hasunuma reached out to pick it up.
As his hand touched the lamp, it light up and he could feel warmth followed by a drastic chill creep up his fingers and through his body. The feeling coursed through his entire body and he blacked out.
"I've been waiting along time for you Hasunuma. Hope you don't mind if I borrow your shape. In return I think I'll go comfort your beloved Mitsuo for you." A cold yet alluring voice purred from the lamp.
Mitsuo ran back to the room he and Hasunuma were sharing. Why did Hasunuma dislike Mikuni so much? He just couldn't figure it out, and now Hasunuma was mad at him for defending the priest. Mitsuo laid down on his futon and looked up at the ceiling. He rolled the conversation over in his mind several times and couldn't come to a conclusion. He did decide that maybe he was being a bit childish by running away from the argument, but Hasunuma didn't have to be so negative about Mikuni. He lay in bed for a few minutes and decided that he would go to the hot spring and see if that would clear his head a bit.
Mitsuo got up off the futon, wrapped a towel around himself and stepped out of his room. He took a quick glance down the hall to the room Kanau and Mikuni were sharing and finally realized the reason Hasunuma chose the room he did. It was the one farthest away from Mikuni's chambers. His original thought was since the two rooms at the end of the hall were closest to the hot spring; he and Hasunuma would be able to have quick access to the springs. Mitsuo felt his anger begin to return and quickly walked through the door to the springs.
"Ah, M…Mikuni….st…STOP!" Mitsuo was greeted by the distressed shouting of Kanau. He looked up and saw Mikuni had pinned Kanau against a large boulder at the edge of the spring. Mikuni held Kanau's hands above his ghostly form with one hand, and the other holding the a talisman to keep the boy from moving.
"Uh….s…s...sorry to interrupt." Mitsuo mumbled and quickly returned to the hall. Breathing hard from shock, Mitsuo slowly stepped to the door of his room. Maybe Hasunuma's right about Mikuni. He is a bit of a pervert. He admitted while opening the door and setting foot into the room. He looked about the room and the warm sight of Hasunuma laying on the futon greeted him. "Hasu!" Mitsuo happily cried.
"Hey," Hasunuma returned warmly, "Sorry about earlier." He apologized.
"It's okay, I'm sorry too." Mitsuo returned and sat next to his boyfriend. Hasunuma propped himself up on his elbows, and reached a hand behind Mitsuo's hair. He stroked the boy's hair a bit before gently pulling his mate's head down to kiss him. Mitsuo warmly accepted the kiss, and Hasunuma took the opportunity to lick Mitsuo's lips. "H…Hasu…!" Mitsuo pulled away with a slight blush.
Before the blonde could pull to far away, Hasunuma kissed him again and slid his arm around the boy's slender shoulder. Hasunuma pulled the shocked boy close to him to keep him from pulling away. Mitsuo again tried to pull away. He could feel something wasn't quite right. Hasunuma would normally let go at the slightest resistance, but the man holding him now was almost aggressive.
Feeling Mitsuo struggle harder against him, he expertly rolled the boy beneath him and pinned him down. "Shhh, I'll take good care of you." Hasunuma purred in Mitsuo's ear. Mitsuo couldn't quite place it, but something in that voice told him the person on top of him was not Hasunuma. With this realization, Mitsuo placed his hands on the male's chest and pushed him away.
"You are not Hasunuma!" He angrily declared.
"My, my now whatever told you that?" The non-Hasunuma chuckled. "Then again, you do have a spiritual power." He taunted.
"Get off of me!" Mitsuo struggled harder.
Not-Hasunuma roughly grabbed Mitsuo's hands and using a spell, bound them above the boy. "Hush now. You desire your dear Hasunuma, but he can't be here right now. You'll just have to settle for me." Not-Hasunuma informed Mitsuo. At these words Mitsuo went into a brief shock. This man had done something with Hasunuma.
The fake Hasunuma took advantage of Mitsuo's temporary state to run his forefinger along his collar bone. "Just think of me as Hasunuma." He purred.
The feeling of not-Hasunuma's hand shook Mitsuo form his stasis. "No, get off! Help! Mikuni! Kanau!" He began frantically shouting. A few heart beats from when Mitsuo called out, Mikuni came charging in chanting a banishing spell.
"Tch." The false Hasunuma hissed and rolled off of Mitsuo. Once he was off, the spell binding him disappeared, and Mitsuo ran to Mikuni's side. "Ah, so her brood appears. We will continue this again, Mitsuo." Not-Hasunuma smirked as he vanished in a red flame.
Everyone stared at the spot where the man had stood for a few moments. Finally Mitsuo spoke, "Who and what was that?"
"Hien." A light voice answered from behind them. The trio turned to see an elderly priestess standing behind them.
"Hien?" Mitsuo asked, confused.
"Yes, that is his name." The priestess explained. "Follow me and I'll tell you your story." She said and walked down the hall to the exit of the building. Mitsuo looked at Mikuni, who nodded and followed the priestess. The elderly maiden led them to the center most, and most elaborate, room and motioned for them to be seated.
Once everyone comfortably seated themselves, she began the story. "The person you encountered was a fire demon known as Hien. One of Mikuni's ancestors sealed him inside a lamp during the Edo Era. Hien lives off the spiritual energy of virgins, which would be one reason for targeting you. The lamp he was sealed in is kept in a mini shrine located in the woods surrounding this shrine. Hein was sealed with a spell that allowed the lamp to absorb his dark spiritual energy and thus wipe him from existence. Some how, Hasunuma and Hien have switched places. Hasunuma is now trapped within the lamp and if something is not done, he will vanish."
"Vanish?" Mitsuo exclaimed.
"How is it that Hasunuma was able to be sealed within a demon seal?" Mikuni asked.
"His near death experience and close vicinity to the cause of that accident created a small dark energy not unlike Hien's. The lamp allowed the exchange because the energy that was leaving was similar enough to the energy entering." The old priestess explained.
"So, Hasunuma's soul is trapped within a lamp, and this Hien has taken over his body?" Mitsuo asked with disgust.
"No. Hasunuma's soul and body are both trapped within the lamp. Hien merely took the form of your beloved. Probably to lure you to him." The old maiden patiently explained.
"Okay, so how do we fix this?" Mikuni logically asked. The woman shrugged her shoulders in reply.
"Were I you, I would go to the mini shrine and investigate." She informed them. With this idea, Mitsuo immediately ran out of the building and headed to the woods; Kanau followed. Mitsuo was beginning to feel that this incident was his fault. If he hadn't fought with Hasunuma none of this would have happened.
"It's not your fault." Kanau guessed the boy's thoughts. "The priestess said that his proximity to me added to his vulnerability."
"But, if I hadn't fought with him he wouldn't have found that lamp." Mitsuo pointed out. Kanau shrugged, he couldn't think up a good response to that. Mitsuo ran, Kanau floated, to the forest. The two entered and Mitsuo frantically searched for a clue to the way Hasunuma had gone.
"This way." Kanau pointed to Mitsuo's left.
"How do you know?" Mitsuo helplessly asked.
"I can feel a strange energy there. It has to be the lamp." Kanau answered. With no other clues, Mitsuo ran in the direction Kanau had pointed. After several minutes, the two found a hardly trodden path and followed it. At the end of the path was a small clearing containing small building.
"You were right, Kanau. This has to be it." Mitsuo said and rushed into the building. Sure enough, on a table inside the shrine was a lamp. Mitsuo quickly grabbed the lamp and headed out the building.
"Wait! You better take the other two objects as well. We might need them." Kanau suggested. Playing to caution, Mitsuo picked up the rose, and reached for the sword. His hand passed right through the sword and touched the table instead.
"What is this? I can't pick it up." Mitsuo fretted. Kanau studied the weapon for a moment, and reached for it. He easily lifted it up from the table. Kanau looked at Mitsuo and shrugged. With the objects in hand, the two ran back to the main shrine.
The boys burst through the woods and ran headlong to the central building. Breathing hard, Mitsuo threw open the door and held up the two objects he brought. Kanau, close in tow, held up his sword. "Ah, the two have arrived. Bring the objects here, and we'll study them." The priestess said and the two boys brought the sword, rose, and lantern to her. "This is obviously the lamp Hien was sealed within." She set it aside indifferently and picked up the vibrant red rose. "Hmm…a pretty thing, but its significance escapes me." She turned it around between her fingers for a moment before setting it aside as well. She looked at the sword which Kanau had brought, but did not attempt to pick it up. "How curious is this? A blade meant for a ghost to wield…" She fell silent studying it.
"Can you see how to free Hasu?" Mitsuo impatiently queried the old woman.
"Not as yet. If you fear so for your beloved, why don't you go to the library and see if you can dig up anything." The priestess said, partly to give Mitsuo a useful task and partly to get him out of her hair.
"Where's the library?" He asked her, but before the old maiden could reply, another priestess beckoned him to follow. Mitsuo nodded and walked to the door. He glanced over his shoulder at the lantern that now held his loved one, and walked outside. The girl didn't take him too far, only a few buildings or so away, before she stopped and pointed to a door.
"Is this it?" Mitsuo asked her. The girl nodded with a smile and walked back to the central building. Mitsuo watched her for a second then turned purposefully to the library door. He opened the door and gapped at the amount of books, scrolls, and sheaves of paper that filled the room. He wondered exactly how he was supposed to find what he was looking for. Sighing with resolution, he walked through the library looking for two things; one, perhaps there was another person here who would of help, and two, perhaps he'd be able to see some title or something that would help him out.
After walking around for what seemed like hours, Mitsuo had encircled the entire building. No one else was in it, and there didn't seem to be any obvious clues. The distraught boy sighed in defeat.
"Are you looking for something?" A voiced purred from behind him.
"Yes I'm looking for information on…" Mitsuo turned and stopped mid sentence. Standing behind him with a smile on his face was Hien still disguised as Hasunuma. "Hien!" Mitsuo backed away.
"Oh? Looking for information on me?" Hien smirked and stepped toward Mitsuo. "I'm flattered, though you could just ask me." He reached out toward Mitsuo.
Not wishing to be caught by Hien again, Mitsuo turned and ran through the rows of books and headed for the exit. It took him only a few minutes to find the exit. He sighed in relief when he saw the door. If he could get through it before Hien could catch him, he could make a run for Mikuni's protection. Just as his hand touched the door, Mitsuo was grabbed from behind and pushed against a book case. Holding him to the bookcase was Hien. "Now, now, I can't have you escaping."
"Let me go!" Mitsuo angrily struggled.
"Hush, I'm not really going to hurt you. Your powers get in your way right? I'll just take them from you, and then you won't ever have to worry about the spirit world again." Hien leered and once again threw his binding spell on Mitsuo.
"No, Stop!" Mitsuo struggled in vain. Hien ignored the boy's attempts to free himself and turned his thoughts on the small frame and soft skin presented to him. He lightly brushed his lips against the trapped boy's check and down his neck.
Before things could continue any further, the two in the library heard a voice begin chanting. Hien growled and leapt away from Mitsuo. Once Mitsuo was free of the demon's touch, the binding spell vanished as before. The door was thrown open, and Mikuni entered the library. "Tch. Hatsuhana's spawn again." Hien growled in disgust. Mikuni began chanting again, but before he could finish Hien disappeared in burst of flame.
"Thanks Mikuni." Mitsuo sighed in relief and straightened his clothes.
"Hatushana? Hmm…I just might know where to find our answer." Mikuni said cryptically.
Before Mitsuo could ask Mikuni what he was talking about, the priest walked down the rows of books. He was obviously looking for something in particular.
"Mitsuo." A soft voice called from the doorway. Mitsuo turned and face the elderly priestess. "Come. There is something I have discovered and must show you." She led the boy back to the central building. Inside the building, Kanau was playing with the sword. He was feinting and paring with an imaginary opponent. The sight made Mitsuo smile. He'd never seen Kanau so enthralled in doing something.
"Here." The priestess said and handed the rose from the mini shrine to Mitsuo. Mitsuo looked at the rose and stared. When he had taken the rose from the shrine, he could have sworn it was a vibrant red rose. Now the rose was red from the center to about halfway to the end of the petals. The rest was a pale white. "That is the state of your lover's soul." The priestess sadly declared.
"What?" Mitsuo asked confused.
"There is a spell that has only been chanted a few times. That spell is the one used on this Chinese lantern. The spell is meant to completely remove a soul from this world. That rose is the representation of the spell. As the rose looses colour, the soul is devoured by the spell. The rose is showing that half of Hasunuma's soul has already been devoured." The priestess explained.
"But, when I brought it here it was fully red." Mitsuo pondered.
"Yes, the human soul is different from a demon's soul. A soul like Hien's will take years to slowly be destroyed by the spell. A human soul will be devoured in segments. When you brought it here the spell hadn't done anything. Now, it's had time to begin its work." The old maiden supplied.
"Then what will happen to Hasunuma if we free him? Will he be missing half his soul?" Mitsuo began to panic.
"No, he will be fine and whole if we free him." The priestess assured the boy. "Go get some rest. Mikuni seems to be onto a lead, and knowing him, he'll have a solution for you." She comforted and ushered the boy out of the room.
Mitsuo reluctantly left the building and headed to the room he and Hasunuma were supposed to be occupying. He sighed to himself and thought rolled the situation over in his head. If Mikuni was unable to figure the lamp out Hasunuma would disappear forever. His soul and his body would be gone. The thought of Hasunuma disappearing caused a sharp pain in the distraught boy's chest. He held back a sob and ran the rest of the way to his room. He pushed open the sliding door of the dormitory, ran down the hall, and into his room. Mitsuo lay down on the futon and cried himself to sleep.
After several hours, Mitsuo woke up and rubbed his eyes. He felt a bit better for sleeping and letting out his emotions. He stretched for a moment and looked around his room. He gasped and backed toward the door when he noticed a figure standing in the corner of the room. "Hien." He named the foe who stared at him. The man made no move to approach Mitsuo, and the boy gained a bit of courage from this. "Release Hasunuma!"
"Why?" Hien replied complacently.
"Because it's cruel for him to vanish completely!" Mitsuo hotly declared.
"Oh? So, it's okay for me to vanish, mind, body, and soul as if I had never been?" Hien replied in a voice colder than ice. The demon's tone and words made Mitsuo think for a moment.
"Mitsuo!" A chorus of voices called just before the door to his room was thrown open.
"Tch. The cavalry arrives." Hien said again in his complacent voice. Mitsuo looked through the door and saw Mikuni followed by a small group of talisman armed priestesses. The group began to chant a spell and Hien was engulfed in a strange blue light. Hien made no attempt to escape. Instead, the fire demon seemed to be resigned to his fate. From behind the demon Kanau passed through the wall with the ghost sword in his hand. He plunged the sword through the fire demon's chest, and the demon threw is head back in a silent scream.
The figure disguised as Hasunuma engulfed its self in flame and slowly vanished. "Finally. The pieces are here. The puzzle is complete." A voice cryptically declared from the flames before they vanished. A few moments after the flame was gone, a figure appeared on the ground. As the figure became clearer, Mitsuo rushed to it.
"Hasunuma!" He shouted with both joy and relief. Hasunuma lay on the floor as if he was asleep and Mitsuo threw himself on top of his beloved. Hasunuma opened his eyes as if awakening from a deep sleep and stroked Mitsuo's hair.
"Mitsuo?" He asked with a gorgy voice. Mitsuo just clung to him harder.
The group that had come to the boy's aid left the room. Mikuni thanked the priestesses who helped. They in return nodded, smiled, and continued their business. Mikuni glanced at Kanau, who was enviously watching the couple, and walked back to his room.
"Something bothering you?" A light feminine voice asked the ghost. Kanau turned to see a woman, also a ghost, standing next to him.
"Uh…who are you?" Kanau asked, caught off guard.
"Hatushana. Mikuni's several times great grandmother." The woman smiled.
"Oh, uh…pleasure to meet you." Kanau greeted, surprised.
"Well, things turned out almost as nicely as I had expected." She said and began to leave.
"Wait!" Kanau called and Hatsuhana stopped. "You planned this?"
"Yes, and no. Hien came up with half the idea." She smiled as Kanau looked utterly confused. "See, Hien and I are actually quite good friends, and we have some similar talents. Sight of the future being one of those traits. A demon dies one of two ways, either he is killed in battle or he gets old and his powers dwindle. Hien was suffering from the latter of the two possibilities. We decided to concoct a little plan to use his death as a way to help someone. He wasn't too fond of the idea of being trapped for a long time just to help one couple out, but he enjoyed the idea of an elaborate plot that he could be involved in."
"So, Hasunuma would never have disappeared?" Kanau asked.
"Nope. All I did was seal Hien in the lamp and made it look like a spell that had been used only once or twice. No one would be able to recognize that it was fake, and thus would create a whole drama for those two boys there." She explained nodding toward Mitsuo and Hasunuma. "Mikuni figured things out when Hien mentioned my name. In case the information was needed, I wrote everything down and had it kept in the library." She smiled. "Well, I guess I'd better go now. Any other questions you come up with I'll let your imagination decide the answers." Hatsuhana giggled as she disappeared.
Kanau stared after her for a few moments and finally came to the conclusion that Mikuni's entire line was full of scheming, plotting, meddlesome, priests and priestesses. Hatsuhana was just like her descendant. Sighing, Kanau floated down the hall to Mikuni's room and left the couple to console each other.