~Chapter 1~
She was late getting home from school; she hadn't expected club to last so long. It was well after dark, and her cell phone was dead.
I need to remember to pack my charger tomorrow, she thought, hurrying along the sidewalk. The distant rumble of thunder reminded her that she'd forgotten her umbrella at school.
With a groan, Tsugumi Shibata cut through the park, despite her father Hajime's warning her not to again and again.
"It's too dangerous, Tsugumi," He'd said, frowning. "I'd rather you not use that shortcut."
Surely one time won't hurt, she thought, cutting down the path through the woods that she knew led right to the back of their apartment complex. It'll be faster, and I might not get caught by the rain.
She skidded to a halt on the dirt path through the brush.
Standing before her in a small clearing, with one hand grasping the throat of a middle aged man, was a huge man, dressed in the garb of a warring states era ronin. In his other hand was a short sword, the moonlight gleaming on its razor edge.
His feet were floating nearly half a meter off the ground.
He scowled down at her, his coral colored eyes burning into hers.
"You…can see me?" He growled, his expression a mixture of disbelief and curiosity. Then he was slowly turning toward her, dropping the dead man. Tsugumi backed up clumsily, her legs giving way as she wet herself, falling hard on her bottom. Her eyes wide, she watched as a drop of blood slowly lengthened, and then fell from the blade.
"This…is quite curious." He hissed softly, cleaning the blade with a tissue from his sleeve. "Quite…disturbing."
"I…I won't tell anyone…" She whimpered, trembling violently with fear. "I swear it-"
"Of course you won't." He smiled, lifting her chin with the tip of the wakizashi. She felt the tip just barely break the skin just under her jaw and squeezed her eyes shut, praying for help from the gods, from anyone.
She waited.
The tip of the sword was gone.
She opened her eyes.
She was alone in the small clearing, the only sound being the cicadas and other city night sounds, as well as the rumbling of the approaching storm.
The body, the blood, the ronin…all gone.
I was hallucinating. I really need more rest, I suppose…
Reaching up to her chin, she touched the underside, and then looked at her bloody fingers. Her eyes widened in horror, then she fainted dead away, crumpling into an untidy heap on the ground.
oOo
"Ah, you're awake."
Tsugumi opened her eyes, blinking in the early morning light. Her father leaned over her, placing a cool washcloth on her brow, then adjusting the blanket that covered her.
"How…how did I get home?" She said, puzzled.
"One of your classmates brought you home." Hajime said, sitting back on his heels. "Ah…Kenji, I think he said his name was. I didn't catch his family name."
Kenji? She thought, now completely confused. There's no Kenji in my class…
"Anyway, how did you cut your chin?"
oOo
She saw him the next day, on the way home from school. He was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, a leather jacket and combat boots, his hair slicked back like a member of some bōsōzoku gang, but she still recognized him. He was arrogantly leaning against a lamp post, idly watching the traffic drive by.
I'm going to ignore him. I don't see him.
"Hey, beautiful! You just gonna walk on by, you're breaking my heart." He said, falling into step next to her. Tsugumi kept walking, nervously looking around for a chance to escape.
"Relax. Nobody else can see me." He grinned, stepping around her to block her path. "Watch."
A group of elementary school kids, walking along the sidewalk, approached.
Oh, no. Not them…
"No, not them." She whispered, "Don't do this-"
He jumped out from in front of her at the children.
"Boo! I'm going to eat you!" He roared at them, causing Tsugumi to flinch.
The children walked by them as if he wasn't even there; giving no sign they'd heard anything.
"Kids these days," He shrugged, "no respect for their elders."
"What do you want?" She asked, beginning to get angry.
"I'm curious." He smiled. "Nobody can see me unless I allow it. You shouldn't be able to see me right now, just like those kids. Now for the second part of the test."
"I need to get to school." She fumed, glaring at him.
"Temper, temper."
"What do you want?"
"Touch me."
"I beg your pardon?" Tsugumi said, blushing. "I…I'm only 17 years old, I'll yell for the police-"
"Oh?" He grinned. "And just what will you tell the police? Hm?"
She snapped, shoving at him with both hands. The sole effect was that she fell backward, landing painfully on her rear and scuffing up her hands.
"Ow…" She groaned, inspecting the abrasion on one hand.
"Young miss? Are you alright?" Asked a middle-aged woman, her face concerned.
"I tripped, I think." Tsugumi said, blushing as she scrambled to her feet. When the woman nodded and walked on, she let out a sigh of relief.
She looked up at him. He wasn't smiling any more. The boyish grin had been replaced by an expression that looked deeply troubled.
"That'll do." He sighed, turned on his heel, and walked away.
oOo
"Ojou."
"Yes?"
"There is a mortal who can see me in my concealed form." Takahara Kenji said, kneeling before the young girl. A spinning wheel creaked behind a shouji screen behind her.
"Impossible." Ai Emma said, watching the goldfish swim about the bowl on the shelf. "Perhaps you were careless."
"When I was collecting Aoyama, she saw me."
Ai frowned slightly.
"Who is this mortal?" She asked, turning to gaze upon her most loyal servant. "Do you know her name?"
"Shibata Tsugumi, a high school girl." He said, his eyes on the tatami mat before him in respect. "She…she can touch me also in my concealed form. I believe she might pose a threat."
Ai considered this for a moment, then turned back to the goldfish.
"You are forbidden to harm her."
"Oujo! She-"He began, and then stopped when she turned back to him, giving him a cold glare.
"Kenji. She is no threat." Ai said, staring at him until he dropped his eyes to the mat. "I forbid you to harm her in any way."
"Hai, Oujo." He said, trembling slightly.
"You are dismissed."
Bowing, he rose, turned, and walked out of the room onto the outside porch, closing the shoji door behind him.
"Get yourself a nice ass-chewing?"
Kenji spun around, grabbed Ren Ichimoku by his jacket collar, and shoved him hard enough against one of the timbers supporting the roof of the porch hard enough to crack it.
"Kenji!" Hone Onna said sharply, gathering her kimono and walking over to the burly ronin to gently place a hand on his arm. "Don't. It's not worth it, sempai."
With a withering glare, Kenji shoved Ren away from him and stalked off.
"Gee, thanks for coming to my rescue." Ren said, rubbing his neck. "It's not like he can hurt me that much, anyway."
"Don't bait him." She replied. "He's been in her service longer than even Wanyūdō. Just because you're immortal doesn't mean you should chance it."
oOo
He sat in the swing on the playground, idly drawing with his boot heel in the sand. The park was empty, with most of the mothers having gone home with their children.
"What are you doing here?"
Kenji looked up to see Tsugumi Shibata standing a few feet away.
"Nothing." He said sullenly. "I'm not bothering you. Go away."
"Why does it bother you that I can see you?" She asked, curious. She'd found herself going by the park two to three times a day, not really knowing why.
I was hoping to find him again, she thought.
"It doesn't. It's just an anomaly." He said, a bit more confidently than he felt.
"What are you?"
"A demon." He answered, looking at the ground.
Tsugumi couldn't help but feel that he was telling the truth, as unbelievable as it may seem.
oOo
November, 1596
He was lying at the base of a tree, near the family shrine.
So much pain.
I'm dying, he thought, nearly blacking out again. Aiko, Yumiko, Shiro, Akane…I failed you. I'll see you soon.
Feverish eyes struggled to focus as a figure came closer, gradually coming into view.
An Owari foot soldier, or samurai, come to take my head? He grasped blindly at his obi, struggling to find his short sword, his tanto, anything. An arrow snapped off as he rolled over on his back, pain lancing through his gut as he fought to gain his feet. His hand touched a short stick, barely as thick as his thumb, and he instinctively grabbed it, rolling onto his side.
A woman…no, a girl…in a white kimono. A demon?
"Takihara Kenji," She said, coming closer. "Your struggle is over."
He laughed hysterically, weeping as he struggled to sit up, trying to raise the stick to ward her off.
"I suppose you're here to take me to hell." He wheezed, blood bubbling from his lips. "I can assure you-"
"Takihara Kenji…" The girl said solemnly, "Would you…serve me?"
She swam in his vision, and he blinked, trying to keep her in focus.
What kind of joke is this? I must be dying…I'm seeing things…hearing things…
"Serve you?" He whispered weakly, feeling his head getting heavier, the words a major effort to produce. "I'm dying…how can a dead man serve you?"
"You would be…my bushi. My sword." She said, watching him intently.
He laughed weakly.
"Of course…I will…" He paused, coughing up more pinkish blood. "I will serve you…for however long my wretched life goes on. Which…won't…be much…longer…"
Suddenly, he realized she was kneeling, his head in her lap. He could no longer feel his legs.
"Then rest." She said softly, her voice sounding far away.
He was shivering.
"So…cold…" He said, feeling his eyelids grow heavy. "Cold…"
"Rest. It will be over soon."
Rain? He thought, puzzled, as he felt a drop of water hit his face, then another. That's strange. There was not a cloud in the sky when I stopped here…
His eyelids were so heavy, impossible to keep them open.
"I…" He whispered weakly, and then everything went black.
ooOoo