Author's notes: So I looked into harvest moons and such and typically they occur near the September equinox (formerly the autumnal equinox for those in the Nothern Hemisphere.) The only time they occur in October is early on in the month. Which means if Hisoka was raped the year of his 13th birthday, he was technically 12. I'm going with that. I know perfectly well that Muraki seems to have the magical ability to do things on a harvest moon, but I figure it's more to do with the fact he's more active or completes things during the early fall. Bastard. Also, kilometers were not officially in use in Japan 'til the late 1920s in the public sectors even though it was approved in 1909 as a legal standard of measurement. It wouldn't be the measurement standard until 1981, just to be clear. From what I read, there was a shiteload of opposition to it; y'know, take away the common Shakkan-hō measurement system, and suddenly you're un-Japanese.

Holy smokes, this chapter long. :D Enjoy, and as always candy to reviewers!


I will dance so freely
Holding on to no one
You can hold me only
If you too will fall
Away from all these
Useless fears and chains

Someone I am
Is waiting for my courage
The one I want
The one I will become
Will catch me

So let me fall
If I must fall
I won't heed your warnings
I won't hear

Let me fall
If I fall
There's no reason
To miss this one chance
This perfect moment
Just let me fall

-Excerpt from "Let Me Fall" by Josh Groban


Wrapping loose hands around his knees, Hisoka sat on the dew-covered grass and stared unwaveringly at the red moon. He wished it wouldn't take the rest of the week for it to pass, but he knew it would. For Asato's sake, he had to at least wait outside even when the boy had no idea where he lived.

The lone cherry tree on top of the hill waved slightly in the briskly fall wind, losing a few leaves, branches, and some of its perpetual blooms in the dim light. None of the servants went near it because they believed it was possessed by malicious spirits that kept most of the flowers blooming until the leaves began to fall more vigorously as autumn progressed.

"Sorry." He clutched his knees. "Sorry, Asato."

The color had only grown more eerie, deepening to an orange-red color the later it got. The fact that he had come outside at all surprised him, even if he was safely under the protective eaves of his cellar.

A short shadow appeared next to the cherry tree and soon was lost in the backdrop of the dark hill. He shivered, but as the presence grew closer he knew who it was by the form. The emotions he thought he felt from him were false as they were mere projections of his mind. The doctor had told him so.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt? Why didn't you come?" The questions came right after another, followed by the plaintive, "I thought you stood me up."

To answer, he nodded, and then shook his head, before briefly looking up at the moon, hugging his legs closer to his chest. "I'm sorry." The wind gusted and the cloying smell of cherry blossoms stuck in the back of his throat, flipping his stomach.

"That?" Wearing a cleaner kimono with only some mud splatters along the bottom hem, Asato's eyes seemed to glow in the darkness as he looked up at the sky, and then back down. "It's just a harvest moon. It-"

"I know." He shuddered. He even knew it was caused by the Earth partially eclipsing it from the sun. "I know that."

The slight boy sat down next to him. "You're scared."

His head jerked up. "I am not."

"You're like a pill bug." Pulling his legs up and holding them to his chest, Asato plopped on his side rocking. "See?"

Hisoka pulled his arms away and forced his legs to lie down. "I am n-not!" He stopped the rest of the denial when his teeth began to chatter, and crossed his arms. He shouldn't be cold; he could feel the light heat persisting in the air, sticking to him in the light breeze. But it felt like winter under his skin.

Asato sat up. "What's wrong?"

Shaking his head, he curled up against the wall, not able to bear feeling so cold. "How did you find me?"

The boy's mouth worked a little. "I... saw which way you left last time and just went straight."

The feelings were muted, but Hisoka didn't have to trust them to know a lie. It made him angry. Friends weren't supposed to lie to each other, right? "You always turn to go home when we part."

He couldn't read Asato's expression very well, but he was definitely not mad. A little worried maybe. "It'll sound like a lie."

Hisoka gazed suspiciously into the eyes of the other. "If you say it's true, I'll believe you."

The boy also leaned back on the wall and looked up at the moon with a deep sigh, worrying and thinking. Hisoka was glad that his mind blanked out around him, the voices silent in his head.

Finally, Asato seemed to come to himself and turned back to Hisoka. "Promise?"

"I promise."

"Pinky swear?" He offered his smallest finger.

"I already promised; If I break it, I'll drink poison alright?" Hisoka said, quickly tucking his hands into his sleeves relieved that his skin had finally started to warm a little.

The boy dropped his hand. "I smelled you on the wind... and followed it."

Carefully, Hisoka brought his own hands up and sniffed, smelling dirt and little else. He tilted his head and sniffed his shoulder, the scent reminded him of his musty room with a hint of soap. He frowned a bit only because he had never heard of someone tracking someone else like that.

It rang as truth in his head however unbelievable it was, which meant he shouldn't believe it. Just like the 'voices' he imagined were others' thoughts. He shouldn't believe them.

He was suddenly worried that Asato was not real after all the meetings they had had. "Do you track animals or something?" It was a trick question of course, and he hoped the answer would prove he was sane for now. Otherwise all their conversations were pointless. He was glad no one was watching him in the middle of the night because being caught talking to nobody always left a lump of shame in his gut.

"No. I knew you wouldn't believe me. That's okay. Sis doesn't either."

"But you said you smelled me about a kilometer away. That's just impossible."

"Kilo-what?"

It was weird that his friend could be so ignorant in some things. However, Hisoka was glad when he could finally tell how miserable the heat really was even in the dead of the night. This little detour had gotten them far from the topic of the red moon and his irrational fear of it. When Asato just blinked at him, Hisoka rolled his eyes and wracked his brain for the traditional measurements. "Close to a quarter ri."

"Oh, well the wind helped..." Asato picked at his worn, muddy clothes. "And it's not that far."

Deciding he didn't want to talk so much about more odd things when the cold began to quiver again under the sweat of his skin, Hisoka abruptly changed the subject. "Your sister lets you go out this late at night?"

"I don't sleep much, and she's glad I made a friend. What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Your parents let you out this late?"

Hisoka shrugged uncomfortably and looked away. "I like being up late. What's that have to do with them?"

"Well, don't they care?" Asato fidgeted, fingers tugging at his ratty kimono looking like he didn't really want to know the answer or maybe that he shouldn't ask. The worried frown seemed very determined though.

After a breath's moment, Hisoka muttered the answer, "They care enough", truncating the rest of his thoughts about his filicidal mother and heir-hungry father. "I'm thirteen; I can take care of myself."

"Wow, you don't look that old."

Hisoka shrugged. "Runs in the family, I guess."

"Your hair color runs in the family too?"

"My dad is blonde like me, yeah."

"I never knew my parents."

Hisoka didn't know what to say to that. Asato's voice sounded like he actually wanted them, so he left it alone, listening to the hiss of the wind through the leaves and grass.

"It's really quiet here, huh?"

"At night it is."

Restless, Asato shifted propping his elbows on his crossed legs. "Hisoka?"

He turned to look at Asato, questioningly.

"What's your dad like?"

"Strict." At the look on Asato's face, he frowned thinking more. "It's like he expects more from me than I can do. He doesn't care about me. He only wants this Kurosaki-bot."

"Bot?"

"Robot. Like... not having emotions or feelings. No mistakes allowed, just do it right, do it perfectly every time like you've been programmed."

There was a longer pause this time like Asato didn't know what to say to that. "What about your mother?"

"What about her?" His voice had gone frigid because of the phantom hands that had begun to softly press against his throat.

Asato's face filled with helplessness when he realized he had somehow misstepped with his question, and waved his hands trying to stop the anger he thought was coming. "I-I'm sorry!-Hisoka?"

A different kind of freezing had settled on his skin, and he could hardly breathe. His friend had a look of alarm on his face as Hisoka choked on nothing, clutching at his throat and gasping. 'Mother, I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry. Don't cry!' But the words wouldn't be heard, couldn't have been as the clamp around his throat grew tighter and tighter.

MONSTER! FIEND!

"HISOKA!"

As the blackness of his panic attack yanked him under, four condemning words echoed from the back of his mind.

YOU'RE NOT MY CHILD!


The wailing was loud enough to wake the dead, and Wakaba was thankful that she had begun her prayer with its purification tassels early. The servant assisting her looked ill and no doubt had no better idea what the fuss was about.

"Would you go find out what's going on?"

The servant, Nishiro, bowed and excused himself.

She finished the simple ceremony, setting the necessary implements into the rest of her bundle, packing it together. Standing, she lifted it and walked to the family altar room. Before she could open the door, the steps of a frantic servant wheeled around the corner. Dropping her hand from the door's handle-indentation, she turned to give her full attention. "Miya? What's wrong?"

She panted. "Master's... brother, Master Iwao..."

"Take your time or you might start hiccuping."

She spent a minute catching her breath and then stood straight. "Master Iwao is dead! And since one of Master's servants is missing, we think that the servant..." She bit her lip, but Wakaba understood what was implied.

"Where is the Master of the house?"

"He is stricken with terrible illness again. The village doctor told me he is to be restricted to bed rest and for him to avoid anymore stress." Tears had filled up the maid's eyes. "Master has been very weak of health for so long because of the curse!"

Again, the vague curse was mentioned. Unfortunately, she knew only the little that Nagare had chosen to reveal and what she could read from the house; it was generations old and failing. Furthermore, the only loving energy in this place seemed to arise from the timid servants in deep respect and loyalty to the cold Nagare.

"Priestess, what can I do to ease him?" Her voice cracked with emotion as she held her mouth and looked down to collect herself, arms down while she tightly fisted hands into the fabric of her drab servant's yutaka. "I apologize for my forwardness if it has offended, but I speak for the servants of the house. We all wish for our Master to flourish and feel well."

"No, no. Please. Tell me more about this curse. I believe this is the source of all our present troubles." Wakaba nodded regally, certainty filling her voice. "I have been told that it came from a vengeful kami who had often spirited children away."

Miya hesitated and glanced at the door to the family altar. "Before we begin, would it please you to move to a more comfortable place?"

She tilted her head forward in response and followed the maid to whatever destination she had in mind.

The path they took wound through the house avoiding the main hallways. By the time Wakaba walked into the room that was temporarily hers, she was very disoriented. Sitting down, Wakaba put the bundle to her right as Miya, after shutting the shoji, joined her, adjusting her kimono with a single, practiced sweep of both of her hands as she knelt. "Would you like some tea before I start?"

Wakaba smiled warmly. "No, but thank you for asking. Begin when you are ready."

Miya bowed her head down staring at the balled hands in her lap. "The curse means an early death for any who are foolish enough to grow close to the current Master or seek the family's dark secrets. As the stories my mother told me went, Yatonokami had ravaged our village centuries ago with disease and famine when no child was sent to him. Until the rounin warrior, Kurosaki Ren, came, our village was helpless against its rigid conditions and vengeance."

There was a long pause and Wakaba waited for her to continue.

"Other warriors had come before to try to slay the monster, but all had died. The kami had ordered that failed challengers' bodies would neither be buried nor respected as a warning to all of its cruel might. Because of that, the stony-faced warrior was not treated as a welcomed guest, so he camped while he waited for the kami to appear. When the moon became full, Yatonokami appeared from the marshes wearing a human's form with eyes the color of a green-and-yellowing infection and hair like yellow stilt grass..."

Wakaba's mind raced at Miya's pause. The current Head looked very similar to this kami's human incarnation, didn't he? She remembered looking at the paintings or pictures lining the family altar, and none of them had even brown hair before Nagare's succession. When Miya did not continue, Wakaba made an effort to not look impatient or stare at her critically.

"I'm sorry, priestess. This is hard for me. We are told from an early age never to speak of this story to strangers."

"I understand. So this rounin warrior, Kurosaki, did what others failed to do before him?"

"Yes, but when the warrior was about to deal the killing blow... Yatonokami transformed into a creature ugly beyond belief. The kami was like a very, very large snake, but it had thick, yellow arms almost like an octopus and large leather wings along its main body. Our ancestors thought for sure that the rounin would die when the kami spewed unnaturally colored fire..."

Tempering her voice to be gentle, Wakaba diverted the maid's attention. "He didn't and the village rewarded him by making him sovereign?"

"Yes... but before the kami died, he proclaimed that if the Kurosaki lineage ever ended he would rise again and destroy the village and all the descendants within."

"And do you believe this will happen?"

"Our little Master was taken from us and our Ladies, Master's first and second wives; all were lost to madness before their deaths. The old, retired servants say this is not simply happenstance for the Kurosaki clan as it has happened over and over again."

Wakaba remained silent and contemplative, not responding yet as she thought over the clues.

"Please, I... I have heard it, yes, I have heard it!" Miya's eyes were wide with fear and courage as she bulled ahead. "When the moon is full outside the room he refuses to leave at night, it tortures hm, telling him all sorts of nasty lies!" When the priestess showed no change in her serene expression not even a hesitation in breathing, Miya slammed both of her hands down bowing deeply, flushing in shame. "Please, priestess, please believe me! Our Master is all who is left standing between us and Yatonokami, and he is dying." The maid's tears were full and splashed onto the tatami beneath her, her voice tremulous and stuffy with phlegm as she cried without sobbing her entire form wobbling when she heard no response. "What can we do, priestess? We'll do anything to save our gentle Master. You're our last hope... I'm afraid a shinigami will take him away like they took Lady Rui and her unborn."

The reassurance that had been primed and ready to part from Wakaba's lips stilled instantly. It wasn't because Miya had deliberately spoken without the figurative meaning of shinigami intended. Underneath her red and white vestaments, her heart shuddered in empathetic understanding, feeling her eyes prick at the corners. "I will do my best. I believe I know what this kami is and the curse of misfortune it has lain onto the Master in your care. I do not know if I will succeed in saving his life, but I can at least tell you that this kami will not rampage through the village."

Miya let out a sob and then another as her shoulders trembled, unable to speak as she whipped her head side-to-side, quickly rising almost falling when she tripped as she lunged for the door. She missed the handle as her fingers tore through the shoji paper and slammed the door open running out without a bow or a word of excuse. Wakaba remained where she was as she listened to the maid's feet patter on the wooden floor until they faded from hearing.

Without a doubt, this 'kami' did not belong here. Even as her heart continued to hurt in understanding for Miya, Wakaba steeled her mind.

Nagare's scaly skin and eyes were clear signs that he was rejecting the snake god's cohabitation; his natural hair and eye color were probably black through and through as Terazuma's had been.

Taking a deep breath, she cleared her mind of the hundred niggling thoughts that were trying to invade. First, she had to speak with Hajime. His troubles with his shikigami made much more sense now that she knew one inhabited Nagare's weakening body. The amount of restraint that Kuro-chan had shown in his presence was astonishing when the littlest things would often trigger its transformation.

This accursed shikigami had escaped the separation between the human realm and its own, centuries ago, living within a host that had descended from the original challenger that had passed its dangerous test.

The reasons of motive weren't apparent, but Wakaba would send it back to where it belonged. It was the power granted by Enma himself, the ability to unlock the dimensional gate to the Imaginary World.

She had to protect this village, and if it was possible save Hisoka's father from death. For Miya, and also for Hisoka.

Standing with her bundle, she opened the shoji to the garden and walked out, passing a young plum tree with a marker in front where it was written, 'For the potential, lost forever in grieving, may spring come again.'


Sitting up, Hisoka stared in confusion at the blank, gray walls surrounding him. He turned his head and saw the door he had entered through and was immediately on his feet. Then stopped short when he realized he had slept on the floor without any of the blankets or pillows he had thought he had gotten for himself. Shaking his head clear, he thought it wasn't all that strange really. The whole room had been an illusion, though he had no aches or pains associated with sleeping on a very flat, cool floor.

The room felt very empty now that it triggered none of his memories, holding his breath when he expected more, but nothing more occurred. He put on his shoes, and was very glad when the doorknob turned in his hand.

There was only Teiko there to look up at him as he exited the room. "You do not look well-rested. Did you have nightmares?"

"No, just couldn't sleep." He scratched the back of his left ear, yawning with a hand over his mouth.

"Breakfast is ready, if you are inclined to eat."

"I'll pass." His stomach was in knots.

"Very well. Riko is outside performing her task as we speak. Shall we join her?" Teiko's eyes were thorough in their assessment as she went around him, casually checking for injury or other external cause for her bondmate's insecure feelings and finding nothing.

"Sure."

Teiko led the way back out of the very long hallway to the sunlit glow just to their right. Stepping outside, they met a child-fairy with short orange curls, orange garments, and bright red-orange transparent wings who stood as tall as Hisoka's chin, holding three scrolls. "Oh, you're finally awake!"

Hearing giggling, Hisoka looked behind him only to catch a glance of another batch of brightly dressed fairy children before they ducked behind a bush. Puzzled but not enough to go bother them, Hisoka turned back around only to have two skinny scrolls pushed against his right cheek, both of which he grabbed in reflex stepping back from the tiny body that had been so close he smelled a light fragrance of citrus.

"Open the blue one! The other one will open later to give you another task!"

"Do newcomers always have twice as much to do?" Hisoka asked in grated politeness looking at the sky-blue and the cream-orange one.

"No! Our Lord said you are very special and kind!" Turning to the winged cat, the cheerful child dropped a thick scroll at her feet, reaching out to pet her. "There you are! We're glad to see you back, kitty!"

While Teiko shrieked about the fairy's impudence, Hisoka set the one in his right down, and opened the blue one. Unwinding it fully, he read it. As Teiko's ire grew, more fairy children came out of hiding to try to touch her, and was chased in return. Hisoka felt amusement bubble up at the words on the blue scroll chuckling. When he had reread it twice to make sure he had understood the archaic words, he was laughing heartily.

Having never heard of this activity from her bondmate before, Teiko stopped and crept close to him with her ears and wings back. "What is the matter with you?" She barked out before the extremely brief laughter ended.

The light smile vanished as he frowned, returning to the serious facade he always seemed to carry. "They've assigned me as your debt collector until you finish all of the tasks they've given you."

She screamed shrilly at him, "WHAT?"

Ears ringing, Hisoka eyed her scroll his heart still at ease as he replied in his most scathing tone, the one he used on Tsuzuki when he claimed he had his paperwork finished, "Are you sure about that?"

When Teiko argued in the positive knocking the scroll away with a hard shove, three fairy children gathered around it, until the blond child dressed in royal purple with lavender wings boldly reached out and unknotted the cord. The tallest one in pink with nearly colorless wings picked it up by the two wooden handles with a great heave, tottering a little with its weight. The one in orange that had greeted them when they walked out, took a delicate hand and grabbed the triangular flap. As the fairy walked towards Hisoka, the scroll unwound with a quiet brushing sound that was heard between the noise of Teiko's continued rant. In all, it was about a meter long and 10 centimeters wide with tiny rows of double column ink on it. Only the last sentence in the bottom-most right corner was completely illegible.

"THOSE TASKS ARE IMPOSSIBLE TO COMPLETE! I REFUSE!"

When she panted to catch her breath, Hisoka found the opportunity he needed. "Teiko, almost all of the tasks are crossed off already. Come, look."

She hesitated, but gawked when she found this to be true and was stunned into silence.

Hisoka tapped the list. "You have four more items to complete and then you're done. So let's start with the next one..."

"Catch the wind in four directions and an important imp will be caught as well." He read off.

"You cannot possibly capture the wind!"

"Oh that one's easy, amigo!" Riko danced in place. "I even have an extra bag after my morning chores! You can have it?"

Teiko pulled her lip back, sneering.

Looking up from the steady scroll still being held open, Hisoka pulled his hands away from it, decision made after he had read the task after this one, ignoring the children surrounding them with quiet watchfulness. "Let's get this one and the next done before we go."

"No."

"But Teiko! I can show you how! You just hold the bag open like this~!" Riko held on to the sides of the sack an opened it as wide as it could go. "And then spin around in place when it's breezy!"

"Absolutely not!"

"Fine. We can stay here another night." Hisoka supplied with a bored tone.

With an aggravated noise, Teiko changed to her human form snatching the bag from Riko's offering hands, and repeated the actions as Riko had modeled. "There!"

"Oh, no, no! You let it escape, amigo, so you have to do it again! You must tie it to keep the wind from escaping!"

Arms held open wide, the sack suddenly lurched in her hands as Teiko spun in place while her beads clacked noisily, tying it as quickly as possible when she stopped. Setting the wriggling thing down, she glared at the cheering fairy children and Riko. "Enough!"

As they continued to make their noise, Hisoka watched as the item was scored off the scroll. "Looks like it's completed."

"Of course." She stated haughtily, crossing her arms.

Arching an eyebrow at her, Hisoka didn't say a thing about how she acted before, going to the next item. "Play with the children until lunch and don't forget to frolic."

"That's two hours away!" Her tiny wings bristled as she laced her words with ready confrontation.

"We aren't going until you've finished."

She snarled until a ball smacked her in the head, and then she was running toward the kid in a rage, screaming at him as he laughed and danced away. The other children followed suit playing a kind of dodgeball. Seeing the others have fun, the two fairies holding the scroll open dropped it on the ground carelessly as they ran after them. Hisoka bent over carefully rolling it up as it sat on the grass, standing upright when he was done.

"That looks like fun!"

"Why don't you join them, Riko?"

"Right away!" The petite girl in denim shorts and graphic t-shirt ran off, joining the chorus of giggling taunts and teasing laughter directed at Teiko, whose ire had faded into single-minded focus. Hisoka watched them attentively with a small amount of longing and envy, tainted childhood memories of his own outside play in the sparkling sunlight and clear skies surfacing passively.

"Hisoka, let's play!" "Yeah, let's play Kagome, Kagome!" "You're the oni, Hisoka!"

Lost in the memory of chained arms and bodies circling around him chanting the eerie song, he jumped, when Riko shouted next to him, "Master, let's go eat!"

Breathless from the amount of running she had done, Riko smiled broadly at Hisoka, when he just gave her a look, seemingly unaware that she had startled him. "You're hungry, right amigo?"

Shrugging, Hisoka still didn't feel that hungry.

Reaching over and grabbing his hand, she tugged him into motion back towards the largest hill. "Let's go eat a snack!"

Looking down at the large rolled scroll before he was pulled too far, he dropped the blue one next to it, deciding only to carry the other with him. He nodded, following Riko to the dining hall.

They were greeted a bit more warmly as they entered the mound. When he sat, a plate of light pink flowers with their centers removed was put in front of him. It smelled slightly floral but not like any flowers he recognize, and tasted tart. He liked it, and ate two plates' worth of the petals easily.

When they finished and went back out, they found Teiko seated, sweaty and irritated with the very young fairies in her lap and hanging off her shoulders.

"Tell us a story!"

"Yeah, tell us a story, kitty!"

"Brats, settle down-AND DON'T PULL MY HAIR!-and I will tell you a story." She frowned for a moment and then nodded. "What about story of Two Best Friends?"

"Boring!"
"We've heard it a thousand times!"
"And don't try to tell us about the other stories about the Four Great Wars, either!"
"Tell us something exciting!"

"Since you brats know what you want to hear, tell me which story you want then." She hmphed at the children who were seated in a half-circle in front of her.

"I wanna hear about the Priestess and the Beast!"
"You always wanna hear that one!"
"What about Kurikara's Escape?"
"Yeah!" "Yeahh!" "I wanna hear that one! I wanna hear it!"

Teiko raised an arm to silence them, and at the alarmed look on Hisoka's face she smiled. "It's just a story. One fabricated by the supporters of the Dragon King, the ones who were unable to fight in the Final War."

"But-"

Giving him a stern look, Teiko began interrupting whatever he was going to say.

"Many years ago, the frightful Dragon King lost."

Hisoka relented, embarrassed at himself for what he almost revealed. Kurikara may be escaping in the near-future, but no one knew that except for a select few.

"His once-best friend had cruelly ignored his pleas to free his supporters, and so the fire dragon languished in despair, shunning all contact with his people, too ashamed to face them."

"In his isolation, he began to re-forge his lost swords and dearest servants. The first was wrought in the fires of his fury and vengeance, and so Futsunomitama was reborn. It sung for the blood of his enemy and of violence and fierce might, and it sung of nothing else."

"As Kurikara's wrath ebbed, worn down by the river of time, he found the sword's angry song increasingly tiresome, but he couldn't bring himself to destroy his cherished war-sword because it had only acted as a mirror, reflecting the wrath he felt from losing. Thus, he lashed it to a wall with thick links of steel, commanding its silence. In this way, he returned to the forges with only peace and serenity in mind."

"Amenomurakumo's rebirth took months. Each careful layer locked Kurikara's great compassion and love into the metal. He rested a full two years so exhausted he was when his second sword was complete. When he felt ready to finally face his brothers and sisters of the lost war, he sheathed his swords and wandered out of the ruins he had occupied in self-penitence."

"Soon, he was awash among his supporters and was overcome with emotion because he knew they had waited for his return."

"Looking among the many faces around him, in his clenched fists he held his swords high. 'Which do you pick, my friends? More war, more hatred?' He yelled as he shook Futsunomitama in his left fist."

"The crowd became silent at his furious shout."

"He waved Amenomurakumo at them. 'Or shall we surprise them with our forgiveness? Our hope for a world without that fake Emperor?'"

"Again, his supporters did not answer out of deep respect for him."

"He placed his mighty swords into his belt with the utmost care, turning to look at them all. 'I have failed all of you; I have failed to prevent the Celestial Emperor's plan; I have failed to protect our world!' Kneeling on one knee, he bowed his head. 'Without you, I am nothing.'"

"He held his arms out from his sides, the left in a fist and the right open and welcoming. 'Whichever you choose, I ask for your forgiveness. If you can forgive my failures, stand by my side. Whichever way you pick, I will follow.'"

Teiko paused for far longer than she had before, and the two squirming children in her lap fussed. "What happened?" "Don't stop there!"

The other fairies voiced similar pleas, and Hisoka himself was surprised by how transfixed he had gotten by the story.

Taking pity on her listeners, she continued with a smug look. "When he lifted his head, no one remained in front of him or even beside him. He turned with great pride and joy. His brothers and sisters had chosen to stand behind him pledging to remain his pillar of support and trusting in whatever decision he felt was right and just."

"A huge grin stretched upon his face then. 'Follow me! To the land of our past lives!' With a powerful sweep of his hand, he tore a gateway directly to our homeland. Their freedom was now and Kurikara had decided." She took a breath. "The end."

The children clapped, cheering and tossing words of gratitude in Teiko's direction. At the sound of a heavy bell chiming, some looked up while others immediately scattered, running towards the dining hall. Very few remained to play out in the field with the ball they had initially used against Teiko, and Riko looked to Hisoka who nodded at her unspoken question. Running all out, with a whoop Riko joined the remaining five children in an unstructured football game.

"What did he choose?" Hisoka asked, feeling like the story was unfinished.

Standing wearily, the toga-wearing shikigami looked out at the children kicking the ball towards the 'goals'. "That is for the listener to decide, whether he extended an offering of peace or laid seige to Tenkuu."

Curious, Hisoka unwound the white scroll still laying undisturbed on the ground, noting that another line had been marked off and reading the task in the first column on the last line.

"What does the infernal thing say I must do next?"

"Proclaim your love."

"Love of what to whom? To you?"

Hisoka shrugged unhelpfully. "That's all it says, 'Proclaim your love.'"

She snorted arms crossed. "I won't be yelling this way and that every little thing I like to every random passerby."

Reading over the pre-marked-through items that looked equally unlikely to be completed but ultimately had, Hisoka frowned. "Maybe the opportunity just hasn't presented itself."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because in a sense you did 'Marry a human' and you did 'Change a Tengu's mind'." He pointed at the scored line on the list.

"And what of the last task?"

"I don't know. It's smudged."

She heaved a sigh and bent down to look at it, frustration flitting over her features. "What manner of prank is this? How do I complete a task that is unreadable?"

Hisoka stiffened, worried about a possible magical blacklash when, growling, she tore a strip off the bottom of the scroll and shoved the paper into his hand. "We are heading back to Mount Koho for we have dallied long enough!"

Calling Riko, who waved to the others as she headed towards Hisoka, they went to the entrance of the fairy's mound where very tall mushrooms loomed. Once they had regained their normal size, Hisoka and Riko bid farewell to the guards, the shorter of the two especially thankful for their kind hospitality, while Teiko transformed to her more efficient four-legged form.

"Come. The King is waiting."


"Ken!"

Squatting in his coveralls, the bronze-skinned youth tsked in annoyance, wiping his blackened, smeared hands on an equally greasy-looking oil rag in the corner of the garage he considered 'his'. "What! Didn't you want this engine fixed today?" He hollered back, sticking the rag back into his pocket and not moving away from the hood of a small car with a finicky engine. His three fellow coworkers continued working. It was a busy Saturday, and they were doing basic maintenance packages, like changing oil or performing tuneups.

Soft footsteps walked towards him. "Some kids're messing with your bike again."

"Let 'em. I'm busy, Myuji."

"I'm trying to tell you, Ken." Only able to see the bound-up, intricate black dreadlocks on the back of his worker's head, the manager of a small car-repair shop blew out his breath, wiping his forehead. "One of them is rolling it away."

Ducking free of the hood, Ken flashed a wide grin. "Now that's interesting." He pulled the rag out from habit and again cleaned his hands, reeking of oil and transmission fluid. "I'll go check it out." The short guy jogged out in his typical manner with a purposeful look on his face.

Myuji put his hat back on with a sigh of relief.

"Yo, where'd Ken go? The order for the part he needed came in." Nomi peeked around the corner. Not even in his thoughts did Myuji think of her as a secretary. His daughter hated that word.

"A kid was walking his bike down the street and he went to check it out."

"Hope the kid doesn't get sent to the hospital."

"Mm." He agreed. Frankly if Ken wasn't such a good mechanic, he would have kicked the guy out months ago. He was a loose cannon, especially if he was treated as an inferior. It was an odd way for an inferior complex to manifest, he had thought more than once.

Not a few minutes later, Ken walked back in breezily with a smile, and went back to his work.

"Hey, Ken. This what you wanted?" The slight woman stood about as tall as the short mechanic, holding the large package towards him.

"If those're the sensors and waterpump, yes. Thanks Nomi. Set it on the counter."

She did, flicking open her cardboard cutter and slicing the tape, so that all he had to do was lift the flaps of the box and take what he wanted. "So is the kid okay?"

"No, I broke all the bones in his body."

She whirled around, but at the look at his face she pouted. "Don't tease me!"

"You're so nosy." He went for the box after wiping his hands again. "The kid's fine. Gusoku liked him."

"Right. You forgot to lock the brake, huh?"

He smiled at her again, as he unpacked the box, his arms coiled with detailed black tattoos.

"Nomi! The phone's ringing nonstop over here!" She heard her father yell.

"Coming!" She yelled back, looking to Ken. "That badger really likes you around, Ken. Just be careful. The other mechanics think you're running from the yakuza."

He let out a surprised laugh at that and went back to work.

No one was chasing him yet and he would know if they had.

TBC.