My chapters are slowly getting longer, lol. I guess that's just the nature of action chapters.

The gap of time between the two POVs are getting closer.

If there's any big issue in characterization that you feel needs to be pointed out, please drop a message!

Kakuyuki is "鶴" and Igari is "猪苅", and that should cover all the OCs.


Chapter 9

In his dreams, he saw many different spirits, of many different shapes, of a variety unfound of in his group of current companions. There were kappa and cows, ogres and horses, mermaids, giant birds, and, most common of all, humanoids. None of them felt very familiar, but they all embraced him in a blanket of warmth. He wondered why.

He was human. Humans and spirits didn't get along, as a general rule. Was he so different because he could see them? No, he wasn't on good terms on spirits either. If those were memories, then spirits brought along jeers and thrown rocks, as well threats and gaping maws.

Perhaps they were more alike than they thought. Humans and spirits both were selfish, and both believed what they wanted to believe.

These with him right now were friendly enough, but he knew that it was only because he was lending them a hand. They were "friends" in the most tenuous sense. No, perhaps less, because they had set him on a (undeserved) pedestal and called him "Lord."

How selfish was he, then, for wanting to be with them, help them, despite his definite inability to do so? He was human; he had no special abilities other than to see. A demon could just open his mouth and bite down, and he'd be a goner.

Yes, he was human, he thought as he clenched his fist tight.

"Nushi-sama!"

The voice pierced through his musings and couldn't help but gasp as he was ripped from his thoughts. He looked up. There, in the distance, came tumbling Ren.

"!"

He caught the rolling tanuki as he flew into his arms. "Calm down! What happened?"

"Th-th-there, K-Kakuy-yuki, atta-ttacked," Ren sniffed around his stutters, "H-help her! P-p-please!"

He put the sobbing raccoon dog down slowly and pat him once on the head in reassurance before dashing off in the direction Ren had pointed.

No, he wasn't really friends with them, but they depended on him for some unfathomable reason, so he had to try.

He ran as fast as he could, ground soaring beneath him. Legs retracted and stretched, and he lost track of time as he weaved over the stony hills and through the gnarled woods. His feet beat out a steady rhythm as he leapt forward; he was sure to feel the exhaustion later, but right now his heart beat in his ears and his throat. After far too long, he saw two figures.

They were moving in a clearing past the road – the unofficial boundary between human and spirit, but now was not the time to care about that. The larger figure was in front, fleeing clumsily as another winged being tore at its long hair, ripping it out in handfuls.

In a half-rage, half-panic moment, he jumped as hard as he could towards the two…

…and found that he was flying straight for them. He gave a small cry in shock, but now was definitely not the time to be surprised. If he could do it, all the better, and no sooner had he landed did he strike out with his fist at the bird man.

The bird (he briefly wondered what species) gave a shriek as he extricated himself, the wings on his back flapping desperately. No sooner than he had escaped into the air, though, did he come diving down, claws outstretched.

He reached into his pocket (he would have to apologize later; the robe was absolutely ruined) and pulled out one of the charms he'd made earlier that day on a whim. Kousetsu couldn't make it directly for him, but the spirit had his new pupil practice drawing them all day a few days ago.

By now, he was pretty good at making exorcism charms.

He wrapped the seemingly harmless paper around his knuckle and waited for the bird to approach. He thought he heard a snort, but dismissed the sound. The bird was approaching closer, and closer.

And then he was within arm's length, and he swung.

He didn't know what registered first, the thud of the body, the crack, or the soul-piercing scream that left the bird man's lips. It rent through the air, and it took all of his stubbornness to keep from squinting his eyes shut. He was already clapping his hands over his ears as hard as possible.

By the time he felt the air still and the world stopped spinning, the bird was in the sky, out of reach and cradling an arm that had an extra joint, bent the wrong way. The spirit wouldn't make it very far; he'd have to land and rest to cope with the pain.

He turned his attention to Kakuyuki, but when he looked, he found she had disappeared from sight. "Kakuyuki?" he called out. She wasn't anywhere in sight. He turned, stumbling a bit. A nearby rice field was completely destroyed, probably from the impact of the bird's body on the patty when he'd punched him.

"Nushi-sama!" came a distant answer. He turned to follow the voice, but it sounded far. Was there something wrong with his hearing? He lifted a hand to his ear and it came away a bit red.

"Nushi-sama!" This time, she was nearer. Before he knew it, she was standing right before him. He strained his ears to hear her words. "Are you OK? Please answer me! Igari will have my head and my beautiful hair if he found out you died!"

"I'm standing right here, Kakuyuki-san. I'm not dead." His own voice sounded like it was being drowned out by an ocean.

"Good. That's good. That's very good. Come on, let's get out of the fields." The spirit reached for his hand and pulled, but after two steps, he faltered and had to stop. She looked back. "What's wrong? Are you injured?"

"No, it's nothing. I think one of my eardrums burst or something." He reached to touch both ears. Indeed, only one hand came away wet.

"Eeek! Blood!" screamed Kakuyuki, completely oblivious to his flinch, "Nushi-sama is injured! I must get help! I must go back for help!" Before he could react, the hysterical spirit swept him over her shoulder and started a mad dash back to the forest.

He stopped struggling long before they reached the forest that was their home. All resistance was futile; her iron grip just got tighter and tighter.

"Hmm," observed Kousetsu, looking carefully in his ear after he had been hauled the entire dizzy ride back, "I cannot say for sure, but this does not seem to be a deep wound. It should heal in a day, at worst. I daresay the process has already started."

"Then Nushi-sama will be all right?" asked Ren.

He reached out and pet the tanuki in response. "A day? That's … really quick."

"We are speaking of someone with your level of spiritual power. You'll heal faster than humans."

He frowned. "You mean, 'other humans.'"

Before Koustesu could respond, however, the boar demon cut in. "You should not have been injured at all, Nushi-sama. That was a low-level crow. You should have killed it in the first blow."

"I won't kill when I don't have to," he growled. He hadn't talked much to Igari yet. The boar had been conspicuously out of sight and thus out of mind for the past week. The few times they did exchange words, all he'd get were offhand criticisms about whatever he was doing. All in all, this particular spirit was an unpleasant fellow that he tried to avoid as much as possible because he had nothing good to say, if at all.

"Your fighting technique is horrible, too obvious. You couldn't aim to kill if you tried."

"I wasn't trying."

"And instead you decide to come back to us injured. If you are having trouble at this level, Nushi-sama, it was wrong to appoint you this position." With those words, Igari turned and swept away.

Silence followed his departure.

"Don't worry, I think you're sweet," said Kakuyuki.

"I like you too," supplied Ren. "Don't worry about Igari-sama. He's just a big meanie."

"Shouldn't you be more respectful of someone you address with 'sama?'" he joked.

"But he's a jerk and a meanie, so no. You've already shown yourself to be a great Nushi-sama by protecting us!"

"Ah, you should show your elders more respect," said Kousetsu. He then turned to him. "Thank you, Nushi-sama. Without you, Kakuyuki-san's life would have been forfeit."

"No, it was thanks to you. Your lessons really paid off."

"Nevertheless, I give you my deepest thanks for saving what is left of us." With those words, the spirit bowed, only serving to deepen his embarrassment.

These spirits weren't friends.

They were hiding something.

They were forcing him to do something he really had no business in doing.

But if he was useful to them, if he could belong here, even for a moment, then perhaps…