Meeting Hiroku
Mai sighed and closed her notebook. She had just completed the entry about the Urado case, and it wasn't funny business. She suspected that the only reason she wasn't freaking out and having another panic attack was due to the oddly harmonious energy surrounding this place.
Now, however, she felt a strange combination of emotions: relief, because she had finally written down everything and started dealing with her emotions about it; stress, due to re-experiencing the whole case; sadness, thanks to the memories of SPR; anger, caused by the former; longing, for the adrenaline and tension only experienced on cases; and lastly, happiness for finally closing that chapter of her life.
No, it's not like she had finished dealing with her memories of SPR, the terror she encountered on cases, and that case in particular, but she knew that she had just done a large step towards finally overcoming it all.
Slowly she stood up and stretched, before walking over to the lake.
It's seriously beautiful. I wonder if it came into existence naturally or if it was created artificially?
The wind played with her hair and lifted her skirt up a bit. Smoothing it down Mai lowered herself on one of the stones at the shore, and dipped one of her toes in the water.
To her surprise, the water had the perfect temperature: cool enough to be refreshing, yet warm enough that it was comfortable. When she looked carefully, she saw that the ground of the lake shimmered in an almost unnoticeable red, visible only due to the extreme clearness of the lake.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" A soft voice spoke into her ear. A small sound of surprise escaped Mai's throat as she whirled around, falling into one of the defensive kata's Gen-san had taught her instinctually, poising herself to strike. The stranger just laughed and raised his hands in a calming manner.
"Woah, calm down tiger. Where's the fire?" He's still laughing.
"There's no fire. You just surprised me. Seriously, didn't anyone teach you not to sneak up behind people? It's not a nice thing to do." Mai focused on her body, and consciously relaxed each muscle before falling into a relaxed stance as she sighed.
Suddenly, however, a silky voice purred into her ear.
"Does it bother you? Normally females love when I do it though… And especially what I do after –"
He never got to finish his sentence, because Mai had – quickly and hard – punched him into the gut so that he fell backwards.
"What the hell?!" yelped the man.
"What the hell? That's my line! What do you think you were doing?! That's sexual harassment!" Mai's breathing was still labored from the amount of power it took to throw him away. Then, laughter once again echoed over the lake.
"What's so funny?!"
"Haha, sorry. You reacted exactly like Mia did, with the difference that her punch went to my nuts." This, however, only served to fuel Mai's fire.
"What the heck! You did that to Mia too? I'm going to castrate you, you lowly –"
"Whoa, slow down!" Suddenly, the stranger lowered himself into a deep bow. "I didn't mean to offend you, Mai-sama. I had simply heard about Mia's sister, and wanted to have a look at the person. I apologize if my behavior was in any way offensive to you. Please forgive me."
Mai shifted uncomfortably. She wasn't used to someone bowing to her so deeply. She had never heard an apology going beyond 'I'm sorry'. And all this 'Mai-sama' business threw her really off kilter, and she didn't like it.
"It' fine. You didn't do anything bad, anyway, just don't–don't do it again, alright? Also, none of this '-sama' business – I am just a normal person and expect to be treated that way, okay?"
"I understand. Well then, I think introductions are required now, aren't they? My name is Kitamura Hiroku, just Hiroku is fine. Nice to meet you."
"Likewise. My name is Mai, Akahana Mai."
"I know." Hiroku was smiling kindly at her.
"Eh? How?" Now, Hiroku was laughing. Again, as Mai noticed sourly.
"Who doesn't know about Akahana Mai in this compound?" He pulled his mobile phoneout of his pocket, and read out loud.
'Akahana Mai: the long lost family member, that found her way back to the family by sheer luck. Possessing an uncommonly high amount of spiritual energy, no training, and zero tolerance, it is a miracle that she hasn't killed herself and others during the eighteen years she has been on this planet. Likewise, it is a mystery how she survived being targeted by every supernatural creature she came into contact with.
A talented girl, who is completing the tasks given to her by Koizumi Genryuusai, the slave driver, and Hirota Akari, the menace, with flying colors, and who is starting to earn the approval of the spirits at a frightening pace. May we be witnessing the rise of our first leading Slayer since ten years?
Listen to her songs "I'll see you again" and "Supermarket flowers" under the name 'Mai Rose' on YouTube, to appreciate her talented voice. If you want to know more facts about our recent new addition, stay tuned for the next few issues of 'The Rosy Messenger'.
"Wh-What the hell is this?!"
"Hm? Just like it sounds, it's an article in our local tabloid. Anyway, there's nobody who hasn't heard of you in this entire compound, trust me."
"'Anyway' nothing! How the hell do they know this stuff? And, what the hell is 'Mai Rose'? Is that the name under which that idiotic relative of mine posted my songs? 'Mai Rose'?! Couldn't she come up with anything, anything else?" Hiroku looked at her blankly.
"What?!"
"Mai. You are in a compound full of spiritualist and psychics. How do you think they got that information? Naturally, they used clairvoyance, astral projection, remote viewing, familiars, onmyoudo, tarot, stuff like that."
"Oh…"
"Plus, is it really such a bad thing? This article is doing nothing if not writing a glowing report of you. And the Mai Rose thing… Yeah, it's not optimal, but at least it has three different meanings, no?"
Mai sighed. He was right, it wasn't that bad, but still… As she lowered her gaze to the ground, she suddenly saw something that didn't belong there.
"Is that… A bunny? What is that doing here?"
There, situated between Hiroku's legs, sat a black bunny with white stripes going down from the back to the feet. It reminded her of a zebra with interchanged colors. The head, however, was even more bizarre: it was completely black, with what looked to be a white pentagram in center of its forehead, surrounded by a circle, and a muster that oddly reminded her of one of the tribal marks that she once saw in a history book situated on its left cheek.
All in all, it was a truly weird sight.
"Oh, this? This is Masayuki, my spiritual partner. The name means 'Right Happiness'." Mai looked at him blankly. What the hell is a spiritual partner? Hiroku seemed to understand what she was thinking, and quickly answered her question.
"A spiritual partner is usually the spirit of a creature that you meet in the void between worlds and form a contract with. They are further differentiated in other categories. Familiars, elementals, literal summoning contracts, guardians… There are countless of them. Shiki are a mix between familiars and summons: they act as familiars, but a contract – often subsequent of a fight – is required to form a bond with them.
"In my case, it is a little different. Masayuki is a guiding animal. I am sure that you have heard about the animism belief of Native Americans, correct?"
"Ehh… Not exactly…?"
"Alright, in that case let me explain. Animism is the religious belief that objects, places and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Potentially, animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork and perhaps even words—as animated and alive. Animism is actually the world's oldest religion, and as such extremely relevant and should be taken seriously.
"In order to understand the importance of animism for this situation, you need to know that my family, the Kitamura, is a clan of shamans. Specifically, one that originates from America.
"Now, in Native America there isn't just one believe system, and there isn't just one religion. Somewhere along the way, my family formed a contract with the guardian spirit of the lands we were living in. As a result, each member of the Kitamura clan that is destined to be a shaman is born with a spiritual partner, a guiding animal, of the Hare family.
"Their job is to accompany us in the real world, and to guide us in the spiritual world. After all, a shaman's work isn't easy, and getting lost in the void between worlds wasn't an uncommon occurrence back in the day. Our partners prevent that from happening.
"Or, at least that is what the lore says. Incidentally, the tribal tattoo you can see under the eye is our clan symbol. The middle of the symbol is the mark of the goddess, and the outer lines are the main part of the original tribal mark of our clan. They are interconnected by the characters for communication: the symbol of our occupation as shamans. The symbol on the forehead changes from spirit to spirit: it shows the power granted to you by the goddess.
"In my case, the pentagram is a symbol that is used in demonology as a way to repel demons and evil spirits. The power that I inherited is the power to create barriers – the ultimate protection against everything evil."
Wow… That's amazing. I didn't expect it to have such an amazing backstory!
"Heh, I'm amazing, aren't I?" Mai smiled.
"Yeah, you sure are. Or, at least, your ancestry is." Poking her tongue out at him, she threw him a wink and turned towards Masayuki. Lowering herself in order to be closer to Masayuki's height, she spoke.
"Hey Masayuki. My name is Akahana Mai, nice to meet you!" As a response, Masayuki hopped over and allowed Mai to pet her. "Kawaii!"
"By the way, Hiroku, do these zebra marks have a meaning too?"
"Actually, they do. I have a twin brother, Hikaru. I suppose you could say that we are yin and yang: we are two halves of a whole. Naturally, our spiritual partners represent that as well." He was sitting next to her now, petting Masayuki as well.
"Heh. Then, does he have the same ability you have, or can he do something else?"
"That's a secret.. Why don't you ask Hikaru about that?"
"Meanie. Why won't you tell me?" Now, Mai was actually pouting. Thinking fast, she pointed her lethal puppy eyes at him. Sighing and hanging his head in defeat, Hiroku gave in.
"He was granted the ability to bind someone or something. By combining the energy surrounding us into strings, he makes unbreakable bonds that he can hold as long as he can concentrate – given that the opponent isn't stronger than he is. It is represented by the circle surrounding the pentagram. Combined with my barrier skills, the two of us make the perfect support duo."
"Amazing. But, when it is also shown on Masayuki's forehead…"
"You catch on quick. Yeah, we both share our abilities, just like we share everything else."
"Impressive." Mai looked at him with wide eyes.
"Impressive, yeah. But not actually uncommon. At least not in my clan. There are two ways abilities can be shared, and one reason why it happens. The first way is being twins, or triplets, or something like that, like my brother and I are. The second way is finding your true love. Can you guess what the reason is?" Mai was silent for several minutes while she thought about it.
"Hmm… Is it due to finding the 'one that makes you whole'? Like a soulmate or something?"
"Exactly. When our spirits are complete, our abilities will be shared, like we share our lives. That's why it isn't rare to find something like that in my clan. Every third generation twins who are destined to be shamans are born, and 57% of the people in my clan have found their soulmate."
Sounds like a happy life…
"It is."
Oops, did I say that out loud? How stupid… Stupid Mai, pay attention to your surroundings!
Still snuggling with Masayuki in her arms, Mai sighed out happily.
"I wish I had a spiritual partner too," Mai mumbled in the fur of Masayuki.
"Hmm, you probably will," Hiroku commented offhandedly.
"Eh? I thought spiritual partners are exclusive to the Kitamura family?"
"They are."
"But then –"
"Mai, don't you pay attention to Genryuusai-sama's teachings in education? You can't just space out there, you know."
"I do pay attention! And I never space out during them!" Hiroku was looking at her disbelievingly.
"Then you should know about this already. Then you should know about this already. Information about the families is the most basic kind of information, and one of the first things you learn."
"That may be so, but all that Gen-san and I have been doing s learning English!"
"Really?" Still disbelieving her, Hiroku asked for clarification.
"Yeah!" He took in her stance: body rigid, hands at her hips, leaning lightly towards him with her upper body, and a cute pout apparent on her face. The indignation was easily readable in her eyes, even without using his ability.
"Alright alright, I believe you. Seriously though, you must suck at English."
"I do not!"
"Yeah, whatever." He waved her indignant shout away.
"Anyway, I don't have the time to go over everything right now, because dinner will be ready soon, but I can give you some basic information."
Ugh, dinner… Mia will probably try to coerce me into eating with the Akahana's. Well, I should probably do it, but –
Cutting into her thoughts, Hiroku began his explanation.
"Alright, listen up. This is very important information, and I'm only going to say this once." Seeing her nod, Hiroku continued.
"There are five families who live in the Akahana compound in addition to the Akahana's themselves. These families are the Koizumi, the Hirota, the Kitamura, the Muraoka, and the Tsukamoto clan. Each of them have a special occupation, and specific skills that aid them in their job. I could really go in detail with this, but I'm going to keep it extremely simple so that you won't forget anything.
"The Koizumi are Onmyouji and the advisors of the Akahana clan. By their side, serving and protecting them, are their shiki. They find information for their master and protect him from supernatural influences. They have high offensive powers.
"The Hirota are Evokers and magicians. They are assisted by elementals, which aid them in their studies and keep their spells stable, so that they don't go blowing up in the magicians' face if his concentration wavers.
"The Kitamura are Shamans, whose spiritual partners keep them safe when they are crossing over and wandering the paths of the void, also depend on them to ensure that they find their way back to their bodies and don't accidentally die while using their powers.
"The Muraoka are powerful ESP users, often mediums, who use spiritual guides to allow them to talk to a spirit more easily, connect to them, and find case-related information – for example if they are post-cognitive in their dreams – accurately and safely.
"The Tsukamoto are Wiccans – white witches – who spend their life accompanied by a familiar. The job of their familiar is to make sure that they don't stray from the path of white magic, and to protect them while they are defenseless when they are waving a spell.
"The Akahana, on the other hand, display a large amount of psychic powers, spiritual energy, and chosen professions. Most of them end up being Slayers, usually with a skill set of weapon creation and Enochian, coupled with psychic abilities. They have two possible companions, from which they choose one: shiki, caught and trained by the Koizumi clan, and familiars, whom they impressed enough to form a bond with.
"In your case, you will probably have to choose a familiar and won't be allowed to choose Shiki."
Mai blinked. Once, twice. Then, she blurted out a "Why?" before she could stop herself.
"It's simple, really – you have a large amalgamation of ESP oriented abilities. You will need a companion to guide and protect you, lest you fall into the void. Additionally, your control sucks – meaning you will need someone who is on top of your abilities and can interfere should you lose control. Also, from what I heard your abilities up to now where very sleep dependent. The possibility of you losing control over them while caught in a bad memory is a huge possibility – as is you being unable to wake up when caught in a horrifying memory, for example when reliving somebody's death.
"A familiar is simply more suited to dealing with that than a shiki is. My guess is that they will try to find your partner during the next two years, once you finished your control training."
"Ah, is that so…?" Mai's mind was whirring, trying to remember, understand, and file away all the information Hiroku just dumped in her without a warning.
I wish I had my notebook handy… Wait, I do!
Scrambling to get her notebook out and to document the knowledge she just gained, when Hiroku's hands suddenly rested on her shoulders from behind and pushed her back towards the mansion.
"Come on, dinner's getting cold!"
Without being given a chance to collect her thoughts and write them down, Mai was incessantly pushed back towards home – with her scrambling not to trip.
"Hey Hiroku, slow it down a bit!"
Finally being able to walk next to him comfortably, without being pushed, Mai made the decision that she needed more information.
Guess I'll be attending that 'family dinner' Mia was bugging me about… Yay.
AN:
So, that's it for this chapter.
Word count: 3021
I took some liberal freedom with one of the religions of Native Americans… I highly doubt that they form contracts with them, but I needed it for my story, so, yeah. Everything else should be accurate though, and I apologize should there be any mistakes. Credits to Wikipedia for the 'animism' part, that was mainly copy and paste.
Since the vast majority was against the info dump and brought great arguments supporting their reason, I won't do it.
Hmm, it somehow feels like I didn't get Mai's character completely right during this chapter… eh, whatever.
Hope you like Hiroku. I won't lie, a part of his (and his twin's) personality was largely influenced by the twins from Ouran Host Club, but I hope that wasn't too noticeable. I was simply binge watching it (for the nth-time) when creating the characters, so… yeah.
Tell me if something wasn't clear enough, I dumped a lot of information in this chapter.
(Also, it's 4.44 am on the dot right now. I don't care if there are any typing mistakes, I feel like I am falling asleep on my laptop right now.)
As always, I would like to thank everybody who reviewed, followed or favourited this story! Reviews feed my inspiration and motivation, guys - I'm always very thankful when you take your time to review!
Nagisa Maeda: Happy that you liked it! Yeah, like I said, that thought simply popped in my head and fit so perfectly timing wise and atmosphere wise, that I had to do it. Plus, I've been itching to write something about SPR for a while now, so that was kind of a compromise for me.
melchormonica8: Haha, great to make you happy! Yeah, Yasu's really busy. And yes, I intend to do that for each member, but it's gotts fit timing wise... I have a lot of things I still want to do. Thanks!
Damaged Forest Spirit: One: I did! Two: I'm glad that you loved it. Honestly, I was trying to paint the picture that none of the gang ever abandoned Mai willingly. Life moves on, and they did too. The only thing that they didn't do is factor Mai into their life and their decisions - which is perfectly acceptable for friends, but A BIG NONO for a 'family'. Also, Bou-san really worried about her, but wanted to allow her to mature and stuff - he didn't do it just like that. Three: Here it is! The next chapter. ENjoy!
RichkeyZero: Your welcome! Hihi, for anything more Yasu-related you will have to wait a few more months (story-wise), but I hope you liked this chapter too! (I was determined to update this today extra for you ^^)
Joys: Glad to hear that! Yeah, that would probably be a good idea, and I really enjoyed writing it that way. Yeah, I need to get around to editing everything soon anyway... It somehow always gets pushed aside. Thanks for pointing it out!
LittleBunnyFufu13: Aww, you don't know how happy it makes me to hear something like that ^^ And hearing someone talk so highly about my english, especially as it isn't my native language, makes me feel really fuzzy inside ^^ Was this soon enough for you? Yeah, she will have to do that soon - even if she is reluctant tight now. Thanks! I plan to. Also, I took the liberty of checking out your profile. I don't know a thing about mental illnesses - especially suicidal thoughts - but if you ever need someone to talk to, please feel free to PM me! Always Keep Fighting!
-279: Yeah, you are right. I'll do it that way, and I guess you'll get character descriptions when SPR meets the gang - will take a while though. Yeah, Bou-san and Yau are naturally worried about her (well, Bou-san not so much, but he at least put real thought into it). I totally agree with you there. However, Bou-san's position of 'life moves on', isn't wrong either. The problem is that none of the gang factored in Mai into their life and their plans. While that is acceptable for friends (seriously, if I had to go abroad for one reason or another, my friends and I wouldn't have a problem of simply catching up once I return. Until then, we'd just carry on with our lives), that isn't okay for family members. Also, what they failed to realize was how much Mai came to depend on them - and woth Naru and Lin already gone, the rest of the gang leaving was just too hard a blow for poor Mai. As you said, she's only human and there is only so much she can take. SPR had effectively become her family, just to be ripped away again. She found out that she has relatives through a life-threatening situation, and hasn't interacted much with them up to now (for certain reasons). So yeah, Bou-san is partially right, but there are also flaws in his way of thinking. Glad you enjoy the story.
Haoden: That's good to hear. Glad you liked it! ^^ Here's the next one.
Until next time,
One Autumn Leaf