Episode 45: A Forbidden Mistake II
"Oh god," Yukuro moaned.
It was all her fault. She shook her head as she ran for her life. If only she was more careful...
I only came here to find a remedy for Mika, not revive some chaotic murderer!!!
An hour before, Yukuro and the two boys, Haku and Otari went to the mountain of rubble for the so called, "Elixir of Life" or the "Powder of Judgment". At least, that was what their intended desires were. As they headed toward the mountain, they could see clearly that it was a "mountain" after all. A mountain of rocks and stones piled onto each other. The basic form was somehow still there, but the top was completely gone.
They stood before it, a while to gaze at it. Yukuro had told the boys to get all they could from spying on the mountain from the outside. But in reality, whatever remnants of the barrier that existed were taking a toll on her. The two human boys however, young and innocent felt nothing.
Eventually, it was so hard to stay in human form, her body reacted and shape shifted her to a large white snake, scaring the human boys. They screamed and hid behind a rock.
"OMIGOSH! IT'S ONE OF THE STRANGE BEASTS! GET AWAY!"
"It'sssss me you dummiessss," she said, her tongue flickering in and out. She was a white snake, her eyes green, her eyelid purple.
"Yukuro-sensei, are you a youkai?" they asked, teeth chattering.
"Yes," she said. "Don't worry, I don't eat people--"
"Y-Y-Yukuro-sensei, can't you change back? You look really scary like that..."
"Grrrrrrr..."
"Yu-Yukuro-sensei? Why are you making that sound? You said you don't eat humans...!"
"That's not me--"
All of a sudden, the mist turned black. The light behind them disappeared, and the scream of the boys raised. Ignoring the pain she would have to endure in human form, she forced her body to shape shift again and told them to run away. She heard the sound of feet, the sandals they were wearing, but a denser, much more bigger feet were running too. What was it... she couldn't identify the being by the sound of the feet.
She stuck her tongue out. The air was really hard to smell, but with her tongue out, everything became clear. An oni... five feet tall, long arms, sharp claws...
Suddenly, Haku yelled. Yukuro tried to walk in their way, but the barrier fragments held her back, pushing and stinging her body. She kept going, but it was so painful. Finally, she got close enough to see what was going on.
The oni was not attacking, actually. It was guarding; a jar. Must be the stuff, she deduced.
"You shall not pass! You have no right to take my creation!" the oni cried.
"Wait, please! We just want a little bit. I need to save my friend!" Yukuro explained, the barrier throwing her back. The oni turned in her direction, Haku squirming in his right hand. He walked until he was right before her.
"You all say that, but do you really mean it?" His dark eyes were intense. He was talking about her will. Her will to save Mika. Did she really want to save her?
Of course. What a dumb question. "Oh I mean it. And I'll do whatever there is in my power to obtain it!"
All of a sudden, the oni set Haku onto the floor. He folded his arms, his mustache making him appear wise. "Very well. Take only a handful and leave this place at once. But be warned; do not sprinkle it on the floor. Under this mountain lies something that is dangerous." He handed her a small bag made of leather and watched carefully as he lifted the barrier a bit so that they could all feel comfortable.
But she wasn't scared of oni. She was scared of something else, something vengeful and full of dark, dark secrets was watching her. She tripped once when she was almost to the jar, breathing harder and harder. She bit her lip. Now wasn't a good time to be getting chicken.
She scooped a handful, as the oni had instructed and began walking back when all of a sudden the place seem to shake. It shook so violently, Yukuro fell and the leather bag containing the sacred powder fell onto the floor. It landed on its bottom, but just touching the floor, so close, the fragrance so nearby, made the shaking even worse.
This wasn't the doing of a youkai. No. This was an evil spirit, a ghost who wanted to revive so badly, it was going to kill to get it.
The boys finally snapped back to reality and began running toward Yukuro. Otari fetched the bag and held onto it carefully as they evacuated from the mountain rubble. The oni, meanwhile was placing the barrier back into place and holy charms, but the spirit was not backing down.
All of a sudden, someone grabbed it. It was just for a second.
The bag dropped.
And poured the powder on the once a sacred ground, to revive a grave.
"AHHH!!!"
Yukuro felt like screaming herself. So she did. "AHHH!!! THE GHOST! OH GOD!!!"
But then she realized it was a cry of relief. As if you took a nap and woke up. She sneaked a look at the world, Haku and Otari holding onto her tightly. "I'm scared Yukuro-sensei... I'M SCARED!!!"
... was all she could think of.
A boy's, or a man's, whichever you could say for you really couldn't tell, hand poked out of the ground. Like a zombie you see in the modern day movies. A head came out too, after a while. That was when everyone was truly shocked.
If the dangerous thing was dangerous, wasn't it supposed to have horns and claws and teeth? Well the boy (or man) that popped out didn't even feel like a threat. His long black hair was tied in a braid. He wore white and blue armor and sure, his face was adorably childish like, but other than that... he was a boy... right?
"What the heck are you looking at?" he asked.
Yukuro hid behind her fingers again. "It's... the dangerous thing!!!"
"I'M NOT A THING!" the boy retorted. He tried to squeeze himself out of the ground but he couldn't move. He turned to the oni, who backed away at his sight. He was surprised too.
"Don't just stand there, aren't you going to help me out?"
Yukuro gathered her courage and ran over. She kicked his head and tried to push him back into the ground from where he came from. "GET BACK IN THERE AND NEVER COME OUT AGAIN!!!"
"LET GO!"
"GO AWAY YOU EVIL SPIRIT!!!"
"OW! STOP--"
The boy disappeared into the large hole in the ground. Yukuro sighed and backed away in relief. Then all of a sudden the boy came back out again, this time legs and all. His face was drawn in a scowl, and his hands were balled into fists.
"I'm going to kill you, you little snake..."
~O~O~O~O~O~
"So, who are you?" Yukuro asked as the boy crammed food into his mouth. It looked like even dead people could eat.
"Why do you care?" he asked.
Yukuro made a weak grin. "Do you want me to call you "boy" all day?"
The boy sat there for a moment, seemingly to think and then said, "Bankotsu." Then he crammed more food in his mouth.
I don't like that suspicious pause--
"AHHH!!!"
The snake youkai leaped at the cries from Haku and Otari. She looked side to side, up and down before she could calm down. "WHAT WHAT?"
Haku spoke first. His finger was quivering as talked and his face white as chalk. "Y-y-you d-d-d-don't mean B-B-Bankotsu of the Shichinintai?"
"The what?" Yukuro interrupted, but Otari finished Haku's sentence before anyone else could speak.
"THE SHICHININTAI! THE BAND OF SEVEN! HE'S THE LEADER OF THE PEOPLE WHO KILLED EVERYBODY ON THE OPPOSING SIDE IN WAR ALONE!" Otari said.
"BANKOTSU KILLED 1,999 BEINGS! 1,000 WARLORDS AND 999 YOUKAI!!!" Haku said.
"1,000 youkai," Bankotsu corrected.
"1,999 BEINGS! AND YOU COULD BE THE NEXT ONE TO MAKE HIS 999 A 1,000 YUKURO-SENSEI!" they repeated together.
It took a few minutes to gather all the information and piece them together to come to the conclusion that in front of them, eating madly was a 10-year old murderer zombie who came back to life for the second time. When she realized that, Yukuro jumped away to be far from his presence, for she wanted to stay very much alive, thank you. "Y-y-you're B-B-Bankotsu?"
Bankotsu, who was pretty much done with his food by now waited several moments before answering. By now, Yukuro noticed that he seemed to be focused on one thing very intently. And that his aura... hidden behind the barrier was a deadly, sadistic, dangerous aura. There must be someone he was looking for... Yukuro was sure of it.
"Yeah," he replied.
"DON'T ANSWER SO LATE!"
"But don't you like suspense?" he asked.
"NO!"
He got up, a bit taller than everybody expected and threw the bag of powder in the air. "Anyway, thanks for this bag. It can revive lots of things right, even inanimate objects?"
Yukuro shook her head, trying to remember when it came to her. That focus, that instant of a hand grabbing the bag was him... "GIVE THAT BACK!"
"Sorry, it's mine now. Unless you want to trade your life for it," he said. Yukuro bit her lip, knowing behind that little cute face of his was the face of a demon, waiting for her to say yes. She bet all her herbs that he could kill them right now and dismantle them into tiny parts.
"Go ahead and keep it." She sat back down, disappointed at her loss. How can she save Mika now?
But the ex-guards, Haku and Otari had different opinions. They also didn't grasp the meaning of his threat.
"When Yukuro-sensei says give it back, you give it back!!!" they yelled, charging out the flap in the hut.
As they arrived outside, they saw him digging out a huge sword broke in half. He poured some of the powder on the sword and waited as the other pieces slowly reformed. They yelled, which gave them away their position immediately. Bankotsu dispatched them without even turning back. He grabbed their necks as they came flying by and stuck them into the dirt as if they were sticks and left the scene with Banyruu.
Yukuro could only sadly watch the entire thing behind the flap in the hut. "H-He's ridiculously strong... and scary for a boy..."