Author's Note: Wow, you guys! It has been 6 years since I updated this story?! I really, sincerely, apologize to anyone who was following this story, and who is even going to still read this. I guess real life really hit me hard. For a while now I've been telling myself that I was done with writing fanfiction, but once in a while new ideas will still pop into my head. And between the new ideas and all the stories I've put on hiatus, I always felt ashamed to leave this specific story unfinished because it's so close to being finished. I've struggled over the years to keep writing this story because 1) I keep losing track of where I was going with the plot and 2) I feel like I keep losing the essence of Ushio's character, but of course, she has changed and grown throughout the story as well. Now, I'm hoping to finish this story and write it as well as I can, and I would like to thank anyone who is reading this still or just picked this up. I don't deserve your readership!

Chapter 17

Mysterious Deaths in Nagaoka

Much to Ushio's delight, Hao complied with her request to take her to the Imperial Palace. She found that the Hao of the Heian era was much more reasonable than the Hao of her era. Rather, she didn't have to reason with him at all. His only condition was for her to change out of her clothes and into something appropriate.

"Ushio-sama! Please stop moving around!"

Ushio groaned and stopped squirming at the angry request of the young girl who was helping her get into a Heian period Onmyouji garment. The little girl's name was Ohatsu, an apprentice studying shamanism under the guidance of the Asakura family. She was summoned by Hao to assist Ushio in properly getting dressed, since Ushio could not figure out all the layers that compose an Onmyouji's outfit. And while Ohatsu was suspicious of Ushio, she would never disobey an order from Hao.

Both Matamune and Ohatsu were surprised that Hao agreed to let Ushio accompany him to the Imperial Palace as a disciple. Matamune, who knew that Ushio was, self-proclaimed, from the future, was strongly against it. However, Hao seemed to have a strange attachment to the girl, and Matamune suspected that it was because Hao couldn't read her mind like he could everyone else's.

"Ugh, this is just so uncomfortable," said Ushio as she kicked her puffy pant legs. "All this cloth makes my movement so awkward and slow!"

"This is just so uncomfortable—Shut up!" Ohatsu mocked Ushio. The corners of her eyes and brows raised so high, she almost looked like a little demon herself. "Are you a child?! How could you not know how to put on clothes? Or are you actually from the Imperial Palace? That's why Hao-sama is willing to put up with you!"

Ushio narrowed her eyes at the ill-mannered little girl. "Who knows? Maybe he thinks he could use me for something."

Ohatsu pinched Ushio in the waist so hard that the older girl yelped in pain. "How dare you say that about Hao-sama!"

"What are you? His fangirl or something?"

"I… I'm not!" Ohatsu retorted, blushing. "I just admire Hao-sama! He is the best Onmyouji in the world! You should be thankful that he took you under his wing! Most of us students have never met him in person!"

"So this is your first time meeting Hao in person?" Ushio snickered. "Then you should thank me for creating the opportunity for you."

"Hmph! Don't try to turn this around!" Ohatsu was finished helping Ushio dress and stepped in front of the older girl. "And you should call him Hao-sama."

"I'll think about it," said Ushio as she tried to move around in her new outfit. As she expected, it was quite bulky. "I'm still trying to reevaluate my impression of him."

"What are you talking about?" Ohatsu narrowed her eyes at Ushio. "I thought Hao-sama only picked you up last night. What do you mean reevaluate?"

"Er… well, you know, a lot can happen in one night."

The young girl blushed profusely and made a gagging noise before running out of the room. After Ohatsu left the room, Matamune walked into the room.

"Are you ready? Hao is waiting for you in the carriage."

"Oh, thanks! I'll go right away."

Ushio grabbed her prayer beads and headed for the door. Matamune studied the girl as she passed by him. The dark circles under her eyes showed her fatigue. It could be the stress of time traveling, but it seemed to him that she had not rested well for many days. And he could tell from the short-sleeved shirt and short pants that she wore previously, she must have gone through rigorous training to obtain the muscles and scars.

There was one other thing that bothered Matamune the most, and that was when she said that she had met Hao thousands of years from now. How was Hao alive still?

To Matamune's demise, Hao had pondered the same thing last night.


The carriage ride to the Imperial Palace was quiet. Hao rested his eyes while Ushio tried not to stare at him so much while sitting across from him. It didn't take long for Hao to meet her eyes, and he gave her a harmless smile.

"You seem like you have something to say, Ushio."

Ushio shuddered. "Um… I was just wondering… if you were ever gonna ask me why I wanted to go to the Imperial Palace."

"You wanted to meet Lady Tamamo no Mae, right?" Hao said nonchalantly. "You asked immediately after the mentioning of her name, so that's what I figured."

"So even though you can't hear my thoughts, you can still tell, huh?" Ushio muttered, feeling at a disadvantage.

"Only with people who don't hide their emotions well," Hao's smile grew wider.

"..." Ushio shifted uncomfortably to the corner of the carriage. The Heian Hao was much too friendly for her. Though it should be a good thing, she was not used to it. "Well aren't you curious why I want to meet her?"

Hao shook his head. "If you don't want to tell me, then I won't ask. I'm enjoying this little bit of mystery I have with you since I cannot hear your thoughts."

Ushio remained silent for the rest of the carriage ride. One thing was for certain, Hao enjoyed toying with people in the past or future. That was his true nature.

After a couple of hours, the two arrived at the Imperial Palace. The guards seemed hesitant to let Ushio through, but seeing that she was with Hao, they didn't dare to stop them. Ushio could tell that Hao was held at high esteem even in the presence of royalty. She knew of the fame of the Asakura name even during her time, but not to this extent.

Walking through the Imperial Palace, many servants looked at Ushio strangely. However, none dared to say a thing. They were greeted by the emperor's advisor after passing through a couple sets of doors.

"Asakura-sama," the old man bowed at Hao. "Lady Tamamo will be with you shortly."

After a short minute, the doors on the other end of the room were opened by two of Tamamo's attending girls. Ushio's heart pounded as she watched Tamamo slowly emerge from between the doors. She breathed shallow breaths when she got a good look at Tamamo of the Heian Period. The fox spirit was as magnificent in its human vessel as Ushio was familiar with. The tall woman exhibited a mighty aura; her long, golden hair seemed to glow even though they were inside the palace. Her red eyes looked mysterial under long and full lashes. Her beauty was out of this world. Ushio thought that it was not very discreet of the fox spirit if it was trying to hide its true identity.

"Sorry to have you return to the palace on such short notice, Hao-sama," said Tamamo in a deep, husky voice. The courtesan eyed Ushio briefly. "And this is…?"

Hao stepped forward and put his hand out in front of Ushio; the gesture could be read as introducing or concealing the girl. "This is Kanzaki Ushio, a disciple of mine."

"I heard that the Asakura family has taken many students, but none of whom have you ever brought here with you before," Tamamo said musingly.

"Ushio is the most promising student I have taken under my wing," Hao lied without skipping a beat. "I hope to help her improve her craft by having her accompany me on a regular basis."

"A dedicated servant to his emperor and a dedicated teacher," Tamamo nodded in approval. "I have no issues with whomever you take with you on your expeditions, but I do wish for your safety as this case I am about to relay to you may be quite dangerous."

From their conversation, Ushio learned that Hao frequently accepted jobs from the emperor in which he would investigate mysterious happenings throughout the capital. These mysterious happenings were deemed to be the doings of evil spirits. Ushio hardly believed that the emperor was the one who had that idea. Tamamo must have been the one who suggested that evil spirits caused the mysteries. But why would Tamamo, a demon itself, send an Onmyouji upon other demons?

"I shall be solely liable to whatever happens to her," Hao assured Lady Tamamo.

"Very well," Tamamo nodded. "I must ask you to travel to Nagaoka to investigate a series of murder. There have been six victims already over the past month. The victims have all been killed the same way… well, you will see when you get there. I have ordered the police to keep the bodies safe and wait for your arrival."

Hao raises his eyebrow. "Is this really a case suitable for an Onmyouji?"

Tamamo's eyelids dropped and she looked down solemnly at Hao.

"Yes, Hao-sama, you know my intuition is never wrong."

"Forgive my rudeness, milady, I will make haste," said Hao as he bowed at Tamamo. He motioned for Ushio to follow suit.

"Your emperor is grateful for your service," Tamamo bowed back.

Hao and Ushio turned around and headed out of the palace. Ushio could barely walk as her knees shook so violently earlier during that interaction. She was glad that her pants were puffy and the shaking was not noticeable. She was partly excited to finally see Tamamo, but more so shocked that both Hao and Tamamo were so polite. A thousand years can really do a number on people, and spirits, Ushio thought.

The two of them switched into a carriage from the palace, which was much nicer than Hao's and supposedly faster. But to Ushio, they were all slow as snails since she was used to cars and airplanes. As she went into deep thought on how she was going to convince Tamamo to come with her to the future. Since Tamamo now resides in the Imperial Palace, it seemed almost impossible to get a chance to talk to him. She would not have had the slightest chance to even see Tamamo today if it weren't for Hao. With all these thoughts running through her head, fatigue finally caught up to Ushio and it didn't take long for her to fall asleep on the bumpy carriage ride.


"We're almost there."

Ushio didn't wake up until nightfall. And when she opened her eyes, she noticed that Hao's outer robes were placed over her body. She sat up straight upon hearing Hao's voice. She looked at Hao, who was sitting across from her, and subconscious wiped the corner of her mouth. He smiled softly at her action and she immediately regretted doing so. She was starting to feel a little bit frustrated at how she was behaving in front of this new Hao.

Then, suddenly, she felt it. An overwhelming aura so furious that even made her feel scared. It was even worse than when she found Tamamo in that cave.

"Hao, this aura…"

"Yes, we're dealing with something really powerful here," said Hao with seriousness. "Ushio, you need to stick with me from now on. Or else I cannot promise your safety out of this."

Ushio gulped; she must've gotten herself involved in something really bad if Hao was this serious.

The town policemen were waiting for Hao's arrival at the town entrance. They took the two Onmyouji to an old junkyard and into a storage hut there. The policemen let them enter on their own, seemingly afraid of what was inside the hut. Ushio and Hao entered and saw the six corpses lying on the floor of the hut. Their skins and muscles were torn and innards were pulled from inside their bodies as if they were attacked by beasts.

Ushio's hand shot up to cover her mouth. A feeling of dejavu came over her when she saw these corpses; they reminded her of Dean when he was killed by the Hellhounds. Hao noticed Ushio's reaction and quickly pulled her out of the hut.

"What do you think, Master Onmyouji? Is it a demon's doing?" one of the policemen asked.

"This couldn't possibly be the works of a human," said Hao dreadfully. "We will not need to see these bodies again. Please properly bury these victims."

"Understood, sir."

Hao hurriedly led Ushio away from the junkyard. The girl had calmed down by then.

"Is this too much for you?" asked Hao. "I can have the carriage send you back first thing in the morning."

"No," Ushio looked at Hao in the eyes. "I think I have to be a part of this… for a friend of mine."

Hao stared at Ushio intently, and then nodded. To ensure that they are ready to handle the demon, Hao suggested that they get rest. They traveled to a small inn in town, apologized to the elderly owner for visiting so late, and checked in.

Having already slept in the carriage, Ushio was not especially sleepy. She sat by the windowsill of their room and stared into the night sky. The moon and stars were clear in the sky; Ushio couldn't remember the last time she saw them so clearly. Even though she was mostly active during the night. She found it a little funny that she had to travel a thousand years back to see a sky like this.

Then she looked back towards the inside of the room. Hao was sitting by the wooden tea table, reading a book. The room was lit by only candles and the dim, warm glow flickered on Hao's face. Though he was a lot less sinister than the Hao she used to know, she felt that there was already a lot weighing on his shoulders.

"Something wrong?" Hao asked without looking away from his book.

"...What are you reading?" Ushio returned a question sheepishly. She felt a little embarrassed that she was staring at Hao.

"A notebook on spiritual beasts by a Shinto monk," said Hao.

Out of habit, Ushio responded with a snicker, "So even the all-knowing Asakura Hao needs to read books to exorcise a spirit, huh?"

Hao finally looks up from his book and gave Ushio a relaxed smile. "Of course! No one can be all-knowing. Of course wisdom comes with age, and if you knew me a thousand years from now, I do hope I am smarter than I am now."

Ushio felt heat rising up in her ears. She wasn't familiar with the feeling of speechlessness.

"So what was your impression of Lady Tamamo? I never got to ask you in the carriage," Hao switched the subject naturally, like he was just making small talk.

"She seems... um... powerful."

"Powerful?"

"I mean," Ushio's spoke frantically, scolding herself inside her head for her bad choice of words. "She seems influential. I am wondering why she gets to speak on the emperor's behalf. Even though I didn't live in this era, I know from history that women are not supposed to have this kind of status. Even the emperor's adviser didn't seem as close to the emperor as she did."

"Well, you aren't the only one who's had these kinds of thoughts," said Hao. "There are people who respect her for her wisdom and class, and there are those who believe that she merely seduced the emperor for her own gains."

Ushio felt tense as she conversed with Hao. "And which of these are you, Hao?"

Hao chuckled softly. "I think she is much too prideful to be a seductress. I have taken hundreds of cases from the Imperial Palace and I have met with her many times. Sometimes I think she knows things even I do not know. However, regardless of her intentions or whatever people say about her, she employs me for the purpose of helping the common people. I respect her for that."

Ushio stared at Hao perplexedly. She could not tell if he knew that Tamamo was a fox spirit.

"So you seem to be a revered person in the Imperial Palace, too," Ushio continued in a lighter tone. "You must know a lot about what goes on in there."

"You can ask me anything, Ushio, but at a later time. You should rest up for what's to come tomorrow."

Ushio's cheeks burned at Hao's concern.

"Ahem… well, Hao, actually, I have something very serious to discuss with regarding this case."

"I always take you seriously, Ushio," Hao gleamed.

Ushio looked away from Hao to ease her nerves.

"What do you know about demonic dogs?"


To be continued.


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