Dragon Tears and Raven Curses - Chapter Four

"Ryo, whatever did you do to my sister?"
"Huh?"
"I know you heard me fine. The phone lines are very clear today."
"I didn't do too much."
"Oh no? She's floating around the house like nobody's business, happy as a kid who just won a free grabbing spree at the candy store!"
"Well, I complimented her on her dress. I said I thought she was very pretty in yellow, and it was a lovely dress."
"Was that all?"
"Um, I held the door open for her, held her seat for her, showered her generously with compliments, and rescued her hat after a raven knocked it into a puddle of water."
Seiji paused, the words a raven echoing through his mind. He shook himself free of the cold feeling that settled in his chest. "A raven?" he asked hoarsely.
"Yeah. Strangest thing, really. It swooped right out of the air and knocked Yayoi's hat off her head into a mud puddle. I stooped to rescue it, and this tiny girl bumped into me, almost knocking me over."
"Little girl?"
"Yeah . . ."


"Where to now?" Ryo asked Yayoi. He knew from past experiences with what Seiji and Shuu had told him that Yayoi liked to take charge of things, or at least be in control with what was happening. They had just finished dinner at a quaint little restaurant that overlooked the city. The night sky was on fire with thousands of neon lights. He rather liked the affect the flower-decked interior had against the city hustle and bustle outside.
Apparently, Yayoi did too. She wasn't nearly as bossy as he thought she would be.
Yayoi seemed to contemplate the question. Boys rarely went out with her, and she rather enjoyed being waited upon hand and foot, even if it was by one of her little brother's friends. This one at least had the courtesy to be polite towards her. "Hmmm, well." She smiled and tugged at the wide brim of her straw hat, a yellow ribbon matching the color of her dress twined around it and fluttering in the cool evening breeze. "It's a lovely night, I think it would be wonderful if we called a taxi and went to the shore. A lovely walk beside the beach would make our night seem so much more fulfilling."
She smiled into the darkness, not noticing how Ryo grimaced at the thought of the sea. She turned back to him, and the grimace turned into a smile.
"Well," he began, "it is a very good suggestion."
"Good." Yayoi stepped forward onto the street to hail a cab when something cawed suddenly and swooped through the air, neon lights glinting from dull black feathers. Sharp claws raked at the yellow ribbon and the raven tore the hat from Yayoi's head. "What?" The hat fell with a sploosh into the muddy gutter water at their feet.
"Here, allow me." Ryo bent at the waist to grab the hat when someone yelled and pushed him forward. Ryo lost his balance and almost fell into the street and in the path of oncoming cars, but was stopped by Yayoi grabbing his shirttails and pulling him back to safety. They both turned around to see a little girl with dark hair and a starburst-like scar across the left cheek staring up at them.
The little girl burst into tears. "I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around Ryo's leg. "Forgive me!" She released it and ran away from them, ducking through the sparse amount of people walking around on the sidewalk.
Ryo scratched his head. "I wonder what that was about," he said. Yayoi shrugged.
"Who cares?" she said. "It was obviously just a clumsy little child who needs to find her parents." She grabbed Ryo's arm and blushed prettily. "Thank you for rescuing my hat," she told him in a soft voice, the tone far more gentle than what he had associated with her that night thus far. "No one ever does sweet things like that for me."
Ryo felt himself turning red. Whether it was from the close approximately of Seiji's older sister, or whether it was from her compliments, he really could not say. He glanced towards the direction where the child ran. That was when he noticed the raven flying overhead in the same direction.


"Ah, so that's what happened. Yayoi came home and told mother what a wonderful friend I had, saying he was such a wonderful gentleman and all. Hard to see it of you, Ryo."
"Ha ha. Very funny."
"Heh! Well, okay. You paid half of your deal, and now I have to carry out this favor. I can't be gone past this weekend Ryo, I have several exams at college I cannot afford to miss."
"I know. Don't worry about it. We'll be up and down that mountain in no time."


"Yeah, right. No time."
Seiji glared at Ryo across the sun-filled cabin exterior. It was a few hours before sunset, and both of them were currently seated across from each other on different sides of the room. Ryo shrugged sheepishly. Byakuen sat at Ryo's feet and purred in contentment as Ryo rubbed his ears.
"Hey, is it my fault that the spirit has refused to show up in the past few days?"
Seiji felt the glare relaxing from his face. "No," he admitted, leaning back. "It's just that we have searched all over this place the entire weekend, I'm due back home tonight, and we haven't found anything. I feel guilty about your taking my sister out next Thursday evening to that piano concert and I haven't done anything about it."
Ryo gave him a smile. "Hey," he said. "I think I learned the secret to making Yayoi happy, so it really doesn't matter."
"Oh?" Seiji leaned his head back against the window frame. He thumped it lightly a couple of times with the back of his head, trying to place himself in a relaxing state. He glanced over at Ryo, who waited for the inevitable question. "Well, share the wealth. What is the secret?"
Ryo gave him another smile; a sly one this time. "To make Yayoi happy, you have to give her exactly what she wants, but it must seem as if it was your own idea."
Seiji raised an eyebrow. "I know about the first part, but never thought of the second part. Yayoi always did her own thinking of that region."
Ryo shrugged, looking away. "Yeah, well, when you appear to come up with it all on your own, the girl gets this feeling that here is the man that knows what you want, and realizes a real dandy of a woman when he sees her."
Seiji's eyes snapped open. He gave Ryo a horrified look.
"What?"
"You don't like Yayoi, do you?"
Ryo gave him a look of equal horror, and then burst out laughing. "Are you kidding? Me? Like the battle-axe? Not likely." He snickered. "Look, can I help it if I happen to know what makes a woman happy? I figure the more I make Yayoi happy, the more inclined you will be to help me with this mess."
"Oh? I thought we will be over and done with once I was able to communicate with the ghost, assuming I can."
"I have no doubts you can. It's just that I feel this whole problem extends a little more beyond talking. I mean, now that I think of it, no one knows where the woman's daughter went. They can't figure out why the woman would hang around here instead of just going away and finding the lost daughter." Ryo leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.
"So you think this might have a lot to do with the daughter?"
"Yeah, sort of. I mean, if the daughter is still alive, she would have to be anywhere from her sixties to her seventies. I mean, we're talking world war two here, and that was almost six decades ago."
"Key word there, my friend: if. The daughter could very well be dead after all these years, or was killed by the same people who killed her mother and her body was just never found."
Ryo shrugged. "I don't know. Let's hope that this idea of yours will work."
Seiji, after he and Ryo had spent all of Saturday and almost all of Sunday searching the property for the ghost who would not be found, decided to go for an age-old technique used for spotting ghosts. When it is neither day, nor night, spirits will walk among the living. Seiji knew from what his grandfather told him that this was the twilight time. Spirits were the most restless at this time for odd reasons. Seiji was going to slip himself into a trance-like state and walk among the spirits in the time when it was neither day nor night.
Ryo wasn't too big on him doing it. He felt it was slightly risky, and while there was risk in what he did, Seiji knew it was no more dangerous than walking down the crowded streets of Tokyo during the rush hour where someone might shove you in front of a car accidentally or something to that affect.
Ryo was trying his best to be quiet and allow Seiji to fall into the dream-like state, but he was far too jumpy to remain still. Seiji himself was feeling rather restless. He settled back against the window frame and tried to force his breathing to become shallower and longer.
The less oxygen his brain received, the more light-headed he felt. With the lack of oxygen forcing him to the brink of unconsciousness, Seiji forced himself into the trance where nothing filtered in and nothing filtered out, and without his body to hamper his spirit down, he sent it forth.
Ryo stared at the prone body for a moment, knowing he shouldn't move. He satisfied himself by scratching Byakuen. The white tiger growled, and stood up. He padded over to the open door and outside. Ryo glanced over at Seiji's body, over to where Byakuen stood staring with his fur raised and a growl emitting from the depths of his throat, and then swore.
"Looks like you're out of luck bud!" Ryo told Seiji as he ran from the cabin over to where Byakuen stood. The tiger loped off ward into the woods, and Ryo followed after him.


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