Chapter 88
"Wow! Lookit all the kodama!"
The Emishi children all laughed at the sight of the ghostly white tree spirits up in the branches. The small kodama clicked and rattled happily at the sight of people, waving hello and smiling. The mothers and fathers of the children hurried them along as the precession moved to the clearing. Yume stood on her hind legs and barked at the kodama happily. Arangami grabbed her paw and dragged her back down, shaking his head. Yume whimpered as she continued on.
"But I used to play with them all the time when I was a pup…"
"You're a full grown wolf now." Arangami reminded. "So, act your age."
One child giggled at a particular kodama.
"Mama, look! That one's all black!"
"Come along, dear. Keep up." The mother insisted, not looking at the strange little spirit.
Soon, they all came to the clearing. The villagers bordered the clearing in a giant circle, with Genji lying on the platform in the middle. Momiji and Murasaki walked to Genji's sides, and chanted away any bodiless spirits in the area. The kodama became silent and disappeared back in their mother trees. The two girls stopped chanting when the entire area was quiet. Momiji stood guard for stray spirits as Murasaki knelt by Genji's side.
She hesitated, carefully stroking his hair. She looked at his peaceful face, feeling unsure about what she was doing. Second thoughts went through her head. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him. She wiped her eyes on a pink sleeve, preventing any tears.
I'm still scared.
I should get started, so that I can be done with it…
But Genji-chan, what if I hurt you?
Oh, Genji-chan. I love you so much…
Why can't you say the same for me?
I don't want to hurt you…
I don't want to accidentally kill you…
Genji-chan…
"Murasaki-san?"
She looked up to see Marcus standing behind her. "Are you ready to begin?"
With a determined stiff, she nodded. He patted her shoulder.
"Don't be scared, dear. You can do this. Your grandmother taught you well before she died and passed her title to you. You will always make us proud."
Momiji nodded.
"Papa? Bind and hold down his legs."
Marcus nodded, and walked to Genji's feet with a rope.
"Piccolo-sama? Bind and hold his wrists."
Arangami handed Piccolo a sturdy rope hand-woven by the Emishi. Piccolo grunted. He knew that Genji's demon could snap the rope into strings in seconds, but he didn't say anything. He took the rope and tied Genji's hands together tightly.
"Trunks-kun? Goten-kun? Hold onto his shoulders." Trunks and Goten stepped foreword, and pushed down on Genji's shoulders. Trunks mussed Genji's hair with his free hand.
"Yume?" Murasaki waved her hand at the wolf. "Put your paws on his chest, but not where I have to cut." Yume walked over and lay down by Genji's side. She put her paws on his abs and chest, pressing firmly to keep him in place. She licked at Genji's chin and cheek in concern.
Murasaki took her crystal dagger and gripped it tightly.
"Yosh…" ((Translation: "Alright then…"))
/|\
The dark kodama raced through the village, now empty of people. However, it was not empty of nesting raven females and stabled red elks.
The ravens sat over their nests of eggs, cawing loudly and fearfully at the mass of abnormal spirits. The kodama ignored them, continuing on their way.
The elk panicked in their stalls, kicking at the walls, pawing their hooves in the air, and grunting and squealing in fear. The kodama ignored them too, streaming down the empty streets in noisy, random chorus.
Moma broke the wooden beam over his stall, but did not exit. He waited until the wave passed and the kodama disappeared to the other side of the forest. Moma trotted out of his stall, and watched the armada of spirits race past the trees.
"Well," one raven nester sighed, shaking her feathers, "that's something you don't see everyday…"
"No…" another agreed. "Good thing no one was here except us. That would have been disastrous."
Moma bucked into the air, pawing furiously, then galloped after the gigantic mass of dark kodama.
They were headed to the exorcism!