In the Forests of the Night
A Hikaru no Go Ghost Story
Part 4: Fearful Symmetry
The unique thing about working with magic, Hikaru noticed, was that even the most mundane chores seemed marked with hidden meanings. In a matter of moments, the kitsune had cleared a large space in the forest, set up innumerable tables heaped high with lavish rice-based foods, and had built a stage. Currently, a great number of them could be seen tuning up various instruments upon the stage. Wine barrels as large around as Hikaru was tall were rolled in, followed by even larger caskets of beer, and what looked like veritable sea of sake. Finally, the kitsune erected two outhouse like buildings at the very edge of the clearing.
"Do gods and demons have to pee?" the utterly innocuous question left Hikaru's mouth before he could stop it.
Sai's lips twitched as he shrugged. "Perhaps. Especially if they drink all that ..."
Throughout the preparations, the drummer kitsune had not let up their beat; it was beginning to give Hikaru a splitting headache. "Ugh, why do they keep banging on like that?"
"My guess is that this clan of kitsune are Ikazuchi kitsune, of the storm and sky. Their drum play recreates the rolling sound of thunder." Sai explained.
Hikaru's eyes widened even further as several popping sounds rang through the clearing. Several furry, rotund beings waddled out, their striped tails dragging along behind them. Each of them had a leaf on their head, and many of them carried sake bottles. All of them made a beeline to where the kitsune had unloaded the kegs of liquor. "Sa--sensei! Are those tanuki? Wow, look at the size of their ..."
"Those are tanuki," Sai cut off the rest of Hikaru's statement. "I think they are here to serve the food, while the rest of the kitsune entertain the other gods and guests."
"I've seen their statues at restaurants before, but I never knew that they had such huge --"
"Shindo-kun, don't point! It's rude!
Hikaru's jaw dropped again as he caught sight of a troupe of creatures with bright red faces, long noses, and twig like limbs. They held elaborate feathery fans in their knobbed fingers, and one of them pointed his at Hikaru. "Whooooa ...."
"Tengu. Watch out for them, they like to play tricks on people, especially woodsmen. They also like to steal children, so be careful," Sai straightened his robes, smoothing out the wrinkles. He twirled his fingers, and his fan appeared.
"I never could figure out how you did that," Hikaru said.
"Never mind. I think the more important guests are beginning to arrive. Stand up straight, don't slouch, and follow me. Don't look anyone in the eye. That's considered rude among the wanderers."
Immediately, Hikaru's gaze snapped down, though his jaw felt like it was going to be permanently unhitched from his head as more and more creatures sauntered out from between the tree trunks. Despite Sai's warning, he couldn't help but glance up every now and then. Women with skeletal fingers and long stretching necks, men with impossibly large mouths but tiny, shrunken bodies, things that had both human and animal parts mixed haphazardly --- these were but the tamer nightmares that paraded past his horrified eyes. Somehow, seeing the creatures within the glow of the foxfire lamps made the experience even worse. Some things should not never be allowed to enter any kind of light.
And yet, still more creatures came, seeming to slither out from the bowels of the worst kind of nightmare, the kind which left dreamers clutching at their chests bereft of the capacity to scream, the kind that drove the sane towards insanity, the kind that one could die from having. Most of them Hikaru did not even want to begin to describe, for he feared that doing so might etch the images into his memory forever. Sai would occasionally stop and mutter some warning about this or that creature, but he was unable to absorb a single word. His brain threatened to shut down completely from the visual overload alone
I guess this is how Sai must've felt when he first appeared in my world, he thought as a demon made entirely of ice and old bones slid by. All of the new arrivals would stop and stare at Sai, before lifting their sleeves (or a flap of skin, or a fan, or whatever qualified as a sleeve) and whispering excitedly. More than a few of them pointed at Hikaru and made smacking sounds with their lips and fangs. Seeing this, he pressed so close to Sai that he was treading through his friend's robes with every step.
Yet, the ghost merely nodded and bowed politely back at their onlookers, seemingly unfazed by the never-ending stream of heart stopping strangeness. The only time he showed any reaction at all was when the frog demons marched past. Sai made a slight choking sound and whipped his fan up to his face, but he still managed to nod in respect to them. What jarred Hikaru the most, however, was that just as Sai seemed as comfortable in the night world as he would have been in Hikaru's room, the other wanderers seemed to be quite familiar with him as well.
One woman even sidled up to them, a syrupy sweet look plastered on her too wide face. Her kimono was ebony black in color, with belladonna plants embroidered in scarlet throughout. Something about it made Hikaru dizzy, something in the too perfect weave of the cloth. He concentrated on the reassuring blandness of Sai's white robes instead.
"Fujiwara-sensei ... do my eyes deceive me? Here's a face I would never have guessed to see again. And ooooh, you've brought a little friend," the woman (at least Hikaru thought it was a woman) spoke with in a strange series of little clicks, as if someone was tapping two wooden chopsticks together. "Perhaps you and your disciple would like to give me a little lesson tonight ..."
"The Lady Manjushage surely must jest. An unrefined mortal as I could have nothing to show such an illustrious being."
"Sometimes, a little ignorance can be refreshing," she glanced at Hikaru, "or, in his case maybe a whole lot of ignorance. But even a fool can teach an emperor, at times," she lifted her sleeve, sending a high pitched giggle into it. The sound made the hairs on Hikaru's neck rise. "Ahh, that one is foolish enough to teach a whole dynasty worth of emperors, if I haven't missed my guess."
Hikaru bit his lip hard, but kept his eyes on the back of Sai's robes. When Sai bowed, he did so as well.
"I must ask leave of your most honorable lady. I must discuss our seating arrangements with Osusuki-sama."
"Very well then. But you and I will most certainly talk later. More privately, I hope," the woman drifted away, and Hikaru noticed sleeves of her kimono rippled strangely. Is it just me, or does she have more than one set of arms?!
"Stay away for her at all times. She is a jorokumo, and her kind has quite the taste for mortal souls." Sai warned once they had left Lady Manjushage's presence. Hikaru nodded vehemently; he did not have to be told twice. "You're doing very well, Shindo-kun. I'm proud of you. I think you'll be fine."
Hikaru wished he could feel the same confidence. His insides seemed to be made of rice pudding at the moment, and he was sure some part of his fear must have seeped out. All those eyes watching him, those mouths shimmering with fangs ...
"So, I see you're enjoying our little gathering tonight. It really has been a while since we all got together," Osusuki appeared at Sai's side, waving his fan at the gathering spirits. "And it must also be quite the night of experiences for you too, my little giblet. I imagine the images from the noisemaking boxes will never look quite the same to you ever again, after this."
Osusuki extended a clawed hand toward Hikaru, who merely bowed. "My, my, what's this? Your gave your little apprentice a little lesson, did you not, Fujiwara-sensei? I hope you didn't hurt him too much. I rather liked his fire. At any rate, I've decided to seat you next to the higher ranked tanuki and a few of my brethren. I apologize for putting you at a lower table, but really, you are quite the unexpected guest. I take it that you won't mind? Good. I will be sitting up at the high table with my lord and his guests, but if you need me, just send one of my brethren's servants to fetch me."
"That is most benevolent of you, Osusuki-sama, but we are most unworthy of your gracious attention. I am sure we will not trouble you any more this evening ..."
"Somehow, I doubt it. But at least you are entertaining trouble. I have a present for you, by the way ..." the kitsune leaned close to Hikaru, who continued to stare at his sneakers. Osusuki brought his hands together in a clap, making Hikaru glance up involuntarily. A small onigiri ball appeared in the air, floating in front of his face. "Eat this."
Hikaru snuck a furtive look at Sai. He had seen too many films about the netherworld to accept food blindly. Sai pursed his lips. "Osusuki-sama, I am not sure my disciple is worthy enough to ..."
Osusuki shrugged. "Still refusing to take my advice, Fujiwara-sensei? You shouldn't dismiss my gift so easily. I'm sure your pupil would like to be incorporated further into tonight's festivities. He is very weak in the form he's in right now."
"Please accept my most abject apologies, my lord, but he will refuse," Sai straightened, and his hands clenched his fan so tightly that Hikaru could see his knuckles turning white. "I fear that such a gift is too great for him. He does not belong to the wandering night, and I won't have him carrying any of it away within him."
"It may be a little too late for that, sensei. You are in him, are you not? In what ways have you bent his life? Was it always for the better? And not just his life ... how about the one before him?" Osusuki bowed slightly, and Hikaru caught a glimpse of fake teeth set deep within the fox mask. He had no doubt, though, that the real ones would be just as sharp. "Don't talk to me about giving him something from the wandering world, Fujiwara no Sai. He carries something within him already -- both your gift and your scars."
Hikaru froze, uncertain as to what he should do or how he should react. Sai turned away from Osusuki. He did not look at Hikaru either.
"No matter. Here you go, my little gyoza," Osusuki snapped his fingers, causing the rice to drop out of the air. "You decide."
On reflex, Hikaru caught the rice ball and was surprised to feel its warm, sticky weight in his hand. He nearly dropped it, but something in Osusuki's posture made him stuff the gooey mess into his pocket instead. "Your disciple is smarter than you in this, Fujiwara-sensei. Very well, if you won't eat it immediately, let me at least do one favor for you now. You can call me a player, you can call me a tease, but don't ever call me stingy ..."
The kitsune clapped his hands again, and Hikaru felt a wave of energy sweep through him, leaving a strange aftertaste of mint in his mouth and an odd tingling sensation in his fingers and toes. A scent of autumn leaves lingered in the air, before wisping away to nothing again.
"Hika--Shindo-kun!" Sai exclaimed in alarm.
"No need for hysterics, Fujiwara-sensei. I just thought your student looked slightly moth-eaten. He was hardly a tribute to you in the clothes he was wearing!" Osusuki said. "The youth of today have NO fashion sense whatsoever. And that hair ... so hideous."
Hikaru glanced down to find that he had been dressed in a miniature version of what Sai normally wore, complete down to a small fan that had appeared in his hand in place of the onigiri. His head felt strange too, somewhat heavier than he was used to ... reaching up, he encountered an interesting abundance of ribbons and a quite startling lack of blond bangs.
"HEY! What's with my hair? It feels all girly ..." Hikaru forgot to be frightened OR submissive as a blinding wave of anger shot through him. Was nothing sacred tonight?
"Arrgh!" He charged at the kitsune, skidded straight through the fox spirit's body, tripped on his robes, and landed flat on his face in front of a puzzled tanuki server. None of it deterred his angry diatribe, however. "Nobody messes with my hair! Do you hear me? I hope fleas infest your most hairiest of places!"
"Shindo-kun!" Sai called frantically.
Osusuki bent nearly double with laughter, not even bothering to try to hide the emotion behind his sleeves. His multitude of tails swept vigorously against the ground. "Kiyiii! Perhaps it's best that he didn't eat the onigiri after all. He looks ready to pluck my hide bald, strand by strand."
"I apologize most humbly for ..."
"No need... I have not been so amused in centuries. Just take your seat, Fujiwara-sensei. I believe our guest of honor is due to arrive shortly."
When Hikaru finally regained his feet, Sai ushered him towards a back table where three tanuki and a kitsune sat. Although none of the world around him seemed real, the clothes he now wore felt all too frustratingly so. The fabric was unbelievably heavy on top of being stiff, itchy, and tied too tightly in the most uncomfortable of places. The top robe also seemed two sizes too big, while the slightly elevated sandals pinched his toes mercilessly. In order to move even the slightest step forward, Hikaru was forced to do an odd little shuffle, swaying slightly as he had to readjust his weight every time. He also had to make sure to keep his arms slightly raised and to the side, in order to keep his sleeves out of the way of his legs. The overall effect was a rather awkward sashay.
How does Sai ever manage to jump up and down in this? Hikaru wondered, recalling the never-ending energy that normally surrounded his ghostly friend. A wave of melancholy swept through him. I hope I have a chance to see him do that again. He couldn't imagine the current Sai even placing one strand of hair out of place, much less leap up and down. He's so proper. I've never seen him like this before ... so serious and grown up ... I thought he was only this way about Go.
Fingering his own fan nervously, Hikaru suddenly realized that he really didn't know much about Sai, beyond the ghost's obsession with the game.
Maybe his incredible Go talent isn't all there is to him. He certainly never said anything about this wandering world thing. Geez, I don't even know what his favorite color is, or what his mother's name was. In a way, I know more about Touya Akira than this person who's been living within me for two years ...
"Shindo-kun, are you all right?" Sai's voice made Hikaru drop the fan in embarrassment. It disappeared the instant it left his fingers.
"Crap! Err ... I'm fine," he said. "I so-- ...uuugh!"
A giant, beetle like monster had bumbled past, and its wings were like iridescent mirrors. Hikaru swore violently when he finally caught sight of his reflection. His hair was indeed much longer than he had ever seen it. Worse yet, all the strands had been pulled up into concentric loops about his ears. As a final insult, all the loops had ribbons intertwining up and down their rounded length.
"I look like Princess Leia on a BAD HAIR DAY! Why couldn't he have just given me a goofy hat like yours?!" He tugged vigorously at the ribbons, but they wouldn't unravel, despite his best efforts.
"Shh, Shindo-kun. Not so loud. I believe Osusuki was actually doing us a favor this time." Sai said. "You were attracting a bit of attention just based on the outfit you were wearing. You look the part of my disciple now."
"Fashion, I'll show Mr. "I wear Rabbits on my Buttocks" fashion!" Hikaru gave one last vicious yank on the offending hair ribbons, before throwing his hands up in defeat. "Why did he have to make them pink anyway? I might as well give up any chance at manhood I ever had."
"I think you look rather ...ehh... cute." Sai hid the rest of his expression behind his fan. "And it's clear by the style of your robes that you're a boy."
"The only other person I've ever seen wear this stuff is you, and YOU wear ten different shades of purple lipstick! You don't count!" Hikaru tore at his sleeves, which also stubbornly stayed intact.
Giving up entirely, he resigned himself to looking like a misfit from some designer school gone mad. It was then he noticed that they had come to a stop at a short legged table. There was only one empty seat cushion, placed at its very end. Hikaru stared at settings, wondering where he would sit. Beside Sai, the kitsune with the cherry blossom robe glanced inquiringly at Hikaru.
"Surely your disciple knows better than to want to sit with us," he said.
"Of course not. He is just waiting for me to sit, Kinyuki-san, before he takes his seat behind me." Sai said cooly.
Actually, I'm not sure I CAN sit, Hikaru thought as he tried to squat down behind Sai. Would my butt just pass through the cushion? How IS the ground holding me up, anyway?
Such questions only caused the nagging ache in his head to grow, and Hikaru decided that he rather not know. The act of settling himself was proving enough of a challenge without philosophy getting in the way. His sleeves and other bits of cloth gave him endless amounts of trouble by rumpling and bagging mercilessly. The stiff, obi-like belt that was currently strangling his back muscles did not help matters either.
With a lot of muffled curses and general bendings of this and that, Hikaru finally manipulated himself down into a sitting position similar to that of his mentor. A giggling noise next to him nearly made him loose his balance again. Behind Kinyuki sat a smaller kitsune. She.... or he ... had a mask and kimono decorated with cherry blossoms as well, although the blossoms were pink instead of scarlet. Without warning, the figure swiped a claw at where his legs met his body, only to give a whine of disappointment when her hand passed right through him.
"Kinyuki-san, I believe your maid is trying to disembowel my disciple," Sai spoke offhandedly, as if commenting about the weather. Hikaru, on the other hand, was now sprawled flat on his back. He felt infinitely grateful that he hadn't eaten the onigiri.
"Oh, Kojoro-chan was only being a little naughty. Weren't you?" Kinyuki tapped the side of her mask. "If she was trying to disembowel him, she would have aimed a little higher, would you not?
"Just wanted to see what a ghost boy felt like," she agreed with a high, rather whinny like voice. "He feels like wind. Nothing much there."
"Keep your paws to yourself!" Hikaru felt like wringing something into little pieces, preferably something that currently had a tail and a bad sense of humor. Would the humiliation never end? He maneuvered back into a sitting position with a wince, feeling his back muscles ache in response.
I'm not going to like being me tomorrow morning ... if there even is a tomorrow morning. He glared at Kojoro. The kitsune merely stared at him with her empty eye sockets, laughing as Hikaru turned away.
"Scaredy-ghost-boy," she chanted. Hikaru stuck his tongue out at her, which caused her to give him a middle-fingered salute.
"Where did you learn that?!" He blinked, surprised. He was pretty sure that such gestures weren't a part of the normal kitsune repertoire; it was not even a Japanese custom. In response, Kojoro stuck up the other hand as well.
"Shindo-kun, if you're done playing with Kinyuki-san's maid, perhaps you can turn your attention to what's happening," Sai reprimanded him.
"Yes, sensei," he turned away from Kojoro, but not before repeating her gesture behind his back. He heard a chuffling giggle.
Most of the other spirits, demons, and gods were beginning to sit down as well. The most important guests were finally arriving. Hikaru's jaw hung open once again. The evening's previous horrors were erased as the clearing suddenly became awash in beauty. The kitsune had begun playing music, and the air shivered with the haunting calls from the shakuhachi flutes, the strumming of the koto strings, and the background thrum of the taiko drums.
Ethereal vixen dancers twirled and curtsied gaily around the tables, talking coyly to all the guests. Hikaru felt his cheeks burn as one came near their table; she was definitely female in all the right places. Sai never batted as much as an eyelash, although Kinyuki's tails swished so excitedly that they generated their own wind.
Some of the dancers carried streamers, others threw confetti in the air, still others blew out clouds of colored smoke which hung in sheetlike in the air, cloaking anything that moved a shimmering rainbow aura. Firefly like creatures swirled within the glittering curtains, leaving bright bursts of miniature fireworks in their wake. Even Sai's glow had become indistinguishable in all the hustle and bustle of the nocturnal world at play.
Hikaru bunched himself low within his costume, feeling totally out of his element. Nothing in the mortal world could ever equal the single night of festivities put on by the immortal one. He suddenly wished his friends could see it. Even Touya Akira, he wagered, would lose his legendary calm if he could see but a fraction of horrors and the wonders that had been on display tonight.
Hikaru nearly snapped his own neck giving a double take as he suddenly made eye contact with the face of the very person he had been thinking of. "TOUYA!" he yelped. While he had been distracted by the kitsune dancers, a large dragon like creature flew in, causing a great gust of wind. And right behind the dragon, a familiar face stood out in the crowd, almost starlike in its presence ...
"Touya!" He tried to get up, but became entangled in his robes instead. "Sai! That's Touya Akira! What's he doing here?!"
"Shindo-kun, that's not Touya!" Sai barked at him. "SIT BACK DOWN!"
Kinyuki frowned. "Your student is quite undisciplined, Fujiwara-san. I would never let a follower of mine to call me by my name. Punishment is necessary ... whips perhaps? Might I suggest you brand your title into his pelt? I could do it for you, if you're too squeamish."
Hikaru winced. Oops. Man, he's rather sadistic for a little woodland creature.
"Kinyuki-san's wisdom must be great, for I would never dream of telling him how to govern his own followers. Such advice would seem rude, coming from someone like me. As it is, unfortunately, I am far too incompetent to decide a punishment so easily. I must meditate and deal with him later." Sai unfolded his fan, waving it delicately in front of his face. Although Kinyuki's mask effectively hid his every emotion, Hikaru had a feeling that the kitsune was growling behind it. He turned his attention back to where the dragon god was sitting. There, right next to him ... that was the spitting image of ...
"Baka!" Kojoro snickered next to him when Hikaru settled down. "I don't know who Touya Akira is, but that's Kohaku-sama. He came with Kawa-sama -- that's the big dragon you see up there," she sighed wistfully. "Kohaku's beautiful, don't you think? But I hear his heart has been given to some stupid mortal girl. If I ever find her, I will tear her face off with my claws ...."
"Kojoro!" Kinyuki's voice roared, and he slapped her, hard enough for Hikaru to here a loud CRACK as his claws met her mask. "Enough of your mindless chattering."
Hikaru did not like Kojoro much, but he felt sorry for her as the kitsune reeled backwards from the blow.
"Kinyuki-san," Sai's voice could shear apart Mt. Fuji in its hardness. "Pardon my lowly opinion, but replying her impertinence with violence only puts you below even her station. Only brute animals communicate through blows; we, as sentient creatures, are given the ability to speak in order to avoid this. I am sure, Kinyuki-san, that someone with as great a stature as yours would never have need to even touch, must less strike anyone."
"You're opinion is lowly indeed, seeing as how your disciple barely knows which way to stand. I bet he couldn't even take off his own robes to piss without help," Kinyuki buffed his claws against his kimono.
Hikaru felt his face flame red. (Well, perhaps he wasn't quite sure just how to take off the robes, but Kinyuki was still being quite a bastard, in Hikaru's honest opinion.)
"Are you okay?" Hikaru asked as Kojoro straightened out her mask, which had been knocked sideways. He caught a glimpse of a long nose, something that suspiciously looked like whiskers, but not much else.
"Tch. I'm fine," she snarled in a quiet voice, so as not to incur Kinyuki's wrath again. "I'm not weak, like you are. I certainly don't need a soft master who doesn't even know how to punish someone correctly. Kinyuki-sama has marked me many times," she purred, wiping a tiny streak of blood away from the edge of her mask. She flicked the droplet at Hikaru, who blanched and backed away.
"One day, I will create my own scars upon his body. One day, I will be a master too, and I will punish my students even more so than Kinyuki does me. Then we will see who is greater." Kojoro stabbed the ground viciously with her claws, raking up huge chunks of earth.
Hikaru could not help but edge a little further away from the plotting kitsune cub. He found his gaze wandering towards the Touya-lookalike again. Between fox people and dragon gods, life had certainly become very strange. He wanted boring familiarity of his old world back ... he would even sit through History willingly again. There was much to be said against seeing too many miracles, after all.
Sai suddenly straightened up in front of him. All the other guests, too, had stopped talking, and the kitsune dancers had cleared from the floor. The musicians ceased both the flute and the string playing, but kept pounding a low, percussive beat on the drums. A low fog rolled in from the forest.
"Ahh, I see his grace has finally decided to arrive," said Kinyuki. "You should be honored, Fujiwara-san. It's not often that mortals like you and he get to see one of the first gods, one of the last of the truly great ones: Amatsu Mikaboshi-sama."
Sai's hands fumbled at his fan, nearly dropping it. Hikaru swallowed as the slightest of tremors shook through the ghost. He wasn't exactly thrilled with the revelation either. Memories flooded his mind of the stories his grandfather used to tell to try to scare him. Many of had been centered around "Amatsu ..."
"No! Don't say it," Sai turned around, his expression frantic. The fog had grown even thicker, and Sai's own ghostly glow was dimming. "Don't call his name. You mustn't attract his attention ..."
"Too late," Kinyuki said, his tone highly amused. A figure was stepping out of the fog, a figure which seemed to made entirely of light-starved shadows and which emanated a icy chill so profound that even the fire demons shivered.
"He's going to notice the little mortal whether or not he says his name ..." Kinyuki turned his eyeless mask to Hikaru. "I'm going to enjoy your sweet agony, little boy. Yours and your sensei's."
And indeed, the figure had turned to look at them. Hikaru had thought that the kitsune, with their masks of empty eyes, had been frightening. And any one of the evening's other guests were certainly enough to send someone into cardiac arrest from terror, but this ....
"May I introduce to you, oh great lord," Kinyuki stood up. "This is his majesty, the August Star of Heaven, Amatsu Mikaboshi, Demon lord of Hell and Darkness, Great Ruler of ..."
"Shut up," the figure rasped at Kinyuki. The kitsune immediately dropped to his knees, screaming in pain. Amatsu Mikaboshi ignored the writhing kitsune, choosing instead to loom over Hikaru and Sai. Something which might have passed as a smile passed over its mouth.
"So ... what do we have here? Mortal souls ... both past AND present ... how very interesting. How very interesting indeed ..."
to be continued.
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Partial notes: (Check out the full ones in the appendix)
Yes, there is a tribute to Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" in there. More than one, really. I couldn't help myself. The moment I saw Touya Akira, I thought that he and Haku must've been separated at birth. Either that, or someone's got a night job when he's not playing Go .
The celebration scenes also draw their inspiration from Miyasaki-sensei's films, as does the onigiri scene.
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A Hikaru no Go Ghost Story
Part 4: Fearful Symmetry
The unique thing about working with magic, Hikaru noticed, was that even the most mundane chores seemed marked with hidden meanings. In a matter of moments, the kitsune had cleared a large space in the forest, set up innumerable tables heaped high with lavish rice-based foods, and had built a stage. Currently, a great number of them could be seen tuning up various instruments upon the stage. Wine barrels as large around as Hikaru was tall were rolled in, followed by even larger caskets of beer, and what looked like veritable sea of sake. Finally, the kitsune erected two outhouse like buildings at the very edge of the clearing.
"Do gods and demons have to pee?" the utterly innocuous question left Hikaru's mouth before he could stop it.
Sai's lips twitched as he shrugged. "Perhaps. Especially if they drink all that ..."
Throughout the preparations, the drummer kitsune had not let up their beat; it was beginning to give Hikaru a splitting headache. "Ugh, why do they keep banging on like that?"
"My guess is that this clan of kitsune are Ikazuchi kitsune, of the storm and sky. Their drum play recreates the rolling sound of thunder." Sai explained.
Hikaru's eyes widened even further as several popping sounds rang through the clearing. Several furry, rotund beings waddled out, their striped tails dragging along behind them. Each of them had a leaf on their head, and many of them carried sake bottles. All of them made a beeline to where the kitsune had unloaded the kegs of liquor. "Sa--sensei! Are those tanuki? Wow, look at the size of their ..."
"Those are tanuki," Sai cut off the rest of Hikaru's statement. "I think they are here to serve the food, while the rest of the kitsune entertain the other gods and guests."
"I've seen their statues at restaurants before, but I never knew that they had such huge --"
"Shindo-kun, don't point! It's rude!
Hikaru's jaw dropped again as he caught sight of a troupe of creatures with bright red faces, long noses, and twig like limbs. They held elaborate feathery fans in their knobbed fingers, and one of them pointed his at Hikaru. "Whooooa ...."
"Tengu. Watch out for them, they like to play tricks on people, especially woodsmen. They also like to steal children, so be careful," Sai straightened his robes, smoothing out the wrinkles. He twirled his fingers, and his fan appeared.
"I never could figure out how you did that," Hikaru said.
"Never mind. I think the more important guests are beginning to arrive. Stand up straight, don't slouch, and follow me. Don't look anyone in the eye. That's considered rude among the wanderers."
Immediately, Hikaru's gaze snapped down, though his jaw felt like it was going to be permanently unhitched from his head as more and more creatures sauntered out from between the tree trunks. Despite Sai's warning, he couldn't help but glance up every now and then. Women with skeletal fingers and long stretching necks, men with impossibly large mouths but tiny, shrunken bodies, things that had both human and animal parts mixed haphazardly --- these were but the tamer nightmares that paraded past his horrified eyes. Somehow, seeing the creatures within the glow of the foxfire lamps made the experience even worse. Some things should not never be allowed to enter any kind of light.
And yet, still more creatures came, seeming to slither out from the bowels of the worst kind of nightmare, the kind which left dreamers clutching at their chests bereft of the capacity to scream, the kind that drove the sane towards insanity, the kind that one could die from having. Most of them Hikaru did not even want to begin to describe, for he feared that doing so might etch the images into his memory forever. Sai would occasionally stop and mutter some warning about this or that creature, but he was unable to absorb a single word. His brain threatened to shut down completely from the visual overload alone
I guess this is how Sai must've felt when he first appeared in my world, he thought as a demon made entirely of ice and old bones slid by. All of the new arrivals would stop and stare at Sai, before lifting their sleeves (or a flap of skin, or a fan, or whatever qualified as a sleeve) and whispering excitedly. More than a few of them pointed at Hikaru and made smacking sounds with their lips and fangs. Seeing this, he pressed so close to Sai that he was treading through his friend's robes with every step.
Yet, the ghost merely nodded and bowed politely back at their onlookers, seemingly unfazed by the never-ending stream of heart stopping strangeness. The only time he showed any reaction at all was when the frog demons marched past. Sai made a slight choking sound and whipped his fan up to his face, but he still managed to nod in respect to them. What jarred Hikaru the most, however, was that just as Sai seemed as comfortable in the night world as he would have been in Hikaru's room, the other wanderers seemed to be quite familiar with him as well.
One woman even sidled up to them, a syrupy sweet look plastered on her too wide face. Her kimono was ebony black in color, with belladonna plants embroidered in scarlet throughout. Something about it made Hikaru dizzy, something in the too perfect weave of the cloth. He concentrated on the reassuring blandness of Sai's white robes instead.
"Fujiwara-sensei ... do my eyes deceive me? Here's a face I would never have guessed to see again. And ooooh, you've brought a little friend," the woman (at least Hikaru thought it was a woman) spoke with in a strange series of little clicks, as if someone was tapping two wooden chopsticks together. "Perhaps you and your disciple would like to give me a little lesson tonight ..."
"The Lady Manjushage surely must jest. An unrefined mortal as I could have nothing to show such an illustrious being."
"Sometimes, a little ignorance can be refreshing," she glanced at Hikaru, "or, in his case maybe a whole lot of ignorance. But even a fool can teach an emperor, at times," she lifted her sleeve, sending a high pitched giggle into it. The sound made the hairs on Hikaru's neck rise. "Ahh, that one is foolish enough to teach a whole dynasty worth of emperors, if I haven't missed my guess."
Hikaru bit his lip hard, but kept his eyes on the back of Sai's robes. When Sai bowed, he did so as well.
"I must ask leave of your most honorable lady. I must discuss our seating arrangements with Osusuki-sama."
"Very well then. But you and I will most certainly talk later. More privately, I hope," the woman drifted away, and Hikaru noticed sleeves of her kimono rippled strangely. Is it just me, or does she have more than one set of arms?!
"Stay away for her at all times. She is a jorokumo, and her kind has quite the taste for mortal souls." Sai warned once they had left Lady Manjushage's presence. Hikaru nodded vehemently; he did not have to be told twice. "You're doing very well, Shindo-kun. I'm proud of you. I think you'll be fine."
Hikaru wished he could feel the same confidence. His insides seemed to be made of rice pudding at the moment, and he was sure some part of his fear must have seeped out. All those eyes watching him, those mouths shimmering with fangs ...
"So, I see you're enjoying our little gathering tonight. It really has been a while since we all got together," Osusuki appeared at Sai's side, waving his fan at the gathering spirits. "And it must also be quite the night of experiences for you too, my little giblet. I imagine the images from the noisemaking boxes will never look quite the same to you ever again, after this."
Osusuki extended a clawed hand toward Hikaru, who merely bowed. "My, my, what's this? Your gave your little apprentice a little lesson, did you not, Fujiwara-sensei? I hope you didn't hurt him too much. I rather liked his fire. At any rate, I've decided to seat you next to the higher ranked tanuki and a few of my brethren. I apologize for putting you at a lower table, but really, you are quite the unexpected guest. I take it that you won't mind? Good. I will be sitting up at the high table with my lord and his guests, but if you need me, just send one of my brethren's servants to fetch me."
"That is most benevolent of you, Osusuki-sama, but we are most unworthy of your gracious attention. I am sure we will not trouble you any more this evening ..."
"Somehow, I doubt it. But at least you are entertaining trouble. I have a present for you, by the way ..." the kitsune leaned close to Hikaru, who continued to stare at his sneakers. Osusuki brought his hands together in a clap, making Hikaru glance up involuntarily. A small onigiri ball appeared in the air, floating in front of his face. "Eat this."
Hikaru snuck a furtive look at Sai. He had seen too many films about the netherworld to accept food blindly. Sai pursed his lips. "Osusuki-sama, I am not sure my disciple is worthy enough to ..."
Osusuki shrugged. "Still refusing to take my advice, Fujiwara-sensei? You shouldn't dismiss my gift so easily. I'm sure your pupil would like to be incorporated further into tonight's festivities. He is very weak in the form he's in right now."
"Please accept my most abject apologies, my lord, but he will refuse," Sai straightened, and his hands clenched his fan so tightly that Hikaru could see his knuckles turning white. "I fear that such a gift is too great for him. He does not belong to the wandering night, and I won't have him carrying any of it away within him."
"It may be a little too late for that, sensei. You are in him, are you not? In what ways have you bent his life? Was it always for the better? And not just his life ... how about the one before him?" Osusuki bowed slightly, and Hikaru caught a glimpse of fake teeth set deep within the fox mask. He had no doubt, though, that the real ones would be just as sharp. "Don't talk to me about giving him something from the wandering world, Fujiwara no Sai. He carries something within him already -- both your gift and your scars."
Hikaru froze, uncertain as to what he should do or how he should react. Sai turned away from Osusuki. He did not look at Hikaru either.
"No matter. Here you go, my little gyoza," Osusuki snapped his fingers, causing the rice to drop out of the air. "You decide."
On reflex, Hikaru caught the rice ball and was surprised to feel its warm, sticky weight in his hand. He nearly dropped it, but something in Osusuki's posture made him stuff the gooey mess into his pocket instead. "Your disciple is smarter than you in this, Fujiwara-sensei. Very well, if you won't eat it immediately, let me at least do one favor for you now. You can call me a player, you can call me a tease, but don't ever call me stingy ..."
The kitsune clapped his hands again, and Hikaru felt a wave of energy sweep through him, leaving a strange aftertaste of mint in his mouth and an odd tingling sensation in his fingers and toes. A scent of autumn leaves lingered in the air, before wisping away to nothing again.
"Hika--Shindo-kun!" Sai exclaimed in alarm.
"No need for hysterics, Fujiwara-sensei. I just thought your student looked slightly moth-eaten. He was hardly a tribute to you in the clothes he was wearing!" Osusuki said. "The youth of today have NO fashion sense whatsoever. And that hair ... so hideous."
Hikaru glanced down to find that he had been dressed in a miniature version of what Sai normally wore, complete down to a small fan that had appeared in his hand in place of the onigiri. His head felt strange too, somewhat heavier than he was used to ... reaching up, he encountered an interesting abundance of ribbons and a quite startling lack of blond bangs.
"HEY! What's with my hair? It feels all girly ..." Hikaru forgot to be frightened OR submissive as a blinding wave of anger shot through him. Was nothing sacred tonight?
"Arrgh!" He charged at the kitsune, skidded straight through the fox spirit's body, tripped on his robes, and landed flat on his face in front of a puzzled tanuki server. None of it deterred his angry diatribe, however. "Nobody messes with my hair! Do you hear me? I hope fleas infest your most hairiest of places!"
"Shindo-kun!" Sai called frantically.
Osusuki bent nearly double with laughter, not even bothering to try to hide the emotion behind his sleeves. His multitude of tails swept vigorously against the ground. "Kiyiii! Perhaps it's best that he didn't eat the onigiri after all. He looks ready to pluck my hide bald, strand by strand."
"I apologize most humbly for ..."
"No need... I have not been so amused in centuries. Just take your seat, Fujiwara-sensei. I believe our guest of honor is due to arrive shortly."
When Hikaru finally regained his feet, Sai ushered him towards a back table where three tanuki and a kitsune sat. Although none of the world around him seemed real, the clothes he now wore felt all too frustratingly so. The fabric was unbelievably heavy on top of being stiff, itchy, and tied too tightly in the most uncomfortable of places. The top robe also seemed two sizes too big, while the slightly elevated sandals pinched his toes mercilessly. In order to move even the slightest step forward, Hikaru was forced to do an odd little shuffle, swaying slightly as he had to readjust his weight every time. He also had to make sure to keep his arms slightly raised and to the side, in order to keep his sleeves out of the way of his legs. The overall effect was a rather awkward sashay.
How does Sai ever manage to jump up and down in this? Hikaru wondered, recalling the never-ending energy that normally surrounded his ghostly friend. A wave of melancholy swept through him. I hope I have a chance to see him do that again. He couldn't imagine the current Sai even placing one strand of hair out of place, much less leap up and down. He's so proper. I've never seen him like this before ... so serious and grown up ... I thought he was only this way about Go.
Fingering his own fan nervously, Hikaru suddenly realized that he really didn't know much about Sai, beyond the ghost's obsession with the game.
Maybe his incredible Go talent isn't all there is to him. He certainly never said anything about this wandering world thing. Geez, I don't even know what his favorite color is, or what his mother's name was. In a way, I know more about Touya Akira than this person who's been living within me for two years ...
"Shindo-kun, are you all right?" Sai's voice made Hikaru drop the fan in embarrassment. It disappeared the instant it left his fingers.
"Crap! Err ... I'm fine," he said. "I so-- ...uuugh!"
A giant, beetle like monster had bumbled past, and its wings were like iridescent mirrors. Hikaru swore violently when he finally caught sight of his reflection. His hair was indeed much longer than he had ever seen it. Worse yet, all the strands had been pulled up into concentric loops about his ears. As a final insult, all the loops had ribbons intertwining up and down their rounded length.
"I look like Princess Leia on a BAD HAIR DAY! Why couldn't he have just given me a goofy hat like yours?!" He tugged vigorously at the ribbons, but they wouldn't unravel, despite his best efforts.
"Shh, Shindo-kun. Not so loud. I believe Osusuki was actually doing us a favor this time." Sai said. "You were attracting a bit of attention just based on the outfit you were wearing. You look the part of my disciple now."
"Fashion, I'll show Mr. "I wear Rabbits on my Buttocks" fashion!" Hikaru gave one last vicious yank on the offending hair ribbons, before throwing his hands up in defeat. "Why did he have to make them pink anyway? I might as well give up any chance at manhood I ever had."
"I think you look rather ...ehh... cute." Sai hid the rest of his expression behind his fan. "And it's clear by the style of your robes that you're a boy."
"The only other person I've ever seen wear this stuff is you, and YOU wear ten different shades of purple lipstick! You don't count!" Hikaru tore at his sleeves, which also stubbornly stayed intact.
Giving up entirely, he resigned himself to looking like a misfit from some designer school gone mad. It was then he noticed that they had come to a stop at a short legged table. There was only one empty seat cushion, placed at its very end. Hikaru stared at settings, wondering where he would sit. Beside Sai, the kitsune with the cherry blossom robe glanced inquiringly at Hikaru.
"Surely your disciple knows better than to want to sit with us," he said.
"Of course not. He is just waiting for me to sit, Kinyuki-san, before he takes his seat behind me." Sai said cooly.
Actually, I'm not sure I CAN sit, Hikaru thought as he tried to squat down behind Sai. Would my butt just pass through the cushion? How IS the ground holding me up, anyway?
Such questions only caused the nagging ache in his head to grow, and Hikaru decided that he rather not know. The act of settling himself was proving enough of a challenge without philosophy getting in the way. His sleeves and other bits of cloth gave him endless amounts of trouble by rumpling and bagging mercilessly. The stiff, obi-like belt that was currently strangling his back muscles did not help matters either.
With a lot of muffled curses and general bendings of this and that, Hikaru finally manipulated himself down into a sitting position similar to that of his mentor. A giggling noise next to him nearly made him loose his balance again. Behind Kinyuki sat a smaller kitsune. She.... or he ... had a mask and kimono decorated with cherry blossoms as well, although the blossoms were pink instead of scarlet. Without warning, the figure swiped a claw at where his legs met his body, only to give a whine of disappointment when her hand passed right through him.
"Kinyuki-san, I believe your maid is trying to disembowel my disciple," Sai spoke offhandedly, as if commenting about the weather. Hikaru, on the other hand, was now sprawled flat on his back. He felt infinitely grateful that he hadn't eaten the onigiri.
"Oh, Kojoro-chan was only being a little naughty. Weren't you?" Kinyuki tapped the side of her mask. "If she was trying to disembowel him, she would have aimed a little higher, would you not?
"Just wanted to see what a ghost boy felt like," she agreed with a high, rather whinny like voice. "He feels like wind. Nothing much there."
"Keep your paws to yourself!" Hikaru felt like wringing something into little pieces, preferably something that currently had a tail and a bad sense of humor. Would the humiliation never end? He maneuvered back into a sitting position with a wince, feeling his back muscles ache in response.
I'm not going to like being me tomorrow morning ... if there even is a tomorrow morning. He glared at Kojoro. The kitsune merely stared at him with her empty eye sockets, laughing as Hikaru turned away.
"Scaredy-ghost-boy," she chanted. Hikaru stuck his tongue out at her, which caused her to give him a middle-fingered salute.
"Where did you learn that?!" He blinked, surprised. He was pretty sure that such gestures weren't a part of the normal kitsune repertoire; it was not even a Japanese custom. In response, Kojoro stuck up the other hand as well.
"Shindo-kun, if you're done playing with Kinyuki-san's maid, perhaps you can turn your attention to what's happening," Sai reprimanded him.
"Yes, sensei," he turned away from Kojoro, but not before repeating her gesture behind his back. He heard a chuffling giggle.
Most of the other spirits, demons, and gods were beginning to sit down as well. The most important guests were finally arriving. Hikaru's jaw hung open once again. The evening's previous horrors were erased as the clearing suddenly became awash in beauty. The kitsune had begun playing music, and the air shivered with the haunting calls from the shakuhachi flutes, the strumming of the koto strings, and the background thrum of the taiko drums.
Ethereal vixen dancers twirled and curtsied gaily around the tables, talking coyly to all the guests. Hikaru felt his cheeks burn as one came near their table; she was definitely female in all the right places. Sai never batted as much as an eyelash, although Kinyuki's tails swished so excitedly that they generated their own wind.
Some of the dancers carried streamers, others threw confetti in the air, still others blew out clouds of colored smoke which hung in sheetlike in the air, cloaking anything that moved a shimmering rainbow aura. Firefly like creatures swirled within the glittering curtains, leaving bright bursts of miniature fireworks in their wake. Even Sai's glow had become indistinguishable in all the hustle and bustle of the nocturnal world at play.
Hikaru bunched himself low within his costume, feeling totally out of his element. Nothing in the mortal world could ever equal the single night of festivities put on by the immortal one. He suddenly wished his friends could see it. Even Touya Akira, he wagered, would lose his legendary calm if he could see but a fraction of horrors and the wonders that had been on display tonight.
Hikaru nearly snapped his own neck giving a double take as he suddenly made eye contact with the face of the very person he had been thinking of. "TOUYA!" he yelped. While he had been distracted by the kitsune dancers, a large dragon like creature flew in, causing a great gust of wind. And right behind the dragon, a familiar face stood out in the crowd, almost starlike in its presence ...
"Touya!" He tried to get up, but became entangled in his robes instead. "Sai! That's Touya Akira! What's he doing here?!"
"Shindo-kun, that's not Touya!" Sai barked at him. "SIT BACK DOWN!"
Kinyuki frowned. "Your student is quite undisciplined, Fujiwara-san. I would never let a follower of mine to call me by my name. Punishment is necessary ... whips perhaps? Might I suggest you brand your title into his pelt? I could do it for you, if you're too squeamish."
Hikaru winced. Oops. Man, he's rather sadistic for a little woodland creature.
"Kinyuki-san's wisdom must be great, for I would never dream of telling him how to govern his own followers. Such advice would seem rude, coming from someone like me. As it is, unfortunately, I am far too incompetent to decide a punishment so easily. I must meditate and deal with him later." Sai unfolded his fan, waving it delicately in front of his face. Although Kinyuki's mask effectively hid his every emotion, Hikaru had a feeling that the kitsune was growling behind it. He turned his attention back to where the dragon god was sitting. There, right next to him ... that was the spitting image of ...
"Baka!" Kojoro snickered next to him when Hikaru settled down. "I don't know who Touya Akira is, but that's Kohaku-sama. He came with Kawa-sama -- that's the big dragon you see up there," she sighed wistfully. "Kohaku's beautiful, don't you think? But I hear his heart has been given to some stupid mortal girl. If I ever find her, I will tear her face off with my claws ...."
"Kojoro!" Kinyuki's voice roared, and he slapped her, hard enough for Hikaru to here a loud CRACK as his claws met her mask. "Enough of your mindless chattering."
Hikaru did not like Kojoro much, but he felt sorry for her as the kitsune reeled backwards from the blow.
"Kinyuki-san," Sai's voice could shear apart Mt. Fuji in its hardness. "Pardon my lowly opinion, but replying her impertinence with violence only puts you below even her station. Only brute animals communicate through blows; we, as sentient creatures, are given the ability to speak in order to avoid this. I am sure, Kinyuki-san, that someone with as great a stature as yours would never have need to even touch, must less strike anyone."
"You're opinion is lowly indeed, seeing as how your disciple barely knows which way to stand. I bet he couldn't even take off his own robes to piss without help," Kinyuki buffed his claws against his kimono.
Hikaru felt his face flame red. (Well, perhaps he wasn't quite sure just how to take off the robes, but Kinyuki was still being quite a bastard, in Hikaru's honest opinion.)
"Are you okay?" Hikaru asked as Kojoro straightened out her mask, which had been knocked sideways. He caught a glimpse of a long nose, something that suspiciously looked like whiskers, but not much else.
"Tch. I'm fine," she snarled in a quiet voice, so as not to incur Kinyuki's wrath again. "I'm not weak, like you are. I certainly don't need a soft master who doesn't even know how to punish someone correctly. Kinyuki-sama has marked me many times," she purred, wiping a tiny streak of blood away from the edge of her mask. She flicked the droplet at Hikaru, who blanched and backed away.
"One day, I will create my own scars upon his body. One day, I will be a master too, and I will punish my students even more so than Kinyuki does me. Then we will see who is greater." Kojoro stabbed the ground viciously with her claws, raking up huge chunks of earth.
Hikaru could not help but edge a little further away from the plotting kitsune cub. He found his gaze wandering towards the Touya-lookalike again. Between fox people and dragon gods, life had certainly become very strange. He wanted boring familiarity of his old world back ... he would even sit through History willingly again. There was much to be said against seeing too many miracles, after all.
Sai suddenly straightened up in front of him. All the other guests, too, had stopped talking, and the kitsune dancers had cleared from the floor. The musicians ceased both the flute and the string playing, but kept pounding a low, percussive beat on the drums. A low fog rolled in from the forest.
"Ahh, I see his grace has finally decided to arrive," said Kinyuki. "You should be honored, Fujiwara-san. It's not often that mortals like you and he get to see one of the first gods, one of the last of the truly great ones: Amatsu Mikaboshi-sama."
Sai's hands fumbled at his fan, nearly dropping it. Hikaru swallowed as the slightest of tremors shook through the ghost. He wasn't exactly thrilled with the revelation either. Memories flooded his mind of the stories his grandfather used to tell to try to scare him. Many of had been centered around "Amatsu ..."
"No! Don't say it," Sai turned around, his expression frantic. The fog had grown even thicker, and Sai's own ghostly glow was dimming. "Don't call his name. You mustn't attract his attention ..."
"Too late," Kinyuki said, his tone highly amused. A figure was stepping out of the fog, a figure which seemed to made entirely of light-starved shadows and which emanated a icy chill so profound that even the fire demons shivered.
"He's going to notice the little mortal whether or not he says his name ..." Kinyuki turned his eyeless mask to Hikaru. "I'm going to enjoy your sweet agony, little boy. Yours and your sensei's."
And indeed, the figure had turned to look at them. Hikaru had thought that the kitsune, with their masks of empty eyes, had been frightening. And any one of the evening's other guests were certainly enough to send someone into cardiac arrest from terror, but this ....
"May I introduce to you, oh great lord," Kinyuki stood up. "This is his majesty, the August Star of Heaven, Amatsu Mikaboshi, Demon lord of Hell and Darkness, Great Ruler of ..."
"Shut up," the figure rasped at Kinyuki. The kitsune immediately dropped to his knees, screaming in pain. Amatsu Mikaboshi ignored the writhing kitsune, choosing instead to loom over Hikaru and Sai. Something which might have passed as a smile passed over its mouth.
"So ... what do we have here? Mortal souls ... both past AND present ... how very interesting. How very interesting indeed ..."
to be continued.
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Partial notes: (Check out the full ones in the appendix)
Yes, there is a tribute to Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" in there. More than one, really. I couldn't help myself. The moment I saw Touya Akira, I thought that he and Haku must've been separated at birth. Either that, or someone's got a night job when he's not playing Go .
The celebration scenes also draw their inspiration from Miyasaki-sensei's films, as does the onigiri scene.
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