LONG chapter warning! I'm doing a terrible job spacing out my chapter breaks. Ah, well, it could be worse. Angst, too. Well, this whole piece is pretty angsty.
OK, I lied. Bad author, bad author! No biscuit! I promised that Koichira didn't have any more powers, and I lied: she talks to elemental spirits. This is where I get major Mary-Sue points on the "Is your Fanfic a Mary-Sue?" quiz. I promise you, though, that she doesn't get along well with fuzzy animals or command the wind. Well, she could always try, but the wind jinns would laugh in her face. In her case, the power is like eavesdropping. The spirits don't really notice her existence.
Chapter 4: The Village
Takayuki noticed the change in his patient immediately. Though she remained aggressive, her temper was gone. She was close to gracious when she thanked him for lunch, a rice soup. Just when he let his guard down, though, she helped herself to more soup by lifting the pot off the fire with her bare hands. He choked on his mouthful and spent several minutes trying to calm his coughing. He was almost certain she smirked when she fetched him a cup of water. She didn't help with the dishes, but she followed him around with single-minded purpose.
The monk pulled on his wood-frame backpack, filled with sutras and medicinal herbs. "I need to go visit the village," he explained, "I'm-- ah-- going through rice faster than I expected."
Koichira accepted this wordlessly, but wouldn't be deterred from following. Takayuki warned, "The villagers are very nervous about-- ah-- strangers."
Koichira flashed her fangs in a mocking grin. "Especially strangers who happen to be-- 'ah'-- demons?" She enjoyed seeing him squirm a bit.
"Do as you like," the monk conceded.
The day was pleasant, with a light breeze blowing from the east. Koichira watched two jinns tug at the monk's hair, and found herself laughing again at the tiny wind sprites' antics. "The spirits really do love you, monk."
"What?"
"The woodland spirits and the elementals. They swarm around you. I have never seen them so taken with a human before."
The monk considered this carefully. "You mean . . . you can see them? They are real?"
Koichira couldn't hide her surprise. She knew that Shinto priests worshipped the spirits; she had assumed that Buddhist monks would as well. Takayuki didn't even believe in them. Nevertheless, he honored them in his every action in the name of Buddha. It was fortunate that spirits didn't care much about names.
The fire demon followed the monk the two miles to the village, but refused to stay on the path. She meandered to the left side, then to the right, collecting a bouquet of flowers that looked like lupin, only they were bright yellow, orange or red.
Takayuki finally asked, "Why are you collecting fireweed?"
Koichira grinned, held up a single stalk and summoned a flame to engulf it. The flower was unaffected by the blistering heat. "Fireweed oil can't be burned. I have to treat my clothes and valuables with it regularly, or they'd burn away when I use my power."
The monk was interested. "I never knew that these plants didn't burn." He accepted the stalk and sniffed the flower, then gagged.
"Unfortunately, it smells terrible," Koichira mentioned.
The village was further down the valley, beside a large river. The wooden houses were small and built close to one another. The settlement was surrounded on all sides by fields of rice paddies.
Koichira walked close to Takayuki when they entered the small town, and her eyes constantly scanned the buildings and people for threats.
One jovial man came up to the pair and slapped Takayuki on the back. "Houshi-sama, good to see you again! That's a fine-looking woman you've got with you. Still, so people won't think badly of a holy man like you, I'd better take care of her for you." The bearded stranger winked at Koichira. "Won't you step into my house, pretty lady? I've got something I want to show you."
Koichira locked eyes with the man. He met her gaze for two seconds before blushing scarlet. A moment later, all the blood drained from his face. The bearded man recognized the predator standing before him as inhuman. His voice shook as he begged, "Please forgive me, uh, Yokai-joshi." Koichira was amused by the new title. Ms Demon?
The headman came slowly out of his house. His movements were slow and deliberate, but despite his age he stood straight and proud. "Houshi-sama," he said in a voice like a gong, "may the blessings of your Buddha protect us all." The headman and Takayuki bowed deeply to each other and exchanged polite greetings. The grizzled man then squinted at Koichira. "May I ask the name of this beautiful lady, and her reason for coming to this humble village?"
"This is Koichira-san. She-- ah--" the monk trailed off, uncertain.
"I am a fire demon, but where Takayuki-sama goes, I go," Koichira interrupted. "For now."
"You are welcome here, Koichira-dono. If there is anything you require, you need only ask." The headman bowed, and the bemused fire demon bowed in return. Where she had expected panic and aggression, she found nervous courtesy.
The headman pulled Takayuki aside. "Houshi-sama, a number of children have fallen ill. I don't wish to impose upon you . . ."
The monk answered, "I will examine them immediately."
The first child they visited lived close to the river. Koichira followed the others into a dark, airless house that stank of sickness. Takayuki examined the child lying on the floor while the mother hovered over them both. Koichira couldn't tolerate it; she went outside to clear her head.
She found it strange that the stench of something rotting was in the air outside as well. As if it wasn't coming from the ill child at all. It was coming from the slime-coated river. Koichira kicked off her sandals and waded into the murky water. She felt the river spirit's anger and hopelessness.
Takayuki had completed his examination of the young child. "His stomach is upset, and he has a high fever. He is probably suffering from the flu. I will mix together some herbs that should bring down his fever . . . Koichira? What is the matter?"
"The river is sick. You need to heal it."
Everyone was startled. Takayuki asked, "What are you talking about?"
"The river smells wrong; it's tainted. The river spirit is angry. It says the film of green slime is suffocating the fish, and its water makes the humans ill." They stared at her blankly. "Do none of you believe in spirits? What of the Shinto priest?"
The headman said slowly, "He said this boy was struck down by the anger of the rain spirit."
Takayuki suggested, "Perhaps Koichira is correct. His illness was likely caused by something he ate or drank."
Koichira felt that she had just missed something important, but couldn't figure out exactly what it was. Something about the smell . . . and rain . . . but only humans were made ill? The pieces clicked together. "It rained very hard two weeks ago. This valley must have been flooded, hm? Headman, where do you put the human crap?"
He was surprised. "There is a pit north of the village."
"Upriver," Koichira noted.
Takayuki realized what had happened. "Upriver . . . the rains must have swept some of the manure into the river. Headman, tell the villagers to get water from upriver of the pit."
The headman nodded. "Yes, I understand. But what of the villages downstream?"
Koichira said softly, "Takayuki, you have the power to purify the stream." He shook his head helplessly. "Trust the spirits. They have great faith in you."
Following the fire demon's instructions, Takayuki waded into the middle of the river, where the current was strongest. Curious villagers gathered on the bank. He cried in a loud voice, "Hear me, great river spirit. Appear before me, that I might heal you." He added in an undertone, "Koichira, I feel like an idiot. What am I doing?"
"You don't need to summon the spirit, monk. You're standing in the river, aren't you? The spirit is in every drop of that water."
"Oh. Then I just . . .?" He held his hands out over the water and concentrated. Healing power flowed from him, through the water and the air, encompassing everyone standing there.
Koichira gasped as the power's tendrils wrapped around her, threatening to erase every trace of pain in her body and mind. Her very memories and sense of self were unraveling. "Stop! Takayuki, enough!" The tendrils withdrew, leaving behind an unbearably sweet taste and a trace of sadness.
Like a familiar scent, the sweetness and melancholy released a flood of memories. First, the recent memory of Takayuki cradling her head, healing the concussion and reducing inflammation with his fingertips; the last memory before she blacked out using the Suzaku technique. Buried beneath these were memories that brought pain: a gentle hand smoothing her hair, but the hand became limp and heavy, then grew cold.
"Koichira. Koichira! Can you hear me?" Takayuki shook her firmly. She opened her eyes and looked around groggily. He tried to explain, "You yelled and collapsed. Are you all right? Lie still, and I'll heal you."
"No! Don't touch me!" The fire demon scrambled to her feet, stumbling into some of the onlookers. Beyond the humans, Koichira could seen the river running clean, its spirit frolicking amidst the rocks. "You . . . you healed the river. I'm glad." Takayuki reached out to support her, but she cringed away and wouldn't look at him. "I'm fine. I just need to be alone."
While in view of humans, the fire demon walked, but the moment she was in the forest she began to run. She leapt from rock to rock, dodged the branches. Breathing deeply was like knives in her sides because of her broken ribs, but she continued. If she could just run far enough, fast enough . . . tears blinded her for a moment and she tripped over a tree root, tumbling to the bottom of the ditch. Lost, alone, and bleeding inside her chest, she fell into fitful sleep. In every one of her dreams, her insides were being torn out by a wolf wearing Takayuki's face.