Underwater Savior

Chapter 8: A Daitoku's Secrets and a Kami's Backup

by LadyRainStarDragon

Not mine. I can only wish. If you've seen the movie, then you know which characters aren't in it. Hey, at least the plots in my stories are mine!

Koji brought the distraught Akio over to the table and served him some of the tea. It took a while, but finally he was calmed down enough to talk. In his earlier distress, although perfectly able to convey what was the problem, he had not been able to think of a solution. Now, he was discussing with his father what known jobs were open. He still had not seen the other male in the room, eyes occupied with staring into his tea.

His dark eyes were unfocused, empty as a hole. Earthy hair lay short and close to the skull, a common hairstyle these days. Akio was beginning to become plump, a product of his wife's cooking. Once her sister had disappeared, she had eschewed anything traditional, taking up instead whatever she could grab from American culture.

The door opened to Chihiro's room and a slightly yawning child padded out, unnoticed by the adults until she plunked herself in Kohakunushi's lap and looked up at him.

"Kohaku, why did I hear daddy crying? Was someone mean to him at work?"

"You should still be napping Chihiro, we had a long walk here."

She gave him an intense look. Those big eyes of hers bored into his, seemingly to the very core of his being as she searched for the answer.

"Why was daddy crying?"

"If I answer you, will you go back to sleep?"

A solemn nod was his answer.

"Your daddy is very frustrated, and is relieving some stress."

"Oh."

With that, her head flopped forward onto his chest, and she fell back into the realm of sleep. Shaking his head at the antics of children, Kohakunushi rose carefully and carried her back to her futon. After pulling her blanket back over her and tucking it securely around her, he returned to finish the cup of tea that he had been working on before. Everything had been done in a very matter-of-fact and precise manner, the kami not expecting to be seen by the son of his priest.

Akio had watched the whole thing, stunned. He had thought that Chihiro was with her mother. Yuukio didn't generally approve of Chihiro spending long periods of time with his father. Her complaint had always been that he taught her silly superstitions and rubbish stories. What also confused him was the fact that his only child was talking to his childhood imaginary friend.

"Father, why am I seeing the River-man again? Am I having a mental breakdown?"

Koji was surprised. It had been many, many years since his son had actually seen Kohakunushi. There had been many a time that Akio had been here when Kohakunushi had been here and he had not been seen. There had even been a few times where his boy had done something very stupid, earning a cuff in the head, but Akio had merely thought it a draft from an open window.

He could vividly remember the day that Akio had come home from school announcing that the spirit he had played with was a figment of his imagination. Sure, enough, by announcing that he had rejected his own gift of innocence Akio could no longer see the spirit. Something big must be happening here to enable him to see the kami again.

"You grew up and rejected him. Now, he has taken a special interest in your daughter. Maybe your distress has cleared your eyes again. Or, maybe you need to be aware that he does indeed exist and there is more to this world than what can be easily seen. I feel that this is not some chance thing, and that there is some reason for all of what is now happening in your life."

"And that would be?"

"I have no idea son."

"Why isn't Chihiro with my wife? I thought that she would be today."

Kohakunushi looked upon Akio with eyes filled with obviously conflicting feelings.

"Chihiro has been sneaking out while your wife is working. Lately she has been spending just about every day with me."

"I am sorry."

"For what?"

"For rejecting you and all you did for me when I was but a child."

Kohakunushi sighed. It had hurt when Akio had denied him. The boy had been the tender age of seven, far younger than most who had turned their backs on him. In some ways he would never get over how the humans could so easily deny and forget spirits. It was only natural though, as humans had been given the gift of being able to tune out that which ultimately was to be taken on faith.

"You are forgiven Akio. You aren't the first, and certainly won't be the last. I should be going now, since there is someone here to take Chihiro home. I have urgent matters to attend to."

With that, he rose gracefully, and went over to where he had stored his sandals and walking stick. Pausing before the door, he could sense that his pursuer had left and that it would be safe to take down his extra barrier. After having done so, he opened the door and left.

Yuukio had gotten a hold of herself, and had not noticed the dog had slipped off again. Going back inside, she headed for the phone. She was not looking forward to what she was about to do, but it had to be done. Before she could call the police to look for her daughter, she would check the only other place she could be at this time.

She would bite the bullet and talk to her father-in-law.

Slowly, so as to hopefully formulate something intelligent to say, she approached the black and silver beast that hung upon the wall. Light from a nearby window highlighted the polished sheen of the plastic. Shakily, she extended her pale hand to pick up the receiver. The clicks as the numbers were dialed upon the rotary phone echoed about the room. After the series of numbers had been input, the phone connected. In a humble house by the river a fair distance away, a similar phone on a similar wall rang.

A click was heard as the other phone was picked up. After only half listening to the voice on the other end as it greeted her, she spoke.

"Hello, father-in-law. Did Chihiro come to visit you today by any chance?"

While Akio was staring at the door his one-time friend had exited through, Koji was now heading for the phone that hung on the wall in the kitchen. Surprisingly enough, it had begun ringing right after the door had closed. Extending a hand, he grabbed the headset and placed it by his ear.

"Moshi moshi, Ogino household. Ogino-daitoku speaking."

"Hello, father-in-law. Did Chihiro come to visit you today by any chance?"

"Why, yes dear. A friend of mine found her out wandering around and brought her here. It seems she was just trying to make sure that you had enough quiet to concentrate, so don't get mad at her. She's taking a nap right now."

"Thank the Kami. I was afraid she had been kidnapped. I'll be there to walk her home."

"Don't worry about it. Akio is here with me. He'll bring her home after she wakes up. Finish your work dear."

"Ok."

He hung up the phone and shook his head. Looking at his son's haggard appearance, it seemed that he also needed a nap.

"Best be off to take a nap yourself, you could use one. I'll wake you up when it's time."

After he was sure that his son had settled down next to Chihiro, Koji began to gather his things. It had been long since he had been called upon in the position of exorcist, and those had been very minor ill-health demons. He went to the small chest that was hidden below the altar.

This chest had been in the family for generations, and housed almost all the things that were from the original Shrine. In here was a sacred mirror, carefully wrapped in golden silks and held sacred to Amaterasu. Also wrapped in silks, this time of a pure white was a small pearl, representing the Celestial Pearl once possessed by their Kami that would one day be returned to him. The only items not in here from the original Shrine were their sacred sword, which Kohakunushi had hidden with his treasures and the dragon statue that once had dwelled in the shrine and served as a focus to address when the Kami himself had not been present.

There were other things in this chest as well though. Two bottles of sake, one light while the other was dark, were always kept ready in here for rituals or emergency exorcisms. Also here were the jars of sacred salt and sacred sand only used to ward bad luck or drive out demons. The other two elements used were easy to obtain. The river flowed nearby and a candle is a simple thing to light. Indeed, many candles were stored in here.

Closing the chest and hiding it once again, Koji moved to one of the walls, upon which hung, supposedly as decoration, an oaken bow and quiver of hamaya. Hanging with these, also posing as mere decoration, was a simple staff of wood, much like the one that Kohakunushi was rarely seen without. As a boy, Koji had been trained in archery and the use of the staff by his father, who had always stressed being ready for every eventuality. Momentarily caressing the weapons, he sent up a prayer of thanks to his father, for insisting that he be trained in the aggressive defenses as well as the more passive defenses.

"I only hope that it doesn't come to using you."

Still feeling restless, he sat down in front of the altar in order to meditate. Perhaps if he consulted with his ancestors, more answers could be obtained.

Kohakunushi was tense. Things were really seeming to fall apart in his eyes. Akio had been a valuable employee to the agency he had worked in for years. There should be no way that he would be arbitrarily released from his employment. On the other hand, the economy was taking a downturn, and many people were losing their jobs. However, that didn't mean he really needed this to happen right now. It always seemed that whenever he got up the nerve to even begin to associate with the humans, something happened.

He couldn't sense the strange dog around. That made him feel much better. While it was gone, he intended to scope out the architectural and medical facilities. With any luck, maybe he could find out why it was haunting those locations so much. The so called 'secret' facility, which everybody in the area actually knew about thanks to a little thing called gossip, was closest to him. That is what he would check out first.

After a goodly deal of walking through the woods along his river, it rose before him. Or, at least, the two aboveground stories rose above him. He remembered well the fuss his 'sister' had put up when they broke ground for that project. Nobody had done the proper offerings before hand to appease her, and he got to listen to the woods spirit moan and complain the whole two years construction had been underway, quite literally.

It had given all the kami of the area something to do though. He had forgotten how many tools they had collectively stolen or hidden, and how many workers they had scared. Most of the other kami were so aggravated they would have happily carried everyone off, except there was that pesky rule that they weren't allowed to do that until it was safe for the spirits to be believed in again. The rules were there for good reason, but it sure did make some tasks hard to do.

A rustling in the trees was heard above him.

"Brother, is it gone? Can I come out of this tree now?"

"It's gone for now."

A green snake dropped out of the tree and landed just to the right of Kohakunushi. Coiling about itself, it raised it's head to look at him.

"I've been up that tree for three days now. Every time I think it's safe to get down, that dog spirit shows up. I really don't want to be it's supper."

Kneeling down, the kami came face to face with the little serpent.

"What can you tell me?"

"It's a big dog, but it can shape shift too. Its other form is a tall man with long white hair. He's been hanging out here, and seems to be after something in the building. The projects in there lately have all been viral. For some reason, they are trying to make a 'better' flu virus, carried by mosquitoes. I don't know why. If he manages to get his hands on even just one sample, terrible things could happen to the whole area."

"Do you have any idea why he would want one of the viruses?"

"Not really. Sometimes though, I can hear him laugh about getting revenge for a betrayal of some kind."

"Keep an eye on him for me when he is here. If you find anything else out, tell me."

"I will."

The serpent bowed, then slithered under a rock, back into her home. After making sure his 'sister' was well hidden inside her home, Kohakunushi set off for his next objective. As he walked though, he noticed something that troubled him greatly.

"I never noticed exactly how close they had built to the river. If any problems arise with the human's experiments, this could be big trouble."

Golden eyes watched from across the clearing within the camouflage of a bush.

"Well, it seems as if my diversion may work after all. If I play things correctly, I can even make sure that all trace of my 'loving family' is wiped out."

Before anybody asks it . . .

Q: "If the Shrine hasn't been rebuilt yet in this story, why is Ogino-san still a daitoku?"

A: Just because the Shrine has been gone for a few generations doesn't make the traditions go bye-bye. In here, the traditions have been passed down through the family and members of the family still become priests/priestesses if they wish. So we have Shrine Shinto that went back to Family/Folk Shinto which will become Shrine Shinto again in 'Rivers Never Die.' The more traditionally minded still pray to Kohakunushi and those that care basically consider Koji's house as Shrine Grounds for all intents and purposes. How much would ya wanna bet he's used to lots of house crashers about his age and older? ;)

Daitoku - Priest / exorcist

Hamaya - evil destroying arrows