Chapter 3: Magatsu
Taito sat down on the veranda with a heavy sigh. There weren't any parts left of his body that didn't ache. It was like he had rolled down a mountainside and ended up in a bush full of thorns. He tried to move and had to grit his teeth.
But this was how it had to be. He would grow stronger and better and one day he would come down on them all like a hurricane and he would cut them into little pieces, hear them scream and watch them try to run, and then he would go after them and they would all die, die, die. The thought made him laugh until every muscle in his body screamed.
He knew he was a lot harder now than when he came here last year. A lot tougher. The blood running down his face proved it. He wasn't even going to try to wipe it off. He liked it there.
He remembered Anotsu's demonstrations earlier – how he had swung that axe of his around like it didn't weigh more than a feather. Anotsu was damn good. He sighed. Maybe he had a long way to go after all.
He wondered sometimes why Anotsu hadn't just killed his old grandpa if he was such a monster. It was like the guy had been scared of him. Why be scared of an old man when you can handle a sword that well? I'd have chopped him into little pieces.
He laid back, pondering this for a while. Now he was thirteen. Imagine if the boys back home could see him now. That made him remember home. All the places where he used to run. The forest where they would catch birds and caterpillars. The swamp where he had found Kenji that night - dead.
The moon was up. And it was almost full. He had always loved the full moon. And the night. Everything turned so quiet. Things that weren't special in the daytime turned special in the dark. A lot more interesting. He would come at them in the dark, under the full moon, and they would scream for mercy but he wouldn't give any. Like a magatsu-kami. They would regret they ever saw him. Taito laid on the veranda under the almost-full moon and smiled.