Kizu Temple
"Zunami-dono tells me that you are a Shinigami." the priest said solemnly, giving the Doctor a deep bow. "Our village has had trouble with some obake recently, in particular with a Hitosume-kozo. On behalf of the villagers, I wish to know if you might be able to help."
Giving another bow, the bald man fell silent, letting the Doctor consider the request. The Time Lord turned away from the priest, gazing up at a scroll that hung on the wall. Since he wasn't really a Shinigami, he couldn't banish the obake with spiritual powers, but the Doctor supposed he could at least talk to the spirits. Nodding slightly, he faced the man again and smile slightly.
"I'll see what I can do, but I can't make any promises. Obake have a habit of not listening to Shinigami." The Doctor replied firmly. The priest's eyes widened, and he bowed in thanks.
"The villagers will be happy just to hear that you tried, Shinigami-sama. Although Kizu is small, we will reward you in some way."
"Fantastic. Send someone to the inn at dawn. I'll be waiting."
"Of course, Shinigami-sama." Smiling, the Doctor nodded goodbye and left the temple.
It was quite late out, but the man didn't feel tired at all. Time Lords needed little sleep, and stay awake for days if they had to. The Doctor figured he would only need about an hour of rest; just so he could focus on the task in front of him. But first, he had to do some research on obake.
Walking slowly down the temple steps, the man paused as a cloud passed over the moon, casting everything into deep shadow. The night creatures that had been active only moments before quickly fell silent, and a sudden cool breeze made the Doctor's kimono flap. Despite the many layers of silk and fabric he wore, the chill seemed to penetrate his bones, causing him to shiver. Sensing that something was watching him, the Time Lord glanced around, but could see nothing. The cloud moved on, revealing the moon and flooding the landscape with light.
Shrugging, the Doctor continued on, not noticing the small form crouched in the bushes. The figure watched the black-robed man until he was out of sight, then slipped away into the forest.
Ririshii's Farm
The farmer knelt on the ground, forehead touching his hands. His heart beat wildly as the Shinigami approached, flanked by his two familiars and a monk from the village temple. After encountering the Hitosume-kozo, he had arrived home to very excited Hazumi. While eating their supper, she had told Ririshii about the samurai arriving in Kizu. She described how strong they had looked, and that the warriors had proudly worn the colours of the Emperor, even in these troubled times.
Nodding, the farmer had then told his wife about the spirit, and the message it had passed on. Hazumi had listened patiently, then took some time to think about what the Hitosume-kozo had meant. Both had agreed that something was going to happen, but neither could come up with anything else. Hazumi had also said that some of the other woman had told her of other obake appearing near the village, but none of the spirits had said anything.
A messenger had arrived before dawn to tell Ririshii that a Shinigami was coming out to talk to him. Hazumi had told him to answer truthfully, and to pass on the message of the Hitosume-kozo. Meanwhile, she would wait in the house unless called upon. Swallowing hard, the man bent lower as the group stopped, while the Shinigami took another step forward. Staring at the dirt, the farmer listened to the chirps of the birds, waiting for the Shinigami to speak.
Surprisingly, the Shinigami walked several more steps forwards and crouched down beside Ririshii. Then a hand was placed gently on his shoulder.
"What is your name?" the question was spoken softly, and the man detected a note of kindness in his voice.
"Hyakushu Ririshii, Shinigami-sama." the farmer replied after a moment of silence, his voice sounding calmer than he felt.
"Please, Ririshii-kun, stand up and look at me." The hand was removed as the Shinigami stood up and took a step backwards, giving Ririshii some room.
Gathering his courage, Ririshii also got to his feet, brushing the dirt off of his kimono. He then glanced at the Shinigami's familiars, eyes wide. The farmer had no idea what kind of spirits they were, but they didn't look that powerful. Taking a deep breath, Ririshii finally looked into the blue eyes of the Shinigami.
The Shinigami remained silent for a moment, letting the mortal examine him; then he nodded approvingly.
"Good man. Now, the monk said you have some information to pass along? Let's tale a walk and you can tell me what you know." Ririshii nodded quickly, noting the strange accent the Shinigami had. The spirit smiled and turned to face his familiars and the monk.
"Ok, that's all I need you for. You can leave now." The monk bowed and hurried off, robes fluttering. The other two waited patiently as their master paused and thought for a moment, the continued.
"Jack, you can go look around for a bit. Try and find out if any other obake have appeared and get a description." The male familiar in the yukata nodded enthusiastically. "Gotcha. I'll meet you back at the inn."
"Fantastic." The Shinigami paused again, and Ririshii wondered what he was going to do next. The female familiar didn't seem all that special, aside from the hair and the funerary kimono. Besides, a woman's place was at home, not wandering the countryside.
"Ririshii-kun, do you have a wife?" The question jerked the farmer out of his thoughts. Bowing, the man stammered:"Y-yes, Shinigami-sama, I d-do. Hazumi is in the house."
"Hm, alright. Rose, I want you to go talk to her. Find out everything she knows, even if it's small. I'll come back and get you." The girl stared at the Shinigami for a second, obviously surprised at the commanding tone he had used. She then nodded reluctantly, and spoke. "Ok…er, have a good walk."
Turning in the direction of the wooden house, the familiar walked towards it, leaving Ririshii alone with the Shinigami. Facing him, the spirit nodded and motioned for them to start walking. Hoping Hazumi would handle herself properly with the familiar, the farmer fell into step beside the Shinigami, the pair heading towards the spot where he had seen the Hitosume-kozo.
Path outside of Kizu
Jack walked slowly along the dirt path, enjoying the early morning sun. He hadn't been able to take off and explore since they had arrived in Japan, and now seemed the perfect time to do so. Rounding a turn, the man noticed a small child in the distance. Curious, Jack moved closer, stopping about five feet away from the youth.
The child was sitting on a large rock beside the path, tossing a wooden ball up and down. On closer inspection, Jack realized that the child was female. The girl was dressed in a plain grey kimono, and her long black hair had been left loose. The child tossed the ball in the air a final time, then looked over at Jack. He gasped slightly in wonder, surprised at the girl's golden eyes. Unusual coloured eyes were common in his time due to genetic manipulation, but these people had no such technology at their disposal. Jack then suspected that the child in front of him was in fact a demon in human form. If so, he better be careful not to get it mad. He was unarmed, and demons were well-known to have special powers.
Deciding to play dumb, Jack blinked and smiled cheerfully at the girl. "Good morning! I guess I'm not the only one out enjoying the nice day, huh?"
The child/demon chuckled and smiled back, eyes fixed on the man. "Hello. Indeed, it is a lovely morning. Are you going somewhere?" she asked, a questioning look on her young features.
Taking a few steps closer, he shook his head, still examining the girl. She appeared to be about six years old, and was quite cute now that he thought about it. Still smiling, Jack decided to see if the demon would help him out. "Say…have you heard anything about the obake that have been seen around here?" he asked casually, gazing around at the scenery.
The child was silent for a moment, thinking about his question. Lowering her gaze to the ball in her lap, she rolled it around for a bit before replying. "Well, yes I have…but I'm afraid the obake might come after me if they hear me. They had really good hearing, you know. Come closer, and I'll whisper what I know in your ear."
"Sure." Jack agreed, walking up the girl and crouching down to her level. The disguised demon smiled softly at him and leaned in.
"There have been four different obake appearing around here. Three of them just want to cause some harmless mischief, but the last one, a Hitosume-kozo, is different. It's appearance is that of a ten-year-old boy in a old brown kimono, and it is going around telling the same message to everyone it meets. Sadly, I do not know the message."
Jack narrowed his eyes in thought, wondering if the information was accurate. The demon might be trying to trick him, but he was unable to tell. Unfortunately, he couldn't question the demon further without letting slip that it's disguise had failed. Staring into the girl's golden eyes, he finally nodded. "Alright, thank you." He made a move to rise, but a small tug on the sleeve of his yukata stopped him.
Glancing at the girl, Jack opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but shut it again when the child placed the wooden ball in his hands. Blinking in confusion, he examined the toy, noticing a small tag that had been placed on one side. He leaned in closer to try and read the symbols, but the girl's hand darted forwards and tore the tag off.
The small wooden ball suddenly got a lot heavier. Jack tried to give the ball back to the girl, then to drop it, but his hands seemed glued to the toy. The weight increased, and he was forced to slowly set the ball on the ground, his hands pinned underneath it. Realizing that he had been tricked, Jack glared angrily at the child. The demon was watching his vain attempts with a slight smile on her face.
Reaching the conclusion that he couldn't move, Jack stopped and grimaced at the pain that was building in his legs. Sighing, the man looked up at the girl and spoke, "Alright, what do you want?"
"I only wish to ask you some questions." she replied calmly.
"I would have answered them anyway; you didn't have to trick me!" Jack snapped back in anger. The girl nodded, the wagged a finder at him. "Yes, but would you have answered them truthfully?"
The man promptly shook his head.
"As I thought. This way, you're going to have to tell the truth eventually, because I'm the only one who can undo the spell."
Jack lowered his gaze and glared at the offending ball, muttering, "Great, just bloody perfect. I walked right into a trap set by a six-year-old." The Doctor is never gonna let me hear the end of this…"
"Actually, I'm about 50 years old."
"Whatever. What do you want to know?"
The demon paused for a second to collect her thoughts, the started questioning him.
"I've heard that you are a Shikigami. That obviously isn't true, since a real Shikigami would never talk to my kind. So, what exactly are you?"
"A regular old human."
"Are your companions human too?"
"The girl is. The other one just looked human."
"What is he?"
"There's no point in answering that, because the information would be useless to you."
"Very well." The child paused once again, letting the morning breeze blow through her dark hair.
"Why do you wish to know about the obake?"
"I'm just gathering information for the Doctor that's all." Jack replied with a shrug. "Before you ask, no, I don't know why he wants the information."
"So you just do whatever he tells you to do?"
Jack stared at the demon in surprise, then shook his head. "Not all the time, no. I help him out because he's my friend. If I wanted to leave, he would let me, but being with him and Rose is better than being on my own right now."
"I see. Since you answered my questions truthfully and didn't try to fool me, I'll let you go." Reaching down, the youth tapped the ball. The toy shimmered, the vanished in a puff of smoke.
Sighing with relief, flexed his hands and stood up, stretching. Surprisingly, his hands had no pain in them or bore any sign that they had been pinned. The demon hopped down from the rock and snapped her fingers. Blue flame burst from her hand and wrapped around Jack's right wrist, fading away to revel a thin gold bracelet. Snapping them again, the blue fire encircled the girl's neck, forming a gold collar.
"There. Whenever you are in trouble, just tap the bracelet and say the chant to summon me."
"Er…ok…but
what is the chant?" Jack asked, puzzled by the sudden turn of
events.
"Don't worry, you'll know it when the time comes.
Goodbye until then." Smiling, the girl ran a few steps away from
him and suddenly changed into a grey fox. His brown eyes followed it
as it bounded off into the bushes, the golden collar glinting in the
sunlight.
Notes
In Japan at this time, there is currently a dispute over who will become the Emperor of Japan, and there have been several small battles between the opposing sides up to this point.
Normally, the Doctor would have used Ririshii's family name, Hyakushu, adding on the 'kun' when addressing him, but the Doctor just uses Ririshii's name with the ending in an attempt to show that he is not as distant as Ririshii might think he is.
"Kun" is an honorific used when addressing those who are younger than oneself or in this case, have a lower social status.
The wooden ball suddenly turning heavy is a variation of something that is used in the anime show Inuyasha. A fox demon uses his magic to turn a small object into a very heavy small statue, pinning the main character's hands underneath it. In the show, the spell tag had to be removed from the statue before the magic could be lifted, but I decided to alter it slightly.
