Chapter 6
Shigeru's POV
"Tsuki… She's been… taken."
My mind's slow to respond, as if my brain has short circuited.
"Don't tell me… Tsuki's been kidnapped?" I voice my fear, praying that my suspicions will be dismissed.
Zange looks at me silently and nods his head.
Kidnapped? Kidnapped! Tsuki's been kidnapped! The thought registers bit by bit, something fiery manifesting itself in my chest.
"Where is she? What happened to her?" I relentlessly press Zange for details, ignorant to the fact that he's still weak.
"Woah! Calm down, man! Let Zange get his breath back." Renshou lays a hand reassuringly on my shoulder, holding me back from doing anything rash.
"Kageyama-san, it's no use panicking now. Let's at least get some information from Natsume-san before we think of our next move." Soushi says firmly.
"Tsuki-chan… Kidnapped?" Ririchiyo eyes are stagnant as an abandoned pool as she lets the terrible news sink in. Karuta goes over and hugs her, her usually expressionless face filled with shock and worry as Ririchiyo's small frame starts to tremble slightly and she holds Karuta's hand for assurance.
"Drink this." Banri hands Zange the glass of water, which Zange gulps down gratefully. He looks better already. After draining the water to the last drop, he turns to me gravely.
"I saw Tsuki all tied up on a dais, surrounded by burning torches. There's a gaping hole in the roof. She must have been knocked out because I saw that she was unconscious. A group of oni were guarding her closely but besides that no one else. But what really got me was on the table…" Zange narrates slowly to all of us, pausing for a moment to take a deep breath.
"What was it?" Nobara questions Zange, desperate for an answer.
"A… A katana and a round bowl. Polished. "
"A sacrificial ritual!?" Ririchiyo's head shoots up in alarm as she processes the information, piecing together the pieces.
"I believe so. Though I'm not clear why her…"
"Tsuki-chan being sacrificed? Just thinking about all those dirty creatures touching her all over… I can't stand it!" Nobara screams, her glasses somehow fogging up again.
"Where is this place?" I hiss through gritted teeth, trying hard not to betray my emotions. Stay calm. Breath. If you panic, you can't help Tsuki.
"If I'm not mistaken, she was in a warehouse…"
"Warehouse? There's one that's abandoned about an hour away from here-"
I don't even wait for Banri to finish as adrenaline pumps through my blood, my shoulder blades tingling uncontrollably as the fabric of my suit splits open.
3rd Person POV
With a deafening 'rip', something emerges from Shigeru's back, shooting up like a growing plant before bursting open like a flower bulb. Feathers rain down like black snow as he spreads his wings to their full wingspan, the draft created by the beating of his wings nearly throwing everyone else in the room off their feet.
Shigeru's wings are as black as the night itself, magnificent and stunning in the brightly lit room. Each of his feathers is beautifully defined, soft as down. Tiny feathers emerge from the side of his eyes, trailing down his cheeks, gradually diminishing down his neck.
"Kageyama-san… You're a…" Soushi's odd colored eyes widen in realization.
"Oi! What do you think you're doing-"
Shigeru turns away from them and with a short sprint bursts through the neighboring window, shattering it with an ear-splitting crash, drowning out the other people's cries of surprise. The only thing that runs through his mind is Tsuki's face.
Shigeru's POV
I tuck my wings inwards as I plummet downwards, savoring the wind in my face. Accelerating downwards, I fall like a bullet at a neck-breaking speed, spreading my wings at the last minute before impact. The sudden increase of air resistance slows my descent and I rise, the updraft from the constant beating of my wings lifting me back into the crisp night.
As I climb to a higher altitude, I soar through the night skies, scanning the world below. Hopefully I'm not too late. It's my fault for not stopping her; I should have looked out for her. I just want to be somebody to her; I want to get closer to her and for her to accept me. But instead, I indirectly caused her to be placed in perilous danger. I'm mentally beating myself up now for letting Tsuki get kidnapped by god knows who. She's going to die if I don't get to her in time. I put on a spurt of speed as I fly over the buildings below, the chilling night invigorating my blood, keeping me alert and awake.
I remember I always used to sneak out of the SS building late at night for a midnight flight, just to take my mind off things. When I'm in the air, I can taste the freedom of the night and for a while I'm just myself. The air is my territory, my zone. I used to dart between the wisps of clouds, even ascending above the clouds, where the moon gazes down at me warmly and the stars shine ever so brightly.
But at the moment, I have no time to admire the shining stars like I usually do because I have an important mission.
Rescuing Tsuki no matter what, even if it costs me my life.
I've been flying and occasionally gliding for about half an hour when a particular building catches my attention. A warehouse with a gash through the roof, like a monster had slashed and wounded it. Could this be where Tsuki's being held? I go into a dive, plunging towards the world below. I flap my wings gently, creating enough air resistance to slow my fall, taking a quick scan of the building by flying around it, looking for a way in. The warehouse seems to be abandoned, wind whistling through the still surroundings. There's no windows that will provide me with any visuals or that I can crash through.
Maybe I should try from above. I fly up towards the roof and spot the huge hole in the roof. My mind's gone into overdrive, nothing registers in my mind except for the fact that Tsuki's in danger. I'm just going to barge in and save her! Not a very subtle approach but without even pausing to consider my situation, I plunge straight through the hole, almost landing right in the middle of a ring of fire.
"Whoa!" I draw back and hover above the ground, controlling the beating of my wings. After close inspection, I notice it's just a circle surrounded by lighted torches. Strangely, there's not a soul in this empty space, only the murmuring of the wind in my ears.
Hold on, this circle seems odd… Then I notice that the lines are drawn eerily in crimson blood, making me cringe as my feathers stiffen. Is that Tsuki's blood!? What have they done to her!? Has she already been disemboweled or something?
And that's when I see Tsuki.
She's no longer lying on the dais that Zange told me about but floating in midair, eyes close in her comatose state. Her luxurious white curls flow out behind her in gentle waves, the moonlight illuminating it, making it seem like she's radiating a soft glow.
She's… so… shiny… So shiny!
I drift over to her and slowly extend my hand, reaching out to touch her shimmering hair when a voice dripping with honey echoes.
"I didn't know we have a visitor. How impolite of you to not go through the main door."
My hand jerks back as I try to look for the source of the voice. A lady emerges from the shadows, her high heels clacking loudly, long black hair swaying as she makes her way towards me. She's very pretty but she's not as cute as Tsuki, Tsuki's the cutest being in the world. Then I see that in her arms she carries…
A cute puppy with brown fur! How cute! I suddenly have the urge to run over there and squeeze that little puppy! I'm just about to dash over when I smell something strange. The smell is overpowering, my instincts screaming at me to snap out of my frenzy. This odor is awfully unsettling, making me drift backwards, refusing to even lay a toe on the ground due to the uneasiness that's growing inside me.
"I came to get Tsuki-chan if you don't mind, lady." I raise my voice at her, reaching out to hold Tsuki's levitating body. Hopefully this creepy lady will just let me take her. Of course, that's unlikely.
Suddenly, thin threads shoot out of the lady's fingers, wrapping around my wings and binding them together. I stumble and collapse onto the ground, my wings and hands restrained by the threads of silk.
"Sorry, you little cutie but I can't afford little foxie here to get away. What a pity… I so wanted to have her but looks like I'll have to settle for you." The lady bends down and looks at me, stroking the little puppy's fur. The scent wafting from her is so strong I'm gagging on it.
"Let Tsuki-chan go! What do you want with her?"
"I would very much liked to have her but the Master wants her. For his stupid ritual. I don't understand why he wants us to do it for him so nicely, why can't he just do it the messy way, ne?"
"The Master? Why does he want Tsuki's blood? Why her?"
"How would we know, ya little wimp!? All the Master said is to get da girl, rip da girl and then drain da girl. So the Master may drink da girl's blood. So that the Master can take over the world!" The little puppy jumps out of the lady arms and taps its feet, sneering at me. Suddenly, the little mutt doesn't seem all that cute anymore.
"Tsuki's coming back with me whether the both of you and your stupid Master like it or not. So there." I glare at the pair as I try to move my fingers, buying myself some time to recharge my strength.
"Hah! YOU!?" The lady scoffs at me and the dog sniggers. "What can a little weakling like you do except fly around, looking pretty until you get stuck in my trap?"
What the hell did this lady say!? She's not going to get away with that! I explode, springing into action.
"I'm not a weakling, you little bitch! Not anymore!" I yell as I spread my wings with enormous strength, breaking the threads that bind me. The lady exclaims in surprise before regaining her composure.
"I'll have the oni deal with you, cutie. I don't want to chip my nails, I just got them done. Then I'll suck you bone dry afterwards, ok?" She laughs as she snaps her fingers. A group of hideous oni appear at her bidding, slobbering and grinning as they wield their iron clubs, with claws that can rip flesh like paper, their odd color skin gleaming in the moonlight.
They advance towards me, eyes bloodshot, their multiple pair of eyes fixated on me. I close my eyes for a split second, willing my blood to boil and the fire in my chest to ignite. I rustle my feathers, feeling them become stiff and hard, the tip of each feather becoming dangerously sharp like shrapnel. My feathers, a second ago soft as down now shine menacingly, ready to find a target.
The oni all charge, clubs raised and eyes hungry. I rise into the air, feathers lodging themselves in their flesh, piercing their skin and drawing blood. I fire feathers at them like throwing knifes, making sure each precious feather finds its mark, new feathers sprouting constantly to take their place. Many of the oni squeal in pain, like pigs being slaughtered as I attack mercilessly, puncturing their eyes and penetrating their beating hearts. But there's a lot of them and soon some of the smarter ones start to shoot fire arrows at me. I dodge a few nimbly but one of them singes part of my wing, making me gasp as the pain spreads rapidly through my entire wing. But I don't go down just yet.
With a single, powerful action, I beat my wings once, the sudden burst of air flinging most of the oni backwards, crashing into crates and pillars, only to then lie completely still. The few strays ones that manage to get back on their feet, soon their eyes are all but blank as feathers pierce their hearts. The space is now littered with bodies of oni, my trophies of battle as I fly towards the floating Tsuki. That was easy. I hardly broke a sweat over those oni-
"Uh-uh, cutie pie." Thread flies towards me but I manage to dodge them at the last second, severing them with a slice of my feather. The feather sails straight through the air, embedding itself deep into one of the lady's fingers with perfect precision. She gives a blood-curdling shriek, yanking the blood soaked feather out of her flesh, except her blood is not crimson, it's magenta. The color of pure yokai blood. She glowers at me, her delicate features becoming more distorted and ghoulish by the minute. I stare her down, determine to show her that I'm not afraid of her.
That should teach her not to point her fingers at me.
The mongrel sniggers at the lady's reaction, to which she flings him down on the ground roughly, the mongrel whimpering on impact.
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, BIRD! I'll capture you myself and suck the life out of you if it's the last thing I do!" She shrieks, her voice no longer silky and sweet, now sounding as grating as fingers scraping across a blackboard. A terrible transformation occurs, warping her beautiful disguise.
Her white dress bursts open into shreds as hairy, jointed legs emerge, her two hands morphing into pinchers that gleam menacingly, her slender body enlarging at an alarming rate, forming an enormous abdomen. Her teeth are now fangs, dripping with venom that can kill a grown man in just a single dose. Her black hair complements her entire body, her red eyes gleaming wildly as she flexes her eight, hideous legs.
She's a whore-spider. A Jorogumo! I should have known; that smell was unmistakable, how could I have not noticed? My master at the SS training academy would have been ashamed.
Meanwhile, the mongrel's now standing on its hind legs, its snout growing slightly longer, pointed teeth emerging from its maw. Its eyes are more intelligent now, dancing with deceit and cunning. That's got to be an Inugami, a dog like being that are masters of black magic. That explains how Tsuki get knocked out.
Now faced with two pure blooded yokai, I can feel the quivering of my heart. This is the first serious encounter with pure blood yokai since my SS training and even then those monsters weren't as menacing as this pair. But I can't be afraid; I have to keep up a brave front! I got to keep Tsuki from harm! It's time to put all of my training to the test.
"Tonight, I'll feast on your flesh and blood! You're going to get it! Mutt, cover me!" She scurries on her eight spider legs in my direction rapidly. Wads of spider thread fly through the air and I manage to dodge them, darting through the air, making myself a difficult target. However, I don't miss them completely, some of the spider threads manage to stick onto my wings, binding them together before I tear them away.
I fire numerous feathers at her, willing them to injure her deeply as I think how scared she made Tsuki feel. But she's quite agile, evading most of my attacks. Some of the feathers lodge deep in her abdomen, drawing magenta blood and she cries out in pain and frustration.
"You stupid bird! Just be good and stay still," She turns to the Inugami and screams, "What are you doing, you mongrel!? Do something useful for me and make something happen!"
"I'm on it, lady! Shut ya gap and let me concentrate!"
The moment the Inugami utters those words, a twinge of pain stirs in my wings, spreading uncomfortably throughout them, as if they were on fire. I spare a quick glance, shocked at by a bald patch on my right wing, devoid of any feathers.
Why aren't any feathers growing? I always have an unlimited amount of ammo as I heal quickly, unlike other yokai. I divert my attention to the Inugami and he smirks at me evilly, his paws completing the last of the gestures of a spell. Shit, he just placed a spell on me that somehow stops my feathers from regenerating! I was too preoccupied with the Jorogumo that I completely forgot about the Inugami's presence. What a careless amateur mistake!
"Looks like the chicken is getting skinned for my meal!" The Jorogumo changes tactics, spitting venom at me as she notices my flying that's starting to become impaired, taking advantage of my injuries. The acidic venom burns away part of my left wing and I stiffen my jaw to keep myself from crying out as my altitude decreases.
I shoot feathers at the Jorogumo but she evades them easily, bald patches starting to plague my wings, making me barely able to keep myself above the ground. The Jorogumo starts to scale the wall, her legs scraping against the plaster, firing more spider threads at me as she finally crawls onto the ceiling. Threads start to bind around me tightly, gashes appearing on my almost bare wings, blood oozing out of the wounds.
This is not good. I can't attack and risk the last of my feathers that are helping me to stay airborne. I won't be able to hang on for much longer, I'm already having difficulty just avoiding her venom and spider threads. Blowing anyone away isn't an option either.
"You're mine!" the Jorogumo, anchoring herself to a single thread, she lowers herself rapidly, wrapping her hideous, hairy legs around me. I try to injure her so that she'll loosen her grip but then I realize…
She's got me right where she wants me. I'm completely helpless.