Balance
When we arrived at the town, all was eerily noisy; normally, when the Mononoke were present, the bystanders could at least feel a malicious presence and would quiet down, if not entirely cease, all activities. And yet this town was bustling, the market square filled with the voices of vendors hawking their wares, children screaming in delight as they wove in and out of the crowd, even the distant cries urging on the workers in the rice fields bordering the towns.
"Where are they?" Kutsuriuri murmured discreetly to me; I was in my insubstantial form since there were so many people about.
"I don't know; their target must be very specific if they're hiding so well from us," I whispered gently.
Closing his eyes, I watched as Kutsuriuri concentrated on his surroundings, blocking out the noises of the market and the children and expanding his consciousness. Suddenly his icy blue eyes flashed open.
"Those girls in the rice fields – they're dressed the exact same way as the Mononoke were," he whispered urgently to me. I barely had time to register his comment before he was quickly weaving his way out of the crowds and towards the rice fields.
Sure enough, when the girls in the rice fields came into view, they looked exactly like the Mononoke, with their sedge hats, earthen brown knee-length tunics, and colorful sashes. The water of the fields lapped around their bare feet and ankles as Kutsuriuri approached the foreman.
"Excuse me, sir, but I have a few questions, if I may take some of your valuable time," Kutsuriuri asked politely. The foreman looked slightly astonished at Kutsuriuri's bright and colorful clothing, but he calmed when he saw Kutsuriuri's medicine box perched on his back.
"Ah, I suppose I can spare a few minutes," the foreman said reluctantly.
"Thank you kindly. Could you tell me if, among the workers whom you supervise, there were any disappearances that remained either unaccounted for or a mystery?" Kutsuriuri asked. I scanned over the girls in the field, focusing my hearing on Kutsuriuri's dialogue and watching the girls as they worked for any signs that might help us.
"Actually, yes I can help," the foreman said, though he frowned that a medicine seller would be asking such questions. "About a month ago, one of the girls who worked here was found dead in a back alley. What was rather horrific about her death was that she had been stabbed not only in the heart, but also through both of her eyes." The foreman shuddered. "A few days after the first girl was found, a second girl was murdered in the same manner, and a few days after that, a third, and then a fourth, and so on until ten of the girls had been killed. We've had a right devil of a time trying not only to hire replacements but also trying to keep our current employees."
"You wouldn't want to work here, either, if the possibility of you being murdered in such a manner was likely," a pretty young girl lifted her head to participate in the conversation. Then she blushed and hung her head. "I'm sorry for eavesdropping, Foreman Yang; I'll get back to work," she said hurriedly.
The foreman smiled at her gently. "It's alright, Mai. Frankly, I don't blame these girls for not wanting to work under Headmaster Han-Lin anymore; he's a right pain in my own arse, too," Foreman Yang scowled, turning back to Kutsuriuri. "I'm sorry I can't be of more help to you, but maybe Han-Lin might be able to shed some more light on the girls' murders."
"Is the Headmaster in?" Kutsuriuri asked.
"Yeah, he'll be in his office right now. That building, top floor. I hope that your discussion goes well," Yang shuddered before returning his attention to supervising the girls work.
As we began to walk towards the building Yang had directed us to, I began to feel an ominous tingling. "Kutsuriuri, do you feel that?" I murmured.
Kutsuriuri gave a slight nod of his head. "I think they'll be coming out of hiding soon; we'd best hurry."
We arrived at the top floor of the building to hear a rather angry voice shouting obscenities before a disturbed-looking man came rushing out of the open door at the end of the hallway, brushing tears from his eyes rather hurriedly before pushing past us to descend the stairs. Kutsuriuri watched him go before venturing down the hallway, and I followed silently behind.
Kutsuriuri stood for a moment in the shadows by the doorway, observing the office's occupant. He was a well-dressed man, rather heavy-set, with a red face, a bald crown, and a fu manchu. He was scribbling furiously on some parchment upon his desk, nearly hidden behind giant stacks of other parchments.
Taking a deep breath, Kutsuriuri knocked upon the door, and the man at the desk looked up, eyebrows furrowed. His eyes squinted as he looked at Kutsuriuri, taking in his bulky box and his colorful garb.
"Well? What do you want? If you're trying to sell me some sort of medicine, I won't be hearing any of your nonsense!" Han-Lin shouted at Kutsuriuri, not even bothering to be polite enough to speak at a normal volume, and I winced as his voice assaulted my acute hearing.
Kutsuriuri stepped into the office and set down his box. "Sir, I have heard of the recent murders of the ten girls who were formerly employees of this establishment," Kutsuriuri began. "If you would be so kind as to humor me, I would like to ask you a few questions about the girls' demise and the circumstances prior to their murders."
"I don't know anything! Those girls were lazy, horrible workers, but it'd be better to have lazy workers than no replacement for them," the man grumbled.
Suddenly Kutsuriuri's scales, stored away in the bottom drawer of his box, began to jingle violently, just as the hairs stood up on the back of my neck, my hackles rising. I watched as goosebumps broke out on both Kutsuriuri and Han-Lin, and I whispered urgently to Kutsuriuri that we should evacuate the Headmaster from the vicinity.
"Sir, we shall continue our discussion outside, if you will please follow me –" Kutsuriuri began, stepping around the desk to try and lead the man out of the office. The man yanked his elbow out of Kutsuriuri's grasp.
"Who are you, and what authority do you pretend to have over me?" he shouted at Kutsuriuri.
Just then, a strong gust of wind raged through the open window, slamming the door closed and blowing Han-Lin's parchment all over the office.
"Damn it all!" Han-Lin shouted, standing up and hobbling over to the window, grasping the shutters and pushing them closed forcedly. Kutsuriuri raced to the door, struggling with the latch, but the door would not open. He turned to Han-Lin, eyes wide.
"Don't!" he cried, but it was too late. A monstrous wail rose from outside the office, and the light was stained a blood-red as a deep bass rumble shook the office. I shimmered into the visible spectrum, drawing my Sword of Exorcism as Kutsuriuri raced to his box, grabbing open a drawer and throwing his papers into the air where they flew to cover the walls. The eyes on the papers opened to their fullest extent, turning deep red as an unearthly screech pierced my eardrums. Han-Lin was screaming, cowering by the window with his hands over his ears. Kutsuriuri and I stood back-to back, swords drawn, but the papers were holding back the Mononoke from the office as the shrieks resounded outside, increasing in intensity.
We were trapped.
I'm so sorry for being late on the update, everybody! ...Can I use the excuse that I just moved back in to college and started classes again? *pulls big eyes* Anyways, I have a 3-day weekend coming up, so I'll be sure to get all my updates finished before I start my classes again next Tuesday so I can update next Wednesday. Thanks for dealing with the crap I dish out!