Phantasmagoria

Natsume Yuujinchou

Chapter 18

No Scars Shall Remain

It was kind of unbelievable.

A whole week had passed and Homura had grown more and more accustomed to Suzuya and Kii's presence in his home. He had never thought he'd ever open his door wide enough for a youkai to enter—willingly, but it proved to be different for both of them.

Sure, it was exhausting, after all, coming home after school on the first day after he'd left them to see them doodling in his sketchbooks and messing up his paint was a major letdown, but thrashing Suzuya was always worth it. On the other hand he pampered Kii, who was quiet, obedient, and cute at times. He didn't think any of it had anything to do with his age and possibly his maturity, so he just plainly ignored Suzuya every time he created a ruckus.

"If you like furry animals so much, then I want to be one too," he sulked one day. What, so it was hot that day and he thought he'd cool down if he stood in front of the fridge, how did he know he wasn't supposed to do so? Homura was crying over spilt milk when he whined on seeing the tub of melted ice-cream.

"Don't be ridiculous. You can't change shape that easily, can you? Besides, I don't think I can stand your puppy eyes if you are a furry animal. I like you with wings a lot better," the human replied as he set his grocery bags down on the counter and started sorting through them. No worries, this time he had properly bought sweet-flavored curry as well for the other two. He probably wouldn't have a taste of that when he ever decided to make it though, that was why he bought an additional packet of a spicier one for himself.

Suzuya didn't know what to make of that. Did Homura say that because he really liked his winged form, or did he just wanted him to shut up? Either way he announced that he'd go off for a while and disappeared out the balcony. Homura had left the sliding door of the balcony open at all hours so it'd be easy for Suzuya or Kii to go out if they wanted to, and they had already placed a few charms around so he didn't have to worry about supernatural intruders.

Homura knew he was sulking. Maybe he did go a bit too far when he hit him with his bag, but quickly dismissed the thought. No, I'm the one more roughed up here. He beats me up more than I manage to get back at him.

He laughed nonetheless when Suzuya arrived just in time for dinner though, acting as if he owned the place and plonking himself down at the dining table.

It was fun.

It is, but…

Natsume gazed pityingly at him as he sobbed with a side of his face on his desk. It must be hard. Nyanko-sensei can't really do much since he's just a cat, but both Suzuya and Kii are human-like.

"What did they do this time?" he asked.

"Piano… They got paint on my lovely piano… And apparently they were having so much fun one of the neighbors came by… And apparently they took off like a bullet through the balcony… And I was the one who had to answer for all their deeds… Ahh, good thing it was just Tanaka-san, if it were somebody else I'd get it…"

"Ah, you live in an apartment, that's right…" At least when Nyanko-sensei does something neighbors wouldn't hear.

Homura shook his head in defeat. "Do you know? About two days ago they were looking for ero-magazines in my room. Just because they saw someone do the same on TV. Kii was sniffing around while Suzuya was poking his nose in every inch of my room… Ah, they didn't find it of course."

Natsume chuckled. "Wouldn't be so surprised if they manage to find at least one in Nishimura's room, though. And I understand. A drunk Nyanko-sensei was turning my room upside down just because he thought I was hiding some snacks from him."

"What'd you do?"

"Hit him."

Homura reached up to high-five him. "We should totally do that, don't we? We should totally beat them up every time they don't listen to us."

"I don't really think that's such a good—"

"Oi~ How long are you going to take?" Taki called out as she stopped by their class. "We're not waiting for you~"

The two quickly got up and followed Tanuma and Taki outside to eat lunch. Both of them had known most of the story already.

"Nee, nee, Homura-kun," Taki said excitedly. "Don't you think we can meet Kii-kun sometime?" Tanuma nodded too. The fact that all of them were animal-lovers wasn't new, and Taki had been jealous ever since Natsume mentioned he had petted Kirinosuke before.

Homura smiled as he chewed on his onigiri. He had woken up in a hurry because he had overslept a little, and had no time to make anything else. "Sure, I'll bring them along next time we meet up."

"Really? Make it today!"

"Eh?"

"Let's meet up today, at Natsume-kun's house! Or if it's too much trouble my house is fine too! I'll serve all of you mitarashi dango (dango on sticks and covered with a sweet glaze) and imagawayaki (a waffle-like cake traditionally filled with azuki bean paste), my dad brought home a lot of them from his business trip and needed people to help finish it!"

Homura's mouth watered just from imagining it. If compared, he was probably the one who liked sweet things the most, along with Taki. Aha, reminds me of festivals…

"Let's go to your house then, Taki," Tanuma said. "You can't just make us gather someplace else when you've mentioned those!"

He was having fun.

In fact, he was having so much fun, he forgot an important thing.

Once you let your guard down and show your cracks, youkai are bound to take advantage of that.

Homura didn't totally know what happened. All he knew was he shouldn't have helped that small youkai look for its home during his free time instead of doing his homework or something. But it was still very young, it seemed, and he didn't have the heart to just leave it there, lest it got eaten by another youkai. He followed it deeper and deeper into the forest, where the trees grew thicker, blocking out the afternoon sunlight. He tried to dismiss it, but he had to admit that he began to feel fidgety the further they wound their way in. It wasn't just because he was afraid of the unknown dangers ahead, but also, they were walking for a long time now and they still haven't arrived. Plus, Homura wasn't exactly a person who knew where to turn back to by just going that way once. Being in a forest didn't actually help either. Sure, he could call for one of Natsume's friends he'd met a few times before, but he'd prefer not to. Especially not that female youkai that smokes too much and loathes men. What was her name...? Right. Hinoe.

They maintained a neutral conversation, neither exposing too much, just some random topics about the weather, about the forest, about what the small youkai had eaten the day before it got lost.

Homura inwardly sighed in relief when the youkai finally cried out in delight, jumping up and down and pointing. They were in front of a small hill, and what he understood from snippets of what the youkai chirped was that its home was just a little further up that hill. He watched as it climbed up without much effort, finding footholds easily and yell its thanks from above. He smiled and raised his hand in return, then turning around to find his way back before he got lost.

Suddenly he froze. It all just happened way, way too fast.

He had mildly noticed a cave-like entrance to his side when he arrived with the youkai, but had paid it not much attention since it looked just like any ordinary cave. Then just as he turned around, he saw something big, and black shot out from there and crash into the it.

The youkai which he had just helped find its home.

He froze in shock and yes, fear as that thing enveloped it, binding its limbs, restricting its movement. He wondered why he could still hear the youkai's screams, loud and clear, and bloodcurdling, even when 'it' had covered almost every inch of its small body. He felt his blood run cold, felt the cold sweat trickling down his brow, as he wished he was deaf. Just for that one moment, he wished he was deaf against the crunching sounds and disgusting squelching noises.

What… is…

He took a step back, gripping his bag tightly, bracing himself. He was in the open, so he couldn't really hide even if he wanted to, so all he could hope was for that thing to finish up quickly and go away, or retreat slowly, or if desperation calls, a wild dash for the trees and bushes he hoped would conceal him. He could already feel his stomach churning as it continued to devour the youkai; he had to be quick before his stomach decided to do a little flip right then and there.

Good… Just stay there, and I'll… get away, slowly… he thought as he backed a few more steps, trying to be as cautious as he could and not make a sound. But try as he might breathing shallowly did not calm his pounding heart. If ever, it just made it thump all the more noisily in his head.

He kept his eyes warily on the thing, and all of a sudden it disappeared. Homura could have broken down from relief at that second, but his rejoice was short-lived.

"Ah…" he yelped when it appeared right in front of his face. Moreover, it was too close he had to back up a bit. His fingers twitched as his eyes unwillingly focused on the creature nearly twice as tall as him, though his mind was in overdrive and couldn't really see its features properly. All he saw was a black, somewhat irregular and distorted build, big eyes with tiny red pupils that glinted, and an equally huge mouth. He gasped as it still chewed, blood dribbling down the corners of it mouth. He thought… he thought he could see some of the remains… there…

No…

He could only stare as the creature twisted its mouth into a crooked grin, and felt his eye twitch when a few drops of blood dripped on his face. He tried his best not to make any unnecessary movements, but it was hard not to when the smell was so foul.

"Human…" it said gleefully. "A human…! So good-smelling!"

"No!" he shouted and smacked his bag at it, then made a wild dash back the way he had come.

His breath came out in frightened pants as adrenaline pushed him on. Somehow his senses had heightened and so managed to dodge or jump over tree roots and rocks, and he tried not to look back to see whether the youkai was gaining on him. But even if he wasn't looking, he knew it was. He heard the rustle of grass as it skidded across it and the sound of its delighted murmurs.

I need to run. I need to get out of here. I need to—

His thought was interrupted by something wrapping his leg, thus making him trip. He spent a few seconds on the ground, dazed and hurt. He pushed himself up slowly and turned his head round to see what had tripped him.

It was a clawed hand.

How it managed to stretch its arm from afar to trap him here, he didn't know, but it didn't matter much at the moment. He tried pulling away, tugging his leg desperately, but than losing its grip, the hand grabbed on to him tighter. And when he was almost sure the hand would slip off it adjusted its long claws and dragged it across his skin. He cried out, but it only seemed to make it dig deeper into his skin.

Homura looked around for something, anything. He spotted a large enough rock just in his reach. It would do. He picked it up and crushed it down at the elongated arm with all his might, and with an angered growl some ways off, it released him. He didn't waste any time. Despite the burning pain in his leg he grabbed on to his bag and kept on running.

When he finally realized it he no longer heard the sound of his pursuer slinking across the forest floor. He stopped and gathered the guts to look backwards to see if it was real, hand swiping the sweat from his face.

Wow, did I really lose it? No, wait, that thing, is that…

Damn! He dodged another shot-out arm this time, thankfully, and turned back once again to run. Damn it, damn it, when will it learn to stop…!

He was keeping watch behind him, to see if it would lash out its arms again, and for some reason he was sure it didn't have just two. Running blindly forward, steering clear of things that would trip him up—if that happened, then it would surely be the end—and constantly looking backwards wasn't an easy thing to do. So he couldn't really help it if he collided into somebody.

"Homura! ?"

At any rate he was so thankful it was someone he knew that he immediately clutched the persons sleeve with trembling fingers.

"Ki… Kirinosuke…" he said between pants.

The youkai took in Homura's ragged appearance and the torn pants with blood flowing downwards, eyes flashing. "What exactly…?"

"Take me home…"

Kirinosuke's ears picked up something and he snapped his head in the direction from where Homura came running from. He started to move but was stopped by the human whom he was currently tied to.

"No, no need… Just take me home."

Kirinosuke was hesitating. It was as clear as day. His master was attacked and he was supposed to go vanquish whatever foul creature that dared do so, but he himself didn't want him to…? He wasn't like Hiyo. Hiyo can think of something all the way through to even the tiniest detail, he can come across any situation, analyze it and know which actions are best to take, he can even think up ways to overcome this while he was being preoccupied with something else. Even if he was a bit rude sometimes and just wouldn't admit the truth if it meant it was embarrassing to him, he still had those qualities Kirinosuke sometimes wished he had. If you look at it from a different angle, even though he was the one who rescued that little chick he was the one being protected instead. He was simple, apathetic, not that alert and observant of all the things around him, not much of a talker and he was careless. He had walked into many a trap in all the years they've spent together and Hiyo would come to his rescue in the nick of time, and every time he had to brace himself with a lengthy lecture, although he'd always do something to avert his attention soon after.

So instead of being the one who was sheltered and not being able to do a thing for himself, he wanted someone to protect with his own power. Of course, he didn't think it would be a human boy, but he and Hiyo had already established a relationship that went beyond who's the master and who's the dog, who gets access to the remote controller, who gets to decide what to eat and who gets to beat the other up, even just for the fun of it. It was friendship along the blurred and to Kii, 'already ancient' lines of a master and shiki relationship.

Besides, he liked the boy. And his friends—at least, those among the circle of the youkai-related humans. He had opened up a new world, a new scenery for him, and he had given him the thing he wanted. He was able to serve his purpose.

A simple-minded being who thought nothing of the worries of the near future, just one who was living today with attempted joy, that depicts Kirinosuke. He tried hard to achieve what he can for the day, even if it was just some random and maybe meaningless thing like receiving sweets from Homura and that Taki girl. He hadn't the time to think or dwell on tomorrow. He knew it was unwise, but he chose not to.

So Homura's request—to Kirinosuke, every word that comes out of Homura's mouth should be considered as an order—for him to bring him home when that ayakashi was just that way, the one who had hurt him, baffled him a little.

But an order is an order, so he complied. He was careful not to accidentally touch his injured leg as he carried him up, then with a final glance behind him at the ayakashi that was coming closer, leapt.

Homura had wanted to know how Kii would be able to bring him out of a nasty situation if danger calls, it's just that he hadn't expected for it to be this quick. Honestly it was like being atop a ninja, jumping from tree branch to tree branch. Or was it flying…? He didn't know. Sure, Kirinosuke would land on a branch sometimes, but Homura didn't think it would totally qualify for jumping. They were in the air for too long. So that was how Natsume said youkai like Hinoe travelled, he thought.

It was different from how he flied with Suzuya. There would always be a rhythmic flap of wings that made him feel like he was drifting off to sleep, and it was much steadier. With Kii it was kind of dizzying, since they went up and down, but it was still exhilarating. What's more, at least Kii held him in a gentler way so he felt comfortable. Suzuya would handle him as if he was a bag of luggage, sometimes holding him up by the stomach—which he had really felt the urgent need to throw up, and other times… He didn't want to think about it any further.

Before he knew it Kii had already landed on his balcony and set him down on the sofa, then went and turned on the lights. Homura had to explain countless times to them about that, they never got the switches right.

"Kii?"

"Yes?"

"Can you grab the first-aid kit? It's in the cabinet near the sink. You know what it looks like right? That white box with all the bandages and stuff in it?"

"Yes."

He heard the shuffling of feet as Kirinosuke made his way to the kitchen and rummaged through the cabinets. He opened his eyes when the youkai appeared in front of him once again and holding out the box.

"Thanks," he said, reaching up to take it, but his fingers closed around thin air as Kirinosuke withdrew it and put it on the coffee table. "Eh? Kii?"

"Roll up your pant leg," he said softly, a damp towel in his other hand as he knelt down in front of Homura.

He did as he was told, but then said, "N-No, I can do it myself, you know? I'm used to it already, that's why…" He didn't get to say any more since Kii had already pressed the towel to his leg and started dabbing at it to get the blood off.

With a small sigh he let him do it for him, feeling a bit awkward since not that much people were willing to help him dress his wounds. He stared at his tattered uniform pants with dejection. "Ah… it's ruined…" he muttered. Now he had to go buy another one.

"You were lucky, you know," Kirinosuke's soft voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Ah? Oh." …Oh, he was supposed to thank him. "Th-Thank you, Kii," he hurriedly continued.

Kii's eyebrows drew together in a frown.

Ah, di-did I say something wrong?

"…I didn't mean that," he started. "I just said you were lucky. If I wasn't there, you would have been…" He sighed. "In any case you weren't supposed to go wander into that part of the forest. Keep your distance next time and don't follow any… Homura?"

"Yeah?" He winced when Kii's fingers accidentally touched his wounds when he looked into his face.

"What were you doing there? Am I allowed to ask that?"

He let out a nervous laugh. "Ah, haha, I was kinda helping this young youkai find its way home, you know? I just didn't know that its home was so deep in the forest, but I didn't really want to abandon it there, so I just went along with it. But then when it found the way at last, that… other youkai earlier, it…" Homura's mouth opened and closed wordlessly, then he seemed to have given up and clamped it shut. He gazed up into those brown eyes when Kirinosuke stood up, and used a clean part of the cloth to wipe off the dried blood on his face.

"I'm sorry; I should have wiped your face first. I forgot," he said. It's true; he'd only remembered when he looked up at Homura for the first time since they'd gotten home. So that was why I smelled a youkai's blood on him… "And don't worry now, I can guess the rest of the story."

A smile graced his features when Homura grinned up at him. "Thanks a lot for saving me, Kii!"

He nodded, and sat back down. "Now, back to this," he said, tapping his leg.

"Ahh, I really am fine by now, I'll just dress it up myself and bandage it. Should be fine in a week or so," he shrugged.

Kii shook his head, which made Homura's eyes widen. "I'll heal it my way. It's faster and doesn't hurt as much. At least Hiyo wouldn't be asking so many questions when he comes back."

"Ahh, you're right~ I don't even wanna think what he'd do to me, aha… But, how exactly are you going to do it? Use a paste like Suzuya? No way in hell, Kirinosuke. That stuff damn hurts," he said seriously.

His fingers stopped short from touching Homura's leg. Hiyo has given the salve to him before? Really? He knew the tengu for a long time now, and he definitely knew he wasn't the type to freely give out precious things like that to other creatures, ayakashi and humans alike. He wouldn't even share his chestnuts with him that one autumn. He shook his head and took hold of Homura's leg, and that startled him.

"No worries, I won't be applying anything to your leg, it's just that I'm going to heal it with my powers, at least until it's enough to not create any more scars on your body." Yes, he knew about Homura's many scars, both visible and the ones that are hidden, even though the human himself has never told him about any of them. While Hiyo only filled him in on the vague details of the other boy in the pictures Homura hung in the room with the piano, and how he died, and how Homura had tried to take his own life after that, Kirinosuke had the feeling Hiyo didn't know about the others. He wasn't even sure whether he'd seen them before.

But he knew. He didn't exactly have to look at the pinkish scar decorating his right leg to know he had been burned. He was just relieved his skin was smooth and fine and not shriveled and ugly. And now, his other leg was injured, and he would not allow any other scars to remind Homura that he was different, different from all the humans he had met and separated with.

In actuality, Kirinosuke hadn't known about his ability, when it happened, or when it did function, he never realized it. He wondered whether intuition was a sort of ability. He just had to look at someone in the eyes and know about the things they've been through, especially after he'd been with them for some time. He knew Natsume had the Yuujinchou—though he never mentioned it to the boy himself, he knew the cat spirit that accompanied him was a high-level being such as himself and Hiyo, he knew Tanuma Kaname wasn't capable of controlling his reactions toward the side-effects of being near youkai and how he would be sick every now and then, he knew Taki Tooru had been cursed and that Natsume had helped her get out of it.

It was both a hassle and a convenient ability to have, Kirinosuke thought. He had never considered it as a curse, and even if somebody had stated it was and had proof, he would deny it to the very end. Sure, it had revealed tons of unneeded thoughts and feelings of everybody he'd conversed with, happy ones and ugly ones alike, but if you look at it in a different way, it might prove to be handy if he were to be faced with an evil source. He had also made sure to keep his ability a secret, and it was one of the very few things Hiyo didn't know about him.

His hands glowed and the warm light illuminated his wounds a little, though it was hard to see since the lights were on. He was right, it didn't hurt at all. Rather, it filled Homura with a warm, fuzzy feeling that made him numb, but in a good way.

"You should sleep." Again, Kirinosuke's voice cut through his thoughts, and Homura tried to focus his heavy eyes at the youkai. "It takes a little bit of your energy, and it needs some time for your wounds to regenerate without leaving behind any scars like I hoped, so it makes you feel tired. You should sleep," he repeated.

Homura managed a tiny smile. He would've fallen asleep even if he'd never said anything, but now that he was told to do so, he gladly embraced the darkness that took over his body.

Kirinosuke was just putting a blanket over Homura when he heard the familiar flap of wings as Hiyo waltzed into the room.

"I smell blood. What happened?" His question was direct and demanding. The fox-form youkai thought that he should at least give his greetings or something, but he said nothing.

"I have to talk to you, Hiyo," he said instead.

The tengu didn't look so uptight anymore, and blew his bangs away from his eyes with a huff. "I told you countless times not to call me that, Kirinosuke…"

"Homura wandered into the youkai's part of the forest today. He somehow passed the barrier," he explained bluntly.

"What? How?"

"Either he crossed a weaker part of the barrier unnoticed, or some other ayakashi led him in. I found out it was the latter. A youkai he helped search for its home was eaten in front of his eyes by a larger, and more powerful demon, and that demon went after him. He was injured, but I can't be sure if it placed a curse on him, I don't have the ability to find out so you'd have to do it, but save it for later. More importantly, what steps should we take next? I want to pay back what it did to Homura."

Suzuya smirked at the glowering look on Kirinosuke's face. Granted, it is Kirinosuke, so it didn't look any more lethal than a simple downcast frown, but he knew better. 'Sides, the dark aura around him impressed him greatly. He knew it'd be catastrophic if Kirinosuke were to blow up in a rage, possibly he would be even worse than he would, but for him to be angered to such an extent when Suzuya himself hadn't seen him like that...

"Oh my, what's wrong, Kirinosuke? Are you that attached to Akatsuki Homura-sama already?" he teased.

The angry expression melted back into that apathetic mask once more and Suzuya felt a little disappointed. He would have liked to see more facial expressions on the older youkai, since he rarely made any it was interesting just to watch him snort in indignation or laugh. "I can say the same thing about you, Hiyo. You have healed him with the salve I made for you before, right?"

"...Hmph, I just gave it him since it was a hassle to always keep it with me, besides, I have not much use for it, so better to put it to use rather than letting it go to waste, no?"

"Ahh... You are such a dishonest little baby chick, my little Hiyo..." Kirinosuke sighed, wagging his tail, a sign that he was teasing him as well.

"Like I said, stop calling me by that name! I have outgrown it already!"

Uwahh… Once again, such a long, long chapter… Haha, sorry if it took you a long time to reach this author's note! Oh, and one more thing, even though the tengu's name is 'officially' Suzuya, and everybody else calls him so, Kirinosuke chose to stick to 'Hiyo', so don't be confused when the name randomly switches to Suzuya and Hiyo from time to time, 'kay? ;D