Honor Thy Masters

by gabriel blessing

Kenichi never really had much going for him. However, there was always one way Kenichi excelled: he was lucky in his Masters. A shame that those of Ryouzanpaku weren't the first he called his Master though.

2. Chapter 2

Honor Thy Masters

Well, here's a new chapter. After I finished the first one, despite the fact that it was meant to be nothing more than a freewrite to get my juices flowing again, I discovered that I actually kind of liked the premise that I had incidentally invented. That combined with me going back to reread xxxholic of all things combined to give me a new idea that I wanted to try out.

For those who don't know xxxholic, it was a pretty popular clamp series that focused around mysteries, supernatural phenomenon, and ancient legends. It was a pretty good series, even if it was destroyed in fandom by far too many 'ho yay!' fangirls who can't seem to wrap their heads around platonic male friendship. I found myself wanting to write a story which focused around some of the older myths and legends that treated those old stories with a certain amount of gravity.

Considering I already had used a Shikome as a monster, it looked like this story might be the one to use.

Anyway, I decided to finish Honor Thy Masters, and use it as a chance to get some of the other lingering ideas that had been plaguing me for a while out of my head so I can start focusing again on other things. I have a planned six chapters for the story, and I'm already really looking forward to chapters three and five because of the themes I really want to write about in them.

For those wondering when In Flight will be back up, never fear. I think I'm almost about ready to start back in on it. My real life situation is definitely settling down now, and soon the second half of Fate/zero will be starting off to start giving me Nasu-inspiration again. Add on to that how writing Shigure has reawakened my love for the Kuudere, and I'll soon be back to my long and ambitious harem story.

Seriously though, writing Shigure is almost as much fun as writing Akitsu. You readers have no idea how close Shigure came to forgetting her panties a few times.

Anyway, brief spoilers ahead, so feel free to skip if you want to get to the story.

*Spoilers*

The two monsters I chose for this chapter were the Satori and the Ookami. The Satori is a pretty uncommon monster, and I liked the idea of using something that most readers won't know about, like I did with the Shikome. I think the only other time I've found a Satori in modern stories was in Ga-Rei, though I think the Touhou series have used them before as well.

Besides that, the Satori let me get a chance to help develop Shigure as a character for a bit. I think I kept her true to her canon self, albeit with a touch of deus ex machina in there as well. Shigure always tries to show off for Kenichi, and constantly tries to imitate the other Masters and then looks to them for approval as well. Add in the fact that even Miu is suspicious of Shigure's intentions towards Kenichi, and there was a lot of fertile ground to work with there.

That and I like Shigure, so she gets the spotlight.

As for the wolf, I wanted to show off the idea that just because there's a higher power out there, it doesn't mean that power likes you. So much of the time gods only show up to give blessings, or help main characters, or are 'unconsciously drawn to the GAR spirit of the protagonist and thus supports them' and etc. It's a pretty common shounen element, and one I wanted to shun. And thus, SHUUUUUUUUN. Here's a god that has power, that has seen the protagonist at his best, and still doesn't like him. In fact, it outright detests him.

*End Spoilers*

Anyway, here's the next chapter of Honor Thy Masters, wherein Kenichi's tragic past is slightly illuminated, gods and demons abound, and we get some fanservice of Shigure's loincloth.

Story Start

It was the wolf that warned me that things were going to change.

And rather than meaning that in some sort of metaphorical or figurative fashion I meant quite literally that a wolf told me that things weren't going to stay the same anymore.

The first time I saw the wolf was while we were wandering back down the mountain departing from the village of the Kuremisago, the people of the Black Osprey. The Kuremisago were apparently once a clan famous for their pursuit of the height of physical ability through the use of a selective breeding program. Through generations of careful effort they had managed to produce people of such power that even a single one of them could be the equal of a battalion of normal soldiers. They had come to an end when a rift formed between two factions of the clan, a rift over whether they should pursue the goals of their clan or whether or not they should relax the strict rules they had about breeding. The rift had turned bloody, and brother turned against brother as sister killed sister until finally the clan was all but erased from the world.

And walking next to me was the one, however indirectly, responsible for that rift coming about.

No more than an hour ago, Miu and I had heard the entire story of the circumstances of her birth from the Elder, Miu's grandfather. I don't know how I would have reacted if I had heard such a story in relation to myself. The very thought of just how much blood had been shed over this feud, of all the lives it had claimed, including Miu's own mother, was enough to send a shiver down my spine. Despite that, Miu seemed inordinately calm, almost cheerful.

I knew that the reason for her cheer. For Miu, this story had been a long time coming, a mystery which had haunted her probably since the day she realized that she wasn't like other children. She didn't have a mother or father, only her grandfather. Where other kids were going to school and getting into childish trouble, she had been fighting armed assailants and disarming bombs. Dodging pursuers armed with guns and knives and fighting against gangsters and madmen, for her violence was as much a part of her as breathing. Rather than being disturbed at the revelation of her family's history, she instead could brush aside the unpleasant and focus on the thoughts of her mother, and of the sacrifice the passed away woman had made for her as an infant.

For me, I was just thankful that the ghosts of the dead of that village had apparently rested easy. That or they had no time for someone as insignificant as I was in terms of martial arts and breeding. Either that, or they didn't realize just how much trouble they could cause me if they decided to show themselves.

Besides Miu and myself, there were three others present as we made the trip down from the village, my Masters from Ryouzanpaku: the Elder, Apachai, and Shigure. As though Miu's mood was somehow infectious, both the Elder and Apachai seemed particularly cheerful as we made the trip. The Elder, Furinji Hayato, the grandfather of Miu, he had good reason for his cheer. He had long concealed the story he had just told for fear of just how it would affect Miu. I could understand that worry, and when Miu had smiled at him after he finally told the truth the expression on his face was like that of a condemned criminal receiving a pardon.

Apachai's good mood probably had more to do with his natural good cheer, but even the childish Muay Thai user wasn't completely oblivious to the tension of the scene that had unfolded earlier. Though the confrontation that had occurred with Hongou Akira, the God Hand of the One Shadow Nine Fist, could have gone a lot worse than it had, it had certainly been enough to build the tension all on its own, much less with the Elders story added to it. Add on to that was Apachai's injuries, the wounds which should have killed him during his final showdown with his old mentor Jum Sai Agaard, and any normal person would have plenty of reason to be sulky.

Despite that though, Apachai was cheerfully clapping his hands as he walked, singing a song that seemed to be composed entirely of the words, 'Yabba Dabba Do!' over and over again.

The only one of the group besides myself that didn't seem to be able to brush off the import of the events that just happened appeared to be Shigure. At least, that's what I thought originally, until out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of the weapon user as she flitted about in the branches above us.

Shigure rarely walked on the ground, or so I had noticed often in the past. Whenever the option was presented to her she tended to drift towards high places. Sleeping in the rafters of her room, eating in the space above the dining room, and even walking through the corridors by clenching a roof beam with her toes; whenever the option was there Shigure would go up rather than sideways like normal people. Even now, while she was more or less walking with the rest of the group she was still spending more time hopping from branch to branch rather than pacing along on the dirt.

It made it a bit hard to judge the mood of the weapon user, but after I caught sight of her through the corner of my eye I was able to locate her doing something which made me do a double take.

I had never seen a grown woman chasing a butterfly with a kunai before, after all, but that was just what the older woman was doing it seemed. She was approaching it as though she was a cat, body hunched over as she crawled effortlessly over the too thin looking branch she was balancing on. She had one hand out, with a finger held towards the butterfly and the other held a sharp throwing dagger at the ready.

It looked to be a halfhearted chase, to be sure, but Shigure was definitely matching pace with the delicate insect, reaching out to poke it periodically whenever it seemed like it was going to land. She kept stretching out her empty hand, trying to place it under the butterfly while it was in the air, and I realized that Shigure was apparently attempting to force the bug to land on her finger, and she was going to get it to do just that one way or another.

Well, I sighed too myself, at least I was still properly disturbed by the revelations which had been given today, even if no one else seemed to be giving it too much thought.

Despite my disillusionment, I couldn't help but let my eye linger on Shigure for a few moments. Apparently my wandering eye stayed a little too long as I heard Miu pipe up from my side.

"Ah," Miu chime, her voice echoing her displayed cheer. "Shigure-san! That looks like fun!"

I suppose I was lucky that Miu seemed to be just as distracted by the butterfly as Shigure was, otherwise I could have probably looked forward to some grief from the younger girl for wandering eyes. It seemed that lately Miu had been increasingly insistent when it came to demanding my attention. At least, that's what it seemed like whenever there was another girl around. The presence of Renka, for instance, always seemed to increase Miu's attention exponentially.

I wasn't quite so naïve as to not realize the reason for that particular characteristic that Miu had been developing lately. I could still remember a night not too long past, when the two of us had sat together on the roof of an empty dojo. I could still remember the words I had haltingly spoken to her, of the feelings I couldn't put into words yet but still felt. And I could still remember her own response, both the soft words and the even softer touch of her lips on my cheek.

It was progress, of a sort, between the two of us, and it was progress I treasured. That the path the two of us were walking together was being taken slowly didn't bother me. Just the thought that we were beginning to travel it was enough for me.

It was while I was thinking that, looking down from where Shigure was continuing her chase to where Miu was apparently trying to find a branch thick enough to support her own weight so she could join in, that I saw the wolf that was watching our group.

It was an odd looking creature. Its fur was tan and short, and its proportions were all wrong. The common picture of a wolf that most people have these days is of noble creatures with well-muscled haunches and grey fur. That's because most people are only familiar with the iconic timber wolf found in North America. I'm not sure just how it happened, but probably through a combination of several famous movies and popular demand the grey timber wolf just ended up being the most famous representation of its species. Kind of like how Ping Pong became such a famous brand of product that most people don't even realize that the sport was actually called Table Tennis.

The Honshuu wolf was actually quite different in appearance than the popular image of its species. With tan short fur, a slightly long neck, and a strangely narrow snout the Honshuu wolf more closely resembled something like a fox or a weasel than it did its American counterpart. It had a far sleeker air to it, as though it was built for speed rather than for power, as though it was craftier than it was noble. I don't think most people would actually recognize a Honshuu wolf if they came across it.

After all: the Honshuu wolf has been extinct for over a hundred years.

And yet here one was, right now, sitting above my small group on the stairs that led down the mountain away from the deserted village, its head cocked to the side as it studied us curiously.

I actually had a moment where I hoped that just maybe this was the dramatic rediscovery of a long thought extinct species. That we would be able to just capture the specimen, present it to an appropriate scientist, and then make a lot of money off the discovery by going on talk shows.

Then the wolf's eyes met mine and one of its eyelids winked at me, and I knew that this was just going to be one of those days.

"What a strange looking puppy," Miu chimed in, and I jerked with a start that I realized I had been staring at the wolf. The busty blonde was standing next to me, one hand up as though to shade her eyes as she followed my gaze up the steps to where the wolf was watching us. "What kind of breed is that?"

"Hmmm?" the Elder hummed, and I realized he had at some point moved to where he was right behind me. I glanced back and up at him, wondering if the older man would be able to recognize just what it was that was watching us. I wasn't really quite sure just how old the Elder really was, and though I was willing to attribute more age to him than he probably actually had, I doubted he was really old enough to have seen a Honshuu wolf before. Then again, I wasn't really certain just how aware the Elder really was about certain aspects of reality.

It had been my experience in the past that the Kai tended to drift towards a specific breed of people. It always seemed that whenever a person found a Kai, it was generally because the Kai was in some way suited to them, as though the Kai was a reflection of some trait that a person already bore. I wasn't certain if that was because the person tended to attract a Kai that suited them, or if it was the Kai that attracted the person, but whatever the case there was usually a sort of symmetry which those of the Nightworld tended to display. Whatever the case, it always seemed to me that when a Kai and a person met, there was always some sort of underlying cause behind the meeting, as though either the person wished to meet the Kai or vice versa once again.

Maybe that was why so few Martial Artists tended to meet the Kai. It was my experience that most Martial Artists tended to be very satisfied with their lives. Most fighters tended to qualify as 'reaju', people who were completely satisfied with the lives they were living. Maybe it had something to do with the inherent nature of Martial Artists, of the way they were taking their lives into their own hands and helping to shape their destinies' with their own power. It might explain why it had taken me nearly a year living in the Underworld before the Nightworld once more began to infringe on my life. If that was true, it might even explain why it was Kushinada who was the first Martial Artist I had come across who needed initiation into the Nightworld; even if she was a Martial Artist who was satisfied with her life and it had taken her decades to finally attract the attention of a vengeful god, it was the amount of time which let her finally come across one of the Oddities.

But if that was the case, than was there a chance the Elder too was about to be initiated? Or maybe he already had, and just had done as I had and concealed it from those he didn't think were already aware?

"Hmph," the Elder finally grunted, a small frown appearing beneath his moustache. "It is a strange looking breed, isn't it?" The Elder seemed interested in the watching animal, but his interest didn't look to be anything more than idle curiosity. Though whether that meant he was truly aware of the creature's nature or whether he was just better at hiding it than I was at reading him I couldn't tell for sure.

"Apapa," Apachai added, his head tilted to the side as he did so, his voice curious. "What a strange kid," he commented, seeming confused by something. "He acts kind of old for his age."

I gave Apachai a strange glance. I had seen this kind of thing before from him, the odd way he had of talking to animals and seemingly being able to understand them in turn. Truthfully, I wasn't certain if he really was communicating with the pigeons and horses he so often conversed with or if it was just the gentle giant acting childish again. Whatever the case, whether there was a conversation I wasn't aware about going on or whether Apachai was just better at reading the moods of animals enough to realize that there was something off with the wolf, the fact that Apachai didn't think the canine standing above us was normal was a pretty good sign that I hadn't been hallucinating when the beast had winked at me.

Well, wild beast or rampant Kai, at least I knew the proper response to this particular incident.

Raising my hands, I clapped them twice in front of me, holding them together afterwards, and then I bowed briefly as though I were in front of a shrine. With my head still down and my eyes closed, I spoke.

"Ookami-sama," I began, my voice loud enough to reach the beast. "Please, don't eat us."

When I raised my head, it was to meet the wolf's eyes once more. The beast was still sitting on the step, but it had cocked its head to the side as though curious about something. Finally, it opened its mouth and gave a quick, 'Yip', a rather high pitched barking sound. Then its jaw hung open and its tongue came out as it panted, its tail wagging back and forth behind it as it did so.

"So cute!" Miu cheered, her eyes wide at the creature's appearance. I wouldn't go so far as to call it cute myself, but due to the fact that the Honshuu wolf barely came up to a foot high at the shoulder when standing, it did make the animal look like a rather young specimen of dog. "Here, here," Miu called out, waving one hand in front of her as she crouched down, trying to lure the wolf closer so she could capture it and play with it like she did so many of that cats which crossed her path.

The wolf paused in its panting, its tongue come back in as it cocked its head again, seeming confused. It let loose a small curious sounding whine. It still didn't seem hostile, so I spoke up again.

"If you escort us down the mountain, we can offer you some salt and azuki beans," I offered it. The wolf's ears perked up, but then it collapsed forward to lie on the steps, whimpering as it did so, its paws coming up to cover its ears. Finally, with another yip it stood and turned to head off the stairs and back into the mountain proper. With a flick of its tail and one last look towards us, it disappeared at a fast trot into the underbrush beside the path.

"Aw," Miu groaned, disappointed at the loss of the small and cuddly animal. "Kenichi," she turned to me, giving me a pouty glare. "You scared it away!"

"Ah," I rubbed the back of my head, trying to appear more remorseful than I really was. While Miu might have wanted the wolf to get closer, I myself was infinitely more relieved that it had left. "Sorry."

"Now, now, Miu," the Elder began, clapping a hand on both of our shoulders with a paternal air. "It's not Kenichi's fault it left. In fact," and here he gave me a curious look, "Kenichi was being particularly polite."

"Eh?" Miu made a curious noise, giving her grandfather a questioning look. I glanced at the older man too, surprised at his statement.

"Though I am a bit surprised," the Elder continued, still looking at me as he did so. "I didn't think that Kenichi-chan would know about that kind of thing."

"That… kind of thing?" Shigure prompted, and I realized with a start that the swordswoman had apparently descended from the high ground and was even now standing with the rest of the group proper. More than that, while the others of the group might still be maintaining the relaxed atmosphere that had characterized our trip Shigure was instead standing straight, and had one hand up to rest gently on the hilt of the long sword strapped to her back beneath her coat.

Her tense stance actually wasn't unexpected to me at all. In fact, her response was becoming customary to me. She had heard me address the wolf as 'Ookami' after all.

"Indeed," the Elder continued, a crooked smile forming under his moustache as he did. "That is the right way to address a 'yama-inu' after all."

"Yama-inu?" Miu repeated, one hand coming up to rest on her chin as her eyes furrowed in thought as she tried to recall where she had heard that term before.

"'Yama-inu', or mountain dog, is an old way of referring to 'ookami', to wolves," I explained, taking the opportunity to explain the old turn of phrase to my fellow disciple. When Miu glanced at me, her eyes widened in curiosity, I decided to go ahead and continue. It wasn't often that I had a chance to take the teaching role with Miu. All too often whenever something came up that had to be explained it was the more experienced Martial Artist blonde having to give an explanation to a clueless me after all.

So I couldn't be blamed for wanting to take the chance to show off a bit to the girl I liked, could I?

"In the old days," I continued, turning away from where the wolf had been watching and starting to continue down the mountain as the rest of the group too resumed its descent, "wolves were often thought of as being mystical creatures, like kitsune or tanuki. People use to think that they were either messengers or avatars of the gods. Sometimes, probably because of their names, they were even worshiped as gods themselves."

The Japanese word for wolf was 'ookami'. Though that was the actual Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese kanji for the species, as was so typical of Japanese in general there was another way for that name to be read as well. Most kanji had a Japanese way of being read, which was usually used when a kanji was being referred to specifically, but they also had a Chinese pronunciation as well which was usually completely different. Like with the first kanji of my own name, 'Shira': it actually used the kanji for 'white' and could be read either as 'shiro' or 'haku' depending on the situation. For 'ookami', the pronunciation could also be attributed to the kanji for 'big' and 'god'.

The Japanese were weird like that. It was probably why most of our jokes involved puns based around alternative readings for different kanji.

"You mean like the Oguchi-no-Makami?" Miu asked, citing one of the most famous examples of divine wolves in Japan. The shrine to the Oguchi-no-Makami, the True God of the Great Mouth, was still a rather popular shrine located in the Saitama prefecture.

"Yeah," I nodded, actually a bit disappointed that Miu already knew that much. How was I supposed to seem reliable if she already knew my explanation beforehand? "Well, back in the old days they said that sometimes wolves would show up in front of travelers in the wild," I continued, hoping that Miu didn't already know this legend completely. "They were called 'okuri-ookami', escorting wolves, back then. When an okuri-ookami showed up, there was either two different ways that they might act towards a traveler. The first was if the traveler politely asked the wolf to spare their lives and promised it a reward when they reached their destination, then the wolf would guard them while they were in the wilds until they made it to where they were going."

"Is that why you bowed back there?" Miu asked, her brow furrowing as she recalled my shrine like behavior. When I nodded in response she nodded herself slowly before continuing. "Then if one way is that the wolf helps the traveler, what's the other way?"

"The wolf waits till the traveler falls down, and then eats them," I summarized the other outcome of meeting an okuri-ookami bluntly. "Of course, that's just one version of the myth as well. In this version, what the wolf does depends on what the traveler does. I like this version better than the other."

"Why's that, Kenichi-san?" Miu prompted me, looking honestly interested in my story. If I was Shigure, I might make the mistake of spoiling the mood by clenching my hands in a 'Yes!' gesture, but since I was better at controlling myself I settled for cheering in my head.

"Because in the other version there are just two kinds of wolves that are completely different from each other," I explained, rubbing the back of my neck idly as I did so. "The ones who will help will help you no matter how you act, and the ones who will eat you will eat you no matter what you do." I glanced behind me briefly, checking to see if the wolf had reappeared. It still hadn't, and I heaved a sigh of relief at the thought that maybe this encounter really would be just this simple. "I like the idea that what I do has some impact on what will happen, so I tend to prefer the first one."

"Eeh!" Miu exclaimed, giving me a wide eyed look much like the one I had seen once before at the botanical gardens. "We've found another subject that Kenichi-kun is knowledgeable about! With taking a beating and plants that makes three!"

"Please don't sum up my strong points with such a short list," I muttered, sagging as Miu once more trampled on my pride with such innocence that I couldn't even blame her for it.

"So then the wolf… won't attack?" Shigure asked, taking advantage of the pause in the conversation to ask me a slow question.

"Now, now, Shigure-san," the Elder took it upon himself to respond, giving another grandfatherly smile at the weapon mistress. "Even if that's the legend, its just legend. There hasn't actually been a wolf in Japan since before even I was born."

I blinked, and did the math in my head. The last confirmed sighting a Honshuu wolf was in 1905 if my memory served. Well, even if it was just a ballpark estimate, I guess that helped me set the upper limit of just how old the Elder really was in my head.

"Hmm," was all Shigure said in response, and though she made no other move to indicate any other type of interest in the subject, I did manage to catch the look requesting confirmation from me from the corner of my eye. Just slightly enough for her to catch it, I gave a small shrug, indicating that I could neither confirm nor deny the Elder's proclamation. When Shigure turned away it appeared as though she had completely dismissed the subject.

However, I took note of the fact that she was no longer chasing butterflies either.

It looked like my Master was still on guard. She had good reason to be, for that matter.

Including this wolf, if that's what it really was, that would make the sixth Kai that she had come across since her brutal initiation into the Nightworld.

Considering just how long a time it took between that last fateful encounter before I had joined Ryouzanpaku and the arrival of the Shikome, nearly two years now at this point, I had thought that it would be another equally long time before I would come across another of the Kai. Perhaps, if things had turned out differently than that might have been the case. However, there was a new addition to the equation that had proven to have the effect of upping just how often I was coming across the Kai these days:

The curiosity of Kushinada.

Ever since the elder Jujitsu user had made her choice over just what route she would take in regards to the Shikome, it looked like she had made another decision as well. A week after the encounter I had my first clue over just what Kushinada was planning and that was when Chikage had started showing up at school in her shrine maiden outfit rather than her uniform. At first I had thought the younger girl was going to be engaging in Yomi business, the usual reason for her wearing that outfit. Instead, Chikage had just gone to class as normal.

The next day, she had come in the same outfit again, only this time she had included a nusa, the wooden wand bound with strips of paper that was used in many Miko rituals and dances. When none of the teachers had made any comment over this change in apparel, Niijima had done a little investigating as to why the little Disciple was getting away with it. Yasunaga-sensei had been all too happy to explain how Chikage had been accepted into a Miko training program designed to perpetuate and exemplify the ancient priestess tradition in an effort to help preserve Japanese culture.

Considering that Yasunaga-sensei had been willing to allow me to live with Miu simply because Akisame had a reputation for skill at calligraphy it went a long way to explaining why he was allowing the departure from traditional uniforms in this case.

While the uniform itself was only a mildly interesting event, when Chikage had approached me two weeks later, informing me that her Master would once more like to hire me in regards to certain events of a mysterious nature, I began to realize just why the girl was now taking her shrine duties so seriously.

I hadn't been willing to go with the Yomi disciple just by myself, but since the investigation had possible connections to the Kai, I hadn't wanted to just ignore it either. So instead I had called Shigure, and asked her to come along as well. The weapon mistress had declared that she and I were going to go on a surprise Underworld field trip, and that had been that. Kushinada herself never showed up during the entire incident, and two days later what had all the ear marks of a zashiki-warashii, the ghost of a mischievous child, proved to be exactly that and the spirit had been dealt with appropriately: it had been bribed with candy to behave.

When Chikage contacted me again three weeks later for another job, this time clutching a book titled 'Young Investigation Squad' in one hand and 'The Chronicles Of Japan', the second oldest book in Japanese literature which also held some of the oldest versions of my country's legends, my suspicion was confirmed.

Kushinada was not only surviving the Nightworld, but she was actively seeking to involve herself in it, as well as her Disciple. It also appeared that I was a victim of my own initial success, because despite being a Katsujin Ken, Kushinada was apparently dead set on having me along for the ride.

It wasn't like it was a totally bad experience though. For one thing, while on Nightworld excursions Chikage had assured me that I would be exempt from Yami or Yomi aggression during the course of the investigation. And it wasn't that hard to explain to Ryouzanpaku as well for that matter. If anything, whenever Shigure and I returned back from one of our supposed 'Underworld Fieldtrips' the rest of Ryouzanpaku tended to very carefully not ask what we had been up to. The bizarre nature of the injuries we did occasionally receive only reinforced that behavior.

Like the time we had to deal with that kappa. Modern media likes to portray kappa as friendly and helpful creatures. The truth was that they were minor demons with a penchant for tearing out vital organs by reaching up through the anus. While the injuries Shigure received for being caught unprepared and I received from trying to help Chikage during that encounter weren't quite that bad, they had been pretty awkward. I had never been so thankful for Ryouzanpaku's 'right to privacy' policy as I had back then.

Well, it wasn't like it was all bad. Kushinada continued to be a very generous employer, and with Shigure along the money could go back to Ryouzanpaku without any strange questions being asked.

While some of the investigations that Kushinada hired Shigure and myself for were nothing more than misinterpreted mundane events, the Jujitsu user had managed to find five specific incidents where the supernatural had been truly involved, and seeing how Shigure had been there for all of them the Master weapons user had already begun to develop a healthy respect for what it meant to deal with the Kai. So while the Miu, Apachai, and the Elder all seemed willing to dismiss the sighting of the wolf as nothing more than a curious incident with a wild dog, Shigure kept one hand surreptitiously in the sleeve of her coat, and seemed to deliberately put herself between where the wolf had been and me.

I suppressed a sigh. It wasn't my fault that all the Kai we came across seemed to be particularly attracted to me. I mean, yeah, I could make a few good guesses as to why most of the oddities we had come across had tried to kill me, or tried to kidnap me, or, and I still had to suppress a shudder at the horrific memory, tried to molest me, but I had been surviving the Kai long before I had joined Ryouzanpaku. I might not be an exorcist, but I was a good hand better at dealing with those encounters than most. However, it looked like Shigure's hands off policy in regards to martial arts death matches that she shared with the other Masters of Ryouzanpaku didn't seem to apply to encounters with ghosts, gods, or demons and the weapons user seemed to assume a much more proactive approach to protecting me whenever we went out on a Nightworld field trip.

Well, yeah, I had rather appreciated that kind of aggressiveness after the incident with the tengu, but I doubted I'd need that much protection in this incident. The wolf had shown up, I had reacted accordingly, and it had gone away. Other people had encounters like this all the time, even if some never realized that they had met one of the Kai in the first place. In all likelihood, nothing more was going to happen on this trip other than me making sure to buy some salt and azuki beans as an offering before we caught the train back towards the dojo.

"Ah!" Apachai spoke up, sounding happy as he did so, "that kid is back!" I winced, and I felt my eyebrow twitch once involuntarily.

"Oh!" Miu whirled around to look behind her, apparently happy that the animal had returned. "It's closer this time!" I felt my eyebrow twitch again as Miu continued. "Here, puppy," she crouched down, waving her hand again as she tried to entice the apparently friendly animal close enough for her to smother it with affection. "Come play with your nee-chan!"

Calm down, Kenichi, I told myself, taking a deep breath and continuing to walk down the mountain. It's not like you jinxed yourself by thinking that the event was over. Jinxes like that just don't happen. It's just a silly superstition. The wolf was an okuri-ookami, after all. It was probably just escorting us. Yeah. That was it. It was just making sure that we got off the mountain safely. There was no reason to think that this would become anything…

"Oh?" the Elder broke into my thoughts, also glancing back at the wolf as he rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "It looks like it has something there…"

It's just escorting us, I told myself firmly. Just escorting….

"Is that… Kenichi's cellphone?" Shigure asked, her voice in its usual monotone, and I felt a little more of my faith in the general benevolence of the world fade as I finally looked behind to double check on the wolf.

The wolf was much closer this time, only about half as far as it had been earlier. It was sitting again, head cocked to the side as though curious about something with its mouth open and its tongue out in a canine grin as it panted. And there, sure enough, placed directly in front of it, was a cellphone of the exact same model as my own.

"That can't be mine," I insisted, as I started to dig into my pocket. "I have mine right…" I trailed off as I realized that the familiar weight of my phone was indeed missing and that no matter how much I checked my pockets seemed to be completely empty. "Hey!" I yelped, now frantically patting down my other pocket just to make sure that I hadn't put my cell into the other side by accident. When I discovered that I hadn't just absently misplaced my phone, I made sure to check my school bag as well, though at this point I was pretty sure I was only trying to fool myself. "That IS my phone!"

"That kid must have found it and brought it for Kenichi," Apachai declared, his tone bright as he made his interpretation of the situation.

"Well, well, Ken-chan," the Elder smiled at me. "Looks like your manners paid off after all!"

"Huh," I grunted, honestly a bit surprised by the turn of events. When had I lost my phone? The fight with Seta and Hayami had been short, yes, but it had been intense in its own way as well. Could it have slipped out of my pocket back then? If so, then the phone would have been lost all the way back in the village.

Despite the seeming benevolence of this act, it only served to unnerve me a bit more. The wolf hadn't had the phone earlier, when we had first seen it. That meant that either the wolf had found the phone and simply hidden it earlier when it first appeared, or that the wolf had gone all the way back to the village which was well over a half hour away at this point and then come back in only a few minutes.

This creature was definitely no ordinary animal.

Still, at least it seemed like it was benevolent. With a smile, I bowed to the wolf again, saying a silent prayer of gratitude for its kindness. When I finished I straightened up and took a step towards where the wolf had put my phone.

As though my first step was the sign it was waiting for the wolf suddenly crouched down, snapping up my cell into its tiny jaws. Keeping its head low to the ground, it froze, watching me carefully with its hindquarters up in the air as its tail began to wag slowly. I blinked, surprised at its sudden change in position. When I took a second step up towards the wolf it hopped backwards, raising a step in return and keeping the distance between us the same. Again, with a sense of bemusement, I took another step up and the wolf once more jumped back, its tail starting to wag faster.

"Ah!" Miu chirped, sounding jealous as she took in the sight of the beast's actions. "The puppy wants to play with you, Kenichi-san!"

The wolf barked again, the sound muffled by the phone in its jaws. Playfully, it began to shake its head back and forth, as though the cell was a mouse or a rabbit that it had caught. I took a step towards it, hoping that it wouldn't notice while it was distracted, however the moment my foot came down it froze, its head cocking to the side again. Then, with one more yip it turned to the side and darted off the path into the underbrush.

"My phone!" I yelped in responese, and without realizing what I was doing I took off after the wolf. Maybe it was the innocent nature of the way the wolf had been playing with my phone, but for a moment I actually forgot my earlier caution and without a second thought I found myself chasing the beast as it darted through the woods. It moved quickly, but not too quickly, and despite the way it hopped over logs or darted around the trunks of trees I managed to keep pace with it. It was slippery, but no matter how far it ran I was able to keep pace with it, and despite the fact that the sun was beginning to set, I think I might almost…

Wait. The sun was setting?

As the realization that the sun was indeed starting to make it way beneath the horizon and that the last time I remembered looking at it it was still only midway down in its journey to the west startled me enough for me to stumble slightly. I caught myself before I fell, one hand coming up to rest on the trunk of a nearby tree and it was only then that I realized that I was panting and that sweat had soaked all the way through my white school shirt. The garment clung to me uncomfortably with the moisture, but it wasn't enough to keep my mind from racing.

How long? How long had I been running? How long had I been chasing the wolf? It had felt like only moments, maybe a minute or two at best, but with the change in the position of the sun and the ache in my body it must have been closer to hours. How had I lost that much time?

As I straightened, my breathing finally coming under my control after my mysterious marathon session I caught sight of the wolf once more. It sat further away than it had been during my chase, my phone still clutched in its mouth. However, its head was no longer cocked to the side and its tail was no longer wagging playfully. It was half concealed by the trunk of another tree, the lengthening shadows around it making its outline blurry and indistinct. Despite that though I could see its eyes as they glimmered golden, catching light even in the darkness which concealed the rest of it. As it stood there, not moving, it no longer looked playful or innocent like it did earlier. More than that, its slim frame looked larger than it had before, as though it had grown somehow during the chase.

I felt an involuntary shiver go through me. The wolf was once considered a mystic animal. There were stories of mystic beasts using their powers to possess humans. Kitsunenetsuki, fox-possession, was one of the more famous types, though it was also said that inugami, dog spirits, could do so as well. Most people these days considered the two conditions to be nothing more than superstitious explanations for mental instability, a way to explain things like insanity or fever deliriums by those who had no medical way to explain such things in the past.

Well, it was as good an explanation as any other for what had just happened to me. All things considered, I must have been suffering from temporary insanity to knowingly follow a creature like the wolf away from the safety of my companions and into the wilderness.

And speaking of wilderness…

Where was I?

I didn't recognize any of my surroundings, but that was to be expected. After all, this was the first time I had been on this mountain, and not recognizing a new place was fairly common. The wolf had led me to a clearing, and open field surrounded by tall trees and thick underbrush, the ground unusually flat for being located on a mountain, and though I was fairly certain that I was still on the same mountain as earlier, the circle of trees was tall enough to keep me from being able to see where I was in relation to any of the other mountains in the range.

It wasn't until after I had taken in my surroundings that I glanced back at where the wolf had been only to realize that the beast had disappeared from my sight completely.

I wasn't certain if that made me relieved or just more nervous. On one hand if the wolf had just led me out here in a fit of mischievousness than that meant that I probably wouldn't see the beast again. Considering that all it had done was possess me and drag me into the middle of the wilderness I was perfectly willing to accept its prank and make my way back to civilization on my own, though considering what it had done there was no way I was going to make an offering to it now.

However, if the beast had led me out here as a prelude to something more sinister, than not being able to see the wolf was probably a very bad sign. For instance, it could be behind me right now, sneaking close, getting ready to attack…

The thought sent a shiver down my spine and I whirled, knowing that I was probably just being jumpy but wanting to make sure just in case. When there was nothing behind me, I nearly sighed in relief, before wondering if maybe that was what the wolf had been planning in the first place and that it was now approaching me from what used to be the front….

I whirled again, and still I saw no sight of the wolf. I sighed for real this time, but I despite the rather silly nature of my actions I couldn't bring myself to be ashamed of them. After all, it wasn't paranoia if something really was trying to get you.

"Well," I thought, "at least I've been studying different types of edible plants. There's no way I'm going to starve again, not like in the black forest with the Elder."

I nodded at the thought, before I froze. "Wait," I thought again. "Aren't I just thinking? Why am I hearing it out loud…"

It was only thanks to the training of the Elder that I managed to move on time. During my training for the Seikuuken the Elder had made it a point to engrave awareness into my body. It had been a cruel and painful process, mostly involving him hitting me with a club from behind over and over again, but the end result had been that my body had learned how to anticipate strikes which came from the rear instinctively. It was that awareness which caused me to throw myself forward, almost before my conscious thoughts had caught up with me. I spun as I leapt, rolling across the ground in one smooth motion as a thunderous crash came from where I had been standing only seconds ago, and even as I regained my footing I was facing the threat which had just appeared.

I had honestly thought that what I would find myself facing would be the wolf. Instead, the sight before me was enough to make me freeze.

It reminded me vaguely of a monkey due to its general body shape, though considering its size it might be more accurate to say it resembled a gorilla considering that it stood nearly as tall as I did. Its legs were a bit short and its arms a bit too long, its knuckles dragging across the ground as it hunched with a fist buried right where I had been standing a moment ago. It had dark fur, matted and course looking with small twigs and other debris typical of a forest caught in it at various places. Despite the somewhat reminiscent nature of its shape, there was no way that I would mistake this thing for a natural creature. Its fur covered its entire body for one thing, not like gorillas that had mostly furless chests and stomachs.

That and the fact that it barely had a head to speak of.

It was as though the creature had no neck whatsoever, or if it did that its shoulders were just so large that they concealed it completely. There was a small rounding between its shoulders reminiscent of the shape of the top of a head, but it was as though that appendage had been melted down until it dripped over the creatures shoulders and chest. It did have a face, the only part of the creature that wasn't covered with that matted fur, but the eyes were small, far too small, looking almost insect-like with their dark and beady shape. It had no nose whatsoever, not even having the flat slits that some animals used for their snouts, as though it was simply a creature that had never had an olfactory sense whatsoever. It did have a mouth, but it was far too large and located too far down, nearly reaching the center of the thing's barrel like chest. It was circular too, and lined with small flat teeth. The best way I could think to describe the creature's maw was as though it was a squid's beak lined with molars instead of sharper teeth.

"What is that?" the beast in front of me said in a voice which was identical to my own. "A sasquatch? A yeti? The abominable snowman? The missing link? The Hibagon?" The thing spoke quickly, so fast it should be impossible to understand it and yet somehow its words were perfectly clear. "Wait," it continued, "why is does it sound just like me?"

Even as the realization that the thing was speaking, more than that, that the thing was speaking with MY voice, while an even more chilling realization that the thing was apparently speaking my very THOUGHTS nearly simultaneously as I thought them, the thing attacked. I was so stunned by the suddenness, as well as the sheer bizarreness, of the thing's dialogue that I only belatedly realized that it had launched itself into a charge at me. It covered the ground with an apelike gait, using its long arms to help propel its shorter feet along, moving surprisingly fast for a thing of its size. I was barely able to get my hands up and crossed in front of me when it swung one of its ham sized fists at me, the force of it nearly numbing my arms as it sent me skidding backwards across the clearing. It was only thanks to the insane balance training my Master's had put me through that kept me from tumbling to the ground.

"Damn," the thing added, even as it resumed its charge, closing the distance it had put between the two of us nearly as fast as it was made. "That thing hit like a ton of bricks! There's no way I can take too many of those blows." Even as it prepared itself for another swing, it paused, its wide mouth opening and closing as it spoke, a motion that looked more like something being twisted opened and shut than opened and closed like a normal mouth. "I'll have to dodge it, to the right, and then it should leave itself open to a kick."

Even as I realized that the plan that had been forming in my head was currently being voiced the creature was already moving. Instead of a wide swing like it had given earlier its long arm jabbed instead, a quick and lighter motion, and even though I deflected it by the time my leg was in motion it already had its other arm up, its long strong fingers closing around my ankle.

"Wait," the thing said again, even as it tightened its grip on my leg. "Is that thing really reading my mind? As in real time? And it's using that to know exactly what I'm about to do while I'm fighting it? Ah hell. It's a Satori, isn't it?"

Even as the thing finished saying my thoughts out loud, it paused, and I swore I could see emotion in its beady eyes, a sort of sadistic amusement at my plight. For the first time it made a noise that wasn't spoken in my voice, a long drawn out chattering noise, a sound that only served to reinforce its apelike impression.

And then it picked me up by the leg it was holding and pulled me over its body to slam me face first into the ground with all the strength its thick limbs could manage.

If the thing managed to complete the attack, there was no telling how much damage I would take. Desperatelly I arched my back ,twisting in its grip so that I could get both my hands and my free foot beneath me, leaving me in a back bend position, my hands aching from having to absorb the force of the throw. If I had been a normal person then the sheer viciousness and force behind the graceless attack would have ended the fight then and there.

"Good thing I'm not a normal person," the Satori commented, my voice sounding smug as it left its maw, before it jumped back, letting go of my ankle in time to get its own hand clear as my other foot cut through the air where its fingers would have been only seconds ago. "Akisame-sensei throws me way harder than that all the time, and compared to Apachai's punches that was nothing!" The thing leapt back, getting clear just in time as I swung both my legs in a wide sweeping arc designed to catch opponents while on the ground while simultaneously propelling the kicker to their feet. "And Ma-sensei taught me how to get space to stand if I get knocked down!"

Even as I recovered my footing I brought both my hands up in front of me in my customary ready position. The Satori chittered at me again, but didn't press its attack. Instead it slapped the ground in front of it as it hopped in place, chattering again, this time in what seemed to me like irritation as it narrowed its eyes at me.

"This is so unfair," the creature told me as it began to circle me. "I finally come across a Kai which I can fight using my Martial Arts, and it's the one type of creature that Martial Arts are almost useless against!" Even as it paced around me, its rolling gait slow and ominous, I made sure to keep it in my sights. "I'm lucky that this is happening in a clearing at least. If the Satori had attacked me in the woods then it would have the advantage of terrain and maneuverability. Here it has to face me head on. It's strong, yeah, but nowhere near as strong as some of the Masters I've seen. Probably stronger than Disciple class though. Now, Sakaki-sensei always says you should start with the first move…"

I had barely taken the first step forward so that I could throw a tentative punch at the Satori before it had already begun to scuttle backwards, lowering itself to the ground as it set itself back out of range of my kick. I nearly threw the kick anyway, just as a method to get the fight rolling before the Satori continued speaking in my voice.

"If I throw the first kick, then as long as it doesn't try to close with me I should be fine," it mused as it braced itself, arms digging into the earth as it pulled its body weight back. "Wait! That stance… it must be getting ready to charge right after the first kick! But if it does that then my only option would be to use jujitsu to try and pin it. But with that kind of arm strength and its strange proportions then there's no guarantee that usual moves would work."

Even as the creature finished rattling off my train of thought it started to attack, pushing off with its back legs as it dug in with its arms. I braced myself, my mind racing furiously like it only does in the midst of a death match as I tried to find a way to counter the creatures unusual shape. The Satori made it only a foot before it suddenly stopped its charge, nearly falling over as it used its arms to halt its momentum.

"It has to be Muy Thai then!" it declared, my voice firm from its twisted mouth. "With limbs like that it would have trouble infighting! If I manage to land a good Kao Loi, a jumping knee, in on a rush, then I could get the initiative, and it if tries to punch I could counter with Shock Club, a spinning elbow."

Instead of closing though, the Satori instead backed off again, and this time I was certain that the chattering noise was angry as it glared at me, hunching over and slapping the ground once more in frustration. Despite myself, I felt one of my own eyes twitch as well.

"You know," the thing said with my own irritation present in its voice as it did so. "Fighting something that can read your mind is totally unfair." It dug its fingers into the ground as it tore up clods of dirt, almost spitefully throwing them at me as it did so. I barely moved to dodge them, not taking my attention of the ape like thing for a second. "Is this what it's like when Masters fight? An Attack Trail Battle where both sides can see every possible combination and can't do anything until they have an attack that they know the other Master won't be able to stop? But that won't work here. The Satori will be able to tell exactly what I'm planning, and be able to counter anything I can think of as soon as I think of it!"

This had all the markings of a long battle just waiting to happen, and the thought was not comforting to me. It was already starting to get late out, and I had no idea how much longer daylight was going to last. The tall trees that surrounded the clearing kept me from accurately judging how much longer I had until full sunset, and those same trees were already starting to cast darker and darker shadows across the clearing. As it stood now the Satori was a dangerous creature, yeah, but not one I couldn't beat. It was a lot stronger and a lot faster than a normal person could deal with, but I had been training for almost a year and a half now and under the guidance of the Masters of Ryouzanpaku and I was a lot more powerful than most people these days. Judging from the way the Satori was keeping its distance and fighting cautiously it seemed to know that as well and hopefully its caution meant that it was aware that I could hurt it if I needed to.

"Maybe this whole thing can be resolved peacefully," the creature mused, and even I couldn't help but notice the doubtful tone of voice my thoughts had to them. "After all, the way this fight was going either one of us could come out the victor. But…" the creature's beady eyes shrank as the heavy ridges of its eyebrows narrowed. "But is it alright for me to let this thing go? It did try to attack me, after all, and considering what it is, it could be a danger to other travelers too. That is why I started Martial Arts after all: so that I wouldn't have to turn a blind eye to the evils of the world anymore, and so that I could defend those who needed it."

The creature started to get more agitated, thumping the earth and increasing the rate at which it started throwing clods of dirt at me. I blocked them easily, one hand nearly flickering as the same Seikuuken training that had saved me before allowed me to note their paths almost instinctively.

"Normally I don't like starting fights," my thoughts continued, "but this might be one that's worth getting into. It can react to my thoughts, yeah, but it takes it a bit of time." The Satori gave an angry chatter at the end of that sentence as it began to realize just what I was planning. "If we get into a fight, then it might have the advantage early, but once things start getting heated then more and more of my movements are going to be instinctual. It wasn't able to stop me from dodging before on its first attack because my body just moved on its own. It's a reckless fight," and from the way the Satori went still as I felt a grim smile start forming on my own unmoving lips it seemed to realize what was about to happen, "but Sakaki-sensei always said he approved of reckless fights…"

As though reacting to my thoughts, the Satori stilled and hunched over, planting both of its fists on the ground again as it prepared itself. As it did so I too was getting ready, raising both my hands into my customary attack position as I set my legs shoulder length for maximum utility. I found myself strangely relaxed as I did so. Years ago, the thought of fighting a demon, a youkai, head on would have set me to shivering. That was back when the only advantage I had going for me was the unnatural leftovers of my first encounter with the Kai. Back then that small advantage had been enough for me to survive most of my dangerous encounters relatively intact. Now though, I had a new advantage, one which had been drilled into me with compassionate cruelty by my Masters at Ryouzanpaku.

Now it was my own fists, my own power, I could depend on instead of the remnants of an unpleasant death.

At some unseen signal, the two of us launched ourselves forward, intending to settle this fight with brutal directness. The Satori would have the advantage early on, yeah, but then again that was usually the case with me. My Masters and friends had all long since noticed that I was a slow starter when it came to fights, and while that could be dangerous at times I was also particularly good at taking blows early on as well. With Sakaki and Apachai constantly dealing damage to me and effectively training my organs to be tougher than a normal persons as well as with Akisame's insane body development plan which had left me with unusually compact and tough muscles I was betting on me being able to weather the initial storm before I finally got the chance to put this creature down…

At least that was the plan until halfway through the charge the things mouth opened and more words came out. "Yes! A fight! I bet I'll look really cool if I swoop in to save Kenichi-kun right about…now!"

It wasn't my voice that the thing was speaking in. It actually took me a second to recognize the new tone, and when I finally did I was so surprised that I actually tripped, nearly falling face first as the realization spread through me. Luckily for me, that was the exact moment that the creature threw itself bodily to the side in order to avoid a rain of silver death as kunai, shuriken, and a few sickles traced a line directly through where it had been standing only seconds ago.

"S-S-Shigure-san?" I choked out as the prodigy of all weaponry landed directly in front of me, her enormous katana already drawn as she appeared as though from nowhere. It wasn't so much surprise at her appearing which caused me to stutter. If anything, in retrospect it seemed obvious that she would arrive as she did. She was the Master of Ryouzanpaku that knew the most about my secrets, after all, and she had already been on guard for the Oddities the moment I had bowed to the wolf. I wasn't quite certain how she had found me, true, though she did have a long standing habit of appearing out of nowhere right when things started to get tense.

Instead, my surprise had more to do with the way the Satori was speaking in her voice. Even as I gaped, the beast continued to chatter almost too quickly for me to make out the words, faster even then when it had been speaking my thoughts.

"I thought I was going to miss this completely," Shigure's voice continued, sounding exasperated in a way I could never recall having heard the actual woman ever speak. "When that stupid wolf-god thingy showed up and stole Kenichi-kun I was so worried! I mean, I hardly ever get to look cool in front of my Disciple. That's so unfair! Whenever Kenichi-kun needs help Akisame or Sakaki always get to step up and look awesome, but whenever I try Kenichi-kun always just ignores me! Even now that we get to do things together I always seem to mess up! Stupid tengu. Stupid kappa. Anyway, I wonder what this thing is? Man, it sure is ugly. I should ask Kenichi-kun. He always seems to know. But how should I ask without looking stupid? I don't want Kenichi-kun to think badly of me. Maybe I should pretend I already know? But then I would be lying to my Disciple, and that would be bad."

I gaped as the tirade continued, not quite sure what to make of this development. To my ever growing disbelief, despite the way Shigure was standing calmly in front of me, sword drawn and ready, her expression implacable as always, the Satori just continued to chatter. I was so distracted that I couldn't even think of trying to take advantage of its downed state as it continued to right itself back to a combat ready position.

"Maybe I should be nonchalant about asking?" Shigure's voice continue to muse, sounding as though she was deep in thought as she did so. "Something like, 'So, Kenichi, what is it this time?' But no, that might seem too cold. Maybe I should go with, 'So it looks like you need your Master again, eh Kenichi?' But isn't that not encouraging enough? And now I'm starting to take too long, and it's going to look like I'm just not interested! Say something, Shigure, say anything!"

"Kenichi," the real Shigure finally spoke, her tone as slow as it usually was when she turned to me, pointing at the Satori slowly with her free hand. "That is…what?"

"'Kenichi, that is... what?'" the beast chattered immediately after, and this version of Shigure sounded like it was wailing in mortification. "'Kenichi, that is…what?' How am I supposed to be a Master if I keep saying things that sound so stupid? Stupid, Shigure! Stupid, stupid, stupid!" The beast paused, before Shigure's voice continued again, this time sounding apprehensive. "Wait. Why does it feel like I'm thinking out loud? I'm not actually talking, am I?"

It was mixed blessings at this point that the Satori was present. I honestly didn't think that I would be able to do anything besides gape at the quiet swordswoman for at least another minute. Despite that, the Satori spoke up again, this time in my voice.

"It's a Satori," it noted for me, my tone dispassionately clinical despite my inability to move my actual mouth. "A mountain Kai, said to resemble a cross between a monkey and a man. It has the power to see through the minds of travelers and once it has it attacks, speaking the travelers' thoughts in order to confuse them and make them easier prey. Some people say that they're just normal Yokai, but in other legends they're said to be the corrupted children of the mountain gods. There are also other legends about how they won't attack those who actually live on mountains, and that it's possible to live in peace with them, but since this one's already tried to kill me I think we can ignore those particular legends."

The Satori paused, but despite the silence its eyes looked amused. "Also," it added, still in my voice but now mixed with disbelief and some of the shock I was actually feeling. "What the hell?"

"It can read minds?" Shigure's voice came out this time, with a note of panic in them even as the actual Shigure continued to stand stock still, her face with its usual calm expression. "So that means if I think about how annoyed I am that Kenichi-kun never seems to treat me like an actual Master then it will know?" There was a pause, and then the Satori continued. This time, Shigure's voice spoke with a sort of resigned decisiveness. "Alright. It seems I have no choice. As a Katsujin Ken, I have sworn not to kill. However, for daring to reveal the private thoughts of an innocent maiden like me I have no choice but to punish this bad thing. I shall now proceed to beat it to within an inch of its life."

The Satori suddenly seemed to be a great deal more nervous than it was a second ago, the smug amusement in its eyes faded as it no doubt caught sight of just what Shigure was capable of while reading her mind.

Wisely, the creature was already starting to run when the first barrage of sharp point things came within an inch of leaving it bereft of a large portion of its skin. It only just managed to catch itself again on its too long arms before it flipped over, another move that was reminiscent of its apelike shape as it tossed itself out of the way of Shigure's sword as it cleaved the air where it had been seconds ago. Yes, the creature was fast, seeing as it wasn't human, but despite its unnatural advantage it was still being pressed as it was forced to dodge again and again as Shigure, calm face present, assaulted it fiercely.

It was probably only thanks to the creatures ability to read minds that it managed to do so well, and even then it was an entirely different ballgame from when it had been confronting me. I was only a Disciple class fighter, after all. Even if I had the skills to match the Satori it was still able to see my thoughts and react in time. However, for a Master, whose body possessed far greater speed and strength than that of a Disciple, it looked like the gap between thought and movement was a lot shorter. Consequentially a fight that had developed into a near stalemate when I had been doing it was turning steadily into a full route when Shigure stepped up.

Despite that though, it looked as though the battle itself was far from over. Even if the Satori was only barely staying ahead of Shigure's blades it looked like the beast was a bit more wily than I had given it credit for.

"Mou," its twisted maw spouted, once more using Shigure's voice as it did so. The sound it made was a delicate noise of female exasperation I would have expected more from Renka or Miu then from Shigure. "Why won't it stand still so I can hurt it? I can't believe it would say something so embarrassing! Now it's going to be even harder to impress Kenichi-kun! He must think I'm some kind of strange girl after hearing things like that! Why can't things ever go my way for once? Everyone else has been having so much fun sense Kenichi-kun came, but despite that whenever I try to join in he always runs away. I just want to show him how to hit a moving target with a throwing star at a hundred yards away, or maybe teach him how to cut all the vital places on a human body with the back of a sword in an instant. Is that so bad?"

I was exceedingly thankful that the Satori was too busy reading Shigure's mind to repeat the very clear thought of 'yes, it really is that bad' that went through my head after hearing Shigure's mental diatribe. I was finally managing to recover from the shock of hearing just how much Shigure seemed to think after all, and I had little doubt that if she actually heard my response to her train of thought than I might end up having to dodge just as much as the Satori was currently doing.

Despite the running commentary that it was continuing to deliver, it looked like the beast itself was currently trying to run plans of its own. Most of its dodges looked as though they were trying to get the yokai out of the clearing and back into the woods where its apelike body would help grant it greater mobility. Despite its efforts, Shigure looked as though she wasn't going to allow it that chance.

It was almost belatedly that I realized that out of all the thoughts that the Satori was pulling from Shigure's head most had absolutely nothing to do with where or how she was going to strike at the Satori. When it had been me facing off against the Satori most of my thoughts had been on what punch or kick I was going to use, or what style would be best for what situation. Shigure was apparently fighting well enough to press the thing without even having to consciously think about it at all.

Sometimes Master class fighters frightened me just a little bit. I would find myself beginning to think of them as just ordinary people, albeit stronger than most, and then I would come face to face with something which once more forced me to realize just how utterly terrifying Masters truly were at times.

"But despite that, Kenichi-kun still won't let me teach him anything," the Satori lamented, in the middle of throwing itself at the dirt in the center of the clearing in order to avoid a particularly vicious strike by the swordswomen. "Whenever I try to teach him something he just runs away! Even when he's fighting against other weapon users, he just goes to Sakaki or Akisame or Ma. Why? Am I that scary? Apachai always hits Kenichi-kun way harder than I do, but despite that Kenichi doesn't have any problems going to him for help either. The only time I get to do anything with Kenichi-kun is when I need to scare him or something, or when he's worried about having to deal with a Yami Master, or when we're about to go fight something icky like this Sato-whatever-it-is. Do I even count as his Master?"

The Satori was talking so fast at this point that it should be impossible to make out individual words, and yet despite that I was able to understand everything it was saying. It was because of that understanding that even in the middle of getting ready to join the attack I paused, unable to believe what I was hearing. Was… Was that really what Shigure thought?

Even in the middle of a fierce battle while simultaneously occupied with apparent self-recriminations, Shigure once more proved just how observant Master class fighters were.

"Oh no! Kenichi-kun flinched!" her voice gasped out of the Satori's mouth. "He can hear exactly what I'm thinking! Oh, this is so embarrassing!" The blunt revelation of her private thoughts was apparently enough to distract the weapons prodigy, because even if no expression showed on her face, one of her fierce attacks seemed to falter, her sword slowing marginally as it cut at the Satori.

And that was probably just what the Satori was waiting for. For all its bestial appearance, it looked like the Satori had an intellect which surpassed just that of animal cunning. While Shigure was distracted, her attention focused more on the revelation of her thoughts and my reaction to them, it finally managed to lash out, a move which lacked a great deal of power seeing as it was a punch thrown while it was in the middle of a flip to try and keep itself out of the way of Shigure's feminine wrath, but a move that still connected anyway.

"Oof," for the second time Shigure's real voice emerged as the weapon user grunted from the blow to her chest. It wasn't much of a hit, that much I was certain of. The creature had only been able to rattle me when it landed a full powered strike earlier, after all, and Shigure was a Master with a body far tougher than my own. But it was enough to cause her to retreat slightly, hopping back both to help diminish the strike as well as to prevent any counter attack. The space worked both for her and against her though. Yes, it kept her from falling into any further attacks by the Satori, but it also gave the Satori space of its own too.

Space which was just enough for the Satori to implement its own plan of action: running away. Without waiting for Shigure to even reach the ground after she had hopped the monster was already turning towards the edge of the clearing, planting its arms into the ground to help propel it towards either the advantage the trees would give it in combat or the safety they would provide for flight.

"No!" I shouted, speaking with my own voice as well as the only sound the Satori made was that monkey chattering it only seemed to use when it wasn't reading minds. If the thing got away, than yeah, that would be the end of the fight and Shigure and I would probably be able to get off the mountain with no problem. But it was like I had decided earlier: this was clearly a monster with a liking for attacking humans. If we let it escape, then it would probably have the chance to hunt again, and probably its next victims wouldn't be as capable as both Shigure and I were.

I didn't know precisely what I was going to do if I caught the thing, seeing as I didn't think either Shigure or I would actually kill it. Yeah, it was dangerous, but then again we were both members of the Katsujin Ken too. But even if we only beat it to within an inch of its life like Shigure had decided earlier, than that might serve as a good enough warning to the Satori to keep it from venturing near human habitation for a while.

And if that didn't work, well, there were other options as well. Kushinada had developed quite an interest in the Kai recently, and she probably wouldn't have the same reservations that we did when it came to dealing with problems like this…

The Satori turned its torso slightly as the thought went through my head, and its angry chattering increased as its eyes narrowed at me. That was as far as it got before it had to dodge again, once more leaping out of the way of a rain of sharp and pointy death as Shigure rejoined the fight as well. It looked like the weapons prodigy had also realized that the youkai was trying to escape, and had aimed her attacks in order to force the Satori to leap backwards towards the center of the clearing.

The end result of the movement forced the Satori to a position that was directly between myself and Shigure, and the creature seemed to realize just how much danger it was in at this point, once more pounding the ground beside it angrily. Its torso twitched as it shook itself back and forth, not having a proper head to turn so that it could look between the Master and the Disciple which had cornered it.

Despite that though, when the thing's eyes met mine, there was once more that sense of amused malice in them. It's twisted jaw spun open, and again it began to voice thoughts it had no right to share.

"Ouch," Shigure's voice sounded more annoyed than it did in pain. "Not the breasts again! Why do I always end up getting hit or cut on the breasts? Does that ever happen to Sakaki or Akisame? No! Does Ma or the Elder ever have to worry about that kind of thing? No! I feel sorry for Miu-chan sometimes. If things keep going like they have for her, then hers might end up even bigger than mine. And the worst part is I can't even bind them, not without that interfering with my chainmail. Stupid breasts. What are they good for anyway?"

Even as the creature spoke, so fast that it should be incomprehensible, as fast as she was thinking, Shigure moved again. With the Satori pinched between us, it looked like my Master had decided to forgo the use of her various throwing weapons. Instead, she decided to use her sword, her weapon a blur of silver in the ever dying light of the sunset. Even as she struck, driving the creature back towards me, the thing still managed to dodge the worst of the blows being rained down on it.

I'd like to say that I was helping at this point, that I was rushing to help my Master as she fought against a monster. I wasn't though. I was still in my fighting position, holding my ground. I'd like to say I was doing so because I was standing ready to help Shigure in case the Satori tried to escape by rushing towards me.

However, what I'd like to say and what the Satori said for me were two different things.

"Why did Shigure have to bring up breasts?" the Satori moaned, sounding as plaintive as it spoke in my voice. "I know this is a life or death struggle, and that I should be concentrating. But now I can't stop myself from looking at them! They're huge, for god's sake! And she doesn't bind them when she's fighting either! I mean, it's like watching two cats wrestling in a sack! How on earth does she fight when they're bouncing like that?" My voice paused, and then it continued, this time in a tone of abject horror. "Oh god, and the Satori just said that out loud. Now I'm going to die. The middle of a fight is NOT the time to be staring at boobies, and definitely not when those boobies belong to your Master. And referring to your Master's breasts as boobies is doubly NOT the thing to do!"

Despite the fierceness of her attacks, when Shigure heard my thoughts she paused, and the Satori used that briefest of moments to launch a counter attack. Even though she managed to dodge the clumsy swing easily, it once more left the Satori with space, space it used to plant itself firmly, arms bent as they clutched the moist soil of the clearing before it launched itself, swinging wildly at my Master as it tried to brute force its way through her defense. Even as it did so, it continued to speak, its tone once more switching to Shigure's.

"Kenichi-kun was staring at my breasts?" Even as I winced at the clear statement revealing that my Master was now fully aware of my wandering eye, I wasn't quite sure what the tone of her thoughts was. Before I could identify it, the Satori continued. "Yes!" Shigure's thoughts exalted, sounding entirely too pleased by the revelation. "That's twice in one day that I was treated as a woman! First by that Hongou, then by Kenichi-kun! Wait, does this one count? Kenichi-kun is my Disciple after all…Wait! Kenichi-kun called himself my Disciple! So he really does think of me as a Master! Wait, he's my Disciple and he was staring at my chest. What should I do now, as a Master? Should I scold him? Or tease him? Agh! Being a Master is so hard!" And then Shigure's voice paused, as her conscious thought also managed to catch up with what was going on in the real world. In a tone filled with mortification once more, Shigure thought, "Why does this thing keep revealing all my embarrassing secrets? Kyah! This is so humiliating."

Even as the Satori was spouting its rapid pace monologue, it was continuing to attack. It was when Shigure hesitated again, right after the creature was describing her discomfort with its revelations, and one of the Satori's fists managed to get past her sword and making a brushing contact with my Master's chest again in a blow that could have been dangerous if it connected that I realized just what the thing was trying to do. Even as I launched myself forward, finally recovering from my own blush worthy revelation the creature turned enough for me to meet its sadistic eyes.

"That's it!" the creature announced, using my voice again as it lifted my thoughts from my head. "That's what it's trying to do! That's why it keeps switching back and forth between Shigure and me. It's trying to distract us enough for it to either escape or win. That must be why it's focusing on embarrassing thoughts and then saying the other person's response to them. And that's why it's saying these thoughts right now! We have to finish it right away, quick! Man, this thing is smarter than it looks!"

Even as I tried to land a blow on the creature, forcing it back from Shigure, I could see its beady eyes narrow at the backhanded insult I had just given it. Despite that, it managed to pull away in time, my fist only clipping it as it tried to dart away from between the two of us. Shigure was having none of it though, and moved quickly to cut off its retreat.

"You're not getting away that easily!" Shigure's thoughts snapped at the Satori, even as it was once more reduced to dodging. "Not after what you've done!" Then her thoughts paused, and when they continued they had confusion lacing them. "But if it's just trying to embarrass us so it can take advantage of it, why is that so bad? Why is Kenichi in such a rush to stop it? And why would it let Kenichi reveal its plan as well? Now that we know, it's not like we'll be surprised by it. "

It was my turn to dodge as the Satori managed to get out of way of Shigure's sword in time, placing me directly in its escape route. Bulling forward, I swung under its first punch, and got my guard up in time for the second.

"Because now that we know it wants embarrassing secrets, we're going to keep thinking about them!" the Satori not so kindly revealed my thoughts of its plan. "It's not like we can just stop thinking about something just because we want to. It's like when someone tells you not to think about a pink elephant, the first thing you think of is naturally going to be a pink elephant!"

"Huh," Shigure's thoughts sounded vaguely amused. "A pink elephant… Yeah, that's kind of cute actually… No! Wait! That's just what Kenichi means! Now that I know I'm not supposed to think about things that will embarrass me, it's natural that I will. Like how I always invite him in when I'm undressed just to tease him! Or like how I sometimes watch him while he sleeps!"

Mid swing after that particular revelation, just as the Satori planned, Shigure actually froze up for a second, and the beast which she had been about to strike took advantage of that, landing another of its powerful blows against my guard and sending me skidding backwards.

"I knew it!" I thought through the Satori's mouth. "I knew she was doing it on purpose! It's not like she normally just goes around showing off her body! She refused to wear a bikini when Miu offered because she thought it was indecent, after all, and she always gets mad at Ma whenever he tries to take naughty pictures! I knew she was just doing that to tease me!" Then my voice paused, and in a disbelieving tone continued. "…She watches me while I sleep?"

"It's not like that!" Shigure's thoughts were a wail and I was treated to the very rare sight of the usually implacable swordswomen's cheeks reddening slightly as she actually blushed. "It's just that sometimes Kenichi runs away, so every once in a while we check on him to make sure he hasn't disappeared in the night! And when it's my turn sometimes I start thinking about how I want to be a good Master, and how happy I am to have a Disciple, and then…" And just like that Shigure cut her own thoughts off. "No!" her voice snapped, and this time they sounded angry. "No, I'm not going to do this. Pink elephant. Pink elephant. Pink elephant pink elephant pinkelephantpink-"

The Satori stopped the litany when it began to pick up speed, though it continued to attack me with renewed fury. When it spoke again, this time it was my thoughts it was voicing.

"Is she actually controlling what she's thinking?" I wondered, my thoughts a mix of outrage and awe. "That is so unfair! How can someone actually physically control their own thoughts? And despite the fact that she's only thinking about pink elephants she's still able to fight! That is so unreal. Why is that Master class fighters are always breaking the laws of physics? And it won't even work for me! I still need to think about what I'm doing in order to fight."

The Satori knew it too. It was a habit of mine, developed when I started training in the Ryuusei Seikuuken, the next level of the Seikuuken, but whenever I fought an opponent I always made sure to look them in the eye in order to help discern what they were feeling so I could anticipate their next move. And what I saw in the Satori's eyes was desperation. Now that Shigure had managed to find a counter to its plan to make us shame ourselves enough for it to escape it knew that I was the weakest link here, and that it was running out of time.

"Ugh!" my thoughts snapped as it struck at me again, a fierce double handed hammer blow which nearly drove me to my knees with its power. "This is just so unfair! I have to think about defending, but I'm also trying not to think about embarrassing things! And I'm a Sei fighter too! It's my nature to overthink things! Alright, let's try this, just like my Master. Pink elephant... Pink elephant... Pink elephant… Dodge! Pink elephant… Pink elephant.. Pink- Now! Hit!"

I was trying to juggle three completely separate trains of thought and it wasn't working as well as I hoped. Shigure was closing back in on the Satori's back, but with her now deliberately consuming her own thoughts with a distraction it was showing in her fighting skills. She was still at a level higher than me, but her movements were less coordinated as she trusted in her own body instincts rather than her thought process to direct her blows. The creature was having an easier time dodging her attacks, and it was using that new leeway to force me closer and closer to the edge of the clearing. I tried to hold firm, but new sweat was starting to break out over my body as I struggled under the duress of trying to control my own thoughts while fighting.

"Pink elephant… Pink elephant… Shigure's loincloth… No!" It was my turn to sport a blush as my thoughts betrayed me. After the unexpected mental conversation about my Master's body I was somewhat more aware than usual of her physical state, and the short kimono that Shigure tended to favor did little to conceal certain parts of her when she was in the middle of physical activity. "This is ridiculous!" my thoughts snapped as the mental strain started to catch up with me. "It's taking everything I have not to think about embarrassing things or worse, like what happened to Senjougahara and Kanbaru. And if I think of them then I'm going to think about Hanekawa as well, and once I start thinking about them, it's only a matter of time before I think of Shin-hrk!"

It wasn't as though my thoughts cut off at that moment. It was the Satori who added the last little 'hrk' on its own accord.

My fist buried deep in the flesh directly below its strange mouth might have helped with that though.

"Don't you dare say their names," I hissed, my eyes narrowed as I shot a look of murder into the shocked Satori's eyes. I didn't remember stepping in, or dodging its clumsy yet powerful attacks. I didn't remember throwing the fierce uppercut which had lifted the heavy creature off the ground and folded it around my fist. I didn't remember when the haze of red had set in, tinting my sight and forcing my breath to turn shallow as I panted in rage.

Which, in retrospect was probably why I had managed to surprise the Satori so completely. It was said that unexpected events could surprise the creature which was so used to simply just knowing what its opponent was planning to do. The way my body had reacted without conscious effort to shut up the creature which had ventured into thoughts it had no right to touch probably counted as 'unexpected enough'. However, at that exact moment I couldn't bring myself to care, seeing as the only thought which was crossing my head at the moment was shutting the damned thing up.

The creature stumbled when I pulled my fist out, and I wasn't certain if the blow had somehow managed to knock the air out of its lungs, or if it even had lungs for that matter. It didn't have a nose, after all, and it spoke so fast and for so long I wasn't even certain that it was using air to form words. Maybe it was just recovering from the pain of my punch. Either way, it didn't react in time as my body, still fueled by that haze of rage that the creature's words had inspired, continued to do what had been drilled into it endlessly.

"Yamazuki!" I shouted, burying one fist back into the creature's gut and the other into the misshapen form of its head. "Kao Loi!" The hand at its head clinched around the unusually small mount and I dragged its torso down into my knee. As it stumbled backwards, reeling from the assault I lunged, grasping its leg with both hands and burying my head into its torso beside its enormous mouth. "Ugyouhaito!" Still holding its leg I straightened, and with a final shout of, "Kuchiki Taoshi!" I finished the combo that my bad friend Niijima had pretentiously named 'The Strongest Combo' and sent the Satori crashing to the ground of the clearing. I stood over it, panting with my fury, fists clenched so tight that I think I might have been cutting my palms with my nails. It was taking everything I had to calm down, everything I had not to press my attack on the downed enemy, to drive my feet into it and hurt it until my rage abated itself.

The Satori seemed to recognize the struggle that was going through my head, and it wisely didn't try to voice my thoughts as it let loose a shrill chattering, its too long limbs scrabbling at the dirt beneath it as it tried to push itself away from me, to get some distance from the one who had hurt it so much.

Then it froze. Even its chattering stopped as it went as still as a statue. It only lasted for a moment before it started shaking; a full body shake which didn't look like any conscious attempt at the creature to do anything productive. Instead, just lying there, its jaws opened one more time.

"Well," the voice that came out of the creature's maw wasn't mine or Shigure's. It was too deep, almost a rumble that seemed set to a vibration which seemed to rattle my bones. "That wasn't quite what I was expecting. Still, I suppose I can work with this."

Standing directly above the head of the Satori, was the wolf. Its head wasn't cocked, and its tail wasn't wagging. Its body was still and it was wrapped in the growing shadows so thickly that it looked more like a silhouette, an outline of a statue carved out of obsidian. The only color I could make out on it was its eyes, and I couldn't even lie to myself that the gold color present there was just a trick of the light, a reflection of the sunset. Its eyes were too bright, the color too strong.

And in one bite, the wolf devoured the Satori whole.

It was a sight I couldn't understand. The wolf was too small, its jaws too tiny to eat something so big, and yet when they stretched wide enough to do just that it didn't look as though they were distended in the least. Despite that, the wolf's teeth flashed ivory in the darkness of its body, and closed around the Satori as it began to shriek with its monkey like voice for an instant before the sound was cut off with the clacking noise of fangs settling against fangs.

I stared at the creature, tumbling backwards to put space between it and me, falling to the ground as I tried to get away faster than my feet could move. This wasn't just an 'ookami' as in a wolf. This was an 'Oo-Kami' as in it was a Great God, the lord of this mountain.

And when the wolf turned those golden eyes on me, still not moving, still just a dark statue with bright eyes and white teeth I realized that not only was I in the presence of a God, but that I was in the presence of a God that devoured those who fell in its presence.

And that I had just stumbled in front of it.

"Please," I begged, my voice a whisper as pure terror doused the hot rage that had been in me just seconds ago, cold fear now the only thing I could feel. "Please, don't eat me."

The wolf looked at me, its eyes judging as it weighed my feeble mortal existence with the sight of a creature which was in no way mortal or feeble itself. It was only for a moment, but it was one of those moments which carried on, and on, a second that stretched into eternity as I stood far closer to death than I had in a very, very long time.

Then the God snorted, and just like that it was only a small wolf which was sitting in front of me, its tiny pink tongue darting out of its snout so that it could lick its chop daintily.

"Well," the wolf told me, the deep bass sound of its voice the same as the last voice the Satori had spoken with. "You might be an abomination. But at least you're a polite abomination." Standing from its seated position, the wolf turned, taking a few steps towards the edge of the clearing before pausing and looking over its shoulders back at me. "Well, come along than, Wicked Blossom. I'll lead you and your bitch back to your pack."

I couldn't keep the deep whoosh of air escaping as I gasped my relief at having been spared, suddenly aware of the third layer of sweat I had been covered in, this one cold, and of the way all the muscles in my body relaxed from a tension I hadn't even noticed. My nerves were so frayed by just those few moments while staring at the god in its full glory that I had completely forgotten that I wasn't alone in that clearing and when Shigure appeared out of nowhere, coming down from where she had jumped over me so she could put herself between me and the wolf with her sword bare, I actually yelped in surprise.

"Are you… alright?" my Master asked me, tension actually present in her voice as kept her eyes locked on the back of the waiting god. It looked as though she too had seen just what the god had done to the Satori and if I had to hazard a guess I would say it probably unnerved her every bit as much as it did me.

"Oh put that away," the wolf told her, sounding amused at the sight of the sword being brandished at it. "I promise, I won't eat either you or that abomination."

"Shigure-san," I added, my voice cracking slightly as it did so. "You should probably do as it says." Left unspoken was the implied 'before it changes its mind and kills us both', though even without the Satori to give the thought voice I think Shigure managed to pick up on my very real worry.

Shigure hesitated for a moment as though uncertain of the wisdom of disarming herself in the presence of the wolf, before finally she capitulated and sheathed her father's sword. Turning slightly to look me over, she slowly extended a hand to help me stand. I didn't realize till I took it that I would actually need the support, but when my legs nearly gave out on me again I was thankful for the assistance.

After all, I most definitely did NOT want to stumble in the wolf's presence again. I had no idea just how generous a god it really was.

"Well?" the deep bass noise of the wolf's voice came again, still sounding more amused than anything else. "Are you coming, little abomination?"

"Yes," I told it, nodding carefully as I did so. "Thank you very much for your patience, Ookami-sama."

"Don't mention it," the wolf told me, starting to trot away at pace which was comfortable for a human to walk at. "Ever," it added. "I dislike having anything to do with an abomination like you, Wicked Blossom. The sooner you're off my mountain, the better."

I winced at its words, but made no other response to the creature's title for me. All things considered, I could hazard a few good guesses as to why it had chosen something so unflattering as a way to address me. If it disliked me for the reason I suspected, then I should be thankful that its response was nothing more fierce than an unpleasant name.

And so the wolf led the two of us away from the clearing where we had watched a demon die, into a forest which was already growing ominously dark as the sun sank ever lower behind the concealing bulk of the mountains surrounding us.

*Scene Break*

"I hope you don't mind," the wolf began as we walked through the shadows cast by the tall trees around us. "But I don't think I'll be taking you two all the way down to the foot of my mountain. If I lead you as far as that village you were in earlier, will the two of you be able to make it the rest of the way by yourselves?"

"That will be fine, Ookami-sama," I assured the wolf. Honestly, I would rather the wolf left right now and that I never saw it again. That was generally the best response to have when a god tells you to your face that it doesn't like you.

"Hmph," it grunted in response, hopping over a log which was bigger around that its rather petite frame. Its tail swished behind it as it walked, not quite a sign of joy like the more enthusiastic wagging it had performed earlier but more just the natural movements of an animal as it used its tail to keep its balance. "Your pack should be around there too," it grudgingly added, as though it didn't like the idea of talking to me any more than it had to but feeling obligated to do so anyway. "They've been looking for you for a while, but I've been keeping them around there so they wouldn't get in the way."

"Thank you for your generosity," I responded, and though it was somewhat relieving to know that the others were safe, something about the wolf's response gave me pause. "But if you were able to deceive those three, Ookami-sama, then how was it that Shigure-san was able to find me?"

It was a bit strange that out of the three Masters and one higher class Disciple present only Shigure had appeared once the fight with the Satori had started. If anything, the Elder should have been able to locate me easily. Even among Masters the Elder was on a whole other level of unnatural ability.

"I tried to keep her away," the wolf growled, sounding annoyed, "but that bitch was just too persistent. Hmph."

I winced at the persistent title that the wolf had been using to address Shigure, despite knowing its source. While humans tended to associate the word 'bitch' with negative connotations, for a wolf it was just a simple way to refer to her gender, much as it persisted in calling my companions my 'pack'. Still, I was worried about how Shigure would take such an unpleasant title. However, when I glanced over, it was to find that Shigure had other things on her mind.

"Kenichi," she began, staring at the wolf in front of us carefully, her face inscrutable as always. "It can… talk?"

Huh. Out of all the things she chose to focus on, it was that. Still, that made sense in its own way. It was pretty unusual to come across a talking dog, after all, and most of the other Kai we had come across hadn't exactly been that vocal, or that polite when they were making noises. Today was probably the first time that Shigure had actually had the chance to just converse with one of the Kai.

"It's a wolf," I offered as way of explanation. "According to legend, all wolves could talk once, not just the god. Eventually legends of conversing with wolves started to die out, though legends that had to do with why aren't clear whether or not it was because the wolves had forgotten how to speak, or if they just stopped wanting to talk to humans."

"It's the former," the wolf chimed in, glancing back over its shoulder briefly before it skirted a boulder, starting to head in a downward direction as it did so. "It's been a long time since I watched the others of my kind forget themselves and lose their speech. Now, I think I might be the only one in Japan that still remembers." It snorted again, sounding bemused. "Or even exists for that matter."

Despite the harsh reminder of the loss of the others of its species, the wolf didn't seem particularly put off by the near extinction of its kind. It glanced at me again, its eyes glimmering gold briefly as it did so. "Though I am surprised at you, Wicked Blossom. It's rare to find a human as polite as you, much less an abomination such as yourself with any manners to speak of. If it wasn't for the fact that I hate you, I think I might have chosen to give you a blessing."

"That's fine," I assured it, trying to suppress a nervous gulp. I actually felt a little thankful that I had somehow earned the god's antipathy, because I'd been blessed by a god once before, and it wasn't a pleasant thing.

I'm a lot heavier than I look. Most people attribute that to my martial arts, and the adjustment to my muscle composition that Akisame had been instilling in me. The truth was though I was nearly this heavy even before I had started Martial Arts. Once, several years ago, a Crab of Burden had decided that I was worthy of notice, and in response to that it decided to grant my existence more weight. In a symbolic way, weight was a way of describing one's importance to the world, of the influence we had over others. A light existence had little impact the existence's surroundings, after all, and the reverse was true as well.

The Crab of Burden had probably meant it as a favor, but gods like that Crab were notorious for not being completely aware of the impact their gifts had on the humans they granted them to.

In that particular case my existence having more impact meant that I gained nearly eight pounds over night, without any sign of where that weight came from appearing on my body. My muscles and bones had been the same, my organs unaffected, and my body fat identical to what it had been before. But despite that, the scale would groan whenever I used it, and I had to be very careful when getting into small boats.

And then there was the time the Shikome had decided to give me a divine favor as well…

I shuddered. Yeah. I think I could do without the attention of the gods whenever possible.

"Still," the wolf mused. "Even if all this didn't work like I hoped, I suppose it went well enough. Just as long as you never come back, then I still would have gotten rid of both of you."

It was Shigure who first picked up the underlying meaning behind the wolf's words. "Get rid of?" she echoed, and I noticed nervously the way her hand drifted up to the handle of her sword. "What do you mean…by that?"

"I meant that I originally hoped that the two abominations would just kill each other," the wolf admitted bluntly. "Or that one would die and I could just finish off the other."

It said it so matter of factly that it actually took me a second to realize just what it was implying. "Wait," I began, blinking in surprise. "Do you mean that you led me to the Satori on purpose?"

"Of course, Wicked Blossom," the wolf snorted, the noise a high pitched yelping noise which contrasted with its rumble speaking voice. "I don't like abominations of my mountain, after all. So when two of them showed up, I decided to let the filth get rid of itself."

"Oh," I responded, my throat dry as I did so. That would explain a lot, actually. It had been strange for a wolf to approach a group like ours in the first place, and even stranger that it had led me away precisely to a location where I would be ambushed by yet another of the Kai almost immediately. But if the attack hadn't been random after all, if the wolf had been deliberately leading me to a place where I would be forced to fight to the death with a monster… "Oh," I repeated again.

At my side, I felt Shigure bristle as the wolf shamelessly admitted to his plan for killing me. At least that's what I thought was upsetting her. However, when she spoke up again it was about something which actually surprised me a little.

"Don't call Kenichi…that," she told the wolf , one hand resting on the hilt of her sword as she narrowed her jagged eyebrows in a small glare at the beast. I glanced at her, surprised at the stoic woman's comment, and also a little confused by it. The wolf glanced over its shoulder at the threatening stance of my Master before it snorted again.

"Don't call the abomination what? An abomination?" The wolf didn't bother to even slow down as it continued to lead the two of us through the dark forest. "Best to call things what they are," the wolf grunted, "and what the Wicked Blossom is is just that: an abomination."

Above, I could make out random patches of stars where the trees didn't quite manage to block out the sky completely, but those patches were rare. For the most part it was nearly pitch black as we followed the wolf, just a lighter shadow among shadows as it moved. It was disconcerting enough as it was, to walk through a dark forest, but to hear the wolf so bluntly summarize what it thought of me just seemed to add to the somewhat malevolent atmosphere. I wasn't certain if it was the atmosphere which was adding to her unease, but Shigure definitely seemed upset at the way the wolf was addressing me.

"I said not to call him… that," she repeated, and I could make out a definite tone of threat in her voice as she did so. The wolf apparently could too, and slowed to a halt, glancing over its shoulder as it met my Master's angry stare with glimmering eyes.

"Shigure-san," I interrupted, reaching out hurriedly to put one hand on her wrist, hoping that she wouldn't have the same response Miu tended to have whenever she was approached unexpectedly or from behind. I definitely did not want to end up sprawled on the ground, not until I was far enough away from the hostile god not to tempt it. When Shigure glanced at me briefly so as not to take her eyes completely away from the god she was picking a fight with, it was to see the somewhat bitter half smile on my face. "It's fine."

"No," Shigure shook her head briefly, turning back to keep her eye on the waiting wolf. "It's not fine for it… to call my Disciple something like that."

"Shigure-san," I repeated, and this time when she glanced back at me it was to find that I couldn't quite bring myself to meet her eyes. "It's… It's not exactly wrong to call me that," I finally admitted softly.

"Kenichi…" Shigure murmured, surprised at my confession. I managed to force myself to meet her gaze, my smile still a little crooked.

"Just let it go, okay? For my sake?" My sake partly being because I didn't want to risk aggravating the wolf any more than it already was by my presence. Maybe if we had been back in the clearing, or if it was daylight, we might have had a chance if it came to a confrontation. But now, when it was already dark and getting darker, surrounded by the vegetation and rubble of the wilds, and on the wolf's home ground as well? Now a confrontation was so foolhardy as to almost qualify as suicide.

The other part of it being for my sake was because I'd really rather just not think about what was different about me. Thinking about the reason why the wolf called me an abomination just called to minds thoughts about… her.

And considering just how quickly I punched the lights out of a demon for mentioning her, it should be obvious just how little I wanted to think about her.

Shigure gave me that blank, searching glance of hers for a moment, before the hand on her blade relaxed, falling back to her side as she did so. "…Okay," she finally capitulated, turning to look briefly forward towards the wolf again. The god snorted, another canine-like noise, before turning and taking a few steps forward, no doubt getting ready to resume its self-appointed task of guiding us down the mountain. Shigure turned her attention away from the wolf and instead focused it down and to the side, vaguely in my direction before she paused.

It was only when I looked down as well to see just what it was that had caught her attention that I realized I was still holding her wrist. Realization that I was touching Shigure brought to mind just how close I was standing to her, and realization of that brought to mind…

Blushing, I quickly released her hand, clearing my throat loudly as I looked away. Considering how the fight had ended it was probably unsurprising that I had temporarily forgotten what had happened before hand, but now that it was calmer Shigure's presence was enough to remind me.

"We," I coughed again, trying not to let on that I was blushing. "We should probably hurry up," I concluded, starting to walk stiffly after the wolf.

"…Yes," Shigure agreed, her tone unreadable to me as my Master followed after me.

And that was the last word before a silence more awkward than anything I could remember in recent history settled between the two of us. All things considered, that was probably the best either of us could hope for at the moment. Even if neither of us had spoken earlier, enough had ended up being said to make things strange enough as it is.

The fight with the Satori had been fast. Despite the sheer amount that the Satori had said, the speed it had spoken with had been so quick that the actual amount of time was significantly less than it seemed. Honestly, from beginning to end the fight had probably taken less than five minutes. Despite that, so much had been said, been revealed that in retrospect it would probably take me days to sort it all out.

It wasn't every day that you discovered a beautiful woman with superhuman capabilities watched you while you slept, after all.

Against my will, I found my eyes darting over to glance at my Master as the two of us walked in silence. Shigure was looking away as the two of us trailed after the wolf, and I wasn't certain if it was just so she could keep an eye where she was walking or if it was so she wouldn't have to look at me as she did so.

It wouldn't surprise me if that was the reason either. She must be having trouble looking at me at this point. Throughout the fight she had been the most dangerous participant and it had been for that reason that the Satori had focused so much of its attention on her thoughts. And naturally, with the Satori having revealed so much of her private thoughts it was no wonder that Shigure was uncomfortable in my presence.

I was uncomfortable as well, but for reasons that had less to do with what had been revealed about my own mind.

I was too busy being ashamed.

I don't know what I had been expecting of the inner workings of Shigure's mind. It's not like I woke up this morning and thought to myself, 'Hmmm, I wonder just what it is that Shigure is thinking at this very moment?' Honestly, it was terrible of me but I never really thought Shigure really had much on her mind at all. She was always so quiet, and when she did speak it was almost always succinct and to the point, so straightforward as to be blunt. I had never really considered that maybe there was more going on behind her placid gaze than just thoughts of swords and weapons.

And I never for a second would have thought that so much of what she thought was about me.

It wasn't like I was creeped out about it either, though the part about her watching me sleep sometime did firmly toe the line of acceptable behavior. The quick explanation that had followed that little segment did make sense though. I mean, I did frequently make breaks for it when Ryouzanpaku's training started to get intense, but considering that training had killed me once before I felt perfectly justified in those escape attempts. And it wasn't like the other Masters didn't spy on me too. For all their great power the Masters of Ryouzanpaku were only human and nosiness and curiosity were human traits after all. And it wasn't like I didn't occasionally pry into things that I shouldn't either, like when I had asked Akisame about Shigure's past or when I had put my nose into Ma's business with his brother…

Heck, on the scale of creepiness, I was willing to acknowledge that Ma and me trying to sneak peeks into the onsen while Shigure and Miu were bathing was probably just as bit as unacceptable on the scale of decent behavior….

Anyway.

It's just that so much of the thoughts Shigure had about me focused more on our relationship as Master and Disciple then on anything else. Her desire to teach me how to use her own brand of Martial Arts, her worry about how I regarded her, the disappointment she felt whenever I went to one of the other Masters for help; so much of what she thought about me seemed to have a tone of uncertainty, of nervous energy and second guessing. It was so different from her usual implacable appearance, from the surety and decisiveness that she showed in battle.

I think for the first time I realized just how young Shigure really was.

Shigure was hailed as a prodigy, and had advanced to Master class with frightening speed. But when it came right down to it, she was still only twenty two. With Apachai and Sakaki at twenty eight each and myself at about eighteen Shigure was actually closer in age to Miu and I then she was to anyone else in Ryouzanpaku. And yet despite that oh so brief gap Shigure was still held with a Master's regard, and shouldered a Master's duties. It was so easy to see her silence as certainty, to see her skill as a sign of confidence, that I had never once even thought that Kousaka Shigure, the prodigy of all bladed weapons and a Master of Ryouzanpaku, might ever have the kind of worries she apparently did.

More than that, I could also easily say that of all the Masters of Ryouzanpaku, she was by far the one I had the most trouble dealing with. Part of that had to do with the nature of her skills: frankly, weapons scare me. Weapons scare me a lot. The first time I had a knife pulled on me I had frozen, and if Miu hadn't been there than I don't know what would have happened to me. It hadn't stopped there either; the weapon using Team Valkyrie of Ragnarok, the bladed shoes of Christopher Éclair's minions, and a dozen other encounters with armed assailants. Weapons scared me so much that when I had been recovering from the wounds Koukin Tirawit gave me the Elder had deliberately chosen to send me with Shigure so that I could fight against more weapons users in order to give me an even bigger scare than my own death had been.

And here was Shigure, someone who very nearly qualified as weapons incarnate and at any one time had more of the things on her than all the members of a small military unit would have combined. Even if she was one of my Masters, even if I trusted her and had faith in her, it didn't change the fact that she made me very, very nervous.

The other part of the source of my difficulty in dealing with Shigure had to do with the fact that she was a very good looking woman who frequently ended up in states of dress which jumped right over the line into indecent. And who also apparently liked to tease me with that body whenever she got the chance as well as I discovered earlier today.

When faced with both of those very real factors, it just seemed logical that I would tend to gravitate towards one of my other Masters whenever something came up that I needed help with. I don't think I ever made the conscious decision, but there was no doubt even in my mind that I had tended to avoid Shigure as much as possible.

I was reminded of the first time Miu had gotten invited to Shinpaku Headquarters and how happy that had made her, and how the realization that I had unconsciously been excluding her from those kinds of meetings had made me feel: the a first class heel and biggest and most insensitive jerk the world had ever seen.

I was feeling kind of just like that right now too.

The realization that I had just learned more about Shigure in the course of a five minute fight with a monster than I had in nearly a year and a half of living in the same house as her just compounded that feeling.

I took a deep breath, and decided that however much of a jerk I was, now that I realized it I wasn't going to stand for it. It was time to do something drastic.

"Um," I began, and despite my resolve I couldn't help but notice that my voice was definitely nervous. "Shigure-san," I began, swallowing as I did so. "There's something that I would like to talk to you about."

"…Yes?" Shigure took her time responding, and I noted from the corner of my eye that she was staring resolutely forward. Once more I couldn't tell just what she was actually thinking, and I found myself hypocritically wishing that we might come across another Satori. It was just so hard to get a read on my youngest Master.

"It's just," I swallowed again in a dry throat and then decided to just plunge in. "It's just that I was wondering if you could maybe teach me how to use a kusarigami."

Shigure was silent for a few moments, but I noticed how she gave me a slow glance out of the corner of my eye after my unexpected request. Finally, she deigned to respond. Now that I was aware of just how much went on in her head, I couldn't even begin to guess just what it was she was actually thinking in the time it took her to answer back.

"Why…a kusarigama?" It was only long familiarity with the older girl which let me detect the hint of curiosity in her tone.

"It's just," I stumbled to try and explain just why I had settled on that weapon in particular. "Well, you know how I decided to never strike a woman, right Shigure-san?" When I caught the briefest of nods from my Master I pressed on, determined to get this out before I lost my nerve. "Well, I've been using jujitsu in order to suppress any women I fight without hurting them. However, that doesn't always work. So I was thinking about maybe using a weapon, one that I could use without hurting them but I could use to restrain them."

It was a chauvinistic wish, and one I knew intellectually that it wasn't practical, but I just hated the thought of hitting a girl. However, against some of my female opponents that desire to not fight them just wasn't practical at this point in my development. And the more people knew of my hesitation to hit the opposite sex, the more I was certain I would someday pay for my pride.

"I remembered the way I saw you use the kusarigama before," I pressed on, thinking back on the times I had seen Shigure use the sickle and chain to restrain and subdue her foes, like the time when we had bathed together. "If I could learn how to use a kusarigama, than maybe I could use it to if I ever fought a woman who was too skilled for me to win against with jujitsu. And the kusarigama was originally used to entrap and restrain weapons and people, wasn't it? I could also use it when fighting against other weapon users as well."

For a moment, Shigure just continued to glance ahead as we both continued to follow the wolf. Finally, she turned her head to look directly at me, catching my own eye before I could look away in time. I realized that she understood just what I was doing, and that she knew that my sudden offer to put myself directly under her tutelage had come about as a result of the revelations in the clearing of the Satori.

I also realized that she understood why I was doing so as well. But even if it was inspired by my shame, it was still the truth: I wanted to be closer to my Master, to have the same bond I had with Shigure as I did with the other Masters of Ryouzanpaku. And just like I had seen before, Shigure's lips stretched ever so slightly into an expression which was only a hair's breath away from being a smile.

"Very well… Disciple," she nodded, her voice serious. "Sakaki said that if he ever got a Disciple then the Disciple would be dead in three days. I will be sure to kill you… in only two."

"That's…. that's very thoughtful, Shigure-san," I told her, trying my best to keep my voice firm, and knowing that it was actually closer to a whimper. Despite my personal apprehension, I forced myself not to retract my request for weapon training and when Shigure turned away so she could bring up one fist in front of her in a silent 'Yes!' gesture, I knew that running away wasn't an option any more. But still…

Weapons are scary!

"Kids," the wolf we were following snorted, sounding bemused at the conversation he had just bore witness to.

*Scene Break*

"There it is," the wolf told the two of us, giving a brief nod with its muzzle towards the village. It had led us to a small bluff that looked out over the abandoned village of the Kuremisago, one that both Shigure and I could jump easily enough. "This is as far as I'm going to take the two of you, so if you can't figure out the rest from here you can just die in the forest."

"Thank you," I told the wolf, trying to suppress a twitch of my eyes at the god's casual malice towards the two of us. "I'll be sure to offer azuki beans before we leave this region."

"Hmph," the wolf snorted in derision, but I noticed that it didn't actually make any comment about me not needing to do so, or about how it didn't want any favors from an abomination. It looked like even its distaste towards me wasn't quite enough to overcome its love for the offered food. "Just hurry up and get off my mountain, Wicked Blossom."

"Why does it… keep calling you that?" Shigure broke in, the first words she had spoken since she had promised me murder in two days. I was about to do my best to discreetly shush her again in order to keep her from picking a fight with a god, when I realized that she didn't sound confrontational again. This time she only sounded curious.

It looked like she was still feeling happy about the chance to finally pass down some of her weapon techniques to me.

Still, she did have a point. The wolf had taken to calling me by two titles since it had decided to start speaking. While I could understand it calling me an 'abomination', I was actually a little lost at just what the reason behind the title of 'Wicked Blossom' meant.

I just wasn't curious enough to risk angering a vengeful god by asking it. It looked like Shigure wasn't quite as apprehensive as I was.

"Because that's what he is," the wolf told her, sounding as though it was the most obvious response in the world and that Shigure was an idiot for even having to ask. "Now go away. I don't like you either, bitch. You might be a human, but you're rude. It's only because the abomination was so polite that I haven't eaten you already."

"Ah…" Shigure blinked, as though realizing something. "Please…. Don't eat me?" she tacked on a moment later, sounding as though she was only humoring the beast.

The wolf yipped again. "Far too late for that now," it grumbled. "Still, at least you said it eventually." It took a moment to give me a baleful glance before it continued. "Take my advice, bitch. You should hurry up and get rid of that abomination. It's only a matter of time before it goes back to its old pack anyway."

"Kenichi won't just run away," Shigure protested, her eyes narrowing again as one hand began to twitch as though preparing to go for her sword. "He is Ryouzanpaku's… precious Disciple."

It was actually touching to hear the normally distant woman speak up for me like that, though it was also disturbing just how willing she seemed to be to pick a fight with a god. Discreetly, though I was certain that the wolf could probably see me just as well as Shigure could, I started making motions with my hands indicating that we should hurry up and leave before the wolf decided it had been polite long enough.

"He might be your Disciple now," the wolf told the swordswoman, its gimlet eyes narrowing. "But its got the scent of another bitch all over it. It's only a matter of time until the abomination goes back to others of its own kind."

"And what do you mean by that?" I broke in, and my voice had an unconscious sharpness that attracted both the wolf and Shigure's attention. It was probably the most belligerent action I had taken towards the okuri-ookami the entire day, but then again if it was referring to what I thought it was, then it looked like even my tolerance might be reaching a limit.

"Hmmm?" the wolf's long and drawn out hum in that deep tone of its reverberated through my bones for a moment. Finally, its muzzle opened and its tongue came out in a canine grin. "I meant what I said, abomination. However much you play around with these humans, there will come a day when you'll go back to the other abomination. It's just a matter of time."

"That's impossible," I told it, my eyes narrowing and my fist clenching before I paused. Taking a deep breath I forced myself to calm down. I had made it this far, and freedom from the imposing god was only a stone throw away. It could be that the wolf was hoping just for this, that it could provoke me enough to attack it so it could get rid of me like it had been hoping too early. "That's impossible," I said again, this time in a calmer voice. "The one you are referring to is dead, Ookami-sama."

Shigure turned her head slightly so that she could look at me more directly. It was probably only due to the long association I've had with her that I could make out the way her eyes widened slightly in surprise at my admission.

The wolf's head cocked to the side as its golden eyes searched me again. Finally its muzzle drew back, and this time the grin it gave was disturbingly human like despite its animal source.

"Oh?" Its deep voice had a sly tone to it. "Well, Wicked Blossom. I think I've come to a conclusion. I told you before, that if you were a human then I would have probably given you my blessing. However, since you're an abomination, I can't do such a thing. However, you did do me a favor today, and so you can't go completely unrewarded."

"So?" I asked, my tone cautious. I did not like the way this was going at all. I threw a half glance behind me, wondering if the two of us made a break for it then would the wolf let us go.

"In order to repay you then, I'm going to tell you something of your future," the wolf informed me, panting in a wolf like fashion as it did so. "The way things are right now? They will not last. Something is coming, something great and awful, something which will change everything you thought you knew, and destroy and remake everything you thought you stood for."

A shudder went down my spine at the wolf's words. There were many legends about the wisdom of wolves in the world, and many stories about the advice of gods. Because of all those conflicting tales, I couldn't be certain if the warning the beast was giving me simply the advice of one who had lived for a very long time or if it was a true prophecy of things to come.

The wolf, having apparently said its piece, finally turned and started making its way back into the bushes. Honestly, I was happy to see it go. However, before it disappeared completely it paused turning back so I could see its too bright eyes again.

"One last thing," it added, and the wolf's body seemed a little too dark, the tan of its coat fading into shadows that shouldn't be that thick, and its teeth were just a little too white in its jaw. "The one you thought was dead; just how sure are you of that?"

My eyes widened at the wolf's word, the implications of them like a dagger through my brain. Seeing the reaction he had garnered in me, the god's smile widened.

"Suffer, abomination," were the last words it spoke before it finally disappeared into the darkness completely.

What had it meant by that? What was it trying to imply? Why had it told me that? A dozen thoughts raced through my head as I stared at the dark forest the god had vanished into.

"Kenichi," it was Shigure who brought me out of my frozen state. I realized that she was leaning down in front of me, staring up at me with an expression as close to concerned as her usually stoic face could make. "Are you… alright?"

"Yeah," I managed to get out, my voice an unsteady whisper. Behind me, now that I was paying attention to the world again, I could hear the voices of Apachai and the Elder as they called out, whatever spell the wolf had used to keep them away having apparently run its course.

*Scene Break*

"Kenichi-san," Miu scolded me, hands on her hip as she gave me a pouty glare. "You should be more careful! Getting lost in the woods for a day! You had us all worried."

"Sorry, Miu-san," I told her, rubbing the back of my head as I did so. It had only taken us a few minutes to rejoin with the rest of the group after the wolf had departed, and for the third time that day I found myself traversing the stairs that connected the village of the Kuremisago with the nearest town with a train station.

"It's so late now!" Miu continued to moan, glancing down at her watch as she did so. "What are the others going to do for dinner?"

"Now, now, Miu," the Elder broke in with a reassuring voice. "They're all grown adults. I'm sure they can handle cooking for themselves for just one day."

"It's not the cooking that worries me," Miu 'humph'ed, folding her arms indignantly. "It's the state of the kitchen afterwards. Grown men should know how to do dishes at this point!"

"Yeah," I agreed, trying to give my fretting friend a comforting smile. Apparently, it didn't come out quite right as Miu paused in her worrying, a concerned look appearing on her face.

"Kenichi-san," she began, her eyes studying me carefully. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah," I repeated, trying to correct my smile. Physically, I was fine. But the words of the wolf continued to echo in my head, distracting me despite the fact that I was once more with the rest of my group and the beast was long gone.

"Are you sure?" she asked again, a small frown appearing. "It looks like you were in a fight."

"Ah," I glanced down, only now realizing the disheveled state of my school clothes. The sweat I had shed throughout the day had dried, leaving salt stains in various places and I was sure that I was beginning to stink by now. "That is…" I began, before realizing I hadn't even tried to think of an excuse for my appearance, and in fact hadn't even realized that I probably should.

"He was… attacked," Shigure broke in, supplying an answer for me with typical bluntness. Her simple words were enough to draw a reaction from the Elder and Miu, though Apachai only gave me a curious glance before the gentle giant continued to look around the dark forest as though searching for something.

"Attacked?" Miu yelped, her studying gaze returned, this time much more intent.

"Was it Yami?" the Elder asked, a serious note entering his tone as he gave Shigure a searching glance. When the swordswoman shook her head negative, the large man relaxed slightly.

"It was… a monkey," Shigure explained, nodding to herself as she did so. The ridiculous explanation caused a near universal blink of surprise from the rest of the group, myself included.

"A monkey?" Miu repeated, giving me a strange look as though she was trying to picture how a simple monkey could possibly be cause for alarm.

"Hey," I yelped, not sure I was liking the flat looks I was receiving from the girl I admired, or what that spoke of my worth in her eyes. "It was a really big monkey," I added defensively, before realizing that probably made me look even less cool in her eyes and slumping in despair. When Miu began to giggle at my response I just sighed, palming my face as I did so.

Well, better she was laughing than me having to explain what really happened.

"Let's hurry… and get home," Shigure added, and judging from the way both Miu and the Elder looked at her they were surprised by how unusually talkative the taciturn swordswoman was being. With a somber look, Shigure turned to face me, pointing one a finger at me as she sternly continued. "Kenichi…I'm not letting you sleep tonight."

"Eh?" Both Miu and I managed to release synchronized shocked noises at the boldness of the pronunciation.

"Wait," I began, realizing that maybe Shigure might have been a bit too serious when she had promised to kill me in two days through training. "Shigure-san, shouldn't we wait a bit first? I need to prepare myself for something like that!"

The thought of learning weapons at all was enough to chill me, but the thought of learning from Shigure whom was a little too fund of hands on training with live blades, and at night for that matter too, was enough to drive me right into the arctic.

"Shigure-san and Kenichi-san," Miu whispered, one hand coming up to cover her mouth as a shocked expression settled on her face. "Not sleeping… Needing to prepare himself… But I thought… No way…."

It was a statement to just how many shocks I had today that it actually took me a second to realize what Miu was getting at.

"Wait, no!" I yelped, turning to face Miu desperately as I began to wave my arms in the air to try and negate my previous sentence. "It's not like that! It's not like that at all!"

It was so subtle that I almost missed it while trying to placate the suddenly red-faced Miu, but I managed to catch sight of it out of the corner of my eyes: Shigure putting one hand up to conceal her mouth, and a soft 'heh' that I just barely managed to make out.

"Ah!" I pointed my finger at Shigure, whom I realized with a distracted sort of surrealism, was actually giggling at Miu and I. "You're teasing me again!"

"Oh?" the Elder chimed in, and from the expression on his face he was equal parts amused as he was impressed. "Nice one, Shigure-san!" he cheered, jumping on the gravy train of embarrassing the poor innocent Disciples.

"Shigure-san and Kenichi-san," Miu repeated, and her eyes looked a little unfocused as she apparently was still stuck on the entirely impossible concept of the two of us together like had been implied earlier. "No way…"

"Apapapa!" Apachai broke in as I continued to wave my arms desperately as I struggled to think up a way to convince Miu that there was no way what she was thinking could ever possibly occur. "Kenichi," the Deathgod of Underground Muay Thai began in a curious voice. "Did you ever get that thing back from that kid earlier?"

"That thing?" I repeated, my mind racing even faster than it had when I had been fighting the Satori as I tried to keep track of all the developments that were occurring so rapidly. Finally, I realized just what my Master was saying. "Ah! My cellphone!"

Not only had the wolf dragged me away to possibly fight to the death against another yokai, given me veiled insults and ominous prophecies, it had also never returned my phone to me!

That's it. It's official.

The gods are apparently all jerks.

*Scene Break*

Despite the fact that life went on, I couldn't help but remember the wolf's final words. I wasn't certain what it had meant by them, or why it had told me what it did. And with how much occurred afterwards, the training, the revelation of Sakaki-sensei's past with Hongou the God Hand of Yami, it was easy to let the wolf's words fall to the back of my mind. The beast had admitted to not liking me, after all. It was entirely possible that its words had been nothing more than a spiteful method of scorning me.

For three weeks, I let myself believe that.

And then Miu was kidnapped by Junazard SIlkwat, the Demon God Fist of One Shadow Nine Fist.

Even as I prepared to depart for the Kingdom of Tidat with Sakaki in order to bring back my missing friend, the words of the wolf took new meaning in my head.

Something is coming.

Something which will change everything I thought I knew, and destroy and remake everything I thought I stood for.

And that the one I thought was dead, might not be suffering from the fate that I thought she was.

The gods really were jerks.