Chapter Twenty-Five
I grin as the slip of paper I threw moments ago shifts in mid air and turns into a snake, which falls to the ground with an almost silent thud and slithers up the nearest tree trunk.
"That's great, Korin-chan," Satoshi says. "Now you just need to learn to control it." I nod, still overwhelmed by the feeling of pride that is overcoming me. I summoned a Shikigami! Satoshi sends out one of his others, but doesn't give it a chance to act like a regular animal. He claps his hands sharply and the sound echoes through the clearing. The cat Shikigami scales up the tree and back down again moments later. Something is hooked on its claws. I frown slightly as I try to figure out what it has caught.
"Is that a Karasu-Tengu?" I ask, and Satoshi nods.
"Obviously a young one, too, or it would have flown away before it had a chance to be caught," Megumi says without looking up from her phone. "There's no way Satoshi would be able to exorcise something so powerful. He's one of the weakest in the family." My frown deepens.
"Just because he's one of the weakest, doesn't mean he's weak. Your family are all really strong." I say. Satoshi gives me a small, but clearly grateful, smile.
"It's your turn, Korin-chan." he says, and I clap my hands in the same way Satoshi did, thinking Please let it work, please let it work over and over. The snake Shikigami slides down the tree and towards me. Satoshi tenses.
"Korin-chan, step away slowly." he whispers calmly. I begin to do so. I'm almost up against a tree on the other side of the clearing when the snake reaches me. It coils itself around my leg and hisses softly. I look down at it, and see that the snake is looking up at me, moving its head from side to side. Megumi giggles.
"You thought it was going to attack her?" she asks her brother incredulously. "It's obvious that Korin-chan didn't give it explicit instructions of what to do, so it came to show that it was willing to obey her." Satoshi sighs.
"Give it a specific instruction, now, Korin-chan." Satoshi says. I nod. I clap my hands and think Get me some food. The snake Shikigami slithers off and I get two confused looks.
"What did you say?" Megumi asks. I grin.
"I told it to get me some food." Satoshi laughs when I finish speaking. Megumi rolls her eyes.
"When it gets back, you should try another one. Then you can see if you can do two at once." she advises. Satoshi nods.
"That's what I was about to say." he says.
"Someone other than Satoshi should teach you to do two at once, though, Korin-chan. He can't do it himself, let alone teach someone else," Megumi says. "The best person to teach you would be Takeshi, but, well…" She trails off and looks over at where Takeshi is leaning against a tree, fast asleep and snoring loudly. I let out a laugh as the snake Shikigami slides almost silently back towards me, with a McDonald's burger in its mouth. Satoshi raises his eyebrows.
"Where d'you reckon it got that?" he asks. I shrug with a smile. I bend down and take the burger from the snake.
Heavily thudding footsteps grow louder as they approach us, and Ezra and Jase come into the clearing, panting as they lean against the nearest trees.
"W-we came to give you guys food, because we didn't think you'd brought any with you, but a snake came and stole one of the burgers. I know it sounds stupid, but-"
I cut Jase off, "It's okay, it was the snake Shikigami that I sent to get me some food. We were wondering where it got the burger." I unwrap the burger and bite down on it. My nose wrinkles in disgust. "Ugh… It's got relish on it…" Jase laughs.
"We got two with, two without." he says, holding another burger out to me. I gratefully take it.
"Thanks. Sorry, whoever gets this one." I say sheepishly.
"I'll have it. Takeshi will value the extra mouthful more than I will." Satoshi says, and I hand him the burger. Megumi pushes herself up and walks over to Takeshi. She crouches down beside him and covers her mouth to stifle a laugh, before regaining composure.
"Takeshi, wake up!" she screams, and Takeshi swears loudly as his eyes open and he leaps into a stance that shows that he's ready to fight. Megumi laughs, and Takeshi turns and frowns at her.
"What was that for?" he asks, "I was asleep."
"We have a delivery of burgers." Megumi says with a shrug. Takeshi's face lights up and he does a happy dance.
"... What are you doing, Takeshi-san?" Jase asks, eying him cautiously. Takeshi stops dancing and grins at Jase.
"Which one's mine?" he asks, and Ezra hands him a burger. Takeshi nods at him with a grin and unwraps his burger. "Itadakimasu!" He bites down on the burger and a blissful smile overtakes his face. Jase hands the remaining burger to Megumi. She gives him a nervous, fleeting smile and unwraps it. She tears a small piece off and puts it into her mouth. She chews slowly and finally swallows. She looks around and seems to realise that Takeshi and I have both finished our's already.
"You two can split the rest between you. I'm not hungry." she says, breaking it in half. She hands one bit to Takeshi and one to me. We both take them, though it's obvious that Takeshi is as unsure of it as I am.
"Are you sure, Megumi-chan?" I ask, "I don't want to take your food away from you." Megumi nods.
"You're training, Korin-chan, and I'm not. You need it more than I do, and I'm not hungry anyway." she says, pushing the hand that I'm holding the burger in closer towards me. Takeshi puts his half right in front of her face.
"Eat, Meg," he says, pressing it to her mouth and pinching her nose so that she has to open her mouth to breathe. He shoves the food into her mouth and lets go of her nose. Megumi glares at him and turns away, but then spins around and swings her leg up so that it at the same height as Takeshi's head. He reaches his hands up and uses one to grab Megumi's leg and the other to grasp her shoulder and keep her upright as he blocks the attack. "Are you serious? You can't be serious about giving us your food. You didn't have any breakfast."
"Yes I did, Takeshi. Stop worrying about me." Megumi argues. Takeshi raises his eyebrows.
"There was one other bowl on the side when I took mine out and it was Satoshi's. We left five minutes after I finished breakfast. You didn't eat this morning." he says.
"I did eat. I'm not a slob like you two, and I washed my bowl and put it away," Megumi says, her voice getting louder and higher with every syllable. "Can we please just get back to training Korin-chan?" Takeshi nods, chewing his lip.
"Yeah. Come on, Korin-chan. I'll show you how to use explosive blades."
"Explosive blades?" I ask incredulously, and Takeshi's only response is to smirk as he takes a small dagger out of his pocket and throw it across the clearing. It embeds itself in a tree. A small hissing noise fills the air, gradually growing louder, until it's all that I can hear. Megumi and Satoshi are both stepping away from it, and I do the same. I make eye contact with Ezra and Jase and point towards to where Megumi and Satoshi are bracing themselves for something. They seem to get what I'm trying to tell them, because they step back.
Just in time, too, because the hissing is shattered by a loud crash and a flash of a colour so bright that it penetrates my body to deeply for me to even identify it. I feel something pushing hard against me and I fall to the ground, unable to see or hear anything aside from an insane mixture of colours that swirl and pulsate in my vision and a ringing that screams as it pushes further and further into my skull. I numbly draw my arms up to my head, covering my ears and shaking it furiously in a futile attempt at clearing away the echoes of what must have been the 'exploding' part of the exploding blade. I'm vaguely aware of someone- Satoshi, I think- yelling something about Takeshi being an ignorant asshole. I feel a hand on my shoulder and someone shakes me.
"Korin-chan, are you okay? Can you hear me?" the person asks so quietly that I can only just hear them, and I realise that it's Megumi.
"I'm fine." I say in a whisper. Megumi's arms wrap around me and help me to sit up. She leans me back against a tree. Her voice comes again, this time speaking to Ezra. My vision begins to come back, and I see blackened trees and a pile of debris behind Takeshi, who is stepping backwards nervously as someone screams at him. For a few seconds, I can't tell who the person is, but then I see a broken pair of glasses lying discarded on the ground and it dawns on me that it's Satoshi. Takeshi looks terrified, and with good reason. Satoshi towers over him, almost a foot taller, and in one hand he tightly grips a dagger which gives off a green glow, which reminds me of the Kirin's Earth Magic. My breath catches in my throat. I slowly turn my head and see that Megumi has leaned Ezra and Jase against a tree. They both look badly shaken up, and a line of charred… something… streaks across Ezra's cheek. Jase's eyes are wide and unblinking. Megumi storms over to Takeshi and grabs his arm. Her knuckles whiten as she grips him, probably digging her nails into his flesh. He winces.
"What the hell was that for, Takeshi?" she screams, "Why the hell didn't you warn us?" The shrill tone of her voice causes me to wince. Takeshi looks over at me, then at Ezra and Jase, and I think I see a tear sparkling in the corner of his eye. I try to pull myself up, and the effort makes me groan. All three Akiyamas turn to look at me, and Satoshi runs over to me.
"Are you okay, Korin-chan?" he asks, his eyes wide. "Are you hurt?"
I shake my head, "I'm fine, Satoshi-kun." Satoshi turns and his eyes narrow as he looks at Takeshi.
"I-I'm s-sorry," Takeshi says, his voice cracking. Tears begin to flow freely down his cheeks. He coughs hard for a few seconds, then wipes his hand on his black hoodie, his eyes wide. "I-I don't k-know w-what came over m-me…"
"Don't blame him," Megumi jumps at the sound of a voice from someone outside of our group. "It's similar to what's been happening to many of the forest's Yokai since the hostages started being taken. They're trying to drive everyone apart." The voice calms me in the same way it always does, and Yuki steps into the clearing. Megumi pulls out a dagger and a Shikigami slip. Yuki ignores the threat.
"Get out of here, you filthy scum. No one cares for your opinions." Megumi spits, her voice dripping with such loathing and venom as she flings her Shikigami across the clearing. It turns into a large wolf, twice the size of a normal one, and paws the ground aggressively as it growls darkly at Yuki.
"All I wanted to do was point out to you that your brother's attack on you was due to the power of the Shingu Yokai. They're trying to turn everyone against each other. There has been unrest amongst the Aokigahara Yokai," Yuki says, raising her hands to show Megumi that she is unarmed and isn't going to attack. "They have a particularly powerful Ningyo on their side, and I know from past experience that they have many other incredible powers in their army." She shudders at the thought, and I wince as I remember Juro's attack on us. Takeshi looks slightly relieved, while Satoshi blushes bright red and uncomfortably shifts his weight from leg to leg. I try not to laugh at his awkwardness upon hearing Juro's name. Megumi scowls at him.
"What's with the suspiciousness, Satoshi?" she asks. Satoshi develops a sudden interest in the floor.
"N-nothing, Megumi… W-why would you think that I was acting suspiciously?" he asks with a sheepish laugh. Yuki gives him an understanding smile and, almost as if without realising she's doing it, brings her hand to rest on her stomach. I feel like my mind should be making some sort of connection, but it isn't. I frown. Takeshi begins to cough again. Yuki steps across and places one hand under his elbow and the other on the small of his back. Her eyes are wide with concern.
"You should take your brother home so that he can rest." she says, looking straight into Satoshi's eyes. A silent agreement seems to pass between them, and for a moment I wonder if their experiences with Juro have formed some sort of bond between them.
"We'll wrap up training for today, Korin-chan," Satoshi says. He glances up at the sky. "It's starting to get dark, and we don't want to be caught out after nightfall, what with…" He trails off. He walks over and helps me up, and then helps Ezra and Jase. He continues to support their weight. "Come on, Megumi. Help Korin-chan and Takeshi." Megumi nods, grabbing hold of my arm and calling back her Shikigami. She puts both the Shikigami slip and the dagger back in her pocket and takes Takeshi's hand. He all but collapses against her, and she sways ever so slightly. The three of us follow Satoshi, Ezra and Jase and make our way out of the forest in silence. I note with a fujoshi grin that Satoshi holds Ezra tighter than he holds Jase, and his cheeks are flushed bright red. I let out a giggle, and he turns to glare at me.
"Sorry, Satoshi-kun." I say, and he pokes his tongue out in my general direction.
"Megumi, I can't see." he says, and Megumi nods.
"I'll lead." she says, and Satoshi drops back so that we are in front of him.