Chapter 5: An Odd Guest at the Temple
Kokoro is returned to the Human Village through the rift, unaware of just how much time has passed if it has done so at all. She looks back at the now shut rift and then thinks to herself "That was so strange…" but she is also thinking about what she saw in the mirror and the words Kuriya left her with. Kokoro laid a hand on her chest and murmured "Could I…really be a hero…?" Every doubt imaginable was on Kokoro's moment, but she shook her head and said "I-I really don't know…" and tried to not think about it for now.
It was hard though as she kept seeing that image of her possible older self in her head, and the genuine smile she was able to show. "But I looked so…pretty…Like mommy and daddy…" Kokoro blinked a couple times then lightly slapped the sides of her face to stop being entranced by her future self. The sounds of the humans in the village nearby drew Kokoro's attention, and she remembered she needed to help others still today. To distract herself from what just happened, Kokoro returned to the village and began thinking her next move over.
Her head was lowered and she was deep in thought, so much so that she's lucky to have not bumped into anyone at first. "How many people do I still need to apologize to…?" She reviewed everyone from the incident she was involved in and cut out some options based on who would be really dangerous to visit alone, such as Yuuka and Shikieiki, but that left her with people she wasn't certain about handling quite yet. "I don't want to make any mistakes…I have to do this the right way. I can't make things any worse…"
She was stressing herself out thinking about, not helped when she's reminded of Kuriya's comment about heroes making mistakes. She paused and slapped her face again a couple times, earning the odd glare from some of the humans that she was unaware of as she looked up towards the sky and whispered "…Maybe I need to stop kidding myself…" "Kidding yourself about what, Kokoro?" A familiar voice spoke out to her, and Kokoro hears her humored chuckle as she turns around.
It was the human disguised tanuki, Mamizou, who was wearing her usual human clothes, complete with tan coat and checkered scarf. With a tiny smile, Mamizou looked at Kokoro through her glasses and awaited her response. Kokoro instead said "Granny Mami!" in a happy tone. Mamizou was a little taken aback by the nickname but said calmly nevertheless "I wasn't expecting to find you here. I thought you'd be with your mother."
Kokoro shook her head and said "N-Not today Mami, I came here to make amends with some of the people I wronged during my…Well…" Mamizou picked up on Kokoro's nervous cues and said with a snap of her fingers "Of course, of course, you are helping others. I should've remembered that. My poor old mind is not so reliable these days." After the tanuki poked fun at herself Kokoro looked at her directly and asked "Why are you here, Mami?"
Mamizou nudged her glasses to give them a glimmer and said "Oh nothing much, just here to visit a friend in the village. But since we've run into each other, perhaps I could help you out a bit with your apologies…It's a granny's role to help after all." Kokoro surprised the tanuki by shaking her head and saying "I'm sorry Mami…But this is something I have to do by myself." Though the tanuki then grinned and said "Very well, I can respect that. But it seems you were thinking about something else before I interrupted, perhaps I can help you with that."
"N-No that's ok…!" Kokoro said while waving her hands, followed by Mamizou resting a hand on her chin and commenting "Oh? Is it perhaps something personal?" As Kokoro stuttered nervously Mamizou winked and said "Handling your own secrets, wanting to help others…Fufufu, it seems the menreiki is growing up fast." When Kokoro lets out a peep of embarrassment, Mamizou responds by playfully rubbing the top of her head.
"I'm just messing with you Kokoro." Mamizou mentioned, and once she pulled back she put her hands into her sleeves and added "But while you're wanting to help others, you don't have to necessarily restrict yourself to those you affected with your powers. In fact, I can think of someone in the village who you should be able to help out." Kokoro wondered who it was, and Mamizou answered with "She's a bit of a loner, probably unnecessarily so…I was thinking perhaps you'd be able to get her to open up a little."
Kokoro whispered "So she's a Youkai?" The tanuki nodded her head and said with a gesture out "You'd recognize her as the only purely red-haired person in the village…If her odd clothes weren't also a giveaway. Oh, and she doesn't bite, so don't worry about pissing her off…Not that I can't imagine you doing that anyways, Kokoro." Mamizou gave a wink to the menreiki as she nodded her head and said "I'll try and find this person then, Mami. Thank you very much!"
As the menreiki turned around and went on her way, Mamizou pulled out her pipe from her sleeves and took a quick smoke before saying "That'll keep her busy for a bit…Sorry Kokoro, but I can't have you around me for a bit." The tanuki then quietly entered a nearby house that was filled with hundreds of scrolls archived within wood diamond shelves, and bamboo stalks and bonsai trees were planted around the place given it a very oriental feel. Inside were two people Mamizou knew, the historian scribe Hieda no Akyuu, and the spirited young bibliophile Kosuzu Motoori.
As Mamizou entered by parting the curtain, Kosuzu, wearing her usual red-white checkered shirt, yellow apron and green dress skirt, turned to her and said in a joyous tone "Miss Mamizou!" She held a bundle of books in her arms as she ran up to the tanuki, as usual being unaware of her true nature in contrast to Akyuu, who cautiously glanced at Mamizou and said "Well well if it isn't Futatsuiwa. Whatever brings you to my home today?"
Mamizou slyly glared at the scribe, who was wearing her usual yellow, green and orange oriental robe and had a pinkish flower on the side of her purple hair, and said politely "You appear to be healthy today Ms. Historian…As are you, Kosuzu." As the tanuku looked down at her, Kosuzu blushed and smiled, but Akyuu held a scroll up towards Mamizou and said "I suppose there's a reason you're here. I hope you aren't disguising your intentions." Akyuu's wit was in full bloom, as expected, but Mamizou just grinned lightly and commented "I suppose I won't pull punches today. There's something I require of you…A particular scroll that the first Child of Miare created."
As Mamizou was left dealing with Kosuzu and Akyuu's confusion, we find Kokoro wandering the strees of the Human Village in search of "the red haired loner" as Mamizou described her. At the very least, focusing on helping this person relieved Kokoro's stress regarding the others, and she assumed that was Mamizou's intention. "She's always been a good grandmother…" Kokoro thought as she looked around for the Youkai amongst the humans, a task surprisingly harder than one could imagine despite how she should stand out.
Kokoro paused in the center of town and looked around some more, noticing something odd towards the food vendors in the south. A hint of red hair could be seen amidst the crowd, so Kokoro ran that way to try and find the person. It was crowded enough that she had to carefully weave her way through, but eventually she found a big enough opening to get a clear view of the red hair she had seen before. It belonged to a person wearing a black cloak and short red skirt, with a tall collar attached to the top of a long red cape that covered the lower half of her head.
The girl was carrying a small paper bag with food inside as evidenced by how it was weighed down, and as Kokoro approached she thought "This must be her…" Kokoro walked close behind the girl and tried to come up with the right words to say, but the girl's Youkai nature allowed her to smell Kokoro's presence ahead of time and she suddenly came to a stop. Kokoro walked into her and bounced back after letting out a surprised grunt, with the girl saying "Ok, why exactly are you trailing me?"
The girl turned around and raised an eyebrow upon seeing Kokoro, wondering calmly "…Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" while Kokoro just shook her head in response. "Well then I repeat…Why are you trailing me?" The girl was a little more blunt this time, but still kept her cool. It was hard for Kokoro to tell how the girl was feeling due to her mouth being covered up, so she decided to find out more about her by asking "Ummm…Hello there. Are you the 'red-haired loner' Mamizou mentioned?"
The girl's eyes widened a bit and she turned around, whispering bitterly "Oh great, that darn tanuki is involved in this…" before turning back and saying "So you know Mamizou, huh? Yeah, I guess we've met before, but I wouldn't exactly call her anything more than a one-time acquaintance. What exactly does she want from me, kid?" Fond words weren't spoken from the girl's mouth, but Kokoro just chalked that up to her loner nature and asked "She wanted me to come talk to you…She said that maybe I could help you find a friend…?"
Kokoro acted nervous because she still had no idea what the girl was thinking, but the girl raised her eyebrows and said "Floating masks, lack of emotion, a crippling amount of naivety…Now I get it, you're Hata no Kokoro." The girl was once again blunt even as she recognizes Kokoro, followed by her then mentioning "My name's Sekibanki, and quite frankly I really don't need friends. The tanuki wasted your time." Sekibanki turned around and prepared to walk off, but Kokoro kept following her and said "I can't believe anyone doesn't want to be alone…Even if they are a You-"
Sekibanki suddenly twitched and turned around, dropping her bag and putting a hand to Kokoro's mouth to her surprise. "Look kid, no one here knows my true identity. I'm not accepted like you are, so you might want to seal your mouth before I seal it for you!" This was all said with a blunt glare and a fierce quietness, but needless to say Sekibanki had to stop because she was drawing the attention of the humans. As the Youkai picks up her bag of food, Kokoro dryly said "I think I know why you're alone…"
"Look, you want to continue this conversation, we're doing it outside the village. Then at least you won't carelessly out me to the others…" Sekibanki says quietly, then she starts to head for the edge of the village while murmuring to herself about getting back at Mamizou later. Kokoro follows her out of the village, and after Sekibanki leans against a tree and pulls an apple from her bag she says "Alright kid, let me just make one thing clear…" while chomping the apple whole with her fangs Sekibanki said while casually glancing at her company "I'm not someone you can convince to take part in that crappy 'friendship conquers all' mentality. You can either stop now, or you'll be having a bad time if you keep pestering me."
Even against that threat Kokoro stood her ground and said "I'm not afraid of you…Cause I don't think you have it in you to hurt me. You're hanging around with humans, you must be kind deep down." Raising her eyebrows Sekibanki bluntly said "THAT'S what you take away from what I'm doing? Man, you just created a new notch on the naivety meter kid…" Pulling away from the tree she followed up by saying "It's just how I'm choosing to live. I don't really care much for humans, but I can't stay a pure Youkai after I rejected my bloodlust."
A glare from the Youkai showed a little more for Kokoro this time, as Kokoro could feel a bit of emptiness from her that wasn't present before. Sekibanki looked away and said "So yeah, you can keep following me around, but it's not going to be a good idea if you keep it up." Sekibanki began to head back to the village, but Kokoro was struck by inspiration as she remembered something Byakyren said. "There'll be Youkai out there who are lost and confused…If so, bring them to me and I will try and help them out, Kokoro." Those words echoed as Kokoro stamped her foot down to Sekibanki's surprise and exclaimed "Wait!"
Sekibanki glanced over her shoulder as Kokoro clenched a fist against her chest and said "I-I don't want to give up on you…I don't think anyone should be alone…So please, allow me this one chance to help you out." Kokoro then held her hand out, offering to her "Come with me to the Myouren Temple, and mommy can help you figure yourself out. You don't have to be confused." Sekibanki recognized the name of the temple and scowled, wondering just how serious Kokoro was with that statement. But when the Youkai glared at Kokoro, she saw a fiery passion buried deep within those emotionless eyes of hers and could tell that her determination to help would not be extinguished so easily.
After a sigh Sekibanki raised her brows and said "Look kid, I'll give what you're suggesting a try, but if it doesn't work out then I want you to promise me you'll let it be, alright?" Kokoro quickly nodded her head, and Sekibanki told her with some bluntness "Alright then, take me to this crazy temple of yours. Better to just get this over with…" The Youkai mumbled that last part to herself while glancing aside, and then she followed Kokoro out of the village until they were far enough to not be sighted by any humans so they could then take flight to the Myouren Temple.
Along the way, Sekibanki inquired "So kid, what exactly did that tanuki say to convince you to try and help me?" Kokoro replies while looking back "I'm wanting to help people out cause…Well…I-I feel I've made some mistakes and want to make amends to the people I've wronged. I'm helping you because…Ummm…" "You mean you don't even know?" Sekibanki dryly says in response to Kokoro's fidgeting nervousness.
As Kokoro shook her head Sekibanki sighed and said "Well then I guess you can say you're doing to owe up for me having to deal with that crazy religious war fad your Mask of Hope shenanigans caused." It still carried bluntness, but that was a rather nice thing for Sekibanki to say regardless. Kokoro thanked the Youkai for that and she just glanced aside and said "Don't mention it, seriously" before the two finally made it to the Myouren Temple.
Sekibanki couldn't believe she was going through with this as she stood before the entrance to the sacred place, but just sighed and chose to bear it out, thinking it wouldn't last too long. As Kokoro walked towards the temple she saw three people around, Kyouko, Nue, and another young Youkai with turquoise hair that carried around a purple umbrella with a lone eye on it and a tongue sticking out. She is Kogasa Tatara, a tsukumogami much like Kokoro, and she's currently wearing a blue-green vest with white sleeve and a light blue skirt while taking part in a conversation between the other two Youkai.
Though the conversation ends when Kyouko's ears perk upon hearing Kokoro coming, and she excitedly yelps "Kokoro! Hey! Good morning!" and is also the first to run over and grab her both hands to shake them as her greeting, with Kokoro still not able to handle the yamabiko's energy and saying awkwardly "H-Hi Kyouko." Kyouko then notices Sekibanki and says "Who's the new friend?!" merrily with eager eyes.
Nue floats up and raised her eyebrows in intrigued as though she recognized Sekibanki, and thus kept her mouth shut and grinned while Kyouko stood before the Youkai while receiving a response of "Friend? You're getting a little a-HEAD of yourself here kid…I'm just going along with the menreiki's crazy plans today." The Youkai's sneaky pun didn't go noticed by anyone but Nue, and Kokoro explains "I'm trying to help her make friends…Mamizou said she's a loner. So I thought maybe mommy might be able to help her out too…"
"Oh, Miss Hijiri isn't around right now, sorry Kokoro…I think she said she'd back close to nighttime." Kyouko commented, and Kokoro let out a sigh of disappointment before looking back at Sekibanki, noticing for a moment that Kogasa was attempting to try something from behind. Kokoro paused as Kogasa leaped up from a crouching position and exclaimed "Surprise!" at the top of her lungs. Sekibanki surprisingly flinched and froze in place, leading Kogasa to triumphantly pump her fist and hop off the ground while saying "I did it!"
But then something odd starts happening with Sekibanki's head, as it starts to roll back, detaching from the neck and plopping right onto the ground with a blank and lifeless look in the eyes. Kogasa freezes along with Kyouko, with Kogasa stuttering "I-I wasn't trying to scare someone's head off…!" and being filled with an overwhelming sense of guilt all at once. But then the head starts wiggling, replacing Kogasa's guilt with fright as it turns around while putting on a fanged grin, and Kogasa starts stammering in fright and tensing up as the head lifts off the ground and says in a forcibly eerie voice "You have awakened me…The spirit of the dullahan…"
The head rises up towards Kogasa while projecting an eerie flame around itself, inching closer as the umbrella girl's fright grows louder, and the head stuck out it's tongue and licked the side of Kogasa's neck while saying "Now…I shall take your head as my compensation…" Kogasa immediately bent down and hide herself inside of her umbrella, trembling so much that she was being moved around by her vibrations, while Sekibanki's eyes went back into place and she started laughing.
"Hahaha! If nothing else this was worth the trip!" Sekibanki proudly proclaimed, and as Kokoro turns and sees Nue laughing and Kyouko flat on her back unconscious from fright she wondered if this was a good idea or not. But putting faith into Mamizou's trust, Kokoro looked at Sekibanki and boldly inquired "Did you really have to do that to her?" Sekibanki reattached her head and said as it turned "Come on it's just a little prank. No harm done."
Kokoro firmly stood her ground and said "Kogasa doesn't like to be frightened herself. She's got self-confidence issues about that. That's the first step you have to learn Sekibanki…If you want friends, you have to understand what others are like." Nue just stood up on her UFO and holding her trident behind her she said tauntingly "You're talking about Sekibanki here Kokoro. I heard the rumors. She abandoned her own kind, that's pretty big on the 'I want to be a loner' scale. You'd be performing an impossible miracle to get her to have any friends. No offense, dullahan."
"None taken." Sekibanki said with her eyes shut, followed by Kokoro looking at Nue and saying "I get it might be tough, but please…Can you help me with this Nue? Mamizou wanted this to work out for a reason, so if mommy isn't around…" Nue grinned and interrupted "Eh you don't need to guilt trip me. If Mamizou's got some faith in this, I'll listen to her. I also got a little humor out of this, so it's all good."
Sighing, Sekibanki said "Still going to try, eh?" Kokoro firmly nodded her head, but then looked to the ground and said "Ummm…But first I need to get Kyouko and Kogasa unspooked…" "Right right, can't do this without these two." Nue said sarcastically but then went over to Kogasa to help her out, while Sekibanki just paid attention closely, curious to see just what type of things Kokoro would try to get her to accept friendship.
Once the fainted Youkai are back on their feet, Kokoro decided to do something rather surprising. Instead of trying really hard to get Sekibanki to accept friendship, she decided to just let things go about normally at the temple. Sekibanki stayed observant the entire time as the Youkai did things like talk to each other, handle cleaning the temple grounds, and just having an overall casual sort-of day. And yet despite all that, Sekibanki didn't voice any complaints, keeping to herself the entire time.
A part of her seemed interested in what was going on, the other part of her confused how Youkai could enjoy this temple life. Kokoro say her reactions every now and then, and even the naïve menreiki could tell what she was thinking. Sekibanki stuck around until the sun began to set, when Kyouko, Kogasa, Nue and Kokoro were at the front of the temple laughing at a conversation they just finished. By that point she whispered "Hmmm…perhaps I was wrong about this temple…" and she tried to sneak off so Kokoro couldn't question her.
An effort that failed as the menreiki happened to catch her at the gate, and quickly she ran up to her and said "Where are you going Sekibanki?" The dullahan paused and replied quietly "Kokoro…That's your name, right? Let me make it clear, I'm never going to be able to get over my loner tendecies." Kokoro was disappointed to hear that only until Sekibanki said "But that doesn't mean…I wouldn't mind coming back to this temple to hear how things are going, perhaps…"
This filled Kokoro's heart with joy, and she cracked a tiny smile that Sekibanki glances at as she looks over her shoulder. "Heh, so you are able to show a little emotion on your own. How about that…" Sekibanki then continued to head away from the temple while Kokoro thanked her for coming, which made the dullahan smile behind her collar. As she was leaving the temple though, Byakuren was returning through the forest, now wearing her black and white priestess dress.
As Sekibanki passed she gave her a short glance and cast aside her disdain for the Buddhist to whisper "If nothing else, you raised a good kid." Byakuren paused and looked back in bewilderment, but by then Sekibanki had already gone into the shadows. The Buddhist went back to her temple and saw Kokoro at the gate, asking her calmly "Kokoro…Who was that Youkai?"
Kokoro replied "She's Sekibanki…Mamizou told me to try and help her make friends." Byakuren looked at her with a half-smile and inquired intently "And did it work out?" Kokoro's nod was more than enough of an answer, though she did also add "I would like to believe it did."
"It was kind of you to try regardless of whether it worked or not. Still, I was not expecting to hear from you today, Kokoro." Byakuren pointed out, though not in a bad manner. Kokoro nodded her head and then realized what time it was, causing her to panic a little and remark "O-Oh no! It's almost time for dinner at the Scarlet Devil Mansion!" Humorously, Byakuren said "Though in the case of a vampire, it'd be a breakfast."
Bowing her head quickly, Kokoro said "I'm sorry mother, I have to make our visit short today!" "Do not worry about it, you're just keeping to your commitments. As your mother, I always keep my temple open to visit for you." Byakuren replied caringly, and Kokoro quickly flew off to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, wondering if her appearance is presentable enough as she left. Byakuren waved her off while Nue approached from behind, saying to her "Welp…! That was a great day! Shame you weren't around to meet the Youkai, Hijiri!"
Folding her arms before her waist Byakuren smiled and said "Perhaps you will have to tell me about her over some tea, Nue. I'm curious to hear how Kokoro handled this matter." And that is what the two would do for the night, with Kyouko and Kogasa joining them. For Kokoro, she would soon face her greatest challenge today…To impress an elegant vampire or two at their fancy dinner!
Next Time: An Unexpected Dinner Guest