Chapter 13: I Don't Want to Lose You…!
On a staircase far off from the Human Village, the sneaky Mamizou slipped between some trees with the stealth of a snake, curling her tail behind herself as she leaned back and glanced around the ridged bark towards a lone shrine. This small and barely kept shrine currently had no inhabitants, and the smile the tanuki gave after noticing would make the Cheshire Cat blush.
Lingering behind at a slightly lower pace were the tiger and mouse Youkais Shou and Nazrin. The mouse leaned forward with dousing rods attached to her back, panting as her face looked a little pale.
"Y-You done running us around the perimeter, tanuki?" She asked with a degree of frustration, while her more relaxed partner held a finger up from her gently crossed arms and told her "I'm sure there is a reason for this. But Mamizou has not been known to fully reveal her motives…Case in point, you have still not told us why we're needed."
"Hmmm…" Mamizou looked to her comrades and with a relaxed lean against the tree she brushed her tail against it with two swift broad swipes, waving it out in front to reveal a spell tag of sorts suddenly attached to it. With a gasp Shou remarked with childish awe unbecoming her mature figure "I-Incredible…So the Hakurei shrine maiden does actually have defenses!" much to the irk chagrin of Nazrin.
"If you believe that I have a gold statue to sell you…This was someone else's doing. In fact I've seen this type of tag before on treasure sites. It's meant to ward off those whose hearts are filled with avarice." Mamizou peeled the tag off her tail without a fur out of place, then surprised her company by blowing on the tag and causing it to become dust.
"A ward is only as good as the magic that sustains it. Naturally, I would not expect THIS Hakurei to have even known this existed." The tanuki then whipped a scroll out from her sleeve in a blink of the eye, the force unfurling it enough as the other end was clamped in hand. As even a gentle breeze could wave the scroll, the tanuki carefully held it out and allowed her comrades to look at the secrets depicted on it.
"Took some effort to snag this from the Child of Miare, but if it's correct we'll find what we're looking for behind the Hakurei Shrine. As for the exact location, well…" She sealed the scroll swiftly enough to surprise the two, looking at them with a grin before explaining "That's where you two come in. Now, you ready for a treasure hunt?"
The two hadn't even gotten a chance to say yes before the tanuki spun around and slipped out from the forest cover, the confidence Mamizou had for their answer bordering on arrogance. Yet Shou and Nazrin were already entangled in the tanuki's plans by their accursed curiosity and followed along as she made her way to the back of the shrine. Looking to the empty porch, Shou tilted her head and remarked "The Hakurei maiden isn't here today. How odd…" yet Mamizou's quiet chuckle potentially held answers to her concerns.
"Did you have something to do with this, Mamizou?"
"That'd be too perfect of a setup even for me. Alas, it was just coincidence she chose to be elsewhere. Now then, I believe you should be sensing something right about…" When the three got behind the shrine, Shou's striped hair stood up while Nazrin's rods shifted 'til they pointed over her shoulders, pulling so hard that if the mouse hadn't grabbed them she wouldn't been thrown to the ground.
"Holy crap! I've never gotten a reading this strong before! The shrine maiden was sitting on a gold mine!" Nazrin's eyes glittered with the glimmer of greed, the only thing stopped her from salivating being the humored chuckle of the tanuki.
"Gold? Hmmm…treasure can come in many forms. A lost history, for example, is a treasure for historians to unearth and add to the annals of their library. Though in this case, I would say 'treasure' means 'a secret buried for the sake of Gensokyo'. Now…" Mamizou turns to check the direction the dowsing rods were pointing, but Shou beat her to the punch as she had already bent down at the exact spot and dug her sharp nails into a crevice hidden within the grass and dirt. She grunted and pulled, but nothing budged.
"Fufufu…Points for effort, tiger of Bishamonten. However, there is a simpler way to reveal this secret." The tanuki strode to the edge of the crevice and stepped forward, her body warping the ground as a panel of rainbow energy swirled and then disappeared, revealing a staircase with crusted steps that descended into a tunnel with mossy surroundings so thick their age had to be more than a century at the least.
Mamizou continued her trod down the stairs with only a hint of the age of this area leaving an impression on her smiling face. With Shou and Nazrin following after a few seconds of awe-filled staring the tanuki muttered "Well then, what treasure shall I find down here, first Hakurei shrine maiden?"
Meanwhile, Kokoro had finally made her way into the Human Village. Not as many people were moving around today, likely because of the children in school, but that would mean it might be easier to find Koishi around here. However, since the menreiki had little faith in the idea of finding Koishi here, she focused on more on trying to find Mamizou.
Even in her human guise, the tanuki was noticeable by her refined, dapper clothes. Compared to the rags and robes the villagers wore, Mamizou was a monarch of beauty. Perhaps even more so than Byakuren, but even Kokoro could not bring herself to make such a comparison lightly. With blushing cheeks the menreiki moved through the village, calling out the name of the tanuki every time she rounded a corner.
This goes on to no avail for a good few minutes, as there wasn't much ground to cover. Then with a tired breath the menreiki rested herself on a bench next to a mother and her pair of very young children. They were giggling and having a good time, and from a bout of jealousy bore a tired lean back from Kokoro. She didn't pay attention though and fell right off with a plume of dust kicking up from impact, the mother looking back as silence covered that part of the village and gazes lingered on Kokoro's awkward position.
"Can't this day get any better…?" Her mind bemoaned as she tried to push herself off the ground, her frail arms not able to get the job done considering her bent back posture. Coming to her rescue with a swift tug of her arm was, to Kokoro's surprise, the mysterious and alluring Kuriya. Wearing the same dress and holding the same parasol over her shoulder, the girl stood before Kokoro with her docile and intention hiding smile, observing the thanks and bow from the menreiki without a word.
"What are you doing here? Isn't it school time?"
The girl brushed her hair aside as though a gentle breeze touched it, remarking with her usual subdued tone "This is just a day I chose not to go. Though now the inquiry should be returned to the inquirer." It took Kokoro a couple moments to tilt her head and interpret the meaning, and she responded with a stutter "O-Oh! I'm just…uhhh…"
"Y-You don't need to know…" She glanced aside and kicked up unsurely, and then Kuriya folded her parasol up and planted it on the ground beneath her palms.
"Something must be troubling you. Even with the way your face stays stiff like a stone idol cannot hide the feeling your aura portrays." The remark made Kokoro look forth and mutter "A-Are you willing to listen to me?" while drawn in by the girl's observation skills.
"My ears are always open, but your mouth must be willing to do the same. Spill the secrets of thy mind, Hata no Kokoro, and perhaps answers shall come your way." Docilely the girl stood and looked Kokoro in the eyes after another brush of her tender hair. The menreiki nodded her head and with arms folded back stated "Well…"
For a while after Kokoro explained her situation to Kuriya in as much detail her immature mind could muster. Every step of the way the girl paid attention and nodded gently to ensure her speaker she was watching. By the time the menreiki was done, Kuriya smiled and held a hand out to say with a dry sense of humor "It seems you've had an ill time recently. But…that satori sounds interesting."
"Interesting? Well, that's one way to describe her…" Kokoro rubbed the back of her head, then glanced at the girl and inquired "Oh! Maybe you've seen…" her tone quieted down quickly as Kuriya shook her head to an almost robotic degree.
"Still, to try and pull that girl from the abyss of her subconscious…That is quite heroic of you." That word, 'heroic', got the menreiki groaning in a puzzled manner as she leaned her head back and looked away. Kuriya grinned and tapped Kokoro's cheek to get her looking back.
"I do not mean to distress you with talks of heroism. I can tell you have enough on your mind…" She held the parasol over her shoulder and continued as her face was obscured by the shade "Still, isn't this ordeal something worth thinking about?"
"How so?"
"To forgive a person their trespasses and choosing to help them anyways in their time of need…That's selflessness in it's purest form, at least in my eyes. As I told you, that type of mindset would be quite refreshing in Gensokyo, should you choose to embrace heroism."
"…Kuriya." Kokoro replied after a few seconds of silent pondering. The girl held her head up high and awaited the words that would be conveyed, yet would find her eyes widened as she heard with certainty "Thank you for the faith in me but…I-I cannot be a hero."
"…Pardon me?" Kuriya murmured, holding her other thoughts in with a tight seal of her lips as Kokoro gestured and remarked "This is something I thought about a lot over the last couple days when I could." The girl sighed and braced herself to listen to whatever speech the menreiki had prepared.
"Being a hero means carrying the weight of everyone's lives on your shoulders. I-I do like helping people, I really do, but I'm scared of failure…Someone told me failures build a hero, but I don't think I could live with myself if I ever caused someone to lose their lives because I hesitated or wasn't strong enough. I'll stick to helping people out in little ways…I'm just not cut out for incident solving or anything like that."
"…Is that so? Hmmm, your decision is yours to make, certainly, but perhaps 'tis only I who sees the potential you hold to be a hero, Kokoro. If the time comes to show the world that power, then perhaps you'll have to reconsider." Kuriya spoke quite strangely, Kokoro unable to understand a single word that came from her mouth when combined with her nonchalant mannerisms and tone.
"Kuriya, maybe I don't understand your obsession with heroes, but…I-I think it's sweet that you consider me a good person. I don't do these nice things to get attention, but your appreciation is errr…appreciated. If it's fine with you, c-could we still be friends…?" The menreiki held her hand out, and Kuriya's mouth went agape as she peered beyond the shadows. Then, silence was broken by her hiding her face and starting to chuckle profusely.
"I-I don't understand…" Kokoro could not tell if she should be confused or insulted until Kuriya lifted her head up and said with a gentle smile "You know…You took me off guard. That's something I will always remember, Hata no Kokoro. The few friends I have are strange, but we can see eye-to-eye…Unfortunately, I do not believe we'd be able to do the same. It's for the best that you not concern yourself with being my friend."
"Oh…" The menreiki let out a dejected sigh and slowly slunk her hand back, putting it close to her hip while Kuriya continued to smile and brush a hand towards the side of Kokoro's body.
"But if you want a friend, perhaps look no further than the one you've sought out…" The gesture directed Kokoro's head around, her eyes focusing in on the presence of Koishi, who floated above a circle of children and did a few floaty spins until tapping her toes against the ground and joining in their giggling.
"So you would show up here after all…Koishi." Kokoro turned the rest of her body around and advanced towards the satori, Kuriya cracking a eerie grin as she kept her distance behind the ensuing meeting. After the children were gone, Koishi spun with her head held back, her mind in a state of bliss even as she looked at Kokoro standing before her.
"Ah! Kokoro! I'm so glad you're alright!" She said with the nonchalance expected of her state of mind while she positioned herself in a more normal upright stance, stroking her arms as though she was in a lake. Kokoro took in a deep breath, braced her mind, and even then didn't have certainty she'd say the right things.
"Koishi, do you remember yesterday?"
"Huh? You fell down sick, then I took you back home, of course I remember that you silly goose!" Koishi spoke in an absolutely chipper tone, followed by her spinning back in the air aloofly. Kokoro could only wonder how the satori could not remember anything beyond that, but figured that could only make things easier. With a village full of humans possibly ending up in the crossfire should things go wrong, the menreiki had to be delicate.
"You told me something yesterday." Koishi's interest was caught and he body hovered above the ground as Kokoro laid a hand against her chest and cracked a slight smile "Even if you don't remember it, I do. It got me thinking Koishi, and I can finally give you a better answer."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about, but go on!" The satori's face curled up in confusion until Kokoro looked straight at her and said "No one deserves to disappear forever. Not you, not I, not anyone…There's going to come a point where I'll grow up, that's not something you can stop Koishi, but…"
Even as the satori widened her eyes in a fevered manner the menreiki stood her ground and stated "If I can promise you that I'll keep my innocence…To remember you throughout our entire lives, would you believe me?"
"Hehehe…!" Koishi's face lit up with a close-eyed smile, her aura radiating with happiness as she continued "Well you do look like someone who could keep a promise! So I guess I could believe you maybe…!"
Everything seemed to be going smoothly, much to Kokoro's surprise, but there was still one important and final step to take. Slowly, with some hesitation, the girl held her right arm out with Koishi looking a bit puzzled as Kokoro was giving her a smile.
"K-Koishi…We've had our troubles, but-" Then a sound that had never been heard in the Human Village began to ring out. It was some sort of bell, and it was rung rather frantically. All commotion in the village stopped, and Kokoro looked around in confusion as some humans suddenly began to make a break for their houses. One human with a black cloak ran across the paths and spoke in desperation.
"HIDE IN YOUR HOUSES, FIND SAFETY IF YOU CAN! THE TENGUS AND THE UNDERGROUND YOUKAI ARE GOING TO WAR! PRAY TO YOUR GODS FOR SAFETY!" He ran through the village until he was a speck in Kokoro and Koishi's eyes. Kokoro was flabbergasted, Koishi was just taking the situation lightly as she could.
"Uh OH! Sis must be in tr-ou-ble!"
"W-What? A-A war…? Why? What's going on?" Kokoro's heart beat with a tension she couldn't explain, her hands clenched up against her chest. All the while, she could not turn around to notice the deep, mischievous smile Kuriya currently had.
"And now it all comes together…The final phase of my plan. You should've chosen a wiser path, Hata no Kokoro…Now your fate is mine to control."
Next Time: Perspective of the Third Eye