Chapter 9: Noh Mask Part 2
A/N: The other chapters have been updated with the name changes
"KAZUKI!"
The black haired boy turned to see a panicked Sota running up to him.
"What happened?!" Sota asked. "Is everybody okay?!"
"Everything's fine" Kazuki answered. "It's just the storage house that caught on fire and Grandpa passed out, but Mom's going to the hospital with him to keep an eye on him, okay? The house is fine and so is the main shrine." He explained
"...Okay," Sota said calming down.
"Come on, let's get inside," he told him as he ushered him into the house. "I'm gonna run down to the hospital to check on Grandpa, but I'll be back, okay?"
"O-okay," Sota nodded, but just as Kazuki was about to get ready to leave the grounds, he spotted something out of the corner of his eye...a trail of what looked like blood and blackish-brown slime, leading away from the wrecked storage shed.
"What's that gunk?" Kazuki asked, but then he heard a loud crash, startling him as he turned around and ran over to the railing and saw a fire truck...speeding off and leaving a trail of damaged police cars behind.
"Now what?" Kazuki questioned.
"Contact the station! There's an out-of-control truck!" a police officer yelled.
Inside the firetruck, a massive blob of slime and blood dripped all over the dashboard with two hands gripping the steering wheel...with the Mask of Flesh as its face. The Mask raised its dripping hand and saw that it was starting to fall limp.
"The flesh is rotting away...!" the Mask hissed. "No...I must have more flesh! I must keep this body from disintegrating!"
As the Mask continued to drive the truck...a familiar pink glow shined from its forehead.
Later, at dusk, Kazuki had arrived at the hospital to check on his grandfather and was soon greeted by his mom.
"How is he, Mom?" he asked. "Is Grandpa awake yet?
"No, he's not," his Mother began, "but he is stable. However, the doctor's a bit baffled. He said that Dad isn't seriously hurt, aside from slight smoke inhalation and some minor burns, but other than that, he should've woken up by now."
"Gramps..." Kazuki muttered, worriedly.
"Now, Kazuki, let's not fret too much," his mother said. "After all, Grandpa is about 66 years old. That's probably why he hasn't woken up, yet."
"...Maybe," Kazuki muttered before he noticed something in his mother's hands: some sutras. "What are those?"
"These?" His mother asked as she held the paper slips up for her son to see. "They're your grandfather's talismans. When the paramedics got to him, they said that he had them all over his face and even stuffed inside his mouth." She then sighed. "You know how superstitious he can be...something must have really spooked him."
"I wonder...what could have scared him so much that caused this…" Kazuki began musing.
"Ugh...beware..." the old priest mumbled causing Kazuki and his mother both to look inside the room where the old man was resting...where the old man groaned in his sleep as he tossed and turned, slightly.
"Beware...the Mask..." he muttered. "Beware of the flesh-eating Noh Mask...!"
"Noh Mask...?" Kazuki questioned
"He's been muttering that ever since he got here," Mrs Higurashi said, worriedly. "Poor Dad...I think I better stay here with him. Kazuki, you go home and stay with Sota, understand?"
"...Allright, Mom," Kazuki nodded. "I hope Gramps gets better soon." With that, he walked away...but he couldn't stop thinking about his grandfather's words.
'Flesh-eating Noh Mask...? What did he mean by that?'
Meanwhile, back in the Feudal Era, Inuyasha grumbled as she stared down the well, tapping her claws against the aged wood and bouncing her foot. Then she turned and walked away for just a few seconds...only to come right back and look down into the well, again, nearly climbing over as if to jump in, herself, but then she froze before he made an irritated groan, then began to pace back and forth. It had only been about 7 hours now since Kazuki had left, but it seemed that Inuyasha's patience was wearing a bit thin.
It was at that moment that Inuyasha felt a familiar sensation on her neck before she growled and smacked her hand against it, then pulled her palm away to reveal a flattened Myoga.
"Ugh...squished again...!" the old flea groaned as he returned to normal.
"What do you want?" Inuyasha asked.
"I only came to check on you, Lady Inuyasha," said Myoga. "You seem more restless than usual."
"It's none of your business," said Inuyasha as she kept pacing back and forth. "I'm just bored, that's all...has it been three days, yet?"
"I'm afraid that it's still today," the old flea replied. "If I didn't know any better I'd almost say you miss the boy."
"What was that?!" Inuyasha questioned with a growl.
Myoga let out a yelp. "Uh...it's a good thing I know you better...eheheheheh!" Myoga chuckled nervously.
"That's what I thought," said Inuyasha. "There's no way in hell I miss that boy! I'm just waiting on those dried potatoes he promised me, that's all!"
"If you say so," Myoga replied.
"I am saying so!" Inuyasha barked. "Don't you have some stupid animal to suck blood from or something!?" She then flicked Myoga off her shoulder. "Go on! Get lost!"
She then sighed and laid down on the grass, lying on her back and stared up at the sky.
Back in the Modern Era, Kazuki had returned home, it was late at night and thankfully, Sota was still there, waiting for him. However, he told him he had found out something rather unsettling on the news on TV while she was away. There had been reports of people going missing ever since the fire engine got away from the shrine, and the only evidence left of their disappearance were small pools of blood and black slime.
Naturally, Kazuki brushed it off...despite the rather unsettling feeling he had after all that had happened today. He decided that perhaps it was best if he focused on his studies for now, especially since he had a test tomorrow so after he took a quick bath and got dressed in his pajamas, Kazuki sat at his desk and began to do his homework. Sota, not wanting to be alone, decided to stay in his room along with Buyo, which Kazuki allowed as long as he was quiet.
Hmm...let's see," Kazuki muttered as he looked at the paper, which had several math equations...and if there was one thing Kazukj hated, it was math. "...Who invented geometry, anyway?" He asked aloud with a sigh as he attempted to try and figure out the problems.
"...Kazuki?" Sota asked, causing hin to look back at him as he sat on the floor with a blanket and pillow. "I...I can't shake this feeling."
"What's wrong?" Kazukj asked as he turned to face his younger brother.
Sota approached him. "...I'm worried about Gramps," said Sota as he stood next to Kazuki. "You said that when the paramedics found him, he had all those sutras on his face and even in his mouth, right?"
"Yeah," Kazuki nodded. "Why? What's the matter?"
"...I can't help thinking something really creepy happened in the shed," Sota answered. "Ever since the day you fell into the well and came back, weird stuff has been happening...I'm not saying it's your fault, though! It's just...creepy six-armed ladies, invisible hair, and now this? You believe me, right?"
"...Well, there have been a lot of weird things happening ever since I fell into the Bone Eaters Well, and I wouldn't be surprised if another incident happened." Kazuki said as he looked outside. "Right before I left the hospital, I heard Grandpa muttering something about a flesh-eating mask."
"A...a flesh-eating what?" Sota repeated, nervously.
"It's okay, Sota," said Kazuki. "I'm sure nothing's gonna happen to us…"
And right on cue like in a horror movie, the window started rattling.
"W...what was that?" Sota asked, worriedly.
"Uhh...probably the wind," Kazuki answered, although he sounded uncertain himself.
'I don't get it...stuff like this hasn't happened at the shrine before, so why now?'
That's when he looked over to the Sacred Jewel shards in the bottle.
'Wait...the jewel shards! That's probably why all these weird things have been happening lately.'
Just then, the Higurashi Siblings could hear the sound of a siren in the distance. At first, they thought nothing of it...until they saw a pair of flashing headlights through the window...and they were heading right for them!
"What the-!" Kazuki noticed the incoming headlights and pushed Sota down against the floor. "SOTA, GET DOWN!"
"AAH!" Sota screamed as he was pinned against the floor, and not long after, Glass shards and bits of brick and wood went flying around the room before Sota looked back, only to gasp in horror upon seeing the Mask of Flesh...only now, its body of slime and blood had gotten even bigger.
"W...what is that?!" Sota questioned.
"I think it was that mask that Grandpa was talking about in the hospital." Kazuki replied, but then he looked down and noticed that the bottle with the jewel shards that were on his desk were dropped on the floor.
"The...jewel..." the Mask droned as it reached its slimy, dripping hand down toward the bottle. "Give me the shards of Shikon Jewel...!"
"Not happening!" Kazuki shouted as he grabbed the bottle, accidentally slicing his hand on the glass of the broken window, before he got up and ran, pulling Sota with him. "Sota! Grab Buyo and let's get outta here!"
"O-Okay!" Sota answered as he grabbed the aforementioned housecat, "What are we gonna do?!"
"I have to call Inuyasha and get her to come over here." The older sibling replied. "I'd hate to do it, but she's the only one who can help us right now…"
"But Kazuki, what about your hand?!" Sota asked, feeling Kazuki's blood dripping on his fingers.
"Don't worry about it!" Kazuki answered. "I just cut it on some glass, that's all," he said like it was no big deal.
Suddenly, the Mask's slimy, blob-like body leaped out in front of the siblings, causing Sota to gasp as Kazuki shielded Sota from the abomination. As it wobbled and trembled, the reincarnated priest spotted something glowing on its forehead.
"The jewel shards...!" the Mask hissed. "Give me the Shikon Jewel shaaaaards!"
'The Mask has a shard of the Sacred Jewel on its forehead!' he thought. 'No wonder it's after the rest of the shards, I've gotta get Sota away from here and out of danger.'
"Sota!" Kazuki shouted as he turned to look at him. "Go to the well house and get Inuyasha! Tell her that there's a demon with a jewel shard, that oughta get her to come here! I'll see what I can do to hold this thing off!"
"O-okay!" Sota answered before he ran to the well house with Buyo clinging to his shoulders.
"Hey! Over here!" Kazuki called to the Mask waving the bottle with the shards. "You want these jewel shards? Then come and get 'em!" With that, he ran off from the shrine grounds with the Mask giving chase after him, as Sota ran the other way towards the Well House.
As Sota opened up the door to the well house and found the Bone-Eater's Well inside. He gasped silently, the memory of when Kazuki was first dragged through the well by Mistress Centipede returning to him as he looked to the bottom. However, he knew that now was not the time to be scared. His older brother was in danger, and if he didn't do anything soon, he would end up being the Mask's latest victim.
"...I can do this," Sota whispered to himself. "Kazuki's counting on me!" He then climbed up onto the lip of the well. "Okay...1...2...3!" On that, he jumped in, only to get nothing but a faceful of dirt. He then grunted as he sat up, only to gasp as he realized that nothing happened.
"WHAT WENT WRONG?! WHY COULDN'T I GO THROUGH?!"
As for Buyo, he nonchalantly licked his paws, as if completely oblivious to the situation while Sota furiously dug away at the bottom of the well with tears welling up in his eyes.
"I gotta get through the well," he said. "I gotta call Inuyasha!" He then sniffled and began to sob. "That mask is after Kazuki and I'm the only one who can help him…"
All of a sudden, there was a flash of light, causing Sota to gasp as a familiar red cloth appeared before his eyes, causing him to look up and see that it was none other than Inuyasha.
"...I...it's you...!" Sota whispered in awe. "Inuyasha!"
"You look troubled," the half demon girl remarked with a smirk.
As Kazuki ran through the streets, the Mask giving chase, he spotted a construction site and got an idea.
'If I can lead that thing there I can probably find a way to trap it, and remove the jewel shard, but even if I can't remove it, it should at least hold it until Inuyasha can get here'
As he approached the construction site he saw that nobody was there, not even a guard which was weird, but in his favor and entered it through a section of the fence that was open and ran up stairs of the unfinished building.
"It's kinda slow moving, so it shouldn't be able to able to follow me up here" Kazuki as he looked down at the Mask not being able to go up the flight of stairs and it stared up at him.
"Damn…you…!" It hissed
"Just as I thought, it can't come up here." Kazuki said as he turned around to continue running up the building, he spotted a crowbar and picked it up. 'Might come in handy later.'
As he got to the second floor, he decided to glance down and see if the Mask was still there, but to his surprise the blob-like creature wasn't there.
"Wait, where'd it go?" Kazuki asked concerned,but dismissed it and focused on continuing going up the unfinished building and was about go to up the stairs leading to the third floor, when the Mask landed right in front of him
"Give me the shards of the Shikon Jewel!" the Mask demanded as it advanced toward Kazuki.
"Stay back!" Kazuki warned, pointing the crowbar at the Mask, which didn't listen and kept advancing towards him 'If only I had my bow…' he thought as he had left it back in the Feudal Era seeing no need for it in modern times. He turned to see that he was cornered, with no other choice he swung the crowbar intending to hit the part of the Mask that had the Jewel shard embedded and the he hit it, or at least it appeared to have hit it.
Unfortunately for Kazuki the crowbar was caught in between rows of hook-like teeth that went down horizontally on the Mask.
"What the-?! Kazuki said surprised as he let go of the crowbar.
"You've fallen into my trap," the Mask said as it broke the crowbar with its teeth. "Now...become one with me!" It exclaimed before starting to pull Kazuki into its blob-like body.
The teen was halfway absorbed when out of desperation he used his free hand to punch the Mask, which didn't do anything at first but then it cracked a bit…before breaking completely in half in a bright flash of blue light the jewel shard it had falling on the floor and the liquid substance that was its body letting go of Kazuki.
"What was that…?" Kazuki panted, looking at the remains of the Mask 'It was like back in the well when I felt some some kind of energy when Mistress Centipede was going to attack me.', but he didnt think much else of it because Inuyasha and Sota arrived.
"Looks like you already took care of things" Inuyasha said, looking at Kazuki while Sota ran over to him.
"Oh! You destroyed the Mask!" Sota exclaimed.
"Yeah…" Kazuki replied with a weak laugh as he walked over and picked up the jewel shard the Mask had and put it in the bottle wincing slightly in pain before he looked at his hand, which was still bloody. 'Oh yeah, I was so busy running for my life that I forgot how much this hurt.'
Inuyasha then grabbed his hand before she took a look at it.
"Inuyasha?" Kazuki asked.
"Hmm..." Inuyasha hummed before she tore off a strip of cloth from her sleeve, then began to wrap it around Kazuki's hand, causing the boy to look a bit embarrassed.
"There," Inuyasha said as she finished tying a knot on the makeshift bandage. "That should do it."
"Thanks, I guess…" Kazuki replied , but then noticed the sun rising up, "Shoot! It's morning already and I still haven't studied for my test.." he said before running down the flight of stairs.
"H-hey, where are you going?!" Inuyasha asked.
"I gotta get ready for school, could take Sota back for me?" He shouted as he disappeared going down the stairs leaving a confused Inuyasha and Sota standing there.
Later that afternoon, through some miracle Kazuki, had managed to get through the math exam and after a trip to the convenience store, he made it back home, filled up his backpack with some essentials, such as notebooks, textbooks, some extra clothes, three bags of potato chips for Inuyasha, and some cups of instant ramen. His friends did ask about the bandaged hand, but he told them not to worry about it, that he just cut his hand while cleaning the shrine.
"You're leaving already?" Sota asked.
"Yeah, I gotta get going," Kazuki replied as he slung the backpack over his shoulder. "I was gonna wait till tomorrow, but I think I better go now. Besides, I don't have anything else to do here for right now, anyway. See you later, Sota, Mom will be back from the hospital with Grandpa in a little while."
"Right," Sota nodded.
As Kazuki opened the Well House he found Inuyasha waiting for him leaning against the wall with her arms crossed looking to the side.
"I thought you would have gone back by now." Kazuki stated.
"I was waiting for those dried potatoes you promised me, nothing else." Inuyasha scoffed
"Oh really? Or was because of something else?" Kazuki teased.
"It was nothing else and that's that," Inuyasha replied as she walked over to the well. "Come on. We got things to do and shards to hunt."
"Yeah, I know" Kazuki said reaching into the backpack and tossing a bag of chips to Inuyasha, who caught them.
"So...how's your hand?" Inuyasha asked.
"Gee, you sure contradict yourself a lot, but It's fine now, If you really want to know, I disinfected the cuts already, so there's no reason to be concerned. It should heal in a few days." Kazuki said looking at the makeshift bandage Inuyasha had made that was on his hand before joining the half demons side."Lets go."
With that, they both jumped into the well, returning to the Feudal Era, once more.