"Park here," Mamoru said as they reached the base of a mountain about thirty miles west of Osaka.
"Glad dad had this jeep. We haven't seen a road in half an hour. Was this the reason you knew where they were," Tekeshi asked as he pulled the handbrake.
"There were many shinobi clans that had villages around Osaka. The wealth that passed through the city made it an attractive option, especially considering how petty and vindictive merchants can be when it comes to profit."
"That makes sense. It would also make sense given that it would be a good place to disappear to after a kidnapping. How far up the mountain do we need to go?"
Mamoru looked up, "About halfway there is a cave that will let out into a valley. The issue is that it isn't easy to approach by any other path. Save a cave that leads into the mountain about half a kilometer to the north at the base, and leading up to cavern where a well near the back of the village was made. It won't hold any water, but escape routes shouldn't."
The younger man snorted, "Clever, the deal is that most of the time they didn't want people coming back up. How are we supposed to make it up?"
"You brought that shotgun and blanks I asked for," was the reply as the older man pulled out a long rod that had a ring next to a series of hooks.
"I did, mostly because I wanted to know how absurd this was going to get. You do know that it is going to suck big time touching this thing off in a confined space?"
"Noise canceling headsets are a life-saver. I haven't told my wife the whole of what I was taught in my youth. Training as a swordsman meant that I accompanied the hunters as extra muscle that way they had someone to watch their backs. Grappling guns were a common tool working in ruins, sadly they were not like the ones batman used. "
Tekeshi suddenly thought of something, "Wait a minute, how did you even know that we had guns? It isn't like we had them out on display, let alone that we would have blank shells?"
"Oh, just something about how your mother held her shoulder told me. It is amazing what you can discern from how a person holds themselves. The blanks, that was just luck that you had them. It is probably going to take a couple of hours to get up there, we shouldn't delay any," grabbing the mentioned weapon, along with a katana, he started off.
Tekeshi fell in behind him with the sledgehammer. It didn't feel quite as good as Jakkasu, but given that the sword had been with Utsuki at the time of her abduction, well he just had to make do. He was hoping that he could find whomever had been driving so he could do some work on them in memory of his bike.
He hadn't exaggerated though on the time. The terrain took them nearly half an hour alone to make it to the entrance. It took at least the remaining hour and a half to make it up to the cavern, and led to a problem. A very big and ugly problem. Well ugly was a, relative, description. Apparently since none of the Shiraishi actually knew this place existed, it was a prime place for a set of Oni to set up.
Now Utsuki's father stood around five foot five, and Tekeshi six foot even. Both sisters appeared to be around seven and a half feet. How they had remained undiscovered was amazing, since from forty yards away Tekeshi could smell the sake on their breath. They hadn't noticed the two men, but that was only a matter of time, and when Oni sisters saw men they only had two things on their mind, booze and sex.
"Well, this makes my hips hurt. What are they even doing here? Wait a minute, I know them," he said suddenly realizing it.
"You know them? How would you know them," Mamoru asked not believing it.
"Hey Akane, Aoi," Tekeshi hollered out before the human could stop him.
The two large women matched their names, with one being red, and the other blue. He wouldn't have recognized them if it wasn't for the necklaces they wore with their names on them. They were absolutely physically identical when they appeared as humans. They were also the daughters of one of his father's secretaries when he was a child.
The blue one looked at her gourd bottle, "Hey Akane, either I am drunk more than usual, or I just heard someone call our names."
The red one looked over at her sister, "So it wasn't just me. Aoi, there is no way, we came out here to drink specifically because there isn't anyone out here."
"Look over here," Tekeshi said as he started walking towards them.
The sisters saw him, "Wow, he is really cute. If only we both weren't engaged, though they wouldn't know would they," Aoi said as she saw him.
"Oh my god, that the Aono boy. I know that feeling anywhere. Tekeshi, you aren't tiny anymore, " Akane said as she rushed over and scooped him up in a hug.
"Good to see you too, but please stop crushing my spine," Oni are really damn strong, especially red ones.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. You are almost as big as we are now, what are doing in this kind of dark , dank place. You aren't looking for a place to get soused are you, we have plenty of sake if you are, just don't tell your parents."
"You don't know that your drinking spot is under a village that is currently occupied by a clan of yokai hunters, do you?"
"Oh, hey Aoi, that would explain the weird noises the last few nights. Wait, few nights. Oh no, how long have we been here? Gunther and Craig must be worried. We need to get back, oh no. Tekeshi, it is so good to see you, but our fiances didn't know we were going to be gone this long, and we have no cell service out here. Be safe, and keep in touch," and with that they ran off.
"You have to be kidding me. That kind of luck isn't even possible in a video game," Mamoru said as he walked up beside the vampire.
"They used to babysit me and my cousins years ago. You know, it isn't relevant to anything right now, but they may be the source of my prudishness. Oni, can be somewhat clothing optional. Anyways, I am guessing that square of light is where I need to aim," he said as he took the shotgun from the older man and opened the chamber to load a blank in.
"Should be. I mean, there aren't exactly that many sources of light down here. I guess they probably had a large straw pile down here hundreds of years ago, but that must have completely rotted away. Anyone jumping down here now, probably won't escape anyone in a rapid manner," he said as he slotted the grappling hook down the barrel and pulled a headset over his ears.
Tekeshi took aim at one wall of the well above them, and fired as he slowly let out a breath. The hook apparently had some spring loaded fins that unlocked from the rapid acceleration and kept it true as it exited the cavern. Tekeshi quickly grabbed the cable that was attached and gave it a yank. The hook lost velocity and fell against the outside of the well, hooking firm as he gave it another good jerk.
"You think anyone up there heard it? A ten gauge is not quiet, and is a bit of a mule even for me," Tekeshi said as he rolled his shoulder, a little bit stung from the massive recoil of what was almost a cannon.
"I doubt it. The well was near a mausoleum. There isn't much soft ground to bury notable people, so all the lower people were cremated and great leaders were entombed. It actually resembles how they performed the rites in some European nations. After what happened years ago, they would most likely avoid any place that could have an evil spirit or monster bound to it. I know I have tried the best I could," Mamoru replied as he started climbing.
Tekeshi watched the man climb as he reached into a pocket on his jacket and pulled out a few shotgun shells. He loaded them in, hoping that he really didn't have to use them. He would, and he probably wouldn't feel bad about it. He really wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of a load of #4 buckshot from one of those shells. As soon as he finished he followed up.
Reaching the top he came over and dropped into a crouch, nearly breaking a rib with the handle of the sledgehammer that he had awkwardly hanging from his belt. It had ridden all the way from the bottom of the mountain, to this point, without a single problem. Now it was trying to hurt him.
"Keep low, and slow until we can get further in. Watch any windows, if there is even a chance someone is looking out, we find another way. It looks like they haven't fully modernized the houses, so they are still using a large number of generators, so that will give us some cover on noise in some areas. Don't fire that damn thing unless there is no other choice. If possible I don't want anyone to die. They may have wronged me, but they are all that remains of my family, and regardless of how she may feel, Utsuki's. However my uncle, if he is still alive, I kill him."
Tekeshi nodded slowly, "Understood. I'm usually more of the run in and bust skulls kind of operator, but we do it your way. Do you know where they would most likely keep her?"
"Either in the main temple, or in a cage outside of it. This time of year they don't have to worry about her dying from exposure. They also would make sure she didn't die of dehydration or hunger until they would decide to execute her, and remembering how long it took them to do anything like that until my case, she is still ok. I don't know how easy it will be to get her out of here, so if things come to people dying, that is most likely be when it starts."
"Well, should we wait until nighttime when most of them will be asleep? The fewer eyes open the better," Tekeshi asked as he slung the shotgun on his back.
"Were they normal people yes. There is nothing normal about real yokai hunters. Even now I can barely sleep more than three or four hours a night. Which is amazing considering most of the bosses I had before I went to the states. We slept in a series of shifts so that there would always be a large number of people awake. I don't know how far that goes back, but it was way before my parents were born. I don't have a good count on how many survived, but it was at least a hundred people. I won't tell you how many lived in my village before that night," his tone made it clear that was the end of the subject.
They kept close to walls and chose to move along any that lacked windows, which was luckily all of them. The houses had to have been several hundreds of years old, but were in amazing condition, probably from the remote and protected location. They did avoid doors, the only openings to the outside.
"I don't know that I have ever seen any house that lacked windows like this," Tekeshi whispered under his breath.
"It is odd, but these were the homes of shinobi, they may have wanted to maintain strict entry into them, while having well concealed emergency exits. I don't think we have passed any that are occupied though, I don't hear any activity close, but I can hear some generators going up ahead. Just keep your eyes and ears open," was the reply as they continued.
As they moved forward they started hearing people. It seemed like quite a few all in one location. More to the center of the village than anywhere else. There was one voice that seemed to have a great volume, but they were too far away to make out what the person was saying. It didn't bode well with how excited it was.
'Hey is that you Master?'
'Jakkasu, where are you and what the hell is happening,' Tekeshi was relieved to hear the weapon in his mind.
'They have the girl and the demon tied to posts half naked, half starved, and are trying to force them to join them. They have the demon bound with a talisman around her wrists."
'How do they have them tied? Hands behind or above?'
'Above, why,' the sword didn't understand why the question was being asked.
'Is the seal where I would be able to cut through it with a thrown knife," he clarified.
'Yeah, I think you could. Especially with your talent for it. What would that achieve though? If the demon could do anything she would have, even the girl hasn't been able to get her power to work.'
Tekeshi took a breath, ''Suki's power comes from Deesseedra. If Deesseedra is sealed, then most likely 'Suki is as well. If I can cut the seal, it should lose power, and let Deesseedra start causing some trouble.'
"Oh, that makes sense. Also if you keep moving the direction you are, there is a very greasy person that decided to claim me. It is horrible, and he smells like fermented milk.'
"Mr. Shiraishi. I am close enough to my blade to feel it and communicate with it. They have them tied to posts in the center square, not in good condition. They have the demon bound to 'Suki sealed, I may be able to damage it if I can see it," he let the older man know.
"Anything would help. Wait, you can talk to your sword? How? That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, and I thought that my childhood was strange. Come on, we can't be too far now."
'Hey, if you can break the seal, it might trigger that state you told me about. I mean they definitely mean her harm at this point.'
'That could get messy, but I don't think it would be avoidable,' he replied to the blade.
They reached the center, and were appalled. The two girls were dirty, their hair caked with substances that they didn't want identified, and they had definitely lost weight. A tall man with bald patches in his hair was yelling at Utsuki.
"WHY DO YOU REFUSE TO JOIN YOUR RIGHTFUL FAMILY? WHY WILL YOU NOT TAKE YOUR PLACE TO CLEANSE THESE LANDS? DO YOU TRULY NOT VALUE YOUR LIFE, OR DO YOU ENJOY THIS TREATMENT," his voice could only be considered malice incarnate.
Mamoru took one look at him and shook his head, "Time has not been kind to him in any way. This, this is beyond anything I would have thought him capable of. He truly is an evil man, if he would treat anyone of his blood like this. Where did you get that knife?"
"My boot," Tekeshi said as he was judging the distance to the post that Deesseedra was tied to.
"Why did you have a knife in your boot?"
"I always have a knife on me."
"Even at your school?"
"Especially at our school."
"I am really regretting letting her go there now."
"Out of your hands, you did sign her guardianship over to my family. I won't lie, even under the auspices of that curse, it is unforgivable that you didn't fight back against it."
"Would you have rather she lost her parents because we refused, because that was the feeling that we were getting when we signed the papers, and neither of you did anything to make us feel any other way."
"Maybe so, I doubt I would understand until I was in the same situation. Here goes nothing," he said as he let the knife fly.
"THIS IS THE LAST NIGHT THAT WE WILL GIVE YOU THE CHANCE TO REPENT AND JOIN. IF YOU REFUSE ANY FURTHER WE SHALL BURN YOU, AND SEAL THE DEMON UNTIL WE HAVE ONE STRONG ENOUGH TO CONTRACT WITH HER. WHAT," he stumbled as the knife flashed past his nose, taking the ends of the tiny hairs that grew on in it off, and sliced through the seal.
"MAMORU, THAT WAS YOU WASN'T IT. I KNEW YOU WOULD COME FOR ME ONE DAY. SOMEONE BRING ME MY SWORD."
"Oh shut the hell up. I have spent the last week listening to you, SHOUT, like a complete cyka that is on their period. Oh, my shoulders are stiff as a god damn board. Oh, Lovely Mistress, lets get you down from there," Deesseedra said as she stretched herself.
"BACK DEMON, OR YOU SHALL WISH FOR YOUR DEATH."
"Oh just, why must you yell Soon To Be Corpse. As soon as I have my Lovely Mistress seen to, I will deal with you."
"He is mine," Tekeshi hadn't seen Mamoru leave his side.
The man stood with his sword naked, and a resolute look directed at his uncle. Tekeshi moved past him to the stage to see to the girls, but knew that this was going to be, at the least a fight. He wasn't exactly aware of how good a bladesman either man was.