112th Spell: Rattling Sound

The next day, Haru went to Bakotsu Riding with a surprising amount of confidence in his stride that caught Gaane and Fuyou off-guard.

"You know today's the last day to prove our Mom wrong, right?" Gaane said to Haru.

"Uh-huh," Haru said.

"And you're not bothered by that?" Fuyou added.

"Nope!" Haru answered.

Then Basha brought out the Bakotsus like he did the first day Haru started his riding lessons. While the Wataka siblings went to their respective Bakotsu, Haru approached Takitsuke calmly. Unlike the previous days, Takitsuke was less cautious and allowed Haru to get onto his saddle.

"All right, Takitsuke," Haru said as he stroked the small Bakotsu's neck bones. "Let's show these guys what we're worth."

Haru pulled the Dragon-hide reins, causing Takitsuke to trot ahead of the Wataka siblings down the beach. They soon caught up to him, including Gyoku who looked so small on top of Moeru's gigantic body.

"Looks like you've managed to not fall off so far," Fuyou remarked. "But let's make this more interesting, shall we?"

Gaane nodded and used a Dragon-hide riding stick to slap Takitsuke's tailbone. This made Takitsuke rear up in surprise, which made Haru nearly fall off. But he held on even as Takitsuke's trot turned into a full gallop. All around Haru, the world seemed to blur as he saw nothing but flames igniting from Takitsuke.

"Calm down, Takitsuke!" Haru shouted, trying to pull the reins to get the little Bakotsu to stop.

But no matter how hard he pulled, Takitsuke wouldn't listen. This made Haru increasingly frustrated to the point of anger. He heard the mysterious rattling sound in his head again, followed by a brief chest pain.

"If you don't slow down now, I will break every bone in your worthless body," Haru suddenly said in an unusually cold tone of voice.

Takitsuke flinched and came to an abrupt stop. As Haru got his bearings, he saw another Bakotsu trot up beside him. It was Meru, and she was riding a Bakotsu that was as tall as Moeru with black-tinted flames.

"Are you all right, Ryuji-kun?" Meru asked Haru, looking mildly concerned.

"I think so," Haru said, avoiding eye-contact with Meru. "Gaane used her riding stick to make Takitsuke gallop really fast, but I somehow stopped him."

"Did you now?" Meru raised an eyebrow. "It takes a strong will to make a Bakotsu stop when they're fully galloping, so I'm impressed you were able to do it."

"T-Thank you, Lady Meru," Haru nodded.

Meanwhile, the black-flamed Bakotsu that Meru was riding touched its skull head against Takitsuke's skull head who snorted in comfort.

"All right, Hinotama, that's enough," Meru said, steering her Bakotsu's head away from Takitsuke's. "My Bakotsu acts like a mother to all the other Bakotsus, especially when she senses that they're stressed."

"It's probably my fault," Haru admitted. "During Takitsuke's gallop, I said something awful to him and I think that's what made him stop."

"What did you say?"

"Um, I…don't remember the exact words. But it was something along the lines of hurting him. I didn't mean to say it, though."

"You were in a stressful situation, so it's natural to get angry and say things you don't mean. I wouldn't take it personally if I were you. And as long as you apologize, Takitsuke should forgive you."

Surprised by Meru's genuinely helpful advice, Haru looked down at Takitsuke and rubbed his neck bones gently. "I'm so sorry about what I said, Takitsuke. Especially since you were nice to me today, and I don't want you feel like I've abandoned your trust or anything like that. Can we still be friends?"

Takitsuke snorted and bowed his head, which Haru interpreted to mean he accepted Haru's apology. So he steered Takitsuke to turn around and walk back to Rui and the others while Meru followed alongside on Hinotama's back.

Later that night, Gaane and Fuyou were punished for messing with Takitsuke by being sent to their rooms without dinner. Though Haru thought Meru's decision was cruel, he decided not to question her especially after gaining her respect with how he stopped Takitsuke mid-gallop despite his mixed feelings about the situation. He was more concerned about why he sounded unnatural in that moment, as it reminded him of when Warumo used Kotodama to make him act like Orochimaru during the Jiraiya the Gallant play and had no control over his words or actions. Because of this, he was silent during dinner and afterward when he was getting ready for bed in his room. But just before he was about to tuck into his bed, he heard a knock at his door.

"Who is it?" Haru asked.

"It's me," responded Rui's voice.

So Haru immediately got up and opened the sliding door to his room.

"Did you hear Warumo's voice again?" Rui asked before Haru could speak.

This caught Haru off-guard. "What gave you that idea?"

"Based on what little you said about being able to stop Takitsuke, I immediately thought about the Jiraiya play and how you acted like a different person with no control over yourself. So I thought maybe you heard Warumo's voice in your head just like the other times he used Kotodama on you."

"There's only one problem, though. I didn't hear Warumo's voice during the play, and I didn't hear him today…."

"Odd."

"However, I did hear a rattling noise in my head which was immediately followed by my chest hurting slightly."

Rui looked confused. "What kind of rattling noise?"

"Like, the noise rattlesnakes make with their tails to scare off enemies."

"Are there rattlesnakes in Japan?"

"No, I don't think so. They mostly live in North America."

"Then how do you know what a rattlesnake sounds like?"

"I saw them at the zoo in Kyoto when I lived with my Manai family."

"Oh, I see. Is this the first time you've heard this rattling noise?"

"No, I've heard it at least two other times. One was during the play, and the other time it happened when I got angry."

This made Rui look astray with concern. "I don't know what this means…."

"Neither do I," Haru said, feeling even more uneasy than he already was. "Maybe it's a sign that my birthmother's protective seal is weakening."

"I hope that's not the case. There's got be a way to strengthen your mother's seal, and my family's library might have the answers we're looking for."

To be continued…