16 A Perfectly Normal Family

  [Player: Kazuki Arata]

  [Level: 4]

  [Waza: Minor Blessing, Black Hand, Thread Cutter, Aura Sense, Dark Rider, Retribution, Eviscerate]

  [Kegare: 32%]

  ---

  The villagers' eyes followed them like knives.

  Kazuki leaned heavily on Suzume, his blood staining her Water Lily Cloak. Each movement sent waves of pain through his side where Karaba's blade had struck. The kegare beneath his skin pulsed in rhythm with his shallow breathing, black veins visibly fighting to knit his flesh together.

  Fleet scurried ahead, his ears flattened and tail tucked - not from fear, but from the weight of glares sent their way. A child threw a rock. It missed but barely.

  "We need shelter. Now," Suzume hissed, adjusting Kazuki's arm over her shoulders. Blood dripped steadily onto the muddy path.

  Fleet skidded to a stop, whirling back to look at them. His ears perked forward as his eyes darted from the villagers to his companions. Suddenly, they widened and he grinned.

  "I have an idea! Do you like playing pretend?"

  "Pretend?" Kazuki coughed, wincing as the motion tugged at the gash in his side.

  "Yes! Like… a family!" Fleet's tail began to wag, scattering raindrops. "You two can be my parents! No one's scared of perfectly normal families!"

  Suzume stared. "You want us to… what?"

  But Fleet was already concentrating, his small form trembling. His hands began to glow, and he frowned in concentration - something neither of them had ever seen him do.

  "I think I can... just need to..." Fleet muttered. To their astonishment, threads of golden Reishin, not the usual human silver, began spiraling from his fur, weaving around them.

  "Fleet, what are you—" Suzume began...

  The magic settled over them like a warm blanket, and Kazuki watched in wonder as Suzume's blood-splattered magical cloak transformed into a plain cotton shawl. His own tattered, crimson-soaked shirt shimmered and became a traveler's worn jacket, the wounds beneath hidden from view though the pain remained. Fleet himself underwent the most dramatic change; his sharp fox accented features melting into the round cheeks of a perfectly normal human child, though his eyes remained amber.

  "Ta-da!" Fleet grabbed their hands with confidence. "Now we're a perfectly normal family getting out from the rain! Let's go, Mom and Dad!"

  The villagers' suspicion visibly softened to pity as Fleet dragged them toward the inn, babbling loudly about "scary lightning" and "needing warm soup." Kazuki noticed how the technique faltered occasionally - his ears briefly flashing fox-like before correcting, the illusion wavering whenever Fleet's concentration broke.

  By the time they reached the weathered building, even the old innkeeper relented, though her eyes lingered suspiciously on Kazuki's pallor.

  "One night," she said finally. "And keep the boy quiet."

  The room was cramped, its tatami mats old and smelling of mildew. Kazuki collapsed onto the futon instantly, his breathing shallow as the illusion finally dropped. Fleet dropped to sit next to him just as fast.

  "That was... harder than I thought," the fox admitted.

  Suzume knelt beside Kazuki, peeling back his shirt to examine the wounds.

  "The bleeding's slowed," she murmured, "but these aren't normal healings."

  Black veins spiderwebbed from each injury, the flesh beneath glossy and alien. When she pressed a finger to his ribs, the skin yielded like overripe fruit, and the Kegare beneath pulsed in response, as if greeting her touch.

  "Is it reishin?" Fleet asked, peering over her shoulder despite his obvious exhaustion.

  "No." Suzume's voice tightened. "This is the kegare. It's… rewriting him."

  Kazuki laughed weakly. "Karaba was right. I am unclean."

  "Stop." Suzume's face was tense and her eyes closed. "You're alive. That's what matters."

  But her voice shook.

  Fleet spoke in a small voice, "Why's everyone so mad? Karaba's your brother, right? Brothers are supposed to fight, aren't they?"

  Suzume's shoulders stiffened. "He wasn't always like this. When we were children, he'd sneak persimmons from the shrine offerings for me. He'd take the blame when I did something wrong." Her voice softened to nearly a whisper. "He used to call me Little Stream..."

  "And now?" Kazuki asked quietly.

  "Now he's… a weapon. A dutiful weapon." She looked down at her hands, as if seeing Karaba's blood on them. "And I betrayed him for you."

  "You yelled that you hated him," Kazuki said.

  "I hate that he won't listen!" She slammed the salve jar down, the sound echoing like a gunshot. "He's so busy being the 'noble guardian' that he's forgotten how to see."

  Kazuki looked away from Suzume. "I've got to get to the Grand Shrine. I can get past him."

  "Maybe. But no. No. We can't fight him again," Suzume said as she finished with Kazuki's wounds. "I won't let you kill each other."

  The memory of Karaba's cold eyes flashed through Kazuki's mind - the absolute conviction, the promise of death. His stomach knotted with dread. Kazuki sat up, ignoring the protest of his muscles. "Then what? Turn back?

  "No. We find another way."

  "There is no other way. The stairs are the only path—"

  "What about the back door?" Fleet interjected.

  Both turned. The fox-child grinned, his human disguise long faded and his eyes bright despite the obvious drain of his earlier magic. "What if there's a secret way? A back door!"

  "There's no 'back door' to a sacred shrine," Suzume said, but her tone lacked conviction.

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  "Says who? Temples have side entrances for deliveries! Maybe the Grand Shrine has a… a monkey entrance!"

  Kazuki blinked. "A what?"

  "Monkeys!" Fleet bounced to his feet. "They're everywhere on the mountain! They see everything. We can just ask them!"

  Suzume pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fleet, what are you talking about? We can't talk to monkeys."

  Silence. Fleet was grinning.

  "You can… talk to monkeys?" Kazuki exchanged a skeptical look with Suzume.

  Fleet tilted his head. "Can't you?"

  "No!" Kazuki said. He was sitting up on his own, wounds tender but closed.

  Suzume sighed. "Fleet, these aren't just any monkeys. If they're mountain macaques, they might be Sarugami servants—monkey spirits that guard sacred places. They're tricksters and thieves, not guides."

  "Exactly!" Fleet's tail wagged frantically. "Tricksters know ALL the best shortcuts!"

  "Sarugami? I thought those were just stories." Kazuki said.

  "Many things you thought were 'just stories' have tried to kill us recently," Suzume reminded him dryly. "The Sarugami serve the mountain gods. They're... unpredictable at best."

  "But worth a try?" Kazuki asked, meeting her eyes. "Unless you'd rather face your brother again?"

  Suzume held his gaze for a long moment, conflict written plainly on her face. Finally, she looked away.

  "Maybe I should... but... fine," she muttered. "If we end up as monkey dinner, I'm blaming both of you in the afterlife."

  The rain had slowed to a drizzle when they slipped into the forest, Fleet's simple concealment charm masking them as villagers fetching firewood. Kazuki's wounds throbbed but he could move on his own now.

  "Monkeys are easy," Fleet explained as they trudged through mud. "Just give them shiny things and say nice stuff about their hair!"

  "Their hair?" Suzume muttered.

  "They're vain! Like someone we know." Fleet winked at Kazuki.

  "I am not vain!"

  They found the troop near a dried out stream. A dozen snow macaques huddled on rocks, their fur fluffed against the early spring cold. But even from a distance, Kazuki could see these were no ordinary monkeys. Their eyes gleamed with intelligence, and several wore crude necklaces of stone and bone.

  The largest, a scar-faced male with silver fur, rose to his full height as they approached, baring yellowed teeth. The others formed a protective circle, chattering warnings.

  Fleet stepped forward, his small form trembling with excitement and maybe fear. He bowed deeply, ears flat against his head in submission.

  "Konkon! Your fur is magnificent, oh mighty king of the Sarugami!" he chirped, adding a flourish that made several of the younger monkeys titter.

  The lead monkey paused mid-scratch, tilting his head curiously. He made a series of rapid gestures that seemed nonsensical to Kazuki but had Fleet nodding vigorously.

  "Bring tribute!" Fleet whispered over his shoulder. "Something shiny! Uh...!" Panicking, Fleet yanked the Luminescent Marble from his pocket - the bioluminescent orb D had given him. It pulsed faintly in his palm, casting eerie shadows across the forest floor.

  "Fleet, that's yours—" he began, but Fleet cut him off.

  "It's fine! They need something special."

  Fleet held out the marble. It glowed brightly and started warming quickly in his hand. The lead monkey approached cautiously, his movements graceful despite his age. He inspected the offering, circling Kazuki with undisguised curiosity.

  Then, in a blur of silver fur, he snatched the marble, held it aloft, and shrieked in delight. It's light flickered and went dim. The troop erupted into chaos, swarming to admire their leader's new prize, chattering and hooting in what seemed like approval.

  The leader settled on a high rock, cradling the marble like a precious egg. His eyes, startlingly human, fixed on Kazuki.

  "Now ask!" Fleet urged, though Kazuki noticed the fox's legs were trembling with fatigue.

  Kazuki hesitated, feeling foolish. "Uh… We seek the Grand Shrine. A path unseen by guardians. Do you… know one?"

  For a long moment, the macaque simply stared. Then, with deliberate slowness, he raised a gnarled finger and pointed upstream. A series of complex hoots and barks followed, which Fleet translated with growing excitement.

  "Follow the tears of the stone mother."

  "Tears of the… stone mother?" Suzume echoed, skepticism plain in her voice.

  The monkey placed the marble carefully in a pouch hanging from his neck, then leaped down. With surprising gentleness, he took Kazuki's hand and mimicked water flowing from his eyes, then pointed again upstream. He pantomimed walking.

  Fleet's ears perked forward. "He says there's a waterfall shaped like a weeping woman upstream. Behind it is a cave that leads to the upper shrine.

  "And after that, there's something... I don't know. They're calling it the 'Sky Road.' But I don't know what they mean." The chief monkey chattered again at Fleet, who turned back to Kazuki and Suzume, "And best of all, Konkon will be our guide! He said he'll show us the way so we don't get lost. Tomorrow morning he'll meet us here."

  The macaque leader chittered approvingly, then made a shooing motion. His troop immediately scattered, vanishing into the trees with startling quickness - all except for one small female who lingered, studying Fleet with obvious fascination.

  "Did we just... make an alliance with monkey spirits?" Kazuki asked, bewildered.

  Fleet beamed, though his exhaustion was becoming more apparent. "No, we made friends! Much better!"

  The small female monkey darted forward suddenly, pressing something into Fleet's paw before disappearing after her troop. Fleet opened his paw to reveal a small, polished acorn cap.

  "See? Friends!"

  Back at the inn, Suzume bandaged Kazuki's wounds again by lamplight. The kegare had darkened the skin around each gash but the damage had healed at unnerving speed.

  Fleet lay nearby, no longer snoring but passed out cold, his small body finally succumbing to the enormous magical exertion of the day. The acorn cap was still in his hand.

  "He pushed himself too hard," Suzume murmured, glancing at the fox. "That illusion... I've never seen him do anything like it before."

  "He found his strength when we needed it most," Kazuki replied, wincing as she applied a bitter-smelling salve to the skin above the closed wounds. "Like you did on the stairs."

  Her hands stilled immediately. Then, silence.

  "You shouldn't have kicked Karaba off the stairs," Kazuki said quietly.

  Her eyes flashed up to his. For a moment, she looked ready to argue, then her shoulders slumped and she sighed.

  "He would have killed you."

  "And that's worse than him hating you?"

  "Yes."

  Kazuki caught her wrist. "You care about him."

  She tried to yank free but he held firm. "Let go."

  "Not until you admit it. You love him."

  "Of course I do!" she burst out, then immediately covered her mouth, glancing at Fleet. The fox didn't stir. "He's my brother," she continued in a hoarse whisper. "We were raised together. He took care of me when we were little." Tears gathered in her eyes.

  She yanked free. "I care about both of you. That's the problem." Her voice broke. "If I see him again... I don't know what I'll do."

  The confession hung between them, fragile as the lamplight.

  "I'm afraid of him," Kazuki admitted suddenly. "Not just for what he can do to me, but for what facing him again will do to you."

  Suzume looked up, surprise evident through her tears.

  "We'll find a way," he continued. "Without blood."

  [Kegare: 28%]

  "How?"

  He nodded to Fleet, curled limply on the floor, the acorn cap now askew. "By finding the back door."

  Suzume followed his gaze. "He called you 'Dad' earlier. You know that, right?"

  Kazuki's lips quirked. "Better than 'Cursed Prince.'" His expression softened. "I never thought I'd have a family again. Not after..." He trailed off, his hand moving unconsciously to the Crimson Scale.

  He nodded. "And now I have... this. A fox who thinks I'm his father. A shrine maiden who stood up for me." Despite the pain, he laughed softly.

  [Kegare: 22%]

  "A family?" Suzume said quietly, testing the word.

  "A perfectly normal family," Kazuki corrected with a half-smile.

  ---

  [New Achievement: Father Knows Best]

  [Next Chapter: The Monkey's Paw]

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  Would you trust a monkey?

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