Shounen Onmyouji Vol 9 Chapter 9.4

As Masahiro scanned the ocean's surface for tell tale ripples, his mind traveled back to the two children who longed so much for the mother than no longer remembered them, seeking warmth where not even a shred of familiarity remained. He blinked his eyes fighting back tears and gritted his teeth. He had accepted his own loss, the one he longed for so much would never return, but he could at the very least spare the children the same pain that gnawed at his heart. But deep in his heart, the cold tendrils of doubt remained. The death of the monster may not be enough to bring her back.

Masahiro gritted his teeth and narrowed is eyes on the oceans surface.

Nearby, Kouchin watched Masahiro and Narachika with the white mononoke at her side.

"....Kou,.... It's going to be alright for us to stand by?"

" At this point, an opponent of this level shouldn't be an issue. Given a little focus and concentration, Masahiro can handle this...... "

Kouchin crossed her arms and looked at the boy. The white mononoke however, lifted his head in surprise.

"Are'nt you referring to Narachika? "  

"No... Masahiro,.... Im referring to Masahiro. " She glanced meaningfully at the boy.

The white mononoke looked baffled.

....Masahiro? ..... So that was the boy's name...... His mind held fast to the name, examining it like a strange and alien thing until it slipped away again, leaving a strange and conspicuous hole in the fabric of his memory.

...But it was as Kouchin had pointed out, the child having obtained spirit sight from Narachika's spell seemed unusually dedicated and focused to the task at hand. It was as if he had been possesed by the spirit of battle, and determination and pa.s.sion radiated from the small frame. The white mononoke gaze felt drawn to him, the boy's aura radiated with focus, yet something strange caught his attention.

A vague sense of threat, diffuse and blurry,....but definitely present.

It was coming....... far away....but getting closer.........

The white mononoke's eyes snapped wide as he realized that the vague sense of threat he had sensed seconds ago was quickly condensing into a point..... targeted and traveling like an arrow in their direction.

In a flash, Rikugou's form flashed into existence beside Masahiro, who flinched in surprise. Between one breath and the next, and shining white object knifed through ocean's surface. In a smooth motion, Rikugo grabbed Masahiro, tearing him aside as the blur of white tore through the sand he had stood on moments ago, embedding itself deep in the sand.

It was a bone..... a human femur gnawed clean of tendon and flesh, a jagged break sharp at one end. For a split second, all eyes fell on it in horrified silence as without warning, the ocean's surface erupted behind them.

Unbidden, the waves churned violently, tearing into each other as the ocean seemed to roar, waves each growing higher and darker than the next, until a dark ma.s.s rose as one with the waves, towered before them and did not retreat, bearing down on the sh.o.r.eline like a tsunami with open jaws. Beneath it, the water seemed to roll higher, racing and twisting around the monster as it twisted to face the child on the sh.o.r.e.....

A rumbling tremor that seemed to issue from the water itself, as the water of the bay spiraled around the monster, spinning into blades of water that barreled toward Masahiro like a barrage of arrows.

Masahiro had looked up too late, his breath hitched in horror as the blades of water sliced toward the air towards him, before he was jerked aside by Rikugo. Before them, Genbu's mist barrier fell under the force, dissipating into the air.

The last water creature  that had taken shelter beneath the waves took advantage of the distraction, charging for the sh.o.r.eline, at the last minute, it turned, and twisted away from the horrified group racing headlong in the direction of the village.

"After him !!!! " Taiin was the first to react, her voice piercing the air as she grabbed hold of Narachika's sleeve.

"Im on it !! " Narachika screamed back as he shook his hand loose, turned and broke into a run.

But his long strides were broken into a sudden halt was Kouchin and the white mononoke appeared at his side.

"Touda!!"

The white mononoke frowned at his angry gaze. The once suppressed rage in Narachika's eyes now burned unchecked, lashing from his aura in angry swaths.

He hesitated for a moment before gritting out... "Although I am indeed intimidated by you, this is something I must say..... "

Narachika hesitated as the image of Masahiro's desperate eyes flashed into his mind. His plea, his resignation and his pain. The wounds that reopened every time he met his (touda's) eyes.

"Touda, your att.i.tude recently has been most deplorable. A month ago, your behavior was much better. "

Rage instantly flashed into the mononoke's crimson eyes, as Narachika's breath hitched at his furious gaze.  However, before anything else can be said, Kouchin interrupted.

"Leave this to me, you must get to the village quickly, there is no time to lose. "

Narachika look at Kouchin in surprise, and then he nodded, having understood. He turned and dashed off in the direction of the village with Taiin close behind him.



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"I haven't the slightest clue what he means...." the white mononoke muttered with barely suppressed rage. 

Kouchin simply shrugged at Touda, and and pulled her short sword from her belt.

"Kou... so... you dont think much of it either? " the white mononoke looked away.

"Things are different now." she replied without looking down.

The sun hung low on the horizon. Soon it would sink behind the moutains, casting the world in darkness. If twilight was the territory of the youkai, then night was their kingdom. Things were going to become very difficult if the monster cannot be vanquished before night falls. The white mononoke looked up in surprise as Kouchin turned and headed back toward Masahiro.

Under the protection of Rikugou and Genbu who fended off the blades of water, Masahiro looked for an opening to attack. Their cooperation was seamless, as though positions, attacks, and decisions were mutually understood and the three seemed to move as one against the endless barrage of water. Kouchin lept into the fray seamlessly, fighting along side the others as though she had always been there. But unbeknownst to the others, something was different. While her actions remained the same, her eyes will filled with sadness and anger.

The white mononoke watched, rooted to the spot. It was very strange, he hadn't even noticed the birth of this child, and now he fought along side the shinshou as though he had always been. Seimei's grandson he may be, but he was a complete stranger to Touda.

The white mononoke stood rooted to his spot on the sandbar, unable to tear his eyes away from the battle. Their seamless movements....they flawless cooperation...... the way they trusted him and acknowledged him through their actions.........

The realization trickled in slowly, condensing and gaining form.... there was something wrong..... something wrong with himself.... within the recesses of his mind something was missing.

The name that escaped him as soon as he had heard it, the face he couldn't recognize despite countless meetings..... the absence of this information left a strange feeling in his heart.

The white mononoke gritted his teeth..... why did everyone treat him as though they knew something?

Lost in thought, the white mononoke looked up too late at the alarmed cries and roar of water, as pillar of water plunged from the sky, engulfing them all, the sand bar and the sh.o.r.e in its descent.

It happened so fast he barely registered it, the fury of the impact seem to rip apart the world at its seams .....and then he was falling........falling away........










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Their first meeting had been at the end of spring, when out of the blue, the white mononoke fell from the branches of a tree, tumbling down at his feet with a dour expression.

...

The waves thundered around him, tearing at his ear drums. The briny water rushed into his mouth and burned into his lungs. Masahiro tried to scream at the searing pain.

Water.... had he been pulled under?.....

His eyes snapped wide as the surroundings came into focus, an endless field of churning water and debris. Panicked he clawed desperately at the water for a few moments before locating a faint red glow.

The last rays of the setting sun trickled through the surf. The sun was setting.... if this battle can not be ended before darkness fell then none of them would escape unscathed.

Masahiro kicked wildly, trying to tear away the sea weed that had entangled around him, dragging him down. The churning water had pulled up mud from the bottom of the bay, darkening the water completely obscuring his view of the surface.

Where were the shinshou? Genbu...... Rikugou....... Kouchin.......they should have been engulfed as well. Where were they now?

Masahiro looked around only to see darkness. Then, amidst the rushing of currents, a voice seemed to beckon to him, calling his name.....but there was nothing there.....

No... there was definitely something there. Masahiro realzed with a shock that the tendrils of seaweed encircling his body had seemed to writhe with an strength of their own. He hadn't noticed it in the muddy water before, but now it was obvious to him that it was part of the monster itself.

The realization flashed through his mind, followed immediately by the understanding that there was nothing that he could do, for there was only darkness before his eyes.

The spell marked on his forehead in ash had long washed away, and Masahiro felt the edges of his vision darken as his bonds grew tighter, the tendrils sliding around his neck.

His lungs burned, his chest burned, his stomach burned, this entire body was enveloped in a searing pain that grew worse with every pa.s.sing second. He was going into shock, falling away piece by piece until...... Unbidden, the events that led up to this moment flashed before his eyes. The shrine......two children. He wasnt so sure he would be able to do anything for them now........ his family..... he would never see them again.....the white flame he could never grasp or understand.

The torrent of memories seemed to take his pain away, and in the darkness of the bay, a sense of calm seem to overtake him.......

It didnt matter anymore......   his struggling ceased as the world bled away....... there was no one here anyway.

His eyes slowly dilated, the pupils expanding as the muscles relaxed, his vision slowly fading to nothingness. In his already darkened gaze, a fleeting glimpse of the monster appeared before his eyes, all s.h.a.ggy dark hair, with a strangely human face and hollow eyes, and a great mouth filled with jagged teeth.

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The vision of the monster seemed to trigger something in Masahiro's sluggish brain, and strangely something flashed in his eyes. His heart kicked erratically, struggling in his chest as a strangely familiar sound echoed in his ears. His mind struggled against the fog, trying to latch on to the sound and recall its source.

And then he found it. A youth spent pouring over texts, carving the names of G.o.ds and monsters into his mind. 

Gou Ookami..... the destroyer of souls, the eater of memories. He who revels in pain.


Masahiro choked as his last breath left him, a silver stream of bubbles that drifted lazily for the surface. The light in his eyes faded as his eyes slid shut.

As Gou Ookami turned to him, ready to engulf his limp body within its great smiling jaws, a flash of white appeared at his side.