And now, all of my stories have hit 20 chapters. I'm releasing this bonus chapter early since I wanted to keep all of my stories at the same number of chapters, and after splitting one of the chapters of At the Water's Edge in half, it meant that one story was running ahead of the others. Balance has now been restored.
I still haven't had a chance to edit the published chapters. I swear I'm getting to it. So there are probably a few typos, a bit of inconsistency, and definitely missing footnotes (including this chapter), but I know, I'm aware, that will be fixed soon.
Thanks for reading. Please give the story a rating if you're enjoying it. We're not even half way yet, so I hope you'll join me for the remainder.
They sat side by side on the bed, not touching, but close enough.
“We've... done some, honestly, pretty shitty things to each other.”
“I believe that what I did was worse.”
“Believe all you like, but I literally drove you insane.”
“You didn't mean it, though.”
“So? It doesn't change the fact that I hurt you.”
“I hurt you too.”
“We're just going to go around in circles, aren't we?”
Something that was almost a laugh escaped from Tsubaki's lips, but she sobered quickly. “The eighth...”
“It was Rei. Of course it was Rei. Not that I knew at the time, but I recognised his voice now. He was angry that I kept going back to you.”
“Why do you keep coming back to me?”
“Fucked if I know.”
Tsubaki jabbed a hand into Eitsu's ribs and she wriggled like a landed fish.
“Ack! Don't do that!”
“I'm asking seriously.”
“I think there's a couple of things,” Eitsu said, rubbing her side. “In my second life, you said you followed white butterflies to find me, didn't you?”
“Also... also the third. A-and...”
“And? Come on, I think we know exactly what we've done to each other, and yet we're both still here, talking. Is there something else you want to confess to?”
“And your fourth.”
“And after that?”
“They stopped helping me.” Tsubaki's voice was softer and more gentle than Eitsu had heard in this life. “Well... they let me deliver the jujube to you in your fifth. I had some idea, by that time, of what that... Rei could do.”
“And then they came to me instead.”
“When? How?”
“In the sixth. I didn't just dance up to your doorstep by coincidence. And the seventh, I think. Not that I could see them.”
“I... I see.”
“Hm? You seem kind of disappointed.”
“No, not at all. I just... being who you are, I thought it was luck.”
“Wasn't it a kind of luck? I made it to you twice before that person got to me. Although my eighth life... How did he find me? Do you know anything about shinigami, my priestess?”
“No, only what was spoken about in the meeting.”
“I might have to go and find someone who does, then.”
“You're not leaving, are you?” Tsubaki's voice had been dry and almost disinterested during their conversation, but now it took on that same hysterical edge that had tinged it only a few days before.
“Not yet. I need to get a little stronger first.” Eitsu considered her fingers thoughtfully. Her forearms felt tight and sore. “Before I looked at my previous lives, I felt... scattered. I didn't know who I was. Sometimes I would be angry for no reason. I always felt hungry for something... food... people... And now I...”
“Now?”
“I'm still hungry. I wonder what's for dinner.”
Tsubaki shrugged.
“You're supposed to be all cute and say 'Me~'”
“Get out.”
Eitsu laughed and flopped down. “Ahhhh, I'm still tired. What to do, sleep or eat? Why can't I do both at the same time?”
The sounds of the Hanasan disciples floated up to them through the open window.
“I'm tired too. I've had enough. Enough struggling.” She looked at Eitsu. “If you're going to die again, let me know as soon as possible, okay? I think I'm ready to have a meal at the hearth of the Underworld, Yomi1黄泉.”
“Wow, seriously? You could just kick me out of your life and find some nice human to settle down with.”
“It's too late for that.”
“Alright, I'll let you know then.”
“That's very kind of you, considering what I've done to you...”
Eitsu bumped her head against Tsubaki's shoulder. “I've already punished you for that, twice, and I think you've been punishing yourself ever since. More than I could. Be good to me from now on, okay, my priestess?”
“Of course, Eitsu-sama.”
“Start by not masquerading as a vengeful ghost. Your current attitude is creepier than an onryo2怨霊 ghost woman.”
“I'll think about it, Eitsu-sama.”
“You'll scare the kids.”
“You're scarier, kami-sama.”
“You've become very sarcastic, my priestess.”
“And you've always been sarcastic, my kami.”
“Would you have a moment in your busy schedule of existential angst and sarcasm to come for a walk with me?”
“I might be able to fit it in. Where do you want to go?”
“To find Tai-san.”
They found him in the Hanasan library, surrounded by piles of scrolls. He rubbed his dry eyes as they came in.
“Oh, good morning, good morning. Have you eaten yet? Are you feeling better today?”
“I've accepted that life is suffering,” Tsubaki said blandly.
“Don't mind her, she's just being dramatic,” Eitsu said cheerfully. “I could eat something.”
“Right... One moment.” Tai Kikuryuu said a few words to one of the library assistants and returned. “They'll bring some food shortly. Here, take a seat. I've been trying to find all the information we have on shinigami and kitsune that is in our library.”
They drew chairs up to a table, and he began to sort through the scrolls.
“Here. This one is an account of an encounter with a kitsune, or hú li jīng, as they are called here. About one hundred years ago, a Queen of Shísuàn3石蒜 - Red Spider Lily, the country we're in now, was discovered to be a hú li jīng. A beautiful woman who seduced the King, she bound her feet to hide the fact that they were fox's paws. She loved animals, but was also very cruel, having a farmer's feet cut off to determine how he could walk barefoot in winter across snow and ice, and a pregnant woman's stomach cut open to see what she looked like inside. When the country began to suffer from the King's lack of attention, the demands for her death grew so great that she hanged herself before she could be executed.”
“Hanging... that's a slow way to die,” Tsubaki mused.
“There are quicker ways,” Eitsu agreed. “Ah, food!”
As a couple of junior disciples found space amidst the scrolls, their senior continued, “That story... It's also said that the Queen was originally an ordinary woman, but she was possessed by a hú li jīng who wanted to bring about the King's downfall, as he had offended the great Divine Empress Nǚwā4女娲. However, the Great Goddess was appalled by her cruelty, so after the death of the physical body, the fox's spirit was condemned.”
“And what did that involve?”
“It's not described.”
“Typical.”
“Here's another, this one from Yamato. A government official suffered from nightmares and unbearable fears. In order to cure himself, some wise women advised him to trap a local monk in an endless sleep-”
“What? Why?”
“That's not described either.”
“Who the heck wrote these accounts?”
“Ahem... Unfortunately for the official, a kitsune had fallen in love with the monk. After first trying and failing to rescue the monk from his eternal sleep, she seduced the official instead, encouraging him to burn all of his possessions, including his wife, concubines, house, and the clothes on his back, then she tore out one of his eyes.”
“Hey, doesn't Rei only have one eye? Did he upset someone enough for them to pull his eye out?”
“But he's the kitsune, remember?”
“Right, right... This pork is very tasty.”
“And another record: It is said that in one of the countries in the south, a King was hiding from an enemy army when he saw the body of a girl dressed in white, floating in a river. To help her spirit rest, he had her fished from the river and buried. Later, scouts from the enemy army almost discovered where he was hiding, but a white fox suddenly appeared, distracting them with its rare beauty. When he went to look at the place where the girl had been buried, there were fox's pawprints on the freshly turned earth.”
“So... seduction, and the ability to transform into humanoid form. We already knew this.”
“The last piece of information I have is probably the most useful. It was written by an ancestor of mine, my Great-aunt. Her name was Cheng Baak-hap5百合 (baak3 hap6) - 'Lily'., she was a disciple at Hanasan, and she visited the Kingdom of Zhū6珠 - pearl over one hundred years ago. The Kingdom used to lie to the south of Shísuàn, but it no longer exists.”
“What happened there?”
“The general consensus is that it collapsed from the inside due to the involvement of demons,” Tai Kikuryuu said. “But... I've read my Great-aunt's accounts of the place and it just doesn't make sense... In any case, there was a pine forest in the north of the country that contained a guardian spirit, a nine-tailed fox called Tsaam Lei7杉狸 (tsaam3 lei4) - 'Pine' 'Fox'.. I'll read what she wrote about him -
“'Tsaam Lei is a small and mischievous creature, as fast as lightning, although prone to be a little cowardly at times. It is hard to believe he is a thousand years old. At times, he seems like a younger brother, but there is no denying his abilities. As the guardian spirit of the pine forest, he can sense in an instant when a tree begins to die, when the first flowers bloom in spring, when an enemy enters the forest. He can wield leaves like flying blades, and he can hum a tune that makes the trees get up and move to confuse trespassers, although he is, unfortunately, rather tone-deaf.'”
“Tone-deaf...?” Eitsu paused with a piece of pork hanging from her mouth. “Is that a kitsune trait? That doesn't... seem familiar.”
“Not that I've heard either. This is the list of abilities my Great-aunt provided after observing Tsaam Lei: Amazing speed, faster than Ah Bik8阿璧 (aa3 bik1) - A prefix to a name to show familiarity, and 'Jade'. or Gaam si hing 9監師兄 (gaam si hing1) - A surname meaning 'supervisor' and 'Senior Brother'.-”
“Who?”
“I'm not sure. Ah Bik... that name suggest someone she was close with, and it seems like a feminine name. The second one is more interesting... Gaam or Jiān is the family name of the Divine Tiger of the West, but 'si hing' or 'shī xiōng' means Senior Brother. So it would suggest that he was an older disciple who also studied at Hanasan with her.”
“Okay, so he was faster than these two people. What else?”
“The ability to cause or remove nightmares.”
“Hm, yes, that's familiar.”
“Shape-shifting.”
“I don't know that I've ever seen him be anything other than a fox and a human, and he has the same appearance every time. Oh, and his true appearance, of course.”
“True appearance?”
“Not something that mortals can comprehend,” Eitsu said dismissively.
“She finishes by saying he has strong Wood-based powers, as explained earlier.”
“Well, it all sounds familiar. You said you looked into shinigami as well?”
“The accounts for shinigami are even more vague. Some say that shinigami possess people and make them wish for death. Others say that the shinigami merely guides those who have died to Yomi for judgment. There is one brief story of a shinigami who sends onryo that refuse to leave the mortal world, on to Yomi, freeing them of their grudges. Yet another story suggests that shinigami are like government officials in Yomi, managing the deaths of people in the mortal realm.”
“Wow. So... Basically useless information.”
“It does cover a lot of options,” Tai Kikuryuu groaned, rubbing his eyes again. “I'm not sure what else to do.”
“That person in Yùhǎi,” Tsubaki observed. “You said he had a similar... feeling?”
“Oh yeah... There was a ma- person we saw in Yùhǎi. They were from the west, travelling with a monk.”
“Did the monk wear pale robes, and carry a jade token at their waist with a green tassel? Blond hair, black eyes?”
“Yeah... do you know them?”
He shook his head. “Well, not personally. Yuān Yì Fēng is the Head Disciple of the Yuān Wěi School of Healing. We know they've been requested to investigate the legendary beast disappearances, and we've been asked to assist them in any way, but we haven't received any word from them. You say you met them in Yùhǎi? So you must have been there when the auction happened.”
“Unfortunately,” Eitsu said drily. “Anyway, that monk was travelling with a... what did they say? A death wizard? A sorcerer?”
“I think they meant a necromancer,” Tsubaki clarified. “I should have asked them more...”
“Are you sure she's alright?” Tai Kikuryuu whispered to Eitsu.
“She's not going anywhere, don't worry.”
“Well, I've heard that Yuan Yi Feng has a companion, but not much more. What is a necromancer?”
“We're not sure either. Something about being able to talk to the spirits of the dead?”
“So Rei might have that power too...”
“If he does, I've never seen him use it.”
“Ah, there is one other thing,” Tai Kikuryuu pushed through the scrolls and books. “Almost every account mentions the presence of candles... Here! 'A man was looking to commit suicide. A shinigami appeared before him holding a candle, and explained that this candle represented his life. As the candle had not yet burnt low, it was not time for the man to die.'”
He looked up to find both Eitsu and Tsubaki staring at each other with narrowed eyes. “What... what is it?”
“The candles...”
“... in the house in Obanashi...”
“... in the rooms at the auction house...”
Tsubaki shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. Eitsu rolled her neck, extending and contracting her fingers.
“What is it?” Tai Kikuryuu said again.
“A few times, I found myself in places where there were lots and lots of candles.” Eitsu shook herself. “I didn't really think on it at the time. I was... kind of preoccupied. But to think that's what they were...”
“I wonder if you saw mine,” Tsubaki said, suddenly.
“I wonder if I saw my own,” Eitsu replied.
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