Samurai Awakening Page 25

  To make matters worse, despite the research during summer break, he was only about half way through the references that Masao had made available. After a particularly frustrating afternoon, he changed his focus to the Jitsugen Samurai diaries. Using the computer to search the censored copies that Masao provided to him, he finally found what he was looking for in one of the texts.

  As David’s hope began to wane, he came upon an entry that spoke of two men who had been friends and fellow retainers of the same regional governor. When one man became a Jitsugen Samurai, his sudden and unexplained increase in favor and rise to Princedom under the Imperial House drove the friend mad with jealousy. The Samurai’s former friend sought out the rituals that eventually allowed him to become a yūrei. The yūrei wreaked havoc for years before the Jitsugen Samurai finally tracked down and killed him.

  In the process, the Jitsugen Samurai noted that the yūrei had systematically targeted people and places that the host had issue with, in addition to the usual rampant destruction of a yūrei. David spent the next several hours delving into the precise and flowing script used by his predecessor and wondered at the mind behind the writing. Not a single word was wasted, yet the entry was long and detailed, answering his every question before he knew to ask.

  ‘This is what we needed. A yūrei isn’t completely independent of its host. It’s not a full possession, or at least the host can influence the corrupted Kami.’

  ‘We better keep an eye on anyone Rie thinks wronged her, maybe she really did leave that box for us… We need to warn Natsuki and keep an extra eye on her from now on.’

  ‘Thought you would never ask.’

  With a grin, David transformed almost immediately. Leaving their clothes in the sword room, Kou jogged up the stairs and out of the library. Takumi agreed to keep an eye on Natsuki so quickly that David was almost unable to keep his mirth from overpowering Kou. Thanks to Kou’s pull, it did not take long for Natsuki to show up.

  “I’m not going to change how I live my life just because Rie got herself possessed,” Natsuki said, taking the news stoically. “If she couldn’t get rid of me alone, she won’t with help.”

  Ambush

  September,

  It felt good to fight back against the shadow that had plagued me since I was a still a dependent part of the Zodiac Tiger. I was finally beginning to understand our enemies…

  The next day after evening practice, David and Takumi made a list of all of Rie’s potential targets. At the top were Natsuki and the “friends” that had helped create the rift between her and Rie. Ironically, those same friends had been giving Natsuki more and more of a cold shoulder in response to her time spent with David and Takumi. Mizuki, Yuka, and Kaeda seemed especially annoyed that Natsuki had run out on them during summer vacation to housesit for the Matsumotos.

  “If your theory is correct, and the yūrei goes after people Rie had an issue with, what’s with Enya’s disappearance?” Takumi said as they studied the list of names, trying to match them with the situation as they knew it. “It doesn’t fit. I don’t think they’ve ever even met. And Misaki…”

  “He might have really moved,” David said with a frown. “Or it could have been an accident. I don’t think we should concentrate just on this list, but maybe keep an extra eye on them.”

  “As for Misaki, that was before Rie became a yūrei. The Jeong brothers must have gotten to her through Rie,” Kou added.

  Disgusted, David left the underground vault for some fresh air. His head cleared by the cool autumn night, David withdrew into his subconscious to ponder their findings while Kou ran through the forests, reveling in the wind rushing through his fur. As they twisted among the dark trees, Kou and David formulated a schedule to include their regular patrols, school, training, and a rotation of tracking the people from Rie’s list.

  A package arrived at the Estate in early September that significantly helped coordinate the increasingly difficult tasks of following Natsuki and her friends, patrolling Nakano, and keeping up the façade that they were normal teenagers. They immediately put the sets of military-grade encrypted radios and other equipment the Imperial House sent to use. The new gear enabled them to cover more distance and stay in contact with Yukiko.

  With the Nakano Festival just three days away, David and Takumi returned from their last night patrol of the school week no closer to finding Rie.

  “Not in vain,” Kou said, replying to David’s thoughts and Takumi’s expression. “Every second we are out there, is another second the prey might make a mistake that we can use. Though we cannot sense them, perhaps our presence alone may keep them from more evil.”

  They found Masao talking with Ryohei in the main house, luckily, Natsuki had already gone home. Even after her time spent around him while they were in Kyoto, she still avoided Ryohei whenever possible. With him gone, she had been visibly more relaxed at the Estate.

  “Good you are all back.” Masao motioned for David and Takumi to sit with him at the table, while Ryohei continued to hover just outside the sliding doors. “We have a new problem… Ryohei?”

  “I ran into a small group of ghosts in Himeji, not the nice kind,” Ryohei said. As always, his voice had the hard-to-name quality that marked him as a creature beyond death. Kou had explained it as a kind of unavoidable side effect, one that Kami did not share because Kami were very much alive. The sound echoed around them though he stayed outside to keep the temperature manageable. “They were discussing whether or not to come to Nakano for the Festival. Apparently, word has gone out about the yūrei, though they do not seem to know there is a Jitsugen Samurai. Another pack of ōkami is on its way. They want to join the yūrei to increase their strength and powers, and plan to attack the Nakano Festival in order to show they are worthy of the yūrei. The obake were trying to decide if they should visit and try to pick off a few souls in the confusion of the attack.”

  “The last thing we need is the two groups of ōkami combining. We need to attack them before they get anywhere near here,” Takumi said, the first to react to the news.

  “Any ōkami attack in Nakano would be bad,” Kou said, mentally raising his hackles at the thought of another pack of ōkami loose in Nakano. The result was David twitching uncontrollably since his human form could not mimic Kou’s natural reactions. “At least, with nearly the entire town gathered for the festival, we only have to cover one place. It is at the Estate that we will have to hunt.”

  “The townspeople will be on the Estate or along the route for the portable shrines,” Yukiko said as she brought in tea. “We cannot wait for them to get that close. The festival includes the entire town, and the portable shrines will parade through most of it. If the ōkami make it into the town they can attack anywhere and we will be too spread out to deal with it before many are injured.”

  After serving everyone present, she sat to join in on the conversation, but not before sending an apologetic glance to Ryohei’s usual corner. David had often seen Ryohei float along with Yukiko while she tended the Matsumoto’s garden, saddened he could no longer eat. Although she could not see him, David knew Yukiko still regarded Ryohei as part of the family. Just as she had been sensitive to David’s need when he first arrived, she went out of her way to make Ryohei comfortable as well.

  “Yukiko is correct. We are going to have to stop them well outside of Nakano. Ryohei, any idea where they are coming from, or how many there are?” Masao asked, bringing them back to the situation at hand.

  “My fellow ghosts neglected to say how many ōkami there are, though they obviously felt there were enough to be dangerous for an entire town. As for direction, apparently they’re coming from the north, and will come in through the mountains,” whispered Ryohei, staring wistfully at the tea.

  “Looks like we have to prepare for another fight,” David said, his voice nearly excited. It was a chance to begin undoing the damage he had done with his hesitation before the shrine. It was a chance to make things right. Stretching, he arc
hed his back as luxuriously as a house cat. “The festival is in three days, they’ll be stalking the Estate well before they attack.”

  “Let’s go hunt,” Kou growled.

  “I agree,” Masao said slowly, “but since the ōkami will have an advantage at night, we should get them in the early morning. I’m wary about leaving the town unguarded, however.” Masao frowned, leaning towards the table.

  David eyed Masao carefully. In the past, he had been quick and decisive. With Grandpa’s death, he seemed to have become far more careful with his decisions. After conferring quickly with Kou, David spoke up.

  “Are the traps that you use during Golden Week still out there? Why don’t the three of us lead them into an ambush? That would leave Masao-san, Yukiko-san, and Ryohei-san to keep an eye on Nakano. We would also still be close enough to get back quickly in case something happened.”

  “You’re learning,” Masao said with just the slightest smile. He leaned over, whispering to his wife before returning his attention to David. Yukiko bowed slightly when he finished. “Your idea is sound. I will get you my maps that outline the traps in the hills. Be careful. Your plan will need to be flexible in case they come from different directions, but I will leave it to you.”

  “Any reason in particular I’m here at three a.m. and not ten like everyone else?” Natsuki asked as a shadow swept past in front of the main house the next morning.

  “That was just a mouse,” Kou said. He carefully controlled his voice so as not to startle her. “I am behind you. You should know by now I will not summon you unless it is important.” Kou was beginning to get annoyed at the limited time David could spend as a tiger, and it showed in his tone. “Ryohei is here, be nice, he probably saved a lot of lives. Masao-san will explain inside.”

  With that, Kou brushed by Natsuki’s leg and went inside the house. Natsuki followed and soon after they were all standing together again in the garden with full armor, weapons, and their new communications gear.

  “Remember they will stalk and hunt as a pack, spread out until you find one, and then call in the others. Do not get caught, do not let any escape,” Masao said. “You carry the weight of history with you. Warriors in the tradition of Ninigi. You are Samurai. Don’t let Nakano down.”

  The three students crept out into the forest, each taking their own path. In order to make it easier for Natsuki to patrol her own area without being drawn to Kou, David stalked along in his Tiger Armor. Even with the armor’s orange coloring, David was able to blend into his surroundings since it was striped similarly to Kou. They spent several hours trekking quietly through the low mountains surrounding the Estate, hunting for the approaching ōkami.

  Connected by radio, they spread out to maximize their chance of spotting the ōkami pack. Since he had more experience with the mountains than the others did, Takumi took the more difficult center approach. Meanwhile, Natsuki and David swung out to the side approaches. A few hours into their hunt, Takumi radioed that he had spotted one of their prey.

  The ōkami was a lithe and darkly furred animal that carried a small pack of supplies on its back. It stopped frequently using all of its senses to observe the surrounding area. Obviously a scout, Takumi reported to the others that he figured it would be paving the way for the rest of the pack.

  Natsuki and David immediately began converging below Takumi’s position. They had already decided on ambush sites, places where they could draw the ōkami in and dispatch all of them easily. David’s plan relied heavily on the Matsumoto traps used during their Golden Week trips that were still in place, and simply needed to be armed.

  One of the largest sites was almost directly in the ōkami’s path. A closed off area of boulders that appeared at first to be a pass through two peaks actually ended above tall cliffs. The area was large and covered with twisting passages between boulders, some larger than trucks. It was big enough for all three to hide while the ōkami explored.

  ‘The trick is getting the scout to enter, instead of going off around one of the sides of the mountains to the real passes,’ David thought as he hurried towards the ambush. ‘What would draw them in?’

  ‘Blood. It worked for me didn’t it? Lead us right to Grandpa,’ Kou replied from within his mind.

  Once David and Natsuki were close enough, Takumi quickly armed the various traps, guided by Masao’s map. When he arrived, David scratched himself on a branch just towards the entrance, and then relayed what he had done to the others. Quickly healed, David and Takumi positioned themselves. Ready to drop an avalanche of rock should any ōkami try to escape back out of the enclosure, Natsuki watched and waited from a high hide on the eastern peak.

  The dark haired ōkami entered the fake pass cautiously, alerted to the presence of a human by David’s trail. To bring the ōkami over one of several concealed pits, David left a wrapper from a food pack. The scout came through the boulders on exactly the right spot. A few loose rocks gave way, pulling the ōkami down into the darkness of a completely blocked off cave. With no way to get out, the ōkami howled in outrage.

  While David could have easily finished off the lone ōkami at that point, none of the ambush team showed a hint of themselves. It was not long before a much larger ōkami, again dark, but with streaks of grey came ambling into the rock yard. The larger ōkami found the hole, sniffing around it and listening as the scout howled.

  “I should leave you down there,” the lead ōkami growled to his tracker. “Who gets stuck in a hole?”

  “It’s not my fault, the rocks gave way, and I slid in here… Come on, get me out. I got us here all right didn’t I? I think there’s a hiker around here. I smelled some blood and food.” The tracker paced in the hole, his voice a whine that verged on becoming a yelp.

  “The other three are keeping an eye behind us. If we didn’t need all five of us for this festival, I’d leave you there.” The large ōkami howled. A minute later, three more ōkami were there around the hole. With a growl from their leader, two of the ōkami began to search the area for their hiker.

  From his hiding spot, David caught the smoke from Takumi’s campfire lure, and the subsequent rock fall from the second trap.

  Dropping from above silently and with Seikaku drawn, David impaled the third ōkami between the shoulders. The surprised ōkami collapsed below him. Sufficiently weakened by the blow, David instinctually knew he had already won. Without withdrawing the sword, David changed the Seika­ku’s form and banished the ōkami’s spirit. The yelp that came from the ōkami as it turned to wood set off a string of growls throughout the area. Immediately, the leader and a small light furred pup began to back carefully away from the first pit. The scout saw them begin to leave and called to his leader.

  Although Takumi and David reacted in seconds, Takumi arrived first. Rounding on him to attack, the large ōkami was stopped by a weak bark of fear from the younger one as David stepped into the open area around the first pit.

  One look at David in his armor, with his tiger mask and Seikaku was all the encouragement the large ōkami needed to turn tail and run. The smaller ōkami was faster, however, and nearly made it out of the rock grounds.

  “Do it, princess.” Takumi spoke into his microphone. Along with the advanced communication gear, they had selected call signs. David was tiger, Takumi had adopted shifter in recognition of his possession, and Natsuki was, of course, princess.

  A large crash echoed through the mountains as Natsuki triggered the trap and the opening between the two peaks was shut. The large ōkami skidded to a halt before he was crushed. The younger one was not so lucky, stuck beneath a mammoth rock, the ōkami could not move, but remained unhurt.

  “You’re trapped, you have nowhere to go.” Takumi pointed his sword at the lead ōkami.

  The leader raged at Takumi’s words, growling and spitting. His paws, sporting razor sharp claws, sliced at Takumi’s neck. Surprised by the speed and ferocity of the attack, Takumi backpedaled, blocking quickly with his sword, but losing ground
with each blow. Feinting high, the leader slashed low, connecting with the back of Takumi’s knee. The well-aimed attack caught Takumi in an especially weakly armored section, sending him to the ground. Instead of finishing him, the leader ran, heading for the opposite end of the area.

  David flew after the ōkami, catching up to him at the edge of the cliffs. The leader hissed and snarled, turning at the edge as David came to a stop before him.

  “Your pack is incapacitated.” David stepped closer to the lead ōkami. “Your plans for Nakano thwarted. There’s no yūrei in your future. Give up and I’ll make it fast.”

  With a savage growl, the ōkami lunged at his throat. David caught the ōkami’s paws with his Seikaku, easily turning aside the blow despite the force behind the attack. The ōkami yelped in pain but continued the attack. Swinging wildly, he tried to force David back from the ledge. David took half a step back, drawing in the ōkami before lunging forward and slicing halfway through one of the ōkami’s legs with a move more suited to a badminton court. The ōkami had only a second to look down in shock before David had struck three more times, opening wounds at major joints in order to incapacitate the monster. With the leader still sputtering in his rage, David changed the blade and created yet another ōkami statue.

  Takumi was already adding more fuel to the campfire when David found him back near the landslide. With grim determination, David dispatched the three other trapped ōkami. Although David gave them no chance to escape, each encounter took time, as none of the ōkami were willing to go down without a fight. David ended up with several cuts from fighting in close quarters, but by the time he had all the statues sitting in Takumi’s fire, he had healed. Takumi had also recovered from the blow to his leg, helped along by the yet unnamed Kami within him, though like his neck, he had another savage scar.