NaNoWriMo5

Kiyomi watched Chie go, mostly to ensure that she didn’t fall over yet again, until she was safely out of sight and into her bedroom. Once that was done with, she headed back to her room and opened the door to the sight of Miko diligently working on her homework.

“Oh, hi, Kiyo-chan,” she began, “Today’s homework is pretty easy, so-“

She paused when she saw the serious expression on Kiyomi’s face.

“… Is something wrong, Kiyo-chan?”

“Kurogane Masahiro is immortal. He’s been alive since some time before 1551, and he plans to kill the gods,” Kiyomi replied as she approached. “Nii-san found a journal by an onmyouji family that mentions him with centuries between each time a family member meets him.”

Miko was surprised for a moment, unsure of what to make of this. “So… he… he really is coming?”

Kiyomi nodded. “And if he tries anything, I’ll defeat him for sure. Attempting to kill the gods isn’t a safe goal, and it’s undeniably wrong.”

Miko nodded, narrowing her eyes. “Even if Amaterasu-sama hadn’t answered my request, I would still think this is wrong! But… there’s not even any risk. It’s impossible to kill even one god, how could anyone hope to kill all of them?”

“I don’t know. Nii-san doesn’t know, either,” replied Kiyomi, “But if he tries to complete his goal, I’ll stop him.”

With that, Kiyomi knelt down by the table in her room.

“Now… how far are you?”

~

By the time Kiyomi and Miko had finished their homework, it was quite late in the day. Miko quickly bade her friend farewell, and left. After all, she didn’t want to get home too late, and worry her parents. Miko headed down the street to her home, slid open the door, and declared that she was home. However, there was no response. Tilting her head, Miko looked around. This was a bit unusual; her parents hadn’t said anything about going out tonight…

Miko spotted a note on the table in the dining room, and picked it up.

“Miko-chan,
Some form of spirit has lodged itself in the Yoshikawa home, and they have called us to remove it. We will be home soon. Sorry for leaving on such short notice.
Mother and Father”

Miko put the note down. She was a bit dismayed that her parents had left without telling her, but… on the other hand, their business was an important one. She couldn’t blame them for leaving in a rush. While she had already been given the family’s most precious heirloom, and trained as an onmyouji, her parents did not take her along on exorcisms unless she was present in the home at the time. In any case, she was certain that it wouldn’t be long before her parents were home. They could easily handle any kind of spirit.

Heading upstairs, Miko decided to take a bath. She passed her father’s study, her parents’ room, and then…

The door to her room was slightly ajar. Through the gape, she could see that her bedroom window was open… and her books were on the floor.

Miko immediately swung the door open.

A light breeze through the open window caused her curtains to rustle. Her normally neat room was in a state of disarray. The books were flung off the shelf, the blankets on her bed were disturbed, and the papers on her desk had been strewn across the floor. Slowly, keeping her wits about her, Miko headed inside. Something had gotten in… Her family had ofuda hidden throughout the house. Some acted as alarms, others acted to shut out intruders. But something had penetrated them. How?

Hanging on the wall, sheathed, was her family’s blade. The katana was the Seishinhocho no Ken. A blade that had been in the Hououji family for generations, it was far beyond the caliber of even the most powerful of mundane swords. Reaching up, Miko took it off the rack and slide her left hand up the sheath until her thumb touched the hand-guard.

If whatever had gotten in was still here…

Almost as if on cue, Miko heard a strange sound from beneath her bed. It was a rustling, slithering sound, as if some kind of vast worm was lurking in the darkness beneath her bed. Quickly, she turned. Her thumb pushed the blade up with a slight click, and her right had shot to grasp the hilt. Something dark lashed out from beneath her bed, striking for her face. With the slightest grating sound of metal against sheath, Seishinhocho no Ken was revealed.

The hilt was somewhat plain, but the blade was a shimmering silver.

The dark thing that had sprang out from beneath Miko’s bed was cleaved apart in an instant. The remaining portion retreated beneath her bed with a screech.

It only took a moment for Miko to recognize the creature that had attacked from beneath her bed. Her eyes narrowed.

“A familiar!”

Some mage had sent a familiar to attack her?! What… who would do this? Certainly, she had made enemies, but none of those enemies remained free to do such a thing. A familiar required a sustained amount of mana to fuel its existence, and some level of proximity to their creator. The mage who created it was in the city…

A second dark limb lashed out. It was abruptly followed by a third. Swiftly,  Miko made a vertical slash, bisecting one limb, before immediately slashing to the side and severing the other two entirely.
The remainder of the limbs retreated under the bed. If this was some mage who she had made enemies with, some mage whom had fought with Kiyomi and herself, the familiar would have some kind of indication as to who had created it, but there was nothing! There was no hint of recognition. Perhaps if it was drawn out into the open…

With a scream, the dark thing threw itself out from under the bed.

Miko brought her shoulder low, and thrust Seishinhocho for its center mass. She felt the blade slide in with little effort, and then took a step back as she lowered the katana. The familiar fell to the ground, oozing some foul dark fluid onto the carpet. Thankfully, the liquid was evaporating as it left the creature’s body.

The familiar was pitch black, with a vaguely humanoid shape. It was about the size of a toddler, with tentacles sprouting out of its back. They were in such a large amount it was difficult to count just how many were there. Even if the corpse hadn’t already began to dissolve…

Miko did not recognize anything about the familiar. It was not the creation of any mage she had previously encountered.

“… Where did it come from…?”

~

They still weren’t home.

Kiyomi sat on her bed, and leaned against the wall. Her parents still weren’t home, even after hours and hours… She sat up straight. That Kurogane Masahiro guy… the thought of him bothered her. What if he was out in the streets, doing something terrible and she was just sitting there and waiting around? Even if Yuichi didn’t know much yet… that didn’t matter. Kiyomi had to see if he was in the city, she had to see if he had done anything already.

Getting to her feet, Kiyomi grabbed her bad before heading out of her room and hurrying downstairs. With a quick declaration that she was going out, Kiyomi headed outside.

The sun was low over the horizon. It wasn’t long before the entire city would be cast in the darkness of night, but for now, the sky was painted with reds and yellows. If her search was inconclusive, Kiyomi would have a nice walk at the very least.

For a long time, she continued down the street, surrounded by people. There was a vast amount of people in these streets, talking on phones, keeping their children with them. It was a sea of humanity, filling the streets. Kiyomi was lucky that she didn’t mind crowds. From a distance, she spotted two of her classmates.

Minori Mai and Kadowaki Sanae were nice girls, and Kiyomi was friendly with them. But at the moment… well, not only would it be dangerous for them if Kiyomi walked with them and found what she was looking for, but… They simply didn’t know about magic. Kiyomi avoided them, and continued down the street.
Kiyomi took a turn down an alley, as a short cut, and took a brisk walk through the semi-darkness of the narrow path between buildings. As she made her way through the alley, she realized that she could see the flashing red-and-blue of police lights on the other side of the alleyway. Not entirely realizing what she was doing, Kiyomi broke into a sprint.

The scene opened up before her when she reached the other side of the alleyway. Several police cars and an ambulance had cordoned off an alleyway. There were a few people around, mostly staring in shock at the sight before them. The police were ordering them to move along and stay out of the way. Yellow tape had already gone up around the alley to keep the crime scene clear of civilians.

What had happened here?

Bodies. Bodies were being carried out of the alley. People had died in there. Maybe they were just street thugs, maybe they weren’t, but whoever they were… someone had killed them. Not just one body, but two, three, four… eight bodies. Kiyomi watched in shock as eight bodies were taken to the waiting ambulance. Someone had killed eight people in that alleyway, and just left them there? Kiyomi made to approach, but the police were keeping people away.

Eight people dead…

A normal murderer couldn’t just kill eight people. Not like that. Not all in a group, in an alley. It wasn’t likely that a killer had just led them into the alley and killed them one by one… Was this the work of Kurogane Masahiro? Kiyomi shook her head. Of course, it wasn’t impossible, but that was far too big an assumption to make…

Still… eight people dead. Someone had murdered them.

Kiyomi backed into the alley. Even if that had been some ruthless street gang, there was no need to kill them. A mage had many methods at their disposal when it came to defeating attackers… there was no reason to simply kill them.