CHAPTER 8

It was much sooner than they expected, but Kou and Himiko finally had their proper first fight as a couple! The cause: views on immigrant lives.

Okay, maybe putting it that way wasn’t quite fair. However, Kou realized that a few things would be different that night as he entered the school grounds. Like it or not, Ouji Inari weakening or not, he did promise Kurotarou that he’d find a way for him to get out of there. Unfortunately, there’s only so much that Kou could do without really gambling, so he wanted to at least let Kurotarou know of this.

And, well, if possible, ask him to not be too much of a terror to the poor kids less used to seeing ghosts. But that comes later.

“This will be our third time going here to do this,” Chi said as they hopped over the school gates. “It’s taken more of our time than it needs to. Please tell me you’ve at least figured something out.”

Kou shrugged. “Do you want the good answer or the honest answer?”

Chi groaned. “I wanted you to answer with a ‘yes’.”

“The good answer, then.”

“I get it, shut up.”

Again, they kept an eye out and their ears sharp for the guard. The moon had gotten a bit brighter, it should be a full half-moon tonight. Considerably less clouds. It’s a pretty bright night, all things considered.

The shadows cast by the school buildings were still massive, though.

Kou bit his own lip for a second, got his thoughts in order, and finally stepped into the shadows.

Last time, they found Kurotarou in Chi’s class, so that’s the second floor of the middle school building. That said, they had to search the entire first floor first: since Kurotarou had reached the topmost part of the building, both siblings wondered where he would have gone next since he didn’t find his supposed target. Thankfully, the badger wasn’t being subtle about haunting the second floor.

It could’ve been just pure coincidence that Kurotarou was hiding in Chi’s classroom. Maybe. Kou wasn’t sure. He had priorities at the moment, after all. Now that he thought of it, was it a coincidence? No idea. If it were, it’s going to be a headache tonight: he would have to think again about where Kurotarou would be hiding. The middle school building wasn’t exactly small. It just seemed prudent to avoid any wasted efforts.

That said, apparently he didn’t have to worry. Up there, in the shadows of the corridors of the second floor, the shadow of the faceless nopperabou was just unmistakable.

Oh, he’s also waving to the siblings! Kou could already feel Chi palming her own face.

“I thought the mujina were supposed to be shy,” Kou chuckled.

“He’s not a lot of things,” Chi gritted her teeth, “and ‘subtle’ still wasn’t a single one of them.”

Kou snapped his fingers. “Hey, on the bright side, he might actually scare away the guard.”

“Or get the guard up there, duh? How many people can see well enough in the dark to tell that he’s faceless?”

Kou mouthed his oh without a sound.

There wasn’t yet any need to worry—if his ears didn’t fail him, the guard should still be making rounds in the high school building, and on the far side, too. He wouldn’t see anyone approaching the middle school building, and the siblings wouldn’t have to worry about being seen once inside, either. As Chi said, it was still in the night, and it was still reasonably dark, enough to make Kurotarou nothing but a vaguely moving shadow of a small child to a normal human’s eyes.

It would be a different story in at least half an hour, though, so Kou and Chi didn’t exactly dawdle either. They silently entered the middle school building, skipped the first floor entirely, and were met by the sight of Kurotarou entering Chi’s class, followed by a puff of smoke.

There again, Kou took note.

“I didn’t expect you to be here again,” Kou said as he entered the class. Kurotarou had undone his transformation, so greeting the siblings was a small Japanese badger sitting down with legs spread open like a human.

“I didn’t expect to still be here,” Kurotarou replied. “I think it’s this room. It has to be.”

“You sure it isn’t because it’s where my brother gave you an offering?” Chi quipped. “You nightwalkers tend to stick to where you get free food, after all.”

Aren’t we also nightwalkers? was the first thought that crossed Kou’s head, but he kept it to himself. Everybody loves free food. Gods and spirits weren’t exempt. He couldn’t really blame them, could he?

“Hm-hm!” the badger nodded. “Well, I mean, not sure sure, but pretty sure.”

“So you’re saying … it’s someone here.”

All hints of banter suddenly disappeared. Chi’s voice was nothing short of chilling.

Also reasonable—it’s her class, after all.

Kou realized the gravity of the situation: if Kurotarou was sent here not by a curse, but as a curse, and he was sure that his target was someone from this class—even if he forgot his original commands—then whoever it was that’s in this class was in danger. Their pool of possible targets had reduced dramatically, but the danger was much closer abreast than anyone would like.

Chi was sister to the King. Could it be why?

Could he be the target?

But if Kou was the target, then why do it in such a roundabout way? Why target Chi instead?

Was it someone who realized that Chi was trying to guide Kou into becoming a better vampire?

Were they trying to eliminate the one thing that kept the nightwalkers’ trust in Kou?

Were they trying to erase the Authority?

Kou winced. No, it would still be much easier to erase the Authority by directly challenging him. After all, the previous holder of the Authority was his dad, and he’s out of commission before he could teach Kou anything about it.

If they wanted the Authority for themselves, it would be faster to just challenge Kou and take his head—figuratively speaking, of course, since decapitation alone doesn’t seem to kill vampires to his knowledge. They just needed to beat Kou in a duel to the death, and that should be it.

Why would they avoid that?

Could it be that they’re pretty weak? If they felt that they had no chance going toe-to-toe with Kou, they probably didn’t know enough to gauge Kou’s own power. In other words, they shouldn’t be privy to his circumstances—which made targeting Chi even more of a mystery, because in that case, why even go for her to begin with? Attacking someone close to a king was just inviting the king’s wrath. It didn’t make any sense.

Could it be that they just got lucky? That, normally, the curse shouldn’t have even landed at all to begin with, but the timely weakening of the Ouji Inari Shrine messed with that protection and Kurotarou slipped as a consequence?

Or could the target be not Chi at all?

After all, Kurotarou didn’t react when he saw her. He also got pretty close to Chi’s class since he first started doing his rounds as a nopperabou, since he was witnessed by the first-grade high schooler in the second floor.

“Exsurgat Deus, et dissipentur inimici ejus.”

All three heads turn at the same time.

Standing there, by the entrance, was a brown-haired girl, holding a small cross in her hand … her golden eyes wrapped in sheer focus.

“Et fugiant qui oderunt eum a facie ejus.”

Kou could feel it—oh, even the ever-dense Kou could feel it, there was no mistaking the sensation for anything else—it was magic.

Chi’s eyes widened. “She’s reading the Psalms—Nii-chan!”

“Sicut deficit fumus, deficiant—”

Kou was barely aware of what he was doing—he just jumped at his girlfriend. “Himiko, stop!”

“—sicut fluit cera a facie ignis—”

The young exorcist did not stop, and neither did the magic gathering like chains, growing hotter and shinier by her wrists, the power that grew so condensed it was impossible to tell how much of it had coalesced. Kou nearly reached her, but the rope of mystic fire was sending out waves upon waves of invisible energy with each spoken word of the chant, and Kou soon found himself on the defensive.

“—sic pereant peccatores a facie Dei.”

There was a zap. There was a zip. There was a small whoosh followed by a very loud crack, and when Kou opened his eyes, he realized that his girlfriend was on fire.

Literally.

No, wait. It wasn’t fire. It was a dance of rainbows, a cacophony of explosions in the tiniest of space; it was the shine of the stars and the power of the sun; she was light, she was glory, she was none other than the holy.

Her golden eyes were shining.

“No,” Chi whimpered—Kou just realized that she was on the ground. “You can’t do this without faith, what the hell?”

Himiko didn’t heed her. It was supposed to be impossible for anyone to perform Christian exorcism without faith in the Christian God, but with her hands clenching her now-unworn choker, with her fingers wrapping around the tiny cross it carried, Himiko was in her focus state.

Regardless of faith, she was unmistakably an exorcist—and she was going to exorcise.

“Crux sacra sit mihi lux, non Draco sit mihi dux,” she continued. This time, Kou finally followed her eyes—and he realized her target.

“No, no, no—she’s jumping right to the banishment!” Chi announced. The light shining from Himiko was unmistakably spiritual, not physical, but Kou could tell that Chi felt as if she was just drained for hours under the sun. Unlike with their immortality, there’s virtually no caveat to vampires being under the sun—except for the fact that the sun was very freaking hot.

Kou could tell that something was wrong with the ritual. There would’ve been no need for Chi to announce what Himiko was doing, otherwise.

With that, he followed her line of sight—and, with every ounce of strength he could muster, placed himself right in front of the trembling Kurotarou. “Himiko, wait!”

The girl drew a cross in the air with her hand. Her fiery aura remained where she made the sign, creating a massive burning cross in front of her. “Vade retro, Satana!”

The cross promptly disappeared.

It reappeared right under Kurotarou.

Kou barely had any time to react—he could only manage to cover his eyes. The flash became very bright.

To his surprise, Kurotarou wasn’t screaming or anything. For a split-second, his badger-face actually looked oddly content.

Then, the next split-second, he was gone with the cross.

Left in his wake were particles of glowing dust, slowly vanishing into thin air.

“In nomine Patri, et Fili, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.”

Kou didn’t remember when he got up, or when he leapt, but he cleared a straight path to his girlfriend in one swift move—one blink of an eye, as soon as the holy flames cloaking her had dissipated, he was already grabbing her collars. “What have you done?!”

“What I must,” she said firmly. No … she was nowhere as firm as when she was praying. Her voice quivered.

“And what does that mean?!” Like Kou, Chi had regained her senses and was getting up, although she didn’t seem like she was quite ready to jump yet. “Kurotarou hadn’t hurt a single human being—he didn’t possess anyone, why would you exorcise him?”

“He didn’t possess a person,” Himiko said carefully. Kou still hadn’t relaxed his grip, but he noticed the little hints: her fingertips were trembling, her voice was shaking, her eyes refused to meet his. “He possessed this class. The Roman Rites also considered it a possession.”

“That doesn’t mean you had to exorcise him,” Kou said. Himiko shook her head.

“No. I had to.”

“Why? Did you have to exorcise every case of possession you come across?”

“No. It’s just….” Now that he took a closer look, Kou only just realized that Himiko was looking deathly pale. She didn’t seem drained from the exorcism, so it wasn’t that she exerted herself. She was probably that terrified of having to do this. “The risk is too great.”

“What risk?”

“Kurotarou was a mujina,” Himiko explained. “And he’s within kitsune territory, correct?”

The siblings didn’t reply. Himiko took that as a sign to continue.

“In other words, as soon as the kitsune smelled him, they’ll have to look into him. Correct?”

Chi was clearly growing impatient as she approached. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying, we still have no idea why the kitsune hadn’t moved to intercept him yet,” Himiko said. Slowly, Kou relaxed his grip on her collars. “If they suddenly regain full senses and detect him, we’ll be inviting the kitsune into our school. Do you know what that means?”

Chi actually stayed silent. Kitsune didn’t have any myths about invitation like vampires, but the issue was not that they got invited—the issue was that they’d know. And that means they’d know about everything: Chi’s circumstances, Kou’s lineage, everything. Kitsune were tricksters, after all, and tricksters always had to be the smartest in the room.

But Himiko didn’t want the kitsune to know something about this school. What was she hiding?

“Couldn’t you just exorcise his influence?” Kou asked. He took a deep breath. That calmed him down a little. “That should take care of the curse. You didn’t have to exorcise him.”

“I couldn’t. I told you, there was no other magic than the transformation—I couldn’t exorcise a curse that doesn’t exist,” Himiko said, her breathing ragged. “And I had to act. Like I said, he’s possessing this class. There are other problems with possessing places. Nightwalkers are more spiritual than they are physical. Their existence is tied to identity. If we let him possess this place for too long, that identity would turn—he would be a haunting.”

Kou finally let go.

It was actually untrue that only nightwalkers relied on identity—anyone who had any bit of spiritual portion to their existence needed that to maintain themselves. Humans and gods weren’t exempt. The Buddhists called it naama, or the myo from myoshiki in Japan. The Egyptians called it the ren, one part of a man’s soul. The Greeks called it the alytheia onoma, the natural words intrinsic to all things. The Norse called it the rún, the hidden words spoken by the world. Taoists called it the zhaoming, the metaphysical substance.

They all referred to the same thing: the true name, the embodiment of all of one’s essence, their identity, the thing that allows them to partake in the world.

Humans were mostly physical, so they could live their whole lives happily existing without ever knowing their true names. They could even choose to be whatever they wanted to become. They could become pirates, assassins, businessmen, or just plain old salarymen—it would not affect their essence whatsoever, because humans had that freedom.

Nightwalkers, however, were bound by this.

There was no way for a nightwalker to exist without being tied to their identity. Just like how Kou could draw superhuman power from his own essence because his existence was that of a vampire, there was also no way Kou could draw any other abilities not tied to that essence, as he was a vampire and nothing but.

If his identity ever turned, then he would be that new other identity and nothing but.

If Kurotarou’s identity ever turned—from muijina to a haunting—then he would be nothing but a haunting. That’s its own set of problems and a very real danger to Chi’s entire class. Unlike a curse, which had specific targets, haunting spirits went after whoever disturbed their abode. No exceptions.

That said, though, it wasn’t all that easy for nightwalkers to change identities. There would have to be a serious threat to them carrying out their original identities until something changes. For example, if there’s a severe lack of blood, whatever identity Kou borrowed to sustain his spiritual half would be the new identity he melded into. As long as Kurotarou could still maintain himself as a mujina, he wouldn’t have to—

But wait.

He received an offering. The mujina were rarely offered something as they were usually passing spirits—they would pull off some prank and leave. That wasn’t part of his identity. Something he could do, normally, but it was outside of his typical purview.

He was stuck in one place. One human place. The mujina had fake human places, like a false teahouse, because those were parts of their pranks—but this time it’s a legitimate human place and it wasn’t part of his prank.

He hid under the identity of a nopperabou. Not even a mujina, but a nopperabou. Only Kou and Chi ever really saw him as a mujina, and as of tonight, also Himiko. Otherwise, the only thing everyone else had seen was the nopperabou, a human-like ghost.

The longer he stayed there, the more he would have to sustain these aberrations.

The longer he had to sustain these aberrations, the more urgent it would be for him to change his identity to survive.

If we let him possess this place for too long, that identity would turn—he would be a haunting.

“I was going to figure out a way to sneak him out,” Kou said. “At worst, we could gamble it—as long as the kitsune hadn’t detected him, it would mean we could sneak him out, too.”

“And with each ticking second, we’re putting everyone here in danger,” Himiko finally said. “Also, please understand—the Catholic rites may be harsh in wording, but in the end, it’s still proper exorcism. I didn’t hurt him. I only returned his essence to the leyline, and I did it all properly.”

Everyone fell silent. From his side, Kou could hear his sister mumbling something.

“What was that?” he asked. She clicked her tongue.

“I hate to say this,” she said, “but I’m with her on this. I told you, Nii-chan—worse comes to worst, I’d erase him myself. She just saved me the time. If anything, an exorcism was actually kinder than my kill.”

Kou stared at the two girls in disbelief. “Did he mean anything to you?”

“No,” both girls said in unison. Chi glared at Himiko, but then turned to his brother. Himiko sighed.

“I’m just weighing my options here, Koumori-kun. Not one of them is pretty.”

“You know what this job entails, Nii-chan.”

I know, he wanted to say, but he held back.

Of literally anyone else, Kou knew best that he wasn’t King of the Night material. He just wasn’t ready to realize just exactly what that meant.

*