The Ride from Hell

Kizuna

I winced and did not stamp my hoof against the footrest as we turned a corner sharply. To suggest otherwise would have been impolite. I was certainly thankful for the plush cushions that made the ride somewhat easier.

I looked over at Eien who was perfectly comfortable. He sat with his arm against the rickshaw's hood, resting his cheek against his fist. I looked at his polished shoes resting against the footrest and most certainly did not entertain the idea of messing them up.

Are you alright?

Iroha asked from beside me.

I’m fine. Perfectly fine.

I gave her a smile as my hand tightened around the armrest.

Be patient. They’re enthusiastic, yes, but they’re good drivers. They have yet to crash with us as their passengers.

What do you mean with you? Have they crashed with other people as their passengers!?

Iroha smiled and ignored me. I groaned and pushed myself deeper into the cushions.

“Eien,” I said loud enough to be heard over the rushing wind. “You mentioned that we’ll be meeting with a Norihisa? May I ask who he is?”

“Of course.” He looked over at me and smiled. He was completely unshaken by this ride. That stupid faced- “Norihisa is an old friend of mine.”

“Did you do him a favor as well?” I vaguely pointed towards the wheels of the rickshaw where the twins resided. I gripped the armrest again as the twins took us through a narrow alley. We burst out into the street again and narrowly avoided a noble’s retinue. We were gone in a blink of an eye. Far too fast for them to identify us.

“In this case, no. He did me a great favor way back.” He looked past me, lost in thought. “From time to time, I go to him when I need something mystical done. Now, this isn’t an insult to your intelligence but how much do you know about the onmyōji?”

“Hmmm.” I looked out the side of the rickshaw as I thought. We were near the docks and the sea air was stronger here. Western type housing was on the right side while normal housing was on the left. People mingled and stayed out of the street where we and other modes of transportation were traveling down. There was even a floating palanquin with a god sitting on top of it. “I know that they are able to divine the future to a lesser extent than seers. They’re the only ones able to get anyone across the Great Barrier surrounding Japan.”

“They do that and so much more. Everything they do is through a series of rituals. Through these rituals they can control the elements as well as do what you said. They put these spells onto white paper which is considered holy. It just so happens that paper is an easy conduit to use the spells inscribed.”

“I do remember the ones that I have seen with lots of paper in their sleeves and whatnot.”

“There are different schools of onmyōji and I have watched Norihisa go through his rituals to place the spells on the paper. It’s an arduous process that takes a lot out of them.” He raised a finger and made a circle in the air. “For larger works, such as imprisoning a god or demon, well, they have larger rituals that sometimes require many people to take part.”

“However, there are exceptions to the rule. Such as Abe no Seimei who was said to be able to use spells without aid. He could conjure up water without any ritual whether that is true or not well…” He shrugged his shoulders. “Who knows. No one in the modern era can replicate those accomplishments.”

I stared down at my wrapped hooves which were visible from all the jostling of the rickshaw. The onmyōji were a wealthy group. The only reason that they weren’t a unified force was that the clans paid a lot of money for their powers. One of the things my father and grandfather were worried about was them finally realizing that together they could hold a monopoly on outside trade.

The only thing stopping them was their shortsightedness and greed. Which was somewhat funny considering that they could peer into the future, but couldn’t see the surest way of making a fortune. Perhaps the gods of heaven had told them a terrible outcome if they decided to try that?

I looked up from my hooves and stomped on the footrest in a panic. “Stop!”

In front of us a child had wandered into the middle of the road and directly into our path. There were people to our right and a man riding a horse coming fast on our left. The child picked up a ball and I thought I felt the footrest crack from my stomping. If anything the twins sped up instead of slowing down.

“Eien! Make them stop!"

“It's fine, just watch."

We came closer and closer and then the child was lifted up by invisible hands and moved out of the roadway. I leaned out of the rickshaw to look back. “Don't lean out," Eien said as he pushed me back into my seat. You'll break your neck."

“What happened?” I asked bewildered.

"There are several wind gods that were tasked to keep an eye on the roadway to prevent people from being run over. Sometimes they like to be little nuisances and do it at the last second. It scared me the first time too."

“What little bastards." He looked at me like he was about to choke. I grinned inwardly.

We passed into the temple district, which was full of waist high walls and stairs that led up to temples. There was a lot more greenery than in other parts of the city. Baring the old district with the nobles.

After a few minutes the rickshaw slowed and we stopped in front of a stairway that led up to a shrine. It was a gentle slope with trees on either side of the stairs. A torii gate stood proudly at the top.

“This is our stop.” He stepped out of the rickshaw with Iroha following close behind. This was a quiet neighborhood I realized as I stepped out after him. The twins materialized from the wheels in a flash of flame.

“How much do we owe you?” I asked as I turned back to look at the twins.

“Oh how cute,” Taya cooed in a condescending tone. “She thinks she has to pay.” She turned to look back at her sister who had a stormy expression on her face. Taya paled and turned back to us. “Ehem. What I mean is that Eien gets all his rides for free ever since he helped us. So there’s no need to pay.”

I hummed in thought. “I assume that you were quiet during the ride because you didn’t have anything nice to say?”

Taya opened her mouth and then looked at her sister again. She sighed and breathed in and out. “We thought it to be rude to interrupt a conversation between passengers. If it’s just Eien and Iroha, we talk a lot more. Although,” she narrowed her eyes at me. “We should make you pay for a new footrest.”

“It’ll fix itself on its own,” Eien cut in. “Please stop teasing my client.”

Taya sniffed and looked down her nose at me. “Fine.”

“Will you two wait for us?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” Norie said from beside the rickshaw. “Depends if someone else needs a ride more than you.”

“Alright, we won’t count on it then. See you two later.”

“Bye bye, Eien.” Taya waved as he began to ascend the steps to the shrine. I sighed and followed him with Iroha tagging close behind.