Chapter 15: Festival Lights

Naomi is vibrating with energy. She has been getting ready for two hours. She comes downstairs wearing a navy blue yukata patterned with golden goldfish. Her hair is pinned up with a flower ornament, and she looks absolutely beautiful.

"Come on, Dad!" she urges Hajime, who is struggling to tie his obi sash in the hallway. "We are going to miss the opening ceremony! I want to get the good spot near the taiko drummers!"

"I am coming, I am coming", Hajime laughs, finally securing the knot. He looks dapper in his grey jimbei. "Do I have my wallet? Yes. Do I have the fan? Yes. Okay, let's go".

They slip into their wooden geta sandals. Click-clack.

"Be good, kitties!" Naomi calls out to the living room. "Guard the house. Don't eat any bugs".

The door closes behind them.

The lock clicks.

Immediately, five cats sit up.

"We are going", Haruka says instantly. She is already pawing at the window latch. "I love festivals. I want a candy apple. I want to see the lanterns. I want to win a goldfish".

"It is risky", Kenuji says, though he is already walking toward the center of the room to transform. "Crowds are dangerous for us. Too many eyes. Too many chances to slip up and reveal our aura".

"We will stay in human form", Yoshi says, his black tail twitching. "We blend in. Besides, spirits love festivals too. All that raw emotion? It attracts bottom-feeders. We might find some trouble to stop. Consider it a patrol with snacks".

"I like snacks", Muji agrees. "And I like trouble".

"Fine", Kenuji sighs. "But we stick together. And no fighting unless absolutely necessary".

"Define 'absolutely necessary'", Muji grins.

"Just transform", Inoe orders.

Poof. Poof. Poof. Poof. Poof.

Smoke fills the room. We step out of it in our human forms. Since we don't have yukatas of our own, we are in our usual street clothes. Yoshi adjusts his leather jacket. Muji is in a tank top. Inoe smooths down her skirt.

We sneak out the back window and jump the fence. We head toward the shrine, following the sound of distant drums and the glow of orange lanterns against the twilight sky.

The festival is a sensory overload in the best way possible.

The shrine grounds are packed. Hundreds of paper lanterns are strung up between the trees, casting a warm, flickering glow over the crowd. The air is thick with the smell of yakisoba sauce, grilled squid, spun sugar, and sweat. The sound is a wall of noise-children shouting, vendors yelling out prices, the rhythmic don-don-don of the taiko drums beating in the distance.

"Food", Muji says, his eyes locking onto a row of stalls. "I need meat on a stick. Now".

"I want to play the shooting game", Yoshi says, cracking his knuckles. "I bet I can win that giant panda bear".

"We split up", Kenuji decides. "In pairs. Yoshi and Muji, go find food and try not to punch anyone. Inoe and Haruka, stick with me. We will do a perimeter sweep".

"Boring", Muji mutters, but he follows Yoshi toward the smell of burning charcoal.

I walk with Inoe and Kenuji. We weave through the crowd. I buy a candy apple-a bright red, sticky sphere of sugar that tastes like heaven. Inoe buys a fan. Kenuji just scans the crowd, his eyes darting behind his glasses.

"Anything?" I ask, biting into the apple. Crunch.

"Low-level background noise", Kenuji murmurs. "Some minor spirits feeding on greed at the gambling stalls. Nothing dangerous. It seems clean".

I spot Naomi and Hajime near the main stage. They are laughing, sharing a tray of takoyaki. Naomi's face is lit up by the lantern light. She looks happy. Carefree.

"They look good", Inoe smiles softly. "It is nice to see them like that".

Suddenly, the mood shifts.

It is subtle at first. A ripple in the crowd. People stop laughing. The air gets colder, dropping ten degrees in a second.

"Do you feel that?" Kenuji asks, stiffening.

"Yeah", I say. The candy apple suddenly tastes like ash in my mouth. "Hostility".

"Yoshi, Muji", Kenuji taps his ear-we are linked telepathically. "Report".

"We are at the north entrance", Yoshi's voice comes back, sounding tense. "We have eyes on a situation. A group of men in suits just rolled up. They are pushing people out of the way".

"Yakuza?" Kenuji asks.

"Maybe", Yoshi says. "But they feel... wrong. They smell like sulfur. We are moving in".

"On our way", I say.

We push through the crowd. People are murmuring, moving away from the takoyaki stalls near the north gate. We break through the line of people and see them.

Five men. They are wearing cheap black suits that are too tight. They have slicked-back hair and sunglasses, even though it is night. But it is their aura that is terrifying.

A thick, purple haze clings to them like smog. It swirls around their hands and faces. Their movements are jerky, unnatural, like puppets on strings.

"Possessed", Kenuji hisses. "Definitely".

The leader of the group-a tall man with a scar on his cheek-grabs the collar of an old man running a yakisoba stall.

"You did not pay the protection fee", the leader snarls. His voice sounds distorted, layered with a guttural growl. "The boss is hungry".

"I... I paid last week!" the old man stammers, holding up his hands. "Please! I don't have any more!"

The leader throws the old man backward. He crashes into his hot griddle, yelping in pain.

"Hey!" Muji's voice booms out.

Muji steps out of the crowd, holding a half-eaten corn dog. Yoshi is right beside him, looking bored but dangerous.

"Leave him alone", Muji says. He takes another bite of his corn dog. "You are ruining the vibe".

The possessed leader turns slowly. He lowers his sunglasses. His eyes are entirely black. No whites. No irises. Just void.

"Interference", the leader croaks. "Eliminate".

The five men in suits draw weapons. Not guns. They pull out iron pipes and knives that glow with that same sickly purple energy.

"Okay", Yoshi sighs, unzipping his jacket. "We are doing this the hard way. Kenuji, crowd control. Inoe, confusion. Haruka, purify. Muji, smash".

"I love smashing", Muji grins. He tosses the corn dog stick away.

The leader lunges at Muji with a knife. He moves unnaturally fast, a blur of motion.

Muji doesn't flinch. He sidesteps, grabbing the man's wrist. "You smell like a sewer".

Muji twists. Snap.

The man doesn't scream. He just drops the knife and swings his other fist. Muji ducks and delivers an uppercut that lifts the man three feet into the air. The man crashes into a stack of soda crates, sending cans flying everywhere.

"One down", Muji says.

But the man stands up. His neck is bent at a weird angle, but he snaps it back into place with a sickening crunch. He grins. "Hungry..."

"Oh, come on", Muji complains. "Zombies? I hate zombies".

Two more suits rush at Yoshi. They swing iron pipes aimed at his head.

Yoshi stomps the ground. "Geomancer Arts: Tectonic Shield".

The cobblestones of the path ripple and shoot up, forming a waist-high wall. The pipes clang against the stone. Yoshi vaults over his own wall, kicking the first attacker in the chest. The man flies backward, but Yoshi grabs his ankle and slams him into the ground.

"Stay down", Yoshi growls. He places his hand on the man's chest. Green light pulses. The earth beneath the man reaches up, stone shackles binding his wrists and ankles to the ground.

The other attacker swings at Yoshi's back.

"Watch out!" I shout.

I extend my hand. "Divine Light: Flash!"

A burst of blinding white light explodes from my palm. The attacker screams, covering his eyes as the holy energy burns the corruption in his retinas. He stumbles back, blinded.

Yoshi spins and sweeps the man's legs. He goes down hard.

"Nice assist, Haruka", Yoshi nods.

Meanwhile, the crowd is panicking. People are screaming, trying to run.

"Do not panic", Inoe's voice floats over the chaos. She isn't shouting. She is using her power. Her voice is amplified, soothing, hypnotic. "This is just a show. A performance. Look at the actors. They are very good. applause. You want to applaud".

The people closest to us stop running. They look confused.

"A show?" a woman asks. "It looks so real".

"It is very realistic", Inoe assures her, her eyes flashing pink. "Clap for them".

A few people start clapping nervously.

"Kenuji!" Yoshi yells. "I can't hold them all! They are getting back up!"

The man Muji punched is back on his feet. The man Yoshi bound is breaking the stone shackles with raw, demonic strength. The purple haze is thickening, merging into a dark cloud above their heads.

"It is a Hive Mind again", Kenuji realizes, creating a psychic barrier to deflect a thrown knife. "They share energy. If one falls, the others feed him power. We have to hit them all at once".

"That is my specialty", Muji says.

Muji roars. His human guise flickers. For a second, everyone sees a massive, spectral orange tiger superimposed over his body. He lunges at the leader.

This time, Muji uses his claws. Spectral silver blades extend from his fingers. He slashes the air, cutting the purple threads of energy connecting the leader to the others.

SHING.

The connection snaps. The leader screams—a real scream this time. He drops to his knees, the blackness fading from his eyes.

"Now!" Yoshi shouts. "Line them up!"

Muji kicks the leader toward the center. Yoshi uses his earth manipulation to slide the other two attackers into the pile. Inoe uses a mental blast to force the last two to walk into the group.

They are clustered together, a knot of groaning, possessed men.

"Haruka! Finish it!" Kenuji commands.

I step forward. I clasp my hands together. I close my eyes and focus on the purity of the shrine, drawing power from the sacred ground we are standing on.

"Sacred Art: Purification Wave!"

I slam my palms together. A shockwave of golden light erupts from me. It rolls over the pile of men like a tsunami. It is warm, bright, and smells like sunshine.

The purple haze shrieks. It tries to fight the light, but it is burned away. The shadows dissolve. The demonic energy evaporates into grey steam.

The five men collapse, unconscious. They are just human again. Battered, bruised, and sleeping.

The crowd, still under Inoe's suggestion, bursts into applause.

"Bravo!" someone shouts. "Amazing stunts!"

"That was incredible!"

We stand there, chest heaving, trying to look like actors. Muji takes a bow, grinning. Yoshi rolls his eyes but gives a little wave.

"We need to go", Kenuji whispers. "Before the police come and realize these 'actors' are wanted criminals".

We slip away into the shadows, leaving the unconscious men for the shrine security to find.

We retreat to a quiet hill overlooking the shrine. We sit on the grass, hidden by the darkness. The adrenaline is fading, leaving us tired and hungry again.

"That was reckless", Kenuji scolds, wiping dirt off his glasses. "We exposed our powers".

"We saved the yakisoba guy", Muji argues, lying back on the grass. "And Inoe fixed the crowd. Nobody knows. They think we are a theater troupe".

"A very violent theater troupe", Yoshi chuckles. He rubs his jaw. "Those guys hit hard. Whatever was possessing them, it was high-level. Not just random spirits".

"It felt organized", I say, hugging my knees. "Like soldiers. Someone sent them to test the festival's defenses. Or maybe... to test us".

"The crow", Inoe says quietly.

We all fall silent. The memory of the three-eyed crow from the construction site hangs in the air.

"Yeah", Yoshi says darkly. "The crow. They are watching. They know we are here".

"Let them watch", Muji growls. "I am not hiding".

BOOM.

The first firework of the night shoots into the sky. It explodes in a massive flower of red and gold sparks. The sound echoes through your chest.

We look up. The light reflects in our eyes—green, yellow, pink, blue, orange.

I look down at the festival below. I can see Naomi and Hajime pointing at the sky, their faces illuminated by the flashes. They look so small from up here. So fragile.

"We will protect them", Yoshi says, as if reading my mind. He puts a hand on my shoulder. "No matter what comes. No matter who sends it".

"We are the Siblings", Inoe says, leaning her head on Kenuji's shoulder.

"We are the Guardians", Kenuji corrects her, but he is smiling.

"We are hungry", Muji adds. "Seriously. I dropped my corn dog".

We laugh. The tension breaks.

"Let's go home", I say. "Naomi probably bought extra takoyaki. She always does".

"Race you", Yoshi grins.

"You're on!" Muji jumps up.

We take off running down the hill, five shadows moving faster than humanly possible, disappearing into the night as the fireworks thunder above us, celebrating a victory that only we know about.