THE SHRINE OF TWO MOONS: Part 1

The rain hadn’t stopped in three days.

It clung to the mountains of Kyoto like a curse that refused to lift, soaking the earth, the trees and the broken paths that wound upward toward the shrine.

Asahi adjusted the strap of his Katana, shoulders slumped, sandals squelching with every step. Ahead of him, the shrine’s torii gate —vermillion painted, half-swallowed by fog. The humid air was thick with burnt incense.

Where Asahi dragged his feet, Reiji barely disturbed the ground. His posture was straight, eyes sharp scanning the path ahead.

They’d been tracking a D-rank Yokai for days — known as Kage-Saru, the “Shadow Monkey.” It had been defiling the Akatsuki-no-Yahiro shrine, draining the Kishin from the guardian statues. The fox statues were fine but there were reports of monks going missing and that was concerning.

“Reiji,” Asahi muttered, his tone low. “I’m tired. Can’t we just go home and report we haven’t seen it.”

His brother sighed. “We cannot.”

“Come on…..if the Kitsune haven’t reacted then it probably doesn’t mean any real harm right?”

“No.”

“Aaaagh,” Akashi whined. “You’re only saying that because Father will blame you if we fail.”

“Perhaps,” Reiji said without looking back. “I am the leader…….and the oldest.”

Asahi scowled. “By five seconds.”

“Still older.”

Asahi sighed dramatically and trudged on.

Tracking a Yokai was never about footprints —it was about aura. Everything alive carried a Kishin signature or aura, whether humans, spirits or plants. The problem was that Kage-Saru’s aura was sprinkled everywhere.

“Could be more than one,” Asahi muttered.

“Or it is multiplying to confuse us,” Reiji replied.

Either way, they pressed on.

Asahi dragged his feet, his mouth opened like he was a dog, walking straight into Reiji’s back.

“Ooof…what…”

Reiji’s hand had already drifted to the tsuka(handle) of his katana chanelling his Kishin, wrapping the sword in a controlled shimmer.

“We’re not alone,” he said.

“Huh? I don’t sense anything.”

“Because you’re not concentrating, Asahi.”

Asahi frowned, expanding his aura within a ten-metre radius while Reiji looked around the courtyard. The lanterns were unnaturally bright, almost blinding. Above the massive two-story tower gate were bleeding twin moons reflecting off its heavy, black lacquered roof tiles.

They entered following the white gravel path leading from the gates that looked like bone, contrasting with the deep orange of the surrounding face. There was also a weird taste in the air, a pungent scent like burning plastic. Asahi hadn’t noticed the moons yet but he could see the stone basin under the roof was overflowing, its wooden ladles floating like discarded masks in the dark water.

“Reiji,” he whispered. “Is that…normal?”

“Probably not.”

Reiji inhaled.

Inhale Mind.

His left hand pulled the saya back slightly while his thumb rested on the handguard.

Exhaled Mind

“Asahi?”

“Yeah, give me a sec.” Asahi nodded and expanded his Kishin in a wider to a 20 metre crimson wave, enveloping both of them. If something got within that meter, he would feel it.

They got to an open-fronted veranda with a sweeping roof. Mist thickened between the torii pillars which here were accented with gold fittings at the joints. The rain slowed….the plink-plink of water off the pillars creating a rhythmic dripping sound.

Every droplet hung suspended

“That’s weird.”

Reiji stopped. “Weird how?”

“I can sense two auras but I can’t pinpoint their location or tell if they are humans or not.”

Something was wrong.

The two auras were closer to them, expanding.

The ground trembled and water pooled around them.

Reiji widened his stance, dropping low grounding his center of gravity. He controlled his breathing whispering their clan’s mantra Inhale Mind, Exhale Body.

“Asahi,” he murmured. “Stay close.”

Then—

A voice.

Smooth, mocking voice distorting like sound bouncing across water.

“Ahhh….Murei. They figured it out.”

Asahi felt his feet pulled and stared at the water below. His reflection rippled but the face staring back wasn’t his. Before he could move, the water surged upward, twisting and reshaping itself and from it emerged Tsukuro.

His body was shapeless and fluid, water constantly flowing around like strings of water.

Behind him slithered Murei, pale and stretched thin over a skeletal frame. Ribbons of wet flesh curled off his arms and neck, flickering with flames.

“Yes Tsukuro,” Murei hissed. “I told you that fold was tepid. Such unconvincing illusions won’t work with the humans…..their Kishin arts have evolved.”

“Oh relax,” Tsukuro giggled. “We’ll carve them apart all the same.”

“Are you done?” Reiji said stepping forward. “Let me show you how evolved humans are.”

Tsukuro laughed loudly. “Murei can you believe this human climbed all this way just to die like the others.”

“Be cautious Tsukuro. Look at those swords…they must be from the clans.”

Tsukuro tilted his head. “Ah, the classic Hinerimari gold and black wrapping style. That is one of the independent clans if I’m not wrong. But they’re just children, Mu…”

Slash!

A metallic click.

A single breath.

The draw.

In a single seamless rehearsed sequence, Reiji’s right hand gently nudged the tsuka toward his enemy, extending his arm. With his left hand, he simultaneously pulled the saya backward.

Tsukuro’s body fell in a splash by the time Reiji had resheathed his katana.

Reiji turned to Murei.

“Do you surrender?”

When…..

Tsukuro’s form reassembled behind him with a bubbling. “That attack was so fast I barely saw it. If I hadn’t liquiefied my body, you might’ve killed me. heh. Not bad, little Samurai.”

“I told you Tsukuro,” Murei hissed.

Reiji turned and got into a low stance.

“Don’t worry, that was their one and only chance to surprise me. I won’t be so careless anymore.”

Tsukuro blurred shaping his fingers into thin, pressurized needles

Asahi ducked —but one nicked his cheek, drawing a thin line of blood.

“Reiji!”

“I see it.”

Reiji drew again but Tsukuro didn’t dodge. He created a hollow space in his chest as the exact point of impact. The katana passed through empty air and the water edges of the hole snapped shut, attempting to trap the sword inside his body but Reiji expanded his Kishin from the blade towards his hand, exploding the water. Kishin flowed from him in measured pulses, each breath feeding his muscles and katana.

Tsukuro laughed, body rippling apart and reforming meters away. “You might actually last longer than the priests we gutted last week.”

Asahi stepped beside Reiji, glaring at Tsukuro.

“You killed priests?!”

“Not all of them,” Murei murmured, peeling a strip of skin from his arm. The flesh peeled, unravelling into ribbons that shimmered with heat. “A few we saved….as candles.”

“Tch.”

Asahi unsheathed his katana, got into a stance. The brothers pressed their two fingers together forming an X – a gesture of the Akashi Clan. It meant, together strong.

Tsukuro’s gaze flicked between them. “Look at them, Murei. Matching swords, matching faces. Adorable. Was that a pinky swear?”

Murei flicked his wrist.

Ribbons of burning skin lashed out, twisting through the air like fiery serpents. Reiji cut through two strips of flesh– but the flames didn’t extinguish. They landed on the ground and then disappeared back into Murei’s ribbons.

“Transmutation……” Reiji muttered. “using flesh as a medium.”

“Sharp one,” Murei cooed. “And you….” He pointed at Akashi, “….your Kishin is quite dense but tepid. You reek of fear and doubt. I think I’ll burn you first.”

“No you don’t,” Reiji stepped forward “You’ll face me instead.”

“Ooooh, I’m quivering with fear.” Tsukuro gagged loudly. “Murei, why are we doing this again?”

“You know the Lord doesn’t like questions,” Murei said. “Let’s just do what we’re told. And don’t be too rough with them, you know how you can be.”

Tsukuro sputtered.
“S-So dramatic! Murei. Don’t forget I am higher-ranked than you, so don’t order me around. With that being said, I promise to be gentle so stop worry.”

In a blink Tsukuro evaportated a portion of himself to create a thick hot steam. Reiji stepped back to avoid being blinded by it.

“OVER HERE!” Tsukuro giggled behind him attempting to stab him but Reiji sidestepped and slashed only hitting a surface as hard as glass, he felt the impact on his shoulders.

Tsukuro had harden his outer layer by increasing the surface tension at the point of impact. “ooh, pretty fast aren’t you….this is going to be fun but it’s a bit crowded here.”

Then he slammed his hands to the ground, water from the ground and overflowing stone basin pooled to him

WOOOOOOOM.

A deafening pressure dropped over the shrine — from everywhere at once.
The puddles stretching then closing like a tide from above.

Tsukuro whispered, “Soul Sphere Art - Mizugokoro no Ori.”

“Asahi!” Reiji shoved him backward with both palms, launching him clear of the closing torrent. The water collapsed downward in a single violent sweep swallowing him.

When Reiji opened his eyes, he found himself standing on top of black water that felt like a flat polished obsidian. His katana was floating beside him like a bouy.

Tsukuro’s laughter echoed from above.

“Welcome,” his voice whispered from everywhere.

“….inside me, little Samurai.”