Who Killed My Parents

It was way past midnight when Chief Akechi Shinemori and his son, Jin, were summoned into Dragon God Dairyū’s audience. But Akechi Shinemori didn’t mind. After all, Dairyū’s son, Kenzō, helped rescue his daughter, Yumi, from the claws of Kasai, the predatory nine-tailed fox. Yumi was permitted to spend the night at the Kagurayama Estate since she was tired and traumatised by her kidnapping and time spent in the Demon Realm, whose energy pressure was overwhelming to humans.

Before Yumi went to sleep, Kenzō asked her about her cellmate in the demon dungeon. Yumi had witnessed the poor girl’s death, and she told every detail to Kenzō, shedding hot tears from the vile memories. However, Kenzō’s divine energy as a half-dragon kami helped calm her down. Later, when Kenzō relayed those details to Dairyū, the dragon god’s smile vanished. This told Kenzō that the business was serious. So, he called Chief Shinemori and his son, Jin, to his father’s room immediately.

Kazuya Hattori accompanied Chief Shinemori and Jin into Dairyū’s chamber, where the dragon god received private visitors. Kenzō was also there, sitting beside Dairyū on a cushion, yawning languidly and covering his mouth with his clawed hand. Kazuya, Chief Shinemori, and Jin sat in front of them formally, displaying their respect towards the dragon god and his son. Dairyū’s smile reappeared as he eyed the bowing policemen. Receiving human worship directly was one of his favourite aspects of living on earth.

“Raise your heads,” he said in his high-pitched, tinkling voice.

Chief Akechi, Jin, and Kazuya straightened up but kept their eyes down, as was expected of humans in the god’s presence. Kazuya had clutched his knees nervously, but dared look up for a moment or two. Dairyū was still his distant uncle, and Kenzō – his distant cousin and best friend. So, he felt more at ease around them than the Shinemoris did.

The painting on the wall behind Dairyū induced fear in Kazuya. He’d felt scared of it ever since his childhood when he saw it for the first time. It depicted some giant waves, their foams curving like predatory claws, towering over Mount Unzen on the western coasts of Kyūshū. It was dated 1792, meaning that the waves depicted a megatsunami hitting the coast that year. The title was engraved on a golden plate under the painting: The Wrath of the Great Dragon God. The “Great Dragon God” referred to Dairyū, who caused that 100-metre-tall wave when people of the Higo Province disrespected him, or so the story went.

He has always received private guests in this room. Kazuya thought, chills running down his spine as he eyed Dairyū’s smile. The Unzen megatsunami is one of the greatest and rarest catastrophes caused by a kami, and yet Uncle uses it as his greeting card! He eyed the hideous waves in the painting and the tiny people screaming on the coast. It’s humbling, to say the least.

Kazuya glanced at the Shinemoris beside him. Chief Akechi had beads of sweat streaming down his brow, while Jin clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white. Kazuya couldn’t blame them. If this mansion weren’t the home of his loving family, he would’ve been cowering, too.

“I… I must thank Your Holiness for saving my daughter!” Akechi Shinemori said at last, getting a hold of himself. He bowed to Dairyū once again.

“You owe your gratitude to these two gentlemen and their friends.” Dairyū pointed to Kenzō and Kazuya. “One of your subordinates was also among them… Inuko Takeda is her name. But, I must say, it was inappropriate to delegate a century-old serial killer yōkai case to children, even as a punishment.” His smile deepened, and the pupils of his rainbow eyes narrowed to slits. “Despite the gravity of this case, you had it shelved for a century. And then, you gave it to my nephew.”

He glanced at Kazuya and back at the Chief. The corners of his blue lips lowered, and Kazuya noticed little gusts of vapour emerging from his nostrils. He flinched.

Uncle breathes vapours only when he’s enraged. He thought. He looked at Chief Shinemori and saw his limbs shaking. I hope the Chief gets out of this safely. I’ll vouch for him if anything happens!

Kenzō chuckled, happy that his father reprimanded Akechi Shinemori. He despised the latter’s son, Jin, for bullying Kazuya in their teenage years. So, he enjoyed the sight of Jin’s rage, his nostrils flaring and his blood shooting up to his temples, as he witnessed his father’s chastising. But Jin couldn’t speak up against the kami lest he anger him and put his father, Chief Shinemori, in a worse position. Kenzō smiled gleefully at his troubles.

Serves them right… He thought, watching the two policemen. We, the Kagurayama Clan, craft their bullets from Dad’s scales, and yet they still dare act all high and mighty! Dad has done well to reprimand them for overworking Kazu. They should remember their place!

“Nevertheless,” Dairyū resumed, glaring at Akechi, “your folly prompted Kazu to refer to me, and, eventually, brought him and my son to the Demon Realm. Whilst rescuing your daughter there, my son discovered evidence about a certain yōkai I believed to be dead.”

With these words, he pushed his hand into his sleeve and took out one of the pearls from Kenzō’s bead bracelet. It contained the corpse of the Hanabira girl that Kenzō found in Yumi’s cell in the demon dungeon. Dairyū placed it on the floor in between himself and the policemen.

Chief Shinemori, Jin, and Kazuya widened their eyes in horror at the corpse, locked in the pearl in its miniature form. It had its heart ripped out, just like the women’s bodies Jin Shinemori witnessed in the Takahata case, and Kazuya saw on his mother’s dead body ten years ago.

“C-Could it be..?” Kazuya looked at Dairyū, with tears in his eyes. He clenched his fists, trying to suppress the lump in his throat.

“Indeed, it’s the same yōkai that killed Jin and Ameko.” Dairyū nodded to Kazuya, his voice grim. “And,” he turned to Chief Shinemori, “after your daughter’s testimony to my son, I finally discovered what that cursed creature is. So, for the invaluable information your daughter provided, I’ll forgive your misconduct towards my nephew.”

“What creature is it?” Kazuya cried, interrupting the conversation. He almost jumped in his seat, so restless he had become. He bent forward, looking the kami straight in his rainbow eyes. “Please, Uncle, I need to know who killed my parents!”

Dairyū sighed, finding it hard to reveal the gruesome news to his beloved nephew. He looked at Kenzō, signalling to him to reveal the information he had heard from Yumi. Kenzō nodded, straightened up in his seat, and turned to the policemen.

“Yumi said the creature looked like an old woman with a dainty figure,” he began. “She wore a hood, and so Yumi couldn’t discern her face. Her purple claws were covered in blood even before she ripped out that girl’s heart. But the worst part was her hair – dry and white with reddish tints, it was tied in a long braid with a sharp, venomous tip. She used it as a weapon, similarly to how we, dragons, use our braids.”

As a demonstration, Kenzō sharpened the bushy parts of his purple braid through sheer willpower, turning them into scales. He whirled his braid in the air, showing its flexibility as a separate muscle rather than mere hair. Then, he turned it back to normal.

“This is because our braid is our dragon tail,” he explained. “Similarly, that woman’s hair was the tail of her true, yōkai form – a scorpion.”

“A scorpion?!” Kazuya exclaimed, his eyes wide. “Aren’t they classified as kami? How could she be in the Demon Realm?”

“That’s what I thought, too.” Dairyū smiled bitterly. “But, considering that this woman killed your parents and the Takahata family,”—he glanced at Jin and Akechi, revealing his knowledge about their new case from last night—“this woman leaves fire in her wake. Therefore, she’s not a regular yōkai but an ancient demon – the Flame Scorpion, no matter how hard I found it to believe.” He looked at the wave and volcano painting behind him. “I thought I’d killed the last of them in Unzen… but it seems one escaped me.” His sorrowful smile deepened. To think Nene lost her cousin because of my negligence! I wouldn’t have messed up if I still had my omniscience. He sighed, looking down at his clawed hands. That’s what I get for being banished to earth.

Kazuya stared at his knees, speechless and dazed. Cold sweat streamed down his brow. All this time, he’d been chasing foxes when the true culprit was some living fossil… And what was worse, according to Ginrei, that wretched hag was after his sister, Kasane!