Freeze Rentarou

With every punch Rentarou swung, the worried expressions on the Yukinkos’ faces grew. They couldn’t scream out, but they cried as Rentarou tried to assault their mother. However, she was weaving his blows one at a time.

“Fine! If you’re just gonna dodge all day, then I’ll go for your weak spot!” Rentarou shifted his focus to the wind barrier that surrounded the yokai children. “Here I come!” Rentarou expanded his right fist larger than he ever had before as he struck the wind barrier.

When he did, there was no shake or impact; the only thing Rentarou felt was sharp winds slashing at his skin. Most people would show a pained expression at this revelation; however, this realization made Rentarou smile.

Instead of pulling his fist out, he pushed it farther into the wind barrier. He was met with some resistance as the pain increased, but neither stopped him from trying to hit the Yukinkos inside.

The Yuki-onna’s eyes widened in horror as his fist nearly reached her children. In response, she began to conjure countless shards of ice around her, and they were all aimed at Rentarou. However, before she could fire them, Yukimura intervened.

She slashed her sword between the two as she shouted, “Wall!” Where her sword didn’t reach, a wall of ice erupted, protecting Rentarou from the Yuki-onna’s icy onslaught.

“Yukimura, you’re here? Finally! Help me break this wind barrier.” As his fist got closer to the Yukinkos, they huddled together in fear. The only one who didn’t look scared was Kin. Instead, he looked at Yukimura with a smile.

When Yukimura saw Kin, she gritted her teeth as she approached Rentarou. “Hey, Rentarou, get your hand out of there and revert.”

“Why? I got them right where I want them.”

“First, look at your hand. Second, I have a plan.”

Rentarou took Yukimura’s advice and took a good look at his right hand. It barely resembled a hand. He couldn’t feel the pain of a skinless hand only because of the adrenaline that was driving him. Damn it! When did my hand get this messed up? Stupid yokai!

As Yukimura commanded, Rentarou took his right hand out and began to revert to his normal size. “Okay, what now?” Yukimura was about to speak, but Rentarou quickly said something else. “Before you speak, don’t forget that I’m the leader. I call the last shots.”

“Yes, I know.”

“So what’s the plan?”

“First, we regroup with Hinako.”

“Why?”

“Because…” Yukimura forced a smile as she thought to herself. Do I reveal the plan Shin and I made to him? No, he’s going to oppose it. So instead… “Hinako told me to help you fall back.”

“But I’m not in danger! I got them!”

“Look at your hand and say that again.”

Rentarou looked at it again, and when he did, he faced the direction Hinako was. “Fine! But, right after this meeting or whatever, I’m clobbering that yokai. It owes me a fist!”

“Okay, Rentarou, I get it.”

“Good!” When Rentarou said that, he expanded his legs and kicked himself off the ground. In one big leap, he thought he could make it, but he was a little bit short on distance. So, he expanded his left arm as well to haul himself up to the cliff where Hinako was.

He expected to be the first one there, but he already saw Yukimura there. “How did you beat me here?”

“Ice pillar.”

“Yeah, she used an ice pillar and changed its angle to shoot herself up here efficiently. You should’ve seen it.”

“That doesn’t sound cool at all!” Rentarou’s eyes looked away from Hinako when he said that. But from those drifting eyes, Hinako knew.

“You’re lying.”

“No, I’m not! Also, why are we regrouping?”

“Because I said to regroup if you saw Shin or Yukimura. Speaking of him, where is he, Yukimura?”

“Shin is making his way to the Yuki-onna right now.”

“Well, we can’t let him have all the fun! I gotta jump in there right now!” However, before he could make his way back to fight the Yuki-onna, Hinako held Rentarou by his collar.

“Hold on, Rentarou. Why is he going to fight it by himself?”

“He’s not going to fight it.”

“That’s even more stupid! Let me go beat— I mean help him!”

“No. Then how is Shin going to deal with the Yuki-onna?”

“He is going to try to talk to it.”

“Talk with it?” Both of the siblings said these words at the same time, but Hinako and Rentarou had two different reactions.

“Talking to it can work. She seemed to be able to speak earlier, but it's risky.”

“That’s why we need to stop him. There’s no talking with yokai! We need to kill them!”

“If that’s what you think, Rentarou, you’re too late to stop him.” Before Rentarou could ask what Yukimura meant, she pointed over to the now collapsed ice wall. The Yuki-onna still had ice shards floating around her as she looked for the trio of Onmyoji frantically. And nearby, walking toward the yokai, was Shin.

“Then I’m jumping in, too!” Rentarou took off his shirt to break free of Hinako’s grasp, but when he did, Yukimura hit him with the hilt of her blade. He knelt as the pain echoed through his chest. “Why’d you do that?”

“Freeze.” Just as Yukimura spoke, ice erupted from Rentarou’s chest, turning him into a statue. Upon seeing this, Hinako jumped back and grabbed a talisman from her pocket.

“What are you trying to do, Yukimura?”

“He was too hot-headed. Rentarou needed to cool down.”

“Are you planning to freeze me too?” Yukimura shook her head.

“No, let’s just watch Shin for now. If we need to fight, I’ll unfreeze him.”

“Okay.”