The Bite of A Lap Dog

“Hey Taku, whatcha smiling at?” Satori asked as they jumped toward Takeda. When Satori was directly above the talisman Takeda had on the ground, an earth pillar erupted from the ground. However, Takeda’s trap didn’t harm them. Instead, they used the earth pillar as a springboard and continued their approach toward him. “I saw that coming, Taku!”

“But did you see this coming?” Takeda held out his left hand, about to recite an incantation, but Satori didn’t let him finish. They grabbed the dagger that was falling from earlier and used it to stab deep into his head. That blow would’ve killed anyone if it made contact with a person.

Satori briefly had a look of surprise on their face as they saw the Takeda they killed collapse into the earth. Satori was about to look around at their surroundings, but suddenly felt a surge of bloodlust behind them. There wasn’t enough time to look behind them, so they trusted their instincts and ducked. Satori realized that was the right reaction as they felt the wind from Takeda’s slash brush past their face.

“Ah, I see. An invisibility spell, for me? Taku, you shouldn’t have.” Satori may have been speaking, but they were patiently waiting for Takeda’s next strike, waiting to feel his bloodlust again.

However, Takeda did a better job at masking it this time. Satori couldn’t even feel his strike until it pierced their furry skin. But when it did, Satori immediately reached to grab his invisible body. His sword was short, so he couldn’t be that far, especially since he didn’t even finish the slash. And Satori was right.

When they reached their hand out, Satori could feel their giant hands wrap around Takeda’s body. As they squeezed, Takeda’s spell gave out, and they could finally see his pained expression. “Hey, Taku, that’s a good look on you.”

“You…” Takeda whispered in such a low voice that Satori couldn’t hear what he was saying.

“Hm? What was that?” Satori asked, opening their spiral-shaped eyes as they leaned toward Takeda’s mouth. It was only when they pressed their ear against his cheek that Satori could make out one word.

“Strike.” When he said that word, Satori and Takeda were both struck by lightning. From the sudden pain, Satori threw Takeda to the ground before staring at him. Takeda landed safely before staring back at Satori. Both the Onmyoji and the yokai were sizing each other up, and that moment created a brief silence. A silence that Takeda soon broke.

“What’s wrong? Could you not read my mind, Satori? Isn’t that the type of yokai you are?” Takeda’s voice was cold and monotone, and his taunts were obvious. And yet, Satori still replied.

“Of course, I can. I can see all of your moves now that I’ve seen you. I even know about the gun and mana-filled bullets that you have in your pocket, Takeda Kouhei.” Hearing his name made Takeda’s heart skip a beat, but he continued to uphold his icy facade.

“If you can see everything, do you know—”

“Yes, I know what you want to ask. You want to know why we waited so long to wage this war, right?” Satori reclaimed their dagger from the ground before they pointed both of their blades at Takeda. “It’s because Nurarihyon made a promise.”

“What… was it?” Takeda asked.

“Like hell if I know. Hyon doesn’t share anything with me, Kou!” When Satori lunged at Takeda, he also lunged at them. Before Takeda and Satori made contact with one another, mid-swing, they both cast a spell.

“Lightning steps!”

“Gale boots!”

The spells they used may have been of different elements, but both were spells used to heighten their user’s speed. Takeda’s feet moved as fast as lightning, and Satori’s moved with the grace of the wind as their blades clashed.

Satori’s daggers intercepted and blocked every swing Takeda made. That’s why, amidst his grunts and the metallic clangs, Takeda chanted, “Earth shards!”

Dozens of sharp and small pieces of rock rose from the ground around Takeda before pointing themselves at Satori. They had no other choice but to retreat from the clash and jump back, but Takeda didn’t give them a moment to rest.

As the shards of earth aimed to pierce Satori’s body, they dodged as if they were dancing. “Kou, it’s not like you to shorten. You know it’d—”

Before Satori could finish their sentence, Takeda’s blade swung by their chest. Satori was still able to dodge it, but not fully able to dodge it. That was apparent when a gash opened up on their chest.

“Nice moves, Kouhei. But I foresaw them all!” Satori said as the earth shards aimed for their skull. However, with a single spell, Satori destroyed them all: “Air slash.” Sharp and harsh winds may have intercepted every piece of rock from Takeda’s spell, but he wasn’t done.

Immediately after they cast that spell, Takeda took a slash at their neck from behind. However, before he could, Satori caught his arm. “I foresaw this too.”

After Satori grabbed his arm, they twisted it. Takeda heard the crunching sound as his right arm broke, but he didn’t scream, not even after Satori launched him with monstrous strength into the air.

Before he started to fall, Takeda began to recite an incantation, but Satori finished first. “Cyclone!” That was the spell they cast to form a column of sharp, piercing winds around Takeda. However, even as his flesh got slashed off and his kimono started to become tattered, Takeda didn’t stop his incantation until a shell of earth encased his body.

As the earth encasing Takeda’s body began to get damaged, Satori skipped over to their column of wind. “Hey, Kou, I know you can hear me. And I know you’re going to die once that dome breaks. But you don’t have to. If you swear to obey—”

Bang!

The sound of a bullet pierced Satori’s words and would’ve pierced their chest too, if they hadn’t moved out of the way. Satori looked behind them and smiled as they saw Takeda. His right arm hung low at his side while he bled through his tattered clothing. In his left hand, he had a gun, and his index finger was on the trigger.

However, when the gun was pointed at them, Satori smiled. They smiled as they slowly walked toward Takeda. “I know you only have five bullets left.”

Bang! Bang!

The bullets didn’t connect as Satori used their speed to tilt their head to the right. “Four, now. I knew you were desperate when you were shortening the incantations, but you know those bullets can’t hurt me.”

Bang! Bang!

“One, now? You know those bullets can’t hit me. I know where you’re aiming, after all… Wait, are you even trying?” After Satori had finished their question, they paused. They couldn’t believe what they read from Takeda’s mind as he acted it out. “Hey, what are you—”

Takeda lifted the pistol in his hand as he pointed the barrel at his head. “Satori, I’ve been a lap dog to the Onmyoji all my life. I’ve been using my mana to serve the Onmyoji Organization for twenty years after I trained to become one. Over time, I realized I may not be the best at any individual magic, but those decades of experience taught me how to control my mana completely… Would you like to see?”

He must be bluffing, right? There’s no way he’s gonna pull the trigger. Satori thought that until he tightened his grip on the trigger. No, there must be some type of plan. Some type of follow-up. However, when Satori read his mind, all they saw was Takeda planning to shoot his frontal lobe with that bullet. After they read his mind, there wasn’t enough time for Satori to give a retort until Takeda pulled the trigger.

Bang!

When Takeda’s body fell to the floor, Satori carefully approached it. I can’t read his mind anymore… so he must be dead, right? Satori could’ve left his body and given chase to the others, but they knew how tenacious Takeda was. I need to confirm if he’s dead.

Satori moved their finger close to his body, and when they prodded at it, Takeda’s right hand grabbed Satori’s arm. Takeda pulled their body close to him as he used the sword in his left hand to gouge out Satori’s left eye.

Satori tried to read his mind, to see his next move, but they saw nothing. I can’t see anything. Satori stood there, paralyzed, as they were baffled. Why can’t I see anything? And the answer was simple: Takeda wasn’t thinking.

Takeda wasn’t thinking as he ran his blade through their leg relentlessly until they eventually collapsed on the ground. When Satori couldn’t move their leg, Takeda straddled them. “Stop! Stop!” Satori screamed as the hole in Takeda’s head stared at them while his blade pierced their chest.

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When Takeda stopped, he sat on Satori’s cold and furry chest for a while. He tried to move, but he collapsed to the ground. Ah, I must’ve damaged my brain too much… I’m… too exhausted to move anymore… I’ll take a nap… before I help them… You'd better… take care of Suki… Shin.