The family that opened the door took one look at the mud covered strangers before closing the door in their faces. (Note: Wait... I dont get what happened... the last chapter clearly says that Masahiro cleaned him self up...... Maybe this is a flashback? )

Narachika frowned at the closed door. He was silent for a moment before a resolute expression settled on his face.

"Twelve s.h.i.+nshou..... I command you to break down this door."

"BROTHER ! .... NO!!!!!"

Masahiro waved his hands frantically.

"Hahahahaha.... Im kidding.." Narachika laughed as he turned to the still frantic Masahiro.

"No, you were serious..." Taiin thought to herself, but she reined in her winds none the less.

Masahiro signed in relief.

Narachika once again knocked on the door, telling the family that he had a letter penned by Fujiwara himself. Only then did the family relent, only slightly. A crack appeared in the door, and Narachika stuffed the oild paper wrapped package through the narrow opening. They waited for another 15 minutes.

It seemed so long that taiin was ready to do as Narachika had asked before. But the door was open jsut as she decided to act and the group was lead inside.

Chogu Yutari's mansion was vast and luxurious. Store houses lined the four interior walls and the architecture of the main hall and lesser courtyards was intricate and ostentatious. A stable for the horses stood in the corner. They must live very well here.

As Narachika and Masahiro were dressed too poorly, they were not allowed to enter any of the buildings. The clouds were still thick after the storm and they were asked to wait outside.

A period of time pa.s.sed before a richly dressed middle age man approached them anxiously.

"Im am so sorry that my servants treated you two with such poor manners."

The middle aged man turned out to be the head of the household, Chogu Yutari. He quickly directed his servants to prepare a bath a some clean clothes for his guests to change into. Masahiro and Narachika were quickly welcomed into the main hall.

Narachika and Masahiro were quickly made comfortable with clean clothes, and while Narachika engaged Lord Yutari with the matter at hand, Masahiro was led to a bath.

"Please ring the bell if you need anything." the servant said before walking away.

Masahiro bathed himself with the water, carefully rinsing the dried bits of mud and dirt of his hair. After his bath, the servants had prepared clean clothes for him, and promising to clean his soiled clothes. They had also brought tea and some light snacks to occupy him while he waited for his brother.

The wait seem to stretch on for hours and Masahiro had just made up his mind to go out and look for his brother when Narachika appeared at the door. Narachika remained silent as Masahiro look up at him. After a moment, he waved his hand toward the porch, beckoning Masahiro outside. Once outside, they both sat on the wooden steps.

The servants had prepared a long rectangular guest house for them, surrounded by walkways on all four sides. However, there was no wall that separated the walkways from the courtyard. The guest house was very close to the main hall from which light poured through its open door.

(Translator Note: The description of the layout of the house is extensive...but it basically boils down to the fact that they have little privacy and everything they say can be heard by anyone else.)

"What did Lord Yutari say? " Masahiro asked.

Hearing his question, Narachika used his finger to point at his chin. Then he answered "It looks a lot more serious than we imagined. It was no wonder that Taiin of the twelve s.h.i.+nshou was uneasy about the situation."

Taiin of course was nearby, but she remained invisible, and her aura was barely detectable.

"The two children we saw before. I'm told that their mother is afflicted with the same memory loss."

"Also, Im told that there is a strange shrine nearby, but it has been damaged now and has collapsed."

"Lets start with these leads."

Narachika looked thoughtful as he stared out into the courtyard. 

A moment pa.s.sed..... and Narachika turned to him.

"Masahiro, are you really totally blind ?"

............

"Ah... uh..... well........ sort of......" Masahiro looked away at the sudden blunt question.

Narachika looked over at Masahiro, who had refused to make eye contact. After a moment, he laid a hand on Masahiro's sagging shoulders.

"I'm not blaming you....... I just wanted to know. "

He pulled a small paper package out of his robe, and unwrapped it to reveal a ceremonial pendant and some prayer beads, adding these to complete his "Onmyouji" look.

"To be really honest, this is a two man job.....for me to do it alone would be quite difficult...... I'm not sure if I can do it. If you cant see, I could lend you my strength. You still have attack strength, don't get totally discouraged yet."

"If you say so....." Masahiro replied.

________________________________________________________

Narachika was of course, a great onmyouji. Being an Onmyouji required skill and connections. One must harbor the ability to weave spells and elements as well as the ability to unravel the complicate social relations.h.i.+ps of the Heian court. Narachika was both skilled and honest, and thus few took issue with him.

Narachika had liked working with spells before deciding his career path, and his Abe lineage gave him an extra edge on the compet.i.tion, and he quickly rose to become known as one of the premier Onmyouji in j.a.pan. Even though he traveled little, his abilities in detecting and repelling Youkai were nearly unparalleled. 

Even then,....Narachika had said his strength wasn't enough to deal with the situation at hand.

Their opponent must possess considerable strength.............to say the least. 

A flash of white startled Masahiro out of his troubled thoughts. He stared intently into the darkness until he met the eyes of the white mononoke, perched on a nearby railing.

The crimson eyes burned into Masahiro.

Its been a while................ but even now, Masahiro felt the gaze unbearable........ the lack of recognition in those eyes tore into his heart, and reopened old wounds.

A breath hitched in his chest.... as the pressure in his chest throbbed painfully. The dull ache becoming sharper with every beat. 

He wanted to lay down.... to curl up and slowly soothe away the throbbing pain........

.....some where away from the world.......

... far ..........far away.....

.................

But he needed to be strong........ they were counting on him......

.........brother, was counting on him....

Abruptly, Masahiro s.h.i.+fted his gaze away from the white creature and turned to his brother.

"So.....uh..... what do you want me to do ?"

Narachika thought for a moment, before turning to him.

"Im going to take a bath......You should go to bed and get a good night's rest.......you'll need your strength.... tomorrow we'll set out on our mission. "

Hours pa.s.sed and the lights in the court year went out one by one until the manor was swallowed by the inky darkness. From his perch on the thatched roof of the house, the white mononoke looked down into the courtyard and frowned.

___________________________________________________________________________

The air drifting on the evening breeze was mixed with troubling scent of Youkai. It covered the entire manor from the tiled walls to the courtyard underbrush, the vile scent claiming the manor for its own.

Under normal circ.u.mstances, this place should be crawling with minor demons. But now an eerie silence filled the air, it's thick scent permeating the courtyard. The mountains of Izumo is reputedly one of the holiest places, but there was not a shred of holy aura here.

The creature from yesterday..... it was fast..... powerful..... yes. But it was impossible for even it to spread chaos and ruin over such a wide area.

That would mean............

Several days ago...... the creature with the human face that Touda burned to ash......... the water creature that climbed away on the mist................. Perhaps there were more..........................

Aside from the one that escaped last night,..... there should be at least a few more..........maybe alot more............

He felt he was on to something.

The white Mononoke's thoughts drifted to the youth that slept just beneath the roof he perched on.

He had thought that the boy was merely Seimei's grandson, a useless tag-along that was simply another piece-of-c.r.a.p excuse for a life....but he seemed different last night. 

(Note: Im not kidding, his words are actually that harsh. It uses the term "waste of life" which in this language, is a derogatory term for a disabled person. )

Although he seemed unable to lock on to his target, he was deceptively strong......... to say the least.......

But he seem wholly unable to see spirits, lacking the characteristic "sight" that all onmyouji possessed.

That was a disappointment......

Touda knew he was far far stronger than Narachika.

The white Mononoke blinked at these thoughts.

Odd..... he remembered Narachika being much younger.......had he undergone the "coming of age" ceremony?

Touda was sure he hadn't......  but how could he be so obviously old?

Narachika and his brother Masachika had always been afraid of Touda, never daring to approach him.

Touda in turn, had never intended to scare or upset them, and thus had only met them a handful of times when Seimei had summoned him.

Seimei very rarely summoned Touda. His personality too was different from the other s.h.i.+nshou. He only appeared when specifically summoned and never showed himself in casual circ.u.mstances.

Perhaps he had spent too long in the spirit world, the unchanging s.p.a.ces blurring his sense of time in the human world.

He was a s.h.i.+nshou, and to him, a decade pa.s.sed by in the blink of an eye. Compared to the time he's lived, it was of no consequence at all.

A decade simply wasnt important to him.

If he had missed anything of interest, he could always simple ask Seimei to fill him in on the details once he returned to the capital.

He doubted anything would interest him anyway.

Having come to such a conclusion, Touda turned his eyes to the sky.

The sky was blanketed with thick gray clouds that blocked out the moonlight, casting the valley in an oppressive humid darkness.

It made him all the more anxious to return to Seimei's side, if for nothing other than the clear skies and clean air of the capital.

They will return to the capital once Narachika's work here is finished...... thus he will lend them his strength....... wrap this up quickly....... for his own sake.

In the swirl of images and memories that flickered through Touda's mind, was the face of the child he had no memory of....... the child that had seem to grow up without him ever taking notice.

Every time Touda met his eyes, he would freeze, his small body gripped by a strange tension as his face belied a certain desperation and despair. It the face of that hopelessness, it was Touda, who was always the first to look away.

He resented children.

If he was so scared, why did he even bother to look?

The child seemed uncannily observant, always able to pick out Touda, even when he hid in the shadows.

The white Mononoke looked down at himself, his silky white fur and small sleek body. He looked no different from simply another animal of the brush.

Touda had never perferred to disguise himself as such. He had hoped that the form would allow him to avoid the fear and revulsion of all that he met.

Touda resented children very much. 

Children always shrank away from him in fear and revulsion, in the same way that most of the other s.h.i.+nshou did.

As such, Touda avoided coming in contact with the other s.h.i.+nshou whenever possible. At the same time, he had always felt very poorly of the aura of horror that seem to emanate from his being.....

.... an aura that seem to inspire skin crawling fear in nearly everyone he met.