Her son did not return last night.

The worried and panic-stricken granny begged the villagers to conduct a search for her son.

Everyone agreed. They made use of their free time to look for him, but there wasn't even a slightest news about his whereabouts.

My husband did not return after going out this morning.

My brother had gone to the mountains two days ago and has yet to return.

Day after day, there were more and more people disappearing. By the end of February, fifteen people had disappeared.

Other than that, there were also many others who returned in a confused state-of-mind with a total change in their personality.

These people had forgotten about their past with their families. They quarrelled with their spouses and the children, and eventually left the house to live on their own.

This area belongs to Minister of the left (i.e. Akiko's father). The official in charge of this area realise the severity of the problem, and rush off to send a message to the land lord.

That happened at the end of February. However, till now, there has been no reply from the Minister of the left.

The capital was far away from here. Could it be that the minister thinks that the villagers were exaggerating, and that it was in fact, not a serious problem?

But he was still worried. If this was to continue, he feared that more people would go crazy or go missing.

Could the people who went missing be just hiding somewhere? Could it be that they had some reasons and had to leave?

That was what some people suggested. However, the few corpse that were found floating near the river bank a few days later eliminated that guess.

Those who had died seemed to have struggled before their deaths, as many of the people who dragged out the corpses from the waters were shocked at what they had seen. The victims' faces were twisted with pain, indicating that they had died a painful death.

The men, in order to get the bodies out of the river, ignored their fears and uneasiness and step into the waters.

Just then, there was a splash. Was that a fish?

At first no one was bothered by the sound, but no long later, a sharp scream was heard.

"H...Help! There's something wrapped around my leg...!"

Both the man and the body were dragged into the waters. As the man struggled, foams could be seen. Then, a four-legged demon surfaced from the waters and bit off the man's head.

The others were stunned and in shock.

Waves and strong current was building up in the once calm waters as a few black things were seen moving underwater.

Beneath the waters was a demon even bigger than the one they had just seen. Its eyes were gleaming with malice.

"Wo...Woahhhh!"

The screams from another man seemed to have broken the spell which caused the men to be rooted to the ground. Everyone rushed to get out of the waters.

The larger demon surfaced and the water splashed around.

"Bring them back..."

There was a low grumble as five other lesser demons jumped out of the waters and went after the men.

__________________________________________________________________________________

It was the sound of the door closing.

Kochin had wanted Masahiro to get more sleep and so he's back into the small hut again.

Both Taiin and Genbu sighed at the same time. They have been trying hard not to let Kochin notice them.

They did not mean to eavesdrop on the conversation between Kochin and Masahiro. But in the end, they heard everything.

When angry, Kochin was nowhere as frightening as Touda, but she was still scary. However, she was much more reasonable, and would not get angry at small things. Compared to Seiryuu, who was always grumpy, Kochin was much calmer. There were a few occasions when she really got serious, and it was a truly frightening sight.

Then, the Eastern skies appear brighter as the sun starts to rise. Soon, it would be morning.

Taiin sat on the roof, and ruffled her hair.

"What's wrong?"

Taiin stared at the puzzled Genbu, then suddenly stood up and exclaimed, "If this goes on, Masahiro would go crazy soon!"

He had been carrying this burden, trying to bear with the pain, facing Touda, all just to let his feelings settle down.

Anyone could tell, Masahiro was not sleeping deeply. The slightest sound would wake him up. When he was eating, he seemed to be enjoying his meal, but in actuality, he was barely swallowing the food down.

Just because he had to do it.

"We aren't of any help at all."

They did not have the capability to do so. That was the same for Genbu, Rikugo and even Kochin. Rikugo could only support Masahiro, not ease his pain, and so does Kochin.

Even if Seimei or Akiko were present, Masahiro would probably not tell them what he really felt. His guilt was slowly pus.h.i.+ng him to the edge of despair.

"I'm afraid of Touda, and it can't be helped. I do not dislike him, I'm just afraid of him."

She seemed to be confused about what she was saying. (The other translation for the same phrase above could be: Either I dislike him or I am afraid of him. So this might be the reason for why she seemed to be confused.)

Genbu was at a corner, a.n.a.lysing what Taiin was saying calmly. Then he frowned, he did not know what to say. Wasn't this just like Taiin?

The wind was stirred by her agitated feelings. There was a small wind and her hair was blown upwards. Genbu too closed his eyes as the wind blew past.

"But...But I can't just let Masahiro self-destruct like that...!"

"I agree."

Being unable to see the demons and spirits must have been a painful thing for Masahiro, yet he was more worried about being a burden to others.

"Sorry, could you increase your aura so that I would be able to see you guys?"

When he put it that way, it just made the s.h.i.+nshou even more sadden.

"So what if we are the twelve s.h.i.+nshou? So what if he is the best Onmyouji? When it comes to situations like these, we can't even do a thing, how useless!"

Taiin was crying and screaming at the same time. Then, she suddenly snapped out of it, and opened her eyes wide.

The wind stopped, and the air was still again.

"...Right...An onmyouji..."

"Taiin?"   

Taiin did not reply Genbu, but looked up to the sky instead.

The clouds looked thicker today. It was going to rain soon.

"I'll be right back!"

Taiin said so and summoned a gust of wind. Genbu was thrown off balance and fell off from the roof.

By the time he stood up and regained his balance, Taiin was already gone.

"This...This reckless fellow...What am I supposed to do about you?!"

The angry Genbu looked around. He really wanted to vend his anger, yet he couldn't possibly destroy a whole patch of forest for the sake of relieving his anger. Instead, a sighed deeply.

The Twelve s.h.i.+nshou had been around for the long time. Over the years, he had been made to look like a fool many times by Taiin.

When he returned to the capital, he must tell Byaku about her. Only he has the ability to keep her under control.

_______________________________________________________

It was near afternoon, and Masahiro was staring blankly at the cloudy skies.

There wasn't much wind, and the signs of spring could be seen all over the mountains. But there was a strong gust of wind at dawn. What was that?

He has a terrible headache, and the physical and emotional torments were taking its toll on him.

Masahiro closed his eyes, and let his thoughts drift. It offered him some form of comfort even though they were only meeting in his dreams.

He placed his hand on his chest, and breathed deeply for a few times to stop his heart from racing and beating so quickly.

In order to have better ventilation, he opened the doors of the small hut. Just then, he saw the creature.

Perhaps it was just stopping in front of the door as it was walking towards the trees.

Masahiro and the creature looked at each other. There was no sign of feelings in those red eyes, and it quickly look away with a tinge of anger in its eyes.

He just stood there with a feeling of strange familiarity.

He remembered seeing the same pair of eyes in his dreams. Many times as a matter of fact. In his dreams he was desperately pounding on an invisible wall. There was blood on his fist. Finally, Mokkun turned around to look at him.

With those red eyes without any signs of emotions...

As the small figure of the creature disappeared between the trees, Masahiro felt a pain as if his intestines were all tangled up together. He brushed away the cold sweat forming on his forehead and swallowed down this bitter taste in his mouth as he attempted to divert his thoughts from that creature.

Just then, a strong gust of wind blew across, causing all the surrounding trees to fall. The petals from these blooming trees were blown into the small hut. With his outer cloak and the straw mat blown up, Masahiro grabbed on to the door in order to stabilise himself.

"What's the matter?" He muttered to himself.

Just then, a scream was heard "Ahhhhhh!"

Shortly after was the sound of a loud thud, like there was something heavy that landed in the small empty field before the small hut.

Genbu, who had narrowly avoided the impact of that wind, as well as Kochin and Rikugo stood up.

Masahiro couldn't believe his ears. There was a low moan...

"....Huh?..."

He stumbled to the ground and rushed from the boundaries of the small hut to where the trees were. He then stopped in his steps.

There was a young man sitting on the ground, using his hands to press on the back of his head. His expression twisted in pain.

"Pain... How could Grandpa's s.h.i.+nkigami do such a thing..."

The young man grumbled and lifted up his head. He saw Masahiro and blinked his eyes. Then he stood up and brushed away the sand on his clothes.

Looking at Masahiro, he used a gentle tone and asked "What's wrong brother? You look really pale. Are you that surprised?"

He smiled and made a gesture asking Masahiro to come over. Taiin, who had used her strong winds to bring Narachika here levitated into the air and uncross her legs.

"At a time like this you should take the initiative to walk to him, not ask him over!"

"Oh… Really? For me, this should be a touching reunion. We had not seen each other for quite some time so I was expecting to run over to me happily."

After Narachika jokingly made that statement, he looked at Masahiro. a.s.suming his role as Masahiro's brother, he asked "What's wrong?"

Masahiro's tightly clutched hands slowly relaxed.

Staring at Narachika, his eyes fluttered. The tears that he had been suppressing all these times flowed out of his eyes.

"Bro…Bother…!"

Masahiro didn't move, so Narachika had to walk over to him instead. He patted his head and hugged him.

"Fool…It's exhausting, isn't it?"

As Narachika patted Masahiro on his back, the restrains over his feelings all this time seemed to have come loose.

Masahiro held on tightly to his brother's s.h.i.+rt and wailed uncontrollably.  Narachika continued to pat his brother on the back as he looked up at Taiin.

Just moments before, a loud voice from afar shouting at him stopped him in his tracks.

"Found You!"

Narachika looked up, only to stare right into the eyes of an angry and anxious Taiin. It scared him and he almost wanted to run away. He had barely been able to maintain his stance to ask Taiin what was going on. Without answering, Taiin grabbed him by the collar of his s.h.i.+rt and threw him up into the air.

Soon he found himself within a hurricane. He felt as if he was spin around and around. It made him giddy and he wanted to throw up.  It was really uncomfortable.

Yet, once he saw Masahiro, he immediately understood why Taiin was in such a hurry, and he quickly forgave her.

He did not know what had happened, but understood that his brother was in a dire situation.

As Taiin slowly landed on the ground, Genbu approached her angrily.

"That's the reason why you left so early in the morning?"

"Yup."

"And what's that strong wind just now all about. It blew up all the ashes and almost caused a fire."

It was the kind of ashes that still had some fire in it. If it was to land on the straw hut, the consequences could be disastrous.

"If that's the case, you could just extinguish the fire. You are a water-based s.h.i.+kigami."

"That's not the point!"

Taiin, who was being reprimanded by Genbu, looked down sadly.

"Because…"

"What?"

Seeing the angry Genbu crossed his arms in front of his chest, Taiin said softly "Because… Touda was on the roof… I accidentally looked into his eyes…"

Kochin and Rikugo, who were standing at the side looked at each other unbelievably.  So that was why Taiin unconsciously blew up a gust.

Taiin and Touda meant each other no harm, so it could only be called an accident.

"Huh…"

At the moment, Genbu did not know what to say.

Taiin lowered her head even further and said "I'm sorry, I'll be more careful next time…"

"I hope that that's the case."

Genbu, who was taller than Taiin nodded his head. Kochin patted the two of them on their back. Just like that, the problem was solved.

Rikugo looked at the brothers holding on to each other.

Around Masahiro was an atmosphere of pain.

Rikugo silently disappear.

Even though they are the twelve s.h.i.+kigami, there are still things that they can't do. Even the most powerful of the G.o.ds are not almighty. Yet, aren't they too helpless?

Thinking about that, Rikugo sighed.

______________________________________________________

The creature looked at the young man that he saw, and searched through his memories.

It remembered that face.

Ah, it was Seimei's son. Was it Narachika?

But still, it felt weird. He was much taller than it had remembered. In his memories, Narachika had just competed he coming-of-age ceremony and is still a child*. But the Narachika that he is seeing now looks like a young man that had grown up.

(*After the coming of age ceremony you would be considered an adult. But I supposed in this case ,from Touda's view, Narachika probably still look like a child.)

He should be at least twenty-five.

The creature frowned and mumbled to himself "What's going on….?"

__________________________________________________________________________________

It started raining suddenly and got heavier in the afternoon.

"Phew, luckily I didn't get caught in the rain. If I were to continue walking here, I would probably be drenched by now."

Hearing Narachika, Taiin said gleefully "That's right! You should be thanking me."

"But still, the fact that because of you, I was in such an embarra.s.sing state and a state of disarray does not change. My cap was almost blown off, the luggage that I was carrying with me is lost, the prayer beads that I kept inside the bad is now gone and even the money that the minister pa.s.sed to me personally!"

"Argg…"

Taiin did not know how to refute his argument.

Just then, Rikugou, who was standing behind Taiin interrupted. "Taiin, go find the things."

"I get it…"

Taiin looked crestfallen as she head towards the door, grabbing Genbu's hand as she walked pa.s.sed. She just wanted to drag Genbu along and both Kochin and Rikugo had no issues with that.

Seeing them arguing with each other, Masahiro, with his eyes still red from the crying, smiled.

The s.h.i.+kigami had all been there. They knew what had happened and tried their best to support Masahiro's resolve and decision.

In order not to let them worry, however, Masahiro further suppressed his own feelings. He had told himself that this was inevitable and it was the pain he felt was simply his retribution.

Yet all that guilt dissolved when he saw his brother.

The age difference between him and Narachika was large. Hence this big brother was not usually by his side. There was very little time that they spend together. However, even after getting married and leaving the household, Narachika was still a reliable brother to both Masahiro and Masachika. Even if they were not living together, Narachika cared deeply for both his younger brothers. He was a man with a very big heart.

Because of his personality, Narachika was able to accept whatever had happened and give his support. This touched Masahiro and it reminded him of how Gurren was whenever Masahiro faced problems.

Narachika glanced at Kochin and Rikugou. From the change in their aura, one could tell that they became invisible and left after understanding what Narachika meant.

Narachika looked at Masahiro firmly and asked "What happened to your 'eyes'?"

Faced with this direct question, Masahiro was stunned and did not know how to answer.

But Narachika continued "I didn't have to specifically focus myself to see the s.h.i.+kigami. This is not possible normally. And why is that so? It's because the s.h.i.+kigami had specially increased their aura."

Narachika was straight to the point and Masahiro remained speechless.

Narachika, who was about twice the age of Masahiro, folded his arms and said sternly, "I'm not over-estimating your abilities, but I know your standards and where you stand. Even if the s.h.i.+kigami remain invisible, you would still be able to sense their presence or even see them. This is why Grandfather chose you to be his successor."

Masahiro lowered his head and looked at the floor, his shoulders drooping.

Seeing this, Narachika forced a smile and continue "I looks like I'm bully you! What would Touda do if he saw me like this?"

This was said to relieve the atmosphere in the room, but instead, it had an opposite effect and Masahiro started trembling.

Narachika was alarmed by his brother's reaction. Squinting his eyes and looking around, he realized that Touda was nowhere to be seen. Since Masahiro's coming-of-age ceremony, Touda had always been seen beside his brother as a furry white creature. He hurriedly scanned the room, and saw it sitting on a beam.

Looking into the creature's eyes, Narachika felt blood drain away from his face.

The creature cleared it throat, turned around and became completely invisible. Narachika sighed. He could somewhat guessed what had happened.

Masahiro looked thin and pallid, and Mokkun was different from the last time he saw it.

Narachika continued to look at Masahiro and firmly asked "Masahiro, answer me honestly, what are you doing here?"

At the end of February, under the orders of the Onmyou dorms, Narachika and Masahiro was sent to Izumo. They were chosen by the head of the onmyou dorm, but this also reflects Abe no Seimei's decision and choice.

Narachika said with a heavy tone "Father, he said that there was something important for you to do. I'm to pretend to be with you, but let you work on it individually. Father did not know the details of this 'mission', but I heard that that was Grandfather's instruction."

Narachika did not know what his grandfather was planning, but he trust that it is the right decision, and hence agreed to it. Travelling alone to Izumo was a bit lonely, but there was no other choice.

And thus he headed to Izumo alone. If not for Taiin, he would have to travel for another five days before reaching. In five days… probably Masahiro's condition would have worsened to the point of no return after five days.

Masahiro opened his mouth a few times, but no words came out. What exactly was going on? If there was a need to explain everything in detail, then he would have to trace back to the last winter.

"It's…"

Masahiro started speaking, while Narachika's expression started to get heavier and heavier. The contents were like a mythical story, a spectacular one. However, judging from Masahiro's pained expression, he immediately knew that it wasn't a lie or a story that was made-up.

"So… we arrived here…"

"I see."

His brother's voice sounded m.u.f.fled. Masahiro secretly glanced at his brother. His looked a bit stiff. It wasn't his fault, really. This kind of thing is really shocking.

"You meant Touda…"

This wasn't an enquiry, but an affirmation. Masahiro nodded his head silently. Looking down and curling up, Masahiro appeared to be very tensed.

There was silence.

"Fool…"

It was a short sentence, but Masahiro felt like it had been a punch to his body.

"Don't do such a thing again."

"I'm sorry…"

Masahiro's voice was trembling and hoa.r.s.e. Narachika held on to Masahiro's lowered head and sighed "You scared me to death."

"Huh…"

"It's not only you who has someone you want to protect."

"… Huh."

The gentle person that he had met at the river bank said something with a similar meaning.

His big brother gently caress Masahiro's forehead, and Masahiro closed his eyes to enjoy this feeling. He knew that it was not by his own strength that he was still here.

"I…at the river bank to the nether world…"

"Huh?"

"I saw Grandma…"

Narachika's eyes widen with shock, then he smiled gently and said "So that's what happed!"

__________________________________________________________________________________

Taiin and Genbu was surrounded by the wind as they proceed amidst the pouring rain.

Taiin found Narachika near the edge of Izumo. To prevent walking through forests and mountains, he had first walked to the sh.o.r.es before proceeding to Izumo.

"It is indeed tiring to go through all the mountains and forests. Narachika sure is a thoughtful person!"

Genbu nodded his head in admiration. He was surrounded by the rain and wind, and so was Taiin.

Manipulating the winds, she lifted herself above the ground, searching for Narachika's luggage. Genbu, who was now on the ground, was also not idling about. He made use of the rain water to trace Narachika's scent.

Genbu raised an eyebrow, then lifted his hands. Without much effort, he managed to obtain the prayer beads that were in the water.

"Good! Now there's only his money left to be found."

Not long later, Taiin found the money. Because the area where the things were dropped was fairly large, they took a significant amount of time to find it. Still, everything proceeded smoothly and they located what they were searching for.

Both of them heaved a sigh of relief.

Taiin patted her chest. "Luckily they did not come loose and scatter all over the place, or we would have an even more difficult time."

"Learn from your mistakes. Be more careful next time."

"I know!"

Taiin frowned. After making sure that Genbu had a firm grip on all the things, she moved her fingers. A strong gust of wind surrounded the two of them. She was still as rough as before.

Genbu felt himself being thrown into the air.

Losing all hope, he mumbled "At least try to be gentler next time…"

The small suggestion was lost as the sounds of the rain and wind drown off Genbu's voice. Flying through the air, Taiin looked at the plots of crops below.

"It's about time for the harvest. Even after the incident of the Chis.h.i.+ki no Shoushu, people still have to work in order to survive. And besides, the villagers should have calm down quite a bit."

The two of them looked down. Because of the rain, visibility was poor. However, most of the lands were still harvested and there were few waste lands.

"Right…" Genbu seemed to remember something as he directed his sights to Yamas.h.i.+ro village. "I've heard that besides the incident of the Chis.h.i.+ki no Shoushu, there had also been a lot of strange happenings there. Taiin, how's that incident?"

"Huh? I don't know! Yup, I almost forgot…" Taiin placed her finger to her lips and thought deeply. Tilting her head slightly, she said "Well, since we're here…let's go look at the situation then?"

"Ok. This would be more constructive."

Just as Genbu nodded his head, the wind accelerated.

-End chapter 6-