Chapter 1: Gears of Fate
Ever since he could remember, he had strange powers. At the young age of four, he possessed strange abilities. His strange behaviours triggered his mother's anguish. Her scorn for her son was beyond control. Her contempt often led to her violent behaviours. She condemned the world and inculpated her own son. It angers her each time she found her son immersed in his imaginary world. Talking when there was no one. As someone who bears the Hattori bloodline, she knew. The powers within her son would grow stronger, and one day, it would be beyond her reach.
The child was often covered in bruises and injuries. The father was never home. The child would rather be alone than interacting with his peers. He was called a 'freak'. An odd child. Even his teachers were at loss. On rare days his father returned, he sighed at the sight of his son's strange behaviour alone in the garden. They were convinced their son was a Special-Talented individual. Their discovery was the turning point of their fate. They made the decision to entrust their son to the Inari Shrine.
They abandoned their son.
The child had vague memory of his last conversation with his parents. His words of pleads were futile. He had grabbed onto his mother's hands. He saw emotions reflected in his mother's eyes. The child was sensitive to emotions. He felt his mother's abhorrence of disdain. Realizing his mother's true feelings, the child was stunned.
Get off me. You're a freak. I don't need a child like you!
Yamazaki was once a town of peace and harmony. The chief priest of the Inari Shrine had one son and three daughters. They belonged to a clan which bore responsibilities of serving the Inari deity. The youngest daughter never inherited the ability of the clan. It was irony that her loathe for a family had destroyed her dreams of creating a perfect family.
"Goodbye, Chuuya."
The chief and his successors who served the Inari Shrine were beyond perplexed. The two priestesses comforted the crying child. It never crossed their minds that their youngest sister would turn out like that. It was just like the deities had predicted. Masumi was a defective. It was after that day Hattori Masumi was never seen again in Yamazaki town. She and her husband had moved to Amsterdam, where her husband works.
The child's name was Chuuya. At the tender age of four, he had gone through terrible experiences at the hands of his own mother. Two priestesses helped him to take a bath and gave him some rice balls for lunch. Seeing Chuuya's depressed state, they pulled him into a gentle hug.
"Am I a freak?" Chuuya asked. His spirit was broken. Hope was trampled. And his love for his family was crushed.
The priest and priestesses exchanged glances at each other. They gritted their teeth. This was the result of their pathetic sister. Are you satisfied, Masumi?! You destroyed your bonds with your own son. You crushed them and tossed them aside. Your ambitions are worthless.
"No, you're not!" they chorused.
"From now on, we're your family. Don't worry, Chuuya." The male priest said. A major trait of people from the Hattori clan were their golden hair and eyes. The male priest was dressed in traditional robes. "My name is Chihiro. I'm your uncle. Nice to meet you, Chuuya."
"And we're Tsubaki and Amaya." The priestesses chirped in. "We're your aunts. Your mother was the youngest among the four of us."
Chuuya nodded in silence. Droplets of tears dripped from the corneas of his eyes. It had stained his pale white skin. Chuuya was special even among the Hattori clan. His ethereal appearance was a blessing from the Inari deities. The Hattori clan had realized Chuuya's abilities at first glance. The chief believed he would become the strongest priest in history.
Satisfied at the empty plate, Chuuya's new relatives pulled him into the courtyard. The courtyard was breath-taking. Its scenery was fascinating. The Inari Shrine has a colossal of land. The shrine was extremely enormous that could possibly fit a school. Little foxes playing in a corner had not escaped Chuuya's observant sight.
Chuuya stared at them. He was stunned. Recovering from shock, he turned back. He pretended he had not seen those foxes in the courtyard. The foxes were more cunning than he had expected. They had leaped onto his soft tuft of golden hair.
"Hey boy. I know you can see us. Stop pretending!" The foxes had a mischievous smirk. "Who are you?"
Chuuya halted. The foxes had found comfort on his head. Chuuya saw little foxes with diverse colours and patterns. Even their number of tails varied. Chuuya's new relatives laughed. They were such carefree spirits. "Are you surprised, Akatsuki?"
The little fox named Akatsuki was amused. "Very."
Akatsuki was oldest among his siblings. He had four tails. Akatsuki was a vermillion-coloured fox deity. Chuuya was enthralled by its bewitching colour. It was such a rare colour. Akatsuki and the little foxes allowed Chuuya to cuddle upon their fuzzy fur. It was their first encounter, Chuuya felt they were meant to meet. He was ordained to return to Inari Shrine. For the first time, Chuuya found peace. The people around him knew he had a difficult life. It angered the little foxes after Chuuya's uncle and aunts had told them what had happened to Masumi.
Chuuya was exhausted. It had been a long day. The quiet scenery had calmed Chuuya's spirit. He had curled in a corner, fast asleep with Akatsuki still on his head. The three of them had smiled. The sleeping child was quite cute. He should smile more. They believed being away from their toxic sister would be good for his wellbeing too.
Chihiro carried the sleeping Chuuya to his quarters. His quarters had been prepared by the fox servants and priests of Inari Shrine. His chambers were in the building facing the backyard.
"This boy has immense spiritual power. To be able to see us with such clear sight, I'm excited to see him mature into a fine adult." Akatsuki remarked.
Summoned by the chief priest, the three stared at the letter with a huge scowl. Especially Chihiro. Chihiro had sighed. "That doesn't sound fun. Don't they ever get sick of it?"
His sisters grabbed the letter from their elder brother's hands. They were curious of the client who had summoned them for their services this time. The client's signature sent chills down their spine. "The municipal office?!"
The three of them were appalled. They were siblings. They had similar likes and dislikes. Even their personalities were similar. And this was one of them.
"Why?" they chorused. They hated working for the public office. Correction, they despised the public office. Each time they were summoned, it was highly possibly incidents had occurred or inexperienced idiots initiating rituals. Something bad must have gone wrong to summon the great priests of the Inari Shrine. They were so used in dealing with the public office that they could even anticipate the litany of excuses they would come up with whilst demanding for answers.
The chief sighed. He did not have to listen to his children's grumbles each time the public office summoned them. He was already at the golden age. It was time to think about retiring and entrusting his duties to his son, Hattori Chihiro.
"Just get going!" the chief was tired of their complaints.
Without another word, they got onto their assignment. They changed out of their traditional robes and donned their public prosecutor uniform. Now dressed in plain button-down shirts and blazer, they had their metallic inheritance of recognized by the public office. The Hattori clan is a special force dispatched by the law enforcement. They had their weapons equipped at their waist. They reluctantly descended the long stairways, the vermillion arches above their heads were said to be signposts to lead lost souls back to their homeland.
They boarded the next bus to the municipal office. The municipal office was a twenty-minute ride from the shrine by bus. The three siblings scowled at the martial-court offices where the bus had dropped them off. They have come here many times that the bus driver even recognized their faces and their intention.
"Have fun!" the bus driver wished them luck.
"Stop it, you damn old man!" Chihiro screeched. The old bus driver just laughed and took off. His next destination was the marketplace. After all, many of the townspeople needed to restock their food supply. It was why the marketplace is one of the most populated destination.
The guards in front of the martial-court office had their rifles armed at the sight of the three siblings. Possibly new recruits, as they were not told of the Hattori clan. Dressed in black and white from head-to-toe, the siblings were deemed suspicious. They recognized them as threats to the municipal office. The three siblings sighed.
Pulling out the inheritance from their breast pockets, their unwavering look pierced through their souls. The emblem of the Hattori clan. Despite the evidence in front of their eyes, the sentries did not believe the existence of a special squad led by an unknown clan. They raised their rifles, positioned to fire.
"Hey!!!" A piercing shrill echoed. The guards halted in their tracks. The party turned to the owner of the voice.
She was a female officer who was assigned as the mayor's secretary. She was dressed in formal dress suit, a button-up dress shirt and knee-length skirt. "Just when I thought what took you so long, is this what you've been up to!"
"You didn't brief these idiots. That's your fault, Helena." Chihiro and his sisters were displeased at the new recruits' behaviour.
"Then…" the door keepers were horrified. They could not believe their eyes. A mysterious squadron that deals with supernatural phenomenon.
"Listen well, newbie. We're from the Hattori clan. The ARCANA Investigation Department. And we deal with situations like this!" Amaya declared. The building behind the martial-courts offices had burst into flames. Explosions.
Helena had turned pale. "Hurry! Before it's too late!" The three siblings nodded. Fearlessly, they marched towards the scene. The sentries were dumbfounded. There exist people who deals with those kinds of situations. Helena glanced at the sentinels. "You may observe them if you're curious."
The scene was horrifying. Countless people had been sacrificed from the explosions. The mayor and the few officers were backed against the wall. Tsubaki was relieved they had managed to survive. The sight of the three siblings had brought them a light of hope. Standing before them, was a huge shadow and its master. A human had bared its claws against the her own kin. The three siblings instinctively grabbed onto their weapons hung at their waist.
Chihiro, Amaya and Tsubaki had a look of displeasure and sorrow. "A rebound. Demons."
The three of them exchanged glances. Amaya pulled out a staff. Chihiro drew his swords from its scabbard. And Tsubaki pulled her gauntlets from her pockets. The person in the centre was the controller. A human who had gone berserk. A rebound was the result from a failed ritual with the intention to harm. The demon had to be exorcised.
Tsubaki leaped into the vortex of flames. This was a demon specializing in fire techniques. They were alone. One-to-one. Tsubaki sighed. The human's consciousness was no longer sustained. Overwhelmed by the depraved and malicious thoughts, humans are easily influenced and taken advantage of. Tsubaki's gauntlets are special. Blessed by the Inari deities, the Hattori clan has the strength to counter these negative energies.
The demon had noticed Tsubaki's presence. The emblem of the Hattori clan had drove the hellhound insane. They were fighters of the darkness. They have come with the intention of erasing them. The devil roared. It breathed a ray of flames. Tsubaki was not worried.
"I won't let you." Amaya smirked. She clanked her staff on the solid ground.
"What I seek is water clouds, Mizui!"
A magic circle appeared against the ray of fire. A wall of water had extinguished the fiery flames. "Don't forget we're still here. We're not alone, hellhound."
Chihiro plunged his sword across the demon's body. The devil was sliced in half. Tsubaki crackled her knuckles. "My turn." She had blocked the human's attacks perfectly. Without a single miss. Tsubaki was a combat prodigy. Her gloves lit with fire.
"Spiritual aura can't hurt me, exorcist." The host had sneered.
"Aura? Is that what you see?" Tsubaki's words were cold. It was true normal humans are unable see auras. But the ability on her gauntlets were not auras. "You should know better than anyone. I am a combat specialist. This is not aura."
Tsubaki punched hard. The malice possessing the host was purified. The human screamed in agony. The bare touch of fire is just like touching a burning iron.
"I'll…I'll remember this…. exorcists…." the screeching voice shriek in agony. Being touched by pure flames, creatures of darkness would return to dust. The human collapsed, the fatigue of being possessed cost a huge toll on the body.
"May God be with you." The siblings recited.
It was the trigger, and the beginning of Hattori Chuuya's career in law enforcement purification. A specialist who deals with paranormal incidents. The ARCANA Investigation Department.