When Shirane and I had arrived at the village a small while earlier, we had tried to inquire about the Shinoda clan, but the moment we had taken the name of the family, everyone had begun to shun us, refusing to give us any information whatsoever.
'Tell us what happened!' stated Shirane. He took out the mission form to read it again. 'It is said here that the victims have been ferociously attacked by an animal, the bite marks found on their remains matching those of a canid.'
'The members of my clan who have died have all been killed within the four walls of the domain,' Saigyō Shinoda pointed out.
Evidently, there were little chances that an animal could have managed to get inside of the residence, past the vigilance of the guards posted at the entrance gate and that, time and again. And there was absolutely no way that any animal could have jumped over the high compound walls of the domain.
Unless...
'The bite marks are those of Inugami.'
My heart shook at that last word.
Shirane's eyes went wide.
'The Shimazaki have Inugami in their bloodline!'
The Shimazaki family…
The Shimazaki clan was mentioned in the mission form, without any details though. When we had tried to ask about the Shimazaki clan earlier, the villagers had reacted the same way as when we had inquired about the strange happenings within the Shinoda clan.
An Inugami was a type of familiar spirit created through monstrous ceremonies- the greatly feared ritual Kodoku- worshiped and employed by a person via sorcery. They were loyal to their master and accomplished all his biddings.
It was known that these spirits could be passed down from generation to generation and it was also said that Inugami-mochi families- families which passed down the technique for creating these spirits along their bloodline- owned as many Inugami as there were members of their household.
The Inugami were treated like family members, or even, deified.
Such practice of black magic was illegal and banned.
It was wicked and tainted.
I understood the villagers' behavior better now; associating with such families or anything or anyone to do with them was seen with great apprehension.
But why did the Shimazaki took the Shinoda for target?
'The fact is that the Shimazaki possess half of the lands of the village and we- the Shinoda- are the owner of the other half. For a very long time now, the Shimazaki clan has been trying to acquire our lands without success.'
I was astounded to hear that the village belonged to these two families alone which further explained the villagers' behavior.
Inugami were most usually at the service of wealthy families.
We were assisting to a war between two families concerning property!
'There were rumors about the Shimazaki being an Inugami-mochi family but I never believed it, until they used their Inugami to murder members of my clan. If you can get proof that they have Inugami, we will be able to put them out of action for good.'
An Inugami was said to have the form of a white dog, with a translucent body.
In order to find proof against the Shimazaki clan for sorcery, we needed to find a dessicated and mummified dog head within the Shimazaki residence. This was often dressed in ceremonials trappings and kept safe in a secret shrine in the household.
***
A small while later…
'Are you feeling unwell?' Shirane asked me as we came out of the Shinoda's residence. 'You look pale.'
I was feeling nauseated ever since I had heard of Inugami.
'No. No, I'm fine,' I murmured.
'You'd better be! Because tonight, we're intruding the Shimazaki's residence!' he declared, with a confident look.
I stared at him thoughtfully for a minute while we walked.
Why do I have the impression that we're missing something in this whole story? I wondered, feeling uneasy. But in the end, I supposed that the uneasy feeling came from the mission in itself, that was all.
***
Meanwhile…
'Hello, girls!' Hatsu Sho greeted Cho Kururugi, Agasa Tsudzuri and Yanagi Hakushū.
The three girls were seated at an outdoor table of a small restaurant, enjoying an ice-cream together while having a chat.
'Hatsu!' they called, in surprise.
The blond male pulled a chair to sit with them and they couldn't help but feel perplexed by his action. Hatsu only rarely spoke to them. They had tried numerous times to win the favors of the blond in order to get closer to Tsunan but all their attempts had failed till now.
'It's good that I find the three of you together; I wanted to talk to you,' he told them with a smirk.
'About what?' inquired Cho.
'Do you remember Shun's small animal?'
All color drained out of the faces at the mention of the red-haired girl's name.
'In fact, he's a human being but I'm not teaching you anything, you already know that, right?' His eyes tightened at them and they stiffened in their seats. 'He told me about what you did three days ago,' he informed them, his expression becoming execrable. 'I'd advise you not to start again. Leave Shun alone!'
They had never heard Hatsu use such a tone before. And his expression... he looked scary.
'We don't see what you're talking about!' declared Agasa, turning her face away, and crossing her arms over her chest. The two other girls responded the same way too.
'I thought as much that you would say this,' he sneered. 'This is why I have brought this!'
He took out a small brown packet from his pocket and emptied its content on the table in front of them.
Their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets at the sight of the photos lying there. Panicked, they looked around of themselves to check if somebody had seen something, covering the shameful pictures with their arms.
'Where did you get these?' they demanded, hysterically.
The pictures had covered their whole séance of punishment involving the Tsukumogami- Burabura.
'It's Katsuya who clicked them. I got them from him.'
Hatsu was well aware of Katsuya Hattori's manipulative side. He was certain that the latter hadn't missed the occasion to click some humiliating pictures of the members of the organization to use them later in case he wanted to blackmail any one of them.
Though Katsuya had been reticent to hand the pictures over to Hatsu at first, the latter knew just how to make him bend to his demand.
*Flashback*
Sometimes earlier...
'I really don't see what you're making reference to. And even if I had those pictures that you're talking about, why should I hand them over to you?' demanded Katsuya Hattori smugly.
Hatsu grinned crookedly.
'You know, Shun and I are friends now. She trusts Tsunan, and I'm his best friend. If I ask her to beware of you, I'm sure that she'll listen to me.'
The ginger-haired boy gritted his teeth together.
He couldn't believe that he was being blackmailed, or even, that he was going to give in to it.
'Alright! I'm giving them to you!'
***
Hatsu smiled proudly at himself, before he threatened, 'If you don't leave Shun alone, be sure that the whole town will see these pictures of yours!'
The girls were beyond mortified.
'What-What do you think?' exclaimed Yanagi, peevishly, jumping to her feet and smacking her hands on the table. 'We're not going to cede this easily to your little blackmail!'
She sat back down again when she realized that all the eyes of the people around had zeroed onto them at her sudden outburst.
'Oh yeah?' scoffed Hatsu. 'How about if I tell Tsunan about your face to face with Shun?' His eyes narrowed at them viciously. 'I wonder what he'll think of your little crusade in his name!'
'You wouldn't dare!' they shouted, furiously, the perspective of Tsunan seeing them as malign girls terrifying them.
'Try me!' he stated, very seriously.
'A-Alright! We promise you that we're going to leave Shun alone from now on,' they agreed, giving in reluctantly.
A self-satisfied smile appeared on the blond male's lips.
'Now give us the negatives of these photos!' they demanded.
'Nope!' he declared, wagging his forefinger at them, standing up. 'You can keep these pictures if you want, but the negatives will remain with me. What tells me that you won't take on Shun again behind my back? As long as you'll be quiet, you'll be safe from public humiliation.'
He strode away then, waving them goodbye over his shoulder. 'See you later, girls!'
Cho, Agasa and Yanagi were utterly floored.
They didn't speak a word for a long time after Hatsu was gone, being utterly voiceless; their unfinished ice-creams melting away.
'Dammit! It's all because of that she-devil of Shun!' they roared out in rage, finally, before they hung their heads, on the brink of tears.
***
In the night…
'Shun-sama!' exclaimed the Tsukumogami, joyously, rubbing itself against my arm.
'I'm glad to see you too!' I told it, cheerily, petting its head like an animal.
'What can I do for you, Shun-sama?' it asked, when it pulled away.
'Burabura, is it possible for you to mask our odor?' I asked.
Shirane, Heihachi- in his bat form- and I were in the woods that surrounded the Shimazaki's residence, more precisely close to the main entrance of the said-clan's domain.
'Yes!' it exclaimed, making a round onto itself and a kind of shinning powder fell upon of the three of us, covering us. It became transparent within a few seconds.
Inugami were dog-spirits after all and canids had a very powerful sense of smell which couldn't be ignored. Now, the Inugami prowling the Shimazaki's residence wasn't going to be able to wind our smells during our intrusion.
'Thanks a lot. You're saving our lives!'
'At your service, Shun-sama!'
'Burabura,' I told it, then, 'Can you do another thing for me?'
I explained the plan to the chōchin-obake. There was no way for us to be able to climb over the high compound wall of the Shimazaki's residence. Our only way in was to use the front door but this was guarded by two men armed with spears. We needed to be as discreet as possible in order not to alarm the members of the clan.
After I had explained the plan to the small yōkai, Shirane, Heihachi and I ourselves in the bushes and we watched the Tsukumogami do its work.
The two guards became caught in a puff of smoke and when this dissipated, they were staring at each other frantically.
'Wh- Wh- What the hell?' they exclaimed in unison, pointing at each other's face. 'How can I see myself?'
I giggled under my breath. Burabura had swapped their souls; in other words, the soul of the first guard was now within the body of the second guard and vice-versa.
'How did this happen?' They groped at their new appearances before they peered at each other's faces, snarling furiously, 'Get out of my body!'
They began to bash at each other and at the peak of their fight, Burabura showed itself up to them, mocking them.
Realizing that the yōkai was responsible for their present condition, they chased after it to capture it; the diversion allowing Shirane, Heihachi and I enough time to intrude the Shimazaki's residence.
All the lights of the houses were switched off, everyone having certainly gone to bed by this time. For precaution, Heihachi was going to keep an eye on us from the air.
'Is there something wrong?' I asked Shirane, when I I noticed his traumatized expression.
'That- That small yōkai...' he mumbled, staring at the ground.
'Burabura, what?' I pressed, bewildered.
'Nothing!' he snapped, hysterically. 'It's nothing! Let's get back to what we've come here for!'
I flinched.
'O-Okay.'
***
Forty-five minutes later…
Shirane took a glance over his shoulder at the yawning girl behind him.
'No! Don't you dare fall asleep here!' he told her urgently, but even before he was done talking, she began to fall the small distance to the ground.
Reflexively, he caught her, holding her in his lap, taking a panicked glance around of them.
'And shit!' he gritted out at the sleeping girl, his blood boiling; her eyes were tightly shut against the world. 'Is this really the time for you to have a sleep attack? We're in the enemies' territory I remind you and we haven't been able to find any proof yet!'
Out of the blue, from the corner of his eyes, he caught sight of a dark figure under the veranda of the house they had stopped just in front of.
His head snapped to the side on the spot to settle onto the young person holding himself there.
Past the first instant of shock, Shirane reacted very swiftly.
In the blink of an eye, he had invoked his scythe and he dashed at the astounded teenaged boy. The latter backed away into the wall behind him, fearfully, the tip of Shirane's blade stopping right under his chin, threateningly.
'Don't shout!'
Thank you for reading!