I stared at Master Kagami who was holding an unconscious Shirane under one of his arms with an animal-transformed Heihachi riding onto his back.
Then, I looked at the person who arrived right behind of the master.
'Tsunan!' I croaked out, weakly, and the latter unchained me immediately. He held me up against him as I began to collapse, and I clung myself at him. 'Shirane...'
'His life is not in danger anymore,' the doctor reassured me.
'Watch out… Inugami...'
I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore and Tsunan picked me up into his arms. I rested my head against his chest.
'I've exterminated them all; those of the Shinoda, as well as, those of the Shimazaki,' the master told me.
I was astounded by the latter's force.
He- He's strong!
I fainted at that moment.
***
Later, the same day, in the afternoon...
Sitting in a squatting position on the floor of the small hotel room with our heads lowered, Shirane and I broke into cold sweat under the angry stare of Master Kagami.
The man was sitting opposite of us onto the edge of the television table, with his arms crossed over his chest.
We didn't dare to look up into his eyes.
Tsunan was there too, standing close-by. He had his arms crossed over his chest too just like the master and was leaning against the wardrobe on the side of the room.
'Whose idea was it?' demanded Master Kagami, severely.
When he had heard of those mysterious deaths within the Shinoda clan, he had carried out some investigations and very quickly, he had discovered that the Shinoda and the Shimazaki clans were Inugami-mochi families caught in a bloody war.
But this, Shirane and I hadn't known when we had set out for Kanbara, since we had left without consulting him first!
Upon what he had discovered, the master had informed the government and had been waiting for the latter to set up a squad in order to conduct a raid at the Shinoda and the Shimazaki's residences.
When he had noticed that the Kanbara mission form was missing and he found that Shirane and I were taking too much time to return from Akagi, it hadn't been hard for him to get an idea about where the two of us were gone.
The master and Tsunan had set out immediately for Kanbara and by the time they had reached the village, they had obtained the collaboration of the authorities Master Kagami had been waiting for.
He had been sure that we were being held into captivity by one of the two families. They had first conducted their raid at the Shimazaki's place but they hadn't found us there. They had been on their way to the Shinoda's when they had come across of Shirane and Heihachi.
Shirane and I had both been very lucky that they arrived just in time.
Since the master knew a well-kept ancestral technique to cure Inugami bites, Tsunan hadn't have to use his Juzu bracelet to save Shirane.
And now all the members of the two clans have been arrested and were going to be tried for sorcery.
'I guess that it was your idea, Shirane?!
'Alright! Fine! I'm sorry! I realize that shorty and I were of no match for them!' grumbled Shirane, in a childish tone.
I took a glance at the latter. He had his face turned away, sulkily.
Sh-Shorty?!
'He's not the only one to blame,' I admitted. 'I recognize that I didn't do much to try to stop him or to warn you.'
'Do you realize that it's with your life that you've toyed with?! And you, Shun, what took over you to surrender yourself to the enemy like that?!'
'I- I'm sorry,' I whispered, humping my back.
The dark-haired man exhaled sharply and our heads snapped up at him as he straightened up suddenly.
He unfolded his arms, his hands moving towards us, causing us to cringe away, our eyes drawing shut.
I jumped as the master's hand came down onto my head, but not in the way I had expected but instead, in the form of in a caress.
My eyes blew open instantly to stare at him, just like Shirane.
There was no trace of anger on the master's face anymore and he sighed, 'I'm glad that you're fine!'
This filled my heart with warmth. I couldn't help but smile; my eyes watering.
'But you'll still be punished!' he warned us, with a threatening look, causing us to break into cold sweat again.
He was about to make for the door to leave then, when I jerked to my feet, calling, 'Master Kagami...'
He paused down.
Lowering my eyes, I told him hesitantly, 'There's something that I absolutely need to tell you...'
He waited.
'I… I've let three members of the Shimazaki clan escape!' I resisted the urge to look up to see his reaction or that of Tsunan. I carried on, recounting Shirane and my encounter with Yosunori, Sōsuke and Nene, before I added in a murmur, 'I've taken this decision knowingly. If you have to expel me from the organization because of this, I'd understand.'
The master cupped his chin thoughtfully.
'The number of mummified dog heads we have found in the Shimazaki's secret shrine was equal to the number of Inugami under their control I have decimated. You took a big risk back then, but it proved to be the correct decision! And if it was not, I'm sure we would have been able to track them down.'
I nodded, grateful.
He left us then.
Making for the door too, Shirane declared, 'Well, I think that I'll go take a stroll now. I'm going to visit my brother. He lives a few houses away from here.'
We were no longer in Kanbara Village but in a neighboring town named Tsuruoka.
Master Kagami and Tsunan had brought us here while we were unconscious, leaving the authorities some space to do their job at the village.
Unexpectedly, the red-haired boy paused down in his stride to ask me, 'Do you wish to come along?'
I was extremely surprised.
'The doc can come too if he wants,' he muttered, and I turned to Tsunan, awaiting a reply.
***
Ayato Nakagiri and Shirane Nakagiri were like day and night- the total opposites of each other, whether in appearance or personality.
Ayato looked older than his age, having wide broad shoulders and very pale skin, his long black hair tied in a low pony-tail, with long bangs that hung over his gray eyes.
He had a calm and collected attitude and he spoke in a kind and gentle tone.
His wife, Ayase, resembled him a lot, having mid-length, sleek, black hair and gray eyes; being soft-spoken.
Master of martial arts, Ayato ran his spouse's family dōjō.
'Oh, you're not holding your katana properly,' Tsunan told me as he came through the door of the dōjō.
Shirane had given me a small demonstration of kendo before he had moved away to talk to his older brother.
I had decided to give it a try.
Placing himself behind me, Tsunan adjusted my hands onto the katana. I blushed at our closeness.
'I didn't know that you practice kendo.'
'That was quite a long time ago, when I was still at school.'
I smiled and lowering the wooden katana, I turned to face him.
'I spoke to Heihachi. Hatsu told me about him.'
'He says that he considers me as his family,' I murmured, thoughtfully. 'I don't really know what to think about it.'
'I think that it's a good thing. You're beginning to surround yourself with a lot of people.'
I gazed at the doctor.
'I've offered him to stay with us but Hatsu has already offered to lodge him and Heihachi is going to accept his offer.'
'You didn't have to but still, it was very kind of you,' I whispered, giving him a tiny smile.
***
The next day…
I opened my eyes, blinking back sleep.
It was time to wake up.
We had left Tsuruoka just after our visit to Ayato Nakagiri, and we had reached Toda by midnight, this having allowed us to sleep in our own beds.
My strange surroundings hauled my mind unceremoniously into full focus abruptly; alarm bells going off in my head.
My eyes blew wide open, my muscles locking into place.
Holding my breath, I scrutinized the place where I was, my heart picking up speed.
It did resemble my bedroom at Tsunan's house, but there was something absolutely unsettling about it. What? The room and everything it contained made ten times their normal sizes!
I found it startling and rather disturbing.
What's going on?
My mind was going at a thousand miles per second by now and I remained motionless for a few minutes trying hard not to scream in panic.
And what if… it wasn't the room that had grown bigger but it was actually ME who has shrunk?!
Thank you for reading!