Title: Ohno and the Land of Ai
Pairing: Juntoshi
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Historical-Fantasy AU. Some magic and supernatural creatures.
Word count: 30k ++
Summary: Present world meets Ancient Japan. Ohno was transported to the historical period of Japan where he was prophesied to be one of the heroes who will save the Land of Ai.
A/N: Dear Himekohimura, for the life of me I’m unable to write anything other than AUs these days, so I’m giving you a historical-Japanese fantasy AU where I’m taking a part of your prompt in which Arashi work together to vanquish evil.
Also, don’t kill me for the inaccurate descriptions on Japanese history and folklore creatures as I use them liberally and make things up along the way to suit the plot and characters. I wish I can write in much more details but unfortunately, I was running out of time.
Additionally, I want to thank my betas whom had worked so hard in polishing this story. I’m sorry for putting you through my horrendous English and I’m grateful for your patience. I love you guys!
Notes on the Japanese terms used here can be found at the end of the story. If the wording of the prophecy sounds familiar, yes you are right, it was inspired by the HP franchise XP






Those with the power to vanquish the Evil approaches…. Born into different worlds, from the spirit of foxes… one with magic voice and one, the offspring of celestial-human bond… the great power arises when they become one, in hearts and minds… to unleash a slumber giant hidden by the god among the mountains….






↭






When Ohno Satoshi was five years old, his grandmother brought him to a zoo in Ueno. They walked together hand-in-hand, going from one animal to another, big and small, until Ohno was so exhausted he could barely stand anymore. But it never deterred him as he ran forward, his small backpack swinging side to side cutely, his small hand pulling his grandmother’s hand tightly while his other hand pointing to the animal which was sleeping on the ground, separated by a railing higher than him.


“Look, obaa-chan! Such a cute dog!” Little Ohno exclaimed excitedly as he hung onto the railing. The so-called dog’s head perked up and turned to look at little Ohno as if it knew someone was talking about him.


His grandmother crouched and smiled at him. “No, Satoshi-kun, it’s not a dog. It’s a fox.” His grandmother explained patiently. The fox was now standing on its four legs, staring directly at both of them.


Little Ohno pouted. “But it looks like a dog… What’s a fox, obaa-chan?” Little Ohno asked as he squinted at the red-furred animal.


“A fox is an intelligent animal, just like the meaning of your name.”


“So, you name me Satoshi because I’m as intelligent as the fox?”


“Yes. And you can be more Satoshi-kun, when you grow up.”


“Thank you, obaa-chan!” His grandmother beamed at him as little Ohno beamed back at her.






↭






Ohno was left alone inside the dance class, after the last of his student had closed the door. Leaning against the wall, he watched his reflection against the glass wall opposite him. There was sweat dotting his face that he wiped away with a towel. Grabbing his water bottle he tilted his head to let the cool water wet his throat. He let out a gentle burp as he finished most of the water.


It was the end of another dancing session and his next class would be in a fortnight as he took a short break to de-stress which meant that it would be a full two weeks to spend in the middle of the sea to fish. He’d been looking forward to that free time all year long and there would be nothing on its way on that.


But before that, his students had invited him to a karaoke tonight. He had refused, flat out. Frankly, he didn’t hate karaoke. He just hated the others’ reactions to his voice. Sometimes people made him felt like he was the worst singer that ever existed. He didn’t know why, perhaps singing wasn’t meant to be for him. He would rather spend the night with some packing or cleaning his fishing rods. With that thought in mind, he packed his black tote bag and slung it over his right shoulder before he left his class and closed the door.


Ohno had been working at the dance academy for the past few years, as a part-time dance teacher. The owner had offered him a permanent job but Ohno liked his free-spirited life. He always made sure that he had time for his other hobbies: painting and fishing. Sometimes, he took commissions to develop arts and tiny sculptures, so he could cover his extra expenses, in other words, to cover the cost of renting a boat for his sea excursion. Besides his small apartment, he didn't have many expenses. He rarely went out besides work and thus his friends were sparse. His family, which consisted of his parents, a sister and a grandmother, had moved to Kyoto so they rarely meet anymore. But sometimes, he went all the way to meet them when he missed them too much.


After taking a deep breath he walked out to the street without taking another look. It was late afternoon, but the air was still hot and humid. Ohno was already sweating by the time he reached the train station. As usual, the station was crowded. Taking out his smart card he entered the platform. There was already a train waiting and he rushed through the people and was barely able to jump through the closing doors. He clung to a handgrip hanging from the metal bar above his head. He looked listlessly at the people walking outside the window and somehow his gaze went downward to the passenger who sat in front of him; a man in a red parka, hunching, reading a notebook. He ended up staring, which surprised him since he usually was not one to people watch. For some unexplained reasons, Ohno couldn’t help from keeping his gaze at the man. He couldn’t see the face clearly as the hood covered most of his face, but it didn’t deter him. All he could see was the man’s chin and the multiple moles around his mouth, which was fascinating to him. He wished that man would take his time to look up and he imagine how the man looked like as he kept staring at the top of the man’s head.


As he kept fantasising, he was suddenly thrown off balance when the train came to a stop. The train already went by several stations without him noticing. He glanced back at the object of his interest and immediately averted his gaze somewhere else when the man got up on his feet as the door opened. He moved a little bit in order to make way for the man to get off the train. Ohno’s eyes surreptitiously followed the man out of the door. He kept staring at the window, his eyes itching to find the man in the red parka and when he lost the figure among the fast-paced passengers disembarking the train, he looked down at the empty space the man had left. Then, he saw a small, grey-coloured notebook, perched on top of the green seat that he was sure belonged to the man he had been staring at during the whole journey. For some unknown reason, he picked it up. There was nothing written on the cover and thus he opened the first page of the book to see whether there was a name, or a phone number written so he could find the book’s owner. But there was nothing else besides a single line written at the centre of the page. He mumbled the words as he read them under his breath.




It is I who will vanquish the evil.




Ohno frowned. What an odd line, he thought. His mind snapped when he heard the alarm ringing, indicating that the door was closing. He looked down at the notebook and the urge to chase the owner to return it overcame him.


Ohno managed to slip out of the train and rushed through the crowd in the direction he last saw the man. He turned his head left and right to spot the man in the red parka, his hand tightly clenching the book.


He nearly gave up hope when he finally got a glimpse of the man in the red parka leaving a convenience store. Thinking that it was the same man he saw inside the train, he followed. He tried to call the man out but unfortunately his voice couldn’t be heard in the crowded station. He went past a lot of people and kept his eyes on the man’s back and tried to chase him as fast as he could.


A cool even breeze hit Ohno’s face as he got out of the station onto the street. He looked around anxiously, guessing which way the man was heading. Too many streets, too many buildings around. Ohno thought the guy could be anywhere. However, his instinct was telling him that he should find the man, no matter what.


Disregarding his plan to head home right now, he walked straight on the pedestrian walk, his eyes were monitoring all the shop windows, doors, all the people who were entering and exiting the shops, even the queue of people waiting on the bakery to serve them.


The longer he walked, the farther he went from the station, and the less busy it was. He must have entered a residential area where it was much quieter and calmer. He stopped when he suddenly thought of why he went there. He should’ve stopped when he lost sight of the man long ago. He couldn’t understand his stubbornness and determination in finding the man. Rubbing the back of his head in frustration, he turned around ready to go back to the train station. His steps halted when feet away, he saw the elusive man turning into an alleyway, towards the direction of the older buildings, his hood still covering his head.


“Hey!” Ohno called out to him. When the man didn’t emerge, Ohno decided to chase after him.


Ohno called out to him again for the second time as he approached the back alley. It was so quiet and spooky. Nobody was around. But Ohno definitely saw the man heading there. So, he tried a reassuring smile and walked slowly along the alley as carefully as he could. It was slowly turning dark and Ohno was relying on the leftover light from the setting sun to guide his way. There was no light from any lamps, not even from the buildings surrounding him, which was a bit odd, and he couldn't even see the end of the alley. A small voice at the back of his head was telling him to turn back and that it was a bad idea to go along the way here when the man was already gone from sight again for the second time. Somehow Ohno kept going.


He saw a brighter pathway in front of him and Ohno was happy that he finally could get away from the dark alleyway. He walked towards the bright light and his feet stopped.


He should be at some junction but somehow, he felt strange. There were no street lamps like he expected to see. No brick buildings anywhere in the vicinity. Only trees occupying his vision opposite him. And the ground he stood felt earthy and dusty, not like the firmness of the asphalt road he was on before.


This is so weird; Ohno thought as he squinted his eyes and looked left to see the dark silhouette of rooftops. Are they houses? He wondered. But that type of houses didn’t feel like the type you would find in Tokyo. They seemed… ancient?


Ohno raked his fingers through his hair in confusion. He turned to his back to enter the alleyway which he had come from. The hair all over his body stood up when all he saw was bushes in front of him. Wait… wasn’t it supposed to be the back alley? And where were all the brick buildings? Even the old ones weren’t there anymore. Only the loud, buzzing sound of cicadas answering all the questions in Ohno’s head. Ohno could feel panic building up. He searched the vicinity but there was nothing, not even a single patch of asphalt to indicate that he wasn’t imagining this entire thing. He pinched his skin hard and shouted in pain. He indeed didn’t suddenly ended up sleeping somewhere and dreaming strange things. Remembering his phone, he fished it out of his pocket and turned the screen on and whether he’d expected it or not, the screen was showing a ‘no signal’ sign. Great. What should he do? He could be lost in an alien world.


However, Ohno was still hopeful. This could be a filming studio the filmmaker usually used to shoot period movies or drama. Or someone went all the way they could just to prank him. Perhaps his students?


“Hello?” He shouted to no one in the dark. His voice was getting smaller and smaller the longer his greeting went unanswered. He had expected anyone to come out under the bushes or behind a tree to say ‘cut’ or surprising him but there was no one. Therefore, his suspicion of a pranking began to dim. Perhaps he was indeed lost. And it was his fault. Or the book’s fault. He looked at the small book, still clenched tightly in his hand. He wanted to throw this away but a voice in his head told him not to. So, he stashed it inside his tote bag, furiously.


Thinking of his next course of action, Ohno thought of going into the direction on the houses, rather than wait there without trying. There must be some staff or workers who hadn’t gone home from work in this studio, so he could ask for direction.


Ohno nearly stumbled a few times on his way to the houses. He grumbled when the light was getting darker and darker until he nearly couldn’t see his way any longer. There was no street lamp to light his way, no moon to shine on his path and not even a single light seen in the houses. Ohno was beginning to think that he could be in not just a normal period set, but a creepy one. There could even be ghosts. Ohno froze in his step. He turned around, gripping his bag even tighter, ready to lunge it at any ghosts he encountered. But there was nothing of that sort. He heaved a sigh, still not a relief one but at least nothing to freak him out at this moment.


Shaking his head and muttering under his breath he trod on the earthy path, eyes looking sideways warily for any sign of danger or even a sign of a human life. There was a rustle of leaves on his right all the sudden and Ohno froze. Squinting his eyes and armouring himself with his tote bag held out in front of him, he nearly screamed when he turned back to find a pair of floating shining balls. He scrambled for his phone and with the help from the lit screen it seemed that the floating balls were actually the eyes of a small animal. Since the animal was just there, silently staring at him, Ohno bravely step forward to see it clearly, for some reason not feeling any fear to find an animal watching him in the dark.


The animal didn’t even blink when the phone was put directly in its face. The sharp, narrow face covered in red-brown with a little white strip of fur made it clear what type of animal Ohno had encountered. Ohno blinked. There was no way a fox could be wandering near here, especially when he could be still around the city. This was unusual. And as far as he knew, foxes were rather shy animals and usually ran away from humans. Instead, the fox sat there quietly, looking at Ohno with expectant eyes like it was waiting for him to pat it. And it looked rather cute too, like a small shiba inu. Ohno couldn’t resist touching its head.


The fox seemed to lean in to Ohno’s touch and it let out a content low-pitch sound. It sounded much like a cat’s voice. Ohno crouched down in front of it.


“Hello there little fox, are you lost?” Ohno asked with an empathic look.


The fox tilted its head, and then it gave a shake. Ohno told himself that he could be imagining it, that a wild fox wouldn’t understand human language. He subsequently laughed at himself for even thinking this.


The fox let out a small cry and turned towards where Ohno was heading. Ohno stood up, readying himself to say goodbye to the cute fox. But the fox turned its head towards Ohno, its tail wagging behind it. Ohno wondered if he wanted the human to follow him.


They walked together, at nearly the same pace. Ohno kept his phone back inside his pocket, wanting to preserve its battery. Hopefully there would be a power outlet somewhere when he reached the village.


Along the way, Ohno looked up at the sky. There was no moon, but the stars were shining brightly. The sky looked so clear with little to no clouds hovering above and after a few minutes of admiring the beautiful constellations he realized it was a rare sight in the city since the reflection from artificial light always made it harder to see the stars. This added to all the strangeness of the situation.


The fox as his companion made Ohno felt a little safer. It seemed like hours had passed when he finally reached a house. It was rather small, made of wood and had a thatched roof. The inside was completely dark and there was no one there. From there, he could see other houses, the thatched roofs being the prominent feature, being pressed tightly among each other. Ohno walked further, following the fox, as the fox didn’t seem to want to stop. Then they entered the main street where small houses lined up that looked like shops. They were all closed. Ohno couldn’t see any sign of life. He approached one of the shops. The fox was just staring at him as he let Ohno peek inside. “Hello? Anyone here? I need some help?” His voice seemed to echo back to him like he was talking to an empty room. Ohno decided to go inside. He took out his phone to give some light, as it was pitch black inside. He looked around, and Ohno swore the situation inside was like the shop had been hit by a hurricane or some natural disaster where the tables were turned upside down, the wall on the other side had holes in it and when Ohno looked up the roof seemed to have a hole, revealing the night sky. “What happened?” Ohno was shocked. He didn’t have a good feeling about this.


Ohno was alerted to the presence of other life when he heard hoof beats getting nearer and nearer. Ohno instinctively hid himself in between the shops. A man on a horse went past him at high speed, leaving a trail of dust on its wake, followed by a group of men on their horses not too far behind. That was the first sign of human life he found. He wondered if the horses were really necessary. Were they filming right now? He looked around for any cameras but could see none. They hid them pretty well it seemed. Anyway, he should look around more, to see whether he could find anyone.


He came out to inspect the next shop. And the next one. All were damaged in different ways. Ohno figured whatever happened to this town had been pretty recent since he couldn't smell the mould or strong dust associated with long-abandoned places. The set was really realistic, he thought. Also, Ohno asked himself, where were all the people? Besides the men on the horses, it seemed that nobody else was around. Was there not even a single worker here? A sudden thought occurred. With this kind of damage, people could be dead. He could’ve encountered dead bodies but luckily, in all the shops he went into, he didn’t come across one. Ohno could feel his hair stand up. But he countered himself, if this was a filming set, probably there was no resident living here therefore there would be no one injured or dead to begin with. Ohno let himself think that, so he could stop thinking about this place being laden with dead people.


Ohno went out to the street to find the fox was still waiting for him. He heaved a sigh to see that the fox didn’t abandon him. It gave out a high-pitched bark that sounded more like a yelp. And then it ran. Ohno, not wanting to be left behind, ran after it.


Ohno was out of breath when he saw the fox waiting for him in front of a small house, a little far away from the shops he encountered before. The house seemed intact, no damages as far as Ohno could see. The fox was wagging its luscious tail like it was expecting Ohno to come inside. Slowly, Ohno opened the door. His hello went unanswered. He turned on his phone again, flashing the light around the house. The inside was pretty much bare, no furniture could be seen, not even a single electrical power outlet. The only thing he could see inside the house was a hearth for boiling tea in the middle of the room and the fire was long gone leaving only the cold, small teapot. The floor wasn’t too dusty, thankfully. As far as Ohno could tell it didn’t look too bad. He wondered whether they had built the house as closely resemble to the ancient one that nothing modern could be detected at all. Whatever it was built for, Ohno decided to stay inside the house for the night. He went out to see the fox, as in to tell him his decision to sleep here. However, the fox was gone. He went around the house to look for it, instead finding a covered well that seemed to have clean water inside. With a bucket attached to the well, he used the water to clean himself.


His stomach reminded him of his need to be fed and he remembered that he had a chocolate bar inside his bag. He didn’t even attempt to search for food inside the house, so he ate the chocolate and washed it down with the leftover water he thankfully had saved from his class before. He looked at his phone to see the time. It was already midnight and he fell asleep on the floor in an instant due to tiredness.


It was already mid-morning when Ohno woke up with an empty stomach. Disappointment was such an understatement when he woke up to find himself at the same place he went to sleep last night. Indeed, he wasn’t dreaming. He stayed where he was, just looking at the roof without the ceiling, his mind wandering away. His stomach made a loud sound and he rubbed it. Since it was already light outside, he supposed it could be easier to find food. He went to the kitchen area only to find a small sack of rice and a feet-long dirty looking rod that looked like burdock root. There was a small hearth and a few pots. No rice cooker or gas grill around. Seriously, how to cook the rice? He’d never find himself in this predicament, and since he didn’t like camping that much, he had no idea what to do. The camping he had ever done was at school but still he was provided with much needed tools. He regretted leaving his matches at home. Ever since he stopped smoking, he never carry his matches any longer to avoid the temptation. He could use some matches, even the wooden one right now.


“How do people do this?” he mumbled under his breath, as his hands turning every pot to find something to light the fire with. There must be something. He rarely went to any museums to see how these ancient people making up fire, so he wasn’t sure how to do it, but he had seen a program - a comedic one, long time ago nevertheless - where the comedians challenged themselves to make fire with basic tools. Finally, he found two stones hidden behind a chunk of wood. He tried clashing them together and he was jumping with joy when there was spark of fire coming out in between them. Quickly he gathered some dry leaves and tree branches he found outside the house and was able to make fire in fifteen minutes. He had no idea to cook rice on his own, but he filled the rice and water inside a pot and hoped that it would cook above the fire.


It took a while but finally his rice was cooked. It wasn’t perfect since he could smell burnt rice, probably sticking to the bottom of the pot. But it wasn’t too bad. The burdock root that he cut and boiled were successfully cooked too. There was no salt or sugar around, so he made do with just the plain food. At least his stomach didn’t protest for another few hours as he continue his task to find any human beings living there. Perhaps this time he would get lucky since it was daytime, and he could find some workers or any filming crew around. Before he went out of the house, he packed some rice, the leftover burdock root and water. He also took the firestones, a small pot and a knife he found laying around. He whispered a ‘thank you’ to the house as he stepped out the door. No fox was to be seen and Ohno shrugged, letting his feet lead him back to the previous place he went last night. Perhaps there would be people filming right now.


The damages to the houses and shops looked even more devastating during the day. Ohno stood in the middle of the street as he watched the wind blow, carrying the dust with it. Clearly, there was no filming being done, as he hadn’t seen a single film crew around. Not even a single wire was to be seen. Was this an abandoned film set, then? Disappointment mirrored itself on his face, his hope of finding people was slowly fading. He ran back to the place he believed he came from but all he could see was bushes and trees. Then he ran back to the small town again. Seriously, how to go back home?


His thought of the town being a film set was now beginning to change. What if he really went back into the past? Did he time-travel? But how? It didn’t make any sense. There was no possible way that could explain what happen to him right now. He was turning around in confusion and panic as the thoughts set inside him. If he went back to the past, how to go back into the future? He had no idea. The images of his home, family, students and even his employer flashed before him. Could he see them again? Now, he became afraid. Could he survive being lost here? He didn’t really know anything about life of the past. All the movies about ancient Japan he’d seen were only for entertainment and he thought even if he always manage to live in a minimalistic way, there was no way he could survive living without all those modern technology. How to surf the Internet about fishing then?


Sitting down under a tree, he told himself to calm down and to clear his mind. Instead, he ended up not thinking anything and his mind started to wander. He blinked when a bunch of leaves fell down on his head. What should he do now? He couldn’t stay here, being the only human to live in this eerie town.


Ohno remembered the notebook in his bag. It was small, and the paper looked old since it had already turned yellowish. There was a slight guilt in him as he opened the notebook without the permission of the owner. However, the owner had abandoned it, his mind supplied. This notebook was effectively his now. He flipped the small notebook and the pages were full of handwritten notes so narrow that he could barely make out any kanji at first. He wasn’t really good with kanji himself, but at least he could read most of them, but this felt like a foreign language to him. He tried reading them. ‘To ward off demon’ followed by a few words he barely could read. ‘To shield oneself from Nue’ What was this? A spell book? Ohno wondered as alarm bell rang inside his head. Surely, he wasn’t lost in a Harry Potter world? In his sudden fear, he threw the book away and it hit the ground with a low thud. Now that he thought about it, this book probably had been responsible for him being thrown here. Ohno gasped as a thought occurred to him. If the book had the magical power to bring someone back in time it must have the power to send a person to the future! He got up in rush to pick it up from the ground and flipped it open so fast. However, when he couldn’t find any spells or words to go back to the future, he threw it again to the ground with a cry of frustration. He decided to pick it up once more after the image of the man in the red parka appeared in his mind. If he found the man, he could ask for his help in exchange for his notebook. He wouldn’t settle for anything until he finds the way to be home once again.


He went back to the small town again and discovered a shop that had been selling clothes. He took a set of clothes resembling hitatare and pants. He also took a cloth that he could turn into a blanket just in case. He put all of them inside his tote bag. Just like the house he stayed last night he said his apology to the owner-less shop for taking things without payment.


Ohno was standing in the middle of the street again for some time, thinking about what to do next.


He looked around as an idea came to him. Surely in this town there would be a river or water reservoir not too far away? Ohno wished there was a map, so he could know in which part of Japan he was now. Probably he was still somewhere in ancient Tokyo right now, right? However, Tokyo had only started flourishing during Edo and he was sure this wasn’t in the period yet; it was way earlier. This could be somewhere during the Heian or Kamakura period.


Whatever timeline he was in, he needed to survive and to find his way out. There could be villages that survive whatever disaster had struck this town. He went around the town once more and saw a stream. He ran towards it to find shallow but clear water. He could even see fishes swimming just below the surface. His experience on fishing made him glad that he was used to handling fish. It was so easy to catch one. After finding a place to cut the fish, he ate it with enthusiasm like he never had before. It would be better if he had sauce to go along with the raw fish, but he couldn’t complain, at least he could eat some protein to go along with the leftover rice he packed. He caught a few more fishes and wrapped them inside his tote bag. He hoped they wouldn't spoil before he had a chance to eat them. He walked alongside the stream and Ohno figured if he stayed on the right path, he would be fine.


The stream was getting wider and wider as it connected to a river. It was nearly late afternoon and Ohno was so tired that he could fall on the ground and sleep for years. He made a small fire and cooked his fishes. Ohno was glad he had food and he took a rest under a tree. He thought of climbing the tree in case of any wildlife attack at night but before he could even think of protecting himself, he had fallen asleep.


He didn’t wake up when the fox returned and sat down opposite of Ohno, near the fire, like he was protecting him from danger while he was sleeping.


The fire was nearly extinguished when Ohno woke up the next day. He gathered more sticks and the fire light up again. He took out the cooked fishes from yesterday and re-heated them. After taking his breakfast and to make sure he had saved enough fishes for the journey he took off once again.


The thick forest protected Ohno from direct sunlight. Nevertheless, he was still sweating profusely from the long walk. He walked at an even pace, since he hadn’t seen any sign of human civilisation. It was pretty strange since usually people live near river.


He suddenly heard a boy screaming for help. Ohno, in a rush of adrenaline, ran towards the voice ignoring the warning on his head. The trees were thinning considerably, and he came into a clearing. There, he saw a small boy, not more than ten years of age, struggling inside the arms of a white-haired old lady dressed in a tattered kimono.


“Help me!” The boy whose face was full of tears begged as soon as he saw Ohno. The old lady looked up and Ohno grimaced when he saw her ugly face. She reminded him of the ugly witch in the Snow White movie he watched when he was a little boy. Ohno took a step back when the old lady hissing and flashing her black and long teeth at him, warning Ohno to back away.


The boy begged Ohno again and Ohno, who was unsure of what to do approached them slowly, wondering what the boy had done to be treated badly by the old lady? Ohno held up his hands, as to show he meant no harm.


“Old lady, I don’t know what happen, but I think you should release the boy first. I’m sure we could settle this without any fight?”


“Who you are calling old lady?!” The old lady hissed angrily back at him, wrapping her arms tighter around the boy’s neck. Ohno could hear the boy choke.


“Er…you?” Ohno was a bit distracted; surely this old hag knew he was referring to her.


“He’s mine! I won’t release him!” The hag flashed her teeth at him again.


“I don’t think the boy agrees though... Look, why don’t you release him first and then we talk about whatever issue you have with him? If he made a mistake, I’ll make him apologize...” This was the first time Ohno was acting as a hostage negotiator and he wasn’t sure if he was doing it right, but he steadied himself after seeing how scared the boy looked.


“Go away, you fool! I haven’t had young meat lately and I won’t let this go!”


Young meat? Sure, the boy is young, but nobody will refer a boy as food, unless…


“Yamauba!” Someone screamed. Ohno turned around in surprise to see many people had already gathered around them.


Yamauba? Somehow, he had come across the name from his grandmother’s tale when he was a kid. But that was just a story. An old woman from the mountains who eats flesh didn’t actually exist in real life. But besides that, finally after seeing this so many people, Ohno could breathe a little. Surely, he could pass this over to people familiar to the old woman.


However, when Ohno tried to back away, he was pushed back so he was closer than ever to the old woman and the boy. Ohno, confused by the villagers’ action, turned around to see them shy away.


“Save my boy please!” A young tough-looking man begged him.


“Eh?” Ohno was sure the man could surely out throw the old woman easily. But looking at everyone faces, they clearly showed genuine fear. “But if we can charge together at her, we can pull your boy away....”


“It’s no use!” The father answered.


“She’s yamauba!” Another one shouted back at him.


“She’s just an old woman…” Ohno wasn’t sure why they feared the woman so much but if diplomacy didn’t work, he could be forced to use other means he had not considered yet.


The old lady, since not receiving any threat from Ohno and the others began to drag the boy away.


“Wait, old hag!” Ohno ran towards her and grabbed hold of the woman’s clothes to stall her and unexpectedly he was thrown back on the ground really hard by an invisible force. Ohno groaned as he got up and the old hag grinned at him, her eyes turning as red as blood, her nails becoming sharper and sharper and the one that touched the boy caused the boy to bleed. Ohno felt chills running down his spine. This old woman was not human. If she’s really yamauba, then she was a yōkai and she was definitely stronger than him.


By that time, he heard all the villagers screaming at him to save the boy. Ohno grumbled that the villagers were expecting him alone to save the boy when they didn’t lend a hand. But he couldn’t let the boy be eaten by this ugly yōkai. He charged at her again, and once again, her invisible force threw him onto the ground.


This couldn’t do. This yōkai must be using some sort of dark magic, he grumbled under his breath. Suddenly a thought occurred. Ohno opened his bag and brought out the notebook full of spells. Perhaps he could find a useful spell in it or something.


He opened the small notebook in a haste. Ohno saw from the corner of his eyes, that, due to his time-wasting, the old woman walked away with the crying boy and the screams by the people around him made him flip the pages in panic, not really knowing at what page to stop. Just as he became so frustrated, he wanted to ditch the idea of hexing the old hag, his hands automatically stopped at a page that just had one word; ‘Sing’. His mind went blank as he didn’t know what the hell he was supposed to sing. He flipped to the next page and saw familiar lyrics. It was a song called ‘Monster’ from a popular idol group and he didn’t know how the lyrics ended up in here. He flipped the rest of the pages to see that the full song was written out. He was sure it hadn't been there before. Since it was a song he knew, he hesitantly sang the first two verses with low voice, feeling ashamed that he was singing all of the sudden.


Around the time it passes midnight　

Oh no!　A cruel monster

From the moonlight in the dead of the night　

Oh no!　It's revived


I'm awaken by your scream

Into this evening's darkness, a monster luring you in...


At first nothing happened but as Ohno progressed to the next verses and then the chorus, the yōkai stopped dragging the boy, and turned towards him with her mouth wide open. She watched him in frozen quietness, like she was being hypnotised, her red eyes turning dimmer and dimmer. Ohno, not wanting to stop yet, repeated the verses and the chorus more confidently. Perhaps his bad voice made the yōkai stop moving, thought Ohno amusingly. The longer he sang, the longer he immersed himself with the song and he swore that he heard accompanying music to his singing, but he could’ve imagining it.


The grip around the boy’s neck became lax and eventually the boy fell out the yōkai’s grip and at that time Ohno stopped singing to take the boy away from the yōkai as fast as he could. He passed the boy to his parents who seemed disorientated and confused at first, just like the other villagers, but soon after that Ohno received cheers and pats on his back. As he was busy with the praise of saving the boy, the yōkai woke up from the trance. She began screaming and charging towards Ohno and the villagers, trying to take the boy back. Ohno, in bigger panic than before stumble on his words when he started to sing again. He backed away as he saw the yōkai trying to catch him instead when she failed to catch the boy. It seemed that his inability to produce a decent sound made the yōkai even more confident to go after Ohno. She grabbed Ohno’s arm after she was able to catch him and Ohno, in thoughtlessness threw the spell book on her head since it was the only thing he had in his hand. His tote bag had already fallen a few feet away from him in his attempt to run from the yōkai.


Ohno didn’t expect anything to happen besides reducing the yōkai’s momentum but then an unexpected thing happened. The yōkai released a high-pitched scream making everyone, including Ohno, cover his or her ears. While the yōkai holding her head with both of her hands, Ohno and the others who were behind him watched smoke coming out of the yōkai’s head where the book hit her and she combusted, leaving only a trail of smoke behind.


Everyone went speechless for a while before huge cheers broke out all around Ohno while he stayed there rooted on the ground. Someone picked up his book and returned it to him and Ohno could only stared at it. He couldn’t believe what had just happened. He just nodded in daze as he was hauled on one of the men’s shoulders. They marched towards the village.


It was a small fishing village and there were less than fifteen houses scattered around. When they arrived at one of the villager’s house, Ohno was treated with rice and soup and grilled fish. The boy’s parents were crying, profusely thanking him. They were treating him like a hero. Ohno just nodded, following the flow, gobbling up all the food they gave him, wondering what to do after this.


The head villager offered him a room to stay, while the family squeezed into another smaller room. Ohno felt bad to impose himself upon others. He didn’t necessarily need a room for himself and he told them that, but the family was very insistent. They told him that Ohno’s presence could bring a blessing to their family and thus bring prosperity to the whole village. It felt a little awkward that the family and the villagers put such high hopes in him as their saviour and Ohno felt like he would never be able to live up to this.


For the moment, he needed to rest properly after being on foot for two days. Ohno laid on the thin futon and made himself as comfortable as the flat futon allowed. For half an hour, he tried to sleep but he couldn’t. All the excitement of the day made him unable to fall asleep. He lazily flipped open the notebook, trying to read what was inside with the help of the candle light. He hoped that if he read it once again, much carefully this time, he could find a spell that he could use to bring himself back to his own world. However, unlike the success with the yōkai, the spell book had disappointed him. It seemed like the book didn’t want to return him back home. Feeling upset, he stashed it back inside his bag. He went back to his futon and somehow, he fell asleep not long after.


Thankfully due to his brave act, the villagers had revered him as their protector. They thought he had the magic to keep them away from demons and evil spirits. Ohno had tried to say that he wasn’t a wizard or anything like that, but his words fell on deaf ears. He felt guilty when he was presented with more food every time someone came to see him.


His phone’s battery had already died and Ohno missed his Tokyo life, the convenience, not his lone, partner-less life. No electricity here, no watches, calendars, transportation and no fluffy beds. He felt like he'd rather live his lonely Tokyo life than this. But he had to forget all that for the time being. He told himself to be patient and to make do with whatever presented to him at this moment. At least he was still alive for now.


From what the villagers had told him, the name of the village was Samejima, and the land they were located now was called the Land of Ai. Ohno frowned at the name of whatever country this was because he’d never read the name in any history book. He asked the house owner about which year they were currently in, the head villager told him that they were in the Hazuki month in Jian era. Ohno could only scratched his head as he wasn’t that familiar with how the Japanese calendar worked before Meiji. Anyway, he was surely somewhere in the middle of Heian period.


Ohno was able to ask about what happened to the town that seemed to have been destroyed. After the story was finished, Ohno felt whatever tale the villagers told him felt like it was taken from some manga especially when they told him about Kaiju, a giant monster wreaking havoc and destroying everything on its path. The town people mostly had fled to other places leaving the town inhabited. Some of them had come to this village and the kind villagers shared their homes with them. When asked from where the monster came, they told him that bad people had overtaken the emperor’s palace in Heian-kyo and they would destroy the city and towns if they didn’t want to follow his dark path. For a moment Ohno was worried for his family but then he realized they were in a different time period.


Thankfully this village was small enough that the evil man with the kaiju didn’t care about them so Ohno heaved a relieved sigh. They wouldn’t get attack anytime soon.


Every day, when he went everywhere, there were always villagers who offered to accompany him wherever he wanted to go. When he tried to help them with something, they didn’t allow him. When they found out that he could read and write they asked him to write banners, wishing plaques and omamori to bring luck to their houses. They seemed so impressed with his calligraphy. With those advantages, they treated him like some deity.


Sometimes, children came up to him and asked him to sing for them. Although Ohno hesitated at first, he was happy when he saw the reactions of the kids. It made him felt better about his singing abilities. Maybe it was because they were still innocent children, the kids seemed to greatly enjoy his singing.


Ohno stopped counting the days after a few weeks had passed. He began to get used to the life here. When he felt bored, the villagers allowed him to follow them fishing in the river in a small boat. He didn’t know what he was doing when the villagers came to him for blessing, only following what the head villager told him to do. He felt like a cheater.


Besides that, his life was normal. But he still missed his home and worried about his bills, his students. What would his employer think about his sudden absence? Would he fire him?


Dejectedly, Ohno left the fate of his employment to the heavens.


One night, Ohno suddenly woke up with the need to pee. He didn’t know what time it was but when he looked outside it was still dark, only the crescent moon could be seen up in the sky. His eyes adjusted to the lack of light and he went to the back of the house in order to relief himself.


After he had finished, his ears perked up when he heard the faint voice of a woman in the direction of the river screaming for help. Looking around to see whether any villagers had woken due to the scream, it seemed that he was the only one who had noticed. He asked himself why did this keep happening to him when he was alone? He sighed at his seemingly bad fortune in encountering people in need.


There were two options; go back inside the house and wake up other people or go save the woman alone. At first, he wanted to go for option one, but the screams became desperate so in the end he opted for option two. The fact that he should be careful since nobody should be out in the middle of the night didn’t occur to him then.


There was movement in the middle of the river and he saw a young lady, probably in her late teenage years with flowy hair holding onto a big boulder, trying hard not to be swept away by the current. It had been raining yesterday and the water had risen a bit.


“Help me, kind gentleman!” The lady shouted to him when she noticed Ohno.


“Hold on! I’ll come get you!” Ohno, throwing away any sense of fear, began to run to the nearest bank. He looked around for any fallen branch that could be used to save the woman. Ohno found a branch of an acceptable length. He held onto one end and extended it for the woman to grab. But when the woman touched it, it broke into two. Damn! Ohno cursed. He tried grabbing another one, but it broke too. Then he tried pulling a fresh branch from a nearby tree thinking all the fallen branches he used previously were decayed. But it broke too. It’s no use! He thought. The last option is to swim towards her and catch her before she’d drown.


Ohno’s feet were already ankle deep in the water when he heard a male voice behind him.


“You don’t have to save the woman.”


There, feet away from Ohno was a man in the shadow sitting on a fallen tree. Ohno was surprised and angry that the man had already been there all along watching a woman fight for her life.


“Can’t you see she’s drowning?!” Ohno couldn’t believe someone could be so heartless to watch a woman die in front of his eyes without doing anything.


“She’s not in need to be saved.” The man said aloofly, now admiring his nails, not even looking at Ohno.


“What?! How can you be so cruel?! Never mind. I’m going!” Ohno threw his hands up in the air in disbelief and he turned towards the water, ready to jump.


“Stop.” The man rose from his seat. Ohno turned and stared at him, as the figure became clearer to him the nearer he got. Ohno’s jaw slacked as he saw a very fine-looking man in a dark hitatare and its matching hakama. His fair skin was made even fairer by the moonlight. The high cheekbones and his thick eyebrows were both prominent features, and his short, dark hair was combed to perfection. He was a few inches taller than Ohno. If the man was to be in Ohno’s world, he could have been grazing the front page of a magazine. Ohno’s heart sped up in his chest.


But, it shouldn’t matter how pretty this guy was. There were more important matters to be dealt with, like saving the woman first. He could hear the woman calling for his help again.


“Think. What is a lady doing in the middle of a river at the time when everyone is sleeping?” The man asked him.


Ohno stopped to think. The question made sense to him. He looked back at the woman who was now waving at him in despair.


“Does it matter? She - she could have been wanting to grab some water and slipped…” Ohno wasn’t convincing himself with his own argument. Truthfully, he didn’t know.


“Look at her.” Ohno turned to look at her, but still all he saw was a helpless young lady waiting to be saved.


He felt warm breath fanning his cheek when the beautiful man leaned in closer, his hands placing on Ohno's hips to whisper. “Look at the top of her head.”


Ohno, confusedly turned his face towards the man and their faces nearly touched. He could feel his face burning. So Ohno turned his face towards the woman again, focusing on her and as he squinted in the little light, he saw something like a depression on her head, like a dish. Suddenly he remembered the famous folklore creature; a kappa.


“But I thought kappas are small and ugly green creatures?”


“To say that a kappa must only be a green creature.... Have you ever seen one before, though?” The man asked him, shaking his head in amusement.


Ohno crinkled his nose. “No.” He answered simply. The man was right. Ohno had never seen the real one before. He just heard stories when he was little, from his grandmother, who loved to tell all those mystical Japanese tales although he lost interest on them when he grew up. Also, all those green kappas he saw in festivals and supermarkets were all mascots. They weren’t the real thing. Truthfully, he had never seen a single kappa or yōkai or even yūrei until he was thrown into this world.


“Here.” Something cool and elongated was put on Ohno’s hand. A cucumber. The favourite food of kappas. “Throw this.” The man breathed into Ohno’s ear.


Ohno threw the cucumber towards the woman and the woman jumped to catch it and fell back into the water.


“Woah.” Seeing that, Ohno was relieved with the man’s intervention or he could have probably drowned or been eaten by the kappa by now.


“You are welcome,” the man said, a hint of laughter was heard in his voice. Ohno was about to reiterate his thanks when he turned and found the man had vanished.


He blinked, frozen on his spot. A cold chill shot down his spine. Was that guy a yūrei?! Without further ado Ohno ran back towards his room, scared, and covered himself with a blanket. He was shivering underneath it until the morning.


For days he couldn’t help thinking about that man. The mystery of that man made him ask the villagers if they had ever encountered such man and nobody ever saw him. He could be a yūrei shape shifting into a man to fool him, but as far as he knew, the man had saved him from being eaten by the kappa. He couldn't be bad. Somehow deep in his heart he wanted to meet the man again even if he was dangerous.


For weeks after that, he led an idle life when suddenly someone sneaked up on him from behind when he was on his way alone to the river to join the villagers on a fishing trip. His kidnapper dragged him towards the forest, away from the village. He couldn’t scream because his mouth was covered by the hand of his kidnapper. He couldn’t see them, but he was sure there were two of them in dark clothing. He feared for his life. Was he about to get killed? He didn’t have anything to protect himself; he left the knife he took from the town in his room. He prayed to all gods to save him from the kidnappers.


When they were fully hidden from any suspecting villagers, the person who held him released him. Ohno fell on his butt. Two dark-covered figures were towering over him. They weren’t that big, in fact one of them was about his size, but Ohno was still afraid.


“Please don’t kill me!” Ohno begged.


“We won’t.” The taller one said immediately as he pulled down the cloth that was covering his face as the other kidnapper revealed his face behind the mask, too. Ohno was expecting fierce faces behind the masks but instead he was presented with rather friendly faces - good-looking, even. They crouched down so they could be on the same eye level as Ohno.


“We heard you’d killed a yōkai with your magic.” The shorter one told him. It was a statement, not a question.


“I don’t have magic! It was accidental, I swear!” Ohno didn’t have a good feeling about this. Did they kidnap him because they believed all those villagers’ exaggerated stories on how he killed the yamauba? If they found out there was nothing extraordinary to him, they would probably kill him. He regretted letting the villagers’ impression of him get to his head.


Both strangers were looking at each other before they directed their gaze to Ohno once again.


“You are not from our world, aren’t you?” The shorter one asked, narrowing his eyes.


Ohno stared at them in shock. “How?” He was alarmed. How did they even guess that? He thought he had blended into his current surroundings pretty well that besides having short hair, whereas everyone else had topknots, he could be regarded as one of the villagers already. He was much more frightened. If they found out he wasn’t local, they could kill him.


“I’m...I’m just a villager!” Ohno mustered the confidence, despite the initial stuttering.


The shorter man laughed.


“You really want us to believe that?”


“I am just a villager...” Ohno muttered the words much more unconvincingly, felt more alarmed that he was caught in his lie. If they thought he was different, would he be killed?


“Come on. Get up.” The taller man stretched out his hand to help Ohno get up from the ground. Ohno hesitated at first but the man smiled at him, telling him nonverbally that it was okay to accept the little help.


“Who are you?” It was Ohno’s turn to ask, changing the subject away from himself to dig some information on his kidnappers and to distract them from thinking of harming him.


“I’m sorry for being rude. I’m Sakurai Sho and this is Ninomiya Kazunari. We are part of the emperor’s warrior squad.” The taller one introduced himself and put his hand on his friend's arm. They both bowed at him.


Ohno was surprised that they seemed much more genial. “I’m Ohno. Ohno Satoshi.” Ohno introduced himself, tilting his head a little in reply.


“We’ve heard.” Sakurai told him. Of course, Ohno should’ve known. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been kidnapped.


“So, if don’t intend to kill me then what do you want from me?” Ohno asked in suspicion, not really sure if he would like the answer.


“We need your help.” Ninomiya stated their intention immediately without beating around the bush.


Ohno frowned. “Why?” He asked warily.


“We believe you are a part of the prophecy that can save this land from the evil Onmyōji. You are also our link to find the half-Kitsune.”


Ohno was quiet for a while; in attempt to digest what Sakurai had just told him. “Onmyōji? Half-Kitsune?” Ohno asked to make sure he had heard it right. He kind of heard about onmyōji before but what did they mean with half-Kitsune? His mind began imagining a person with the upper body of a fox and the lower body of a human and he nearly snorted because of its ridiculousness.


“Yes, the half-Kitsune, the person that, along with you, will fight for us!” Sakurai told him enthusiastically.


Ohno gaped at them before he recovered from the shock of hearing such ridiculous things coming out from Sakurai’s mouth. “Why would I fight with this Kitsune? I don’t know any Kitsune! And what makes you think I’m part of this so-called prophecy? I’m no saviour. I’m sorry I think you got the wrong person. As I said before I don’t have any magical abilities, so you might as well leave me alone. I can’t help you.” Ohno turned away and ignored the deflated look on both Sakurai's and Ninomiya's faces.


He was feeling everything that happened to him lately had been pretty absurd. The destroyed town, the yōkai he encountered. Now they told him that he should save the land from the evil Onmyōji and find a Kitsune? It was outrageous to think that he could be part of a prophecy and was believed to be a saviour. Also, wasn’t an Onmyōji supposed to protect the country from evil as they were practicing divination and magic to protect the capital from evil spirits, like the legendary Abe no Seimei?


“Wait, Ohno-san! This land needs you. Please help us!” Sakurai and Ninomiya caught up to him before Ohno had a chance to walk away.


“I really don’t know how to help you. I’m neither a magician nor a samurai. You said you are the emperor’s warrior. So why don’t you gather your own squads to defeat whatever the evil you’d told me about?”


Both of them dropped their heads, looking sad upon hearing Ohno’s words.


“Unfortunately, there are only the two of us left. Others had been killed or captured along with the entire emperor’s family. We were miraculously survived because Emperor Aiba had managed to send us out secretly before he was imprisoned. We haven’t been able to go back but we found out that the city and towns nearby were nearly destroyed when they failed to kneel to the evil Onmyōji. Many people are fleeing, we don’t know how many are dead. We nearly lost hope until we found out about the prophecy and then we heard about you. We had tried to find the half-Kitsune but to no avail. He had been into hiding for many years, nobody has seen him,” Ninomiya told him, looking dismal.


The story made Ohno felt sympathetic. “I’m sorry to hear that…” he said, but he still maintained his belief that he wasn’t the one they were looking for. “But truthfully, I can’t do anything about that. I don’t know what your prophecy said but I’m sure I’m not the person you are looking for. I think you better look for someone else.”


“No. You are the one. We are sure of it. Here is the prophecy.” Sakurai took out a folded parchment from inside his pocket and showed it to Ohno. Although Ohno was thinking that he didn’t have anything to do with it, he was curious, and he took it and read it.


Those with the power to vanquish the Evil approaches…. Born into different worlds…


Huh? The rise on Ohno’s eyebrows were getting higher and higher the more he read it.


… from the spirit of foxes… one with magic voice and one, the offspring of celestial-human bond…


Spirit of foxes? Magic voice? Huh? This was just so absurd to even be considered legit. And to think he was believed to be the one mentioned? Were they kidding him?


“We acquired it from a priest. He was killed right after that by the Onmyōji’s men as they are after the prophecy too.” Sakurai took the paper back. He crouched and laid the parchment on the ground and lit it on fire using his firestones.


“We can’t let this fall into their hand. The priest said to destroy it after we found you.” Sakurai said as he got up.


Both Ninomiya and Sakurai were looking at him expectantly. They really seemed to believe in the prophecy without any doubt. This was ridiculous. How to convince them that he wasn’t the man they believed him to be?


“I’m obviously human... I don’t think I have a magical voice…” Ohno told them again.


“We heard your singing recently.” Ninomiya told him staring at him through narrowed eyes, not allowing Ohno to deny anything.


“Just a little part of it, but we are convinced it’s you,” Sakurai supplied, not revealing any more than that.


“I…” Wait…. Did they spy on him when he sang to those kids?


“That doesn’t mean I’m the one you are looking for!” Ohno argued.


“But your ability to sing fits the prophecy!” Ninomiya argued back.


“The prophecy might be lying!” Ohno countered, not wanting to back down.


After the row between Ohno and Ninomiya had go on for sometimes without anyone wanting to give in, Sakurai stepped in. With his hands on his waist, he shook his head and let out a long sigh. “Let say we are mistaken, and you are not the one we are looking for. But would you be willing to help our cause? At least to find the persons mentioned in the prophecy, to find our saviours?”


Ohno saw how Ninomiya gave Sakurai a quizzical look for a split second before he turned back towards Ohno.


“Please, Ohno-san?” Sakurai begged him.


Ohno had pride in his stubbornness but sometimes that trait backfired when it involved a sense of stubbornness to help those in need. “What is in it for me if I help you?”


They both looked at him and then Ninomiya said, “The thing you want the most.”


Ohno felt hope return. “You can bring me back home?”


There was a split moment of silence before Ninomiya replied. “Yes, if you want to. We will try our hardest to fulfill our promise.” Ninomiya assured him. He didn’t seem to be lying.


“But let's say I come along with you. If we still fail, what will happen?”


“We will still honour our promise.”


Ohno bit his lips, the wheels in his mind turning in thought to find whether helping them in their quest would be worth it. Whatever happened, at least they would help him find a way out, so he won’t be stuck here for the rest of his life. Slowly he came to a conclusion. “Okay… But I won’t be involved in your war. As soon as we find them, I need you to fulfill your promise.”


“We promise.” Sakurai and Ninomiya chorused.


Ohno told them that he needed to go back to the village first to gather his things. He told the head of the village that he was leaving and immediately everyone rushed to him and cried their eyes out as Ohno thanked them for their hospitality and said his goodbye.


Ohno, Sakurai, and Ninomiya started their journey together on foot. Each one of them was carrying rice and vegetables given to them by the kind villagers. Although Ohno was reluctant to leave the closest to comfortable life he could settle in during his stay in this realm, he had agreed to help both Sakurai and Ninomiya in their search. Also, all the sad stories he heard from the people in the village about the town he had been to somehow made him think that he should help them the best he could.


When the night fell, they slept alternately, but it was either Sakurai or Ninomiya who took turns to stay vigilant, letting Ohno slept the whole night, although Ohno had offered to help out, too. When the sun rose the next day, they woke up and continued their journey to find their prophesied men.


It was hours after they started their journey and they made their second stop inside the dense jungle. They have been mostly quiet. Ohno, not really good at making conversation just let Ninomiya and Sakurai share a conversation among themselves. At the same time, it allowed Ohno to observe them. Although he’d agree to follow them, they were still strangers to him. They seemed to be pretty close as they were in the first name basis and Ohno was actually relieved that they let him keep to himself.


However, all the time he spent in silence made him think more. Ohno couldn’t help being wearier and doubting his decision the longer they kept walking. He wasn’t sure if they even had any clue or time to search. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Only this time they had to find two needles that might not even be together at the same place. Therefore, Ohno decided to open his mouth for the first time in hours and asked them, “Where are we going anyway?” Ohno couldn’t remember if they had shared the information with him. All he knew was that he was following them without knowing what he was supposed to do. How to look for the person they were looking for without any clues?


Both Sakurai and Ninomiya shared at look and it was Sakurai who answered him. “We are heading to a village across the mountains. There could be singers living in that village. If we are lucky, we could find what we are looking for.”


Ohno looked at the silhouette of the mountain pointed out by Sakurai. It would mean days of travelling for them and Ohno didn't think he could walk there on foot. He didn't have experience in climbing mountains, too. This is crazy, he thought miserably. He already regretted taking the journey with them.


“Are you sure nobody else is near who can sing?”


“We believe it’s you but there’s no harm in trying to eliminate other candidates,” Ninomiya replied to his question, unabashedly reminded him what they believed.


Ohno looked at Ninomiya in disbelief. If they truly believed it to be him, then why were they on this pointless journey?


“To answer your question, we have to find the Kitsune, too. He could be anywhere, shape-shifting to any form. In order to find him, we need to visit all Inari shrines, to see whether we can find him. We had searched every shrine in the eastern and southern regions. And now we are heading north.” Sakurai told him.


To Ohno, it sounded logical. Besides the man with the magic voice, they had to find the other person too. But there was another question he wanted to ask. “Isn’t there any way to even know whether this Kitsune you are looking for exists?”


“We have met him once, years ago when Emperor Aiba was looking to appoint a new Onmyōji, he was one of the final two candidates for the post. He didn’t say he was a half-Kitsune but one night, Kazunari-kun here accidentally saw his tail when he was relaxing in his room. His name is Jun, the son of Matsumoto, a carpenter who lived halfway across this land. He had made Kazunari-kun promise to keep his secret. But then, he was defeated and vanished, and we never saw him again. We believe the other candidate who became our new Onmyōji had cheated but the emperor was pressured to keep his promise to appoint whoever wins the battle. This new Onmyōji later became too powerful and usurped the emperor and now here we are.”


“Can’t we just find the father and ask him?”


“He has died long time ago. His father lived alone deep inside the woods and the nearby villagers who knew him said that he had no other relatives. They had never seen his wife or children.”


“They never saw the mother and children?”


“Remember what the prophecy said, about the celestial and human bonding? We believe she’s the Inari, the Goddess of Kitsune. Only she could give birth to a powerful half-Kitsune like Jun-sensei. She probably passed down her celestial powers to him. And if she was truly the mother, she probably went back to her original place after she gave birth to him.”


“Then, we should look for her too. He probably went back to her,” Ohno suggested.


“That’s a possibility too. But since she is the Goddess, it won’t be easy to look for her. In fact, Kitsune can’t be summoned, they will come and go as they please. It just depends on our luck to find them.”


“Damn.” Ohno cursed quietly. It seemed that it would be hard to find the half-Kitsune.


Then, it hit him like a lightning bolt. Hurriedly, he took the spell book out of his bag and opened it to see if there was a spell to summon a Kitsune. He flipped every page, but nothing, not even something close to a summoning charm appeared on the pages. He sighed disappointedly.


Ohno noticed how Sakurai was eyeing the notebook. Ohno passed the book to him.


“It’s a spell book. I believe it’s the reason I was brought here.”


“Spell book?” Sakurai’s frown got deeper the more he flipped the pages. Then he showed it to Ninomiya who looked at Ohno like he was crazy.


“I know you don’t believe me, but I’ve used it on the yōkai and she disappeared after I threw it at her. So, it wasn’t me who has the magic but it’s the book.”


They continued looking at Ohno, frowns marring their faces showing that they didn’t believe him at all. So Ohno continued, “I thought of looking for a spell to summon the Kitsune, but apparently nothing of that sort is in there.”


“Ohno-san, there was nothing in this book.” Ninomiya said slowly, looking at him with narrow eyes.


“That’s what I just told you,” said Ohno, annoyance evident in his voice. Didn’t they listen to what he said just now?


“No, you don’t understand. There is nothing in here.” Ninomiya emphasised his words, eyes turning sharp as he passed the book to Sakurai.


Ohno looked at Ninomiya blankly before it turned into confusion. “Eh? There are writings in the book, I swear!”


“There is nothing, not even a word.” Sakurai repeated what Ninomiya had said. He passed the book back to Ohno and Ohno grabbed it impatiently, not believing what his companions told him at all.


Ohno turned the pages a few times to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. It was true. All of the pages were blank. But it couldn’t be! He hadn't been imagining things all this time. He was sure it wasn’t the wrong book either since he just saw writings inside it before he passed it to Sakurai. He scratched his head in extreme confusion.


“Where did you get it Ohno-san?” Ninomiya pressed him.


“I…” Ohno trailed off, staring at the notebook lying so innocently in his palm. This is not a spell book, it is a curse book! Then his mind travelled back to the original owner of the notebook, the man in the red parka he encountered on the train. Who was that man? Did that man find the book a little bit strange and he tried to dump the notebook inside the train and Ohno, unfortunately picked it up? If the book was cursed, he was really unlucky to encounter it.


“A Kitsune is able to produce illusion that looks so much like a reality. He must not be far…” Sakurai said pensively.


Hearing what Sakurai had said, Ohno stared at him. “You mean, this book is cursed by a Kitsune?” Ohno asked back. His mind went back to the man in the red parka and as far as he could remember, besides not really seeing his face properly, he was sure that there had been nothing wrong with him. The man appeared just like a normal human being, not a fox. Although Ohno couldn’t deny that he could sense a certain aura on the man that attracted Ohno’s attention, but it could be just a normal thing. Well, he had to admit that looking at good-looking men sometimes was his guilty pleasure.


“Perhaps. If it’s true, you’ve probably met each other. Thus, it makes everything easier. The only problem is how to get him to show himself…” Sakurai trailed off, his fingers touching his chin in thinking gesture.


An idea seemed to strike them at the same time as both Sakurai and Ninomiya turned to direct their sharp look at Ohno.


“Eh, me?” Ohno pointed to himself, unsure what his role in this topic was.


“Obviously.” They both said together, their faces telling Ohno that there was no doubt about it.


Okay, things started getting weirder and Ohno braced himself.


“What if…” Ninomiya started, smirking at Ohno as he stepped closer.


Ohno widened his eyes, not really liking the look Ninomiya was sporting right now. His gut feeling was right when Ninomiya suddenly grabbed him and turned him around, a small blade was suddenly perched on Ohno’s neck.


“Come out now, Jun-sensei… If not, your future partner will die…” Ninomiya shouted to no one. Only echoes were coming back at them as answers. Sakurai was only standing there, chuckling while watching them in amusement.


Ohno, was in shock and frozen with fear. He realised what Ninomiya was trying to do and fear started to overcome him. Ninomiya was using him as bait. He could die. “Let me go…If the Kitsune is around he should have come when you guys kidnapped me last time...” Ohno’s voice was quivering. But he steeled himself. “Besides, I can’t be a bait. I’m not the one stated in the prophecy. I don’t even know him…”


“Well, that’s what you want to believe...” Nino muttered as he let Ohno wrestle his way out of his loosening grip.


“If this is not working, then, we’ll think of a better way later.” Ninomiya decided firmly, hiding his small blade back inside the inner part of his clothes. Ninomiya turned away, ignoring how Ohno was glaring at him, a concentrated look on his feature as he looked around the forest to search the elusive Kitsune.


After freeing himself from Ninomiya’s grip, Ohno immediately backed away from his companions, keeping a distance. Ninomiya had a concealed weapon! Ohno screamed inside his head. Of course he had, why wouldn't he? He answered himself. Sakurai probably had a knife hidden somewhere that could be used against him, too, not just for protection. Their lack of swords should’ve given him a sign that they could be carrying small weapons on them. Even he himself carried a vegetable knife inside his bag so it was only logical that trained samurai would have weapons themselves.


They seemed to be treating the previous scene as a joke but Ohno became suspicious of both Ninomiya and Sakurai. What more could they do to him? Ohno who had only known them for the past few days, realised that he shouldn’t trust them so easily. Besides their current agenda to find the two saviours, he didn’t know if they had any hidden secrets. He rethought his decision to follow their cause and it amplified the regret for his decision. He regretted not giving this matter much thought earlier. He was baited so easily with the promise of getting him back home without confirming whether it would be possible or not.


It was Sakurai who noticed the change in Ohno’s attitude towards them. He tried to approach him but when Ohno backed away and gave him a defensive look, there was a surprised look on Sakurai.


“Ohno-san, we are sorry.”


Ohno saw Ninomiya sent a furtive look to them before he looked the other way. Sakurai met his friend’s gaze and gave Ninomiya a signal to come closer to them.


“Please forgive Kazunari-kun. I promise you he won’t repeat it.”


Ohno could only read genuine sincerity on Sakurai’s face. But it was Ninomiya who should be apologising to him, not Sakurai. He glowered. “And why can’t he say it himself?” He nodded towards Ninomiya, who was now staring at him with some sort of annoyance on his face. What the hell? He should be the one who was annoyed!


“Come on, Ohno-san. Although we aren’t friends yet, we are in this together right? Kazunari-kun didn't mean to harm you.”


“I could have been killed by him just now!” Ohno pointed at Ninomiya as he stepped back when Sakurai made an attempt to approach him once again.


“Ohno-san, you are just over-reacting…” Ninomiya said lazily, breaking his silence.


“Kazu, you should be apologizing to Ohno-san…” Sakurai decided to cut the matter short by shoving Ninomiya towards Ohno and made him bow down to him.


Ohno stared at Ninomiya bending his head to him, thinking hard. Should he give his forgiveness? Should they part ways? But when Ohno thought that he didn’t really know where he was, he decided that now wasn’t the right time for that. He probably just needed to be more careful around them. So, he accepted Ninomiya’s apology by nodding once at him. Sakurai seemed satisfied while Ninomiya gave a look of indifference.


“Alright, we should continue our journey!” Sakurai happily declared, patting Ohno’s shoulder to prompt him to walk.


However, Ohno stayed put, letting Ninomiya and Sakurai to walk first until both of them were a few feet in front of him, making sure that they had enough distance from each other for them to be pulling any suspicious trick on him again.


Ninomiya, realising what Ohno was doing, smirked at him and told him, “Yōkai like to eat people who walk alone at the back~”


Hearing that, Ohno ran and slipped in between Ninomiya and Sakurai, forgetting what had transpired between both men and him just now, not wanting to be left behind alone and be eaten by a yōkai. Both Ninomiya and Sakurai were howling with laughter as Ohno threw dirty looks towards them.


Ohno was not one to think so much because overthinking would make his head exploded but he couldn’t help thinking of the man in the red parka again. If it was true that he was the Kitsune they were looking for, then why out of so many people, Ohno was the one to fall for the trick? Why did he pick up the book? Why did he want to act kind to return the book to its rightful owner that day on the train station? If he had not been as fascinated by the guy, if he wasn’t obsessed with finding him, he wouldn’t be in this situation. He wouldn’t be stuck in this unknown world and he wouldn’t get himself being involved in this troublesome journey that he himself was reluctant to participate in. Why had they made the conclusion that he was part of the prophecy? He wasn’t part of a Kitsune spirit, as clear as the prophecy indicated. He was just as human as a human could be. Also, he had no magical power, not even that good of a voice. Every time he went to karaoke, he had the saddest reaction anyone could get. Everybody ended up not saying anything, not even applauding him. They went as quiet as mice, faces went blank and only went back to their chatty selves when Ohno quietly left the karaoke room. So how can he have a magical voice? Clearly, he wasn’t the one they were looking for. Clearly the Kitsune knew it too therefore he didn’t even bother to show his face to them.


Ohno let out a long sigh that attracted the attention of both his companions. They just looked at him without saying anything, perhaps understanding that Ohno should be left alone in his thoughts.


The three of them continued their walk in the direction of the mountain as the day turned dark. They made a stop under a big tree, making a fire and cook the rice and vegetables they had gotten from the villagers. Ninomiya was nowhere to be seen, leaving only him with Sakurai.


“Here.” Sakurai passed the small bowl filled with rice to him. The smell from the freshly cooked rice filled Ohno’s nostrils and his stomach began to rumble.


“Thank you…” Ohno told him as he slowly scooped the rice up with his chopsticks. The rice was halted in front of his mouth as he stared at Sakurai who had decided to sit beside him.


Sakurai gave a low chuckle. “Ohno-san, I’m not going to attack you…” When Ohno was still staring at him, he said, “Really, I swear I will never harm you. We won’t, ever. Full stop.”


Ohno, satisfied with Sakurai’s pledge to him, turned his eyes back on his food, shoved the food inside his mouth and chewed it slowly without looking at Sakurai again. They ate quietly, filling their stomachs as they looked mindlessly at the thick forest in front of them.


“I apologize again if you are not comfortable with us.” Sakurai broke the silence.


Ohno immediately turned towards Sakurai. This had been the umpteenth time he apologised to him, Ohno mused.


“You can tell us anything if there’s something on your mind.” Sakurai offered. Ohno didn’t give a nod, just looking at Sakurai contemplatively. Sakurai didn’t look dismayed with the lack of reaction as he just smiled at Ohno.


“I’m hoping we could be friends, you know...”


“Friends?” Ohno asked in surprise, a few grains of rice falling from his mouth.


“Why are you so surprised?” Sakurai’s shoulders shook as he laughed silently.


“We barely knew each other…” Ohno muttered, realising that the thought of them being friends never occurred to him.


“It’s true. Perhaps it’s just a wishful thought on my part…” He chuckled before it turned into a temporary silence. “Are you still thinking about the prophecy?” Sakurai was changing the topic so fast Ohno didn’t catch it at first.


“No?” Sakurai asked again. Ohno blinked at him and Sakurai chuckled and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “You’ve been so quiet, well besides our small misunderstandings before, you barely utter a word. Sorry, I shouldn’t have made assumptions about you.”


Ohno didn’t realise that. “I’m always like this…”


“I see…” Sakurai smiled at him. “Is there any topic you want to talk about?”


Ohno put aside his empty bowl. He chewed his lower lips in contemplation. “I guess I have too many questions, so I don’t know which one to ask first…”


“That’s understandable. I would’ve too, if I were you… To suddenly being told that you were mentioned in a prophecy, then being asked to be a saviour, and then to follow strangers… I could say that you are taking it better than I would be.”


Ohno crinkled his nose, not really agreeing with Sakurai. “Truthfully, I don’t really understand why I agreed to join you. Although I thought I couldn’t trust you I couldn't say no when you asked…” Now that he said it out loud, he realised that he could’ve just stayed put in the village. Just because he was being promised to get home, he could’ve just found another way than risking his life by joining Sakurai and Ninomiya. He was just too stubborn not to help out.


Sakurai nodded his head, sympathetically.


“And about this prophecy stuff, do you really believe it, for real?” Ohno asked.


“I do. Kazunari-kun too. In fact, all of us who know about it believe it is true.”


“You know, in my world, we only heard this stuff in movies.” Ohno mused.


“Movies?” Sakurai asked bewilderedly.


Ohno only grinned at him. He figured it would be a hard topic to explain with few words, so he didn’t bother to describe movies in more details. So, he changed the subject.


“I remembered when Ninomiya-san told me I’m not from this world. How did you find out anyway?”


Sakurai smiled at him, didn’t look too bothered that Ohno didn’t go into details about what he mentioned to him before. He happily entertained Ohno’s question to him. “You see, everyone carries themselves differently… depending on if they are from royalty and noble descend, merchants, and peasants and commoners. Everyone has their own characteristics and ways of life that have been recorded and studied extensively by scholars.” Ohno stared at Sakurai, trying to anticipate what exactly Sakurai was trying to say.


“You don’t conform to the standard.”


Ohno blinked. “Huh? Just like that?”


“You’ve forgotten about what you are wearing on your feet.” Ohno looked down. He had forgotten that he was wearing sport shoes. Obviously, something that hadn’t existed in this world. He turned red.


Sakurai chuckled as he added more. “Your way of speaking, your short hair, your overall look and aura didn’t fit with what our current society is. And based on the prophecy it was easy to come to a conclusion.”


“But I could’ve come from anywhere… Besides, the prophecy could be lying. Is there no other way to fight your evil Onmyōji beside blindly following the unknown?”


“A prophecy could be just a vague prediction of the future that may or may not come true. That being said, you might be right. But this war has gone on longer than we thought and has claimed many lives. We couldn’t afford to dismiss it. We have to save our emperor and the people. With just the two of us, now three including you, they are putting their hope in us to save this land from being destroyed.” Sakurai went quiet as he looked unseeingly into the sky.


Hearing Sakurai, Ohno started to understand their motivation. He felt bad for questioning and regretting everything before. This land wasn’t even his responsibility to protect but he was here now. Perhaps, he had to give something to this world to prove that he deserve to go back. And for that to happen, he needed to throw away his negative thoughts. From now on, he wanted to be useful. He wanted to lend any help he could give, even if he wasn’t sure that he could go all the way to sacrifice his energy and time.


“So, do you believe you can find those people?”


Sakurai stared at Ohno for a while, before he gave his answer confidently. “Yes, I believe that we can find them. We have to.”


Then Sakurai moved to another subject. “You must be missing your home?”


“Of course. I wanna go home. I miss my home.” Ohno exclaimed. Before, he didn’t appreciate his little apartment so much but now he thought he could hug his small bathtub, his crampy kitchen, his bed and everything else in his home.


“So, tell me, how is your home, in your world?” Sakurai showed genuine interest and before he knew it Ohno became talkative, telling all about his job, his interests, his students and his family to Sakurai.


“Although we’ve fought wars in other countries, generally the world is peaceful. Well, Tokyo is a bit narrow and busy, but it never bothers me, I’ve been there my whole life!” Ohno was unsure if he could tell Sakurai about the things happening in the future but Sakurai was appreciative, and he didn’t press further about the historical events that had occurred far into the future. Ohno had been afraid that the bits about the future he was telling Sakurai could cause certain major events to change but he probably shouldn’t worry too much about it. Besides, Ohno had mostly been asleep in his history classes; he wasn’t a good source of information on history anyway.


Before he knew it, Ninomiya already joined them and listened attentively to Ohno’s story about the efficient transportation in Japan. And Ohno had let go his grudge on Ninomiya when he told them everything Ninomiya asked.


“It sounds great. I wish I could see all those carp you mention.”


Ohno frowned. “Carp?”


“That thing which can transport you anywhere?”


“Oh, you mean cars?” Ohno laughed and Ninomiya offensively shoved Ohno to the side making all of them to laugh together.


As usual, Sakurai and Ninomiya took turns to guard their sleeping place. Ohno woke up to a hard slap on his face to find out it was his own hand slapping himself. Ohno scratched his face, feeling the itchiness from the mosquito bite his hand had been trying to kill but failed. He raised his body, squinting around to see the fire they had made still burning away and the silhouette of Sakurai sitting nearby dancing behind his back. He probably made too much sound when Sakurai noticed him waking up.


“Where are you going?”


“To pee.” Ohno pointed towards the back of a tree not far from them, to indicate where he was going.


“Don’t go too far.” Sakurai told him.


Ohno nodded before he went in between the trees and bushes, hiding away from Sakurai and the sleeping Ninomiya. The only light guiding him came from the clear night sky.


As he was relieving himself, he thought of hearing something behind the bushes. He felt goose bumps rise all over his body. Was it an animal? A bear? Or worse, a ghost? He was tying back his pants hurriedly and he nearly screamed when two small shining dots appeared in between the dense shrub. After a rustle of leaves, a familiar animal coming out of its hiding. It was the fox, he was sure of it, his fox that he found and guided him on the first day he came to this world. Immediately, Ohno’s fear disappeared. He was very much relieved to see that the fox was alive and healthy.


Clearing his throat, Ohno opened his mouth to say something to the little fox. “Where have you been little fox?” Ohno crouched and the fox stayed, still standing on its ground, looking at Ohno with sharp but inviting eyes, letting Ohno come closer to him. He stretched out his hand carefully, to touch the little fox and just when he was about to touch it, he heard Sakurai’s voice calling him. When he turned back to look at the fox, it had already gone. Ohno blinked, wondering where that fox had gone. Sakurai was calling him again and he shouted back telling him he heard him. Looking back at the spot occupied previously by the little fox, he wondered if the little fox would come back again. Ohno lay again on his sleeping spot telling himself to sleep. He never mentioned the encounter to either Sakurai or Ninomiya after that.


The smell of smoke from the burnt woods woke Ohno up. He stretched his body and let out his biggest yawn. He just sat where he was, not wanting to get up yet until it was necessary. He thought he had had a dream about the fox after he had fallen back asleep. In there, the little fox had come to where he slept and slipped inside his arms to accompany him in his sleep. He couldn’t remember any more than that but somehow, he could still feel the residual warmth. Ohno shrugged it off, thinking that his previous encounter with the fox had carried the image into his sleep.


Later, his gaze was directed to the canopy of trees shielding the base of the forest from the sun and the sky. The sunlight that managed to stream through the dense leaves indicated to Ohno that it was way past sunrise. The chirping of birds and the sound of crickets and bugs appeared to be more prominent today. His gaze turned to Ninomiya who appeared and carried more wood on his back.


“I cooked rice. Come and eat.” Ninomiya told him. Ohno nodded to him and reluctantly got up to where the hot pot of rice was. He flinched a bit noticing the belated soreness on his legs and muscles from excessive walking. Seriously, all the walking he’d done here probably had covered all the walking he’d done in his entire life while he was in Tokyo. He gobbled down his plain rice; just grateful that at least he got something to eat here remembering how he needed to scour food from the abandoned home the first time he came here.


They continued walking for days, in rain and shine, stopping when necessary, the dream about the fox had been put to the back of his mind.

It was Sakurai who had noticed the silhouette of a wooden torii gates signalling a presence of an Inari shrine faraway at the base of the mountain. It was just a small shrine but well kept. Two stone foxes were placed on the way to the shrine like guards. When they came to the doorway of the shrine, a thick, special ropes hanging above the entrance and strips of white paper marking the sacred place. They were greeted by a middle-aged Shinto priest in his white silk robe.


“Welcome.” They bowed to each other as the priest gestured them to pay respect to the kami and he then left them alone. Ohno saw Ninomiya slip away to look around before meeting them again at the small hall located inside the shrine.


“I have no information on what you are looking for,” the priest said as he gazed at them individually. Ohno looked at the priest and then at his two companions in confusion. They didn’t say anything at all. How did the priest know that they weren’t visiting the shrine to worship but to look for information? However, Sakurai and Ninomiya didn’t look surprised, like they’d been expecting it.


“We humbly beg you as the messenger of Inari to ask her the whereabouts of the very person we are looking for.” Sakurai requested politely as he bowed to the priest who was sitting in front of them.


“The Inari does not like to get involved in such unimportant matters. I am sorry that I have to refuse your request.”


Sakurai started, “We understand, but-.”


“It is a matter of importance! We need to find him fast!” Ninomiya interrupted him. Sakurai whispered to Ninomiya to let him handle the situation.


“This is the 165th shrine we’ve visited and almost all of them gave the same answer. We understand your position not to deal with human matter unless it’s related to the prosperity of rice and fertility, but if we cannot find the person soon, the prosperity of this land won’t matter anymore when everything is destroyed by the evil Onmyōji!”


And they kept trying to convince the priest to give them any clue or do whatever he could to ask the Inari herself. Sakurai and Ninomiya seemed convinced that the priest held the answer to their questions. Ohno just observed their argument not knowing what he could do to help. In his mind he wondered if the priest was a human too. Why was he not sympathizing with their predicament especially with what the people in this land were going through? What is the purpose of Inari if it isn’t to protect the land? At least he should try to pray for answers or at least pretend to try?


The priest suddenly turned to look at Ohno and Ohno felt something strange with his gaze.


“I see that you’ve found the one half of the prophecy.”


“You knew about the prophecy? Why are you saying it’s me?” It was Ohno’s turn to ask. The priest’s remark didn’t sit well with him. Even though he decided to help out in Sakurai’s and Ninomiya’s cause, it didn’t mean that Ohno had finally accepted his part in the prophecy.


The priest just stared at him with a knowing look but didn’t bother to give Ohno a verbal answer.


“Then, we must do what we must.” Ninomiya suddenly spoke and Ohno was disappointed he didn’t get the explanation. But something that Ninomiya was holding distracted him immediately.


Ohno saw him playing with a small white ball in between his fingers.


The priest seemed shocked and he looked worried and afraid. “Please give it back,” the priest begged and stretched his hand to Ninomiya.


“Not before we get anything back.” Ninomiya was smirking because he knew that he had won.


“Alright.” The priest sighed, a defeated look on his face. “I’m breaking my spiritual promise....” He closed his eyes temporarily before he opened it again. “He’s closer than you think. Stop looking for him and just head to the seven-headed mountains.”


“Thank you.” Sakurai said, grateful as he gestured to Ninomiya to return the ball to the priest. The priest cradled the ball like it was his life.


Ohno seemed confused that Sakurai and Ninomiya easily accepted the priest answer that seemed to him was a nonsensical one. That simple? How are we supposed to find the Kitsune?


Sakurai explained as they headed out the shrine. The priest was actually a white Kitsune, the messenger of Inari and shape-shifting into a human. Ninomiya had stolen the ball of life that was really important for a Kitsune as they couldn’t be apart from. Whoever possess the ball could get anything they wanted from a Kitsune. Ohno asked how did Ninomiya get hold of it in the first place? Ninomiya just smirked at him and left him without an answer. Sakurai smiled and answered on behalf of his friend. “It’s Kazunari-kun’s secret. He’s just good at what he does.” It wasn’t a clear answer but Ohno didn’t want to press Sakurai more.


Ohno grumbled when Sakurai mentioned to him that they needed to head to another mountains and he groaned louder when Sakurai pointed where they should be heading. It was miles away from here since they could only see the tips of the mountains and Ohno felt he wanted to die already.


“Are you sure the priest isn’t bluffing?” Ohno complained.


“Nope.” Ninomiya simply answered as he charged forward happily. Sakurai simply chuckled as he dragged Ohno with them.


As they continued their journey, suddenly Sakurai and Ninomiya stopped in their tracks. Ohno unsuspectingly bumped on Sakurai’s back. “Ouch! Why did you sto-“ Ohno froze on his spot as he felt the ground moved under their feet. There was a distinct roar somewhere far away.


“He’s at it again.” Sakurai remarked with his eyes closed.


“Huh?” Ohno was confused. Wasn’t this simply an earthquake?


“Onmyōji Muro is releasing the kaiju again….” Ninomiya remarked, an angry look evident on his face.


Kaiju? Ohno’s mind was pulled to the prophecy and all the stories the villagers once told him about the kaiju. He recited the prophecy again in his mind. He remembered that there was a mention of releasing a monster. So, they need to unleash their own monster to counter the monster let loose by the evil Onmyōji?


“We can’t do anything until we arrive at the mountain.”


“Aren’t we going to look for the other person first?” Ohno asked, as he still didn’t want to accept the fact the he was the other person mentioned in the prophecy.


“You’ve heard the priest. And there’s no need to find the half-Kitsune. We just need to find our own kaiju.” Ninomiya kept their gaze and Ohno felt that Ninomiya’s eyes were telling him to stop being in denial and just accept the truth.


Ohno felt dispirited. In truth he didn’t want to entertain the possibility at all. For one, he was just a human being and it was just impossible that he had the so-called fox spirit inside him. And secondly, he clearly didn’t possess a magical voice. Therefore, he couldn’t wrap his mind around all these people believing he was the one. Ohno shook his head not knowing what to think and do anymore besides following the flow. Ohno sighed frustratingly. Why did his fate come to be like this?


Ohno bumped into Sakurai’s back once again and he whine because this time he had fallen on his bum. “Ouch,” Ohno rubbed his sore butt, not realizing why they’d stopped.


“Hush…” Sakurai put his index finger to his lips. “Do you hear anything?”


Ohno trained his ears to catch whatever Sakurai and Ninomiya were hearing but he couldn’t hear anything. “I don’t hear anything,” Ohno said.


“Exactly.”


“We must be careful.” Ninomiya said.


What’s happening? Ohno looked around to see nothing out of ordinary besides the heavy forest. A tendril of fear seeped inside his heart. They treaded the jungle carefully, tiptoeing to make less noise. Ohno followed Ninomiya and Sakurai closely for his own safety.


It was Ohno who was caught first. A thick root crawled on the forest floor and twisted itself around his legs, making Ohno fall down. Sakurai and Ninomiya rushed towards him, bringing out their knives to release Ohno from the root that was trying to kill him, but then other roots came and attacked both Sakurai and Ninomiya, making them fall, too. They were dragged for a few metres, screaming in pain as their heads bumped on small rocks and tree barks before Ohno saw the biggest fly-trap Ohno had ever seen in his life. The teeth were big enough to make Ohno shudder in fear. They struggled until suddenly the roots around them untangled on their own, making them fall back onto the ground.


Ohno was out of breath as he untangled the roots from his legs. He wasn’t sure why suddenly the plant had stopped attacking them but when he looked back at the plant, there was an arrow perched in the middle of its open mouth.


Ohno saw a man in a black and white hitatare carrying a quiver and multiple bows on his back who stood feet away in front of them like the hero that he was. Ohno blinked a few times in disbelief because the man that he had encountered once at the river bank had come to save their life.


“Jun-sensei!” Ninomiya shouted.


Ohno's eyes widened when he remembered the name of the half-Kitsune Sakurai told him. So, the mystery had been solved. His saviour from the kappa was the elusive half-Kitsune they were looking for. He wasn't a yōkai or even a yūrei like he was afraid he was, he was THE Kitsune, the good and powerful one that would be the saviour of the world. He felt like crying in happiness because they had found him, and also in anger as to why it took him a life-threatening situation to happen before making an appearance in front of them. He could have been with them all along and cut their long journey into half.


The first thing that Jun, the Kitsune, did was to approach Ohno and with his palm stretch out to Ohno, he said, “I need my stuff back.”


Ohno blinked at him in confusion. “What stuff?”


The Kitsune smiled at him. “The spell book.”


Ohno’s mouth opened in shock. Realization dawned upon him. Ohno looked sharply at Jun-sensei’s feature. Now that it was daylight he could observe him more clearly. Trying to ignore how much more beautiful he looked, so close and clear to him, his eyes noticed all these moles around the mouth that his mind was brought back to the fateful day inside the train.


“You!” Ohno shouted in shock, his index finger pointed directly at the Kitsune’s chest. His eyebrows had shot so high on his forehead they could be lost among the hairline.


The Kitsune’s smile grew bigger. He didn’t look guilty at all.


“You are the reason I’m stuck here!” Ohno shouted again. Then, he was simply shocked but now it had turned into anger.


“I guess you are angrier than I thought,” the Kitsune remarked in amusement.


“Of course I’m angry! Who wouldn’t when I was supposed to be home and asleep on my bed but now I’m stuck in this forest, walking for how many days, and my feet hurt! Also, the food here suck!” Ohno simply ignored the look of hurt in Sakurai’s and Ninomiya’s faces at the mention of the cooking they made. But the Kitsune-guy whom Ohno had simply called Jun in his head not the sensei because he had made a fool out of him, just grinned at him and letting Ohno had his tirade.


Ohno stopped because his throat hurt from constant screaming. He was panting out of breath. Truthfully, it felt good to let it all his frustration out.


“Are you done?” The Kitsune asked him, showing a plain look.


Ohno sulked, irritated with the guy who seemed not too concern with his anger.


“I’m sorry to be the cause of your main grievance.” Jun bowed a little, this time he showed a much genuine gesture.


Ohno was stumped as he felt his heart soften, he didn’t understand why the temptation to forgive the man was palpable enough after what he had done to him.


“You’ve probably known my name, but let’s have a proper introduction. My name is Jun.”

Ohno eyed the stretched hand. This gesture wasn’t normally being used by the Japanese people during this time. He wondered if Jun had travelled to his world long enough to learn another culture? Hesitantly, Ohno stretched his hand to have the handshake.


There was some tingling sensation when their hands touched. Ohno blinked momentarily at their connected hands but shook his weirdness away as he took his hand back.


After Jun gave him a soft smile, he went to Sakurai and Ninomiya and gave them an acknowledged bow. Sakurai and Ninomiya bowed back in acknowledgement.


“Sorry to make you all wait.”


“So, you’ve met Ohno-san before...” Ninomiya looked at him sharply.


“Yes, we have. A few times. Well, I’ve a few things I’ve to settle first before joining your journey but yes, I was around. With the help of Chinen-kun here-” Everyone was shocked when a short young man who was rather cute appeared instantly beside Jun out-of-nowhere, “-he had been monitoring your journey when I couldn’t be around.”


“Thank you for protecting us.” Sakurai bowed to Jun and then to Chinen.


“It’s not a problem.” The young man, Chinen dismissed their gratitude shyly.


Ohno, who was listening to the conversation, butted in.


“He just save us once.” Ohno pointed out.


“We couldn’t have a smooth journey up until now if we aren’t protected. As you’ve noticed we didn’t encounter any yōkai or yūrei up until this attack.” Sakurai explained, and it made sense to Ohno. Sakurai turned to Jun appreciatively.


“The attack from the plant is partly my fault. Chinen and I had to be somewhere and thankfully we came back in time.”


“For that, we are grateful.” Sakurai bowed again to say how they appreciated the timely help so much.


Ohno, still wasn’t sure what to think about Jun, let out a question, “So, what should we do now?” With the finding of the Kitsune, Ohno felt that they could speed up the process of raising their own Kaiju and after that he would demand for them to send him home as soon as possible. The Kitsune was responsible of him being here, thus, he surely had a way to send him back again. He could see that everyone else had sensed his urgency, in exception of Chinen, as he just stood there smiling at Ohno and staring at him admirably. Ohno didn’t know what to make of him.


Ninomiya approached Jun. “Jun-sensei, what do you think about this part of the prophecy… the great power arises when they become one, in hearts and minds… I think we need to solve this first before proceeding to get to Mumon that the deity Hachiman hid.


“As expected, you had figured out about the last part of the prophecy,” Jun remarked impressively.


Ninomiya smiled at Jun. “Yes, it was easier when he had access to the palace’s library, and now we have to make the half part come true. How to bring about this great power to wake up the giant? How to combine your powers?”


“Do you need to do a ritual?” Sakurai added enthusiastically.


Ohno was lost. He couldn’t follow them. Who’s Mumon? What ritual do they need to do to combine their powers?


“Er, sorry to interrupt but I don’t have any power to combine with the sensei…” All three of them turned towards Ohno at the same time, appearing like they had finally realised he existed.


Jun approached Ohno. “You do, but I’m afraid we have to give time for this…” Jun said as he looked at Ohno meaningfully for a short moment before he turned his gaze to Ninomiya and Sakurai. Ohno blinked at Jun, not too sure about the meaning of that look. But whatever it was, he wanted to go home soon. Even if he had no idea where his power come from or even if he had any power at all.


“Can’t we make it faster?” Ninomiya had taken the words out of Ohno.


Jun met Ohno’s gaze and held it. Ohno found himself not able to tear his eyes away. “We could test several hypotheses, but we need time.”


“Okay, we will prepare anything you want us to do. If we need a place for that we will provide-” Sakurai trailed off in his words when four swords suddenly appeared in front of them out of thin air. Ninomiya was already grabbing to one and hugged it like it was the most precious thing he ever had.


“I know that your swords were confiscated when you were on the run. I told Chinen to get those from the place they were locked and keep them for you.”


Ninomiya kneeled in front of Jun. “Thank you, Jun-sensei! I can’t believe that I will get my sword again!”


The Kitsune appeared to be blushing, and Ohno thought it was cute. Ohno never questioned Ninomiya and Sakurai why they didn’t carry their own swords all these times and now he got the answer.


Sakurai picked up the rest of the swords. After passing one of them to the bewildered Ohno, he approached the Kitsune and asked him in serious tone.


“One of these is the prince’s sword. Why did you bring this here?”


Jun hold Sakurai’s gaze for a while before he answered. “It will have a use someday.”


“Why this sword? What happen to the prince?”


“I shouldn’t tell you about the future, but our fate will cross paths…”


Sakurai seemed to get it and he was ecstatic about the news. Ninomiya who had enough time caressing his sword also joined Sakurai in his happiness. “We will meet him soon?”


Jun could only smile at them, not revealing anymore secret of the future.


Ohno assumed that Sakurai and Ninomiya had a close relationship with the prince and if the prince was really important to them, Ohno thought that they should meet fast.


Besides, Ohno had the suspicion that by revealing the news about their other friend, Jun was effectively changing the subject from the discussion on combining his and Ohno’s power to this about meeting with the prince. He knew by revealing that small info would make both Sakurai and Ninomiya happy and distracted. Ohno stared at Jun and he thought Jun knew a lot of things. He probably already know what to do to achieve the great power. But how? Why didn’t Jun want to discuss it with everyone, not even him? Does it involve dark magic?


They continued their journey towards the mountain when they encountered another roar from the distance. Jun disappeared for a short while, leaving Chinen with them. They met again when they arrived at an abandoned shrine.


“Here.” Jun offered him onigiri as he approached Ohno who was sitting alone on a stone step. Ohno eyed the food and took it. It tasted so good and it reminded him of the onigiri his mother had made. It made him missed his family and immediately he became depressed. Jun took a seat beside him. Ohno could see that Chinen had passed along onigiri to the others, too, who sat inside the small hall.


“The spirit that was supposed to guard this shrine had been killed sometimes ago,” Jun suddenly opened a story. Ohno turned to listen, his hand rubbed his sore feet after he finished the onigiri. Thankfully he didn’t have any other injury besides that and a few scratches.


“Hmm, no wonder no one was here. No other replacements for him?”


“Not yet. They’ve been waiting for the new election in heaven; due to certain circumstances, they couldn’t make it faster.”


Ohno raised his eyebrows. “They have elections there?”


Jun’s chuckles sounds like music to Ohno’s ears. “Was it hard for you to believe it?”


“I guess I can’t imagine it…”


They let the quietness fell between them.


“Your home is guarded so you don’t have to worry.”


Ohno’s head snapped to Jun in surprise at the sudden announcement. The realisation hit him all at once. He thought of not being angry with Jun anymore for being the reason of him being here but when Jun dropped another bomb-shell it was hard not to feel angry again. “How long have you been spying on me before you trick me into coming here?!” Ohno was annoyed that Jun gave him another heart-melting smile when he just wanted answers now.


“Because of my given power I have known about the prophecy long ago, even before Muro came to power. I thought I could prevent him from getting the power he possessed now, but then destiny is such a funny thing.”


“I don’t want to hear that all that! Tell me, how long? And why me? You could’ve picked anyone!”


Jun let out cute chuckles. “It’s not up to me. The prophecy is the one choosing you.”


“Huh?” Ohno couldn’t understand it.


Jun took a long breath as he looked to the sky with a smile. “Let just say it’s our fate.”


Ohno did believe in fate, but the kind of fate where he was sent back in time and being told that he needed to produce power to fight the evil Onmyōji wasn’t the fate he was looking for. He didn’t realise that he was still massaging his feet when Jun offered, “Let me.” and before he could say no, Jun was already sitting in front of him and took a hold of his sore feet. Ohno was ready to scream because he wasn’t good with massaging but with Jun it felt… nothing.


Eh? Ohno immediately inspecting both of his feet when Jun released them from his hold. Both of them felt good as new. Jun had used his magic to heal his feet.


“Now you can walk for days with these,” said Jun as he tapped Ohno’s feet with a smile. “And you are not angry at me anymore.” Jun was right. Ohno’s anger towards Jun had gone just as the soreness on his feet went away.


They let the sound of flying birds filled the silence. Then Ohno spoke, “I don’t know my role in this. I don’t have anything to contribute to make the power with you. Become one, heart and mind. What does it mean anyway?”


“You want to listen to my theory?” Jun asked gently, looking at Ohno.


“For the power to work we have to share the same feelings. What does it sound to you?” Jun added as he gave him time to think about his question.


Ohno crinkled his eyebrows, looking at Jun.


“That I shouldn’t be angry with you again…?”


Jun chuckled. “Well, it’s a start.”


Somehow, Ohno blushed. He probably would be angry at Jun when he remembered about the train incident again, but he probably should let it go now. Besides, if he wanted to have any chance of going back, he should put some effort to realise the middle part of the prophecy, even though he wasn’t sure how yet. But before that, he remembered to ask one final question.


“The prophecy said about the spirit of foxes… You are one, but me? I’m just a human…”


“Your grandmother…” Jun told him after a considerable time. He looked at Ohno to see his reaction.


Ohno was alarmed. “What about my grandmother?”


“She’s a part of us.”


“WHAT?!” Ohno shot to his feet and began to pace in circle. He ignored the look on the others’ faces who turned to him and Jun when they were alerted with Ohno’s loud shout to see what happened. Then after he was calmed down a bit from his shock, he sat crossed leg in front of Jun.


“You are lying about this, aren’t you?” Ohno asked seriously.


But when Jun looked back at him with same seriousness, Ohno deflated. He couldn’t believe that his grandmother was a Kitsune. And that meant that he had a quarter of Kitsune’s blood in him.


Ohno raised his head to stare at Jun. “Then, what is my power?”


They stared for a moment before suddenly Jun started reciting a passage of words that sounded like poems, but they seemed so familiar to Ohno. Jun didn’t put a melody to the them but when he stopped in the middle of reading, Ohno was able to continue the last word Jun left. They were the lyrics to Akatsuki, the song that was gifted to him on his birthday by his grandmother who had gone to her songwriter friend to write him a song. Jun supplemented Ohno and encouraging him when Ohno began to put melody inside the lyrics. As what happened when Ohno was battling the yamauba, the same thing happened here. He could distinctly hear music accompanying his singing. And he closed his eyes,


...The flower petals that flutter down

Call out, beyond my dream, to wake me up

New meetings, they create music

It stirs something deep inside, through the cracks in my heart...


When he finished, all he could see was Jun smiling brightly at him. He felt warm and he realised their surrounding was too silent. He turned around to see that the others - Ninomiya, Sakurai and Chinen- looked like they were being hypnotised, just like the reactions of many others before. Then he turned towards Jun because he noticed something. “You are not affected by my bad singing,” Ohno said to Jun in wonder.


“You have the most wonderful voice... It’s affecting me in different ways...” Jun had this glaze in his eyes that made Ohno unable to turn away.


“What do you-” Ohno didn’t finished his words when Jun’s lips fell on his.


Ohno couldn’t described well what happened but that was when he felt the connection that wrapped around his heart. It could be just a feeling but Ohno swore that he literally could hear the beating of Jun’s heart so close to his ears even if he didn’t know how. He could feel the rush of their blood, the tingling sensation all over his skin, the warmth that was coming from something other than air around them. Jun’s lips were soft and sweet, and they fit with his own like they were meant to be. Then he heard Jun calling him in his head. “Satoshi.” It was the most gentle, soft and silvery, that evoke certain feelings inside him. Ohno pulled Jun again for a second kiss when Jun started to pull back. Jun let out a soft chuckle as he put their foreheads together. He guided Ohno’s hand to his heart and Ohno saw a soft violet glow coming out from his own chest.


“What is this?” Ohno asked in wonder, fascinated to see the glow that emanated when both of their hands were together on his chest.


“The power is getting stronger.” Jun focused his eyes on Ohno’s glowing chest.


“So, is this the power we are looking for?” Ohno whispered.


Jun shook his head. “This is just a start. We need a much bigger power than this. It either needs a maturation period or our one-time kiss wasn’t enough.” Jun tore his gaze from watching the glow to meet Ohno’s eyes.


“Then… perhaps we can kiss longer?” Ohno suggested and he felt his face warming with blush. The thought of more kissing with Jun excite him. Jun let out a cute laugh and Ohno was charmed even more.


“I do want it, but first, take a look at them.” Jun pointed to their companions. Ohno nearly forgotten they were around when all he could think about was Jun’s admission wanting to share kisses with him again.


“Your singing had hypnotic action. Whether with people, ghosts, or spirits, they won’t be able to do anything when they hear you sing, therefore you have time to destroy them when they can’t attack you. That is your power.” Ohno was staring at Jun with open mouth because he never thought that all those “unfavourable” reactions to his singing was actually due to the effect of his power.


“And the only people who are not badly affected are the children, and you were not hypnotised.”


“True. Because the children are innocent being. And I—“


“— Because you and I are sharing the same fate…”


“You are right.” Jun agreed with Ohno’s conclusion.


Ohno grinned at Jun. With Jun’s explanation, he immediately felt better about himself. Now he finally found out what his power actually was. His power might not be too impressive compared to Jun’s but he could use his power for a good cause. It didn’t matter if the only person who would be appreciative of his singing would be Jun. He’d barely knew him, but after the kiss, he felt like he’d known him his whole life.


Sakurai, Ninomiya and Chinen had woken up from the hypnotising effect not long after without remembering anything. Ohno was glad that they didn’t see the kisses he shared with Jun. He could imagine the teasing if they saw them kissing when they’d just met.


Afterward, all of them had decided to retire the journey for the day, and they stayed overnight at the shrine. They huddled together in the small hall, taking whatever space left to lay their tired bodies. It was funny that nobody raised an eyebrow when Ohno chose to be in Jun’s arm, sharing the thick blanket Jun had conjured with his magic. Ohno wanted to talk with Jun more, but he didn’t want others to pry into their conversations, although he made sure he didn’t forget to ask Jun about what kind of effect his singing had done to him and Jun had replied with a deep kiss under the blanket.


Chinen had offered to carry Ohno’s tote bag when they continued their journey to the mountains the next day. Ninomiya and Sakurai weren’t too surprised that their relationship had developed so fast after meeting for one day, even when they were still struggling to be close with Ohno. Ohno told Ninomiya sheepishly that they could be considered friends if they wanted to and immediately, he received a grope on his butt cheeks by the cheeky Ninomiya.


The others had left Ohno to Jun as they walked side by side the whole morning. Jun had told him a lot about Ohno’s grandmother, about her Kitsune’s origin. No one, not even Ohno’s grandfather, knew about her origin and now that Ohno knew about it he must be careful about the information because if anyone else ever find out, Ohno’s grandmother would be forced to flee from her mortal life and Ohno won’t see her again. Ohno promised to keep the secret since now he knew he possessed a fox spirit himself.


Jun had warned all of them that they needed to be more vigilant as they came closer and closer to the seven-headed mountains. The Evil Muro had planted a lot of shikigami spies and it seemed one of them had informed him to where they were heading as he could probably had suspected that they would try to resurrect Mumon. With swords ready to be taken out of their scabbards, Ninomiya, Sakurai and Chinen acted like guards in front of Jun and Ohno.


It was nearly dark as they approached a small river when suddenly something fell from the tree in front of them. The creature, covered in dark clothes, was groaning from the fall. Sakurai and Chinen were already ready to strike whatever it was before Ninomiya shouted, “It’s the prince!”


Ninomiya and Sakurai were instantly on their knees as the “prince” turned his body towards them and shouted Ninomiya’s and Sakurai’s name. The stubbly man, covered in dried leaves with hair all over the place, lunged his body towards both men and started to wail.


“I can’t believe I found you! I thought you were dead!” The man cried his eyes out. Ninomiya and Sakurai were in tears, too, but they were smiling and grinning, patting the man’s head as he buried his head in Ninomiya’s chest.


Ohno watched the whole scene quietly. He met Jun’s gaze and moved closer to Jun. He remembered that Jun had told them about reuniting with the prince, but he didn’t expect they would meet this fast.


When the prince had calmed down from his crying, Sakurai brought the prince up to stand on his feet and introduced Ohno to him. With his eyes still puffy and red, the prince smiled brightly at Ohno as he introduced himself as Prince Masaki, the heir to the currently imprisoned emperor. Prince Masaki invited Ohno to sit with him as the others were away to prepare food. Chinen helped Sakurai to build fire and setting pot to cook rice enough for them all. Ninomiya came back from his short hunting, bringing them a dead wild boar on his shoulder. While Jun sat in front of the fire, giving instruction to Chinen and Sakurai on how to make the roast meat even tastier.


“He’s really handsome, isn’t he?” Prince Masaki grinned at Ohno after he saw Ohno kept stealing glances at Jun who was bending forward to adjust the position of the huge block of meat on top of the fire giving him a good view of his backside.


“Ah, yes,” Ohno replied bashfully. Even though Ohno wasn’t keen on telling the prince how enamoured he was to Jun right after he just met the prince, he couldn’t keep his eyes away from his partner, or he dared say… his boyfriend? Ohno bit back a smile. To Ohno, this was the fastest record for him to fall in love with someone, but he didn’t want to take a step back because if they were meant for each other from the start, who was he to deny this love? And he just simply knew that Jun was feeling the same way, too, because he could feel their connection when they kissed the first time and then the feeling continued until now. He guessed he had been attracted to Jun since he saw him in the train, and then when he saved him from the river creature, that when he met Jun the third time, it had sealed the deal. They were really fated to be together. His heart warmed at the thought.


“He was supposed to become our Onmyōji…” Prince Masaki revealed, making Ohno tore his eyes away from Jun temporarily. “Most of us knew his lost in the final game was unfair, but my father was convinced by his close advisors, who in turn had betrayed the palace, and made the Evil Muro rise to power. We could’ve prevented this from happening, but that Muro was so sneaky, he managed to pull a wool over our eyes and now everything is destroyed.” Ohno listened attentively. He knew a bit of the story from Sakurai and Ninomiya when they told him the first time they met.


“How did you managed to get away?” Ohno asked. By this time, Jun, Sakurai, Ninomiya and Chinen had gathered around them to listen. They passed the food they cook to Ohno and the prince. The prince, who had probably not seeing proper food for days, had gobbled the food in minutes and they waited patiently for him to finish eating before continuing his story.


“When we were captured, they put me in a single cell separate from my parents and the rest of my family and the royal members. There was always the same yōkai to guard my cell and bring food. Every day, I observed him, waiting for my opportunity to get free but this yōkai didn’t even entertain me for even a minute. Until one day, he saw me playing with the coins…” the prince turned to Ninomiya excitedly, “I don’t know how I managed to play him the trick you thought me, but I did it!” At this, Ohno saw Ninomiya took a quick look at Jun as the prince hugged Ninomiya appreciatively, “-- and then the yōkai liked it so much! After that, he asked me to show him more tricks and I was initially shocked because I can’t remember all those tricks you taught me, but my hands seemed to know what to do--” This time Ohno saw Jun scratched his nose, looking elsewhere. Prince Masaki continued his story enthusiastically “-- When I was doing the tricks, I told him stories, fairy tales, even the short stories I once read in books. Can you believe that the yōkai is actually a romantic? He really likes all my love stories, especially the much intimate one! Hahaha!”


The prince continued after taking a gulp of water.


“Amazingly, somehow, we became friends and he wanted me to call him Toma! Then one day, I told him that I missed feeding my horse and he happily led me to the horse stall and that was the time I made my escape. As I was riding my horse as fast as possible, I saw Toma waving goodbye at me in tears.” the prince ended his story with a sad expression on his face. With the exception of Jun - Ohno suspected that Jun somehow had one or two idea about this - all of them were blinking at the prince in amazement. To Ohno, the prince’s tale was a little bizarre and by his short observation, this prince was rather eccentric and yet, had this boy-next-door feeling, so much different from the typical images he had on princes.


“Then, what happen to the horse?” Sakurai asked after gaping at the prince.


The prince continued his story of escapades. “I rode it from town to town, and I was kept being chased so I figured that I need a better hiding place, so I gave it to a farmer that I met in a village. Can’t really hide in the forest with a horse, can I? Besides, I believe the farmer can take care of him better than me.” The prince grinned.


Ohno remembered the men on horses he saw the first night he came here. Was it the prince running away from his chasers? Jun seemed to confirm his suspicion as he gave Ohno a furtive nod. Of course, Jun was there too, Ohno realised belatedly. He was the little fox! Why he hadn’t thought about the connection before?


It was pretty late, and Ohno kept turning in his sleep, his body shivering from the cold. He opened his eyes to find Jun was gone from his side. “Jun?” He groggily stood up. All he could hear was the sound of insects and animals from afar but no Jun in sight. The prince, Ninomiya, and Sakurai were all sleeping, huddled under the same blanket. Chinen apparently hadn’t come back yet. He closed his eyes and concentrated his feelings to detect their connections. The static charge that pricking his heart gently in a way told him the status of his and Jun’s connection. He could feel that Jun was nearby. He walked to where his heart showed him, and he came to the part of the river bank that was a bit secluded. Jun was there sitting on the grassy area, cross-legged, his head tilted upwards, looking at the stars.


“Come sit with me.” Jun told Ohno without looking. Ohno took Jun’s outstretched hand and immediately he felt Jun’s magic enveloping him, making his coldness disappear. He sat cross-legged beside Jun and Jun turned to face him.


“I’m asking the heavens on what to do to speed up our power as I can sense the worst was about to happen. Muro has acquired more alliances and if more follow him, we will hardly have any chance to defeat him,” Jun started without any prompt.


“And…?” Ohno asked, not really having a good feeling about the news of their enemies gaining strength.


“Unfortunately, I’m receiving vague clues about what we should do.” Jun was really looking rather dejected about it as the power he depends on wasn’t really helping their cause.


Ohno remembered the rumours about Jun’s mother, about her being the Inari herself. “How about your mother? Is she not helping you, too?” Jun’s gaze turned tender. Ohno could see that Jun wasn’t surprised about him knowing about his mother.


“My mother has bestowed me powers more than I should have. She will always be with me when I need her. What you should know is that, with me being half-human, she’s not supposed to tell me everything that she knows. With the advantages that I have, all I can do is to figure out all the clues on my own. Sometimes, they were easy to solve and sometimes they are not, like now...” Jun sighed and Ohno felt the urge to smooth the creases forming in between Jun’s perfectly groomed eyebrows.


“What did she say?”


“She says to trust our hearts. Apparently, the power feeds on sacrifices and it must not be seek. But what kind of sacrifices does it need to grow? How do we achieve that without the need to find it when we need it so much?” Ohno could sense Jun’s frustration. This was the first time Ohno saw how stumped Jun was, as he always view Jun as knowing almost everything that happened and about to happen.


As Ohno looked at Jun’s trouble face, he knew that he didn’t mind having to sacrifice for Jun. And he was a hundred percent sure that Jun was willing to do so for him, too. How did he know that? He wasn’t sure, but he just knew.


It was astonishing that the thought of returning to his previous life had gone from his mind this very moment and all he could think about now was Jun and only Jun. Was it even possible to love Jun this much that he was willing to be Jun’s strength and be by his side come what may? Going from being furious to him to being in love in a span of days was pretty much an unbelievable feat in Ohno’s book. Even hearing possible sacrifices didn’t really scare him like he used to. Even if Jun had charmed him to make him fall in love with him, he didn’t really care. He had it pretty bad and he couldn’t help it.


Ohno tugged on Jun’s hand. “We will work this out together. This is our fate, remember?” In all his life, Ohno never remember ever saying anything intimate than this, but for Jun it was easy, and the most important thing was he really meant it.


“You don’t have to do everything by yourself. You have done so much…” Thinking back, Ohno realised that after Jun knew about the prophecy, he must have had sought Ohno secretly, bending time and space to bring Ohno here. Jun had tried to fulfil most the prophecy all by himself. Now he needed Ohno to help him fulfil the latter half. Jun already sacrificed himself for helping the emperor and this land, and now it should be his turn.


“Tell me what I should do, Jun.” Ohno wasn’t scared.


Jun smiled fondly at him and he pat Ohno’s hair gently. “Nothing for now. But I may need some company here.”


Ohno returned Jun’s smile with a peck on his lips. Jun took this chance to give back a few kisses on his own. Ohno never thought of doing something in this kind of nature so openly with a man, but he was horny, and the appreciative sounds Jun was making didn’t help him from showing restrain. His cock was already stirring inside his pants. He climbed on Jun, making Jun fall on his back and his hand sneaked inside Jun’s clothes to touch his smooth, broad chest and as his lips were about to go lower, a sound of rustle bushes startled them.


“Master, I’m bringing you reports you wanted.” Chinen announced innocently and Ohno for the first time in his life wanted to bury someone. Jun who didn’t look too bothered that Chinen saw them in a compromising position, gave Ohno a few soothing kisses before getting them up on their feet to face Chinen.


Chinen grinned when he saw Ohno’s tent on his pants. Ohno looked away in embarrassment.


“What is it Chinen-kun?” Jun asked.


“Muro’s shikigami already found where Mumon is hiding.”


With the news, Ohno turned to Chinen’s in alarmed. “This is bad, isn’t it? They found what we are after. We’ve lost!” Ohno announced in shock. Their ultimate weapon against the evil Muro had been discovered and now they have nothing against him. Ohno felt deflated. What are they going to do now?


He felt Jun’s hand rubbing his arm to soothe him. “Actually, this is what we want,” Jun told him, and Ohno turned to Jun with another shocked expression.


“I don’t understand…” Ohno muttered.


“They want to destroy Mumon, but they don’t have the power to do so. Instead, by finding Mumon, they make our job easier. We can be there to resurrect it instead.”


“But we still don’t have the power yet and they will keep Mumon away from us...”


“Like you said before, we will work this out together,” Jun told him confidently and Ohno knew he should trust Jun as he hugged Jun tightly, feeling fear and excitement mixed together inside him. Chinen must have felt left out, joined in with their hug, crushing Ohno between him and Jun.


Jun and Ohno told the rest about the news. Their reactions mirrored Ohno’s initial reaction last night. In the end, they had to have the confidence and courage to overcome their final hurdle before starting their biggest challenge to destroy the evil Onmyōji.


Leaving the river bank with belly full from the leftover food from last night, they treaded the forest vigilantly. The threat of evil followers of the evil Muro made them keep their swords in their hands. The prince had gotten back his beloved sword from Sakurai and Ohno was taught how to handle his by Ninomiya.


“That is wrong, Ohno…” Ninomiya whined as he corrected the sword in Ohno’s hands for the fifth time. Jun wasn’t helping as he watched them bickering with a chuckle on his own. Chinen walked behind them, as guard, carrying Jun’s weapon with him. As usual, he offered to carry Ohno’s bag and looked at Ohno with stars in his eyes. Ohno could’ve thought Chinen had turned into a pervert after last night.


The warning came in the form of a black bird swooping on them, and Jun and Chinen immediately sprang into action and shouted warnings to the others. More black birds came, attacking them with their sharp beaks. Jun released his magical bows that Chinen passed to him and they flew in the air on their own killing the birds in their path. However, more evil birds kept coming and they lashed their swords at the birds, killing all of them. Ohno, who was kept beside Jun at all the times, had successfully killed one with his sword. The dead birds turned into origami papers with strange two square symbols overlapping on them.


“They are all shikigami sent by Muro,” Jun told them. Sakurai and Ninomiya were so angry that one of them managed to bite the prince. They had failed to notice that one of the evil birds had swooped behind the prince’s back and before they know it, the prince was already rolling in the ground in pain. They were so disappointed that they didn’t manage to ensure the prince’s safety. Fortunately, Jun was able to heal the wound with his magic.


Ohno sat quietly beside Jun as Jun held a complicated ritual of summoning more shikigami to help their cause.


“With only Chinen to help us is not enough at this moment.” Ohno looked at Jun and nodded. He had suspected that Chinen wasn’t a human all along. At this point in time, Ohno had encountered many supernatural stuffs that he wasn’t too surprised with Jun’s revelation about what Chinen actually was. He was not comfortable with more spirits surrounding them, but he trusted Jun to call good spirits. Chinen was an example of a good shikigami. Apart from his adoration and perverted look he threw at Ohno, he generally liked the boy.


“They are invisible right now, but they will appear when there is any threat to our safety. Don’t worry,” Jun told Ohno and he gave Ohno a peck on his cheek. Ohno wondered if Jun could read his mind, but Jun’s reassurance gave Ohno relief.


More days passed as they got closer to the mountains. Jun and Ohno had spent more time with each other trying their best to grow their power. They had shared more intimate moments that even Ninomiya had been teasing Ohno to just sleep with Jun after seeing how enamoured they were with each other. Ohno wanted to do it, but they kept getting interrupted by Chinen bringing news to Jun at the wrong moments. Sometimes Ohno did feel like wanting to bury Chinen for real.


“Get ready! They are coming!” Jun alerted them when it was nearly dusk. Immediately, they stood on their feet with their shining swords at a ready. Ohno saw one by one the shikigami Jun had summoned appeared in white clothes, circling them and protecting them with long sticks in their hands as weapons. They had human-like features and Ohno was grateful that they didn’t look ugly. Light appeared with Jun’s magic, lighting their darkening place and they waited there on alert.


Balls of fire came out of nowhere signalling the first attack. As before, Jun had kept Ohno close to him and deterred Muro’s ugly shikigami, the ghosts and ugly creatures that came towards them. The place was turning brighter and brighter as Jun and his shikigami let out more surge of magic to keep the evil attacks from harming Ohno, Prince Masaki, Ninomiya and Sakurai. Ohno wanted to help Jun and he started singing loudly, one of his hand holding Jun’s for additional strength.


Ohno’s singing appeared to help halt the attack but then their companions seemed to be affected too as they stood on their places with hypnotised look on their faces. Jun stopped his attacks and made gestures with his hands, and soon something similar to headphones covered their ears. It was Ohno who made a big mistake by stopping his singing, allowing their enemies to gain consciousness and start attacking them again.


Ohno found himself on the ground with a loud ‘oof’ and saw Chinen blew up into smoke after saving him from a blast sent by a shikigami.


“Chinen!” Ohno shouted in complete shock. Chinen had died and it was his fault. His eyes anxiously searching for Jun as he got up and he hugged Jun immediately when Jun rushed towards him.


“I’m sorry!” Ohno cried. Jun kissed the side of his head to soothe him.


“The most important thing is that you are safe.” Jun told him.


“But Chinen is killed because of me.”


“I can summon him back after this. We just need to hold on. Come on.” Jun wiped the tears on Ohno’s face and intertwined their hands together and ran towards the others to protect them. Ohno saw the violet glow forming little by little surrounding their connected hands.


“Hopefully our power is still enough to withstand this attack until we reached Mumon to revive him. Stay with me,” Jun told Ohno and Ohno nodded, even though he wasn’t sure how to use their combined powers that was still growing.


Ohno didn’t have to ask as Jun directed one side of their intertwined hands to their enemies and a shot of violet light came out from their hands, the resulting energy knocking everything on its path.


“Wow,” Ohno said with his mouth open, amazed that such power came out of him and Jun. He couldn’t imagine how much powerful they could be once they gain their full power. He could see the others were looking at them in amazement, too. Ohno realised that this was the first time they were showing their power to the others.


They started fighting again and when they nearly successfully killed all their enemies, they heard someone laughing.


“Muro.” Ohno heard what Jun said and turned his head towards a figure appearing not far from them. The figure was standing on a raised ground that moved on its own to form a mini hill. He was in a dark robe and with a top hat that was higher than the common witches hat Ohno usually saw in movies. So, their biggest nemesis had come to face them. But wasn’t it too early?


Muro let out an evil laugh. Ohno felt like he wanted to shove something into Muro’s mouth to stop him from laughing.


“Well, well, well. You have found your lover and now you want to challenge me. Stop dreaming or I’ll embarrass you once again!” The Evil Muro laughed. Jun flexed his jaw in anger.


“We’ll defeat you! We will fight evil with good!” Prince Masaki shouted confidently making Ohno and Jun turned their heads towards him, a bit surprised with the prince’s unexpected interjection. The prince nodded at them in encouragement. Ohno hesitantly smiled as he wanted to believe they could get through this but then the premature appearance of the Evil himself when their power wasn’t at the optimum level was pretty much frightening. Jun squeezed Ohno’s hand to assure him that they would face this together with everyone else.


Jun nodded at Ohno as they concentrate their power and then unleashed the first attack on Muro. Muro put out a shield in the form of more ugly black birds shikigami flying in front of him as barrier. Jun and Ohno let out more shots of violet energy to kill the shikigami and the ghosts that came to them.


“Kill them! Kill them!” Muro was heard shouting towards his followers and more attacks came towards all five of them.


The prince, Ninomiya, and Sakurai had been holding the attacks pretty well until Sakurai fell to the ground with a shout. Ohno wanted to run towards him in an instant, but since Jun was holding his hand tightly, he turned towards Jun. “I want to help him.” Ohno begged him as Sakurai let out another painful cry. Jun gave a strong stare at Ohno’s eyes and with a sigh, he nodded, letting Ohno go to Sakurai. “I will hold them off for you,” Jun told him and Ohno smiled at him gratefully.


“Are you okay?” Sakurai let out a louder cry when Ohno touch him. He saw blood pouring from Sakurai’s chest. Ninomiya and the prince came not long after, with the prince slashing a yōkai that was running to Sakurai.


“Let’s get him to safety,” Ninomiya decided as Ohno and Prince Masaki helped Sakurai on Ninomiya’s back. He appeared strong enough to carry Sakurai despite his smaller stature. Ohno let them rush to safety after instructing a few surviving shikigami to protect them while Ohno held off some charging attackers with a song before slashing them with his sword.


Jun was still busy fighting off attacks when Ohno went back to his side. “Is Sakurai okay?” Jun asked him as he took Ohno’s hand again. Ohno shook his head. “He looks bad, but they took him somewhere. I hope they are able to hide before we can come back to them.” Jun nodded. Ohno saw that Jun looked a little tired, his hair was wet with sweat. He was worried about Jun.


“Don’t worry about me.” Jun seemed to notice his worry. Ohno nodded his head. They had to continue fighting.


It seemed that Jun and Ohno’s teaming together came to fruition as Muro’s army began to thin considerably. Dead creatures, shikigami and yōkai were all over the place.


“You are losing, Muro. Step down and release the prisoners.” Jun stepped forward, his hold on Ohno’s hand was slacking as they were able to take a breath after fighting for so long.


Muro narrowed his eyes at Jun, anger evident on his face after seeing so many of his followers were dead leaving only a few of them standing in front of him now to protect their master from Jun. Muro held his hands up in the air. Ohno thought he was giving up.


But he thought wrong. Charges of energy formed on both Muro’s hands and Ohno was about to scream to Jun to watch out when he saw the shot of red light came to him instead. Ohno closed his eyes in anticipation of the shot. He fell to the ground, screaming as he felt Jun landing on him.


Jun.


Ohno opened his eyes to see that Jun used himself to shield him from the dangerous shot. Jun coughed as Ohno shook him. Ohno was so scared, he nearly cry. Jun opened his eyes and hissed in pain as he tried to sit.


“Who is losing now?” Muro’s voice seemed to come closer and Ohno saw Muro had come down from the raised ground to inspect them.


Ohno got up and pulled out his sword towards Muro. The sword shook as Ohno’s hand was trembling. “Don’t come any closer or I kill you!” Ohno warned.


Muro threw his head back in evil laughter. “I knew the prophecy lied when it said that you both can have the power to defeat me. Now who has the stronger power, hahaha!” Muro laughed as his hands produced more electric charges. Ohno braced himself. He had to protect Jun.


However, Jun seemed able to get up in time to shield Ohno again and he threw his own purple shot towards Muro, countering the dark magic from Muro.


A boom with bright light appeared, and Muro vanished angrily in a black puff.


Then everything went quiet and dark.


“Jun, wake up… wake up…” This time Jun didn’t wake up. Ohno was crying when a man carrying a wooden torch lighted with fire approached them. Ohno felt for his sword that had fallen on the ground and when he reached it, he shoved it towards the man’s chest.


“Hey, it’s just me.” Ninomiya held the torch closer for a good look and Ohno released a shout of relief.


“Ninomiya, please help Jun! He isn’t waking up!”


Ninomiya felt for Jun’s pulse. “He’s still alive.” Ohno let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. Ninomiya continued after he made a quick inspection on Jun’s body, “But he is very weak. Let’s bring him to our hiding place.” Ohno nodded vigorously, tears were still streaming from his eyes.


Please, please let Jun survive, Ohno prayed hard in his heart. He prayed to all the deities, to kami and to Inari, Jun’s mother. “Please Inari, save your son, please…” Ohno chanted as he carried Jun on his back and followed Ninomiya to their hiding place.


A few surviving shikigami that Jun summoned had built a temporary magical shield around them. It wouldn’t survive with intense attacks but at least they provide instant protection from prying enemies. Ohno laid Jun on the ground with his head on Ohno’s lap. Jun opened his eyes.


“Don’t cry… I’m not dying… I just need time to recover…” Jun spoke slowly. Ohno put his index finger on Jun’s lips to silence him. “Don’t talk too much,” Ohno told him. Jun smiled and raised his hand to wipe Ohno’s tears. Jun turned his head to his side, towards Sakurai who was still groaning in pain beside him. His chest was already wrapped with Ohno’s blanket and it was soaked with blood. Slowly, Jun put his hand on Sakurai’s bloody chest. Ohno realised only a little later that Jun was trying to use his last remaining energy to heal Sakurai and therefore he could only watch as Jun lost his consciousness and Sakurai went quiet. Ohno shook Jun and then hugged him when he didn’t wake up. The others only watched Ohno cradling his lover as he sobbed quietly into Jun’s chest.


Sakurai woke up the next day with a groan. When he opened the haphazardly-put bandage on his chest, he found that the wound was closing, leaving only a long tender scar across his chest. Ninomiya told him what had happened, how Jun was the one who healed him despite being the one that needed the healing himself.


Jun remained unconscious for the next two days and Ohno became worried that he wouldn’t wake up at all. His tail appeared behind him and Ohno kept stroking it in hope that it would make Jun wake up and scold him for touching his tail. But Jun didn’t stir at all. According to Ninomiya, Jun could possibly in a very deep sleep due to the weakening of his magical power reserve. He had used a lot of his power to fight Muro and to heal Sakurai. Ohno was just glad that there wasn’t any visible injury anywhere on Jun’s body.


Another thing that worried Ohno was Jun hadn’t been able to eat or drink. He noticed that Jun’s lips were already chapped from the lack of water. He wet Jun’s lips with a piece of cloth soaked with water and he waited beside him all the time. On the third day, Ohno found that Jun was able to swallow some water when Ohno made him sit up by leaning Jun on his chest, even though he still wouldn’t open his eyes. After a short discussion with Ninomiya, Sakurai and the prince, Ohno decided to move Jun to a more secluded place, yet still near the others. He used the blanket that Sakurai used and had been washed and hung it as a curtain. Ohno gathered a lot of leaves to use as a bed. Then he laid beside Jun, holding his hands and whispered soft words on Jun’s ear. Ohno was holding the connection they still had but it was still weak just like when Jun fainted a few days ago. He felt the helplessness and regret for not able to help Jun much. His mind kept questioning, “What if?” but things had happened. He could do nothing about it.


Fortunately, for the past three days they were in hiding, there was no sign of attack from Muro again. It seemed that the invisible protection by the remaining shikigami still hold even though the shikigami had vanished from sight. Ohno hoped that it stayed that way, so Jun has the time to recover first.


Ohno sat near the water spring to fill his water bottle and his mind kept wandering elsewhere. He nearly jumped when Ninomiya sat beside him.


“How is he?” Ninomiya asked.


“Nothing’s changed that much.” Ohno answered simply. He had run to Ninomiya and the rest when Jun started to take a bit of water. It had been nearly a week since then.


“Hmm.” Ninomiya nodded. “He has done a lot, saving Sho and us, I have only gratitude towards him.”


Ohno nodded. “I’ll let him know when he wakes up.”


They let silence fall between them. Ohno watched colourful birds flying around above them.


It was Ninomiya who broke the silence. “Legend says that Kitsune feeds on human contact…” Ninomiya trailed off, gauging Ohno’s reaction. Ohno raised his eyebrows at him.


“So?” Ohno didn’t understand. That was what he do, being constantly beside Jun all the time. Was Ninomiya insinuating he wasn’t being supportive enough to Jun?


“Half-Kitsune is a Kitsune too…”


Ohno didn’t really understand Ninomiya. “What are you trying to say Nino?”


Ninomiya chuckled at Ohno’s nickname for him. “A Kitsune is able to absorb energy from its partner… by sleeping with them.”


Ohno widen his eyes. “Are you crazy! I’m not going to sleep with him when he’s so weak!”


“Then are you letting him die? He has been sleeping much longer that he’s supposed to. Or are you afraid of losing your energy?” Ninomiya provoked him.


“Of course not! I will do anything for him. I will even give my soul for him if I can!”


“So, what’s the problem then?” Ninomiya asked.


Ohno stared at Ninomiya unbelievably and he told off Ninomiya in a quiet voice. “He’s not waking up until now. I’m not going to do anything to him without his consent.” Then Ohno got up, screwing his bottle cap tight and left Ninomiya alone.


“Wake up Jun, wake up.” As usual, Ohno laid beside Jun, holding his hands and whispered encouraging words to him. Ohno looked at the moon which was shining brightly in the clear sky and Ohno saw how its light had been reflected on Jun’s beautiful face. Even though he had been able to supress the temptation ever since Jun was in his current state, suddenly, the urge to kiss Jun’s plump lips came over him and he gave Jun a quick kiss. Then another one. Then another. There was barely any reaction but Ohno could sense that Jun’s face had brightened up. He didn’t wake up yet but there was something different on him. To Ohno, it was a such positive find. Perhaps Ninomiya was right when he said that Jun needed a much more intimate human contact. Even though Ohno wouldn’t go as far as taking advantage of Jun when he was in his deep sleep, he was sure Jun didn’t mind him kissing him like they did before. Ohno decided to give Jun more kisses. On his upper lip, over and under his lips, on both of his cheeks, on his eyebrows, and on his nose. Ohno gave the kisses like he was worshipping Jun, deserving all the love he could give. Ohno would offer himself to be on Jun’s place if he could.


He rubbed his palm on Jun’s chest feeling how their connection went stronger minute by minute as Ohno continued kissing him. After a considerable time, Jun’s heart was beating stronger again and Ohno smiled at the progress. Thus, he laid his head beside Jun only staring at his face thinking that he could go to sleep with a happy outlook.


Ohno blinked a few times, thinking he was imagining it when he saw Jun’s long eyelashes moved. He bolted up, hovering over Jun as Jun opened his eyes, looking directly at him.


“Jun, you’re awake!”


Jun moved his lips into a smile. “Hi.” It was more like a breath but Ohno was already crying with happiness as he hugged Jun so tightly.


“I can’t breathe.” Jun let out a weak chuckle.


“You woke up, you woke up! I’m going to tell the others!” Ohno was about to run but Jun held his wrist.


“You don’t have to. They will know in the morning.”


Ohno laughed at his own stupidity. “You are right.”


They continued hugging for a while. Ohno rushed for his water bottle when Jun requested some water and then they lay on their bed again right after that. Ohno didn’t want to fall asleep yet because he was afraid Jun might return to unconsciousness come morning, but he couldn’t help it as he let out a huge yawn and immediately fell asleep with a smile etched on his face.


Fortunately, Jun didn’t fall back into his deep sleep the next day, but he still didn’t have much energy to get up and walk so he stayed in bed while others visited him.


“Did you do as I say?” Ninomiya talked to him when Ohno came to their group to get some food. Prince Masaki and Sakurai perked up their ears, intrigued on what Ninomiya was asking Ohno. Ohno turned bright red as he kept his mouth shut not wanting to spill anything to Ninomiya. Ninomiya smirked victoriously and Ohno couldn’t help himself. “We didn’t sleep together!” And Ohno immediately regretted letting out the words as he was pounced by Prince Masaki and Sakurai who seemed to be very interested all of the sudden in Ohno’s sex life. Ninomiya was howling with laughter as Ohno was trying his hardest to run away from the prince’s barrage of questions, begging Ohno to tell him more.


Ohno was panting as he slipped inside the tent he shared with Jun. Jun was sitting, folding green leaves into tiny pieces, looking bored. He looked up at Ohno who was still bright red with embarrassment. Jun seemed to know what happened as he grinned at Ohno.


“Don’t laugh.” Ohno warned him. Jun bit back his smile when Ohno sat on Jun’s side, his back facing Jun.


“So, it was Ninomiya, huh?” Jun was grinning. Ohno hid his face in his hands in embarrassment.


“Hey, look at me.” Jun touched Ohno’s arm and moved him so Ohno could face him. “My spirit was travelling without direction when I was in my deep sleep and it’s thanks to you who lent me a little bit of your energy, so my spirit came back to my body.”


Ohno was a bit alarmed at Jun’s confession that if he didn’t kiss Jun yesterday Jun’s spirit would wander forever.


“But you are still weak.” Ohno observed in concern.


“True.” Jun tore his gaze away, a tinge of pink appeared on his cheek. “Because I need more than what you had given me to recover…”


Ohno stared at Jun blankly before he realised that Jun was confirming what Ninomiya told him. Ohno didn’t think it was possible to blush more than he did. His heart sped up. “Ninomiya said that by doing it my energy will transfer to you.”


Jun brushed Ohno’s hair to the side. “We don’t have to if you want.”


“I want it!” Ohno blurted out and immediately close his mouth in embarrassment. Jun was smiling encouragingly. Ohno faced Jun and confessed. “I love you. You are important to me and I’m willing to give you my soul just to see you live. My energy is nothing. You need it more than I do. I can regain it back in no time.” Ohno told Jun passionately, because that was what he really feel. He would do anything for Jun.


“I’m grateful that you feel that way towards me.” Jun caressed Ohno’s cheek. “I love you, too,” he whispered lovingly.


Ohno was trying hard not to burst into a wide smile. “No, I love you more,” Ohno exclaimed. It was exciting to hear Jun’s laughter like he was the happiest man on earth right now.


However, the laughter was cut short when a rumble shook the ground, then followed by a long roar. Ohno looked at Jun and they knew what this meant. Muro was at it again.


Ninomiya, Sakurai and the prince came to their tent to check up on them, then they left when Ohno told them they had an important thing to do and they needed some privacy. They understood well.


Ohno held Jun’s face with both his hands. He told Jun seriously. “Take my energy now.”


“You realise that this will make you weak instead?” Ohno nodded. He repeated what he said to Jun. Jun held his gaze for a while to ask his consent and Ohno nodded again.


Their kisses this time was much more passionate than usual. It didn’t mean that they weren't intense before, but they came to this knowing that full well where it would lead them. They slowed down, allowing them to shed each other’s clothes until there was not a single thread on their skin left. Ohno looked at Jun’s fair body, amused at himself on how different their complexion were but it didn’t bother him at all as he let Jun changed their position, so Jun could be on top of Ohno. Ohno could see the luscious tail wagging excitedly behind Jun. He grinned but the grin was swallowed by Jun’s kisses. Little by little, Ohno felt Jun’s strength returning as Jun’s lips travelled all over his body as Ohno let Jun kiss his most intimate parts.


Jun returned to Ohno’s eye level, meeting his gaze, and Ohno saw the dark arousal on Jun’s eyes, igniting Ohno’s internal passion for Jun. He wanted to give Jun his all. He wanted to taste like Jun, he wanted to smell like Jun. He brought Jun’s face to his, swallowing the moan he wanted to let out as Jun breached his hole. Jun’s magic made the action went smoother and Ohno was content that Jun’s magic had returned in full force as he met Jun’s thrust one by one.


“Satoshi…” Jun had picked up his pace. Ohno was about to close his eyes from intense pleasure as Jun wrapped his hand around Ohno’s erection, when he saw a bright violet glow began to grow all around them. He was mesmerised. “What-” Ohno couldn’t continue when he felt like bursting into thousands of pieces as waves after waves of pleasure and intense energy surged through him. The brightness of the glow made him shut his eyes. Jun dropped on top of him. His tail tickled Ohno’s skin. They were panting and sweating but they didn’t want to let go of each other.


“That was…” Ohno couldn’t find his wits to finish the sentence. That was amazing, he could say that, but it felt more. A single vocabulary wasn’t enough to describe it. Furthermore, he felt so tired he didn’t want to move his body at all. Jun moved to hover over Ohno and told him, “Let me show you something.” Jun hugged him, and Ohno closed his eyes wondering what Jun wanted to show him.


Ohno opened his eyes to find they were in a different surrounding. They were still in the forest, but they had moved somewhere else evident by the lack of their curtain. There was a tree beside them that looked younger than everything else. Jun helped him to sit upright. They were still stark naked, so it was pretty weird to be out in the open without clothes. Jun didn’t look too bothered though.


“I want to show you my tree.”


Ohno raised his eyebrows at him sleepily. “You have a tree?” Even speaking was such a hefty task for Ohno right now he thought he could sleep for many years.


Jun smiled at him fondly. He reached for Ohno to lean Ohno’s head on his bare chest as he patiently explain to Ohno. “Every Kitsune and half-Kitsune is born under a tree and we call the tree our Tree-Kin. The tree then will teach the babies the language of the spirits and the mystery of the forests. As you can see, this is my Tree-Kin.” Jun showed Ohno the healthy tree beside them as Ohno had suspected. When Jun had ensured that Ohno could stay in his sitting position without falling, Jun got up, showing Ohno his naked glory. He took a few leaves from its branch and then sat down again. “When I needed to focus, I will stay under this tree because this tree will rejuvenate me and allow me to think quicker. These leaves…” Jun showed Ohno the leaves in his hand. “...will help me with my magic.”


“I see. Does this tree have the power?” Ohno asked, quite intrigued although his worn out voice and face couldn’t show it.


“Not particularly. I just feel like bringing you here.”


Ohno grinned widely, even in his tired state. He was glad that Jun wanted to show him something so close to him spiritually and only to him. Jun took Ohno’s hand to touch the tree bark. He told Ohno to close his eyes and feel.


A rush of energy came, rustling the leaves and Ohno heard many whispers, overlapping with each other. They were close, but Ohno didn’t feel scared or intimidated because he strongly felt Jun’s presence besides him, protecting him, devoted to him.


The energy revitalized him, making him stronger than ever and when Jun told him to open his eyes, he saw a familiar violet glow surrounding them. This time it looked brighter than ever. Jun hold Ohno’s hands tightly and open them up to make their palms facing them. Ohno saw a ball of energy floating on top of their hands.


“We have fulfilled the prophecy. We have The Power.” Jun told him happily.


“We have?” Ohno asked Jun, feeling rather stupid for not recognizing their greatest power.


“The great power arises when they become one, in hearts and minds…” Jun recited the part of the prophecy related to them. Ohno listen intently. Jun continued, “We didn’t think about the power when we sacrifice for each other. Me by saving you from the dark magic, and you, by sacrificing your energy to revive me.” Ohno was grinning widely with this. Now that Jun had mentioned it, he realised that they had done it without intending to find the power. The power was the one seeking them instead!


“Now all we have to do was to fulfil the last part of the prophecy.” Ohno read the last part out loud. “We have to go back and tell the others!” Ohno was about to rise up and run before he realised that Jun was still holding his hands.


“Not so fast. We can leave in ten minutes.” Jun looked at him meaningfully, his pupils dilated. Ohno sat down again and moved onto Jun’s naked lap. “Ten minutes you say?” He grinned as they locked lips, the tree protecting them from being seen.


Jun’s beautiful tail had gone, and he explained to Ohno that his tail only appeared when he was vulnerable. After that, Jun transported them back to their tent by magic and they immediately rushed to wear their clothes. The ten minutes they intended to spend turned into more as they couldn’t keep their hands off each other.


When they went out of their tent, they saw flowers blooming all around them. They looked at each other and with a shrug they walked in a rush to find their friends waiting for them near the spring.


“Did you get The Power?” Prince Masaki asked eagerly. Ohno looked at the rest and they looked like that they already know what happened.


“Yes, we have it now. Your highness, we will have to depart now to reach Mumon.” They immediately agreed, collecting all their belongings and started their journey.


Before that, Jun went to a brief ritual to summon Chinen back and when Chinen appeared he immediately hugged Jun and everyone else until he reached Ohno who received his longest hug for whatever reason.


The time for the journey was cut short. Since acquiring the new power, Jun could transfigure leaves to horses and they rode the horses non-stopped until they reach a hidden cave at the foot of the seven-headed mountains. As they expected, Muro’s shikigami and followers had surrounded the mountains but with Ohno and Jun’s superpower, they blasted through their defences with ease and went into the depth of the cave, going through all the magical defences that surrounding Mumon’s hiding place until they reached Mumon himself.


Ohno had imagined Mumon to be huge, resting inside his casket, just waiting to be rouse again, but instead he found a standing stone statue, with the size as big as normal human, his armour suit was carved into the statue making it look formidable with only a few faults. One of his hands had fallen to the floor, and many tiny fragments that made up the statue were scattered under it.


“Are you sure this is the Mumon we are looking for? I thought we are searching for a big monster?” Ohno asked bewilderedly. Ohno wasn’t familiar with the legends but he was sure this wasn’t what he was expecting.


Jun walked towards the statue. “This is it. But we must fix him first,” Jun said as he looked at Ohno, expectedly. Apparently, everyone followed Jun, turning their eyes at Ohno, too.


“Me?” Ohno pointed at himself.


“Art is one of your favourite past-time. You’ll do just fine.” Jun rested one arm on Ohno, encouraging him with a smile.


“Okay, but we have to find wet cla-” Ohno didn’t finish his words when a bunch of wet clay appeared in front of him. “Alright I’ll work on it right now!” Ohno announced and everyone cheered him on.


Ohno took just a short amount of time to fix the Mumon statue and it looked as perfect as it could be. Jun told the others to go to a safe place as Ohno and he would start the ritual to revive the statue.


Jun asked Ohno to follow what he said. The chants were pretty complicated and after a few tries, Ohno was able to remember them. They stood, facing Mumon, one of their hands were linked together while the others were fixed on their chests.


As the chants went longer, their magic grew stronger and stronger, the place became so bright nobody could open their eyes. A strong wind came out of nowhere swirled around them and a figure of a strong man in his full armour suit appeared from nothing until it became solid.


“Behold our beloved Hachiman, the divine protector of the imperial house, the deity of archery and war, we are here to humbly beg you to revive your beloved follower, Mumon and reinstate his status to his original stature. This land needs his service at this time, to defeat the evil at his foremost height and to return this land to its original ruler that has been taken away from his rightful place. We humbly beg you.” Jun knelt and Ohno followed.


“Rise the son of Inari and his fated one. I will fulfil your request. Mumon will be revived until he fills his duty to bring this land to prosper again. Then he will return here to rest until he is needed again.”


“We are most appreciative with your kindness. We promise to return Mumon here after he fulfils the duty he was promised to do.”


“Then we have an agreement. He will be revived this very instant.” Hachiman held out both of his hands to let out a great beam of energy towards Mumon. “Touch Mumon with your hands.” He instructed.


Ohno and Jun put their hands on Mumon’s shoulders to join their power with the deity to revive the statue. There was a bright light, and everything went still.


The deity was gone in a puff after bidding them goodbye and the stone statue began shedding its outer layer until it became human in his shining armour suit.


“I am Mumon.” The statue that turned into human announced in a monotonous tone.


Ohno looked at Jun questioningly. “He will become a giant once he reached the imperial palace,” Jun told him and Ohno understood.


Prince Masaki, Ninomiya and Sakurai met them at the cave door and Jun told them what he told Ohno.


Mumon grew himself considerably and all five of them plus Chinen rode on his back and headed back to the palace’s direction.


It seemed that Muro had sensed the threat on his undeserved throne when more and more creatures, shikigami and ghosts came to attack them but they - well, mostly Mumon, Jun and Ohno - overcame their attacks with ease.


They sensed Muro’s fear when he had unleashed his final and most dangerous weapon - the kaiju. All of them dropped down from Mumon’s back and backed away as Mumon grew so big, as big as the Kaiju and the fight began.


The fight was tremendous, like watching a Godzilla fighting an Ultraman, only this Ultraman would not be losing his power in three minutes. The ground shook each time the monsters make their giant step. Ohno was watching them with open mouth. Surely some movie directors could take this fight scene and put it into a movie so that he could rewind it again and again.


Jun tugged Ohno’s hand to make Ohno followed him to where he was going. Everyone else followed suit. It seemed that Jun already summoning his own shikigami armies and they were now fighting with Muro’s followers. They killed the enemies along the way and then they reached the upper floor of the palace.


Muro was already waiting for them, surrounded by his guards.


All six of them fought the guards bravely until no one was standing except them and Muro.


“Who has the stronger power now~” Ohno threw Muro’s words back at him. Jun was only smiling at Ohno’s bravery.


Muro was trying to say something back but he was too angry to say anything. He produced his fireballs with his dark magic.


The prince, Ninomiya, Sakurai and Chinen was instructed by Jun to leave them to handle Muro on their own and for them to go and release the prisoners. With a firm nod, Ohno and Jun produced their greatest power together and blasted Muro with it until Muro fell, losing his power he had abused just as his kaiju was defeated by Mumon, effectively stopping all the wars.


Mumon already shrinking to his original size after he finished his fight and joined Ohno, Jun and the others inside the palace’s hall. The emperor and empress and other palace officials and surviving samurais that were imprisoned had been released. Prince Masaki hugged everyone with tears in his eyes. Ninomiya and Sakurai came to Ohno and Jun to say their utmost thanks for helping them.


“We will uphold our promise to you, Ohno.” Ninomiya said to him, with Sakurai nodding earnestly.


Ohno took a deep breath and let it go. He knew where his heart should be. “I am already home. I will be wherever and whenever Jun is.” Ohno squeezed Jun’s hand and Jun gave him a gratuitous smile.


As if he would go anywhere without Jun.


The Land of Ai had returned to its former peaceful state. There were so many works to be done, and the emperor had passed his throne to the prince. The city dwellers and townsmen who were into hiding were returning back to their houses and they worked hard to build back their destroyed homes. Muro had been imprisoned with the tightest security. Ninomiya and Sakurai had been appointed as the emperor’s trusted advisors. And Mumon had been returned to his resting place by Ohno and Jun, as promised.



↭



The boat rocked gently from side to side. The sun was up in the sky was reflected on the surface of the sea water. The clouds that gathered on top of the boat, thanks to their magical power, sheltered them from the bright and scorching heat of the sun. Two fishing rods were perched firmly at the side of the boat, waiting for fish to bite. Ohno sat quietly, observing the fishing rods in case they caught something.


“I don’t see the fun in this. Why can’t we use our magic instead?” Jun with a hot mug in his hand complaint to Ohno as he took a seat beside him.


“Shut up, you’re just not patient enough to wait,” remarked Ohno with a grin on his lips.


“Hmm I’m probably not,” Jun replied with a chuckle.


Ohno thought he could distract Jun for a bit. “Well, perhaps this can make it much more fun.” Ohno swoop to steal a kiss from Jun, tasting tea on Jun’s lips.


“You are so sly. You can’t make me like fishing just because you kiss me.” Jun told him with a pout on his face. Ohno laughed in reply as he reached Jun’s mug to put it aside. He grabbed a fistful of Jun’s jacket, and as he was about to put his lips on Jun again, Jun pointed behind them, alarmed. Ohno’s blood was rushing as he turned behind him, thinking that they were being attacked by ghosts or spirits only to realise that one of the fishing rods was being pulled to the water. They had caught something! Ohno was so happy as he moved as fast as possible to grab it and pulled the rod with every strength he got and when Jun happily came to help him, his happiness shot tenfold.


It was just so good to be doing something with the one he loved. Everything that happened, the adventure they went through and the fate that they shared, Ohno didn’t want to change it for anything. Going back in time and then back again to the future wasn’t that bad, after all.


Both Ohno and Jun cheered loudly when a big fish was successfully landed inside the boat, splashing water on them.






The end.






Notes:


Time period: Heian (794 to 1185), Kamakura (1185–1333), Edo (1603-1868), Meiji (October 23, 1868 - July 30, 1912)

Shiba inu: a dog breed native in Japan

Nue: A monster with the head of a monkey, the body of a raccoon dog, the legs of a tiger, and a snake-headed tail

Hitatare: style of samurai dress, consisted of two pieces: a long-sleeved jacket, and hakama trouser-skirt.

Yōkai: a class of supernatural monsters, spirits, and demons in Japanese folklore

Yūrei: spirit

Yamauba: a yōkai appearing as old hags and witches of the Japanese mountains and forests

Jian: year 1021

Hazuki: old name on Japanese calendar (August)

Heian-Kyo: ancient Kyoto

Omamori: Japanese amulets

Kitsune: fox spirit or fox

Kappa: an amphibious yōkai

Onmyōji: specialists in magic and divination

Abe no Seimei: an onmyōji during Heian period, a legendary figure in Japanese folklore

Kami: Japanese word for a god, deity, divinity, or spirit

Shikigami: conjured beings, to exercise risky orders for their masters, such as spying, stealing and enemy tracking. It is said that an onmyōji could also summon and control shikigami.

Ultraman: A fictional Japanese superhero


Lyrics of Monster and Akatsuki are taken from the translations by yarukizero