Hikari Okami: Kitsune Series (3 page)

“You called that a kiss? I was merely
nourishing my body”

For a moment she felt a strong emotion swell
up within as feeling of discomfort washed over her, she couldn’t
believe that he callously dismissed what she knew to be her first
kiss, instead she quietly whispered to herself “Stupid Hikari”

Hikari kept looking around trying to feel the
air for threats to him and the human while glancing towards her
from time to time as they talked, since the last encounter with the
onmyouj
i
nearly caused him to be completely drained of
spiritual energy.

Seeing he wasn’t really paying her much
attention Miyako continued to look at him fascinated by the unknown
being that stood by her, feeling as if she was in a dream not
wanting to admit that all this was real?

“Let’s go human before thee onmyouji gets
here for I do not want you to be in harm’s way” Hikari said as he
waited for her to follow him, he knew that there was no way the
onmyouji will come out to challenge one as old as him unless on the
night when he unknowingly blunted the effect of his powers by
assuming the form of a human.

Thankfully his mind unconsciously sought out
a highly skilled Priestess who according to his observation of her
seem to be unaware of how much power she possessed.

“Who are these onmyouji you speak of?

“They are humans who wield powerful spells
and magic whose power closely resemble those of a yokai they deal
ruthlessly with any human that associates with a yokai”

Feeling a bit frightened by what she heard
Miyako decided to do as he said not wanting to be a victim of an
unknown assailant.

“Where are we going?”

“We’ll be going to where you’re staying for I
need to be sure that you’re properly protected from any form of
spiritual attack now that I know that there are still some
surviving onmyouji in this age and time”

“Are you trying to suggest I may be under
attack because I helped you?
”
Miyako felt frighten by what
may happen to them, she didn’t want to be caught up in whatever
things he said that could occur from her association with him.

“Right now your safety is my priority before
I head back to the Inari shrine because I don’t want either yokai
or onmyouji to attack you as a result of my lingering spiritual
power that may have been left on you because of the kitsunebi
technique I performed on you and also when you touched my tail”

“I never said I needed your help so don’t try
to force your way into what isn’t your business!” she retorted
sharply

“Anyway it is getting late let’s hurry to
where you’re staying”

Deciding not to argue with him any longer she
followed him obediently as they made their way through the crowed
lively street, while walking she noticed people were not looking at
them or walking close to where they were as though there was an
invisible wall separating them from other people on the street, not
wanting to start another round of question with him she decided to
keep the strangeness of what was happening around them to herself,
unknown to her Hikari was releasing a spell of protection to guard
them as they passed in the mist of the humans, he did not want to
leave it to chance that she may be attacked by anyone.

On getting to her apartment building she
noticed that none of the residents were walking about assuming they
might be asleep or at work as the place seemed quiet, She kept
climbing the steps leading to her place until she reached the last
step before walking along the corridor leading to her own apartment
room on getting there she remembered she didn’t lock her door for
she wasn’t conscious enough while leaving earlier, opening the door
she allowed herself in as Hikari closely walked behind her.

All the while observing the human who just
saved his life “Strange she isn’t asking anymore questions, as a
young female is she supposed to allow any male entrance into her
home?” he thought to himself not knowing where the possessive
feeling came from as he felt irritated by the possibility that she
allowed just anyone in.

“Do you allow just anyone to come and see
you?”

“Why do you ask?” she said

“I told you to take me to where you lived and
you didn’t put up a fight do all humans act this way?” he said in a
tone that barely suppressed his anger

“You are the first person that I have ever
invited into my room”

Miyako wondered Hikari was acting in such a
manner
“Or may be his jealous that I allow any man into my
room?”
she thought within herself

After she said that Hikari felt a measure of
relief wash over him as he could not imagine any human male coming
close to her, he wondered where such strange emotions were coming
from for never once had he fought over anyone not to mention a
human at that.

“
For it was not that she possessed the
beauty that Kayo has so why I’m I getting anxious over her”
he
asked himself

One of the first things Hikari noticed about
her apartment was the size, as the space seem small to him, he saw
she didn’t add any personal touches to the place almost as if she
was going to be moving out at anytime.

“Why is it that you don’t have any flowers,
ornaments or paintings, this doesn’t look like a place anyone lives
in”

“I don’t have time for that, I work long
hours and after that I can’t wait to sleep on my bed”

“You could always make time to add something
colorful, as a way to show my gratitude let me give you something
to brighten the place”

Hikari no kami released his kitsune no maho
“demon fox magic” into the air, as it began to work its way into
creating the things he wanted to give to her. Puzzled as to why
they were no longer the light blue color he was accustomed to
instead it was now the color of white, he wondered if it was
because of his stay in the jigoku that brought about this
change.

Slowly the painting of the senbonzakura which
reflected the bright pink hue of the flower as it began to appear
on her wall afterward a small ikebana “living flower” appeared; to
finish it up he created a lime green vase for the flower.

“Thanks but you didn’t have to give me a
flower, the painting would have been just enough for me”

“I’ll need to start placing protection spells
around you and your place, for I do not want you to be in
danger”

Hikari muttered the special protective spell
as he released it to surround her and the apartment building after
he was done he asked her where the bath was.

Pointing to the entrance behind the kitchen,
as he kept walking to where she directed him.

Miyako could not help but wonder why she
suddenly felt her life had just taken a turn for the worse not
longer after she heard him shout, as she rushed to see what it
was.

“What happened? Why were you shouting?”

“There is no hot bath; are there any hot
springs around?”

“Was that why you were shouting? For a moment
I thought something terrible happened, anyway there are no hot
springs around. Why don’t you go to your house and take your bath
or hot spring or whatever it is that you do to take a bath” sounded
a vexed Miyako

Feeling irritable Hikari decided to leave her
bathroom as he couldn’t imagine himself taking his bath in such a
ridiculously small tub, taking his leave as he waved her
goodbye.

Heaving a sigh of relief as she shut the door
behind him, Miyako couldn’t help wondering what brought them
together as the events of the day began to sink in, her eyes became
heavy as she made her way to the bed to lay down before closing her
eyes, turning to look at beautiful flower in the vase that he gave
her, with a smile on her face she slowly drifted into a restful
sleep.

Hikari floated all the way to the Inari
Shrine something he didn’t want to do while the human was around
him. “Was I scared of how she would have reacted being carried in
the air?” he wondered while landing on the ground, noticing that
the shrine seem to have a lingering scent of evil as he released
the spell to ward off all evil, he watched as it disappeared.

Walking into the shrine as he made his way
into the inner room hidden from human eyes, discarding his Kimono
and loin clothes he entered into the hot tube he prepared using his
Kitsune no maho, once done cleaning himself after which he rose to
dress up. Thinking back to his time with the human, he didn’t know
she could be so reliable even though she wasn’t a usual human but
he sensed a kindness from her despite growing up in an environment
where she didn’t receive much love or kindness from, he thought
within himself that it would be interesting to get to know her
more.

Hikari wandered around the shrine at the late
hour of midnight as he kept putting protective spells and evil
warding spells around the place, using his Kitsune no hi “demon fox
fire” lightening the lamps lining the entrance to the shrine
watching as they glowed in the dark.

He noticed the offering box was half full
with the coins the worshippers dropped each time they came to the
shrine to offer prayers for blessing, he emptied the box allowing
it to float into the air as he read the desires of each person
through the coins once he was done he took the coins into his room
before heading out from house to house grant each desire according
to what was within his power to do. Slowly he felt the approach of
dawn as he made his way back to the shrine, deciding to rest in
order to build up his strength, taking off his geta he settled on
the futon “sleeping blanket” to rest as he closed his eyes.

Miyako woke up to the sound of her alarm as
she heard it buzz at 6am, knowing that her first job required that
she be there at the food café by 8am, she quickly made her way into
the kitchen to prepare breakfast before heading for the bathroom to
take her shower. It took her twenty minutes to be fully dressed
while she rushed to check on her breakfast within another ten
minutes it was ready as she sat to eat for fifteen minutes clearing
the dishes she packed her bag, locking the door she made her way
out of the building heading straight for work as usual the day was
starting to get busy as she saw school children heading for school
and people rushing to work.

On getting to work she saw the manager
Ichikawa Hayao a man in his thirties, greeting him while heading to
the locker room to place her belonging before starting the day, the
food café majorly served pastries and lemonade drink with the
occasional tea by the side. Business had been booming such that the
manager was thinking of opening another branch some miles from
where they were, since she was working part time he spoke to her of
considering the position of becoming a manager at the new store he
was going to have since she had been working with him for a long
time and was familiar with the setup of the food café which opened
by 9am and closed by 5pm.

She told him she would think of his offer and
let him know before the new branch would be opened for business,
the day was busy as usual before long it was time for her to resume
at the grocery store which was a walk able distance from the food
café where she worked. On getting there by 3pm she saw the place
was busy for the day as people were walking about loading food into
their shopping chart.

Without wasting time she made her way to the
cashier lane as she began her day’s work, the day went by in a blur
of activities as the time drew closer for her to leave for the day,
by 9pm packing her bag she headed for the apartment while her mind
went back to the strange creature she met yesterday.

“Is he going to show up at my place again?”
She wondered while walking home, he seems to know some things about
her that she wasn’t even aware of like being from an ancient
priestess lineage, thinking back she noticed she knew so little
about him.

On getting home she saw none of her neighbors
were around as she went straight to her room, the first thing she
noticed was the painting on her walls as her eyes drifted to the
flower on her study table, she wondered why he would go through
such length to show his gratitude to her for rescuing him and yet
his words sounded arrogant and sometimes cruel whenever he talked
to her but his actions seem to contradict what he says.

Thinking aloud “He better not come to my
place tonight, I’m not in the mood to receive any visitors, the
only day I had to myself he went and took my time by forcing me to
release him from where he was.”

Walking to the kitchen she prepared a light
meal after eating she took a bath before heading to her bed to
prepare for the next day of work.

In her dream she saw a young woman dressed in
white and blue yukata chanting some words that caused a whirl wind
to form, she chanted another word as fire formed beneath her finger
tips and released spells after spells by issuing commands from her
mouth. Turning to Miyako in her dream as she said “My name is
Yukihime for I am one of the few that possess the power to control
all elements but no matter how strong a priestess is, she would
always need someone to assist her therefore young Miko Priestess
you are the last descendant I showed you these things to let you
know that a tough battle lies ahead work together with the kitsune
of the Inari shrine for together will the both of you defeat the
enemies that will be coming yours and his path.

Onmyouji are getting more blood thirsty to
seal both good and bad yokai our job as priestesses is to maintain
the balance between both worlds, heed my warning young priestess
for if you do not then you and the kitsune would be destroyed” with
that the vision disappeared leaving Miyako in a dreamless
sleep.

As evening approached he rose up to take a
walk around the shrine noticing the cherry blossom tree located
behind the shrine was looking as though they were withering using
his powers he caused the withering parts to blossom once again.
Night finally came as he watched the cherry blossom sway to the
movement of the wind as the moon cast its light on the blossom
making them appear almost pale using his Kitsune no maho to cause
the fallen blossom to glow and dance around him as they flowed to
the rhythm of the wind becoming one in the glow of the full
moon.