Kiku’s skin was now a deep, perfect black like the heart of an onyx. She had been stained by the shadows, marked by the forces she manipulated. She was still strikingly beautiful, but her beauty was more dire and terrible than ever.
At the opening in the wall, Hidetsugu snarled and shattered one of the half-broken stones before him. He was cursing angrily in the old language of the o-bakemono.
Toshi limped back to the chamber where he’d left Marrow and the Taken One. The disk was intact where he had left it, so that was something. It didn’t look good for the rat, however.
The nezumi was still rigid and radiating heat, but it would take several hours before he died. As Toshi feared, removing the hyozan mark slowed the curse but did not spare the nezumi from it. As intended, the spell would incapacitate the traitor and make him suffer until the rest of the reckoners came to put him out of his misery.
“Toshi,” Hidetsugu called from the distant chamber. “Where are you, oath-brother?”
Toshi considered. He was not in immediate danger, but Hidetsugu had served him one surprise after another today. Since he was quickly regaining his strength and able to call on Night’s Reach, Toshi felt safe enough to answer. He went through the holes Kiku had punched through the academy walls and stood on the verge of the chamber where the ogre and the mahotsukai were.
“Here, Hidetsugu. Though I think our time as oath-brothers has long since passed.”
The ogre took a few steps toward Toshi’s voice. The ochimusha was chilled by how steady and confident those steps were, how quickly he had adjusted to being blind. He was also leery of the raucous ogre’s subdued tone.
“Nonsense,” Hidetsugu said. “We are blood brothers … you, Kobo, and I. The hyozan oath may no longer bind us, but we have tasted each other’s flesh. We are all still tied to one another.”
“I never tasted anyone’s flesh,” Toshi said, annoyed. “That’s your hobby.”
“Of course you did. When we took Kobo into our brotherhood, you drank the water that cooled his brand. Kobo had already eaten of my flesh, and you in turn swallowed his.”
Toshi considered this. To his growing unease, he realized Hidetsugu was right. “Does this mean you can still kill me somehow?”
A thin smile flickered across the ogre’s features. “No, my brother. It means that we will never be free of each other until we are both dead.”
“Oh. That’s all right, then.” He waited a moment for Hidetsugu to reply, then added, “So … what happens now?”
The ogre’s brow furrowed over his bleeding eyes. “I have a favor to ask of you. For old time’s sake.”
“A favor?”
“Yes.”
“What’s in it for me?”
“Same old Toshi. Let me put it this way, ochimusha. I am blind. I am alone, having outlived my hunters and been deserted by my god.
“But I still hunger for vengeance. There are yet many who deserve my wrath. I wonder … when you travel on the power of your myojin, have you visited the spirit world?”
Toshi weighed his words carefully. “Not exactly. I have only seen visions of the kakuriyo.”
“But have you gone to the honden of Night’s Reach? Have you visited her place of power?”
“I have.”
“Then help me. Send me to my oni’s home. The honden of the All-Consuming.”
“What? Why?”
Anger and menace slipped back into Hidetsugu’s voice. “I did not devote my life to Chaos so that Chaos could turn its back on me. I summoned it here for a battle to the death as the world collapses around us. If Chaos will not fight that battle here, I must carry the battle it.” The ogre’s face was terrible to behold. “My god will live up to my expectations, or I will make it suffer.”
Toshi waited for his heart to slow down before he spoke. “I don’t even know if that’s possible. And if it were, what can you do? Even an o-bakemono’s power has limits.”
Hidetsugu crossed his arms. “Perhaps you are right. Perhaps we should simply fight until one or both of us is dead. You are a wily trickster, Toshi Umezawa. You may yet find a way to destroy me before I bring this entire building down.” For emphasis, Hidetsugu stomped one massive foot onto the floor, shaking more bricks loose from the broken walls.
“Agreed,” Toshi said instantly. Behind the ogre, framed by the hole leading outside, Toshi saw several of Konda’s twisted moth-riders circling ever closer. Beyond them, the sky was full of O-Kagachi. “But I must ask something of you in return.”
The ogre bared his teeth, though Toshi could not tell if it were a smile or a threat. “I’m listening.”
“Save Marrow from the hyozan curse. And help me carry the Taken One to the roof. Do this for me and I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”
“The only way to avoid the curse is not to invoke it. I’m sorry, but my rat brother is doomed.”
“Hmm. And this has nothing to do with the sword he stuck in your eye?”
“That had crossed my mind. But no, it is not a question of whether I will help him, but can I. I cannot.”
“But you’ll carry the disk for me? Time’s running out, old friend, and I have to get it away from here or all this was for nothing.”
“It always has been all for nothing,” Hidetsugu said. “Nonetheless, yes, I will be your draught animal if you do as I have asked.”
“Then we have another deal, blood-brother. Come toward the sound of my voice and I will show you the disk.”
Toshi felt his sense of self-preservation screaming as he took the ogre’s hand, but Hidetsugu did not lash out. Instead, he allowed Toshi to guide him through the rubble to the fallen stone disk.
“Here,” Toshi said, but his unease did not subside. The Taken One was lying faceup, with the profile of the fetal serpent clearly visible. Hadn’t it landed facedown when the oni dog attacked? Hadn’t it been facing right instead, whereas now it faced left?
Hidetsugu bent and fastened his thick fingers around the edges of the disk. He shuddered as his hands made contact, but he smoothly hoisted the prize onto his shoulder.
“This is indeed powerful,” Hidetsugu said. “But well-camouflaged. Had I known, I would have inspected it far more closely while I had it to myself.” With a grunt, the ogre turned toward the hallway.
“One moment,” Toshi said.
“Why?” Hidetsugu replied. “Aren’t we both in a hurry?”
“We are,” Toshi said. “But I need to end the hyozan oath properly.”
Moving quickly, Toshi made his way back to Kiku. The mahotsukai was still unconscious but breathing steadily. Toshi gently pulled her away from the rubble and covered her with a tapestry from the wall. He drew his jitte and deftly scratched a protective symbol on her jet-black forehead. The symbol glowed white for a moment, then faded. Kiku would be safe here until she woke up. Before he turned away, Toshi stole one last kiss from Kiku’s sleeping lips.
“Farewell,” he said, “last of the Numai jushi.”
Kiku’s eyes fluttered and her lips pulled back into a familiar sneer. “Kill you for that,” she whispered weakly.
“Get in line.” Toshi grinned.
The envelope of shadow began to churn around Kiku, bubbling like oil in a hot pan. In the center of the dark mass, Kiku opened her eyes and stared sleepily at Toshi. Slowly, she began to sink from sight, disappearing into the blackness that surrounded her.
“Remember who you are,” Toshi called. “Remember who you hate. Cling to the things that mean the most to you, or the shadows will consume you in the end.”
Kiku’s eyes fluttered and she nodded. As the shadows rose up to her throat, a bright purple flower broke through the surface of the black mass. Kiku held the flower aloft for Toshi to see as the mahotsukai herself vanished from sight. Seconds later, the black bubble imploded in on itself, leaving the delicate bloom behind to adorn the cracked and shattered floor.