It was during the Sendai
curse incident that Naoe had become acquainted with Katakura Kagetsuna. The Date-Uesugi alliance, which had worked together to bring down Mogami Yoshiaki, was still fresh in their memories.
“Well well...” Kojuurou remarked as if he had just noticed Kousaka’s presence, “...and Kousaka-dono as well. What a surprise to see both Uesugi and Takeda again in such a place.”
“...”
There was a hint of wariness and challenge in Kojuurou’s manner towards Kousaka. Though the Date had agreed to an alliance with Takeda, Kojuurou was not inclined to trust Kousaka implicitly; there was something too sly and calculating about the master schemer to allow for complete relaxation of one’s guard in his company.
“You are both here because of the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ incident, I presume?”
“Then you must be as well, Katakura-dono...?”
“I am here by command of my Lord Masamune, who has charged me to investigate this matter. This is, after all, the holy resting place of Lord Ieyasu, the only neutral zone in the Kantou. In his previous life, my lord was lieutenant to the Shogunate—the one to whom Lord Ieyasu himself entrusted care of this country—so he could hardly turn a blind eye to any incident that might involve the Shogun.”
Kojuurou’s intelligent gaze dipped to the ground for a moment before focusing on the sacred trees. “This young lady appears to be related to the soul housed in that tree.”
“...His elder sister. Her brother was involved in an accident and has been unconscious since, but it was only after performing a spirit-sensing on him that we discovered that his soul has left his body. From the messages he sent to her and his girlfriend, we know that a spirit-beast we believe to be the tsutsuga has something to do with it, but...” Naoe’s tone hardened. “Do you know anything of this matter, Katakura-dono? What has caused this? Is there a connection between the tsutsuga and the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror?’”
“There is, and not merely an incidental one,” Kojuurou answered flatly. “Naoe-dono, it was likely the work of the tsutsuga that bound this soul to the tree. I would guess that he was engrafted into the cedar after he was devoured.”
“What do you mean?”
“The tsutsuga was, I believe, once sealed within the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror.’ Which means the one who stole the mirror released it from its prison.”
“...!”
Naoe and Kousaka stared at him in shock. Kojuurou surveyed their surroundings warily before murmuring in a lowered voice, “We should not speak of this matter here. Shall we mayhap seek a more private establishment? The lady—” Kojuurou’s gaze went to Maiko— “she is only drawing attention to herself. Let her join us, and I will tell you all of the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror.’”
They made an odd gathering, the representatives of Date, Takeda, and Uesugi conferring at the knees of the Great and Holy Avatar of Toushou, their company graced by a fair flower of Lake Chuuzenji whose face even now bore the ravages of her weeping.
They were assembled in the tatami room of a tea house near the shrine path. Though Maiko had not the faintest idea what she had stumbled into, she had followed the one in whom she had placed all her trust, Tachibana Yoshiaki, to this conference with these strange men. For all that they were his acquaintances, there seemed something odd about them, but Maiko’s mind was in such turmoil that she was no longer capable of deep suspicion. She could follow only Naoe’s lead like a child.
The faces of the three men were unusually grave.
“The stolen ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ was originally a treasure of Futarasan Shrine,” the oldest in appearance of the three, the man who looked like a businessman in his thirties, spoke first. “The ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ is made up of a male and female pair, and it is said that the female half has the power to entrap souls; it is also called the ‘soul-sealing’ mirror. Holy Priest Shoudou, who founded the first shrines at Nikkou, once sealed two evil tsutsuga causing mischief on Mt. Nantai into mirrors with his spells—thus the origin of the demon mirrors. Several hundred years ago, these mirrors were stolen by persons unknown, and their whereabouts became lost—until they resurfaced four hundred years ago.”
Naoe and Kousaka both looked up at this.
“Someone was able to mate the two halves of the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ with spells to give birth to a tsutsuga cub.”
“A tsutsuga cub...” Naoe repeated in a low voice. “Then the beast we saw earlier...”
“Indeed. The tsutsuga now plaguing Nikkou must verily be the cub born of the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ four hundred years ago. Someone used that twisted magic in an attempt to overthrow the Shogunate. It caused uncountable evil in Edo and threatened Lord Ieyasu himself. Fearing for his life, Lord Ieyasu commanded his trusted right hand High Priest Tenkai, abbot of Rinnou Temple, to exterminate the beast. The story goes that after many clever schemes, High Priest Tenkai sealed the cub into the female half of the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ with its mother.”
“Then the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ stolen several weeks ago...”
“...Was the female of the pair, the ‘soul-sealing mirror’. After Lord Ieyasu’s death, High Priest Tenkai enshrined this mirror deep in the inner sanctuary of the main temple of Toushou Shrine according to his lord’s will.”
Naoe and Kousaka looked at each other, and Kousaka leaned forward to ask, “Then the thief who stole it from Toushou Shrine took it in order to release the tsutsuga?”
“Such would be my assumption. But to release a soul sealed in the mirror, the other ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’—the male half—is needed.”
“How...?”
"Legend has it that if the female mirror bearing the sealed soul is matched with the male ‘Tsutsuga Mirror,’ the soul will be released.
“Where is this mirror now?”
“I heard that it was once kept at the Toushou Shrine at Mt. Kunou , but it is no longer there. After the many thefts there, it was judged that Mt. Kunou was no longer safe, and the mirror was moved to other locations. I am investigating its current whereabouts.” Kojuurou’s eyes flashed. “It is said that records at Hakone Shrine list a similar mirror in its keeping.”
“Hakone...” Naoe muttered, brows furrowing. “Which means we should assume the thief already has the male half in his possession. However, I do not believe I have heard of such an object being stolen from Hakone Shrine...”
“Perhaps the theft was not noticed, or occurred too many years ago. I wonder... That the female ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ was concealed at Toushou Shrine was itself an absolute secret. Even officials of the Shogunate had no knowledge of it.”
“Hmm. Then how is it that the Date knew?”
“Lord Ieyasu placed deep trust in my lord and bestowed upon him the title of Second-in-Command of the Shogunate.” Kojuurou’s eyes glittered with pride. “He gave this secret into my lord’s keeping, just as he entrusted him with the safekeeping of the future of this country. Such is my belief.”
“...”
The obvious pride on Kojuurou’s face as he spoke dazzled Naoe for a moment, and he wondered if he appeared thus to others when he spoke of his own lord. —For a moment, his face threatened to surface in Naoe’s mind, and he hurriedly shoved it away.
“The problem, then, is the thief’s intentions,” Kousaka murmured, a long finger placed thoughtfully on his chin. “Why has he released the tsutsuga from the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror?’ Why bind a soul into the sacred tree at Futarasan Shrine? How did he know of the tsutsuga’s existence in the first place?”
“...”
“The thief you spoke of earlier, who took the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ to produce the tsutsuga cub—could there be a connection between the two, Katakura-dono?”
“’Tis certainly worthy of consideration. The question may even be if they are the selfsame person. If so, then it would be no surprise that he knew of its existence.”
“An onshou?” Naoe’s question stirred conjecture in both men, and silence fell for a moment.
“Who was the thief four hundred years ago?”
“Only High Priest Tenkai knew for certain, but rumors indicated the Fuuma.”
“Fuuma?!” Naoe exclaimed. “The Fuuma Clan? The ninja clan from Sagami?”
“There is no definitive proof, but you too must recall how at the time, those masterless samurai of Toyotomi who desired the fall of the Shogunate formed an alliance with the remnants of the Fuuma to bring chaos to Edo. The tsutsuga cub was said to be a part of that scheme. I could certainly believe that the Fuuma Clan, who are rumored to be adept both at the art of illusion and high Mikkyou sorcery, are capable of having produced the cub. And, too—” Kojuurou added in a lower tone, “with the skills the Fuuma has at its disposal, finding the location of the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ pair could not have been too difficult. After all, spycraft lies at the heart of the ninja arts. Or perhaps they were in possession of the knowledge all along. If they have returned to the present age with the intention of utilizing the mirrors...”
“Then it was also the Fuuma who stole the female ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ from Toushou Shrine and released the tsutsuga cub...?”
“It is very possible...”
The three men fell silent. Only Maiko, struggling to make sense of the improbable conversation, continued to looked bewildered. Seated beside her, Naoe gave her a sidelong glance and asked, “What of Shinya-san? What purpose could the tree-binding serve, Katakura-dono? Do you have any insight into this?”
“Not at present, I’m afraid. However, the male tsutsuga eats fire and exhales fire instead of air. The ‘soul-eating tsutsuga’ is generally said to be the female. I have heard that the cub inherited abilities from both its parents, and four hundred years ago it devoured human souls and breathed them out again into cedars and stones. I do not doubt that what is happening now is the work of this creature.”
“...Then Shinya was...!” Maiko roused and leaned forward as the conversation centered on her brother. “Why is Shinya reflected in mirrors? If his soul is bound in a tree, why the reflections...?”
“The tree-binding is one of the tsutsuga’s abilities, and it is responsible for the soul’s imprisonment. However, we are not speaking of an ordinary tsutsuga, but a spirit-beast born from mirrors—in other words, its true form is that of a mirror. Shinya-san is using the tsutsuga’s power to send his messages to you through the world within the mirror.”
“Oh...” Stunned, Maiko pressed a hand to her mouth as she paled. She pleaded, “Then how can I release my brother? How do I get his soul out of that tree and back into his own body? Please tell me what I need to do! Please!”
“To release him from that tree...” troubled, Kojuurou frowned slightly, “we must sever the power that is binding him. In other words, we must kill the tsutsuga.”
“Kill the...tsutsuga?”
“Yes. But its spiritual nature means that it would likely be impossible for you and extremely difficult for us as well. Which means there is but one way,” Kojuurou stated gravely. “We must break the source of the tsutsuga’s life force: the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror.’”
“Break the...‘Tsutsuga Mirror’...?”
“Yes. If we should destroy the mirrors, the tsutsuga will lose the foundation of the spiritual power that sustains its life, in which case the tree-binding will dissolve on its own and release your brother.”
“But in order to do so,” Naoe spoke for Maiko, “The stolen ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ must be found.”
“Indeed, that is true. We must locate both mirrors. I am almost certain, however, that both will be found in the same place.”
In the possession of the thief who had taken the female ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ from Toushou Shrine.
Maiko looked down at the table in despair. Kousaka’s eyes glittered. “Interesting. Then your first order of business is to find the thief. One misstep there, and you will have some serious trouble on your hands.”
Maiko paled even further at his words. Naoe interjected, “We’re not even certain of the Fuuma Clan’s involvement at this point. In any case, Katakura-dono, we must find the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ and destroy both halves?”
...“... ’Twould be dangerous. Since we do not yet know the true nature of our opponents, we must take great care...”
“I understand,” Naoe nodded, and Maiko looked pleadingly at him.
“Tachibana-san!”
“In any case, we must locate the mirrors as quickly as we can. Even with life-support, the body cannot survive without its soul for long. Let us seek the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror.’ If we do not return Shinya-san’s soul...”
“Let me lend you my aid,” Kojuurou offered. “In any event, ’tis plain that an evil scheme has been set in motion. If left unchecked, the tsutsuga will continue to claim more victims. Let us seek out the thief and destroy the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ as soon as we may.”
Naoe and Kojuurou exchanged nods of understanding while Kousaka alone looked on...
As they stepped out of the teahouse and headed for the parking lot, Kousaka asked, “Will you go to battle against the Fuuma for that woman, Naoe?”
Naoe’s only reaction was a hard stare. He glanced at Maiko and Kojuurou walking ahead of them and responded, “If this concerns the «Yami-Sengoku», I cannot simple leave it be. I can’t allow more innocents to be made victims in this.”
“Are you really that much of a softy, or do you just like to meddle? You’re not going to have a chance in hell against the Fuuma. Are you really going to just throw your life away?”
“Throw...my life away?” Naoe’s eyes glittered coldly. “And what if I do? Has it ever been anything more than expendable? Why value something that can be exchanged for another at any time?”
Kousaka’s eyes widened in surprise at Naoe’s retort. He would never have imagined such words coming from the man walking beside him.
“Naoe...?”
“Let them destroy this husk; I’ll simply possess another. We are beasts viler than the tsutsuga. Our depraved existences are beneath that of animals.” Though a cool smile twisted Naoe’s lips, there was something wild in his tone. “Only fools still believe in virtue and honor.”
“What happened?” Kousaka demanded sharply. “What happened between the two of you?”
“...”
The smile and all other expression vanished from Naoe’s face. His eyes hardened until he appeared to be looking out of a frozen iron mask.
“Have you cut yourself off from Kagetora?”
“...”
“Are you planning to make an end of it?”
“—Many people...” Naoe’s voice was as expressionless as his face— “...choose death in order to escape pain.”
—Suicide...
The word leapt into the air between them.
Naoe fell silent. This was not the despair that had accompanied his bouts of self-torture in the past. Even Kousaka could not tell now which was a mask and which told of Naoe’s true feelings.
Kousaka broke the tense silence. “So the one you actually want to kill is...yourself.”
“...”
“You’re going to let the beast take over?”
“...What is your objective here?” Naoe countered, cutting off Kousaka’s questions. “The theft of the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ is the reason you’re here in Nikkou as well, isn’t it? We’ve had enough of being moved around like your pawns.”
“Hmph. No need to get paranoid. I’m here to deal with the ‘soul-sealing Tsutsuga Mirror.’”
“What?”
“The Houjou of Sagami are stirring up trouble with an eye to re-annexing the Takeda territories.” Kousaka’s gaze drifted to the line of cedar trees. “They’re moving towards a head-on confrontation with Takeda over the conquest of the Kantou, and we have detected suspicious activity here in the Shimotsuke area as well. They have sent «nue» to assassinate my lord. It was also the Houjou «nue» who took down a Takeda vassal tasked with the search for the stolen ‘Tsutsuga Mirror.’”
“Then you believe that it was the Houjou who stole the mirrors...”
“Houjou’s «nue» do not have the power to destroy my lord. But by using the ‘soul-sealing mirror,’ they could remove him from the «Yami-Sengoku».”
“...”
Kousaka stopped. “The Houjou are the masters of the Fuuma Clan,” he stated plainly, “so their involvement would not surprise me. In any case, the mirrors are too dangerous; our first order of business must be to destroy them. On that point, at least, we are agreed. So how about it? Shall we join forces to do so? I have the Shimotsuke «nue» at my disposal—I can mobilize them for the search. You need information, don’t you? I think such an arrangement would benefit us both.”
“...What are you scheming behind everyone’s backs this time?”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’ve laid all my cards on the table this time. It is far too dangerous to leave the ‘soul-sealing mirror’ in the hands of someone like the Houjou. You can’t deny that.”
“...”
“Our first step is to split up and find the ‘Tsutsuga Mirror’ as soon as possible—unless, of course, you don’t really care what happens to the young woman’s brother. —So how about it, Naoe?”
Naoe’s trust in Kousaka didn’t increase by one iota, but time was of the essence. He needed information. If that meant knowingly walking into a trap, then so be it.
(Let him lay his traps.) Naoe’s lips tilted in a faint, defiant smile. “...Fine.”
He went eagerly to his ending.
The ending of his existence in this world.
For there was nothing else for him but pain—bottomless, inescapable pain. His years on earth had left him with no other conclusion.
He had concealed his intentions by going through the motions of everyday life—when in truth, he had spent his days and sleepless nights charting this path ever since that day he had parted from Kagetora.
He could not merely put an end to his love for Kagetora, for that love, so like a weapon, was life itself. One could not be snuffed out of existence without the other, so it was his own existence he would end.
He had come to realize that he could not stop this love from returning again and again, for its demise only preceded its resurrection in the form of madness. It soared above his repeated efforts at recompense, at stifling his feelings out of existence.Transcended them by such heights that even ‘worship’ was too pale a word for what Kagetora had become within him. What else could he call this love but madness when he could no longer see Kagetora as a living, breathing human being? What was it if not a weapon?
He did not believe in the existence of anything eternally changeless. There was nothing in the realm of men that did not change—that lesson had been driven home to him more times than he could count in the past four hundred years. To accept something, to possess something, was the first step to losing it. He knew that so very well.
There was no way to shake off the pain but to live in the moment.
If he must lose, then better not to have had it be his at all. If he could not tear himself away, then he saw no way out but to tear himself apart. The ‘mission’ no longer mattered. He wanted to destroy the «Yami-Sengoku» only in order to destroy himself. He no longer needed a just cause. What he did, he did for himself.
It was natural for what was no longer a man to feel pain in its attempt to live as a man.
A beast’s agony mattered to no-one...
Even the buddhas would not come to save him.
Yes—only now he knew it.
“Naoe-dono.”
The sound of his name called him out of his thoughts. In the passenger seat, Katakura Kojuurou was giving him an odd look.
“Is something the matter?”
“No...”
They were winding up the curves of Iroha Hill again to take Maiko home. Kojuurou’s voice had broken a silence that had descended as soon as Naoe had gotten behind the wheel. “It’s nothing,” Naoe shook his head, glancing at a haggard Maiko sitting with shoulders hunched in the rearview mirror.
“You must be tired, Asaoka-san.”
“Oh...I’m...okay.”
“I understand that you are worried about your brother, but everything will be all right. I promise you that we will find the mirrors.”
“Tachibana-san, please...please take me with you!” Maiko pleaded. “I want to help with the search. To help my brother. I can’t just...just sit back and do nothing! It’ll drive me crazy! So please let me go with you!”
Naoe scowled at the road, mouth tightening. Kojuurou turned and gently answered in his place.
“Asaoka-san, please do not pursue this any further. Those we are facing have the power to control a spirit-beast. If you continue to involve yourself, you will only put yourself in harm’s way.”
“But I can’t do nothing but wait! If something happens to my brother, I’ll never be able to forgive myself. If we can’t return his soul in time, if his body dies before then...!” Maiko begged, clinging to the back of Naoe’s seat. “Please take me with you, Tachibana-san!”
“...You still don’t get it, do you?” Naoe said, eyes not moving from the road. “It’s not your safety I’m concerned about.”
“What?”
“Bringing along someone who can’t even protect herself only puts us in greater danger. Am I speaking plaining enough for you? You apparently expect us to keep you safe, but I see no point in increasing the risk to ourselves by bringing someone who can contribute nothing. Of course, things would be different if you offered anything worth protecting.”
“...!”
“Let me put it baldly: you are a burden.”
Maiko stiffened, stunned into silence. She had never in a million years imagined that Tachibana would speak thus to her.
Kojuurou added more sympathetically, “I understand your need to help your brother, but please put your faith in us. Go home.”
“...”
But Maiko never even heard the words. Her eyes suddenly overflowed with tears as she sat with her fists clenched on her knees.
(Why...?)
Tears flowed down her cheeks, and she couldn’t stop them. The shock of those cold, cold words against her battered emotions was too much, and though she was not a delicate maiden to burst into tears at a harsh rebuke—would, in fact, have retorted an indignant rebuttal had it been anyone else—those sentiments coming from Tachibana...
(Why...?)
Her chest ached, and the tears refused to stop. Even she couldn’t understand this pain, this sharp sorrow, as she continued to cry, hands coming up to hide her face.
Naoe drove on with Maiko sobbing behind him, no change discernible in his expression. The Windom wound up Iroha Hill’s twists and turns.
“...?”
A large shadow crossed into the rearview mirror behind Maiko for a split second.
(What was that?)
“Naoe-dono!” Kojuurou’s exclamation jerked Naoe’s gaze reflexively back to the road ahead. Just as a red shadow blinked into existence in front of the windshield.
“Waugh!”
He stepped hard on the breaks, wrenching the car to one side. The Windom’s rear wheel skipped to a stop inches from the guardrail. A red lion that looked like it had leapt out of an artist’s fanciful painting stood in the center of the road, predator’s gaze fixed on them like a hunter marking its prey.
“Naoe-dono, that is—!”
A spirit-beast glowing with red fire.
(The tsutsuga...?!)
The Crimson Beast took a flying leap toward them. Naoe immediately pressed down on the accelerator, and the Windom burst forward. Enraged, the beast twisted and sprang after the car with supernatural quickness as it charged past.
“Naoe-dono! It’s coming after us!”
“It’s catching up!”
Naoe kept his foot on the accelerator, propelling the Windom to reckless speeds on Iroha Hill’s hairpin curves. But Iroha being what it was, there was a limit to how far he dared push the car. The tsutsuga followed relentlessly. It finally caught up with them at the ‘nu’ (ぬ) curve, landing with a flying leap on the hood.
“Get down!”
The Windom screeched to a stop, its entire body shuddering. Tiny fractures appeared in the front windshield with crackling sounds.
“Katakura-dono! Please take care of Asaoka-san!”
“Don’t look into the tsutsuga’s eyes—that’s how it devours souls!”
Naoe opened the door and rolled onto the road. The tsutsuga was off the car and bounding toward him faster than the eye could follow. It swerved left and right as it came, foiling Naoe’s aim. His «nenpa» missed the beast completely.
The tsutsuga’s eyes glowed gold.
Don’t look!
“Guh...!”
He closed his eyes, fighting the pull of its power. The tsutsuga’s claws grazed across his arm. As he rolled, the beast turned and leapt at him again.
“Uwaugh...!”
It was on him before he could twist away, baring its fangs in a howl like the screech of metal scraping against metal as it sank its claws into his shoulder.
“Aaaaagh...!” the pain tore a moan from him just as another car came up the hill. The driver slammed on the breaks in surprise, and the tsutsuga spun and flew towards him.
“No!” A «nenpa» fueled with all his remaining strength accompanied the defiant cry and hit the tsutsuga squarely. It flung the beast to the asphalt with a yowl, where it lay writhing. Naoe shot another «nenpa» at it. The tsutsuga whimpered like a dog as it turned and ran, leaping over the guardrail and disappearing in midair as it fell.
“Naoe-dono!”
Kojuurou and Maiko climbed out of the car and ran to Naoe’s side. Seeing the fresh blood staining his shoulder, Maiko gasped, “Tachibana-san! Are you all right?!”
Panting, Naoe lifted a hand to his right shoulder. Blood instantly covered his palm. Teeth clenched, he commented, “...Looks like they’ve noticed we’re here.”
“So it would seem.” Kojuurou responded grimly, looking in the direction the tsutsuga had disappeared. “There seems little doubt that someone is controlling it. Things will be harder from now on. But first we must take care of your wounds, Naoe-dono. Perhaps we should call a taxi...”
“It’s all right, I can still drive.” He noticed then that Maiko was crying again, weakly, at his side. His lips lifted wryly.
“Please don’t cry. I don’t think my health can take any more tears.”
“Tachibana-san...”
“Whoever makes you cry must be cursed by an instant karmaic backlash.” Naoe managed a smile despite the pain. “Could you take me to the hospital?”