Against the Wind by silvershadeus - Part 3

Looking over his shoulder at Tsuzuki, Watari stifled a sigh. The other Shinigami was shuffling along with a lost look on his face. Perhaps it was just beginning to dawn on him that Watari - his partner in crime - was going to have to leave. That he would most likely never see him again. Never be subjected to his bizarre experiments again. Never share in his schemes again.

And he apparently blamed himself for it.

Amber-gold eyes narrowing in irritation, Watari raised his hand and concentrated. A moment later a small ball of light formed in the palm of his hand. Pale gold in color, it felt both warm and cool to the touch. The light it cast was soft and soothing to the eye, shifting from white to gold with each beat of his heart.

Fox magic.

Shivering a little as the night wind cut through the thick fabric of his coat, Watari did not lose his focus. It was more difficult for him to use his Kitsune powers here in the Meifu, but it was doubly so while in his human form, as he was now. Too much of his powers were taken form the land around him. His human form was not as attuned to the energy around it, and here in the Meifu the energy he had access to was somehow...off. 

Maintaining his Youko form in the Meifu took a certain degree of concentration that he was not always capable of sustaining. In order to do so he needed to keep a mental grip on the energy he tapped into. He then had to use his abilities to 'refine' that energy to the same level of energy easily available on Earth. He'd found it easier - and no doubt wiser - to return to his human form on the way to his apartment with Tsuzuki. They would draw less attention that way from anyone who might see them...and it would set Tsuzuki a little more at ease. 

Turning his palm over, Watari gave the ball of light a small flick of his fingers in Tsuzuki's direction. As he'd expected, the other Shinigami snapped out of his stupor, eyeing the small glowing sphere warily. 

"What is that?"

Watari smiled.

"Don't tell me you don't know the stories, Tsuzuki. Kitsune-bi."

Tsuzuki just stared at the ball of light hovering before him, a puzzled expression on his face. 

"Fox fire? Why?"

Watari's smile widened, golden eyes narrowing slightly.

Why indeed? The moon was full, the path they walked well lit. There was no need for the ball of light. 

"Kitsune-bi is used as a means to guide the way. You seem...lost, Tsuzuki."

Ah, but what an understatement that had been. Tsuzuki had been lost for a long time it seemed. Wandering in a daze fueled by self-loathing and guilt buried beneath a cheerful exterior. 

How long ago had it been when he'd made that deal with Enma? The one that allowed him to stay in the Meifu as a Shinigami? For a brief moment he regretted the promises he had made. The oaths he had bound himself to. 

A moment's weakness paid for with an eternity of servitude. In life and death, and whatever lay beyond that.

The purely Kitsune side of him bristled at the thought. At the memory of that moment in the clearing. The young woman facing him. Pleading for his aid with her eyes to grant her her request. Holding out his kitsune ball in exchange for a favor. 

Bound not once, but twice by his word of honor. 

Once to her, and again to Enma.

Had he not been reckless that night, he would never have agreed to the bargain. He would never have had to deal with that human. He would never have gained his appreciation for 'humanity'. He would never have met those he now called friend.

And truly, his freedom had not been taken from him. Merely altered in a way he had never thought it could be. He was still himself, still the same as he had ever been. Still a trickster, still Kitsune. Only now...there was a difference. Now he understood why the humans had their rules. Their regulations. Now he understood why they felt they needed them. 

"I...I don't know what you're talking about, Watari." 

Looking up, Watari wasn't surprised that Tsuzuki was avoiding his eyes. He could be amazingly stubborn that way. Refusing to admit to his own troubles while trying to help others with theirs. It might even have been admirable. If it wasn't for the fact that it was causing him more harm than good. 

"Tsuzuki...what do you know about Kitsune?"

Trying to pry the problem out of Tsuzuki would never have worked. When he wanted to he could close himself off completely and utterly. It was a frightening thing to see, and Watari had no wish to witness that at the moment. For one thing, he didn't know how much time he had left, and for another...there was no need for it. 

With Tsuzuki, subtlety was often the best way to work at the things that hurt him. Work your way past his defenses until you were too close for him to raise his walls, and your work was half done. The rest relied on your ability to understand a little of the way his mind worked. The way he turned his guilt in on himself.

"Kitsune?"

There. A genuine spark of curiosity.

"Yes, Kitsune. What do you know about them?"

Tsuzuki shrugged, scuffing his toe along the edge of the path where he stood. Watari watched through narrowed eyes, head tipped to the side.

"Not that much, I suppose. Just what the legends say."

Watari bit back a sigh. It seemed that Tsuzuki was being deliberately uncooperative. There were countless legends of Kitsune, and each one told of a different ability. And as Watari had reason to know, stories always grew in the telling. For all he knew Tsuzuki might think him capable of reading his mind or controlling the weather. There was no knowing which stories Tsuzuki had heard or which ones he believed to be true.

"Would you like to know more?"

If this was to be his last night in the Meifu, Watari wanted to fulfill the promise he had made long ago. It was the reason he had become a Shinigami in the first place, the only thing that tied him to an existence that had never been meant for his kind.

Tsuzuki finally looked at him, looking confused and wary and uncertain. 

"Why?"

Watari smiled again, turning down the path that led to his apartment building. Tsuzuki followed aft a moment, the ball of light floating ahead of him like an obedient pet.

"I have a promise to keep, Tsuzuki. And...you need to understand."

To be continued...

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