Underneath the Red Trees

CHAPTER 70: A FATHER'S TALE II

"How did Hideyoshi die?" Zaizen Kuroda eyed Katsu warily.

Katsu chuckled. "I did not kill him, if that is what you are asking."

"Then how?" Kuroda asked. "I do not believe that it was the fire. Was there foul play involved?"

Katsu stared at Kuroda momentarily. He raised from his seat, his fingertips still on the table surface. "Obake," he whispered. Kuroda's pupils shrank. The woman-like entity towered above him where she sat on Katsu's shoulder.

"Katsu," Kuroda said, he kept his voice steady. His eyes stayed pinned to Obake.

Katsu straightened his back. He stared Kuroda down. "Kill him."

Obake shrieked. She dived down. Her jaws closed around Kuroda's neck, ripping his throat out. The blood seeped into the floor. Obake stared at Katsu, cocking her head sideward. "Go ahead."

Obake started to devour Kuroda's corpse, tearing into his flesh like a ravenous animal.

"Father?"

Katsu's head whipped around. Yuuki stood in the doorway. His eyes wide. Fear and terror displayed on his face.

Panic flashed through Katsu's mind. "Yuuki," he said, dumbfounded.

Yuuki started to run. "Yuuki, wait!" Katsu chased after him. Obake raised her head momentarily. Once she saw Katsu run outside she continued feasting on Kuroda's corpse.

Katsu caught up to Yuuki quickly. He grabbed the boy's arm and turned him around. He caught his other wrist in his free hand. Yuuki struggled but his father was three times the size of him. "Let go of me!" he screamed.

"Yuuki," Katsu tried, "Yuuki."

"No!" Yuuki yelled. "Let go!"

"Yuuki!" Katsu's voice was loud now. "Listen to me." Yuuki did not listen. He writhed and struggled. Katsu knelt down in front of Yuuki, attempting to calm him, but through the boy's movements he hit Katsu's cheek.

Yuuki went still. His eyes glistened with tears. "I am sorry," Yuuki stammered.

"Listen," Katsu sighed, lowering his head. He still clutched Yuuki's wrists. "Zaizen Kuroda was a friend of my father, Hideyoshi. Do you remember?" Katsu's thumb moved over the scars on Yuuki's palm. "He deserved it. Just like your grandfather did."

Yuuki sniffed. "Really?"

Katsu wrapped him in an embrace. "Trust your father."

"What is it?" Yuuki asked. Obake was behind Katsu, her face smeared with Kuroda's blood.

Katsu smiled softly. "Her name is Obake. She is like your Tenko." Katsu glanced over his shoulder at Obake. "Although I suspect she is quite a bit hungrier than Tenko."

"Are you like me, Father?"

Katsu smiled. "Yes, indeed I am."

Katsu strolled through the cedar forest. It was the early hours of the morn. He had been up working all night. His eyes were heavy. Sleeping was not in the day's plans.

His foot hit something. He halted and looked down.

It was a corpse.

Furrowing his brows, he knelt down beside it. He turned it over.

Katsu's breath caught in his throat. "Airi?" his voice trembled.

There was a rustling. Katsu raised his head. Through the underbrush stepped his eldest son, Daisaku.