Hanabi

Chapter 17: Bad dreams

INFO:

Shiroi / Kuroi / Aoi /Akai – in order: white, black, blue and red.

Osorezan – It’s an inactive volcano located north of Aomori and it’s called “gateway to hell” by the Japanese. Many believe that this mountain really is an entrance to hell, and that spirits and demons gather in there and the souls of the dead have to cross this place to make their path.

Edo – the old name of Tokyo.

Onmyouji – the professional practitioners of Onmyodo,  a Japanese mixture of occultism with natural science. They were known as powerful specialists in divination and magic.

Sojobou – the king of the daitengu, the most powerful one. His name will come up again.

Shogun – an old kind of Japanese military governor.

Kenjutsu – the general term for all Japanese types of swordsmanship, usually practiced with katana or bokken. Means “technique of the sword”.

Shinai – a sword made of bamboo and used in the practice of kendo.

Bokken – wooden sword in the shape of a katana (and other smaller swords too). It’s used for kenjutsu and was used in the old days for the samurai to be trained without killing anyone (or themselves). Despite being made of wood, it can be a lethal weapon in the hands of a trained user.

Shakujo – it’s a Buddhist ringed staff used for prayers or as a weapon. The tengu are often depicted with these staffs, and the rings are symbolic to Buddhism. When the monks walked around with this, the noise of the rings served to scare dangerous animals or to warn people that a monk was nearby.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

- You’re getting involved with that kind of people again. Why I’m not surprised?

Rina was still shaking, but she felt a bit more determined after explaining the situation. Her five minutes were finished. Myogibou wasn’t attacking her yet, so maybe he was thinking of what to do.

- I never knew the humans had made swords to fight the Oni, we found out about it recently… - she continued, but the daitengu cut her words.

- Be sure the humans didn’t accomplish that alone. - he said, raising his voice, and Rina shut up immediately - But what do you mean when you say “we”?  Are you referring to this human with you?

- Yes. And another girl who stayed in Kyoto with…

- With the problematic human. - Myogibou finished, and Rina fell silent once again - They live short lives Rina, you know better than to care so much. You haven’t changed a thing in 200 years.

- But…

- This fight belongs to this particular human, not to you. Your tendency to care so much about humans is what got you where you are now. They are helpless by nature against many things, that’s called balance. You can’t fight against nature and expect your life to stay in balance. That’s what got you your punishments.

- I think I have to help if I can. It’s my responsibility. - Rina said, eyeing Haruna and Tomoko for a second. Both of them were completely silent - It’s our responsibility. We live in the same world, those Oni are everyone’s problem, we should…

- We live in the same world, and yet the humans think it’s only theirs. - the interrupting daitengu crossed his arms and took a few steps closer. With that, Rina took some steps back. - Have you ever heard of a tengu reading people’s hearts and summoning Oni?