12 Shikigami serve and protect Abe no Seimei and his family. Though his childhood, Masahiro met 11 of the shinshou. They always told him there was one more, but how come he never saw the 'fire general' named Touda.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Abe no Seimei's POV
"Tai'in. Rikugou. Suzaku." In a blink of an eye, all three were standing before Seimei, first looking around the room for any signs of danger, then all three turned their attention to the youthful looking man.
"Is something amiss, Seimei?" Rikugou, the ever-straight forward, asked. Seimei smiled slightly and responded, "I'm afraid so. It seems that Masahiro has gone and gotten himself into trouble again. For this reason, I will need some aid from you three."
The three shinshou shared gazes before nodding in agreement. "You can count on us, Seimei." Tai'in reassured the man with a smile. The four individuals stood closely in a tight circle as Seimei began to chant a spell, a white dome encircling them before it sped off to Masahiro's location.
"Do you think Touda will be there?" Tai'in suddenly asked, a little bit of hope coating the soft voice. She never had the opportunity to speak to the older shikigami, but from what she heard the others say, Touda was a very good protector who nearly died years ago because a shape-shifter name Byousuki stole half of his powers and pretended to be Touda.
"We'll know when we get there."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Kyuki bellowed in anger, his followers racing around in circles, while an unfazed shikigami stood in the middle, an unconscious onmyouji at his side. Blood dripped from various bites and deep scratches that the shinshou had received while protecting the nearly unscathed boy from harm.
"How dare you stand in my way, filthy god!" Kyuki growled, baring his sharp fangs that were coated in Touda's blood. The shikigami in question felt as if he would die any moment. It hurt to move his right arm because it would require the movement of his shoulder, which Kyuki had defiled with his teeth.
Touda had heard Kyuki's loud bellow from miles away, before he had even intervened in the fatal death of Seimei's grandson. One quick glance at Masahiro's position and Kyuki's close proximity had confirmed his fears. That sooner or later, the boy would become a spiritual snack for the damaged tiger/ox/bird demon. So Touda did one of the most stupidest things he would never have thought he would do. He jumped in front of the unconscious boy and took the pain-searing bite to his right shoulder.
Kyuki had not been happy when the fire general intervened. In fact, he was furious. To show this, he gruesomely tore a large chunk of Touda's shoulder out, including parts of his bone, muscle, and skin. A large curtain of blood ran down the shinshou's back, attracting wanton reactions from the lesser demons that were Kyuki's followers.
Touda's breath became ragged as an unbearable pain simmered in his right shoulder and travelled down his arm. He wanted to give up but his job was to protect Masahiro to the best of his ability. 'Emphasis on was, you imbecile.' Touda slightly growled at Seiryuu's voice in his head.
'What do you want, Seiryuu. Kind of in the middle of—ugh!—something...' Touda almost laughed as he pictured a comical version of Seiryuu rolling his eyes and pouting.
'You are willing to risk your own life for a lost cause? Do you not see that that child is going to be the death of you! I nearly lost you 50 years ago, Touda. You need to stop doing this to yourself! I don't want to lose you again. Neither does Rikugou, or Suzaku, or Kouchin.'
Touda sighed tiredly. He was fighting a losing battle of unconsciousness, slowly drifting away due to the heavy blood loss.
'Masahiro is Seimei's successor. He will surpass even Seimei, I know it. I cannot let him die, even if I may be wrong. This is a child, Seiryuu. I have lived centuries longer than him.'
'And I would like to see my friend live centuries longer. With us.' Touda fell to his knees, feeling the last of his strength drain away, leaving a very tired shikigami behind.
Kyuki saw this and dared to put a paw on the god's back, pressing down hard as if he was trying to kill a tick with a shoe. He didn't get so far, as he immediately found himself roaring in pain from a spear wound.
He looked around and felt nervous as he saw Rikugou, Suzaku, and Tai'in coming towards him, demolishing the 'army' of followers he had. Behind them stood another onmyouji, but this one, Kyuki noted, had a stronger spiritual aura.
Touda was fully unconscious, no longer able to push aside the raging pain that had subdued him from pulling his fire attacks. After dealing a quick 'One thousand demons engulf' spell, Seimei went over to check on his grandson and Shikigami. Seimei had let out a sigh of relief when he found that Masahiro had only suffered from over-exhaustion and a dull concussion, but anxiety soon found it's way back into his heart when he turned to Touda.
Never in all his 120 years, had the onmyouji ever seen such terrible damage dealt on to a god, no less a shikigami. Sure, fifty years ago, being impaled by a god slayer spear would have killed Touda, but the amount of blood loss was too much, even for a shikigami.
"Please hold on, Touda. You saved my life so many times. Let me repay a long due debt. You cannot pass now. Seiryuu and Kazane would never forgive you."
I think next chapter will be a flashback. 50 years or 100 years ago. Seimei will be exactly 20 years old if I choose 100 years ago. If I choose 50, he will be 80 years old but still have the body and fitness of a 20 year old. Now who granted him immortality? Hmmm....
