Utsushiyo Monogatari: Crimson Shadow

Preface

The crimson spectral like atmosphere of dusk was accompanied by a background rustling of awaking nocturnal native wildlife out on an active hunt for their prey. Darkness was filling Mount Inari while the moonlight still made it possible to make out some shapes. 

"So you said in 794, the Japanese capital was moved to Kyoto?" David asked as they followed the petite lady down the Red Torii gates, or the red tunnel as it was more famously known, trail of Fushimi Inari Taisha. Lisa was,as usual, gripping tightly to him. For a moment, they thought that they were really spirited away around the area. Some local friends told them about creepy incidents that happened on the sacred mountain. 

"Yes, by Tennō...I mean Emperor Kanmu," she replied as they turned on their torchlights.

"Pretty haunting aye...I heard from the guides that some schools of Buddhism were established around that time," David commented as he turned on his small torchlight.

"In 804, Tendai sect was established by Denyo Daishi. Two years later. Kukai found the Shingon sect," she answered casually.

"Are you an Ancient Japanese history major?" Lisa asked as she huddled closer to David who was incidentally a historian. No answer. The trip to Inariyama was starting to take a turn for the better.

"Say what do you know about Sugawara no Michizane?" David was curious.

"In 895, he halted the missions to Kure...I mean current day China. It was unfortunate. In 901, he was exiled to Kyushu," she replied as they continued walking down the steps away from the Kodamagaike pond. 

"Oh yeah they said that he was pretty pissed about it that he ,as a demon or ghost, haunted the Emperor...that is how he got enshrined," David added.

"Demon? Ghosts? No...that is more of a foreign concept. Japan has its kami, yōkai, and yurei. All spirits with different purposes. Not really evil but not really good," she laughed as she greeted more Japanese dressed in their traditional garb. 

A couple of them stared at David, making him feel uncomfortable. He dismissed the unease as he reasoned that the locals may not be accustomed to foreigners wandering around at night. Despite his JLPT N2 pass, the dialect Hitori and them used in the short conversations were beyond his understanding. He could only figure out the word ningen , it was odd how they called him human each time they threw a chilling glance at him. Then again, it struck him as odd that the mountain was busy so late at night.

"Oh by the way, thanks for bringing us back on the path. We were lost for a while. I am David from Australia and she is Lisa - her mom's Chinese."

"China? My ancestors came from Kure...I mean China centuries ago. Call me Hitori," she smiled warmly at Lisa. 

"Cool, so you have a clan? Or whatever they call...you know when you can wear a crest on the kimono...although yours don't have one," Lisa asked out of sheer curiosity.

"Ahh the irotomesode but we don't wear the crest often," Hitori replied.

"Just a diversion here. Is the shrine to Shuten dōji worth going to? It's our holiday...," David wondered.

"Ah that Daiyōkai..."

"What's a Daiyōkai?" Lisa and David questioned in unison.

"A strong...well...yokai...," she looked at their puzzled faces. "Demon."

"Ahhh coooooooool. Would love to see that!"

"So how many names do you have for gods and demons? And can they disguise as humans?"

"Um. Kami for gods. Ayakashi, mononoke, mamono, yōkai for demon.  Some call ogres 'Oni'.  So if you have um..God of Ogres, Onigami. The 'k' in the Kami, changes into a 'g'. Or Spider god, kumogami. Maybe yurei for ghosts. Yes, they can disguise as humans if they have strong control of their yōki...um...I mean their 'demon' energy" she explained patiently, aware that they were not getting the concept. Kids, it was all about anime, manga and an odd romanticism for samurais and ninja.

As they walked down the winding path, the street lights lining the houses of the small residential area greeted them. Lisa and David looked relieved as they hurried ahead.

"Hey maybe we can catch the train together...hey where did Hitori go?" Lisa nudged David when she turned around. The seemingly nice Japanese girl in her old fashioned crimson kimono with the embroidered phoenix had disappeared. Yet there was only one route back into the mountain with nowhere to hide.

"Don't venture into the pond at dusk again...the spirits especially the kitsune...foxes don't like it...you were lucky that I came past...", Hitori's fading disembodied voice surrounded them as they turned pale and sprinted all the way in panic to the nearby JR Inari station. Panting heavily at the dimly lit station with its office shut, they looked at the clock. It was two thirty am. 

—————

Watching the two humans flee in terror to the train station, the invisible veil of Kakuriyo hid her presence. Instead of coming by sea, the humans had learnt to fly. Sighing heavily at the thought of her old motherland and its many visitors, the warm inland wind brought the flashback to those centuries when she first landed in her now adopted home. 

Smoldering clouds of still burning bodies strewn across the sandy beach as far as her weakening sight could grasp. Acrid smoke dulled her smell and filled her lungs with an acidic burn. She felt a thick viscous fluid seeping slowly through her clothes, flowing downwards into a dark sticky pool on the cold dusty shell-like ground. The grim shadow of dread weaved through her already fading mind. Alone, Fear was ever present to innundate and gnawing into her already fragile core. 

Driven towards a region across the uncharted rough seas, unbeknowst to them, fables of this new land still replayed in her mind. A land where monsters existed in multitudes. The lore has transitioned into reality of the brutality experienced. Mortality at hand. Her strength had waned rapidly as more blood flowed freely like rain from the skies. Inevitable doom awaited her. Such was the cycle of life. An intricately interwoven gamble where one must dance with the balance of the universe. The empty void took over her last whimper of a thought ...

"You have the look of the Issei I met a long time ago...," he spoke.