Tale of Yokais

Chapter 9

While getting ready for bed, Momiji made a note to keep a closer eye on his Shikigami. After that he took off his uniform and looked at his mirror. He made sure to get plenty of rest and take good care of his health. Those efforts clearly showed if you looked closely at him.

"Another event free day. Life as a Katanashu really is different from what I thought it would be" he sighed, climbing into bed. 

He laid there staying at the ceiling, thinking back to when he saw Ungaikyō. If only he didn't run away. Why did he feel like he knew Ungaikyō from before, but they barely knew each others..right? 

Pushing those thoughts aside, he turned in bed, facing the wall and letting sleep take over. Maybe something more eventful will happen tomorrow. Who knows.

. . .

In the morning it was like every other day, getting woke up by his Shikigami poking him. He got up after a minute of their poking. Staring at the mirror and rubbing his eyes, still half asleep, his Shikigami helped him get dressed. 

He was slowly getting used to getting woke up by their constant poking. Though it was still an annoying way to start a morning. Yawning he left the room once he was fully dressed.

Making his way to the dining hall, he took notice that he was the only one there. It was rare for all six Katanashu to eat together. Not that he minded eating alone. Cooking, cleaning and other housekeeping duties were left to the Shikigami. It only took a few minutes for him to receive food.

Like every other day he ate in silence. As he ate, he thought about a way to talk to Ungaikyō. He'd probably be at the big maple tree as usual, but he'd run away if he got caught by him. It seemed like he didn't like the Katanashu very much, he wondered why. Once he finished eating he stood up as the Shikigami cleaned.

Today he was going to find Ungaikyō and this time make sure he didn't get away. He had a lot of questions for him. Hopefully he wouldn't put up some kind of fight though, even if he looked peaceful. 

Walking down the path and through the town, all he could think about was the many questions he wanted to ask Ungaikyō. Though the question of 'will he even answer my questions?' popped up. The last time Momiji tried talking to him, he didn't answer anything. Except to tell him to leave him alone.

Eventually he reached the forest and slowly made his way to the big maple tree. Hiding behind a tree to stay hidden. As usual, Ungaikyō was there. It looked like he was currently taking a nap as he had a pillow and was sleeping peacefully.

'Maybe if I'm careful I can approach him without waking him up' Momiji thought to himself. 

Carfully, he stepped out from behind the tree and tried to, as quietly as he could, walk over to the big maple tree. He managed to get to the trunk of the tree without disturbing the sleeping yokai. For some reason though, he got the idea of trying to climb up the tree.

Not climbing all the way up to the branch he was sleeping on, but enough to where he decided to carefully grab the mirror Ungaikyō always carried. Once in his grasp, he climbed down and examined the mirror. 

'Why does it have wrapping on it..I wonder what he can see through it' 

Strangely enough, it felt like he knew what mirror was capable of doing, somewhat. But he couldn't remember.

Momiji was so distracted by the mirror and trying to figure out how it worked that he didn't noticed Ungaikyō had woke up. It didn't take him more than a minute to realize his mirror was gone. As well as see that a Katanashu was there now, holding his mirror.

When he hopped down so suddenly, it scared Momiji since he didn't expect the action.

"..Give my mirror back..." Ungaikyō said, glaring at him.

"No, only if you agree to talk to me" Momiji immediately replied, holding the mirror close.

The yokai was visibly angered about being forced to talk to a Katanashu just to get his mirror back. He reluctantly agreed just to get it over with. Momiji had him sit down with him, still keeping the mirror away from him.

"What's so special about this mirror of yours?"

No response. 

"If you aren't going to talk then I won't give your mirror back"

"..Even if you didn't, I'd get it back one way or another.." Ungaikyō replied, still glaring at him. "Why do you even want to talk to me?"

"Because I want to get to know you better. As far as I know you're said to be a loner"

"...I prefer it that way..Until you came back..."

"Well our last encounter, you ran off pretty quickly"

"That wasn't what I meant.." he muttered.

Momiji tilted his head, "Did we meet before?"

"I don't expect you to remember....Fuuka"

"How do you know-"

He was cut off by Ungaikyō suddenly grabbing his arms, making him drop the mirror. "Why did you come back. I brought you to the Katanashu so why"

"What are you talking about, let go!" Momiji said, glaring at him and trying to pull away.

"..You wanted too talk, I didn't. But since you're forcing me, let's talk then, Fuuka.."

Honestly, he was starting to regret making Ungaikyō talk to him. He seemed angry. At first he was annoyed about being forced to talk to a Katanashu. But then after he asked why he came back, he seemed angry now. How did he know his true name?

His mind went blank, he didn't understand what was going on. Questions kept flooding in about how he knew his name, what he meant by why he came back, did they meet before, etc. None of which Ungaikyō would probably answer.

"Fuuka"

He didn't respond, instead he just stared and made no attempt to escape his grasp.

"I'm scared of you..and you're my enemy..we'll end up fighting sooner later"

'Scared of me? Enemies?' Momiji thought. He tried reacting but he couldn't, so he just continued to stare with wide eyes. 

Ungaikyō had let go of his arms and was now holding his shoulders. He looked so serious. "Are you even listening? ...We can talk later..once you sleep.."

With that said, Momiji felt something hit him before falling unconscious.