Heian fic, chapter 9
Aug. 19th, 2011 06:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tuulikannelChapter 9
Next morning Hikaru rose up together with the sun. After short consideration he decided that he had to go home, or at least drop by there. Whether or not he'd take Akira's offer and go to see his father, he most likely would have to visit nobility, or perhaps even the imperial palace, and being dressed up like a commoner would just unnecessarily complicate things. He really hoped his mother had got his clothes clean.
On the way home he tried to figure out how much to tell her. Most likely it wouldn't be possible to say nothing, but he could hardly start talking about ghosts and onmyouji and midnight funerals. It would simply freak her out, and that was the last thing he needed.
He hadn't yet quite made his mind when he arrived home where, sure enough, his mother was waiting for him with that worried expression on her face he remembered all too well from his childhood misadventures. Compared to the present day, though, his problems those days had been quite trifling.
"I just came to change," he said casually. "Did you get my clothes clean?"
Without a word his mother nodded and gave him the clothes. With her clumsy help – she wasn't quite used to this kind of clothing – he changed into them. She was still silent, and this made him feel even more ill at ease than all the questions he had been expecting.
"I guess I'll be going again, then," he muttered when he was ready. "I've got a lot to do." He headed out, eager to escape this silence, but stopped after a few steps. He could feel his mother's eyes on his back and, in the end, couldn't leave just like that.
"It's a bit complicated," he said, turning back with a sigh. "But, you see..." His eyes met those of his mother, and he fell silent. A moment they stared at each other, she barely breathing as she waited for him to go on, and he suddenly losing all his words.
"Sai is dead," he finally breathed, swallowed, and by sheer willpower kept the tears in check. He would not start crying in front of his mother like a little baby. "I don't know if you've heard of it, but they accused him of cheating, and... it all ended up with him taking his life." He swallowed again. "And we're tying to find out what really happened."
The color of her eyes seemed to darken. "I did... hear something like that. I was hoping... but..." She shook her head. "Dead. Gods. Are you alright?"
Hikaru nodded, but she just shook her head again. "And you haven't even paid proper respects to your father, yet. Another death... ay, this is a bad year."
Somehow he managed a little smile. "Don't worry mother. I'll manage. And this doesn't really change anything." At least he hoped so. "But I really must go now."
She watched in silence as he turned away and left.
~
The old emperor abdicating and the new receiving succession meant that the university would be closed on this day. This suited Kamo no Akira quite well. He doubted he would have been able to concentrate on lectures, anyway. At the moment he was sitting in a quiet corner in his father's home, deep in thought.
The previous day, he had suggested to Hikaru that they could approach his father on this subject. Perhaps it would be the wisest course. In the end, even if they had proof, none of them was influential enough to do something with it, but his father, on the other hand, was another story. He had created himself quite a reputation as an onmyouji, even though it was mainly in the fields of astronomy and calendar science, and his younger son seemed to follow his footsteps quite closely. Akira had never really shown any talent for onmyoudo, and he had never quite felt to be a part of the world in which his father and brother lived. And for them the game of go, the most important thing in his life, had no significance except as a possible method of divination.
He was still pondering whether he should go to his father right away or wait to ask Hikaru's opinion, when a servant appeared and informed him his father wished to speak with him. He stood up, surprised and a little nervous, and left to see him. He was even more surprised, coming to his father, when he saw his brother was there as well. As he sat down, he wondered if this would be a good time to bring up the subject of Fujiwara no Sai. He didn't have to wonder long, though.
"I called you here because of two letters I have received," his father said. "The first," he held up a paper, "is from my friend Watanabe no Tadatsuna."
~
Seimei had slept long that morning, and once he woke up he found out that things had improved a little from the previous day. Now, at least, he was allowed to leave his room, though he was informed that he should not leave the mansion itself, and there was breakfast prepared for him, a little more good-sized a portion than what was customary. When he asked for his uncle and Sugawara no Akitada, he was told that they had left early to the palace because the emperor would be abdicating this day.
He found the latter piece of information a little surprising, though most likely he shouldn't have. He had somehow imagined that Akitada had been exaggerating the emperor's state. Nevertheless, he was happy to have been left alone. As he wandered through the mansion into the garden, he noted that he didn't see the ghost anywhere and wondered if it had followed Akitada this time. This worried him a little. There might be some potent onmyouji present at the imperial palace, and a day like this wasn't a good time for a ghost to appear there.
He came to the same place where he had been sitting last night with his mother. That encounter felt now quite dream-like, but he knew well it wasn't any dream. He settled down, and waited.
~
"Ah," Akira said. "I see." He didn't, really. Just why had that old man written to his father, and about what?
"I hear you visited him yesterday. Why?"
Akira considered his words carefully. "I was... looking for information, for a friend." Had the man been somehow offended by his inquiries?
"About Fujiwara no Sai."
He bowed his head. "Yes. And that game between him and Sugawara no Akitada."
His father looked down at the letter with a frown. "All the silly rumors circulating in the city, together with your visit, have quite severely disturbed my friend's peace of mind. I have sent him a reply, assuring him that there is nothing to worry about. The emperor's sickness isn't caused by any vengeful ghost, nor is it likely that such a fate would await the spectators of that game. But why," he raised his eyes to his son, "why are you... and your friend... interested in this?"
"Those rumors aren't quite so silly, father," Akira said softly. "There really is a ghost, though it's not the emperor who is haunted, but Sugawara no Akitada. You see..." he looked up at his father who was watching him quite intently. "Fujiwara no Sai is dead. After that fateful game he drowned himself in the Kamo river. But, as far as we can tell, he didn't cheat in that game. His opponent did. And so his spirit is haunting Sugawara no Akitada, looking for justice."
His father remained quiet for a long moment, while his brother stared at him with slightly wide eyes. "How do you know all this?" Kamo no Tadayuki finally asked, and Akira told him everything from the time he had first met Hikaru at the Divine Spring Garden. The man listened quietly, and when he finally finished, nodded slowly.
"Abe no Seimei, huh..." he muttered silently, and Akira gave him a curious look. What about the boy?
"I will have to think about this," his father said before he could ask. He knew that sentence for what it was, a dismissal. Once again his father and brother were about to enter the world of onmyou, of which he was excluded.
He bowed down, but didn't get up yet. "You mentioned another letter, father."
The man looked at the papers in front of him. "That... is a different matter," he simply said, and looked at his son with a raised eyebrow as Akira still wasn't getting up.
Akira bowed again. "I would like to stay, if you don't mind. I'm already quite deeply involved in this."
His father gave him a long look, but nodded in the end. He rose up, and together with both of his sons entered the onmyou chambers.
~
Seimei almost didn't notice it at first, the pair of bright eyes that watched him from the bushes. When he did, he jumped to his feet, heartbeat quickening in excitement.
"Hey," he whispered. "Did mother send you?"
A little fox head peeked from the bushes, took a careful look at the garden, and then, having deemed it safe, the whole animal stepped out. The fox looked up at the boy, and he grinned.
"That's great. Let's go, then."
Getting out of the mansion couldn't have been easier. A simple spell to persuade the servants not to look in his direction – a handy thing to know, and something he definitely hadn't learned from his uncle – and he walked out without a hindrance, following the fox. The little animal seemed to have a similar persuasion on, as no one paid any attention to a fox walking on the streets in broad daylight.
He had not walked long when he noticed a familiar figure ahead – no, two familiar figures, he noted in surprise. He hurried after them.
"Good morning."
The boy he spoke to, none other than Hikaru, turned to look back with a start. "Oh, it's you! I mean... morning."
"I hope you're alright," Seimei went on. "Akitada's servants weren't too rough?"
"Nah. Just threw me out, is all. I'm fine. Eh, thanks for asking." He was watching the boy a bit hesitantly. "So, um, where are you going?"
"I'm not quite sure, but I expect to find out soon. For now, we seem to be heading to the same direction."
"Oh."
As Hikaru just stood there and kept on staring at him with a weird expression, he made a small inquiring move with his hand. The fox was growing impatient. "Or... were you going somewhere else?"
The older boy gave a start, as if waking up. "Oh! No, I'm going that way. I think."
"You think?" Seimei asked, as they started walking again.
"Well," Hikaru scratched his ear thoughtfully. "I think I might go to see a friend of mine. Or his father, really. Maybe. I don't know. I'm just not sure if I want to. I mean, all that onmyouji business is kinda creepy." He blushed a little, remembering who he was talking with. "No offense," he muttered.
Seimei just shrugged it off. They walked across the wide Suzaku Avenue, this time of the day quite a busy street. Carts rolled by, drawn by oxes and by men, and both nobility and commoners were out, hurrying here and there, perhaps with a bit more urgency as usual, as everyone wanted to get their business finished soon, so that once evening would come and the new emperor receive succession, they would be free to celebrate.
When they reached the cool shadow of the willows that lined the avenue, Hikaru threw uncertain glances at the younger boy, hesitating again. "You talked about a ghost," he said finally. "You did mean Sai, right?"
Seimei nodded. "Yes."
"So he's at Akitada's mansion?"
"Not anymore."
"What?" Hikaru shot him a startled look. "What do you mean, not anymore?"
"Do you really mean you don't notice anything?" Seimei asked him, at the same time disbelieving and curious. "How can you not feel anything? He's right here."
"Here?" Hikaru spun around. "Where?"
"I did notice he had disappeared from the mansion," Seimei went on without stopping, and Hikaru had to spring after him. "But I thought he had simply followed Akitada-sama. It seems it was you he has been following."
"You mean I've been walking around with a ghost all this time?" Hikaru asked, quite wide-eyed.
"Apparently. But it seems I've reached my destination." Seimei stopped and looked at the fox that had sat down in front of grand mansion's gate.
"But, wait," Hikaru spluttered. "You can't just tell me something like that, and then... oh." He looked at the mansion a little more closely. "I think this is where I'm going to, too." He blinked. "But why are you here?"
"Who lives here?" Seimei asked without answering his question, and Hikaru blinked again.
"Huh? That friend of mine. Kamo no Akira."
Seimei nodded thoughtfully. "Makes sense."
"What makes sense?" Hikaru asked, but the boy was already heading in and didn't hear him.
A little while later they were sitting inside the mansion, facing Kamo no Tadayuki and his two sons. Hikaru shifted a little nervously, glancing from one person to another. He didn't have a clue what was going on, but everyone seemed to be more interest in his young companion than in him – everyone except Akira, who was watching him quite intently.
"I received a letter from your mother this morning," Tadayuki said. "I didn't expect you quite yet, though."
"I was sent here now," Seimei said, bowing a little. "What... if I may ask, what did my mother say?"
"You don't know? She had a... suggestion. But we can talk more about that later. Now..." he glanced at Akira, then at Hikaru, and then somewhere a little past the still quite confused boy. "Now there are more important things to discuss."
"Is it really true?" Hikaru asked, a little timidly. "About the ghost? I mean, he said..." His voice trailed off as Kamo no Tadayuki nodded.
"There is a strong presence following you." He glanced at his younger son, while Akira stared at him with great surprise. "Yasunori?"
"I can sense it too, father," the boy said. "Almost... see it. But not quite."
"I thought the ghost was supposed to haunt Sugawara no Akitada?" Tadayuki asked, turning back to Hikaru.
"That's how it used to be," Seimei replied. "But it looks like the ghost is quite fond of him." He nodded toward Hikaru.
"I've heard the story from my son," Tadayuki said, "but I'd like to hear it again directly from you."
He looked straight at Hikaru who drew a little shaky breath and launched to his story. He was interrupted many times with questions, and every now and then Seimei added some details from his point of view.
"I need to consult my calendars," Tadayuki stated once the boys fell silent. He rose up. "Before you came, I already saw some strange things in the paths of the stars. But I need to take another look at it now that I know more." He nodded a little at Hikaru. "Please wait here – I don't want your otherworldly companion to affect the results. Come," he said to his younger son and Seimei, who got up with great satisfaction being invited with them.
Akira and Hikaru remained behind as the three left. They looked at each other in deep silence, which Akira finally broke.
"Does this mean Fujiwara no Sai is here?"
"That's what they're saying," Hikaru muttered. "But I don't know anything. I don't know what's going on."
Silence took over again. Quiet birdsong carried in from the garden, but otherwise everything was quiet – one could almost hear the breathing of the two boys who both attempted to come up with something to say, and failed.
"How about a game while we wait?" Akira finally said, and this time Hikaru was relieved by the suggestion. He flashed a tiny smile.
"Great idea."
Akira sent for a go board, and once it arrived, the atmosphere relaxed instantly. They bent over it, eager to pass the time until they would be needed again.
~
A couple of hours later when the three onmyouji returned, the scene they faced was quite hectic.
"How can you call that a good move! With moves like that you wouldn't win against a half-blind imbecile!"
"You're one to talk! It's not like your move here was something to brag about!"
Kamo no Tadayuki stopped by the go board and cleared his throat, but to no avail.
"What do you mean? It's a perfectly valid..."
"I could have captured all these stones if I'd played here after that!"
"But you didn't, so don't...!"
"What are you two doing?" Tadayuki asked, rather loudly to be heard over the yelling. The two boys fell silent and turned to look at him with blank expressions, as if it took them a moment to realize there were other people in the world too, and these other people were perfectly entitled to disturb them during their 'discussion'.
"We're playing go, father," Akira finally stated.
"I never knew go was quite that loud," Tadayuki muttered, looking down at the board with a shake of his head. "Do you think you could have a break?"
"Of course," Akira muttered looking a little embarrassed and started putting the stones away. "What have you concluded?"
"We had a long talk, examined stars and calendars. There is a big distortion here, which needs to be corrected. How, that is the question. It would help to find out, without any uncertainty, all that truly happened that day."
"So why don't you just ask Sai?" Hikaru asked. "If he's right here, and you can see him and all..."
"It isn't quite so simple. A ghost... is something incomplete, like yin without yang, a memory of something that was. It is a concentration of energy that can take the form it had during life, if you have the skill to see it. But you're right. We should ask him. And there is one way."
The way he was watching Hikaru made the boy swallow. "What kind of a way?" he asked, mouth dry, wondering if he wanted to know.
"Having him speak through a medium. In other words, he must possess someone."
He definitely didn't want to know this. "Possess?" he asked meekly. "As in... kinda taking over the body and, and... so?"
"And so," Kamo no Tadayuki agreed. "Because of your connection, you would be the best candidate. We can send for someone else, if you'd prefer not to do this."
"You mean I don't have to?" Hikaru breathed, immensely relieved.
"You're not going to do it?" Akira asked, sounding surprised. "You're not afraid of him, are you?"
"I..." Hikaru fell silent. He remembered how he had just a little ago strongly objected at the possibility of Sai turning into a vehement, vengeful spirit. Afraid of Sai? How could he ever be afraid of Sai... Not to mention, what would Sai think of him if he wasn't ready to do this much for him. "I guess I'll do it," he finally muttered.
"Good." Tadayuki nodded. "We don't have much time – I have to leave to the palace as soon as I can. I'd like to get this done today, as the stars are favorable; we would have to wait days for a next suitable day." He shook his head, slightly amused. "What an absurd situation. Helping a ghost to possess someone? Usually our work is quite the opposite. But come, let's get started."
~~~
Random piece of information, as there are no notes... usually the mediums used in exorcism were young women. In the case of a possession (and sickness too was often thought to be caused by spirits), a priest would transfer the evil spirit to a medium and drive it out of her once it would "announce" itself. The skeptic in me says that this must have given frauds an easy way to fool people, but... eh, never mind.
Next chapter
Previous chapter
First chapter
Next morning Hikaru rose up together with the sun. After short consideration he decided that he had to go home, or at least drop by there. Whether or not he'd take Akira's offer and go to see his father, he most likely would have to visit nobility, or perhaps even the imperial palace, and being dressed up like a commoner would just unnecessarily complicate things. He really hoped his mother had got his clothes clean.
On the way home he tried to figure out how much to tell her. Most likely it wouldn't be possible to say nothing, but he could hardly start talking about ghosts and onmyouji and midnight funerals. It would simply freak her out, and that was the last thing he needed.
He hadn't yet quite made his mind when he arrived home where, sure enough, his mother was waiting for him with that worried expression on her face he remembered all too well from his childhood misadventures. Compared to the present day, though, his problems those days had been quite trifling.
"I just came to change," he said casually. "Did you get my clothes clean?"
Without a word his mother nodded and gave him the clothes. With her clumsy help – she wasn't quite used to this kind of clothing – he changed into them. She was still silent, and this made him feel even more ill at ease than all the questions he had been expecting.
"I guess I'll be going again, then," he muttered when he was ready. "I've got a lot to do." He headed out, eager to escape this silence, but stopped after a few steps. He could feel his mother's eyes on his back and, in the end, couldn't leave just like that.
"It's a bit complicated," he said, turning back with a sigh. "But, you see..." His eyes met those of his mother, and he fell silent. A moment they stared at each other, she barely breathing as she waited for him to go on, and he suddenly losing all his words.
"Sai is dead," he finally breathed, swallowed, and by sheer willpower kept the tears in check. He would not start crying in front of his mother like a little baby. "I don't know if you've heard of it, but they accused him of cheating, and... it all ended up with him taking his life." He swallowed again. "And we're tying to find out what really happened."
The color of her eyes seemed to darken. "I did... hear something like that. I was hoping... but..." She shook her head. "Dead. Gods. Are you alright?"
Hikaru nodded, but she just shook her head again. "And you haven't even paid proper respects to your father, yet. Another death... ay, this is a bad year."
Somehow he managed a little smile. "Don't worry mother. I'll manage. And this doesn't really change anything." At least he hoped so. "But I really must go now."
She watched in silence as he turned away and left.
The old emperor abdicating and the new receiving succession meant that the university would be closed on this day. This suited Kamo no Akira quite well. He doubted he would have been able to concentrate on lectures, anyway. At the moment he was sitting in a quiet corner in his father's home, deep in thought.
The previous day, he had suggested to Hikaru that they could approach his father on this subject. Perhaps it would be the wisest course. In the end, even if they had proof, none of them was influential enough to do something with it, but his father, on the other hand, was another story. He had created himself quite a reputation as an onmyouji, even though it was mainly in the fields of astronomy and calendar science, and his younger son seemed to follow his footsteps quite closely. Akira had never really shown any talent for onmyoudo, and he had never quite felt to be a part of the world in which his father and brother lived. And for them the game of go, the most important thing in his life, had no significance except as a possible method of divination.
He was still pondering whether he should go to his father right away or wait to ask Hikaru's opinion, when a servant appeared and informed him his father wished to speak with him. He stood up, surprised and a little nervous, and left to see him. He was even more surprised, coming to his father, when he saw his brother was there as well. As he sat down, he wondered if this would be a good time to bring up the subject of Fujiwara no Sai. He didn't have to wonder long, though.
"I called you here because of two letters I have received," his father said. "The first," he held up a paper, "is from my friend Watanabe no Tadatsuna."
Seimei had slept long that morning, and once he woke up he found out that things had improved a little from the previous day. Now, at least, he was allowed to leave his room, though he was informed that he should not leave the mansion itself, and there was breakfast prepared for him, a little more good-sized a portion than what was customary. When he asked for his uncle and Sugawara no Akitada, he was told that they had left early to the palace because the emperor would be abdicating this day.
He found the latter piece of information a little surprising, though most likely he shouldn't have. He had somehow imagined that Akitada had been exaggerating the emperor's state. Nevertheless, he was happy to have been left alone. As he wandered through the mansion into the garden, he noted that he didn't see the ghost anywhere and wondered if it had followed Akitada this time. This worried him a little. There might be some potent onmyouji present at the imperial palace, and a day like this wasn't a good time for a ghost to appear there.
He came to the same place where he had been sitting last night with his mother. That encounter felt now quite dream-like, but he knew well it wasn't any dream. He settled down, and waited.
"Ah," Akira said. "I see." He didn't, really. Just why had that old man written to his father, and about what?
"I hear you visited him yesterday. Why?"
Akira considered his words carefully. "I was... looking for information, for a friend." Had the man been somehow offended by his inquiries?
"About Fujiwara no Sai."
He bowed his head. "Yes. And that game between him and Sugawara no Akitada."
His father looked down at the letter with a frown. "All the silly rumors circulating in the city, together with your visit, have quite severely disturbed my friend's peace of mind. I have sent him a reply, assuring him that there is nothing to worry about. The emperor's sickness isn't caused by any vengeful ghost, nor is it likely that such a fate would await the spectators of that game. But why," he raised his eyes to his son, "why are you... and your friend... interested in this?"
"Those rumors aren't quite so silly, father," Akira said softly. "There really is a ghost, though it's not the emperor who is haunted, but Sugawara no Akitada. You see..." he looked up at his father who was watching him quite intently. "Fujiwara no Sai is dead. After that fateful game he drowned himself in the Kamo river. But, as far as we can tell, he didn't cheat in that game. His opponent did. And so his spirit is haunting Sugawara no Akitada, looking for justice."
His father remained quiet for a long moment, while his brother stared at him with slightly wide eyes. "How do you know all this?" Kamo no Tadayuki finally asked, and Akira told him everything from the time he had first met Hikaru at the Divine Spring Garden. The man listened quietly, and when he finally finished, nodded slowly.
"Abe no Seimei, huh..." he muttered silently, and Akira gave him a curious look. What about the boy?
"I will have to think about this," his father said before he could ask. He knew that sentence for what it was, a dismissal. Once again his father and brother were about to enter the world of onmyou, of which he was excluded.
He bowed down, but didn't get up yet. "You mentioned another letter, father."
The man looked at the papers in front of him. "That... is a different matter," he simply said, and looked at his son with a raised eyebrow as Akira still wasn't getting up.
Akira bowed again. "I would like to stay, if you don't mind. I'm already quite deeply involved in this."
His father gave him a long look, but nodded in the end. He rose up, and together with both of his sons entered the onmyou chambers.
Seimei almost didn't notice it at first, the pair of bright eyes that watched him from the bushes. When he did, he jumped to his feet, heartbeat quickening in excitement.
"Hey," he whispered. "Did mother send you?"
A little fox head peeked from the bushes, took a careful look at the garden, and then, having deemed it safe, the whole animal stepped out. The fox looked up at the boy, and he grinned.
"That's great. Let's go, then."
Getting out of the mansion couldn't have been easier. A simple spell to persuade the servants not to look in his direction – a handy thing to know, and something he definitely hadn't learned from his uncle – and he walked out without a hindrance, following the fox. The little animal seemed to have a similar persuasion on, as no one paid any attention to a fox walking on the streets in broad daylight.
He had not walked long when he noticed a familiar figure ahead – no, two familiar figures, he noted in surprise. He hurried after them.
"Good morning."
The boy he spoke to, none other than Hikaru, turned to look back with a start. "Oh, it's you! I mean... morning."
"I hope you're alright," Seimei went on. "Akitada's servants weren't too rough?"
"Nah. Just threw me out, is all. I'm fine. Eh, thanks for asking." He was watching the boy a bit hesitantly. "So, um, where are you going?"
"I'm not quite sure, but I expect to find out soon. For now, we seem to be heading to the same direction."
"Oh."
As Hikaru just stood there and kept on staring at him with a weird expression, he made a small inquiring move with his hand. The fox was growing impatient. "Or... were you going somewhere else?"
The older boy gave a start, as if waking up. "Oh! No, I'm going that way. I think."
"You think?" Seimei asked, as they started walking again.
"Well," Hikaru scratched his ear thoughtfully. "I think I might go to see a friend of mine. Or his father, really. Maybe. I don't know. I'm just not sure if I want to. I mean, all that onmyouji business is kinda creepy." He blushed a little, remembering who he was talking with. "No offense," he muttered.
Seimei just shrugged it off. They walked across the wide Suzaku Avenue, this time of the day quite a busy street. Carts rolled by, drawn by oxes and by men, and both nobility and commoners were out, hurrying here and there, perhaps with a bit more urgency as usual, as everyone wanted to get their business finished soon, so that once evening would come and the new emperor receive succession, they would be free to celebrate.
When they reached the cool shadow of the willows that lined the avenue, Hikaru threw uncertain glances at the younger boy, hesitating again. "You talked about a ghost," he said finally. "You did mean Sai, right?"
Seimei nodded. "Yes."
"So he's at Akitada's mansion?"
"Not anymore."
"What?" Hikaru shot him a startled look. "What do you mean, not anymore?"
"Do you really mean you don't notice anything?" Seimei asked him, at the same time disbelieving and curious. "How can you not feel anything? He's right here."
"Here?" Hikaru spun around. "Where?"
"I did notice he had disappeared from the mansion," Seimei went on without stopping, and Hikaru had to spring after him. "But I thought he had simply followed Akitada-sama. It seems it was you he has been following."
"You mean I've been walking around with a ghost all this time?" Hikaru asked, quite wide-eyed.
"Apparently. But it seems I've reached my destination." Seimei stopped and looked at the fox that had sat down in front of grand mansion's gate.
"But, wait," Hikaru spluttered. "You can't just tell me something like that, and then... oh." He looked at the mansion a little more closely. "I think this is where I'm going to, too." He blinked. "But why are you here?"
"Who lives here?" Seimei asked without answering his question, and Hikaru blinked again.
"Huh? That friend of mine. Kamo no Akira."
Seimei nodded thoughtfully. "Makes sense."
"What makes sense?" Hikaru asked, but the boy was already heading in and didn't hear him.
A little while later they were sitting inside the mansion, facing Kamo no Tadayuki and his two sons. Hikaru shifted a little nervously, glancing from one person to another. He didn't have a clue what was going on, but everyone seemed to be more interest in his young companion than in him – everyone except Akira, who was watching him quite intently.
"I received a letter from your mother this morning," Tadayuki said. "I didn't expect you quite yet, though."
"I was sent here now," Seimei said, bowing a little. "What... if I may ask, what did my mother say?"
"You don't know? She had a... suggestion. But we can talk more about that later. Now..." he glanced at Akira, then at Hikaru, and then somewhere a little past the still quite confused boy. "Now there are more important things to discuss."
"Is it really true?" Hikaru asked, a little timidly. "About the ghost? I mean, he said..." His voice trailed off as Kamo no Tadayuki nodded.
"There is a strong presence following you." He glanced at his younger son, while Akira stared at him with great surprise. "Yasunori?"
"I can sense it too, father," the boy said. "Almost... see it. But not quite."
"I thought the ghost was supposed to haunt Sugawara no Akitada?" Tadayuki asked, turning back to Hikaru.
"That's how it used to be," Seimei replied. "But it looks like the ghost is quite fond of him." He nodded toward Hikaru.
"I've heard the story from my son," Tadayuki said, "but I'd like to hear it again directly from you."
He looked straight at Hikaru who drew a little shaky breath and launched to his story. He was interrupted many times with questions, and every now and then Seimei added some details from his point of view.
"I need to consult my calendars," Tadayuki stated once the boys fell silent. He rose up. "Before you came, I already saw some strange things in the paths of the stars. But I need to take another look at it now that I know more." He nodded a little at Hikaru. "Please wait here – I don't want your otherworldly companion to affect the results. Come," he said to his younger son and Seimei, who got up with great satisfaction being invited with them.
Akira and Hikaru remained behind as the three left. They looked at each other in deep silence, which Akira finally broke.
"Does this mean Fujiwara no Sai is here?"
"That's what they're saying," Hikaru muttered. "But I don't know anything. I don't know what's going on."
Silence took over again. Quiet birdsong carried in from the garden, but otherwise everything was quiet – one could almost hear the breathing of the two boys who both attempted to come up with something to say, and failed.
"How about a game while we wait?" Akira finally said, and this time Hikaru was relieved by the suggestion. He flashed a tiny smile.
"Great idea."
Akira sent for a go board, and once it arrived, the atmosphere relaxed instantly. They bent over it, eager to pass the time until they would be needed again.
A couple of hours later when the three onmyouji returned, the scene they faced was quite hectic.
"How can you call that a good move! With moves like that you wouldn't win against a half-blind imbecile!"
"You're one to talk! It's not like your move here was something to brag about!"
Kamo no Tadayuki stopped by the go board and cleared his throat, but to no avail.
"What do you mean? It's a perfectly valid..."
"I could have captured all these stones if I'd played here after that!"
"But you didn't, so don't...!"
"What are you two doing?" Tadayuki asked, rather loudly to be heard over the yelling. The two boys fell silent and turned to look at him with blank expressions, as if it took them a moment to realize there were other people in the world too, and these other people were perfectly entitled to disturb them during their 'discussion'.
"We're playing go, father," Akira finally stated.
"I never knew go was quite that loud," Tadayuki muttered, looking down at the board with a shake of his head. "Do you think you could have a break?"
"Of course," Akira muttered looking a little embarrassed and started putting the stones away. "What have you concluded?"
"We had a long talk, examined stars and calendars. There is a big distortion here, which needs to be corrected. How, that is the question. It would help to find out, without any uncertainty, all that truly happened that day."
"So why don't you just ask Sai?" Hikaru asked. "If he's right here, and you can see him and all..."
"It isn't quite so simple. A ghost... is something incomplete, like yin without yang, a memory of something that was. It is a concentration of energy that can take the form it had during life, if you have the skill to see it. But you're right. We should ask him. And there is one way."
The way he was watching Hikaru made the boy swallow. "What kind of a way?" he asked, mouth dry, wondering if he wanted to know.
"Having him speak through a medium. In other words, he must possess someone."
He definitely didn't want to know this. "Possess?" he asked meekly. "As in... kinda taking over the body and, and... so?"
"And so," Kamo no Tadayuki agreed. "Because of your connection, you would be the best candidate. We can send for someone else, if you'd prefer not to do this."
"You mean I don't have to?" Hikaru breathed, immensely relieved.
"You're not going to do it?" Akira asked, sounding surprised. "You're not afraid of him, are you?"
"I..." Hikaru fell silent. He remembered how he had just a little ago strongly objected at the possibility of Sai turning into a vehement, vengeful spirit. Afraid of Sai? How could he ever be afraid of Sai... Not to mention, what would Sai think of him if he wasn't ready to do this much for him. "I guess I'll do it," he finally muttered.
"Good." Tadayuki nodded. "We don't have much time – I have to leave to the palace as soon as I can. I'd like to get this done today, as the stars are favorable; we would have to wait days for a next suitable day." He shook his head, slightly amused. "What an absurd situation. Helping a ghost to possess someone? Usually our work is quite the opposite. But come, let's get started."
Random piece of information, as there are no notes... usually the mediums used in exorcism were young women. In the case of a possession (and sickness too was often thought to be caused by spirits), a priest would transfer the evil spirit to a medium and drive it out of her once it would "announce" itself. The skeptic in me says that this must have given frauds an easy way to fool people, but... eh, never mind.
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