Page 34 of Shadow of the Fox

“There is something you should know about me,” Tatsumi said, startling me from my thoughts. I looked up to find him still brooding into the flames, his expression thoughtful. “Something that you should decide for yourself, before we go any farther.”

I straightened, surprised that he was volunteering information. In all our travels, Tatsumi had shied away from any questions about himself, his family, or his clan. After his tortured confession earlier today, I’d promised myself I wouldn’t press him further, that his secrets were his own. After all, I had my fair share of secrets, too.

“You can tell me,” I said. “It won’t scare me off, I promise. Well, unless you’re really a yurei who has been masquerading as a human all this time. Oh, but if that was the case, you wouldn’t know you were a ghost, would you?”

He continued to watch the fire. I sensed he was still struggling with himself, debating whether or not to say anything, before he bowed his head with a sigh.

“There is...a rather large price on my head,” Tatsumi admitted at last. “Not from the magistrates or clans or any human organization. From the demons, and yokai. From the spirit world. They want me dead. Or, technically, they want the bearer of Kamigoroshi dead.”

“Why?”

“Because Kamigoroshi was created to kill demons,” Tatsumi answered. “That’s the entire purpose of its existence. And not just demons—it also works on yokai, spirits, even kami. Creatures that can’t be slain with a normal blade.”

“Oh,” I said. I’d known Kamigoroshi wasn’t a normal sword, but I hadn’t known the entire demon and spirit world was aware of it and its bearer. “So, you’re saying that if a ghost came right through the wall and tried to grab you, you could kill it?”

“Yes.”

“What about fireball yokai? They have no bodies. Can Kamigoroshi kill them, too?”

“I’ve killed several.”

“Oni?”

“Yes, Yumeko.” Tatsumi nodded. “Even an oni, if it doesn’t kill me first. But that’s not the point I wanted to make. Within the blade...is the trapped spirit of a demon. Its name is Hakaimono, and it is old, powerful and very angry. Whoever wields Kamigoroshi is constantly in danger of having their soul possessed.”

I drew in a slow breath, trying to process what he’d told me. He carried a demon in his blade; that was why just looking at the sword could make my skin crawl. “What happens if your soul is possessed?” I asked in a small voice. Tatsumi gave me a cold stare.

“What do you think?”

Now it was I who gazed into the fire, watching it snap and curl. For a moment, I found it sadly ironic; this was the most I’d ever heard him talk, and it was about something I could really do without hearing. “Why are you telling me this now?”

“You saved my life,” Tatsumi said. “I want you to understand what staying with me really means.” He held the sheathed blade up to the light. “Kamigoroshi is a cursed sword, Yumeko. Its bearer is also cursed. Demons and yokai will constantly seek me out to destroy me, which means they’ll try to kill you, too. And I... I am not someone you should ever trust. In fact, it would be better if I’d never made that promise.”

I looked up quickly. “What are you trying to say, Tatsumi?”

He paused. My heart thumped in my chest, and my stomach knotted as I watched him. The firelight danced in his eyes and flickered over his face, and his expression looked strangely torn. “Being around me will always be dangerous,” he finally said. “I will do my best to protect you, as I promised, but enemies of all sorts will come after us. Some might be very powerful. All will try to kill me. And there is the constant danger of Hakaimono. I want you to be fully prepared for what that means.”

“Tatsumi-san.” I hesitated, knowing I had to choose my words carefully. To not give him any indication that I had the Dragon’s prayer. The thing the demons, witches and yokai were really after. “I have to find Master Jiro,” I told him. “Imustreach the Steel Feather temple, to let them know what happened to Master Isao and the others. I have a duty of my own, but more than that...it was Master Isao’s last request. I promised him I would find the temple and warn them all. I just hope the demons don’t find the Steel Feather temple before me.”

His shoulders slumped; the concept of duty was all too familiar for a warrior. And Tatsumi, as cold and hardened and dangerous as he was, didn’t seem the type to abandon a vow. “I made a promise, too,” I said. “I’m going to the temple, Tatsumi-san, with or without you. You’re welcome to follow along. I would welcome the company, and I’m not afraid. But you don’t have to be so gloomy about it.”

He blinked and looked up at me. “Gloomy?”

Apparently, no one had accused him of being gloomy before, either. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile,” I told him. “Master Isao would say you look like a monkey who accidentally dropped its last persimmon into a pond.” That statement brought out a bemused frown, and I smiled. “I trust you, Tatsumi. I think you’re too strong to let a demon possess you. And if you’re worried about monsters or yokai coming after us, don’t be. I’m not completely helpless. I certainly surprised the wind witch today.”

“You did.” The ghost of a smile crossed his face. “Did your Master Isao often compare people to monkeys?”

“Not usually. Mostly it was just me.”

He actually chuckled, and it sent a flutter through my insides. Though he sobered almost immediately. “All right,” he said. “Then, we continue together. For as long as I can protect you. Until I’ve paid my debt.”

The kodama watched over us all night.

14

Beware of Stray Dogs

“Tatsumi, listen,” Yumeko said the next morning. “You can hear the birds again.”

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