Takaya, Naoe, and Ayako arrived in Nikkou that evening after their desperate and fiercely-contested flight out of the Fuuma’s net around Hakone. Ayako had gone on ahead, and she and Maiko were there to meet them at Asaoka Inn on Lake Chuuzenji
.
“Tachibana-san...!” Maiko ran up to Naoe in her sandals as he alighted unharmed from the Windom.
“Asaoka-san...”
“I’m so glad you’re back safely! How is your wound? It hasn’t opened up again?”
“Naoe. Maiko-san hasn’t been able to sleep a wink since you left, you know,” Ayako interjected sympathetically.
“Not a wink?”
“Out of worry for you, poor thing. You should thank her for her concern.”
Eyes filling, Maiko shook her head vigorously.
“I apologize for worrying you.”
“Oh no, don’t mind me. I’m just glad you’re all right, Tachibana-san. That’s all I need to know.”
Tachibana had certainly not had an easy time of it. His clothes were dirty and torn, his hair disheveled. Even so, her chest ached as she looked up at his gentle face. She wiped again and again at her wet cheeks with the back of her hand. Then she noticed—
A gaze upon them: behind Tachibana, a young man was standing in front of the passenger-side door, barefoot.
Maiko’s heart skipped a beat, and she unconsciously straightened. Was it because of the white kimono he wore, how like funereal garb it looked?
She had the impression of a cool, clear dignity, almost as of a white animal of the wild.
The contrast between his slight tan and his clothes lent his features even greater distinction. He carried himself with an air that plainly said he did not allow many people to approach. He appeared to be around the same age as her younger brother Shinya, but...
(Who is he...?)
He tilted his chin and stared at her through upturned eyes, the chill in his gaze sending a shiver down her spine. Yet Maiko was caught by the beauty of those eyes, unable to look away.
(Oh...it’s him...)
Maiko finally recalled where she had seen him before: he was the young man who had appeared in the mirror.
(Which means he was the one Tachibana-san left to rescue...)
What a beautiful person, Maiko thought as she gazed at Takaya. She would not normally have described a man in those terms, but this beauty had nothing to do with the flesh. It was an intensity he exuded, an inner strength that could not be concealed.
His pride shone from his eyes. Someone who had the kind of strength that could lead others, willing or not, had that kind of air about them, Maiko thought.
“...? What is it?” a puzzled Ayako asked from beside her. The young man dropped his eyes, releasing her from his gaze. Even that slight movement, so violently beautiful as to make her shiver, was enough to freeze Maiko in place.
“Asaoka-san, would it be possible to arrange a change of clothes for him? A bath would be most welcome as well.”
“Wh-yes, of course.” Naoe’s voice recalled Maiko to herself. “The public bath is always open; please feel free to avail yourself of it at your convenience. As for clothes—if you don’t mind my brother’s, I’ll go get them for you now.”
“Please. And if we could have some food—something light would be wonderful.”
“Of course, immediately. Your rooms are ready for you.”
“Thank you. ...Shall we, Takaya-san?” he suggested, stepping toward Takaya and lifting a hand toward his shoulder. But Takaya smacked it away before it could touch him. His glare encompassed both Naoe and Maiko. She didn’t know the reason for it, but she could feel his hostility and displeasure, and it scared her.
Ayako hurriedly interjected, “Come on, Kagetora, I’ll show you to your room.”
She went inside with Takaya.
Naoe’s eyes followed him as he walked away. There was neither coldness nor gentleness in them, but a strange kind of lucent sincerity. Maiko had never seen that sort of expression from him before.
Could it be? she wondered.
(Who is he, Tachibana-san?)
Don’t be ridiculous, she hurriedly scolded herself.
Besides, he was a man, which obviously made it impossible. He would never think about another man in that unnatural way, Maiko’s sense of moral righteousness insisted. Yet there was another side of her that knew she had, in her heart of hearts, instinctively grasped the situation with a natural and terrible understanding. It all made sense, if this was the person Tachibana had meant when he‘d said, ’You would understand if you should ever meet.’ No, that just couldn’t be. But—
(I’m wrong...aren’t I? Tachibana-san...?)
Affixed upon that white-clad back, Tachibana’s gaze fascinated her more strongly than it ever had before. His regard, which could never be hers however much she wished for it, so casually dismissed...
He disappeared inside without a single glance back.
As if he never even noticed the gaze focused so unerringly upon him.
Maiko could only wonder at their relationship. Frustration and a smoldering jealousy flared in her as she looked up at Naoe’s handsome profile.
But Naoe was an adult, capable of setting aside his emotions at need. “Tell me about the situation in Nikkou, Maiko-san,” he requested with the business-like air of an efficient secretary. “These are matters of much urgency, so please be as detailed as you can.”
“Ye-yes. Of course,” Maiko nodded, her own emotions in turmoil as she looked over her shoulder at the doorway through which Takaya had vanished with Ayako.
Returning to his room after a quick bath, Takaya changed into the clothes Maiko had borrowed for him from Shinya. They were apparently of a size, for Takaya fit into the black jeans perfectly. Maiko had also thoughtfully provided a long-sleeved shirt in grayish-blue against the bite in the September night air. It was comfortably large on him, though the sleeves were too long. Maiko gave him her own armbands to hold them up.
“It’s too bad you’ve gone back to wearing Western-style clothes.”
“...?”
Catching the strange look Takaya gave her, Maiko pressed a hand against her mouth in embarrassment. “Oh, I’m sorry, it’s just that the kimono really suited you.”
In Western attire, he had reverted into a normal ‘boy,’ and Maiko had unthinkingly spoken to him as she would her little brother.
A reticent Takaya lowered his eyes.
“Kagetora, Naoe wants to meet to discuss next steps,” Ayako entered. Takaya responded in the affirmative with his ‘Kagetora’ face on.
Maiko stopped him before he stepped out the door. “Please....please save my brother. Please save Shinya!”
Takaya stared at Maiko for a moment in silence. Then he gave her a small smile. “It’ll be all right...” was all he said before he left.
Naoe was waiting in the innermost room on the second floor. He, too, had showered and changed. The hair at the nape of his neck was still wet, as were the shoulders of his clean business shirt.
Two maps were spread out on the low table: one of Nikkou City, the other of the entire Kantou area. Ayako and Takaya sat, and the discussion began without preamble.
“The spot circled in red pen is Mt. Nikkou. Word is that the police have closed the mountain, blocking all access.”
“The police are involved?”
“Likely operating outside their official capacities. I assume they have either been possessed by the Houjou or are being controlled with hypnotic suggestion. It would be very easy for the onshou to take over the police force,” Naoe pointed out, leaning forward and indicating the map of the Kantou with his pen. “This is the Great Kantou Triangle. Here is Nikkou.” Naoe moved the pen due south. “Here is Tokyo.” The pen continued southward, stopping on the tip of Bousou Peninsula. “Mt. Tate—or, more precisely, Sunosaki Shrine at Cape Suno, the first point Houjou established. If we draw a line on the 35th-degree latitude due west—” Naoe illustrated with the pen, “We reach the Mt. Kunou Toushou Shrine in Shizuoka. This is the second point. If we then draw a line from here to Nikkou, we end up with a great right triangle.” He traced the right angle at Mt. Tate to complete the triangle. “If we start from the right angle at Mt. Tate and draw a line perpendicular to the one connecting Mt. Kunou to Nikkou, we hit Mt. Fuji; around two-thirds of the way on that line is Hakone.”
“That’s incredible,” Ayako exclaimed, amazed. “To achieve such perfect geometry—it’s almost like everything was placed by magic.”
“It’s not a coincidence. The Toushou Shrine in Nikkou was built with precisely this in mind.”
“What...?” Ayako’s eyes widened as Naoe tapped Nikkou with the pen.
“Ieyasu’s confidant, High Priest Tenkai, was extraordinarily well-versed in the secret teachings. A straight east-west line connects Lord Ieyasu’s holy mausoleum at Mt. Kunou to his birthplace in Okazaki, crossing Mt. Hourai and even Kyoto. It was clearly designed to be a mirror of the ‘path of the sun’, which rises in the east and sets in the west.”
“...”
“Did you know that the shrine at Mt. Kunou faces south-southwest? Behind it is Mt. Fuji, on a straight line from Nikkou.”
“The sacred mountain Fuji, symbolizing immortality,” Takaya took over the explanation, “and the ‘path of the sun’, symbolizing the cycle of life and death. Traveling from the endpoint, ‘death,’ along that path of immortality, we reach Nikkou, where Ieyasu lies... It means that Ieyasu will never die.”
“Exactly. The line connecting Nikkou to Edo is the ‘path of the North Star.’ That is: if you look due north towards Polaris, the immovable star at the center of the universe, from Edo, you reach Nikkou. Toushou Shrine was built facing Edo in the south.”
“And Nikkou with its long history is the greatest holy ground within the Kantou,” Ayako nodded in admiration. “So the immortal conqueror lies at the center of the universe, huh? It’s certainly a fitting place for the great Toushou Avatar.”
“This grand cosmology was Tenkai’s supplication for eternal peace and security for the Tokugawa Shogunate, and he designed his gigantic figure to perform the enormously powerful magic that went into his spell.”
“Yes, Tenkai certainly was an extraordinary man. The magnificent metaphysical formation he created as the foundation for his protection spell is one-of-a-kind. There is nothing else like this.”
Ayako looked at Takaya sharply. “And the Houjou is planning to exploit it, right? To focus the enormous power gathered within the formation at Hakone and use it to conquer the entire Kantou?”
“Not just the Kantou. Such power would likely make it a simple matter to conquer the entire country,” Takaya said, chin in hand and a grave look on his face. “This formation is designed to concentrate power. The Houjou will use it as their ‘receiver.’ Then they will create an energy fusion using the ‘Ritual of Unification by Fire’ at Nikkou and blast all the power gathered there to the ‘lightning rods’ at Mt. Tate and Mt. Kunou, encompassing and gaining complete control of the entire area within the enormous triangle thus created. Their original plan was to claim Hakone as the seat of their power, but they couldn’t complete the ‘receiver’ at Hakone. Takaya’s eyes flashed. ”The Houjou must be sweating buckets by now. They’ll be impatient, try to hurry things along."
“Nikkou will be the place, then...”
“They’ll make their move soon.”
But before they could do so...
They had to first bind Narita Yuruzu to the master tree as tribute.
Or perhaps he was already bound.
“Recovering the Tsutsuga Mirror will allow us to free the tree-bound and return them to normal. The bigger problem is stopping the ‘Ritual of Unification by Fire’ within the mountain. That power will be at its peak, making approach difficult—nor can we cut through from the outside.”
“With so much spiritual power at their command, they’ll be proof against «choubuku». I guess it’ll be impossible to do anything until we can disperse the power they’ve gathered,” Ayako groaned, face grim. “The question is, how do we hold back that much power?”
“An alternative is to stop the ‘Ritual of Unification by Fire’ itself—or, if it’s already started, to counter it. What we did at Hakone Shrine won’t work—the area is too large to attempt a ‘fire-sealing,’ and we don’t have the power to even shake them.”
“Ugh. It’s not a problem we can solve by calling in the fire engines and pouring water on it. But we don’t have the time to do what we did in Sendai and summon opposing magic, either.”
Naoe suddenly looked up at the words ‘opposing magic.’ “It’s not entirely out of the question.”
“Huh...?”
“We don’t have enough time to start from scratch, but it might be possible to revive an old spell.”
“What d’you mean?”
Naoe turned to Takaya. “The spell that legend says High Priest Tenkai performed in this place to secure peace for the country—let us revive it, Kagetora-sama.”
Ayako started. “Is that even possible?”
"We won’t know until we try it, but I recall reading about a high priest in the Edo Era reviving the residual traces of a spell called ‘secret arts to pacify the water gods.’ He performed it in Sanuki, at the same place where it was originally cast by Kuukai, the Grand Minister of Buddhist Teachings, in order to avert calamity by water.
No record remains of the original ceremony, so we cannot duplicate High Priest Tenkai’s ritual with any precision. However, if performed at the same place, using the ritual implements he placed at the heart of his ceremony, I believe it will be possible to awaken the power absorbed into the earth from that long-ago spell, Kagetora-sama.
The level of power will not be the same, of course, but if the original spell has endured, I suspect its scope will have ensured that a great deal remains in the earth nevertheless. If we can awaken this power generated from the secret arts High Priest Tenkai performed to protect this country in this very land of Nikkou, we may be able to extinguish the spiritual power of Mt. Nikkou."
“A four-hundred-year-old spell, huh?” Takaya’s gaze shifted, eyes narrowing. “Given that we won’t be able to perform Tenkai’s original spell, there’s no guarantee that whatever residual energy remains will be enough. If it’s as huge as the stories say, though, maybe there will be.”
“What spell did Tenkai use to protect the country, anyway?”
“It’s said to be a secret art of ‘Sannou Ichijitsu Shinto.’ ‘Sannou Shinto’ was apparently created by Tenkai.”
“He created it?”
“I have heard that he derived it from the ‘Daigensui Dharma,’ a powerful secret ritual which calls on Daigensui Myouou to protect the country. Though the details of the ritual had been lost for centuries, Tenkai was apparently able to recover it,” Takaya recounted the story while Ayako looked at him in astonishment.
“Tenkai was a pretty amazing man, huh?” she sighed.
“He was also the one who recovered the stolen Tsutsuga Mirror from the Fuuma and trapped the tsutsuga cub,” Naoe added.
“You could say he was a modern giant of the esoteric arts. But apparently he feared that the secret art of ‘Sannou Ichijitsu Shinto’ would be abused, and sealed all of it away.”
“Sealed?” Naoe echoed.
“Yeah. That’s probably what happened to the implements he used as well. If we’re actually going to revive Tenkai’s secret arts, we’ll need something to place at the center of the spell.”
“If I recall correctly, a human skull was used as the core of the powerful ‘Daigensui Dharma.’”
“A human skull...” Takaya repeated, frowning.
Then: “The ‘Sannou Ichijitsu Shinto’ secret ritual used the skull of the Conqueror himself.”
All of them turned at the voice from the doorway.
Kousaka Danjou, just returned from scouting Houjou-occupied Mt. Nikkou, greeted them with his usual faint smile. “Well well, Kagetora-dono, it appears you survived your ordeal unscathed. Should I congratulate you for not falling prey to the wolf?”
“You bastard...” Naoe half-rose.
Takaya held him back, inquiring coolly, “The skull of the Conqueror?”
“Tenkai deified Ieyasu with the ‘Sannou Ichijitsu Shinto.’ He used Ieyasu’s own skull in the secret ritual to allow Ieyasu to reign eternally even after death.”
“Then to revive the spell, we’ll need Ieyasu’s skull?”
“Tenkai sealed the ‘Sannou Ichijitsu Shinto’ into the skull and buried it; the essence of the secret ritual is condensed therein.” Kousaka tossed his glossy black hair lightly and smiled his dangerous smile. “If you could but obtain Ieyasu’s skull, you’ll likely be able to revive the spell; if you are successful, you will have power equaling that of Houjou’s ritual, Kagetora-dono.”
“But Ieyasu’s remains are...”
“They’re at Toushou Shrine’s rear pagoda.”
“We can’t entered Mt. Nikkou, Kagetora-sama.”
Takaya thought it over before suggesting slowly, “... Shall we—use the tsutsuga, then?”
“The tsutsuga?”
“They’ll need a tsutsuga for the tree-binding at Mt. Nikkou, and they’ll probably have more standing guard. The tsutsuga move freely within the mountain. Using the female tsutsuga as intermediary, I can control the others and have them retrieve Ieyasu’s skull from the rear pagoda.”
“What about the ceremony itself?”
“The key will be ‘Daigensui Myouou.’ But it won’t work unless performed by someone with a great deal of power,” Kousaka pointed out, giving Takaya a sidelong glance from where he leaned against a pillar. “You are the only one capable of it, Kagetora-dono.”
Takaya met Kousaka’s look calmly. “All right.”
Naoe quickly asked Ayako, “Contact Nagahide, Haruie. I’m concerned about him. If he’s been captured, we’ll send the Gohou Douji to rescue him. We need detailed information about Houjou’s movements if at all possible.”
“Got it.”
“Kagetora-sama, I doubt that the Houjou are unaware of Tenkai’s spell. They have probably already created a ‘spell seal’ or the like to forestall us.”
“Then we’ll just have break the seal before performing the revival spell,” Takaya pronounced. “We may have no other choice than to match our power against theirs.”
At that moment the door opened without even a knock, and Maiko rushed into the room.
“Maiko-san, what...”
“Something terrible has happened at Futarasan Shrine!”
“What?”
“I just heard from my neighbors! An armed riot police squad broke into the Chuuguushi , forcefully cleared out the priests, and are occupying the entire grounds. They closed all the roads, and no one’s allowed in or out!”
All four occupants of the room looked up sharply. The Chuuguushi was, like the magnificent scarlet Shinto shrine built on the banks of Lake Chuuzenji, one of three shrines belonging to Futarasan Shrine. It had been built by Holy Priest Shoudou to worship winter on Mt. Nantai from afar. The riot police were likely being controlled by the Houjou. To have them occupy the Chuuguushi by force...
“What’s going on, Kagetora?”
“Futarasan Shrine was on the Houjou side during Toyotomi’s Houjou offensive. It has deep ties to the Houjou. ...Anyway, it looks like they‘ll be linking Chuuguushi with the main shrine so they can use it as their headquarters to control Mt. Nikkou’s ’unification,’” Takaya explained, looking at Ayako and Naoe. “I order you to take back Chuuguushi. Clear the occupiers, but do not harm their vessels. Got it?”
“As you command.”
“What are you going to do, Kagetora?”
“Stay here and contact Nagahide, revive Tenkai’s secret ritual. I can use my power. The Tsutsuga Mirrors should be back in Nikkou.”
“The Tsutsuga Mirrors are here? Both of them?”
“They’re the tsutsuga’s power source. The Mirrors are both the Houjou’s strongest weapon and defense against harm to their clan head, and essential for the completion of their ritual—yes they’ll have it with them. They would have returned to my brother Ujimasa’s hand sooner or later,” Takaya pointed out, eyes flashing. “I’ll perform the revival using the Mirror as conduit for my power. We’ll take care of that part; I leave the recapture of Chuuguushi to you. ”
Naoe and Ayako immediately stood and departed.
Takaya turned to Maiko, who was still lingering in the doorway. “I’m going to create a barrier around this room. No one should enter for the time being. Could you bring me four shallow bowls or something similar holding clear water? They should be as cold as possible. I also need the same number of evergreen needles, if they can be obtained.”
“Evergreen needles? Ye-yes, I think so.” Maiko hurried out of the room as Takaya frowned at the map of Nikkou City.
One person remained. “Are you going to destroy the Houjou, Kagetora?”
Takaya glared sharply at Kousaka.
“Have you no longer any feelings of kinship for them? Has Kenshin taken their place in your heart?”
“Say whatever you please. I will smash Houjou’s ambition with my own two hands—do you see me hesitating in that?”
“...It’s personal, then? Do you bear a grudge?”
“I said goodbye to them a long time ago,” Takaya returned firmly. “It’d be stupid to try taking back the past at this late date.”
Kousaka narrowed his eyes with interest and abruptly turned on his heels. “I will appeal to my lord to dispatch his emergency troops to Hakone.”
“...!”
“Takeda will seize Mt. Kunou and strike at the ‘receiver’ in Shizuoka. Your brother Ujinori-dono will be there. We will take his head, Kagetora-dono.”
Pain stabbed his chest. Takaya gritted his teeth against the tidalwave of guilt. “...I’m obliged.”
“We’ll also lend a hand in the recapture of Chuuguushi.” Kousaka snorted at the mix of sarcasm and pure hatred from Takaya. “We’ll trust you to smash the Tsutsuga Mirrors to pieces, Kagetora-dono,” were Kousaka’s departing words. Takaya clenched his teeth as he followed Kousaka’s receding back with eyes that burned with hate.
His chest ached with renewed longing, and gentle memories of his brothers threatened to overwhelm him. Takaya clenched his fists desperately against the memories that he must not remember, shutting them away behind an iron wall. He closed his eyes tightly, steeling himself for what he must do.
The tsutsuga bit through the manacles tying his hands behind his back with a metallic clink that echoed around the cave. Chiaki grinned with satisfaction. “Aaaall right! Good kitty, good boy!” he said, stroking the tsutsuga’s head as its nose twitched.
“Yasuda-dono, we must leave as quickly as we can. We have already lost a great deal of time.” Katakura, first to be freed from his chains, was already waiting at the prison entrance.
“Yeah yeah, I got it. All right, let’s get that lock next.”
At his command, the hypnotically tamed tsutsuga immediately sprang towards the bars and sank its razor teeth into the sturdy iron lock. It soon gave way, and Chiaki and Katakura followed the tsutsuga out of the prison. They climbed the dark stairs up until another iron door barred their way.
The tsutusga took a huge breath, its chest expanding. Then it spat a fierce gout of fire at the door. The iron glowed red and began to melt away in the heat of the blowtorch-blue flame until a great gaping hole appeared in the center of the door. The tsutsuga leapt out and the two men followed, all three emerging into a long corridor.
“We’re still on the grounds, I believe?”
“There’s nobody around. What time is it?”
“Nineteen-thirty.”
Chiaki clicked his tongue in disgust and grimaced. They’d lost a lot of time, and much had likely changed in the meantime. Holding an arm around his sharply aching ribs, Chiaki said impatiently, “We gotta get outta here and find Narita.”
“Yasuda-dono!”
There was the sound of footsteps hurrying down the staircase at the end of the corridor: armed Houjou vassals approaching them at a run. Maybe the place had surveillance cameras installed—their escape had been noticed, at any rate.
“Who invited you, you boneheads?!” Chiaki yelled, and the tsutsuga leapt to the attack. The screaming men fired wildly, their bullets flying into and through the tsutsuga. It bared its fangs, golden eyes flashing, and the soul-devoured men crumbled one by one to the ground.
“Have a good nap, guys! Let’s go!”
The two escaped prisoners sprinted down the long corridor.
The mantle of night had already fallen outside, and the wind was chill against their skin. Looking up at a starlit sky, Katakura said, “There are too few vassals here; could the ‘Ritual of Unification by Fire’ have already begun at Mt. Nikkou?”
“No ‘could’ about it, eight/nine chances out of ten it has. Looks like the Houjou boss and his underlings are all out for a swanky night out. ...Feh, I can’t sense Narita’s aura at all,” Chiaki grumbled, before starting and looking up at the sky.
“What is it?”
“Quiet.”
Chiaki focused his consciousness and listened not with his ears, but with his mind to the voice calling to him—Ayako’s. They conversed mind-to-mind for a moment, and Chiaki grinned.
“Yasuda-dono.”
“That idiot tiger, guess he actually managed to get outta that death trap at Hakone. Huh. She’s babbling about Ieyasu’s skull or something. Well, you should’ve told me earlier that that’s what you’re planning, you blockhead.”
“Ieyasu’s skull?”
Chiaki relayed the gist of the conversation.
“He can’t rely on the tsutsuga alone. I’d have gone to Mt. Nikkou to lend a hand anyway, she didn’t have to tell me that, geez.”
“Invade Mt. Nikkou? The barrier there will make it much harder than this estate to penetrate.”
“This tsutsuga’ll make short work of any barrier; it’ll give me a better chance than a frontal attack. I’m gonna try it, anyway. Kagetora can easily take care of the guys with guns.”
“I must contact my lord immediately to dspatch Date soldiers to Mt. Tate. Where is Uesugi-dono now?”
“At Chuuzenji. The Houjou have taken possession of Chuuguushi.”
“Then I will join Uesugi-dono. We must also search for Narita-dono. I will mobilize the Date Kurohabaki to aid in the retaking of Chuuguushi.”
“Thanks.”
Katakura nodded and started for the roadway. Chiaki sprinted for his Leopard. It was still parked where he had left it on a forest path, thankfully unharmed. He and the tsutsuga both climbed in. He inserted the key, and the engine turned over.
“Hmph, thought for a moment there that idiot Kagetora was gonna commit double suicide with Naoe. Guess he proved me wrong.” Gritting his teeth against the pain of his wounds, Chiaki glared at the space before him. “His sheer bloody-mindedness drives me out of my bloody mind.”
Trees loomed out of the darkness in the glow of his headlights. He stepped hard on the accelerator, sending the Leopard leaping over mud roads into a flat-out sprint.
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