Page 20

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Ryukage froze as he saw his son crumple at his feet. His heart stopped. This was not what he wanted.

What he intended.

Furious, he knelt down and slapped the boy awake.

That settled his anger, but did nothing to alleviate his worry...

Which quickly turned back into fury.

Growling, he forced himself not to slap his son again for causing these unwanted emotions. “Ryuichi... I’m not an unreasonable... creature. I don’t want to kill you.”

His son’s eyes flared as he scrambled to his feet. “What about my friends?”

Ryukage stood, then looked around at all the useless humans who were fighting his army.

And losing.

Badly.

They were all so pathetic. Why was his son attached to such worthless creatures?

He sighed. “Oh, them? Why, yes. I do quite want to kill them. They are all, to be frank, terrible people.”

Screwing up his face, Ryuichi glared at him with utter contempt and anger. “They’re my friends.”

“And you’ve chosen them poorly. A drunk who abuses you. A liar who raised you. And an idiot”—he gestured toward Masaru—“who betrayed you.”

Ryuichi followed his father’s gesture to lock gazes with a confused Masaru. While he might not be the best ally, it didn’t change the fact that he owed a lot to that kitsune.

And unlike his father, he had loyalty. “Masaru has done his best. He?—”

“Split your soul, son,” his father finished for him. “Into two pieces. Two pieces,” he repeated for effect. “You may never ever be whole again.”

That was a terrifying prospect. Though, to be honest, he and his shadow were in harmony at the moment.

“I don’t believe you.” And why should he? His father was known for his lies.

For deception.

His father sighed at Ryuichi’s resolve. “You’ve come far. Much farther than I could have ever hoped for. And yet there is so much more for you to learn. I can only hope that you’ll see the truth. Truth of me and the truth of you. See how much of my blood you carry.”

“I will never be like you. I could never forsake my honor.”

“Fair enough.” His father tightened his grip on him. “Such a shame, really. You came so close to your true destiny. But I can wait for you to spend enough time around humans that you’ll see them for the lying hypocrites they all are.”

“Have you noticed that your army is forsaking you?”

His father cast his glance around.

Sure enough, the tengu were running.

His father let out a deep, evil growl. “Figures. After all, they’re birdbrained. Good with a sword. Not much else.”

Then he turned that dark, evil glare toward Ryuichi. “If you want something done right...” His gaze went to Ryuichi’s closest friends. “Perhaps I’ll kill the drunk first.”

Those words seared him.

His father intended to kill Koichi.

No! He had to do something.

Ryuichi glanced to Masaru, who was out cold on the ground... or maybe dead. That last thought terrified him. Had his father already killed his guardian?

He looked at the others. Everything was still out of hand.

Then he heard a sweet voice... “Light is light. Dark is dark. If you wish to kill the beast, strike his heart.”

At first it sounded like Haruki.

But this voice didn’t laugh or mock. It was as gentle as a breeze and kissed over his body like a gentle caress.

“Mom?”

She didn’t respond, but he knew it was her way of trying to help him. And he understood what she was saying.

Like it or not, he had to kill his father.

And there was only one way to do it.

One stab through his back. It was the only way to reach his callous heart.

Only a dishonorable coward would strike from behind.

He felt his Ryuichi-kage shifting inside him. That’s why you have me.

“I won’t do it,” Ryuichi said between clenched teeth.

But did he have any choice?

His father headed for Takara. “I think I’ll get the girl first.”

One move. One kill.

Ryuichi might never have this chance again. His father thought him too weak and worthless to bother with.

Even with a surprise attack, his chances were nothing.

Do not falter.

His friends or his honor...

Shaking with fear and indecision, Ryuichi made the only choice he could.

He ran for his father’s back.

And just as he reached him and started to plunge his dagger through his rib cage, one of his father’s soldiers appeared out of nowhere.

Tall and dark, this one held eyes so white they were searing. Eyes like Masaru’s.

Without hesitation, the samurai struck a staggering blow that reverberated through Ryuichi. His entire being reacted to the pain of being cut across his chest.

One minute he was up... and the next he lay bleeding on the ground, a useless, broken thing.

A Kai-den.

Keep fighting. You must keep fighting.

But it was so hard. He was tired, and now the blood soaked him. His body was turning cold, and the light around him grew darker.

Don’t give up!

Those were his last thoughts as the darkness came and wrapped him gently in her sweetest embrace...

* * *

Ryukage froze as he saw Tatsu raise his sword to behead his son.

The twin kami were there, too, urging Tatsu on.

“No!” he shouted. Using his powers, he blasted Tatsu, then ran to his son.

The boy was dying. And it was all his fault. Images of Haruka went through him. This boy had been her greatest gift to him.

Protect our child . Those had been her dying words. Even now, he could see her as the life drained from her beautiful eyes.

He’d made her that promise, and now he’d broken it. Grief and agony ripped through him with a ferocity that made a mockery of what he’d felt when Haruka died.

This was his last part of her.

The best part of himself.

“Wake up, child!” He commanded the boy to rise, but yet again his child ignored him. “Don’t you dare die!”

Panic raced through his dark heart. He didn’t have the power of life. He was dark, and all he could do was watch helplessly as his son died.

His real legacy.

Never before had he felt so powerless. So weak.

Pathetic.

Turning human, he knelt beside the boy and pulled him into his arms. “Please, Ryuichi. Say something... anything. Spit at me. Yell at me. Curse my name. But please, don’t die.”

Like the errant child he was, his son ignored him.

Because he’d allowed the world to taint the only goodness he’d been able to create.

What have I done?

He glared at Tatsu, who stood there, emotionless. “You must kill him,” Tatsu said. “It is ordained.”

Ryukage rose with his son in his arms, ignoring Tatsu. “You are wrong.”

His gaze went to the humans. To the one demon who would protect his son.

But at what cost?

One of us has to die . In order for something to live, something must die. Yin and yang.

All his life, he’d chosen himself. Even when it’d come down to his existence or Haruka’s. He’d chosen her over him.

Tsukiya laughed cruelly. He and his sister had planned it this way.

I’m forever a pawn.

But not today.

His eyes filled with tears as he placed a kiss on his son’s brow.

Life for life.

With a fierce cry, he recalled his soldiers and banished them back to the nether realm, where they could do no more harm. Then he placed his son on the ground as he found the human part of himself.

He heard his sword whispering to him, begging him to finish his child.

The one act he could never do. That was one blood bond he refused to break.

Tatsu rushed at them.

Ryukage grabbed him, and for the last time, he merged them together. He and his own shadow were one.

We are honor.

No, he was a father.

And he would give his life so that his son could live.

* * *

Transfixed, Koichi watched the most incredible sight. Ryukage became one with his lead samurai.

How was that possible?

Then it dawned on him...

Ryukage was split too.

The samurai, Tatsu, was his human half, and the Ryukage was the shadow self who he’d allowed to consume the lead role.

Like with Ryuichi.

But who had split his father?

And why?

A chill went down his spine as he realized they had a deeper threat at work here. Someone else had been in control. Someone who’d wanted Ryuichi’s mother out of the picture.

Someone who’d wanted to destroy Ryukage in the process.

In the blink of an eye, all their enemies were gone, and Ryukage was in a battle with his lead samurai, who was himself. Obviously, he was trying to merge the samurai back into his body, but the samurai was having none of it.

Hanzō let out a war cry before he started after them. He would have reached them had Keiko not tripped him. A very undignified move that infuriated the great Hanzō, but it gave the Ryukage time to wrestle his own demon down.

In one bright flash, the two of them vanished.

“Great,” Hanzō snarled at the fox. “You let them go free.”

Takara shook her head as she neared Ryuichi. “I don’t think so, Father.”

Confused, Koichi scowled until she picked up something from the ground.

With the same look of bewilderment he was sure he carried, she held it up to show them a bloodied sword. “I don’t think he’d have left his sword behind.”

Koichi’s jaw went slack as he recognized it.

The dragon was without his famed sword.

When her father went to take it, she actually refused to hand it over. “I think he meant for this to go to his son.”

For a moment, he feared Hanzō would take it.

Until Hanzō’s gaze fell to the boy. For several heartbeats, he stood there as if debating with himself.

Finally, he nodded. “If the boy lives, we’ll execute him with it.”

* * *

Ryuichi groaned as he tried to move. Somehow—and he had no idea how—he’d survived the battle with his father. Afterward, his friends and enemies had brought him to Mahō-jō to heal.

But he didn’t feel like he was healing. His wounds were severe. So much so that several monks had been assigned to him to ensure he lived in order for them to kill him.

It was sick, really.

Cure him to kill him. Only he would have luck that bad.

But the worst was the fact that when his father had cut him across his chest, his sword had been coated with shadow magic. Magic that had left a festering wound that no one seemed capable of healing.

There was nothing the monks could do.

Nothing Koichi could do.

He was marked by his father’s darkness.

Until they could find some means to heal the wound he’d been given, Ryuichi’s soul would forever be damaged. He and his shadow would forever be at odds, unable to find peace with one another.

Soul-split . That was what Keiko called it.

If that wasn’t bad enough, everyone at the school was angry at him.

They blamed him for the fact that there was nothing left except an empty husk where their once great school had stood. Everything had been burned to the ground.

A lifetime to build. Minutes to destroy.

They’d lost so many members to his father.

They feared losing even more to him if Ryuichi couldn’t learn to control or contain his powers. And who could blame them? He’d been horrible to them all while he’d been split from his shadow. A shadow that currently didn’t like being with him.

Heartsick, he stared across the makeshift camp to where his dōjō had been.

It was nothing more than ashes now.

They were lucky that anyone had survived.

But for whatever reason, his father had recalled his army, and they were semisafe now. Safe with the fear that his father’s army might return at any moment to claim him and to finish off every last member of Hanzō’s school.

“Hey, kid. You all right?” Koichi asked as he neared his bed with Takara in tow. That was the gentlest tone Koichi had ever used with him.

And that terrified Ryuichi. “Oh no. I’m dying, aren’t I?”

Koichi frowned in confusion. “What?”

“I must be dying for you to be that nice to me.”

Rolling her eyes, Takara shook her head.

That only made his panic worse. Did that mean...

“We’re... all dead, aren’t we?”

“No. No,” Takara quickly assured him. “Nothing like that.”

“Yeah, but...” Koichi’s voice trailed off. That made Ryuichi even more nervous, as Koichi had never been shy around him before.

Takara bit her lip before she answered. “They called their meeting.”

No, not the dreaded they . Not the dreaded meeting where they’d demand his head.

“And?” He held his breath as dread filled him.

Takara sighed and refused to meet his gaze. “You should see for yourself.”

It must be even worse than he feared.

What are they going to do to me now?

That one question left a lump the size of Fuji in his stomach.

Against his better sense and will, Koichi waited for him to get up and dress while Takara waited outside, near where her father and others had set up a makeshift tent they were using as a council chamber.

Every step toward it seemed to take forever, and the instant they entered, everyone gathered there grew quiet.

Suddenly, he wished his father had killed him and spared him this newest humiliation.

When the voice of an old man rang out, he wished they’d remained silent. “That boy is too dangerous to be kept here. Who knows when they’ll come back for him. And come back they certainly will.”

Things were getting tense.

Ryuichi wanted to shrink into his clothes until he was as invisible as they used to make him feel.

“He burned down our school,” another man said.

A younger man spat on the ground near Ryuichi. “Ryukage’s mutt. He should be put down like the rabid dog he is!”

Well, this wasn’t the homecoming he’d wanted.

Suddenly, they were all shouting at him to such a point that he couldn’t understand a single word or insult.

“Everyone! Everyone! Enough!” A woman’s voice rang out over all the others.

They settled down to a tense silence so that they could glare at her.

Kasumi.

His enemy was his defender? That didn’t make any sense. Confused, he frowned at Koichi, who shrugged with the same puzzled expression.

“Let’s not focus on casting blame. We have to find a solution.” She swept her gaze toward Ryuichi. “While it’s true that he’s Ryukage’s child, we have to decide what to do with him.”

Give him a break?

Only he felt that way as an uproar began again.

“He’s too dangerous to be kept alive.”

“He’s a threat to not just us but the entire world.”

Hanzō Hattori stepped forward.

Ryuichi’s ego deflated even more as he braced himself for the worst denouncement yet.

Hanzō, the man who’d brought him to Mahō-jō in the first place, was after his head.

The man he owed everything to. Of course Hanzō hated him. Why wouldn’t he? Ryuichi had placed both of his children in jeopardy and burned his home to the ground.

Ryuichi wanted to die from the shame of it all.

To his shock, it was Kasumi who came to his defense again. “We can’t kill the boy, regardless of what you think. He’s the only one who can make sure the others return to their worlds. We have to have him to close and lock the gates.”

Several of the councillors nodded in agreement.

“ Then we kill him?” the old man asked.

Ryuichi gaped at the random question.

Kasumi ignored it. “As we’ve said, he’s a danger to all those around him.”

Hanzō and several other councillors nodded in agreement.

Kasumi allowed her tail to swish. “I think a compromise is in order.” She cast her gaze around them to make sure they were listening. “I’ve been consulting with Masaru?—”

The crowd erupted again into boos and jeers that shredded Ryuichi’s soul.

“What does that monster know about anything?”

“He’s worse than that brat!”

Ryuichi really wanted to die in that moment when their hatred cascaded over him.

Kasumi growled at them and wrestled control back from the shouting men. “Listen to me. We need solutions, not blaming. As I’ve said, I believe we can create a compromise that will satisfy all of you.”

Not likely, given this depth of hatred.

Masaru appeared out of nowhere to stand next to Kasumi. He refused to meet Ryuichi’s gaze.

Kasumi spoke in a calm and even tone. “There’s only one answer: banishment. We cannot defend against another round of attacks, and he cannot go unwatched. For everyone’s sake, he must be banished and sent to another school.”

Wait... What?

There was a loud cheer in the crowd. The support was unanimous.

Ryuichi felt sick. And not just from his chest wound. He felt like the vote was not just a decision on what to do with him, but that it was also a measurement of his worth as a human being.

And the people voted against him.

They wanted him gone.

Banished.

Heartsick, Ryuichi caught Hanzō staring at him in the distance, his eyes like sharp daggers.

Takara’s father hated him. And deep inside, he knew the man had every right to.

Koichi clapped Ryuichi lightly on the back as he caught Hanzō staring. “Don’t worry about him. He’s always a sourpuss. Just focus on the future. A brand-new school. New friends. New opportunities.”

“To make old mistakes?”

Koichi snorted at his question. “Or new ones. Choice is yours.”

It sure didn’t feel like that. This felt more like an indirect execution. Like he was being sent to some far-off place to simply die.

They didn’t want him here.

As if sensing his mood, Masaru moved through the crowd to join Ryuichi. “You okay, kid?”

He stared at him, aghast. “Yeah. I’m peachy.”

Masaru made a grim face. “I tried my best for you, but Kasumi was the only one who offered something other than a swift execution or being thrown into a cell.”

Disbelief marked Koichi’s brow. “The only one?”

“The only one,” Masaru confirmed. “Like it or not, this was the best route for the kid.”

Koichi started forward, but Masaru caught him by the arm. “Just so you know, you’ve been assigned to him as well.”

“What?” Koichi gasped.

Masaru nodded. “We’ve all been banished, including Koichi.”

Koichi let out a snort with those words. “That figures. Hanzō’s been wanting to force me out.”

Masaru inclined his head. “And you made it easy for him.”

Koichi shrugged nonchalantly. “Well, I hated this place anyway.” He draped his arm over Ryuichi’s shoulders. “Hear that, kid? We’re traveling companions now.”

“Oh, and there’s one more thing,” Masaru said.

Koichi suddenly stopped smiling. “What?”

Masaru winked at them. “Haruki. Since she’s still our prisoner, and they can’t hold her here safely while they make repairs, we’ve been designated as her wardens. She’s going with us.”

Ryuichi’s shadow began to whine in protest.

He really wanted to join it.

“That sounds like fun.” Koichi gave him a pained smile. “Like being set on fire and thrown into a vat of oil.”

“I can’t wait either,” Masaru said in a maniacal tone. “More quality fun time for us all.”

Just what he’d wanted.

Masaru’s gaze went to Takara. “Well, kid, we head out tomorrow. If you have any goodbyes, you should say them now.”

Ryuichi understood. But for the first time, he felt like he was losing something.

And he was.

He’d found friends here.

Family.

Now... he’d be alone again.

Except for the demon who threatened to eat him and the alcoholic who kept busting his chops.

And a yōkai protector he still wasn’t sure he could trust.

With a heavy heart, Ryuichi said goodbye to Takara, Pim, Kato, the Kai-dan, and even Toshi.

All of them were staying behind to help rebuild the school.

They were all doing their part.

Now it was his turn to do his.

He’d leave and go to this new school.

But he’d be back. He still had a gate to seal, and they had demons on the loose.

They might have won against his father this time, but inside, he knew a bigger threat loomed.

And he’d be there to face it.

Not alone, but with his motley cohorts. His brand-new family. An unreliable big brother who was supposed to protect him in fights. An overprotective surrogate mother. A drunk uncle. The crazy aunt who hated him. And last, his shadow twin, who might actually kill him one day.

But that was family. They weren’t always perfect, but he knew they’d be there when he needed them.

And that was the best anyone could ever hope for.