it is prohibited to enter the woods at night, but such restrictions don't apply to kiyoomi, bow in hand, quiver of arrows strapped to his back. he minds each step, arms pulled close, eyes darting from one corner of darkness to the next. the wind is weak, air heavy. a leaf falls to the ground. a footstep snaps a twig in half. a fox whimpers to the moon.
kiyoomi spins, poised to strike. he's met with golden eyes, pointed ears, raised arms. "not the warmest welcome ever," he drawls, "but i s'pose humans o' yer ilk don't have manners, eh?"
his bow doesn't waver. "your opinion is irrelevant, youkai."
"excuse ya, it's guardian o' inarizaki, messenger o' inari-sama, golden kitsune atsumu."
"if your only goal is to hinder me, i will shoot."
the youkai smirks, canines poking out. his tails billow behind him, dressed as a miko, marked with the lines of divinity. his ears twitch, one pierced with rings of gold. "more like yer hinderin' me. i don't need help ta dispel the impurity."
"then why let the village suffer until now?"
"i was waitin' fer a half moon." he gestures at the sky with painted, manicured nails. "s'the easiest ta alight the spirit world while keepin' a tie ta the human realm."
kiyoomi continues to glare while lowering his bow, the youkai lowering his arms, adjusts his sleeves. his tails sweep toward him. "follow me, hunter-kun."
the small village was previously an infertile wasteland before inari-sama blessed it, now guarded by the unsavory companion at kiyoomi's side. blessed land is a magnet for a variety of youkai, both harmless and malignant, which is why hunters like kiyoomi travel to banish them back to their realm, to keep their worlds separate.
including guardian youkai, even those as powerful as kitsune favored by inari, herself.
he stays a step behind the kitsune, arrow notched, bow ready. he touches the protective charm around his neck, his only guard against the apprehensive air, although purity radiates off the kitsune, tips of his tails shining with gold. their shadows stretch across the ground, footsteps soundless, unobstructed to the way to the shrine.
it was abandoned after a fire, the villagers told him. they wanted to demolish it, but every attempt led to anomalies - men weeping tears in their sleep, babies crying like lost foxes, women seeing ghosts of their ancestors. no priest could purify it wholly, and eventually gave up.
"it was built fer inari-sama, but she preferred the newer, bigger shrine, an' no one else claimed this one. as far as i know, anyway."
kiyoomi stops, unsettled by the coiling of his stomach, fog threatening to enshroud his mind. he tries to speak, tongue heavy and useless, eyes widening as the air starts to thin. is his charm not enough? it's protected him against possessed spirits, haunted temples, feral youkai-
"but not enough fer miasma."
in a blink, the kitsune is in front of him, chain on his charm caught around his finger. with another, a small flame lights at the end, holds it to the charm, where it's washed in golden light. as it fades, so does kiyoomi's discomfort. the kitsune steps away.
"enchanted it with my fire. it's more effective than yer own hunter prayer." he turns, the tips of his tails brushing against kiyoomi's chest. "i can sense a corrupted youkai in there. i'll leave the banishin' ta ya since yer energy ain't enough ta purify the area."
kiyoomi knows better than to argue, simply nods. he faces the shrine, dilapidated and curtained in darkness, thrumming with negativity. the ring of trees felt dead in its proximity, no wildlife daring to get close.
he jumps onto a nearby tree and positions himself on a branch. in quick succession, he fires off bow after bow, forming a circle around the shrine, each enchanted with a prayer, paper ofuda tied to each one. a final one is shot at the shrine entrance, followed by a decisive clap.
"in the name of hunter sakusa, i, kiyoomi, hereby banish you from this world!"
the arrows alight in green, enveloping the entire shrine. a shrill shriek pierces the air, a presence of a youkai gradually fading until all that's left is miasma. as the light vanishes, the kitsune steps forward, covers himself in a smokescreen to transform into an elegant beast of golden fur and streaks of divine red. he jumps in the air, hovers above the shrine, gives a howl as his tails fan out, a bastion of light in the dark.
kiyoomi shields his eyes. once the night settles, he looks down at the humanoid youkai, jumping back to the ground. "hunter sakusa kiyoomi, eh?" he stiffens at the youkai's drawl, whose back is still turned. "yer family is well-known."
"yes." there's still an arrow notched in place.
"practitioners o' the old arts, which has never let a youkai go."
the youkai chuckles. he whirls with his arm extended to meet kiyoomi's arrow. fire emanates from his fingertips. "didja really come ta ease the miasma," the youkai asks slowly, "or did ya come to kill me, like ya did with my predecessor?"
your grandfather slayed a kitsune of inari in his youth, his father used to tell him, scarred and blind. i tried to follow, but it robbed me of my eyes. i was labeled a failure, but now, you, son, can carry my legacy.
inarizaki is meant to have twin guardians, yet there's only one before him. "there's no purpose for needless slaying," kiyoomi says. "i came to ease the village, and nothing more."
"s'what they all say. i have cause ta kill ya, fer no human's ever lived ta see my true form, an' i don't intend ta start now."
"you may slay me, if it eases the burden in your chest, as i carry my grandfather's legacy, and my father's. yet i shoot these arrows to cleanse the world, not harm it."
the youkai scoffs. "pretty words fer a pretty face, but i sense yer genuine, at least." he extinguishes his fire. "ya better be gone before the first light, or i might change my mind."
he vanishes. kiyoomi lowers his bow, feels his divine presence fade. he loosens the tension in his shoulders with a breath, starts to walk away.
where the other kitsune is, he doesn't know – his father seldom spoke of his defeat, but when he did, he boasted how he robbed it. kiyoomi reaches into his pocket, holds an earring in his hand. it’s tarnished and rusted, but it’s still threaded with divinity, surely to resonate with its owner.
and if he must travel to the ends of the land to bring the missing kitsune back to his brother, it will be a journey worth taking.
inspiration: archer sakusa from touch the dream! (fanart: x / x)
