Chapter One: 破戒 (Hakai) [Sinner]
“Isshi. Isshi. It’s time to wake up, Isshi.”
The figure underneath the comforter on the bed groaned slightly as a hand shook his shoulder. A mess of dark blond hair appeared from under the blanket, as well as two dark crescents on pale skin that were his eyelashes. One eye opened groggily, revealing a dark-colored iris that stared up at the person looming above him.
She was a slender woman, her graying-black hair pulled into a sloppy bun. She had a face with some wrinkles, but it was obvious she was aging gracefully. Her dark gray eyes were kind and seemed especially cheerful today. The boy groaned in a groggy way, but said, “Ohayou, Sayaka-mama.”
The woman, Sayaka, smiled and said, “Isshi, I know you’re tired, but I made you breakfast.”
Isshi lowered the blanket covering the rest of his face, revealing very defined features like his pouty lips and his shapely bone structure. He smiled tiredly and yawned, stretched out his limbs before swinging his legs out of bed.
Sayaka smiled again and headed towards the door, “We’ll be in the kitchen,” she said before leaving the room, sliding the door closed behind her.
Isshi stood and stretched, arching his back. He shuffled over to the small closet, taking out a dark red shirt and slipping it over his unclothed torso. He then grabbed a pair of black pants that were hanging neatly in the closet as well and slipped those on. He ran his long fingers through his hair in an attempt to make it less tangled. Before he left the room, he caught sight of a picture that was resting in an ebony frame on the bookcase. Isshi smiled and picked it up, gazing lovingly at the image.
The picture was of a woman. She had long black hair that was tied in a low ponytail, dark eyes, much like Isshi’s own. She had a smile on her face, and she was dressed in the red and white robes of a shrine maiden. Isshi smiled and said, “Ohayou, Okaasan,” before he set the picture of Hana back on the shelf and headed out of the room.
It had been almost seventeen years since the Oni had attacked the Ise Shrine. True to its word, Hana did indeed become pregnant and nine months later, gave birth to a baby boy. Isshi sighed. His birth had severely weakened his mother. The famed Wolf of the Ise Shrine died when he was five. It was by the will of the high priestess that he be thrown out of the Ise Shrine. They had been afraid of him since the day of his birth; they may not have been as powerful as his mother, but they knew a demon when they saw one and they didn’t want him anywhere near their holy shrine.
Iie, Isshi shook his head, reprimanding his sudden negative thought to the shrine, they didn’t want the Oni anywhere near their shrine. They would have kept me there if they had the option.
The Oni. It was the creature that had killed his mother, subtly, but had still killed her. The curse it had bestowed on her not only led to his own creation, but also to the rebirth of the Oni itself.
It had horrified everyone at the shrine. The Oni, who was thought to have been killed, was still living in Isshi’s own body. Its complete plan was finally revealed; to continue living, regain its former strength and eventually, go back on its mission, whatever that was.
What the Oni had not thought of, however, was that Hana would love her child, no matter what his origins would be. It was that small fact that almost completely derailed the Oni’s plans as it was that love that led to the creation of Isshi’s soul and pushed the Oni’s into a sleeping state.
Though both Isshi and Hana were outcasts in the shrine, Hana lived the rest of her life with no regrets, doting on Isshi in any way she could and calling him her greatest gift in this life. The rest of the members of the shrine allowed both Hana and Isshi to live there, as payment to Hana for saving their lives in the first place.
The toll of bringing Isshi into the world was costly to Hana and her weakened body gave away when Isshi was five. With Hana gone, the High Priestess immediately had Isshi thrown out of the shrine, regardless to whether or not he would survive alone in the world. Isshi, for his part, most likely wouldn’t have, if he hadn’t been lucky enough to meet the Arisagawa family.
Isshi smiled. Arisagawa Sayaka and Arisagawa Souichirou. It was that night, almost two months to the day when he met them. He had been so hungry that he passed out walking on the sidewalk. He remembered…he remembered Sayaka, the only person to stop and check if he was okay before he passed out. She had taken him home, fed him, clothed him…Isshi had been amazed by the sheer amount of kindness that this person who he didn’t know gave him.
Sayaka later told him that she had fallen in love with him at first sight and she convinced her husband, Souichirou, to offer him a home, to adopt him as a member of their family. The couple never had children, as Sayaka was infertile, and though both were getting on in age, they were thrilled at the idea of raising him.
Isshi’s smile turned a bit more wry. At the time, he was happy but terrified. He knew about the Oni, had lost his control of his body to it once before and had hurt people before. He didn’t want that to happen to these people.
And so he told them, hesitantly, one night only a month and a half after coming to them. It had been the single hardest thing to tell anyone, that this monster was living inside of him, and not seem like he was just making things up, that it all was a figment of his imagination. Even more so, he was worried, that even if he did make it clear that he wasn’t making this up, that they would think that he was crazy and would send him away.
He had been shocked when Sayaka had looked at him and told him plainly that the she already knew.
“Isshi-chan…I don’t think you’ve realized this, but we’re Onmyouji.”
Isshi had been confused, as any five year old would be. Souichirou had explained, “We are both descended from a long line of people who use Onmyoujitsu and provide service to the public as spiritual mediums and protectors against evil spirits. We could tell about…this Oni. It only made us more firm in our decision to adopt you, Isshi-chan.”
Isshi remembered he had cried and finally told them everything that had happened, how scared he was…and Sayaka had taken him into her arms and told him everything would be okay.
And she was right.
It had been almost thirteen years since Isshi had been adopted by the two and he had grown to love them as if they were his true family. They had certainly accepted him as such, passing down the secrets of their art and raising him as a powerful Onmyouji.
Isshi shook his head and placed the picture of Hana back onto the shelf before leaving the room. The thought of his job reminded him that he was holding his adoptive mother and father up at breakfast.
He had recently returned home after an exorcism of a demon which had cursed an apartment complex in Kyoto. Sayaka had apparently missed her son very much as she had barely let him fall asleep last night from the coddling she did. Work as an Onmyouji was at best tedious and downright dangerous at worse. However, it was a tradition that the Arisagawa family has passed down from generation to generation; it made Sayaka both proud and horrified.
He entered the kitchen to find Sayaka setting out the last of the meal and Souichirou behind a newspaper at the table. Souichirou tipped it down to look at Isshi as he heard him enter. He was obviously getting on in years, as his dark hair was thinning on the top of his head and beginning to show the same gray that his wife's was. He had lines on his face as well, some a bit more pronounced than others, especially around his mouth. He smiled at Isshi as he took his seat. "Ohayou, Isshi.”
“Ohayou, Souichi-papa.” The smile grew a bit wider at the nickname he had been given long ago. He folded up his paper and set it to the side as Isshi took his seat next to his adoptive father.
Sayaka moved to join them when the phone rang. She sighed and instead, crossed the room to the phone on the wall. She answered it with a cheerful “Moshi Moshi?” There was silence in the room before she continued. “Yes, he is...can I please ask who's calling?” Another pause. A frown marred her face and Isshi instantly became concerned. She took a deep breath in and let it out shakily. “I know that you must be desperate but...he just got home.” A longer pause. “I understand...hold on one second then.” he pulled the phone away from her ear and covered the receiver, looking up to look directly at Isshi. “Isshi, it's for you.”
Isshi could feel his mouth twisting downward slightly. He didn't like the look on his adoptive mother's face. He stood up and walked over to her, taking the phone from her and giving her a smile, hoping to relieve some of her worry before pressing the phone to his ear. “Moshi Moshi?”
“Arisagawa Isshi-san?”
“Hai? This is him.”
“I apologize for the call so early in the morning. This, however, is a matter that cannot wait.”
The voice on the other end was female, stern and serious sounding. Isshi shifted his weight from one side to the other as he leaned up against the wall. “And you are?”
“Ah, suimasen, Isshi-san,” The woman said. “My name is Kaede; I'm a miko of the Ise Shrine.”
The phone fell to the floor, having slipped from Isshi's suddenly numb fingers. The clatter caused his adoptive parents to look at him in concern, Sayaka standing to move to Isshi's side. Isshi waved her off with a small, shaky smile before bending down and retrieving the phone, noting the ball of lead that seemed to have settled in his stomach.
How odd, he thought, that just the mention of the name causes me to react like this...He placed the receiver to his ear again and said, “Suimasen, I dropped the phone.”
“Daijoubu,” Kaede said on the other end.
Isshi shifted again, still not feeling comfortable and asked, “What can I help you with, Kaede-san?”
There was a pause on the other end of the phone. Isshi found himself holding his breath and, at last, Kaede answered. “I am afraid to speak of it over the phone. Needless to say, it is...very important to the shrine, and the stability of Japan.”
Isshi frowned slightly as Kaede continued. “It is a matter of great importance, and because the objects in question fall into your area of expertise.” Another pause. “As we all know, the Arisagawa family is to be well respected because of that knowledge.”
Isshi felt the frown deepen slightly at the slight bit of bitterness that entered her tone. She did know exactly who he was, and the hatred he still experienced as a child was still there. Still, he sighed and said in what he hoped was his most helpful tone, “I will arrive there either tomorrow or the next day, depending on if I am able to catch the train.”
“We will be waiting.”
With that, the phone cut. No goodbye, no wishes for a safe journey, nothing. Isshi placed the receiver back on the cradle and turned back to his parents. He smiled, though he didn't feel like it reached his eyes and sat down at the table once again. “Gomen nasai, Sayaka-mama, but I'm going to have to leave again tomorrow.”
“Isshi...” Sayaka laid a hand on his arm. Isshi felt himself tense for a second before forcing himself to relax and he smiled at his adoptive mother.
“It'll be okay...”
With that, he began eating his breakfast, even though he was no longer hungry.
~*~
“Let me have control...”
Nothing but black. Isshi was floating in a sea of black. It was thick and weighty, pressing down on him, robbing him of breath but at the same time, it was light and wispy, almost not there.
“Let me have control...”
It was that voice. He heard it almost all the time. It was a deep voice, filed with anger and loathing. It was very commanding, very dominant. Isshi knew it very well.
“Let me have control...”
He heard it almost all the time. Even in his sleep, he still heard the voice. It varied all the time, from a whisper to full out yelling and screaming. If he didn't know exactly who that voice belonged to, he would have certainly thought he was insane.
“Let me have control...”
The voice was behind him now, whispering into his ear. “This body is mine, it is only yours by chance. GIVE ME CONTROL!”
Isshi's eye snapped open and he straightened in his seat. He could feel the thin veil of sweat on his face and he used the sleeve on his jacket to wipe it from his face. He felt his heart pounding, his blood roaring in his ears and his entire body trembling. He took a few deep, calming breaths and focused on making his body relax.
He took a quick glance out of the window and saw the countryside rushing by. It had already been a long day. He had gotten up before daybreak to pack some of his things into the beige traveling bag before leaving without saying goodbye to either of his adoptive parents. He knew how much leaving upset his mother and how much more upset she often got when she saw him off. So...even though he knew that they might be angry with him later, he left without letting them know. Sayaka wouldn't cry tears for him then.
There was something about trains to him that made him incredibly exhausted. Of course, traveling from Kyoto to Ise was tiring and tedious in itself. Two train changes in Nara and Osaka and the entire trip taking longer than he would have liked caused him to become even more exhausted. He rubbed his eyes and looked around the train. Isshi could see a young boy playing with a toy train while his mother looked on, smiling at him. He saw several businessmen in suits, briefcases in hand as they were on their way to work. He shook the last of his jitters away and his eyes fell on another person.
By the form of the person, he could easily tell that the person was female. She was in a dark blue Mandarin shirt, lined with gold and a pair of loose black pants. She had reddish-brown hair, cut to her chin and held away from her face by a long piece of yellow fabric used as a headband. Over her eyes were a pair of sunglasses so dark that Isshi couldn't see her eyes. Her arms were folded behind her head in an act of apparent laziness. However, Isshi could feel it. That girl was watching him while feigning sleep.
Instead of being intimidated, he met her gaze square on. The girl, after a moment, turned her head to look out the window and Isshi did the same. He wasn't sure why but that girl had him uneasy. Something about not being afraid to stare at him as if assessing him had him unnerved.
He shook his head mentally. He had to be imagining things. His dream had to have unnerved him to the point of being mildly paranoid.
He sighed and rested his chin against his hand, watching the scenery pass by. He was surprised that the Oni seemed upset enough to try and take control of his body while he was asleep. It could be he was more exhausted than he thought and the Oni thought now would be the perfect time to try and regain control of the body it was trapped in.
Isshi sighed quietly, feeling a cold weight pressing down on his chest. He closed his eyes and did his best to calm himself down, knowing he could not afford to lose control to the Oni. Not while he was around people, all of which would be innocent but still subjected to any whim of the Oni.
Slowly, he felt the pressure lift and his heart calm. He relaxed into his seat and looked out the window again, noting the sky was darkening rapidly and the wind was picking up slightly. Of course it's going to rain, Isshi though with a small laugh to himself. The vague shapes of the landscape were changing as well, becoming more cleared and then with houses beginning to appear.
The train, itself, was slowing down. An announcement came over the P.A. System and an Osaka-accented voice wafted over. “This stop is Ise, Mie Prefecture. The Grand Shrine of Ise is located here. Again, this stop is Ise, Mie Prefecture...”
Isshi waited until the train stopped and grabbed his bag from the upper compartment above his head before heading towards the doors. He noted dimly that the girl he had been observing earlier had also stood, an odd, thin bundle slung over her shoulder. As the doors opened, Isshi could feel a rush of cold air from the outside platform hit his face and noticed the heavy scent of rain. He pressed his lips together and stepped out of the train, heading north away from the train platform to the well worn dirt road.
It was ingrained into his memory, no matter if he wanted to forget it or not. Soon enough, as he had expected...he could see the the Uji bridge and just beyond that, the large torii gate into the shrine. He shivered as he felt the rain begin and walked across the bridge, up the long winding stairs and through the gate to stand directly outside of Naiku, the Inner Shrine of Ise.
