Chapter 19

Chapter 19

At 1500, Tokuda and the tax lady showed up at the door. From their faces, I could tell it wasn't happy news. They waited until the parents were in the room, and the twins were sent elsewhere. Jin disappeared when they arrived. He was watching from the roof of the guest quarters.

"Inoue Kisho has committed suicide in the courtyard of his family home." The government official stated.

"Expletive!" Mr. Yanagi cursed. Everyone looked at him. His eyes were quickly flitting back and forth and his was muttering almost silently. After almost a minute he continued. "It was seppuku, wasn't it? He always thought of himself as a damned samurai. He was caught – whatever he was doing must have been bad – and he took the easy way out. Probably claimed it was a protest against the government and for the honor of his family name or some such."

"That was it almost exactly," the tax lady said. "How could you know?"

"I have known Inoue Kisho my whole life. We've never gotten along. But… I understand him all too well. He was a powerful, proud idiot who never understood which century we lived in. His father was probably worse than Kisho – he certainly trained his son to be the tyrant he grew to be. I'm certain Kisho tried to pass that ridiculous delusion along to his sons."

"What do you mean?" Tokuda asked.

"Once when we were children, just before we left on a school trip, I heard old man Inoue telling Kisho how to behave. He said, 'Remember the Golden Rule – he who has the gold, makes the rules.'" The priest shook his head slowly, grimacing. "The old man was a relic of the Interregnum, or even further in the past. And Kisho learned at his knee. He truly believed he was the Lord of the Mountains – that his word was law. That is why he could not countenance Reiko standing up to him, defying him. Without his power, he felt he had nothing."

He paused, his jaw tightening, his fist slowly pounding the arm of his chair. "Please let it not be so," he muttered.

"What?" his wife asked, putting her hand on his back.

"He dies, raging at the world, probably certain in his own rectitude while crying out at the injustices done to him. Considers himself a martyr. I worry…"

"It will make his eventual redemption more difficult," Mrs. Yanagi said. "Perhaps we can convince the family to allow you to lay him to rest with full honors, helping him find peace."

"No," he snapped. "It may be far worse than that. The Inoue, as a family, have always been susceptible to carrying their rage beyond death. More than one family head has returned as a goryo – a powerful spirit of 'noble' vengeance that can threaten the whole valley. It has always been the duty of the Yanagi to tame them. I had hoped that task would never fall to me."

"Surely you're speaking of legends, old tales that don't reflect reality," Tax lady insisted.

"Perhaps," Mr. Yanagi said, looking at her with a soft expression. "Since the rise of quirks, everyone seems to think that quirks are the only source of preternatural abilities or events. Any happening beyond human ken from before the glowing baby must be a myth. Any odd occurrence or ability since then must be explicable through subtle quirk interactions. When my yamabushi ancestor quelled the first Inoue goryo in 1151, perhaps they were merely people with time travel quirks interfering with the past, breeding the 'spiritual' abilities in our families as an experiment. We will never know. What I do know is I see spirits – explain them as you will. And Inoue may pose a spiritual threat."

Kanjiya locked eyes with the older man. They stared for half a minute before she turned and shrugged. "All that aside, his death opens more questions."

"What do you mean, Kanjiya-san?" Mrs. Yanagi asked.

The two ladies talked while Emily's mother stood behind her husband, gently stroking shoulders. He continued to mutter to himself, shaking his head and clenching his fist. I saw tears roll slowly down his cheek.

He's taking it harder than I would have expected, I sent to Emily. I thought they hated each other.

They did. But it is possible to hate someone and still mourn their death – especially when it was their own poor choices that led to ending any chance at redemption in this life they may have had.

I thought about Emma – the closest equivalent in my past. I had never really processed my feelings about her when I saw her family in the refugee camp without her. She had been such an important part of my life for so long – first as a friend, than as a tormentor. I couldn't bring up any real regret about her death. It was just one more. Of course, at the time I was shunting most of my emotion to the swarm. She'd made her choices. I didn't regret her loss of opportunity. I regretted the people she hurt with those choices – my being only one of many. Either there was more to the Yanagi/Inoue relationship, or Mr. Yanagi was a more forgiving person than I was.

As for my feeling about Inoue's suicide – good riddance.

I am ashamed that I agree more with you than my father, Emily replied. He truly was a bad man. Even if he does not return as a spirit, Inoue's time on the Wheel will be long and unpleasant to make up for his actions.

The conversation between the adults had continued while we were discussing matters internally. A request by the tax lady – Kanjiya-san – caught my attention.

" … so I would like to look at the oldest records and deeds for the Temple. There were several documents in the boxes Inoue was attempting to hide at the southwest site that suggest there may be more information relevant to the investigation to be found here."

"But we've had nothing to do with …" Mrs. Yanagi protested.

"Please do not trouble yourself," the official assured her. "No one is suggesting anything of the sort. I'm talking about old records – one or two hundred years, maybe more. I also need to see your tax records for the last forty years."

"Of course," Mr. Yanagi broke out of his thoughts to give his permission. "Come this way, please." He led her towards an old building at the corner of the compound. Tokuda followed them, his lens sticking out of his shoulder – recording everything.

I noticed Mrs. Yanagi shaking her head, looking sadly after her husband. "Are you ok?" I asked her in English.

"That man manages to cause trouble even after death," she said. "I'll need to call on Junko, his wife. She has been so beaten down by Inoue for so long she may not know what to do now." She patted my shoulder as she left the room.

I went out to find Jin. He seemed to be reluctant to let anyone know he was here. Or perhaps it was just anyone with a badge. I found him entertaining the Twins by duplicating, juggling, and disappearing objects. I looked through a wisp and saw his crystal was still unsplit but discolored.

I floated into a meditative position near the top of the temple spire. I practiced calling up various spirits while keeping an eye on the activities in the compound and the area surrounding it. I could easily call individual or small groups of wisps and shadows from the cloud surrounding me and sending them out in all directions. Their senses allowed me to see, hear, and 'sense' in a sphere almost a half-mile wide. Poltergeists only allowed me to feel what they could touch within the one-hundred-yard radius.

As the afternoon turned to evening, I saw a lot of movement in the valley. It looked like a nest of individually illuminated ants as the car headlights traced the streets of the town. People were moving around. I assumed that word of Inoue's suicide had spread. The question was – were they coming here for revenge?

"Reiko-chan!" Mrs. Yanagi called in Japanese. "Come. Eat."

I floated down to join her. I didn't need to be in a strategic location to continue sensing through my spirits to monitor the area. "Thank you," I replied. "Who is to be here?"

"Who is here?" She corrected. "Tokuda-san and Kanjiya-san. Jin-san … not."

I guessed Jin was not going to be joining us. He was still hiding from the other visitors. It bothered me that he almost certainly had a criminal background, but so did I. I couldn't hold it against him. Redemption had to be possible – if you are willing to make the effort.

When conversation started at dinner, I asked Emily to translate as I didn't want the visitors to know about my language issues – any more than Tokuda already did.

"It seems that Inoue had …" Kanjiya started, sounding like she was continuing a discussion with Mr. Yanagi that had started before dinner.

"Please, Kanjiya-san, I don't think that is an appropriate topic for the dinner table." Mrs. Yanagi nodded her head towards the twins.

"My apologies," the tax official said. She seemed to struggle coming up with a different subject. I got the feeling she wasn't used to talking about much other than work.

"Reiko-chan," Tokuda jumped in to fill the gap. "Are you looking forward to the UA Sports Festival? People –including a lot of Pro Heroes – are looking forward to seeing what you can do." After watching you in three different fights already, he didn't say, but everyone heard it anyway.

"To be honest, Tokuda-san, I haven't given it much thought."

Everyone started protesting.

"But everyone will be watching …"

"It's important for getting a good job …"

"You need to make a good showing …"

"The honor of the Family …"

"Are you afraid …"

I held up my hand and waited for silence. After several seconds, I got it. "Right now people are trying to hurt this family. That's more significant than a school contest – one that will happen two more times before I graduate. I'm not saying I won't do my best next week. Just that, in the big picture, it's not that important."

"That's either very mature or possibly short sighted," Tokuda said.

"Not going say on which?" I asked.

"Not my role," he replied with a wink. "Besides, with all the stories you are giving me, you might get more press than the Festival champion even if you didn't compete."

That shut the family up for a bit. I wondered if they realized the journalist probably wasn't joking. Tokuda was withholding his report of the fight at the mine until the police released the information. They didn't want any of Inoue's accomplices to get warning ahead of time. However, I knew when it did hit the net I was going to be deluged with requests for interviews and information. My current phone number wasn't connected to my name, but enough people knew it I figured it would leak. I was not looking forward to it.

One of my shadow's senses impinged on my awareness. There were people closing in on the Temple from two directions – only the cliff facing sides were clear. Coming up through the downhill woods were at least a dozen men, carrying lit torches, hand tools, and a few with guns. On the uphill side was an almost identical group. But they had two men that were lugging what looked like wrapped bunches of dynamite.

They were talking, but I couldn't understand them.

Emily, what are they saying?

I cannot hear them. I cannot sense what you sense through the spirits.

What? Why didn't you tell me this before?

I …

Never mind. This isn't the time. Keep translating as long as you can. You need to be strong. Your family's at stake. Stay with me.

I will try. I could almost feel her resolve strengthening.

It didn't really matter what they were saying. They were about to attack the Temple, and they weren't playing games.

"We have incoming," I reported. "Twelve men on the downhill side with guns and pickaxes. Another twelve on the uphill side with the same, plus a couple of guys with explosives getting ready to blow the compound wall near the guest quarters." Conversation a the table stopped. I looked to the tax lady – the only government official in the room.

"Expletive," she cursed as she pulled a large gun from her shoulder holster. The Yanagi all gasped in surprise. Guns were much less common in Japan than back home. It's possible this was the first real gun they had ever seen. I had noticed the mine security guards were armed – another sign of the power of the Inoue. That was probably where the guys outside had gotten their weapons. All the weapons looked like they came from the mines.

"There are at least two dozen of them, at least five assault rifles between them. They'll hit the wall in about three minutes, unless they start rushing. What do we do?" I needed her to okay any action, otherwise I was going to be breaking the stupid quirk laws in front of a cop.

"Can we run?" Mrs. Yanagi asked, grabbing hold of the Twins.

"No time, and they're too close to the driveway. I can't fly anyone else away," I said.

"Tokuda-san, call the others," Kanjiya ordered. "Let them know what is happening."

She turned to Mr. Yanagi and me. "I've always admired the super cops in the old vids – Jackie-chan, Ahnold, Tebi – you know." She offered a wan smile. "But I'm not them. I cannot hold them off on my own. I am deputizing you to help defend the Temple and your family."

"You hold them off," Mr. Yanagi pointed to me. "I will summon the Guardian. They will not harm this temple or it's people."

"I have to order their surrender first," Kanjiya said.

Mrs. Yanagi took out her phone and activated an app, then handed it to the official. "This is now tied into the Temple public address system. We use it during large ceremonies."

"This is Inspector Kanjiya of the National Tax Agency. You are in violation of national law. Stand down and surrender your weapons." Her voice boomed throughout the compound.

As she broadcast, I could sense the invaders stop in shock, then start arguing. I found Goro leading the downhill group. Someone that bore a striking resemblance to him, but was several years older, led the uphill side. He gestured to the people carrying the explosives. They took off running towards the wall.

They laid the charges with the speed of long practice then backed away leaving a trail of wire behind them.

I sent poltergeists to snap the wire and lift the bomb high into the air. I didn't shoot it away as I didn't know anywhere safe to aim it. Instead, I held it a hundred meters high, past the cliff face so it was well away from anything, and then sent fire spirits to detonate it.

Boom!

That was apparently the signal as both groups started charging. The downhill group made straight for the gate, carrying a log to batter it open. The uphill group moved toward where they expected the breach in the wall to be.

Mrs. Yanagi pulled the girls towards the stronghouse. This was a stout stone-block building usually used to hold the Temple's valuable items and as a shelter in storms and earthquakes. I saw Jin moving towards them. I sent several spirits to mark them, keeping their position in the back of my mind.

Mr. Yanagi was in the sanctuary slapping little paper strips on the ancient Buddha statue. As he worked, I could feel something stirring in my 'spirit sense' – something big. Leaving him to his task, I turned my attention to the invaders.

I found that the fire spirits could easily snuff the lit torches, dropping the bad guys into darkness. I began grabbing weapons out of their hands, starting with the rifles. Once I had a weapon, I brought it into the compound and dropped it in front of the stronghouse. If something happened to us, the others would have weapons. I used wisps to distract the miners, bobbing lights in the darknes leading them in circles.

I was tempted to lead them over the cliff but thought it unnecessary. At this point, they weren't really a threat.

Just then, I felt a massive spiritual power surge into existence. From the statue in the sanctuary, a spectral copy of the giant Buddha stepped forward. It was visible to the naked eye, though translucent. It marched to the gate of the Temple and threw its arms wide. The invading force raised into the air and flew back almost to the road before smashing into trees and the rocky ground.

It then circled the compound, feet floating off the ground, and did the same to the uphill group, showing more power than I could come close to controlling.

Then it looked at me. By this time, I was standing in the center of the compound between the house and the sanctuary. The Guardian floated towards me. It stopped about ten feet distant and looked down into me. I felt it touch my soul. I was being examined – weighted. I stirred nervously. What if it found me wanting? I had no idea how to fight this thing.

Then I felt it connect to Emily. There was some level of communication or at least interaction. I could feel it happening but couldn't make out any details.

After what felt like hours it moved on – floating back into the sanctuary. Mr. Yanagi was still chanting when the spirit settled back into the statue.

Emily? Are you ok?

It was pleased. I do not know why. For some reason, it was pleased with me.

Better than the alternative, I guess. I said then turned my attention back to the outside world.

The bad guys were all out of my range. I wanted to check on them to determine how deadly that spirit was – or how deadly it had chosen to act.

"What was that?" Kanjiya asked, her breath coming hard, her eyes flitting around looking for the impossible spirit.

"Not sure," I said. "You'll have to ask him." I pointed to Mr. Yanagi, who was staggering out of the Temple, his hand gripping the doorframe for support. "I need to get a status on the invaders."

"They are alive and off our property," Emily's father stated. Standing in a doorway, his voice was shaky.

"What was that?" Kanjiya almost yelled. The panic in her voice was growing. I could understand her fear. The thing frightened me.

"This Temple is not without its defenses," Mr. Yanagi stated proudly. "The Guardian has watched over us for more than a thousand years. Enemies forget that at their own peril."

"I'm going to check on them," I said again. The tax inspector nodded with a jerk. Tokuda moved from the steps of the house to follow me.

"OOOOooooraaaaaggghhh!" A cry of fury and pain sounded across the valley, louder than thunder. The wind started whipping through the trees, coming towards the Temple from all directions.

I could feel another surge in the spirit world. I turned towards the sanctuary. It felt like the Guardian was returning, but the feeling was not coming from there. It was coming from above us.

The clear night sky split with a jagged bolt of lightning. A tear ripped along the edge of the bolt and a figure burst through. Glowing red with rage I could feel from hundreds of feet away, the figure plummeted towards us. As it grew nearer, I saw it was the spirit of a man – of Inoue. It stopped, floating inches above the courtyard. It was massive, easily twelve feet tall – the size of the Guardian. It radiated the same sort of power the other spirit had as well. Its – his – face was a rictus of anger and pain as he glared at each of us. His mouth was moving, but no sound came out, only tongues of flame.

He pointed at Yanagi, then at me. Then he sank into the earth.

Is that Inoue? I snapped at Emily Is that a goryo?

Do you remember how we warned you away from human shaped spirits, mentioning how some may be filled with negative emotions and could pose a danger?

Yes.

A goryo is one of those kinds of spirits – one of the most powerful and dangerous. They can be created when an aristocrat dies through injustice or is martyred. They are very rare. I had not known of the Inoue penchant for manifesting as such.

Tremors started shaking the compound, growing stronger by the second. I ran towards the stronghouse as cracks started racing across the courtyard, shattering bricks and stones. One fissure opened beneath my feet, threatening to swallow me whole. I used the poltergeists to carry my over it.

As I reached the stone vault, it collapsed in front of me – falling part way into a sinkhole and toppling in on itself. I started trying to shift the debris while I sent spirits into the pile to find the people inside. They were there; huddled under a shelter Jin had somehow created. Another tremor caused the stones to shift, crushing the support beam just as Jin created another. It too was crushed as another took its place. Each beam was shorter and left less space for the people inside. I tried to help but the blocks were too heavy.

I dodged, not sure what I was avoiding. Looking through a wisp I saw Inoue had crawled out of the ground in a body of jagged stone. His massive fist was moving towards me in a back swing. I had dodged the initial blow reflexively.

I was horrified to realize the ruins of the stronghouse had not dodged and had been further flattened.

Mr. Yanagi was lying still in the tax lady's arms, bleeding badly. She had pulled him into the sanctuary, which was surprisingly untouched. Tokuda was huddling under a fallen section of the temple spire – lenses still recording.

Inoue was concentrating on me. As I moved to dodge his clumsy attacks, I sent a swarm of debris into his eyes. They passed through him. I reached for his veins – reached into his body for his heart. Nothing. He might as well not been there.

He waved his hands and a shower of stones flew towards me. I deflected and dodged, but it wasn't enough. Shards cut into me. Stones battered me. I rolled to cover beneath wooden porch of the house.

He stomped, barely missing me as he collapsed the porch around me.

He wasn't giving me time to think, to plan, to find a way to stop him. He was stronger than me. He didn't breath. He had no vulnerable points.

I pulled myself across the shaking ground, barely avoiding the sharp stone spikes that shot up to impale me. Taking to the air, I gathered fire spirits around him, trying to burn the ghost with spectral flame. For the first time I had an effect. He screamed in pain, but with a swing of his arms, he extinguished the fire spirits.

With another swing, he sent out a wave of spiritual force that swept away all my poltergeists, leaving me falling towards the jagged rocks below. I managed to roll through the worst, but still ended stretched out, stunned and bleeding as he stomped towards me.

Inoue's vengeful ghost, clad in his makeshift stone skin, stood towering over me, gloating as he raised his massive boot to crush me.

I felt a pull from the sanctuary. Rolling, I avoided Inoue's stomp and scurried towards the source of the summons.

It is the Guardian. It is calling us. I was surprised to hear Emily in the middle of the fight. She was finally getting over her disability.

Why isn't it fighting? I demanded.

Father must be unconscious. He cannot summon it. It needs a channel.

Do you know how to do that?

No.

Great.

I dove into the sanctuary a fraction of a second ahead Inoue's grasping hand. He stopped at the threshold of the building. I could feel the pressure from the Buddha increase, pushing to keep him out. I slapped my hands on the rough stone and reached into it like I was trying to connect with the poltergeists and other lesser spirits.

I could feel the Guardian pulsing before me – powerful and demanding. With a painful wrench I felt my will connect to its. It was vast – in the spirit world it was larger than the temple and brighter than the sun. I felt its heat burning my skin.

Stop Inoue. Protect the people. I ordered – or possibly begged.

It compressed itself into the shape of the statue and stepped forward, knocking me to the ground. Inoue howled outside as the Guardian floated forward.

I pulled myself to the edge of the tatami mat, watching through my own eyes, and through the spirits around them. The battle between the two great ghostly beings happened on multiple planes. As they crashed into each other like sumo wrestlers in the courtyard, they also tore and pulled at each other like close passing stars in the spirit realm. This primal conflict cause effects in our world. The wind twisted into a swirling funnel. The earth shook, lurching in one direction after another, tearing at the foundations of the temple buildings. Lightning lashed the night sky, thunder crashing above us.

I attempted to control the Guardian. To use it, ordering it to move or strike in a certain way. It snarled at me and sent a pulse along our connection that caused blood to spurt from my nose and ears.

They two spirits seemed closely matched in power. The Guardian must have been a bit stronger, as it was able to contain Inoue, to lock him in place, preventing his attempts to escape through the earth or to fly away. But that was all it was doing.

Kill him. Get him out of this world. End him. I tried different commands. Each just caused more feedback from the connection – filling me with pain. Seconds later, blood pouring from my mouth and eyes, I felt an explosion inside my head and I was out.

Emily POV

Taylor! Wake up. Please do not leave me like this. I cried out, to no avail. I could feel she was channeling the power of the Guardian using only her will and her quirk – my old quirk. It was not enough. Father used the power of ritual and charms – both paper and coins – to attenuate the burden. Only a yamabushi – a special type of mountain mystic – could tame the goryo. Father was just such a priest. Someone had to wake him.

Taylor did not stir. Nor could all my entireties force her into consciousness. I began to panic. To retreat into the oblivion of my own cowardice. Then I felt a warm breeze reach out to me. From the Guardian. A familiar caress, comforting, encouraging. I pulled myself back into the front of the brain I shared with Taylor.

She was barely there. The strain had almost broken her. I had to act or she would be gone.

Returning to control of my old body was like slipping on my favorite robe. It fit so well. I made the final connection and pain swept into me. I always felt a shadow of the sensations Taylor felt. Now I felt the pain directly. It almost shocked me back out of the body.

Instead, I gritted my teeth, swallowing blood, and crawled to my father's side. Kanjiya-san was cradling his head in her lap. There was a bloody gash across his forehead and his left arm was bent where it should not be.

Bloody tears fell from my cheeks as I looked at the broken man who had always been so strong. I reached out and jabbed a pressure point just as he had taught me last year. While I knew it caused pain, it was also supposed to stimulate consciousness. He had warned me it did not always work. After several seconds, it seemed to have some effect. He stirred. My heart soared as dark patches floated in front of my eye.

When his eyes opened to see my bloody face hovering over his he started, then groaned as the movement jostled his broken arm.

"You must stop the goryo, Father. You are the only one that can."

"Reiko?" he whispered.

"Stop him …" my borrowed body gave out.

"Reiko!" he reached out to shake me, but it did no good.

"Yanagi-san!" Kanjiya-san called, pointing towards the battling spirits. Each clutched the other's head in both hands but were otherwise unmoving. They were surrounded by a shining bubble of spectral force, floating two meters off the ground.

Father saw the struggle and cursed. Most inappropriate, I thought. "Help me," he ordered the official as he lurched to his feet. She acted as a crutch as he moved to the statue. Once there he reached into a chest and extracted several items …

My awareness faded momentarily. When it returned I could feel a drain on my spirit increasing. The nature of Taylor's quirk allowed it to draw on the energy of nearby spirits. Spirits such as myself. It was beginning to drain me to sustain the link to the Guardian.

Father was standing on the threshold of the sanctuary, preforming a ritual that was unfamiliar to me. It had elements of the rite to lay a spirit to rest as well as parts of the rite to exorcise malign spirits. I could also feel the power of his quirk – Redemption.

The Guardian was acting in concert with the ritual. Moving the goryo towards the sanctuary. Inoue was resisting, screaming and thrashing. But once started, the pull was inevitable.

I blanked again.

Inoue was inside the sanctuary. Father walked beside him as the goryo was pulled to the Guardian's statue. The family spirit entered its stone resting place, never releasing its opponent.

With a last scream, Inoue was pulled into the Buddha after the Guardian. With a mighty crack of thunder and flash of light, the goryo vanished.

I felt the pull on Taylor release. The drain had been so great she was barely there. The flame of her existence was guttering – flickering feebly on the edge of extinguishing. I 'moved' to take her in my spiritual arms and hold her tight to this world.

Then I passed from awareness.