The blade never met my skin.

A pair of arms had wrapped around my uncle’s waist, long white sleeves stained red with blood.

My uncle was jerked backwards, and his eyes widened in surprise as he was knocked off balance.

“Kia-san!”

I made eye contact with my mentor, whose neck was gushing red liquid like a broken dam.

“Run!” She shouted, before a gross gurgling sound emanated from her throat, and she fell over, blood pouring from her mouth.

Uncle Joman was already back on his feet and moving towards me, but Kia lurched forward, grabbing his ankle. Her face was already pale, the deathly white a stark contrast against the crimson on her clothes and skin. She looked up at me, offering one last warm smile.

I scrambled backwards, and while a part of me filled with shame at my cowardice, I turned and jumped through the shoji screen back into the courtyard.

Wood splintered and paper tore, but I hadn’t calculated my jump properly, and when I hit the ground, my momentum carried me forward.

Nearly face-planting in the grass, years of physical combat training with the Onmyoji of the Bureau kicked in, and I instinctively placed my hands on the ground, forming a triangle with both thumbs and index fingers, then brought my shoulder down, rolling to safety.

“I’ve- never,” I panted. “Had to do it that fast before.”

“Water nourishes wood.” I was caught off-guard as two ofuda flew out of the house and to my feet.

Glowing, they burst into water and vines respectively, and soon my ankles were being anchored to the ground by a mess of green tubes that writhed and shifted around my legs, crawling up higher and higher.

Uncle Joman emerged from the torn shoji screen, his tanto still dripping. If he’s here, that means-

“NO! KIA-SAN!”

“Shh... Ren, you don’t want to wake the neighbours.” My uncle was still crying as he walked closer to me. “How I wish everyone could have understood the reasons behind my actions. Alas, nobody does.”

I struggled, trying to raise my feet, but they wouldn’t budge, completely rooted to the ground.

My uncle was in front of me now, and he placed a hand on my shoulder, the knife-wielding one drawing back, ready to stab me.

A cold feeling washed over me as I looked him in the eyes again. “Screw you, uncle.”

He sent the knife forward, and I threw my arms up instinctively, but the blade was already moving past them. Time seemed to slow down as I expected to feel the kiss of the cool metal on my skin, to feel the rush and bloom of blood like a rose as the blade parts my skin, but the moment I felt the faintest stab of pain, my world exploded in a brilliant flash of gold.

The light was blinding — excruciating. My eyes squeezed shut by themselves the moment they felt the searing glare of the golden flash, and less than a moment later, I was forcefully shoved backwards, flying through the air at breakneck speed. The wind whipped at my clothes and my skin, and I hit the ground hard.

Tumbling and rolling sideways on the hard dirt, I gasped for breath, winded, and forced my eyes open, but they screamed in agony, dots of white and gold swimming in my vision, which was blurred and unfocused.

“Goshujin-sama!” A voice called out. A girl’s. “Run!”

I staggered to my feet, my ankles sore where the vines had ensnared them, and squinted in the distance, where my uncle was also climbing back to his feet, his suit torn in more places than just one. He was scowling, and he turned to look at me before sheathing his tanto.

“You got lucky tonight, Ren. I hope the next time I see you you’ll be ready to accept my path.” He started walking back towards the house, then stopped at the shoji screen. “I don’t want to kill you. I’d much rather have you by my side. Remember that.”

The man formed a hand seal that I couldn’t see from this distance, and vanished with a flicker of spiritual energy.

I watched him leave, and suddenly my shoulders slumped, the air seemingly lighter. My legs weak again, I fell backwards onto the grass. I’m exhausted.

I froze. There was a girl earlier. She was shouting for her master to run? Was I hearing things-

“Goshujin-sama.” There it was again.

My vision starting to return to normal, I turned and yelped in surprise. Beside me, a girl had prostrated herself in a dogeza, sitting in seiza and touching her forehead to the ground with her palms beside her head. Long hair cascaded down her back and fanned out on the ground as she bowed, a beautiful blend of chestnut, russet and auburn. Two triangular shapes the same shade as her hair were on top of her head, slightly folded downwards, and a leaf-shaped plume of the same brown was behind her, waving slightly in the air.

My mind was racing.

“Who the hell are you?” I demanded. “Who’re you calling master? What do you want?”

The fox spirit paused visibly, her tail going straight while her ears folded downwards even more, in a way that seemed to exude disappointment.

“Goshujin-sama, you don’t… recognise me…?” She had lifted her forehead off the ground and was looking at me now, her voice quiet and filled with hurt.

Even with the sadness interwoven into it, her voice was light and smooth, like the soft rays of light that glowed golden in the atmosphere when the sun was beneath the horizon. We had a term for it; ‘katawaredoki’, during twilight.

I felt a slight pinch of guilt within me from hearing the way she had asked me that question, but I had no answer. I wasn’t anyone’s master. I didn’t have any shikigami of my own, nor did I have anybody serving under me. ‘Young master’ was a title that the other Onmyoji called me by as a sign of respect since I was the clan heir, but that was it.

Something clicked in my mind as I stared at the girl. She looked young, about a pre-teen age, and her skin was smooth and unblemished, her eyes entrancingly mismatched in colour, her left eye an arctic blue the same as Kin’s, while her right eye was a gold the same colour as the light from earlier.

She was dressed in a light blue yukata with pink sakura designs sewn into it, tied at the waist with a violet obi. With the glow of the moonlight, she seemed almost unreal as she knelt on the ground, and her ear twitched slightly as we stared at one another, her eyes turning misty.

“-cute…” I breathed, then paused. What’s gotten into me, what the hell? She looks twelve! You’re not a pedophile, Ren. You’re not a pedophile, even if it's a kitsune and you don’t actually know how old she is.

While I was distracted, the girl had started sniffling, her tail drooping slightly.

I really don’t recognise her. I clenched my jaw, my face burning with the shame of having made her cry after she saved my life.

“Look, I really don’t know who you are, and I don’t know who you’re calling master-” My voice trailed off as my hand subconsciously went to the pouch at the back of my harness. It was empty.

The same hand now slowly travelled towards the girl, stopping just beside her face. No way. “Aki… ha…?”

Her hair and the fur on her ears and tail were roughly the same colour as the origami fox, and she was a kitsune, so there was too much of a coincidence.

She raised her head slowly to look at me again, her eyes red and puffy from crying, her face slightly flushed, but even that didn’t take away from her looks.

She’ll grow up to be beautiful.

“I-” A broad smile on her face, fresh tears started falling from the corners of her eyes. “Yes! I’m Akiha!”

She seemed to be relieved that I recognised her in the end, her tail swishing from side to side as she cried.

“Hey, it’s okay.” I tried to calm her down, my hand hovering over her head.

Hesitantly, I lowered it, and patted her head, my fingers running over her ears as I did so. They’re soft.

Her tail quivered a little as I stroked her hair, and she seemed to be content, closing her eyes as she smiled.

“C’mon.” I finally said. “We need to go bury the dead and take care of Akira.”

Akiha’s expression grew solemn, and we entered the house. I bit down hard on my tongue as I laid my eyes on my parents’ and Kia’s bodies, the taste of salt and iron bursting across my mouth. Leaving a red streak as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, I forced myself to remain calm as I carried their bodies to the family grave at the back of the shrine, then Akiha and I rushed to the courtyard where the injured miko was.

She was barely conscious, her barrier already falling apart.

“Akira! We’re back! Hold still.” I called out, then turned to Akiha. “Can you use healing magic?”

The fox spirit nodded, igniting foxfire in the palm of her hand and running straight through the miko’s barrier to treat her.

Leaving Akiha to take care of her, I released the three other kitsune guardians’ spirits from service and watched as their bodies turned to ash the same way Kin’s had. My chest was tight and heavy.

Just like this, in one night, the Tsuchimikados were practically extinguished.

Carrying the bodies to the grave as well, the sun was already coming up by the time I buried all the bodies and prayed over them, Akiha coming up to me after everything.

“Is Akira fine?”

She nodded. “She’s safe now.”

I sighed in relief. “That’s good.”

Akiha subtly stepped closer to my side as I watched over the graves, but I didn’t mind. I was grateful for her presence. Now that I thought about it, her being around me gave me the same sense of calm and comfort that I had when I fiddled with the origami fox she had been sealed in.

I took a seat on the grass, bringing my knees to my chest.

Akiha suddenly cried out. “Oh! Goshujin-sama, I have a message for you.”

She raised a hand, and spiritual energy burst forth from it, coalescing into the figure of a man sitting cross-legged on the grass.

My eyes widened as I stared into the wavering, flickering image of my father, and they moistened again.

“Ren.” He spoke, his voice loud and clear. “If you’re seeing this, then Akiha would already have been unsealed. This is just a recorded message, of course, so you won’t be able to interact with me. If you’re seeing this, then your mother and I, along with your mentor Kia, we would’ve already passed on. Honestly, I never hoped that the day would come where you would see this message. I’m sorry, Ren. Your mother and I, we couldn’t stay alive for you. Live on. Continue your path as a Tsuchimikado, and bring salvation to our name. Akiha will accompany you. She is no ordinary shikigami. Her life force isn’t tied to her paper, but rather to your spiritual reserves. If she ever is exorcised or dies, she will return as long as you have spiritual energy, but this trade comes with a cost even your mother is unable to divine, so I wouldn’t encourage the two of you to jump into danger recklessly. I’m running out of time now, so I’ll get on with what you need to do. If I, your mother, and Kia are dead, this means that your uncle has made his move, and you will be a target. Trust nobody, especially not the Onmyo-ryo at this time. Go look for the twelve if you are to go against your uncle and take back the Onmyo-ryo and the good name of the Tsuchimikado. Save the Onmyoji. None of us are safe if your uncle gets his way. This is goodbye, Ren. Remember always, I love you.”

The image dissipated in the wind along with my father’s last words, and as I looked at the sticks of incense I had offered, I couldn’t help the bitter laugh that escaped my lips.

“Goshujin-sama?” Akiha sounded concerned.

My laugh soon changed in timbre, and my cheeks felt leaden with wetness, my eyes blurring over once more.

I lowered my head into my knees as I cried, for the warriors that had given their lives to protect the shrine, for the mentor that had given her life to protect mine, and for my parents.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I”m sorry-” I choked out in between sobs. I wasn’t strong enough. I’m hopeless, I’m the reason why we’ve been wiped out.

I felt something warm press against my back. Akiha had pulled herself against me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders as I cried, and something softly pressed down against my hair.

“Her name’s Akiha. Take care of her, and she’ll protect you.”

That’s right. I’m not alone.

“Akiha.” I called her name.

“Yes, goshujin-sama?”

“Thank you.”

The fox spirit grinned sheepishly, her ears flopping downwards as her tail swayed vigorously.

“Also, don’t call me that anymore. Just Ren is fine.”

“Ren-sama!”

I let a crooked smile out, and returned her hug, letting my fingers dig into the soft, smooth curls of her brown hair.

“Thank you.” I whispered as I felt a soft, slightly warm sensation from her tail wrapping around the two of us.