The sun had set, and I’d volunteered to take over the driving for Akira while she and Keiichi went to the back, so Akiha sat in the passenger seat next to me.

I had broken out in a nervous sweat, my fingers weak and slightly trembling as I fought to keep a constant pressure on the gas pedal.

“Aren’t you going a little slow, Ren?” Keiichi muttered boredly from the back.

“Shut up and sleep.” My left eye twitched. “It’s my first time driving, I’ll have you know.”

“It was Kamo-san’s first time too.”

I picked up the bottle in the cup holder and threw it backwards without looking.

“Ow! Okay, fine, fine, I’ll be quiet, just, pick up the pace, man.”

I didn’t reply, but gradually eased the pedal down, feeling the thrum of the vehicle under my touch. My heart was a nervous wreck.

Akiha was being strangely quiet too, and without taking my eyes off the road, I whispered to her. “Hey, Akiha. How do you feel?”

“Huh?” She turned to look at me. “Oh… I’m fine now, but my arms and legs are a little sore.”

“That’s good. Rest while you can, okay?” I bit my cheek. “And… I’m sorry, I couldn’t do anything to protect or help you…”

My grip tightened on the steering wheel, guilt I didn’t know I felt rising up in my chest. “If only I were stronger…”

“Don’t say that, Ren-sama. After all, it’s me that’s supposed to be protecting you. I’m sorry too. I couldn’t do it.” Akiha sounded sad.

I tore one hand off the wheel with great difficulty and placed it on her head. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Then you too, Ren-sama.”

I paused, then laughed. “You got me there.”

Sighing, I decided to ask her again. “Akiha… are you really okay?”

“Hm? Yeah… like I said, I’m just a little sore-”

“No, not your body. That nightmare you had.” I muttered. “What happened? Are you alright?”

Akiha fell silent.

I decided not to push further, but she eventually spoke up again.

“I dreamt of my mom. I saw her dying in front of me.” Her reply was terse.

“Akiha…” I wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to say any more, but she interjected.

“It’s okay, Ren-sama!” I could tell she was forcing herself to sound more energetic. “I didn’t actually get to see my mom die back then, so I know it’s just a dream and nothing more.”

I swallowed dryly. What the hell do I say in this situation?

“I’m… sorry, Akiha.”

“Mmm.” She shook her head. “It was a long time ago. Besides, if things hadn’t gone that way, Tsuchimikado-sama wouldn’t have saved me, and I wouldn’t have met Ren-sama.”

I don’t think… that makes sense… I sighed inwardly, but decided to go with it,

“I’m glad I met you too, Akiha. I’m glad you’re here.”

Akiha responded with a soft contented purr. I cocked my head to the side. Do foxes purr? Wait… what sounds do foxes make in the first place? I realised that I had no idea.

We drove in silence the rest of the way, and soon we were on a road running alongside the coast.

I couldn’t resist looking away from the road, the vast ocean pitch black with the darkness of the night sky. There wasn’t any other vehicle on the road, and roadside lamps were sparse.

It feels so peaceful.

I clenched my jaw. It was hard to believe that the four of us, or five, if including Kenji, were on the run from both monsters of darkness and humans who were supposedly the same as us.

I felt so… lost. The quiet and stillness of the night and the surroundings as I drove felt almost dissociating. I really have no idea what I’m supposed to be doing.

Why’s uncle Joman even doing all this? I don’t even know why he suddenly betrayed us, and why he has the support of other Onmyoji. Why does he even have yokai under his bidding?

The more I thought about our circumstances, the more strange it felt, and soon I couldn’t hold back the soft laugh that escaped my lips.

“What the hell…” I laughed to myself. “Everything’s crazy right now.”

I steered us off the road a while later, to a small beach beside an outcrop of rocks. There was a small old torii gate that sat some ways out in the water, which was a stroke of luck.

Getting out of the car, I looked back to see Akira and Keiichi both asleep, and gestured for Akiha to join me quietly. Grabbing some food and drinks out of the bags in the back of the SUV, I spread my jacket on the sand and sat on it, Akiha settling down beside me.

She snapped her fingers, and a small orb of foxfire shimmered into existence in front of us, lighting up her face with a soft gold glow.

“Are you tired?” I asked, opening a packet of crackers. My stomach was churning.

She shook her head as I popped a cracker into my mouth, the biscuit cracking and filling my mouth with a dry, slightly salty taste. We’ve got barely four thousand yen left. We’re not going to last long at all.

I broke a second cracker in half and offered a piece to Akiha, who took it and started nibbling.

I sighed before tossing the other half into my mouth. And what do we do about weapons…? If I remember right, Akira’s a Grade C Onmyoji, which means she hasn’t yet trained in casting without ofuda, since those are Grade A techniques, or so Kia-san told me.

I stared into the sky, where the moon hung like a ghost, with no stars visible. Kia-san was a Grade A Onmyoji, yet uncle Joman took care of her like she was nothing. He’s got to be higher than even Grade S at this point. And the ones who managed to wipe out the other two families… Among the Tsunawara, there were at least two other Grade Bs, and the rest were Grade Cs and Ds. The average Onmyoji is usually a Grade D, so our defenses were by no means weak, and yet… yet, everyone except Akira got killed.

I had balled my fist unconsciously, the crinkle of plastic and the feeling of flaky crumbs on my hand jolting me back to reality and cursing when I realised I’d just crushed my food. I put the remains of the crackers down in front of me, then dusted my hands off. Just who are we going up against?

“Ren-sama, the sun’s rising.” Akiha whispered.

“Hm?” I focused to see that the sky had indeed lightened a little, the twilight surreal.

It feels too much like the peace before the storm… kinda thing. I squinted one eye. Did I just curse us…?

Before long, the sun had started to peek out from the horizon, the round ball of orange turning the sky a brilliant gradient of orange where it touched the ocean, then turning purple the higher it went.

I noticed with a start that the ocean was reflecting the sun as it rose. Where the light of the two suns meet.

I scrambled to my feet. “Wait here, Akiha.”

Before she could reply, I had started walking towards the shore, and before I knew it, I was already ankle-deep in the water, calm waves lapping at my ankles.

Do I have to wait until the sun itself and its reflection form the entire shape of the sun? What do I even have to do in order to contact the twelve shikigami? What if I’m wrong…?

I stood there with my arms crossed as doubts started to poison my mind, and my chest started to constrict with nervous worry.

The sun was now a perfect circle, cut in half by the horizon. The bottom half shimmered with the ocean’s movement. I held my breath.

“I’m Tsuchimikado Ren of the Tsuchimikado family. I’ve come to seek the twelve Heavenly Generals of Abe no Seimei.” I spoke aloud.

There was no reply.

I waited for a while more, but still nothing happened.

The shrine.

“Ren-sama, where’re you going-” Akiha called out after me, but I had already started walking deeper into the sea.

“Wait there with the others, Akiha. Protect them. If anything happens, wake Akira up.” I said without turning.

The water was up to my waist now, frigid cold in the morning despite it being summer, and I was already shivering.

I can’t feel my feet. Why the hell is it so cold…?

Finally, I came to a stop in front of the torii gate. It was old and unused, its red paint worn and browned. I took a deep breath and bowed, my eyes closed.

“My name is Tsuchimikado Ren. I’ve come to seek the twelve Heavenly Generals of Abe no Seimei.”

There was a soft chime of a bell, the type I had grown accustomed to hearing back at the Tsuchimikado shrine.

Suddenly, the cold from the ocean disappeared, and my feet found purchase on solid ground, my entire body dry again.

I looked up, startled, and froze.

Why am I back here?

I found myself standing in the Tsuchimikado shrine, more specifically, in my house, in the very room where I had last seen my parents lying dead on the floor.

I could hear voices outside, coming from the courtyard.

“Look, there’s nothing wrong with changing our look.” This voice was low, and sounded annoyed. A man.

“Right? Times change, and we have to as well.” A woman agreed with him, her voice melodic like a flute’s.

“These… wretched garments do not serve any purpose.” Somebody retorted, a tenor voice tinged with disgust. “I do not see why you have chosen to abandon our past.”

“Look, it’s not abandoning our past, Rikugo.” Another woman said. “It’s not like these old clothes have any significance.”

“You’ve been wearing the same thing to fight for centuries, Rikugo. Maybe it’s time for a change?” Yet another woman spoke up.

As I listened to them talk, I approached the shoji screen warily, fist around the keychain at my belt.

There shouldn’t be anybody at the shrine right now. If there are, that means they’re hostile. What am I even doing here in the first place? Why am I back at the shrine?

I contemplated trying to leave, but it didn’t sit right with my gut, and I placed a hand on the shoji screen.

At the same time as I pulled it open, I grabbed Kenji off my belt and morphed the keychain into its katana form, ready to pounce on any unaware yokai or Onmyoji, but paused when I saw a crowd of men and women milling around the courtyard, some standing, some sitting on the grass, and a few on the wooden porch in front of me.

I could immediately sense that none of them were enemies I was capable of taking down alone, and as my movement lost all momentum, I lost my balance and stumbled out of the room instead, falling to one knee on the wooden porch.

They gaped at me for a second before moving faster than I could see, leaving almost mirage-like effects in the air where they had been. I raised Kenji as fast as I could to try and defend myself, but no attacks came.

Confused, I realised that they were now all in a straight line in the courtyard, facing me in seiza with their heads bowed.

“Our greetings to you, Tsuchimikado-sama.” They said in sync, their voices blending together in a rich harmony. “We are pleased to see you in good health, and pray for your continued well-being.”

My left eye twitched.

I was speechless. There were twelve of them, six women on the left, and six men on the right. A few of the women were in a variety of kimonos and yukatas, and a few of the men in segmented armour, with the rest in a mix of modern clothes.

What the hell…?

“Who are you?” I finally asked, gulping my doubt down and keeping my grip tight on Kenji’s hilt. “Why are you in my family’s shrine?”

The twelve people didn’t even make any contact with one another before replying in sync again. “We are the twelve Heavenly Generals of Abe no Seimei. Suzaku, Kochin, Seiryu, Tenko, Taiko, Byakko, Toda, Rikugo, Kijin, Daion, Genbu, Tenku.”

The twelve Heavenly Generals? Wait, so I managed to do it? I managed to find them! A wave of euphoria surged into my heart.

“Wait… why are we in the Tsuchimikado shrine?”

“We are not, Tsuchimikado-sama. This is Shinshonohara, the field of the Heavenly Generals. It has merely taken on the image of the place your heart longs for.”

The image of the place your heart longs for. So this place isn’t home, huh.

I felt a twinge of disappointment upon realising that fact. I hadn’t realised how much I’d subconsciously wished for peace and normalcy, to be able to return home as if nothing had happened. To see my parents’ smiling faces once again.

Apparently I’d been quiet for a while, because the twelve in front of me lowered their heads even more.

“Tsuchimikado-sama, are you discontented with anything?”

“Huh?” I jolted up. “No, nothing’s wrong.”

I turned Kenji back into a keychain. “But, why’re you acting like this…? It doesn’t feel right. Aren’t you the legendary twelve shikigami of Abe no Seimei?”

“What do you mean, Tsuchimikado-sama? We’re your shikigami.”