His wife hasn't return after leaving her child at home to pick vegetables growing in the wild.
Their child has gone missing since she went out in the morning to play.
When the other villagers have heard the news and started searching for them, it was already night time.
The men were holding on to flaming torches, and the rest of the villages were separated into a few groups to search along the shore.
Just when the village elder started to comfort the anxious mother and the pair of brothers who were waiting for their mother, the villagers found the two of them.
The two were just lying close to the shrine where the villagers were told repeatedly not to go near to. The villagers who were searching for them did not want to be near the shrine, but they have little choice.
As they approached the shrine, they realistic that the shrine that was originally situated there has collapsed. They were all shocked.
"How...how did it..?"
The lady and the little girl lying on the ground did not move, and the men carried them up with anticipation. They were afraid that the two had died, but they soon realized that the two were still breathing. They had only passed out.
The men heaved a sigh of relieve. One was carrying the little girl and another was carrying the lady. Just as they were about to leave, they saw one man standing in front of the shrine. He was not moving.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
The man looked around timidly and said "where was the thing that was worshipped here?"
The man had gone to this place when he was young, and contracted a strange disease.
The shrine has collapsed. There were only some tiles found. The doors were thrown off into a distance and the destruction seemed to come from within the shrine. The creepy place did not felt scary any more. Was it because the shrine has been destroyed?
Then, someone said impatiently "Let's go! If we do not bring them back soon, I'm not sure if they will make it."
"Oh....coming."
That man turned around and joined his teammates, who had already walked away.
Just beneath the collapsed shrine was a white stone that was broken into half.
When all the people had left, a shadow appeared. As the shadow was appearing, the wind became still. There was an eerie silence.
"Sigh. This has wasted much of my strength." The voice in the dark cursed.
"But just as well. Luckily, there are pawns that I can use currently. Now I just have to wait for the demons that were released to wreak havoc in the area."
In the darkness there was an eerie laughter.
"Then I can also force that guy to come out of hiding..."
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He didn't like the night.
He would dream if he sleeps. It would be good if he could forget those dreams, but most of the time, he remembers them. Because he didn't want to dream, he would sometimes pretend to sleep until dawn, and yawn throughout the day. However, this was not good for his body, and so he still had to sleep a bit at night. Then he would dream, again and again.
The charcoal that was placed in the pit still felt hot even though it was not burning anymore.
Masahiro laid on a straw mat and covered himself with a shirt (I supposed it's the kind of cloth they always wear around the shoulders when it's cold, but I don't know what it is called). That was his own shirt. He heard that Taiin had retrieved it from his room for him. Since it was cold at night, he pull the shirt closer to himself and lay on his side.
His eyes had already got use to the darkness, but it was so dark that it was difficult to see even the outline of objects and people. The hut was small. Hence, besides the wooden door, there was only one opening. It was supposed to be the window.
During the night, the shinshou would be invisible. They will also hide their spiritual energy. This makes Masahiro wonder if they had returned to their own realm.
When he closed his eyes, he would see a scene. There were red and white colours. There was also a shadow near the river bay.
Suddenly, he felt a breeze.
It was a reflex action and he turned his head around. Then he saw a white creature not far away. He didn't felt its aura just now, so the creature had probably open the door only slightly and crept in.
The creature felt him looking at itself and snapped "What?"
The voice was cold and emotionless.
---"Huh? What's the matter?" Masahiro remembered the same voice from the past. His eyes flutter.
The creature couldn't stand the silence and Masahiro looking at him with such a sad expression, so it said coldly " It's annoying."
Masahiro's heart skip a beat, he anxiously reply "I'm sorry, I didn't do it on purpose..."
The creature turned away.
Its true form was the shinshou Touda, so the coldness of the night had little effect on it. Masahiro remembered that even in the coldest nights, he would walked around like it was nothing. Sometimes, it would stand on its hind legs and look at Masahiro, blinking its red coloured eyes.
----"Hmp. You might catch a cold if the weather is too chilly. Better wear more clothes, okay?" Masahiro immediately held his shirt closer to himself and curl his knees closer to his body, like a foetus.
This was his choice after all.
Even though it rarely talks to him, it was alright as long as it was still alive. The creature was only here because it was Seimei's orders. But that was good as well. As long as he could see the creature, which only comes close to him at night, he felt comforted.
It was only at night, since the rest of the shinshou with Masahiro are not there. Strictly speaking though, they should still be close to him. Since they had to protect Masahiro, they would not leave the place. It was just that they had concealed themselves.
Still, when the shinshou were close to him, the creature will not be near. Perhaps he was sure that there were others protecting Masahiro, hence there was no need for it to be near.
Recently, as long as the creature was nearby, Taiin would feel really uncomfortable and shift around. Once the creature was gone, Taiin would immediately relax and heave a sigh of relieve.
"You can't sleep?" said a low voice. Masahiro looked up from the shirt covering his face.
When the creature left earlier, he didn't close the door fully. Through the moon light, Masahiro saw a pair of legs. One was crossed and another was stretched out. Then, he saw Kochin's face. So she had been there.
The wind was blowing on her sleek back hair as she eyed Masahiro.
Masahiro stood up and reply "Um, Because I will dream."
Kochin has specially shown herself so as to talk to him.
If it was Rikugo, he would have kept quiet. If it were Taiin or Genbu, they may not know what to talk about, and ending up keeping quiet all the same.
Kochin—this shinshou was rarely seen in the past. However, over the last six months, he became more familiar with her and understood her personality.
She was the kind who would take a step back to get a look at the whole picture, then analyse what to do next. In battle, she was a ferocious fighter. However, at other times, she was usually quiet and dependable. She was very different from Rikugo. Rikugo tends to be more conservative and usually do not express his opinions. In contrast, Kochin would state her opinions clearly. Since she was good with her choice of words, Masahiro is not bothered by Kochin expressing her opinions. This was the kind of person Kochin was.
Yet, she was a shinshou. That's why it feels strange to be referring to her as a "person".
Masahiro climb up from his coarsely made make-shift bed, and sat besides Kochin.
"It's not good if you catch a cold. Put on some clothes."
Kochin took the shirt(refer to previous chapter for what the shirt is supposed to be) that Masahiro had used to cover himself previously as a replacement for the blanket, and place it over Masahiro's shoulder.
Masahiro remembered Mokkun, which used to be as concerned about him as Kochin.
His heart hurts.
The moon light shone on the ground as both Masahiro and Kochin remain silent for some time.
Masahiro though that Kochin must have been waiting for him to speak first, so he mumbled "I think...Taiin is scared..."
Kochin blinked, then reply "Is that so?"
"Genbu too. He is just trying hard not to let others know about his fear. You, and Rikugo, both of you are different. You are not scared of him."
"Rikugo was like that since the past. He does not change his attitude towards anybody, and treats them equally. There are exceptions to that though, but it's rare for him to do so."
Masahiro nodded his head in agreement. He agrees that Rikugo's attitude towards his grandfather was slightly different, since Seimei was the onmyouji who leads the twelve spirit summons.
"As for me, I'm not afraid. I don't think that he is scary."
"Scary?" Masahiro looked up.
Then, Kochin continued to say "Taiin is afraid, because she thinks that Touda is scary. Since a long long time ago, Taiin would not be alone with Touda."
"Why?"
Masahiro had never thought that Touda was scary. There was no doubt that the Touda now was cold and harsh, his eyes emotionless and he always kept his distance from the rest of the group. But, that was all to it.
Like she had understood his concerns, Kochin tilted her head and crossed her hands across her chest. Then she said "Both you and Seimei are weird people. Normal people usually fear the strong aura he emits. His aura feels cold, sharp and merciless. No one would approach him on their own accord. To put it in another way, they feel like they are being rejected or outcasted."
"..." Masahiro looked at Kochin.
He did not know that Touda.
Kochin continued to move her nicely shaped lips.
"That was the Touda we knew... It's boring seeing him like that. I don't like guys who seem so cold and distant."
There was a lot of displeasure in those words. But Masahiro did not sense that.
The fiercest and the strongest of all the spirit summons. The spirit summon who has conquered the flames of hell, who can burn all things into ashes.
The first person who reached out for that Touda was Seimei. He even gave him a completely different name – "Gurren". This name was the "only treasure" that Touda has.
"Touda... does he want to return to Seimei's side?" The tone of his voice gave away how he was feeling.
Kochin glance at Masahiro. Masahiro looked down at his knees. His hands were clutching his clothes so tightly that they have turned white. While the moon was the only source of light then, it was improbable that his hands were white because the moon did not shine on it.
She then simply reply "...Probably."
Masahiro's heart skipped.
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He had asked the obvious.
Back in his bed, he closed his eyes. However, he still could not fall asleep.
Touda was only here because he was ordered by Seimei to do so.
He stayed in Izumo, a place far from the capital. In addition, he had worked with the rest of the shinshou and stayed with a kid with no spiritual sight ability. All because it was Seimei's order. This was how important Seimei was to Touda.
If what Kochin had said was true, then, Masahiro questioned himself, who was the "Gurren" that he had always known?
Was the existence of Gurren real? The "Gurren" whom he had known, is he no longer present?
He buried his face into his clothes and changed his position. Like a foetus curling his knees into his chest, he shut his eyes tightly.
"..."
If that was so, he did not have to remain in that form. He could have just be Touda and be invisible like Rikugo and the rest.
If that was so, then...then he would not have to hold on so persistently to his last hope.
Even though he knew that it was impossible, he could not bear to give up his last hope
--"What's the matter? Masahiro."
The voice asked. It tilted its head as its red coloured eyes blinked. Those eyes were like the colour of the sun set. It smiled slightly, then turned around, its white tail moving in the wind. Those eyes, they were so gentle and kind.
--"Is anything the matter? Tell me about it..."
Masahiro gripped his shirt even more tightly.
"Please forget..."
Such things were impossible now. Because the Touda with him now is no longer the Touda who he had knew.
Touda did not know who Masahiro was now. He no longer has any memories of Masahiro.
For him not to be sad, not to feel pain, Masahiro had hoped for Touda to forget everything.
It was because of that, that Masahiro chanted the spell that erases memories.
Even though his eyes felt hot, he pretended that he did not feel anything and continued to mumble under his breath "No matter how many nightmares I have, he would still not remember..."
Just like a river that has wash away all traces of sand and mud.
Just like the water that flows between his fingers, and just like the sand that drops from his hands.
You can forget. Because I'll still remember, so just forget!
It was because of his own selfishness that he took away a part of Gurren's heart. That's why he felt so painful and miserable now. It was his punishment for sealing Gurren's memories.
He had attempted to use his life to exchange for that gentle shinshou, but he returned. Even though he had lost his ability to "see", he thought that that alone was not enough for his punishment.
He would be miserable for the rest of his life.
Yet, no matter how much nightmare that he had, no matter how many days have passed, he would still make a similar choice.
Because, no matter how painful it is, he is not willing to "lose" it again.
Masahiro cleared his throat and let his eyes wander around. His heartbeat got quicker and just when he was about to clench his fist, he felt a chilling sensation creeping up his spine