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Tsukumogami Hunter


Pahrak Model ZX

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The cab rolled to a stop in front of the line of dingy white storage units.  The back doors opened, and out from one side stepped a fair-skinned man in his late 20s, wearing jeans and a simple white t-shirt and possessing short blond hair.  From the other side stepped a Japanese woman around the same age, wearing a black suit with a long skirt and carrying an old-looking purse.  The woman paid the driver while the man ambled towards the unit.  He looked at the tennis racket in his hand, spinning it around absent-mindedly.

 

When the woman joined him, he said, “So, Hanako—“

 

She held up one hand.  He stopped talking, and then followed as she approached a storage unit and drew a key from her purse.  Rather than a modern key, however, this was an ancient skeleton key, looking at least a century old and covered in cracks and dark spots.

 

Hanako looked back to make sure the cab had departed.  She then tapped the lock with her key, waved it upwards, and said, “Akete.”

 

At her command, the door unlocked and flew open.  Once the two of them had stepped inside, she waved downward and said, “Shimete.”

 

The door slid shut.  She flicked on a standing lamp in the corner, shedding yellowed light on the assortment of treasures within the unit: a rack of swords, an umbrella, nearly a dozen Noh masks, four pairs of sandals, a grandfather clock, one oar, a table with a few small boxes on it, and, against the back wall, a Japanese sliding door with browning paper that displayed a row of bamboo shoots in gold ink.

 

“Tadaima,” Hanako said, putting the key away and removing her shoes.  A slight jolt seemed to run through the room, each object rattling in place for only a moment.  She turned to her companion and said, “Please have a seat.  I’ll call and see if we can talk to Tennou-sama now.”

 

He nodded.  After removing his own shoes, he pulled a cushion out from behind the clock and sat on it in front of the sliding door, setting his tennis racket on the floor.

 

“Sorry, Tess.  If I had been paying more attention during that third blast we could’ve finished the job before we got caught.”

 

The racket shook a bit, shifting so that it angled towards him.  He smiled.  “Thanks.”

 

Hanako was on her cell phone, talking in Japanese, for about five minutes.  When she hung up, she said, “Jeremy, he’s ready now.”

 

Jeremy straightened his spine and folded his hands in his lap.  Hanako set another cushion beside him and approached the sliding door, pulling it open gently before going to her seat.  On the other side of the door could be seen another room, with three green paper walls and one open wall through which poured a stream of sunlight.  The floor was made of tatami mats.  An elderly Japanese man sat at the room’s center holding a wooden staff about four feet in length, with  a symbol at its head that resembled a tall rectangle with two horizontal lines inside it about one and two thirds down its length.

 

Hanako and Jeremy bowed, the former saying, “Thank you for taking the time to see us, Tennou-sama.”

 

The old man held the staff upright and rapped it against the floor.  The lines inside the rectangle marking moved closer together suddenly, and then moved lower very slowly.  A square mark appeared beneath the rectangle and they heard a high-pitched voice speaking in Japanese; when the voice went away, so did the second symbol.

 

Hanako and Jeremy sat back up.  Jeremy looked to Hanako, who said, “Tennou-sama wishes to hear from you how the mission went.”

 

Jeremy looked directly at the staff.  “Ah, yes, well…you see, Tennou-sama, I went to see the streetlight we had heard about, and it was indeed a tsukumogami.  Tess and I began to fight with it, but before we were able to purify it, the local authorities detained me.  The streetlight does not pose immediate danger, but it is not in a good state to be left alone.”

 

“We used our connections to retrieve him, and I intend to wrap up matters with the streetlight this evening,” Hanako said.  “But, if I may say: while Jeremy does show potential, his inability to fully transition to the Empathic Plane is proving to be an enormous hindrance to the swiftness of our operations.  I recommend that he be taken off of active duty until he can learn to leave his physical form.”

 

Jeremy looked at the floor.  The square appeared on the staff again, and the voice said something else.  Hanako replied, “I am aware it is very difficult to find people capable of hunting tsukumogami these days, but regardless of how short-handed we are, Tennou-sama, if I must take the time to retrieve Jeremy after so many of his assignments then I will not have time to complete my own.  He should be sent to a training facility, or at least assigned as a Kōrogi in the nearby area.  We will soon need someone new to watch over the Liberty Bell, after all.”

 

Jeremy looked up.  “In my defense, Tennou-sama, I feel like I’m learning a lot more actually going out and doing things than I would just standing guard at a monument.  I know that I make mistakes, but I have completed several assignments without incident, and with how many tsukumogami are appearing now I think I’m still more useful in action than as a Kōrogi or in training.  Not to speak ill of Kōrogi, of course, I just mean—“

 

Tennou-sama’s “eye” shifted towards Jeremy, and he fell silent.  He spoke again.  Hanako frowned, but then bowed.  “Of course, Tennou-sama.  We shall keep you informed of how things develop.”

 

Confused, Jeremy bowed as well.  Hanako stood and closed the sliding door.  When he sat up, he asked, “So, what did he say?”

 

Hanako walked over to the table and began sifting through her purse.  “He wishes you to remain on active duty.”

 

Jeremy grinned.

 

“But consider this probation.  He desires constant updates on your performance, and if you do not show signs of improvement he may very well assign you as a Kōrogi when Matthews leaves in December.”

 

Jeremy’s expression fell.  “That sounds fair.”

 

Hanako rummaged a bit, then sighed and turned around.  “I don’t mean to sound like I mind helping you, you know.  I’m just trying to think things through practically, and it becomes difficult when the results can be so variable.”

 

“Don’t worry, I know you don’t mean anything harsh.”  Jeremy got to his feet and stretched.  “I think the whole Tea Caddy Order is on edge with this new influx of tsukumogami.”

 

Hanako nodded and went back to her purse.  “It’s certainly concerning.  It used to be that an item needed 100 years to absorb enough emotional energy to develop sentience, but now we’re running into tsukumogami that are only a few decades old.  Just last week I retrieved a VCR that had come to life—it can’t be more than 40 years old.  At this rate, keeping the tsukumogami under control and out of public knowledge might become impossible soon enough.”

 

Jeremy picked up Tess, staring at the racket thoughtfully for a few moments.  “So, what’s the plan for the streetlight?”

 

Hanako pulled something out of her purse: a bronze pocketwatch on a long chain with a few kanji engraved onto its rusty cover.  “Since you’re staying on-duty, we should use this as an opportunity to train you.  I’ll use Ji-kun to give you some cover.  Hopefully, if you don’t have to worry about people seeing you, you’ll be more relaxed and find a way to abandon your physical form.”

 

Jeremy looked up at the Noh masks on the wall.  “In that case, could I maybe—“

 

“No.”

 

“Exactly, can I use the Noh masks to—“

 

“Stop that, you know what I meant.  Mask tsukumogami are dangerous even when their wearer is in the Empathic Plane.  We have no idea what could happen if you use them as you are now, and I have no desire to find out.”

 

Jeremy shrugged.  “Well, it was worth a shot.  Either way…thanks.”

 

Hanako smiled.  “I’m just following orders.  You should get some rest; we’ll leave at sundown.”

 

***

 

The road was quiet, with only a handful of cars occasionally driving down it.  Lining the sidewalks were a multitude of shops with their neon signs crammed against one another, vying for the attention of the people strolling by, hoping themselves bright enough to break through the dusk and land fresh prey.  Hanako and Jeremy focused on their destination: a streetlight that flickered at odd intervals, as if not sure if it wanted to light the way or leave it in shadows.

 

Pulling the watch from her pocket, Hanako said, “Now, Ji-kun will pause time for regular humans in this area, so even if you retain your physical form you will not be seen.  But remember that he can only work for a maximum of five minutes.  At that point, I’ll have no choice but to step in and settle things myself.”

 

Jeremy eyed her purse warily.  “I understand.  I’ll make it so you don’t need to.”

 

Hanako stood still and took a deep breath.  At once she vanished from sight, though no one but Jeremy was paying enough attention to notice.  Jeremy closed his eyes and took a similar breath; when he opened them, he could see Hanako again, but she had a faint white aura surrounding her body.  He looked down at his hands.  There was no aura around him.

 

“Dang it.”

 

“It’s alright.  Just focus on the tsukumogami, and see if the rest comes to you.”

 

He turned to the streetlight, which had developed an aura of its own.  It bent and twisted, shining light in his eyes, and then the edges of its dish closed together as if it were blinking.  Sharp metal teeth began to grow from the edges of the dish, giving the appearance of a robotic Venus flytrap, and the pole elongated and became loose, twisting like a squid’s tentacle as it reached out, snapping as its head came closer.

 

Hanako flipped open the pocketwatch and muttered something in Japanese.  A pulse of purple light radiated from the watch, and the other people walking down the street suddenly froze in mid-step.

 

“Five minutes.”

 

Jeremy raised Tess—she, at least, was glowing, and that would be enough.  The streetlight reared back and made a gagging sound, and then spit a ball of light at Jeremy.  He swung Tess at just the right moment, batting the orb back at the streetlight and making it recoil.  Jeremy advanced, holding Tess in both hands.  The streetlight lunged at him.  He carefully sidestepped, and then bashed Tess against its “neck”, causing it to go limp and fall to the street.

 

“Not falling for that one again!”

 

Suddenly the streetlight rose and swung itself around him, wrapping around his midsection and lifting him into the air.

 

“Oh, great.”

 

Hanako watched the clock.  “I can step in now if you—“

 

“No, no, we’ve got this, right Tess?”

 

The streetlight snapped at him, but he smacked it away with Tess and then began to beat against the stretch of pole holding him.  It lurched and hurled him against the pavement, leaving him dazed, and then began to cough up another ball of light.  Tess jerked back, pulling his arm behind her and barely deflecting the attack, though it flew against one of the shops and left a dent in its sign.

 

“Ah…thanks, Tess…”

 

Jeremy rolled to his feet, and the streetlight sank its teeth into the concrete where he had laid.  He retaliated with a quick backhand, and then jumped back before it could snap again.  Tess’s net began to glow red.  Pulling her back, he said, “Okay, let’s try that!”

 

A fireball formed in front of the racket, and Jeremy swung, launching it at his foe.  The streetlight recoiled and screeched, slowly slinking back towards its initial position.  Jeremy wasn’t much different: the attack had left him drained, and he was desperately trying to catch his breath.

 

“We’ve almost got it,” he panted.  “Just a little more…”

 

The streetlight faced him and spat a light ball.  He avoided it, but it followed by lashing out and headbutting him in the chest, smashing him back against a wall.  Jeremy collapsed and dropped Tess.

 

Hanako checked the clock and then put it into her pocket.  Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a glowing battle axe and waved it to get the streetlight’s attention.  As she took a step forward, she noticed Jeremy grab Tess’s handle.  The streetlight reared back and roared.  That was when Jeremy sprang up, hitting the streetlight on the head so hard that it rocketed down against the street.  When he fell, he brought Tess down on it once again, and a burst of electricity came from the dish.

 

Jeremy looked up at Hanako, smiling.  “Thanks, but I got it.”

 

Hanako cautiously nodded, and then returned the axe to her purse.  Jeremy knelt down and touched the streetlight.  It growled at him.

 

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said in a low voice.  “I’m sorry I had to do that, but it’s the only way to dispel all that negativity.  You were just scared, right?  All of a sudden you have thoughts and feelings of your own, and it’s all being immediately overpowered by the anxiety and road rage coming off of these commuters.  It must have been so overwhelming.”

 

The streetlight fell silent, and began to squirm a little.

 

“That’s the way it usually is with tsukumogami.  But it doesn’t have to stay that way, you know?  No matter what emotion brought you into being, once you shake it off, you get to choose your own feelings, and they can be just as good as they can be bad.  You can form your own identity now.”

 

It twisted around to look up at him.

 

“You don’t have to do it alone, either.  If you’ve become a tsukumogami, then the rest of these lights aren’t going to be far behind.  You can help them—stop them from drowning in anger like you were, and they’ll give you strength in return.  Having someone to look after is a wonderful feeling, I’m told.”

 

Slowly, the streetlight got up.  Its teeth retracted, and the glass of its broken bulb began to mend itself.  After retracting a bit, it looked back to Jeremy.  With a grin, he said, “Take it easy, alright?  I’ll stop by soon to see how you and the others are doing.”

 

The streetlight pulled back to its original position and stiffened, looking like a regular light once again.  Hanako checked the pocketwatch.  She signaled to Jeremy, and he limped over to her side.

 

As the people walking by began to move again, the streetlight maintained its brilliance, no longer flickering as before.  Jeremy and Hanako went back the way they had come, and Jeremy rested Tess on his shoulder and took a deep, pained sigh.

 

“Sorry.”

 

“You calmed it, didn’t you?  You don’t have to apologize.”

 

“I still wasn’t able to transition.”

 

“Well, that’s why Ji-kun and I were here.”

 

“Yeah, and I mean, thanks, but I know you can’t be there every time I fight a tsukumogami.  I’m really trying to figure this out so I won’t be such a pain, it just—“

 

Hanako raised a hand.  “Jeremy, it’s alright.  I know you’re doing your best.  As long as you keep doing that, I’m sure you’ll figure out where your problem lies and how to resolve it.  Until then, we’ll just have to manage. So don’t worry.”

 

Tess vibrated in agreement.  Jeremy thought for a moment, then said, “Right…thank you.”

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