“How long are we going to be up here?” David asked.
“A few more hours,” Takumi said. He stared out over the cliff into darkness, while Natsuki stole occasional glances toward her partner.
“Kou and I will be right back. We’re going to get some firewood.” David stood, and loped off into the trees. Once they were out of sight, David transformed, sighing as Kou’s tiger fur insulated them from the cold. Light over the deep snow, Kou was able to round up enough wood for a fire much faster than David was, despite his lack of opposable thumbs. Kou’s animal senses, so much more potent than David’s, also ensured no stray beasts would ambush them again. In just a few minutes, Kou had a stack of wood next to their friends.
‘I could use a bit of your fur right about now,’ David thought as he braced himself for the change back to human form.
‘Why not? We used to get mixed up. Maybe we can put some fur on you.’
‘Some things best not left to chance. What if we make a mistake and I end up orange haired forever?’
‘It would be an improvement.’
David growled at his other half and willed himself into his human form, pink skin and all.
“Good thing I was a boy scout,” he muttered a few minutes later as he moved the last twig into place.
After a few tries, David coaxed a feeble flame with a few matches from Natsuki’s bag. Afraid the faltering sparks might die; he leaned in to blow on the flame. A sudden gasp made him turn just as something small and dark rushed past him.
The fire erupted into an inferno that heated the entire area. Surprised, David rolled away from the flames as the girls scooted back from the waves of heat. Takumi was gone.
Looking into the flames David saw that Reimi was no longer a small gray bird. Instead, an iridescent whisper of fire resolved into twinkling eyes and beak. Fluttering in and around the flames, Kou suspected she was feeling as he felt stalking through the forest. Reimi was free and at home. Laughing, David sat again with Rie, and together the three students watched the phoenix play in the flames. Sometimes she seemed nothing more than another flicker of heat, while at other times she was a shooting star of red feathers and flame. The flames began to wither after consuming nearly every bit of the wood Kou had gathered.
“I’ll go get some more,” David said, getting up.
Rie pulled him back down. “No, don’t. You’ll miss it.”
With a last few sputters, the flames died as melted snow erased the last embers. A small gray head poked its way out of the mush. Shaking herself off, Reimi hopped out of the sludge and over to Natsuki.
“That was fun. We should do that more often,” she squeaked.
“If I had known all you need is a bit of fire to enjoy yourself so much I would have slept in front of the kotatsu burner instead of having to try to follow you up trees!” Natsuki said laughing.
With a look at David, Reimi fluttered out of view. David followed after with Takumi’s clothes. They made it back just in time to watch the first sunrise of the New Year peak over the hills above Himeji.
“You know,” whispered Rie as the sun’s rays hit them, “it’s the year of the Tiger.”
BACK TO SCHOOL
Choices… I had spent my whole life avoiding them. It was always easier to follow, to do what others wanted me to do. Yet it was always there, the nagging feeling that something was wrong, that I could be more than I was…
Although it was a holiday, David did not expect to escape their usual morning training. Most of the time, David and Kou looked forward to the mental and physical challenges of their practices. Still, they were pleasantly surprised when they returned from the mountaintop and Yukiko announced they all had a day off from their usual routines. Natsuki stayed for breakfast before heading home to spend the rest of New Year’s Day with her parents. The Matsumotos and David enjoyed the traditional New Year’s bento lunch boxes called osechi that Yukiko had ordered months in advance, and then relaxed for the day.
David understood a little better all the preparations that had gone on before the holiday. Yukiko had mobilized everyone when not training to clean out the entire house. Instead of spring-cleaning, the Matsumotos wanted to be sure that everything was ready for a new year. David had especially enjoyed helping to make mochi. With the twins and Natsuki, David had helped smash steamed rice into sticky goo. They had filled some of it with sweet beans to make a very tasty treat. Rie had taken three big rounds of mochi, stacked them, and topped them with an orange. The offering was a centerpiece at the Shrine, and David finally understood what all the plastic decorations he had seen in stores were supposed to represent.
With the work done, the entire family was able to relax. Later in the day, the mailman arrived with a stack of postcard greetings for the family. David was surprised to receive a stack of his own from classmates and other students at the school.
‘I’m embarrassed. The only presents and letters I sent were to my father and Jessica. I didn’t send any to our classmates—and I don’t even know half of these people.’
‘It seems you are more popular than you thought,’ Kou growled from within him. ‘I’m sure Jessica will enjoy the picture of you and the twins you sent. I bet she’ll scratch out your face and focus her hunt on Takumi.’ David took the opportunity to growl back.
Though David’s father and Jessica had visited a few weeks before, they were still unaware of his life as a Jitsugen Samurai. It had been easy enough hiding the changes from his oblivious father, but it had been far more difficult to hide them from his sister. David knew his father cared, but also knew that very few things could hold his interest for long. Fortunately, Jess had been more interested in telling David about her friends back home than in prying into David’s life.
It helped that she grew silent whenever she saw Takumi. With secrecy so essential to his and the Matsumotos’ survival, David could not afford to let his family know about Kou. It was safer for them that way. With a sigh, David went to find Takumi so he could ask what to do about his lack of greetings for other students.
Outside the main house, David jogged toward the forge, a low building that bordered the traditional Japanese garden behind the main house. With a burst of speed, David leapt over the small stream that ran through the Estate. The recent snows had frozen the top layers, but he could still see water running below. He had cleared the stream so many times that he was shocked to find himself wet, cold, and gasping for air beneath a layer of ice.
Struggling, he convulsed in the shallow water. His whole body bumped against the rocks as something dragged him closer to the pond in the center of the garden. He twisted against the pull on his leg. His arm caught a tree root and gave him just enough leverage to turn his face, but the ice kept him from getting any air. With a shock of panic, he smashed his head through the ice just long enough to pull in a quick gasp of air.
A strong jerk dragged him back under. David pulled hard with stomach muscles developed by hours of sit-ups. He caught sight of a translucent blue form in the water before his head banged against a rock and he had to straighten out.
‘A little help here?’
‘I did the last one. I will let you have this hunt.’
‘Just cause there’s a little water.’
David growled, and shut his eyes against the water. He moved faster through the water as his body relaxed. He mentally followed the tingling flow of energy to the core of his being. There, he sensed the remaining metal that had impaled his heart so many months before at the Shrine. Calling it forth, his Seikaku appeared in his hands. As they entered the pond, David had enough room