Kami Cursed (Dragon and Phoenix) (10 page)

R
yuu stretched
his long legs, setting a stride that ate up the distance with ease.  His
sneakers were quiet on the sidewalk, drowned out by the sounds of the small
town.  He passed brick storefronts and businesses without really seeing them. 
Sometimes it felt like there was something moving inside him.  Just a bit.  A
twinge.  But it was enough to fill him with nervous energy that made him want
to move.  He was tired of this child’s body, and he despaired of ever reaching
adulthood.

He looked up at
the sky and thought about Kit, trying to distract himself.  She had a study
session right now.  With that blond guy.  Ryuu’s eyes narrowed at the thought
of that jerk cozying up to Kit while they studied.  A girl on a bike rode past. 
Ryuu sidestepped and narrowly missed being run over.  Not paying attention.  It
was hard to focus on what was going on around him with the thing inside him
coiling and shifting like a snake.

Kit only thought
of him as a friend.  And for now that would have to be enough.  There was no
way for him to explain to her right now- to make her see what he knew about
their past… and their future.  She would never believe him.  But it was hard
when he could see the other guys watching her.  And boy were they watching her,
though right now she was still ignorant of how beautiful she was.  At least
that was some comfort.  She was as much of a child on the inside as he was on
the outside.

His nervousness finally
began to settle, that feeling of movement subsiding so that he almost felt like
himself again.  He rounded a corner and bumped into a man carrying an ornate cane.

“Sorry,” he
muttered, embarrassed.  But the words stuck in his throat.  That strange
feeling was back again, flaring to life just as Ryuu noticed the dark energy cloud
around the cane.  His spiritual energy reacted to it before his eyes even
registered what he was seeing.  A cursed object, reeking of darkness.

He backpedaled
to avoid touching it, and the man gave him an odd look.  “Watch where you’re
going kid.” 

He was a big,
burly guy, dressed in an old-timey pinstriped suit with an honest to God top hat
perched on his head.  His dark hair was graying at the temples and he had it
slicked back into a thin ponytail.  He brushed past Ryuu and kept on going
without a second glance.

Ryuu shifted
from foot to foot, not knowing what to do.  The cane was oozing tainted
energy.  It had to be affecting the guy.  He looked around helplessly.  Of
course, no one else could see it.  A million scenarios flashed through his head
and were cast away.  If Kit were here, he would distract the guy and have her
grab the cane.  But he was on his own. 

His hands
clenched into fists, feeling the full weight of his immaturity.  The man was
getting farther and farther away.  If he didn’t hurry, the cane would be gone,
slipping out of his reach where it would continue to taint people and cause
suffering.  He pushed into motion without really thinking about what he was
doing.

“Hey mister!” 
He dashed after the man, waving his arms.  “Wait!”

The guy looked
back and saw Ryuu pounding after him.  His eyes narrowed.  “Me?”

Ryuu nodded,
coming to a panting halt in front of him.  “Yeah, sorry.”  He tried to catch
his breath, but it was hard with the thing moving in him and the energy from
the cane making him feel sick.

The guy stared
down at him impatiently.  “Did you need something kid?”

Ryuu
straightened and gestured at the cane.  “I noticed your cane.  It looks a lot
like one my grandpa used to have.  Where did you get it?”

It was certainly
eye-catching.  The dark wood was probably hand carved, with vines and leaves
tracing up the length of it, and a great, twisted face on the handle.  An
antique for sure, something that had been around long enough to soak up all
that energy.

The man checked
his watch.  “I got it from an antique store,” he said distractedly. 

He turned to
leave and Ryuu panicked.  The pulsing blackness around the cane was giving him
a headache.  Clenching his teeth, he reached out and grabbed it. 

An icy, sucking
sensation numbed his hands the moment they touched the wood.  He could almost
see the energy of the thing trying to crawl up his arm, and his own energy
feebly repulsing it.  How the man held it was beyond him.

They guy’s hazel
eyes widened in surprise, then he began to glare.  “Piss off kid!”  He put one
hand on Ryuu’s chest and shoved.  The guy was big, but it wasn’t his physical strength
that sent Ryuu stumbling backward, clutching at his chest and gasping. 

The guy walked
over and bent down to look into his eyes.  Ryuu flipped his hair out of his face
and glared back, wondering what the hell had just happened.  The man’s eyes
widened when he met Ryuu’s glare.  “You’re just a kid,” he said softly.  “Don’t
bite off more than you can chew.”

He laughed, a
rich guffaw.  Then he turned and walked away, twirling the cane and whistling.

Everything
looked distorted.  Ryuu’s stomach roiled and he thought he might puke.  He made
his way to a bench on the sidewalk and put his head between his knees while the
world spun.  The book that cursed Kit had burned when he touched it.  But it had
never reached out and slapped him like that.  That cane was the most powerful
thing he’d ever seen- even stronger than the cursed object that had killed his
parents.

Ryuu closed his
eyes and tried to get his stomach to settle.  It subsided slowly, and he still
felt shaky and cold. 

“Ryuu?”  Kit’s
voice sounded like it was far away, but when he looked up, she was right there
in front of him, her golden brown hair windblown, and a light flush on her
cheeks.  She held a couple of shopping bags in one hand.

“Hey Kit.  What
happened to your face?” 

She shrugged off
his question and stared down at him with worried blue eyes.  “You don’t look so
good.”

Then her hands
were on him, touching his face, his hair, her arm slipping around his waist. 
The sick feeling left almost instantly, and all he wanted was sleep.

*****

I pulled Ryuu’s
sneakers off and held back the covers so he could lie down.  I’d never seen him
sick before.  Not even when we were younger.  That a cursed object could do
this to him was frightening.  It made me realize that this thing he wanted to
do wasn’t a game.  And what’s more, neither one of us really knew what we were
doing.  That stupid box had almost given me a brain injury.

His eyes looked
darker than usual, maybe because of the bruise-like circles under them.  I
wouldn’t have thought it possible, but his pretty white skin was grey.

“Are you sure
you’re going to be okay?”  I’d wanted to take him to the doctor, but he had
refused, saying he just needed sleep and that he wasn’t
physically
sick.  Whatever that meant.

I sat on the
edge of the bed and fumed, angry that I hadn’t been there.  He wouldn’t have
grabbed the thing if I was there.  That was my job- at least I think it was. 
“What were you thinking?” I demanded for the hundredth time. 

He sighed and
his eyes settled closed, his long, dark lashes resting against his cheeks.  “I
don’t know.  I couldn’t just let it go…out there where it could hurt people...” 

I sighed and
brushed his hair back from his eyes.  “Moron.  Idiot.”

He smiled
without opening his eyes.  “Yes.”

When I left,
Ryuu was sleeping deeply.  He hadn’t even twitched when I tucked the covers
around him and closed the shades.  Some stupid impulse made me kiss the top of
his head, like my mother used to do when I was sick.  I was glad he hadn’t been
awake to notice.

I marched down
the sidewalk, right past my house.  I had a little errand to run before I went
home.  I narrowed my eyes, my anger building with every step.

By the time I
reached the temple, I was livid.  I could feel the blood pounding in my face. 
I kept my voice pitched low as I approached the nearest monk.  “Is Fumio here?”

The man was
watering plants in the little garden bed in front of the temple.  “I’m sorry,
he said with a soft smile, “but I don’t know of a Fumio.”

I rolled my
eyes.  “Greg.”

He nodded his
head.  “Oh, yes.  He’s inside, but I think he’s meditating just now, so please
don’t disturb him.  You can wait on the bench inside if you’d like.”

I smiled at him,
though it probably looked more like a bearing of the teeth than a happy
expression.  “Sure.”

Once I was
inside, I walked right past the little wooden bench and toward the main
sanctuary.  I could see Fumio out one of the windows.  He was sitting
cross-legged in the little garden among drifts of fallen leaves, his head
bowed, completely still.

I marched up to
him and stood there, waiting.  Fuming.

He was still for
a few more seconds before he lifted his head and looked at me.  “Kit!  How are
you?”  He got a good look at my face and his smile faltered.  “Is Ryuu with
you?’

I pointed a
finger at him.  “You should be ashamed of yourself!”

He stood and
dusted off the leaves and grass that clung to his rust colored robe.  “And just
what have I done to be ashamed of?”

I wanted to slap
the calm expression right off his handsome face.  “Ryuu isn’t here right now
because he’s at home in bed.  Sick.”  I crossed my arms over my chest and
tapped my foot.  “How could you encourage him to chase after these… these… things?! 
He’s only a kid you know.  He doesn’t know what he’s doing.  And neither do
you!”  I was shouting now- standing in the middle of a Buddhist temple shouting
at a monk.  I didn’t care.  The thought of Ryuu’s pale face made me want to
strangle the guy, robe or no robe.

He held up his
hands.  “Calm down, Kit.  I don’t understand what’s happened.  But I want to.”

I turned away
from him, mostly to keep from hitting him.  I should have brought my bat.  After
all, I thought sarcastically, Ryuu had told me to
never
 leave home
without it.  

I spoke through
my teeth.  “He ran into a guy with a cursed thing, and since he was alone, he
tried to take it away from the guy.”  I rounded on Fumio again, glaring.  “And
now he’s sick.  I’ve never seen him like this.  And he won’t let me take him to
a doctor.”  I widened my eyes to keep the tears from falling when they suddenly
sprang up from nowhere.

Fumio slowly
walked over and put his arms around me.  I stiffened, ready to deck him, but
his words stopped me.  “You love him very much, don’t you?”

I clenched my
teeth.  “Jerk,” I hissed.  I couldn’t stop crying now, and I was starting to
shake.  “He listened to you about all this curse crap and he got hurt.”

Fumio just let
me rant, patting my back as I hiccupped and snorted and called him all sorts of
names.  Finally, he released me, moving his hands to my shoulders as he looked
into my eyes.  “Better?”

I nodded. 
“Sorry.” 

He laughed and
dropped his hands, drifting over to study the big, brightly colored fish in the
little pond.  “I would never want anything to happen to Ryuu.  He’s like a
little brother to me.  But being in danger- well, it’s just part of who he is,
who he’ll be.”  He looked unhappy.

I swiped the
back of my hand across my eyes, trying to wipe away my tears.  “What do you
mean?”

The monk sank
down onto a little stone bench and gazed up at me.  “There’s something ethereal
about that kid.  I don’t have an ounce of spiritual power, but something inside
me just knows that I should be in awe.”

I laughed.  “Uh
huh,” I said doubtfully.

Fumio sighed. 
“You don’t see it because to you he is still that little boy you befriended
when you were a child.”  He gestured to the big tree growing behind him.  “But
this tree was once a sapling, and before that it was nothing more than a seed.”

 I narrowed my
eyes at him.  “Oh no you don’t.  Don’t go all wise old man on me.  You’re
barely older than I am,
Greg
.”

His eyes
crinkled at the corners.  “I’m sorry.  What I meant was…how much will that
little boy grow?”

I sighed and
dropped down onto the bench beside him.  “You’re saying it’s going to get
worse.”

He looked up at
the sky.  “Who knows?  But I think it’s a strong possibility.  He’s been
manifesting these powers since he was a small boy.  At fourteen, he already has
an almost effortless connection to things we cannot see.”

His brown eyes
met mine.  “So, yes.  I think it is going to get worse.  Which means he needs
to learn as much as he can now- to prepare.”

I looked down at
my hands.  “And he’s gonna need help.”

He nodded. 
“Obviously, if today is any indication.”

I met his eyes. 
“I still think you’re a bad influence.  Maybe if he didn’t think about this
stuff all the time it would just go away.”

He laughed. 
“Denial is never a good thing.  For our souls to have peace, we need to live in
the current moment fully, accepting it for what it is.”