“Hirotoshi-kun? Is that you?”

“Yes, please Shouhei-shinpu, my mother...”

The priest hurried to our side, shaking her arm. “Haru-san? Please wake up.”

“I-Is she…”

He placed a finger under her nose. “She’s breathing, Hirotoshi-kun. She’s very tired right now.” I watched as Shouhei-shinpu lifted her up with a strength I didn’t know he had. “I am going to take her back to your home now. She needs to rest and see a doctor.”

“I should—”

“Stay here. Pray.”

“But I—”

“Then pray again.”

I cried harder as Shouhei-shinpu walked away with her, limp and almost lifeless. “Inari. Did I do something wrong? Did she? Can I make it better?”

Tears dropped, soaking my yukata.

Why wasn’t Inari answering me?

I sat crying harder until Shouhei-shinpu returned and joined me. “Inari is listening to you,” he said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “She has many foxes which live in this forest and each one sees what’s going on.”

“Then why isn’t she doing anything? Instead it’s getting worse.”

“Inari can’t solve all our issues.”

“But—”

“Hirotoshi-kun, time to dry your eyes. Your mother is being cared for, all will be well. Masami-san said you are joining the group to help burn the raijuu. He said you hurt your feet, how are they?”

I let out a shaky breath and dried my eyes on my yukata sleeve. “I cut them up a bit but the bandage made them go away.” I sniffed. “I was surprised, but mother says the bandage is special, that Inari blessed me. Did she help me instead of my mother?”

Shouhei-shinpu frowned. “No, Hirotoshi-kun. But if she blessed the bandage for your wounds then she must want you to help with the raijuu. I want you to be careful today. Rest when your feet hurt.”

I nodded and stood up. All that remained was a deep ache, but I wasn’t going to tell him that in case he changed his mind. I needed to see the raijuu again.

The sun had risen further now, and the rest of the village stirred; babies cried for their morning meal, and other villagers left their houses.

“Come,” Shouhei-shinpu said. “My son will be joining us this morning, while my wife stays to pray to Inari. Let’s find him.”

I didn’t say anything as I quietly followed Shouhei-shinpu to the door of his house.

“Yori, are you ready to leave?”

“Yes father,” a voice called back, followed by a boy taller and older than me.

“Ohayo Yori-san,” I greeted him.

“Ohayo, Hirotoshi.”

Together we made our way to the forest. Behind us, others joined the group; the woodcutter hefted a sharp axe and his two sons carried baskets. The fisherman joined last, alone; his only child was a newborn they’d named Aimi.

As we entered the forest, it was hard not to start looking for Betsugi-sama. I wondered if he had truly left or if I’d see him again. I wanted to thank him at least once. The morning grew brighter and the skies a happy blue; heat already lingered and I knew it’d be another humid day.

There was no way to tell a terrible storm had passed through as the trees stood tall and green, but as we kept walking, small signs began to show. Usually hard dirt was still muddy and sticky, leaves littered the forest floor, and as I led the way back to the unfallen pine a sandal came into view.

“It’s close,” I said, scanning the area. “That’s my sandal.”

It didn’t take much longer to reach the great pine tree, standing unharmed. Beside it, a gigantic lump of white and blue fur lay in the dirt.

“There is is, that’s the raijuu Betsugi-sama slayed. Nearby there will be a tree it struck.”

Shouhei-shinpu paused. “Truly? You survived an attack from such a creature?”

He approached carefully, giving it a wide berth and watching its face for any movement. And yet it did not stir.

“It’s just as frightening up close,” I said, staring.

The raijuu resembled a giant wolf, with a gaping slash wound from snout to tail. White fur stained red and brown, blue fur dulled, and on each toe erupted a long black claw. If it had attacked me, I would have been dead in a moment.

“Hirotoshi, I am amazed you are alive,” Yori-san said, watching the creature with admiration and fear.

Shouhei-shinpu addressed the group. “We can’t let this body hang around any longer. Shinigami will be attracted to it, and so we must burn it, and anything it destroyed. The children can clear the smaller pieces of wood and pile them. This will purify the forest and appease the gods.” He turned to me and Yori-san. “Gather what you can, while we decide how to burn the raijuu.”

I nodded and got to work. Leaving the raijuu behind, I searched around for any wood fallen in the storm. I didn’t wander too far, keeping close to the cleared pathway. Yori-san worked alongside me, lifting larger branches and splinters of trunk.

“Quick,” the woodcutter said, taking his axe to a nearby half-broken tree, “we must get rid of this yokai as soon as we can. We do not want to draw the onibi to our village. Try to push down broken trees, I’ll take my axe to the rest.”

I shuddered. I hadn’t ever seen onibi, but I had heard many tales of them appearing from dead bodies, blue orbs that swarmed any living creature nearby for their life.

All together we spent the morning clearing broken trees and digging a pit to safely burn the raijuu. Splinters jabbed and stuck in my skin, and my palms were sore by the time we were done, but we’d worked hard and fast until all that remained was to drag the raijuu’s carcass to the pit and light it. The woodcutter had filled it with dried wood, and when it burned bright we’d add the broken pieces to purify.

Each of us surrounded the raijuu, taking fistfuls of wiry fur and skin. I’d taken a gigantic paw, lifting it with both of my hands and trying to avoid the wickedly long and sharp claws. Dried blood splattered over them, dull and black, each one knife-like; I ran my finger over one in awe.

“Are we all ready? Time to move on three,” Shouhei-shinpu said to us all. “One, two… three.”

I lifted the heavy paw to chest height as the raijuu rose from the ground for the last time.

Shuffling along the dirt and into the pit, we carried it to its final resting place and set it down. The woodcutter took the duty of lighting the wood, he knelt to set it alight as we backed away. The pit had been dug as far from the other trees as we could; no other trees were going to die today. The flames took a while to grow, but soon the raijuu began to burn. And in turn all the bad luck should burn away. I hoped.

Fire licked the wood and grew into a hungry beast lapping at everything it could touch. The raijuu’s fur crackled and fizzled and before long it was too bright to watch. Instead of the sweet smells of the forest, the air was thick with a rancid stench. I took more steps back to try and get away, before sitting down on the grass. My feet hurt and my fingers stung. I wanted to rest before making my way back to the village. And I was scared. Anything could have happened while I was away. But I felt too scared to go back and check.

Some of the villagers had left, needing to do their daily work, while others watched the burning raijuu. I wasn’t sure how to feel about seeing it now - it was all mixed in my heart and I couldn’t help but worry over my mother more.

Shouhei-shinpu had found some berries to eat, and I picked them out of my palm one by one. With my belly fuller and warmth wrapping round me like a blanket, my eyes started to droop. I tried to keep them open, but after the morning of work and the heat, I couldn’t resist the call of sleep. Closing my eyes made all the bad things go away.

“Oh no,” I cried, sitting up quick. I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I looked to the pit and everyone was gone. “D-Did they leave me?”

“Calm, little samurai.”

“Ahh!”

Betsugi-sama laughed and patted my shoulder.

“Betsugi-sama? What are you doing here?”

“Watching.”

“Watching?” I rubbed my eyes. “Watching what? We put the raijuu in the pit.”

“Hirotoshi-kun, how are your feet?”

I frowned as he didn’t answer the question but glanced at my feet. Someone had taken off my sandals. “They were sore but I think the pain has gone for now.”

“Good.”

“My mother told me the bandage you used was special, that Inari had blessed us.”

He smiled and stood up. “Keep it with you,” he said, walking towards the raijuu pit. “You’ll need it.”

My frown deepened as he confused me more. Why did adults have to do confusing things?

“Stay there,” he called to me. How did he even know I was going to follow?

I watched as Betsugi-sama jumped down into the pit and gasped. Smoke rose from it and I could hear the fire still crackling away.

“Betsugi-sama, please be careful.”

A few moments later and he clambered back out, kimono unharmed, and smile on his face. He walked back and stopped. “I have something for you?”

I held out a hand and Betsugi-sama placed a sharp claw into it. “What is this?”

“A raijuu claw. I know you were scared, but this will bring you luck. Your father is a blacksmith?” I nodded. “Have him strike the metal into a blade.”

I stared at the claw. It was heavier than I expected, and as I tapped it, it sounded metallic.

“Is—”

“Yes, a raijuu’s claws are made of metal. So are their teeth. It’s how they can destroy trees so easily. This claw is just for you; the others will burn away.”

I stared at him. “What do you mean? Metal doesn’t burn away?”

He didn’t respond, instead he turned his back to me.

“Betsugi-sama?”

He sighed. “Aoi-kun, I am sorry about your mother.”

What?

“Hirotoshi-kuuun.”

I felt the pull of sleep dragging me away.

“Time to wake up.”

I blinked awake. Yori-san knelt in the grass, shaking my arm. The sun had passed over the trees now and hid behind the trees.

“What do you have there?” he asked, pointing to my hand.

I sat up and unfurled my fingers. There in my hand lay the raijuu claw.

“I…”

“Ah, you’re awake now,” Shouhei-shinpu said. “We are going home. Let’s go and check on your mother.”

My mother!

Gripping onto the claw, I climbed to my feet. “Yes, let’s see her,” I said, sleep still clawing at me.

*

A month. The boy had a month left with his mother before the black illness within her took over. I’d heard his screams in the forest in the early mornings when he thought nobody was listening. I sent my foxes to scream louder. He barely slept now. Black smudges had appeared beneath his eyes which he blamed on working in the forge. And yet, every day he still visited the shrine, praying and offering food. The peaches were overripe now, the hot air breaking the flesh down to mush. My foxes didn’t mind, however, and snapped them up happily, peach juice dripping down their snouts.

Even now he searched the peach trees for the last few of the season, his blackened fingers leaving smudges on the branches. Every break from the forge he took to run back here, to the hidden peach orchard in the forest, just to gather more.

His prayers were different now, voicing peace but secretly wishing his mother back from the grave.

Little samurai, I cannot bring a life back from the dead. Let her rest.

The summer was nearly over now. colder winds travelled down from the north and would soon bring snow.

Drip. Drop.

It was time.

Rain fell at my feet, soaked up instantly by the dry earth. I looked up to the sky and felt the surge of energy nearing. Another storm approached; fiercer than the one before, the last of summer clung to the trees and begged not to be ripped away by the cold winds.

I peered back through the trees at the boy who wouldn’t let go. Would he now?

Rumble-rumble-rumble.

Nearby, Raijin woke raijuu from a deep slumber with his drumming. They stretched their paws wide, ready to run across the skies alongside him. A pair this time, angry siblings wanting to best each other in a race. This time my brother Fuujin joined them all, threading cold winds through the forest.

The little samurai screamed as the first bolt threaded through the sky, darting between thick grey clouds. Fear rooted him to the spot, cowering up against the peach tree with golden leaves.
I could not interfere a second time, however. He had to save himself.

“I protect warriors, Aoi-kun. Become a warrior.”

Reaching into my kimono sleeve, I pulled out a grain of rice and flicked it in his direction. It sailed between the trees and tapped his hand, grabbing his attention. The sky darkened further as a deep rumble shook the skies and Hirotoshi slipped out of the tree’s grasp. Taking a stand, he watched with a renewed strength. The same I had seen in him the first day we met.

“I am not afraid of you,” he yelled, hand reaching to his belt. “You will not harm the forest.”

From a black lacquered sheath, he pulled a short blade, no longer than a hand’s length, and dull black. I smiled. They’d hammered the raijuu’s claw into a weapon, and despite it being small, I knew its true strength. It’s why I had given it to him in the first place.

Raijuu danced in the sky, white fur slick with charged rain, watching as the child stood soaking with a blade drawn. One slowed, inquisitive, and jumped down to the forest floor. It approached him slowly, stepping closer and closer I had to hold myself back from going to his aid again. This was a true test and I couldn’t jeopardise it. If he failed now… then he wasn’t the one.

Another low rumble, this time from the raijuu who bared its fearsome teeth at the faint smell of a fallen brother. And yet Hirotoshi didn’t waver. The other one closed in on him, and both circled, ready to strike in a moment. And Hirotoshi stood firm. Crackling lightning filled the orchard, buzzing against branches. And even then Hirotoshi was still.

A deep huff of air rushed out of the raijuu’s nostrils. I could see the fear on the boy’s face, but the blade stayed ready to attack.

Above, Raijin watched the spectacle, drumming along with glee. Fuujin laughed as he sent forth more wind. I scowled at them both, hoping they didn’t interfere.

“Go away,” Hirotoshi yelled at the raijuu, slicing the blade through the air. They backed away, snapping their jaws in frustration before trying again. “Away.”

This time the blade caught flesh. Blood seeped from the nose of the smaller raijuu who whimpered and skittered away.

“Come,” Raijin called, voice booming in the storm.

Large white paws pushed off the wet earth, their claws ripping wide holes as they returned to the skies.

Rumble-rumble-rumble.

Raijuu were strong, but even they wavered with weapons made by their own claws. Unlike most blades, raijuu-forged metal sliced through them with ease. Just like my blade had done.

Even gods feared the ferocity of the raijuu… unless they wielded the right sword.

I smiled. I hadn’t been wrong when I saw into Hirotoshi’s heart.

Turning, I left him knelt in the dirt, blade dropping with a dull thump.

“I’ll be back for you one day, little samurai.”