“Just how long are you going to continue acting like a child? You must accept the ways of the world and get used to them, or you will never be able to live alongside others. Come now,” Tokifuyu said with a wry smile, sliding over to Shino and stroking his disheveled hair. Shino glared at his master and yelled in a coarse tone that he couldn’t imagine using in modern society.
“I never asked you to spare my life, Tokifuyu! On the contrary, I told you to hurry up and exorcise me. I would prefer that than to go through all this trouble.”
“I will not allow you to give up your life, Shino. The only way for you to make amends is to live alongside humans.”
Despite his gentle tone, Tokifuyu’s voice had a harsh, whiplike quality to it.
Startled, Shino flinched and shut his mouth.
“You should not annoy your master so much. Come with me, Shino.”
With that, Tokifuyu undid the binding.
Finally free, Shino stood in the hallway, looking like he was about to explode.
But all he did was glare hatefully at his master’s small back as the man went inside.
Bound by Tokifuyu’s power, Shino couldn’t harm humans. He couldn’t even leap and kick the man’s retreating figure.
He gritted his teeth and reluctantly followed Tokifuyu into a room.
“You should not throw tantrums. You must learn to unwind a little.”
Sounding like a parent, Tokifuyu deftly adjusted Shino’s hunting robe, then had him sit on a circular mat. After that, he picked up a comb, kneeled behind him, and began combing the specter’s long hair.
Shino sat with his arms folded as the man carefully smoothed out his tangles and said, “Your hair is magnificent, just as beautiful as any princess’s tresses. I was thinking of putting it in a bun, but it would be a shame to tuck it under a hat. I’ll tie a knot or two and leave the rest hanging down.”
“Whatever!”
“All right.” Tokifuyu nodded with a bright smile, unconcerned by the specter’s hateful tone. “It was my first time making a human-form vessel for an apparition, but it turned out better than I expected. You are worth polishing.”
Tokifuyu spoke happily as if he might start whistling at any moment. Meanwhile, Shino sniffed, looking terribly unhappy.
“I do not understand what you humans are thinking. So you wish to dress me up. Where are you going to take me today?”
Tokifuyu mentioned a man’s name. As far as Shino knew, he was the only person Tokifuyu considered a friend.
“You can go to his mansion on your own,” Shino said as he turned his head, but Tokifuyu was still tying the specter’s hair with a serious expression on his face.
“That won’t do. This visit today is related to you.”
“Me? I have no business with humans.”
Tokifuyu nudged Shino’s chin with the tip of his finger and said, “Keep looking straight ahead. I may not seem like it, but I’m fairly clumsy, and I cannot tie this right if you turn around. Today…we are visiting that man to ask for a scroll for you.”
“A scroll?”
“Yes, a scroll. He has picture scrolls in his mansion that he has collected for his children, so I decided to borrow some he no longer uses. They are perfect for teaching you to read and write.”
Tokifuyu said that so matter-of-factly that Shino’s eyes bulged as he spun around again to face him.
“That is absurd! What kind of specter learns to read and write? I do not need anything like that!”
Tokifuyu shrugged, still holding the comb in his hand.
“Oh? Are you such a cowardly specter that you would refuse to try the unknown?”
“Tokifuyu. You dare call me a coward?!”
“If you truly are brave, then accept, face, and overcome everything that comes your way,” Tokifuyu said quietly as he gently stroked back the frayed hair strands that had fallen on Shino’s forehead. Shino stiffened at his master’s casual touch, but Tokifuyu smiled gently and continued, “Whether it is reading, writing, or simply having fun, try it once. Give yourself a chance to learn. Then you can decide for yourself whether you need it. Unlike humans, you have all the time in the world. Nurture your mind and your heart and enrich yourself, though I know you will never admit you have those opportunities.”
Not giving Shino a chance to retort, Tokifuyu stood up and declared he was ready.
“Now it is your turn to help me prepare myself for the day. For starters, you can go and look for the hat I lost somewhere in this house.”
Shino.
Shino. Hey, Shino.
Shut up. Stop calling me.
“I found your hat for you, didn’t I?” Shino said curtly.
He opened his eyes with a start when he heard a voice nearby say, “That’s good, but, um…”
It wasn’t Tokifuyu’s voice. It was a more high-pitched, helpless-sounding, and soft voice…which belonged to the human who had become his servant.
Masamichi Adachi.
That was the name of the young man who lay on the same mattress that Shino was sleeping on, staring at his face in the darkness.
After Shino had saved Masamichi’s life one spring night—purely out of amusement following an incident where the younger man had been run over by a car—the specter decided to keep Masamichi just as his late master had kept him by his side.
One reason was that he liked the taste of Masamichi’s blood. The other…was that Masamichi was a human with rare golden chi—which Tokifuyu had also possessed.
To savor that exquisite chi, Shino occasionally invited Masamichi to sleep with him.
He actually wanted to devour it uninhibited, but he was bound by Tokifuyu’s curse, which prevented him from harming humans.
He was frustrated that he wasn’t allowed to do more than sleep alongside the young man, but Masamichi seemed to enjoy slipping under the covers with Shino and chatting about trivial matters. By absorbing the warm chi that Masamichi emitted, Shino was able to temporarily quench his thirst, which could never be fully quenched, no matter what he ate or drank.
“I had a dream,” Masamichi whispered, looking sleepy.
Shino’s brow furrowed.
Perhaps because Masamichi had the same chi as his late master, the dreams that Shino had were sometimes passed onto him when they slept side by side.
And it had happened again that night.
“I’m sorry I woke you up. But…I wanted to tell you this before I went back to sleep, figuring I might forget about my dream.”
“Tell me what?” Shino asked curtly, but Masamichi just smiled.
“You have a proper heart. Tokifuyu’s wish came true.”
“…Shut up and go back to sleep. Dawn isn’t for a while yet,” Shino said dismissively and covered Masamichi’s eyes abruptly with his hand.
“It feels good when you do that. You have cold hands, and it’s like putting on a cool eye mask.”
“Quiet.”
They stayed that way, and Masamichi eventually began snoring.
Shino removed his hand and sucked his teeth, looking at Masamichi’s puppylike, defenseless sleeping face.
Shino was annoyed.
Both his master, who continued to bind him with a curse even after his demise, and his servant, who trusted him completely, were humans who made illogical choices, and it was bizarre.
In addition, their words and actions filled Shino’s mind with not only anger, suspicion, and dismay but also a sort of pain that he couldn’t understand.
It was a pain that tingled yet was strangely warm, and he didn’t know what to do about it.
“That’s the problem with humans,” he said contemptuously, then turned his back to Masamichi and closed his eyes tight.