Eitsu's Nine Lives (永津の九生) [yuri/GL yokai reincarnation story]

9 - Ryuu

Like calls to like.

Below the cloth was a giant skin, well-preserved and shimmering bronze. Eitsu felt a resonance to her very bones, even though she was a kaibyou, and this, this skin had clearly once belonged to a dragon, a ryuu.

Still, they were both spirits of nature, legendary beasts, and very, very old.

Although Eitsu knew that her lifetimes paled in comparison to the years this ryuu had lived.

Before she could even turn on Rei, a huge roar shook the hall, almost knocking her flat. From the back of the room, a living ryuu emerged, tail lashing with anger.

Are you the one who was looking for her sister?

Eitsu dragged her feet but Rei lifted her easily and quickly departed the stage. He gave orders to the terrified staff to take as many items as they could from that place, but before they had even begun to carry out their orders, two people appeared.

While all the other members of the audience were trying to escape, this pair, a small blond monk of indeterminate gender and a tall foreign woman covered in tattoos, had followed them backstage. The look in their eyes was impossible to mistake.

Rei sighed. "Really, not much has been going my way recently."

I wonder why that is, Eitsu thought privately.

Still carrying her, he once more retreated, flowing through the corridors as only a kitsune could, half in-and-out of his fox form. When they reached the room where Eitsu had been held captive, he put her down, avoiding her sharp teeth. The space was lined with those ubiquitous white candles.

"You'll have to wait here, little treasure," he said, almost apologetically. "I'll be back in..."

Both of them could hear the distant sounds of someone pursuing. The strange thing was, the runner was not particularly fast, certainly not for someone like the cultivator. It sounded like the movements of an ordinary, healthy human. Rei cocked his head thoughtfully for a moment, then smiled.

"Ah, I believe it is my special guest."

Tsubaki dashed into the room.

She was panting, perspiration making her beautiful face glow. In one hand, she held an ornate sword in a sheathe, and her eyes glared coldly at Rei as she steadied herself.

"Did you enjoy the show, Tsubaki-dono?"

She responded by drawing the sword.

Rei looked at it.

Eitsu looked at it.

This... was clearly a prop.

A true performer, Tsubaki held the object threateningly, as if she really were a warrior with a real weapon. Aside from her panting, her face was as cold and serious as usual.

Rei burst out laughing.

Eitsu was tempted to join in, but this was tempered by the fact that Tsubaki was firstly, not a warrior, and secondly, a mortal human, whilst Rei was a kitsune at the height of his powers, and Eitsu was only partially awakened to her kami and also bound. She tried to surreptitiously break the chain around her without success.

"Seems my luck has returned," Rei said mockingly, with a sidelong glance at Eitsu. With a lazy wave, from empty air he produced his own sword, a simple one-handed blade with a golden pommel like a rounded crown. This sword was definitely a weapon. It floated hilt-down above his open palm.

Eitsu lunged forward and headbutted Rei's back.

As he stumbled with surprise, Tsubaki raced in and slashed down at his head with her prop. He caught it lazily, and sent his own sword plunging towards her. Eitsu barrelled sideways and knocked the dancer out of the way, and the sword veered to avoid hitting her.