それは手遅れになる前

Shin flinched, muscles clenching tight in spasms that shook his tall frame as he screwed his eyes shut.

Kouta turned to him at the abrupt movement, silently watching as Shin turned and braced his hands on the window sill that looked into room thirty-seven. His jaw was clamped tight and the veins stood out in sharp relief on his forearms. Kouta glanced down when there was a low squealing groan, and he saw that the metal frame of the window was bending and cracking under the pressure from Shin's hands.

Shin drew in one long breath, held it, then exhaled and slowly eased his death grip on the window frame. The whole time, his mismatching eyes remained focused on Pai's unmoving figure in the big white hospital bed. The contacts were only there to hide his unnatural red eyes from the humans in the hospital, but they were quickly dissolving. They were designed for human use, not Ayakashi.

Kouta wondered how long it would take Kanou to procure another set of them. He'd noticed the healer taking note of how quickly they were dissolving during their talk, watching Shin with a worry that was echoed by Kouta.

He leaned his shoulder on the wall next to the window as he crossed his arms over his chest, black leather jacket comfortably loose on his shoulders, and regarded Shin seriously. He noted that his canines looked sharper, pressing into his lower lip. He looked more animalistic than human, in this moment.

"How close is he?" he asked quietly.

"Pretty damn close," Shin managed through grit teeth, short and clipped.

'He' was Shin's True Ayakashi, an almost separate persona that dwelled deep within every Hengen. Every one was different for each Hengen, but they generally fell into three types; those that worked hand in hand to help their 'host' survive in a world filled with pitfalls at every turn, known as Hogo-Sha no Ayakashi. Others just wanted to give in to their primal instincts, to run wild and loose like how the Ayakashi did before humans claimed the world for themselves. They were Ayakashi Satsugai; once released, all they knew, all they wanted, was to kill.

Others, yet rarer still, wanted nothing more than to spread horror and terror to humans, the weakest of all without their machines, the bottom rung of the food chain. They were the most fearsome for how rare and mysterious and chaotic they were thought to be, and how little was actually truly known about them – the Kaosu no Ayakashi.

Kouta had it easy. His True Ayakashi was Hogo-Sha, typically wanting to help – whenever he deigned to be bothered by anything, at any rate. The desire was not only towards protecting himself, but extended to all the Tengu and those he considered his charges. Kouta's father said that it has been the same for every Tengu who had ascended the throne of the Sojobo; something of an inherited trait for the Akiyama's, who had ruled as Sojobo for a long time indeed.

Shin, however, was of the third; Kaosu no Ayakashi. His True Ayakashi loathed being leashed – and he was strong, too. That was one of the reasons Shin's eyes, in their usual deep blue, almost always seemed to glow, even if only faintly. Shin's True Ayakashi rode closer to the surface than anyone else's.

It made Shin the perfect Daitengu, able to react faster, strike harder, fight better. But in the heat of the moment, it was hard to control him, to talk sense into him. It was hard to get Shin to listen to reason in those times, and far easier for him to go much further than he intended to.

The last time Shin was like that, so in sync with his True Ayakashi and out of it with the outside world, he'd wiped out nearly half an army with no remorse, bathing in the blood of those who thought to hurt his people. It was one of the only times Kouta found himself afraid of Shin, his best friend.

Kouta wanted to avoid a repeat of that incident. He didn't want to let Shin give himself any more reason to be hard on himself, more than he already was with the pasts they carried on their backs like boulders.

"Any sign of your Mask?" he asked cautiously. He watched Shin's jaw tighten to almost breaking point, eyes glowering in barely concealed fury that overtook him for a brief moment, before he relaxed only minutely.

"No." He answered curtly.

"And do you know what took it?" Kouta asked.

Shin remained silent, and Kouta thought he wasn't going to answer him. Then, Shin said, "It was an Amanojaku. I can feel it messing around with my Mask. Trying to make me break."

Kouta stilled.

After all this, Kouta wasn't so sure he wouldn't hunt down every single fucking Oni – greater or lesser, he didn't care – in Hokkaido and drive them all out. He was sick of them. Pai was dying because of them, he knew Shiori wouldn't think twice about risking her life to save them, and now Shin's Mask had been stolen by one of them. If they couldn't get his Mask back in time...Kouta dreaded to think of the consequences, but he knew he would have to.

He drew in a deep breath, striving to maintain some semblance of a calm composure. "Are you sure?"

Shin nodded tensely. "I saw it, at the warehouse. It hid its presence behind the Bakeneko that was there."

Kouta tightened his lips. If it could mask its presence like that, it wasn't weak – not that it was weak to begin with, even with being a Shimo Oni. What was worse was that this Oni, this Amanojaku, didn't come out in the open to hunt. Instead, it aggravated its prey from the shadows, using its unique ability to provoke a person's darkest desires and make their prey do things they otherwise never would. A lot of the time, the Amanojaku held the blame for the most heinous crimes committed by otherwise innocent humans who had never really done something that meritted that wickedness in their lives.

A Hengen's Mask in the hands of an Amanojaku was not good news. With the Mask, Hengen would be entirely unaffected by an Amanojaku. Without it, they could be bothered by the Oni, but not enough to give in to their dark desires.

But if the Amanojaku had gotten its hands on a Mask, then the Hengen could be forced into doing things they otherwise never would. The only sort of consolation from this was that, once a Hengen broke from being away from their Mask for too long, even the Amanojaku would be unable to control and manipulate an unrestrained True Ayakashi.

And there was no question about it. True Ayakashi always break through if their Hengen weren't in possession of their Mask, no matter how formidable their will was.

Kouta swore, tipping his head to the side on the wall and closing his eyes as he struggled to contain his anger. This was bad. If they didn't find Shin's Mask soon, there was no doubt that the situation would spiral from bad to fucking terrible in a matter of seconds.

"Do you know what you're going to do?" Shin asked, perhaps in an effort to derail Kouta's attention from his problem to the one Shin thought to be more pressing at the moment.

Kouta turned and leaned back against the wall. "I don't know. I honestly just – I don't know." He admitted, defeated. "I'm a damn Heir and I should have something figured out by now, but I don't know."

Around others, Kouta would never have allowed himself to sound so confused. The only reason he let his guard down now, around Shin, was because he was one of Kouta's lieutenants, one of his Daitengu – and his closest friend. If there was anyone who would let see the uncertain, confused side of him in such moments, it was Shin.

"I don't want to let Pai die," Kouta said quietly. "But I can't risk Shiori's life either. I can't lose her, Shin."

Even as muddled and guilt-ridden as Kouta was right now, from the corner of his eye he watched and noticed the way Shin's lips twitched, eyes narrowing briefly, jaw clenching as Shin fought hard to keep his face as calmly impassive as he always did. The rest of the men, including Kouta, could tell that Shin was losing his grip, through the special bond that connected them all to each other – often unnoticed, but there, a way for them to tell when one of them was injured, was far enough away that they couldn't feel him, when they were resting and at peace. They could feel Shin's struggle to contain himself, even if they couldn't tell to what extent he was fighting.

How close was his True Ayakashi, whispering into his ear? How far was he from breaking? Was it days away, as unbelievably as Shin had been managing so far? Or hours?

"Perhaps Shiori-hime's opinion should be taken into account." Shin commented through gritted teeth.

"You know what she'll choose if I tell her." Kouta replied, giving him a look that clearly said what he thought of that idea.

"If you tell her all that is at stake if something happens to her, she might reconsider and think things through before coming to a decision." Shin said after a short pause.

"She'll still choose the same thing. It's Pai-chan's life."

"Maybe that is the best choice. It doesn't look like there's any other way out of this, Kouta."

"But the risk, Shin," Kouta pressed, almost like he was pleading for Shin to understand why he hesitated so.

Shin's eyes drifted back to the window for a moment, resting on Pai lying in that hospital bed, looking halfway to death already.

"Kanou-san's gamble is ninety percent in our favour," Shin reminded, looking back at him. "There is still the ten percent, but if Shiori-hime doesn't do it, going to Kagetora-san is the only other option.Unless you want to let her die like a pathetic human, of course." He bit out. Immediately, a scowl pulled Shin's brows low.

Kouta didn't react to the jab. He knew that wasn't Shin that spoke just now – it was his True Ayakashi, kneading and poking at Kouta in an attempt to anger him, to give Shin an excuse to let loose his fists, to fight.

This was just like last time. Kouta wasn't going to rise to the bait.

Shin leaned forward with his hands still gripping the edge of the window sill. His knuckles were white as he struggled to control a wave of hatred that washed over him, as if he was standing beneath a waterfall of it. Another crack squealed as the metal bent further beneath his hands. For a moment, Shin was consumed with the vile emotion, with nothing but loathing for everything filling him to the brim. He was choking on it.

Kouta watched at him, worriedly noting that the contact lens in Shin's right eye had completely melted away now, leaving it red. He watched Shin fight against his True Ayakashi, trying to bring him to heel, and Kouta felt even more helpless.

"Sorry," Shin finally ground out when he brought himself under control. "That wasn't me."

"I know," Kouta answered softly. "But we need to find your Mask soon, Shin." he leaned forward and clapped a hand on Shin's shoulder. He could feel how tense and wired up Shin was, as if his muscles were made from steel rather than skin and bone. "You can't keep this up for much longer."

"I need to find it." Shin retorted tartly. "It was my mistake to let it be stolen. I'll handle it."

Kouta gave him a blank, unimpressed look before his lips twitched in a half-smile. "What's up with this lone-wolf attitude of yours again, Shin?" he asked. "I thought we left that behind."

"Some things are harder to let go of than most." Shin replied, and Kouta knew he was thinking of the years before he became Daitengu, and all the things he had hinted that he'd done in that time. "That will be the case with Shiori-hime if her closest friend dies."

Kouta paused, expression shuttering. "So you're all in for letting Shiori give it a shot?"

"I'm all in for her not being destroyed by the death of her best friend." Shin corrected. "They have a deeper connection with each other than most. She was there for Shiori-hime when she was a young child and unable to understand why she could see monsters that constantly hurt her when no one else could. She has been the one constant in Shiori-hime's life until she disappeared." He gave Kouta a look. "I know you've seen the way Shiori-hime looks at her, sometimes."

"Like she thinks she'll disappear if she looks away," Kouta mumbled quietly, feeling rather like a child being scolded and asked to explain why he'd misbehaved. "I know."

"If Shiori-hime didn't have you there for her after her parents died, she might have turned out very differently to what she is now." Shin turned his head and looked Kouta right in the eye, a pair of golden-yellow to one red and one blue, as he said, "Losing her might do Shiori-hime irreparable harm. Are you willing to risk that, too?"

Shin turned from away from Kouta and looked at his hazy reflection in the window. He blinked, and his eyes unfocussed from staring at the reflection of the dissolved blue contacts hiding the red of his Ayakashi eyes. His eyes fell on Pai.

He frowned as something, something that was not quite hate or anger, wiggled in his chest. It was a strange feeling Shin got whenever he looked at Pai, at her stark white hair, her amber brown eyes, her soft pink lips upturned at the corners that gave her a mischievous look even when she wore the most deadpan expression.

He tried to grasp it in his hands, to hold on to it as he tried to maintain control. As always, it slipped away the moment he focused on it, consumed and overridden with spite.

How small she is...how weak. Pitiful. Death would be a welcome reprieve. Let's give it to her, huh? You know we can. It'll be fun.

Shut up.

Pai wasn't weak. She fought, as well as she could have, as hard as she did, against the monster that wanted to devour her. Weak humans – they ran, they cried and whined, railing against their pitiful fate. Shin didn't see Pai cry when he came for her. He saw her exhausted, worn out and injured, more than a little out of it and delirious from the pain, but the person he saw was not weak.

Would a strong person be in the position she is in right now? He bit back. Would someone strong have to rely on others to get them out of the shit they dug themselves into?

"Shiori-hime is stronger than I think you give her credit for," Shin said. He winced at the lance of pain that shot through his head before dragging in a deep breath and continuing. "I doubt she'll allow herself to just fade away if she knows everything that is at stake."

Kouta hummed thinly. "I know."

Shin pushed himself away from the window, turning to face Kouta again. "Talk to the others. Listen to what they have to say, and then tell Shiori-hime what is happening. Let her be the one to make the decision – don't take that away from her, Kouta. She knows herself enough that she won't easily forgive you if you do that."

With that, he gave a small bow, turned on his heel, and started walking away. He was already down the hall, almost turning the corner to leave, when Kouta called out to him.

"Where are you going?"

Shin didn't turn as he continued walking. He didn't raise his voice for Kouta to hear him, either, for Ayakashi had better hearing than any regular human did.

"I'm going to look for the fucking Oni that stole my Mask. I can't stay here anymore. If I lose it here..."

They both knew what could happen if Shin stayed in the hospital and loses control.

Kouta watched Shin stalk away round the corner. Some of the people in the hall and out in the waiting room glanced up at Shin as he walked past them, drawn to his handsome looks and tall, lean stature. They looked away just as quickly when they caught sight of the furious glower on his face.

Shin paid them no mind, like always. He never so much as looked their way.

Kouta turned and headed in the other direction, going to the cafeteria where Daichi and Yuu were, to listen to what they had to say on the matter plaguing them all. He needed to talk to the others, to hear what they had to say about the predicament. There was a reason there wasn't just one Daitengu who stood to council as well as protect their leader.

Either different opinions, thoughts, were like two sides of a coin, though. On one hand, it was often beneficial to have so many different opinions when coming up with a plan or strategy of attack. What flaw one couldn't see, the others could.

It also came as a burden because then there were so many different ideas fighting for space in Kouta's mind that he'd need time – something he didn't always have – to sift through them all and pick them apart to make sure the final decision he eventually came to was the best for everyone.

As he walked away, Kouta pitched his voice low, allowing himself to sound more Ayakashi than human, so that only Shin heard him and not any of the nurses, doctors, and patients who hustled about around him. "You're not alone, Shin. If you need help, tell us."

A heartbeat later, Kouta heard Shin's last words before he felt the subtle reverberation of the other man releasing his wings. Shin made no acknowledgement of Kouta's offer.

"You know what you'll need to do if I lose it. All of you. Don't hesitate – if you do, he'll rip you all apart and leave you for dead. I know myself, Kouta. I won't be able to stop him if it gets to that point."

And as he felt the distance between them grow, Kouta could only pray that such a thing wouldn't come to pass, even as he knew that no god would bother themselves with any prayer of the Ayakashi.