Act IV: New Friends
     "Mother, what do we have planned for today?" asks Naitsuu one morning.
     "Nothing, Naitsuu. Kenji is gone for a couple of days, I suppose you can do what you
want."
     "Okay."
     "Oh, and we should sometime discuss what you want done for your sixteenth birthday
next week."
     "Yeah."
     Yamaneko is lounging around on the porch. At the sight of Naitsuu, Yamaneko jumps to
his feet and follows Naitsuu around. Naitsuu is carrying a fishing pole. They head down to the
stream. Naitsuu sits down on a log and sets the hook with an insect on it into the water and sits
back for awhile.
     Later in the day, after failing to catch anything, Naitsuu puts his pole aside and takes off
after Yamaneko who has run off somewhere. Eventually he finds Yamaneko trying to catch
minnows with his claws.
     "Hey, Yamaneko! What are you up to?'
     A dragonfly buzzes over Yamaneko's head and starts flying away down the bank, away
from Naitsuu. Yamaneko chases after it.
     "Yamaneko! We should be going home soon. Don't make me chase you."
     Yamaneko playfully ignores Naitsuu. Naitsuu runs off after his cat. As he rounds a corner
of the stream he finds Yamaneko in the arms of a light blue-haired girl about his age.
     "Thanks for catching him. We need to go home." says Naitsuu.
     "Oh, he is your cat?" asks the girl.
     "Yes."
     "What is your name?" she asks.
     "Naitsuu. Now may I have my cat?"
     The girl continues to hold the cat, and Yamaneko seems to struggle to try and get away,
but knows better than to transform over this.
     "Why don't you give me the courtesy of asking my name?"
     "I just want my cat."
     "You can't have him."
     "What? You can not keep him."
     "I am not giving him back until you ask my name."
     "No, I want my cat."
     Naitsuu makes a lunge at trying to get his cat.
     "Get your hands off me!" shouts the girl. "You are a rude boy!"
     She drops Yamaneko next to her a little too harsh for Naitsuu, as Yamaneko rolls on the
ground before banging into a tree stump.
     "You can't treat my cat that way!"
     "You can't treat ME that way!"
     "Well, you are deserving of such treatment."
     "How dare you! I...I..."
     She slaps Naitsuu. He reacts by grabbing and tossing her to the ground with an Aikido
technique. She rolls and gets back up to her feet quickly. Naitsuu comes to the conclusion that
she is trained in some martial art. He settles back into a fighting stance.
     "You think you can fight me, do you?" says the girl.
     Naitsuu gets ready for a duel. The two circle each other until they have changed places.
Instead of launching a physical attack as suspected, the girl brings her hands to her right side and
looks to be concentrating very hard. A small orb starts to appear around her hands. It grows until
it is three times as big as her head.
     She thrusts her hands forward and the ball is released towards Naitsuu. It unravels into a
turquoise colored lightning bolt. Naitsuu is frozen where he stands, in the path of the bolt. Out of
nowhere, a wolf jumps in front of him, facing the girl while growling. The bolt stops and
dissipates upon reaching the wolf's eyes. Naitsuu stands amazed.
     The girl stands looking frustrated, like she knows exactly how she was stopped. Suddenly
a voice calls out, "Aritsune! You and your short temper."
     It seems to be addressed to the girl. She responds, "Stay out of this, Keiji!"
     A handsome, but unkempt boy, maybe only half a year older than Naitsuu steps out from
behind the bushes.
     "What are your reasons, Aritsune?" the boy asks.
     "This boy here was overly rude!" Aritsune answers.
     "I am guessing that you somehow started it," he comments.
     "I did not! Now, get your filthy dog out of here!" she shouts.
     "Leave Chuuwa alone! Besides, it's the law that I find a way to settle this dispute."
     "Oh come on, that's stupid. You are not going to follow such a thing."
     The two stare each other down. Naitsuu notices Yamaneko in his transformed state
readying to pounce on the girl for attempting to hurt Naitsuu. As much as Naitsuu would love to
let him, he can't. Yamaneko starts his short run to jump.
     "Yamaneko! No!"
     Naitsuu charges over and pushes the girl out of Yamaneko's path and they both land just
barely missing his claws. Yamaneko lands with a loud crash on nothing but ground. The boy
looks worried, and the wolf senses it. The wolf slides in face to face with Yamaneko. In panther
form, Yamaneko is bigger than the wolf and more threatening physically.
     "Quickly, boy, call off that creature." calls out the boy.
     "Yamaneko! Back!"
     "Chuuwa! Down!"
     The two animals cease their growling. Yamaneko slowly changes back into a cat. To
Naitsuu's surprise, the wolf transforms into a Huskie. The boy helps Naitsuu and Aritsune up.
     "Hi, my name is Keiji. And yours?"
     "Naitsuu."
     "Well, this is my companion, Aritsune."
     She gets up and walks stubbornly away and sits on a rock. Keiji reaches down and pets
the dog.
     "This is Chuuwa. He is a haburi kedemono. As you saw, he changes into a wolf. Also, he
has the power to stop attacks that were used by manipulating matter, such as Aritsune's. I see
that your's changes too." continues Keiji.
     "Yes, his name is Yamaneko. He is also a haburi kedemono and he changes into a
panther. He has no special power, though."
     "Oh, but he does. In most cases, I would not have cared about a fight my pet gets
involved in, but your animal has an edge physically. Physical attacks, Chuuwa can not stop as
well."
     "Okay."
     "We are just passing through for now."
     "What are you? Traders? Wandering laborers? Out here for some kind of mission?" asks
Naitsuu.
     "Hehe...thieves."
     "Thieves?"
     "Yeah. What else are we suppose to do?"
     "Find someone to stay with, live a little more stable."
     "And what fun would that be?" asks the girl coldly.
     "And why would you go on such a journey with a woman like her?" asks Naitsuu.
     "Hey!" she complains. "So very rude!"
     "You got me there. I guess I have just taken a liking to her. Ain't that right, sweetheart?"
     Keiji blows a kiss to Aritsune who sends a light but angry zap at Keiji.
     "Ouch!"
     "In your dreams," she shakes her head in the other direction while muttering, "...moron."
     "Do you think you might offer us a place to sleep tonight?" asks Keiji.
     "I don't know. Are you going to steal anything?"
     "No. You saved my sweet Aritsune."
     She just hops off the rock and walks away angrily.
     "Well, okay then."
     The three of them start walking, with Aritsune a little ahead. Keiji walks on the left with
Chuuwa on his left. Naitsuu is on the right with Yamaneko walking next to him on the right.
     "So, what is your village like?" asks Keiji trying to make conversation with the
somewhat silent Naitsuu.
     "Peaceful."
     "Hmm...sounds good."
     "Please, do not plan to wreck our peace by doing something extreme or stealing
something too valuable," requests Naitsuu.
     "Fine, fine. We will not steal anything," promises Keiji.
     "Then how are we to get by?" asks Aritsune annoyed.
     "We will figure it out."
     "My mother is hospitable enough to give a place to stay and food to eat. I hope that is all
you will need."
     "Well, we will move on shortly. Just one night should do," says Keiji.
     "Okay."
     They reach the village and Naitsuu acts as their guide pointing out the various
marketplaces. Eventually, they reach his house. They walk in and Naitsuu calls for his mother.
She walks out of another room to greet them.
     "Mother, I ran into these two weary travelers by the stream. They seemed nice enough,
and they are only as old as I am. Could we give them a place to stay for the night and a little
food?" he asks.
     "Well, I guess so," answers his mother. "They will have to share your room, Naitsuu."
     "Okay."
     Naitsuu leads them to his room with some bedding to place there for them. The sun is
starting to set and they decide to head out to see what is going on in the village.
     It seems that the people are enjoying themselves. A bonfire has been lit in the middle of
the town and some people are dancing.
     "Ah, a gathering. Perfect," mentions Aritsune.
     "No, Aritsune. We should honor our promise to Naitsuu," commands Keiji.
     "Oh, fine."
     They walk around and pass one tent where a couple of muscular men are eating. One of
them calls out to Naitsuu and his friends.
     "Hey! Keiji, steal anything good lately? Hahaha." The other men laugh as well.
     Keiji speaks, "Just ignore them."
     "Who are they?" asks Naitsuu.
     "Just a couple of fools that think they are the strongest smugglers in the land," comments
Aritsune.
     "Smugglers?"
     "Supposedly. Mostly, I think they steal nothing bigger than what Aritsune and I do."
     "Oh, okay."
     They continue to walk along until a light voice calls out, "Naitsuu! Naitsuu!"
     Akari, now fifteen and a half years old looks a slight bit more grown up from the
previous time. She runs up to Naitsuu.
     "Dance with me, Naitsuu!" she exclaims.
     "Ah, no, you know I don't dance."
     "Come on, just this once."
     "Alright. I'll be back in a moment guys."
     "Wait, introduce me to your new friends," commands Akari.
     "Well, this is Keiji, and this is Aritsune."
     "Hello!"
     "Hi."
     "Hello."
     "Alright, let's get dancing," she starts pulling Naitsuu away.
     "You know, you guys are welcome to join in, too." comments Naitsuu to Keiji and
Aritsune.
     Naitsuu and Akari join the crowd around the fire. Keiji and Aritsune do not join in and
talk to each other.
     "Quite an energetic girl, isn't she?" asks Keiji.
     "Hmph," is Aritsune's response.
     "What's your problem?"
     "Look at them. They are so happy, dancing away their little lives. Because that, that rude
boy, made you promise...now we can't do anything."
     "We can dance."
     "What?" she says astonished.
     Keiji grabs her by the arm and out into the crowd. She fights wildly all the way.
     "No, no, no, I don't want to dance, I don't want to dance."
     "Oh, stop your tantrum."
     Finally, after a little "gentle" persuasion, Keiji gets Aritsune to cooperate.
     "I can't believe you are making me do this," she comments.
     "Geez, you are worse than a little spoiled child. You would think I was torturing you."
     "Well, you are. So there, neh!" she sticks her tongue out at him.
     A couple minutes pass and they both relax into an easy pace for dancing. They spend
most of the night dancing with the townspeople. Finally, around midnight, the crowd starts to
disband. The group of four make their way to a porch in front of the fire. Akari sits next to
Naitsuu, resting her head on his shoulder half asleep on the bottom step. Meanwhile, Naitsuu's
head is drooping and he is nearly asleep. A foot or so next to them sits Keiji and on the top step,
leaning against a pole, is Aritsune. They sit there, mostly quiet, staring into the flames.
     After awhile, a group of three of the men from before walk by.
     "Why, hello Keiji, Aritsune. Who are these two?" asks one of them somewhat
mockingly.
     "Why does it matter to you?" asks Aritsune in a tense tone. Akari lifts her head up off of
Naitsuu's shoulder as Naitsuu's attention is awakened.
     "Ah, we just wanted to get to know such a cute little thing."
     The man reaches over to pinch Akari's cheeks when Naitsuu knocks his arm away.
     "She does not want to be touched by such an ugly man as you."
     The man's eyes flash open angrily.
     "And who are you?"
     "All you need to know is that I want you to leave us alone," says Naitsuu almost
shouting.
     "Oh yeah," the man reaches for his sword. Yamaneko and Chuuwa snap to attention and
Aritsune stands up.
     "Don't you dare," she announces reaching back with her right hand, a small orb starting
to materialize.
     "I'm not one of your lowly companions who goes down with one shock of your sorcery. I
have been hit by you before, it did not even daze me. And as for your little pets, I don't care
what they can do, they will go down by our swords the same as you will."
     The three men draw their swords. Yamaneko and Chuuwa morph and Aritsune reaches
back with both hands. Keiji stands.
     "What are you doing!?" he shouts.
     "First boy, I am going to take you," announces the first man at Naitsuu.
     They charge. The man to the right of the first man faces Yamaneko. The panther pulls
the sword to the ground with his paws slightly injuring them. Chuuwa takes the man on the left
jumping and sinking his teeth into his arm. The first man moves towards Naitsuu. Aritsune
attempts to zap him, but the man moves his sword and deflects it. Just before he reaches
Naitsuu, Naitsuu evades, gets behind, and removes the sword from the man's hands.
     The man's momentum carries him to the ground. He turns on to his back to face Naitsuu
holding the sword to his throat. The man who was on the right smashes Yamaneko in the side of
the head with the broadside of the sword. He then moves up behind Naitsuu and slams him in the
back of the head with bottom of the handle. Naitsuu falls to the ground unconscious. Then, that
man helps the other remaining man get Chuuwa off his arm and the same fate of Yamaneko
happens to Chuuwa so they are both unconscious. The first man stands up, grabs his sword and
holds it to Naitsuu's throat. The other two men have captured Keiji and Aritsune.
     "Alright, boy, I will teach you to embarrass me."
     Out of nowhere a sword comes out slashing the first man's throat sending blood through
the air. A person dressed in black moves forward out of the shadows and slashes open the
stomach of the man holding Aritsune and strikes straight through the head from top to bottom on
the man holding Keiji. Their blood spills all over the porch and slowly drains off the side.
     Keiji runs over to Chuuwa and also checks on Yamaneko. Aritsune walks over to Akari
who sits at Naitsuu's side. The person in black just stands there. The two haburi kedemonos
quickly get back to consciousness. Yamaneko transforms back to original form and rubs against
Naitsuu's face. He slowly comes back to consciousness.
     "What happened?" he barely gets out.
     He glances around and catches the person dressed in black slowly wiping blood off a
sword.
     "Oh no, what happened!?"
     "Calm down. We were nearly done for when this person came in and took them out.
Excuse us, what is your name?" asks Aritsune.
     A deep manly voice calls out from beneath the black mask. "I knew this young man's
father," he motions towards Naitsuu. "That is all."
     He quickly runs into the shadows and away he goes.
     "Well, thank you..." says Akari a little under her breath that the others can not hear.
"...for saving Naitsuu."