The wooden door slid open with barely a whisper, and Tatsu and Yuzuki entered Huang Shilong's study. The air was thick with incense and the weight of ancient knowledge, scrolls lined the walls like sentinels, their aged paper holding secrets that predated the modern world by centuries. A single oil lantern cast dancing shadows across the tatami mats, creating an atmosphere both intimate and otherworldly.
Tatsu thought, his eyes sweeping across the room. The modern teenager in him wanted to dismiss it all as theatrical nonsense, but something deeper, some instinct he was only beginning to recognize, whispered that he was in the presence of genuine power.
Master Huang sat cross-legged on a cushion, his weathered hands folded in his lap. Despite having just completed the arduous healing ritual, his posture remained erect, though deep lines of exhaustion etched his face. His eyes, sharp as polished obsidian, studied the two young men as they knelt respectfully before him.
Under that penetrating gaze, Tatsu felt exposed, as if the old man could see not just his face but straight through to his soul. His spine straightened involuntarily, years of kendo training taking over where conscious thought failed.
"Please, join me," Shilong said, his voice carrying surprising strength despite his depleted state. He gestured to the cushions across from him with movements that seemed to flow like water despite his age.
Tatsu and Yuzuki settled onto the offered cushions, bowing deeply. The formality felt appropriate here, in this space where traditions held sway over modern conventions.
"Kimoto-kun," Shilong began, his gaze fixing on Tatsu with an intensity that made the young man straighten involuntarily. "What I must tell you will challenge everything you believe about your family's history."
Everything I believe? A cold knot formed in Tatsu's stomach. After everything that had happened today, Kana's mysterious illness and find out about Qi manipulation. He felt as if his understanding of reality had been completely shattered piece by piece. His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. What more could possibly shatter what's left?
"Your mother, Wang Xiao Yueling, came from one of the Seven Sacred Families," Shilong continued, each word measured and deliberate. "The Wang lineage traces its ancestry back to Wang Yueling, one of the original Seven Sages who created summoning magic during humanity's darkest hour."
"Summoning magic?" The words fell from Tatsu's lips like stones into still water, creating ripples of confusion that spread through his carefully ordered world. Magic. He's talking about magic like it's real. The rational part of his mind screamed in protest.
Shilong nodded gravely. "The ability to channel energies from the Six Immortal Realms. Your ancestors learned to pierce the veil between worlds, calling upon celestial beings, elemental forces, and purifying energies to combat the darkness that perpetually seeks to consume our world."
Tatsu's breath caught in his throat.
This is insane. Magic isn't real. Demons aren't real.
Yet something deeper, some inherited knowledge perhaps, recognized the truth in the old man's words. A memory flashed unbidden: his mother, late at night, putting up warding charms all over their home and muttering words he couldn't understand. Words that now seemed less like nonsense and more like... incantations.
"My mother was an archaeologist. She was a normal woman who—"
"Who severed all ties with her family in China when she chose to marry your father," Shilong interrupted gently. "A man with no knowledge of the supernatural world, no connection to the ancient arts. Her family viewed this as a betrayal of her bloodline and destiny."
The words struck Tatsu like physical blows, each one reshaping his understanding of his family's history.
No extended family at the funeral. Dad always changing the subject when I asked about her relatives.How much did Dad know? The thought sent another wave of uncertainty through him. Has he been lying to us too?
"The Demonic Mo and hungry ghosts always lurk just behind a thin veil," Shilong continued, his voice dropping to a whisper that somehow carried more weight than a shout. "They peer through cracks in reality, searching for opportunities to feast upon human life forces, to corrupt and consume everything they touch. The summoners stand as humanity's defenders against these incursions."
Hungry ghosts. Demons. The words should have sounded ridiculous, but they didn't. They sounded terrifying because, somewhere deep inside, Tatsu believed them.
"Are you telling me," Tatsu said slowly, his voice steady despite the chaos in his mind, "that demons are real? That my mother fought them?"
Each word felt heavy on his tongue, as if speaking them made them more real. Part of him wanted to laugh, to dismiss all of this as the ramblings of an old man. But the larger part, the part that had always felt those unexplainable chills, that had sensed things others couldn't, was listening with growing dread.
"Your mother chose love over duty," Shilong replied. "She rejected her training, turned away from her calling. But the blood cannot be denied forever. It flows in your veins, and in your sister's."
The room seemed to tilt around Tatsu. In our blood. In Kana's blood. His carefully controlled composure began to crack as the implications cascaded through his consciousness like dominoes falling.
This… can't… be… real… It just can't.
"Kimoto-kun," Shilong leaned forward, his ancient eyes boring into Tatsu's. "Have you ever felt certain presences that others couldn't perceive? Noticed shifts in the atmosphere of a room that made your skin crawl? Found yourself staring into empty spaces, drawn by something you couldn't identify?"
The questions hit like a lightning bolt, each one striking a memory he had tried to dismiss as imagination. The chill down my spine in empty rooms. The way I always know when someone's watching me. The feeling today in the classroom, like something was calling Kana's name...
Wasn't it just intuition?"That's... that's just-," Tatsu stammered, though his voice lacked conviction even to his own ears. "Everyone experiences those things."
No, his inner voice whispered. You've always known you were different.
"Not like you do," Shilong said with gentle certainty, echoing Tatsu's thoughts. "Both you and Kana have inherited fragments of your mother's gifts. Your sister has awakened as a summoner, though untrained and dangerously so. You, Tatsuha, possess the rare ability to sense spiritual energies even without formal instruction."
The walls of the study seemed to press closer, the air growing thick and suffocating. Awakened as a summoner… Tatsu's heart hammered against his ribs as his worldview crumbled beneath the weight of these revelations, each piece of his carefully constructed understanding of reality crumbling like fortress walls beneath a relentless storm.
I have abilities too. That's what he's saying. I can sense things others can't.
Everything he had believed about himself, about his family, was dissolving like sand between his fingers. Who am I? Who were we?
"The Wang family has many enemies," Shilong continued relentlessly, seeming oblivious to Tatsu's internal crisis. "Those who remember old grudges, who view your mother's defection as an unforgivable betrayal. When she cut ties with her lineage, she sought allies who understood the world she had abandoned but would respect her choices. My family has served as guardians and watchers, protecting you and Kana from the shadows."
Enemies…Guardians and watchers. Tatsu's gaze slowly turned toward Yuzuki, who had remained silent throughout this revelation. His silver-haired friend sat perfectly still, but tension radiated from every line of his body. From the shadows. Watching us.
Their eyes met, and Tatsu saw guilt written plainly across Yuzuki's features. He knew. All of this time, he knew what I was, what Kana was, and he never said anything.
The betrayal cut deeper than any physical wound. My best friend. My only real friend.
"How long have you known?" Tatsu asked, his voice barely above a whisper. The words came out rough, scraped raw by the emotions churning in his chest.
"Tatsu, I can explain—" Yuzuki began, reaching out desperately.
Explain? How do you explain a lifetime of lies?
"I placed my grandson at your school to keep a watchful eye on you and Kana, yes," Shilong said, raising a hand to silence Yuzuki. "The Wang family has many enemies, and your mother's children would be vulnerable without protection. But Yuzuki's friendship with you has always been genuine."
Genuine? The word felt like a slap. The final thread of Tatsu's composure unraveled like a fraying rope.. The revelation that he and Kana were being hunted by demons, and his closest friendship had been orchestrated, that years of shared lunches and conversations and secrets had been part of an elaborate surveillance operation, shattered something fundamental within him.
Nothing was real. Our friendship, our conversations, the way he always seemed to understand me. It was all part of his job.
"How long?" Tatsu whispered, his voice raw with betrayal. The hurt was so intense it felt physical, like someone had reached into his chest and crushed his heart with their bare hands.
"Tatsu, I—" Yuzuki started to explain, reaching out with the same expression he'd worn when they were children and he was trying to comfort him.
Don't. Don't you dare look at me like that when you've been lying to me for years.
"Shimizu, you knew! You knew this whole time and didn't say anything!" The words tore from Tatsu's throat in a scream that contained all his rage, all his fear, all his sense of betrayal. "Kana wouldn't have never gotten hurt had you told me the truth!"
His carefully maintained control exploded outward like a dam bursting. He smacked Yuzuki's outstretched hand away with enough force to make his friend wince, the sharp crack of the impact echoing in the small room.
How could you? How could you not tell me, knowing Kana and I were in real danger.
Yuzuki took a step toward him, his expression painted with pain and remorse. The sight of his friend's anguished face, former friend's face, only fueled Tatsu's rage. You don't get to look hurt. You don't get to be the victim here.
Without conscious thought, his right fist connected with Yuzuki's chin in a solid hook that sent the silver-haired boy staggering back. The satisfying crack of impact, the sight of Yuzuki's glasses flying across the tatami floor, gave Tatsu a moment of savage satisfaction.
There… Now you know how it feels to be hurt by someone you trust.
But the satisfaction lasted only seconds before being replaced by horror at his own actions. The impact jarred up Tatsu's arm, the physical pain a distant echo of the emotional turmoil tearing through him like a hurricane.
What am I doing? This isn't me. I don't hit people. I don't lose control.
Tatsu stumbled backward, chest heaving. The room spun around him, walls closing in like the world was collapsing. His lungs strained for air that wouldn't come, each breath a struggle against the panic crushing down on him. The familiar symptoms of a panic attack seized him, something he hadn't experienced since the days following his mother's death.
Can't breathe. Can't think. Too much. This is all too much.
He lurched toward the door, every instinct screaming for escape. His equilibrium deserted him completely, the world tilting and swaying as he forced himself to move. He clutched the wall for support as he stumbled down the hallway, his legs unsteady beneath him.
Need air. Need space. Need to get away from all of this.
The door to the courtyard appeared before him like salvation, and he burst through it into the gathering twilight.
The cool evening air hit his face like a benediction, sharp and clean after the suffocating atmosphere of revelations and secrets. His legs gave out, and he slumped against the massive trunk of a shinboku tree at the courtyard's edge.
The sacred tree's bark was rough against his back as he slid down, his head tilted back, eyes squeezed shut as he fought to force air into lungs that seemed determined to reject it. Each breath was a victory, each exhale a small relief from the crushing weight on his chest.
Seven years old again. Sitting in that hospital, not understanding why Mom couldn't come home anymore.
The parallel was too close, too painful. He'd thought he'd outgrown the panic attacks, thought he'd learned to control his emotions. But this…this was too much. The foundation of everything he'd believed about himself and his life had been ripped away in the span of an hour.
Kana and I are being hunted by demons? What am I supposed to do now? How can I protect her now, Mom?
Meanwhile, inside the study, Yuzuki rubbed his chin where a vivid red bruise was already forming. His grandfather watched him with eyes that held decades of patience.
"May I go after him, Grandfather?" Yuzuki asked, bowing respectfully despite the pain radiating from his jaw.
Shilong nodded slowly. "He needs a friend now, more than he realizes. The truth is a heavy burden, especially when carried alone."
***
The sunset painted the sky in brilliant shades of amber and crimson as Yuzuki found Tatsu exactly where he expected, beneath the shrine's oldest and most sacred tree. Tatsu sat with his back against the massive trunk, head tilted back, eyes closed. His breathing had steadied somewhat, but tension still emanated from his entire frame.
I'm sorry I lied to you, Tatsu. Yuzuki thought, studying his friend's face.
"Tatsu..." Yuzuki said softly, approaching with careful, measured steps.
Tatsu's eyes snapped open, immediately focusing on the vivid red mark staining his friend's jawline and the absence of his glasses. For a moment, his face was an open book, guilt, shame, and pain warring across his features before being quickly buried beneath layers of hurt and betrayal.
I did that to him. I actually hit him. The realization sent a fresh wave of self-loathing through Tatsu's chest. What kind of person am I becoming?
Yuzuki stood before his friend, extending two brightly colored lollipops. The simple gesture triggered something in Tatsu's memory, a flash of recollection so vivid it made him blink in surprise.
A hospital corridor. Tears on my face. A silver-haired boy offering candy and asking why I was crying.
The memory was like a photograph suddenly developing, clear and sharp where before there had been only blurred impressions. Tatsu blinked, and the memory faded like dawn's shadows, but the emotional weight of it remained. He took one of the lollipops mechanically, unwrapped it, and placed it in his mouth. The sweetness was achingly familiar, carrying with it emotions he couldn't quite name.
He glanced up at Yuzuki, noting again the vivid red mark on his friend's chin where his fist had connected. Shame twisted in his gut like a living thing, but he couldn't bring himself to maintain eye contact. How do I apologize for that? How do I explain that I was so angry I wanted to hurt him?
Instead, his gaze slid away to the horizon where the sun continued its descent toward the mountains.
Yuzuki settled beside him without speaking, both leaning against the ancient tree as they watched the light fade from the sky. The silence between them was heavy but not hostile, the quiet of a friendship weathering its first genuine storm.
This is what we always did, Tatsu thought, a ghost of nostalgia piercing through his anger. When one of us was upset, we'd just sit together until the world made sense again.
"How long?" Tatsu finally asked, the lollipop clicking against his teeth. The question came out quieter than he'd intended, more tired than angry.
"A year. After the demons attacked a different shrine and its school, here in Japan."
"A school?" Tatsu's brow furrowed as memory stirred. Gas explosion. That's what they called it. He recalled a news report from the previous year, something about a gas pipe explosion that had nearly killed a hundred students and staff. At the time, it had seemed like just another tragic accident.
But it wasn't, was it? It was demons. Real demons attacking real people.
"Yeah," Yuzuki confirmed quietly.
Tatsu turned to study his friend's profile, really looking at him for the first time since the revelation. How much else don't I know about him?
"And your grandfather—"
"I was adopted," Yuzuki interrupted, his voice flat and emotionless. "My parents died when I was five."
The matter-of-fact way Yuzuki spoke of his parents' death struck Tatsu as odd. How can he talk about something like that without any feeling? But even as the thought formed, another fragment of memory surfaced, himself at seven, clutching a lollipop, watching a silver-haired boy holding an elderly man's hand and skipping down a hospital corridor.
He was skipping around without a care in the world. Even after losing his parents.
"Five?" Tatsu murmured, pieces of a puzzle he hadn't known existed beginning to align in his mind. Come to think of it… When had Yuzuki shown any real emotion?
They fell into silence again, watching as the last crimson streaks faded from the western sky. Stars began to appear, distant pinpricks of light in the deepening darkness. The evening air carried the sounds of the shrine, wind chimes creating soft music, paper lanterns creaking as they swayed in the gentle breeze.
"Can you—" Tatsu began, then stopped, uncertain how to frame his question without sounding completely insane.
Can you do magic? Are you a summoner? Are you even human?
"Hmm?" Yuzuki turned toward him, his green eyes catching what little light remained.
"Do you have any... abilities?" The word felt ridiculous on Tatsu's tongue, something from a fantasy novel rather than reality. But then again, this whole day has been like a fantasy novel.
Yuzuki smiled around his lollipop, a gentle expression that held no mockery. Without speaking, he placed his hand on Tatsu's shoulder. To Tatsu's amazement, radiant golden patterns started manifesting beneath Yuzuki's palm, creating an intricate circular pattern that pulsed with soft light.
It's real. It's actually real. Tatsu instinctively tried to jerk away, his rational mind rejecting what his eyes were showing him, but Yuzuki's grip was surprisingly firm, holding him in place.
This is happening. Magic is real and Yuzuki can do it.
As Tatsu watched in fascination and disbelief, the light slowly faded. With its disappearance went something else… The crushing weight of anxiety that had been pressing down on him since entering the shrine, the fear that seemed to have taken permanent residence in his chest, the sense of impending doom that had colored every thought since discovering Kana's condition.
For the first time in hours, Tatsu felt genuinely at peace. His shoulders relaxed, the tension flowing out of muscles that had been clenched tight with worry and betrayal. It's like... like someone just lifted a mountain off my shoulders.
"Better?" Yuzuki asked simply, removing the lollipop from his mouth.
"Yuzuki, how?" Tatsu whispered, staring at his friend as if seeing him for the first time. The boy he had known for years suddenly seemed like a stranger, carrying secrets and powers that belonged in ancient legends. How long has he been able to do this? Has he ever used it on me before?
"I can influence the hearts and emotions of others," Yuzuki explained, his voice gentle and patient. "It's a specific application of what my grandfather calls the Zhen chakra node… heart chakra, from Tai Yang magic, solar-based emotional healing."
Tatsu gave him a blank stare, his mind struggling to process concepts that had no place in his previous understanding of reality. Chakra nodes. Solar magic. These are real things. Then he looked down and let out a quiet, almost hysterical chuckle. The sound surprised him. When had he last found anything amusing?
I'm sitting under a tree with my best friend who just did magic on me to make me feel better, after finding out my sister and I are being hunted, and my mother was apparently a magical warrior. How could I not laugh?
They sat in contemplative silence, watching the last light fade from the horizon. The peace Yuzuki had given him allowed Tatsu's mind to work more clearly, but clarity brought its own complications. One crucial detail suddenly struck him with force.
"Dad!" Tatsu exclaimed, sitting up straight with sudden alarm. "How am I going to tell him about any of this?"
Oh God. Dad. His father would be closing the café soon, probably wondering why neither of his children had come home, why Tatsu wasn't answering his phone. How do I explain that Kana is at an ancient shrine being treated for magical illness? That our family are descendants of demon fighters? That his wife lied to him about everything?
The magnitude of the conversation he needed to have with his father hit him hard like a solid blow.
He's going to think I've lost my mind. Or he's going to... wait. What if he already knows? What if he's been keeping secrets too?
"Yosh!" Yuzuki said, slapping both hands against his knees as he stood in one fluid motion. "Let's go."
"Go where?" Tatsu asked, looking up at his friend with confusion.
"We'll tell him together," Yuzuki replied, extending his hand to help Tatsu up. "I think your father deserves to know what's happening with his children."
Tatsu hesitated, staring at the offered hand. Everything has changed between us. Can I trust him again? In mere hours, their friendship had been fundamentally altered. The easy friendship he had taken for granted was now complicated by secrets and supernatural responsibilities.
Yet looking at Yuzuki's face, bruised because of his anger, concerned despite everything that had been revealed, he recognized something unchanging beneath all the revelations. He still cares. Whatever else is true, that part is real.
His friend genuinely cared for him and for Kana. Whatever surveillance duties had brought them together initially, whatever his grandfather's agenda might be, the bond they had forged over the years was real.
"Do you use your abilities on yourself?" Tatsu asked as he took Yuzuki's hand and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.
It was a question born of curiosity and concern. If you can make me feel better…
Yuzuki paused mid-motion, his grip tightening slightly. For a moment, his carefully maintained composure wavered, revealing depths of weariness that Tatsu had never seen before. Instead of answering, Yuzuki's gaze drifted toward the eastern horizon, where the first stars were beginning to shine with crystalline clarity.
He doesn't, does he?
"Tatsu, Kana will be okay," Yuzuki finally said, deflecting the question entirely. "She's strong, thanks to you and your dad. And we will be right there beside her."
He didn't answer my question. What else is he hiding, but…
Tatsu felt a flicker of warmth at his friend's words, but was quickly overwhelmed by the magnitude of what lay ahead. Right there beside her. Fighting demons and dealing with magical politics and trying to keep her safe from enemies we can't even see.
As they walked back towards the shrine, his mind raced with questions about how to explain any of this to his father, how to prepare him for a reality where demons were real and his children were apparently targets of supernatural enemies. The path ahead stretched before them, uncertain and fraught with dangers he was only beginning to understand. Whatever comes next, at least I won't be facing it alone.