Heavy rain pattered against the wet soil of the earth. A wandering omnyoji accompanied by a lonely old man stood before the Mogami River.
"This is where that kappa was spotted, the foul yokai that kidnapped my granddaughter and a bunch of other women from our village... please-"
The old man coughed violently and clutched at his neck before looking back at the river. His wrinkled face was pained, and his black eyes lacked happiness.
"Its by itself correct? Younger kappa are usually found with their family... while the older ones lead solitary lives." The kamisama had a gentle voice. He was a man standing at 182 centimeters tall with shoulder length black hair.
Kamisama was only a title, it was the counterpart to a Itako. Blind female mediums from Northern Japan.
The old man nodded slowly as he waited.
"We've been trying to ward it off for so long... but the village doesn't have a single expert!"
Slowly the kamisama pulled out a shirikodama charm and handed it to the old man
"It should ward off the kappa... you go back home while I deal with it"
After the kamisama gave a short bow to the old man he approached the river. Green hands crawled out the water as a reptilian humanoid slowly crawled out. It had a turtle like beak and shell along with scaly skin. It was smiling mischievously while looking at the exorcist before it
"I challenge you to a game of shogi, if I win then you will leave forever. If i lose... you can have my life"
The kappa smiled at the man's words as it finally jumped out the river with glee.
Kappa are very honorable, so they would never break a promise. And they love things like sumo and shogi. Thankfully im pretty good at shogi.
Under the rain the exorcist slowly pulled out a shogi board with 81 squares. The pieces were all flat counter with a point pointing towards the opponent. The kappa had the white pieces while the exorcist had the black ones.
The nine footsoldiers were placed on the third row.
The bishop and Flying Chariot were placed on the second row one space in from the edge. the Rook was on the right and the Bishop was on the left.
The remaining pieces were placed on the row nearest to the player in this specific order: the Lances sat in each corner, the Knights on the next square in from the corner, the Silver Generals next to the Knights. The middle square on the nearest row held the King with the Gold Generals either side of him.
The exorcist opened with P-7f and the kappa went P-3d.
The pieces flew across the board as the game slowly started. The kappa began getting aggressive with a flying chariot exchange threat.
This kappa is surprisingly easy to lure...
The exorcist placed passive in order to lure the kappa forward and then set up a trap!
The kappa sat before the exorcist looking annoyed, the former lost his tempo while the latter had a gentle smile on his face while absorbing the threat.
A sudden focused attack was launched at the kappa and it missed the bait.
The shogi game had ended.
The kappa slowly stood up and spilled the water from the head bowl, it was a manner of resignation.
The two stood straight before eachother and bowed
"You played well... who are you?" The kappa had asked its opponent.
"My name is Adachi Fumiya. I come all the way from North"
The kappa nodded and with a smile ran through the fields and disappeared from sight.
Slide
The door leading to the old man's home slid open and in came Fumiya dripping wet from the rain.
"The yokai was dealt with. You said the villagers had a theory as to who that kappa might be correct?" Fumiya inquired about the appearance of that particular kappa
"Yes... there used to a 14 year old child from a village south of here. Eikichi was the boys name. He lived alone with his mother until one day the village was attacked by a group of bandits... his mother was kidnapped while Eikichi managed to escape and find himself here in mizukane village. Our villages carpenter by the name of haruto took in Eikichi and raised him for a few months... one day apparently Eikichi made some sort of straw doll and threw it into the mogami river."
The old man inhaled and continued. He had a tea cup between his frail old hands.
"Eikichi would cry every night, begging for his mother to come back. Haruto said he heard the boys cries every night... his heart ached to help the poor child but there was nothing we could do. His mother is probably dead by now, or perhaps she has met a worse fate. Three months ago Eikichi randomly disappeared, some think he might have been lured by something. Its also when the kappa in the Mogami river appeared! Rumour has it that it's the straw doll Eikichi threw inside"
Fumiya nodded as he listened to the old man's words. After both their clothes dried up they sat side by side.
There were dried sardines, miso soup and a bit of rice. Meat was rare due to Buddhist law.
Fumiya picked up some rice with his chopsticks and brought it to his mouth. Then he sipped on some of the miso soup.
This miso soup is surprisingly flavourful, this old man makes some good soup.
"Haruto still feels guilty for the disappearance of Eikichi. He thinks it's his fault for letting the boy get out of his sights... haruto taught Eikichi a few things about carpentry too, they looked like father and son even... they both had the same black hair and brown eyes..."
The old man suddenly pulled out a grasshopper and ate it for protein
Old man Watari is Disgusting... Fumiya lampooned and sighed.
"Its probably too late to do anything about Eikichi, it's been two months after all. I feel sorry for Haruto and Eikichi."
I do... I really do. But it's too late to do anything now.
"Its alright Fumiya... that's just how life is. Loss and suffering is inevitable"
After their quick meal the two went to their respective rooms to sleep, it was currently dark outside and the rain didn't seem to stop.
Ill be leaving tommorow, ill head south specifically.
Fumiya got under his warm futon and closed his eyes softly, only to then feel the searing pain on his chest and abdomen. He bit his lip so hard that a drop of blood came out.
When glancing down he could see the mark across his abdomen and chest, it was like a tattoo of a serpent crawling under his own skin. It was a curse placed on him a year ago, a curse that would shorten his life to three years.
He didn't know what creature placed this curse on him, but he was gonna find it either way. Find it and save himself from this curse.
It feels like my heart is burning while countless needles stab at it... I only have two years left to settle this.
Fumiya grinded his teeth and held back a scream that would definitely wake up the old man.
So he held back, held back all his pain.
And soon he fell into deep slumber...