Tsuki ✔️COMPLETE

Chapter 4: Kirizuma Castle

"Put your jacket on," Shirono said as Takumi followed him down the hall to his room. "Things are going to get messy today and we gotta look good doing it."

"Alright." he replied uncertainly. He knew when he signed up there would be violence sometimes. With what their leader wanted to do, there would be resistance. Sometimes war was necessary, right?

"I doubt you will be called to arms today." Chikuroshi said quietly to him. "A commanding presence is a significant part of establishing dominance. A strong presence can prevent bloodshed entirely and open lines for cooperation and communication."

"That's a dumb thing to say for a swordsman." Shirono quipped. "If we were all about 'cooperation and communication' there'd be no need for you lot, huh?"

"Your inadequate understanding of the art of warfare speaks volumes."

Shirono's head snapped around with a wild eyed glare.

"Shut your mouth. I own you."

And Chikuroshi did. He was silent all the way down the hall and even after Takumi entered his room to dress. His uniform was hanging on a frame by the hearth, pleasantly warmed.

It was a white jacket that reached his mid thigh with a black collar and wide sleeves. It crossed in the middle, secured with the soft sash that Chikuroshi wore over the top of his own. The left side traditionally sat over the right, the swordsman had told him.

Takumi tied the knot, unsure how to do it but settling with one that looked tidy. Maybe Chikuroshi could fix it for him. He closed his sliding doors and headed for the entry, hoping to see someone heading the same way. He heard another door open and close nearby, followed by a second somewhere further away. Then another, and another.

He hurried on, looking for faces. He wondered if he would see everyone today, since they had all arrived in pairs during the night. The thought of seeing all of the elite together made him a little giddy, especially knowing that he had been selected to join them. He had seen but a handful. Shirono, Chikuroshi, Orojidai, Kiraoni and, of course, the Taisho, the one who had selected him. That was months ago, a single meeting, but the great Taisho had known more about him than he had thought possible.

He spoke of Collectors and other rejected magical beings, how the world was changing, how they could rise above the ignorant human majority with their unimaginable power in a unified supernatural movement that he called Eclipse, or in Proper, Nisshoku.

Then one day, Shirono and Chikuroshi had shown up to bring him here. The palace was probably so empty now, all three royal children gone and one lonely, widowed king left behind.

Before he saw a face, Takumi ran head on into someone's arm as he turned a corner.

"I'm sorry-" he immediately apologised but his breath became caught. He was staring at someone's elbow. He dared to look up, seeing the largest man he had ever imagined in his life.

He was impossibly tall, two feet or more taller than he was and built like an ox, simply massive. He wore no shirt, exposing a giant chest of bulky muscle. Frizzy orange hair stood almost upright on his head, parting in the middle stubbornly like a pair of horns. His features were sharp and wide set, there was no softness in his face at all. A white jacket with a black collar was draped over a bulging, muscular arm. Another member of Nisshoku?

The giant's forehead wrinkled, something he must have done often to have earned such deep grooves in his skin. He had freckles, and while his age was ambiguous, he was old enough to have his hairline start to recede a little into a deep widow's peak.

"Ah. The new one?" he said in a deep, rough voice.

Takumi nodded, hoping his expression was not as fearful as he felt it was.