okay, brief shitty synopsis of what confusion has so farhappened
because god knows I need this as much as you probably do if you've made it this far
written by none other than t̶h̶e̶ ̶i̶m̶b̶e̶c̶i̶l̶i̶c̶ ̶p̶a̶n̶d̶a̶,̶ xeah azurehyn
needless to say, the following contain spoilers for the entirety of the last two seasons.
you have been appropriately warned.
Season 1
On the outside, Momozono Pai looks like a regular Japanese high school teenager, starting a new school year at Sapporo Odori High School with her best friend, Matsumoto Shiori. Except for having white hair that is, which she claims is because of Waardenburg Syndrome (̶i̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶)̶. Her reality is a little far from normal.
Since childhood the two girls have been able to see Ayakashi, creatures born from folklore that shouldn't exist, yet do. Ayakashi are separated into two distinct groups; Yori Chiisai, who are Lesser Ayakashi. They come in millions of different forms, sizes, colours, personalities, and can exist for an indefinite amount of time. Then there are Hengen, Greater Ayakashi, who are the more powerful and on a level just below the gods humans have worshipped for thousands of years̶(̶w̶h̶o̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶n̶a̶r̶c̶i̶s̶s̶i̶s̶t̶i̶c̶ ̶a̶r̶s̶e̶h̶o̶l̶e̶s̶ ̶b̶t̶w̶)̶.̶ They are humanoid in appearance, walk around, talk, and easily mingle with ordinary people.
But they're not human.
A̶t̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶.̶
M̶o̶s̶t̶l̶y̶.
t̶a̶l̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶p̶h̶y̶s̶i̶c̶a̶l̶ ̶b̶i̶o̶l̶o̶g̶y̶,̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶s̶t̶a̶n̶d̶.̶ ̶H̶u̶m̶a̶n̶s̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶f̶o̶x̶ ̶e̶a̶r̶s̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶a̶i̶l̶s̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶w̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶e̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶l̶e̶g̶s̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶s̶n̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶e̶y̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶b̶a̶d̶g̶e̶r̶ ̶n̶o̶s̶e̶s̶
Still, for all current intents and purposes, Pai is a regular Japanese teenager. Except her best friend is not.
Shiori is the Koki Sakura Hime, the current reincarnation of the famed princess Hiyori, who ate a cherry fruit from a sacred sakura tree, kissed by a Kigen, one of the original old gods. As such, her body, her soul, was blessed as the tree was, and she became coveted by the supernatural, ending up marrying an Oni. Now Hiyori is reborn as Shiori, who hates her origins and fears the Ayakashi world despite the fact that she is betrothed to a Hengen.
And not just any Hengen, but Akiyama Kouta, Heir to the throne of all Tengu. Together with Kouta and his Daitengu –eight of the most powerful Tengu, each with special Abilities that make them that much stronger –and a few others, Pai and Shiori live out their days as well as they can in innocent normalcy, despite being surrounded by the very beings they were taught to fear while growing up.
Still, Pai may seem like a regular Japanese teenager. Except her past is far from ordinary.
Four years ago, Pai and her entire family disappeared without a trace. Mother, father, eldest daughter, youngest daughter. All gone, family house abandoned with everything they owned still left behind, untouched.
No one who once knew the Momozono's remembers a thing about them now. It's as if the family once existed, and then simply didn't, and no one noticed their coming and going. Then, one year ago Pai was found bleeding on the mountain Ayashi House stands on with absolutely no memory of what happened from the day she went missing.
Pai's first day at school has her nearly colliding with –̶i̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶p̶o̶s̶s̶i̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶g̶h̶o̶s̶t̶s̶ ̶–̶a Yamajijii, who leaves her in mystery by asking her if she's Mistress, then wondering why she's not. N̶o̶t̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶Y̶o̶r̶i̶ ̶C̶h̶i̶i̶s̶a̶i̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶s̶a̶n̶e̶,̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶y̶.̶ ̶I̶n̶ ̶f̶a̶c̶t̶ ̶v̶e̶r̶y̶ ̶f̶e̶w̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶b̶h̶. On top of that, there's an unknown Hengen sitting in their class, and though the two girls have the innate sense of when the supernatural is around, they can't pinpoint where exactly it is.
All goes relatively well for a week. Pai experiences the murderous boredom of trudging through school day after day, and makes three new friends –more like, three of Shiori's closest friends adopt her. Then the false sense of peace is blown to hell when, after an outing with Shiori and Aoi and Natsume, Pai is kidnapped by an Onihitokuchi.
Y̶e̶s̶.̶ ̶O̶n̶i̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶ ̶t̶o̶o̶.̶ ̶T̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶g̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶e̶n̶t̶i̶r̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶f̶e̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶e̶n̶d̶ ̶u̶p̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶B̶u̶d̶d̶h̶i̶s̶t̶ ̶h̶e̶l̶l̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶c̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶O̶n̶i̶ ̶b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶ ̶t̶e̶r̶r̶i̶f̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶n̶a̶s̶t̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶d̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶y̶
Sato: Can you stop with the spoilers and just get on with the synopsis
Xeah: *loads gun slowly and deliberately* Sorry, what was that you were saying?
Sato: *evaporates*
Kagetora: He's gotten very good at that over the years.
Xeah: I wonder why.
Everyone back at Ayashi House is in a frenzy to find Pai, but Kouta's almost scarily calm as he weighs the options and decides what the best way to get her back is. The relationship between Ayakashi and Oni is...sticky, to put it simply. Eventually Kouta sends his Daitengu to find her, and bring her back, and leave the Shimo Oni –the Lesser Oni –that took her dead.
Kaede, with the Ability to hear anything for miles and miles around, listens to the whispers in the wind and the chatter of Yori Chiisai around Chuo-ku for any talk of Pai and the Oni's whereabouts. Once he finds something, he relays it back to Jirou, who has the long unseen Ability of shapeshifting, and he checks the warehouse the whispers led Kaede to.
Shin, closest to the power of Kamigami than all the others, saves Pai minutes before she blacks out from her numerous injuries after attempting to fight her way out of the warehouse and away from the Onihitokuchi with guns blazing –literally. She found a gun there and a piece of memory slithers in, showing her knowing more about the gun –an M4A1 Carbine –than she's supposed to.
Not all's fine and dandy once Shin rescues her. b̶u̶t̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶k̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶I̶ ̶m̶e̶a̶n̶ ̶c̶'̶m̶o̶n̶
Shin's Mask –the one thing that separates Hengen from a part of themselves that is stronger and angrier, called the True Ayakashi –was stolen by an Amanojaku, another Oni that was simply using the Onihitokuchi to latch onto any appealing-enough prey. And now Shin is weeks, hours, away from losing control of the murderous side of him that's only seen the light of day once before.
Of course no one bloody notices the Kitsune and Bakeneko back at the warehouse, who briefly converse about how everyone needs to be ready for what's coming. Because of course, nothing is ever complete without ambiguous words from a sly Kitsune no one knows about [yet].
Pai falls into a coma. While she's stuck in her mind, she finds herself in a strange landscape of dark, heavy clouds, with odd firm ground keeping her from plunging down to an angry sea below her, full of strange, terrifying creatures. She sees a great white serpent burst out of the water and scream to the heavens in grief before falling back beneath the waves. Pai comes across a strange woman who asks her where 'he' is. When Pai doesn't know how to answer, the woman turns into a white-haired monster, and she falls through a hole in the cloud-ground to the sea below.
Back in the real world, Pai is in a coma in Dokokai Hospital. She's subconsciously trying to kill herself [yeah that can happen]. Kanou, Tengu healer, tells Shin and Kouta that the girl they all fought to save is dying because she's somehow forcing her body's internal organs to shut down and that it won't be long before she dies. They concoct a plan, a dangerous plan, to use Shiori to enter Pai's subconscious mind and convince her to wake up, to stop trying to kill herself. If Shiori fails she'll be stuck in Pai's mind, unable to find her own body, and die.
There Shiori is confronted with three unexpected things.
One; while in her own subconscious she is approached by a Kitsune who, f̶o̶r̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶s̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶s̶e̶l̶f̶,̶ points her in the right direction to entering Pai's mind. She doesn't know who he is. She doesn't know what he wants. She doesn't even know what he looks like –he keeps his face hidden by a fox mask.
Two; a strange, breathtakingly woman clothed in her mother's skin is the one to greet Shiori when she finally makes it to Pai's mind. Only, there isn't supposed to be anyone there in her mind. The woman, Shiori slowly comes to realize, is not entirely sane, either. The woman threatens to kill Shiori, then asks her why she's there. Shiori tells her she's there to bring Pai home. The woman starts crying tears of blood, then switches moods and asks her, What if Pai doesn't want to go home to the pain? Then she points, and Shiori sees Pai.
Three; Pai is stuck reliving her blocked memories. When Shiori touches her shoulder, she is pulled into one. There, she watches a still black-haired Pai sitting manacled in a steel chair in a painfully white room with a man standing in front of her. He is torturing Pai. Her fingertips and toes are blackened with clotted blood, nails torn off. Her eye is mangled, her face bleeding, her hair just starting to turn to the white of the present Pai [the white hair is a symptom of the Marie Antoinette Syndrome. Go watch/read Tokyo Ghoul ;)].
The man torturing her asks her why she killed 'Akira'. Pai looks horrified at his accusation. He asks her again why she killed Akira. Instead of replying, Pai suddenly morphs into the insane woman in her subconscious and breaks her wrists as in bones fucking popping out of skin to get out of the manacles, telling the man to release her from her bonds and then she'll say she's sorry.
The memory fades away. Shiori, stunned, snaps Pai out of drifting into another memory and tries to convince her to wake up. Pai doesn't believe that it's Shiori, thinking that she's just another apparition conjured in front of her. When she realizes that it really is Shiori, she grows terrified that she's in Pai's mind and is in danger of the woman, and then shoves her down another hole in the cloud-ground, screaming at Shiori not to tell her what she saw in Pai's mind.
Shiori is now understandably terrified of heights.
Pai wakes up from her coma at the exact same moment Shin loses control and becomes his True Ayakashi.
For a month, the Daitengu search for Shin, but don't find him. In that time, Pai blames herself for what's happening to him, seeing that if he hadn't come for her in the warehouse the Amanojaku never would've gotten hold of his Mask. She goes to pray at the shrine on Obaasan's suggestion and there she meets Konohana, Kamigami who uses the Koki Sakura Hime as her mortal vessel [Chimei Yoki]. Konohana gives her Shin's Mask, informing her that her son, Hoderi, retrieved it from the Amanojaku.
On her way home from the shrine Pai finds Haru, severely injured after surviving a brief fight with Shin as a True Ayakashi when he found the remains of three Nue clansmen slaughtered by Shin. When Haru heals rom his wounds, Pai tells Kouta about Konohana's warning that if he can't find Shin in time, the Kamigami will have to step in to control [̶t̶r̶a̶n̶s̶l̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶:̶ ̶k̶i̶l̶l̶]̶ Shin. The Daitengu, after much debate, decide to perform Torimaku –a power that is their last line of defence –to trap Shin long enough for Pai to put his Mask back on, effectively tying down his True Ayakashi.
In the meantime Pai tries to figure out Shin's true name, the name of his True Ayakashi –Makashi –that Konohana said she knows. Using it will halt Shin's Makashi and give her enough time to get his Mask back on him. Pai wakes up one day from a memory that scares her, and her nose bleeds. As Pai struggles to figure out his true name, she hears a voice calling to her.
Out of nowhere a woman speaks to her, taunting her and riling her up. She claims to know Shin's Makashi's name, and offers to show it to her. Pai, desperate, agrees and goes through text messages she shared with Shiori before she finally stumbles across his true name, there in plain kanji sight. Pai runs out of the house to get to the Daitengu before they can initiate the Torimaku, which is a suicide mission because of what Shin's Makashi actually is.
Again, no one notices the Kitsune and Bakeneko watching everything that transpires from afar [more like, lounging on a tree and enjoying the spectacle]
The Torimaku is nearly a disaster. Yuu, one of the Daitengu, almost dies while battling Shin's Makashi, who is not just a Makashi, but shinigami, partly a death god, one of very few born in Hengen bodies. Pai gets the strange woman in her head to make Haru give her enough opening through the Torimaku to get inside. When she's there, she screams out his true name to stop him from killing Yuu; Shinigami.
How Shin's name is written: 死ん
Shinigami's name: 死神
Yep, I did a play on kanji right there.
The first kanji for Shin's name is the same one for 'death', which Shinigami happens to be part of. Which means, in addition to his own special Ability separate from Shin, he has quite a bit of potential to play around with Yomi-no-kuni's powers. W̶h̶i̶c̶h̶ ̶m̶a̶k̶e̶s̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶b̶i̶t̶ ̶s̶c̶a̶r̶i̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶n̶ ̶I a̶p̶p̶r̶e̶c̶i̶a̶t̶e̶.̶ ̶ ̶
S̶o̶-̶a̶n̶d̶-̶s̶o̶ ̶h̶a̶p̶p̶e̶n̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶Shinigami almost kills Pai because he thinks she's weak and deserves to die. Before he can, Pai becomes not-Pai [Dark!Pai exists, and she is terrifying, but this isn't her yet] anymore, and her eyes darken to black as the woman in her mind takes over at Pai's request, because she knows she isn't strong enough to face Shinigami alone. Shinigami is unable to control himself as not-Pai uses his name to bring him to heel, and she ties the Mask around him.
Shin is brought back to himself and thanks Pai before fainting. Before the Torimaku dissolves and the other Daitengu come in, not-Pai creates a tanto blade –much like Shin's own tanto that he always has somewhere on his person, at all times –and considers killing him, but she knows she can't f̶o̶r̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶a̶m̶b̶i̶g̶u̶o̶u̶s̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶s̶o̶n̶.̶ She looks up to the heavens and thinks about how it's finally starting, how it will all end soon, and then she can be in peace. Half a second later not-Pai faints b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶r̶s̶e̶.̶
Season 2
Everything goes back to normal, which Pai finds abnormal, because of how everyone's acting like nothing happened. The strangest thing of all is that she doesn't remember a thing of what happened after she found Shin's true name –and that includes the strange woman's voice. Shinigami [̶n̶o̶ ̶i̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶u̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶i̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶g̶u̶y̶ ̶h̶i̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶S̶h̶i̶n̶'̶s̶ ̶m̶i̶n̶d̶ ̶b̶t̶w̶]̶ ̶is blocking Shin's memories of that day as well.
Shinigami: You just love spoilers don't you.
Xeah: If I can be cruel enough to spoil the entire Game of Thrones season 7 plot for my best friend, what do you think.
Shinigami: *nods in approval*
Shin and Pai: *facepalm*
As she, Shiori, Haru, and Shouta (Kouta made it literal law that two Daitengu accompany the girls to school at all times, after everything that's happened –they become teachers h̶e̶h̶e̶h̶e̶) walk to school, Shouta reassures Pai that Shin and Yuu are okay. He tells her that some things Shinigami said to Yuu have affected him, and goes on to tell her what those things are (because it's not really a secret, just a painful past no one likes to think about).
Ten years ago, the Kitsune Clan were ruled by two Kings; Ueno Tasuku and Ueno Airi, power-hungry twins who weren't satisfied with their lot after the Territory Wars [as if they didn't have enough to begin with g̶r̶e̶e̶d̶y̶ ̶b̶a̶s̶t̶a̶r̶d̶s̶]. Despite having large territories conquered in the Territory Wars, corresponding with World War II, bloody battles waged between the eight powerful Clans of the Ayakashi, each fighting for more land and power –and the Ueno's wanted Tengu territory as well.
The Ueno's stirred and manipulated the Kitsune Clan to stage an attack on the Tengu while they were unprepared at a festival, warding the entire main Tengu village up so that no one could escape. They did it when all the Kings of the other Clans were meeting at a separate location to sign the Territory Treaties. They used Yuu's father to get past the boundary that protects the main village.
It was a bloodbath –hundreds of Tengu and Kitsune alike were slaughtered for the greed of the Ueno's. That was the night, the one time Shin willingly released Shinigami to fight off the attacking Kitsune after his parents and uncle were murdered before his eyes, right before his brother (Ryosuke, also Daitengu) would have been killed as well. Then, out of nowhere, Kagetora –a Kyubi no Kitsune hardly anyone knows anything of –arrived and killed Tasuku, who was leading the attack, after he'd snapped Airi's neck at the Territory Treaties signing.
Kagetora became the Kitsune King by default that night, and pulled the Kitsune away.
Pai is stunned to learn all this, and can't stop thinking about it for most of the rest of the day. Then, at lunch time, she sees someone sitting on the roof of a building in school, and knows that it's Shin. She goes over to him and worries about how exhausted he looks. She apologizes to him for getting him in this mess and he tells her she has nothing to be sorry for, that they are equal now, for he has saved her life, and she his.
Shin says something to her that Pai finds familiar. She suddenly remembers Shinigami, his red eyes and the way he taunted her with some promise (̶y̶e̶a̶h̶,̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶m̶e̶n̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶)̶. Her ears –her ears –start bleeding. Through much cajoling, she admits to Shin that she's slowly starting to remember things from her time when she was missing, and that when she does, her nose or her ears bleed. Nasty and painful. She asks him not to tell anyone, and he promises, with much reluctance.
Then one of Pai's classmates, Motomi Shiharu, dies right in front of her eyes when she is hit by an oncoming bullet train after she is possessed by a Teke Teke. The strange thing is, Teke Teke are murderous Yori Chiisai that cut peoples legs off a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶u̶c̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶e̶r̶r̶i̶f̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶h̶i̶t̶ ̶s̶c̶a̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶a̶y̶l̶i̶g̶h̶t̶s̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶me f̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶w̶o̶ ̶w̶e̶e̶k̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶o̶i̶n̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶l̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶l̶k̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶b̶a̶t̶h̶r̶o̶o̶m̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶g̶h̶t̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶–they don't possess people by putting strange, animate black liquid into them.
Guilt plagues Pai over being unable to save Shiharu's life. The strange woman in her mind comes back, bringing with her memories of Pai's past that she doesn't want to accept –memories that paint her as a killer, working for some shadowy organization no one knows about called 'So Fu'. At one point when Pai and Shiori visit Shiharu's grave, Pai goes to a pawn shop and sees Kuniumi in the mirror as her missing sister, Midori, before she warps into a monstrous, twisted version of Pai. Pai punches the mirror and sees it break, but when she opens her eyes, somehow, the mirror remains whole –even though her hand bleeds where she punched it.
Kuniumi becomes a permanent fixture in Pai's life, coming and going as she so pleases b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶.̶
Afterwards, Shin and Kouta talk about what happened. After some digging, Shin reveals that Teke Teke was able to target Shiharu because of a connection they share in their pasts –both were raped. Teke Teke, when still human, was a woman who was raped and then left out on train tracks, where she bled out after her legs were cut off by a train. Shiharu was raped by her uncle.
It's then revealed that Shin's Mask is failing, after Shinigami briefly appears and speaks a few words to Kouta. Shin admits that it's because he's taken his Mask off too many times, and its power has lessened because of it.
Shin follows a sleepwalking Pai through the forest after speaking with Kouta. Still sleepwalking, she digs out a bag at the bottom of an elm tree –the same tree Shiori found Pai exactly one year ago, after she'd been missing for three. Without warning, she takes a loaded gun out of the bag and shoots at Shin. A brief scuffle ensues, and he refuses to hurt her because she's still sleepwalking.
He is confused when she somehow uses power –real, supernatural power –to create weapons out of black smoke. She talks in doubling voices like that of the Ayakashi, as well as another's voice, all as if she's talking to someone in her head, blaming them for condemning her to 'this madness'. Then she suddenly faints.
When Pai wakes up, she barely remembers what she did, and then only that she'd pulled a gun on Shin. He doesn't tell her that she made weapons out of literally nothing. They look through the bag she dug up and find dirty, bloodied clothes inside, as well as a note in Midori's handwriting, asking her to forget everything. She asks him not to tell Kouta about what's happening, at least until she gets answers, because she doesn't want to have to say she doesn't know when Kouta asks her something about what's going on with her.
Then she tries to decide that she'll leave Ayashi House, because she's a danger to Shiori if she could attack and try to kill Shin without even knowing what she was doing. Shin gets visibly angry that she wants to leave, and convinces her not to with the promise that he'll be there to stop her if she goes into such a state again.
Two days later, he joins Haru and Shouta at Odori High as the Math teacher.
Xeah: I'm telling you, the man was being literal when he said he'd be there for Pai
Pai faints the next day because she's not been eating properly (she sees blood in her food when she does, after Shiharu's death). Shin comes to take her home, and tells her that what happened isn't her fault. The strange woman in her mind –̶w̶e̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶l̶o̶v̶e̶l̶y̶ ̶K̶u̶n̶i̶u̶m̶i̶ ̶–̶asks her, isn't it her fault? Y̶o̶u̶ ̶b̶l̶o̶o̶d̶y̶ ̶u̶n̶h̶e̶l̶p̶f̶u̶l̶ ̶w̶o̶m̶a̶n̶ Shin buys her an onigiri and tells her that Shiharu died, but she wouldn't want anyone else to die because of her. Pai promises to take better care of herself.
Aihara, the nurse who diagnosed Pai with iron deficiency the previous day, asks her to come to her office. When she goes, Aihara reveals that she knows Pai can see the Yori Chiisai, because she can too. Pai is terrified by what Aihara could want with her, though the nurse tries to reassure her that she doesn't want anything more than to help Pai, and asks strange questions about her health. The bell rings and Pai tries to leave, but Aihara extracts a reluctant promise from her that when the school break is over, they'll meet again, because Aihara has something very important to tell her.
The school break is just in time with the signing of the Territory Treaties, this time being held at the Kyoto main village of the Tengu. Pai meets Daichi's family, and for the first time really realizes that the Daitengu lost a lot when they became Daitengu ten years ago, but that most still have family waiting for them to come back home after their mandatory ten-year training away from the main village (plus an extra year for Shiori to finish high school).
Pai and Shiori go to the ancient sakura tree that is the original tree Hiyori laid under thousands of years ago. There Shiori admits her fear of the indiscriminate love for her from the Tengu, despite not knowing a thing about her besides the fact that
A) she's the Koki Sakura Hime and
B) she's Kouta's to-be bride.
Pai reminds and reassures her that Kouta doesn't love her because she's the reincarnation of a mythical princess, but because she's her. Shiori calms down some and thanks Pai for being a good friend.
Pai decides to go out the next day to explore Kyoto while Shiori's holed up with Kouta dealing with the treaties. Shin tags along with the excuse that Kyoto's full of Hengen who could snatch her right up. They spend the day together visiting landmarks around the city, Pai as a tourist and Shin as her tour guide [and she discovers that he's terrified of monkeys h̶u̶e̶h̶u̶e̶]. At the end of the day as they're heading home, Pai sees Midori in the crowd and runs after her, but loses her, and becomes hysterical from it. Shin calms her down enough to get her back to the Royal Palace.
She's depressed the next day, but readily follows Shin when he takes her to a clearing on a hill a long way away from the Palace [they fly there. She discovers that his wings are beautiful]. There, he reveals to her where his tanto blade comes from, and why he killed the Nue a month ago when he was Shinigami; the Nue killed his best friend, Seiran, who gave him his tanto to keep safe.
After Seiran died, he went off the rails and joined the Yakuza Ayakashi. Shinigami, despite hating Shin and being a murderous bastard, still understands loyalty and how strong a blood debt is. Pai comforts him as well as she can –by hugging him and letting him know he's not alone when he expected her to run from him once she knew something of his past.
That night, Pai has a dream/memory in which it is revealed that Midori somehow betrayed Pai, and that it is Midori's fault that Pai is slowly losing her mind from the guilt of killing so much for So Fu. The next day Pai is distracted on the shopping trip Shiori drags her, Kouta, and Shin on. She admits to Shin that she thinks Midori was somehow involved in her disappearance, but she still has no idea what. Shin then reveals that he can use his invisibility Ability to temporarily make the walls around her mind visible, so that she can see some of her blocked memories. They arrange to do it later that evening, and Pai chooses to remember the Torimaku, because she isn't ready for the possibility that Midori really did betray and give her to So Fu, and what it means if she did.
Pai is yanked out of the Torimaku memory by Shin suddenly collapsing. When she shakes him awake it is not Shin anymore, but Shinigami. He almost kills her by strangling her before Shin wrangles control back. Pai, instead of running away, demands to know what happened. Shin reluctantly tells her that he's taken his Mask off too many times, and that Shinigami's breaking loose because of the Mask's weakening power. When she asks him what he's going to do, he says he doesn't know.
The next day is the festival celebrating another year of peace between the Clans. Pai can't feel festive as everyone else because of what happened last night a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶-̶s̶o̶-̶l̶i̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶f̶a̶c̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶f̶u̶c̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶y̶i̶n̶g̶.̶ ̶She bumps into a mysterious man who is revealed (̶b̶y̶ ̶S̶h̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶t̶e̶r̶r̶i̶t̶o̶r̶i̶a̶l̶,̶ ̶p̶o̶s̶s̶e̶s̶s̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶i̶g̶e̶r̶)̶ to be Kagetora, the infamous King of the Kitsune.
Kagetora taunts Shin with his knowledge of Shin's 'little' problem with his Mask, and walks away like the sanctimonious fox he is. Shin forces a promise out of Pai that she will never go near the Kitsune again [̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶c̶o̶u̶r̶s̶e̶ ̶w̶e̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶l̶i̶s̶t̶e̶n̶ ̶d̶o̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶d̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶l̶i̶s̶t̶e̶n̶?̶ ̶N̶O̶]̶.̶
Shin and Kouta talk that night as they spar together. Kouta reassures him that his father, Sojobo Kurama, King of the Tengu, is working to find a Hengen who is powerful enough to train Shin to live without his Mask, something that is a mere rumour to be true. Then he forces Shin to realize that he has genuine, romantic feelings for Pai. Shin attempts to rebuff him by using their age difference (Pai – 18: Shin – 27) as a reason why it'd never work out.
Kouta counters with this sage [̶t̶r̶a̶n̶s̶l̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶:̶ ̶j̶a̶i̶l̶b̶a̶i̶t̶]̶ advice; he's 26, Shiori's 16. That's one more year than Shin has on Pai. Shin continues that Kouta's an idiot [̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶i̶m̶e̶s̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶t̶b̶h̶]̶ ̶ for talking about this when Shin's in danger of totally losing control of Shinigami w̶h̶o̶,̶ ̶f̶y̶i̶,̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶k̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶P̶a̶i̶.̶ ̶Kouta tells him that Pai's his anchor holding him together. By this point, as soul-dew [I swear to god if you change your username one more time] pointed out, SHIN'S FEELINGS FOR PAI ARE CANON
a̶m̶ ̶I̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶o̶w̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶e̶r̶m̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶u̶n̶p̶u̶b̶l̶i̶s̶h̶e̶d̶ ̶s̶t̶o̶r̶y̶
Pai finds Kagetora still in the village, and strikes a deal with him. If he trains Shin to survive without needing his Mask, she will answer one question he asks her truthfully, if she knows how to.
Pai has another dream/memory in which she is preparing to torture a Tanuki as punishment for his trying to escape So Fu. In this past, Pai knows how to –at least temporarily –block Kuniumi out from listening to her thoughts.
The dream zooms out to another facet of the past Pai isn't aware of. Kiku, one of the handlers at So Fu (and whose loyalty to them isn't quite so firm as he's led them to believe) is on the phone with the Ookami King, Yukari Ariwa, asking him to call Kagetora and get him to help get Pai out of So Fu before she's driven insane with guilt. Ariwa forces Kiku to admit the reason he's watching out for Pai is because her mother (who no one has seen in two years, in this time), Akiko, made him promise to.
Back in the present. Pai is in the infirmary room, back at Ayashi House, missing school because she's sick with the flu. Shin comes in and she asks him why he hates Kagetora so much. After much hesitation, he tells her that when he was with the Yakuza Ayakashi, a building they owned had an explosion, and Kagetora was there –only instead of saving a pregnant woman Shin failed to get to because of one of his wings being broken, he sent his Kitsunebi in to make sure the woman burned to death [̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶n̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶m̶a̶n̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶b̶e̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶Azure's b̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶f̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶.̶ ̶S̶o̶r̶r̶y̶ ̶d̶u̶d̶e̶,̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶r̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶s̶t̶o̶r̶y̶,̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶d̶i̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶p̶a̶r̶a̶g̶r̶a̶p̶h̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶r̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶r̶o̶d̶u̶c̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶:̶P̶]̶. Kuniumi tells Pai that Kagetora did it because his job, before being King, is to maintain the balance, and had the child in the woman grown up, he/she would have grown to be a tyrant worse than Adolf Hitler.
Shin, insanely angry [̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶r̶e̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶s̶c̶a̶r̶y̶ ̶q̶u̶i̶e̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶y̶]̶ knows that she broke her promise to him, and asks her why before snapping at her that she shouldn't have risked her life like that, for no reason. Pai gets angry at him and bites back at him that he may be all right with fading away once Shinigami's in full control, but everyone else is going to lose someone they love if he's gone. She tells him that she made a deal with Kagetora, and gives him the card the Kitsune gave her to contact him with.
Shin eventually makes the decision to take Kagetora's offer, and Kouta makes the call to arrange everything. It's all going (̶r̶e̶l̶a̶t̶i̶v̶e̶l̶y̶)̶ ̶well and good until Kagetora says that Pai will come with Shin to wherever Kagetora sends them. He retaliates to their refusals by saying that he'll need 'a trigger' that will actually work on Shin if the training will have any use, and like the infuriating Kitsune he is, hangs up before they can completely refuse.
Pai and Shin get to the island of the Restless Dead (Ukabarenairei) a few days later, to be greeted by Tomoha Seiran, one of her classmates [and it's now revealed that he is the unknown Hengen at Odori High]. That goes well and good b̶e̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶c̶u̶t̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶o̶n̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶o̶a̶t̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶y̶e̶t̶
Then Kagetora comes to welcome them –by pushing Pai off the balcony of his fantastical 'abode' [̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶r̶y̶,̶ ̶s̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶o̶e̶s̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶d̶i̶e̶...̶]̶.̶
Shin almost loses it then but Kagetora's totally chill, and Pai forces a promise out of him that he won't let any harm come to her. Kagetora agrees [̶g̶u̶y̶s̶,̶ ̶w̶a̶t̶c̶h̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶a̶k̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶m̶i̶s̶e̶]̶.̶ ̶ ̶
T̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶r̶a̶i̶n̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶s̶h̶i̶t̶.̶
First day, Kagetora stabs Shin. With a poisoned knife. Every time Shin isn't able to fight Kagetora and injure him in some way, even just nick him, Shin is 'punished' for it by getting cut with a poisoned blade that incapacitates him with pain for a good long while. It goes on like this for two weeks. Shiori calls (and it is discovered that Ukabarenairei runs on different time than the outside world, much faster), and through Pai's objections tells her that being in a relationship with Hengen is only truly feasible if their True Ayakashi accepts you. Despite her protesting otherwise, Pai realizes that that can never happen between her and Shin because Shinigami wants her dead.
And this is when Pai realizes, after 80 fucking episodes, that she is in love with Shin. COME ON, IT TOOK SHIN 70 EPISODES TO COME TO THE SAME REALIZATION. WHY YOU GOTTA BE SO SLOW PAI. WHY. YOU'RE GIVING XEAH GOODDAMN SLEEPLESS NIGHTS, AND AZURE LIKES SLEEPING when she actually does considering her sleeping schedule's fucked up because of reading too much fanfiction on AO3.
While Pai is brooding one night while Shin's sleeping [̶l̶u̶c̶k̶y̶ ̶b̶a̶s̶t̶a̶r̶d̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶s̶l̶e̶e̶p̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶I̶ ̶f̶u̶c̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶]̶, Kagetora joins her. He goes on to drop the s̶m̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶bombshell that if Shin survives the training/transition, he will be Kamigami. All of them were literally just Ayakashi running amok and 'breaking the toys' (humans) that the Kigen liked playing with. The Kigen then forcibly joined them with their Makashi, thus creating the p̶o̶m̶p̶o̶u̶s̶ ̶p̶r̶i̶c̶k̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶p̶r̶i̶s̶s̶y̶ ̶s̶o̶u̶r̶p̶u̶s̶s̶e̶s̶ ̶w̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶l̶l̶ gods.
Kagetora gives her the warning that if Shin becomes Kamigami, his loyalties will be tested. He then tells her that, despite what Shiori warned her of last night, of being in a relationship with Hengen, Pai has already been accepted by Shinigami because he doesn't so much as look at those he considers weaker than himself, therefore does not acknowledge their existence. His desire for her death is his recognition of her strength, and of her.
There is a brief intermission in which we see Kuniumi back in the cloud-ground, not talking to herself, but to a huge, ancient dragon that is her closest friend. His name is Longwei. Longwei gently scolds her for being too impatient and using Pai when she should have waited. She complains that Pai is being too slow to get strong. Longwei reminds her that Pai is not Bibari or Touka (she has a habit of calling Pai 'Bibari', and then sometimes talks about a 'Touka' with infinite sadness), and that she needs to be patient for Pai.
The reveal for who Kuniumi is happens here for the readers and no one else because...
¯\(◉‿◉)/¯
Kagetora forces Shin to merge with Shinigami by using Pai. He leaps to the boulder she usually sits on whilst watching them fight [it became a regular thing for her to. A̶l̶s̶o̶,̶ ̶K̶a̶g̶e̶t̶o̶r̶a̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶s̶a̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶S̶h̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶b̶a̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶f̶i̶n̶a̶l̶,̶ grabs her, and is in this constant state of kind of a dancing mode where he twirls her around between himself and Shin, constantly putting her in danger.
He does this because he saw pretty early on that no matter how much he taunted Shin, even with the memory of what happened 10 years ago or the pregnant woman at JR Tower, nothing can absolutely shatter Shin's calm quite like the possibility of Pai in danger. Kagetora is constantly teasing during this time that Pai is such a frail human, it would be so easy to snap her neck.
And then Shin snaps, and it's Shinigami.
From that point on, it's Shin and Shinigami fighting together, as one, until they stab Kagetora through the chest, without hurting Pai. She stares in horrified amazement as she watches Shinigami's face (there are slight differences in the way Shinigami and Shin look) morphs into Shin's, and his eyes remain red. The tips of Shin's hair bleed out into crimson (a visual representation for all the blood he has spilled his entire life. H̶i̶n̶t̶:̶ ̶i̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶q̶u̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶b̶i̶t̶). It's at this point that they truly become one.
And then of course Kagetora goes on t̶o̶ ̶c̶r̶e̶e̶p̶ ̶everyonet̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶u̶c̶k̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ by pulling Shin's katana out of his chest like it's nothing and casually informing him that no matter what Shin –or anyone, for that matter –does to him, no grave can hold him. Kuniumi returns briefly and is sad at Kagetora's revelation, saying that he is the loneliest being she has ever encountered, t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶b̶y̶ ̶c̶e̶m̶e̶n̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶P̶a̶i̶'̶s̶ ̶b̶e̶l̶i̶e̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶K̶u̶n̶i̶u̶m̶i̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶K̶a̶g̶e̶t̶o̶r̶a̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶e̶a̶c̶h̶ ̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶.̶
Now commence with the heart-breaking rollercoaster of Season 3! a̶c̶t̶u̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶t̶w̶o̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶e̶e̶ ̶w̶e̶e̶k̶s̶ ̶S̶e̶a̶s̶o̶n̶ ̶3̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶b̶a̶c̶k̶
. . .
Now let's go back and see how many fucking pages this 'brief' synopsis took –oh, would you look at that, 10 pages.
Xeah why. Why are yo chapters so long you freaking imbecile
"Xeah," Kagetora asks curiously, leaning over her shoulder to peer at the screen in the dark room, glowing brighter than the sun. "Why did you cross so many things out? Those are quite humorous commentaries, you know."
"Those...those aren't going in the synopsis I'll put up. I think."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want random people floating on the internet to think I'm an insane lazy panda?"
"But you are an insane lazy panda." The b̶e̶a̶u̶t̶i̶f̶u̶l̶ ̶man says to the wide-eyed panda sitting in the rolly-polly chair and slapping her huge paws on the keyboard to produce the thing she's writing.
And the insane panda continues to rail against herself whilst sobbing as she listens to Hidden Citizens and Zrní on loop for the next seventy-two hours.
...was I fucking drunk when I wrote this
AM I STILL DRUNK
but I've never consumed alcohol except for like one sip
what's wrong with me oh god
thiscompletelydoesn'tsuitinkstained'stoneforfuck'ssakexeahc'monshit
The following pictures are going to be nonsensical drivel you'd do well to simply ignore and that is only here because I need somewhere to put it instead of it collecting pixelated dust in my computer.
^^I'd like to point out here that I just blatantly spoiled the entire Ravendown story I've got posted up on Wattpad as well in a single sentence in a completely different story.
I do this sort of thing quite often while writing Ink Stained.
Literally if you see the name 'Artimpaz' anywhere know that some shit's about to be spoiled.
*24/9/2020: some hint of Ravendown is still in this part post-edit, but I've removed names.
This is the credits scene for the anime Hitorijime My Hero.
Before I get to why this pic is here I'd like to state for the record that I started Ink Stained and penned everyone's names and surnames down in 2015.
Jirou's name is here.
Jirou the Daitengu. Jirou Yoshida is my Daitengu's name and apparently he's a goddamn character in this anime I'd never heard of until two days ago (17.08.2017).
Throw this coincidence right there with my mom bringing home a stray kitten that looks exactly like fucking Sato and even behaves like him.
^^to anyone who has ever thought/said writing is the easiest shit
IT. IS. NOT.
^^this is honestly what I expect to happen after Teke Teke ruined my life.
*Webtoon: S.I.D.
^^me trying to get my characters to listen to me when they're being chaotic AF^^ A-C-Douglas you know what I'm talking about ;_;
*anime: I don't remember the name...
^^that's not the name of the anime -I literally don't remember the name.
A-C-Douglas here's Haru because I know he's your husbando :0 :)
^^I did this for absolutely no reason. Like everything else in my life.
Want to know what I actually look like? Here ya go, an unsolicited picture of me IRL with a shit excuse of a camera for no reason at all, blown to massive proportions because Wattpad just likes doing that.
. . .
DID YOU THINK I'D REALLY
F*CK NO
This update has turned into a rant. I apologize.
Also can someone warn me what I'm in for with Killing Stalking because I have a feeling I'm about to be yanked headfirst into a world I mayormaynotbepreparedfor
Update: Jesus Christ.
Update #2: H O L Y F U C K I N G H E L L Sangwoo just