heading home to spend the rest of New Year’s Day with her parents. The Matsumotos and David enjoyed the traditional New Year’s bento lunch boxes called osechi that Yukiko had ordered months in advance, and then relaxed for the day.
David understood a little better all the preparations that had gone on before the holiday. Yukiko had mobilized everyone when not training to clean out the entire house. Instead of spring-cleaning, the Matsumotos wanted to be sure that everything was ready for a new year. David had especially enjoyed helping to make mochi. With the twins and Natsuki, David had helped smash steamed rice into sticky goo. They had filled some of it with sweet beans to make a very tasty treat. Rie had taken three big rounds of mochi, stacked them, and topped them with an orange. The offering was a centerpiece at the Shrine, and David finally understood what all the plastic decorations he had seen in stores were supposed to represent.
With the work done, the entire family was able to relax. Later in the day, the mailman arrived with a stack of postcard greetings for the family. David was surprised to receive a stack of his own from classmates and other students at the school.
‘I’m embarrassed. The only presents and letters I sent were to my father and Jessica. I didn’t send any to our classmates—and I don’t even know half of these people.’
‘It seems you are more popular than you thought,’ Kou growled from within him. ‘I’m sure Jessica will enjoy the picture of you and the twins you sent. I bet she’ll scratch out your face and focus her hunt on Takumi.’ David took the opportunity to growl back.
Though David’s father and Jessica had visited a few weeks before, they were still unaware of his life as a Jitsugen Samurai. It had been easy enough hiding the changes from his oblivious father, but it had been far more difficult to hide them from his sister. David knew his father cared, but also knew that very few things could hold his interest for long. Fortunately, Jess had been more interested in telling David about her friends back home than in prying into David’s life.
It helped that she grew silent whenever she saw Takumi. With secrecy so essential to his and the Matsumotos’ survival, David could not afford to let his family know about Kou. It was safer for them that way. With a sigh, David went to find Takumi so he could ask what to do about his lack of greetings for other students.
Outside the main house, David jogged toward the forge, a low building that bordered the traditional Japanese garden behind the main house. With a burst of speed, David leapt over the small stream that ran through the Estate. The recent snows had frozen the top layers, but he could still see water running below. He had cleared the stream so many times that he was shocked to find himself wet, cold, and gasping for air beneath a layer of ice.
Struggling, he convulsed in the shallow water. His whole body bumped against the rocks as something dragged him closer to the pond in the center of the garden. He twisted against the pull on his leg. His arm caught a tree root and gave him just enough leverage to turn his face, but the ice kept him from getting any air. With a shock of panic, he smashed his head through the ice just long enough to pull in a quick gasp of air.
A strong jerk dragged him back under. David pulled hard with stomach muscles developed by hours of sit-ups. He caught sight of a translucent blue form in the water before his head banged against a rock and he had to straighten out.
‘A little help here?’
‘I did the last one. I will let you have this hunt.’
‘Just cause there’s a little water.’
David growled, and shut his eyes against the water. He moved faster through the water as his body relaxed. He mentally followed the tingling flow of energy to the core of his being. There, he sensed the remaining metal that had impaled his heart so many months before at the Shrine. Calling it forth, his Seikaku appeared in his hands. As they entered the pond, David had enough room to maneuver. Even as the squirming little kappa tried to drag him to the bottom, David lashed out with the wooden form of the Seikaku. The transparent form that had held him dissolved into the surrounding waters.
Free, David swam under the bridge then used his Seikaku to poke through the ice. A hand helped him out of the water. To either side of him, Rie and Takumi sat on the bridge, having watched the whole ordeal.
“Fine. I do the dishes tonight,” Takumi said, his voice grim as he looked to his sister. David knocked water from his ears.
“You two bet on me?”
“Of course,” Rie said with a sweet smile. “Takumi thought it would take you another couple of minutes to get free.”
David shivered in the cold and then punched Takumi.
After only a few days off for the winter holidays, school started back up again. Nakano’s second years faced the busiest semester of their academic calendar. In addition to the usual competitions, tests, and activities, the second years would be going on a school trip to Kyushu in only a few weeks.
With Chul Moo’s disappearance and Misaki’s death, Class 2B was smaller than before. Many of David’s schoolmates were still in shock from the Jeong brothers’ disappearance and the deaths over the past months, including the fire that had raged in the warehouse. When David arrived for the first day of class, their homeroom teacher Mr. Moriyama also told them that Yuuto had transferred to another school. Although he gave no reasons, David, Takumi, Rie, and Natsuki all assumed it had to do with the aftereffects of the ōkami’s domination over him. Both Yuka and Yuuto had become loud and sometimes even obnoxious in class after the Matsumotos and David had freed them the previous semester.
Yuuto especially had been a paradox. Always exhausted in class, he made every teacher’s request seem as if it was a personal affront. Sometimes this came out as a lack of reply, other times as yelling or rude outbursts. The only thing he had kept up with was sports, but even then, he would go on as if directed by some plan no one else could see.
Although disturbed and guilty over Yuuto’s departure, David was still happy to be back at school. Only a few months before, he had felt isolated and lonely, but over time it had become more like a second home. The myriad cultural differences that had kept him off balance were still there, but with the language barrier gone, they no longer kept him from making real connections with his classmates. While he was still far from mastering Japan, Kou had provided him with the tools to improve. Slowly, he was making friends among his classmates and enjoyed spending as much time as possible with them.
David’s classmates and even the Matsumotos had become far more willing to deal with his occasional mistakes and differences since he could explain where he was coming from. It also helped that Kou acted as a check for him. Always present within his mind, Kou could often sense problems coming and help David avoid them.
‘If only random monsters would stop attacking us.’
‘They were all weak. Though I guess it is only a matter of time before Chul Soon sends something worse.’
With their initial preparations and meetings done for the morning, Class 2B began heading for the beginning of semester ceremony. At the beginning of every semester, the entire school met in the gym to listen to speeches from their teachers and fellow students.
Realizing he was zoning out again while talking to Kou, David said, “I’m just glad I haven’t had to give a speech yet.”
“It’s not that bad. You just have to talk about how hard you’re going to try this semester,” Naoto replied.
“Yeah, or talk about what you did during
