The Curse of the Kasuga Shrine by Creature of Shadow
The Curse of the Kasuga Shrine
'People say that when one encounters the Deer of Nara at the Kasuga Shrine, he or she should get out of the carriage and bow to them. As messengers of the Kami, they bring good omens and deliver prosperity and luck to those fortunate enough to bear witness to their graceful beauty.'
At the base of Mount Mikasa, surrounding the Kasuga Shrine in 1565, many deer wandered the streets of Soramitsu, completely unharmed because of their religious omnipotence. Kasuga is a sacred sanctuary dating back to medieval times when Takemikazuchi-no-Mikoto, the first of the shrine’s four deities was summoned from Kashima and appeared riding a white deer in 768. As a result, the shrine and Kôfuku-ji, a Buddhist Monastery that exerted power over the Yamato Province, declared the deer to be divine, and ordered the protection of the Kasuga Hills in Soramitsu.
Over the years, the deer were revered as glorious celestial beings, illustrated in many paintings and scrolls carrying the Kami, and serving by their side. To come in contact with one of these ethereal animals was almost instant opulence, which would invariably end up being the Sika Deer's downfall.
In 1838, a young monk by the name of Mikao Usui came to the Kasuga Shrine longing to see one of the miraculous deer. The peaceful man yearned to witness elegant creatures in hopes they would grace him with the ability to perfect his healing technique, known as reiki.
The level of reiki he strived to achieve was a delicate, yet powerful pulsation that comes forth from the hands of those blessed with spiritual powers and adjusts the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of the beneficiary flow in ideal sequence. Because of this, the reiki fosters deep healing for practically any ailment. If properly executed, it could heal almost any imaginable type of disease, injury, emotional or mental problem. In his infinite quest to care for and save the poverty-stricken people of Japan, he turned to the deer, praying they would help him succeed in accomplishing his goal.
Mikao was in fact granted the knowledge to perform absolute reiki, and in gratitude promised his life to protecting and caring for not only the people, but for the deer as well. Within a few years, he had shown and taught the power of reiki to all the spiritual leaders in all the provinces of Japan, and the holy animals had become his dearest friends, meaning more to him than his very life.
In 1846, Mikao found a group of hunters in his fields, and they had killed one of his precious deer. Immediately, he brought an indictment to a government officer of the Tokugawa shogunate Kawaji Toshiakira, demanding justice for the lost life of his beloved deer. Kawaji scoffed at Mikao, believing the laws that made the killing of these supposedly sacred beings a capital offense should only have existed in fairytale and legend. The indictment was thrown out, and the laws protecting the deer abolished. With the decline of deer in the city, the prosperousness of the city began to decline.
By the year 1848, the wars of the Edo period extended to Soramitsu, and thusly the Kasuga Shrine. During the last and most violent battle, a group of samurai from a neighboring province attacked the Shrine, and made a special point of slaughtering every living thing within its walls. The monks were murdered, and the sacred deer poached. Mikao, lying broken and bloody cursed the men who had destroyed his animals. His once pure aura darkened with bitter hate and malice, as his reiki changed into an evil energy annihilating anything that dare approach him. With his last breath, he swore vengeance, and promised to return to carry out his deathly oath.
The villagers, terrified of the malevolent aura still hanging about his body, burned his remains along with those of the butchered deer, and sealed them deep within the Shrine. The Daimyo Oda Nobunaga succeeded in taking the city, renaming it Nara and forever changing the city and its people.
Twenty years passed, and all that remained of Mikao's tale was the diary of a lowly government official called Kujo (Fujiwara) Kanezane, which held precise records of those fateful days. By the end of the Edo period, the diary, known as Gyokuyo, was lost, leaving only a vague legend in its wake.
Soramitsu-
The Archaeological Site in the Ruins of the City of Nara, 2008
“Hey, wait for me!” 20 year old Kagome Higurashi called to her classmates as they walked off without her again.
Kagome had been waiting for this trip to Nara for months and because of her flighty friends, she was having a hard time enjoying it. While she was completely engrossed in learning the history of this place, her 3 best friends (and classmates) Yuka, Eri and Ayumi were more interested in checking out the young archaeologists working around the site.
Sure part of it was Kagome's fault, since she ended up losing herself in thoughts of Nara in all its glory in the past. She debated asking Inuyasha to take her there the next time she went down the well, then of course visions of the final battle and her feudal family raced into her scattered mind.
She wondered absently if she might have suffered some brain damage from the final battle and if that was the cause of her almost constantly wandering mind. But then again, she had always been a bit on the flighty side. Speaking of which...
“Guys seriously! Wait up!” Kagome cried, realizing she had stopped in the middle of the walkway during her contemplation of all things random.
The three girls turned, and giggled. “Sorry Kagome, we didn't realize you had spaced out again. We're going to walk over to the base of the mountain over there and have some lunch.” Yuka said with a grin.
“What's got you so distracted anyway? Eri asked, a knowing tone lacing her voice.
“It's probably that dreamy Inuyasha.” Ayumi swooned. “You're so lucky to have a guy like him Kagome, even if he is a hanyou.”
Kagome's eye twitched. “Firstly, let's say that a little louder Ayumi, I don't think the entire city heard you. Secondly, he is NOT my boyfriend. I haven't liked him like that in years. And lastly, I happen to enjoy history thank you very much.”
“I wonder how much of that has to do with you being a part of some of this history. You remember the last dig site we visited? The look on that poor man’s face when he found a pop can buried with a bunch of old artifacts was priceless!” Eri exclaimed with a chuckle.
“Even better when the tests proved it really was down there for 500 years.” Yuka added, joining the other two girls in a laugh.
Kagome sighed, and wondered for the millionth time why it had seemed like a good idea to share her adventures in the past with her friends in the future. She toyed with the jewel hanging from her slender neck and contemplated wishing she hadn't said a word to them about it. She wouldn't ever actually do that, but it was nice to think about now and again.
The jewel was warm in her hand. And now that she thought about it, it seemed to be growing hotter the further they walked off the trail. 'That's odd... It hasn't done that since we sent the remnants of Naraku's spirit to the underworld.' she thought.
Before she could investigate further, a sudden flash of an extremely dark aura surrounded her and her friends. It seemed almost to be searching for something in each of their auras, and sent a cold chill down her spine as it passed over. The icy feel of the malicious presence probing her soul caused her Miko powers to flare slightly in warning. Though she was far from untrained these days, her power still acted on its own once in awhile.
Kagome could only assume it found whatever it was looking for, because without warning it disappeared again. It was then she noticed her friends calling her name, worried expressions lined on their young faces.
“Huh?” Kagome murmured dazedly.
“We've been trying to snap you out of whatever world you were in for 3 hours, Kagome.” Ayumi told her.
“Are you okay?” Eri asked.
Kagome heard the obvious concern, but had no real answer to give them. It felt to her as if a few seconds had gone by, not hours.
“You were glowing. That's why we didn't touch you. Or leave to get help.” Yuka said, a small bit of awe lacing her voice.
“Oh that. I told you once before I was a miko.” Kagome replied.
“Yeah...It was a little different actually seeing it though. I mean, we believed you and everything but, it's just different.” Yuka stated quietly.
“Sorry, I'm not sure what happened. I felt...I felt something. I think maybe we shouldn't be here.” Kagome said, still feeling a small bit of distress in the air around them.
The other young women nodded, and wordlessly began to clean up their picnic area. For the first time, none of them had anything to say.
As they made to leave the small clearing, Kagome noticed the corner of a piece of paper sticking out from underneath a rock in the corner of the area. Figuring it had to be something accidentally left behind by one of her friends, she stepped over to it and picked it up.
The parchment ripped in two, the piece in her hand shocking her with enough force she couldn't hold onto it. The wind carried it to the other side of the clearing, and as suspicious as she was, the burn on her hand and the thick air of foreboding felt more important for the time being. She had to get her friends out of here now.
With only a small glance behind her, she ran to catch up, never noticing the sparks of fire emanating from the parchment.
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
“Man this stupid train is taking a long time.” Eri complained exasperatedly as they waited for the number 5 train to take them to the parking lot.
“Yeah, don't they know we have an injured woman here?!” Ayumi exclaimed.
“I'm really okay guys. As soon as I get my nerves under control I can heal it myself.” Kagome said, smiling slightly.
“You can do that?” They asked at the same time.
Kagome nodded.
“Well let me take this moment to say thanks for helping out with all those cuts and burns I suffered in cooking class.” Yuka grumbled.
“And that time I fell down the stairs and split my knee open!” Eri added.
“Oh! And let's not forget all those nasty paper cuts when we had to use the construction paper in art class!” Ayumi piped in.
“I couldn't control my powers back then guys! I could barely focus enough energy to purify a bug for crying out loud.” Kagome cried indignantly.
Not put off by this information, Yuka, Eri and Ayumi continued to bring up all sorts of childhood injuries they felt Kagome could have fixed, which would have saved them hours of torment.
It ended up a big joke by the time the whistle of a train sounded in the distance, and all the girls were calmed and enjoying each other’s company. The good feeling fell quickly from their minds as soon as they laid eyes on the locomotive coming down the tracks; however, as it was fairly obvious that this was not the same train they had ridden on earlier.
The girls gaped as it came to a stop in front of them, all three noticing the #5 painted on the side. That was the only resemblance it had to the car they had came on earlier that day. The silver body of the train was now an eerie shade of black and purple, and the windows were cracked.
“W-what do you think happened?” Ayumi stuttered fearfully.
Yuka swallowed hard, and stood. “We have to get back to the parking lot, and this is the only way without walking for miles. In the dark. Who knows who could be out there?”
“Who knows who could be in THERE.” Eri replied, indicating the damaged train.
“Or what.” Kagome said quietly.
“Well, whatever it is, I have mace and we have a kickass miko with us. We can take whatever is in there where we will know where they are, rather than out in dark woods guessing. I'm getting on.” Yuka told them as she made her way to the seating cabins inside.
“Yuka wait!” Eri and Ayumi cried, following their friend.
“Guys really, I think we should stay here. I have a really bad feeling about this.” Kagome said urgently. Her senses were reeling from the amount of dark energy surrounding the train. Something was in there, and whatever it was, it was pissed.
Seeing her warning had fallen on deaf ears, she sighed. She couldn't let her idiot friends go by themselves and be killed by whatever asshole youkai was hanging out on the train. So, irritated and on alert, Kagome joined her friends on the train.
The interior had also changed, not as drastically as the outside, but definitely noticeable. The walls were charred, burnt as if the fires of hell themselves had raged against them. The ceiling, chairs and floor remained untouched.
'What the hell is going on here?' Kagome thought.
The tracks creaked, and the train began to move again.
'Something is here. But where?' Kagome looked all around the small seating area but saw nothing out of place other than the walls. Shrugging her shoulders in an attempt to loosen the tension, she moved to sit with her friends.
“You okay, Kagome?” Ayumi asked, fear relevant in her tone.
“Yeah. Just ducky.” Kagome replied. “Everybody just keep your eyes open okay? And no leaving the cabin without taking someone with you. Splitting up is a very bad idea right now.”
They nodded, and turned their gazes out the window to the fast passing scenery.
After a few moments, the train stopped again. The doors opened, and a male figure entered the doorway. Fear splintered its way into each of their bodies, and they prepared for the worst.
“Hey ladies! Didn't expect to see you here! What a nice surprise!” Hojo grinned as he made his way over to the shaking girls.
“Hojo, what the hell!” Yuka screeched angrily. “You scared the crap out of us! Didn't your mother teach you not to lurk in doorways?!?”
The other females nodded, and Hojo rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Sorry, I was just wondering what happened to the train is all. I didn't mean to frighten you.”
“What are you doing out here so late anyway?” Eri asked, still trying to get her fast beating heart under control.
“I'm researching the area for a paper. It's really a very interesting place, and I even found something!” Hojo said excitedly.
“Oh? What would that be?” Ayumi inquired, not so sneakily moving a little closer to the handsome young man.
“A journal of some kind. It looks to be from the Edo period, isn't that neat?” he told them, pulling the worn looking diary from his pack. “It's called Gyokuyo, and it seems to be a very accurate record of some of the happenings in this area back in the feudal times. Most of it is silly myth and superstition I'm sure, but can you believe the luck? I've been waiting my whole life to make a discovery like this!”
Kagome bristled at the name. Why she didn't remember the tale before was beyond her. “Hojo, may I see that for a moment please?” her tone more demanding than anything.
“Of course Kagome. It's my pleasure.” he replied with a smile, oblivious to the sparks in her eyes.
Taking the ancient journal and opening it carefully, Kagome scanned the old writing on the pages, until one thing in particular caught her eye.
The Tales of the Deer of Nara, and the Curse of Mikao Usui~
“I knew this book sounded familiar. That village was a bloody mess last time I passed by.” Kagome thought. 'This is so not good. Let's see... deer...war… blah blah...sealed in the shrine...Wait! Seal! That paper I pulled, and ripped, and...Son of a bitch!'
“Are you alright, Kagome? You've paled considerably. Are you sick again?” Hojo asked, his earnest face making her laugh a little insanely.
“Ahaha, yeeeaaaah. I'm fanflippingtastic. Don't you worry about a thing, I'm just gonna go over here for a minute okay? Okay then.” she said, walking over to the far end of the cabin.
The others stared at her for a moment, but the girls understood. Kagome knew something, and it was something Hojo couldn't know about.
'Shit! Shit, shit, and double shit!' Kagome's mind raged. 'I'm stuck on a train with friends that can't defend themselves, with a pissed off spirit floating around because I destroyed the seal keeping the damn thing in! How do I do this to myself? It doesn't matter what time period I'm in, I somehow always manage to screw something up. And this time I put other lives in danger. Good going Kagome, you're lucky Inuyasha isn't here to rub it in this time!'
She shifted in her seat and stared out the cracked window, her mind traveling back to her friends in the past. Sango, Miroku, Inuyasha and even Sesshomaru, who had battled with them to destroy Naraku. She suddenly missed them all, sarcastic comments and all.
'I wish they could be here to help me out of this.'
Granted
Kagome's eyes widened as the unfamiliar voice rang in her ears. She grabbed the jewel, relieved to find it still there. And just when she thought she had imagined the voiced, the train began to move at a frighteningly fast pace. The occupants were thrown against their seats as the speed accelerated again, and with a blinding flash of light, it stopped and continued at the normal speed.
The group stood warily, holding onto the chairs in front of them in case the train decided to jump again and looked back at Kagome. She stared back, no explanation coming to her, until the door connecting the other cabins slammed open.
“Alright wench, just what did you do?” Inuyasha growled as he stomped over to the stricken girl.
“Now, now Inuyasha. We don't know that it was Kagome's doing. Why must you always be so crass?” Miroku scolded him, Sango following him into the seating area.
“Keh! Who else would have done it? You better not have wished us here on the jewel, cuz I can't stand the stink here any longer than it takes for me to haul your big ass back down the well.” Inuyasha warned.
“I didn't, and just how the hell did you get here?” Kagome snapped back.
“We have no idea. We were sitting around eating when a light flashed. Next thing we know, we're on this giant iron cart.” Sango answered as she looked around the tiny compartment curiously.
Kagome gulped. 'Oops.' She made to move past the angry hanyou, but he grabbed her arm and held her where she was.
“What's going on Kagome, an idiot could feel the nasty aura stinking up the air in here.” Inuyasha asked seriously.
“Nothing! I have no idea what's going on. I mean it! Stop looking at me that way.” she whined.
“Miko, this one can smell your lies even through this putrid air.” came a deep, monotone voice.
“Oh crap, you're here too?” Kagome wailed tragically. She really had no luck whatsoever.
“Hn.” was her only reply.
Feeling more than a little helpless, and possibly a tiny bit stupid, Kagome sighed. “Alright! I may have accidentally removed the seal from Mikao Usui's resting place.”
They stared at her blankly, except for one.
“Explain.” Sesshomaru demanded.
“I didn't mean to okay! We were having a picnic near the base of the mountain and a nasty aura just burst in and ruined everything. While we were leaving, I found a piece of paper stuck under a rock and I picked it up thinking it was someone's homework. It ripped, and shocked me. So..so I kinda ran....”
Inuyasha busted out laughing. “Are you kidding me? You're the most powerful Miko in both eras, and you ran from a piece of paper? Hahahahaha!”
“I know, I suck. And wait, did you just give me a compliment?”
“I think we're getting off track here.” Miroku said, cutting off any chance for a fight. “I have heard of the monk Mikao. His death was tragic. But the question is, what do we do now?”
Silence drowned them, until a timid voice broke through with a slight squeal.
“Inuyasha! It's been so long!” Ayumi cried, moving over to hug the surprised hanyou.
Red faced, Inuyasha patted the strange girl's shoulder and mumbled a barely audible hello.
Before Kagome could so much as giggle, another excited shout rang throughout the room.
“Holy wow Kagome, is that who I think it is?” Yuka exclaimed as she practically drooled on the stoic youkai lord's boots. “He's even hotter than you said he was. I can't believe you haven't done him yet.”
“YUKA!!” Kagome screamed, the blood rushing to her face so fast she thought it might pop. A welcome idea at the moment. “Don't pay any attention to her, she doesn't know what she's saying the crazy girl.”
“No, I remember that story vividly. Remember you told me about that fantasy you had where he- oof!”
“What is wrong with you! Shut up!” Kagome growled as she tackled her friend to the floor.
“You mean he doesn't know?”
“THERE'S NOTHING TO KNOW!!”
Yuka giggled. “Whatever you say pumpkin. Can you get off me now?”
Kagome rolled off, and hid under one of the chairs. “You go. I may as well stay down here and wait to die.”
“Come on and get up Kagome, we all knew you liked the Bastard. Hell, even he isn't dumb enough not to notice your scent when he come around.”
The prone girl chanced a look at said bastard, and found him staring at her with an eyebrow hidden in his hairline. “Yep, trying to die down here.” she grimaced.
“Can you perhaps die later? We still need to find a way out of this.” Miroku asked her, smirking slightly.
With a desolate sigh, Kagome got up, pointedly ignoring the taiyoukai standing only a few feet from her. “Fine. What should we do? And where the hell did Hojo go?” she inquired, suddenly noticing the young man's absence.
“Hobo is here too? Damn, I knew I recognized that stink.” Inuyasha grumbled.
“He is dead.” Sesshomaru stated nonchalantly.
“What?!” came three feminine shouts.
“He's right, I smell blood.” Inuyasha confirmed. “There.”
Following the hanyou's arm, Kagome spotted a large pool of blood coagulating in the floor. Looking up, she saw it was coming from one of the luggage racks that lined the ceiling of the cabin. “Oh no...” Kagome said, rushing over to the door of the compartment. She opened it, and had to repress the urge to vomit.
Hojo's body was folded over and stuffed inside the small space, his back obviously broken. The most disturbing part, if that wasn't enough, was his flesh was blackened as if it had been burnt like the walls of the train.
“Oh Kami...” Kagome whispered, ignoring the shrieks of her friends from this era.
This was her fault. Because of her mistake, Hojo was dead. She allowed herself a moment of grief before steeling her mind to the task at hand. “We need to find this thing, and kill it.” she told them, an anger in her tone so vast, the entire group flinched.
“We are going to split up. Yuka, go with Miroku. Touch her monk and you will die.” she said seriously. Wordlessly they nodded.
“Eri, you go with Sango. Do not, for any reason leave her side. Ayumi, go with Inuyasha. Same goes for you.” she turned and looked at Sesshomaru. “You're with me.”
He nodded, and turned toward the exit to the next compartment.
“No way am I leaving you alone with him! This isn't time for a rut you know.” Inuyasha shouted, ignoring the starry eyed girl clinging to his haori.
“Inuyasha, sit.”
The hanyou crashed to the floor, taking Ayumi with him.
“Watch your mouth. I want to strongest with me when I go up against this monster.” Kagome said with deadly calm.
With that, the groups split up, leaving one cursing hanyou and giggling girl behind.
Before Inuyasha had time to catch his breath, a support beam from the side of the train lashed out, stabbing clean through his arm as he made to block the girl beneath him. Growling, he yanked it out and swung tetusaiga at the possessed piece of metal. The blow struck true, and the bar fell lifelessly to the floor.
He bent to help Ayumi to her feet and sighed. “We're in a shit load of trouble if the train is going to start attacking us now.”
♠♠♠
Kagome and Sesshomaru walked quietly through the small passageway to the next room. In the silent air, Kagome found herself rethinking her decision to take him along, rather than Inuyasha.
'Get a grip! For crying out loud, one of my friends is dead and I'm sitting here thinking of all the things I could do with a youkai lord in the dark! When did I become such a pervert?' she scolded herself. Unfortunately for her, the train picked that exact moment to hit a bump in the tracks, and his front brushed up against her backside. Kagome shivered. 'Craaaaaap.'
Sesshomaru's nostrils flared at the sudden spice in the air. And he had to repress a groan at the delightful scent. “Odd time for such things, wouldn't you agree Miko?” he purred in her ear, allowing his hot breath to tickle her soft skin.
The lights flickered, and Kagome fell into him, grabbing hold of whatever was there to keep her from falling.
“Woman, release me at once.” Sesshomaru told her, his voice strained.
Kagome pondered a moment what he could be so freaked out by, when she noticed what exactly it was she was holding. 'Oh Kami. Hard, thick, and hot. AAAHHH!' she dropped her hands to her side in an instant, thanking the darkness from hiding her burning face. “Sorry!” she squeaked.
“Hn.”
The awkward moment was broken when they heard Sango calling them from the front of the train. Everyone gathered in the small bay and gaped at the scene before them.
A Sika deer was on the tracks, its hoof caught in a cracked piece of railing.
Kagome looked at Sesshomaru. “You have to save it.” She told him desperately. “There are hardly any of the species around anymore, please.”
Sesshomaru looked at the animal, then down at her pleading eyes. He moved toward the door, only to be knocked back by a wild bar. The train was attacking again as if it didn't want them to leave.
Annoyed, Sesshomaru flexed his claws and coated the thrashing metal in his poison, thoroughly melting it. But more came flying out before he had a chance to move, and went after him again.
He slashed and burned everything that came near him, and Inuyasha destroyed the rogue beam heading for the youkai's unprotected back.
They looked at each other for a split second, understanding passing from golden orbs, and they nodded once. The brother's attacked relentlessly, and finally broke through the barrier, streaking outside to the front of the speeding locomotive.
To Kagome's surprise, Sesshomaru stopped right in front of the train, and braced for impact. With the strength only he could possess, he took on the whole of the train. It jerked, and sluggishly came to a stop right as Inuyasha freed the deer from its bonds and released it, completely unharmed.
The group still inside the train let out an explosive breath none of them realized they had been holding. And suddenly, the dark aura of the train disappeared. A shadowy being formed in front of them, and spoke.
“Thank you for saving my deer. You have restored my faith in man, and youkai, and freed my soul from my own evil embrace. Thank you.” it said as it dissipated into nothing.
As they all jumped out of the train, Kagome sighed. If only poor Hojo hadn't lost his life in this mess.
Reacting to her unspoken wish, the jewel burned against her skin, and disintegrated. As Kagome began to scream, Hojo stumbled out of the door behind them.
“What happened?” he asked, bleary eyed.
Yuka, Eri and Ayumi laughed. “Don't worry about him, we'll take him home.” they said as they led the stunned young man to the car.
“Well I'm glad that's over.” Inuyasha groused.
“No, Inuyasha. You don't understand.” Kagome told him, lifting the chain of her now empty necklace to his face. “You’re all stuck here. When the jewel left, I felt the magic in the well die.”
They gaped at her.
“I suppose it's time to figure out how to live in this time then, eh?” Miroku said optimistically. Sango nodded, taking his hand.
“Keh. Whatever. At least I'll never run out of ramen.” Inuyasha replied.
Kagome smiled. And she would never have to lose her friends. She was about to say just that, when a strong arm snaked around her waist and lifted her to the sky.
“What the hell?”
“You and I have some unfinished business Miko. Do not think I forgot about the incident on the train.” he growled seductively.
Kagome's eyes widened, but before she could protest, he kissed her killing any complaint she may have had.
Below, a single white deer watched, and trotted over the hills back to the base of the mountain.
Fortune comes to those who earn it.
AN: Holy crap. DONE! Now, this legend and place and all that are actually real. I twisted it of course, but the basic outline of the Deer of Nara is a true japanese myth. As are all the ppl not from the IY cast.
So, hope you enjoyed, and please remember to read my partner Riku Ryuu's fic as well, and send your vote into TangerineDream!
PS. Special thanks to ladybattousai for bouncing ideas with me. I couldn't have done it without your help lady! <3
Message from the beta: haha and you were worried you wouldn’t get done in time, well you did and once the tourney’s over you can go back and give it the attention it deserves to make it epic *rubs potatoes in your hair* that’s for all your complaining woman >:3