Ghost Monk

          
Three hours later, there was a sickening thud which sounded as if it had come from outside the gates to Uesugi Shrine. Hiro’s voice could be heard, chastising a pink-haired roadkill that had leapt off of his bike before he’d even slowed down. Mandated to go only forty miles per hour near holy soil, it was still pretty damned fast to do a flying tackle leap from. Peeling his friend off of the road, he dusted him off, muttering, “Honestly, Shu. You’ve waited three hours, you can wait another few minutes for me to stop the damned bike.”




          
“But Yuki’s in there! You know he never comes here unless he’s hurt or damaged or upset or someone’s finally died or something!” Shuichi protested, trying to shake off his friend’s well-meaning ministrations. “YUUUUUUUKKKKIIIIIII!!!!!” he shouted, loud enough to shake the rice paper on several of the walls.
Inside, an amber eye twitched. A dark mirror of his brother, Tatsuha lifted the beer to his lips and drank slowly, before raising his forefinger from the can to point towards the gate. “Looks like the mountain has arrived.”




          
“Dammit, Tatsuha, why the fuck did you have to bring him here. Like I didn’t have enough fucking problems as it was without dealing with the Drama Queen of Tokyo too.” Eiri groused, not bothering to get up from his seat. His one saving grace was that neither Mika, nor Tohma, had shown up for his birthday yet.




          
Outside, the wails continued, “YYUUUUKKKKKKIIIIII!!!!! Answer me dammit, Tatsuha told Hiro you were here! C’mon Yuki, let me in! You know I’m not allowed to step foot inside the Shrine until you do!” Shuichi continued to shout at the top of his lungs, ignoring Hiro’s pained expression. “I’ll come in, so help me, then you’ll be sorry when Mika kills me!”




          
Listening to Shuichi’s bitching, the youngest Uesugi couldn’t help but chuckle. “Suits me fine. I’m sure you’re used to his screaming by now.. if you can drown it out, I can.” Tatsuha shrugged, a malicious gleam entering his eyes, spotting another opportunity to get under Eiri’s already angsty skin. “But… now that I think about it… Shuichi does act a lot like you used to, from the stories I keep hearing.”




          
“I’m assuming you have a point. You’ve got three seconds to make it.”




          
Looking for all the world like a cat playing near the koi pond, Tatsuha managed to ask with thorough innocence, “Weren’t you mentioning a few hours ago, that Kitazawa’s ghost was hanging around the main gates?”




          
Less than three seconds later, the only thing remaining in Eiri’s seat were four empty beer cans as Tatsuha’s chuckle followed his brother out the door.





•





          
The closer Eiri got to the gates of the Shrine, the slower his steps became. He knew Tatsuha had followed him outside, having been unable to resist the temptation of watching the upcoming skirmish. He could give two flying fucks how his brother got his jollies off. His attention at the moment was focused on the three, yes count them, three figures lingering at the Shrine’s entrance.




          
Hiro was, as usual, leaning against his bike and smoking a cigarette, content to be the resident bystander along with Tatsuha. Shuichi, however, was straining with the inner war between rushing in to glomp his runaway lover and the death threat that was all too real hanging over his head. His eyes were brimming with tears as he cried, “Yuki! C’mon Yuki! Lemme in!”




          
Despite the waterworks, or because he was more than used to them by this point, it was easy for Eiri to ignore Shuichi’s theatrics in favor of glaring at the third figure hanging above Shuichi’s head. Kitazawa was, currently, running his hands along the bared skin of Shuichi’s biceps, from shoulder to elbow and back again, causing the young man to shiver with the chill, asking in a small, child-like voice, “Y…Yuki…. Um…. Hiro, is it me, or has Yuki finally managed to get his death glare to drop the temperature by a couple dozen degrees?”





TBC