It had come without warning; first, the sliding doors had exploded outward, splinters of wood and torn paper littering the ground outside of the dojo. Katsuo remained in position, though, imbuing his blade with energy as he knelt on the gravel, vaguely aware of the approaching youkai.
He could hear the subtle shifting of its paws over dirt, the creature letting out a savage growl as it drew nearer. It was only when it was a few feet away that Katsuo looked up, noticing with bemusement that it held a sword of its own, the hilt firmly clamped between its teeth.
What kind of youkai wields a sword? He wondered, then gave his head a shake. It didn't matter; all that mattered was keeping the monster from getting away. If it did, who knew what untold horror it would unleash upon the village?
Getting to his feet, Katsuo gripped his katana in both hands, holding it with the point toward the ground on his right side. The youkai—bearing a striking resemblance to a tiger, he realized—halted in its tracks, its blade held off to the side in much the same fashion as Katsuo's. Readying his blade, Katsuo was just about to spring forward, when he recognized the blade between its teeth.
No, but it couldn't be. Why would the cursed blade be here? He certainly had kept no such sword on the premises, so where had it—
Clarity came to him like a bolt of lightning; Fushimi, one of his pupils, had stopped by earlier, acting rather strangely the entire time. Now Katsuo understood; the blade had been possessed, not just by a curse, but by this youkai—and until Fushimi had taken hold of it, inadvertently bestowing some of his own strength into it, the youkai had been too weak to move about on its own power.
But what of Fushimi? He thought worriedly, keeping his guard up, He looked so deathly pale when he left. I must find him and take him to one of the Buddhist priests, right away.
But first, there was the youkai to deal with.
Determined, Katsuo rushed forward, meeting both the youkai and his fate head-on.
(I figured I'd leave the ending open to interpretation).
