Nagamonogatari 10: LS - Genbu

Name: Souhei Yasuragi

Species: Turtle

Abilities: Creating Barriers and Shields, Controlling Water

Age: 1000 years old

Occupation: Monk, Protecting Habu and his friends

Location: Kadoguchi Temple

Title: “The Wise Turtle of Enlightened Beliefs”

Likes: Habu, his Friends, Peace and Harmony

Hates: War and Misery, Byakko and Seiryuu fighting

 

Name: Habu Nobegane

Species: Snake

Abilities: Creating Venom, Using Toxic Weapons, Controlling Water

Age: 1000 years old

Occupation: Protecting Souhei and following him

Location: Kadoguchi Temple

Title: “The Venomous Snake Warrior”

Likes: Souhei, Fighting

Hates: Everyone who attacks Souhei

Stage 5: Temple of One Thousand Doors ~ Forbidden Sanctuary

Stage 5: Black Turtle and Venomous Snake ~ Shield and Sword

 

Finally after defeating the white tiger, they arrive a small rundown cabin which looks like it’s abandoned for years. Though it doesn’t looks like a temple at all, Hina can sense a very powerful distorted aura inside the cabin which might be the aura of the monster she is supposed to kill. Unfortunately the cabin is protected by two gatekeepers who strangely don’t seem to be like their normal selves. Could it be that their minds are actually controlled?

 

A long time ago when Kunihara suffered from great misery and had no gods they could ask for help, they had to ask the gods of Hondo for help but were ignored by them. Only one deity answered their prayers and this deity was known as the goddess of light. She promised them that a great emperor will be born and protect the human continent. As long they were still waiting for the birth of their savior, the goddess watched over them. After 20 years passed, the emperor Koryu was born. In the same night of his birth, four stars fell down to earth and became the imperial guards of Kunihara: Seiryuu the azure dragon, Byakko the white tiger, Suzaku the vermillion bird and Genbu the black warrior. Shortly after they landed at Kamiyama, they began their journey to the center of Kunihara to meet the emperor and become his servants. But something happened when the stars landed on the divine mountain. One of them broke into two pieces and couldn’t be fixed. So Genbu was separated into two individual beings. Souhei Yasuragi woke up at the northern side of the mountain with no weapon except for a shield to protect himself. But he was unable to fight anyone since he had no sword or anything else and he didn’t have full control over his magic ability yet. All he know was that he had to travel to the center of this land in order to meet his leader. But since he was incomplete and completely useless in battles since he was too slow and peaceful to fight and had no weapons, he doubted that the emperor would ever accept him. Souhei was scared of being rejected and wondered if he should really go to the emperor and reveal himself as an imperfect guard. So he decided to ignore his instinct and staying at Kamiyama. He didn’t see any reasons why anybody would need him and so he just wanted to wait for his death. It was still better than living as an embarrassment for the emperor and always being a millstone round people’s neck.

While being all alone, Genbu learned more about nature, the circle of life and death and the secrets about magic in a very short time. He kept wandering around in the northern forest of the mountain until he heard some noises. It was a snake boy who kept fighting against a group of vicious youkais. But the boy was badly hurt and had almost no strength left for fighting. Souhei ran to him and protected him with his shield and helped him to escape. They hid in a cave and Souhei treated his wounds. The wounded boy was Habu Nobegane, who introduced himself as Genbu, the black warrior. Souhei was confused at first when he heard that since he always thought he was supposed to be Genbu. He became curious and talked more with Habu while they were hiding in the cave. After Habu confessed that he was almost blind and couldn’t see well and was unable to protect himself against attacks and Souhei told him he had no skills for fighting, they finally understood: they were both pieces of Genbu. They needed each other to be a complete being. Habu was the sword and Souhei the shield. When they learned the truth about themselves, they made a vow to never separate, no matter what would happen. They became soulmates, best friends and even more.

After Habu was fully recovered, they left the mountain and travelled to the center of Kunihara where the other members of the imperial guard were already waiting for them. They were all surprised that Genbu wasn’t just one but two beings. While Seiryuu refused to accept this and called them an embarrassment for the whole empire, Suzaku didn’t really care about it and Byakko often protected them against the azure dragon. Though Souhei and Habu didn’t have an easy life as a romantic couple and were often bullied by Seiryuu, their strong bond never weakened. No matter how different they were, they could work and fight like one being. Souhei protected Habu with his shield and even made glasses for him and Habu was the strong fighter.

But their personalities were still quite the opposite. Souhei desired for peace and harmony and didn’t like any sort of violence. Instead of becoming a stronger fighter to keep up with Habu, he decided to become a monk and achieving enlightenment. When he was not spending time with Habu, he often studied books and scrolls or was meditating. He was also the only one who could keep Habu under control when he was throwing a tantrum. While Souhei was a very philosophic, wise and calm character who was usually kind and caring towards others, Habu was more impulsive and easily irritable. He was a talented swordsman and could use all sorts of poisons to kill his enemies. He had a very short temper and troubles to control himself. Habu didn’t have the same level of intelligence and wisdom like Souhei and rather relied on his own strength, venom and speed. So it was up to Souhei to make strategies to defeat strong enemies. When they fought during the Great God War, they joined a group called “The Last Stronghold” and protected Nakatsukuni against enemies from other worlds who tried to invade the center of the meta-universe and bring it under their control. Souhei wanted to restore the peace in Nakatsukuni by putting an end to the war while Habu wanted to protect Souhei. But in the end there was no chance they would get out of this battle alive. They knew that they would be reborn later and they were given a chance to be reborn as one single being next time. But neither Habu nor Souhei wanted something like this to happen. Even though they knew they were two broken pieces of a star, their bond and their love for each other was so strong they didn’t need to become one to be complete. They already were complete as long as they still were together. So when they were reborn, Genbu was still two beings who were connected to an unbreakable strong bond.

Habu and Souhei spent most of their time with trying to stop Byakko and Seiryuu from fighting and finding a compromise. When the emperor Makoto disappeared after talking with a stranger and the imperial guards were banished by Kotetsu, they all separated. While Seiryuu became the administrator of Sekitangara to prove that she was still worth being the emperor’s first servant, Suzaku left Kunihara after getting tired of these feuds and fights in the group. Byakko asked Habu and Souhei for help and told them what she heard from the stranger. So they travelled to Isasagawa in order to protect Nakatsukuni against the disasters of the solar eclipse once again. But suddenly they heard a voice calling for them. They were both unable to resist this call and followed it to a very small cabin and ordered to stop everyone who would try to enter it. It was impossible for them to disobey the voice and so they became the gatekeepers of the cabin which was actually the Kadoguchi temple. They didn’t know why they had to protect the cabin or why they couldn’t disobey this order. It seemed like some mysterious power was manipulating their mind.

 

PERSONALITY:

Habu and Souhei possess very contrasting personalities. Souhei is a very calm, reserved and optimistic character but gets easily scared when he is alone on the battlefield. He always feels very weak but tries to hide his insecurities with a happy smile and by acting like everything is okay. His love for philosophy and knowledge about nature and magic often makes him look like a nerd though he isn’t really one. He is a monk with heart and soul and always talks in a very polite way, even to his enemies. Habu on the other side has a very short temper, has an aggressive nature and a strong self-confidence. He knows that he is strong and never fears a fight, no matter how strong his enemy is. His only goal is to protect Souhei and being his sword while Souhei would be the shield that would protect him in dangerous situations. He trusts him blindly and never questions Souhei’s strategies or plans. They both never distrust each other, though it still happens that they complain about things because of their different personalities. But they would never break up, holding a grudge against each other or leave their partner behind. They share a very strong bond which is more than just love. As soulmates they share the same goals and dreams, are even able to sense if the other one is in danger and will find each other when they got separated. And they both know their partner’s thoughts and feelings.

 

Kizuato: “What’s about that cabin? Why do you want to go there?”

Hina: “Because I can sense a strong but also distorted aura there. I bet this is the temple. Maybe it’s some kind of disguise so nobody will notice it as an actual temple. I already visited some places in the past which weren’t what they seem to be.”

Kizuato: “Ah okay. Well, let’s hope it won’t get too dangerous. Honestly this strange feeling makes me scared.”

Hina: “You can still wait here if you don’t want to get in there.”

Kizuato: “And letting you fighting some dangerous monster all alone? Forget it!”

Souhei: “Hello you two. What a very nice day we have today, don’t we?”

Hina: “Eh… are you the fifth unknown ninja turtle?!”

Habu: “Hey! Don’t dare to call him like that. We have orders to protect this place and nobody will get into this cabin.”

Kizuato: “Who gave you that order? And are you the monk the scarecrow mentioned before?”

Souhei: “No, I didn’t talk with any scarecrows. Honestly I don’t know who gave me this order and I also don’t know why we have to protect this place. But we won’t let anyone enter this cabin. I’m very sorry.”

Hina: “Okay, let’s fight them.”

Habu: “Don’t even dare to lay one of your dirty fingers on my Souhei!”

 

AFTER FIGHT:

 

Souhei: “You are very powerful, but I’m afraid even your strength won’t help you.”

Hina: “Why are you so sure about it?”

Souhei: “Because this aura feels very strange. Didn’t you sense it?”

Hina: “It’s… distorted. It kinda reminds me of the power of my mentor.”

Souhei: “That’s because the person who possesses this aura, is corrupted. And corrupted magic is like a highly contagious disease. If you get hit by a single attack, your own magic will get corrupted too and destroy your mind.”

Habu: “So that’s our theory why we are ordered to protect the cabin: to prevent that the corruption won’t infect other people as well.”

Hina: “But still… If we don’t kill that monster, it will escape soon or later and then it’s too late.”

 

SOUHEI’S & HABU’S SPELLCARDS:

Habu Snake [Violent Venomous Predator]

 

Urashima Tale [The Turtle Leads to Ryugujo]

Toxic Blade [Death Battle at High Noon]

Honorable Soul [Seven Legendary Samurai]

 

Downpour [Mystical Aqua Magica]

Northern Guard [Wild Winter Storms]

 

Divine Wisdom [Enlightened Generous Soul]

Turtle Shell [The Universe of Maturin] (Survival)