Chapter 09

## Character Appearances

Sumeragi/Sango ● Uruma/Jin ● Kurobane ● Uruma/Zen ● Tennouji/Ryouko ● Shou and Company ● Tamao ● Uruma/Ran ● Uruma/Shizuka ● Hibi/Makoto ● Hibi's parents ● mushi ● Mikado/Outarou

## Title Details

### kanji:

全の飛んだり跳ねたり

***"Zen Leaps and Flies"*** is the 9th chapter of *Ran and the Gray World*, a manga written and illustrated by Aki Irie.

## Premise

Crows begin to gather toward the Uruma household as Sango greets the Uruma family with a mysterious box in her hands.

## Summary

The Kurobane come to a meeting at the Uruma Household. Sango presents them with 1% of Lady Shizuka in the form of a miniature body. She delivers the bad news: a mushi has escaped through the Door and it is up to the Kurobane to stop it.

They find the mushi at a building and Lord Zen eliminates it with a hammer. However, a human, Outarou, has been infested by one. They bring Outarou back to discuss what to do with him.

## Detailed Summary

Flocks and flocks of crows caw and converge to the Uruma residence; one begins shapeshifting into the form of a man in formal Japanese clothing. A heard of men come out of the forest outside the Uruma residence and bids Jin no introduction as they swiftly enter the house. With crows on his shoulders, Zen Uruma apologizes for them as he appears from out of the forest as well. With an unreadable expression, he explains that they are guests and he apologizes for their ruckus. Ryouko and Shou's gang pop their heads from the living room, and the place grows silent as Zen politely requests them to leave.

Meanwhile, Tamao is wide awake on Ran's bed with a grim look on her face. She promptly pinches a snoring Ran's nose shut, waking her up for what is about to begin.

Back outside, Sango greets Lord Zen with peculiar formality. Jin doesn't recognize her at first, but Ran reaffirms his suspicions by calling out Sango's name first as she greets Sango with a hug. Sango bows as she is welcomed inside, blushing at Jin's comment that he could recognize her scent.

Inside, the men formally sit squarely in front of Sango, who formally introduces herself as an envoy to Lady Shizuka. Sango proceeds to take out three spools of cord, the number of which the men take note of, and she unravels the cords around the men in the room, tying a knot to make a barrier.

Ran peeks in from a hole he has made from the screen door as she complains the darkness in there and how she couldn't see a thing, but is dragged away by the collar by a punctual Jin Uruma.

Sango unwraps the cloth containing the box and presents it to Zen. Zen slowly opens and immediately closes it shut. Zen inquires Sango about the gravity of the situation, and Sango confirms that Lady Shizuka specifically asked for him. Zen nods and proceeds to open the box...

Inside is a mini-Lady Shizuka! She is sleeping and Zen calls for her to wake and button up her top of course. Lady Shizuka has left 97% of herself back at the door and she has formally requested her husband to gather the Kurobane, or the Black Wing Corps, to capture and/or kill 'the largest insect to slip through', though it is 'no bigger than your finger', which Lady Shizuka's team has chased all the way to Haimachi or Ashtown.

One Kurobane soldier reports to Zen that a swarm of flies has been converging to the town, and so, Zen Uruma mobilizes the Kurobane, instructing the primaries, secondaries, and tertials to follow the swarm from the east, south, and west directions.

Meanwhile, Ran is waiting at home, wondering where her dad has gone. Jin tells her it is time for dinner, and Ran refuses despite her growling stomach. Jin invites Sango in the other room to have dinner too, and because Ran and Jin are bickering about how Jin only makes good stew and that Ran can make popcorn but not without burning it, Sango offers to help cook dinner.

Makoto Hibi is also at home and his family calls him for dinner too, but he has been huddling in a corner it seems, thinking about her shoes. He concludes and wonders if there is something in them. Suddenly, his dog Scoop begins barking outside, and in the sky a swarm of crows can be seen filling the sky flying toward somewhere.

The swarm of flies converge to a certain building. Zen Uruma inspects the roof, and the Kurobane 'with so many eyes' still couldn't see anything and suggest that Lord Zen check inside the building, hoping there are not humans in there. Lord Zen however, spots a bulge on the ground, and it is revealed to be the insect camouflaging itself! Lord Zen then takes out his hammer and grows it a ridiculously tremendous size.

After the Kurobane wove a barrier with talisman-ladened rope above them so nothing will escape, Lord Zen proceeds to rain down the giant hammer onto the insect. What remained was a scorched outline of the fly, but Zen requests that a Kurobane immolate the rest of it. The man promptly breathes fire and scorches the remains of the insect.

Back at home, Sango is braiding Ran's hair. Ran asks if Sango is in love with anyone, and her embarrassed response gives her away. Sango then asks Ran if she has someone she likes, and Ran asks Sango how she can tell what true love is. Sango responds that rather than the word love, she should think about how much they mean to her. Ran then tells Sango she loves Outarou.

Meanwhile, Outarou is struggling in front of a sink in the bathroom. He is coughing up blood and bangs his head against the bathroom wall. Blood is oozing from his hair line, whether it be from self inflicted injury or from the bloody mark on the back of his neck, it is unsure. He drags himself up to the roof in a daze, where the swarm of flies are converging to him. He faints and the Kurobane witnesses it all from above. They decide to take Outarou back with them as they sense that the insect is in his head and they want to be cautious when they extract the insect from it.

Back at home, Ran is sleeping on Sango's lap before a door. A doctor with goggle-like glasses and a fur scarf comes through the door and ruffles Ran's head proclaiming "We have quite the character here!" before entering the room inside.

Inside, the doctor has Outarou loosely wrapped around a string and senses that the insect, or mushi, is still within the man's head. Amazingly, the human is still alive despite his 'poisonous air' unlike what the Kurobane had previously suspected, but because of this, they cannot burn the insect out of him, which would have been the best way to extract the mushi.

Meanwhile, Jin walks down the hall of home as he can smell the scent of 'that man'. He stands outside the room, wondering what was happening. Sango is seated outside and explains vaguely to Jin that there has been an incident, and a human was involved. Meanwhile, Ran is in her bed back asleep.

## Gallery and Featured Pages

* Gallery
* Three spools of cord
* Zen's Hammer
* The Mushi
* crow

## References

1. ↑ Title translated by: Futari Wa Pretty Anon