She screamed and stumbled backward. She felt her face; her eyes, nose, and mouth were all in the proper place. Cautiously, she peered into the water once more. Her head was covered in bright red fur, and a pair of fox ears were on top of her head. She also was sporting a long muzzle, that when she tried to touch it, only felt like her own flat human nose. She touched her face in the reflection and her hands had turned into paws tipped with pointed yellow claws.
"This is amazing." Suzume had a new admiration for the Kitsune.
"The illusion will only remain if there's no interference from your spiritual power. So you have to keep your temper in check," Rin chided.
"Won't they sense my spiritual energy?" Suzume asked.
"My spell will misdirect anyone who tries to look too closely at you. It should give you an extra blanket of protection. But draw attention onto yourself and they will know," Hikaru said.
"Keep my mouth shut, I got it." Suzume glanced at her reflection once more, turning her head from side to side as she admired her fox appearance. This might actually work. And perhaps she'd get a bath out of the deal.
"Are you certain you can handle that?" Tsuki asked while trying to hold back his laughter.
Suzume glared back at him in response.
As they approached the inn, Suzume heard the raucous laughter from within. The laughter sounded almost human, and as much as she tried to convince herself that this plan would work, her heart continued to race. She took a deep breath and followed Tsuki inside as he pulled back the fabric hangings onto the dark interior.
The main room was filled with tables that were crowded around with an odd assortment of yokai. A pair of tanuki, raccoon-like creatures wearing human clothing, were very focused on a board game in front of them. Five river otters were drinking sake together and laughing at some joke. Apart from the cute and furry occupants, there was a small man with red fur and a loin cloth as his only clothing. He watched their group cross the room with a single eye in the middle of his head. Not far from him, a woman used her long black hair to feed a mouth at the back of her head.
Everyone stopped what they were doing as their group walked past. The laughter and talking died away, leaving behind only the sound of their footsteps. At the back of the room was a counter and a single man stood behind it. He was facing away from them. From the back he seemed to be almost human, wearing plain clothes and his dark hair was tied up in a top knot.
Tsuki leaned on the counter. "Me and my companions are in need of a room."
The man turned around and Suzume audibly gasped. The man had no face. Where his face should have been was smooth, featureless skin.
"We don't have any vacancy," the innkeeper said in a growling voice.
On the wall behind him were several markers with numbers. Suzume presumed they were for the rooms. The main chamber was only a quarter full. They could not be without any vacancy.
Tsuki laughed. "Perhaps you remember me. I am—"
"I know who you are."
A ball of fear clenched at Suzume's chest. All the yokai in the room had stood up. They reached into sleeves for hidden weapons, or extended pointed claws and revealed sharp teeth.
Suzume reached for her own staff, strapped to her back. I knew this was a bad idea.
Tsuki held up his hands in a placating gesture as he backed up. "I see my reputation precedes me. I'm flattered really."
"What did you do?" Suzume hissed at Tsuki. A nearby tanuki squinted in her direction. Suzume scooted to the side, hiding behind Noaki.
The innkeeper stepped out from around the counter, and reached for a weapon behind his back. "You have a debt, Tsuki. And now you're going to pay."
The crowd of yokai closed in around them. Suzume's hands trembled as she squeezed the staff into the palm of her hand. The flames were starting to spark along her body and the fear was setting in. She saw the leering faces of the yokai, with their pointed, yellow teeth and their dark, hungry eyes watching her.
The faceless innkeeper came out from behind the counter and slammed a token onto the table. "You skipped out without paying your bill."
Tsuki laughed and shook his head. "Hyoshi, that was five hundred years ago. I can see you're just as much a miser as you were back then."
All around them the room burst into laughter and Suzume was left searching the room, wondering how she had missed the joke.
The innkeeper slapped Tsuki hard on the back. "Where have you been?" he asked.
"I've been a bit tied up you could say." Tsuki smiled as the crowd of yokai pushed their way forward to crowd around him and ask him questions.
Suzume could only watch, dumbfounded, as the yokai offered up strange coins, laying them on the counter to pay not only for Tsuki's debt, but to give them the best room in the inn. They were led in a whirlwind of activity and happy chatter between the innkeeper and Tsuki to an enormous room with a private garden.
It wasn't until the innkeeper shut the door and the group was alone once again that Suzume said, "What was that?"
Tsuki laughed. "I told you I knew this place."
"You don't just know this place, all those yokai paid for this room. Why?"
"My brother has a bit of a reputation," Akira said cryptically.
Suzume narrowed her eyes, hoping the force of her glare would be enough to draw a confession out of them but neither of them elaborated on what that meant exactly.
"Why don't you all enjoy the baths?" Tsuki gestured broadly to the room. "Tonight is on me."
Not one to turn down a hot bath, Suzume decided to let it slide. The group headed out the door toward the bath but Tsuki stayed behind.
"Aren't you going to join us?" Suzume asked.
"My brother cannot be trusted in the woman's bath, and I would rather not have to endure the men's," Akira said as she took control of the body she shared with her brother.
"Unless you want me to join you this way," Tsuki said, using his sister's face to speak.
"No thanks." Suzume rolled her eyes.
Suzume, Rin, Hikaru, and Noaki headed toward the baths. The entrance was divided by gender and the group was forced to split apart. It was hard to imagine the stoic Noaki soaking in a bath, but they entered anyway.
After disrobing, and scrubbing off the worst of the travel dirt from her skin, Suzume entered the bathing area to find the pool was large and blissfully empty.
Suzume stepped into the water. She could feel the warmth creeping through her entire body the moment her toes touched the water. She waded into the water until it was breast height and then sunk into the water up until her neck.
"I could get used to this." Suzume sighed.
Rin followed after Suzume and swam around a bit. "I can't remember the last time I just relaxed." She sighed before leaning against a nearby wall.
Suzume swam a few laps before joining her. She tilted her head back and let the warm water course through her. She had almost fallen asleep when she heard voices of yokai coming to join them in the bath.
Suzume's eyes shot open at the sound of girlish laughter. A trio of neko, cat yokai, sauntered into the bath area. They were talking amongst themselves as they joined Rin and Suzume in the water, so they hardly gave them a glance. They were too absorbed in their conversation.
"I heard he's searching for a bride," said one of the neko.
"Didn't he take human lovers? I could never be with a yokai who's been with a human." She made a gagging sound.
"But can't you just imagine being the bride of the most powerful yokai in Akatsuki?"
"He was the most powerful yokai in Akatsuki. Where has he been for the past five hundred years?"
Suzume’s ears pricked up. They couldn't be talking about Kaito could they? And what was this about a bride?
"I heard he's gathering together powerful yokai, making an army. Whatever the reason he left, he's back now and I plan on getting in his good graces."
"You have no shame." The other yokai laughed.
Rin placed a h
and on Suzume's shoulder. She had not even realized she was staring at the yokai. She stood up abruptly. She needed to get away.
"Suzume." Rin said her name but she only shook her off and climbed out of the water. She wasn't in the mood for a bath anymore.
6
"It was me and the oni, face to face. It was perhaps ten times my size..." Tsuki threw out his arms as the crowd around him gasped in horror.
The same neko that Suzume had overheard talking about the dragon in the bath had her arms draped around Tsuki's neck. She was starting to get an idea of what sort of reputation Tsuki had at this onsen.
"And the dragon did nothing to help you?" One of the neko asked Tsuki.
Tsuki shook his head slowly. "You've heard the rumors about him, right?"
The group stared at him, eyes wide with anticipation. Tsuki glanced around the room for dramatic effect and his eyes came to rest on Suzume who had just entered the main hall of the inn.
She glared at him. What rumors?
Tsuki looked away and smiled at the neko. He grabbed her chin and tilted her head up to face him. She blushed and averted his gaze. "He's not as powerful as they say." Tsuki leaned back in his chair.
Suzume, already sick of hearing talk of the dragon, went to the far side of the room where she wouldn't have to hear about Kaito. She thought leaving him behind would mean never having to hear mention of his name again, but she should have known the dragon would not be so easy to escape.
She pushed her way through the crowded room. Unlike when they first arrived, the room was now bursting at the seams with yokai of all kinds. They were moving about the room drinking and gambling.
As Suzume tried to make her way toward an empty table, a yokai bumped into her back, forcing her into another yokai seated at a nearby table.
"Watch where you're going," Suzume snarled. When she turned around she came face to face with a massive yokai with blue skin and a trio of horns on top of his head. On his hip was a large cudgel, which could easily squash her like a bug.
"Who are you talking to?" he said in a grumbling voice.
Immediately she felt the flames rise to her fingertips. The last thing she needed right now was for her powers to expose her true nature. Suzume stumbled backward and the person who she had run into at the table stood up. She could see nothing but the back of his head. He had dark hair that was tied in a top knot and he wore a fine silk hoari.
"You made me spill my drink," the man said to the yokai.
"This kitsune-" The yokai gestured at Suzume, who was still disguised as such, but before he could finish the yokai said, "Pardon me, I didn't know it was you." He bowed his head to the man and walked across the inn as far as possible from him.
Suzume glanced at the back of the man's head, wondering who this strange yokai was that had come to her rescue, but just as he was about to turn and address her, someone tapped her on the shoulder.
"Can I get you something, miss?" Suzume turned toward the speaker and screamed, surprised by the faceless innkeeper standing beside her.
Suzume covered her mouth and then after taking a second to compose herself she said, "No, thank you."
"Are you certain? Tsuki is paying for everyone's drinks tonight." The innkeeper gestured toward Tsuki, who was still drinking with the others.
And how is he going to pay for it, I wonder? Someone else's coin?
The man tilted his head, presumably waiting for her to make an order, though it was difficult to say what the man was thinking without a face to read.
"I'll take a bottle of sake," she said.
The innkeeper disappeared through the crowd. Suzume turned to look for the man who had stood up to the yokai for her, but he was gone. She shook her head, if something as fearsome as that yokai ran from him, maybe she didn't want to know who he was. She certainly didn't want to be in anyone's debt.
She found an empty seat in the corner of the room and sat with her back against the wall and looked around. Rin and Hikaru were likely back in the room. And knowing Noaki he was probably hiding in the shadows nearby. It felt safer to be in a crowd like this. To these yokai she was nothing but another kitsune, a nobody, and perhaps for the first time in her life she preferred it that way. The innkeeper returned with a bottle of sake and a glass for her to drink out of. Suzume poured herself a drink. Never before had she been much of a drinker, but she didn't want to draw any suspicion for not at least having a drink in front of her.
Something about that man's voice and his clothes seemed almost familiar. What, are you hoping Kaito disobeyed your command and followed you anyway and now he's watching you from the shadows? She scoffed at her own thoughts. He's forgotten all about me. The dragon is busy rebuilding his kingdom and searching for a bride. She gulped down the sake in front of her. It sent a burning sensation that spread from her throat radiating outward and through her limbs. It was different than her fire; it was much, much better.
I don't remember sake being this good, she thought as she stared at her empty glass. She'd indulged in on different occasions but this sake was different. The effects were almost immediate and very pleasant. She poured herself another drink and downed that as well. And then another. Across the room, Tsuki must have told a joke because everyone was laughing uproariously. It didn't stop her from thinking about Kaito as she had hoped it would. Suzume glared into her cup. Maybe I shouldn't have banned him from searching for me. She shook her head. This was a dangerous road to wander down. She took another drink and slammed the sake bottle down.
A neko at the next table looked up at her as she did so. He looked her up and down before standing up and coming to join her. The edges of the yokai were rather hazy. When she moved too fast her head spun. I can't be drunk. I only had a couple of glasses. The creature was mostly animal in appearance with the head of a cat. One eye had a thin bald patch over it, from an old cut.
"Mind if I join you?" he asked as he took the jug and poured himself a drink.
"I'd rather you didn't." She lunged for the bottle but came up short.
"Come now," he said as he held the bottle just outside her reach. "A pretty kitsune like you shouldn't be drinking alone."
"I'm not a kitsune," she slurred, forgetting for a moment the disguise that Hikaru and Rin had put on her. "I like being alone," she amended.
A devious smile curled the neko's lips. "You don't have to pretend here. This is a safe place."
"I still don't want company." She snatched the bottle off the table, bringing it close to her before pouring herself another glass. She threw back her drink, letting the fiery liquid ignite her insides.
It burned less this time, but a pleasant numbness spread through her body. Her cheeks flushed with heat, and she pressed her cold hands against them.
"I'm the kind of company you want to keep." The neko leaned in close to Suzume, his hot breath stank of rotting meat. "It's dangerous out there."
Suzume scoffed. "How so?" She leaned forward in what was meant to be a mocking way, but from the way he smiled she feared he misconstrued her actions. She shot backward, putting space between them.
The neko glanced around the room, as if he feared someone would be listening in. "The emperor has been sending out yokai hunters. They're everywhere. You can never be too certain who to trust."
She narrowed her eyes at him. She was finding it difficult to focus on him. "Thanks for the advice." She stood up to leave.
"Where are you going?" He grabbed her by the shoulder.
She shrugged away his advance, and flames burst between them. "I said leave me alone!" she shouted. The room went silent as everyone stared at her.
"Is that a human?" one of the yokai asked.
"Not a human, a priestess!"
There was a clatter of screeching chairs and overturned tables as many yokai stood up at once. Tsuki was trapped behind a wall of bodies and could not reach her. Suzume's head swiveled from side to side, the room was spinning and she couldn't keep her feet.
The yokai
closed in, hands and claws grasping for her. It only agitated her flames more, which burst between her and the crowd, forcing them backward.
"Let me help you." The neko grabbed onto one of her arms, pulling her backward as a few brave yokai chased after.
Suzume struggled against her captor, but either his grip was too tight or her reflexes were too slow. Her fire did nothing to deter him it seemed.
"Let me go!" she shouted as they dragged her out of the main room, down a dark hallway, and out into the night. The cold air outside hit her like a slap to the face. The thundering footsteps of yokai followed them out.
"You want me to leave you to that crowd then?" he asked.
He flung her over his shoulder and darted off into a sprint, into the woods. After a few moments the sounds of her pursuers faded away.
"They've stopped chasing me now. Let me go!" She beat on his back.
"Did you think I was rescuing you?" He laughed. "There's a lot of yokai who will pay a good price for you."
Panic rippled through her. She hadn't been thinking straight. Of course he wasn't trying to rescue her. I cannot believe I'm being kidnapped again.
Just then a figure stepped out from the forest in front of them. He was human in shape, backlit by the moonlight.
"Good evening," he said, his voice refined and somehow familiar.
"I don't want any trouble," the neko said.
"I'm glad to hear it. Let her go and you leave with your life."
"That's not going to happen." He dropped Suzume onto the ground where she fell like a sack of vegetables.
She didn't wait for them to fight. As soon as he let her go she leaped up and ran in the opposite direction. Her head was spinning from too much drinking, and she didn't get a few feet before tripping and tumbling onto the ground. Footsteps approached behind her and she felt the spiritual pressure of a powerful yokai.
Suzume turned, ready to defend herself with fire if necessary, despite her better judgment. But when she saw a handsome face crouched beside her, holding out a hand to help her, all the fight drained out of her. Well, most of it.
The Dragon Saga Box Set Page 77