by Dave Ferraro
Yumiko bowed, then slipped from the room, wiping her forehead casually with her sleeve as she left. She slid into her sandals in the little foyer, where a beaded curtain separated Madame Mori’s library from the hallway that led to Mr. and Mrs. Wada’s sake bar. The hall was dimly lit, one of the fluorescent bulbs overhead flickering in front of the ladies’ room. Yumiko eyed the light as she passed beneath it, then stepped into the bar, where she was met with soft, calming music. Half a dozen patrons were already seated at the bar, with another couple at a table, bowls of ramen in front of them. It was a small bar, but it had its regulars, who enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and Mrs. Wada’s delicious food, if not Mr. Wada’s alcohol.
“Yumiko!” Mrs. Wada greeted from the little window to the kitchen where she set food out on a ledge for her husband to bring out to patrons. “Are you and Madame Mori going to be ordering anything tonight?”
“Yes, two bowls of rice, please,”
Mrs. Wada winked at her. “Coming right up, dear.”
Yumiko liked the Wadas. They were both heavyset and seemed to enjoy running the little bar, always shimmying about with smiles on their faces. They were as cheerful as Yumiko ever saw people, and they still seemed to enjoy each other’s company after twenty years of marriage. Although they were both in their forties, they still flirted with each other over the cups of sake they served. And they seemed rather fond of Yumiko, and would sneak her little treats when she was younger, even when Madame Mori forbade them. She would still find a small treat with her supper sometimes, even to this day.
“Hello, Yumiko!” Mr. Wada called out as he sauntered over to the end of the bar. “Keeping out of trouble, little lady?”
“Trouble is my business,” Yumiko replied, her mouth twitching. They always had the same interaction. It was almost a running gag at this point, it was so customary. The Wadas knew full well that Yumiko and Madame Mori were highly-respected in the yokai field. When people had a problem with yokai, they would seek Madame Mori’s help, and Yumiko would be dispatched to put an end to whatever it may be. Of course, people didn’t believe in yokai like they used to, even though they were a very real threat, but when a person was being terrorized by them, the murmurings on the street seemed to reach their ears, and they would find Madame Mori, at the back of the sake bar in the red light district. In truth, Madame Mori owned the building, and liked having the sake bar as a front.
“Then it’s bound to be good business,” Mr. Wada laughed, before walking away, shaking his head. He cleaned a glass with a towel as he retreated, heading toward a customer who was trying to get his attention.
Yumiko looked across the room to the entrance of the sake bar. When someone entered the building from the street, there was a little entranceway with two doors. If they went right, they would find the door to the sake bar. If they went left, they would walk into the entryway of a love hotel, also owned by Madame Mori. Love hotels weren’t an uncommon sight in the red light district, but Yumiko used to be troubled walking into the building, for fear of being seen by someone she knew. But, of course, if someone saw her enter the building, they were also in the red light district, and people who visited knew to keep their mouths shut. Bars, women, gambling – it was a part of the city made for indulging in vices. Yumiko felt like the Wadas hardly fit in, but their consistent business proved her wrong on that point.
As she was staring at the entrance, a teenaged girl stepped into the room and made a beeline for her. “Hey, Yumiko!” she said happily. She was a thin girl with her hair up in pigtails and dyed red. She wore a high school uniform, which included a white blouse, navy blazer, and a pleated navy skirt that showed off her knees, even though Yumiko knew for a fact that she was out of school. She just liked how it looked on her, and the way guys looked at her wearing it. Especially in this part of town. She had a bright pink bag over one shoulder with Asuka from Neon Genesis: Evangelion on it, giving the peace sign. Several keychains of other anime characters dangled from the zipper, clinking together loudly.
“Hey, Reina,” Yumiko said, with less enthusiasm. Reina was one of the girls who worked the front desk at the love hotel, and she thought that Yumiko was a good friend of hers for some reason, often barging into Madame Mori’s space and chatting up a storm. She didn’t really take hints. And she was utterly boy crazy. “How’s it going?”
Reina took a seat on a stool at the end of the bar and dropped her bag to the floor with a loud sigh. “I think I’m going to die an old maid.”
Yumiko blinked at her. “I highly doubt that.”
“Oh, what do you know?” Reina pouted. “I went to karaoke with this guy I used to go to school with, and after two songs, he said he had to go. And he, like, went! I totally paid for the room and everything!”
Yumiko shifted awkwardly on her feet. She wasn’t exactly the sort of person to give out advice in the love department. She’d never even had a boyfriend. She was too focused on her training to make time for one. She’d even dropped out of high school to pursue her calling. Boys were…troublesome distractions.
“You’re probably better off without him,” Yumiko said, slowly. “At least he didn’t waste your time, and you can date other guys now.”
“But what didn’t he like about me?” Reina whined.
“Here’s your rice, dear!” Mrs. Wada appeared in the window, pushing a tray with two steaming cups of rice, and chopsticks, her way.
“Thank you,” Yumiko said, bowing her head before grabbing the tray, and thanking her lucky stars that she’d been saved from answering Reina’s question.
But Reina wasn’t going to let her off the hook that easily. She followed Yumiko up the hall to Madame Mori’s library. “I mean, I’m pretty, right? Like, really pretty.”
“Of course,” Yumiko murmured.
Reina looked away. “I mean, I’m not pretty like you, but few people are. I’m totally above average, though. And I diet like crazy for this figure.”
Yumiko paused at the statement. Pretty? People thought that she was pretty?
“If nobody wants me anyway, what am I counting calories for, right?” Reina babbled on as Yumiko slipped off her sandals and stepped through the beaded curtain. “I should just eat chocolate and be fat and happy then.”
Yumiko turned to Reina as she reached the opening to the library. “Reina. You’re going to find someone else. He was just a dumb guy. There are plenty of others, and I’m sure there’s a perfect guy out there, made for you.”
“Really?” Reina asked, eyes wide, as she clasped her hands together, as if wishing very hard for Yumiko’s words to be true.
“Really,” Yumiko said firmly, then lifted the tray in her hands. “Now, I need to have dinner.”
Reina nodded, looking relieved. “Thanks, Yumiko.” She touched Yumiko’s elbow. “You’re a good listener.”
Yumiko frowned. “You’re welcome?”
Reina leaned into the room and waved at the desk in back. “Good evening, Madame Mori!”
“Good evening,” Mori replied, without looking up.
Then, with another smile in Yumiko’s direction, and a little bounce in her step, Reina skipped back across the foyer and out through the curtain.
Yumiko let out a sigh of relief and walked the tray of rice to the back of the room. Madame Mori stood and pulled aside a sliding paper door that led to a small antechamber, this one with a table low to the floor, with cushions on either side, as well as several more cushions against the wall. When a client called on Master Mori, she would serve them tea here to discuss their yokai problem. But most of the time, they used it as a dining room for just the two of them.
Setting down the bowls and chopsticks, Yumiko kneeled on her cushion across from Master Mori, and bowed her head. “I humbly receive,” she said, in unison with Master Mori.
Yumiko smiled up at her sensei, then lifted her chopsticks and began to eat.
“Something smells good.”
Yumiko glanced up as a pile of cushions tumbled o
ver the floor, and a little brown furball rolled to a stop beside them. As it righted itself, it shook itself out, and blinked up at Yumiko from the dark patches that surrounded wide eyes, like a raccoon. But it resembled more of a fox, in Yumiko’s opinion, with a strong, slender body, although it was small for a tanuki, or raccoon dog, as some people called it.
Madame Mori looked up sharply, a frown lining her face. “Is it that tanuki? He only shows up when there’s food involved.”
“Your sensei wounds me, little cherry blossom,” the tanuki said to Yumiko, feigning pain. “She doesn’t yet realize that it’s your flowering beauty that keeps me here, does she? I wouldn’t want to spoil the fun by letting her onto us.”
Yumiko rolled her eyes. “And here, I thought it was the sake.”
“Sake?” the tanuki perked up, then realized she was teasing, and pouted.
While raccoon-dogs were certainly to be found around Japan, this particular tanuki was a yokai, albeit a harmless one. Thus, the talking. Since she’d returned from being spirited away those ten year ago, she’d come back altered in many ways. Since she’d been touched by the spirit world, by yokai, she found that she was forever connected to it. She could see yokai everywhere, when ordinary people could not. Yokai allowed people to see them when they wanted, but Yumiko could see them all the time, something that normally only other yokai could do. It’s what made her such an accomplished yokai hunter. Humans normally made easy prey for them, given that they couldn’t detect the yokai until they were upon them. Yokai were unable to get the jump on Yumiko, however, what with her special abilities.
Of course, some yokai liked that she was able to see them, such as this tanuki. She’d decided to name him Tanuki to keep it simple, and because it seemed to annoy him that she didn’t bother to come up with a proper name. And while he could be an irritating presence sometimes, flirting shamelessly with Yumiko, and getting into the Wadas’ sake, she kind of enjoyed his company nonetheless. He was sort of a reassuring presence in a way, despite what he was.
“Tell that mangy mutt he needs to cut down on the sake,” Mori said, pausing. “The Wadas have been asking questions again, and I won’t be covering for him anymore.”
Tanuki sniffed. “And you tell your sensei that I’m doing the Wadas a service and drinking their terrible watered-down sake before their patrons have a chance to.”
“I’m not getting in the middle of this,” Yumiko said, returning to her rice.
Tanuki sighed, and there was a brief golden glow that signaled to Yumiko that he was making himself visible to the human world. Yumiko thought of it as a radio signal. She was attuned to the yokai station following her experience, and sometimes the yokai tuned into the frequency that humans lived on, to interact with them. Otherwise, they chose to remain apart, like ships passing in the night.
“Madame Mori,” Tanuki said in a sweet voice as he went to sit beside her. “You look simply beautiful in that kimono. Is it new?”
Mori chewed thoughtfully as she regarded him. “You’ve the devil’s tongue on you, rodent. You could charm a snake out of its skin.”
“Oh, Madame Mori, you make me blush with such compliments.”
Yumiko hid a smile by holding her chopsticks in front of her mouth for a moment. Then, she set aside her chopsticks and placed the bowl next to Tanuki. “You can have the rest.”
Tanuki’s eyes gleamed with pleasure, but then he squinted up at her, unsure. “Really?”
“Really.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Tanuki said, before digging his paws into the bowl and slurping rice loudly.
Madame Mori looked away in disgust, meeting Yumiko’s eyes. “You aren’t feeling unwell, are you?”
Tanuki paused in his meal to listen to her response.
“No, no,” Yumiko assured her. “I had quite a feast on that captain’s ship last night. I’m still pretty full.”
Mori didn’t look quite convinced, but nodded and continued eating, as did Tanuki.
The truth was, Yumiko had just turned seventeen two weeks ago, and since then, she hadn’t felt much like eating. It made her sick to think that her eighteenth birthday was approaching so quickly. It seemed like she was barreling toward it at top speed, and couldn’t put on the brakes, no matter what she did. And she would never be prepared for the day when it came.
Because when she turned eighteen, in less than a year’s time, her life as she knew it would come to an end.
Chapter Three
“Um, hello?”
Yumiko looked up to see a man in his early twenties standing in the doorway awkwardly. He was wearing a crisp white dress shirt, and black dress pants, his hands stuffed into his pockets shyly. He was an American, with messy dark brown hair, who always seemed to boast a five o-clock shadow. But it suited him. He was a handsome guy. She knew from her last encounter with him that he was half-Japanese, but having grown up in America, he seemed a little out-of-place and unsure of himself in this environment.
“Mr. Mathis!” Yumiko greeted him, standing up from her desk. “It’s a pleasure to see you again.”
Mr. Mathis bowed his head stiffly, then smiled at her. “Please, call me Brian.” He paused. “It’s, uh, the full moon. You said to come a few hours before, to prepare.”
“Right, right,” Yumiko agreed, stepping around her desk. “It came so suddenly.”
Brian nodded in agreement. “Yes. Yes, it did.”
Yumiko offered him a sympathetic look.
“Madame Mori hasn’t found anything, has she?” he asked hopefully.
Yumiko hated to disappoint him, but shook her head. “I’m sorry, Mr. Mathis.” She caught his eye and amended, with “Brian.”
“I didn’t think so.”
“But it’s a top priority,” Yumiko assured him, reaching out and touching his shoulder. She paused when she came into contact with his arm, not knowing why she’d done it. Then she looked up into his piercing blue eyes. It was strange to see such eyes with his features, even if he was only half-Japanese. She knew that it was a rare genetic quirk, but she thought that they suited him. They complimented his features, framed by his long dark lashes.
She realized that she’d been staring and looked away quickly, dropping her hand.
“I’m sure it is,” Brian said, clearing his throat. “And I know that finding a cure for a man who turns into a creature isn’t the sort of thing that she typically deals with.”
“Well, we don’t just deal with ridding the world of malevolent yokai. We study them as well. Your unique situation is one we haven’t come across before, and it presents an opportunity to examine a foreign concept.”
“Why take the time to help me?” he ran a hand back through his hair. “I’m sure you have your hands full already.”
“There aren’t a set number of yokai out there,” Yumiko said carefully. “No matter how many of them we face, we will always encounter new ones. Understanding what is happening to you may aid us in a battle further down the line.” She shrugged. “Besides, using research as a weapon can be just as powerful as using a sword. And it gives me a small respite from the grueling jobs that Madame Mori sends me on. If I am to outwit…well, if I am to face dangers to come, I will need more than reflexes alone.”
“But why a fox?” Mr. Mathis ran a hand back through his hair. “I just don’t understand. And why me?”
“These things happen. But we will get to the bottom of it.”
“It just seems like there’s no reason for this to be happening. It seems so random.”
Yumiko licked her lips. It did appear random. There had been no warning before he had transformed for the first time. No contact with a fox, that he knew of, let alone a yokai. “You can find meaning in anything, Mr. Mathis. We see it all around us every day. It’s in the objects we surround ourselves with, and in the actions we take. Kami is in everything.”
“Kami?”
“Spiritual essence,” she clarified. “The divine.”
Brian blinked at her, and Yumiko smiled at him reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Mr. Mathis. We will find a way to drive this creature from you.”
“Brian. And I’m counting on it,” Brian said softly. He looked up and tilted his head. “Where is Madame Mori?”
“She stepped out for a moment. But I reserved the, uh…the room we’ll need to keep you safe tonight.”
Mr. Mathis nodded. “Well, I guess we’d best get to it then.”
“Yes,” Yumiko agreed, and ushered him from the room. She loved the way that Brian spoke, pronouncing every word succinctly, as if trying very hard to make sure that everything came out correctly. It made his Japanese sound a little awkward, but he’d actually caught on quite well, especially for a man who’d only been in the country for two months. Yumiko actually found it rather endearing.
As they passed through the Wadas’ sake bar, Yumiko paused, noticing a man hunched over, a yokai riding his back. It was a short, troll-like thing with a pig’s snout and a naked, hairy body, round and squat. It looked like a bothersome creature, but not particularly ferocious. It probably fed off of the pain derived from the man it forced to walk hunched over. Yumiko turned her eyes to the man, who drank sake, a look of obvious discomfort on his face, and Yumiko knew the reason why, even if the man had no clue that a yokai, invisible to all save herself, was to blame.
Taking in the room at a glance, Yumiko decided that she could dispatch the yokai with no one being the wiser. The man sat apart from the others in the room, drinking his sorrows away into his cup, trying desperately to lose himself, and his pain.
She stopped and touched Brian’s shoulder, then gestured to the man. “Distract him for me.”
“Distract him?” Brian looked confused.
“Talk to him.”
“About what?”
Yumiko sighed. “I don’t care. The weather. Anything.”
Brian rubbed the back of his neck, a frown on his face, but he did as he was told. He sauntered up to the man and sat down across from him.