Yokai

by Dave Ferraro

  “It’s not here,” Reina told her, stopping to stare dumbly down at the keys. “I’ve been through them three times. I can’t find the key to this room.”

  “Then we must be on the right trail,” Yumiko observed. She stepped back and looked at the door. It seemed very sturdy.

  “You girls might as well give up now,” a voice on the other side of the door advised.

  Yumiko and Reina exchanged looks.

  “Who’s there?” Reina demanded, pressing her head against the wood grain, as if to hear better.

  “The only mirror in this place is in this room,” the voice continued. “And if you try to get in here, I’ll smash it to pieces.”

  Reina wrinkled her nose and pushed herself away from the door. “Tanuki? Is that you in there?”

  “You got it, toots,” Tanuki’s voice replied. “And I’m sorry, but you girls aren’t going anywhere.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  The only weapons that Yumiko could find were the wooden swords that they used for practice, which would make getting out much more difficult and tedious.

  “Why are they doing this?” Reina asked as they ascended the elevator to the nurse’s office once more.

  “They think they’re protecting us,” Yumiko said, as if the words she was speaking were distasteful.

  Reina considered. “Well, I can’t say I can fault them there. Those oni were scary as hell. I thought we were going to die for sure.” She winced under the withering look Yumiko sent her. “No offense. I know you’re all…girl power and Miss Independent, but you can’t do everything yourself. Sometimes you need help.”

  “Exactly,” Yumiko agreed. “And Brian is denying my aid.”

  The elevator door opened and they walked purposefully up to the nurse’s office.

  “Is Shou with Brian?” Yumiko demanded, speaking into the wood of the closed door.

  There was silence, and then “maybe.”

  Yumiko swore. “That traitor.”

  Reina leaned against the wall and slid down it to the floor. “I’m sorry I was mean to you, Tanuki.”

  “That’s quite alright,” Tanuki replied.

  “If you open the door, I’ll let you cop a feel.”

  Yumiko rolled her eyes at the same time that Tanuki scoffed.

  “Why are you doing this?” Yumiko asked. She leaned her forehead against the door frame and slapped the wooden sword against the wall, satisfied that it made no noise.

  “Because this isn’t your fight.”

  “It’s not Shou’s either,” Yumiko argued.

  “No, it’s not,” Tanuki agreed. “But this is his choice. Reina has no fighting skills. She would only get in the way.”

  “Thanks a lot,” Reina mumbled.

  “And you, Yumiko,” Tanuki continued. “You’re too valuable. If you’re killed, this is all over.”

  “And what if Brian is killed?” she challenged. “It takes a bride and a groom for a union.”

  Tanuki was silent for a moment. “He can handle himself.”

  “So can I!” Yumiko shouted, slamming the door with her fist. It made no sound, but the door trembled ever so slightly under her weight. She hoped that the sight frightened Tanuki.

  Reina stood up quickly and ripped part of her sleeve off. She tied it around Yumiko’s knuckles, which had been cut open when she’d punched the door. Yumiko stared at the cloth as the blood soaked through it slowly. She welcomed the sting it produced. Without sound, she felt almost like she was in some sort of void, a nightmare. At least the cuts gave her something to focus on. Pain.

  “Remember when you first arrived?” Yumiko asked through the door. “You were exploring everything, interested in every little thing that me and Mori did.”

  “I remember,” Tanuki said quietly.

  “We welcomed you into our home without question.”

  “Oh, there were questions,” Tanuki recalled. “I remember Mori telling you to throw me into a mirror.”

  Yumiko smirked. “Yeah. I remember that too.” She was quiet for a moment, then her mouth twitched at the corners. “But you were a constant friend for me when I had none. And I trusted you. You could be a handful at times, but I trusted you with my life.”

  “Right back at you,” Tanuki said.

  “Then trust me now. This is wrong. Brian is wrong. We can’t beat this by being separated, by shoving me into a drawer and locking it closed. This is my battle too, Tanuki. Please. Let me have this.”

  Tanuki didn’t reply for a moment. “You can be very convincing when you want to be” was all he said.

  Yumiko sighed and stared at the door, willing it to open. What could she do to convince him? What were the right words to make him understand?

  “So, you work for Brian?” Reina asked. “Like, this whole time?”

  Yumiko blinked. “Of course. He had you watch me, didn’t he? He sent you here.”

  “I’m sorry, Yumiko,” Tanuki said, his admission of guilt.

  “You were using mirrors to complete the image of this building for this world,” Yumiko accused.

  “No. The mirror world doesn’t work like that. It can fill in images through walls, see the insides of things. It gets the visuals down perfectly. It just can’t get other things right. Like noise. You must have noticed that.”

  “Yet Brian speaks.”

  “Yeah. Magic, right? Obviously when it copies a living thing, it isn’t bound by the same rules as inanimate objects. Maybe because it copies the vocal cords exactly? Who knows? I’m sure Brian appreciates it. It would be hard to win you over without saying a word.”

  “It’s proving difficult with a voice.” Yumiko gnashed her teeth, mad at herself for not seeing this sooner. “I really should have thrown you through that mirror.”

  Reina bit her lip and looked away, and Yumiko stomped to the end of the hall, taking lungfuls of air to calm herself down. She stared at the closed elevator doors and recalled how Tanuki had jumped into the fray when she’d battled with The Slit-Mouthed Woman. He hadn’t hesitated to help her out. He hadn’t worried about getting hurt in the process. He had done it for her, to keep her safe. Just like what he was doing now was what he thought was in her best interest. That was what friends did.

  She sighed, thinking of Brian, of how he was trying to protect her, misguided as he was. And then she thought of his lips again. She leaned forward and yanked on her hair, concentrating on the pain. She didn’t want to feel sympathetic for the creature who’d destroyed her life, who demanded her hand. But she couldn’t help herself. Whether she wanted to admit it to herself or not, she liked Brian.

  Lifting her head, she looked up the corridor to where Reina was trying to tempt Tanuki with a bottle of sake. For a moment, Yumiko felt hopeful that it might work, given the yokai’s affection for alcohol, but then she scowled. “It won’t have any taste.”

  Reina paused and glanced down at the bottle in her hand. She pulled out the stopper and sniffed it. “Doesn’t smell either.” She took a sip. “Yep. No taste.” She leaned back against the wall and set down the bottle. “Man, this world blows.”

  Yumiko approached her slowly, then cocked her head. “Of course, the effects are the same, even without taste. It’ll be nice and warm as it goes down, and sits in your stomach. Makes you feel numb and fuzzy.”

  Reina looked down at the bottle and picked it up again. “Huh. You’d need something like that to make it in this place.”

  Yumiko waited for Tanuki to say something in response, but he didn’t. She considered her next move. Maybe she could cut herself, exaggerate the extent of the wound. He wouldn’t let her bleed to death. And he wouldn’t smash the mirror if she needed a hospital. She looked down at her knuckles that were already bleeding, and wondered if it would work.

  “Alright, alright!” Tanuki shouted. “I give!”

  Yumiko blinked as Reina looked up at her, astonished. It couldn’t be that easy, could it?

  “What? Really?” Reina stood up.

 
; The door unlocked and Tanuki peeked out. “Just don’t hate me, okay? I was doing what I thought was best.”

  “Like spying on me and pretending to be my friend?” Yumiko demanded, pushing the door open wider. The nurse’s office looked just like before, with the same full-length mirror standing in the corner, gleaming in the light, as if with mischief.

  Tanuki looked hurt. “I am your friend.”

  Yumiko ignored him and watched Reina hand the sake to Tanuki, who began to drink it greedily. “You ready?”

  Reina nodded, but Tanuki grabbed her leg, stopping her.

  “Nope. She stays here,” Tanuki said.

  “What?” Reina frowned down at him.

  “The deal was for you and you alone,” Tanuki said to Yumiko. “You can’t let Reina get involved in this.”

  “That’s sweet,” Reina said, patting him on the head. “But there’s no way I’m going to stay here with a perverted little beast like you.”

  “Yumiko,” Tanuki looked at her.

  Yumiko sighed. “Look, Reina. Maybe it would be best for you to stay here.”

  Reina scowled.

  “Hear me out,” Yumiko told her, throwing her hands up in defense. “You don’t have the skills to defend yourself like me or Shou. You could get hurt. If you don’t want to be caught in the middle of this, you should stay here. However, I know what it’s like to be taken out of the fight unwillingly. From firsthand experience.” She stopped to glare at Tanuki before turning back to Reina. “So, the choice is yours. Although I would recommend you stay here until things settle down.”

  Reina chewed on her lower lip. “And what if something happens to you and Brian? I can’t just walk back into the real world like you can. I’d be stuck here.”

  “Would you?” Yumiko frowned, thoughtful. “I wonder. Try it.”

  Reina opened her mouth, then closed it. “You mean I should…see if I can walk into the mirror?”

  “Yes.”

  Reina looked doubtful, but walked over to Yumiko and stared at the surface of the mirror. “How does it work?”

  Yumiko smirked. “You put your hand to the surface, and it should go right through it.”

  “That’s it?”

  “That’s it.”

  Reina looked down at her hand for a moment, then up at Yumiko with a little half-laugh. She put the palm of her hand up against the surface of the mirror. Then she pushed it into the glass.

  And nothing happened.

  Yumiko frowned as Reina pulled her hand back, leaving a smudge of oil behind on the surface.

  “Well, that didn’t work,” Reina shrugged. “I guess you’re taking me back with you.”

  Yumiko touched the mirror and felt her hand go through it to the real world just like it normally did. Was Reina not able to do the same because she wasn’t the chosen bride of Kagami? Or had Kagami merely given Yumiko that gift?

  She glanced back at Tanuki. “You coming? The sake tastes a hell of a lot better where we’re going.”

  Tanuki looked down at the bottle in his hands, then set it down with a sigh. “Just don’t let Brian kill me.”

  “No promises there.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Shou is our top priority,” Yumiko heard Brian say as she paused outside of the library. “If all else fails, we will retrieve him. We’ve caused enough harm here.”

  “That’s going to leave you vulnerable,” a male voice said.

  “Then it leaves me vulnerable. I have no other options.”

  “Yes, you do. The boy means nothing. You could leave him.”

  There was a pause. “That’s not our way, Enenra. A human life is precious.”

  Yumiko frowned and pushed through the beaded curtain. All conversation stopped as she rounded the corner, Reina and Tanuki behind her.

  Brian leaned back against Madame Mori’s desk, facing half a dozen kappa, who knelt before him, and a man who was gray, from head to toe. His t-shirt, his jeans, his shoes – all gray. As was his skin and the ruffled hair atop his head, like he’d stepped out of a black-and-white movie. Otherwise, he appeared to be a rather good-looking teenager with high cheekbones, full lips and a lean build. His smooth skin, coupled with the drab color, gave the impression that he was made out of stone, but at a closer look, little black threads swirled beneath the surface of his skin, making him look more like he’d been chiseled from marble. But Yumiko hardly noticed the others in the room. Her eyes zeroed in on Brian. He looked confident in his role over the others, his head held high, his eyes serious and commanding. Yumiko felt her heart rate pick up and she averted her eyes.

  “What are you doing here?” Brian sighed, crossing his arms. He glowered at Tanuki. “You had one job.”

  “And I will not be held against my will,” Yumiko said defiantly, lifting her head. “Don’t blame your pet.”

  “Hey!” Tanuki protested. He shook his head and looked away. “Sorry, boss. She’s rather persuasive.”

  “It was the sake, wasn’t it?” Brian asked.

  “Of course it was the sake,” Reina chirped. She stepped forward angrily and jabbed a finger at his chest. “You are one sexist jerk to think that we can’t handle this. Just because you’re some yokai king doesn’t give you the right to decide who will fight and who gets left behind in some…pocket dimension.”

  “Pocket dimension?” Brian grinned, making Reina scowl.

  “I like this one,” the gray man said, appraising Reina. “She’s feisty. She will be a good match for you, my lord.”

  Brian blinked. “Ah, no. This is Miss Arai. The other girl is Miss Sato.”

  “Miss Arai,” the gray man purred, walking around her and looking her up and down. Little wisps of smoke swirled in his wake, like dust motes taking to the air.

  “It’s Reina,” Reina snapped. “Who are you?”

  “That’s Enenra,” Yumiko said, walking over to stand beside her. “The yokai who filled the room with smoke. He’s made of the stuff.”

  Reina looked Enenra up and down. “Too bad.”

  Enenra smiled slowly. “I’ll take this one.”

  “Humans are not prizes,” Brian told him gruffly.

  “No?” Yumiko asked him with a challenging look. “Sure feels like that to me.”

  Brian ran a hand back through his hair. “Yumiko…I’m sorry about all of this. I would like the chance to explain things to you properly.”

  Reina scoffed. “You’re going to explain holding her captive? I would like to hear this too.”

  “It was…for your own good. This is a fight between me and mine, and Shuten-Doji. If you are anywhere accessible to him, he will hunt you down until he has you.” He looked at Yumiko pointedly. “He will kill Yumiko. That is his main goal.”

  Yumiko pursed her lips, and decided to shift topics. “What’s this about Shou?”

  Brian let out a deep breath. “He has been captured by Shuten-Doji’s oni.”

  “So much for the men doing all the fighting,” Reina said.

  “This isn’t about…” Brian shook his head helplessly. “I would have had Shou join you if he hadn’t been captured. I didn’t want any bystanders hurt.”

  “Well, I am not a bystander,” Yumiko declared, standing tall and meeting Brian’s gaze with conviction. “This battle is over me. I am at its heart, and I have the right to fight.”

  Brian held her eye. “You do. I am sorry for making that decision for you. It’s just that if you are killed, it’s all over. I couldn’t bear it.” He hesitated and looked away. “The world will fall under Shuten-Doji’s rule if you die.”

  “You’re just as vulnerable,” Yumiko challenged him.

  “But I know what I’m getting myself into,” Brian insisted.

  “Boss, let her fight,” Tanuki spoke up. “It’s who she is. If you don’t let her do this, she’ll never forgive you.”

  Brian looked at Tanuki warily, then turned to Yumiko. “Miss Sato, you can do whatever you wish. I won’t stand in your way. I just…hope that w
e can work together and be smart about strategizing.”

  Yumiko glanced over at the kappa, still on their knees and staring forward, but obviously hanging on every word. Enenra made no show of pretending. He was enjoying the exchange with a cocky grin on his face.

  “I will work with you to get Shou back,” Yumiko said carefully. “After that, I want you gone. I…will do what I must when I turn eighteen, but not a moment sooner.”

  Enenra scowled. “Foolish girl. If you marry now, this whole thing will be over.”

  “No, it won’t,” Brian clarified. “I can have her in my domain until she turns eighteen, and keep her protected from attack, but only at that age will she be free to make her intentions clear by yokai law.”

  “We have to keep her safe until that day,” Ame-Onna said, stepping out of the ante-chamber and bowing to Yumiko. “Or we will suffer dark days.” She walked up to Yumiko. “Madame Mori is on the phone. She wishes to speak to you.”

  Yumiko nodded, and swept past her. She paused beside Brian. “Whatever your intentions, never do that again, or I won’t marry you, consequences be damned.”

  Brian nodded weakly and looked away as Yumiko proceeded to the antechamber.

  Once inside, she slid the paper door closed for privacy and took a calming breath. She almost felt sorry for Brian. She understood why he’d done what he had, but she had to make it clear that she wouldn’t allow such behavior again. She had to be able to trust that he wouldn’t up and stow her away at any hint of danger.

  It was odd to see so many yokai in the library, when she’d spent so much of her life tracking them down and dispatching them. She felt a flutter of panic in her stomach as she wondered how Mori would react.

  Licking her lips nervously, Yumiko picked up the phone and touched the receiver to her ear. “Sensei,” she said, by way of greeting. “It is good to hear from you.”

  “Yumiko,” Mori said, sighing. “Who was that on the phone before?”

  She decided that truth was the best option. “Ame-Onna.”

  Mori was silent for a moment. “So, Brian is Kagami, after all.”