by Jasmine Walt
Raiden reached the upper landing and immediately began to swear. That croaking sound echoed against the walls, and I dashed forward despite my better judgment. My eyes bugged out at the sight of a gigantic toad with a naginata clutched in its…hand? Paw? Webbing? I didn’t know, but it was insane. The thing stood on two legs and was dressed in a white Japanese-style coat and pants, with a tall matching hat perched on its slimy, brownish-green head.
“An ogama!” Raiden cried, flinging an arm out to block my way. “Get back, Aika!” He unhooked his keychain from one of his belt loops and held up a tiny stone tablet the size of my index finger. But before he could do anything with it, the toad yokai opened his mouth wide and belched out a cloud of rainbow smoke.
“Gah!” I ducked my head, pressing the cloth firmly against my face. But the rainbow smoke—which smelled like rotten eggs, a decidedly un-rainbow-like stench—engulfed us.
The cotton rag Raiden had given me was flimsy protection against the ogama’s rainbow burp. Even with it clutched over my nose and mouth, my head began to spin, and I stumbled backward, landing hard on the carpet. Raiden swayed on his feet, shouting something I should have been able to hear. Except his voice was warped, and suddenly I was seeing three of him…
“Whoa,” I mumbled as the walls around me turned purple and began to melt. Red and white spotted mushrooms with bulging, veiny eyes burst out of the walls, and I screamed as they leapt on me, crawling all over my body while giggling maniacally. I tried to fight them off, but they stuck to my arms and legs, and began multiplying, burying me in a mountain of sticky, icky shrooms…
“Aika!” Raiden shouted, sounding very far away. “It’s just an illusion! Fight it!”
That’s easy for you to say! I wanted to shout, but a mushroom was stuck to my mouth, and I couldn’t do more than squeak. I lifted my hand to try and pry it off, but my fingers were covered in tiny versions of the bastards, and I couldn’t get a grip.
They are not real, a voice murmured in my head, and I stilled. Calm yourself, child. And stop breathing so hard. You are only drawing more of the poison smoke into yourself.
I didn’t know where the voice came from, but I nodded. Warmth stole through me, like someone had injected a ray of sunlight straight into my veins. The mushrooms vanished, the walls stopped melting, and suddenly I could see Raiden again. He was facing off against the giant toad, a broomstick in his hand. It would have looked silly, except that he was dodging the toad’s strikes with inhuman speed, and there was a strange, fiery aura around him. A strange feeling washed through me, and suddenly the aura coalesced into the silhouette of a samurai.
The toad croaked in anger as Raiden dodged one of his strikes, then landed, cat-footed, on the spear’s handle. He brought the broomstick down hard in an overhead swing, smashing it into the top of the toad’s head with a sickening squelch that flattened its hat. The toad’s yellow eyes bulged, and it let out a horrible sound as it stumbled sideways.
“Filthy yokai,” Raiden spat in Japanese, jumping off the spear before it clattered to the ground. His voice was deeper, more guttural than normal, and his eyes blazed with the same fire as his aura. He snatched up the spear and pointed it at the toad’s head.
“No!” I sprang forward, closing my fingers around his forearm. “Don’t!”
Those fiery eyes met mine. “Back away, foolish girl,” he growled, and I was gripped by an intense urge to obey his command. But the flames flickered away for just a moment, and Raiden’s dark eyes locked with mine.
“Why don’t you want me to kill it?” he asked in his normal voice, though he still spoke Japanese.
“I…” I didn’t know, I realized, dismayed. I should have wanted to kill it. It was a monster, after all, and it had invaded my home. But some instinct had moved me to defend the creature. “We need to question it,” I insisted. “Find out what it’s doing here.”
The flames rushed back into Raiden’s eyes. “No questioning. Kill it now.”
“No!” I yanked Raiden’s arm, and the spear flew out of his hand, embedding itself into the wall across the room. “We need to check on my mother. Please.”
“Relax, Katsu,” Raiden murmured, and the flames died away. “Sorry about that,” he said gruffly, lowering his arm. “Katsu’s a bossy spirit. He used to be a daimyo.”
“I am still a daimyo,” that deep, guttural voice thundered. “Even in death.” The flaming aura separated from Raiden, coalescing into the form of a Japanese man in his thirties sporting a thin mustache. He wore a badass kabuto helmet with golden antlers and plates of metal that curled back from the sides of his head in a kind of bowl, and a full suit of samurai armor. A wakizashi and katana were strapped to his waist, and though the handles and scabbards were of fine make, and fancy-looking, I knew the weapons were more than just for show.
“Yes, we know,” Raiden said, with barely concealed impatience. He stepped past me, heading down the hall. “Which room is your mom’s?” he asked me, switching to English.
“The one at the end of the hall.” I pointed with an unsteady finger. Fear seized my throat as we approached my mom’s room—the door was closed, something she almost never did. Had the toad yokai—the ogama—killed her? Would we open the door to see her slashed open by that wicked naginata? Oh God. Bile coated my tongue, and I swallowed it back down. But it came right back up again as I heard pained moans coming from the room.
“Mom!” I shoved past Raiden as he slowly opened the door. “Mom, what’s wrong?” She was thrashing around in the bed, the sheets tangled around her thin limbs. I grabbed her hand, squeezing it hard, the sweat from her palm soaking into my skin. I reached for her ki, then winced—her spiritual energy was throbbing, like a live wire, and scorching hot. I tried to send a flow of healing energy into her, but it was instantly repelled, and I recoiled as it slammed back into me.
“What the hell?” I stared at my hands, which were smoking faintly. That had never happened to me before.
“She’s hallucinating,” Raiden said tightly. “The ogama must have hit her with its smoke, and she reacted more strongly to it. Do you have any matcha in the house?”
“Of course we do,” I said. What self-respecting Japanese household didn’t have green tea? “Do you think it’ll help?”
“It’ll help drive the toxins out of her more quickly,” Raiden said, scowling at my mom. “Does your mother have any kind of illness? The hallucinogenic effects don’t usually last this long.”
“She has cancer,” I said shortly, stepping away. “Stay with her while I go get the tea.”
I ran downstairs and grabbed the canister of matcha powder from the closet. There was a Japanese tea set in one of the cupboards, and I grabbed the whisk and the tea bowl, not bothering with the other stuff—there was no time for ceremony. I plunked a regular old kettle onto the stove, filled it with water, and had it whistling in no time flat. Fast as I could, I poured the boiling water into the pot, added the tea, and whisked it together until it was frothy and thick.
On my way back up the stairs, I glanced toward the toad, still unconscious on the floor. Rage filled me, and suddenly I was tempted to pick up the spear Raiden had left on the ground and stab the ogama with it. What if that smoke had somehow accelerated my mother’s condition? What if she died? My hands trembled with outrage, and some green tea sloshed over my fingers.
“Oww!” I hissed as the hot liquid scalded me. Taking a deep breath, I wrenched my thoughts away from the toad and continued down the hall. There was no point in dwelling on the past. And besides, I did want to question the creature, if it was even possible. Could the ogama speak human words? I seemed to remember from the old tales that some yokai spoke, while others didn’t.
Guess I’ll find out soon enough.
“Good, you’re back,” Raiden said when I stepped inside. My mother was still shaking, but I noticed it was a little less. “Let’s get her to drink.”
Raiden slid his arms beneath my mother, pulling her up into a sittin
g position. Her eyes were squeezed shut, her hands fisted, and she moaned in pain.
“Come on, Fujiwara-san,” he murmured soothingly into her ear as he eased her jaw open a bit. “You can do this. Be strong.”
Tears pricked at my eyes as I gently poured some of the rapidly cooling tea into her mouth. Most of it dribbled straight out of the corners of her mouth, but her throat bobbed, so I knew she swallowed some. I tried again, and this time she got more of it down.
My mom was one of the strongest people I knew. She’d raised me on her own, in one of the most expensive cities in the world, and prided herself on her independence. It hurt me, like a knife to the gut, every time she was brought low like this, because I knew it tore at her, too. She hated being so feeble, so bedridden, even though she hid it behind cheerful smiles and reassurances not to worry about her. To live my own life.
But how could I, when my mom’s life was slipping away, day by day?
I managed to get half the bowl of tea down my mom’s throat, and to my relief, the tremors began to lessen. She sagged against Raiden’s chest with a sigh, and I dabbed some of the green tea from her chin.
“How is it that you weren’t affected by the smoke?” I asked, my tone just this side of accusatory.
“Protective charm,” Raiden said. “I would have given you one if I’d had extras, but since I had to fight off the ogama…” He shrugged a shoulder. “I figured I needed it more.”
“Aika?” My mom’s eyes opened, saving me from having to respond. Her voice was a little thick, probably from the remnants of the toxin, but her eyes were clear. “What’s going on?”
“Mom.” I gripped her hand again. “How are you feeling?”
“A little woozy, but all right.” She sat up a little straighter, and her eyes widened as she seemed to realize there was a man holding onto her. Tilting her delicate chin back, she looked up at Raiden. “And who is this young man?” she asked, sounding both surprised and pleased.
Raiden immediately backed away, dipping into a bow. “My name is Takaoka Raiden,” he said in Japanese, his voice low and respectful. “I apologize for the intrusion, but you seemed to be in danger.”
My mother’s smile widened. “Handsome and well-mannered.” She turned to me. “You should marry this one,” she said, in English.
“Mom!” Heat exploded across my cheeks. My mother was always telling me to date—it was her fondest hope that I settle down with a nice Japanese boy. “We only just met. Besides, don’t you think we have more important things to talk about? You were just attacked!”
My mother’s face pinched. “Ah, yes. The ogama.” She gripped my forearm, hard, right over the bracelet from my father. “He was looking for you, Aika.”
My mouth dropped open as shock hit me like a freight train. “For me? Why?”
My mom shook her head. “I don’t know. He said something about a prophecy, and that a man named Kai is looking for you. He was sent here to find you.”
“Kai?” Raiden frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Do you know this Kai?” my mother demanded. She shot Raiden a look that would have made me wither on the spot. “Who is he, and why is he after my daughter?”
“He’s a shaman who lived and died nearly two thousand years ago,” Raiden said, a puzzled frown on his handsome face. “A famous one to anybody who knows shaman lore. But Kai was a spirit shaman—he couldn’t control yokai. So even if he was somehow alive, that wouldn’t make any—”
A puff of purple smoke exploded behind Raiden before he could finish. “Raiden, watch out!” I cried as the ogama burst out of the smoke. A tanto blade flashed in its webbed hand, and he flung it just as Raiden spun around, instinctively dodging the attack as he brought his hands up to face the toad. The blade sliced through the spot where Raiden had been, and a bolt of fear hit me as I realized it was headed straight for my chest. I tried to move out of the way, but I didn’t have Raiden’s ninja-like reflexes, and the tanto sank into my chest, right above my heart.
I screamed as burning pain sliced into me.
“Aika!” Raiden shouted as my knees buckled, and I hit the floor. Blood gushed from the wound, fast and furious, ruining my outfit. My mom cried out as I slapped my hand against the bed to hold myself upright, her hand outstretched toward me. I reached for the knife in my chest, but before my fingers could connect with the hilt, the charm bracelet on my wrist flared, blinding me.
Suddenly, I was no longer in the room. I was kneeling in a bamboo forest that smelled of rain and fresh dirt. The sounds of a stream burbling nearby and birds twittering in the air were a refreshing change from the croaking frog yokai and the swamp stench it had brought along with it. The knife was gone from my chest, and I didn’t hurt anymore.
“What is this?” I asked aloud, my voice trembling. “Am I dead?”
“You would be, if not for me.” The bamboo rustled, and a creature stepped from the shoots into the clearing. My mouth dropped open—it was some kind of strange monkey, with red eyes and a black leopard pattern on its fuzzy fur. Kind of like the love child of a baboon and a jaguar.
“I am a furi,” the monkey answered in response to my unspoken question. “A kind of monkey yokai. Your father bound my spirit to the charm you wear.”
“Oh,” I said dumbly, having absolutely no clue what I was supposed to say to that. After a second, I added, “Umm, sorry. I didn’t know.”
The monkey smiled, showing a set of wicked-looking fangs I was certain I didn’t want to get up close and personal with. “No apology necessary. I have been able to live a life of relative freedom, as your father rarely called upon me.” The smile faded. “I hope you are not planning on jumping in front of blades often, or that will change.”
I frowned. “I don’t understand. What did you do for my father?”
“I have the power to absorb a fatal blow in your stead,” the furi said, as if it were no big deal. “That is what I am about to do now, before your life blood is gone. But I can only do this once per sunrise,” the monkey warned. “If you are stabbed again before the next, I will not be able to keep your soul from crossing over to the Reikai.”
“Is that where we are now?” I asked as the monkey padded toward me on all fours. Reikai was the Japanese word for the afterlife. Normally, I would have backed away if an animal with glowing red eyes began to approach, but the sense of calmness in this clearing flowed over me. Somehow, I was at peace here, and I instinctively knew I was safe. “Are we in the Reikai?”
The monkey made a hacking sound, and I realized it was laughing. “In a way,” he said, placing a black, leathery palm against my chest. “You could say we are at the border between the human world and the spirit world. My duty is to push you back to the side where you belong.”
Light exploded from his palm, and I cried out as pain knifed through me. The monkey shoved me, and I landed flat on my back…on the carpet. Raiden was kneeling next to me, his face hovering over mine.
“Aika!” he exclaimed, his dark eyes widening with surprise and relief. “You… where did the knife go?”
I glanced down at my chest, frowning. The knife was gone, and though there was a hole in my shirt, the skin beneath it was smooth and pink, as if it had never been touched. “I…I don’t know,” I said faintly, still in shock. “I guess the furi must have made it disappear.”
“Furi?” Raiden’s eyes narrowed. “What furi?”
I shoved myself upright, ignoring him as reality came rushing back. “Where’s the ogama?” I demanded, my heart rate spiking as I saw my mom’s bed was empty. “Where’s my mother?”
“I’m sorry, Aika,” Raiden said. My heart plummeted at the tone of his voice, and I turned to see his face had twisted into an expression of guilt and sympathy. “I couldn’t stop the ogama in time. She’s gone.”
5
“No!” I shot to my feet, blood pumping wildly in my veins. “No, this can’t be happening!” I ripped apart the bed as though my mom might be hiding somewh
ere in the sheets. Nothing. Shoving past Raiden, I ran out into the hall, calling her.
“Okaa-san!” I yelled, flinging open the bathroom door. My bedroom. Rushing down the stairs into the kitchen. God, where was she?
“Aika, she’s not here!” Raiden hurried down the stairs after me. “The ogama took her!”
“But why?” I whirled around to face him, tears blurring my vision. Grief and anger warred in my heart, and I had to fight against the urge to lash out at him physically. “Why weren’t you able to stop him?”
“Believe me, I tried,” Raiden growled. “The bastard was too fast for me. He jumped right over me and grabbed your mother, then poofed out in a puff of purple smoke. There was no way for me to follow—I don’t even know where he went.”
“Well we need to figure that out,” I said, clenching my hands into fists. “We need to track him down, we need to…”
But how? How the hell were we supposed to track down a magical toad? A wave of hopelessness filled me, and suddenly, the anger fell away, replaced by agonizing grief as I realized a terrible truth.
This was all my fault.
“This isn’t fair,” I choked, tears spilling down my cheeks. “My mother doesn’t deserve this. She’s already dying of cancer. Why did this have to happen? Why didn’t he take me instead, like he was supposed to?”
“Shhh.” Raiden gently enfolded me in his arms, pressing my cheek against his strong chest. I was briefly struck by the urge to push him away, but my need for comfort won out, and I buried my face in his T-shirt and cried. This day had been beyond stressful, and the dawning fact that I was the one responsible for my mother’s kidnapping was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“It’s all right,” Raiden said roughly, stroking my back. His big hands gliding down my tense muscles eased some of my pain, and as I sucked in breath after shuddering breath, I took in his scent. It was some kind of incense, mixed with his inherently masculine scent, and it calmed me enough that I finally drew away.