The Bureau Files: Series 4

ooOoo

Episode 2: Ghosts (Part 2)

Hiromi fell, rather than walked, through the portal.

Again.

And, much like her entry into Oz, her arrival wasn't comfortable.

She eased her eyes open and stared up at the white portal hovering above her. There were blue skies and a summer sun above her but, most noticeably, there was the portal. It hissed and spat Baron from its depths, who landed gracefully, albeit on her stomach.

There was a pause, an apologetic grin from the Creation, and the beginnings of an attempt to clamber off, but not before it could be thwarted by the screaming arrivals of Toto and Muta, who cannonballed as one into the previous two.

"Get off me, you oversized marshmallow!"

"Well, maybe if you hadn't dropped me–"

"I wouldn't have dropped you if you weren't the weight of an extra-large bowling ball, moron."

"Regardless of the blame," came the rather muffled cry of Baron, "would you kindly remove yourselves?"

"Why did I agree to this?" Hiromi murmured.

"Uh… Who are you?"

At the unexpected voice, the Bureau – and Hiromi – froze as one. Hiromi dropped her head back and, from her rather unhelpful vantage point, saw the upside-down face of a young woman with dark hair and unremarkable brown eyes. At least, they would have been unremarkable, if they hadn't been so uncannily familiar.

"Haru?"

This time it was Hiromi who let slip the name.

The woman frowned. "No, it's summer. Are you okay?"

"I… I'm fine."

Now the woman's gaze moved over the whole group, cats and crow included. Her eyes widened at Baron, in particular. "Who are you?"

Baron pushed his way free from beneath Muta – not a small feat by anyone's standards – and stepped forward to greet the woman. He swept his hat from his head in the same gesture he had done for Haru all those years ago. "We are the Cat Bureau, and we were summoned by a call for help. Are you Kushi-inada-hime?"

"You can talk?"

Muta snorted and dropped himself off Hiromi, much to the latter's relief. "Yeah. It's getting him to shut up that's the trick."

"That applies more to you, fatso."

"I'm not the birdbrain here!"

Kushi-inada-hime leant away from them. "Are you demons?" she whispered.

"Do we look like demons to you?" Hiromi demanded.

"To be honest… a little bit."

"I assure you, we are not demons," Baron said. "We are… spirits, from another land. We heard your call for help and came to assist you. Now, you spoke of a monster…?"

"Yes… Wait, that was you?"

"Indeed. Now, Kushi-inada-hime–"

"It's Kushi," the woman interrupted. "Just Kushi." She looked a little embarrassed. "I just used my full name to try to impress you earlier, but I prefer Kushi."

"It's Haru… Just Haru."

The words, so uncannily echoing that first meeting, caught Baron unawares. His usual articulateness failed him as words floundered on his tongue.

Toto hopped forward, quickly taking over before Baron's sudden silence could become obvious. "So, Kushi, tell us about this monster that is terrorising your village."

"Well, there's a demon-snake that lives in the mountain," Kushi said, "and every year, on the full moon of the sixth month, it demands a sacrifice."

"And, let me guess, it's the full moon of the sixth month already?" Muta asked.

Kushi seemed surprise. "Yes. How did you–?"

"That's kinda how we roll," the cat snorted. "Right, Baron? Never turning up until the last second."

"Hardly," Baron protested. "Kushi, we're sorry we couldn't arrive sooner, but, on our honour as the Cat Bureau, we will do everything we can to help."

The woman glanced over the Bureau, one eyebrow twitching as if fighting the urge to rise. "Um, no offense, but when I asked for help, I was hoping for something a little bit more… more," she said. "We are talking about a giant monster here."

"She's got a point," Hiromi said.

"Miss Kushi, I ask you to give us a chance. After all, appearances can be deceiving."

Kushi hesitated, biting her lip nervously as she watched the strange gathering of individuals. "I guess we haven't got much choice," she said. She rose to her feet, and now the old-fashioned kimono she wore became even more apparent. "We need all the help we can get right now."

The ragtag collection of travellers gathered themselves together, straightening whatever apparel or fur or feather had become ruffled in their arrival, as they took a proper look at their new surroundings.

Their landing had been the steps up to a small, wooden shrine, situated in what seemed to be an old and untouched forest. In contrast, the shrine was well-maintained and looked-after.

"Do you think this is a commercial tourist spot or something?" Hiromi whispered to Muta. "All the traditional shrines I've visited in Japan looked far older than this one."

"Kid, we're not even in the same world anymore, let alone in Japan," the cat snorted.

"It looks a lot like a shinto shrine to me." Hiromi huffed, mostly to herself, and continued down the steps, wondering to herself just what she had gotten herself involved in. Something was nagging her. There was a piece to the puzzle here that she was failing to put into place. "What did you say your name was, again? Kushi-inada-hime?"

The Haru-lookalike glanced back. "Yes. But Kushi is fine."

"I've heard that name before."

The woman smiled, and the resemblance to Haru only intensified. "Oh, I doubt it. After all, I'm nothing special. I'm just me."

"Miss Kushi," Baron said, prompting Toto to fly over to the young woman. "I've found that simply being just yourself is often enough."

"Maybe, but enough for what? That's what I want to know." Kushi turned her gaze back towards the humble path they took. "Not enough to stop this monster, that's for sure."

"Miss Kushi, you are far stronger than you know."

Her smile wavered, her eyes clouding over with confusion. And then she blinked and the moment passed. "You are kind, but there's no way for you to know that. Come on; we're nearly back at the village."

Ahead, the path turned and broke free from the forest, revealing a handful of huts huddled along a river's banks. In keeping with the traditional design of Kushi's kimono, the huts were of a simple style that seemed from another era entirely.

"Did you say this was from another world," Hiromi asked, "or from another time?"

"Across all the worlds in all the universes, it does not seem unreasonable that some things will repeat along the way," Baron said, but he did not sound as sure as perhaps he would have liked. "Miss Kushi, where is your home?"

"This way." Their guide brought them to the door of a humble abode. A small vegetable patch marked a semblance of self-sufficiency, and several trees green in the throes of summer stood guard at the gate. As Kushi opened the door, she was immediately greeted by an older woman who was likeliest her mother.

"Kushi! Where have you been, my dear? Have you forgotten that tonight is the night of the full moon?"

"No, Mother." Kushi disentangled herself from the other woman's grip. "I went to the shrine to ask for the gods' help."

Her mother leant round Kushi and squinted at the strange rabble in her daughter's wake. "They don't look like gods to me," she said. "Look at what that one is wearing."

Hiromi tugged awkwardly at her jacket hem. "What? What's wrong with it?"

"They're not gods, Mother," Kushi admitted. "They say they're… spirits," and even she sounded doubtful at this explanation. "They've come to help."

"How much help can they be?" the woman grumbled. "I could probably do more harm wielding a sake bottle than all three of the animals put together."

"I see where Kushi gets her attitude from," Muta muttered.

"What was that?" Kushi's mother leant down to glare at the cat. "What did you say, Rice Ball?"

"Ya heard me, Granny."

"You watch your mouth, Fatty; it's a short haul to the river from here."

Baron pinched the bridge of his nose, trying not to groan. "We really should get involved before something goes truly amiss."

"Why?" Toto asked. "This is great."

"Nevertheless – Muta! Restrain yourself; it is quite unprofessional to brawl with the client's mother."

"She started it!"

"I don't care who…" He trailed off, really giving off a defeated groan this time. "I can't believe I'm saying this. Regardless of who started it, we have far more pressing issues at hand. Madam, my name is Baron Humbert von Gikkingen; your daughter has told us of a monster that terrorises this area and we hope we can be of some assistance."

A shadow passed across the woman's face. "The name is Te-nadzuchi, and I'm afraid you cannot help."

"Mother." Kushi glanced nervously between her mother and the Bureau.

"You know what happens if we fight back," Te-nadzuchi hissed. "If we anger it, the whole village will be destroyed. Is that what you want?"

"I want this to end," Kushi retorted. She gestured sharply to their guests. "I'm sick and tired of living in fear, Mother. It's about time someone did something and now there is someone willing to do that! We can't turn them away."

"We can do exactly that." Te-nadzuchi looked to the bedraggled Bureau before her. Her lip curdled in contempt. "Leave this village, and leave my daughter. You're not wanted here."

Baron stepped over to the woman. There was a surety in his shoulders that had been lacking in the last six months. "Madam, your daughter has come to us for help, and we are not in the habit of abandoning those who need assistance. We will not leave this village until we are satisfied this case is finished."

"Fine. But you will leave this house."

Baron hesitated, and then bowed. "If that is your wish, then we will obey." He motioned for the rest to exit, but Te-nadzuchi had one last comment to give before they departed.

"Be warned: Your presence here will only endanger my daughter."

"Geez, cheerful lady, ain't she?" Muta muttered as they reached the garden gate. "Remind me not to send her a Thank You card when this is over. So now what do we do?"

There was a clatter behind them as Kushi followed after them, slipping past the door before she could be stopped. "Wait." She stumbled to a halt, nearly falling over the Creations in the process. For a moment, there was so much Haru in her mannerisms that Baron had to step back. "I'm sorry about my mother. She's… a little bit protective, but, please, don't go. We need help, even if nobody wants to admit it."

"We're not leaving the village," Baron said. "We told your mother as much."

"Oh. Good."

"This said, she was right about one thing," he warned. "Our presence may indeed endanger you, Miss Kushi. For your own safety, I recommend you leave this to us."

"Not a chance. This is my home and I want to help." She paused as her name was shrieked from the house. She glanced back to where her mother was summoning her. "…Later," she conceded. "Look, the whole village will be gathered this evening to watch the sacrificial arrow mark the house of the chosen; wait for me until then. I know where the monster's cave lies."

With a final nod, she returned to her home.

"Are we sure that's not Chicky?" Muta murmured. "She's an awful lot like her."

"Miss Kushi has an established life here; a family, friends. There's no way to explain that if she is Haru," Baron said. He turned away, heading to the edge of the village. "Anyway," he added, weaker still, "Haru's body is still at the Bureau. Only her spirit was lost, remember?"

"Hang on – what?" With a few easy steps, Hiromi strode out before the Bureau and blocked their path. "What do you mean her body is still at the Bureau? But it's been six months… surely…?"

"Her body is not dead, Miss Hiromi," Baron explained. "Only separated from its soul. In which case, the magic of the Sanctuary seeks to save what it can, and so her body remains as if merely asleep." He thought to the door that flickered in and out of existence at the back of the Bureau.

The door always knew when to appear. Before Haru, it had been mostly a doorway to a kitchen, for Muta's sake, but once Haru had joined, it had sometimes changed to a small single-bed room instead, decorated with little touches from her past. Haru had rarely used it, save for when a case went on too late, but it always knew when to appear.

The day Haru's soul had been lost, it lingered for a week.

The Bureau had agreed to leave her body there.

In the weeks and months that followed, as life took on an uneasy new normality, the door had begun to slide back to its usual inconsistent state, switching between blank wall, kitchen door, and bedroom door. Only when the Bureau thought of Haru again did the last door reappear, and later it had begun to fail even then. Haru was long gone, but that was the point where they felt she was slipping away from them for a second time.

"Perhaps coming here was a bad idea," Toto offered. "Perhaps we should go back, as Te-nadzuchi suggested–"

"We're not leaving," Baron said. "We don't leave people who need help."

Toto looked away, but didn't add anything.

"Hey, uh, I've got an idea."

All eyes turned to Muta.

"What? Are Baron and Beaky the only ones around here allowed to have ideas?" he huffed. "I'm part of the Bureau too, y'know!"

"Very well, Muta. What is this idea of yours?"

"Didn't yer future-parallel-self mention something about time-travel? Ya know, when there were three of you walking about? What if we've gone back in time – perhaps not-Chicky back there is a distant ancestor."

Baron and Toto exchanged glances, weighing the possibility between them. "It would be foolish to discard any explanations at the moment," Baron admitted.

"But if we're in the past, couldn't we accidentally change something?" Hiromi demanded. "What if I accidentally kill my great-great-great-great-great-great-"

"Alright, we get it, kid."

"–grandmother," Hiromi finished, "and then I was never born?"

Baron stilled and then, very deliberately, turned to the human. "Are you likely to kill someone?"

"No, but–"

"Then you will be fine. Regardless, I cannot believe the Sanctuary would have received Miss Kushi's distress call unless we could do something about it. Our wisest course of action is to treat this as any other case."

"Right." Hiromi didn't look so convinced. She knelt down to the Creations' eye levels. "And, just so we're clear, how do you usually treat a case where the problem is a man-eating demon-snake monster? Oh, please; enlighten me. Tell me how two cats and a crow can take on some sort of mutant dragon."

"We have tackled many monsters before, including dragons," Baron said. "I have little doubt we shall manage it again."

"Yeah, but do you actually have a plan?"

Muta snorted. "Now there's the million-yen-question."

"I believe our best course of action is to wait until the village gathers, like Miss Kushi suggested," Baron said stoically. "Until then, perhaps we should attempt to gleam any further information from the other villagers. This monster must have some weakness."

ooOoo

"No, I have nothing more to add. Now, leave!"

Hiromi stepped back just in time to avoid the door slamming into her face. "Charming," she muttered. She glanced up to the rose-tinted sky and headed back to the village green, in the corner of which the Bureau had regrouped. "Is it me," she asked, "or is everyone here really unfriendly?"

"It ain't you. This village makes me look like a bundle of rainbows, and that's saying something. Something ain't right here."

"Maybe that's because they have a monster demanded sacrifices, fatso."

Baron sighed and motioned for the two animals to settle down. "It is indeed highly likely that the circumstances of this evening is making the people here unusually hostile, which would not be a surprise. I take it, Miss Hiromi, that you have found as little information as we have?"

"What gave you that clue?"

"Are these people stupid or something?" Muta burst out. Several of the villagers who had already begun to gather glowered at the cat, but he continued regardless. "You'd think a place being terrorised like this would want help, even if it is just from us."

"We want to live!" snapped a villager. A man in his early thirties approached the group. "As long as we do this, then the rest of the village is spared! We have families to think of – children, siblings, nephews and nieces! One is chosen so the rest may live."

"That's… That's inhumane," Hiromi whispered.

"No, that's survival. We do what we must."

"Even if it means letting an innocent person die."

"In place of many innocent lives? Yes." He moved his gaze over the whole group, his eyes narrowing at the Creations. "You should leave; your presence here is only upsetting people in an already upsetting time."

"No." Baron stood to his full height, irrespective of his diminutive size. "No one else is going to be lost, not today."

"Susanoo!" Kushi hurried over to them, despite her mother's worrying, and grabbed the man's arm. "Are you harassing our guests?"

"They're dangerous, Kushi–"

"They're trying to help," Kushi growled. She stepped between him and the Bureau, and raised her head to meet the man eye-to-eye. "Leave them alone."

"They're the ones who should leave," Susanoo muttered, but, to the Bureau's surprise, he dropped his gaze. He turned away to rejoin the rest of the village, but not before they caught his addition of, "They shouldn't even be here."

"Geez, what a lovely village you've got here," Muta snorted. "Makes ya wonder why it ain't a more popular tourist destination."

"I'm sorry about that," Kushi said. "Everyone's just so highly strung, and it's not surprising why. Are you okay?"

"We are fine, Miss Kushi," Baron assured. "Please, we need to know more about this monster, and we have been unable to procure answers from the other residents here."

"Oh, sure." She grinned, and it was painfully reminiscent of Haru. "What do you want to know?"

"This selection – you mentioned something about an arrow? How exactly does this work?"

"When the sun sets on the full moon of the sixth month, a sacrificial arrow is shot from the monster's mountain and strikes a house, and the youngest member of that household must go to the demon-serpent's cave to be devoured."

"How does a demon-snake even fire an arrow?" Muta muttered. "It doesn't have any arms."

"Do you want to go and ask it?" Hiromi muttered back. "Be my guest."

"Nah, I'll pass. Haven't you heard? Curiosity killed the cat."

Baron shot the two a warning look, and then returned his attention to Kushi. The woman in question was staring towards the sinking sun, an unreadable expression passing her face. "Baron?" she asked, her voice sounding as if she was in the middle of thought. She looked to the Creation. "Do you really mean what you say? Can you help us?"

A memory flashed before Baron's eyes: The face of Louise with the soul of Haru, stuck on the other side of the painting. Screaming for him to see her. Screaming for him to help. Trapped by a spell he had created.

He met Kushi's gaze, who held eyes so uncannily familiar to the friend he had lost. "I promise we will do all we can, Miss Kushi. We will help."

"I guess that is all I can ask for." A sigh rose through her, slipping past her lips in a slow and tired stream. "Perhaps that'll make all the difference."

As the last rays of sunlight slipped over the horizon, an arrow flew out across the sky. The air in the village abruptly changed, sharpening with the stench of fear as all turned to watch its flight. Murmurs could be heard from people praying, begging, hoping that their house would be spared this year, that another family would suffer the loss. Anyone, but them. Anyone but their child. Their sister, brother. Their nephews, nieces.

Anyone, but them.

The arrow found its mark in the rafters of a small hut on the edge of the village. Silence shot across the villagers, so abruptly they heard the thwack as the arrow's point buried itself into the wood.

"No…" Te-nadzuchi's murmur grew into a wail, and suddenly she was by her daughter's side. Sobbing, clinging on to her child. "No, they can't take you away from me…"

"It's okay, Mother." Kushi smiled down to the older woman, a strange surety on her face despite the arrow marking her home. "The Cat Bureau are going to help. We'll find a way out of this, just you wait and see. Orochi isn't going to eat me."

Hiromi gasped. Confusion cleared from her eyes, to be replaced with a wide-eyed disbelief instead. "Orochi?" she echoed, her voice barely a whisper. "That's the name of the demon?"

Kushi looked up. "Yes. Yamata no Orochi. It has eight heads and eight tails, with eyes as red as winter cherries and a body so large that moss and trees grow on its back."

"I don't believe it."

"Oh, believe it," Te-nadzuchi snapped. "It'll be feasting on my daughter within the hour."

"No, I mean…" Hiromi looked hopelessly to the Bureau, gesturing loosely to Kushi and her mother while words nearly failed her. "I knew this sounded familiar! Don't…? Don't any of you see what's going on here? This is the Yamata no Orochi legend! It's part of Japanese mythology!"

"Actually, yeah, it does ring a sorta bell," Muta said. "Haven't heard of it in a long time, though…"

"Neither Toto nor myself originated from Japan," Baron explained. "As such, we are unfamiliar with some of the cultural and mythological references of this country. Are you saying we have found ourselves involved in a legend?"

"I thought you guys came across the weird and wonderful on a regular basis," Hiromi said, slightly flatly.

"This would be a first, even for us. Does this legend speak of a way to defeat the monster?"

Hiromi grinned. "If I remember correctly, then we're going to need a lot of sake."

ooOoo

Muta sniffed dubiously at the vat of alcohol, his nose wrinkling in the process. "Bleh. I remember sake smelling a lot better when I was human."

Hiromi dropped a second barrel outside the entrance of the cave, raising an eyebrow at the feline. "You were human?"

"Eh, once. Being a cat's much easier though. And it beats being a chicken any day of the week."

"Crow, idiot," Toto corrected. "And when you can fly, then I might consider calling it a draw between our species."

"At least I don't eat worms!"

"That insult, again? It's getting older than I am, moron."

Kushi dragged another vat of sake to the cave opening, evidently questioning the wisdom of putting her life into the hands of the Bureau. "Are you sure this'll work?"

"It worked in the myth," Hiromi said. "At least, I think it did. Eight barrels of sake for the eight heads of Orochi, which then drink themselves into a stupor. It has to be worth a shot."

"How does such a tiny village even have this much sake?" Muta asked. "What, were you planning a big party or something?"

"There's usually a lot of drinking after the sacrifice," Kushi murmured. "It helps people deal with it."

"Oh. Sorry for asking."

Kushi smiled weakly. "You know, sometimes I think you might be right. Perhaps it would be better to be a cat. Then we wouldn't have to deal with all of this."

"Nah, Chicky. You don't mean that."

Kushi froze. "What did you call me?"

Too late, Muta realised the nickname that had slipped out. Kushi might have discarded it, had guilt not just seeped into his eyes. "It's just what I call people sometimes, kid. Think nothing of it."

"Hey, these barrels aren't going to move themselves, you know!" Hiromi called over. "Help me line them up!"

To Muta's relief, Kushi turned away to help the other woman shift the vats. He caught Baron's eye. "What?" he snapped, defensively. "It's an easy mistake to make. She just… you know…"

"I know. But it isn't her."

For once, Toto had nothing to add.

As the last barrel of sake was positioned in place, the group stepped back to admire their work. "Now what do we do?" Hiromi asked after a dubious pause.

"You should hide," Kushi said. "Orochi's only expecting to find me here."

"We're not leaving you to fend for yourself–" Baron began.

"I'm not asking you. But you can't be seen otherwise the demon-snake will know this is a trick."

"She has a point," Toto said. "Come on; there's some bushes back along the mountain path we can hide behind." He offered a wing to the other Creation, taking to the air once Baron was seated, and leading the Bureau away from the cave.

Hiromi lingered behind. "Kushi?"

"Yes?"

"I…" Hiromi opened her mouth, struggling for several laborious seconds for the right words. She shook her head, discarding the thoughts away. "Be careful, okay?"

Kushi chuckled. "I'll do my best not to get eaten, if that's what you mean." From the shadows of the cave, something rumbled. "You'd better go before you're spotted. And, thanks." Kushi gave Hiromi's hand an encouraging squeeze. "Thank you for being here."

Hiromi couldn't find it in herself to return the same smile; her heart felt like it was being constricted. Kushi really did look like the spitting image of Haru. "No problem," she breathed. "I just wish I had always been there for you."

Before Kushi could question her, Hiromi turned and fled to the bush behind which the Bureau were hidden. She dropped out of sight just as the rumbling footsteps approached the cave's entrance and a huge shadow fell across Kushi.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?"

Kushi bowed before the beast. The action was stilted, shaken by abrupt fear. "Oh Great Orochi, we bring before you these eight barrels of sake to quench your thirst on this monumental day."

A single head lowered itself to her level, its eyes ablaze as it studied the lone human before it. "If you think that I will accept such offerings in place of yourself, you are much mistaken," it intoned. The other heads to its side sniggered, and Kushi could be seen to stiffen. "But, a drink before our meal wouldn't go amiss."

A tail whipped round and seized Kushi, lifting her up and dropping her down with the other seven tails. They curled around her, securing her in place.

"That's to stop you getting any grand ideas about escape," the middle head growled. It turned back to the barrels of sake and snarled a warning to the other heads. "Fools! Do you not realise this could be a trick? I shall drink first, to ensure the humans haven't poisoned the brew."

"I told you poisoning it wouldn't work," Hiromi whispered to Muta.

"Yeah, yeah, you're very clever. Shut up."

Baron spared an irritable glance to Muta, but didn't revoke him. He had a feeling Hiromi could handle it and, anyway, his attention was almost wholly swallowed up by Kushi's capture. The Haru-lookalike was alive and conscious, but the tails wrapped around her showed no sign of an easy escape.

"This will work," Toto said. There was no reply from his friend, only the unspoken anxiety rolling off him in waves. An uneasy silence settled between them. While Orochi drank his fill from the vats of sake, Toto couldn't help but add, "It's too cruel."

Baron broke away from his inner thoughts long enough to register Toto's words. "What?"

"That she looks so much like Haru. I know this must be… stressful," Toto decided, but that word barely seemed to cover the terror that gripped Baron's heart, "to see her in danger, but this isn't Haru. You said so yourself. This is Kushi-inada-hime, and she's depending on you."

"I can't fail Haru a second time…"

"You didn't fail her the first time," Toto said. "Things… Things got out of control back there. What happened was a consequence of all our decisions, not just yours. Haru knew that." The ground shook beneath them, marking the end of their conversation as Orochi fell prey to slumber.

Baron was the first to step out and, sure enough, the demon-snake lay sleeping at the mouth of the cave, the eight barrels of sake drunk dry.

Hiromi snuck out behind him. "Oh. It… worked?"

"Why do ya sound so surprised, kid? It was your idea."

"Yeah, but it's based on a myth thousands' of years old. So," Hiromi said, as she knelt down to Baron's level, "what do we do now?"

"We free Miss Kushi."

"Wouldn't it be wiser to kill Orochi first?" she asked.

"Heh, he's not one for bloodshed," Muta said.

"If we try to kill it now and awaken it in the process, Miss Kushi will be at immediate risk. Our priority should be the safety of the client." Baron edged around the sleeping form of the beast, to where Kushi remained trapped by the tails.

"Do we even have a plan on how to actually kill Orochi?" Hiromi asked, directing her question to Toto this time around. "After all, we can't just let it wake up – it'll devastate the whole village. I mean," and here her voice dropped to a whisper, "I understand that he might not like bloodshed, but it's a monster. It's killed people."

"Things are… complicated."

"Miss Kushi?" Baron came as close to Orochi as he dared, without coming into contact with the many tails. "Miss Kushi, are you unhurt?"

Kushi leant out from the tail that kept her in place, squirming against its hold to no avail. "I'm fine. Just a little tangled up." She grinned at her own joke, but quickly turned serious again. "Have you slayed Orochi yet?" She looked over the foot-high Creation. "Do you even have a weapon?"

Baron's hand tightened around the cane, his mind going to the tiny sword hidden in the stick. Haru – his Haru – had only seen him draw it once before. "Nothing that can kill a demon, I'm afraid."

"Then take this." Kushi drew out a sheathed dagger from her robes. "Its blade has been dipped in a potent poison that should be fatal to even Orochi." She paused, regarding the look of surprise on the Creation's face. "Hey, I didn't know whether the sake plan would work, and I wasn't going to go down without a fight. This is my life that's on the line, after all."

"Perhaps I should take that?" Hiromi joined them, stepping over a few wayward tails to reach them. "Let's face it – I'm the only one here who is large enough to actually hold it without falling over."

"I will stay with Miss Kushi," Baron said. "Toto, Muta, please go with Hiromi."

"Aw, but I just got here." Muta rolled his head and turned back around to the entrance, dragging his paws as deliberately slowly as he dared without getting left behind.

"Why do you call me that?"

Baron tore his eyes away from the rest of the Bureau to return his gaze to Kushi. "Call you what, Miss Kushi?"

"That," she said. "Miss Kushi. You call the others simply by their first names, and you don't refer to them by name nearly as much as you do for me. Every time you talk to me, it's always with 'Miss Kushi' tacked onto the end." She shifted to get a better look at the Creation who could barely meet h her gaze. "Why do you look at me like that?"

"Like what, Miss Kushi?"

She gave a bittersweet smile. "Like I've broken your heart."

At last, he met her gaze, but there was something unreadable in his eyes. "You remind me of someone I failed to protect, Miss Kushi. Someone who was very dear to me."

"Oh. I'm sorry. What was their name?"

"Haru."

Kushi paused, finally understanding their first conversation. "Oh. And here I was, thinking you were all crazy about the time of year. I guess that explains a few things. Is that why… you came to help? Because I remind you of this 'Haru'?"

"No. The Cat Bureau is committed to helping all who come to us for assistance."

Kushi gave a light laugh. "Well, she was very lucky to have friends such as yourselves." She glanced to where Muta and Toto could be heard bickering. "Even if you are all quite mad."

"She wasn't that lucky," Baron murmured. "In the end, we still lost her."

A roar echoed through the cave, and Orochi spasmed in pain. Its tails writhed up, dragging Kushi through the air as it broke through into the open light of the full moon.

"HARU!"

Too slow, too small, Baron ran after the beast. Between the eyes of one of its middle heads, Kushi's dagger protruded, but as Orochi screamed and thrashed, it was thrown loose. Hiromi and the rest of the Bureau went cowering behind a tree.

"I'm sorry!" Hiromi yelled, raising her voice to be heard over Orochi's cries. "I stabbed it, but I don't think I did it right!"

"It's a huge creature!" Toto shouted back. "It'll take time for the poison to spread!"

"Time is not a luxury we have! It still has Kushi!"

As Baron said this, there was a very human scream and Kushi was dropped from Orochi's grip. She slammed into the ground and, for a heart-stopping moment, didn't move. Then a groan rippled through her and she eased herself onto her back.

Another roar ripped through the air, and this time fire blazed across the forest.

"It breathes fire?!" Hiromi yelped. "I don't remember that being in the myth!"

The sake barrels caught the fire and burst into flame, still dripping with the remains of the alcohol. Now the grass was a carpet of fire and the trees were blackening as flames ate away at them. And there was Kushi, stuck between Orochi and the fire.

Baron leapt onto Toto. "Go. Now."

The crow glanced at his passenger, and then to the fire spreading across the land. After only a moment's hesitation, he nodded and took to the skies.

In all its agony, Orochi managed to locate Kushi. It slammed a huge paw down on the lone human, its many heads juggling to focus on her. "You!" it roared. "You did this!"

"What are you going to do?" Kushi roared back. "You're dying – can't you feel it? Soon you will be dead and my village will be at peace once more!"

"True, but you will never live to see that day!"

Toto plummeted, scooping the poisoned blade from where it had been discarded, and threw it to Kushi. As Orochi's heads swooped down, Kushi caught the dagger and plunged it into the jaw of the nearest head.

The monster screamed and all the heads recoiled back. The twice-struck head now dropped down, its eyes dead and glassy, but the others continued to cry out. Fireballs were blindly thrown out across the land, with no awareness of a target but simply the need to destroy as much as they could before they went.

Baron dropped down beside Kushi. She had pushed herself up and now had both arms curled around her waist. "We did it," she whispered, and a wince came with the words. "Orochi's dying. The village has been saved."

"Kushi, you're hurt–"

"Broken ribs, I think," she wheezed. "Worth it, though." She laughed, and the pain brought tears to her eyes. "You called me Kushi. Thank you."

"It's the least I could do."

"Then again, I'm pretty sure I heard you call me Haru too, so it evens out." She gave a teasing grin. "But I'm sure I can forgive you for that. Thank you, Baron, for saving my village."

"I did very little–"

"You brought hope. That's enough. Just, promise me one thing, Baron: Don't lose hope yourself. Things will get better, I'm sure of it." She smiled, and in that moment she was so alike Haru that Baron's heart hurt. "Not every winter lasts forever, after all. One day, spring will come."

A roar filled the air, and Kushi's eyes widened. She shoved Baron away, just before she was swallowed up by one of Orochi's fireballs.

"NO!"

The world around them shook, and it took Baron several long, stinted seconds for him to realise this wasn't in his mind. The world was literally fading away. Cracks appeared around them, and the strange, shifting colours of the void between-worlds shimmered from the openings. The colours of Kushi's world dripped away, like paint falling from a painting, and finally it collapsed around them.

With a thud, the Bureau and Hiromi were dropped back into the Sanctuary's courtyard.

"What…? What just happened?"

"I don't know, Muta." Baron slowly rose to his feet, his mind replaying the exact moment that Kushi had disappeared in the fireball's flames. The exact moment Kushi had died. It had all changed so fast, but that last memory persisted on.

He'd failed her.

Again.

In the silence of the Sanctuary, the sound of the Bureau doors opening seemed to echo endlessly between the miniature houses. The lights of the Bureau glimmered into life, accompanied by the tap of footsteps sounding against the cobbled courtyard.

Baron slowly turned around.

Before the Bureau stood a white feline, dressed in a ruffled red dress and a wide-brimmed blue hat. She smiled to the newcomers, a parasol swinging between her gloved fingers.

"So, you've found her."

ooOoo

Inspired by: The myth of Yamata no Orochi. (Both the original myth, and partially through the game, Okami. Thank you, Boohead86, for pointing it out. I adore the game, and had forgotten that it was Okami that directed me towards the myth to begin with!)

ooOoo

Next Story: The Lady of Huntington

Teaser: "I'm not leaving Haru's fate up to you a second time, fatso." Her gaze moved over the rest of the Bureau, her eyes narrowing as they came to rest on Baron. "Not up to any of you." / "You mean to tell me you know not of Robin Hood and his Merry Men?" / "We come for Haru Yoshioka." "Then you come in vain, for there is no one here by that name." She smiled, the staff swinging idly in one hand. "Is that all, or do you have more impossible requests?" / After six months of silence, six months of mourning, she was only feet away. Confused, but alive. So wonderfully alive. "Haru–" / "The story ends when Haru dies."