Yuriko threw a look over her shoulder towards Brian at the counter, half expecting to find the burger shop's cashier trying to eat him, and breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw him walking back to their table with their order.
"Eat up, ninja girl." Brian teased and Yuriko just fixed him with a look, she hoped, communicated all the hatred she felt for that stupid nickname.
"Can you not be serious?" she grumped. "For just one second."
"I could." he answered with a twinkle in his eye. "But, I think, if I was we wouldn't have to worry about monsters tracking us by our scent, they'd just listen for the complete and utter lack of human emotion." Yuriko refused to justify the assertion with a response.
The pair ate in silence for several minutes before Yuriko's head snapped up at a whisper against the edges of her hearing.
"Did you say something?" she asked accusingly.
"No…" Brian answered with a look that said he thought she'd cracked from her constant discipline. "I thought you were muttering
"Um, I think we better go…" She said looking around as the whispering entered her consciousness again. There was nothing strange, that she could see, but, she knew there had to be something.
"Yeah, sure." He agreed, his eyes widening as he spoke. "Um, Yuriko? Is that lamp moving?"
Throwing a quick glance over her shoulder she saw that it was indeed moving, as were a couple of napkin holders. The lamp was even starting to take on a few human characteristics.
"Run!" She hissed, her eyes glazed with fear.
"Right." Brian agreed.
The two shot to their feet and scrambled towards the door, knocking down a couple of patrons along the way. By the time the made it out of the door, nearly half of the burger shop's appliances were chasing them.
"What's going on?" Brian shouted as Yuriko pulled him into the alleyways between the shops.
"You don't want to know." She yelled back as she plunged a head. They had only gone a few yards when, a toaster leaped out at Yuriko from behind a dumpster and she had to swat it away with one of her fans.
"Yeah, pretty sure I do." Brian insisted, stopping and crossing his arms obstinately.
"Fine." She sighed exasperatedly as she grabbed his arm and drug him along after her. "I'll tell you, if you will move your butt, you stubborn idiot."
"Start talking." Brian answered his face saying he would stop again if she didn't keep her word.
"The things that are chasing us…" She started.
"The formerly, inanimate objects." He questioned.
"Yeah those. They're yokai, Japanese demons, that inhabit objects and over the years gain greater degrees of control over their hosts. Until, eventually, they can move the objects freely and impart magical powers upon the them."
"So basically anything could be trying to kill us?" Brian asked horrified.
"Pretty much." Yuriko answered with a tone of resignation that frightened her friend.
"Tell me you have a plan." He begged.
"Not really." She admitted. "With the numbers they have committed to this attack we don't stand much of a chance. Unless, we are able to escape."
"And how are we going to do that?" Brian sounded skeptical.
"Each yokai can only animate it's host for so long when away from the object's home."
"So, we're basically hoping that we can outlast them?"
"Basically." Yuriko admitted.
"Perfect." He spat out. Seconds later she ground to a stop.
"What?" He asked.
"Listen." She commanded. Once Brian had followed her instruction he realized that the clanking sound produced by the pursuing yokai had faded into silence.
"Did we do it?" Brian asked hopefully.
"No, we haven't been running long enough." Yuriko stated matter-of-factly. "Someone else is coming."
"Worse?"
"Obviously." Yuriko answered before sprinting down an alleyway which turned out to be a dead end. Three large creatures, that looked like overgrown ninja turtles, filled the open end of the alley.
"What are those?" Brian wondered aloud.
"Kappa, river demons." Yuriko answered as she yanked the charm from her necklace, extending it into a glaive. "You're going to need you Macka -whatever."
"Maquahuitl." Brian corrected, as he pulled the three-foot club studded all around with shards of jade from his backpack.
"Uh-huh, that." She shot back. "You still need it."
Brian readied his weapon, completely unconvinced that it would be enough. His suspicions were confirmed, seconds later, when a deluge swept in to the alley engulfing them both.