OH MY SWEET JESUS I REMADE THIS CHAPTER LIKE, 3 TIMES

UGGGGGH

Sorry for the late update, everything is slowly killing me xAx And one of my big problems is that I HAVE SO MANY CHARACTERS TO USE AND PLANNING WHEN TO USE THEM IS SO HARD XAX

Well, enjoy this chapter!~

It took them 1 week to get to the town.

It wasn't that easy; they couldn't use any kind of human transportation to get there, since they couldn't get any kind of disguise in the wild, so they had to go on foot. And besides, Naoko said that the town wasn't too far from their location, and in fact she was right.

The sun was setting, and the stars were starting to come out. The three ladies were walking in the main street, all of them cloaked, to make sure that no humans would notice them. But the town was pretty small, probably it wasn't even on the local maps. And everything just for a bottle of sake.

"Hey, are you sure it's here?" Kurohana asked shyly.

"Yup! I've been here many times before!" Naoko answered, showing a large grin to the bakeneko. "Now, to find a good shop that sells good sake...-"

"-Wait." Raika interrupted, her eyes glaring at Naoko. "How did you got to know such a small place like that?"

"You get to know a lot of places when you know how to explore!" Naoko answered, staring back at the humans walking in the street. "Oh my, look at all those foolish-looking beings, I could devour one of these easily..." she simply said, letting out an awful giggling. She didn't liked humans that much, did she?

"Well, do you know any youkai-friendly place around here?" Kurohana asked.

"Sure! In fact, we just arrived here!" Naoko said, stopping at a yakitori shop. "Isn't it beautiful?~"

"Uhh... it's a very charming yakitori shop." Raika said, in a sarcastic tone.

"What? No, not this stinky shop!" She said, with a disappointed expression. "Concentrate a little. Can't you feel the youki surrounding this area?"

"Y-You're right!" Kurohana said, surprised. "There is a huge youki around here!"

"But how do we know where is the exact door to this... 'youkai place'?" Raika asked.

"Like I said," Naoko continued, pointing at a restroom. " You just gotta concentrate."

Raika did not expect such a big avenue to be hidden inside a public bathroom.

The huge street was filled with youkai, of many different kinds; Yuki-Onnas, Momijis, Furaribis, and many more.

The avenue itself was dazzling: Many different shops lined up, all of them with sparkling lights that gave a feisty look to a thing as morbid as youkai. There was laughing, drunken people, a complete chaotic scenery a human would expect of a youkai. And Raika loved it.

There was one weird thing, though; even though Kurohana and Raika herself had both taken off their cloaks, Naoko kept herself cloaked for no reason, since there was no need to hide from humans anymore.

"I look really fucking badass with this cloak on! There's no way I'm taking it off!" That was her answer, and honestly, Raika expected her to be childish like that.

They kept walking at that wonderful place until Naoko stopped at a shop.

"You guys can stay here, I'm going to get our sake." She said, pretty confident.

"Naoko, you don't have a single penny in your bag, I checked it." Raika answered, sighing.

"Oh, don't worry! I know many ways to get our sake..." She said, along with that horrific giggling and getting inside the shop. She was going to steal it, wasn't it?

Since Naoko asked for them to wait outside the shop, Raika spotted a nearby bench and sat alongside Kurohana, both staring at the avenue and it's incredible youkai. What an amazing place.

A long time passed, and no signs of Naoko. Raika was getting impatient, but as soon as she stood up to go inside the shop, Kurohana stopped her.

"Raika, look!" Kurohana said, pointing at some sort of ruckus happening in the avenue. Raika was really impatient, but she was also pretty curious, so she approached to see what was this whole fuzz about.

As she got near, she realized it was a fight; an Okubi and a Dodomeki were brawling (and apparently, losing) against a bunch of Hihis. They were all giant monkeys, completely covered with fur, and huge hands and feet. They used some sort of kimono, but Raika doubted that those things were made for them, as one of them had the upper part of his clothes missing. Was that Naoko's true form? She didn't wanted to check. She figured they were incredibly strong, as she saw one of them split the Okubi's skull in one blow, a strength really similar to Naoko's, she guessed.

"Give up already, ruffians!" One of the Hihis said, standing tall. Damn, was every Hihi huge like that? "This territory belongs to the Hihi Clan. I suggest you to forfeit this affront quickly before our leader arrives!"

"Struggling... Is useless..." the Dodomeki said; She was badly injured, having difficulties to talk. "Soon... Our master shall arrive too. And unlike yours... He'll crush every single bone of your body till' it's dust!"

"SHUT UP!" Shouted the Hihi, jumping at the Dodomeki and ripping her head out of her body with his teeth. Blood spluttered everywhere, and the Dodomeki's expression of pure despair was eternally imprinted on her severed head. For a normal youkai, a scene like this was completely normal, but Raika wasn't a normal youkai; She had 1/4 of human blood in her veins, and this 1/4 of human blood made her feel disgusted with the huge amount of gore.

"Raika? Are you okay?" Kurohana asked, worried.

"..Yeah, I'm fine..." Raika said, staring once again at the morbid scene.

Suddenly, a young girl emerged from the Hihis. She was pretty small compared to the huge monkeys, but her beauty showed that she definitely wasn't one of them. She had a white, pale skin, long beautiful blue locks falling on her shoulders, and green, piercing eyes, that would calm even the angriest hearts.

"Listen, everyone!" She said, with a strong voice. "This is what happens when you don't respect the Hihi Clan's orders! As the future head of the Niyka Clan, allied with the Hihi Clan, I suggest you to think twice before trying to perform an attack against our rules!".

Everyone who was looking at the whole incident just hesitated a lottle before going back to their own businesses once again. However, when Raika looked at Kurohana once again, she looked as if she was in endless joy. A large grin was imprinted on her face, tears starting to form under her eyes. Raika was about to ask what was going on, but the bakeneko just dashed towards the blue-haired girl for no apparent reason.

"AMAYAAAA!" She shouted, hugging the girl.

"K-Kurohana?!" the Amaya girl said, surprised. "Kurohana, is that you? Is that really you?!"

Raika just stood there, watching the two girls hug each other and cry at each other's shoulders. She couldn't help but smile at the scene, and that's all she did until both girls approached her, both of them laughing and smiling.

"Raika, this is Amaya, my dearest friend!" Kurohana said, tears still coming down from her eyes.

"A pleasure to meet you, kid." Raika said, trying to be polite but failing at it.

"The pleasure is mine!" Amaya answered, giggling. Then, she turned once again to Kurohana. "But...What are you doing here? I heard you disappeared from your own Clan, but why are you here?"

"Well, we're here for the sake of our Hyakki Yako." Kurohana said. "Our leader, Naoko, came here to buy some sake so we can complete the pact." She couldn't help but giggle; In fact, this whole situation was silly itself.

"Naoko?" Amaya said, her eyebrow lifting slightly. "I'm pretty sure I heard this name before... But wow, a Hyakki Yako? I didn't expected you to enter in one of those! They became quite rare after the Nue incident years ago..."

"I know! But our leader is pretty sure that we have potential! And-"

"Holy crap, what happened there?" A familiar voice was heard. Raika turned only to see a cloaked Naoko holding a bottle of sake, staring at the gruesome scene in the middle of the avenue. "It looks like the alcohol is running wild today... Hm?" Naoko lost her interest in the incident as she stared at Amaya. "Oh, hey kid. Have I seen you before? You look kinda familiar..."

Amaya suddenly froze as she saw Naoko. Her eyes scanned the Hihi girl's whole body, and stared at her red vivid eyes.

"Amaya?" Kurohana asked. "Amaya, are you all right?".

"T-The leader..." She started speaking, shaking a little. "The leader's..."

As she was about to say something else, Naoko's eyes widened as she heard the strange girl's words.

"Oh shit." She said. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Don't tell me it's fucking Friday."

"Wait, you didn't knew today was Friday?" Raika asked, surprised at her leader's dumbness.

"Crap. Okay everyone, we have to get outta here before shit happens." Naoko suddenly said, her hands shaking. "And take your new friend with us as well."

"Huh?" Raika asked, disturbed. She had never seen Naoko like that, she looked...scared? "Why? What the hell is going on Naok-"

"The head of the Hihi Clan is coming!" Someone shouted, interrupting Raika. "The head of the Hihi Clan is coming!"

Without thinking, Naoko grabbed both Kurohana and Amaya and placed them at both of her shoulders, running towards the exit of the avenue. It took a moment for Raika to realize her leader's sudden escape, and quickly followed her, while looking back at the incident in the avenue one last time, seeing a huge man, covered by a red cloak, analyzing the Dodomeki's remains.

After they fled from the avenue (and the whole town), Naoko asked to talk in private with Amaya before starting the pact, so Kurohana and Raika used the opportunity to rest a little on the grass. After 30 minutes, both of them showed up; Naoko in her typical humor, and Amaya as quiet as the night. Something surely happened between that conversation.

"Well!" Naoko said, her usual smile on her face. "Amaya decided to join our team! Isn't this nice?" She continued, petting Amaya's back, who did not reacted.

"Are you okay, Amaya?" Kurohana asked, worried.

"I'm fine!" She answered quickly. "I'm just tired, sorry..." As she finished speaking, she sat next to Kurohana, laying down on the grass and closing her eyes. "Good night, Kurohana."

"...Well, since she already did the pact with me..." Naoko continued. "Who's coming next?"

Kurohana stood up and quietly followed Naoko. Both of them sat in an isolated part of the hill they were located on, a place where Raika and Amaya were nowhere in their sights.

"Hey, Naoko..."

"Hm?"

"Is Amaya really okay?" Kurohana asked, her eyes filled with worry. "She looks so distressed..."

"Meh, I'm sure she's just tired, no big deal at all." She answered, even though she knew that was not the truth, and that Kurohana also knew that too.

Both continued the pact silently, as Naoko poured down the drink, both of them drinking of the same cup (They had to do it on a plastic cup since Naoko accidentally dropped the actual stuff she needed for the pact during the escape.), and finally finishing the blood pact.

As Kurohana came back, Raika stood up and followed Naoko to the same place Kurohana and Amaya were before.

"Tell me..." Raika said. "...You did stole this bottle of sake, didn't you?"

"What?" Naoko said, looking offended. "No! I knew the owner of the shop and he handed me the sake! What kind of evil creature do you think I am?" She finished speaking, pouting.

Raika just stared at her, before once more making another question:

"You're hiding something from us, aren't you?" Raika asked, coldly. " Something that Amaya knows, right?"

Naoko did not answered. She quietly poured the sake on the cup.

"Well, it won't matter anyway." Raika said, picking up the cup. "I'll find a way to discover it anyway."

Well, this is it! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

I already have an idea about which character's appearing next, so stay tuned! ^^