Part Four: Illumination
The buzz of a mobile phone cut through the awkward tension in the room. The more prominent members of Rikuo-sama's Hyakki Yako had gathered in the main council chambers to give their reports on the state of affairs, and somehow Kurotabo and Kubinashi had managed to get into an argument. This didn't happen often; they had a healthy respect for each other, Kurotabo was far too poised to work himself into a fit, and Kubinashi almost always had Kejoro pulling him back and reigning in his temper.
But Kejoro was out on an errand, and so when Kubinashi took offence to one of Kurotabo's assessments of the capabilities of the other members of the Hyakki Yako there was no one to hold him back.
Kurotabo received a harsh glare from Kubinashi before the blond yokai took out the mobile phone and flicked it open, pressing it to his ear and moving out of the circle of demons. He said something in a low voice, just on the edge of Kurotabo's hearing, and then stepped back further.
Kurotabo glanced at Aotabo with a shrug, and the larger yokai shrugged back.
"Kubinashi?" Rikuo asked, adjusting his glasses and frowning in puzzlement. He'd previously seemed content to let the two yokai squabble, but the sudden change in the atmosphere in the room had him intervening. "Who is it? Is something wrong?"
Kurotabo leaned around to peer past Yuki-Onna and saw that Kubinashi had become dangerously pale, one hand gripping the front of his jacket in a grip so tight that his knuckles were turning white. He moved over to the younger, and asked, "Kubinashi? Who is it?"
Kubinashi practically shoved the phone at him, before he was nothing but the sound of running footfalls on the hardwood floor.
Kurotabo stared at the contraption in his hand. The kanji on the screen read 'Ryota Neko', so he put the phone on speaker and said, "Ryota Neko? It's Kurotabo. What's going on?"
"It's Kejoro!" said the cat yokai from the other end of the line, his breath sounding laboured as though he was running. "She's – it's – where's Kubinashi gone?!"
"He's on his way." Kurotabo shot Rikuo an inquiring look, and received a nod in return. "And so are we."