Shoujo Onmyoji~

A Fanfiction by Miyuki

Based upon "Shonen Onmyoji"

Foreword: I do not own Shounen Onmyouji or its characters all rights belong to the original owners. This is merely a fan fiction for the purpose of fun and entertainment.

Chapter 6: Tempura

Yuiko woke with bleary eyes, smacking her mouth to clear the funky taste it had acquired overnight. It had been a little more than a week since Shuten'Doji was defeated, and the majority of their injuries had healed. Of course, Yuiko's ankle was still in a wrap, having sprained it so badly, but she considered it a minor inconvenience in comparison to the wounds Mokkun had received. But as he had promised, the terrible gash along his shoulder had completely vanished, resting under the zelkova rejuvenated the shikigami's power.

A pity for Yuiko, however, her week had been anything but restful. The first day, when Mokkun made her stay home, had not panned out in a way either of them expected. She had been rudely awakened a second time- not by the alarm- but by the sound police and paramedics banging down the front door. Having found her discarded satchel, they'd looked her information up in the system to track her down. If not for the light cut above her forehead, it was entirely likely they would've arrested her for leaving the site of the accident, but that little gash made her story of being disoriented and wandering home believable. Of course, they still carted her off to the hospital for two days of examinations and x-rays, much to her chagrin. Mokkun got a kick out of it, especially screwing with the doctor's equipment. Being a spirit and all, he had a rather poor effect on a few of the machines- thankfully, they were only in a minor medical ward, so there was no chance of him messing with someone's life support.

The teachers at school were surprisingly understanding- although, there was really very little they could say against "I was in a train accident". It had made her annoyingly popular for a few days, though, and she was forced to repeat the same lie she'd told the police an innumerable amount of times. Truthfully, she was getting more than a little sick of it.

Still, it was nice to be able to wake up without the nuisance of an alarm, for once. Her tongue rimmed over her front teeth as she tried to remove the fuzz that had grown overnight. Heavy-lidded, red-brown eyes glanced sleepily in the alarm's direction, where Mokkun was curled up, still fast asleep. He seemed to be dreaming of something, because his long tail kept lashing up and down on top of the alarm repeatedly, always in the same spot- atop the snooze button.

It was 7:15, Saturday.

Now, to most kids in other countries, this would be the point they would yank the covers back over their heads, and try to catch a few more hours of sleep, or maybe start getting ready for a day out shopping. But this was Japan, not the States. And Japan, unlike most other high schools, did not have two-day weekends. In Japan, Saturdays were half-days.

She had fifteen minutes to catch the train.

At the very least, Yuiko's panicked shriek shook a good layer of dust from the shrine's roof tiles.

"Dammit, Mokkun!" This was only a short while later, as the high school student was sprinting down the steps of Hotaru-jinja in a desperate race to reach Kibuneguchi station before the 7:30 train departed. "What sort of brilliant idea was it to sleep beside my alarm clock?"

"Hey, don't blame me!" Came the irritable snap of a higher-pitched voice in return, sounding strikingly similar to that of a young boy or girl. The white mononoke easily kept pace with Yuiko, four legs being much faster than two. "I can't control the way my tail moves, when I'm asleep! And it's not my fault that you sleep with your alarm next to your head, rather than on a nightstand, like normal people! Besides, I'm not the one who's late!"

"Oh yeah? How 'bout I just chop your tail off for ya? Solve both our problems!"

"Just try it! I'd love to see you try and pass your exams with shredded text books!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Wouldn't I?"

Their exchange continued like this, insults and jabs being tossed back and forth between the two of them, all the way to the train platform. Much to Yuiko's relief, the train had yet to depart, but the announcer was already calling for final passengers. Rather than answer the mononoke's last insult, she decided o push for the stairs leading up to the platform, taking them in twos and threes. If she could just clear the steps fast enough, she could make it!

But on the last step, her bum ankle gave out, still having difficulty holding up her weight. She splattered onto the platform- that was definitely the word for the graceless fall that scraped her knees and scattered her satchel's contents. She was lucky enough to catch herself from splattering her face as well, and honestly, her knees weren't that bad, but her ankle was throbbing. It had twisted painfully into her instep, when she fell. Wincing, she snaked a hand down to try and massage the pain away. Mokkun was beside her in a heartbeat.

"What did I say about taking it easy?" His tone was harsh, but his tail brushed over the hand she gripped her ankle with. "You're not one-hundred-percent recovered, yet! You can't push yourself, too much."

"Ah… But, the train-"

"Eizan Railways is now departing. Please stand clear of the departing train. Again, Eizan Railways is now departing…"

Yuiko's heart sunk.

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"…And furthermore, Tominaga-san, this is quite a disappointment."

Before the teacher at the gate, Yuiko could only bow apologetically, keeping her eyes on the ground as she bobbed up and down, hiding her embarrassment. Predictably, by the time she arrived at school, after taking the second train, the gate was already closed, with the on-duty teacher hovering about, waiting for stragglers like herself. It wasn't like she actually wanted to be late for school!

"So? What's your reason for this tardiness, Tominaga-san?"

"Ano, Sensei, I- gkk!"

Yuiko half-choked on the sentence she was about to speak. Because there, staring at her from his perch on the teacher's shoulder, was Mokkun. The mononoke glanced curiously at the teacher's face, ignoring Yuiko's fluster. "Boy, teachers these days really take tardiness seriously, don't they?"

"Get down!"

"Tominaga?" The teacher reeled back in surprise at her outburst, his tone warning. How easily she forgot- no one else could perceive the spirit.

"Er- that is, sensei! I had trouble getting down the steps from my house, this morning!" She stuttered, diving back into a boy, her constantly darting back up to Mokkun as he trotted across the teacher's shoulders. "I live at a shrine, so I've got a lot of steps to travel over, but my ankle was bothering me! So, um, when I got to the train station, my ankle just gave out, and I tripped- and I just missed the train…"

Get off him, stupid! Was the look she shot the mononoke, but he blissfully ignored her, leaning down to peer into the teacher's clipboard.

"Jeesh, there's a lot of names, here! Were that many people late?"

"Hmm… Well, it is true that you were caught in that train accident, just last week…" The teacher tapped his pen against the top of his clipboard. "But that's no excuse! You should be aware of your own health, and get up at an appropriate time to allow for it, so you don't over-strain yourself."

"Yeah, that's right!" Mokkun nodded emphatically, leaning forward. "If you had gotten up early enough, you wouldn't have been in such a rush, and you wouldn't have hurt your ankle, this morning!"

The look she shot Mokkun threw daggers. "But sensei, I assure you, my alarm was set correctly- it just didn't go off like it was supposed to, this morning!"

If I get a tardy slip for this, Mokkun, you'll be losing a helluva lot more than your tail!

Reading her expression, the mononoke laughed nervously, scratching at his ears with one claw. However, the teacher suddenly leaned forward, writing something on his clipboard- and almost completely throwing Mokkun from his shoulder with the slight motion. He thankfully caught himself, and clawed his way back up, just in time to catch Yuiko's snarky grin.

You deserved that.

"Oi-oi! Don't move so suddenly!" He swatted at the teacher's pen, sending the object flying, and startling the man. Yuiko blanched to the color of dried pears. The teacher, however, merely looked mildly confused.

"That's strange. I mustn't have had a good grip on it-"

"Ah-hah-hah! Th-that's all right, sensei! I'll get it for you!" Shooting Mokkun an outright venomous glare as she jogged to the spot where the pen had flown.

"Thank you, Tominaga-san, now then." Taking back his pen, the teacher continued his scritching. "I'm writing you a-"

Yuiko held her breath.

"-hall pass."

She hissed an exhale.

"I want you to go straight to the nurses and have your ankle re-wrapped- I saw you hobbling on your way to the gate. You can go back to class, after that." The teacher jerked off a short piece of paper, handing it to her with a stern look. "And this isn't to happen again, understand?"

"H-hai, sensei! Arigatou!" She bowed her thanks, bobbing multiple times as she accepted the hall pass.

"Well! That was surprisingly nice of him wasn't it?"

Once again, Yuiko leveled dangerous eyes Mokkun's way. "Ara? Oh, Sensei, you have a piece of lint on your shoulder- let me get it."

Sensei flinched, looking curiously as Yuiko reached up for the so-called "lint"- only to retract fearfully as an open-palmed slap soared passed his cheek, impossibly fast. It stopped just past his shoulder, a look of violence vanishing from her face and curling into a sweet smile as her hand delicately bent under and plucked an imaginary hair.

"There you go, sensei!"

"Th-thank you…" The teacher sweat-dropped nervously, utterly baffled by Yuiko's actions and her pleased expression as she bowed her thanks a final time, and proceeded towards the school.

She stopped only once to give a slight kick to Mokkun, picking himself up off the ground after Yuiko had launched him from his perch on the teacher's shoulder, his head still swirling. "Let's go, ya drowned rat."

"What the hell was that for?" He snapped up at the high school girl, who was already trotting past at an awkward, hopping speed.

"You do a dance number across my teacher's shoulders, and then have the gall to ask me that?" She accused, retaliating.

"It's not like he could see or hear me! I knocked his pen out of his hand, and he didn't even flinch!"

"And, what? Were you hoping he would? He could've written me up! Honestly… Do you even think, before you do something like that?" Her tone took on a dull note of boredom, the distance in her expression not being lost on Mokkun as she faintly limped towards the nurse's office. He stopped, as Yuiko continued to move ahead, failing to notice the lack of her companion's presence for a few feet. Finally seeing that he wasn't with her, she paused and turned curiously around. "Nani?"

"…Maybe you should go home, for today."

"Eh?" Spinning on her heel, Yuiko tromped back to Mokkun, squatting in front of him and putting a hand to his forehead. "Are you feeling all right?"

"You do realize that I can see your panties, when you sit like that, right?" He snorted dully, ignoring the angry blush she gave him. Instead, he opted to pounce onto her shoulder, since she was now at a reachable level. "You're not completely healed yet, right? You shouldn't be pushing yourself. It'd be better if you just went home and rested- don't worry about school. Today's only a half-day, right?"

Yuiko was stunned. In Mokkun's voice, she could hear the genuine concern. His seriousness made him sound more masculine, his intonation dropping several octaves. Though he never looked at her directly, the stiffness of his small shoulders and the way his ears flattened against his head bespoke his worry. Warmth pooled in her stomach, and a smile found its way to her face.

Reaching up, she yanked one of his long ears, nearly making him lose his balance as she took to her feet.

"Oi-oi! What are you-?"

"Well, I can't say it doesn't make me happy, to know you're so concerned about me." She smiled, tugging gently. "But seriously, you can stop worrying- I'll be just fine! I may not be 100% yet- and I admit, I'm still a little shell-shocked… But I'm not going to let that stop me."

Mokkun snorted, turning his head away while keeping a suspicious, crimson eye on his ward. "Hmph… You say so, but… Eh?"

His protest was cut off as the hand tugging on his ear patted him instead, tenderly ruffling his fur.

"Mokkun. Enough. I'm okay."

There it was, again. That paralyzing smile of hers, that made him feel like an idiot. Mokkun harrumphed and turned his face away. "Fine. Whatever." He said that… but honestly, seeing that smile again had made him feel somewhat better about it.

They continued onto the nurse's office without any further arguments from either party. Of course, when Yuiko got to class, she was still late. And even with the hall pass, was forced to stand in the hall with a very full bucket of water- only one, due to her ankle. Mokkun got a good laugh at her, out of that.

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…Ichijouji is an area in the northeastern section of Kyoto in the hills of Higashiyama. In the southern section of Ichijouji is Hachidai shrine. Founded in the year 1294, and dedicated to the god Susano'o and his mortal wife- Kishiinada-hime- and their eight children, the Hachiouji. It is a peaceful shrine, surrounded by serene trees that block off the bustle of the rest of the city. The legend of Susano'o and Kushiinada-hime is a quite famous in the land of Izumo, where it originated- so much so that Hachidai was erected in Kyoto. The shrine also has a small memorial to Miyamoto Musashi, preserving the pine tree marked by his most famous duel with a sacred shimenawa rope- but this is neither here nor there.

Today, the shrine was fairly quiet, devoid of even basic visitors. The priest and his attendant mikos busied themselves with chores, and paid little attention to much outside the shrine. One girl was running laps along the wooden floors of the inner hall, bent over a wash towel as she polished the floors. Stopping briefly to wipe the sweat from her brow, she dropped the towel back in the bucket, readying for another pass. Her eyes drifted out the open screen doors, a chill wind suddenly blowing in and her thin miko robes doing little to keep it out. Shivering, she quickly got up to shut the doors.

Awaken…

Her hand stopped just shy of the screen- had that been a whisper she'd heard? Her shiver returned, this time stemming from something other than the wind. Not just a chill- the hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end. Something just felt… wrong, to her, as if she were being watched by something sinister, something wicked…

Awaken!

She inhaled sharply, her voice freezing in her lungs, as she felt cold fear. It was as if a skeletal hand had penetrated her flesh to grasp her heart. Her legs lost their strength, and she collapsed, her breath coming in short, painfully rapid gasps. Darkness flooded her vision, the floorboards beneath her fingers throbbing with heartbeat-like pulsations. She felt herself being dragged into the shrine by her hair, but with her voice paralyzed, she couldn't scream. Thrown roughly to the floor, the folds of her haori were jerked open, exposing her upper torso.

Most priestesses of these days weren't anything like their historical counterparts, just high school and college girls holding down part-time jobs. A true miko might have been capable of understanding the darkness that approached, even defending against it. But this girl was merely that- a girl. And in its presence, all she could do was tremble and cry. Hot tears spilled down from her sightless eyes, and she tried feebly to cover herself with her bare arms, unbelievable terror shrieking through her, before they were thrown back, pinning her against the cold wood of the shrine floor. She struggled- kicking and twisting in the grasp of whatever it was that held her, until a searing agony ripped through her body. The phantom hand she had felt gripping her heart became real. There was the snap of bone, the tearing of flesh, and the loss of warmth as the blood flowed from her body… She was discarded with less care than trash, her white haori turning a darker red than her miko's hakama. Across the shrine dais, the effigies of Susano'o and Kushiinada-hime were stained with the miko's crimson life, and a sharp cracking could be heard.

Awaken! And serve me!

…Something did indeed awaken. With the offering of the miko, eight pairs of glowing, crimson eyes were opened, and a deep hiss resounded from the depths of the earth.

…Abe no musume…

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Yuiko jolted, nearly dropping her click pencil, whose metal end she had been absently chewing on, its tip angled upwards by an outwards jut of her lower jaw. Cold sweat seemed to trickle down the back of her neck, and she looked nervously towards the window, scanning for the slightest shadow. What was that, she had just heard?

Noticing the paled look on his ward's face, Mokkun looked up from his comfortable curl on the windowsill, ears perked in curiosity. "Nani? Something wrong?"

Yuiko gave him a mixed expression. They were still in the middle of class, after all, she couldn't exactly answer him during the teacher's lecture. With a quick gesture indicating he should come over, she scribbled on the corner of her notebook paper. The mononoke peered down at her scribbling as she turned them around for him to read.

-It's nothing.-

Mokkun's white brow tweaked upwards- he didn't believe that for a second. "Yeah, right. You were probably about to fall asleep in class, weren't you?"

Yuiko's shoulders shot up in tension, her mouth curling in a pout. Twirling the paper around a second time, she started scribbling the most scathing reply she could come up with- at least, until the teacher's ruler slapped across her desk.

"Tominaga-san! Well, you certainly seem to be writing hard- notes for class, perhaps?"

"S-Serizawa-sensei… Eh-heh-heh…" Serizawa-sensei smiled with an eerie sweetness, making Yuiko turn quite an interesting shade of blue, Mokkun thought.

"Well, why don't you read your notes out to the rest of the class? I'm sure they'll be a great help to all of us- ne?"

Blue turned to green- Mokkun had to cover the front of his snout with his paws, or burst out laughing. Yuiko was sweating hard enough to fill the bucket she'd no doubt be holding out in the hallway, any moment now. Of course, she still possessed enough presence of mind to shoot her "protector" a nasty glare.

"Ano… Serizawa-sensei…"

"-Sumimasen, Serizawa-sensei."

Both Yuiko and her teacher looked up, surprised, towards the young man who had stood up at the front of the class. He bowed politely, one hand scratching the back of his head. "Please remember, Serizawa-sensei, that Tominaga-san was recently in a train accident. She may not have been too terribly hurt, but I can't think it would be good for her to put too much strain on her injuries, however minor."

Serizawa-sensei tapped her ruler thoughtfully against her chin, for a moment. "I suppose you're right. Fujiwara-kun… Tominaga-san!"

"H-hai!"

"I suggest you not overlook your sempai's kindness, and start paying attention to the class, rather than your note-writing. Understood?"

"Y-yes, sensei…"

Serizawa-sensei returned to her lecture, and Yuiko nearly collapsed against her desk in relief, shooting daggers at Mokkun's snickering. She did, however, briefly lock eyes with the boy who had defended her, bobbing her thanks. She couldn't see him too clearly from so far in the back, but he smiled back at her, bowing ever so slightly. His eyes hidden behind the window's reflection on his glasses, it seemed that he stared for just a moment longer than was really necessary. Mokkun watched suspiciously as a very faint blush colored her cheeks, shooting an accusingly glare the boy's way.

Damn. And here I didn't think I'd have to worry about that.

~~~~~~~~~~Spacer~~~~~~~~~~

"Ugh…"

"…You don't look so good."

"Y'think?" Yuiko gave Mokkun a bland look, her hand half-way extended towards the leeks. School had let out about an hour ago, and Yuiko, relieved to be free of any more potential discipline, had immediately hurried to the supermarket to buy groceries as an escape. The stress of the day- even though a half-day it had been- had begun to take its full toll on the high school girl, and was easily readable as she weakly went about gathering basic necessities. Mokkun had continued to watch her in suspicion, since their initial turn about in class.

"..All right, don't you think it's time you told me what was really bothering you, earlier?"

"Eh? Well, I…" Yuiko stopped, just shy of grabbing a daikon radish. What had been bothering her, back in class? A sweat drop of confusion bled out of her brain. "I'm not… really sure. I just felt for a second like I'd heard someone calling me. And then, I felt – I dunno… A chill, or something. It made me nervous."

"Hmm…"

"Hey, I'm serious!"

"I believe you." Mokkun shrugged indifferently, his expression serious. "What worries me is that it might've been more than just a feeling."

"Eh? But I didn't see anything!"

"Just because you saw nothing then doesn't mean something isn't coming." He leapt down from her shoulders, claws pattering on the tile floor. "You're a descendant of the Abe bloodline, and you already possess the gift of second sight. It isn't impossible to believe that you might have inherited some other precognitive abilities, as well."

"Seriously?" She dropped the daikon into her basket, absorbing what Mokkun was saying. "So, then you think what I felt back in class might be…"

"A warning- possibly."

…He's not looking at me…

She could understand that he was worried, after the battle Shuten'Doji. Mulling over it, though, she recounted that Mokkun had a tendency to get sulky and quiet, when something worried him. "Brooding" seemed the more appropriate word, in fact. Not that she didn't appreciate his concern, but Yuiko disliked seeing that dark expression cross his face. In fact, when reflecting on it- other than their occasional spats and his chuckles at her expense, Yuiko couldn't say that she'd ever really smile- even once.

"Ne, Mokkun?" She leaned over, hoping to change the conversation's course. "What would you like for dinner? I was thinking of making nabe."

"Dinner, eh?" He responded half-heartedly, not particularly interested. She had to get him to stop withdrawing so much.

"Well, yeah!" She said it louder than necessary, but she just ignored the odd looks the other shoppers gave her for talking to herself. "After all, didn't you say that spirits need offerings? It would be unfair if I just made what I wanted for dinner, every night!"

"Hmph…" Yuiko was too predictable. He could easily see that she was trying to distract him- her voice entirely too loud. Just like Masahiro… How often had he tried to cheer him up like that? After he'd made a mistake, and allowed the young onmyouji to get hurt? How easily the youth had gone out of his way to make a public fool of himself for the sake of his shikigami…

"…Tempura."

"Eh?"

"I said tempura. What, don't you know how to make it?"

So, he's finally relaxing a bit… good. Yuiko straightened, grinning. "And just who do you think you're talking to? Or have you been eating somebody else's cooking, lately?"

"I've been wondering about that- how did a tomboy like you wind up with such a domestic hobby, anyway?"

"I wouldn't really call it a hobby- I just like good food."

Returning home afterwards was relatively pleasant for the both of them. If one ignored the fact that she was talking to a protector-deity in the form of a cute and exceptionally soft-furred mononoke, Yuiko could actually say that their conversation was pretty… normal. She told him about her cooking, how she and her mother would always work together to make tasty meals on their family's small budget, while splurging on odango at the grocery store. She even bought a few sets of dumplings for the both of them to enjoy on the train ride back. Granted, it must've looked weird for the other passengers as she held out one set while munching on the other, and yet both sticks were finished at the same time.

By the time they got to the shrine's steps, Mokkun seemed to have completely forgotten the strange feeling she'd mentioned having, before… A pity it wasn't to last.

"Miko-san! Miko-saaaan!"

Yuiko and Mokkun both looked up in surprise. By now, Mokkun was more than used to the way lesser demons would suddenly rain down out of nowhere- he had experienced it enough with Masahiro. Yuiko, sadly, was not so experienced with it. So when the tiny spirits dropped themselves onto her shoulders quite suddenly, Mokkun had already cleared the area. If not for the heavy grocery bags she was carrying, she might've been able to stay standing. But instead, Mokkun watched as a hand clawed its way out of the demon-dog pile towards him.

"Mokkun-teme!" Yuiko cursed, trying to drag herself out from underneath the mass of lesser demons bouncing on top of her.

"Ah, gomen, Yuiko." The mononoke shrugged. "It was just instinct."

"Instinct my ass!"

The spirits, as usual, were incredibly happy to see her- not that Yuiko could fathom why. "Tadaima, Miko-san!"

"Tadaima, tadaima!"

"Miko-san! Miko-saaan!"

"Miko-miko-miko-"

Yuiko grimaced, gently plucking a three-horned, orange demon from between her shoulder blades to glare at him sternly. "Miko yuuna!"

Mokkun blinked at that one, before doubling over in laughter. The entire scene, and now Yuiko shouting that, of all things! It reminded him so much of Masahiro that it was almost painful. Of course, Yuiko was giving him a death glare to beat all death glares, her red-brown eyes heavy-lidded. But Mokkun just couldn't stop laughing- it wasn't long before his sides started to hurt.

"Ano… M-miko-san?"

"Hm?" Yuiko looked to the demon she held by the scruff of his neck, her eyes half-shut in irritation. "Uh? Hey, now… what's wrong with you guys?"

Now that she was devoting her attention to them, Yuiko noticed something very off about the lesser demons' behavior. The way they were clinging to her, shaking, their excitable expressions at her return- as if they were relieved. They were scared of something.

"What's going on? Why are you all so frightened?" The concern in Yuiko's voice forced even Mokkun to get himself under control. The three-horned demon gently grasped her wrist, pleading.

"Onegai, Miko-san, you must come with us!"

"Please- our comrades!"

"Something attacked them!"

"You must come- quickly!"

Yuiko and Mokkun shared a look of apprehension, before the high schooler let the lesser demons pull her into the forest surrounding the shrine. They led them along paths unseen, animal trails that disappeared so completely into the underbrush that one couldn't even be certain of where they were walking, until their foot came into contact with the earth. It was much like the trail Mokkun had originally led her on back to the shrine steps, when they'd first met (or met again, depending on how you looked at it), and Yuiko couldn't help wondering how many more such trails existed within these woods.

They came to a short clearing, shaded by the overhead canopy and heavy with mushroom growth. In the back of her mind, Yuiko had a sneaky suspicion that these were laughing mushrooms, but that was hardly of importance, now.

Not with the bodies of lesser demons littered among them.

She felt her throat catch with sorrow, seeing those spirits attending to the remains of the fallen, their every motion filled with sadness. Mokkun stood beside her, bumping into her leg reassuringly. He looked to the demons that had guided them, his voice deep with seriousness.

"What happened, here?"

The three-horned demon shuffled over, shaking his head. "Something came… Like a shadow, it was. All darkness and blood and wicked fangs… It tried to penetrate the shrine's barrier, and when it couldn't… It killed those of our comrades who could not make it inside the barrier in time…"

"So it tried to break inside…" His ears went flat, his crimson eyes dark. "Then it could only have been here, to look for the descendant of Abe's bloodline… That confirms it.

"The seal on him is weakening…"

There was shuffling beside him, as Yuiko dropped to her knees, her red-brown eyes pained.

"Yuiko? Daijoobu?"

"I guess… It wasn't just a feeling after all…" Her hands clenched the front of her uniform, gripping the black necktie strongly enough to blanch her knuckles to white. She looked nauseous, and the mononoke quickly leapt atop her shoulder, curling his tail around her neck reassuringly and tickling her cheek. One hand came up, and Yuiko gently grasped his paw, squeezing the tiny appendage as if it could stop her shaking…

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There was no conversation, on the way back to the shrine. Yuiko remained staunchly silent, gathering their groceries and walking up the steps with colorless motion. Even after getting back to the house, she said nothing- merely kicked off her shoes and proceeded towards the kitchen to start cooking dinner. Mokkun had wanted to start patrolling the shrine, to see if the barrier had been attacked from any other angles- but that could wait. Yuiko's morose quiet was far more worrisome to the mononoke, at the moment.

He sat on the edge of the kitchen counter, watching as she whisked up a thick mixture of tempura batter beside a heating pot of frying oil. Her motions were practiced, but just that- motions. More like those of a marionette than those of a person paying attention to what she was doing. And while she could till clearly cook while distracted, where her mind really was he could easily guess. After all, it wasn't fear or anger that had burned in her eyes, ever since they had left that clearing- it was self-hatred.

"Yuiko…" His tone was gentle, but warning. "I can tell what you're thinking- forget it. There's nothing you can do to help them."

The whisk stopped in the bowl, a grimace of frustration pouting her lips. "How can you tell me to forget it, after seeing something like that, Mokkun? They were ripped apart! Eaten!"

"They're safe within the barrier- they know that. And they know that when they leave it, they run the risk of being attacked."

"But that thing wasn't after them, it was after me!"

"Yuiko…"

"I'm right, aren't I?"

He sighed heavily, head dropping between his shoulders. The girl really was too stubborn for her own good. "It's probably a safe assumption, but there's no way of being absolutely sure."

"And if it was?"

"…Then it'll be back."

Locking stares with him briefly, Yuiko turned herself back to the task at hand, dipping shrimp and other pieces of meat into the batter before dropping them into the oil. They sizzled defiantly, bobbing to the surface, but she held them down with a long pair of chopsticks designed especially for cooking. "…And it'll attack them again." She muttered, her eyes half-lidded with pain. "Not just them, but anyone who's around me, won't it?"

"…You don't have to worry, Yuiko." She felt paws on her shoulder, soft fur beside her cheek, and turned surprised eyes at Mokkun's face, now so very close to her own. "I know how much you hate seeing others suffer… but Yuiko, it's not your fault. You shouldn't blame yourself for something that's outside of your control. I'll protect you. And I'll do my utmost to make certain that no one nearby gets hurt, as well."

Her eyes rimmed with warm tears. Mokkun- he was being so gentle, so comforting- his tail curling softly on her cheek, like fingers brushing away her tears. A faint blush stained her skin, it made her both happy and relieved to have him beside her, protecting her… But seeing the torn bodies of lesser demons had put another, ugly thought into her. One that scared her far more than any demon that might come after her.

She knew Guren would protect her, she hadn't the slightest doubt of that.

…But what was there to stop those demons from attacking others, to get to her? Like the lesser demons? Or her classmates?

…Or worse… Guren, himself?

Hot oil sizzled, as she pulled the cooked pieces of battered shrimp from the heat, and laid them on paper towels to cool down and dry off…

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Free Talk: Hey! I managed to finish this chapter in a semi-decent amount of time! Who knew? It makes me happy, though!

Okay, so I finished watching Ghost Hunt for the thirty-thousandth time- man do I wanna do a crossover, now! But, I really need to save that for when I get further into the story, and finish it. If I did do a crossover story, though, I think I'd have Yuiko be Mai's former sempai before she moved back to Kyoto, and it would be based after Gene's funeral. I just can't deside if I'de use "Pre"-Yuiko (Before the murder of her family), "Post"-Yuiko (After everything's over & done with, & Guren's super flirty/possessive of Yuiko), or current Yuiko (as in about half-way through the story, she has awakened some shikigami, but not all.) Any thoughts from the readers?

Fun Facts! Odango are a type of sweet and chewy rice dumpling, typically served with a sweetened soy sauce topping. They are served three or four on a long toothpick, and you just bite them right off. I had my first try of them in Little Tokyo (L.A.), and MAN, were they good! I may not have had much fun at AX this year, but the food was the best!

As always, thank you so much for your comments, favorites, and alerts. I welcome any and all comments, be they positive or negative- can't improve otherwise!- and encourage you to keep commenting, so that I stay motivated! Next episode (funny how I think of these as episodes) we meet a new character (no, not Juuni Shinshou, not yet, anyways), ad Yuiko starts to get into the action! Until then!