Yep, that's right… another chapter was done so quickly!
What came before: although Rihan lost in his fight against Shiori, his sister Ritsura managed to reach Onieda Masato just before Shiori's youkai did, as did Reira and Dohiko of the Toono Clan. The battle between the two Hyaki Yakous is nearing its end…
Chapter 11
"Hey, someone is laying there!" a man's voice woke Kashima Reiko from her sleep "Hey, are you alri-" the man stopped in middle of his question and then stood in silence for an entire minute "What the hell… she is missing half of her body?"
As if he hit a trigger, Reiko flew up and slashed him with her scythe.
That is, she would have slashed him if she had one.
"A… a Teke Teke! Someone help me!" the man yelled and ran away. Since she lacked her signature weapon, she let him go.
"That Ritsura… ow ow ow…" a surge of pain stormed through her body and she fell back onto the ground. Although she survived, being hit by a bullet-train, it still caused some major wounds, both physical and psychological. As a consequence, she could not afford to spend her Fear to float least she spends too much of it and ends up dying.
However, she couldn't afford herself to stay here for too long. Petty humans may run away and lock themselves in their houses, but an exorcist or a member of the Nura Clan would spell a premature end of her tale.
Normally, Netto would send someone to get her to safety, but one look at the still cameras suggested that they were turned off. She checked her skirt pocket to see if she still had her cellphone on her but, just as she feared, it was not there anymore. Just like her scythe, it must have fallen off after the train hit her and before she fell here.
This left her with no choice: she will need to drag herself to a safer place, just like a lesser Teke Teke would, who unlike Reiko didn't have enough Fear to float… as one would expect from mere imitations created by Kyousai and Enchou.
However, she soon realized that even dragging was too exhausting for her so she found herself laying on her back, gazing at the starless sky.
"Ha, guess this is how the Tale of Kashima Reiko ends: fooled with a stupid prank, hit by a train and laying on the floor until humans or the Nuras kill her… well, at least it is comical, that must count for something."
Proper death… that was Kashima Reiko's greatest desire. And it was a desire that most Urban Legends, especially the ones who lacked a parent like Shiori, shared. Very few desired long and healthy lives… most desired a death to be proud of. To Reiko, being killed by someone like Nura Ritsura seemed like a promising end to this pointless and miserable existence. Even if she were the one who killed Ritsura, the entire Nura Clan would come together to kill her. And causing such pain to the mighty Nura Clan that they would send everything they have to get their revenge would be a beautiful end to a tale.
Yet the same woman robbed her of it, giving her this disgrace instead. But she shouldn't have been surprised. After all, Ritsura is not only the member of the tyrannical Nura Clan, but also its future leader and thus its very representative. And the Nura clan had no respect for the modern youkai: for living on their turf and collecting Fear on it, they will beat you up if you are lucky. Else, they will kill you.
Sure, there were many unaffiliated youkai in Tokyo and the Nura Clan leaves them alone. But all of those are youkai had their tales created before Edo became Tokyo and most before Kyoto ceased to be the Capital. Unlike the young Urban Legends, those youkai are respected if for no other reason than for their lineage. On other had, most of the Urban Legends are treated as invaders, rather than youkai born in Tokyo. Tokyo is their home, yet they are hunted down as vermin.
Of course, the Nura Clan under Rikuo strongly saw themselves as protectors of both youkai and humans and since most Urban Legends are evil and hostile to humans, they saw them as enemy not worth their mercy. And Reiko understood that: the Nura Clan simply followed its Fear, like all youkai do. Still, that wasn't a reason to not hate them.
And not to mention Rikuo's son, nicknamed The Butcher. He seems to find pleasure in hunting and killing them, and the worst part is that it seems impossible to run away from him. Very few met him and got away, and that's usually only due to luck. No matter what skills you may possess, he WILL find you and kill you.
And as far as she was concerned, humans weren't worth protecting, especially since the Urban Legends were created by human thoughts and hopes and killing humans was simply doing what those humans wanted them to do. Even Reiko was not an exception: due to the fact that she died while various tales were spread by too many humans, Reiko was robbed of her death and forced to become a monster, able to live only to sow terror and entertain the humans and their imagination. Reiko never desired to be like this… yet she became such because humans desired it. Feeling mercy or feeling sorry was hard.
The Tales created by the Hyaku Monogatari at least had a reason for existing. But those like Reiko, whose birth was accidental, didn't have even that. Their life was nothing but pointless misery and a glorious death was the only thing left for them.
And death is coming for Reiko. It is not the one she dreamed of, but at least it will end her pointless existence. So she decided to just close her eyes and wait for whatever ends her.
"Hey." for some reason, she remembered Shiori's words. "Why don't you join us?"
Reiko opened her eyes again. She remembered that weak human girl who abandoned the possibility of having a happy human life just because she wanted to protect the wretched and evil youkai like Reiko. Reiko never understood why she cared, but she…
Reiko tried to float again. Damn it! I survived being split in half by a train! I won't die just because I got hit a little!
She couldn't allow herself to die. She realized that death is no longer the only thing she cares about. As much of a monster she was, she didn't want to abandon her new mistress by dying such a pathetic death. Shiori gave her both hope and made her feel like her wretched life means something… as well as a place to be.
Then she fell down again. No matter how much she tries, the fact remains that she is afraid of trains on a traumatic level. And the more a youkai fears something, the more damage it does to it.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" she cried.
"Cursing is not nice, Teke-chan." A male voice said to her.
She opened her eyes and saw a young man in suit. He'd look like a businessman if not for the fact that he was carrying a spraycan.
"Kaito-san? What are you doing all the way here?"
He was Ishikawa Kaito, a human and one of the Players. Thus, just like Shiori, he had the ability to create youkai, though it was more limited. This seemingly polite guy likes to vandalize streets at night by spraying images of youkai, many of whom turn into ones.
Luckily for Reiko, this Player was on Shiori's side. "One does not always get a chance to have the whole district empty… which makes my job easier." He was saying as he took Reiko up. "And lucky for you too. Since it is not good to get caught, I have a tendency to leave small youkai around to keep watch. And one of them stumbled upon you." As if wanting to boast, a small lizard-like youkai jumped onto his shoulder. Like all of his youkai, it was black like a shadow, with only its eyes glowing.
"This is embarrassing." Reiko commented as he made her hang on him from behind, with her holding herself by his neck. "Ah yes, Ritsura is-"
"She is most likely keeping Masato-dono company by now." He cut her off. "The youkai from Toono seem to have reached him as well."
"This sounds bad." She commented.
He turned his head at her. For some reason, he was smiling. "By the way, Shiori and her new kid are about to reach the target as well."
"I don't think Shiori and a newborn should face someone on Ritsura's level." Reiko complained. "Especially when Toono are with her. Everyone knows that Toono are not your average fighters."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" his smile widened. "Who said anything about facing Ritsura?"
)(
"Well then…" Dohiko turned to the two girls. "There seem to be two of them and three of us. How shall we split? Nura Clan and Toono Clan?" He suggested, hoping to fight alongside Reira.
"Guy versus guy, girl versus girl." Ritsura suggested another option. "I stay guard here."
"Huuuh?" Dohiko started complaining. "We are not your lackeys! Why would WE let you relax while we fight?"
"Because I am exhausted." She replied in a whiny tone… and made a few moves with her fingers. The youkai of Toono developed a sign language as it is advantageous for their missions and Ritsura learned it herself while she was training in Toono.
"Tz!" Dohiko faigned anger. "You will owe us for this." He said and jumped towards the male youkai who started retreating, either to run away or to fight in a more advantageous position.
Reira just nodded and went after the female youkai who already moved somewhere else.
Ritsura stood in one place for a few moments and then suddenly ran into a supermarket, breaking the window and kicking another enemy into the shelves.
"Ha! Destroying public order to catch a criminal." Ritsura proclaimed and fixed the police hat on her head. "I am a true movie policewoman."
The enemy no doubt tried to hide and was waiting for the air to be clear by making his opponents pursue his comrades. Ritsura however noticed him before it was too late.
The enemy youkai rose up. He looked like a… salesman: a fancy suit, pretty hairstyle, cool glasses and a suitcase. "This would be quite expensive to clean. Could I interest you in some Cleaning Powder?" And he acted like one.
"Eh?"
"Not only that, but with this powder all furniture will be safe from breaking for an entire hour!" the salesman youkai continued. "And it only costs five hundred thousand yen!"
"Sold!" Ritsura found herself yelling. "Wait, why did I say that?!"
The man threw his powder around and suddenly the market was back to what it once was.
"The money has been taken from your bank account." He confirmed the deal. "But those police badges are such an amateurish work. For forty thousand yen, I'll turn them into true Nura Clan badges!"
"Sold!" Ritsura accepted again and the badges on her hat and chest changed so that Nura Clan's symbol was now on them instead of a fake police symbol.
"But hey, such a young girl like you should also buy a yoyo!" he took out a blue yoyo with a kanji for Fear written on it. "You can even alter its moving path with your thougts, perfect for impressing friends and relatives!"
"Oh no, you won't force me into buying that!"
"And it can be bought for a mere price of a million yen!"
"Sold!" something forced Ritsura to accept an outrageous deal again. "Waaah?! What a hell are you?!"
"Now if you excuse me, I have to go." He turned towards the exist.
Ritsura whistled and then said: "Stop right there criminal scum! You are going to return what you stole from me!"
"Oh, so you want to negate our deal?" he said and then turned back to her. His formerly dignified face was replaced with a maniacal one, his eyes have turned red and a long pointy tongue was sticking our of his mouth, not to mention he gained sharp teeth. "Alright. You will have to either buy death for free or literally return it all to me. Accept or can I just leave?"
"Finally a deal I actually want to accept!"
"Okie dokie!" he said and a black mist enveloped him like a tornado. After the mist disappeared, Ritsura was looking at a monstrous youkai whose lower side of body was like that from a legless cartoon ghost. His head was huge with his mouth open all the time, tongue sticking out and four large fangs on it. "May the sale debate commence!"
)(
"Seems to me like the air is clear." Mayuri, who was hiding behind a corner, asked the small female youkai on her shoulder. "What do you think Yukari-san?"
"All clear!" Yukari proclaimed!
"Yes!" Mayuri said joyfully and ran out toward the man who was raising up from a bench "Father!"
However, before she could reach him, two of the men jumped onto her path, holding talismans. "Stop right there girl… I see you are not a youkai but what is that thing on your shoulder?"
"A thing?" Yukari said in her usual, cheerful tone. However, Mayuri could somehow feel she did not like being called so.
"It is a Zashiki-warashi, you idiots." Onieda Masato said as he got close to them. "A harmless youkai!"
As if ordered, the two men moved away before her father even finished talking.
"What are you doing here, Mayuri?" her father asked, with his usual lack of emotions.
"I was worried about you of course!" Mayuri replied. "Someone is trying to kill you!" To her surprise, neither her father nor his men looked surprised. "You already knew?" Mayuri realized.
"I knew the moment that brat put that poem on the Internet." Masato said and walked past Mayuri. "A foolish decision of hers… though not nearly as foolish as yours."
"Father… I was worried…" she started walking after him.
"So you asked youkai for help and went into streets filled with youkai to come to a man who is supposed to be killed by youkai." The way he kept pronouncing word youkai was filled with disdain. "What did you think you could accomplish other than get yourself killed? Even if I were to die, the only difference you would have done is to give her the luxury of killing both me and my daughter."
"I… how do you expect me to control myself?" Mayuri said, though she felt ashamed. "I mean, my own dad was going to die!"
"Well learn how to control yourself then." He said and stopped in front of a café, which used one of those new locks that were opened with a card. "You are an Onieda. It is beneath you to act rashly like that." He took out a white card on which word 'Master' was written in latin and the doors opened.
"Isn't this… illegal? Why are we going inside anyway?"
"Yes. And I'll take responsibility." He said and they entered the café. "Anyway, I am interested in watching those monsters…" Yukari made a disdainful sound when he said word monster. "…fight so I had Mahiro reprogram the TV here so I can easily watch it all."
"Father…" Mayuri whispered to herself. "Just who are you?"
)(
"Stop running already you damn coward!" Dohiko yelled at the enemy. Annoyed, he grabbed a trash container and threw it at the youkai he was pursuing. "Stop I said!"
Although Dohiko missed, the youkai he was pursuing stopped and turned towards him.
He looked like an nine years old boy with an umbrela on his head, wearing a blue yukata and a paper lantern.
Dohiko recognized those features. "You… are an Amefurikozō, are you not? The youkai of rain…"
"You are right, mister!" the kid confirmed. "I am one great and mighty-"
"Ugh… what guy versus guy… This is just a brat." Dohiko facepalmed. "If I beat a brat, I'll look so uncool."
"Hey! Who do you think you are mister!" the brat started raging.
"Aghhh!" Dohiko also started to yell. "I already made him cry!"
"Are you ridiculing me?!" tears started coming out of Amefurikozō's eyes.
"Oh noooo! Now it has gotten serious!" he could already see it…
"Making that poor boy cry… I am so disappointed." Reira said, hiding her mouth with her kimono's sleeve. "Farewell Dohiko, I can't stand being in company with you anymore."
"Reira, no…" Dohiko begged as she was left him behind. "I can explain!"
"Lets go Reaira-chan…" Itaku jumped down and put his hand over her. "I'll show you how a real man treats kids."
"Oh Itaku-san, you are so gentle…"
"No… this can't be…" Dohiko fell onto his knees.
"Reira…"
"Itaku…"
"Why don't we both… take care of kids…" And then Itaku closed his face to hers "…our kids."
And then he kissed her on the cheek.
"Noooooo!" Dohiko screamed in his imagination.
"Noooooo!" Dohiko screamed in reality and fell onto his knees, crying.
"Mister are you alright?!" the boy ran up to him.
"I… I am nothing…" Dohiko said as he entered the world of depression. "My dreams have been crushed."
"Mister… you sound so lame…"
"I know, right?"
"What is going on here?" someone asked.
Dohiko wiped off his tears and looked in direction of that voice. It was another Amefurikozō, but this one looked like a fifteen years old kid.
Dohiko walked backwards and prepared for an actual fight. An Amefurikozō reaching such an age meant that he was an exceptionally strong youkai. Dohiko didn't waste time and attacked.
The fight was short.
)(
Unlike Dohiko's, Reira's opponent started running before she even started pursuing her. The Toono's Yuki Onna wasn't far away from losing the sight of her opponent.
Fortunately for her, the opponent moved from the streets into an elementary school. As big as the school was, Reira was still more comfortable with a closed environment than running the streets. She is a youkai from rural areas and as such urban streets weren't to her liking.
The school was dark, as one would expect at nightime. Of course, it wasn't a problem for youkai as they were creatures of the night and thus their eyesight was actually better in the dark.
It didn't take long for someone to attack her. Something incredibly fast went past her and Reira barely dodged its attack. By the time she turned around to face her opponent, he was already gone. Then she heard a sound from behind and turned around. Accidentally, she dodged an arrow due to turning around. The enemy, looking like a skeleton with a longbow ran away.
"This was a trap…" Reira realized. Seems like this dark school was to be a place where the enemy would lure someone and attack him all at once. Yet something was weird. Reira couldn't put her finger on what exactly, but she felt something was off in this whole story.
Not wanting to be a sitting duck, Reira started walking, prepared to not only dodge any attack that might come, but to also freeze whichever enemy felt like confronting her. And soon enough, she saw a shadow move past the window. Looking through it, she saw something move through the bushes in school's small courtyard. Not being the one to care for the damage, Reira simply broke through the window and froze the bushes she suspected the enemy might hide in. But nobody was there.
Another sound came from behind her and she saw someone run past a corner and Reira immediately went after him and soon found herself back in the school.
"Something is off here…" Reira was frustrated. As she walked through the seemingly empty corridors, she heard a sound from behind a corner. She continued walking at her current pace, but created an ice ball in her hand and threw it.
An axe tried to make a vertical hit, but missed. Reira ran to it, but when she reached the place where the enemy youkai was supposed to be hiding, she saw nobody.
"Come on now!" Reira said in a louder tone. "I am not some human you guys need to pull on her nose. Come out and lets fight like youkai should."
Yet nobody came out.
"Alright then, you cowards…" Reira started collecting her Fear around her. "You will pay for making fun of a Toono youkai." Then, she released her Fear and froze around half of the school.
Yet she didn't feel like she got anyone. And after a bit of walking around, she was certain nobody got caught.
And there was still that feeling that something was off… and then she got an idea what it might be.
Once again, she collected Fear around her. "Hatsu!" she yelled and released the same technique again, but a stronger variant, specialized for cutting the enemy's Fear.
Although once again she didn't feel like she caught anyone in her technique, she did feel foreign Fear being cut.
Whenever a youkai prepares to attack someone, the air changes so that both humans and youkai would feel something is amiss. Only certain kinds of youkai, like Nurarihyons, could ignore that rule.
Haunted buildings gave the same aura. And once Reira's was done freezing the school, the air turned to normal. It didn't feel like there were any more youkai here… or more exactly, the school was not haunted anymore.
"I have been fooled…" Reira jumped out of the window, frustrated at what happened. The enemy lured her into this school, turned it into a haunted building, which made Reira think it was the enemy's trap, and then ran away.
After taking this ability into the account as well as the enemy's appearance, she had a few guesses on which kind of youkai this was. The most likely possibility was a Kage Onna (Shadow Woman) who used illusions to haunt buildings, with some being able to make a normal building into a haunted one. The stronger Kage Onnas were even able to attract youkai, thus making it haunted with more than just petty illusions.
The enemy most likely went back to Ritsura and the Oniedas. Reira had to go back and warn them. Although her Fear was easy to cut, the fact that she didn't need to be present inside the haunted building suggested that she was not one of the weaker Kage Onnas.
Then Reira stopped walking as she felt youki coming from the gym. "Ah yes, my Fear only cut the school." For a moment, she thought of just ignoring it, but then decided that the Kage onna might be hiding in there. "Well, checking it out would not waste much of my time."
When she entered, she saw a big armor with a club. Since she attuned her senses to discover illusions, she knew this was one as well.
Reira turned around, not paying the illusion any head as it couldn't hurt her "Well, this was a waste of time."
Then, she remembered that illusions made by stronger Kage Onnas could be harmful while the strongest and oldest ones could even create youkai.
But she realized it just a moment before the club his her head, making her fall unconscious onto the ground. The illusion then disappeared.
)(
"Well then, this is one annoyance less." A young woman in colorful kimono stood on top of a semaphore and looked into the her hand-mirror. She was Heiko, a Kage Onna.
"Now then… should I go deal with that Yuki Onna or with Masato-san and his exorcists?" she thought. She was told she should deal with any of those two in order to meet that man.
After making her decision, she raised her mirror to catch moon's beam and strike human-filled buildings with it. Her goal was to create minor illusions in order to scare humans and collect some Fear before going to deal with her chosen opponent.
)(
"Just what is going on here?!" Ritsura yelled as she evaded another of the Salesman's attempts to eat her. Once again, though she knew by now it was meaningless, she tried to cut him with Nenekirimaru in right hand and an ice katana in her left. Both just passed through him.
"Bwuahahahaha!" her opponent laughed. "Such low quality junk won't be able to destroy me!" he then tried to grab her with his tongue, in similar fashion a frog catches a fly.
Of course, Ritsura dodged that attack. She created an ice wall between them and jumped backwards, but the Salesman just passed through the wall as if it were not even there.
And that was the problem: the enemy was like a ghost who was able to pass through anything, including weapon and Fear-based attacks. Even Nenekirimaru wasn't able to cut him and it is a sword that is supposed to be able to cut even the strongest youkai.
Yet, he was able to touch and harm her.
Ritsura tried to break through the window and retreat into the streets where she could have more space for maneuvering, but the glass was indestructible… everything in the shop became indestructible due to the fact she bought that first product of his.
"Sorry, but leaving the area before we settled on is it sold or not is forbidden." The Salesman shaked itself. "Not that a girl so unethical to reject trying my merchandise would be able to understand something like that." He sighed and then flew at her, trying to grab her with his hands.
Ritsura just jumped aside and created a snowstorm in order to at least block his vision. Since she had a Yuki Onna's Fear, her eyes could see through a snowstorm so she would be at least at some advantage.
But to her shock, the enemy seemed to be able to see through it as well as he didn't waste much time on searching for her. She managed to dodge him, but his fang scrated her ankle. At the same moment, she slashed through him with Nenekirimaru.
Unfortunately, this wasn't like that WSJ Manga where the only time the hero could touch the enemy was when the enemy would touch him: she got hurt, the Salesman did not.
Exhaustion started crawling up Ritsura's back again. She was not sure how much longer she could hold against an untouchable enemy.
"There is no such thing as a youkai that could not be harmed." For some reason she remembered one of Araya's lectures. "Though a youkai can appear immune to harm, there is always a trick which can be used to beat him."
After remembering Araya's lecture, she also remembered a story Kurotabou once told her, about a ghost of a girl that could only be killed in a certain way. In other words, Ritsura should think about what is the trick behind this youkai's Fear.
"But enough of this." The enemy flew at her again, trying to slash her with his claws, another attack she managed to dodge. While his left claw tore a part of her miniskirt, his right hit a can on the shelf. Since it was indestructible, the can remained standing.
And Ritsura finally realized the trick behind his Fear. As a matter of fact, he himself kept throwing hints at her during their battle.
Ritsura took off the police badge she had on her chest and put it in her left hand, not letting him notice it. "Waaaaaah!" she screamed as she ran at him with Nenekirimaru.
"Stupid girl, I told you such a cheap sword wouldn't be able to hurt me!" he let it pass through him.
Then she took the star-like badge and hit his right eye with it.
"Whuaaaaaah!" the Salesman finally screamed, putting his hands on his stabbed eye.
Her suspicions were right: only the merchandise that he sold her could harm him. That's why he could pass through anything besides the items inside this store, all of which have been affected by his merchandise.
"Well then…" Ritsura sheathed her sword and took out a yoyo. "You told me this yoyo could be moved by using my own Fear, right?"
"Y… yes! No matter in which direction it flies, its course can be altered" he gave her a thumbs up. "It is an awesome toy is it not? Perfect for-"
"Aha… yeah, I see…" while he was still rubbing his eye, Ritsura played with yoyo a little.
"Anyway…" the now one-eyed salesman said after he stopped rubbing his wound. "…it is not like you can use it to strangle me or anything. After all, I have no neck mwuahahahaha!"
"He he…" Ritsura laughed a bit and then threw the yoyo's head in a way it circles around her opponent. "Ritsura Spin: Ice Saw Technique!" As she said that, countless small ice claws appeared on yoyo's string. "Sorry, this may hurt a bit."
"Oh oh…" the enemy youkai understood he was in for a thousand years of pain.
By the time the yoyo returned to its master, the Salesman was back in his human form, laying and bleeding from every inch of his body.
"Woah, this is cute!" impressed, Ritsura stared at her yoyo.
Ritsura-sama acquired a new weapon: Nura Yoyo!
Ritsura-sama acquired a new technique: Ritsura Spin - Ice Saw!
"Cool, is it not?" the Salesman jumped back onto his feet, fixing his glasses and holding a suitcase again. Bleeding all around, he looked like a freakshow.
"…you are still alive?" Ritsura was surprised someone could survive that.
"Ho ho ho!" he laughed. "It is one of my products which I, sadly, don't currently have on me as I used it an hour ago!" he fixed his glasses again. "So, it is settled then! You get your money returned and, as a bonus, can even keep that yoyo and those badges!" he smiled and gave a thumbs up again.
"You know, I should probably kill you so you don't cause any more damage." Ritsura put her left hand on her hip and pointed at him with her right. "After all, you and your people have caused quite a mess on our turf."
The youkai salesman smiled again. "In that case, you will be stuck here for quite a while." He said and took out a key from his pocket. "Even if I die, my products remain. And this store can't be messed with. Yes, that includes opening the door… will be bad if someone attacks your friends while you are traped in here"
"…"
"But that is not all!" he made an exaggerated posture with his right hand. "I will even give you and your clan better deals in future that you will just LOVE! Don't worry, nothing nearly as outrageously priced as the earlier deals! And no traps attached."
"Huh? Are you not one of Shiori's underlings."
"She is my mother, yes." He spread his arms. "However, my only relationship with the Hyaku Monogatari is that they tend to be my clients. But I have many other clients as well so it is nothing special. It is in my Fear to stay as neutral as possible!"
"Yet you still joined this war." Ritsura continued questioning him.
"Yes, but that's for promotional purposes!"
"Promotional purposes?"
"Yeah!" he smiled widely and gave a thumbs up. "I wanted to show you how good a salesman I am!"
"Yet you still tried to kill me."
"Nah, I just tried to beat you and blackmail you into paying even more outrageous price else I tell everyone how weak the Nura Clan's heiress is!"
"Ughh…" Ritsura became even happier that she beat him. "What about humans who reject your offers?"
"You really think any human would be stupid enough to attack me? Also, I only offer such outrageous deals when they piss me off with their behavior. You wouldn't believe just how we salesmen can be treated. I'd lose my business otherwise…"
"Ugh… I get it already…" Ritsura put her hand on her forehead.
"So will you make the deal?!" he took her hand and asked with stars glowing in his eyes… literally. "Will you? Will you?"
"Alright, alright… as long as you increase your prices to our enemies threefold compared to ours!" she accepted. Although he was created by the enemy, her intuition told her that he wasn't such a bad guy.
"Yeeeeaaaayyy! You will not regret this!"
"I sure hope so…" she turned her head aside and said.
Nura Clan has acquired a new merchant: The Super Outrageous Youkai Salesman!
"Oh, by the way…" he started. "More of Mother's youkai were supposed to arrive. What happened?"
Ritsura, who already went towards the exit, turned around and said: "You really think I am the only member of the Nura Clan to arrive?" She felt embarrassed to not notice earlier that her comrades pretended to be delayed so they could sneak past Shiori's youkai. "They are cleaning nearby districts."
For a moment, she thought of asking him about Shiori's plans, but then remembered that message which Kubinashi and Kejorou sent. Asking him about it was pointless so she just left the market.
And the first thing she saw was that female youkai checking on the buildings.
)(
Pretending that she wasn't aware of the Yuki Onna following her, Heiko went into a clothe-store and used her Fear to turn it into a haunted building. Then, she ran and hid behind a curtain to the changing box.
The Yuki Onna walked in and was immediately assaulted by an illusion of an ogre. But instead of moving, she just created an ice shield and deflected the blow.
Heiko made the illusion move away and made it look like more youkai jumped out of hiding. Then, they all ran at her.
The Yuki Onna just sighed and let them hit and stab her… and Heiko then saw her disappear.
"Huh? What?" and then the Yuki Onna appeared in front of her, grabbed her by her kimono and threw her onto a wall. "Ugh…"
"Nice illusions…" the Yuki Onna dressed as a policewoman played with her hair. "What kind of youkai are you anyway?"
"A… a Kage Onna…" Heiko, not used to getting physical wounds inflicted upon her, grabbed parts o her body. "I thought you were a Yuki Onna."
"Half of me is." The Yuki Onna winked. "Of the rest, three quarters is human and one quarter is a Nurarihyon… which conveniently is a youkai who also plays with illusions."
"You-"
"Sorry, but I am already tired of all the fighting. Just now, I had to deal with the most annoying salesman in entire Japan…" the Yuki Onna took her sword out. "I'd normally foce information out of you, but I know Shiori's dogs are not able to talk and-"
"Huh?" Heiko was confused. "Who is Shiori?"
A few moments of awkward silence ensued. "huh?" the Yuki Onna opened her mouth "What do you mean you don't know who Shiori is? Are you not part of her clan?"
"I am part of no clan!" Heiko said proudly. "I am independent woman who needs no boss!"
"…huh?" for some reason, it made the Yuki Onna look angry.
"I… I just wanted to meet Hikine-sama who everyone talks about and they told me that if I-"
"HUH?!" the air froze to a dangerously low temperature.
"Umm…" the young Kage Onna was starting to feel scared.
"There is a bottle of sake in that shop out there…"
"…so?"
"You… are going to pay by joining my Hyaki Yakou…"
"Huh? Why would I join your stinking HYAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!"
Ritsura-sama has acquired a new Hyaki Yakou member: Kage Onna Heiko!
)(
"Ugh…" Reria held her head as she walked. The pain of being hit so hard still didn't go away.
To her right walked Dohiko, her comrade from Toono. To her left, two Amefurikozō's were walking, one older than the other. "Alright, so you two and this Kage Onna are not part of any youkai clan? Then why did you attack Onieda Masato?"
"No, we are not." The older Amefurikozō sighed. "I apologize for that, my friend Heiko and this brat tend to do stupid things when left alone." He hit his little brother on the head. "I'll tell everything when we meet your boss."
"She is not our boss!" Dohiko yelled. "We are from Toono! We serve nobody!"
"Yes yes, calm down." Amefurikozō waved his hand. "Then once we meet your…" suddenly, he stopped "Hah?"
In front of them, Ritsura and Heiko were sitting on a bench and the faces of both girls were red. And under the bench a bottle of sake was lying… a big bottle.
"What… is going on here?" Amefurikozō asked when he got close to them.
"I ammmm… agh…" Heiko started and then fell onto the floor, seemingly drunk.
"Phew, that girl can't even handle one quarter of a sake." Ritsura said, drinking what was left. Although she drank three times more than Heiko, she seemed far more sober. "Anyway guys…" Ritsura grabbed Heiko and raised her back up. "Finally someone accepted to join my Hyaki! If I knew I just had to beat them senseless, I'd have done it so much sooner!"
"You… beat her up?" Dohiko asked. "And forced her into your servitude."
"Yep!" Ritsura said with a wide smile, as if she did a good deed or something. Reira and Dohiko tensed up, prepared to fight in case this half-drunk powerlusting female Nurarihyon jumped at them with evil intentions. "You! Are you her friend? She muttered something about serving no Shiori and I demand explana- hey, why are you facepalming?"
"This stupid woman getting herself into stupid trouble all the time…" he muttered and sighed.
"Hey, don't you dare be all Mister Mature in front of me!" Ritsura puffed.
"Well, are you supposed to be drinking on duty, officer?"
"Huh, what are you…" then she looked at her uniform and said: "Oooohh… you know what? You forget this and I won't fine you for being mature! Deal?"
He just put his hand back on his forehead and shaked his head.
"Anyway, something is veeeery off here!" Ritsura started.
"What is… off Ritsura?" Dohiko asked, still prepared for any sudden assaults.
"I mean… have you read that poem?" Ritsura took out her cellphone and showed them a poem "Here, read this!"
On eastern night of starless sky
Yet star-filled towers
The Shogun of Sun's Origin
Is forced to play three games
By the clown in white
A game of agility
That makes the steel horses cry
A game of hiding
That makes sun's children cry
A game of Clown's riddle
That makes the Shogun cry
"See what I am getting at?" Ritsura pointed at it. "We lack a game of agility, a game of hiding, a game of riddles and, most obviously, a goddamn clown!"
"Hmph, cowardliness must be in blood." Masato and Mayuri appeared on the street and walked up to them. "I'll take it your clan hasn't yet realized it, but the enemy has started retreating."
"Huh? How do you know that?" Dohiko asked in an impolite tone, not even trying to hide his disdain for this man.
"Who do you think put all these cameras around Tokyo, you ape?" Masato replied in equally disdainful tone.
Mayuri caught his sleeve. "Father, please show respect!"
Dohiko opened his mouth, but Ritsura cut him off. "You sure seem to know a lot about youkai world, Masato-dono." Ritsura rose up from her bench, no longer acting like a half-drunk girl.
"Everyone worth something in this world knows about the youkai world." Masato answered. "But why do you ask me such pointless questions? Aren't you supposed to be wondering what your enemy is doing? Pointless questions just waste time and wasted time means wasted lives for you."
"Alright, Masato-dono-sama…" Ritsura toned down her politeness. "Mind you telling me why her poem didn't come true?"
"That's because Miss Coward chickened out and jumped at a safer target." Masato took out his cell and showed her the news. "As you can see from this traffic report, the game of agility already took place. Well, it is that stupid Yakuza's fault for claiming the nickname of a Shogun."
)(
Okuzawa Masaji, leader of one of local yakuza, was sitting in his mansion and was holding a towel on his shaking head.
He was riding in his limo when suddenly a monstrous youkai attacked him. His driver rode for a few miles while the monster followed him around, destroying quite a few cars in the process. Finally, it hit his car, killing his driver. Masaji barely saved his own life by jumping out of the car before it hit a pier and blew up. Then Masaji took out his gun and stopped another car, forcing its driver to give him a ride home. The stupid driver tried to turn on his car and flee, but learned better when Masaji shoot his wife and turned his gun towards his children. Luckily, the monster didn't follow him and he reached his household. Naturally, he had his men get rid of the witnesses.
"Of course he wouldn't follow me…" Masaji smiled. "I am Okuzava Masaji, the toughest yakuza in Tokyo! I am the 'uckin Shogun! He must have randomly attacked someone and it got to be me!"
Yes, he believed he deserved the title of a Shogun. Born in one of most prominent Japanese families, he graduated at the highest university and joined the world of politics even before that, at age of seventeen at orders of his strict father.
It took only three years for him to climb high enough in his political party and soon enough found himself in the House of Councilors, the Upper House of Japanese legislative body. There, his prominence rose further and he soon became the owner of many businesses and even had the Prime Minister in his grasp.
No longer needing to be active in politics himself, he left the House of Councilors and his own party, all while retaining his grasp on both the Prime Minister and many of other Councilors. So against his father's wishes, he joined a dying yakuza group, made himself its new leader, restored it with his connections and rose even further in power.
From there, he found out there was more than just the human world. Immediately after he learned about existence of the youkai world and the House of Sanmoto, a union of various rich families (all of whom are descendants of some merchant from Edo Era) which created and controlled youkai, he made new connections… which he even used to get rid of that meddlesome father of his.
And his growth in power continued… after he gained all power he could via the House of Sanmoto, he supported the dark side of Onieda family and helped them destroy the House of Sanmoto and steal their wealth and authority… of course, he got part of it as well.
How would anyone dare to attack someone as high and mighty as him?
Then his cellphone beeped. "Ah, who is now!?" he shouted and looked at it.
"Found ya! Time to start the Game of Hiding and for sun's children to cry"
"Huh? What is-"
"KYAAAAAH!" "NOOOOO!" "TO ARMS! TO ARMARGGHHHT!" "PROTECTAGHHH!"
From all around him, his household was screaming. "Someone… someone is going to get me?" Masaji was too afraid to move. "You… have to be kidding right? Right?! Who would dare to…"
As if answering his question, someone broke through his wall. Masaji saw a silhouette which left just before he could take a better look. Instead, a masked girl in late teens entered.
"Well then… You are not the one I originally planned to kill today, but whatever… you were on my list anyway." she said as she removed her mask. "Mind if we talk a bit before I kill you, Masaji-ojiisan?"
"You…" he knew that face. She is the last survivor of the leading family of the House of Sanmoto whom Masaji met on a few occasions, last time being four years ago when she was still Onieda Masashi's hostage… a hostage who ended Masashi's life. "You are… Kuruguya Midori…"
IIIII
Author Notes:
And we reach the end of chapter 11! Only two more chapters and we have finished this long arc (and can move to another long arc!)!
- we start with a Reiko scene which shows us a bit of what goes on through the head of a common Urban Legend. The reader should mind it however that Reiko is quite biased
- what an outrageous salesman…
- two new youkai from Japanese Folklore have been introduced to the story: an Amefurikozō, a kid aligned with rain, and a Kage Onna who is not a popular youkai but I still managed to find info on her
- no, her brother would likely not spare the salesman…
- you can hype yourself as much as you want, but that won't allow you to beat Ritsura without much trouble. And yaay, she got her first underling!
- one wonders… is this Shiori's victory because she fooled by attacking someone else or Nura's because she was forced to change her plans? Nevertheless, the guy who is going to be killed deserves it
- for those who don't remember, Kuruguya Midori is the girl Rihan met in Nakano eight years ago. Check chapter 2 for more
All in all, thans for reading! And please review, even if it is just a small sentence: to a fanfic writer, reviews are equal to payments!
And now onto omakes…
Anime Chick344034: "Wow such a great chapter. Cant wait for the next. And what the heck RISTURA. WHERE DID YOU GET THAT POLICE OUTFIT. LOL XD"
"I got it soon after Kiyotsugu-san told me the cams got turned off." Ritsura, still wearing the uniform, started explaining. "So on my way, I visited that shop near where I was hiding while Kiyotsugu-san was briefing me, borrowed the uniform and a bag and changed into it when I boarded the train. It was cool, was it n-"
"RITSURA!" Tsurara, who just arrived, cut her off. "That uniform!"
"Ah… mom is here." Ritsura gulped and turned around. "Is something wrong with it mommy?"
"Is something WROOOONG?!" Tsurara pointed towards an a mark drawn at the bottom edge of the uniform. "Where did you get that?!"
"In… a police station?" Ritsura bluffed with a smile.
"That ain't from no police station, young lady!" Tsurara continued attacking "That came from that shop for… adult needs."
"Well, I just saw the uniform while passing and… wait a minute mom, how come you recognize such a mark?"
After five seconds of silence, Tsurara turned red as a tomato. "Don't change the topic young lady! You have no reason to know about your dad's and mine se-" she turned red again. "Um I mean… oh look at the time, I have to prepare breakfast." She suddenly turned and left. Ritsura could swear that there was steam coming from her head.
"…disturbing images a daughter should never imagine were forced into my maiden head…"
xxice-maidenxx: "Very interesting chapter! And Shiori is human? That just makes it more interesting. I really dont think humans are as weak as they show them in anime and manga. They should be soooo much stronger!"
"Well, we humans ARE weak individually." Shiori started her lecture. "No matter how physically fit you may be, you still have no chances to survive against a weaker youkai by yourself. Humanity itself however is a different thing and youkai are forced to hide themselved from humans as only the strongest youkai, like the Nue, have hopes of surviving a full out war against humanity."
"As a matter of fact, the youkai world has suffered a lot due to humans…" she continued "…most significantly the older youkai who are kicked out of their natural habitats due to humans building roads, factories and such. If something is not done, most youkai may go extinct… well besides the urban legends which are born in different enviorenment."
"It should also be mentioned that…" she just doesn't want to stop talking "…the biggest threat to both humans and youkai are the Shin Sekai which are a human organization, representing many of essential elements of the human world like constant advancement of species, conquering nature…"
Zzzzzzz…
xxice-maidenxx: "(even stronger than gokadoin! They suck!)"
Gokadoin Kashaimaru (guy you met at the end of chapter 6), who fell asleep during Shiiori's lecture, woke up. "What did you say gurl? Did you just say we suck? Well let me give you some facts about…"
Since Nayrael's patience was already spent on Shiori's lecture (so he has none to spare for Kashaimaru's), we will skip it.
Dennou Writer: "I'm starting to think my suspicions that Rihan will have to fight Ritsura at some point are right..."
"This may come as a shock, but the two of us already had an epic battle." Ritsura replied.
"Huh, we never had a… wait, you don't meant that!?" Rihan reacted.
"It was many years ago, while both of us were still chibi…"
"Wait, is that… Oh no, not the flashback blur…"
(THE FLASHBACK BLUR)
"You have been warned nee-san!" in the Nura clan's hidden dojo, chibi Rihan proclaimed as he started running towards his chibi sister. "I will show no mercy!"
"Hohohohoho…" chibi Ritsura giggled. "Come at me, you greedy little brother!"
"You reign of terror ends now! Opa!" his ferocious attack stopped when he slipped on ice that chibi Ritsura created beforehand and found himself in midair.
"Your arrogance was your downfall!" Chibi Ritsura proclaimed. "But it is not over yet!" she breathed out cold air and created an ice-ramp under him, like the ones they have in skateparks.
"Oh no!" he shouted as he fell onto it and started slipping towards the other end of the dojo.
"Oh yes! And there is more from where that came from!" she ran and created another ramp, this one constructed in such a way he would slip to yet another part of dojo.
"Aaaaah!"
"But I am sure more is needed to teach my rebellious brother a lesson." In a few minutes, the dojo turned into an skatepark where chibi Rihan was caught in eternal slippery.
"What is going on here kids?" their father, Nura Rikuo, came in.
"Nothing, my little brother was hungry for some extreme sports so I made him an amusement park." Chibi Ritsura explained.
"Heeeeeeelp!"
"What was that?" Rikuo asked.
"He said Heeeeeell yeah!" Chibi Ritsura lied with a 100% innocent face "See, he is loving it!"
Rikuo sighed. "Alright, I'll let the two of you have your fun." Rikuo said and turned around. "But next time don't do it in the dojo. This is for training, not for playing around."
"Yes daddy. See ya daddy!" chibi Ritsura waited until he left and than turned back to play with her brother some more.
Then her mom found them and she got grounded.
(END OF FLASHBACK BLUR)
"Ahh… those were the times…" Ritsura said with a smug smile. "We should do it again someday."
Rihan didn't answer. The memories of that day made him feel nauseous and he fell onto the floor.