What came before: The night has fallen again, and the war between the Urban Legends and the Folklores resumes. Just as the sky grows dark, the Nura Clan's Supreme Commander's own treacherous son has all but reached his father. But while their destinies clash, other destinies clash elsewhere as well.

While the two sides battle it out, other parties observe with interest. One of the other parties had however decided to make use of the ongoing bloodshed, determined to make profit of the situation.


Chapter 107 - Distorted Shadows

A Hyakki Yakou moved through Tokyo, moving through both skies and the ground. They were not of the Nura Clan. They were a clan from the west, active on the border of what humans call Chubu and Kansai prefectures. They were a young clan, merely three hundred years old and with a small few territories, but they were a proud clan nonetheless, and have helped many larger clans.

Like most youkai, they were hungry for blood. Yet, they did not fight much. They were more than happy to fight for Nura Rikuo, the Lord of the Pandemonium, but they waited for the Nura Clan to ask them for help. To fight without summons would be admitting that they were loyal subjects of the Nuras. To be asked to fight would mean that they were a respected ally whom the Nuras needed.

Still, nobody yet asked them for help. Even the other clans not serving under the Nuras were not asked for help. The Nuras seemed to have this under control, and that was a boring fact.

Knowing that it was growingly unlikely that the Nuras would request their help, the procession of a hundred youkai needed to find other reasons for a fight. So they came with a simple plan: move through the city and hope someone attacks. If the Urban Legends attack, great. If the Nura Clan attacks, then all the better: they would get to fight and could later ask for compensation. Or maybe they stumble upon some other clan from the west, which would bring a good fight as well.

So the procession made of numerous types of youkai wandered, and they wandered into an empty and silent section of the city. Even Fears of youkai hiding like cowards could not be felt. A seemingly boring place, but they would eventually leave it if they continued on their way.

As they moved across, they realized that this had been a battlefield not long ago, as bodies of several youkai were lying around. Disappointed that they were too late to join the fun, the parade continued on. Eventually, someone noticed that one of larger bodies had no shadow, even though a lamp illuminated it from an angle. This soon led them to notice that none of the bodies had shadows. Strange, but not for standards of youkai. They moved on.

They were not alone, they soon realized. They noticed shadows moving around, but as much as they tried, they could find nobody. Nobody who would leave those shadows behind. This they did find strange, for humans could not hide that well and youkai had Fear that could be sensed. They decided it must have been some cowardly Urban Legend's doing and continued on. Had they paid more attention, they might have noticed that the bodies did not slowly disappear as their Fears moved to the underworld. That their souls have been gone.

Then they finally found someone: a woman of long black hair clad in gray kimono, with a mirror in her hand where a younger girl just like her cried. She was a youkai for sure, and she leaned against a lamp as if waiting for someone.

Most of the youkai wanted to ignore her, but some decided to flirt with the gorgeous woman, inviting her to join them. Some even wanted to take her no matter what.

The young woman looked at them with eyes whose irises were white and scleroses were black as night, clad in disgust. She looked above into larger youkai, but in such a way that it looked like she looked down on them.

This riled many of them, and they prepared to attack. They did not resume only because they realized that there were silhouettes of youkai behind her.

They moved backwards. The young woman must have been the leader of her own procession, or maybe a daughter of one. There would be a fight, and it was spiced with this gorgeous woman as a reward.

When the silhouettes got closer, the youkai realized that these were no real youkai. They had no fear, and their shapes were like smoke ready to be puffed away by the wind. They were disappointed, but cautious.

The woman raised her mirror and moved it with her hand, as if showing her adversaries to it. Then their own shadows moved away, and rose from the ground.

The youkai struck, and destroyed them. Then their shadows rose again, and got struck down once more. They were pathetically weak.

It was a deception. For shadows that were behind the woman were another story. Though possessing no fear of their own and though they were just imitations of real youkai, the shadows proved to be strong adversaries. Several youkai already died in the first clash.

Their bodies remained, but their Fears were eaten by their own shadows. And those shadows became strong, able to fight as the youkai they once belonged to.

The procession continued to fight and die little by little. By the time they realized that it was hopeless, that their numbers dwindled while the Kage Onna summoned more and more shadows, it was too late. They were surrounded, and could not see anything but pitch blackness all around them.

Soon, they became nothing more than shadows of their former selves. Literally.

The woman looked across the massacre and then sighed. "Haaa… this place is no good anymore." She turned around and walked away, looking for another place where she would welcome her beloved enemy.


~)(~


Long ago, long ago, there existed an abandoned house at the edge of a village, near town loved by traders and wanderers alike. Though abandoned for generations, somehow it had endured the test of time. Long ago those merchants and travelers, and occasionally daring couples from a nearby village, rested there.

Long ago, long ago, that house was haunted by a woman made of shadows, a Kage Onna. what started as innocent scares turned into sadistic games. She feasted upon the fears of her sorry guests, and sometimes on their lives too.

Long ago, long ago, that woman learned that she can steal shadows of anything, including those of other youkai. When connected with tales of different youkai that resided in that house, shadows she stole grew strong and powerful.

Long ago, long ago, that Kage Onna grew old and wise. She realized that she was strong enough to not only rule over this one pitiful house. With strength, she could rule over youkai. With wit, she could rule over the humans.

Long ago, long ago, a woman passed away in that house. Her shadow was eaten, and her body was taken control by the Kage Onna. Whenever there was sunlight, she could move that body and walk among the humans. She could enter their village, befriend them, and convince them to invite her to their home. Once there, those homes became hers. And so did everyone in them.

Long ago, long ago, the village became that evil woman's playground, humans her unaware slaves. Using manipulation and superstition, she made them believe that there were hordes of youkai. That gave life to her shadows, so those tales soon became true.

Long ago, long ago, a traveler arrived, ending her ambition. He was an Onmyouji of great awareness. He saw through her illusions, through her fear of the night and clouds, and ended her tyranny. The Kage Onna's reign of terror was over.

Long ago, long ago, the Kage Onna survived. Her Fear was shattered, and never recovered. Her influence was shattered, and never recovered. Her body was shattered, and never recovered. Her dreams and ambitions were shattered, but those recovered.

Long ago, long ago, the evil mother of shadows took a knife and split her shadows into three, giving birth to three daughters.

To this day, to this day, her dream lives on.


~)(~


The shadows created by this Kage Onna were strong and terrifying. And impossible to kill unless one knew how to properly cut Fear. There was a hidden village of strong youkai in the north which knew this art intimately, but seasoned and strong youkai could do it instinctively. But for inexperienced youkai who were not lucky to get proper training, shadows of a powerful Kage Onna like Aiko and Shizuko may as well have been immortal.

Hikine was inexperienced by standards of the youkai, and he got absolutely no training. But he was made of shadows just like these creatures, so his attacks naturally cut through their own essence. Not to mention that he was the natural enemy of the Kage Onnas because in the novels that birthed his Tale, they were the main antagonists. The Poem Weaver and the Wordsmith created him primarily so he could fight them, everything else was secondary. For only a moment, he wondered if this night would inspire a third novel.

But his ability to cut through the shadows did not mean that it was easy. They were pretty strong, and there were way too many of them. He could feel the Kage Onna's Fear from afar. He knew she was inviting him, but she did not intend to leave a comfy, empty road for him. After all, villains always sent their minions after the hero.

But even if this was his third story, this night was not necessarily that story's final part. He considered leaving for now, and delaying his meeting with this Kage Onna for another day.

But he quickly gave up on that idea. If the Kage Onna struck the humans while everybody was busy fighting, it would lead to a large tragedy. If she struck the Roses while they are struggling to survive, it would sign their death sentence. This Kage Onna, who wanted him to come, would do one or the other or both if she was like her sisters, if only to punish him for fleeing. No, he had to take her down this night, before she could birth more shadows from Fears of the fallen youkai.

But he could not do this alone, and he could not ask the other Roses for help. The few that followed him have been killed, and asking the others would leave the Urban Legends vulnerable to attacks from the Nura Clan and the random attacks of youkai from the Western Japan. He thought of asking these foreigners, but that was an even worse choice. They not only had no reason to want to protect this city, but may actually prefer someone hurting the youkai of Tokyo.

Which meant he had only one option, a bitter one. But it was for the greater good.


~)(~


The first daughter was called Shizuko. She inherited all that was the best in her mother: her strength of character, her elegance, her cool, and her relentless spirit.

Her mother's shadow brought her up with great pride, with great love, with great expectations.

She taught Shizuko her destiny, and the proud girl accepted it. Her mother responded with love.

When the time came, she was sent out of her home, with her mother's favorite mirror as a memento, and her mother's expectations on her shoulders. She was sent to forge her own Hyakki Yakou out of shadows, to become the great Queen of Shadows.

Alas, her mind was too naive, and her shadow disappeared. What returned home was only the bloodied mirror.


~)(~


Inuta, the hound youkai which attacked travelers who stumbled, gazed at the fight in front of him with great annoyance. The youkai that were part of his pack fought vigilantly against the shadowy creatures. These shadowy creatures were not that strong, but destroying them required a good skill at cutting Fear. His pack was not so good at it, and each one of them needed several attempts to successfully destroy one. Inuta was sure that eventually they would get used to it, but he feared most of them would be dead by that point.

Inuta silently growled at himself. If he could attack, he could easily destroy them. But he was a slave to his own legend, and could only attack youkai and humans that lost their footing. In a normal fight between youkai, this could happen often. But these shadowy creatures, which felt no pain, fear and held no regard for their own lives never stumbled. They met every attack, even the fatal ones, without a care in the world. Even if half of their body was cut, they would move or stand as if nothing happened.

In other words, the leader of this pack was absolutely useless in this fight. For a proud leader of youkai, few things in the world were as frustrating and humiliating as being unable to take lead in a fight. No proper leader of youkai should sit behind and watch others fight for him.

He then sniffed another Fear and averted his head to look at the newcomer. The newcomer was a black cat that jumped out of the shadows and ran in their direction. Inuta could by now sense via smell if the youkai was a proper youkai, or a smelly Urban Legend. This one was the latter. Must be in league with these shadows, maybe this is even their leader. And he seems alive… yes, I could make this one stumble and I could rip him apart. Inuta rose from his sitting position and stood on all four, ready to attack. If he doesn't stumble after trying to attack his pack, Inuta will personally scare him, which usually ends in the victim stumbling and then dying by Inuta's fangs.

When he got close enough, the cat jumped high, transformed into a young man of slightly tanned skin and cat ears and, while turning around in the air, conjured a large axe made of shadows, and prepared to strike. Inuta was readying himself for an attack.

The cat's axe struck the shadowy creature however, destroying it in an instant, much to the surprise of Inuta, and everyone else who just now noticed the newcomer.

As he gracefully landed on his feet, the axe disappeared into the shadow below it. The cat then pushes his both arms into the shadow, as if there was water instead of concrete. When he pulled his hands out of it, he held two katanas. One of the shadow youkai, whose form is based on some giant bipedal youkai, tried to crush him with fist.

The cat, for whom Inuta was now certain was the Urban Legend Hikine, gracefully avoided the attack, jumped onto the giant's arm, ran across it, and beheaded the giant shadow, and jumped off it before it could disperse into nothingness. He stabbed both his swords into two more shadows as he landed.

Although they were taken aback by Hikine's sudden appearance, Inuta's pack did not fail to notice that all the shadows were now focused on Hikine, even while they were being attacked. Soon enough, Hikine and Inuta's pack have destroyed all the shadow creatures.

Though this by no means meant that they were able to relax. By the time Hikine turned around and faced Inuta, Inuta's followers were already facing him with their weapons at the ready. Inuta doubted that they all recognized who this youkai was, but it was clear that he was an Urban Legend.

"Hu, you must be Hikine." Inuta addressed the cat.

"I'm surprised that you know who I am." Hikine said and let go of his weapons.

"I wish I didn't, but my cute granddaughter is a fan of yours." Inuta sat down. "Not only does she howl at the moon whenever she rereads those cursed books of yours, but she can't shut up talking about you. Ugh…" Inuta Averted his head. "Ugh, if she hears that I met you, she won't stop buggering me to talk about you."

"I apologize for being popular with the girls."

"Are you trying to piss me off, cat?" Inuta looked back at him. "Alright, enough blabbering. Why did an enemy come to our help and why does that same enemy now chat with me?"

"I'd like your help in defeating the master of those shadows."

"...give me a moment to understand this." Inuta scratched his nose with his paw a few times. "A member of the clan we are fighting… no, a member of the clan we are trying to exterminate… comes and asks us for help." Inuta looked into the distance, where he could faintly feel the Fear of the youkai that must have been creating these shadows, seeing as the monsters came from their direction. "Again someone who is part of your clan."

"Our side has no Kage Onnas." Hikine noted. "And I hate that I need to ask for your help, but I don't want to put the lives of my allies in jeopardy."

"Ah, that is better. But why would we ever accept your offer?"

"Because it's a common enemy. Or is this Kage Onna on your side and this was an exercise?"

"Don't mock me, brat!" Inuta rose to all fours. "Just because we have a common enemy, I don't want to fight alongside you."

"You don't need to. It's not like we could fight in such a way without trying to attack one another from behind anyway." Hikine shook his head. "I just need a strong group of youkai to attack and attract the Kage Onna's armies so I can slip past and deal with the Kage Onna herself. So all I want is that you tell your clan to attack."

"Good plan… but nobody will come if I call them. We're all the clan can spare."

"Say what again?" Hikine asked while looking over everyone here.

"The clan is busy with other enemies, most of whom are closer to areas important to our clan. We have no turfs here, and no Tochigami to collect prayers from humans." Inuta exercised his legs while explaining. "After all, this territory belongs to you guys, not us. The clan sent us here to make sure these shadows don't attack the rest from the rear, but they won't afford any more forces."

"Aren't you being stingy? Ten thousand youkai came here this morning!"

"Yes, but they won't do anything unless we ask. And we won't ask because we must prove that we don't need their help, that we are strong alone. Maybe if the shadows somehow threatened the clan, they would ask but while they are considered a small threat… they won't bother."

"Ugh… of course, she would not try to antagonize the big bad Nura Clan here." Hikine hit his forehead with his hand. "I guess I'll have to find another way to-"

"Now cat, I did not say that we won't accept your offer." Inuta walked closer to Hikine. "I've seen how annoying these shadows can be, and I have noticed that more of these creatures are being created. As far as I am concerned, they are a big threat. Which is why we are fighting here rather than just keep watch from afar."

Hikine once again looked over everyone. "With all due respect to you and your clan, you are too few." He looked Inuta into his eyes. "And I've seen you in action. You barely survived fighting against these small numbers. You'll die if you face an entire army."

"Yes, we will. So what? We're enemies, you shouldn't be considerate."

"I'm not being considerate. If your reason makes no sense, I'll have to consider it a trap."

"Ha, I see. Fair game." Inuta sat down again. "You know, you and I are pretty funny."

"How so?"

"I've heard about you not only from my cute granddaughter, but also from the others. You're a Champion of Justice, a Hero who saves the poor maidens from big, scary youkai. And you belong to the Hyaku Monogatari, the clan that creates and spreads horror stories." Inuta raised his left paw, as if to point at himself. "I'm a horror story. A story old enough to not be considered an Urban Legend, but a horror story nonetheless. I murder everyone, from old kind men to cute little children, and I relish in it. Yet I serve the clan whose master fancies himself a champion of justice, the protector of mankind and the weak youkai." He lowered his paw. "It's like some god got drunk and switched our destinies. Funny, isn't it?"

"I guess it is. But how does it answer my question?"

"I, and the part of the pack that I took with me here, are all horror stories or youkai who can't give up on their old ways. We're all loyal to our great Master, but we understand there is no place for us in the world he is creating." Inuta stretched himself and then walked past Hikine. "So our lives mean little. We're perfect sacrificial pawns."

"And what about your cute granddaughter?" Hikine turned around.

Inuta stopped walking. "She'll grow up knowing I died a hero, and will never have to be taught by me in the old ways. She'll grow to be a good doggie who keeps others safe. Or not, her decision." Inuta looked at him with one eye, and with a smile. "But who cares if we die? We youkai are creatures of death and evil, we are from the Underworld. Death is not scary, it's just the way we go to Hell, to our true homeland." Inuta turned his head away and resumed walking, his pack following after him. "Any youkai that fears death is just deluding himself. Anyway, cat, thanks to you, we now have a way to stop this shadow-making bitch. I'll trust you'll make sure that our sacrifice is not in vain."

Hikine nodded, though he doubted that any of them could see it as they walked away


~)(~


The second daughter was called Aiko. She inherited all the worst in her mother: her pettiness, her wicked soul, her sadism, and her lust for power.

Angered by her first daughter's demise, her mother channeled all her hatred and grudge into her.

She taught Shizuko her destiny, and the wicked girl accepted it. Her mother responded with delight.

When the time came, she was sent out of her home, with her mother's bloodied mirror as a memento, and her mother's desire in her heart. She was sent to forge her own Hyakki Yakou out of shadows, to become a monster whose shadows would envelop the world and make it suffer.

Alas, her heart was too arrogant, and her shadow was erased. What returned home was only a shattered mirror.


~)(~


The shadows shaped as youkai were coming in droves, lured by Hikine's Fear. In his form of a cat, he hid behind Inuta and his pack, making the enemies come in this direction. Inuta and his youkai were his enemies, but even so Hikine did not like the fact that he was sacrificing them for his goals. After all, he was not that sort of a character.

When he was certain that enough of the shadows arrived, he wished the pack all the luck, and quickly ran past the creatures. He rushed towards the Kage Onna. Once he reached her, he expected that she would not call back the shadows creatures, if only because that would mean that Inuta's entire pack would come as well. So Hikine also had to hope that Inuta and his youkai lived long enough for him to finish his business.

He found her easily, for she did not even try to hide herself. The woman stood under a lamp, as if she was on a stage. "Ah, Hikine-san!" The woman smiled widely. "It's so nice to see you again. My heart still hurts whenever I remember our last farewell."

"Well, I did literally crush it." Hikine said as he transformed into his humanoid form. "But I guess that I did not kill you, huh?"

The woman in front of him was Aiko, the second Kage Onna he fought, the villain of his second novel. She was tall and dark haired, and her eyes had a white iris whereas her sclera was black. It was nostalgic to see her again, but in a bad way.

"My heart may be gone, but my feelings remain." She said while walking towards him. Hikine did not fail to notice that she held something behind her back.

"Get to the point, villain." Hikine played her game, in the role he was expected to play. "What diabolical scheme did you come up with?"

Aiko closed her eyes and smiled, and then showed him that the thing she held behind her back was a mirror. "Wake up, Heiko-chan~" She spoke.

And suddenly, the woman in front of him was shorter, she had a black iris atop a white sclera, and her face, while nearly identical to Aiko's, left a completely different impression: that of shock, distress, and fear.

"Nee-san, what is this?" The girl cowered and moved backwards. "Why… Why did you bring me here now? You said that-"

"How is it, Hikine-san? Isn't she cute? My little sister~" Aiko's giant silhouette appeared in the shadow created by the girl. "As long as she lives, I live. But can you really harm a young girl in distress? That would be against your Tale, right?"

Hikine looked at the girl and at her sister's shadow, and thought it all through. "Aiko-san, you wretched bitch."

"Hahahaha!" The shadow moved her hand, and Heiko's hand moved as well, though she looked surprised at that fact. "Today, you'll finally become my sweet kitten! And then together, we shall consume this city, you and I." Several shadow monsters then appeared and attacked him.

Hikine avoided them, and with a conjured sword made of shadows cut at one's shoulder.

"Hyaaaah!" The younger Kage Onna screamed and fell to her knees. Hikine could see that it bled.

"You thought I'd make it easy for you, kitty?" Aiko taunted him. "I strengthened the shadows by having my cute little sister connect her Fear with these shadows. Not to make them strong, but to make sure that if you hurt them, you also hurt her."

"You really are beyond redemption." Hikine said, and let the sword disappear. "Heiko, was it? Are you really going to let her treat you like that?"

"Kyah!" The girl averted her head away, as if afraid to face him.

"You're wasting your time, kitten. This girl is broken beyond repair." Aiko mocked them. "Now, die and become mine." The shadows raised her hand, and so did Heiko. "Or betray yourself! That too would please me."

Hikine was a youkai whose legend defined him as a protector of young maidens, and someone unable to hurt them. Yet the enemy was possessing someone whom he could not hurt, and Hikine had no means to understand the nature of that possession, or have the means to exorcise the demon possessing Heiko. Nor had he time to lose, for Inuta's group would soon perish, and then Aiko would have no reason not to summon all of the shadow creatures here. By the looks of it, the situation was hopeless.

But Hikine did not despair. No matter how hopeless a situation looked, he was a hero. Every threat and crisis was nothing more than a puzzle that needed to be solved. Every story had its rules, as did every series of stories. Hikine knew these rules better than anyone. He needed to use them to solve this puzzle.

Once calmed down, he realized what the piece towards solving this puzzle was: a contradiction. He would most rather pretend that the existence did not exist, but he did not want to pretend as if a lie was a truth.

"May I ask you a question, Aiko?" He spoke out.

"Oh? I thought we were done with questions." He saw her shadow shrug. "Sure, I'll entertain you. Time is on my timeafter all."

"Thank you. So…" He looked right into the shadow. "Who the hell are you?"

"...huh? Are you messing with me?"

"I'm dead serious. I want to know who you are, and what is this game you are playing?"

"I'm the one who should be asking that question! Real Hikine would never forget about me! We fought against one another decades ago, soon after you killed Shizuko!"

"Yeah, well… none of that really happened." Hikine shrugged. "Shizuko and Aiko that I fought against never existed."

"Ha? What?" The youngest sister, Heiko, was now also confused. More confused than afraid by the looks of it. "But… you are the one who killed them."

He now faced the girl. "I'm a Tale born from novels. The fight between me and the two Kage Onnas happened decades ago, but the novels were published three or four years ago." He pointed out the contradiction. "In other words, I'm only a three or four years old youkai. I couldn't have killed your sisters before I was born."

"But then… why… how?"

"I can say three things, girl." He raised three fingers. "One, my fight against Shizuko and Aiko is real in my head and in the minds of my fans, but otherwise it's a big fat lie. It never happened." He lowered one finger. "Second, Aiko and Shizuko from my novels were based on the real ones. So if this Kage-Onna was the real Aiko…" He looked at the silhouette, which had turned eerily silent. "...she wouldn't know who I am. So if you are the real Heiko, she isn't your real sister." He also lowered another finger.

"What? She is… Aiko is not my real sis…"

"Don't listen to him, fool." Aiko's shadow spoke. "The cat's tongue speaks lies."

"Fortunately, you don't need to believe me." Hikine noted. "The contradiction is clear. If you know who I am, you know that I could not possibly be related to the real Shizuko and Aiko."

"Bah! The truth doesn't matter!" Aiko's shadow hugged Heiko's shadow. "No matter what I am, this girl's soul is already in my hands, it's far too late to save her from me."

"Then it's very fortunate that you don't exist, isn't it?" Hikine made a sad smile, and said the words that led to a short few moments of silence.

"Heiko-chan, do kill him please." Aiko's voice ordered, but Heiko's lips moved.

Several shadow monsters sprung from the ground, and attacked Hikine. But their shapes were unstable, a reflection of their master's state of mind. Hikine easily cut them down and walked forward. "Third…" He put his index finger in front of his nose. "The fake Shizuko and Aiko were created by the Hyaku Monogatari, with some dark agenda. I too was created by the Hyaku Monogatari, but by different parents and with the goal of stopping them." He stopped in front of Heiko when he was only two meters away, ignoring the shapeless shadows around him. "So I always kept my ears and eyes open in case the other side created the third one. I know, with absolute certainty, that there was no Tale where Aiko returned. If there is no Tale, there is no belief. If there is no belief, there is no fake Aiko to possess you."

"And… what does that mean?" Heiko asked, her body shaking. "No, no… don't answ-"

"That means that this Aiko was created by you." He pointed his index finger at her. "You created her, for a purpose that I don't know." And then he lowered his hand, and clenched his fist. "There is no Aiko, is there? There's only you."

"Ha?" The girl looked confused, and then started shivering. "What are you even saying? It makes no sense."

"It makes-" He started, but Heiko's sudden scream cut him off.

"What foolishness are you making up?" The voice that was supposed to be Aiko said. "What a petty way to turn her against me."

"What you said makes no sense!" Heiko screamed. "I know for sure I never did something like that!" She yelled, her voice filled with honesty.

"I see. So that's your game, huh?" Hikine sighed. "How pitiful." He then scowled. "And how shitty of you." And then he rushed forward.

"Hah?" Crying Heiko got startled. "Stop him!" "Stop him!" She yelled with both voices, her facade having started to fall apart. Nevertheless, shadow monsters appeared andstruck at him.

Hikine did not avoid them, he rushed forward even as their attacks cut across his body. He had to hurry, before she came up with a reason to deny his claims to herself. So he continued on, even as one creature's claws struck across his shoulder and another's fangs dug into his left leg.

Fortunately, the distance between him and the Kage Onna was not so large, so he quickly got to her. He caught her by her chest and pushed right into a lamplight. "I see, so you are deluding yourself?" He spoke while the girl looked at him with a face full of horror. "Do you know how many you killed tonight? And how many souls you robbed from being able to pass on?" He looked right into her eyes. "And not only my allies… I have seen corpses of youkai that belong to no side, and right now the youkai of the clan you belong to are dying to your shadows. All so that they could let me, their enemy, stop you."

Then something grabbed him and threw him away. He also lost his ability to keep his human form, and turned into a cat.

"I… I am not… this is not my-" He heard the girl say-

"When will it stop?" Hikine asked as he forced his bleeding body to rise up. "When you stab your best friend to death? When you murder their loved ones? Will you then also pretend that it was done by some made up sister?"

"Gah… I… this is all.. .ahaha, this is all a dream!" The girl shivered as she held her head. The shadow creatures have started to lose their shape, turning into something without real shape, but nevertheless something that still moved and could kill. "Yes, now that I know this is a dream, it all looks… it all looks…" Then her hands fell onto her sides and she looked up. "Ah, it all looks real I guess." She said with a tone that suddenly shifted to a calm and cold one.

"What a cruel bastard you are." Aiko's shadow spoke as well, before she too disappeared.

The girl looked down at him. The girl, who was hysterical just a moment ago, and sadistic when pretending to be her own dead sister, now had a vastly different face. She looked calm and tired, her eyes making her look as if she had not slept for days.

The girl sighed. "What is it that you want, cat?" The girl asked. Hikine also noticed that the mirror in her hand looked cracked, which he found strange as nothing happened to make it such.

Hikine looked up at her with his cat eyes. "To save you, of course."


~)(~


The third daughter was called Heiko. She inherited all that her mother lost: her innocence, her kindness, her energy, and her gentle soul.

Wrecked by the deaths of her first two daughters, her mother's shadow channeled all her frustration and despair into her.

She taught Heiko her destiny, and the poor girl refused it. Her mother responded with cruelty.

When the time came, she sent herself out of her home, with her shattered mirror as a memento, and her mother's blood on her hands. She went to forge her own destiny out of the shadows of her life, to find a purpose in her life.

Alas, her soul was too broken, and her shadow was distorted. Just who, or what, will return home?


~)(~


"Save me?" The girl smirked tiredly. "I feel as if someone splashed me with cold water and woke me from a sweet dream." Her way of speaking had become kind of slow, as if she did not really want to talk.

"Sweet dream, of someone who walks along the cliffs in their sleep.." Hikine said. "Such a person needs to be woken up."

"I'd rather you just killed me." She said with a smile. Her kimono had started to turn into black smoke.

"Anyway, what's this all about? You have DID?"

"What's that?"

"You have split personalities?"

"Ahh… kinda? I don't know… can it be called that?" She looked up as if thinking about it. The shadows that had enveloped her kimono had disappeared, and now she was wearing different garments. In contrast to her formerly traditional garments, she now wore a gothic-styled frock, mostly cobalt red with some curvy black lines, overlaid with a shadow gray tunic that reached to her waist, and holding a black bow tie with a butterfly brooch in the middle of it. Slightly puffy unattached sleeves sheltered her arms, secured with cobalt redbow-knots. Her legs were clothed in black, ending with gray shoes with small heels.

"Your clothes have changed." Hikine noted, slightly anxious. For a youkai, their clothes were part of their being. If a youkai's clothes suddenly changed, it was a sign that they themselves went through a major change as well. That, or they revealed their true character.

"Ah?" She looked down and raised her hands. "Ah… this brings back memories." She made a sad smile. "Our home was always so dull, with so many rules on how to dress, walk, sit… all by Mother's tastes. I dunno if I got tired of it, or wanted to rebel, or maybe because I just liked it more, but I liked things like these more." She let hre hands fall down again. "Mother, when she saw me, got mad." One of her hands caressed her right cheek, the other her hip. "So very mad." A brosh shaped as a butterfly appeared on her head, which she immediately noticed. "She didn't like this either. She slapped me once after she took it away… said she forgot that she held it, so the needle cut across my face. It healed though."

"Your mother seems to have been a very… strict kind of person." Hikine said. "It must have been hard living with her."

"My sisters were no better." She looked down. "My room was still my sanctuary, especially when Mother was gone. But they saw me once, and snitched on me. Mother… did not like it when she got angry for the same thing twice. She burnt my entire room down, and forced all of us three to live together."

"And then two afraid girls bonded together against the third."

Heiko smiled. "Yes. It was hell. But I found two friends." Her smile became slightly brighter. "The two Amefurikozō. They were little boys. Innocent, nice, playful, and bright. So unlike Mother and my two sisters. Being with them made me happy." She looked up into the sky. "I wished I could be such as well. So innocent, nice. Playful, bright… and so ignorant of the real world."

"So you developed a split personality?"

"No… what I developed was madness." She put her hand across her face. "If the day was cloudy, I screamed to myself that it was clear. If I wanted to cry, I screamed to myself that I got better. If Mother slapped me, I screamed to myself that she was gently caressing me. If I wanted to laugh at my sister's death, I told myself to be sad and cry." She moved away her hand, revealing a cruel smile. "Eventually, I guess that I lost my touch with reality. I changed… but deep inside me, there always remained someone who screamed."

"I see… so if you could not feel real happiness, you forced yourself to feel the false one." Tired and wounded, Hikine lay down.

"False or not, it was better than nothing. Even Mother left me alone."

"She did?"

"Yeah… she gave me one last disgusted look, said I was broken trash, and did not speak to me, or look at me, for years. Sisters kinda followed suit. As long as I acted like furniture, I was good." Her eyes and lips shivered. "It's weird y'know… I should've been happy to be left alone. But somehow, it hurt more than anything. I needed a lot and a lot of screaming to keep going. I even started to dress and act more like what she wanted. I hoped she would notice me… I needed her to notice me again." Her hands started trembling as well. "I kind of… felt like I did not even exist. Years and years went on like that, Mother not looking at me even when we were all alone."

Self-delusion mixed with an existential crisis and fear of her own parent. Not a good recipe. "Your mother had no right to treat you like that."

"We are our Mother. We were born from her own shadow. There was no father to… dilute her purity."

"Everyone can see that you are just quoting her madness. You three sisters were clearly vastly different from one another. You were not your mother."

"Matters not, that's what we had to be."

Hikine scowled, but did not push this topic further. "But you said that she did not notice you for years. Did it change?"

"It changed when my sisters died, and I was left as her only heir. Although I was also someone she could vent on." She closed her eyes, trembling once again. "I… don't want to talk about it."

Even though she got her wish. Hikine thought to himself.

"I know what you think… and you are right. That made it all the worse." She smiled again, though a tear flowed down from her eye. "I looked at all the other families… all of them were happy. Even those that did not get along at least had some sort of good bond. I just wanted to be happy, or to be proud. But… but…"

Her Mother seems to be the source of all her problems. If we could deal with her… "What is going on with your Mother now? Did she send you here?"

"Ah, no she didn't. She died many years ago." Heiko calmed down, and got a cool look in her eyes again. Yet, Hikine somehow felt eerie. "After all, I killed her." She looked down at her hands. "One day, I suddenly snapped and killed the bitch. I didn't mean to, but then it was all over." Her eyes were wide open. Her suddenly calm behavior made Hikine wonder if this was part of her coping mechanism. "Of course, I refused to accept I did it, so I just pretended that she passed away naturally. The Heiko I created was, after all, a girl who would never ever do that. She was my first ideal self."

"What happened then?" Hikine asked. He had to try and find some way to get her to calm down. They were not fighting right now, but she was still a threat to everyone in Tokyo. And she was still hurting. "What happened to bring you all the way here?" He doubted that it was something as simple as revenge.

"What happened then… well, I pretended that everything was alright, as usual. Though one of my two Amefurikozō friends must have noticed that something was off, as he started to age, all so he could protect me and his brother." She scratched her hand as she thought about something for a few moments. "Or maybe just his brother. He did, after all, abandon me. Maybe he was afraid of me. Though I know that he did worry about me, and feared that Aiko would take me over."

"So you created Aiko even before coming here?"

"Yes, I… created her long ago. You see, it was the same as when Mother stopped paying attention to me. I thought I would be free, but I actually became even more chained. Though she was dead, she still haunted me. And I was still afraid of her." She rubbed her hands. "As time went on, I grew even more afraid. What if the youkai who killed my sisters came after me? If my strong sisters could die so easily, then how was I safe? And started wondering, deep inside, if I was too soft. I wanted to become stronger. And tougher. But I could not act like it, not if I wanted to keep my facade. So I created Aiko."

This is getting so complicated. "And you mixed the real Aiko with the fake one from my novels."

"Heh, I didn't know it was fake. Aiko acted like the real one." Heiko sighed. "When the humans came and destroyed my old home, I took it as a sign that it was time to go on my own journey. If I could find the one who murdered my sisters and if I could kill him, then I would be stronger than either. I would be like Aiko, but even stronger. So I helped Shiori as a mercenary, hoping to find you that way. But as I saw all those youkai fight together, it became clear that I could not do it alone. I needed allies, to keep your allies away."

"So you joined the Nura Clan?"

"Yes, I joined the Nuras. This also guaranteed me a home, as well as chances to get even stronger." Heiko looked away. "Of course, if one looked at me, it would seem as if Aiko did all this planning, and Heiko did as her big sister told her to do."

"I see.. So Aiko was actually your shield. No matter what you did, no matter what betrayals you committed, you could blame it all on Aiko." Hikine rose onto all fours. "Am I right?"

Heiko smiled. "You're on point. Though I did make myself believe that Aiko was really haunting me, deep inside it was all so that she could take the blame. I could kill Ritsura's best friend, as long as I played my part right, it would look like I was a victim myself."

"That's quite a crafty mind for someone self-deluded."

"It's madness, just like I said." She shook her head. "Looking back now though… what was I doing?"

"I think what matters is what you do from now on. Or do you intend to return to your charade?"

"Return to my charade? As if I can do that now. Everything is so disgustingly clear…" She grabbed her bangs with both hands.

"You should calm down now. Your mother and sisters-"

"Don't you dare say it's alright now."

"Anyway, is there really a reason to be…" Hikine looked for a word.

"Depressed? Broken? Terrified?" Heiko let go of her hair and smiled. "Everything looks like shit now. I think back on everything, and I can't think of anything nice. I snort at Ritsura's and Nura Clan's dreams, knowing full well it'll never be that nice. I think of humans, and pity their sorry, dull lives. I look at TV shows, and think of how pointless they are. I think of this war, and… meh, why am I even talking to you in the first place?"

"To vent? Venting helps, you know."

"What, are you an expert?"

"Actually, I am."

"Oh really? Or is that, just like your fight with my sisters, just another lie?"

"My lie at least saves lives."

"Your lie also helps the Hyaku Monogatari, does it not? Do they too save lives?"

"No, but I did make sure they take fewer lives. My own mother likes it."

"Lucky you."

"I won't deny it. But back to my question, what do you intend to do now?"

"You look like a cat preparing to jump at its prey. Am I really that dangerous?"

"Yes, you are. I have researched enough about the Kage Onna to know that their powers are pretty limited. Your own family could not summon shadow monsters outside or during the day. This rule went for Shizuko and Aiko in my novels as well." Although there, the shadows became weak when these rules were broken. But he guessed the same may have applied to the real ones. "But you break both those rules. Speaking of which… why?" He looked at the mirror in her hand. "Is it the work of that thing?"

She raised the mirror up and looked at it. "Hmmm…" And then she looked back at him. "Didn't I already say too much to an enemy?" The shadows started swirling around the ground.

Hikine could feel that, if he fought her now, he would be in big trouble. Not only because he was wounded enough, but she seemed stronger than when she pretended to be Aiko. "I don't know if we're enemies. But I'd rather not be."

"Of course. You'd die if we fought. But I am afraid of you."

"I wish you no harm. You know my Tale forbids it."

"That doesn't mean you won't bring it to me. This world is rotten, it doesn't care about sentiments."

The shadows continued to form. To Hikine's surprise and horror, these shadows were not big lumps of black shaped as youkai. Several of them started taking full shape of the youkai they copied. He could see one of Inuta's youkai among them, one which looked like an overgrown rat. He had grey fur, moved his eyes, and breathed. Just like the real one. And he had a feeling that he was as strong as the real one.

Seeing Inuta's ally, who was now probably dead, reminded him of the lives that depended on him. But not only was he not sure that her carnage would stop, but he may have made her stronger. He looked around, wondering about his options. For a moment, he even thought of betraying his fear and defeating her. It would weaken him for the rest of his life at best, corrupt his Tale at worst, but he thought of the lives he would save.

It was a momentary thought. Only a momentary thought, which he would not abide by.

But the moment was enough. "Your eyes… like in a cat ready to kill. See? See?" Heiko shook and started to tear up. "To think I felt sorry. To think I believed you. You can attack me! You will attack me! Only so you can live!"

"No!" Hikine shouted. "I do not-"

"Go away! Leave me alone!" She said, and her shadows attacked.

Hikine looked around him. There were still enough openings for an attack, or for escaping. But one thought about why made him realize something.

I see… so that's how it is. He knew what he really had to do, in order to stay true to his Fear. "I'm sorry, Mother." He said and closed his eyes.


~)(~


"Eh?" Heiko muttered. She could not understand what just happened. She knew he would either attack her or flee. She knew it. Was it to survive or to save others, he would have done it. At least he would have tried.

"Why…?" She asked herself and him. "Why… did you just sit there?" She asked the cat whose body was torn apart by just one attack. After that one hit, he fell by her side.

"Better… question…" The cat muttered. "Why… did you lie? They were… far away… and slow. You wanted me… safe."

"You were supposed to do it then! What the hell?"

"You'd see it… another betrayal."

"Who cares? You could come again later then!" She fell onto her knees, her shadows disappearing. "Now you're just another… death at my hands."

"You… not evil. Just trying to be… but should not."

"This is stupid… it's a pointless death." She did not know this youkai. She met him only an hour ago. It should n0ot have hurt as much as it did. "I would… I would…" She wanted to say that she would not have done anything if she survived and he escaped. But she was not certain that it was true. She was not certain at all about what she would have done. Her head was a mess, worse than ever before.

"My story… trilogy." He continued to speak. "Three sisters… three stories… then it must end. Genre is… horror. This was… fated."

"Don't try to give this some reason." She looked around him, hoping that he could recover. But his Fear was fading. "You should have just killed me. We're enemies!"

"I did it too… in novels…"

"You survived there, you fool." Because the one who struck him there stopped at the last moment. Heiko did not.

"If you… sorry… then promise… to be honest… and… be… happy."

"I… I will…" She started, but then realized that he had already stopped breathing. "No no… it can't end like this… I must do… what I do you stupid shadowy… Ah!" She looked at her hand. "You bastard, thinking you can do as you please! You're just a shadow, and shadows answer to me!" She grabbed his body with her hand. "I won't let it end in this stupid way!" She yelled and started to fix his body, which was made of shadows, with shadows that she controlled.

You don't have the power to do this. A voice spoke to her."I do! "

A mass murderer saving a life? You don't have that kind of power. "I will make it so that I do!"

This is not your fate. "My fate is what I want it to be! Not what you meant it for me!"

Your life has been one failure after another. One betrayal after another. "Then it stops now!"

"Do you hear me, stupid cat?" She shouted as she saw his body slowly recover. "I won't let death, or fate, or some dumbass writer decide your fate! Or my own foolishness!"


~)(~


Heiko walked through the streets. Her hands were still bloody from holding that cat's body, but she did not have anything to clean them up with.

She was still unsure what to do. Her instincts told her to smile, to yell into the air, to run, to jump, and to fool around.

Her other instincts told her to kill some more youkai, to consume their Fears and turn them into her shadows. That this was a great time for a harvest. If someone suspects something… well, it was all Aiko's doing.

"Hey! There you are!" Someone called her. When she turned around, she realized that it was Gozumaru, followed by Mezumaru. "I barely recognized you in that getup. Is that a new style of yours?"

"An old one." She noted.

"Hmph, it doesn't suit you." Gozumaru gave an opinion he was not asked for.

"I think she looks cute." Mezumaru raised his hands. "Like a doll."

"Yeha, we all know you like dolls." Gozumaru told him. "Anyway, where were you? The Princess was worried about you."

"Yeah! One of the crows even said that it overheard you mumbling something about some Aiko!"

"Mezumaru!" Gozumaru shouted at him, and then turned back towards Heiko. "Bah, whatever. Yeah, we heard that some Kage Onna has been causing trouble. And that it looked like you. But during the day, the crows also heard you mutter some things…"

He continued talking, but Heiko did not listen or even look at them. Her instincts, to dig herself behind the mask she had created, have grown stronger. They even seemed ready to buy her excuse that she had been possessed by her sister. She feared the idea that these youkai, who had accepted her as one of their own, would look at her as if she were a traitor. Which she was.

"No. I've had enough." She shook her head and then faced him. Whatever he was saying, he looked startled. "There's no Aiko. This was all my doing." She had it enough with lying to others and, even more so, to herself. "However much I try, the world won't be different just because I tell myself it's different." All it did was make it worse.

Besides, she made a promise.

"What the heck are you talking about?"

She continued to look at him. She could escape, force her way out. But she owed it to Ritsura and others not to do so. "I'm saying that I have betrayed you all, and my oath to Ritsura by killing my own allies."

"What are you… you are not acting like yourself at all."

She shrugged. "Whatever the case, don't you think you should unsheathe that sword? I can still change my mind and run off." She said to the still baffled Gozumaru.


~)(~


"Huh…" A youkai looked into the night sky as he woke up. "I'm pretty sure I had died." He did not feel like this was Hell… if artificial youkai could even go there.

He turned into his humanoid form and touched his body. There were no wounds, and there was no pain.

But when he rose up, he saw something written with blood on the ground. It said 'Bakaneko' (Stupid Cat).

Then he let himself fall down again, not sure how to feel about all this.


~)(~


The creatures of shadow were gone, proving that Hikine had fulfilled his promise and stopped the rampaging Kage Onna. The sacrifice done by Inuta and his pack was not in vain.

And what a sacrifice it was, for Inuta was the sole survivor. And even he survived only barely. Though he could not fight, he could distract the shadows and coerce them to attack him. He avoided them well, but nobody could avoid such numbers forever.

As a result, Inuta had lost his left eye, his right ear was cut off, he was limping due to wounds on his left paw, and his body was covered in deep cuts and bruises.

But he was alive, and he had to leave and return to the territories belonging to the Nura Clan, and from there to the rest of his pack. He was ready to die, but if he was fated to live, then he intended to make the most out of it.

But alas, he misunderstood the reason why he was still breathing. In front of him stood a grim reaper, in the shape of a girl with hair that was black with occasional green and red bangs, and green eyes full of hate. He remembered her, it was that Urban Legend whose friends Inuta massacred, and which somehow survived his hunting. Kohana was her name, if he remembered right. He was not sure why he did remember it, maybe it was because this fate awaited him.

"Do you remember me, dog?" The grim reaper asked.

"Ah yes, I do. You're that sweet smelling flower I met last night. Grrr…" Inuta growled. "Come closer, so I can rip your throat properly."

The girl silently headed his invitation, and moved forward, her both hands clenched as if they were holding something.

"O-ho? You're getting closer? You're getting closer to a blood-thirsty hound?"

"I can't put you down without getting closer." She said. Flowers sprung in a wide circle around them. Their petals were red, with yellow edges, and pointing upwards.

"Ah, the fire lilies." Inuta recognized the poisonous flowers. "Gloria Superba, right?"

"I'm stumped." She said, though she did not look like she really cared. "You're knowledgeable about flowers?"

"I don't, but my nineteenth pup fancies himself a botanist. I almost died because I touched and sniffed the darn things." The fact that he almost died because of some pup's flowers was the most humiliating event of his life. "I couldn't stand or trust flowers since then. Which is why I can't stand you."

The girl did not retort. She made a few more steps and then, intentionally, struck one leg with the other to make herself stumble.

What due to instincts and what due to accepting this grim reaper's script, Inuta rushed into the flower's trap with his fangs bared. But due to his injuries, it was a slow and clumsy attack, one which even a human could avoid. The girl opened her hands and threw some spores and seeds at him.

The burning pain took him over, and he fell to the ground, sliding past her. He tried to get up, but something like worms had crawled through his insides. No, something was growing inside of him, all while ripping his organs apart.

He could guess what it was based on this youkai that attacked him, and his suspicions were proven true when some thorny flowers sprung out of his body through his old wounds, throwing pieces of meat and pools of blood out. The flower petals were black, and parts of those petals turned red as they drank the blood splattered across them.

Inuta was becoming a victim of a slow and painful death. "Ha… ha… Does it hurt, dog? Are you suffering?" His Grim Reaper asked. She tried to make a sadistic smile, but she was doing horrible work at looking evil.

"He he… that's better." Inuta replied with a low-toned laugh.

The reaper's weak smile disappeared. "What are you laughing for?"

"You're a flower drenched in evil now. Hehe… Guah!" A flower sprung out of his missing eye, which brought him much more pain than the ones that sprung across his body. "You're now… a proper creature of Hell. You're no longer some boring flower planter." Life was quickly fading from Inuta. "May your new Fear bring much pain and death, creature of Hell."

He closed his remaining eye, the last thing he had seen was the girl who was furious because she felt that she was the one who had lost. The dog would not give her the satisfaction of victory, though he did wish her a longer life than Urban Legends tended to have.


~)(~


Rihan was not too surprised to see youkai of the Nura Clan in front of the Tokyo Tower. He could sense more of them inside the tower. He did not stop walking though.

Their Fears only surfacely touched him, meaning that their purpose here was not to stop him or slow him down. He could however see malice and hate in their eyes. They wished him ill, especially a few who looked as if they had to contain themselves to attack him.

He accepted feelings of these few. As his amber eyes passed over them, he released his Fear. For youkai, this was a challenge for a fight, and most would happily take it.

Others yet retreated, which was what happened here. Rihan was not sure if they were startled by his Fear or if they remembered that they were supposed to follow some orders, and he did not care to find out. He would forget about their very existence soon enough.

"Announce your arrival properly. Cut a bloody path towards your father. Show him how strong you have become."

"Hmph, so you've arrived." Hitotsume Nyudo appeared in front of the doors that lead into the Tokyo Tower's FootTown building. "I hoped someone would beat you to a pulp long before you could get close." He was smoking his favorite pipe while his one, big eye looked down at Rihan.

"Oh, Hitotsume!" Rihan stopped and greeted him with a smile. "Fancy meeting you here of all places." Rihan put a hand on his sword. "You're standing in front of the door. Should I take it that I need to beat you up to pass through?"

"Hmph, the Commander said to let you pass if you come." Hitotsume walked backwards and opened the way for Rihan. "We're not to interfere, or even get close to the top floor. But we will make sure none of your cronies come to help you."

"Well, thank you for your consideration." Rihan said and tried to walk past him, but Hitotsume stopped him by grabbing his shoulder. "What?" Rihan asked after several moments passed by without Hitotsume saying anything.

"For a dirty traitor, you sure have some nerve."

"Cut his dirty arm off."

"You're the last one I wanna hear say that." Rihan said and grabbed Hitotsume's arm. "Did you know? It was the Nura Clan that sent Gagoze to kill me." Rihan dug his fingers deep into Hitotsume's thick arm, strong enough to make the youkai flinch. "Just like how you and your friends were betraying my father when he was younger." He pushed Hitotsume's arm away.

"I had nothing to do with-"

"Oh shut up. Dad spared you to keep up the peace. And now that I'm not in the clan anymore, I don't need to pretend nothing happened like the rest do." Rihan looked him right into the eye. "You're a two-faced, sleazy piece of shit. And whenever I feel guilty, I just need to remember you prancing around all high and mighty. Same as the traitors who stabbed me." He remembered Housei and his obnoxious sneer.

"You speak like you know exactly who they are."

Rihan smirked. "I know… and I'm sure you know too. There's no way none of you big guns wouldn't. I'm sure you can take a guess at who was behind it, and you would be right." Rihan resumed his walking. "But you won't do shit about it. You'll just make excuses to not have to do anything."

"Don't pretend like you're some kid who doesn't understand why this is not so simple." Hitotsume spoke behind him. "Or like you will now be free of that. If you think we're bad, you'll hate it everywhere else."

"Don't make this into such a big matter, Hitotsume." Rihan replied. "I was not explaining my life choices. I was just telling you why you are full of shit." Rihan struck the button for the elevator and entered. "But I advise you to stop fooling around. If something bad happens to the clan because of me, know that it is because one of those traitors, one of the shadows smearing your honorable clan, helped me." He looked as Hitotsume opened his mouth to question him while the doors of the elevator closed.


I-I-I-I-I


Author Notes

Another chapter done, another youkai with parental issues. And that youkai still has better reasons to stand against her parent than Rihan Jr. does.

- this chapter advanced Heiko's plotline, and also reveals her true story. Heiko had been very eccentric at the start (which is now confirmed to be result of a major delusion caused by trauma), revealed in some chapters that there was some dark ambition around her, then revealed that she was possessed by her evil nee-san, and now it's revealed that she was just having a bad case of DID

- Hikine managed to end the Kage Onna's rampage and put an end to the two fake personalities that she had created to shelter herself. Ritsura will need all the luck dealing with her now, especially since she is basically a traitor to the clan

- Heiko's story is not over yet. Question remains why Shizuko and Aiko became part of a Tale, why Hikine is involved, and it would be too easy if this was all we hear of her evil mother. And last, but not least, why is she so strong. But more on that in a later arc

- when Heiko yells "Dumbass writer", she doesn't only refer to the person(s) who created Hikine's tale. She also refers to me. Because my plan since before the arc started, before I myself was sure what exactly will happen in this chapter, was that Hikine had to die no matter what. But alas, sometimes the situation you created is such that your plans get foiled by your own characters. Heiko had the motivation, power, and symbolism necessary to save him. So he escaped my claws. Usually, I'm entertained when this happens, but this time I'm pretty cranky

- alongside Heiko, Kohana is another youkai girl who was nice and kind by her nature, but evil youkai turned into something else. Inuta, the main victim of this arc, is pretty happy about it though

- next chapter will feature the Nura Clan's fight against the death's Doctor, after which we are moving to the main dish: the confrontation between father and son