Oak Creek, 1943
"There's an answer, I swear. Come on, just try."
The truck came a screeching halt as the young military officer, Merrick, urged his friend to answer the question he posed. It had been going on all night and for some reason he found it amusing. Hayes, however, did not.
"What gets broken without being held?"
"I don't care." Hayes groaned, slamming the door shut as he made his way to the back of the truck to meet Merrick. The back door came down with a squeak.
"A promise. Get it?"
"No, I don't. It's stupid. It's not funny. None of this is funny." He gestured to the pile of bodies that they now had to unload. The disgust in his voice was thick. He reached inside and grabbed hold of the wrapped figure's legs, with Merrick following suit with the head. They lifted it up and began walking it away from the truck and over to the pile they had started earlier that night.
"What has teeth but doesn't bite?" They continued, a grunt of strain in Merrick's voice.
"Will you shut up already?"
"Come on. This one's good. What has teeth but doesn't bite?" They bent down and lay the body beside the pile. "A comb."
"These jokes are stupid."
"They're not jokes, idiot. They're riddles. My girl back home loves them." The pair grabbed the last body from the truck and put it down. "What has a neck, but no head?"
"Your mother." Hayes scoffed, as they walked back to the truck to retrieve the canisters of gasoline.
"A bottle." Merrick grabbed the cannister, annoyed that his friend wouldn't even try. That's when they turned.
"What the hell?"
Two bandaged white beings stood among the dead bodies; their sharp bloody teeth were bared. They stalked towards the two soldiers, like zombies trying to catch their footing. That's when the shots rang out and the bloodshed began.
Present Day
"This looks just like me."
Kira held up the photo Malia had brought Scott from Eichen House. They were both sitting on her bed, quite close to one another. She flipped over the photo, revealing the date 1943 scratched out in quick handwriting. "This has to be my grandmother."
"You remember I told you about Malia?" Scott asked. "She's the last one who saw Stiles at Eichen House. This picture and this." He turned, grabbing the old katana, holding it out with both hands. "They found it with two bodies buried in a wall. The same backwards five that the oni put on us was on the wall." He paused, contemplating his next words. Ever since Kristie went missing, he didn't know what to think. "It sounds like it all goes back to your family. Your grandmother, your mom." A soft buzz interrupted him, and Kira turned, picking up her phone. A look of panic crossed her face. "What is it?"
"My dad."
Rushing into school, the two slammed through the fronts doors and made their way to Mr. Yukimura's classroom. They found him on all fours, struggling to breath, with Kira's mother, Noshiko, at his side, a loving hand on his back. She looked up at the two wide eyed teenagers as they stomped in.
"Kira, did you bring it?" She questioned, her voice frantic.
"You going to tell me what it is?" Kira asked, kneeling to the ground and handing her mother the dark vial.
"Reishi." Noshiko opened the vial and took out the contents, giving them to her struggling husband.
"You're not seriously giving Dad magic mushrooms?"
Within seconds, Mr. Yukimura was coughing up black goo and was suddenly fine. "Are you okay?" Noshiko asked, still wanting conformation. Mr. Yukimura nodded as they helped him sit on the edge of his desk.
"Stiles did this?" Scott asked, a deep pain in his voice.
"He wanted the last kaiken." Noshiko showed him the small piece. "I've kept this near me ever since your friend disappeared."
"Mom, you need to talk to us, about everything." Kira said, sternly. Scott reached into his pocket and pulled out the old photo, showing it to her. Noshiko's eyes went wide.
"Where did you get this?" She snatched the photo from Scott.
"Is it Grandma?"
"No." She paused and looked around the room. "It's me."
"If that's you, then you'd have to be like 90 years old." Scott scoffed, not believing her.
"Closer to 900."
"Okay, sure." Kira sighed heavily. "Why not? Dad, how old are you?"
"Forty-three." He responded, honestly. "But I've been told I look mid- 30's." Kira scoffed and looked back at her mother, before raising up the katana. Noshiko took it from her and walked to the front of the desk. She held it in her two hands before swiftly unsheathing it, letting the broken pieces fall to the scratched, wooden surface.
"The blade was shattered the last time it was used." She explained, putting the handle down beside the tiny pieces.
"When was that?"
"1943. Against a nogitsune."
"All this, it's all happened before, hasn't it?" Scott asked.
"Yes."
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Mr. Yukimura quoted.
"Where did it come from?" Kira questioned, a hint of anger in her voice at her parent's lies.
"It was an internment camp during World War II. In Oak Creek. Not too far from here."
"Hold on." Scott shook his head and looked at Mr. Yukimura. "You told Allison and Isaac that there was no internment camp at Oak Creek."
"Allison's family has a certain history of violence." He began to explain. "I didn't know if she could be trusted. There was a camp, yes. But all the records were erased."
"They covered it up." Noshiko sternly said, gritting her teeth.
"When I was a grad student," Mr. Yukimura began, pulling papers and pictures from his desk. "My passion project, actually more like an obsession, was trying to dig up the truth on Oak Creek. It's how I met your mother, Kira."
Kira reached down to the pile and pulled out a picture of a burn victim lying in a hospital bed. "So, where did the nogitsune come from?"
"Isn't it obvious yet?" Noshiko raised an eyebrow. "It came from me."
Oak Creek, 1943
Oak Creek was a busy place; soldiers always coming and going, doing what…...their captives did not know. They stayed in their bunk houses and tried to lay low. Supplies were low at the so-called camp, but there was always some kind of treat…. thanks to Noshiko.
"Guys, keep your voices down." Rinko, her partner in crime, warned as she passed out the stolen apples to the members of their bunk house. "There's plenty for everyone. But if the MPs hear, no one gets anything."
Rinko was a tall and pretty girl with dark black hair and fine skin. She was the caretaker among the group, always thinking about others and not herself. It was like she could tell exactly what they were feeling and knew what they needed. Her head quickly snapped as the door to the bunkhouse opened. But it was only little Michio, barely a boy, trying to get out his energy anyway he could.
"Michio." Noshiko said, stopping him in front of her bunk. She threw him the small white ball from her spot and gave him a big smile.
"A baseball, Noshiko?" Rinko sternly said, concern in her voice. "Did you manage to steal any firecrackers? A machine gun maybe?" Noshiko sighed at her friend's sarcasm. But she could also feel the stare on the back of her head.
"I can feel your glare on the back of my head, Satomi." She sighed, turning to the older woman, who sat in her normal spot, playing her normal game of Go.
"You take too frequently." Satomi chided her. "And you take too much."
"Should I give some back?" She set down on the table a glass bottle of aspirin, sliding it to Satomi. "I know you get migraines at least once a month."
"I prefer to suffer." Satomi answered, sliding the bottle back. "I know what you think of me, Noshiko. You think I am weak because I follow the rules. You think rules are for the obedience of fools and cowards. The young fox always knows the rules so she can break them. The older, wiser animal learns the exceptions to the rules."
The click of heels walked towards the table and Rinko came into view, bending down. "Listen, you two, all we have to do is stay quiet."
But her warning was futile as the sound of shattered glasses filled the room. Everyone immediately started moving, hiding all of their little treasures and pleasures out of sight, hoping no one could find them. Not two seconds after everyone had settled, did three MPs walk into the bunkhouse, the lights for the camp yard shining in behind them; superheroes here to save the day. Only they were the villains.
"Somebody lose something?" Rhys, the higher authority among the three asked, holding up the baseball Noshiko had given to Michio minutes before.
"There were supplies stolen off the truck last night." Merrick announced as he and Hayes began an inspection of the room. He walked right over to Rinko. "Anybody here got any ideas what happened?" He tugged on the sides of Rinko's dress, groping her butt in the process.
"Merrick." Rhys warned, seeing what he was doing.
"Just doing my patriotic duty, Corporal." He replied, his eyes never leaving Rinko, who dared not to look him in the eye.
"I want that window fixed." Rhys began. "There'll be an inspection in the morning. We better not find anything that shouldn't be here."
"We're not gonna look now?" Hayes asked, his voice a mix of anger and disappointment.
"Inspection in the morning, Private. This is a relocation center. Not a prison."
"You can call it a summer camp if it makes you feel better. Sir." Merrick chuckled before he and Hayes turned on their heels. Rhys turned to follow, but before doing so, tossed the ball back to Michio, who was hiding behind his father. Rhys gave him a quick smile before leaving the bunkhouse, the large door slamming behind him.
Present Day
"Kira, I need your help on this." Noshiko told her daughter, looking through the katana pieces. She looked up at Kira, whose arms were crossed, and her eyes were averted from her mother. "There isn't much time. And this is something that needs to be done in the daylight."
"Not until you tell us everything."
"Tell them, Noshiko." Mr. Yukimura urged. "Tell them what they need to know."
Noshiko was very reluctant to do so. "Wolves and foxes tend not to get along." Her voice almost hissed as she looked between Scott and Kira. "Not just in fables and stories."
"But allies, however unlikely, should be welcomed. Especially in times of war."
Noshiko looked between the three and slammed down the katana piece firmly on the desk.
"Sorry, but I can't let you walk out with this." Deputy Parrish told Mr. Argent from his spot at the front desk. Both Argent and Derek stood in front of him, ready to be released from the sheriff's station. "It's way above the legal voltage limit."
"I only use it for hunting." Argent tried to explain, getting a dirty look from Derek.
"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure you could use it to jump-start a 747."
"This property belongs to me and the charges were dropped. Although, I'm not exactly sure who's responsible for that."
"I am." All three heads turned as Sheriff Stilinski walked up to them. "I'll take care of this, Parrish."
"Sheriff, I'm not kidding. This thing's a few watts from being a lightsaber."
"I said I'll take care of it." He assured the young deputy, taking back the stick and closing it. He gestured from Argent and Derek to follow him into his newly fixed office. Once the door was closed, he could talk. "The specialist I saw in LA told me the thing that every doctor says when he's trying to avoid a lawsuit: we can't say for sure. And then I spoke with Melissa." He reached into a file on his desk, pulling out two scans. "These are brain scans. My wife's and Stiles'. I knew they were similar. But those are the same. Exactly the same."
"And I'm guessing this isn't possible?" Derek asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not even remotely."
"So, the trickster is still playing tricks." Argent concluded.
"But why this trick?"
Stilinski sighed. "When I was in the Army, an officer told me, "If you want to defeat your enemy, you don't take away their courage. You take away their hope.""
"You don't look like a man who gives up hope easily." Argent offered.
"But Stiles might. If this thing inside him, if it's using his mother's disease as some sort of psychological trick, then this isn't just a fight for his body. It's also a fight for his mind. Right?"
"You know, he's left people severely injured."
"And others severely dead." Derek added.
"That's why I need the two of you. I need people who are experienced in this kind of thing. I need you to help me stop him."
"And by stop him, you mean trap him." Argent confirmed, looking at the weapon on his desk.
Stilinksi looked Argent up and down, before reaching the weapon and handing it to him. As Argent grabbed it, the two held it for a moment, locking eyes, Stilinski hoping he wasn't making the right choice, before letting it go. "Yes. And I'm gonna need you to promise me that's all that will happen to him. Especially you Derek."
Derek raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "Why me?"
Stilinski sighed and mirrored the werewolf's stance. "Because…...Because Kristie is missing. And Scott thinks Stiles might have her."
"Okay, stop. Just stop." Kira exclaimed, holding up her hands. "We don't want to hear your Casablanca story. We wanna know how to save Stiles."
Noshiko sighed. "I'm trying to tell you."
"You're trying to stall." Scott said forcefully. "When the sun goes down, the oni are gonna come after him again, aren't they?"
Mr. Yukimura shook his head. "Your friend's gone, Scott."
"I don't think you know that for sure." He looked it Noshiko. "You brought the oni. Can you call them off?"
"It's not his fault." Kira added.
"Stiles may be your best friend." Noshiko began, her voice firm. "He might be like a brother to you. But he is nogitsune now. He is void."
"Can you call them off?"
"When you hear the rest of the story, you won't want me to." Noshiko sighed and began to tell her story again, continuing her work on the katana.
"Rhys and I found ways to see each other. Sometimes at the barracks. Sometimes in the bunkers where they parked military vehicles. He was being transferred to North Africa in a few weeks. I was teaching him some French when we saw Merrick and Hayes talking with the camp doctor. They were whispering, talking quickly."
"Noshiko." Mr. Yukimura whispered, grabbing his wife's hand. All four looked down to see the blood pooling in her hand.
"Mom, what are you doing?" Kira asked, her voice shaky. She tried to reach for her mother's hand, but Noshiko pulled it away. Mr. Yukimura gave her a look, before handing her a small cloth. She took it and wiped her hand, revealing an uninjured palm. "How did you do that?" Kira gasped.
"It's one of our talents. Something you'll learn, Kira. You should've noticed by now that you never get sick. Ever. You'll never experience something as simple as a common cold. Something as bad as the flu. Or something like..."
Oak Creek, 1943
"Pneumonia." The doctor confirmed, removing his stethoscope from little Michio's chest. He stood up straight and removed the instrument from his ears. "Same as the others." He finished before walking off.
Just down the way in the sick bay, he passed Rinko and Noshiko, who was trying to help her coughing friend. "I'm okay. It's not that bad." Rinko gave her friend a small smile of reassurance, before walking over to a bed to begin another coughing fit.
Noshiko angerly looked around the room before her eyes fell on Rhys. She couldn't tell what they were saying, but the doctor was obviously mad, yelling and pointing at Rhys before storming off. Catching her eyes, the two lovers met.
"Everyone's coming down with pneumonia." He told her, being careful of who was watching. "And we are all out of M & B."
"M & B?" She asked, her brow furrowed.
"May and Baker Pharmaceuticals. It's sulfadiazine."
"I saw those boxes." She cheered up.
"What do you mean boxes? We only got one."
"There were three. I know I took a bunch of stuff off that truck, but I didn't take any M & B."
"Rhys checked his log. But we already knew what was happening." Noshiko's voice trembled. "Dr. Liston was using Merrick and Hayes to sell medicine on the black market. A young boy died; I watched his father hold his lifeless body. I watched so many die because of their greed. And once everyone in the camp found out, they were furious."
"Listen. Listen!" Rinko tried to yell over the clamoring crowd in the bunkhouse. "All we have to do is go to the administration and issue a formal complaint."
"You want to talk to them?" Michio's father asked, pushing his way through the crowd. "Let's talk to them. Let's tell them how one of their doctors has been stealing medication and selling it on the black market."
"They'll listen." Rinko begged. "They have to."
"I'm sure they will. They'll nod their heads with their condescending smiles. They'll say, "A new shipment is on its way. Any day now." While today... Today, my son is dead."
"I know how you feel..." Rinko began, but another coughing fit sent her doubling over.
"No, Rinko. I know how you feel. You feel sick. I'm going to bury you next to Michio."
"You want to know what I think?" Satomi's voice rose over the group from her spot at the Go table. "You won't even get a condescending smile. They won't listen to us. Why should they?"
"I have a way to make them listen." Michio's father said and held up a bottle of liquor with a small piece of cloth sticking out of the top: a Molotov cocktail.
"I had realized the mistake I had made by speaking too soon. I wasn't helping anyone. I was inciting a riot."
"Stop! Stop!"
Rhys' voice was barely audible over the yells of the large crowd. He knew these people were angry and they had a right to be. But he didn't need any MPs shooting them. "Put your guns away. Put 'em away!"
"We want the doctor!"
"I yelled for them to stop." Noshiko's voice was quivering as Scott and Kira watched her recount her story. "But so many people were sick. And so many were dying. I'd never seen anger like that. It was a living, breathing thing. Michio's father lit his bomb, ready to strike those who had cost him his son. And that's when I saw Satomi confront Merrick. He hit her across the face with his gun, angering the mob even more. That's when I saw her eyes. Now I knew why Satomi was always trying to keep quiet. Why she got migraines once a month, and why she was always sat at the game of Go. It kept her calm."
"She was bitten." Scott asked, but it was actually more of a confirmation.
"Bitten werewolves have a harder time suppressing their anger." She gave Scott a pointed look. "One unexpected flare-up and they could lose all control. She took the bomb and threw it at the officers, but the only people she hit were Rhys and Rinko, the only two trying to keep the peace. It engulfed them in a fire." Her voice cracked with emotion. "I can still hear both of their screams." She paused for a moment to catch her breath. Kira began to take her mother's place, putting the katana back together as she struggled with her story.
"Things only got worse from there. The gunfire nearly killed me. I don't know how many bullets made their way into my body, but I fought every one of them. It left my body so weak, my heartbeat so slow it appeared as though I was dead. But even then, I was still better off than Rhys and Rinko. Their screams could be heard throughout Eichen House, echoing through every room, every hallway. They died in agony. The doctor, it seems, had also sold the morphine. Not that they would have given it to Rinko anyway.
"Merrick and Hayes were given the task of getting rid of all the bodies, both American and Japanese American. They were transferring Dr. Liston out as well, stationing him somewhere else. They were covering it up. The doctor, Merrick, Hayes, and all of the others. They were gonna get away with murder. By chance, I guess, both of their bodies had been put next to mine. I wanted the soldiers and the administration of the camp to be punished for their crime. But I knew the clock was ticking. I was going to lose my chance. They were going to burn me with the others.
"I couldn't fight back with my body weakened and still healing. I could barely move. I was going to die. With time slipping through my fingers, I knew I was making a terrible decision. But I could not die knowing they would get away. So, I called out to our ancestors for kitsune-tsuki: possession by a fox spirit. For a powerful Nogistune, one that feeds off chaos, strife and pain, to take control of my weakened body, imbue it with power and use it as a weapon. But calling on a trickster spirit is a dangerous thing. They can have a very dark sense of humor. Because while the Nogistune did come to possess someone, it wasn't me. And it wasn't even just one. Two came…...and took Rhys and Rinko."
"What happened?" Scott's voice was small as he asked.
"My body was beginning to heal. And I managed to pull myself up from the ground. But it was too late."
"What did it do?"
"They brought chaos, strife and more pain than you can imagine. I had to find them. I had to stop them." The setting sun pulled her from her story and the memories that so obviously haunted her. She looked from the katana to her daughter. "Kira, hurry. Night is coming." They quickly pieced the rest of the katana in place. "I went to Eichen House to stop them and the path of carnage they were already set upon. We all fought hard, two against one, but I was finally able to defeat them with Satomi's help." She sniffled. "As he died, Rhys came back to me and said…. coup de foudre." She barely whispered the words, almost holding them to her heart. She slid the last piece in place. "The literal translation is "a bolt of lightning." In French, it can also mean "love at first sight." But a bolt of lightning happens to be exactly what we need right now."
"For what?" Kira asked.
"Excising the nogitsune from Rhys and Rinko's bodies shattered the katana. But you can put it back together."
"Why don't you just do it yourself?"
"Because I'm not a thunder kitsune. Do you trust me?"
"I just found out you're 900 years old. I don't think I'm ever gonna trust you again."
"Trust me on this." Noshiko breathed out and took her daughter's hand, holding it over the katana. Little bolts of blue lightning spread across the katana, forming it back together. Kira snatched her hand away from her mother's grasp, looking at her with wide eyes. Noshiko took it in her hands and held it out to her daughter.
"Go ahead. It's yours now."
"What if I don't want it?"
"You need it." Noshiko tossed the katana at Kira, who on pure instinct, caught it and flipped it around into a fighting stance. "You see? It gives you balance. My power is yours now, Kira. If the oni can't stop Stiles, you have to. The same as I did. And maybe seek out a wolf to help you."
"You didn't tell us anything." Scott scoffed.
"You want to save Stiles and your sister? Kill him. That's the only way."
Scott looked at Mr. Yukimura. "You agree with this?"
"Sometimes, history does repeat itself, Scott."
"Only if you don't learn."
"But sometimes even then, fate conspires against you."
A buzz interrupted them, coming from Scott's pocket. He took it out and read the text from Allison saying to go to Derek's loft. He looked from Mr. Yukimura to Noshiko. "There's a way to save him. There has to be." And with that he left, hoping he would find his friend and his sister both unharmed.
The day had been both physically and emotionally draining for the Sheriff. He had just gotten used to the idea that the supernatural actually existed. And to now, to have his son possessed by some ancient trickster spirit….it was almost too much. But he had to save his son and knew he could, as long as everyone stuck to the plan.
Holstering his gun, he pulled back the heavy sliding door of Derek's loft and walked in to find his son holding Kristie McCall by the throat, a look of terror in her eyes.
"Hi, Dad."