Night Riding Chapter – Part II

She throws up into the sink. The mirror already has streaks of vomit.

What day is it? Does it matter? No it doesn't. Why would it matter?

The dried fetus bobs up and down inside the slowly draining sludge. She stares at it blankly. A moment later it's gone.

This body is ruined beyond repair. Barren and broken.

All it can do is take. It can't give anything back.

Of course Kacchan couldn't love a body like this.

She raises the bloody sword. She runs the water but the stains won't come out. She's never seen the steel beneath the thick layer of blood and rust. But the blade is firm and relentless all the same.

She can't come back from this.

There's no way.

This sword is hers now. A gift she can't return.

She looks into the mirror. On the outside it's still her. On the inside there's nothing.

Or perhaps that wasn't quite right anymore.

No. Where there had once been nothing, something had taken shape. Something vile and unholy, growing deep within.

Then a soft whining. "Sayaka-chan… You can't think things like that!"

The little imp sits on the edge of the sink. Her face is puffy, like she's been crying for hours. Her reflection doesn't appear in the mirror.

"Go away, Hanyuu. I didn't call for you."

"Kacchan loves you very much – and you feel the same way. You can't think about him like that!"

"He mutilated my mother."

"Kacchan is very sick. He has no one there for him – all he's gonna do at this rate is go on killing and killing until there's no one left, don't you get that?! The only way it'll ever stop is if you reach out to him yourself!"

"The things we've done to each other can't be taken back."

"Only if you don't go to him now! You can still come back from this, the both of you can! You have the most precious of miracles deep inside you – you can't let it go to waste!"

"Go tell him that yourself."

"I can't. That's why it has to beyou!"

Sayaka grabs the small creature by her horns and smashes her into the mirror. She cries out in pain, but the mirror doesn't shatter. There's no impact to absorb. Her pupils dilate, her teeth grind together.

"There's no going back. There's no comingback. We're going to go to the next world whether you want to or not. We're gonna flood this shithole and kill every last murderous rapist piece of trash that ever walked the fuckin' earth and all that's going to be left is my Mandala and the people that put their trust in me.

"No. You can't. I won't let you." The little imp cries defiantly.

"Just try and stop me, then, you little wretch…!" She throws her against the wall. "The way you want things is a pipe dream. People gave up on you because you left them with no choice, don't you get that?!"

"No one's given up. Not me, not you, not Kacchan either. This village came back because there's still hope -"

"Because we're all still lusting for revenge. Rika's the same way. We all want someone dead – all of us besides you. You – how could you call yourself a god when there's not the tiniest fucking soul in this village that sees things the way you do?!" She runs Itsumade under the faucet again and again.

"It's an aimless battle, don't you see that? Itsumade and Enma aren't opposites – they're sisters, not by blood, but sisters all the same!"

"Yeah? Then why is Enma the only one that has any real power?"

"That's not -"

"This thing is almost worthless. All it can do is taint the blood of the victim so it can't be used for shit by the other sword. The only reason why we can get Hirasaka open with any of it at all is because of my Mandala."

"Opening a path to Yomi won't get you out of this fragment. Only my powers can do that."

"Oh yeah? Let's not complicate things then." She points Itsumade's edge at the feeble creature, still sprawled out on the floor. "Then get me out of here right now, or I'll kill you. Sound fair?"

"You think this is enough to scare me away? I still love you, no matter what. You're very precious to me and that's not going to change! Even though you think you're alone, you're not. I'll always be here. No matter what happens."

Words, words, more pointless words. All her voice can do now is cause even further damage.

"Sayaka. It's time." A voice calls out from behind her. Standing just beyond the doorway is Sekiguchi. "Did your pills kick in yet?" He asks, his eyes shifting to where she was pointing the sword.

She looks back towards the mirror, then towards the wall again. Hanyuu is gone. "I'll manage for now." She returns the katana to its sheath.

With that she follows Sekiguchi through the door and up a short flight of stairs to the surface, into the sprawling endlessness of her Mandala.

The Sonozaki Mandala is a network of mazes out in the mountains, built from raw materials amassed over several years. Built atop an old tunnel network constructed by the Japanese government during World War II, until fairly recently it was possible to reach the military installation in the mountains from the former Sonozaki Estate. But the path had long since been sealed, and would never open again. And with what was left, the Sonozaki family, driven to the point of desperation, built the last bastion to their survival, be it in this world or the next.

The maze has countless vantage points to fend off invaders. Fake walls, one-way peepholes, the maze itself is trapped from top to bottom like an Iga ninja house, all by Sayaka's own design, and has to date claimed the lives of two villagers ignorant enough to attempt to penetrate it. The path even the Sonozaki themselves take through the Mandala to the settlement hidden in its deepest depths is long and winding. There have been multiple accidental trap triggers as well as legitimate ones. It's dangerous – but nigh impossible to penetrate. With two sentries that know the maze inside and out, anyone who so much as thinks of approaching at the very most survives the traps, but not the ire of the Sonozaki family.

Eventually the two of them come upon the heart of the Mandala. The settlement is comprised of a series of tents and smaller structures. Storehouses, outhouses, small housing the size of apartments. It's built to house fifty people, and not one more. But there are barely fifty Sonozaki left.

Its residents very rarely leave. There's often no reason to. They're well stocked, and provisions always come in. It's peaceful – the children are well behaved and wouldn't dare step out of line. And so they stay. Lying in wait, waiting for the moment they can finally move on to the next world.

At the very center of it all is their destination, the godless Sonozaki Shrine, a dilapidated structure built from the demolished wreck of the old Hinamizawa Schoolhouse, moved to the center of the Mandala one wheelbarrow at a time. They ascend the steps to the shrine, comprised of old worn down stones and bricks. Inside is an altar with a similar makeshift quality, cut from the wood that once propped up the long since condemned Saiguden that sat atop the hill by the Furude Shrine.

The altar at present is prop to the urn. It had been almost a year since it was used – since she'd partaken from it herself. The blood level has risen since then with the blood of Itsumade's kill.

Fill the urn with the blood of the accursed, tainted by the Murky Blade. Open the path to Yomotsu Hirasaka. Accomplish this before the sword Enma can close the path forever. Do this, and your greatest wish will be granted. That was the nature of this vicious game. And the nature of their gathering here today.

Rika's already waiting for them there. "Report."

"Kimiyoshi's still holed up in her estate. She hasn't come out of her room since the takeover happened." Sekiguchi speaks first. "The council is pressing her husband to have her committed but he refuses."

"Can we work that from a legal perspective?"

"It won't work." Sayaka steps in before Sekiguchi can speak. "Hida City's still pressuring local law enforcement to stay away from the village. I tried to get things moving on that front but the mayor wouldn't even cave in to blackmail. Uncle has his balls in a bigger vice, it seems."

Sekiguchi nods, deep in thought. "There are enough witnesses at this point to establish probable cause and have law enforcement step in, doubly so since Akira won't get them involved. We could file a report accusing him of negligent homicide as well and that would also be enough. But the only boots on the ground are Satoshi's, and they've been entirely unsuccessful in getting anything done. All we would need is one shot at her coming out of the estate. We could crash the ambulance if we had to. But as is, it's all just dead air around the Kimiyoshi Estate."

"What about bringing someone in from an adjacent prefecture? Satoshi pissed off Toyama's governor pretty recently, didn't he?"

Sekiguchi shakes his head. "Even if you could get a patrolman dumb enough to answer a call from outside his jurisdiction, Maebara will just kill him."

"So they're protecting the Kimiyoshi family now?" Rika sighs.

"Enma has the advantage right now by far, and their priority is making it inside the Mandala. The only kill count they're interested in is one with our family name on it. There's been a penetration test every couple days as it is – they're not going to start chopping up their neutral parties until we give them no choice but to."

"True. There's other options right now. What about you, Sayaka?"

"Since Oishi is already gone, and taking the other sword isn't an option for now, our best bet is to go after Ryuugu Rena and her son. They have the highest value by far at this stage, and neither one is hiding behind an impenetrable fortress. We're behind by enough as it is, but grabbing either one of them will give us a big push."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that." Rika shakes her head. "The Kafukubu are protecting their leader and they have direct line to the Furude Shrine. Rena won't stay in one place for long, and she's been evading trained officers for years. Even if you could draw her out, I don't trust your skill with that blade."

"Ooh. That was pretty harsh." Sekiguchi snickers.

"Bullshit. I saw her. She could move around pretty well for her age but she wasn't all that."

"After one encounter? You know next to nothing about her."

"I can get to Yasuke, at least." Sayaka stands firm. "I can bring him here alive, even."

"You've got to admit, that would be a huge win for us." Sekiguchi continues to work the middle, as he does best. "We can put out pictures of dead cops for days and no one will so much as bat an eye. But a homeless teen? That'll put some pressure on Gifu to get its shit together, 'specially while the Assembly is still up in arms about that orphanage scandal in Aoyama. Ono District being a huge battleground from the election will just make it that much worse. Get enough eyes on Hinamizawa and the governor will have to open the floodgates."

"And it doesn't stop there. What if it played to his advantage instead?" Sayaka continues. "What if he had an incident on his hands big enough to look like an opportunity instead of a crisis?"

"And if we're at the center of that incident, how does the Sonozaki family benefit from it in any way?"

"I'm not saying we will be."

"Ahh, I see." Sekiguchi nods in realization. "It's a huge risk, but if it works, we might be able to end all of this soon after."

"Well, since I'm the odd one out here, we'll go with that." Rika admits defeat. "There won't be any getting you out if you get caught, though."

"I'll get it done."

"Alright, that's all then. Sayaka calls the next meeting. Hopefully with a fourth guest in tow."

Sekiguchi fixes his tie, and then moves to leave.

"You'd better be careful, Ryou." Rika calls after him.

He stops for a moment, not turning to face her. "That's a bit out of left field, isn't it?"

"Quite frankly it's a miracle that you're still alive. I would've gone after you first, instead of Oishi."

"Hmm, yeah. It's a good thing that kid's got a real moral center." He walks off into the shadows, his laughter trailing behind him.

"Well that wasn't shady at all." Sayaka sighs.

"It's best to let a boy like that sulk on his own." Then Rika looks up at her. "How's your stomach? Any better today?"

"It's just getting worse and worse."

"You've been taking your medicine, right?"

"The days I remember I've got medicine to take, sure."

"That'll pass with time. What about Itsumade?"

"I'm better with it every day."

"Can you kill Kanbei with it?"

She doesn't answer.

Rika chuckles. "It's probably for the best. They say he's hardly human with that sword in his hands."

"I'm not sure that I'm any different."

"You don't have the conviction to be a killer. He does. I'd say that's where you differ the most."

"What does conviction have to do with anything?"

"From the very beginning you've taken up Itsumade because there's been no choice. But for him, it's the opposite – taking up Enma is the only real choice he's ever really made. It's not just a sword, it's irrevocably part of him, and he kills with it because it puts him in the right. A man that kills because he thinks he's right has no true equal – not even another man with the same ideal."

"How does that work? Two idiots cut from the same cloth can't be all that different."

"Morals tend to be the first thing that go. Most men break. Kanbei did, too."

"Nah. There's no way. He wouldn't. Not for anything."

"But he did. And it was you that broke him."

"He wouldn't break for me."

"You sound so sure." Rika steps away from the altar and turns to leave. "For now, bring us Tenshi Ryuugu. I'm interested in seeing just what kind of man he thinks he's become. But before too long, if killing Kanbei is really what you want, you'll need to understand what it was that brought him back – where it came from, and where it's taking him. Without that, you won't stand a chance." With that she walks off into the shadows.

"Idiot." Sayaka mutters to herself, staring into the urn. "I already know. Why Kacchan's still alive."

Satoko Houjou cradles her head, sobbing softly. It's the Irie Clinic, late at night. Tenshi Ryuugu is in another room. It's been only hours since they were rescued from the Ryuugu Residence. Since she was separated from Manaka her cries had stopped, and there wasn't a trace of life in her dull gaze.

At her beside, again and again. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Ah, so she wants to be a mother today. By this time tomorrow she would just be sitting around in her living room waiting for her brother to come home and fuck her, of that there's no doubt. But for right now, she knew – she knew and she felt her failure, and the moment she saw her shattered, pregnant form, that failure filled her with dread.

"This is all my fault… I should've done different… I should've done better…"

She used to play games with her. When their family was whole they cooked together. She drove her to the candy store, to the supermarket, she even went with her to the gun range. They did everything together. Like a mother and daughter should. She taught her how to defend herself, taught her how to be smart, how to be cunning.

Then her brother spread her legs, and whether she wanted to or not, she also taught her how to fuck.

"Of course you should've done better, you stupid bitch." Satoko doesn't look up at her when she finally speaks in a monotone voice. She just keeps shaking her head and clinging to her. "Your daughter didn't come home for six days. She's been spending nights on end having unprotected sex with old men. Her clothes reek of semen. Her hair reeks of semen. Her body is ruined. No one will ever love her the same way no one will ever love you."

"I shouldn't be alive… I shouldn't… Nii nii..."

"Go on. Go cry to your brother. Maybe he'll get you pregnant this time. Then we can bond over that."

"No, no, I can't. I'm going to do better. I promise, I… I promise, I won't let anyone hurt you ever again, I promise I won't let anyone, anyone…!"

"You're not my mother."

"Please, Sayaka, please, I'm so sorry, I won't let it happen ever again, I swear, I can -"

"My mother wouldn't have let this happen."

"Sayaka, you don't -"

"My mother would've been there -"

"Your mother wasn't! That's why – that's why, when no one else would, I..."

"You should've just left me."

"I couldn't! I wouldn't. Not ever, there's no way!" Satoko stands suddenly. "I know. I know what I'll do. I'll show you – I'll fix this, I promise, then you can come home, then we can be – it can be like it was before!" She tries to steady her shuddering bones. "I won't. I won't let you – let you pick her over me. I can't let that happen!"

What a stupid woman.

She burned down her childhood friend's house to the ground over that. There's no way that would've changed anything. Surely she knew that.

Sayaka picks a bronze cup off the floor next to the urn. She dunks it into the dark blood and fills it to the brim. She downs the entire cup in one gulp. Her stomach lurches and she throws her head back. She lets out a long sigh. Itsumade burns. She's ready to begin.