Four - Just Like Old Times
Dinner was an awkward affair. For the first twenty minutes at the restaurant, no one said much of anything, save for Kiyotsugu who lectured about the history of the Shikoku Power Plant for much longer than anyone cared to listen.
It was obvious that both Yura and Rikuo were suspicious of Kana, wondering if her sudden appearance was not some kind of trick being played by the Baku, who was capable of impersonating anyone it chose. Just how had Kana learned about the special anniversary episode of "Paranormal Experts"? She'd certainly returned to Japan too quickly to not have been planning a trip – but if she had expected to join up with the rest of the old Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol for the show, why hadn't she contacted Kiyotsugu first? If everyone else was difficult to pin down, he certainly wasn't. He was a television celebrity after all.
"I like your nails," Saori said, breaking the ice.
"Hm?" Kana blinked. "Oh, these?" She laughed nervously. "It's just a French manicure. Nothing fancy."
"You didn't always dress so nice," Saori admitted. "And I'm very jealous of your Chanel purse. It's super cute and it must have been expensive. You never used to carry a purse."
"Saori, when Kana moved away, she was only thirteen! I didn't have a real purse until I was sixteen! I also remember the first time you got your nails done professionally," Natsumi laughed. "You were afraid to open a door because you thought you'd ruin the polish."
Saori rolled her eyes. "We've all grown up! Things are different now!"
"Yes, they are," Yura nodded. "So I hear you're going to be a lawyer, Natsumi."
Natsumi nodded. "That's my plan. I want to be a civil lawyer. Um, that means that I'll be helping out families most of the time. I don't think I'd be able to defend someone who'd done something wrong, even though that's the kind of law that pays really well," She explained. "Did you know that Saori has started her own company? You should see some of the accessories she designs! They're really beautiful!"
Saori beamed.
"Oh, wow. Everyone is so successful," Kana observed. She did not sound very excited at all.
"Well, you're successful too, Kana-chan," Jiro added. "I heard that your family is really rich now."
"That doesn't mean I'm successful. That means my father is successful," Kana replied. "And besides, I don't know what I want to do with my life at all. I suppose it's good that I haven't finished High School yet. I was in the same class as Rikuo and Yura, remember?"
"Have you thought about moving back to Japan?" Yura suggested. "Kyoto is a very good city for artists. I could introduce you to some of the people that I know if you wanted to do an exhibition of your paintings."
"You're a painter?" Rikuo blinked in surprise. He could not recall Kana ever picking up a brush.
"Oh yes, she's very talented!" Yura replied. "I have one of her pieces in my house in Kyoto. I wish I could show it to you."
"I had no idea that you were interested in art," Rikuo admitted.
"I wasn't. Not when we were in Junior High. But people change," Kana replied cryptically. Rikuo watched her with suspicion. Of course, he knew that much was true... but he still didn't seem comfortable with how different this new Kana was from the girl that he though he had known.
"Not these two!" Kiyotsugu proclaimed. Sitting between Rikuo and Yura, he reached out and wrapped his arms around both of them. "They are completely the same!"
"You know, I like to think that I've grown up a little since Junior High!" Yura remarked, shoving Kiyotsugu off of her. He nearly flipped out of his chair.
Rikuo rolled his eyes. A faint chill coming from the window drew his attention and he sighed in defeat as he noticed Tsurara outside, peeking into the restaurant. When Kiyotsugu had declared the dinner party to be "just for former Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol members" and dismissed his co-host Chiaki, Rikuo had felt compelled to tell his own bodyguards that they needed to remain outside. He felt very bad about ordering Tsurara to stay out of sight. It seemed particularly unfair, since all of the members of the Paranormal Patrol had known her as "Oikawa-chan" even before they'd known that he was the heir apparent of the Nura Clan. Still, Rikuo reasoned that having yokai in the restaurant protecting him would only remind everyone of why their club had disbanded in the first place.
Hunting spirits had been an amusing hobby for a group of children who hadn't really understood the danger they were getting into. But for anyone who knew that yokai were real and thoroughly understood what some of them were capable of – the situation was entirely different. Every member of the Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol had nearly been killed more than once.
Without his Fear, Rikuo found it very easy to pretend that he was completely human himself, just as he had often done in the past. Having Kana around should have made it feel precisely like old times – but somehow the whole gathering still felt forced. In the five years that had passed, they'd all changed too much. Himself most of all.
Rikuo watched the sun go down. Yura was the first to notice that he seemed to be avoiding everyone at the table. He'd been unusually quiet the whole night.
"Rikuo?" She pressed.
Distantly, Rikuo heard Yura's voice. A very familiar feeling had come over him, an intense burn that raced through his veins like liquid fire. When he turned to face her, Yura gasped with surprise and Rikuo did not have to see his own reflection in the windows of the restaurant to know that his appearance had changed. He hadn't completely assumed his yokai form, but his hair had suddenly gone white and his eyes were glowing red.
More than a few of the restaurant's patrons gasped in shock and the waiter who'd been refilling the Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol's drinks dropped his serving tray on the floor.
Then, as quickly as Rikuo's Fear had washed over him, it departed... and once again, he returned to his usual human form.
"Rikuo-sama!" Tsurara cried. There was a resounding crash as Aotabo burst through the doors of the restaurant with Tsurara and a very bloody Tamazuki on his heels. The tanuki had obviously just staggered away from a very bad fight and Rikuo did not have to consider who he'd been trading blows with.
"The Baku!" Rikuo exclaimed, guessing immediately what had happened. "It's here!"
It made perfect sense to Rikuo that he should feel the effects of his own Fear if it was being used so close to him. He had to act immediately if he wanted to take it back – who knew when he would have another chance? Without hesitation, Rikuo reached into his kendo bag under the table and drew his sword, an act which brought another gasp of shock out of the restaurant's patrons who'd mostly given up trying to enjoy their dinners in peace.
Sensing that trouble was afoot, Yura produced one of her shikigami. Though she didn't summon it inside of the restaurant, it was obvious from the expression on her face that she'd be willing to risk damaging as much property as necessary if she believed that innocent people were in danger.
Then, to everyone's utter shock – Kana pulled a gun from her purse.
If Rikuo's sword and Yura's shikigami had drawn undue attention, Kana's gun caused everyone in the restaurant to drop to the floor. A gun was a weapon that they recognized. It was also a weapon that did not require an experienced hand to be deadly.
"A gun!" Saori exclaimed.
"Kana-chan, where did you get a gun?" Jiro protested.
"Do you even know how to fire that thing?" Natsumi demanded.
"I've been in America, remember?" Kana replied stiffly. Still, the way she held the firearm did suggest that she wasn't exactly sure which direction to point it in.
Kiyotsugu looked ready to protest, but no words escaped him. He stared blindly at the reflection of Rikuo's yokai self in the window of the restaurant and slowly realized that it was the Baku that he was looking at, and that it was right outside!
Kiyotsugu didn't have time to shout for Rikuo, but he didn't need to. Obviously attuned to the Baku's presence, Rikuo tightened his grip on his sword and charged directly through the glass. Tsurara and Yura both followed him without hesitation. Needing an exit of his own, Tamazuki scrambled over a dinner table, dumping a bottle of sake and breaking another window. Aotabo followed him, shattering the top of the table. He emerged in the parking lot of the restaurant just as Rikuo's borrowed steel met the blade of Nenekimaru. The inferior weapon immediately shattered, but Rikuo was not deterred. He kept his hand closed around the hilt of his broken blade.
When he moved within range of the Baku, he could feel the monster using his own Fear. His connection to the power was tenuous at best, not enough for him to resume his yokai form, but he moved much faster when he was close to the Baku than he could move when he was further away.
Determined not to let the Baku escape, Rikuo seized a piece of wood from the frame of the broken window and made it his new weapon. He'd used a stick to cut through Fear in the past, and although such a weapon was no match for Nenekimaru, it was better than nothing at all.
Despite still having the upper hand, the Baku backed away slightly, watching Rikuo, his subordinates, Tamazuki, and Yura all nervously.
Rikuo charged the monster again. He dodged an awkward blow from Nenekimaru and then stopped the sword by thrusting his broken piece of window frame under the Baku's right arm and into its ribs.
With an incoherent cry, Yura summoned Tanro, her large white wolf shikigami. Kana seemed startled and lowered her gun. She'd been the first of all of the Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol to witness Yura's real power and had never forgotten how intimidating and impressive Tanro appeared. Unlike many onmyoji who could control only one such shikigami at a time, Yura was a prodigy, even by the harsh standards of the Keikain clan. In the past she'd wielded as many as five shikigami simultaneously and also held the dubious distinction of being the only exorcist capable of summoning the Hagun, which was composed of all of the previous heads of the Keikain onmyoji lineage.
The Baku howled in pain and made another desperate lunge for Riku. They danced across the open space trading blows.
Aotabo watched his master solemnly, not interfering in the fight. The waiter from the restaurant crept up behind him and shattered a sake bottle over his head. Aotabo blinked, not at all injured.
"Hey! I'm on your side!" He growled in protest. The waiter lost his resolve and immediately ran away.
Coming to Rikuo's aid, Tsurara let loose a gust of freezing wind and then Tamazuki leapt into the fray, not waiting to see if Rikuo could finish off the Baku himself. He threw a dozen blows, none of which connected with their target.
The Baku seized hold of him. It lost its Rikuo form for the briefest of moments, one of its borrowed "arms" lengthening to take the appearance of its natural trunk. Tamazuki gasped as the Baku began to drain his Fear. His whole body began to lose its color and definition. He began to look like a ghost and for a moment it seemed that he would vanish completely until Rikuo charged the Baku for a third time, dunking his head and moving in shoulder first, like an American football player. Kana fired her gun twice, hitting nothing at all, and Yura's Tanro toppled the Baku with a snarl. Nenekimaru toppled out of the Baku's grasp. Rikuo saw the opening he'd been provided and seized his blade.
The Baku immediately vanished from under the shikigami's claws and reappeared standing on the hood of a car more than ten feet away. With a malicious laugh, it leapt off into the night... leaving the Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol standing in the wreckage of what had once been a fairly expensive restaurant. Aotabo pursued the Baku with unparalleled yokai speed, and Tsurara moved to protect Rikuo, who was on his knees, breathing heavily and still clutching the hilt of Nenekimaru.
He'd gotten his sword back. That was something.
It took Tamazuki several minutes to stand. He wavered slightly on his feet.
"Fight me, you coward!" Tamazuki snarled, spitting on the ground. "I'm going to kill that Baku!" He vowed.
"Not if I get it first." Rikuo retorted.
"Try to stop me then." Tamazuki replied coldly. Evidentially not as gravely injured as he had appeared to be, he disappeared into the darkness himself.
"Well." Kiyotsugu observed, smiling slightly. "Now this is starting to be a little more like old times."
"Because something is trying to kill us, you mean?" Natsumi suggested. She and Saori still stood inside of the restaurant with their arms crossed, mustering their very best disapproving looks, the ones that they hadn't had cause to use in five years. Jiro did not look any happier with the situation.
"That was exciting!" Breathless, Kana turned to Rikuo and Yura, who both glanced at her gun with disapproval.
"Of course it was!" Kiyotsugu laughed. "Honestly! There's only one reason to chase yokai, after all!"
"Oh?" Jiro frowned.
"To get into trouble like this!" Kiyotsugu replied. His maniacal grin made him look a bit like a yokai himself.