"Again?" Kiyotsugu groaned.
The sound of familiar laughter roused Rikuo from sleep and he peered through the blinds of his hotel room to see what was going on. Across the courtyard, the lights were on in Kiyotsugu's room and his door was propped open, letting in the cool night air. There were a number of people gathered inside and Rikuo guessed that one of them was Awashima from his/her abrasive cackling. But what were his subordinates doing in Kiyotsugu's room?
Rikuo decided to have a look. Picking up Nenekirimaru and resting the blade over his shoulder as he usually did, he took comfort in the familiar feel of his weapon. Then he quietly slipped out of his room and closed the door very carefully so that the sound would not disturb Tsurara, who was still fast asleep.
Outside, the whirring and chirping of insects was punctuated by a sudden sharp rattle and Rikuo smiled as he noticed a little kodama perched in one of the sakura trees. The kodama nodded in his direction but did not scurry away, content to sit and soak up the moonlight. Such forest spirits were very shy and normally humans never saw them. Despite the fact that he was currently powerless, Rikuo's ability to perceive the Night World was unhindered. In a way, that made what the Baku had done to him more difficult to accept. It would have been far easier to ignore the spirits if he were incapable of seeing them. Two shachihoko cast their shadows across the moon and then disappeared into the inky blackness of the star-filled sky.
The rain spirits didn't seem alarmed and Rikuo guessed that they were only doing as they had been instructed to and watching from above for any signs of the Baku.
The sun hadn't yet risen but a lavender glow on the horizon warned him that dawn was coming soon.
Rikuo sighed wistfully as he imagined riding on the back of the wind high above Tokyo. Summer was such a wonderful season for mischief and he felt as though he'd already missed too many promising nights. It was difficult to believe that he'd lost his Fear only six days past. Years ago, Rikuo had convinced himself that he would be happier if he were completely mortal. He'd nearly sworn away his inheritance once and had pretended for a very long time that he could not remember what he did as his Night self so that no one would expect him to deal with important yokai matters. But so much had changed in the last five years!
Rikuo noticed that Kana's light was still on and he considered going to check on her but decided against it. Until he had worked out something to say, any meeting between the two of them would only be awkward and uncomfortable. He paused for a moment and watched koi swimming in a little pond. The way the fish interacted with one another made him think of the reunited members of the Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol. Though he saw Jiro at school every day and Kiyotsugu was impossible to ignore because he was on television, Rikuo could not remember the last time he'd actually spoken to any of the girls. After she'd left for America, Rikuo hadn't even thought to try to contact Kana, and the only time he dealt with Yura was when yokai matters became serious enough that he had to call on the Keikain onmyoji to assist his Nura Clan. Saori and Natsumi were so busy with their new, grown-up lives and seeing them reminded Rikuo of how near he was to finishing school himself.
In yokai terms, Rikuo had already been an adult for a very long time. But becoming an adult in the sunlit world still seemed very strange to him. Tamazuki's comments about Tsurara and Kana left him feeling especially conflicted.
Which of them did he want? The tanuki had certainly implied that he liked both of them as more than friends... and maybe that was true.
Before he'd departed on his "adventure", Rikuo's grandfather Nurarihyon had commented as he often did that Rikuo ought to "steal himself a princess" or at least find a girlfriend. Of course, Rikuo had gone on his share of dates already... everyone at Azabu High School would have started whispering about him if he avoided girls completely. But after the mess with Mizumi, Rikuo knew that he was done going out with girls simply because they were pretty and they hounded after him. Rikuo reasoned that he wasn't like Tamazuki, only looking to have a little 'fun'. His life was dangerous and it always would be. He needed someone that he could trust completely.
And if he was to pursue someone he truly cared about, someone that he already had so much history with, Rikuo had to be sure that he was making the right decision. He knew he'd never forgive himself for hurting Kana or Tsurara, but if he did confess that he cared for one of them, what would that do to the other girl?
Rikuo sighed heavily. He knew that he had a long day ahead of him and probably an even longer night filming the 100th episode special of "Paranormal Experts" at the Shikoku Power Plant. Still, he couldn't resist the urge to see what was going on in Kiyotsugu's room.
He stopped just outside of the door where the shadows could hide him. Without his Fear, Rikuo couldn't actually disappear, but he could use his wits to make himself difficult to see. Inside of Kiyotsugu's room, Kiyotsugu and Jiro were sitting with three of his subordinates playing a game that Rikuo remembered very well. Both Jiro and Kiyotsugu were missing their shirts and had playing cards stuck to their heads. The floor was littered with empty sake bottles. Aotabo, Kurotabo, and Awashima were all wearing very serious expressions despite how ridiculous they looked. The yokai were armed to the teeth and obviously prepared to fight if they should have to, but they also had playing cards on their heads.
Rikuo surveyed the game. Jiro had a Snow Maiden, a middling level card worth five points, and Aotabo had a centipede spirit, worth four points. Kurotabo's Tengu at seven points might have won the round, but Awashima had Gyuki, and he was worth eight. Kiyotsugu's card was Natto, the only card he ever seemed to draw... and worth only one point.
Jiro was the first to break focus, and when he started laughing, all of the players looked at their cards except for Kiyotsugu. Kiyotsugu only stared at the sake bottle he was holding as if it were beginning to worry him a little. From the flush on Jiro's face, Rikuo guessed that the sake had been flowing freely for a long while.
Of course, none of his subordinates were as drunk as his human friends were. Awashima looked the worst, but Rikuo gathered that was largely due to his/her tendency to drink even when she wasn't losing. Even as the threat of the Baku still loomed, Rikuo hadn't really expected Aotabo and Kurotabo to remain stone-cold sober and well-behaved. As he saw it, it was enough that they'd stayed near enough to protect the Kiyojuji Paranormal Patrol despite the irresistible lure of the hot-blooded night.
"Hah! Drink up, human!" Awashima crowed, waving his/her Gyuki card in Kiyotsugu's face. Yokai poker was a simple game to play. The cards of the greatest value had pictures of high-ranking yokai on them. It had taken a long time for Jiro, Saori, and Kana to memorize all of the point values of the cards when Kiyotsugu had taught them the game back in Junior High. Rikuo had pretended to struggle with understanding its complexity himself, at least until he started winning every round he played. At the time, his uncanny luck had baffled Kiyotsugu. Of course, in those days his friend hadn't known that he was the Third Heir of the Nura Clan and that his grandfather was actually Nurarihyon The Supreme Commander, the highest-value card in Kiyotsugu's little game.
"You're cheating!" Kiyotsugu protested. "You're using your yokai powers!"
"You only say that because you're losing. Look at your card, big-time television star! You gotta finish off that bottle!" Aotabo informed him.
"Agh! Natto again? How are you all so good at this game?" Kiyotsugu groaned.
"All yokai are masters of gambling!" Kurotabu replied.
"And cheating." Rikuo smirked, making his presence known. Kiyotsugu jumped and Jiro started laughing like a hyena before falling backwards out of his chair.
"Your friend is really bad at this." Aotabo informed Rikuo as Kiyotsugu took his obligatory drink.
"I've never seen anyone enjoy losing so much." Kurotabo added. Several cards fell out of one of his voluminous sleeves, which normally contained hundreds of weapons. He looked mildly embarrassed.
"You were cheating!" Kiyotsugu gasped.
"Uh, yokai?" Awashima laughed, gesturing to his/her self. "What did you expect? Aren't you supposed to be some sort of "paranormal expert"?" She/he teased, shoving Kiyotsugu.
"Shouldn't you get some sleep before your big show?" Rikuo demanded, taking the sake bottle from Kiyotsugu.
"We're not starting filming until four pm!" Kiyotsugu scoffed. "I'll be fine!"
Rikuo avoided voicing his doubts on the matter. He only rolled his eyes.
"C'mon, play a round with us!" Awashima insisted.
Rikuo sighed heavily and say down. Though his gaze still drifted back in the direction of his own room, he reasoned that a short game couldn't hurt, especially since he usually won as many rounds of yokai poker as Kiyotsugu lost.
Rikuo drew his card and smiled slightly as he glanced at everyone else. He knew them all so well that it was not difficult for him to catch their tells, Both Kiyotsugu and Jiro gave him a familiar exasperated look and he did not need to see his own card to know that he'd drawn Nurarihyon.
Awashima gleefully drank the loser's cup and Rikuo turned his card over in his hands several times, his thoughts drifting to his grandfather once again. The old man had chosen a terrible time to go missing and until Karasu Tengu or someone reported in to the main house with news, he was going to worry. He simply couldn't help it, especially considering what Gyuki had already told him about the Baku. Because he was part human, the Baku couldn't devour him completely. But to a pure-blooded yokai who was solely a creature of illusion, the dream eater was far more dangerous.
Rikuo won three more rounds and drank two cups of sake himself to be polite. Then he decided to go back to bed, taking the remainder of the sake with him so that his subordinates would be encouraged to sober up. The sun had finally cleared the foothills of the mountains and it looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.
Still, Rikuo knew better than to trust the appearances of things. A clear sky didn't mean that there was no trouble afoot, only that it hadn't emerged yet. The red sake cup he was still sipping reminded him of his cherry blossom fire. He'd first come to understand the technique by staring into the pond in the courtyard of the Nura Clan's main house. The key to manipulating his Fear had been understanding inherently what the source of his power was.
The dream-eating Baku wanted to devour him, his grandfather, and likely all of the tanuki as well because of what they all had in common. Some yokai and little gods drew their strength from the belief or fear of mortals while others thrived on blood and pain. But Nurarihyon's nebulous nature had made him impossible to fight against and earned him the admiration of many other yokai. He'd crowned himself "Lord of Pandemonium" and it was a title that he deserved too. No yokai could aspire to cause more mischief than one who was literally a walking dream, capable of shifting back and forth between physical form and empty air. Like the reflection of the courtyard trees he saw in his cup of sake, Rikuo knew that his Night self and Day self were perfect mirrors of one another. But which was real and which was the illusion was something he was no longer sure of.
Rikuo blew softly on his cup of sake and was startled by the sudden appearance of a tiny blue spark of fire. Without his Fear, he should not have been able to work such magic. Fearing that the elusive Baku had returned yet again, he drew his exorcist blade halfway from it sheath. As he whirled around to strike at the monster he felt certain was behind him, the little red bowl struck the stones of the courtyard, shattering to pieces as Nenekirimaru cleaved empty air.
Rikuo was alone.
He sheathed his sword. It was morning, and since he couldn't make himself invisible, he really needed to change into some modern clothes and put his sword away. The way many yokai dressed was reminiscent of feudal Japan and most people didn't wear such clothing any more, except on festival days or if the worked at a shrine or temple.
Two white vans from the television station had pulled up in front of the hotel and Kiyotsugu's camera men were unloading all kinds of very technical-looking equipment that Rikuo couldn't fathom the purpose of. Looking unusually perky for such an early hour, Kiyotsugu's co-host Chiaki carried a very large cup of coffee in one hand and a clipboard in the other.
Rikuo smiled slightly. He'd put Kiyotsugu to bed less than an hour ago and he guessed that his friend would be thoroughly miserable... and probably still drunk when his producer came to wake him up.
Curious locals and dedicated "Paranormal Experts" fans stood behind a line of security tape, snapping pictures with their cell phones and whispering to one another. A Junior High student in a local uniform with a laptop, headphones, a loaded-down backpack bursting with obscure research material, and a web camera attached to his head waved furiously for Chiaki's attention. Rikuo smiled slightly. The kid looked just like Kiyotsugu five years ago.
The Paranormal Experts crew were not the only ones up and about so early, however. Rikuo noticed that the housekeepers were at work in Yura's room which meant that the onmyoji and her young apprentice had already left the hotel. But where had they gone so early in the morning?
Deciding that a change of clothes could wait, Rikuo followed a paved path that snaked through the trees behind the hotel. He came to a stop at the top of a little hill. In the clearing up ahead, Yura was training her apprentice to summon bound spirits loyal to the Keikain family, known as shikigami.
Though Rikuo would not have risked startling Yura if it was still night and he'd still possessed his Fear, as a mere mortal he knew he was not especially vulnerable to her exorcist powers. Still, she was a very intimidating little woman. Tanro, the huge white spirit wolf that stood behind her like an obedient dog reminded him that Yura was not only an onmyoji, but a prodigy by any standards, able to summon three or four bound spirits at the same time and even invoke the legendary Hagun, an enormously powerful ghostly council composed of every former head of the Keikain family.
Her apprentice, however, did not seem nearly so adept. He was breathing heavily and fumbling for one of his sloppy, over-inked prayer strips which promptly exploded in his face in a sudden but harmless burst of white smoke.
Rikuo laughed despite himself, calling attention to his presence. He was immediately met by a snarling Tanro, but the shikigami did not frighten him.
"Back off, fuzzy!" He reprimanded, pushing the wolf away from him with Nenekirimaru, still sheathed.
Yura groaned as she saw who had disturbed her training session and revoked her summoned spirit. Her apprentice stared at Rikuo in disbelief. Though it was morning and the Baku was still gallivanting around with Rikuo's stolen Fear, there was no Keikain exorcist who wouldn't recognize the sword Nenekirimaru and know that its bearer was the Third Heir of the Nura Clan. Of course, to combat the morning chill, Rikuo was also wearing his dark blue hapi coat which bore the kanji for "Fear" in white. The Nura Clan's insignia was widely recognized in paranormal circles, largely because every onmyoji and supernormal investigator knew that Nura Rikuo would not permit his followers to harm humans.
"You're Nura Rikuo?" Yura's apprentice whispered in awe.
Rikuo gave the young onmyoji a slightly condescending look, the sort that he generally reserved for one of his more useless subordinates. He didn't have anything against the little yokai and knew better than to treat them badly, but sometimes the way they practically worshipped him could be awfully annoying.
"Are shikigami supposed to explode like that?" Rikuo teased, knowing full-well that Yura could not tolerate failure. The training regiment that she put herself through was as grueling as his own and Rikuo could not imagine Yura going soft on her apprentice. An onmyoji who did not perfect his or her craft did not live long. Hunting yokai was dangerous business. Still, the look on Yura's face suggested that she was embarrassed that Rikuo had caught her apprentice failing so spectacularly.
"What would you know about shikigami, demon?" Yura snorted, annoyed. Since Yura had learned that Rikuo was a yokai himself, their relationship had been slightly tenuous. They still got along and worked together when necessary, but Rikuo could not resist lobbing a few "silly little exorcist" jabs in her directions, just as Yura sometimes called him "evil" or threatened to seal him under a great big rock somewhere.
"I'm not a yokai any more." He reminded her. "Or haven't you heard?"
"You may not be have your Fear, but that doesn't make you a candidate for sainthood, Oh-Lord-of-Pandemonium." Yura retorted.
"Don't patronize me, onmyoji!" Rikuo smirked. "I'll send my subordinates to raid your kitchen!"
"That's an awfully big threat from a powerless demon." Yura replied, her hands on her hips.
"I'm not what you expected, am I?" Rikuo smiled slightly, glancing at the apprentice onmyoji. The boy's eyes were wide and his mouth hung open in an 'o', like a fish gaping for its last breath.
"Well, you're dressed like you fell out of a samurai movie, but you look so normal!" He recovered with very little grace. "You even wear glasses!"
"Lots of people wear glasses." Rikuo shrugged.
"I've heard that you're completely human during the day and a yokai only at night." The apprentice onmyoji continued. "It seems impossible to believe."
"Believe it." Yura replied. "I've known Rikuo for years and I never suspected that he was a yokai when I met him. As a yokai, he's totally different." She finished, obviously searching for better words.
Rikuo chafed slightly at that description. Though he'd once tried very hard to separate his Night and Day selves, it had begun to annoy him that some of his subordinates regarded him as less capable and even less intelligent when he was in his human form. Likewise, Yura regarded his Night form with hostility, as if she believed that he might even turn on her, which was something he would never do.
Sometimes he cursed himself for ever perpetuating the idea that he was two different individuals sharing one body. For a time, when his power was still new to him, he'd felt that way and even gone so far to have "conversations" with his yokai self. Now, trying to convince everyone that he was the same person regardless of which form he wore was just plain irritating.
"I'm not different. I'm always Rikuo. But have you ever had just a little bit too much to drink?" Rikuo paused, not really expecting that Yura would understand. She was not the kind of person to overindulge in anything, although Rikuo did recall that she had a weakness for sweets.
"That's what being yokai feels like. It doesn't make me do anything I really don't want to do. I'd never hurt you or let you get hurt, you already know that! But at night my reactions are a lot quicker, and some things just seem... more fun?" Rikuo paused. "It's kind of a rush. But I'm not 'out of control'. Fear is like any supernatural ability. You onmyoji should understand. It's not just something you learn, it's also what you are. The source of my power is illusion. I can be what others believe I am. But to some extent, I actually have to live up to their expectations. With my Hyakki Yagyo behind me, I'm the Lord of Pandemonium. Without them, I'm..." Rikuo sighed in exasperation. "What you see." He finished, gesturing to himself.
"Oh, but don't you understand! What an opportunity this is for you!" The boy exclaimed. "You're finally free of that evil taint! You could live a normal life!"
Rikuo stared at Yura's apprentice for a long moment. The boy clearly believed what he was saying and Rikuo realized that years ago, he might have agreed with the young onmyoji's sentiments.
"The Nura Clan is my responsibility." He replied stiffly. "I'm not leaving my subordinates leaderless at a time like this so that the Baku can pick them off one by one!"
"You really care about them?" The boy observed. "That very un-yokai like."
"If you actually think that, you've got a lot to learn about yokai!" Rikuo laughed.
"So what are you doing here?" Yura wondered. "I thought for sure you would be checking out the power plant before the show tonight." She admitted.
"And I expected you would be there banishing my security." Rikuo paused.
"We were just on our way, weren't we Keisuke?" Yura turned to her apprentice.
"But I thought I wasn't allowed to go within a kilometer of..." He trailed off into silence. "Oh." The boy observed, realizing belatedly that Yura had meant for him to bluff.
"Why don't we all go together?" Rikuo suggested. "Someone had best check things out before Kiyotsugu's camera men arrive."
"What use are you without your evil tricks?" Yura demanded.
"I think you know the answer to that." Rikuo tapped his exorcist blade.
"Yokai." Yura said to her apprentice, as if that one word explained everything. It usually did.
The old Shikoku power plant was an enormous building made of sand-colored brick stained with soot from a huge fire many years ago that had not quite succeeded in burning the place down. Square factory windows of frosted glass made it impossible to see what cast the strange shadows inside. The roof had begun to cave in and the smell of mold was strong and unmistakable. Even if there were no yokai inhabiting the ruin of a building, everyone who went inside would still have to watch for unstable floors and possibly even some wiring that could still spark. The whole grounds were surrounded by a tall fence with a coil of barbed wire run across the top. The main gate was locked with a padlock that looked like a solid ball of rust. A sign read "Do Not Enter - Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted"".
Rikuo, Yura, and her apprentice could not get very close to the building without climbing the fence. Content to observe the building from a good distance away, Keisuke stood with his hands in his pockets as Yura fiddled with the old padlock. Rikuo walked the perimeter, counting all of the yokai he glimpsed hiding in the trees nearby. Despite Inugamigyobu's orders, most of the eighty-eight demons of Shikoku were lingering in the forest surrounding the power plant. Not that Rikuo was particularly surprised.
The temptation of terrifying the wits out of two of the most notorious "paranormal experts" in Japan was irresistible for any yokai. Rikuo had even succumbed to it himself and it was obvious to him that the trees were filled with swarms of mischievous tanuki already placing bets on whose pranks would prove most terrifying.
Keisuke jumped as Yura called for him to follow her around back and look for another entrance. Apparently the lock on the gate had proven too stubborn for her to sort it out. Rikuo sighed heavily, watching the young onmyoji. If just hearing the whispers of the little tanuki in the trees scared him, he was a pretty worthless student. Then again, Rikuo reasoned that maybe it wasn't fair to judge Keisuke by the same standards he applied to Yura. Most onmyoji trained their whole lives and never became as powerful as she was. An onmyoji in training had a lot to worry about. Even the Nura Clan's most honourable yokai sometimes reacted violently when a human attempted to seal or banish them. And plenty of masterless or bloody-minded yokai killed exorcists simply for the fun of it.
Sometimes Rikuo forgot that. He followed after Yura and her apprentice as they went into the forest.
The sound of mischievous giggling filled the trees. Keisuke jumped out of his skin as something brushed his shoulder and Rikuo instinctively seized the daring tanuki, which became visible in a flurry of leaves. In its natural form, the tanuki was not a very intimidating creature, only a little larger than an ordinary house cat. The black mask around the tanuki's eyes made it look a bit like a bandit from an American Western and that seemed particularly appropriate. Tanuki were naturally inclined to be troublemakers.
The little tanuki gave Rikuo a sheepish grin and Keisuke stared in disbelief at the revealed yokai. He might have mistaken the creature for an ordinary animal if it hadn't been wearing a distinctive hachimaki headband emblazoned with the kanji for "Shikoku Strike Team".
"You are not supposed to be here!" Rikuo scolded the creature.
The tanuki wormed its way free of his grasp and bolted off into the forest. All of the other yokai in the trees scattered, shrieking in terror.
Rikuo instinctively reached for his sword and Yura drew a summoning strip from her little purse.
"Is my eighty-ninth little brother giving you trouble, Nura Rikuo?" Tamazuki wondered.
Tamazuki's sudden appearance caused Yura to summon her first shikigami and her hapless apprentice to faint dead away. Not that Rikuo blamed Keisuke. He felt his own heart skip a beat as he saw the figure standing behind him.
Tanro growled.
Tamazuki had opted not to don his usual human guise. Instead of a thin-faced young man with over- combed hair dressed in a indeterminate school uniform, he appeared like a character from a kabuki play, clad in white and red Chinese silks, an ostentatious purple and gold long coat, straw sandals and a fine katana and wakazashi within easy reach. Tamazuki was tall enough that he could have been mistaken for a man, but the mask that he normally wore when he wanted to frighten the wits out of someone hung loosely around his neck, tied with an emerald green ribbon. He wore a hachimaki headband himself, holding back his long white hair which read 'Shikoku Strike Team Captain'. The markings on his face, his eyes, and his furry, twitching 'tanuki' ears made it very obvious that he was not completely human.
"Keeping company with onmyoji, are you?" Tamazuki observed, glancing at Yura with obvious distaste.
"What are you playing at, Tamazuki?" Rikuo demanded. "You know how serious this situation is!"
"My siblings and I are going to ambush and kill the Baku when it appears." Tamazuki replied, gesturing to his headband. "Which I think is only fair, considering that it wants to eat all of us."
"And your father knows about this plan of yours?" Rikuo pressed, though simply mentioning Inugamigyobu earned him a black look from Tamazuki. The tanuki did not like to admit that he wasn't the most powerful yokai in Shikoku and often seemed to chafe under all of his father's rules.
"It's not my plan." Tamazuki replied, sounding irritated. "It's your grandfather's."
Rikuo jumped at the mention of Nurarihyon. "You've seen him?" He pressed.
"He's at a shrine not far from here, boozing with the local god." Tamazuki replied. "Want me to take you there?"
Rikuo smiled slightly. That certainly sounded like Nurarihyon! Knowing that he was so close to finding his grandfather, he felt invigorated. Though Gyuki had told him that he needed to slay the Baku in order to take his Fear back, maybe his grandfather would know of another way? He was sure he could make short work of the monster if he could fight it the way that he preferred to, with all of his strength and the force of his Night Parade behind him. Considering everything that had happened in the past few days, Rikuo certainly wanted to have a few words with his grandfather.
"Rikuo?" Yura whispered, sounding uncertain. "I'm not sure about this..."
"I know you don't like Tamazuki, Yura." Rikuo replied. That was an understatement... the tanuki had tried to kill Yura more than once before. "But the Nura Clan is formally allied with Eighty-Eight demons of Shikoku now. And Tamazuki may be Inugamigyobu's favorite son, but when it comes to magic, his old man can still whip him. He won't misbehave." He informed her.
"You sound just like my father." Tamazuki snorted with distaste. Even still, there was a slight smile on his face.
They approached the shrine Tamazuki had mentioned. It looked run down and there was no sign of the spirit that had formerly inhabited it. Rikuo froze as he noticed that the blessed ropes which had been wrapped around several trees had been cut down.
Then he realized what it was that actually had made Yura feel uneasy.
The forest was far too quiet. He could hear Tamazuki close by him, suddenly breathing heavily.
There was something very wrong.
"Tamazuki, if this is my grandfather's plan to stop the Baku and your siblings are in on this... why did they all run away from us?" Rikuo wondered.
The tanuki did not respond.
"Rikuo!" Yura gasped.
Rikuo drew Nenekirimaru in one swift motion, but not fast enough. The blade fell from his grasp as Tamazuki plunged his wakazashi between Rikuo's ribs. The tanuki's face shifted and changed, leaving Rikuo gasping for breath and clutching the blade in his chest.
He stared up at his Night self.
It had taken him a long time to stop fearing that face, and for a moment he had to remind himself that it was not his own reflection but the Baku's mask that he saw. Tanro leapt at the Baku and Yura quickly summoned two more shikigami. Rikuo reached for Nenekirimaru despite the pain that seized in his chest when he tried to move. He felt the hilt of the sword and closed his fingers around it, lashing out wildly at the Baku just as the monster began to change forms again.
He could not tell if it was resuming its true form or changing its face to use Tamazuki's stolen Fear. All Rikuo could think was that the monster had surely killed his old enemy whom he had just started to call 'friend'. The Baku threw off Tanro and turned just in time for Rikuo to catch it with the tip of Nenekimaru.
Fear bled uncontrollably off of the monster, pouring from the little wound inflicted by his exorcist blade.
The Baku howled in pain and bolted, two of Yura's shikigami pursuing it as it went crashing through the trees.
Rikuo slowly came to his knees. Despite the fact that he'd been stabbed and was still bleeding, he felt stronger than he had before. His blood burned in his veins and he slowly reached up and brushed a lock of stark white hair out of his eyes.
Yura's apprentice gasped and Rikuo did not need to see his own reflection to know what he looked like.
Despite the fact that it was early morning and the sun was still high in the sky, he'd assumed his Night form. Still, he could feel his Fear quickly ebbing away as the Baku fled. The power he'd stolen back by wounding the beast obviously wouldn't last long and he needed to make the most of it. He turned to Yura's apprentice.
"Run all the way back to the hotel and tell everyone what just happened!" He ordered. "Tell my subordinates to go straight to Inugamigyobu now!"
Keisuke nodded obediently. Even if he was a poor exorcist, it seemed that he was a fairly quick runner and once his message reached the hotel, Rikuo knew that his bodyguards would be rushing to his aid. He was sure that Kurotabo would follow the orders he'd been given to the letter, as would Awashima, who'd formerly been a Toono mercenary. But Tsurara only obeyed him if she knew that he was able to protect himself, and if she caught wind of the fact that Rikuo was going after the Baku who'd also stolen Tamazuki's Fear with only Yura for backup, no orders would keep her from running to his side.
That was a good thing, he suspected... because there was a chance he might really need her help.
Rikuo glanced over his shoulder at Yura who was watching him with suspicion and smiled slightly. "Follow me, onmyoji!" He winked. "If you can!"
Without a moment's hesitation, he took off running.