Chapter Five
"So you haven't had any experiences with Yokai yet, Korin-chan?" Megumi asks, seeming genuinely concerned for my well being. I shake my head.
"No, I haven't." I lie, focussing on my breathing. Megumi nods.
"That's good," she says. "Are you sure, though? You haven't even seen a Tsukumogami? They're very common in houses all over the country." I nod, casually not mentioning the Kejoro that came into my bedroom while I slept the night before last, the person who was with her and the eyes I can feel watching me whenever I'm in my bedroom. I don't want anyone to hurt them, no matter how rude they may be *cough*Kejoro*cough*. I want to be a friend to them, not someone who snitches to the Akiyamas and subsequently gets them murdered.
"I might have seen one and not realised, but they haven't caused anyone in my family any problems, so I honestly don't care." Megumi frowns at how little I care about the 'imminent threat of a potentially deadly Yokai attack'. Megumi stops me and turns the two of us until we're facing each other.
"It's always better to tell an Onmyoji before it gets out of hand. They could easily kill you." Megumi says, staring straight into my eyes.
I shrug, "Doesn't matter. If they killed me, I wouldn't know I was dead because I would no longer have consciousness. Or any working body parts to feel with, if you were about to say that it would be painful."
Megumi sighs, "I can see I'm fighting a losing battle with you, Korin-chan. But at least let me train you a little." I grin after she finishes speaking.
"You mean, like, martial arts?" Megumi nods. My grin widens.
"I took Judo lessons when I was younger, back in London. I joined a class for a couple of months in Vienna, too. Got my purple belt." Megumi starts laughing. "What? Purple's good, right?"
"If you're, like, ten years old." She takes a few deep breaths to regain her composure. "I'm sorry, Korin-chan. I'm a second Dan."
"And I quit Judo when I was eight, then went back to it for two months when I was eleven." I say indignantly, and Megumi nods.
"That makes more sense." she says. She suddenly glances over my shoulder looking concerned. I follow her line of sight and see that Satoshi is running towards us. He stops for a moment to apologise to the driver who almost knocked him down when he ran across the road without looking,but continues quickly towards us.
"We've got a situation, Megumi," he says. "Some tourist girl came out of a public toilet screaming her head off about a blood-soaked monster. Gave me this." He holds up a black 3DS with blood on it.
"You might want to leave now, Korin-chan," Megumi says. "This is going to be dangerous. I don't want you getting hurt."
"I want to come." I say stubbornly. Satoshi steps towards me, closer than I'm comfortable with. He bends down slightly to make up for our height difference and puts my mouth close to my ear.
"I don't want anything to happen to you, Korin-chan. Please go home, for your own good." he breathes into my ear. I step away from him with a look of disgust plastered on my face.
"I'm coming with you." I say. Satoshi sighs and takes out his phone. He taps the screen a few times before putting it to his ear.
"Hey, Takeshi. Yeah. I know. We've got a situation, and Korin-chan's trying to come with us. Will you please drag her back to her house?" he says, and moments later lets out an irritated groan. "Well thank you, you selfish little wanker. Now we're going to have to take Korin-chan with us. Thanks a lot." He hangs up and puts his phone in his pocket, muttering angrily.
"It's not his fault, Satoshi." Megumi says, putting her hand on her brother's arm. I clap my hands excitedly.
"Are we going to go, then?" I ask, and Satoshi grins and throws his arm around me.
"Sure thing, Korin-kohai. You'll be waiting outside with me while Megumi goes in and exorcises it."
"Wait, what? Why is only Megumi-chan going in?"
"It's in a girls' bathroom. I can't go in." Satoshi says, and I nod.
"That makes sense," I say. "But it still doesn't explain why I can't go in."
"You have no experience with Yokai," Megumi all but yells at me. "If it's an Aka-Manto or an Aka-Kami-Ao-Kami, you will be dead so quickly. You don't know how to fight them."
"Yellow paper. No, I don't want a red mantle." I say, and Satoshi laughs.
"And a bucket of urine gets tipped over your head. That's a great look, Korin-chan."
"Aka-Manto aren't that easy. Their voices and faces are irresistible to women." Megumi says.
"Score one for lesbians, then." I say. Megumi glares at me and Satoshi coughs to cover his laughter. Megumi turns her glare to him.
"This is no laughing matter, Satoshi! You should know that. You've had more hands-on experience that Takeshi and I combined." she yells, and Satoshi holds his hands up in surrender.
"Okay, I know. But it's not likely to be either of those," Satoshi says. He holds up the 3DS. "The poor girl said that the Yokai was playing on this and left it behind when she disappeared. The Yokai was clearly female, and playing on a 3DS. So naturally, I switched it on. Found this." He turns the 3DS on. He presses the A button a few times and shows us the screen. The Yokai had been playing Pokémon Y. I gasp.
"So it's an otaku girl." Megumi says dryly. "And what, its player name gave away its identity? It can't seriously that stupid. No one uses their real name on Pokémon." I flush red. Satoshi looks at me quizzically.
"You use your real name on Pokémon." he says, Megumi raises her eyebrows at me.
"I thought you were smart, Korin-chan." she says, shaking her head exasperatedly. The three of us begin to walk in the direction of the public toilets.
"This Yokai is obviously just as stupid as Korin-chan," Satoshi says with a smirk, "Because- Would you look at that!" He shows us the screen again. The save game data has come up, complete with the Trainer Name. I gasp when I see it, as well as the trainer image. Hanako-chan.
"Are you okay, Korin-chan?" Megumi asks. I nod.
"I've spent probably at least ten hours battling her in the last two days." I say. Satoshi bursts out laughing.
"Y-you've been having Pokémon battles against a Toilet Hanako?" he manages to ask between his laughter. He sticks his fingers up behind his glasses and wipes tears of mirth from his eyes. "That'll be one to tell your children one day!" I shake my head.
"I'm never having children. Seriously. I hate them." I say, and Satoshi recovers from his laughter and pouts at me.
"You mean you don't get happiness from looking after little ones? I would expect that someone with a younger sibling would understand."
"You two can argue about reproduction later. We've got a Toilet Hanako to exorcise." Megumi says, and it strikes me how much her personality changed between leaving the house giggling and chatting non-stop to now, almost silent with a murderous look in her dark brown eyes. "We're here, by the way."
"If it's only a Toilet Hanako, can I come? I've been battling her. I can probably get her to come out. I mean, who doesn't want to meet the people they've been battling?"
Megumi shrugs, "I don't see why not. You can get her to come out, chat to her a bit, soften her up and get her guard down. It would make my job ten times easier." I try to keep my face neutral so that Megumi and Satoshi don't realise that I plan to get Hanako out. Megumi hugs Satoshi and leads me into the toilet.
Megumi tilts herself up on her toes and cups her hands around her mouth and my ear.
"Go into a stall and knock on th-"
"I know what to do." Megumi nods and gives me a thumbs up.
"Go for it, Korin-chan!"
I walk into a stall and shut the door.
"Are you there, Hanako-chan?" I ask, knocking on the door three times.
"Yes, I am." The voice comes from behind me. I turn and gasp. Sitting on the floor, her head leant against the toilet seat, is a young girl, no more than nine or ten years old, in the girls' uniform of the local elementary school. Her sleek black hair is cropped around her neck and she is drenched in blood. Her uniform is torn and bloodstained. I smile brightly. "You call me chan, not san. Why is this?"
I giggle, "I've been battling you for the last two days. My name is Korin." Hanako sits upright.
"With the strong offensive team? The Greninja and Mega Charizard and Noctowl and Pikachu and Ditto and Amaura?" she asks excitedly. I nod, grinning. "You're a good trainer."
I shake my head, "You should battle some of the boys from my old school. They were good trainers."
"You're new here, aren't you?" I nod. "I guessed as much. You must be new, or you would be afraid."
"I'm not afraid because I have no reason to be afraid." I state calmly. My phone vibrates in my pocket. I take it out, alongside my 3DS. A true trainer takes their team everywhere. I switch on my 3DS and unlock my phone. I have a new text from Megumi.
Is she calm yet?
Nope. Give me a few more minutes. I send back. I open my notes on my 3DS and take out the stylus after slipping my phone back into my pocket.
On the screen, I write, I'll keep talking out loud, but I want you to read what I write on here. Hanako nods. We continue to talk about Pokémon, discussing battle tactics and how we select our teams.
The girl who just texted me is an onmyoji. She asked me to get your guard down so that she can kill you, but I want to help you escape. I write and Hanako's eyes widen. The next time she speaks, her voice trembles. Her face is showing all of the signs of true gratefulness.
Go to the house that used to belong to the family with the two dead children. That's where I live. My room is what used to belong to the boy. You can stay in my ensuite bathroom. Hanako beams at me.
I'll yell to Megumi and you can get out. Can you do that? Hanako nods. Her childish happiness fills me with cheer.
If you stay until I open the door and then get out, she'll catch a glimpse of you and won't suspect anything. Hanako nods, biting her lip.
Can you do that? Hanako nods again. I give her a thumbs up and count down from five on my fingers.
Five.
Hanako's lip begins to bleed.
Four.
Jittering nerves fill my body.
Three.
Hanako tenses her body.
Two.
I give Hanako a reassuring smile.
One.
"Now, Megumi-chan!" I yell, throwing open the cubicle door. Megumi steps forward and throws a piece of paper which shifts in midair and turns into a bird of prey. My eyes flicker towards Hanako just in time to see her disappear. I fall against the wall and cover my mouth to stem my sigh of relief. Hanako got away safely. I just saved a life.
"Damn it!" Megumi yells. "I almost had her!" She holds her hand out and the bird lands on her hand and turns back into a piece of paper. She shoves it into her pocket and storms out of the toilets. "Come one, Korin-chan."
I follow her out, and a sense of achievement settles over me.