Chapter Thirteen
The four of us sit in the living room, wondering why it is that Dad has called us for a family meeting. The door slides open and Dad walks in, grinning broadly.
"Hey, kids," he says cheerfully, "You'll never guess what." At those words, Jase, Ezra and I roll our eyes. We've heard those words so many times that we know what comes next. Xander perks up.
"Mum's coming to stay?" he asks, and Dad nods.
"She wants to meet all of your friends and see how you're doing. She's arranged a seven night trip for us and some friends to go to a hot springs resort in Hakone." Xander begins to get very excited. Not at the prospect of going to a hot springs resort, but at the fact that Mum's going to be coming to stay soon.
"When's she coming?" Jase asks, sounding slightly worried. He doesn't get on with Mum that well because she doesn't approve of the number of girlfriends he's had in the past three years. I raise my eyebrows at him. Dad always waits until a day or two before Mum arrives, which would make sense, because the half-term holidays start on Saturday.
"Her flight gets in tomorrow," Dad says with a smile, "One of my clients has said we can have his old cot, because his daughter's eight and doesn't need it. Emmie's going to be in with you, Kor." I frown and wrinkle my nose in disgust.
"Why me? Can't she share with you and Mum?" I ask, and Dad shakes his head. Jase smirks at me.
"You're good with her." Dad says.
"That doesn't change the fact that I hate children. If she wakes me up in the middle of the night, I will gag her and go back to sleep." I say. Ezra giggles into his hand.
"Emmie can come in with me and Ezra!" Xander says, and Dad nods.
"Are you okay with that, Ezra?" Ezra nods, still laughing. Dad claps his hands together. "That's settled, then! Pick who you want to bring with you to Hakone. Make sure you ask their parents."
"Can I bring Satoshi?" Jase asks, and Dad nods.
"As long as his parents are okay with it." he says. "Are you going to bring Megumi, Korin?" I nod.
"I'll bring Takeshi." Ezra says.
"Akiyama-ception!" Jase and I say at exactly the same time. We share a look and the five of us burst out laughing.
"I may as well invite Hiroaki and Mai, in that case," Dad says. "Who are you going to invite, Xander?" Xander smiles blissfully before answering, and I know immediately which name he's going to say.
"I want to bring Chiasa." he says with a gleeful smile. I smile at his blatant adoration for Hanako. Jase wolf whistles.
"Xander's got a girlfriend!" he teases, and Xander pokes his tongue out at him.
"Shut up, Jase. She's not my girlfriend." he says grumpily, pouting in a way that makes him look at least three years younger than he is. I laugh.
"You say that now, but it's obvious you like her. I've seen the way you look at her." I say, pinching Xander's cheek gently.
"Shut up, Kor! I don't like her like that!" he protests, and Dad snorts.
"Young love is a beautiful thing." he says with a warm smile. "Alright, off you go. I'm sure you have homework. I'm just going to pop across to talk to Hiroaki."
"Do you want me to ask Chiasa's parents if she can come? I have her mum's number." I lie smoothly. I plan on calling Yuki and finding out if there are any Yokai who could pass as Hanako's parents to convince Dad.
"Yes, please, Korin. Give me her number, too, please." he says. I nod.
"I've got it saved into my phone. I'll give it to you later." I say, and Dad smiles at me.
"Okay. See you guys later." With that, Dad leaves the room.
"See you weirdos later. I've got a date." Jase says, before standing up and leaving. Ezra rolls his eyes.
"Bye, guys." I say, and run off back to my room.
When I open my bedroom door, there is a sudden scramble as Hanako tries to cover up whatever it is she was doing. I stride over to my bed and pull the covers back. Laying there, now uncovered, is a small bottle of sake. I look up at Hanako.
"Explain, now." I say, pointing to the bottle. Hanako flushes scarlet.
"W-well… You see…"
"Don't tell her off, girl." I look down and see that the sake bottle has opened its eyes. It takes me a moment to realise that sake bottles don't have eyes.
"Woah… What's going on?" I ask. The sake bottle stands up.
"I was getting a little worried, because on my trip to spy on the onmyoji family next door, I heard the girl talking to her brother about setting up anti-Yokai wards in here. I came to warn Hanako-san." it says, and I frown.
"Why would Megumi do that? She doesn't have any reason to suspect that there are Yokai living here."
"She's worried that you would let them stay in your room and end up getting yourself killed, Korin-nee-chan." Hanako says quietly, with a slight teasing smile.
"That's stupid. I wouldn't let anyone I didn't trust completely in here." I say, and Hanako smiles at me for a second. She comes forward slightly and leans into my body. I wrap my arms around her.
"You seem to be a very trusting person, Korin-san." the sake bottle says, and I shake my head.
"I'm not. I've just done a lot of research and I know that Tsukumogami are pranksters, but won't actually hurt people, and I'd played Pokémon with Hanako-chan, so I technically knew her and guessed from her defensive battling style that she didn't like hurting people." I say. The sake bottle smiles at me, which is slightly creepy because most sake bottles don't have mouths to smile with.
"It is as Yuki-sama and Kirin-sama said. You will be the revolutionary who saves us as the mascot of the war." it says. I beam at the compliment, but suddenly realise what it actually said.
"Hold up… When did I agree to being a mascot of war, exactly?" I ask. The sake bottle chortles in the way my grandfather used to.
"You didn't. I was just checking that you were listening." it tells me. I roll my eyes.
"Good. I'm not getting involved in any sort of war," I say. "And neither is Hanako-chan."
"I'm older than you, technically." Hanako says.
"Cool. But you're nine years old physically, and I'm fifteen years old physically, which makes me older than you." I say.
"Yeah, but my sixteenth birthday is on the 21st. When's yours? I think I'm older." I gasp.
"Why didn't you tell me that sooner? I haven't got you a present!" I exclaim. Hanako shrugs.
"It didn't seem important. I've haven't celebrated my birthday since I died, and I'm fine with that."
"Are you kidding? We have to celebrate! It's your sixteenth birthday! Of course, we'll tell everyone that it's your tenth, but still!" I pull away from the hug and grin at Hanako.
"Can I wear your Pikachu onesie?" she asks slyly. I nod. "Can I have a Bulbasaur cake?"
"I'll see what I can do. I can't guarantee the cake, but you can definitely wear my onesie." I say. Hanako grins.
"So anyway… I heard some of the conversation between you and your family… You'd better be inviting me on the holiday." Hanako says. I nod.
"Of course we are. I'm going to find out if there are any Yokai who look like human adults who could pretend to be your parents, just so that my Dad has someone to ask if you can come."
"Yay! Who else are you inviting?" I hesitate and consider not telling her, by I think better of it.
"The Akiyamas are coming, which means you'll have to spend a week with five onmyoji. Are you okay with that?" Hanako looks a little nervous, but nods all the same.
"I'm fine with that. Megumi-san won't recognise me, will she?" she asks. I shake my head.
"If you were more powerful, like Yuki-chan, you would be more noticeable. She emits an aura of power. You can tell just from looking at her that she's not human. It's not like that with you."
"Are you saying I'm weak?" Hanako asks. I raise my eyebrows.
"How often do you insult me?"
"Every day…"
"And how often do I complain about it?"
"... Never…"
"Exactly. So shut up."
"Sorry, Korey." Hanako says. I glare at her.
"Only Xander calls me Korey." Hanako giggles.
"Okay, Kor. I won't call you Korey anymore." I sigh and roll my eyes. The sake bottle clears its throat. Hanako and I look over at it.
"Korin-san, can we please talk about the more pressing matter of the wards your onmyoji friends are threatening to put up?" it says. I nod.
"Yeah, sure. Sorry." I say. "I can probably convince Satoshi-kun to help me convince Megumi-chan and Takeshi-kun. He's more malleable than them."
"That's good. I hope you can succeed. I've lived in this house since just after it was built. It's my birthplace. I was a housewarming gift to the house's first owners."
"That's cool," I say. Suddenly, a question pops into my mind. "What would happen if someone mistook you for a normal bottle and refilled you and tried to drink from you?" The bottle of sake stares at me as if I'm crazy.
"Then I would have a beverage of some description sloshing around inside me until it was removed, and someone's mouth would close around my neck. I find it rather uncomfortable." it says slowly, eying me warily.
"How do you know what it feels like?" I ask. Hanako giggles.
"Because it has happened to me on multiple occasions." I clamp my teeth around my hand to try and contain my laughter. Hanako has tears of mirth streaming down her cheeks. The sake bottle is not amused. "This is no laughing matter!" it exclaims. I wave my hand in front of my face apologetically.
"I'm sorry. I know it's not funny. I'm just really immature." I say.
The sake bottle smiles warmly at me, "The fact that you can admit that means that you are much more mature than you think."
"Thanks," I say. "I need to talk to Yuki-chan now. Do either of you know how to contact her without going to the forest." Hanako nods and takes a bobby pin out of her hair. She bends it out so that it's stretched out straight. She closes her eyes and, holding the bobby pin like a pen, writes something in the air. Her tongue pokes out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrates, and the bobby pin leaves a trail of gold floating in the air before her. The wind outside picks up and blows through the windows, chilling me to the bone. I shudder and look towards the window.
"Can I come in, please?" Yuki asks, leaning on the window sill from the outside. I nod. "Many thanks. What can I do for you?" I sigh and begin to ask her about other Yokai.
After an hour or so, we've sorted the problem. Yuki sends a message on the wind to a man she knows whose father is a Yokai and mother is human. He and his wife (both of whom are in their thirties) agree to pretending to be Hanako's parents. Yuki puts the woman's mobile number into my phone.
"Now that that's sorted, who wants to go out for ramen?" Yuki asks. Hanako and I both perk up, grinning. "My treat." The sake bottle mumbles something about Tsukumogami always getting left out of social gatherings as the three of us leave, grinning, with Hanako and I both intending to binge eat the best quality ramen Yuki can afford.