From there we continued walking with Yamame, eventually coming to the wooden bridge which spanned the river separating the series of caves surrounding the city from the passage that lead to the vast shaft where Renko and I had first fallen into the Underworld. The last time we had been here, Renko and I had still been bound head to toe in silk. I wondered what Parsee would think of seeing us walk around free now. Remembering how it had felt to have her eyes on us before, I foolishly hoped she would somehow not notice us at all.

Ahead of us there were two figures standing on the bridge, apparently unbothered by the fact that they were in near darkness until Kisume and her lantern came along at the front of our little procession. The first of the figures was instantly recognizable from her height and the glossy blonde hair that threw back the golden lamplight. Beside Yuugi, another form that must have been Parsee was leaning against the bridge's railing, with a sullen-looking slouch to her posture.

As soon as the lantern's light fell on Yuugi, Yamame called out behind us, waving her arm over her head in greeting. "Heeey! Big sis! Yuuugi!"

Yuugi raised a hand in greeting, still holding her drinking dish as she did so, but not bothering to turn. I caught the faintest, queasy feeling of Parsee's eyes scanning over us as she continued to lean, unmoving against the railing, but her gaze quickly flitted back to the oni.

As we drew closer, Yuugi turned toward us. "Oh, it's Renko again. Did Yamame take you to meet captain Murasa?"

"She did," Renko said with a nod. "She was very happy to meet me, just as you thought. I assume she's told you about the predicament she's in with that ship of hers?"

"Yeah, it's too big and too deep to dig a hole for."

"That's if we even could dig a hole that big," Yamame said. "A hole that big around that goes all the way to the surface would be hard even for Tsuchigumo with a team of oni laborers. Where would we even put all the dirt?"

"That's why I wanted to bring Renko to see Murasa," Yuugi said, turning to face my partner. "You seem smart, and not in the practical, straightforward sort of way that the tsuchigumo are. I want you to think of a way to get Murasa and her ship out of the Underworld. Something clever and tricky, like a human would come up with. Doing it the oni way would cause too much destruction."

"Hey wait! Yuugi, you can't let Murasa and her crew go up to the surface, they're earth spirits!" Parsee protested.

"Nah, they're even older than that," Yuugi said dismissively. "They've been down here a thousand years, far longer than that agreement with the surface has been in place. They aren't even spirits that were confined to Hell when it was in operation. They just came down here to flee humans. The oni say they can leave." Yuugi declared, turning her gaze to Parsee and looming over her.

"Tch. Of course you'd make an exception for them." Parsee snorted and turned away.

"Well actually, I'm hoping I won't have to do anything. Renko, if Suika really does owe you a favor, then I'm thinking you and her can figure out a way to do this safely. If a hole was dug down from the surface instead of up from below, it could probably be done in such a way that it wouldn't endanger the city, I'm thinking."

"Hmm, that's not a bad idea. We could excavate the earth as we go, moving it out like with a mining operation. That's a hell of a favor to ask though, even for Suika."

"Nah, she'll see it as a challenge. She'll just get real drunk and try to see if she can do it with one punch or something. If she finds it too tough, then she can take it up with me once she gets to the bottom. It's been a long time since I had a good face-to-face with Little Miss Watermelon." Yuugi grinned ferociously.

Renko crossed her arms and grumbled to herself. "Hmmm. I would be happy to try and help out Captain Murasa for sure, but I think there's a more pressing problem we need to deal with first."

"Oh? What would that be? Is this something to do with the earth spirits?"

"Yes, I've just been to Chireiden and had a talk with the people there."

"Oh really? What did you think of Satori?"

"Her abilities were very impressive. I can see why she's earned such a fearsome reputation. However, while I was there, I learned that the origin of the problem causing the earth spirits to leak to the surface is actually above ground rather than a mismanagement issue down here. So now I need to get back to the surface as soon as possible to get that sorted out."

Yamame and I looked over at Renko in disbelief. I hadn't expected her to try to lie to an oni, but wasn't this exactly what Orin had asked us not to tell Yuugi? For her part, however, Yuugi seemed to take the news well.

"The source of the problem is on the surface? Does that mean some surface youkai is trying to mess with us? Surely no one up there would be dumb enough to try to use earth spirits for their own purposes, right?"

"Well, I certainly hope not, but that's what I need to go investigate. My theory is that someone up there has just done something stupid without realizing the consequences, but I need to talk to some people to be sure."

Yuugi looked down at Renko for a moment and seemed to not so much be pondering as weighing her options. After perhaps twenty seconds, she drained the sake from her dish and hung it off of her belt, then smacked her fist against an open palm. "Nah, that sounds too complicated. Why don't you just stay down here and I'll go to the palace and start smashing stuff until they get a better hold on those spirits and keep them from leaking?"

"Whoa, whoa, hold on!" Renko said in a panic, waving her hands at Yuugi, "that's not a good idea. What if it really IS some youkai on the surface messing with you? Smashing the palace wouldn't help any then, and whoever it is might get away with their plan. If they let all of the earth spirits out then that would take away the fuel source for the Hell of Blazing Fires, right? No more roasted meat or light to grow rice for sake. Nobody wants that. That's why you need me to head up and find out who's to blame. Everyone down here looks up to you Yuugi, you have to move carefully, right?"

Yuugi groaned in annoyance. "Ugh, I hate politicking like this. Just show me who's trying to cause problems and I'll go flatten them. That's the simplest way to solve a dispute, right?"

"Muscle-bound moron," Parsee whispered, just loud enough so that everyone could hear it.

"Don't say that, Parsee, I'm just trying to keep it simple. The weak obey the strong or else they get crushed. That's just the way things work. Why is that always so hard for everyone to understand?"

"Because not everyone is strong, you meathead! I'm jealous of you for even being able to be so stupid! You're able to be leader of all the oni gangs and everyone's favorite person despite having a skull entirely full of ground beef!"

Yuugi looked down at Parsee, seemingly confused. "Sorry you're not stupid, I guess."

"Well, there is some good news," Renko interjected. "I have a pretty good idea who on the surface might be responsible for all of this, so if I can just get up there, I think I can get this wrapped up fairly quickly. If it is who I think it is, I wouldn't be surprised if she were even willing to come down and have a few drinks with you, Yuugi. Maybe even have a friendly fight."

"Oh, of course," Parsee replied, sweeping her green eyes over me and toward Renko. "The people from the surface know all about it already, so they get to just trot along and solve everything while I'm stuck here on this bridge." As she seethed it almost seemed like an acid-green smoke was beginning to boil off of her, nearly translucent and just barely visible. Was she trying to make herself jealous on purpose?

"If you guys are willing to take care of it, that would certainly be easier. How about I leave the matter to you for now, and if things start being a pain for me down here, I'll head over to the palace and bust heads until it gets better?"

"That's all I could ask for," Renko said with a smile.

"I guess even the people at the palace don't have it easy. They act all self-important, but they have issues to deal with too. Lucky you came down to help 'em out, Renko." Yuugi said with a grin.

"You're even worrying about the well-being of people at the palace now? I'm so jealous of all of them, and they're not even here!" Parsee said, grinding her heel into the bridge in frustration.

"That's a good thing though, isn't it? All of us down here in the Underworld have to work together, right? Sometimes some people need some heads knocked together to get properly in line, but in the end we all just want to have a good time."

"Augh! I'm so jealous of how you can just decide that you're going to help someone on your own, without asking them, then ask someone else to help you do it and everyone just agrees!" Saying that, Parsee twisted around from her slouched position on the bridge and seized the back of one of Yuugi's hands, pinching the skin above the tendons between her fingers.

"Ow! Hey, that kind of hurts!"

"Then if you're going to rely on someone to help you with problems that can't be solved with brute strength, why not rely on me? What do you think I'm doing here all day and night if not waiting you to come and talk to me? Did you ever even think about me as an option?" She released Yuugi's hand and turned to face her, hunching up and kicking out with her legs, battering Yuugi's shins with her boots.

"I already gave you one job though. Oh, wait, this is because I hadn't come to see you in a few days, isn't it? Did you miss me, Parsee?"

"Of course not, you lummox!" She said, hammering both fists uselessly into Yuugi's chest. "I don't care about you at all!"

"Okay, calm down, Parsee. It's been a busy couple of days, but if I have to wait for Renko to do her thing now, then I've got nothing but time for you for a while." Saying this, Yuugi reached out, wrapping her muscular arms around the hashihime and pulling her into a hug. Parsee pressed her palms against Yuugi's chest, trying to free herself, but the hold was inextricable. Yuugi continued to hold her with one arm while the other gently stroked Parsee's hair.

"Don't stroke my hair!" Parsee roared, tilting her head back to be able to speak without being crammed into Yuugi's breasts. She wriggled against the arm holding her in place, but didn't succeed at doing anything more than making the chains hanging from Yuugi's wrist jangle musically. Her face was red with fury and seemed to be growing redder by the second.

I felt like I understood somewhat what Yamame had meant with her comment about Yuugi feeding a stray cat. Like Satori, it seemed that Parsee's personality, or perhaps her nature as a youkai of jealousy set her apart, even from the other exiled youkai in the city. I wondered to myself how she and Yuugi might have met. Would Parsee have stopped Yuugi one day on her way out of town to complain at her? Or would Yuugi have expressly sought her out, seeing a lone youkai standing all by themselves and deciding to take it upon herself to help out? Either way, it seemed that once Yuugi had decided she was going to help you, you really had no say in the matter.

"What would Yuugi even rely on you for, Parsee?" Yamame asked from behind me. "All you can do is watch this bridge and let people in or out."

"Don't you start, Yamame, you're just going to make her even more jealous. Besides, like I said, I already gave her a job. She's doing plenty for me." Yuugi said, crushing Parsee into her chest and ignoring her flailing arms. "Renko, I'll leave this matter to you, but I don't see any reason you have to start right away. It must be nearly midnight on the surface by now, why don't you stay here for the night? I'll call everyone over and we can have a party right here on the bridge. When you wake up you can head up to the surface then."

"Thank you very much for the offer, but I feel like I've only just recovered from our last party. Humans are fragile things, as I'm sure you know. It'll be a few days before I'm ready to drink like that again."

"Don't say that, it's boring. It'll be your farewell party, you can't miss that."

Renko seemed about to reply, but just then Parsee braced both hands against Yuugi's shoulders and jackknifed her body, kicking into one of Yuugi's shins with both of her legs and all of her might. Yuugi stumbled a half-step backward and loosened her grip, allowing Parsee to again tilt her head toward the ceiling and take a deep breath. "You're just looking for an excuse to party again, you drunken meathead!" she shouted.

I thought about how quickly the time had gone by. It was only just after noon when we had gone to explore the hole. It must have taken four hours or so to have gone from falling into the Underworld to the time Renko woke up at Yuugi's party. From there we had spent a long time talking to captain Murasa, then chased Koishi, met Satori, visited the Hell of Blazing Fires, met Orin, had our discussion with her and now ended up back here. It had been a jam-packed day, and it was only once I thought about it that I realized I had missed two meals was now starving. Here in the lightless depths of the earth, time could easily slip away.

"Well, I may not be up for drinking with an oni, but I could definitely use a meal, if that's an option. How about a farewell dinner?"

"A feast!" Yuugi declared, exuberantly. "How about it, Parsee? Not even you can say no to good food, can you?"

"Just watch me," she said, ducking under Yuugi's arm and escaping her grip. "You all go and have fun in the city and leave me here to rot. That's what everyone else always does."

"Don't be like that, Parsee. I know you're capable of leaving this bridge when you feel like it. Come into the city with us. Have a meal and a few drinks."

"I'd only cause you problems if I went with you. Everyone in the city hates me."

"Oh, you're worrying about my well-being now! That's sweet, Parsee. I can handle it though."

"Just go already!" Parsee shouted, stamping her foot, both arms rigid at her sides. "Or I'll break this bridge and then you'll never be able to leave again!"

"Alright, alright," Yuugi said, turning toward us with a jingle of her chains. "Let's go get some food. I'll come back and see you tomorrow, Parsee! Promise!"

Parsee stewed silently until we were all off the bridge before shouting "Don't come back at all!" after us.

"Those two are so precious it's sickening," Yamame said from ahead of us, twisting her head back to speak to us as we walked away, a few paces ahead of Yuugi. Kisume rose up on her knees to see over the rim of her bucket and nodded in agreement. "I bet she misses Yuugi already."

"Really?" I asked. "Parsee seemed pretty mad. Was that all just for show?"

"How many people down here could get away with treating Yuugi like that, do you think? She treats Yuugi badly because she knows Yuugi will let her. It's all a game to them."

"That doesn't seem healthy. Is it really okay to leave her alone like that? Maybe we should bring her along so the two of them can talk it out."

"Nah, it's fine. Parsee is a jealousy youkai, so doing things that make her jealous is like feeding her. And it doesn't take much to make her jealous."

"What a lonely existence. I wish we could bring her with us now, she must never have anyone to talk to."

"Trust me, Yuugi did the right thing. Parsee's eyes make jealousy boil up in anyone she looks at. She's not suited to living in a crowded city, but having one person visit her on a bridge now and then is just right for her. Besides, I'm not sure if Yuugi even knows how to be jealous of someone else. She's pretty much immune.

"So then, being left behind while we have a nice meal is what she would really want?"

"I don't know about want, but it's what she needs. Hypocritical or not, being jealous of others is what will make her happiest, in the long-term anyway."

"Hey, this is too heavy and confusing a conversation for right now," Yuugi interrupted, thumping up the path behind me. "I just want to try and do something nice for Parsee, that's all. Now let me up in front, the only thing we should be talking about now is what to eat."

Yamame stepped aside and Yuugi moved to the front of our little column. Standing at the entrance to the tunnel leading back to the city, she leaned back and took a deep breath. Suddenly she bellowed into the cave, shouting with a force that distorted and compressed the air, sending a visible pressure wave racing down the passage as the power of her shout squeezed fine droplets of water vapor out of the air.

"HEY! I'M HUNGRY! SOMEONE MAKE SOME FOOD FOR ME. AND MY FRIENDS TOO!"

A din of echoes rang from the cave, bell-like, as the stone itself reverberated. As the noise died down she turned to us. "Come on, let's go. I'll show you what a proper oni feast looks like." Renko and I glanced at eachother apprehensively, then proceeded into the tunnel.