We wound our way through the caves until it became too dark for Orin to see (which was long after it became too dark for Renko or I to make out anything at all) and walked the rest of the way with our path lit by the dim pulsing of Orin's gathered spirits, listening to the sound of the underground stream emptying into the river ahead grow closer and closer. When we emerged into the cleft where the river coursed, the light of the lanterns strung along the bridge gave off enough of a glow for us to make out the banks of the path, the bridge itself, and the looming shape of Parsee leaning over the railings as usual. As we emerged from our tunnel, her lamp-like green eyes scanned over us. I tried not to flinch as the constrictive feeling of her jealousy washed over me, but even Orin grunted a little as their eyes met.
"Orin, are you alright?" Renko asked.
"I don't like that bridge. At all. Let's just get past quickly."
"Ah, my apologies. I actually need to speak with Parsee for a moment, she'll be looking at me though, so feel free to just look away if that helps."
"You're going to talk to her? Why, sister?"
Renko didn't answer but instead pressed ahead, walking around Orin to take the lead on the path. As she drew nearer to the bridge, she raised a hand in greeting and Parsee lazily turned her gaze from me to Renko.
"Hello, miss Parsee Mizuhashi. Good to see you hard at work as always," she said with a smile and only the faintest hitch in her speech as Parsee's gaze settled on her.
"You're that human who was with Yamame. I thought you were leaving for the surface. Did you get lost in the tunnels?"
"I got out. I'm back again to take care of some business down here. Speaking of which, I'd like to ask you a question if I may, miss Mizuhashi."
"Oh?" she asked. Both her inflection and expression conveyed nothing but disinterest and contempt.
"It's about the job Yuugi gave you. Did she by any chance ask you to watch this bridge and report to her if you saw any sign of Koishi Komeiji entering or leaving Former Hell?"
Parsee's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, then narrowed as her brow knitted angrily. "Where did you hear that? From that meathead oni?"
"No, it was just a guess. Did she only ask you to keep watch for Koishi? Not to try to stop her from leaving?"
"I was told to try to stop her if I could, but I'm under no obligation to keep her from leaving if she fights back. Despite her appearance she's quite powerful, actually."
"I take it you have no issues seeing her then? Most people find her quite elusive."
"No, she can't hide from me." Parsee said with the faintest hint of a grin.
"I see. I thought as much. Your eyes allow you to see jealousy, I take it, and as a result its easy for you to notice her, as, to you, she has a strong presence. Is that right? Did you hear about her from Yuugi originally, or were you already aware of her presence?"
"...I had seen her before, but it was Yuugi who told me her name and asked me to keep a lookout for her."
"I see, thank you. Just one last question then, if you don't mind. Can you tell me if Koishi is in the Underworld now?"
"I haven't seen her leave after she came back yesterday, so I would assume so, but I never saw Orin leave either, and here she is," she said turning toward her. Orin flinched as Parsee's eyes drifted over her, her shoulders hunching up tightly.
Renko bowed graciously, doffing her hat in thanks as she did so. "Thank you very much, miss Mizuhashi, your help is appreciated." When she rose up she had the troublesome smile I knew all too well on her face.
Seeing that grin, Parsee stared at Renko for a moment then sighed, turning back to her usual position looking out over the river. "You're a very strange human. If you're going to go back to the city, go on ahead."
-.-.-.-.-
We made our way back into Former Hell and, following Orin's lead, through the streets toward the palace. It wasn't long before our path lead us through the same market square we had traversed several times now and, predictably enough, into an encounter with Yuugi.
"Renko! You're back! Come drink with me! It's only been a day, but a lot has happened! I've got a bunch of stories for you!"
"Yuugi, good to see you! My apologies, but I'm here on business, I'm afraid. I need to get to Chireiden first, but I'd be happy to join you later."
"What? Didn't I tell you that there's nothing more pressing than an oni party? Drink first, fight later, that's the oni way! Especially if you're not even going to be fighting!"
"Yuugi, let them go already. They probably have something to do with those two humans who came down yesterday, and I don't want to have to run into them again." This line was spoken by Yamame, in a slightly shaky voice. Looking around Yuugi, I saw her laying on her back on a reed mat with a bandage tied diagonally around her head. Kisume was by her side, looking worried and leaning over the edge of her bucket to tend to her.
"Oh, Yamame! Are you alright? What happened to you?" I asked with concern. It's surprising how quickly you can find yourself caring for the wellbeing of someone who, less than two days ago, was still planning to eat you.
"I'll be alright in a day or two. Those two humans who showed up yesterday came charging down the shaft and I thought I was finally going to get to have a feast. I caught the one on the broom in my net, but I don't think she even noticed. She was too busy racing with the other human. She tore my net right out of the wall and dragged me halfway to the river before I could get untangled."
We both winced at the thought of Yamame bouncing around those narrow stone passageways while being dragged by Marisa's broom, but Yuugi brushed off our concerns with a dismissive wave. "Oh you'll be fine. Sake's the best salve for a beating. Drink up, Yamame, we'll have you fighting again in no time. If you can't stay to drink you may as well go on then, Renko. I'll see you later." Yuugi relented, turning away from us.
"Oh! Before I go Yuugi, there is one question I wanted to ask you," Renko said, raising one finger.
"What is it? I delivered that letter of yours if that's what you wanted to know."
"Oh, thank you very much for that. It's not that though. It's actually about Satori's sister, Koishi. Satori has asked us to locate her. Have you seen her recently, Yuugi?"
"Koishi? No, but that's not unusual, she's pretty hard to see. Have you seen her, Renko?"
"I haven't, no, but Merry here can see her pretty well," Renko said, jerking her thumb at me.
"Really? You can? I get why Parsee and Suika can see her, but what's your trick, human?" Yuugi asked, regarding me with actual interest for the first time since we met.
"Wait a minute," Renko interrupted before I could respond. "Suika can see Koishi too?"
"Well, she used to be able to, when she lived down here, at any rate."
"Interesting. I wonder what it is about her abilities and Merry's abilities that lets them do that..." Renko's hand was already drifting toward the brim of her hat, her fingers twitching as she did.
"If you do happen to find Koishi, bring her to see Satori. Her sister is worried sick about her." Yuugi said as she plopped herself down on the mat beside Yamame and began to pour sake for the both of them.
"Well, according to Parsee, Koishi's probably down here somewhere already. With any luck we might run into her at the palace. Take care, Yuugi. I'll see you around." Renko said, waving a goodbye and walking quickly away. Orin looked from Renko's departing back and over to Yuugi with something like awe written on her face, then bowed quickly and followed along, as did I.
Somewhere behind us I heard Yamame calling "be careful, you two!" as we left the market behind.
-.-.-.-.-
Before long we came once again to the Palace of the Earth Spirits. Orin took the lead once more, opening the massive doors wide and showing us in, toward the wing where we had found Satori last time. As we made our way along the corridor toward her door, Renko suddenly stopped and reached out to Orin.
"Orin, would you mind if we go in and talk to Satori first without you for a bit? Once she sees me, Satori will probably be concerned with giving me an answer, and that might be a bit awkward for her with you there."
"Give you an answer? What do you mean?"
"I sent her a letter the day before yesterday, and I imagine she'll want to talk about its contents with me. If you don't mind, I'd like you to knock on the door and open it for us. If she's received my letter, I'll know right away."
Orin looked at Renko with a strange, confused expression. "I guess that's ok, if that's what you want," she said, and knocked on the door.
"I'm here, you can come in," came Satori's uninflected response from within.
Orin opened the door for us and was about to step aside when she suddenly called out in surprise. "Whoa, sister, what is that thing?"
Renko grinned beside me in the hall. "Oh good, it sounds like she set everything up as I asked. It's alright, Orin, we'll head on in. You'll understand once it's your turn to have a seat."
She looked over at Renko incredulously, then stepped out of the way, allowing us into the room. Renko motioned toward the door and I followed behind her.
Inside the room was a new and unexpected sight. A large folding screen had been stretched out, dividing the near and far halves of the room. From here we could just see the upper edge of the tall stained glass window over the top of the screen, but Satori's desk, and presumably the youkai herself were hidden behind it. In front of the screen, two of the plush, upholstered wooden chairs had been arranged with their backs turned to the divider.
"Welcome, Renko. I assume that's you? As you can see I read your letter. I take it this screen is satisfactory?" came Satori's voice from the other side of the room.
"Sorry to put you through all of this trouble, miss Komeiji. Does it work though? I take it from the fact that I'm having to speak my questions this time that you can't read our minds through this screen?"
"That's correct. While this is a bit of an imposition, it's actually something of a novelty for me. It's not often that someone wants to talk to me at all, and it's a relief to not have to filter your speech out of everything else going on in your mind, even if this is quite a bit slower."
In other words, Renko had predicted this meeting ahead of time and asked in the letter that she had Yuugi deliver for this screen to be setup. Had she arranged this just for the purpose of maintaining the confidentiality of our other clients? I looked over at her, a bit boggled by it all.
Renko gestured to the two chairs arranged before us and I took a seat, facing away from the screen. Presumably Satori was seated on the opposite side of the screen, back to back with us.
"It's been a long time since I've had to have a conversation without being able to read someone's mind. To be honest, I'm not really sure how to begin," Satori said.
"Well, that's fine," Renko replied. "I actually have several things I'd like to ask you, if you don't mind. Perhaps someday I'll be able to convince Lady Yasaka to set up a telephone for you and we can have conversations like this more easily."
"You can ask your questions. Presuming that they have something to do with finding Koishi, I'll answer anything I can."
"They do have to do with that, at least some of them. Others concern the matter of the vengeful spirits that have been leaking out of the ground due to the actions of your two pets. As I see it, all of these recent events are related, so I suppose you could say my questions concern everything that's been going on in the Underworld lately."
Since I couldn't see Satori, I couldn't read what sort of expression she might have had in response to that statement, but there was no spoken reply.
"But first," Renko continued, "we may as well get straight to the heart of the matter." She paused for a moment to take a breath, then leaned forward, hands resting on her knees, her voice raised just slightly to carry to the other side of the room. "Satori Komeiji. You engineered this whole Incident, from start to finish for one purpose, didn't you? To save your sister Koishi."