I was about to respond to the question, thinking about how best to phrase my answer when the red kappa girl shook her head.

"Nevermind, don't answer that. I don't care if you know her. I don't want to hear any stories from a human. Turn around and go home."

That sounded like a perfectly reasonable suggestion to me but Renko, despite still being unable to speak, grabbed my hand and emphatically shook her head. Her eyes looked at me pleadingly. I couldn't imagine still wanting to question someone who had just completely removed your ability to speak but I knew if I didn't try, I'd never hear the end of it once Renko was able to form words again. I shot Renko a look but her eyes just went even bigger as she clapped her hands together pleadingly in front of me.

I sighed and took a step toward the girl in red. She reacted instantly to my movements, thrusting the 'no entry' sign forward until it was right in my face. "Don't move," she said.

My feet froze in place. I was mid-step, with one foot raised in a position that would have been precarious normally, but I found myself completely unable to change my position, either forward or backward. I couldn't even overbalance and fall to the side if I tried. My lower body seemed to be completely cemented in place. Kappa or not it was unquestionably a powerful ability.

"Unlike my sister, I hate humans," the girl spat. "Leave now or I'll kill you."

I would have been more than happy to take her up on the offer if only I could have moved my legs. I was considering if there was a way I might be able to grab Renko and pull myself along when Kokoro stepped in front of me, standing directly before the kappa girl.

The shorter girl looked up at her for a moment before asking "A tsukumogami? What are you doing with a pair of humans?"

The fox mask slid into place on her forehead. "I'm Hata no Kokoro, the menreiki who controls emotions. Tell me everything you know about the mask of hope."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I'm looking for a white mask with the face of smiling child on it. It belongs to me." I watched from behind as the fox mask changed places with god of fortune. "If you can tell me where it is these girls will give you some kind of reward." The fox slid back into place. "So confess now." The uba mask took the place of the fox. "Or I'll be sad."

The kappa girl stared in confusion at Kokoro then took a step back from her, shaking her head. A moment later my legs suddenly unlocked and my foot came down, completing the step I had been in the middle of. Next to me Renko loudly let out a puff of air as if she had been holding her breath even though I don't think her ability to breathe had been affected in any way. The girl in red cleared her throat then clicked her tongue in disgust and pointed her road sign at Renko and I. "You two leave. I'll talk to this menreiki."

Kokoro turned back towards us, expressionlessly. "I did it." she said, pumping a fist in victory.

Renko opened her mouth to say something but I moved quickly, clapping my hand over her mouth and dragging her away. "Don't talk, Renko. You're just going to lose your ability to speak again." I pulled her along with me as I walked back toward Yamame.

Renko scrabbled at my hand, prying it away from her mouth. "Come on, Merry! Don't gag me right after I've regained the ability to speak."

"You're just going to lose it again, Renko. What's the point of throwing something away as soon as you get it back? Just leave it to Kokoro."

"But I want to know about that girl! She's Nitori's sister? How'd she end up down here? Why has Nitori never mentioned her? Nitori calls herself a sworn ally of humans. I'm guessing the two of them don't see eye to eye. That may be why this girl lives down here too."

"Renko if you pry into family drama she's going to ban you from breathing."

"You'd give me artificial respiration, wouldn't you Merry? Mouth to mouth?"

"Go back to being silent." I said, reaching over and pinching at her cheek.

"Oww owow! I can't keeb quied if you're doing dat, Mebby!"

"I'm amazed how you two can always find time to flirt after nearly dying." Yamame interjected as we returned to where she was standing at the entrance to the chamber.

I was about to protest that characterization, but I heard Kokoro talking with the kappa and released Renko, straining to listen instead. The echoing walls of the cave made it hard to make either of their voices out. Kokoro was cycling through several masks as she explained things. The kappa girl looked completely disinterested but answered a few questions with short, soft-spoken words. After perhaps a minute Kokoro bowed to the kappa and then trotted back over towards us.

She was wearing her fox mask as she arrived. "She saw it. My mask fell down this hole and was picked up by a small youkai wearing a floppy black hat. She left and took it with her."

"That had to be Koishi. She must still be in possession of it. That would explain why she's become so much more perceptible."

Renko nodded in agreement then looked up at the sunlight shining through the crack in the ceiling. "I wonder where that fissure connects to on the surface. You don't know, do you Yamame?"

"No idea. I've never gone back up to the surface."

"It doesn't look like we'd be able to fly up through it from here, I don't think."

"No, not in one piece,"

"I wonder if I could extend some sort of marker up through it to the surface or maybe shine a light or something. Do you think that kappa would let me put something in here?"

"I think she might kill you if you ask, Renko." I shook my head. Our trip had been successful in that we had confirmed where the mask had ended up after it had been lost, but we still had no idea where on the surface it might have fallen from or where it was now. Could a finding like that be considered progress?

"Hey, miss kappa, can you tell me your name?" Renko suddenly turned and shouted.

The only reply from the far side of the room was a quiet "don't talk."

"Mmm-mmm! Mmmhmmnmm!"

"Renko! What did you think was going to happen?"

She grabbed me by the shoulders, staring into my eyes and pointing occasionally across the cave.

"Mmmmn. Mmmm mhmmnm. Mmmnr!"

"I'm sorry Renko, I can't hear a word you're saying," I said, turning to leave. "Let's head back to the surface, Kokoro." Yamame and Kokoro followed behind me.

"Mmmnmmnmhmm! Mmmmmnmmm!" Renko groaned from behind us.

I turned back and saw her glaring at me as we left the cave. Behind her the kappa girl was walking back to her spot on the far wall, looking up at the crack in the ceiling with a complex, almost wistful expression on her face.

-.-.-.-.-

Back on the streets of Former Hell we bid Yamame farewell then found Genji relaxing, nearly asleep, in a hot spring bath so warm I was surprised he hadn't been parboiled. Former Hell's hot springs didn't appear to be segregated by gender, species or any other criteria, so we found him simply spread out in a shallow open-air pool surrounded by naked oni and youkai of every imaginable description. He made his way out when we called him, slowly marching out onto the street to meet us. While we were waiting for him, we happened to notice a tall figure with a single towering, bright red horn heading into the baths, wrapped in an elegant and very large kimono.

"Oh, Yuugi!" Renko called out, having regained her ability to speak about ten minutes ago.

"Renko! About to head into the baths? Want to join me for a dip and a drink?"

"Oh, that's a tempting invitation, but I'm afraid I have to get back to the surface."

"That's a shame. Hey is that big party you told me about still happening up there?"

"You mean the riots and the religious war? Yes, they're more frequent now, and getting more heated by the day."

"That's sounding fun. I'm gonna come up soon, I think. Tell Suika to expect me."

"I'll do that, Yuugi. I wanted to ask you about someone I just happened to meet though. A little red kappa who lives in a cave over that way."

Yuugi's eyes widened. "You met her? And you're still alive? I'm surprised. She hates humans."

"Who is she exactly? She wouldn't talk to us."

"She doesn't like to talk to anyone. I had some people go try to hassle her for information, but they didn't get much. Apparently she's half-kappa, half-human and she fled down here to get away from something bad above ground. That's all I know though."

"Huh, that sounds almost like someone else we know. A half-human, half-wolf named Kagerou. She got chased out of human society for being half-youkai. I wonder if someone like that might have ended up being rejected by both humans and kappa. If that were the case this might be the only place she could go. Sounds like she's had a rough life."

"I don't know much about her past, but Marisa might. She came down here with a kappa and curse god to meet her once."

Renko and I both reacted with surprise. Marisa, a kappa and a curse god. What in the world could those three have been up to down here?