Mandi's hands were clasped tightly around her teacup, and she tried to force the shaky feeling out of them. The matcha tea had definitely been a mistake on her part, but she wanted to be a gracious hostess. She was still in disbelief over the fact that she had called a random Japanese doctor, and that he was here in her machiya, interviewing her so to speak. "After dark as well," she thought.

Yes, that had been bizarre, hadn't it? Apparently Dr. Tamio was so photosensitive that he could only come out and speak to her when the sun had disappeared beneath the horizon. She'd heard of people with that sort of condition but only in movies. "I feel sorry for him. Having a disease like that must be horrible. I can't imagine! " There were many odd variables to this whole situation right now, but she dismissed most of them due to the grief and a sense of urgency for aid of some kind. "I'm stranded, and I have nowhere else to go or any other options! " At least, that is what she told herself to calm her rattling hands. She prayed he hadn't noticed how white her knuckles were as she gripped her teacup for dear life.

Even though his appearance was certainly not like any doctor she had ever met or seen, she could not deny that he was indeed handsome. He was wearing some sort of long split black trench coat that buttoned down to his mid thigh, grey pinstripe pants, and a long sleeved high collared white dress shirt with the cuffs just barely visible at his wrists. "Add sunglasses and he could be channeling Neo from the Matrix. Wannabe punk emo doctor." He looked rather androgynous, and he beat her own pale complexion in spades. His voice, too, was odd. It was almost as if he was deliberately speaking in a higher voice than his normal range. His delicate and soothing way of speaking made her feel drowsy but not in a bad way as if one were listening to a history teacher's pedantic spiel. His eyes were something else entirely, smudged with black eyeliner. She couldn't look into his queer colored turquoise eyes for long without feeling unsettled. "Is it his age or his eyes that are spooking you the most, Mandi?" He looked incredibly young to be a doctor with any sort of experience under his belt, too.

Enmu knew immediately how timid she was like a bird yearning to take flight after spotting a snake even a safe distance away. "She won't though; she's far too helpless and more scared of her situation than she is of me," he thought as he sipped the matcha tea she hastily had made. He offered her a warm smile to settle her nerves. He was fully outfitted in his glamor to hide his oni markings, but this girl had a rather natural intuition telling her that something wasn't quite right about him. Over the years, he acquired the skill to read the thoughts that a human was currently thinking, and her inner monologue to placate herself was highly amusing. He knew what she would say before she typically spoke it, but he nodded his head in surprise and false sincerity at her plight which even he as an oni had to admit was rather grim. Miss Mandi was definitely in need of help. Such a pity for her that her knight in shining armor was a soulless monster. He smiled again at that thought, and she looked up at him interpreting it as warmth.

"So," she began, "how long have you been a doctor, Tamio-sama? I hope that is the polite ending; I'm still trying to learn." She cast her shy blue gaze down towards her tea again.

"Long enough to know what I am doing, Miss White. And please, don't worry about honorifics. How about we make a deal? I'll call you Mandi if you call me just Enmu. I understand completely that our customs are strange to you at best, and I want you to feel more comfortable around me." She looked back up at him, her cheeks alight with a pink blush.

"Okay, just Enmu," she offered him a timid smile after her meager joke and he closed his eyes, tilted his head and chuckled at her effort. "He must think I'm so pathetic, and he's right."

"I like your sense of humor, Mandi!" he consoled. "Please, tell me a little about yourself and then we will talk about the specifics about my sleep study. You may ask me anything at any time." While he certainly would call his actions 'playing with his food' he was genuinely interested in her sleep habits and symptoms. He always had a fondness for the tortured human mind.

"Uh," she looked up and ran a hand through her long silver hair nervously, "I've had an interesting life to say the least. My parents were murdered when I was young. We were living in Japan at the time, actually. I moved back to the States to stay with my grandparents." Mandi looked up again feeling the threat of tears close at hand and doing her best to dismiss them. "My grandparents both died within a few years of each other and rather than immediately go off to college, my aunt Vicki asked me to come out here to Kyoto to stay with her awhile. I'm sure it was her way of wanting to keep an eye on me." She took a sip of her tea to wet her throat and continued.

"I've had migraines since I was four or so, and I've always had troubling nightmares and bouts of sleepwalking. I'm hoping that by participating in your sleep study I can find some insight as to what is going on, but I have a feeling there is a strong correlation with my troubled upbringing affecting my sleep. I also have these weird fainting spells where I just black out. I'm not sure if I am narcoleptic or what. I certainly would like the migraines to stop. I want all of it to stop, honestly."

Enmu nodded and stayed animated while she spoke. "My, she certainly has quite the crush on me. It's almost too easy." He looked at her, studying her in detail up close. While she was certainly beautiful to him, she wouldn't be considered gorgeous by modeling standards. Her face was full and her pink lips a touch too pouty, but she had curves in all the right places. He found himself staring at her lips wondering what they would taste like against his. He envisioned himself running his fingers through her strange silver hair and yanking her head back to reveal her neck. "No, stop! Stop it right now! Don't lose control here. She is already nervous as it is."

"Dr. Tamio," she paused and corrected herself, "Enmu, do you ever have that feeling whether you're not sure if you're awake or still dreaming?"

"All the time. I often wonder which is which." He flicked his turquoise eyes up to hers seductively, undressing her with his eyes. The effect was instantaneous. She reached up and cupped her flushed cheek quickly averting her eyes from his again.

A swarm of large butterflies filled Mandi's stomach, and they briefly took away the pain she was feeling in her legs while kneeling at the table. She doubted she'd ever get used to sitting in this traditional style. Her legs and feet were weaving a lovely tapestry of obscenities in her head. Enmu, sensing her discomfort, let go of his seductive reins and became the good doctor again.

"Mandi, you don't have to sit like that just for me. Please, make yourself comfortable. I hate to see you in pain." She looked up at him again with relief as if he read her mind, and she slowly shifted her legs to the side. Although she knew it was coming, she scrunched her lovely face as the pins and needles in her feet and legs took over. Enmu got up on his knees and shifted over to her side of the table. He held his hands out towards her but stopped himself from just touching her without permission. She looked at him with curiosity.

"May I?" he asked, meeting her gaze and then nodded to her legs and feet. She nodded back rapidly.

"I'm not sure what you think would help, but by all means," she winced softly.

His hands were warm on her bare legs. Although all he was doing was just rubbing her legs, the pain lessened instantly. She watched him freely while his gaze was focused on her numb limbs. His dark hair concealed the majority of his face and he continued to kneed and massage her legs just above the knees. "How is he taking away the pain like that? And why does this feel so damn erotic? If he can turn me on just by touching my legs like that, imagine what else he could do with those hands!" She swallowed down a dry click in her throat, and she reached for her bitter tea and took a generous swig.

Concentrating, Enmu slid his hands slowly down from her knees to her ankles and then rubbed the tops of her stocking clad feet. He heard a soft sigh from her pretty little mouth, and he could smell her arousal clearly in the air. It was maddeningly intoxicating! Maybe this had been a bad idea, because who was getting the better of who right now? He swallowed himself and pulled away from her as soon as he felt the magic in his fingertips give way. He scooted back to his original seat thankful that his black coat was long and the fact that the table was high enough to conceal his own arousal. He felt his ears burn slightly at awkward silence now between them.

"Wow," she laughed nervously, "that really was amazing. I don't know exactly what you did, but um, thank you." She squeezed her thighs together in an attempt to snuff out the small flame flickering at her core.

"Y-you're w-welcome." He clamped his teeth down on his tongue, tasting blood. "Come on, Enmu, get it together!"

"So, uh, what exactly will your sleep study entail?" asked Mandi trying desperately hard to ignore whatever the hell just happened between them. Enmu looked back up at her and tucked the right side of his shoulder length black hair behind his ear, regaining his composure.

"I invite you to come out to my home/laboratory and from there I will just simply monitor your sleep habits. I'll run my own sort of tests, tests you won't be aware of, and then I'll let you know of my findings within a week or so. It may take longer depending on what I witness with you. Just think of it as a nice vacation and let yourself relax. I'll wait a couple of days till you are used to the environment. Just do everything you'd normally do so to speak. Obviously, I realize there is no 'normal' for you. I'm very sorry for your losses, Mandi."

"Thank you, Enmu," she sniffed, quietly once again fighting back tears. He saw a memory of her preparing some kind of chicken dish, her grandmother sitting at a kitchen table. She smiled warmly at Mandi and watched her as she cooked the meal. Like a few days ago, he felt a sincere pang of remorse for her loss. Her grandmother obviously loved her very much. Mandi was well loved by her entire family.

"If only I could have been loved like that! Why shouldn't I have been? Aren't I deserving of love, too?" he thought bitterly. Her question cut off his reverie.

"When and where will this take place, if I may ask? You said I'd be going to your home. Also, please don't think me rude," she hesitated, "but will I be paid for this? Money obviously is an issue for me. I've next to nothing to my name."

"I live in Fujikawaguchiko roughly 222 miles from here in the Yamanashi Prefecture. Of course, I'll pay you for your time and your travel expenses. I wouldn't dream of taking advantage of you!" He mentally polished his heavily tarnished halo. "Hell, only horns are holding up that halo."

Relief clearly washed over Mandi's face. "My, she's quite cute. I think I may already be addicted to my precious one. I don't think I'm going to be able to leave here without taking a bit of a souvenir." Another picture of her flashed across his mind. She was bare breasted and bathed in moonlight, writhing underneath him as he came inside her, her moaning his name as she clung to him. He brought a hand up to his face, covering his closed eyes for a moment. "What in the world is this strange girl doing to me or am I really just that horny? Once otaku always otaku, I guess."

"Are you okay?"

She was right next to him now. Odd, he hadn't even heard her move. He looked through his fingers and noticed the close proximity of their hands. His right hand was on the table, and she had her left one right next to his. If he extended his pinky, their fingers would touch. Gods, he wanted her! He wanted to take her right there on the tatami mat. He could do it. He could fuck her bloody and make it so she wouldn't remember a thing. "Or make her go mad from it and watch the twisted horror as I take her multiple times in a myriad of different ways," he mused. She was getting under his skin in a way he didn't think was possible any longer, and he didn't even know her. He swallowed hard as he made up his mind to just cave in to his animalistic desires, but just as he lowered his left hand away from his eyes to cast his blood art upon her, their gaze met. Her clear blue sky eyes burned back into his turquoise ones. He couldn't move. It was as if she had cast some sort of spell on him. The pure innocence and authentic concern on her face changed his mind again. He couldn't go through with it, not now. Was it guilt he actually felt just now?

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, his voice dipping an octave lower, "I just got dizzy there for a moment, I guess. My apologies. Thank you for your concern." Then she smiled at him, and it damn near melted his heart.

"I guess that's my indication I shouldn't try my hand at making matcha tea anymore, huh?"

He laughed genuinely while admiring the sparkles in her icy blue eyes. Oh, how he longed to warm them up.

"I confess, it's not the best matcha I've ever had, but it's not that bad!" He rested his chin in his palm, gazing at her as if he was in some sort of daydream. While she moved back a little, she didn't return to her original spot opposite of him at the table.

"Enmu, forgive me for asking, but how old are you?"

"I'm twenty-three."

"Wow!" she exclaimed. "Really? You look so young!"

"Trust me," he said, "some days I feel a lot older than I look. Once in a while, it feels like I'm hundreds of years old." He smiled at her lazily, enjoying his own private joke.

"I have to say, Enmu, that I feel hopeful for the first time I can remember. Thank you for giving me a chance and taking me in so to speak. I've just - I've just been through hell, and I feel like I'm standing at the edge of a cliff and there is no way to go back. I feel so happy and good inside right now that I could hug you out of sheer joy, but I know that that's not really a Japanese thing."

"I'll make an exception for this one," he chimed in his usual light and dreamy voice. "Yes, please hug me. I want to feel your body as close to mine as possible."

Hesitating a moment with her bashfulness back in full force, she scooted closer and leaned towards him and wrapped her arms around him, hanging on to him as if for dear life. "This is no light and playful hug she's giving me," he thought as he tentatively wrapped his own arms around her, cradling her to him. She felt so perfect to him in his arms! "There's a lot of hope in her hug and gratitude that I didn't think was possible. It's so pure and sweet like a dream! Am I really willing to go through with this sinister plan and traumatize this girl as I intended? Out of all the humans I've met, she makes me yearn for something more, something I probably never could or ever have had. I've never considered a human to be merely anything but a pawn to play with, but this girl-maybe she could love me. Perhaps I could be loved instead of dreaming of it secretly year after year. I can't believe I just even admitted that to myself! I'm a sadist who takes pleasure in tormenting people, but she has thrown a brick in my gears. What's happening to me? If Muzan, my creator, could even see this change in my demeanor or suspect it he'd have my head on a spit left out blaze in the sun. I'm keeping this girl, all else be damned. She's mine, and no one is taking her from me!"

He held on to her for a moment longer savoring the moment as much as possible. The weight of her in his arms was comforting and warm. He closed his eyes and pretended she was his lover and desperately in love with him. He sniffed her hair; it smelled like jasmine. Combined with her marechi blood, his senses were overloaded. He felt giddy and his stony heart softened for the first time since he became an oni a couple hundred years ago. Sadly, he knew that he couldn't hold this hug any longer without sending her strong unsettling vibes. He could tell that under her blissful happiness and hope there was nervousness still there, and he didn't want to spook her anymore than he had. He wanted her to feel nice and safe until he had her right where he wanted her. He released himself from the embrace first and recoiled gently trying to act as casual and as professional as he could. "Be real, you idiot, how many real doctors hug their patients? You're not even a real doctor!"

"You're so kind, Enmu. You have a beautiful soul, you know that?" Her smile shot him through the heart. If she only knew he had no soul. He felt that if he was human, he might have wept just then at that grandiose thought.

"Arigato, Mandi. I really don't think I'm that wonderful of a person, but I do try."

"So," she began, biting her lip and looking up at his eyes again, "when would you like me to arrive at your place?" She found that gazing into his eyes didn't make her feel as nervous anymore. There still, however, was something that was unsettling her, a nagging thought that just wouldn't go away.

"I need a few days to get some last minute touches done, and then I'm all set. Do you have enough here to hold you by? Food? Money?" She nodded rapidly.

"Mmhmm, I'll manage. It will give me time to try to put some of this grief behind me as well." His turquoise eyes were so vibrant they seemed to almost glow. That was it. Right there. He didn't blink once except when he deliberately closed his eyes.

"Enmu?"

"Yes?"

"Is there something wrong with your eyes?"

"No," he stammered. "Why do you ask?"

"You're not blinking. I don't believe you've blinked once since you arrived."

"Damn it!" he thought. She was right. He screwed up royally on this one and it would take a really convincing lie to get her to believe him. He made damn sure to smooth out any unevenness in his voice this time before he spoke. He needed all the confidence he could muster.

"My eyes are just really moist. It's a rare condition in Japan. I won't bother telling you the name, because I honestly cannot think of it for the life of me. Sorry if I upset you!"

"Oh no, not at all! I'm glad that nothing is wrong, that's all! So, I'll see you in three days then?"

"Sounds like a date. I, uh, didn't mean it like that-." She chuckled in a girly voice at his unease. His nervousness actually made her feel better. It made him seem less robotic.

"It's okay, I knew what you meant," Mandi said.

"It's now or never, Enmu. If you want what you seek, now's the time." he thought quickly and hid his face from her, looking sharply to the left.

"Kekkijutsu," he whispered.

"I'm sorry, I don't know that word. What did you-."

"Nemure."

He caught her unconscious body in his arms as she fell into an instant, dreamless slumber.

夢 夢 夢

Mandi awoke in utter confusion. She was lying down on her futon, her head cushioned by one of her pillows and a blanket had been draped over her. It was still dark outside, but she could see the first bands of color painting the sky predicting dawn wasn't far behind. The handsome Dr. Tamio was nowhere in sight, but his tea cup had been drained of the matcha tea. The fact that he actually drank all of her nasty tea made her smile for a moment before she remembered she had blacked out or had another fainting spell right in front of him.

"What the hell happened?" she said out loud as she rubbed her forehead. She noticed a note on the table along with a generous amount of yen stuffed into an envelope.

Dear Mandi,

I apologize for the way I left, but you had fainted on me. When you wouldn't awaken, I made sure that your vitals were all okay and figured sleep was the best thing for you. I hope you didn't mind me putting you to bed. I just didn't want to see you sleeping on the hard tatami mats only to wake up with stiff muscles. I know how uncomfortable that is from experience. On the table is some yen to cover your travel expenses plus some extra to tide you over if you need it. Please, accept it. You deserve it! All the information you need to get to my place is written on the back of this letter. Don't hesitate to call if you need anything. I look forward to working with you and hopefully together we can figure out some answers and a treatment plan in order to set you back on your feet. As you said, think of this as a fresh start!

Sincerely,

Enmu

She read the letter a few times, tracing over the rather neat penmanship. "Okay, yes, I have a little crush! So what?" She held the letter to her chest smiling.

"Things have been bad for me for so long that maybe my luck is about to change. Maybe this really is the best thing for me to do. I lost my family, but I have somewhere to go now even if temporarily. That's more than anyone could hope for in my situation. Remember how grandma and grandpa made the best out of every situation? Learn from their example and start with this." she said to herself.

The last time she read the letter, she noticed him stating "As you said, think of this as a fresh start." She squinted, reading the line again slowly. "Am I dreaming? I don't remember saying those words to him. I know I was thinking of the phrase a couple days ago and possibly today while speaking with Enmu. It's just-strange. Perhaps he was right and sleep is the best solution for me right now. I feel like I'm just getting myself all confused for nothing."

Since it was too early to start the day and not having any plans, she figured she'd shut the windows and try to get some extra sleep. She slept so well the last few nights that she hoped she could glean a bit more of its goodness. It was honestly what the doctor ordered, after all! Not wanting to sleep in her clothes any longer, she undressed. When she took her shorts off she was flummoxed to notice that her panties were missing. "Or did I ever put any on today? I'm so sure I did, but I guess I must not have. I have been sleepwalking a lot lately and enduring some type of narcoleptic episodes that maybe I randomly took them off and hopefully not in front of Dr. Tamio!" She blushed furiously at that though. Still, she was upset to a degree; it was her favorite pair of panties. Donning her favorite oversized t-shirt and a new pair of panties, she knelt back down and crawled onto her futon and was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Again, no nightmares haunted her.

夢 夢 夢

Enmu walked away from her machiya with a triumphant swagger in his hips. When he was safely out of her townhouse view, he pulled out a pair of black panties with pink bunnies on them from his coat pocket and held them up to his nose, inhaling her feminine scent. "Precious, oh so precious you are, my Mandi," he crooned to himself. He sniffed her panties one last time and then slipped them into an inside pocket inside his jacket. He needed to run home if he was to make it in time. He'd been thankful he'd taken up running to increase his speed and stamina, because tonight it would be good practice. He could easily make it from Kyoto to Fujikawaguchiko in just a couple hours with how fast he could run now, but he was always methodical and fastidious about timing.

夢 夢 夢

Mandi sat in a taxi with her few belongings on her way to Fujikawaguchiko. The train ride, which had taken most of the trip, had been pleasant enough and she enjoyed the scenic view. She wished she could have taken the train directly to Enmu's place, because there was just an awkward air in the car. When the train she was riding made it to her final stop, she knew she would need to find a taxi to drive her the short distance to Dr. Tamio's home/office. With her lack of Japanese, Mandi fought off the rising panic in her heart at the thought of finding said taxi. Thankfully when she stepped off the train, she saw a Japanese man holding a sign that read 'Mandi'. "Dr. Tamio really had thought of everything, hadn't he?"

The man didn't speak, but then she didn't expect much conversation because of the language barrier. Enmu must have set this up ahead of time and informed the man about her. She briefly wondered how long this poor gentleman had to stand around waiting for her. She knew Japanese trains were very prompt and on schedule, but again that queer sort of feeling that something wasn't quite right nudged her. She looked up at the rearview mirror from the backseat and watched the driver's face. "He doesn't look that well," she thought to herself. Maybe he wasn't sick, but he certainly looked browbeaten and worn thin. The car he was driving was not marked as a taxi of any sort, but Mandi wasn't sure if that was considered the norm once again. She beat herself up too much though, because how was she supposed to know the ins and outs of living in a different country and culture? "Relax, don't overthink this and get yourself upset!" she thought.

She crossed her arms, hugging herself. That negative feeling refused to go away, however. She could feel that something terribly wrong was about to happen. Perhaps the car would crash. Maybe the driver had the wrong directions. Maybe Dr. Tamio regretted his decision to help her. "Stop it! You're just expecting the worst to happen, because the worst has already happened to you. Things can only get better from here!" She wasn't convinced though despite her mental pep talk. She caught the driver looking back at her through the mirror and she offered him a smile. He quickly looked away with such a forlorn expression on his face that caused Mandi to frown as if she had just done something she wasn't supposed to. "He looks almost guilty, too."

"Maybe he's having a bad day," she wondered to herself and sighed softly. She leaned her head back on the headrest and watched as trees passed by. Occasionally, she'd get a glimpse of Mt. Fuji in the distance. She didn't dare look back at the driver again. His grim expression was nothing she wanted to associate with again on her 'fresh start'. She hoped he was well, but she wouldn't let him rain on her parade. Some people were just miserable without a cause. Instead, she focused on the landscape and noticed the trees becoming more numerous, her view of the country getting slowly obscured. "It's getting darker, too. I wonder what time it is? The sun seems low in the horizon."

She felt the car slow down and make a left turn down a road that was hidden by thick trees, away from the city and any sort of civilization she could see. The sun was soon blotted out of the sky by a fortress of green. The feeling of something going wrong was now replaced by a sheer creep out factor. Even the hair on the back of her neck rose to attention as they weaved further and further into the dark forest. The car slowed down again, and this time turned left onto an unpaved road. "Where in the hell are we going? How many doctors have offices in the middle of a forest?! I thought Dr. Tamio had said he lived in a city!"

They drove a little longer further. Mandi began to feel as if she were Little Red Riding Hood on her way to grandmother's house knowing full well the wolf was lying in wait. She could see the end of the road ahead, and what she saw wasn't promising in the least.

At the dead end of the road sat a rundown utility shed of some sorts. A few faint rays of sunlight managed to peek down through the trees giving little bits of glow on the forest flow, but it was as good as night in her opinion. It was far too dark here, too silent. There was no doctor's office here. This situation mimicked a place you'd see in horror movies of people getting chopped and sawed to pieces, never to be seen or heard from again. The warning bells were going off in full sway now. It was clear now that this man, the driver, had ill intentions. "He's abducting me!"

The driver stopped the car about 50 feet in front of the shed. Mandi immediately swung her hand out to grab the door handle but heard the locks click before she could free herself. She looked back in horror at the driver, a scream threatening to escape. If he didn't speak English, she'd make her wishes known otherwise. Panic had completely seized her, and she yanked hard and fast on the handle with all her might trying to set herself free.

"Matsu," he said in a thin voice. Mandi shook her head rapidly, gaping back at the man as a fit of hitching sobs rattled her chest.

"Wa-ate," he croaked.

"What the hell is he saying? That's it. I'm done for! I'm going to get murdered just like my parents," she wailed to herself. Since she couldn't get free of the car, she had crammed herself against the left hand side door, the furthest from the driver she could possibly be. She was crying now, unable to stop. "Wa-ate," she repeated in her head. "Wa-ate...wait!" She looked up at one of the beams of dying sunlight, the connection clear. "Of course! Dr. Tamio's photosensitive, remember? He just told you to wait until the sun goes down all the way. But why in the hell did he have to lock the damn doors on me?"

She was only caged in the car for five minutes, but to her it felt like an eternity. She hadn't been able to stop the tears entirely either, because she still wasn't sure that she wasn't about to be hacked to pieces in that shed. When the last of the visible sunlight was chased away, the driver released the locks. As soon as she heard the latch click, she nearly tumbled out of the car, a sob of relief echoing in her throat. She ran away from the car a few paces to a nearby tree while keeping eye contact with the possible axe-murdering driver. Just then, Enmu stepped out of the shed in the same long black coat, white shoes, and grey pinstriped pants.

She sprinted towards him, getting shoved back a bit from the resistance as if she struck something solid like a wall. She quickly wrapped her arms around him as she buried her face in his neck, customs be damned. Thank goodness his lithe body was far more sturdy than it appeared, otherwise she would have knocked him clean over.

"Shh, shh, it's okay! You're okay, Mandi. What happened?" he lightly placed an arm around her in a half embrace, unsure on how to comfort her exactly.

"I thought he was going to-I thought I was going to-," she sobbed, unable to say anymore.

"Well shit, that certainly hadn't gone as I had planned, had it?" he thought, looking down at Mandi, her silver hair in disarray. Although he couldn't justly be upset at the pathetic, terminal driver for scaring her the life out of her, his usual calm demeanor was somehow absent. He dared to say that he felt borderline angry. Enmu simply had not expected or anticipated this sort of potential disaster. It could have been a very costly mistake had the driver not locked the doors to prevent her from darting away and away from him. He hugged her slightly, grateful that his plans were still in the clear. There still was danger, however. She was as frightened as a rabbit, and he needed to calm her down. The game wasn't won, yet.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to scare you, Mandi. I honestly think it was just a miscommunication, and I accept the blame. I'll just go speak to the driver for a minute and grab your things, shall I?" he looked down toward her eyes and watched her nod.

She felt Enmu let go of her as he walked towards the car. She swallowed, now certain she acted a complete fool for letting her emotions run wild. She sniffed, rubbed the remaining tears out of her eyes, and then ran her fingers through her hair to try to smooth it back out. She certainly had managed to tangle it in her panicked state.

Even though it was summer, it was cool standing here in the darkening forest. She shivered and rubbed her hands over her arms to warm herself up. She looked and watched the driver get out of the car while Enmu walked up to him. While Enmu's tone retained his usual dreamy quality, there was a hard edge to his voice she'd never heard before. The driver was now crying himself not as hard as she had, but she could make out a couple of tears on his face in the remaining light and the headlights from the car. The man almost seemed to be begging Enmu in some sort of way. "What in the world? Why is he clasping his hands up to his chest as if he is praying?" Even though she didn't understand anything that was being said, she observed what went down between them in fascination. Enmu moved his left hand over his face but paused, turning to look over his shoulder at her.

"Matsu," Enmu whispered to the driver, looking back at Mandi. "Damn it! She heard me, and I think she knows what that word means."

Things were falling apart rapidly, faster than Enmu anticipated. So close! Alas, his precious thing was here and within his very reach. He wouldn't let anything or anyone stop him. He went and retrieved her suitcase out of the car and nodded at her, indicating her to go into the building. She was still incredibly on edge, so he was going to be extra cautious until he could throw that to the wind. Mandi nodded and headed into the building. He had to be swift now.

Mandi opened the door and stepped inside the utility shed. It was utterly black inside. "Why are there more and more things that feel wrong here?" She wasn't afraid of the dark, but her recent scare left her nerves frazzled, and she reached with her right hand to grope for a light switch. Nothing. A little more frantically, she reached to the left, feeling the wall with her fingertips and was rewarded with a sliver in her middle finger. She cried out, cupping her left hand to her. A hard thump echoed behind her. "Just the car door," she told herself and then heard a softer, meatier thump. She turned and saw Enmu's figure outlined in the door, briefly forgetting what the second sound belonged to.

"I have your suitcase here," he said quietly as he held it up. He was silhouetted by the car's headlights, and she noticed that he didn't grab her purse.

"Wait, my purse is still in the car! Don't worry, I'll grab it!" she said and darted past him to grab it before the driver took off. Enmu reached out but missed her grip by a nanosecond. He damned himself for not being more attentive. This wasn't the way he wanted things to turn out, but he knew it would be mere seconds before the whole thing fell apart. He had to act now.

Mandi ran back to the car wanting this whole ordeal to be done and over with. She deftly opened the right side passenger door and fished her purse that had fallen under the front seat. Shutting the door, she noticed the driver was nowhere in sight. About to turn around and head back to the shed, she heard a low moan coming from behind the car. Curiosity getting the better of her, she trailed back to the edge of the car and saw the man lying face first on the ground. Her heart was starting to pound rapidly once again. She dashed back to the shed without checking to see if he was breathing or not. Enmu was the doctor, not her."He'll be able to help the man better than I can!"

The shed was just as dark as when she'd left it. For whatever reason, Enmu didn't turn the lights on. Since she didn't see him anywhere, she assumed he was standing inside. This was starting to become far deeper of a rabbit hole than she had ever wanted or desired. If she could have wished herself back to Kyoto right now, she would've in a heartbeat. She heard movement further inside the shed, away from the small bit of artificial light pouring in. "Thank goodness he's at least still here," she thought and stepped further inside herself in the direction of the sound.

"Enmu, the driver, I think something happened to him!" she said a bit breathlessly.

"Kekkijutsu!"

"What? Enmu, I don't know that word! Did you hear me? That man is hurt!" She looked behind her one last time at the car with its headlights sending phantom-like beams of light in the pitch darkness. "Enmu, why won't you do something? Where are you? I can't see anything!"

Mandi glanced back in the darkness to where she suspected Enmu was standing, poised to speak again. Whatever words had been on her lips were soon forgotten when she saw two luminescent turquoise orbs about eye level right in front of her and the loud click of teeth snapping sharply together. Her screamed peeled through the wooden shack rattling her own eardrums and then she fainted dead away.

Notes: For the music fans, I was listening to Lacuna Coil's 'Trip the Darkness'. Hope you enjoyed!