filthycasualdrawer - Tumblr blog

filthycasualdrawer · 2 days ago

Text

Yokai Heart - Chapter 8

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Fandoms: Dandadan (Anime), Dandadan (Manga)

Relationship: Ayase Momo/Takakura “Okarun” Ken

Characters: Ayase Momo, Takakura “Okarun” Ken

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Inspired by Dragonheart (Dragonheart), Youkai Takakura “Okarun” Ken, Yokarun, Shrine Maiden Momo, Protective Takakura “Okarun” Ken, BAMF Ayase Momo, Canon-Typical Violence, Action & Romance, Romantic Fluff, Interspecies Romance, Aged-Up Characters, Friends to Lovers, Feudal Japan, Historical Fantasy, Mutual Pining, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Humor, Light Angst

Summary

With the last of her family passing away, Momo had nothing to her name but spiritual powers no one can know about. To escape her fate as concubine to the local Shogun, she leaves her birth town and becomes a Wandering Miko. But as an untrained Shrine Maiden she had no luck fulfilling her expected duties and she refuses to entertain men for money. Surely a con act together with the Yokai she had befriended was a good alternative, right?

I managed to fight of a weird writing slump to bring you some more emotional vulnerability, adorable fluff and Yokarun being all badass! Hope you enjoy!

Big thanks to my wonderful editor @xylveon700 again for making my words prettier and adding such good sentences!

AO3 Link

Previous Chapter | Start | Next Chapter

After breakfast the following morning, they finally addressed the elephant that still loomed within the room.

Yokarun was seated on one of the pillowy cushions, his arms lazily crossed inside his sleeves as he waited patiently.

Momo was on her knees across from him, hands fidgeting nervously in her lap as her head hung low, struggling to look up at her companion.

It would be fine, she internally reminded herself. He wasn't mad with her, and an apology was the least he deserved for all that she piled on him. She wanted it to be a good one, but where did she even start? By the gods, she wasn't good with apologizing at all.

Hesitantly, Momo raised her head and could see how his eyes turned to an encouraging smile, helping ease the little knot that had wound up within her stomach. Taking in a deep, somewhat shaky breath, she recollected herself and...just started babbling.

"I am so sorry for my behavior yesterday, Yokarun! That was so stupid and mean of me!" She didn't throw herself upon the ground like he had done, but she still bowed deeply. "You are a wonderful friend and you were only worried about me. I let my insecurities and anger get the best of me and I lashed out at you for no good reason. You didn't deserve that; any of that!" She sat up straight again, her cheeks turning pink. While she couldn't look him in the eyes over the embarrassment bombarding her, she had to say the next part.

"Not even for a second did I ever think our friendship was a mistake. It's very much the opposite. I've...I haven't been this happy for a while. It's a bit silly; especially since we've know each other for only two days; but, especially after yesterday...I know you have my back and won't berate me unless I really deserve it. And...you won't leave me alone, even when I know I'm way too much to handle."

She could hear him take a breath, about to say something himself, but she didn't let him get a word in. If he interrupted her, she didn't know if she could continue.

"My experience with friends wasn't always...the best."

The apology was done, now she wanted to explain herself. Maybe, once she aired everything out, she could hear it from him if she was actually overreacting. She ignored the voice in her head, the one who tried to convince her every waking second that everything was her fault, picking the skin on her thumb to distract her mind.

"I'm proud of my heritage; genuinely, I am! But…being the child of a family of priestesses wasn't always easy. I had to practice rituals that looked silly to other children constantly. 'got made fun of a lot. People also told their children not to interact with me, afraid they might offend me and my family and get cursed or something." She let out a huff full of bitterness, but softened up as she continued, "I did make a few friends. Most stayed only for a while. Said I was too annoying, too loud or too weird; not that they were wrong, necessarily. Even those who could deal with me, who became my best friends...left eventually. Pursuing their own goals, dreams, things like that. Not that I blame them. Just felt...trapped, not being able to do what I wanted and having to stay with my grandmother, because she had no one else."

Even as she said she didn't blame her friends for leaving, the ones who actually cared, at least…the dirty feeling of jealousy and guilt washed over her all the same. Momo pinched her skin so hard that it really hurt, her teeth worrying her lips that they almost drew blood. Why couldn't they have stayed with her? Wasn't she good enough of a reason to stay home? But…no, that wouldn't have been fair to them. They had their own lives, their own aspirations, things Momo never had-!

A firm nudge against her aura...and all the negative thoughts suddenly tumbled out of her mind. A quiet gasp escaped her and she looked up to see Yokarun, still sitting there as before. His eyes were soft, filled with a warming comfort. Not pity, but sympathy for her.

Taking in a quivering, yet steadying breath, she smiled at him, grateful to him. For being a Yokai, he surely was a blessing to her, being able to banish those unsettling thoughts that so easily consumed her when she was alone. But with this simple gesture, he reminded her that she was okay, that he was here with her.

Her body relaxed and she stopped picking her skin. The infernal voice was quiet.

"Would you tell me about your friends?" he carefully asked her, tilting his head slightly in curiosity. "The ones you say are your best friends?"

It didn't went unnoticed by her that he spoke in present tense and not past tense. As if they were still her friends...which, honestly? It was true. It had to be true.

Thinking about her friends had caused her mostly grief, the voice latching onto the negative emotions and blowing them out of proportions.

But, she remembered. Every time she had to say her goodbyes to her friends, they promised to see her again. They never declared their friendship to be over.

With this realization as a trumpeting reminder and Yokarun's comforting presence, she closed her eyes with a smile and allowed herself to visit the good memories of her childhood again.

"Their names are Muko and Miko. As far as I'm aware, they have been glued to each other since they were born," Momo started her tale with an amused snort. "We had one thing in common: being too loud and disruptive, so we often ended up getting scolded by adults together. After a few times of shared punishments and admonishments, they declared that my face was pretty and wanted to give me a make-over. Muko's parents run the cosmetic shop, so they had tons of stuff they tried out on me."

Momo had to stop, because the image of her face being completely white from the powder they used on her sprang to her mind, causing her to laugh, "Gods, Yokarun, I looked whiter than a ghost that time! Actually got scared that I wouldn't be able to get it all off my face." Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes from laughing, but also at the warm fondness she could feel from the memory. Absently, she could hear him chuckle too.

She wiped the merry, little tears away with a smile, before she continued: "And it didn't end there. Miko's mother is a seamstress, so we would drape ourselves in all kinds of fabrics and silks and even attempted sewing our own kimonos. The only learning I got out of that was how to bandage my hands." As to empathize, she wriggled her fingers, causing Yokarun to chuckle even more. "It became a daily thing. We actually stuck together and got called the Demon Trio of our village. None of the other kids messed with us, not even the boys."

Stopping for a moment, a warm smile graced her face. "I got to celebrate a Shogatsu festival with friends for the first time because of those two. And they made sure it was a special one. Miko sewed me a kimono with the help of her mother and Muko did such a beautiful job with the make-up for me. They acted like it was a special celebration, just for me. It made me so unbelievably happy…"

A lump formed in her throat. However, it was one of overflowing emotions of joy she had nearly forgotten. By the Kami, why hadn't she thought more about those good times, instead of focusing on her misery of them leaving? She did such a disservice to their friendship by wallowing like she had, something the girls would have never wanted for her.

She swallowed down the lump and the new tears that were about to form.

"We were inseparable, even when we came of age. Our antics had calmed down some, and while I had to focus more on my training, they did not abandon me. They would come around whenever I was free and provided me with gossip and updated me on who was currently the most popular boy." She rolled her eyes fondly at the next words. "They were very persistent on the boy topic, even offered to drag any guy they deemed decent to our shrine so I could meet him."

"Hmm," her companion tilted his head, "you don't strike me as the type who would struggle to draw the attention of any man to herself."

Blinking in surprise, Momo looked at Yokarun. His eyes shone with a certain teasing amusement, a look that made her snort.

And…maybe blush a little; just a little.

She bobbed her head a little, sighing, "Oh, I had their attention, alright. Just not the ideal kind. Usually, they were either intimidated by me or thought I was weird." She halted at her own thoughts, giving it a second thought. "Only one of them didn't. His name is Jiji and he actually became a good friend, too."

"Oh? Just a good friend?"

Now he was blatantly teasing her, his eyebrows waggling in mischievousness. She didn't know if she should laugh at this new attitude of his, or be embarrassed. In the end, she settled for a small laugh that ended in a nervous cough.

"Well...he used to make fun of me when we were young. He apologized for it years later, though, so it was okay. He's genuinely a good person, and he's a really funny guy. It never got boring with him around. Whenever I got sad and Miko and Muko weren't around, he was there to cheer me up. Also helped a lot around the shrine, so my grandmother loved him, naturally. So yeah, we became good friends at first and maybe..." she started to fiddle with her fingers around a bit, her glance darting around the room, "..maybe he did…start to flirt with me, just a little...a-and, um…we, uh, might have...okaywedidshareakiss." The last words few words were mumbled so quickly in succession, they fused together the second they leapt off her tongue.

"I don't know, Momo, that sounds like he was a little more than just a good friend to you," he snickered.

Her head snapped towards him, face as red as a tomato, "Oh, shut it! It was just once! It wasn't a big deal!"

Even with half of his face hidden, she could see it in his eyes that he was grinning slyly at her.

That idiot!

She was pouring her heart out, telling him things she usually kept to herself and he was making fun of her!

...

Any anger puffed into smoke and she joined him in his merriment with a laugh that shook her whole body. It was just so absurd to her that Yokarun teased her of all things. So far, he had seemed too shy of a guy to do something like that. But, it was a new and welcomed discovery regarding him and his ever present air of mystery.

When her laughter finally died down, Yokarun's expression had changed to something more fuzzy and sweet, something that managed to both ease her mind and get her so embarrassingly flustered at the same time.

"Given that you're here now on your own..." he then spoke rather carefully, hosing his words with caution, "Things didn't work out all that well with him?"

Letting out a long sigh, Momo deflated a bit. A smile was still on her face, but she knew it had an edge of sadness to it she couldn't hide from Yokarun, shaking her head as she allowed his inquiry to settle. Of course he was going to ask; she couldn't fault him for it. It was part of the story and she did want him to understand.

"We might have become...something. But despite the war being over, the Emperor still demanded to have a functional army. So when a recruiter came to our village, Jiji volunteered. It had always been his dream to become a samurai anyway." She put a hand on her chest, a rosy dust coloring her cheeks, "Before he left, he promised me that he'd become stronger for me, so that he could protect the village. He wanted to make sure that nothing bad would happen again. Nothing like what happened...to my parents."

The color drained from her face again and her hand gripped the clothes over her heart.

"And just a few months later, Muko and Miko also left. They always dreamed of entertaining people, so they went to the best Geisha school their parents could afford." She let out a sad chuckle, "They even asked if I wanted to join them. Said I had just as much talent as them. But I couldn't leave my grandmother alone. As much as I wished to go with them, I had a duty to fulfill towards my only remaining family."

Momo took in a deep breath...and let it out again shakily. This was the part where everything went downhill. Her eyes were glued to the floor.

"I hadn't realized it, with the girls and Jiji around. But people were avoiding me. My spiritual abilities were not common knowledge, but the townspeople were still wary. If it wasn't for the respect my grandmother had in the village, they might have chased me out on the grounds of being cursed."

Her hands started to shake from how hard they clenched around the fabric of her robe. It was a struggle, but with a few quaking breaths, she managed to loosen her grip and put her hands down on her knees. They immediately clenched again, however, desperately trying to regain a sense of stability.

"I felt...so alone. And I blamed my grandmother for it. Said if it wasn't for her, I would have gone with Miko and Muko. I shouted at her that I hated her."

At that, the voice was echoing in her head once again with a vengeance, lording over her how cruel she was to her own grandmother, her own flesh and blood, her only caretaker and provider. She had been such a stupid girl!

Tears were now cascading down her cheeks, her emotions threatening to drown her, something she agreed she would've deserved.

"And I hated Jiji, Muko and Miko, for leaving me all alone. I hated that their dreams were more important to them than I was. I wasn't worth sticking around for."

So selfish. She was not worth it, to give up on dreams over, to stay and never change anything…

Seeing how her tears now dropped to the floor, she did her best to wipe them away, to hide that damn shame that had been eating away at her soul for so long. She allowed herself to sniffle once.

"A few years later, the son of the local shogun started to court me. He seemed nice enough. We- Jiji and I, we were still young when he left, and he told me not to wait for him if I found someone else and I...I just didn't want to feel alone anymore."

And see where that got her, the voice cooed wickedly. Besides the sadness, anger swelled in her chest at the memory of the guy who laughed into her face when she asked him about love.

"That tuna face promised me the heavens, that I would be his wife. Turned out that was a lie. He only wanted me to be one of his courtesans, wanting my powers under his control for his sick political games."

She clenched and unclenched her hands. The urge to throttle something... someone was so strong.

But as sudden as the wave of anger had surfaced, it just fizzled out just as quickly, leaving her so hollow all over again. He might have wanted to use her, but she had been the one who had allowed it get that far in the first place.

"I refused him and he...he..."

The words didn't want to come out, chocking her with every attempt to speak them into existence. So she gave up. The voice cackled that she was just weak.

"I n-never got the chance to apologize to my grandmother. Tell her h-how much I loved her and how grateful I was for her care. Instead she- she died…all because of my stupid mistakes. It was all my fault!"

Overcome by shame and guilt, she hid her face in her hands, trying to muffle the sound of her now high-pitched voice that was riddled with sobs. And yet, she couldn't stop talking, spitting every bad thought she ever had about herself.

"No matter what, no matter how hard I try, the people I care about always get ripped away from me, leave me or just want to use me. I always end up alone."

Alone, Alone, ALONE!

Useless, unworthy!

You deserve nothing else!

"I don't want to be alone," she cried desperately, in spite of the voices. "A-and yet...I keep pushing people away. Like you. I did the very same thing to you that I'm always afraid of happening to me."

The tears were flowing again like waterfalls, but Momo didn't care anymore. There was nothing left to care about. She was a mess anyway, so what difference would it make if he could see it plastered on her face? She let out a dry, hiccoughed laugh, deprived of any amusement.

"Maybe the people of my town were right. Maybe I am cursed."

Unlovable! Too much, too loud! Ungrateful!

Her fingernails dug into the skin of her face.

Having talked herself into a rant and letting those ugly emotions resurface had not only brought back the voice, but empowered it, allowing it to develop and shout at her with the echo of a Hellish choir. She hunched over into herself, wanting hide; from the pain, from the voices…from everything.

She felt so empty. So cold-

And suddenly she was enveloped in warmth. Her aura as well as her body.

Momo had been so lost in her negative thoughts, that she hadn't noticed how Yokarun had gotten up to kneel in front of her, his arms wrapped around her. His aura also swirled around her own, much like a coiling barrier.

Shielding her.

Giving her warmth.

It was so quiet. The voice was gone.

He said not a word, only held her. Tight enough to feel grounded, but loose enough so she could easily wriggle out of his hold…which was the opposite of what she wanted.

The hands that had covered her eyes now gripped his haori tightly, her face unabashedly pressed against his chest. She hoped he wouldn't mind that her tears got his clothes wet.

Again.

She couldn't stop them anymore, especially with him selflessly giving her this comfort, the safety to just cry and not worry about the voice.

Right now, she didn't even know what she was shedding tears over anymore: the sweet nostalgic memories of her friends, the guilt for letting down her grandmother, the pain of her loneliness, the anger over people wanting to use her, the gratefulness towards Yokarun.

Maybe it was just everything all at once.

Momo didn't know for how long she had cried. It almost felt like hours. But when she had calmed down and nuzzled her cheek against Yokarun's arm, she could see past him to the balcony door. The sun had not reached its zenith yet. So still morning.

At some point his claws had started to comb through her hair in a soothing manner, just like he did yesterday. He was starting to get really good at comforting her, as if it was his destined trade. Combined with his warming presence and the exhaustion from crying, she almost wanted to fall asleep in his arms. Although, as tempting as the thought was, she couldn't expect him to sit there all day long and just hold her like a little child.

Inhaling with the hopes of finally putting herself back together and at least pretend she was a functional adult, Momo slowly leaned away from him, biting back a whine when his claws left her hair. Painfully aware that her face had to have been made all wet and snotty from her crying, she slowly raised her eyes to meet his own. His expression had a worried edge to it, but it quickly changed into a tender smile that gave her chest this fluttery, warm feeling again.

Dropping her gaze with a light blush on her cheeks, she started to play with the fabric of his clothes that she still held within a tight grip. She didn't know what to do next after having cried out her heart and soul out in his arms. She should probably thank him. Yes, and apologize. Again. By the Kami, would she ever feel like she had apologized enough to him?

"Thank you. For...uhmm..." Her fiddling became more frantic, causing him to chuckle.

"You are most welcome," his soothing voice practically vibrated through her.

She wanted to be in his arms all the time when he talked, if it would always feel like that.

Just as quickly as this embarrassing thought popped into her head, she shot it down, before it could nestle into her mind permanently.

"'m still sorry. Didn't mean to get like...that," she mumbled and dropped her hands into her lap. His arms let go of her and she immediately missed the warm protectiveness of them. But when she settled down into a sitting position, he brought one back to rest over hers. She gave him a grateful smile, before her expression became a bit more grim. Still, she did her best to hold his gaze.

"I just...it doesn't excuse what I did to you. Not at all. But, I wanted to explain why I did it. I think." She let out a frustrated huff. "I'm just...so stupid. I didn't even think for a moment how you would feel. Shows what great of a friend I am." There was so much bitterness in her words, but his fingers stroking over her knuckles kept her calm enough not to insult herself more than that.

There was a moment of silence before he spoke up.

"Let me tell you a little story."

A bit confused, she blinked at him.

Where was this coming from?

But she inclined her head to signal he had her full attention.

"A few years ago, I found a fox stuck in a hunter's trap. Poor thing was almost still a cub, so I wanted to help it. It was hurt and afraid, so naturally it lashed out when I got closer. Almost bit a finger off."

He stopped for a moment, letting out an amused huff at the memory.

"Was a bit of a struggle to free the little guy while snapping at me. But eventually, I managed to get his paw loose. Ran away immediately to hide in the bushes. I would have liked to look at its paw, but I didn't want to stress it out even more and instead made sure there were no further traps in the area."

Momo hummed appreciative at that. Foxes could be a nuisance to farmers, she knew that. But a sturdy fence and well trained guard dog should've been enough to keep their livestock safe. Traps for them were not necessary.

"Later that evening when I was resting, the little fox came back. It was still careful when it approached me, but eventually came close enough to lay its head on my knee and licked the hand it had bitten earlier."

He looked at his hand that was not on hers and flexed it carefully.

"I like to believe it came back to apologize. It had time to calm down and realize I meant no harm to it."

His eyes went back to Momo.

"And I think it's the same with you. You were hurt from the past and just wanted to protect yourself."

That...made a lot of sense. She understood now why Yokarun was telling her this story. In her feeble attempts to protect herself from feeling this hurt again...she was lashing out and hurt others. Not on purpose. Just on instinct.

The squeeze he gave her hand made her look at him again.

"I will forgive you, as you didn't mean it and apologized. Listening to your story, I completely understand why you were acting like that. Just promise me one thing."

His expression became a bit more pained.

"Please never do something like that again."

Momo's heart lurched at the pleading glint in his eyes, the small whisper of his voice. He looked so vulnerable, it almost scared her. She had struggled so much to open up and here he was: showing her exactly how to hurt him and trusting she wouldn't do it. Now she wanted to wrap her arms around him and give him comfort. Never did she want to be the source of any pain or sadness to him ever again.

Turning one of her hands to hold onto his fingers, she gave him a reassuring squeeze.

"I promise. I...I'll try to be more honest, when something is on my mind."

The pain in his eyes dissolved, turning into a grateful smile. He let out a relieved breath.

"That is all I ask of you."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

They sat there for a few more minutes. Saying nothing and just holding hands.

Yokarun did become more and more flustered with every passing second, but he didn't want to let go of her until she was ready to. He needed to make sure that she was still okay, giving her as much comfort as she wanted from him.

When Momo had talked about this apparent almost-fiance of hers, he had immediately sensed those dark clouds surround her aura again, the same she had when trapped in her nightmare. That dark miasma had been stronger than the fog he had rather effortlessly chased away earlier in the conversation. He had to practically barrel full force into that wicked mist to free her of its negative influence, shielding her with both aura and body as he curled around her. At first, he had worried that he might have overstepped her boundaries, but when she clung to him like she had, tightly and desperately, he knew he had done the right thing. It had broken his heart to see her cry like that, but he was sure she needed it, that it was the first of many steps towards her healing. All he needed to do was to be there for her.

However, something had stood out to him. It was the few parts of her story she didn't elaborate on. What had happened to her parents? And to her grandmother? From the sound of it, her almost-fiance might have killed Momo's grandmother as punishment, or at the very least was somehow responsible for it, which made him hate this guy, someone he never even met, even more. Wanting to use Momo instead of loving her and then taking the last family she had from her? Whoever that guy was, he'd best better pray that Yokarun would never cross paths with him.

As curious as he had been about those missing parts, it was obvious they caused Momo a great amount of distress, so he kept any questions to himself for now. It was not his place to demand more of her than she was willing to share. However, he swore that if she ever felt the need to share, he would be there for her, to listen.

When Momo finally (and unfortunately) let go of his hand, he asked about her friends again. It had been clear that she enjoyed talking about them and that these memories made her happy. And that in turn made him happy.

She had been animatedly recounting one of their New Year's celebrations, explaining that Jiji's parents owned a shop that sold fireworks and such, when she had trailed off in the middle of her sentence, suddenly lost in thoughts. Before he could ask what was wrong, she had jumped to her feet and exclaimed that she got an idea and announced she needed to go to the market. With the promise of getting him some more mochi, she had rushed out the door, leaving an utterly confused Yokai behind.

With nothing better to do, Yokarun decided to lounge around on the balcony, enjoying the midday sun shining on their side of the building for easily an hour. He had contemplated to return to his spot on the roof for a longer sun bath, but he wanted to better hear when Momo returned.

Stretching his long, gnarly limbs while laying down on several pillows, he let out a content sigh. Absently, he wondered if he had been a cat or something in a previous life, with how much he enjoyed to just doze away in the sun now that he had the luxury to do so.

He let Momo's words about her past replay in his mind a few times. It was amazing how she could still be so kind, even after she went through so much hardship. She had berated herself for being weak, but in his eyes, she was so incredibly strong. He himself had given up on humans a long time ago and that was without having memories of personal anguish. Witnessing how they treated each other had been enough for him.

A dark and heavy gloom surged up in his chest, one that usually was a constant companion to him. It had been absent since meeting Momo, but his own memories of the past decades must have coaxed it out. Fear also flared up. He didn't want this personal darkness of his to settle in his heart again.

He rolled to his side, shoving the feeling and memories away and instead focused on the excitement of getting more mochi and seeing Momo again soon. Just thinking about his current two favorite things were enough to ease any anxiety, warmth settling within his chest again.

When his friend still had not returned by the time the sun had wandered around the building, Yokarun went back inside. Despite not having noticed anything unusual, he still made sure to inspect the room thoroughly, wary of any small Yokai that could have snuck in while he had been admittedly lost in a mindless, half asleep daze.

When he passed the fireplace, his sweeping search halted as his eyes landed on the burnt wood and a few pieces of charcoal.

Something in the back of his mind itched at the sight, as if it wanted to break out.

One could draw with charcoal, right? Maybe he could give it a try to pass the time.

Looking through some drawers, he found a little stack of cheap paper, the same that Momo had used for her note to him the other day. Aforesaid note was still in his inner breast pocket and he hoped she would never find out about it. It probably would lead to her teasing him for the sentiment of keeping the silly doodle.

But it gave him an idea what to draw. Inspired to create a better depiction of a peach fruit, he settled at the table, putting down a stack of papers and grabbing some of the sturdier charcoal pieces he could hold in his hand. At first he just drew lines and circles to get a feel for his drawing utensil, before he started the actual art.

After starting with a simple circle, he added the typical form to the fruit that he could clearly picture in his head. He had held several of them in his hand only two days ago after all, when he met Momo for the first time in that peach field.

Hit by that realization, he stopped for a moment. A small laugh escaped him, before he continued his drawing, adding details to the peach. These two days certainly have been the longest in his whole existence as Yokai, with how much things had changed for him. With all the emotions he went through.

His brows furrowed. Yesterday had been the best and worst day at the same time for him. He was glad that he had taken the risk and followed Momo, giving them the chance to clear things up and apologize. Listening to her stories about her childhood and friends had filled him with such warmth and he had started to wonder...if he had been born during her time as human. If he had lived in her village. Would they have become friends, too?

Noticing that he had finished his drawing, Yokarun put the charcoal piece down to take a closer look. It surprised him how he had been so lost in thoughts and still managed to draw a very detailed depiction of a peach, with leaves and even a flower!

Huh

Did he have an artistic talent when he was still alive? The itch in the back of his mind while he was drawing felt similar to the sensation when he was thinking about the stars and their constellation. What kind of life must he have had that he was able to get an education to have such astronomical knowledge and apparently enough free time to pursue an art hobby.

Knowing that he would not get anywhere with pondering, he dropped the question and instead picked up the charcoal piece again and a new paper sheet. Maybe he could draw something more complex? Maybe a person?

Of course his mind provided him with several different images of Momo smiling. His cheeks heated up when he realized some of those images were definitely not from memory, but rather a product of his own fantasies. Shaking his head violently to get rid of these scandalous images, he chided himself mentally. He was certain that it was not appropriate to do that as a friend whatsoever! He should be thankful that she looked at him at all and respect her and her person, not come up with those improper thoughts! She would probably be creeped out by him if she knew what he was thinking about her. Other people might say they were still innocent thoughts, it was just an imaginary smile, but he still felt awful. As a dear friend to him, she deserved better than him coming up with things she had never done or said.

Letting out a frustrated whine, he managed to shove any undesirable notions out of his head and decided on what he wanted to draw: Momo with a wide and cheeky smile. It was very true to her character and he had seen her flashing that kind of smile a lot to him already.

With an internal smile of his own, the large maw definitely not doing his true emotions any justice, he started to draw. He started out with a similar circle shape as the peach before, making himself snort. Very soon with each stroke made, he added more structure to her face shape and the even finer details to her features that brought the page to life, how her pretty cheeks raise with her grin, how her eyes shut close with the intensity of her smile, how pure mischievousness radiated from her person with the flashing of her teeth…

A soothing warmth settled inside him while focusing on drawing Momo's face.

Feeling that his hand was sure enough to draw on its own, his mind wandered again. His entire existence as a spirit had felt like an endless rainy day, rarely seeing any light or feeling any fleeting warmth. But since meeting her, catching the rays of that smile she beamed at him almost constantly, he had felt like she had put the sun itself into his heart. There was nothing more beautiful in this world than her smile.

....

That was okay to think of your friend...right?

Adding a few last strokes to her hair, Yokarun once again set the charcoal piece down. It was now so short that he would need to use a new chunk if he wished to continue drawing more images. Inspecting the art, he was impressed with himself at how detailed it was....but also sheepishly and painfully aware of how well he had memorized every small feature of Momo's face already.

Quickly putting the paper face down on the table, he rubbed his eyes with a low groan. Maybe he should've asked her first before drawing her, just to give his mind a bit of peace.

Turning his head around, he looked outside the window. According to the sun, it was afternoon now. Momo still hadn't returned and he couldn't feel her aura anywhere around the inn.

His claw started to tap on the table. Worry started to gnaw at him, but he did his best to ignore it. She just went to the market, that was all. She could take care of herself; she was a very capable woman, he was well aware of that. He just wished she had told him for what she had left for, to give him even just a vague sense of where she was currently.

Trying to distract himself again, Yokarun picked up a new piece of charcoal and started to draw a circle for a face again. And without thinking or fussing about it, he started to sketch another face of Momo's: the sleepy, but happy smile she had given him this morning when waking up.

The few rays of the morning sun had made her eyes sparkle like gemstones, strands of her hair had fallen over her face in a flippant manner and the way her cheek had been squished due to nuzzling into the pillow had been so adorable…she was adorable. His heart had jumped up his throat at that sight, wishing he could wake up to it every day, her raw and unashamed visage.

As much as he tried to focus on the process of drawing, he still could feel the heat creeping up his neck from these thoughts.

Nothing wrong with admiring how pretty your friend was.

Surely.

....

Hopefully.

His thoughts floated away, not focusing on anything specific but the warm fluttering he always felt in his chest when Momo laughed, smiled or was so pleased with herself when she had a good idea.

The sketch of her face was finished, again embarrassingly detailed. He was so distracted by the way he had captured the sweet sleepiness in her eyes, that he did not notice how someone entered the room and laid a hand on his shoulder.

A startled squeak escaped him, in such a high tone he had never expected himself to be capable of, and he flung the charcoal piece across the room, leaving a black stain against the wall where the piece had smacked and shattered against.

"Whoa, there! Didn't mean to scare you Yokarun," Momo laughed, almost as surprised as he was at his reaction. "Thought you had your aura feelers out again."

"A-ayase-san!" he stammered, with a very unmanly voice, when he looked to his side and up into her grinning face. It took him a second to get his bearings back and he realized...if she stopped looking at him, she would see what he had been doing.

Drawing her.

Dread and utter mortification stopped his heart for a second. He really needed to pay more attention to his surroundings, even when it was a safe place.

Unaware of his internal panic, Momo's face swiftly changed to a lopsided smile.

"Back to the formal addressing, huh?" she said, trying to make it sound lighthearted, but even while he was scrambling to cover his last two art pieces with empty sheets, he noticed the sad edge to it.

He calmed down when he was sure she wouldn't be able to spot his artistic crime any time soon, still ducking his head in shame.

"Well, I...," he tried to find an explanation why he was addressing her by her family name again. This whole morning it had been Momo here and Momo there. But it was mostly a way to give her comfort. Now that he didn't need to provide that anymore, he thought it would be in her interest if he went back to the formal way of addressing her.

"You can...just call me by my name…if you want to," she said, speaking the last sentence a bit faster.

Puzzled at that, he looked up at her. She was meeting his gaze with a shy smile (his heart did not do a little dance at that), but he could see she was playing with the strand of hair that always fell in front of her face. A cute nervous tick, he noted.

Humming thoughtfully, he tilted his head. If she offered him to call her by her given name, that was alright, wasn't it? But, it still didn't sit right with him, not completely. They had grown closer rather fast, alarmingly so, even. But, he still respected her and only had used her personal name by itself as a comfort to her anxious mind. He would like to keep it that way. For now.

In the meantime, he settled on a compromise of sorts. "Alright. Thank you...Momo-san," he then finally said with a little bow of his head, causing her to let out an amused huff.

"Acceptable," she giggled and plopped down on the table, putting down a bundle filled with various items.

"So...care to explain why you suddenly ran away as if a wasp had stung you?" he asked, trying to let the stacks of papers discreetly vanish under the table. However, Momo had already eyed them up and smacked her hand flat down on the pile with his drawings, causing him to let out another startled sound.

"Just had an idea that I needed to research," she waved his question away, before picking up the sheet with his peach drawing and inspecting it. "And I see you kept yourself busy. This is such a good drawing!"

Yokarun couldn't help himself but preen at her genuine praise.

"Ah, well. I was just...fiddling around a bit. Didn't expect any of them to turn out so well," he explained. Scratching his his chin, he closed his eyes in contemplation, "Just had the feeling to give it a try, like it was something hidden in my mind and wanted to come out. It feels…similar to my knowledge about the stars; it may have been something from my previous life."

Suddenly hearing her gasp, his eyes snapped open again to look at her. The drawing of the peach was on the table again. She was holding another sheet in her hand. His eyes widened in panic.

"Oh my, you must've been an amazing artist. This looks just like me!" she exclaimed with such excitement and turned the paper around, right next to her face. It was the grinning one and she did the same expression.

He really did capture that smile perfectly, seeing it side by side to her actual face.

"I'm...glad you think so. Sorry I didn't ask for permission first."

His panic died down a little bit, seeing that she wasn't upset or anything; rather, she genuinely seemed to like his drawing of her. She chuckled sweetly at his apology, the sound calming him down even further.

"No need for an apology. I'm really flattered how pretty you drew me."

"Well, you are pretty, after all," he said without much thought, more focused on the other drawing of her that was still on the table, only covered by another empty paper. Too fixated on his mission to retrieve it, he did not notice Momo's reddening face at first, but she soon caught onto his intentions. Trying to come off across as nonchalant herself, she placed her hand on the sheets he was reaching for and pulled them towards her, causing Yokarun to keen internally.

"You are such a flirt, you know that?" she chuckled again, picking up the sheets. "You got any more drawings here?"

He immediately felt the urge to pluck them away from her hands, his heart hammering within his inner ears, "I-it's really not much. Just doodled around, not worth looking at!"

He was panicking so much that he completely missed what she had called him and instead tried to snatch the papers away from her, practically lunging over the table towards her. But Momo was fast enough to pull them out of his reach with a cheeky, wide grin.

"Oho, sounds like to me that it's something very interesting," she said and with that, she moved the empty sheet out of the way to look at his third drawing.

Yokarun's whole body just slumped onto the table in utter defeat, his hands covering his eyes.

There was no gasp, just a quiet oh escaped her lips.

'This is it! She will think I'm a creep and hate me! After all the things she went through, and I go and abuse her trust. I can count myself lucky if she just chases me away instead of exorcising me, even when I deserve it!'

Awaiting her wrath at any second now, he didn't even dare to move, barely breathing and letting out a very quiet and low whine. But nothing happened for almost a minute, the anticipation almost killing him before she could herself. He couldn't even muster up the courage to remove his hands, when he heard something rustle and a few seconds later something dropping right in front of his maw.

He immediately picked up on the warm, sweet scent of fresh mochi.

Uttering a confused sound, he dropped his hands from his eyes and indeed, there was a new sachet of mochi on the table. His eyes widened and pupils dilated at the sight.

"I did promise you some mochi for running off on you like that."

His eyes darted towards Momo. Part of her face was hidden behind the drawing, only her blushing cheeks and averted eyes visible.

She didn't look angry or upset, but...embarrassed?

Oh no, she was probably unsettled by that drawing, showcasing her in such a vulnerable moment. He wanted to apologize for his transgression, but her giving him the mochi was probably a way to just...drop the subject altogether and speak of something else? Maybe? Groaning internally, he looked back at the sachet, not knowing what was the right thing to do right then and now.

A part of him just wanted to snatch the sachet with his tongue and eat the whole bag at once. Drowning himself in the sweet, fruity taste that with no doubt was peach flavored again. But that would be uncivilized and he wanted to enjoy the warm treat. Momo made the effort to get it so fresh for him, after all.

Finally, he managed to sit up again, muttering a shy 'thank you' at her. She responded with a just as quiet 'no problem', still hiding behind the sheet of paper. Maybe he should offer to her to burn it, if she wished so.

When he opened the sachet, he was momentarily distracted enough from his worries and his mind was flooded with giddiness at just the mere sight of the mochi. The last pieces of the previous bag had been devoured last night and when they're still warm, they just taste the best.

Not wasting another moment, he picked one of the sweet treats out of the bag, enjoying the squishy texture between his fingers for a second, before he threw it into his maw. A deep, appreciate hum came from the Yokai as he chewed and couldn't help himself but smile in delight.

He had been right on the money.

Peach flavor.

"I have never seen someone enjoy a simple mochi so much like you do."

Momo's giggle took him out of his mochi delirium and with great effort he tried not to choke on the treat in awkward shame. He had completely forgotten that she was watching him this time.

"They're just...very delicious," he offered as explanation, which she only responded to with an amused hum. Glancing at her, he could see that she had lowered the sheet of paper and just smiled at him.

He quickly focused back on the mochi. It gave him an excuse not to talk and embarrass himself further.

While he was devouring his sweets, Momo collected all the scattered papers from the table, stacking the empty ones on one pile and placed them back into the drawer. Pulling out her grandmother's notebook from the basket, she put his three drawings behind the last page of it.

Yokarun was very touched, but also confused by this. Did...did she want to keep them? Even when she was obviously embarrassed by the last one? Should he ask about i?

Squirming in his seat slightly, he battled with himself over what to do, while Momo sat back at the table and unpacked the rest of her purchase. Dropping the subject it is then. Throwing another mochi into his maw, he looked from the items on the table to her with a raised eyebrow.

She must've felt his gaze, because she clarified with a question, "Remember how I was talking about all the fireworks Jiji's parents had at their store?"

He answered with a nod and quiet hum, wondering where this was going. Her grin became very wide.

"Well, one of the items they sold were smoke bombs. Colored smoke bombs, to be more precise."

She arranged the items carefully into a specific order. Yokarun munched another mochi, paying the utmost attention.

"Using something like that will help a lot with our little scheme. My idea was, that I'll make a smoke bomb, wrap them around the tip of some arrows and sell it as bundles that help with exorcising very stubborn spirits." Pointing towards a small container with teal colored powder, she grinned proudly. "Thought to use teal; has a nice magical effect to it."

And it was the color of her spiritual powers, he thought.

"Since the bundles will replace the sharp arrow heads, they won't hurt you when I fire them at you. And as soon as everything is covered in teal smoke, I will jump forward and use a harmless ofuda on you. Then you use your incredible speed to vanish and voila, exorcism performed!" She clapped her hands together and gave him a thumbs up at the end of her explanation.

This was such a wild plan....and a very good one at that, too!

Regarding the ingredients and mixing bowls on the table and mulling over her words again, Yokarun had to admit that this might actually work. Blunt arrows would indeed not hurt him and he trusted Momo's aim. And by using such unconventional items, it would be a good explanation as to why the other priests would not be able to exorcise him. Kato had seen him vanishing when he had attack him, but hopefully that fool would not connect the dots and the smoke would give him enough cover to run away without someone noticing it.

After a minute of contemplating, he looked up at Momo's expectant face and nodded with a smile.

"You are a true genius, Momo-san."

Grinning even wider, she thumbed her chest with such confidence that had him almost snort in amusement.

"And never doubt that. I didn't completely remember how to make a smoke bomb, but luckily they have a shop here that also sells fireworks and I was able to inquire the merchant about it enough that I could write down an instruction for myself."

With that, she fished a little note from inside her robe and put it down on the table. From a glance, it looked straight forward enough. Still, he looked at her with a raised eyebrow again.

"And you are confident you can mix this together? I doubt Emi-san would be pleased if all this powder would explode in one of her most expensive rooms."

He still felt guilty for the charcoal smear on the wall, noting in his head to clean in later.

Momo just waved his concerns away. "Don't worry, I will be super careful. I'll make a small bag first to test if it works."

His answer to that was just a huff. He wouldn't say anything further and just trust that she would indeed be careful with this.

She looked at the ingredients with a thoughtful hum, scribbling something down on her note and started to prepare her first small bomb, while he devoured another mochi.

"By the way," she spoke up after a moment. "I saw quite a few guards patrolling through the streets, despite it being daytime. I guess Kato is getting overcautious."

"Sounds more like paranoia," he said between chewing. "Can be good, leads to more mistakes." He swallowed and looked a bit concerned to her. "But can also be bad. He is not very fond of you and you did kind of threaten him." He let out a deep sight and rubbed the side of his temple. "I'm worried he will spin a story in his head with you as the reason why he got haunted in the first place. Which wouldn't be too far off the truth."

"Hey, don't put the blame on me!" she exclaimed in indignation, jabbing her finger towards him. "I was not the one who told you to sneak into his house in the first place!"

The Yokai quickly raised his hands in defence, afraid Momo might decide to poke one of his eyes out.

"Alright, that one is on me. Doesn't change the fact that he might not buy it that you just happen to have the right method to exorcise me, while his priests can't."

He desperately hoped she understood that he wasn't doubting her, her skills or her plan. How the mind of this scumbag would react was out of her control (mostly) and he wanted to make sure she was aware of that.

Momo did look like she wanted to argue again, but after regarding him for a moment, she just let out a slightly annoyed sigh.

"You're right. It is a possibility." She focused back on mixing together the ingredients. "And nothing we can do about that. Might not happen at all and everything goes according to plan. I will be careful and be as nice as possible with my lecture about his behavior."

"I envy your optimism," he mumbled, trying his best not to sound too sceptical.

His hand went back into the sachet for another mochi, but much to his dismay, it seemed like he had already eaten all the wonderful treats, too focused on listening to Momo than paying attention to the amount of mochi left. It was just really hard to stop when they tasted so delicious!

Putting down the empty bag, he let out a pitiful whine, almost sounding like that of a sad dog. Momo's chuckle made him flush only slightly.

"Tell you what: why don't you go and pay our friend Kato a visit and scare the living daylights out of him? I'm sure seeing it for himself how useless his priests are will make him even more desperate and willing to accept my help."

He could only give her an incredulous look and open his maw, when she continued before he could give his piece of mind to that suggestion.

"And tomorrow, when I hear he cried like a baby, I will get you a bigger mochi sachet."

With a clack, his maw closed again and he looked at her for several seconds without uttering a word. She had a very good point. The more scared Kato would be, the less options he had, the more likely it was that he accepted Momo's help.

"You're driving a hard bargain," he finally said, cursing himself that she had such an easy way to make him do what she wanted. And she knew it, given her devious grin.

"Everyone has their price, my dear Yokarun. And yours is exceptionally sweet."

Letting out an exasperated sigh, his shoulders sagged in defeat and he flopped forward back onto the table, mindful not to topple any items over.

"Fiiiiine," he whined theatrically. "When it's dark, I will hop over and give him a good scare. Shouldn't be too hard, that guy has no backbone anyway."

"Good Yokai," she cooed. Her eyes back on her ingredients, she reached forward and gave the top of his maw a small pat, making him huff.

As amazing as her plan was and as much as he trusted her, something in the back of his mind was not pleased with all this. He had a very bad feeling about this, but all he could do was support Momo in her endeavor and keep her safe.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was the second night after the evil spirit had attacked Lord Kato in his own home.

Yesterday it had been suspiciously absent. The theory of his priests was that their wards and spells had scared the Yokai off, but the Lord was not convinced of this. He wanted to see with his own eyes how the spirit would go up in flames or whatever happened when one got exorcised. This one night of peace was just to lull them into a falsity of safety, he was convinced of that.

Both his advisors and priests had tried to calm him down. That there were guards at every door and window, that the barrier was all around the plot and no evil spirit could breach it. But they also had said that the barrier around his room would destroy any spirit and yet, the Yokai had only been injured at best. It was still alive, out there to get him. The news that the wandering Miko had been seen at the temple, apparently to pray for him which he did not buy completely, had not eased his mind. This was all too much of a coincidence!

As much as he wanted to get rid of the Miko, she was well liked by the people in town due to her 'heroic act' of saving the farmers. Plus, the inn-keepers wife Emi, who was a popular figure in the community, was housing and vouching for her. His advisor had informed him that the town was not happy with how he ran things (as if these simpletons would know any better) and attracting more ire from them would bring more trouble than good in the long run. So he had to focus on getting rid of the spirit and hope the Miko would leave on her own accord soon.

Kato's captain and the head priest came by his chamber for the third time since night had fallen, to report that everything was quiet. He ordered them to check again, making sure that every corner was sealed off.

Ignoring their vexed mutterings, he closed the sliding door more forceful than he needed to.

They didn't understand. They were not haunted by those demonic red eyes or the feeling of slowly loosing every bit of air in their lungs. He took in a shuttering breath while rubbing his neck.

"You know, for a plump, rich sack of shit, you really lack some good snacks in here."

Every drop of blood in Kato's body froze in an instant.

That voice....

Slowly, almost as if his body didn't want to, he turned around.

There, among the pile of his luxurious cushions, lounged the source of his nightmares: the white haired Yokai with the obsidian maw.

Noticing his eyes on it, the spirit waved lazily at him.

"Yo."

Kato didn't know if the lax, unassuming attitude of the Yokai unnerved him more than its aggressiveness from the other night, almost appearing bored with everything.

"H-how..." he stammered, fear blocking his throat from forming proper words.

"How did I get in? With all these fancy barriers and guards around?" The Yokai waved his hand in a dismissive way, almost cocky with his demeanor, "You got me by surprise the first time, I'll admit that, but that won't happen again. All these fancy seals are child's play to me."

In one swift motion, the movement blurred within Kato's vision, the spirit was up on its feet and right in front of him, threatening him face to maw with its sharp claws and intimidating teeth. With a frightened whimper, Kato pressed himself against the door.

"Now then. You better start squeaking for help like the little pig you are. Don't know if your priests are capable of resurrecting a corpse."

Blood started to pump through Kato's body again. And it screamed at him to run!

Fumbling with the door, he finally managed to open and fell into the hallway, flat on his ass.

"HELP! T-THE SPIRIT! IT'S HERE!" he shouted, scrambling to his feet and running towards the nearest guard around the corner, while the Yokai followed him unhurried.

The guards ushered Kato to keep running, to flee to the entrance hall where the captain and head priest would be. Thanks to Kato's screaming, the hallway was soon full of guards that blocked the way for the Yokai.

The spirit eyed the man in front of it up, seemingly unimpressed. It cracked its neck and rolled his shoulder.

"Alright boys, let's have some fun."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Even through the thick doors that led from the hallways to the entrance hall, the sounds could be heard:

Pained screams.

The thud of bodies against walls.

Wood splintering.

The captain, head priest and a few more guards stood close to the door, nagamakis and ofuda ready. Their throats bobbed from nervous swallowing, eyes completely fixated on the door.

Lord Kato was surrounded by several high priests in the middle of the entrance hall, who chanted in union to create an even stronger barrier than the one surrounding the estate.

Suddenly, there was only silence filling the whole building. Only a quiet whimper, slowly coming closer, was audible from the other side of the door. With a loud bang, they swung open, revealing a figure standing in the dark corridor, its red eyes glowing menacingly in the darkness.

Stepping out of the shadows into the light of the entrance hall, the spirit regained its usual form and walked towards Kato, dragging one of the guards behind him.

"How in the Kami's name..…" the head priest muttered under his breath, while the captain shouted to his men to attack. Discouraged by the obvious mayhem the spirit had caused in the hallway, the guardsmen hesitantly charged forward, weapons aimed towards their enemy.

But the Yokai merely flung the guard he had still in his hold towards them, causing them to stumble and be knocked out. The captain used the small window of distraction to charge himself, but his opponent sidestepped in a flash to avoid being hit by his nagamaki. Before the man could turn around to swing for another attack, the spirit opened its massive maw and bit down directly onto the metal. The teeth crunched against it until the weapon splintered into several small pieces.

Whimpering in fear, the captain looked from his destroyed weapon to the Yokai, which shook its head to get metal pieces out of his maw.

"BEGONE, EVIL SPIRIT!"

With a shout, the head priest had charged towards the Yokai and slapped an ofuda on its back, causing it to flinch in surprise. The head priest let out a triumphant shout, which quickly dissolved into disbelieving stutters, when the Yokai simply reached back and pulled the talisman off of himself with those gangly, demonic limbs of his.

It regarded the piece of paper for a moment, before he crumpled it into a ball and let it fall to the floor.

"Seems like the gods don't favor you tonight," it said with a mocking tone and just walked past the head priest, who sank to his knees in fear.

"Don't just stand there! Do something! What do I pay you for?!" The panic was more than obvious in Kato's voice, his whole body trembling.

Useless, all of them! He showered them in gold for their services and then they were as useless as a dog with no teeth! At least the barrier the priests were actively holding up would hold the spirit back, right?

The Yokai stopped right before the barrier, regarding it with a thoughtful hum, tapping its claws against it. Some of the priests stuttered in their chanting. One of them moved to run away, but Kato grabbed him by the shoulder and placed him in front of himself.

"Don't you dare to run away. None of you! Or nobody will see a single mon from me!" He glared at the priests, who exchanged looks, clearly not impressed by his threat, but immensely by the presence of the Yokai.

"I think money is the last of their worries right now," the spirit mused and then just simply walked inside the barrier as if it didn't exist.

This was the last straw for the priests. They all stopped their chants and instead screamed, scrambled over each other on their way to the door to the outside, even when the spirit made no move to chase them.

"Stay here, you damn cowards!" Kato screamed when his captain and the head priest also fled the building.

"Rich coming from the biggest coward in this town."

Everything in his head screamed to run too. The door was right there, now wide open. But his legs felt like lead, too heavy to even take one step. He wanted to curl into a ball and cry for forgiveness. But that would do him no good. No man nor spirit would just stop because you asked nicely. He had to save himself, no matter the price. So, Kato collected every bit of willpower left in him and turned around to face the Yokai.

Its expression was something he had seen many times cast his way: scorn. Usually hidden or quickly replaced as not to be seen by him. But unlike the townspeople or even his own men, the Yokai had no reason to hide it and its red eyes were boring right into his soul.

"W-what do you want from me? Money? Power? Women? I-I can get you all of that, j-just say the word. In-in exchange for my life." He tried to keep his voice steady, but the fear caused his words to be shaky like the rest of him.

The spirits eyes scrunched in disgust.

"Your life isn't worth the dirt under my feet!"

And with that the Yokai spun around in such a swift motion that Kato could not register it. He could only feel how all air was pressed out of his lungs and his back hit the walls hard with a sickening crunch. He cried out in pain, desperately coughing for air while he slumped down the wall. Everything inside him hurt and he was not able to move, even if he wanted to.

Oh no, how many bones are broken? he thought with a whine.

His eyes focused enough to see the Yokai still standing where it had been before, leg raised. It must have kicked him into the wall.

Muttering something to itself, the spirit walked towards Kato and then crouched down in front of him. Without saying another word, it opened its maw right in front of his face. Darkness looked back at Kato, an endless gaping hole of shadows from where something long came wiggling towards him. Feeling like he was losing his sanity, Kato pressed his eyes shut and wailed, just waiting for this to be all over.

"By the Kami, you are so pathetic. This is no fun at all," the Yokai growled.

As nothing was happening, he dared to open one eye.

The spirit was standing up again, looking down at him with contempt.

"If you are so rich and resourceful as you claim, you should be able to come up with something to entertain me more. Give me a challenge. Maybe I will grant you mercy and make your death swift and painless."

Kato wanted to protest. That was no mercy!

He made a wheezing sound but was immediately shut down by the spirits maw that snapped at him right in front of his face. Screeching in fear and pain from his own sudden movement, he shut his eyes.

But there was only a strong gust of wind and then silence.

Opening his eyes again, Kato couldn't spot the Yokai again, not even in the dark corners. Despite the pain, he let out a deep breath of relief. He managed to survive. For now. But the spirit had threatened to come back and the next time he wouldn't let him go.

Kato's mind and heart were racing in panic.

He needed more guards, some that could deal with a spirit like this! Maybe some mercenaries, they might have more experience. He could ask for more skilled priests to protect him.

Trying to sit up, pain shot through his whole body so he fell back against the wall.

What he needed most right now was a doctor!

He snivelled.

....

And a new pair of undergarments.

19 notes · View notes