Yokai (13 page)

“
Um, hi,” Yumiko replied
awkwardly, offering her a reluctant smile. “I’m looking for Shou
Fujiwara.”

The girl squinted at her, then
shrugged. “I’m sorry, but Mr. Fujiwara is already engaged at the
moment. He’s a very popular man.” She handed Yumiko the black
wallet, and Yumiko opened it, curious, to see headshots of dozens
of beautiful men gazing back at her. “We have a wide variety of men
to choose from, one of the widest in town. If you like Shou, may I
suggest Akira? He has a beautiful singing voice, if you enjoy
karaoke.”

“
No, I’m…good,” Yumiko
said, politely handing the menu back to the woman. “I’m actually
here to deliver a letter to Mr. Fujiwara.”

The girl put out her hand. “I can give
it to him.”

“
Unfortunately, I was told
that I had to hand it to him directly,” Yumiko said, standing her
ground. “I can wait.”

Sighing, the girl looked Yumiko over.
“He might be awhile. You may as well hand it to him now. Just don’t
linger. He has a paying client who doesn’t deserve the
distraction.”

Yumiko blushed and bowed to the girl
as she pointed out the booth Shou was at, in the far
corner.

As she approached the booth, Yumiko
slowed, tilting her head to listen to what Shou might be saying to
his client, but his voice was low and intimate. When she drew
closer and saw his head near a young woman’s, Yumiko paused to
study the scene a moment. Shou was dressed casually, in a cotton
t-shirt, but one that showed off his chest and arms. The girl was
obviously dressed to impress, in a stunning dress, her hair and
makeup done flawlessly to showcase her attributes and hide her
flaws. She was a beautiful girl, however, and Yumiko had to wonder
why she sought unattainable men, whom she had to pay for
affection.

The girl giggled at something Shou
said, and he leaned forward to fill her wine glass, smiling at her
easily. Yumiko didn’t know why she felt so troubled by the sight.
Was it because Shou was so good at being so charming? Or was it
because Yumiko didn’t like seeing him in that position, forcing
enthusiasm for strangers, no matter what they looked
like?

Shou looked up suddenly and met
Yumiko’s eyes. She glanced away quickly, flustered at having been
caught staring. Pretending that he hadn’t seen her watch him,
Yumiko stepped up to the table politely and bowed. “I’m sorry to
disturb you,” she said. “But I have a letter for Mr.
Fujiwara.”

“
Oh, what is it?” the girl
asked, eyes sparkling as Shou accepted the envelope and opened it.
His eyes scanned a single page quickly, before he looked up at
Yumiko sharply.

“
Mori is leaving?” he
asked.

“
For a short time,” Yumiko
replied. “If you need anything in her absence, please let me know.”
She bowed again, hesitating as she noted the troubled look on his
face. But as soon as he noticed her eyes on him, his face melted
into an easy smile, even as his eyes narrowed.

“
Thank you,” he told her.
“Now, if you don’t mind, I’m busy at the moment.” And he turned
back to the girl, pushing a strand of hair out of her face. The
gesture was so intimate that Yumiko flinched, and quickly turned to
walk away. She had to force herself to keep from running from the
club. She didn’t know why, but it left her with a bad taste in her
mouth.

“
Have a nice day,” the girl
by the doors said cheerfully as she exited.

Yumiko paid her no heed, and stopped
to catch her breath outside, leaning back against the wall beside
the door. She didn’t know Shou. He could do what he wanted with his
life. Seeing him engaged in…whatever he wanted to be doing was none
of her business. But she couldn’t rid herself of the uneasy feeling
that he wanted to be in that room even less than Yumiko.

***

“
You naughty, naughty
thing!”

Yumiko froze as she stepped into the
library. She watched as Reina chased Tanuki around with a broom,
swatting at him with angry, wide strokes. “I did warn you,” Yumiko
said, trying her best not to sound as if she were
gloating.

Reina looked up, frowning. “Well, you
could have warned a little harder. This little perv copped a feel.
And right after I was holding him for like, an hour, thinking he
was looking up at me all thoughtfully. But no, he wasn’t even
looking at my face.”

“
It was one moment of
weakness!” Tanuki insisted desperately as he gasped for air,
hopping around the room to avoid her blows.

Yumiko sighed and crossed her arms.
“Reina, stop it before you break something.”

Reina threw the broom at Tanuki, who
easily dodged it, and scampered past Yumiko, and out of the room.
“Horrible little thing.”

“
It’s just how he is,”
Yumiko shrugged. “You’ll get used to it.”

“
I don’t want to get used
to it,” Reina replied, fuming. She took a few calming breaths
before dropping into a chair. “He’s just so cute. You want to
protect him and comfort him. And now I feel all
violated.”

“
I’m not making excuses for
him. He deserves your wrath.”

“
Ever thought about getting
him fixed?”

“
He could make it so the
doctors couldn’t see him.”

“
Good point,” Reina sighed.
She cocked her head. “How’s Shou?”

“
Also a
pervert.”

Reina rolled her eyes.
“Men.”

“
Um, hello?”

Yumiko looked up as Brian’s voice
drifted up the hall.

“
Speaking of,” Reina
mumbled, leaning back in her chair.

“
Brian’s nice,” Yumiko
said.

“
Brian?” Reina grinned at
her. “What happened to calling him Mr. Mathis?”

Yumiko chose to ignore her as Brian
entered the room with a bow.

“
Good morning,” he said,
then looked around. “Where is Madame Mori this morning?”

“
She left,” Reina
announced.

“
Left?”

Yumiko smiled reassuringly and walked
over to greet him properly, taking his briefcase from him. “She’ll
be out of town for a few days. It seems that she may have a lead on
your condition.”

“
Oh?”

“
Yes. You should be
pleased. Perhaps we can break this curse more quickly than we
imagined.”

“
That would be wonderful,”
Brian said, although his countenance didn’t seem to agree with his
words. He blinked, and gave Yumiko a curious look. “So, you have
the day off.”

“
What?” Yumiko set his
briefcase down on a desk, and glanced back at him.

“
You can get out of this
stuffy library,” Brian told her. “What do you plan on
doing?”

“
Well, I have to keep up my
studies,” Yumiko said. “Practice and…research.”

Brian cocked an eyebrow. “I think you
could use a break. Everyone needs to unwind once in a
while.”

“
I…really
shouldn’t.”

“
Come with me to
Kakunodate, in Akita Prefecture.”

“
Kakunodate?” Yumiko echoed
weakly. “That’s at least-“

“
Three hours from Tokyo,”
Reina interrupted. “Perfect! You need to get away,
Yumiko.”

“
I-“

“
You’re going.”

“
You-“

“
I’m staying here,” Reina
said determinedly. She smiled sweetly at her. “I’ll hold down the
fort while you’re gone. You should go have fun.”

Yumiko looked skeptical. And
obviously, Reina fancied herself a matchmaker.

“
If it makes you feel any
better, it’s a business trip,” Brian told her. “I have to pick up a
book, for research. Mori should really have it in her collection,
and it’s hard to track down.”

“
A book?”

Brian grinned at her. “Of course,
we’ll have some time to take in some sights while we’re
there.”

Yumiko turned to Reina, but at the
resolved look on her friend’s face, Yumiko realized that she would
have little chance of getting out of this. She looked to Brian and
nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Mathis. I would love to accompany you on
your trip.”

“
Wonderful!” Brian said,
his smile wide. “And please, it’s Brian.”

Yumiko could feel Reina’s triumphant
grin without having to look at her. “Well, Brian, let me grab a few
things and we’ll be on our way then.”

“
And take your time,” Reina
said, walking them to the hall. “You should make a full day out of
it. I’ll do enough reading for the both of you.”

“
We appreciate it,” Yumiko
muttered.

Chapter Ten

“
Your friend doesn’t do
subtle very well,” Brian noted as they took their seats aboard the
train that would whisk them to Akita Prefecture. He let Yumiko have
the window seat, and gripped his armrests tightly as the train
began to depart.

“
No, she doesn’t,” Yumiko
agreed. She lifted an eyebrow. “You don’t like traveling by
train?”

“
Not by bullet train. It’s
unsettling,” Brian said. “But it’s much better than traveling by
airplane.”

The mention of flying brought Yumiko’s
mind back around to Mori and her mysterious trip to America. Yumiko
had the feeling that her sensei was being intentionally vague. But
what reason would she have?

With a frown, Yumiko watched the train
station disappear from sight, then buildings and concrete fell away
in favor of rice paddy fields and forests. Yumiko was lost in
thought, and didn’t discern the stops that they made along the way,
and barely paid heed to the scenery that passed by as she stared
vacantly through her reflection.

“
You’re always so serious,
Yumiko,” Brian said, drawing her out of herself much
later.

Yumiko blinked and turned to find his
blue eyes boring into her own, steely and hypnotic. His eyes were
so beautiful, framed by thick lashes. She felt like she could lose
herself exploring the hues of periwinkle and turquoise. It was like
staring down into a vast lake, the water clear and rippling with
the current.

Swallowing hard, Yumiko forced herself
to look down, focusing on Brian’s hands, folded neatly in his lap.
“The world is a serious place.”

“
Not all the time. Or, at
least, it doesn’t have to be.”

“
It does for me. If I’m to
survive, I can’t lose focus.”

There was silence for a few minutes
before Brian touched her cheek, and she flinched.

Brian pulled his hand away, looking
guilty, and Yumiko instantly regretted her reaction. To salvage the
contact in some small way, Yumiko offered him a shaky smile.
“Sorry. I was lost in thought.”

He nodded and looked past her, at the
whir of green and brown flowing by the train. “Tanuki told me about
your past. About being spirited away, and returning to find your
mother gone.”

Yumiko stiffened. “Tanuki has a big
mouth.”

“
Don’t blame him,” Brian
shook his head slowly. “I asked him. I wanted to know. I wanted to
know more about you.”

She chanced a look up into his face
and met his serious eyes. They held hers, as if holding on with an
iron grip. Now that they had her attention, they refused to let
go.

“
I want to know why such a
beautiful girl walks around with the weight of the world on her
shoulders. Why she seems so sad all the time.”

“
I’m not sad,” she said
automatically, then recognized it for the half-truth that it was.
“I’m determined.”

Brian’s lips drew into a pressed line.
“Yes, determined to be isolated and driven by your quest. But do
you even really know what you’re fighting for?”

“
My life.”

“
Are you sure about that?
Are you even sure your mother was taken from you?”

“
She was gone,” Yumiko
shook her head. “She wouldn’t have just left.”

“
Not without a
reason.”

“
She wouldn’t have. Ever.”
Yumiko sighed and leaned back against the headrest, tearing her
eyes from his, no matter the amount of pain and loss she felt from
losing contact. “And when I turn eighteen, I will die if I can’t
fight Kagami and come out triumphant.”

“
So you think.”

“
So I
know
,” Yumiko said, her voice ringing
harsher than she’d intended. “He said that I would be his. He will
consume me, body and soul.”

“
He said that?”

Yumiko frowned. “Ame-Onna
did.”

Brian looked thoughtful for a moment.
“Do you think that perhaps, it’s not what you think? Why go to the
trouble of waiting until you’re eighteen if he’s just going to
devour you?”

“
Because he’s a yokai. He
feels superior to humans. We are food to him.”

“
That’s not how Tanuki
feels, and he’s a yokai.”

Yumiko swallowed hard, recalling her
earlier conversation with Tanuki. Why were his words still
troubling her?

“
That’s different,” she
whispered.