Yokai (24 page)

Yumiko bit her lip and looked away. As
much as she wanted to charge right in and rescue Brian immediately,
she knew that they needed to stop and assess the situation more
carefully. They needed a plan of attack. Grudgingly, she nodded.
“We leave tomorrow morning then.”

Enenra rubbed his hands together
happily. “Another fight so soon. How exciting.”

Yumiko blinked at him. “You’re
coming?”

“
Of course I’m coming,”
Enenra scoffed, looking offended. He tilted his head and looked
down at Shou. “And I want this male as my reward.”

Yumiko rolled her eyes. “Like Brian
said, you don’t get to own humans.”

Shou gestured to Enenra to help him
up.

Enenra obliged, watching him
curiously.

“
You can’t own me,” Shou
told him, leaning into him. “Humans are free to do what they
want.”

Enenra looked disappointed, but
shrugged nonchalantly. “I will come to accept this. It is
unfortunate though. I like pretty things.”

Shou laughed lightly and leaned in
closer to Enenra. “So do I. And I never said that you wouldn’t be
rewarded.” He pushed his lips to Enenra’s, and the yokai, startled
at first, kissed him back with enthusiasm.

Yumiko was so shocked that she stared.
After a minute, she lowered her eyes and elbowed Reina to do the
same.

Tanuki frowned and tilted his head.
“So, uh, Yumiko. Did you…?”

“
No,” Yumiko replied
curtly.

A moment later, Shou and Enenra pulled
away from each other and Shou grinned at Enenra openly. “My
hero.”

Enenra looked back at him with
interest. “That was a sign of affection.”

“
Yes,” Shou said, shyly
looking away. He glanced at Yumiko, then turned his eyes from her
quickly. “And there’s more where that came from.”

Enenra blinked, then smiled at them
all. “I’m keeping him.”

“
You can try,” Shou
snorted, pushing him away. “But for now: rest.”

“
For all of us,” Yumiko
added. She tried to catch Shou’s eye, but he wouldn’t look in her
direction. She sighed as she gave up trying. “Let’s see if we can
round up any more volunteers to help us. We leave at first light.
And then we’re going to show Shuten-Doji what happens when he
messes with our friends.”

Chapter
Nineteen

“
The guest rooms are
through here,” Enenra said, gesturing down the hall. He looked back
at Yumiko, eyebrow raised.

Yumiko watched Reina walk ahead, then
pause, looking back curiously.

“
Tanuki,” Yumiko glanced
down at the raccoon-dog. “Show Reina to her room, would
you?”

Tanuki hesitated, but nodded,
scurrying ahead of Reina. “This way, my lady. And I can show you
where you can take a bath too.”

Reina snorted. “You wish.” She looked
back at Yumiko, and nodded to her, before following
Tanuki.

“
What would you like?”
Enenra asked, cocking his head, once they were alone.

Yumiko turned to look him square in
the face. “If Brian was going to have me marry him, and live with
him here, he must have had a place set aside for me.”

Enenra grinned slowly. “You
would have stayed in one of the guest rooms until the union. I
think what you’re asking to see is
his
rooms.”

“
And what if I
am?”

With a shrug, Enenra turned around and
led her up the hall in the opposite direction. After a series of
turns, he stopped before a paper door. He slid it aside and
gestured for her to step within. Hesitantly, she obliged. She slid
off her shoes as she gazed around a sparsely furnished living room.
Bamboo trees grew in cream pots at the periphery of the room, while
beautiful watercolor paintings hung on the walls, boasting orange
and black koi, as well as trees and mountainsides.

“
The great Kagami’s rooms,”
Enenra swept his arm before him dramatically. He pointed to the
left, at another sliding door. “Through there, he has a dining
area. Beyond that, a bedroom and bath.”

“
And what is that?” Yumiko
asked, gesturing toward the back of the room, where a table sat low
to the ground in front of a cushion. On the table sat an ink stone
and ink stick, as well as a black brush with white bristles. On the
floor beside the table were sheets of pristine white
paper.

Enenra nodded. “I often find Kagami…or
Brian, if you prefer, at that table when I come to visit. He uses
sumi ink when he does this. Zen brush calligraphy. He says it calms
him, helps him focus.”

Yumiko’s eyes narrowed at the
supplies, then darted up to the walls, covered by paintings. “But
not just calligraphy. He did those too.”

“
Of course.”

Yumiko stepped over to a painting of
black and gold fish, taking in the confident forms of the koi,
slippery as if truly submerged in water. “They’re
beautiful.”

Enenra shrugged.

“
What do you mean, ‘when
you come to visit’?” Yumiko asked, turning toward him. “You don’t
stay here?”

“
Nope. I like to roam the
world here, scattered as smoke, drifting over the beautiful plains
and forests. It’s peaceful, makes me feel like I’m one with this
world as it takes me where it will.”

“
How did you come to be
here? Did Brian send you here?”

“
Yes,” Enenra answered,
leaning against a wall. “He found me aimlessly swirling over a dead
fire, and thought that I might like it here, with others like
me.”

“
And do you?”

Enenra considered. “I like it well
enough. Humans don’t bother me here. They can be irritating
and…everywhere. In Kagami’s world, it’s so…peaceful.”

Yumiko nodded. “Thank you, Enenra.
That will be all.”

Enenra frowned and stood straight.
“Are you dismissing me?”

“
You catch on
fast.”

He blinked for a moment,
then chuckled. “Very well,
your
highness
. Have fun poking through your
fiancee’s private things.” He closed the paper door behind
him.

“
He poked around in
my
life,” Yumiko muttered,
looking around. “It’s about time I return the favor.” She looked at
all of the paintings on the walls carefully, scrutinizing his
talent, and decided that he was a good artist. He really had an eye
for creating nature images, and making them dream-like and vivid.
Walking over to the table, she gently caressed the ink stone and
imagined Brian sitting on the cushion, leaning over the paper,
brush in hand as his arms made ink strokes, strong and sure. His
arm muscles would stretch and bunch, his back would grow taut. The
expression on his face would be…focused, his eyes flashing as the
image before him came to life.

Yumiko let herself into his dining
room, sparse and empty, aside from the wall of beautiful china in a
cabinet at the back of the room. One cup with swirls of painted
cherry blossoms had been left behind on the table, remnants of
green tea at the bottom. She envisioned Brian lounging, sipping at
a cup as he sloughed off his grogginess each morning.

And then she walked into his bedroom.
It was very utilitarian as well, bright and open. A door at the
back of the room had been left open, allowing in a glimpse of dusk
as the sun set for the evening. She stepped outside and smiled at a
wide balcony. Untouched snow covered the stone floor, and clumped
together atop a railing that looked out over the mountain. It was
quite a breathtaking view. It was still strange not to hear the
wind in her ears as it blew the snow into a frenzy, or to feel the
cold on her exposed face, but she could see how Brian could enjoy
it here.

She stared to the west as the sun
sank, a red orb in the sky, dropping behind a stony outcropping,
stretching shadows over the mountainside. With a sigh, she turned
back to Brian’s bed and sat on the edge, smoothing her hand over
the cream cotton sheets, which had been pulled tightly and smoothed
meticulously as the bed had been made.

She dropped her head onto the bed and
stared up at the ceiling, knowing that Brian had stared up at this
ceiling night after night while she’d been terrified of him. Only
to find that she couldn’t help but like him. She closed her eyes
tightly and inhaled deeply, willing to smell him in the room, but
finding that the mirror world wouldn’t indulge her small request.
So she imagined him instead. Imagined his smile, that sent her
heart skipping, his laugh that made her blush. She imagined his
hand pushing a strand of hair out of her eyes, and coming into
contact with her skin just briefly, enough to send a shiver through
her body. His soapy clean smell and spicy aftershave. His
beautiful, intense blue eyes, trying to read what she was thinking.
She imagined his gentle voice as he told her that he loved her. And
his emotional response as she told him that she loved him
too.

She choked back a sob and grabbed a
pillow, hugging it tightly against her, like it was a life
preserver. Because she was drowning in emotion, and she didn’t know
what to do.

***

“
So, why the act?” Yumiko
asked, crossing her arms as she stared at Shou the next morning in
the guest bathroom.

Shou was combing his hair carefully,
avoiding her eyes. “I wasn’t acting. I’m just flirtatious by
nature.”

Yumiko rolled her eyes.

“
What do you want me to
say?” Shou demanded, turning to look at her. He waved the comb in
his hand like he was a conductor. “Being a host…it makes me feel
good about myself. It makes me feel wanted. Women want me, and I
give them the attention that they’re starved for. It’s win-win. And
I make a lot of money doing it. That’s all.”

Yumiko shook her head in disbelief.
“Just when I think I’ve got you figured out, you go and surprise
me.”

Shou grinned and leaned back against
the sink. “Yeah, like you’re one to talk.”

“
What does that
mean?”

“
Nothing,” Shou shrugged
and turned his back on her again, forcing his hair into compliance.
“None of us are who we pretend to be, you know. That’s why I
empathize with Brian. Hiding who he was, trying to make you
understand,
wanting
you to understand so desperately. I was like that too. But do
you know what I got from people around me? Ridicule. I confided in
my best friend, hoping that someone would understand and…and
would
get
it. But
no. She told everyone. I was gay and the kids at my school despised
me for being different. I was harassed constantly. I was beat up a
few times. Called fag up and down the halls. I barely got through
graduation.”

Yumiko hadn’t expected such a
confession and held her breath, for fear that she would break the
delicate spell of the room. “That must have been
terrible.”

Shou shrugged. “Not as bad
as it was at home. My mom raised me. I could never do anything to
please her. She always called me a screw-up, came home drunk. She
expected me to do all the chores and clear out when she brought yet
another guy home.” He took a deep breath. “Is it really any wonder
that I looked for attention from anyone who would give it?” He
turned to Yumiko. “I mean, do you get why I went to Madame Mori?
You have…everything I want. A family, friends. People who
understand you and
want
you around. Yet, you take it all for granted. You’re so caught
up in your future with Kagami that you don’t even realize what’s
around you. It’s just…sad. And even
that
is perfect. Your life’s like a
goddamn fairy tale.”

Yumiko was stunned into silence. As
she absorbed what Shou said, she watched him continue to fiddle
with his hair, then smooth out his shirt, even though it was
unnecessary.

“
Maybe I do take it for
granted,” she admitted softly. She hesitated. “But…we rescued you
for a reason, Shou. You’re my friend too. Reina, Brian, Tanuki…we
all care about you.”

Shou stiffened, and still had his back
to her, but he didn’t resist when she walked over to him and
wrapped her arms around him.

“
We’re glad that you’re
back,” she whispered. “Even if you can be an ass
sometimes.”

Shou chuckled and turned, embracing
her as well. He laid his cheek against the top of her head and they
enjoyed each other’s solid presence.

“
How touching.”

Shou struggled out of Yumiko’s arms
like he’d been slapped and scowled at Enenra. “What do you
want?”

“
What?” Enenra asked
innocently. “No good morning kiss?”

Scowling, Shou stalked past him and
slammed the door shut. Without sound, it just didn’t have the same
impact, however, especially since the door hit the frame and
reopened in his wake.

“
Was it something I said?”
Enenra wondered, and Yumiko had to try to decide if he seriously
didn’t understand or if he was mocking. It was hard to tell with
him.

“
Is everything ready?”
Yumiko asked him.