Yokai (31 page)

“
And the keys to the
cells?”

The kasha frowned. “They will have
them on them, for when they come for the prisoners.”

Yumiko nodded and let out a breath.
“Very well. You’ve done everything I’ve asked. Thank
you.”

The kasha relaxed its shoulders and
turned to walk back up the corridor. Yumiko didn’t give it a chance
to get very far, however. She slashed her mirror across the back of
its neck and it vanished. “You’ll be much happier in the mirror
world,” she promised, turning back to the prison cells.

At once, her eyes fell on Brian. She
felt her chest lighten and she ran to his cell. He wore a gray
robe, like all of the prisoners, and sat on a bench behind the iron
bars. “Thank god I found you,” she said, smiling in at
him.

He blinked at her, as if not
registering her at first, or trying to decide if she was a
hallucination. Then he stood and smiled. “Yumiko. You’ve come to
rescue me?”

As he walked toward the bars, Yumiko
saw something in his face. A flicker of amusement on his lips that
warned her that something was wrong. She stepped back from the bars
and watched him.

“
Are you afraid of me?” he
asked her. “You know that I love you, Yumiko. Release me and we can
leave this place together.”

He lifted a hand toward her and his
robe shifted, allowing her a glimpse of his shoulder. A deep red
cut ran down his chest from the shoulder. In a second, he had
covered the wound again, but that one second had been
enough.

“
Shuten-Doji,” she said,
crossing her arms. “I’m glad to see that you ended up where you
belong.”

“
I think I’ll fit in here
nicely,” he grinned knowingly. “Thank you for the
ticket.”

Yumiko lifted the mirror. “And thank
you for the doorway.”

Shuten-Doji stared at the shard of
mirror for a moment before throwing his head back and laughing.
“Brilliant! You’re not just a stupid human, after all. You cunning
little yokai. What a fool you’ve made of me.”

Yumiko offered him a tight smile.
“Enjoy your stay,” she told him, then walked away, looking into
each cell she passed, hoping for Brian at each one. With every
step, she grew more pessimistic. Could it be that he wasn’t there
at all? Had he perhaps already been taken in for judgment? Was she
too late?

And then she saw him, sitting in the
final cell on the right. He sat on the floor of his cell, chin
resting on his knees, which were pulled up to his chest. He seemed
lost in thought, and looked heartbroken and sad. The sight made
Yumiko tear up, and she grabbed the iron bars that held him with
enthusiasm. “Brian!”

Brian’s head shot up and he stared at
her. Then he blinked and stood. “Yumiko? But how…?”

Yumiko held up the shard of mirror.
“I’m here to get you out of here.”

“
You came for me?” he
asked, voice filled with disbelief. “You came to
Hell
for me?”

Yumiko laughed, the sound coming out a
little hysterical from relief. “I did.” She grasped his hands like
a life preserver she didn’t dare let go of, and grinned at him, her
smile so wide that her cheeks ached with the effort. “Hold tight.
I’m going to get you out of there.”

She stepped back and suddenly the
mirror in her hand began to shake. Startled, she dropped it to the
ground, watching as a form materialized on top of it.

Ame-Onna.

Yumiko frowned as the yokai looked
around her, face drawn. “Ame-Onna?”

The yokai wielded on her and smiled.
“Miss Sato.” She turned to look back at Brian. She let out a
relieved sigh. “You’ve found him.”

“
I did. But what are you
doing here?”

“
I couldn’t let you do this
alone,” Ame-Onna told her. “And you don’t know what you’re doing.
He can not leave this place without a totem.”

“
I know that,” Yumiko
scowled. “An overwhelming event has to be attached to an object. I
think my rescuing him from Hell will do.”

“
Then you’d be wrong,” a
new voice announced.

Yumiko looked up in the direction of
the hall she had used to enter the room, and swallowed hard as the
woman in the white dress she’d seen in the cavern stood before her.
She had her hands on her hips and smiled around at them, as if
fascinated by what she saw. Ironically, her blonde hair framed her
face like the halo of an angel.

“
Is this a jail break
then?” she asked, then chuckled. “How utterly charming.”

Yumiko’s eyes flickered down to the
belt of her dress, and she noted that it was made up of dozens of
vertically-placed pinkie finger bones.

“
Who are you?” Ame-Onna
demanded, stepping in front of Yumiko.

“
My father is in charge
here,” the girl answered, taking a step closer. She looked into the
cell holding Brian. “Ah. Kagami.” She looked Yumiko up and down.
“You must be the bride that will help him bring about an era of
peace.”

“
You leave her alone,”
Brian hissed, gripping the bars of his cell so tight that his
knuckles whitened.

The girl raised an eyebrow at him,
then shrugged. “You’ve got the wrong idea about me. I’m here to
help you.”

“
Help us?” Yumiko echoed
with a frown.

“
Sure,” the girl said,
emerald green eyes flashing dangerously. “My father’s kind of an
ass. Anything I can do to irk him would be worth doing. Something
tells me that by helping you out, he’d blow a gasket.”

“
Who
are you?” Brian wondered.

“
The name’s Koakuma.
Charmed, I’m sure.” She flipped her blonde hair back. “You may have
noticed my dad keeping an eye on me back there. Literally.” She
rolled her eyes as Yumiko recalled the eye at the ceiling of the
cavern with a shudder.

“
I noticed,” Yumiko said
quietly.

“
Good,” Koakuma beamed.
“Then you know that we won’t elude him for long. We need to get
your overprotective boyfriend here a totem, and pronto.”

“
How do we do that?” Yumiko
asked eagerly, taking a step toward the girl, despite her best
judgment.

Koakuma smiled. “Well, it’s not as
easy as you’d think. Creating a yokai requires a perfect blend of
emotion, circumstance and kami. However, with a sacrifice, a totem
can be conjured easily.”

“
A sacrifice?” Yumiko shook
her head. “What sort of sacrifice? I’ll do whatever you
ask.”

“
No, Yumiko,” Ame-Onna
lifted her head. “You won’t do a thing. I will. And I believe I
understand. You’ll need to take my totem and give it to
him.”

Yumiko’s eyes widened.
“What?”

Koakuma nodded. “You got
it.”

“
Then take it,” Ame-Onna
said. She pulled a pin out of her hair and held it out to the
girl.

“
I don’t want it,” Koakuma
laughed. “You need to give it to your friend willingly, and tell
him that it is his.”

“
And then it’s
done?”

“
Then it’s done,” Koakuma
confirmed. She turned around and began to walk away, but thought
better of it and looked back over her shoulder. “Oh, and I’ll
expect an invite to the wedding. Something tells me it’s going to
be the party of the millennium.” She winked, and then disappeared
around the corner.

Yumiko stared after the girl for a
time, wondering at what sort of issues she must have with her
father, if he was who Yumiko suspected. She was so caught up in her
thoughts that she nearly missed the exchange happen. When she
turned back to Ame-Onna, she was holding her hairpin through the
bars for Brian.

“
No, Ame-Onna,” Yumiko
said, stepping forward quickly. “This is my problem. Let me take
his place.”

“
If you do, you’ll never
fulfill the prophecy,” Ame-Onna told her. “It has to be me.” She
glanced up at Brian. “I give you my totem willingly.”

Brian hesitated, but before Yumiko
could stop him, he accepted the hairpin. A flash of green light
from Ame-Onna’s fingertip ran the length of the hairpin, then
settled into Brian’s hand before fading.

Ame-Onna sighed and the color seemed
to drain from her face all at once. “It is done.”

Yumiko reached out to her and placed a
hand on her shoulder. “Ame-Onna…you shouldn’t have done that.
You…I’ll find a way to get you out of here.”

“
And I’ll be waiting for
that day,” Ame-Onna told her with a smile. “I’m just happy that
you’re no longer angry with me.”

Yumiko swallowed past the lump in her
throat. “I was being unfair. You did what you thought had to be
done. It wasn’t your fault.”

“
Either way, I gladly pay
the price to see that the peace comes about.” She smiled at Brian
“Now, go be with your bride, Kagami.”

Brian seemed to be holding back an
avalanche of emotions. His lips trembled, his eyes shone. He opened
his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

“
I know,” Ame-Onna told
him, running a hand over his cheek. “It has been a pleasure serving
you over the years, my lord. Treat her well.” She looked to Yumiko.
“And don’t be too hard on him.”

“
I won’t,” Yumiko
promised.

Ame-Onna bowed to her and Yumiko bowed
back deeply. When she stood upright again, Ame-Onna had stepped
back, and offered an encouraging smile her way.

Yumiko hesitated, but picked the shard
of mirror up from the floor. Then she approached Brian, who was
still gazing at Ame-Onna. “Brian,” she said softly. “It’s time to
go.” She held the mirror out to him, through the bars.

He looked up and met her eyes. A tear
slipped from his right eye and he nodded, his fingertips brushing
the surface of the glass.

Chapter
Twenty-Seven

Two weeks
later…

“
Mirror, mirror, on the
wall…”

“
Ha ha,” Brian said,
crossing his arms as he watched Yumiko bow to a mirror in The Hall
of Mirrors. “I didn’t realize you were such a comedian.”

Yumiko flashed him a wicked smile.
“Then you don’t know everything about me, despite watching me all
my life.”

Brian frowned and ran a hand back
through his hair. “I could never know the contents of that pretty
little head of yours. You were always a mystery to me, even when I
was watching you.” He stopped as he noticed her amused smile.
“What?”

“
You need to
relax.”

“
Like you’re one to
talk.”

Yumiko chuckled and pointed at the
mirror she had previously addressed. Through the mirror, she could
see the inside of Shuten-Doji’s throne room, where Enenra lounged
on the throne lazily, issuing orders to the oni, as well as the
kappa who’d joined them there. “It looks like things are going well
back in the real world.”

“
Enenra has things in
control,” Brian acknowledged, eyes lingering on the mirror for a
moment before returning to her. “Even if Oni-Baba disappeared
shortly after our return, I don’t think she will
return.”

“
At least not so soon,”
Yumiko agreed. She sighed. “I don’t think we’ve heard the last of
her, though. But at least the oni are taking to Enenra, and seem to
be mending their ways under his guidance. That’s
something.”

Enenra can be a little much sometimes,
but he has a good heart. He’ll do wonders for the place. It’ll be
ready for our wedding in no time.”

“
Our wedding?” Yumiko
blinked. “We’re getting married
there
?”

“
It’s beautiful there,”
Brian said, shrugging. “And it’s secluded, so any yokai can come
and not cause any issues…or raise eyebrows.”

“
Why, Mr. Mathis, I haven’t
even had a proper proposal yet. I don’t recall saying
yes.”

“
You said you’d marry
me.”

“
In theory. Maybe I was
caught up in the moment.”

Brian snorted and shook his head as he
led her up the hallway a little ways. “I think you’ve been spending
too much time with Reina. She’s rubbing off on you.”

Yumiko might have agreed with him a
little, but she felt so light for the first time in years. This
nightmare was behind her. She was happy. And she felt like she
could laugh and flirt, like any other girl. Even if she had to
remind herself that she wasn’t a girl at all. She was a
yokai.

“
I can’t believe that I was
afraid of you for so long,” she said. “To have it end like this…I
never could have imagined. The man I feared makes me so
happy.”

Brian looked away guiltily. “Yumiko,
I-“

“
Hush,” Yumiko put a hand
to his mouth to silence him, then thought better of it, and brought
her mouth to his. His soft lips melded with hers on contact, as if
made for her, his tongue lightly exploring the inside of her mouth.
She sighed as she pulled away.

“
You deserve to be so
happy,” Brian whispered, and she opened her eyes to find him
watching her. He smoothed back her hair. “You are going to have an
extravagant wedding, and then I’m going to make you the happiest
girl in the world.”