Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
In the snap of a finger, Ryuichi was no longer about to die on a battlefield.
Instead, he was standing in front of the broken and faded sign that marked the outskirts of a town that had definitely seen better days.
And he had Lord Hayasaka to thank for the change of location.
With an arrow in his shoulder, Lord Hayasaka was covered in soot and ash. He had teleported them both to this mysterious location, far away from the bloody chaos surrounding the gate. Katsu emerged from a blur of gray mist a moment later, with Masaru and the kitsune in tow.
“Traitor!” Masaru ran toward Hayasaka, ready to deliver some nasty blows. “You’re lucky this kitsune could follow you and your henchman here!”
Katsu blocked Masaru from reaching his target.
“You’re despicable!” Masaru growled. “Abandoning everyone when things got tough.”
Lord Hayasaka scowled at him. “I apologize. There was a . . . slight change in plans.”
“I see.” Ryuichi reached over and pulled the arrow from the tengu’s shoulder. “Apologies. I hadn’t planned to do that either.”
Hayasaka screamed out in agony. It ended in a choked-off cry as Ryuichi handed him the bloodied arrow. “Wouldn’t want you to get an infection or anything.”
Masaru chuckled and clapped Ryuichi on the back. “I didn’t know you had that in you. I’ve never been prouder!”
Ryuichi wasn’t sure if he should take that as a compliment or mark against his character. “Why did you leave us behind, and why have you brought me here?” he asked Hayasaka with a steely look.
Lord Hayasaka gave him a grim smile. “It’s rather complicated.”
Masaru glared at him. “Then dumb it down for us.”
“Well,” the tengu said, clearing his throat.
“I went to make a surprise bargain with one of Orochi’s oni generals.
I thought maybe I could cut a deal and get him to retreat if I turned you over to them.
But that blew up in my face. Apparently, Orochi already knew you were at the fortress and figured they’d destroy the place—with you in it, if necessary. ”
Katsu stepped in front of Hayasaka to protect him, instinctively knowing that Masaru might kill the backstabbing tengu where he stood.
“Don’t hold it against me. I was desperate,” Hayasaka pleaded. “Besides, I saved your life.”
“Because you put me in a life-threatening situation!” Ryuichi said.
Masaru seethed with anger. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t end you right here.”
Katsu crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I am the only reason you need.”
Ryuichi had to admit—having someone as loyal as Katsu on your side meant that Hayasaka had some redeeming qualities. He just couldn’t think of any at the time.
“Let me make it up to you,” Hayasaka said. “I’ve brought you right to Ryukage’s door.”
“What do you mean?” Ryuichi said with suspicion.
“Wait, have you known where he is the whole time?” Masaru asked, furious.
“Sort of. It’s a long story. I wouldn’t want to bore you with it,” the tengu said.
Ryuichi sighed in frustration. “What about the others? We just can’t leave Koichi, Keiko, and Ryuichi-kage behind to be slaughtered.”
The kitsune stepped in front of him, closing her eyes and bowing. “Your friends are all safe. I can feel their energy, the vibration of their heartbeats. Except for your shadow, that is. I cannot sense him or demons.”
Ryuichi was stunned. “How?”
“I am a tenko. The most divine members of the kitsune. The ones who have set aside our wicked tendencies. My friends call me Yumi.”
“I thought tenkos were a myth.”
“We’re rare, but definitely not a myth.” She smiled at Ryuichi.
From what Ryuichi knew, tenkos were usually a thousand years old. “Why are you in the body of a girl?”
“I’m young, for a tenko. I was sent because the kami thought that you’d have an easier time accepting me than one of the older, stodgier tenkos.”
“This is all very fascinating,” Hayasaka cut in. “But time is of the essence. Orochi will find a way to reopen that gate and destroy everything in his path in the process.”
“Why should we even trust you?” Ryuichi asked.
“Because you don’t have a choice,” Katsu said.
Ryuichi glanced at Masaru, hoping to get his opinion.
“He’s right. We don’t have any other leads. Might as well see where this goes,” he said.
“What about the others?”
“We’ll reunite somehow. Maybe not all in one piece. But Koichi is . . . smart, for a drunk. And Keiko is fearless. And Haruki is . . . okay, I don’t have anything positive to say.”
“Fine. We’ll follow your lead,” Ryuichi said to Hayasaka. “As long as you vow not to do anything underhanded.”
“Of course. You have my word,” the tengu agreed.
“So, where are we?” Glancing over at the dilapidated homes and worn-down buildings in the near distance didn’t exactly fill Ryuichi with a whole lot of hope that they’d find anything here other than rodents and possibly an incurable disease of some kind.
“Kagemura,” Masaru and Hayasaka said in unison.
“It seems a little run-down,” Ryuichi said.
“And not the kind of place a demon-god would haunt,” Masaru added.
Hayasaka grew quiet.
Ryuichi could sense his deception. “You lied?”
Yumi shook her head. “Never trust a tengu. They always lie.”
“Who are you to chastise me, girl? Why is she even here? Is she friend or foe?”
Those were good questions. Ryuichi glanced at Masaru.
“She’s who she says. With her powers, she could obliterate us.” He glanced back at Ryuichi. “Maybe not you, oh great chosen one. But the rest of us . . .” He looked at Hayasaka and Katsu. “I’d be nice to the little girl, if I were you.”
Hayasaka paled at those words, then cleared his throat. “I didn’t lie, per se.”
Ryuichi scoffed. “Meaning?”
“The one who knows your father’s whereabouts is here, so I vicariously know where he is. All we have to do is find the one who knows, and then we know.”
“How do you know he knows?” Ryuichi asked.
“My spies told me so.”
Yumi scowled. “And these spies are reliable?”
Hayasaka returned to being the nervous wreck who threw teacups across the room. “Yes! The most reliable spies in the realm.”
Coming from him, that meant nothing at all. But they were here now. They might as well try to carry out their mission.
Why would anyone who served his father live in such a horrible town? Given Ryukage’s powers, he’d assumed his minions would demand a great hōjō, with servants and wealth.
Not filth and squalor.
“Are you sure this is the right place?” Ryuichi asked.
Hayasaka took a deep breath, as if he savored the rancid smell. “Ah, that’s Kagemura, all right. No place quite like it. Breathe that rotting stench in.”
Ryuichi shook his head. “I’d rather not.” It smelled more like something he’d stepped in while mucking out a stall.
Hayasaka shrugged. “Suit yourself.”
Frowning, Ryuichi watched him move slowly through the filthy street. How very strange. He’d taken Hayasaka for a much more refined type—a tengu who wouldn’t be caught bleeding or dying in such a place.
Yet for some reason, Hayasaka seemed to be at home in this wasteland.
No, he was delighted to be here. There was no mistaking the subtle smile on his lips. The cocky way he swaggered through the filthy streets.
Masaru smirked. “I take it Kagemura is one of your favorite places.”
“Not at all,” Lord Hayasaka said in contradiction to the smile on his face.
“Then why are you so happy to be here?” Ryuichi asked.
An odd half smile quirked one corner of his mouth up. “I have a profitable little deal with them.”
“How’s that going?” Masaru asked.
The smile left his lips as he glared at the yōkai. “Quite good, until my castle burned down and all my men were killed.”
“So not good, huh?” Masaru asked in that teasing, mean tone that Ryuichi was glad was aimed at someone else for once.
Yumi shuddered. “Is Kagemura always like this? Falling apart and grimy?”
Lord Hayasaka replied, “It’s not all bad, you know. There are some nice parts to it too.”
Ryuichi didn’t believe that for one second. If there was a nice part, he couldn’t see it.
Hayasaka walked past them. “You won’t be able to see the better parts from here. It’s in the center of town. But if you think this looks bad, you should have seen what it used to look like.”
Yumi gave him a haughty stare. “I would rather not.”
Yet as they ventured further into town, Ryuichi realized Hayasaka was right. The town improved considerably as they approached the center.
He noticed Ryuichi’s judging expression. “Is something the matter?”
Ryuichi wasn’t sure. He had a creepy feeling that they were being watched. Glancing about, he didn’t see anything suspicious. Yet there was no denying the shivery sensation.
Of course, it didn’t help that the buildings around them seemed to be . . . alive.
He swore the machiya had eyes, looking out at them. It was nothing tangible—just a weird impression he felt.
“You’re not crazy,” Yumi said to him.
Her unexpected words stopped him in his tracks. “Pardon?”
“They are watching us.”
“The town houses?” he asked.
She nodded. “Everything here is yōkai . . . everything.”
That sent a buruburu down his spine. “Yōkai live in yōkai?”
Hayasaka smiled evilly. “Welcome to Kagemura.”
He didn’t like the sound of that at all, especially when one of the small machiyas on his left rose up from its stilts and backed away from them, then set itself down a few yards away.
The kōshi latticework on the front actually looked like a mustache.
Ryuichi moved closer to Masaru. “I don’t think I like it here.”
Masaru laughed. “No one likes it here. Just be careful, and remember everything around you is a living, breathing something.”
Awesome. “Tell me that we’re not staying here long.”
“We’re here for information, and then we’re gone.” Hayasaka smirked at him. “Don’t look so perplexed, boy. It’s not as different here as you think.”
Really? Homes getting up and moving, while others had doors that were opening and closing on their own? And one of the small pagodas on their right launched a kitsune onto the street without anyone touching the poor creature.