Chapter 11 #2
The kitsune immediately turned into an elderly man and started cursing the building. A building that then began launching yōkai cookware at him.
Yelping, the kitsune returned to his fox body and darted out into the street, narrowly colliding with Masaru.
“Hey!” Masaru snapped. “Watch where you’re going!”
The kitsune made a weird sound that Masaru obviously understood.
“Back at you!”
Yumi laughed.
Yeah. That was all so normal . . .
“What was all that about?” Ryuichi asked.
“You’re too young for such language,” Masaru said, patronizing him. “Be glad you don’t speak yōkai.” He glanced over to Yumi. “Sorry you had to hear that, my lady.”
“Me too,” she said in a low tone.
“Don’t be scared, Ryuichi-san.” Katsu offered him a smile. “Yōkai like comforts too. Not all of us take pride in our dens of darkness, or whatever it is you humans think we use for our lairs.”
Hayasaka nodded in agreement. “Kagemura is very similar to the towns you’d find in your human world.
Back in the day, when yōkai could cross over, they returned to this realm and began feeling nostalgic for what existed on the other side of the portal.
This town was built with that in mind, and it’s why it’s so profitable now that we can’t enter the human world anymore.
It’s also why those who have human objects can sell them so lucratively. ”
That made sense, Ryuichi supposed. “Why is there such a difference between the outskirts and inner town?”
“In short, your father. He used to keep a close eye on anything that made its way into our world. He taxed many who tried to bring human items in. Killed the ones who wouldn’t pay. So the greediest learned to shield their ill-gotten goods and hide them here, away from his prying spies.”
Hayasaka spun around and suspiciously took in the surroundings.
“The thing you have to remember most about Kagemura: The creatures here are not the most law-abiding. And where there’s money and criminals, there tends to be more .
. . well, money and criminals. Like attracts like, you see.
Where there’s one, there’s many. At least until the new lord came and established his dominance. ”
Ryuichi didn’t like the sound of that. “New lord?”
Hayasaka cleared his throat. “You’ll see, but rest assured, the criminals who used to run this town are no longer in charge. They live on the outskirts, which is why it looks as it does. The inner dwellings of Kagemura are no longer home to their ilk.”
Ryuichi’s thoughts turned to the memories he had of this world from his brief time coming here to stop his father, and the one memory that stood out the most. “My father lived in a castle of shadows, patrolled by screaming statues.”
Hayasaka snorted. “Your father . . . isn’t exactly what we would call typical, for either humans or yōkai.”
He had a point.
The five of them passed by several teahouses as they walked farther toward the center of town.
Yōkai of all sorts—with all kinds of scales, tails, fur, talons, and everything in between—walked around, going about their day.
Just like normal people would. Some were trading and selling items. Some were sitting with a steaming cup of sencha, and they were laughing with each other.
All very strange.
While Ryuichi had known there were a lot of yōkai in existence, he’d never imagined there were so many different kinds. Some as small as his fingers and others larger than the tallest tree, all walking around them, on the street and some flying overhead.
That they could be so varied and all live in the same small village was nothing short of a miracle. Yet they seemed to get along. The multiheaded dragons, the hundred-eyed blobs, the singing door handles . . . everything.
Two red-skinned oni were arm in arm, singing as they staggered down the street.
Masaru shook his head at the two of them and then nudged Ryuichi in amusement. “Reminds me of you and Koichi after one of his late-night sake sessions.”
“They’re not singing.” Those words were no sooner out of his mouth than the two oni began a boisterous song. Ryuichi chuckled. “Never mind.”
Hayasaka ignored their chatter. “Follow me. I know where to go.”
As they walked past several shops, Ryuichi scanned the area with his hand on his katana, expecting trouble at any moment.
He still didn’t fully trust Lord Hayasaka. Especially given that the tengu had already tried to sell him out to his enemies and had lied to him repeatedly.
This could just as easily be another trap.
But nothing happened. No one seemed to notice their unconventional group.
It made Ryuichi more anxious.
Peace and comfort were unknown oddities to him. He kept waiting for some yōkai to jump out and yell, “Surprise,” and then stab him for no other reason than they figured out he was human or his father’s son.
“Relax,” Lord Hayasaka assured him. “You’re in the ritziest part of town. I wouldn’t take us anywhere too dodgy. At least not without good reason. We’ll go in and out. As easy as counting your fingers.”
Given that tengu didn’t have fingers, Ryuichi was even more convinced it was another trick.
Yumi touched his arm and gestured toward a group of teacups who were clattering to their right. “They think they recognize you, my lord.”
That was even more frightening. “What do you mean?”
“They think you’re your father because of how much you look like him.”
Her words startled Ryuichi. He’d never thought about that. Maybe because he’d never seen his father as a boy, or thought about him having a childhood. “Do I?”
She nodded.
That was interesting. And it made him twice as curious. “Why would my father appear as a little boy?”
She shrugged.
“To mess with their heads,” Masaru said. “Your father likes playing mind games.”
Ryuichi had learned that for himself during what little time he’d spent with the treacherous Ryukage.
Not wanting to revisit the past, he slowed his pace as they approached a large administrative building. The curved roof glistened in the sunlight. It appeared to be gold and was a testament to vanity.
Although how an administrator could get away with golden decorations in a city of thieves, he had no idea.
Not until he saw the staked heads lining the building.
No doubt they were some of the last fools who’d tried to take some of that gold.
Walk carefully. They had harsh justice here.
And it reminded him that this was enemy territory. One wrong move and his might be the next head on the wall.
He shivered. He’d rather be handed back over to his father.
Or even the World Eater.
As they neared the large green gate, two guards eyed them warily.
Stopping in front of them, Hayasaka bowed his head respectfully. “Tell your lord that Hayasaka Saburo wants a word with him.”
The large blue oni guard arched his brow. “Lord Hayasaka? I heard about you.” He looked at Ryuichi and the others, then back to Hayasaka. “Didn’t the World Eater burn your castle down and eat all your soldiers?”
Hayasaka winced. “It seems news travels quickly.”
“Didn’t have to travel. We could see the smoke for miles. It was a huge fire.”
Those words irritated Hayasaka. “A temporary setback, I assure you.”
The guard didn’t appear as impressed as he should. Instead, he eyed Ryuichi suspiciously. “Is that a human boy?”
“Ugh, no!” Hayasaka made it sound as if a human boy would be the most disgusting thing ever imagined.
“He’s a shape-shifting yōkai. Likes pretending to be human.
Poor thing, really. He’s not entirely right in the head, you see.
Out of mercy, I’ve made him my sandal-bearer.
Nothing you should concern yourself with. ”
“Your what?” Ryuichi didn’t quite like his sudden demotion by Hayasaka.
Hayasaka hissed at him. “Quiet. This doesn’t concern you, servant.”
Even though it offended him, Ryuichi kept quiet.
With a cocked brow, the oni guard looked at the tengu’s taloned feet. Feet that, most importantly, couldn’t wear sandals.
Hayasaka waved his hand. “The boy isn’t very good with his duties. Don’t you hate when servants can’t complete the tasks they were hired for?”
The guard caught his real meaning.
And before he could say anything more, a dog popped its head out of the window. With big brown eyes and cute little brown ears, the pup was adorable.
Out of habit, Ryuichi took a step forward to pet it.
Until it spoke. “Is that a guest?”
He knew to expect the unexpected. But still, Ryuichi was floored. The dog could talk?
“Nothing for you to concern yourself with, Inumagami-san. Just some riffraff.”
That only seemed to elate the dog. “I love riffraff, and I know that one well. Let them in! Let them in! I want to see them.”
A twitch started in the oni’s jaw as he narrowed his dark gaze on Hayasaka. “Mind your manners, Lord Hayasaka.” The guard emphasized his disdain for the title. “Our loyalty is to Inumagami-san.”
With his castle and his forces destroyed, Hayasaka had lost his right to nobility. Now he was a nobody, like everyone else. Just another yōkai in a world full of them.
Ryuichi hoped the old tengu knew what he was doing. They could only outrun death for so long.