Keiko felt a cool breeze flow through her hair as she gazed at the abyssal night sky. She stood on the deck on top of Erik’s beach house. Haru opened the door and stepped next to her.
She asked, “What were you busy with, Haru-kun?”
He answered, “I was putting up wards. They’re a type of magical defense. Mine are pretty weak compared to grandmother’s, but they should at least keep out some creatures.”
“It’s a good thing you’re making them,” Keiko said.
“Something’s bothering you?” Haru spoke.
“Yes,” she replied. “That thing…that draugr…I didn’t know how horrifying it was until I saw it up close. And Erik was willing to torture it. He is a viking, so I should have expected that, but he killed it so easily.”
“I understand how that can be distressing. Honestly, if I wasn’t raised by grandmother, I’d be in the same state you are.”
Keiko nodded, “A part of me is regretting coming here, but it’s too late to turn back now.”
“What are you talking about?” Haru said. “You could literally just turn back and go home. We’d all understand.”
“Dammit, Haru!” she snapped.
He took a step back, “Keiko-chan, are you alright?”
“I am. I’m sorry that I jumped at you like that, Haru-kun.”
“It’s alright, just tell me what’s wrong.”
“The reason why I said it’s too late to turn back is because I wanted to avoid having to admit this,” Keiko explained. “I had fun last night.”
“You had fun?” Haru’s eyes widened in surprise.
She stated, “It was the fight. I had to learn kenjutsu and kanabo-jutsu for my family, but I never really enjoyed it. There was too much pressure put on me to be the best. Now that the pressure’s gone, I think I actually like fighting.”
“Then you want to stay because you’ll enjoy yourself,” he understood.
Keiko said, “Yes. It’s hard to admit, but I’ve been having fun here. I don’t think that’s a good sign. Are there any therapists who deal with the supernatural?”
“None that I know of,” Haru replied.
“Hisa might know someone,” she told him. “Or at least find one through the government organization that got her a job.”
He asked, “But are you sure it’s a supernatural thing? Some people are just warriors, and you might be one of them.”
“I don’t know, and I don’t have any way of finding out right now,” Keiko answered.
Haru nodded. He looked at the night sky, gazing into the darkness. She joined him. There was absolute silence on the roof. No people talked, no animals made noises, not even the wind blew.
“It’s dead quiet,” Keiko’s eyes widened as she broke the silence. “Is something magical happening? Are we under attack?”
“We’re not, Keiko-chan, calm down. I think you’re still stressed out from today’s events, especially the interrogation,” Haru said.
She replied, “I think you’re right, Haru-kun. What do you think of all this? How are you feeling?”
He stated, “I’m terrified of what might happen to you.”
“You’re terrified? You look the same as normal,” Keiko pointed out.
“That’s because I need to keep calm,” Haru explained. “If I don’t, it’ll only make things worse and I won’t be able to protect you.”
“I…want to protect you too,” she spoke.
“Thank you, Keiko-chan. We’ll be able to protect each other when your supernatural powers finally come out.”
Keiko nodded, “I do have one question, Haru-kun.”
He asked, “What’s that?”
“It’s the quiet,” she answered. “What’s causing it?”
“My magic. I got worried that they’d use some sort of sound spell, so I made it so that my wards blocked it off. There are wards further out that’ll warn us if anything supernatural is approaching, but it’s good that you noticed it,” Haru said.
“It is?” she wondered.
“Yes,” he stated. “A lack of sound is a sign that a powerful supernatural predator is around. Animals notice it and stay as quiet and hidden as possible. Sometimes, even the wind is afraid of them.”
Keiko spoke, “What? How can the wind be afraid of anything? It isn’t alive.”
Haru replied, “I could explain, but you wouldn’t understand it.”
“I wouldn’t understand it?” she said. “Why not?”
“It’s the magical equivalent of taking someone who just learned how to count and trying to teach them algebra.”
“Try me,” Keiko replied.
One explanation later…
“You’re right,” she admitted. “I didn’t understand any of that.”
“Let’s get inside. It’s pretty late,” Haru noted.
Keiko spoke, “Yes. We both need our rest.”
Elsewhere, Sadako was with a group of her allies. One of them looked a lot like Saburo wearing a set of fake glasses, nose, and a mustache. She slid back and forth in front of them with nervousness in her eyes.
“One of our draugr is gone,” she said. “If he deserted, it’s bad enough. But if he’s dead, that could mean someone’s on to us.”
A tall kappa stated, “We must find out the reason why.”
“He probably just got lost,” the one that looked like Saburo shrugged. “We’re in Japan, and he’s from Norway or something.”
Alver strummed his violin, “He was actually from Iceland, and I doubt he got lost. The beach is easy to find. It’s most likely that someone killed him.”
“No way. He’s too powerful.”
“Is he now, or do we have a spy amongst us?” Sadako moved over to the yokai that looked like Saburo.
“What are you saying?”
“The jig is up,” Alver smirked. “We know you’re an onmyoji.”
“I’m not an onmyoji!”
Sadako whipped out her tail and snapped his neck, “No use hiding it. We saw your picture and everything.”
The body collapsed and only the glasses, nose, and mustache remained.
“What?” the nure onna was shocked.
A different kappa walked over, “Let me see.”
After a moment of examination, he spoke.
“I know this guy! He’s an animated Groucho Marx disguise that takes the form of the last human he saw.”
“W-What?” Alver said. “Wait, then that means he’s alive, right?”
“No,” the kappa shook his head. “He’s definitely dead.”
“Find that onmyoji and kill him!” Sadako ordered.
Her yokai as well as the draugr scattered, searching all over the beach. The tall kappa called out.
“I’ll search the sewers! He might be hiding there.”
The kappa ran into them, going far away from the yokai. He went out of them and into the city. His disguise fell off, revealing Saburo under it.
“So, they’re onto me,” the onmyoji said. “Still, I’m glad my illusion worked. I can infiltrate them again, but that might be a bad idea since they’ll be more on guard now.”
Saburo entered a building and pulled out two sheets of hanafuda paper. Both had pentagrams on them.
He uttered an incantation, “Kyu kyu nyo ritsu ryu!”
The onmyoji threw the papers onto the ground. Two yokai materialized. One was a weasel with sickles for legs, and the other was a raccoon dog with a massive loin cloth covering his crotch.
“I have a dangerous mission for you two,” Saburo stated.
“You can count on us,” the raccoon dog spoke. “That is, as long as I get paid for it.”
“Yes, I’ll pay you. You’re going to infiltrate a dangerous group of yokai,” he said before turning to the weasel. “And as for you, you’re going to scout out and find any information you can. In particular, information related to the disappearance of a form of Western monster. Is that clear?”
They both nodded.
Saburo said, “Good. Now, I’ll give you the specifics.”
Ved'ma Story 