The morning sun lit up the outside of Erik’s beach house. Inside, the building was still dark because of the boarded windows. Haru was in a room, hitting next to the sleeping Keiko. His injuries bandaged and cast up. Saburo stepped inside.
“Thank you for shielding me from the guns,” he said.
“There’s no need to thank me,” Haru replied. “We were on the same side. You were clearing out the yokai, and wind spells are powerful against guns, especially at a distance. And thanks for healing me.”
“You don’t need to thank me for that. You were a big help on the battlefield.”
The witch replied, “I’m thanking you anyway. Though, there is a big question about those yokai. How did they get guns?”
Saburo nodded, “They might have stolen them from an army base, but there aren’t any in the area. It’s also possible that they negotiated with someone who has access to guns.”
“That’s a disturbing thought. If it’s true, it means they have more connections than we thought.”
Erik entered the room, a fatigued look on his face. Lenora was next to him.
“I’ve finally gotten you back to normal,” he stated.
Lenora asked, “But master Erik, what do you mean by that? I don’t feel any different.”
“Where were you at the battle?” Haru wondered.
“I know I wasn’t at the battle because ladies don’t fight,” she said. “But I can’t remember anything.”
Erik groaned, “I put you in a blood rage, dumbass. I always do that when you refuse to fight.”
“But master Erik, why can’t I remember anything?” Lenora wondered.
“Your blood rage went out of control this time. So, I locked you in the basement until the battle was over,” he told her.
“That explains a lot,” Saburo said. “I’ll report what happened here to the Onmyoji Institute. After the yokai got guns, they’ll want a lot of onmyoji on the scene to mop up and question the rest of them.”
He left the room, and Keiko stirred awake.
“What happened?” she asked.
Hisa popped her head out from under the bed, “You turned into an oni, totally kicked some hella ass, and passed out.”
“Right, I…wait a minute! Why were you under my bed?”
“It’s comfortable down here, like in a den,” the kitsune replied.
Keiko said, “Right, you’re a fox. Just know that humans don’t sleep under beds.”
“What?” Hisa was confused. “Why don’t you?”
Erik sighed, “Explain later. Right now, Haru and Hisa should talk to you, Keiko. They can explain a few things.”
He and Lenora exited.
“Saburo told me a few things about yokai when he was healing me, and I know a few things about human-supernatural hybrids too,” Haru stated.
“Tell me what I need to know,” Keiko spoke.
“Alright,” he nodded. “Your oni transformation is the norm for oni-blooded. It’ll take a lot of energy out of you at first, but you’ll eventually get used to it and be able to stay in it as long as you want.”
She told him, “Will I end up having to stay in it longer?”
“No. You can forego that form entirely and never go in it again if you want.”
Hisa smiled, “But it’s awesome, sis! You can hella beat the crap out of people in it!”
“Then I’ll only go into it when I have to,” Keiko said. “Well…I’ll need to train for that form.”
Haru replied, “Hisa can help you with that. She already has some transformation abilities.”
“You can count on me, sis!” the kitsune gave her a thumbs up.
“As long as this doesn’t change my personality, it should be fine,” Keiko stated.
“Don’t worry, it won’t,” Haru assured her. “You are both oni and human and always were. You’ll be the same, even with this form. With that in mind, what did you think of that battle?”
“I was worried about you, especially after you got hurt. But…it was still fun. Should I enjoy it?”
“Hell yeah you should! Violence is totally awesome!” Hisa smiled.
Haru sighed, “You’re a warrior by nature, Keiko. That isn’t something exclusive to oni, but your oni half might have influenced it too. This is who you are, and as long as you keep it under control, you should be fine.”
“That’s good, but how much time do we have left for our vacation?” Keiko asked.
He answered, “We still have a few days before the week ends; however, there might be more yokai looking for us. The onmyoji are going to clear the rest up eventually.”
“I don’t think I want to go to the beach here anymore, but I don’t want to go home yet either,” she said. “Are there any indoor pools here instead?”
“Fuck yeah there is!” Hisa stated. “They have some for when winter comes. There aren’t many, but there’s one close.”
“Hang on, there’s something I’ve been wondering,” Haru said.
Keiko’s expression turned worried, “What is it, Haru-kun?”
“If you’re an oni-blooded, your family must also be oni-blooded. At least, some of them must be. Have they ever done anything suspicious?”
“Well…I’m not supposed to tell you much about them,” she stated.
Haru nodded, “I underst…”
“But I don’t care about that,” Keiko grit her teeth. “After they’ve abandoned me, I don’t owe them anything. My paternal uncle once got drink and tripped in the dojo. He fell onto a rack of swords. There was blood everywhere, but he recovered from it in less than a week.”
Hisa said, “That’s pretty telling.”
“It is. My father’s also stronger than most people are. Does the strength of the oni form carry over?”
“Some of it does, but not all of it,” Haru told her.
Keiko continued, “He also got drunk once when he was driving. He crashed through the window, through a tree, through a store window, and into the pie aisle. My father walked off from that with just a few cuts.”
“Your father’s side is definitely the oni one.”
“I don’t have anything good to say about my mother’s side either. She’s a model and father just married her because she’s hot. Mother only married him to get his money. Well, she also wanted his connections, but I never found out what those were when I got disinherited.”
Haru wondered, “Do you have any clue what they might be?”
“Father once got drunk and went on a bizarre rant about sending sinister sources after stupid simpering sarcastic serfs stealing special sacred stuff. I have no clue what he meant by that, but he was pretty mad,” Keiko told him.
“I don’t care about sacred stuff,” Hisa shrugged. “I prefer pealed pumpkins pasted into precious panned pastries. What did I just say?”
“Alliteration always anchors aptly regardless of ability,” her friend stated.
“Could we stop alliterating?” Haru said. “It’s insubordinately interrupting important interesting intelligent implications about in vivo intergeneration intermingling inheritances. Great, now you’ve got me doing it too.”
Keiko chuckled, “It’s alright, Haru-kun. We’ll calm it down.”
He replied, “Alright, Keiko-chan. But we should be careful. If your father’s side is part-oni, we don’t know what they might be up to.”
“There was this police officer who was terrified when he realized who she was,” a realization flowed through her.
“Do you think they know you’re family’s part oni?” Hisa wondered.
“That could be it,” Keiko nodded. “But we can’t be sure. There might be something more going on.”
Ved'ma Story 