The sun set behind the school as Thor, in his disguise, talked with Yuko.

            “It’s weird,” she said without emotion. “I once told someone that if I ever met someone as good as me, I would crush them, but I don’t want to crush you.”

            Thor replied, “It’s only natural that you wouldn’t. After all, we formed a bond of friendship instantly.”

            “A bond of friendship?” Yuko wondered.

            “Yes,” he nodded. “Beating the crap out of someone together makes you instant friends. Sometimes, beating the crap out of each other can make you friends, but that tends not to work between women.”

            “Then if you fight with a guy, you’ll be friends?”

            “Not necessarily, but it can happen,” Thor stated.

            Yuko asked with her stoic voice, “Do you have a lot of friends, Thora?”

            “Of course I do,” he smiled and made sure to not use specific names. “There’s my sidekick, my maid, the guy who watches the bridge outside of my house, and this troublemaking idiot who hangs out with my dad a lot.”

            “Let me ask you something. If someone wants to back you up in the face of certain doom, but they’re only doing so out of gratitude, are they your friend?” she asked.

            Thor answered, “No, they are not. They’re an ally, but a friendship is a stronger bond than just gratitude.”

            “If you want to crush them, does that make them your friend?”

            “No, it doesn’t,” he said.

            “I see,” Yuko wondered. “If one of us crushed the other, would that make us friends? He’s a guy, so the fighting thing should apply.”

            “Maybe it will, maybe it won’t,” Thor sighed. “If you go with that, make it clear to him that it’s a friendly fight. He’ll think you’re crazy if you attack him out of nowhere, and you don’t want to make enemies with someone who you want to have as a friend.”

            She nodded, “Got it.”

Hideyoshi had spent lunch pouring over books, looking through his mythological sources. His already tired mind ached from that. Concentrating in classes was hard enough, but this was pushing it beyond that.

            “I’m not abandoning Yuko,” he thought. “I know I told her that she’s fucked, but I won’t give up! This is my determination!”

            Then a smile formed on his face. It was something he read many times before; however, one that could be critical. In truth, Hideyoshi couldn’t believe that he didn’t think of it sooner.

            “Eureka! I should probably run naked through the streets now, but I’d get arrested.”

The moment classes ended, he went out to where Yuko walked home. To his surprise, she was already there.

            Hideyoshi said, “Hey! Sanda-san! I’ve got it!”

            “I do too,” she pointed at him and spoke with a stoic voice. “You’re my useless rival now.”

            “W-What?” he blinked in shock.

            Yuko stated, “I’m going to crush you.”

            “H-Hey! I told you already that I’m not interested in that, idiot!” Hideyoshi took a step back.

            “Don’t be useless. Just fight me.”

            She stepped forwards with one foot and threw her hands up.

            “No damn way!” he said. “I’m not fighting you!”

            “It’s alright. We’re friends,” Yuko replied.

            “That doesn’t make any sense!” Hideyoshi shouted.

            “What?” she tilted her head in confusion. “Are you really a man?”

            He thought, “Shit! She just insulted my masculinity! Yuko’s wondering what kind of man would back down from a challenge by a woman. Dammit, that’s a low blow. Does she really want to crush me that much?”

            Yuko was thinking, “I told him this was a friendly fight, so why doesn’t he want us to beat the crap out of each other? Does he…does he not want to be my friend?”

            Her face didn’t express it, but sadness had crept into her.

            “Hey, Sanda-san,” Hideyoshi’s eyes narrowed. “I am a man, but unlike you, I’m a smart representation of my gender.”

            “What does that mean?” she asked.

            “It means…that I’m smart enough to know I can’t beat a demigod and secure enough in my masculinity to run for it!” he took off in a sprint.

            Yuko chased him, catching up with and running alongside him.

She wondered, “So, you’ll fight me if you have a chance to win?”

Hideyoshi replied, “I never said that!”

“Why not?” Yuko tilted her head.

“Because I don’t wanna!”

“You don’t have much of a choice. I’m faster than almost everyone in school. At any moment, I could attack and crush you.”

“We’ll see about that,” Hideyoshi smiled.

He took off at even greater speed.

“He’s fast,” Yuko thought. “I’m actually struggling. Oda-san, I want to crush you even more now. No, you’re the only person worthy of being crushed at me. I’ll crush you and then we’ll be friends.”

Hideyoshi turned and started running in a circle around a tree. Yuko did the same thing. They chased each other around the tree, only for Yuko to realize something.

“If I turn around, he’ll crash into me and then we can fight.”

            She stopped in her tracks, but Hideyoshi wasn’t there. Yuko looked around. He was nowhere in sight.

            Yuko asked, “You’re up that tree, aren’t you?”

            “If you thought of that sooner, you might have caught me, idiot!” Hideyoshi jumped down a distance away from her and blasted off.

            “You’re useless,” she ran after him, her emotions still not showing. “You don’t even understand that we’re racing at this point. If I can catch up to you, I’ve crushed you. Without even knowing it, you’ve accepted my rivalry.”

            He stopped dead in his tracks. Yuko crashed into him and they fell to the ground.

            Hideyoshi said, “You shouldn’t have told me that, idiot. I would have kept going with this nonsense if you said nothing.”

            “But manga characters do it all the time and it doesn’t backfire on them,” Yuko replied.

            “You can’t believe everything you read in manga!” his eyes widened in shock. “Hang on, you read manga? You have time for that?”

            She stated, “I don’t read it, but my brother does. He tells me about it.”

            “That’s a bold-faced lie! Where did you get the time to read manga? In fact, where’d you get the time to chase me like this? Shouldn’t you be studying, you idiot? You won’t reach your full potential if you waste time,” Hideyoshi asked.

            With a blank face, Yuko answered, “You’re right. I should be studying and not spending time with someone useless.”

            “Then just go home,” he said. “But first, I’ll tell you something. I might forget if I don’t do it now.”

            “What is it?”

            “I have a plan. Hera is a goddess, but she has a lot of gods who hate her. Artemis and her have fought twice and Hera tormented her mother; however, she’s weaker than Hera. Heracles, on the other hand, is stronger than Hera and had his life ruined by her. If you can get Heracles to protect you, we might be able to make it out of this.”

            “How should I get Heracles to help me?” she asked.

            Hideyoshi answered, “Make a shrine for him and burn some food at it.”

            Yuko wondered, “What’ll that do?”

            “It’s a sacrifice,” he explained. “The food you burn will go to Heracles.”

            “Gods are motivated by getting free food?”

            “Of course they are. Everyone wants free food,” Hideyoshi stated.

            “I see,” Yuko nodded. “Then if I give you free food, you’ll be my rival?”

            He groaned, “Take this seriously, dammit!”

Watanabe ran out of the school. She burst onto the streets and kept going.

            “Baba-san isn’t in any clubs, so he should be on his way home. Thankfully, I know his route from when we were spying on him.”

            She saw Haru and rushed to him. Watanabe went too fast, resulting in them colliding with each other. He rolled across the ground, crashing into a bunch of trash cans.

            Haru stumbled out of them, “Okay, who wants to die?”

            “I’m sorry,” Watanabe said. “I just wanted to get to you faster.”

            “Why do you want to do that? Does Keiko need my help?” he asked.

            “No, I do,” she answered.

            “And I should care about that…why?”

            Watanabe replied, “You’ve helped us in the past, so I thought you would do it now.”

            Haru said, “I only helped you then because we had a common enemy.”

            “Oh, come on! Please!”

            “No, now go away or I’ll taunt you,” he turned and started leaving.

            “Hey, do you know what Keiko’s favorite food is?” Watanabe said.

            Haru admitted. “I don’t.”

            She smiled, “I’m the head of the journalism club. We could find that out for you.”

            “Or I could just ask her.”

            “Oh, come on!” Watanabe groaned. “There must be something I can give you for your help!”

            Haru scoffed, “You don’t have anything I want, and I don’t trust you.”

            “I can’t argue with that. We did spy on you after all,” she sighed.

            Then an idea came into her head.

            “You want to make Keiko happy, right?”

            “Of course, I do,” Haru said.

            Watanabe replied, “Well, it just so happens that my parents run a hot spring. I could arrange for you can Keiko to be able to spend some time there, free of charge.”

            He stated, “That’s a pretty tempting offer, but I’d rather eat fried rat pudding seasoned with cactus needles than trust anyone.”

            “If you don’t trust me, then I’ll give you insurance,” she told him.

            “My grandmother’s already insured us.”

            “Not that kind of insurance,” Watanabe sighed. “I’ll publish a story in the paper saying that I’ll take Keiko there and she can bring anyone she wants. That is, after I clear it with her. Then if I go back on my deal, everyone will know it.”

            Haru said, “Publish that story first, then I’ll help you. But tell me your problem right away so I can start coming up with ideas.”

            She nodded, “Alright. A journalism club member is going to publish satire cartoons with me using pro wrestling movies on various things.”

            “And you think that pictures of you in a skimpy wrestling outfit will get rid of your dignity?” he asked.

            “I’m a journalist. I don’t give a crap about my dignity. What I’m worried is that if people realize that I like wrestling, I’ll never get a boyfriend,” Watanabe answer.

            “You’re hopeless,” Haru sighed. “Plenty of guys are fine with a woman who likes wrestling. For some, that’s even a bonus.”

            “Hey! You don’t need to lie to me! I know what guys like.”

            “Then just tell that club member to not publish those pictures.”

            “I can’t do that,” Watanabe said. “I believe in complete freedom of the press. It’s an American ideal, but one I embrace with my whole heart.”

            Haru replied, “Mainly because you’re a journalist and you personally benefit from that ideal.”

            “Don’t be so cynical. I joined the journalism club because I believe in that ideal, not the other way around,” she stated.

            “Alright, then. When I see the confirmation in the school newspaper, I’ll help you with this,” he told her.

Watanabe walked away before realizing that she needed to find a way to tell Keiko this.

            “If I told her the truth, she’d think that something is up,” she thought. “I need to think of some convincing lie.”

            Keiko was walking out of the kendo club when Watanabe found her. The journalist’s mind raced as she thought of a plan.

            “Congratulations, Mae-san!” Watanabe made as big a smile as she could. “You’ve won the Journalism Club’s special reward!”

            “I didn’t sign up for anything,” Keiko narrowed her eyes.

            “It was a contest for all students, and your reward is a free hot springs trip with a single person of your choice!”

            “This is a trick, isn’t it?”

            Watanabe assured her, “No trick, just a genuine prize with no strings attached.”

            Keiko moved around a corner and opened her phone, “Haru-kun, has Watanabe-san been bothering you? She’s saying I won a contest, and I’m worried she’s trying to spy on you again.”

            “Wait, she said that?” Haru sighed on his end. “Watanabe wants me to help her with something stupid, and she’s offering to give the two of us a free trip to some hot springs.”

            “Oooh,” she nodded, “Well, I’d be happy to go to the hot springs with you, Haru-kun. I’ll accept her offer.”

            Keiko walked back over to Watanabe.

            “Haru-kun told me everything. I accept.”

            The journalist groaned, “So, I didn’t have to make up a story and could have just told you the truth from the start?”

            “That about sums it up,” Keiko said. “But it wouldn’t be right for just Haru-kun to help you since I’m involved too. Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

            Watanabe did so.

            Keiko was confused, “How is that a problem?”

            “Because any girl who does any martial art, or even watches any martial art, other than naginatajutsu is a pit of testosterone lacking any femininity or womanly charms.”

            “You know that I practice kenjutsu, kendo, kickboxing, krav maga, kanabojutsu, and judo, right?”

            “See? My point exactly,” Watanabe stated.

            “I feel like I should kick your ass right now,” Keiko replied.

            “No, no, calm down! There’s nothing wrong with being a manly woman. If anything, I’m happy that you’ve found a man who doesn’t mind that you have no feminine charms.”

            Watanabe felt Keiko’s fist slam into her head. She collapsed onto the ground and rubbed her scalp.

            “I’m not helping you,” Keiko declared. “You’ll have to rely only on Haru-kun.”

            “Me and my big mouth,” the journalist sighed.

Later on, Watanabe was writing in the school newspaper.

            “A contest?” Chitose read it over her shoulder. “I never heard of that.”

            Watanabe explained.

            “And you need to say it’s a contest so you can put it in the newspaper without losing face?” her friend asked.

            She answered, “Yes. Please don’t tell anyone.”

            “You don’t have to worry about that. I don’t like Baba-san. He’s clearly nothing but trouble; however, he kept his word with the Akechi situation,” Chitose stated.

            “Then you’ll trust my judgement?”

            “Of course, I will. You’ve pulled me out of some pretty big messes before, and I’m sure you know what you’re doing.”

            “Thanks, Chitose-chan. Have you come up with a design for our festival stand?” Watanabe wondered.

            Her friend said, “I sure have. I’ve got most of the club together and we’ve made a design that we think will be great.”

            She handed her the design. It was a normal stand except that everyone was dressed as a different type of fruit.

            Watanabe facepalmed, “That’s what you went with?”

            “Our original design had us in pro wrestling suits,” Chitose told her. “But I know how you’re sensitive about that, so…”

            “The fruit design is fine. Let’s…also keep trying to come up with something else.”

The morning sun rose over Oda Hideyoshi, who was standing on the curb with weary eyes.

            “I’m so tired,” he said. “Why did I get up at 3 AM to find Sanda-san?”

            More and more time passed, and Hideyoshi looked at the clock on his phone.

            “Dammit! Is Sanda-san staying home today? I have to get to school.”

            Hideyoshi ran to the building, stumbling on his way there. He jumped through the door and saw Yuko right in front of him.

            “How did you get here? You weren’t on your usual route,” he wondered.

            Yuko replied, “My father drives me to school in the mornings. I walk back at night since he works late.”

            “Ugh!” Hideyoshi groaned. “And I’ve only met you on your route after class.”

            “Yes, you have. Do you have any advice for Hera?” she asked without emotion.

            He answered, “First, don’t try reconciling with her. Hera hates you for existing, and she won’t care what you do.”

            “Alright.”

            “Next, you’re fucked.”

            “I’m fucked?” Yuko wondered.

            Hideyoshi said, “I’ll stick with you through this no matter what, but there’s nothing either of us can do against Hera. You have no defenses against her unless another god decides to protect you, and what’re the chances of that?”

Thor walked inside the school with Loki. The latter was in his Thursday disguise and the former was disguised as a teenage girl, wearing a pretty little dress and earrings.

            “I can’t believe you talked me into this,” Thor groaned.

            Loki replied, “Hey, how else were we going to get you in the school?”

            He stated, “I’m starting to think of many other ways, but it’s too late for those now. How did you get earrings that turn people into teenage girls anyway?”

            “It’s something I borrowed from Freya.”

            “Meaning that you stole it?”

            “Guilty as charged,” Loki smiled. “But it was so deep in her belongings that I’ll be able to put them back before she notices they’re gone.”

            “Well, now, our first step is finding which student Zeus’ daughter is,” Thor stated.

            “That’s true. I have…”

            “THURSDAY!” a teacher shouted. “CLEAN UP THAT MESS YOU MADE IN THE TRACK FIELD YESTERDAY!”

            Loki handed Thor a piece of paper and ran off, “Sorry, Thora, you’ll have to get to class without me! I hope that the girl is there!”

            Thor looked at the piece of paper. It had his classroom number and nothing else. The god sighed. He had no idea how he’d go about this.

Oda Hideyoshi slumped against his chair.

            “I’m so fucking tired,” he thought. “And I wish I could do something for Yuko, but I can’t go against a goddess. No one can.”

            Thor walked in and scanned the classroom.

            “None of the girls here are impressive. Which one of them is the daughter of Zeus? Maybe one of the boys here will know.”

            He sat down next to Hideyoshi and talked, “It’s nice to meet you. My name’s Thora. I’m from Iceland, and my ‘dad’s’ a dumbass.”

            “Why did you make air quotes when you said dad?” Hideyoshi asked.

            “It’s a long story,” Thor sighed. “So, are there any strong or beautiful girls around here?”

            “Hey,” suspicion flowed through him. “Why do you want to know?”

            He thought, “This girl could be Hera in disguise. I have to be careful.”

            The god’s mind was on a different track, “Shit! I should have known that I couldn’t ask about women out of nowhere. Think of something, fast!”

            “I’m a lesbian, and strong and beautiful girls are my type,” Thor made the first excuse that came to mind.

            “Sure, that’s why,” Hideyoshi didn’t trust this. “Where did you come from anyway? I haven’t seen you here before.”

            “I’m the new PE teacher’s daughter. His name’s Thursday.”

            “Never met him.”

            Thor sighed, “This is not going to be easy.”

After classes ended, Hera walked into the school. She was disguised as a boy this time.

            Hera thought, “This is perfect. No one would expect me to be a man. Well, I am swift as a coursing river, but I had better shut up before Disney sues me.”

            She peaked around a corner and saw the girls exercising. A fat boy leaned over her shoulder.

            “They’re hot, aren’t they?” he asked.

            “What do you mean?” Hera wondered.

            “Come on, you’re here to peep on them too, didn’t you?”

            Her eyes widened, “How dare you accuse me of being some degenerate! I’m not even attracted to them!”

            The boy blinked, “You’re gay?”

            Hera remembered that she was in disguise.

            “No, it isn’t that at all,” she clarified. “I’m just devoted to my cheating husband.”

            “What? Aren’t you too young to be married?” he was confused.

            “Of course I’m not! I’m older than this nation is,” Hera stated before thinking. “Dammit! How do I keep messing this up?”

            “Oh, I get it,” the boy said. “You’re a Chūnibyō, still trapped in the delusions of the second year of middle school.”

            She asked, “What are you talking about?”

            “Keep looking, the most beautiful of all of them is up next,” he pointed.

            Hera grit her teeth as she saw Yuko stepping up.

            Loki, disguised as Thursday, spoke, “Alright, it’s time for tennis. You’ll be playing with my balls again.”

            “Oh, are we now?” Thor, in his own disguise, smiled. “I’ll be playing tennis too today.”

            “Go ahead, Thora,” he shrugged.

            Yuko said with her stoic voice, “Excuse me, you promised me a prize yesterday, Thursday.”

            Thor looked at Loki, who started whistling.

            “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get it to you,” he assured Yuko. “My dad can be an ass sometimes.”

            “Hey! Don’t talk about me that way! Now, start playing tennis, you two!” Loki glared.

            Hera looked at the balls, “Those are weighted.”

            “What do you mean?” the boy with her asked.

            She answered, “No teenage girl should be able to play tennis with them. Yuko’s the only one who can.”

            Thor flung the tennis ball through the air, making sure to restrain his strength. Hera was stunned all the same. Yuko whacked the ball with her racket. It flew back at Thor, and he hit it as hard as he could.

            Rather than go to Yuko, it slammed into Loki’s face. The ball bounced off it and to Yuko. She hit it with her racket and the ball went into Loki’s face again. They kept going at this with Loki’s face swelling from the hits.

            “Impossible!” Hera thought. “Did Thor bring his daughter here? Now, wait…Thor’s daughter wouldn’t do something like this, and she’s just as strong as Yuko if not stronger. Then does this mean that Thursday’s someone other than Thor? His daughter hates him, so…”

            “Fuck! Thursday’s Zeus and Thora’s his daughter! Yuko’s some other god’s daughter!” she said.

            The boy sighed, “I don’t know what delusions you have, but you shouldn’t bring other people into them.”

            Hera grit her teeth, “Listen, help me get revenge on Thora and I’ll make you king of all of Asia.”

            “Okay, whatever,” he shrugged. “My name’s Sato Shigeru.”

            “My name’s…” she thought a moment. “Can I trust this guy? I just met him. No, wait, it doesn’t matter if I can trust him. I literally have no other options. Well, I might have other options, but I’m too lazy to find them.”

            Making her decision, Hera introduced herself in her disguise, “…Nakamura Haruto.”

The school bell rang and Watanabe rushed into the journalism club blasting past other students.

            “Finally!” she said. “Spring break is over! I’ve got so much work to do!”

            Jirogame ran in after her, “You’re happy Spring break is over?”

            “Well…I was too busy watching wrestling…I mean, watching naginata fights, to get anything done over it,” Watanabe replied.

            “Don’t worry, Watanabe-chan,” Chitose entered. “No matter what’s blocking our path, we’ll be able to blast through it now that Akechi’s out of the way!”

            She nodded, “I don’t know what Baba Haru did, but I’m glad he was able to solve that problem. The school festival is a week from now.”

            “That’s when it is?” Jirogame turned pale. “Do we have enough time to prepare?”

            “I hope so. A lot of the clubs got ready over Spring break. We’ll just have to work hard!”

            “Didn’t the others work hard too? How will us working hard make a difference?” Chitose wondered.

            Watanabe said, “Well, if they worked hard, then we’ll have to work harder! And if they worked harder, then we’ll have to work even harder. And if they worked…”

            Michi ran inside, “Okay, we get it! Our biggest issue is finding stories for the school festival. Maybe we can see what other clubs are doing?”

            “That’s a great idea! Jirogame, get started. I’ll catch up with you later. We need to design our stall.”

Haru and Keiko walked out of the school together. Glares shot out at Haru; however, the two ignored them.

            “The school festival is coming up,” Keiko said.

            He replied, “I know, but I’m not attending it.”

            “That’s not the issue,” she stated. “Haru-kun, I’m worried that the teachers might try to make you attend. They expect everyone who can to go.”

            “Then we’ll have to think of some excuse. If anyone asks, I’m fighting a pack of mutant jerboas,” Haru stated.

            Keiko chuckled, “That’s your excuse, but what’s mine?”

            “You’re fighting a pack of deranged mutant snowmen.”

            They both laughed at that.

            “But we really might need an excuse,” Keiko pointed out.

            Haru agreed, “You’re right, Keiko-chan. The festival’s over a weekend too, so we’ll need to think pretty hard.”

            “Excuse me!” Jirogame rushed past them. “Moving through!”

            He ran over to a stall and said, “Hey, can I interview you?”

            “Not now. We’re busy,” a girl stated.

            The student ran over to another stall.

            “Can I have a moment of your time?”

            “Later. We still have a lot of work to do.”

            Jirogame walked away and sighed, “Dammit. Why are all the clubs too busy?”

            Haru and Keiko kept walking. Jirogame noticed them.

            “Hey, you two! Can you help me?” Jirogame asked.

            “Why would you want me to help you?” Haru narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

            “Because you helped us before with Akechi,” Jirogame said. “You’re scum, but you’re not as scummy as most people think you are.”

            He stated, “Let’s get out of here, Keiko.”

            They started to walk away again, but Jirogame got on the ground and grabbed their legs.

            “Please help me! We only have a week to get ready for the festival, and we haven’t gotten any stories!”

            Keiko asked, “By ‘we,’ you mean the journalism club, right?”

            “Yes,” Jirogame nodded.

            “If you can’t think of a story, just make one up,” Haru suggested.

            “I’m not doing that,” he replied. “I’d be a disgrace to journalists everywhere!”

            “What do you want us to do?”

            Jirogame said, “Help me interview people?”

            “Haru-kun can’t do that,” Keiko stepped in. “He’s very busy.”

            “With what? He isn’t in any clubs.”

            Haru stated, “It’s none of your business. I’m not helping you interview people.”

            “Then can Keiko do it?” Jirogame asked.

            She answered, “I’d rather not, but I still know some of the people from various clubs. They just don’t like me as much as they used to.”

            “Thank you so much!” he smiled. “I promise I’ll pay you back for this somehow!”

            The journalist club member ran off.

            “Great,” Haru sighed. “We’ve been roped into something annoying.”

            “It might be best if you stayed out of this, Haru-kun. With your curse, you won’t enjoy it and it’ll hurt my efforts,” Keiko stated.

            He said, “That’s fine with me. Just be careful, Keiko-chan.”

            Worry flowed through her, “Why do I need to be careful? Is something magical happening? Are a horde of demons about the burst from the ground and kill everyone?”

            “No, nothing like that. There’s probably no danger. I’m just being paranoid,” Haru assured her.

            “Oh, that’s good,” she breathed a sigh of relief. “You be careful too, Haru-kun. I won’t be around to bail you out if your curse acts up.”

            “Don’t worry, I’ve been dealing with this for my entire life,” he stated. “And if you ever need me, you have my number.”

Elsewhere, Jirogame was running around in a circle on the dirt. There was a line where he had been running.

            “Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! I couldn’t find a single club to interview! How can I face Watanabe-san with this failure?”

            He remembered Haru’s suggestion and thought, “Maybe I should just make something up? No, I can’t do that! But…what if I didn’t make something up and pass it off as journalism? What if I made satire, perhaps of the school? Akechi isn’t going to stop me, and I could make something funny. That might be my best shot.”

            Jirogame ran into a room and racked his brain. Images of old political cartoons he saw on the internet came to mind. The boy drew as fast and as hard as he could. Then Jirogame ran back to the club room.

            “I figured it out!”

            “You figured what out?” Watanabe asked.

            She and the others were still designing the stall.

            He answered, “We can do satire! You know, make fun of things!”

            Eikoh said, “That doesn’t sound right.”

            “I think it’s a good idea,” Watanabe stated. “We can have some comics if nothing else.”

            Jirogame breathed a sigh of relief.

            “Yes!” he thought. “Now they won’t notice that I messed up!”

            “Are you sure about this?” Michi wondered.

            Watanabe smiled, “Of course I am. We’ll still do our regular stories. This’ll just give something funny to add to it.”

            “I already made a few pictures,” Jirogame stated.

            “Then let’s see them.”

            She looked at the first and Watanabe’s face turned white. The picture was of her as a Mexican luchador pile driving the school. Watanabe turned to the next image, and she saw a picture of her dressed as an American pro wrestler wearing a mask and Irish whipping a school bus. The girl felt like she was about to bust a vein.

            “Those are pretty cool,” Himari said. “How did you come up with them?”

            Jirogame decided to hide that they were the first thing that came to mind, “I thought about how tough and awesome Watanabe-san is and drew these.”

            “Well, they’re awesome!” Chitose declared.

            “This is…this is…great,” Watanabe forced a smile. “We’ll put these in the newspaper.”

            She was screaming inside, “Dammit! If this gets out, people might figure out that I’m into pro wrestling! Then I’ll never get a boyfriend! I can’t tell him to not publish it. That violates my principles of freedom of the press. What can I do?”

            A realization came to her and she ran out of the room.

            “I’ll go and get a copying machine,” she said but she thought. “I can get Baba-san to help me. He’s smart, so he’ll know what to do!”

Thursday stepped in front of the female students and looked over them.

            “Mamoru Mizuki isn’t here today,” he said.

            Yuko replied without emotion, “You don’t know what happened?”

            “Why? What happened?”

            “Oh, come on!” one of the girls glared. “She brought a creepy guy in the school to kill Yuko! The police are still looking for her!”

            Thursday stifled a laugh, “Oh…hahaha…well, I’m sure the police will get her sooner or later. There’s no need to worry about that.”

            “How are you even a teacher here?” another student wondered.

            “Because I’m more than qualified,” he smiled. “Now, onto our newest exercise! We are going to do track. No organization or anything, just spending this period running. I don’t even care where you run, buuuuuuut I have a special prize for whoever can make it past my obstacle course.”

            “I’m confused, is this a PE class, a sports club, or something else?” a girl asked.

            Yuko answered, “I think it was a PE class, but I’m not sure what it is anymore.”

            Thursday pointed at the track course, which had pits, walls, tripwires, and various other traps placed all throughout it.

            “So, does anyone dare face it?” he looked between them.

            “I have a question,” Yuko raised her hand.

            “What is it?”

            She said with her stoic voice, “Who’s going to clean this up? The track club’s meeting here after school.”

            “You ask too many questions,” Thursday stated. “You’re going on the obstacle course.”

            Yuko stepped to the course’s entrance without hesitation. All the class’ eyes were on her. Their cheers carried into her ears.

            “Do it, Yuko-san!”

            “You’re the best!”

            “Beat this obstacle course! Don’t break a sweat!”

            The pressure of expectations mounted on Yuko.

            “I understand what Hideyoshi felt, and I can’t blame him for not wanting that,” her lips moved up in a slight smile. “But unlike him, I love this feeling.”

            She ran forward, heading towards the first trip wires. Yuko jumped over them. The girl’s and Thursday’s eyes widened in amazement. When she landed, she kept moving. There was a pit trap next, but that was no obstacle either.

            Yuko made it to a wall. She prepared to climb to the top, but a boxing glove on a spring popped out of it and slammed into her face. The girl fell backwards to the ground.

            A student said, “Sanda-san! Are you okay?”

            “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow,” somehow, her voice still had no emotion as she expressed pain.

            “Can you keep going?” Thursday asked.

            Another student glared, “You’ve got to be kidding me! There’s no way Sanda-san should be put through this!”

            “It’s fine. This is nothing,” Yuko stood up.

            While her face and voice didn’t express it, a fire lit inside of Yuko. A desire flowed through her.

            She thought, “Thursday, I’m going to crush you and this obstacle course.”

            The daughter of Zeus jumped on the boxing glove, intending to use it as a platform to jump over the wall on. Instead, the glove flexed and Yuko fell on her back.

            “Ow.”

            Recovering from it fast, Yuko took a running start and jumped over the wall. She fell right in the pit on the other side. Thursday burst out in laughter.

            “Dumbass!” he said. “There’s no way any of you can make it through that obstacle course! You should have just kept your mouth shut.”

            Yuko’s head popped out of the ground at the finish line.

            “I’ve finished the course,” she stated.

            Shock flowed through Thursday, “How?”

            The girl told him, “I dug through it.”

            “Impossible!” Thursday gritted his teeth. “You did that way too fast.”

            “I didn’t. You’ve been laughing for the past hour.”

            He looked at the clock and saw that she was right.

            “Shit. I actually have to give you a prize now,” the teacher’s thoughts turned inward. “Dammit! I don’t actually have a prize! I thought no one would make it through.”

            Thursday said, “It’s at my house. I’ll bring it in to school tomorrow.”

            With that, he took off running.

As he went through the streets, Thursday’s mind raced.

            “What do teenage girls like? It’s been years since my daughter was that young. They had different toys back then, and she…”

            The sound of wheels hit his ears and he stopped in his tracks. Up ahead, Thor rolled towards him on his goat cart. He stopped the cart and looked at Thursday.

            “Loki, why are you disguising yourself as me?” he asked.

            Thursday disappeared and a much less muscular, handsome man with a crooked smile appeared. He tried to make a cool pose, but his clothes being several times too big for him didn’t help that.

            “Why, Thor, I didn’t expect you to be here,” Loki said.

            “Answer the question.”

            “Okay, fine,” he sighed. “I didn’t have anything better to do, so I decided to mess with some high school students. You have a muscular body, and that was perfect for my needs.”

            Thor questioned, “Do you ever have anything better to do?”

            Loki replied, “No. I don’t do much.”

            “How did you get a teaching position anyway?”

            “It’s simple, really,” the trickster god stated. “I told the principle that I’d make him immortal.”

            He found himself looking up at the ground.

            “That’s weird,” Loki spoke.

            Pain blasted through him as Thor pile drove Loki into the pavement, creating a small crater. The thunderer stepped outside and glared down. His fellow god crawled out of the pit.

            He said, “What the hell was that for, Thor?”

            “You offered to make a human immortal if he helped you with a prank! You can’t go around making humans immortal for petty reasons like that.”

            Loki laughed, “And just who is going to stop me? I could shapeshift my way out of here and you’d never be able to catch me.”

            “I’m telling dad,” Thor turned around.

            “No! Wait!” he grabbed onto his legs. “Don’t tell Odin! He’ll really kick my ass for this!”

            “Will he now?” the thunderer smirked. “So, tell me, Loki: how much do you know about the students here?”

            “I know a few things,” Loki said.

            Thor rubbed his beard, “Well, I suppose that dad doesn’t have to learn about this…if you’re willing to do something for me.”

            “Should I start stripping now or take you home first?”

            His head smashed into the ground as Thor hit him.

            Loki waved his arms, “I’m joking! I’m joking! What do you want?”

            “There’s a girl here I have to save,” Thor explained. “She’s a daughter of Zeus and Hera’s going after her.”

            “Oh, that sounds interesting,” a smile formed on the trickster’s face. “It’s been a while since I’ve been on a rescue mission.”

            “And the first rescue mission where you aren’t the one responsible for the danger.”

            “Hey! I went on rescue missions that weren’t my fault before!” Loki shot back.

            Thor said, “Like what?”

            “There was that time where we rescued your hammer and you had to dress up as a woma…”

            “Okay, you’ve made your point!” the thunderer covered Loki’s mouth. “Please don’t bring that up again. Besides, this’ll only be a rescue mission if things go really bad. It’s a protection mission right now.”

            Thor released his hold on the other god.

            Loki nodded, “Alright, I won’t bring that up. But we’ll need to find an excuse to bring you into the school. I doubt we can get you in as a teacher without altering Odin.”

            “That means we need another plan,” Thor stated.

            “Ohhh, I’m getting an idea,” he smiled. “Just how much do you want to save this girl, Thor?”

            “How much is irrelevant. I’m going to save her.”

            “Alright, I have a plan,” Loki smiled. “My daughter, Thora.”

The indoor pool glistened as the sun rose through the windows. There would be very few people there in the Spring and Summer under most circumstances. It was perfect beach weather. However…

            “This place is full,” Hisa groaned.

            Haru said, “I heard there’s a police investigation of the beach. The onmyoji might be using it to cover up, or it might be a genuine investigation.”

            “Then we don’t have the place to ourselves,” Keiko stated. “But that shouldn’t be too much trouble as long as we mind our own business.”

            They walked further inside, hateful gazes turning to Haru as they passed. Keiko saw an unoccupied area of the pool and directed them towards it. Three punks got in their way. One was short, fat, and had a shaven head. The other two were tall and thin, with one having a bowl cut, and his companion having a mohawk.

            The first glared at Haru, “Look at that! Some jerk’s making off with a couple of ladies.”

            “We can’t tolerate that sort of thing around here,” his bowl-cut wearing friend folded his arms.

            “Look, we’re just here to enjoy the pool,” Haru said.

            “A likely story.”

            Keiko spoke, “As in, it’s a story that’s very likely. Could you just leave us alone?”

            “I don’t know what lies this guy’s told you,” the mohawked boy stated. “But he’s clearly just the sort of guy ladies like you should avoid.”

            “Holy hella crap!” Hisa’s eyes widened with realization. “Guys, we’ve got to get their autographs!”

            “Autographs? What for?” their fat friend wondered.

            Bowl-cut boy grabbed his ear and pulled, “Keep it down, chucklehead. There’s a lady who wants out autographs.”

            “No, it’s a fair question. Why do you want them, Hisa-chan? Do you know these people?” Keiko asked.

            Haru added, “They look familiar, but I can’t place them.”

            “Oh, come on! They’re totally famous in America,” Hisa said. “They’re the Three Stooges. Some wizard or god must have resurrected them. But why did you get a mohawk, Larry?”

            The fat guy chuckled, “She thinks we’re the Three Stooges, nyuck nyuck nyuck!”

            “That isn’t a complement, you nitwit,” bowl-cut barked.

            He poked him in the eyes and got slapped for it. Haru and Keiko used this opportunity to back away as the mohawked bot joined them.

            Hisa asked, “So, I am getting your autographs or…”

            Keiko grabbed her and yanked her onward.

The three arrived at an area of the pool that was unoccupied; however, they were still crammed in there. Every time Haru tried to swim out, he was blocked by several people.

            “I thought we’d get a more relaxing pool day,” Keiko sighed.

            Haru said, “Sorry, Keiko-chan. My curse is causing trouble again.”

            “You don’t need to apologize for that, Haru-kun. It isn’t your fault.”

            “Well, if we can’t swim, we might as well have a hella awesome lunch!” Hisa smiled.

            Keiko replied, “That’s a good idea. I’ll go get some food.”

            “Don’t worry about that, sis,” the kitsune smiled. “I packed lunch.”

            She jumped out of the pool and walked off. A few moments later, Hisa came back with a large box.

            “Thanks for packing it, Hisa,” Haru spoke.

            “Hold on a minute,” Keiko said. “This is food that humans can eat, right?”

            Hisa stated, “You don’t need to worry about that. I totally used your recipes on this.”

            “That’s good. What food did you pack?”

            The kitsune brought some of it out, “Mouseburgers, teriyaki worm tempura, and berries.”

            “I think I’ll just have the berries,” Keiko sighed.

            Haru nodded, “Berries for me…hang on, are those poisonous berries?”

            “Of course not. I got them at a store,” Hisa told him.

            “Then where did you get the mice?”

            “A restaurant.”

            Keiko and Haru turned pale.

            “Hisa, you have to tell us which restaurant you got those mice from!” the former grabbed the kitsune’s shoulders and shook her. “It’s of utmost importance.”

            “It’s the General Chicken Legs near your house.”

            “Keiko-chan!” Haru declared. “We must never visit that restaurant!”

As time passed, Hisa ended up eating everything except the berries. Haru and Keiko’s stomachs grumbled.

            “I’ll get us some food,” Keiko got out of the pool. “There’s a hot dog stand nearby.”

            As she walked away, several large men approached Haru and Hisa.

            “Hey!” one of them said. “You had better not hurt those two girls.”

            Haru sighed, “I’m not hurting anyone.”

            “Don’t any of you see it? He’s sabotaging the pool!” another man stated.

            “How the hell am I supposed to do that?”

            “I’m not giving you any ideas!”

            “Get that boy out of the pool,” a nearby woman sniffled. “Just the sight of him’s making me cry.”

            “You don’t need to make me,” Haru went ashore. “I don’t want any trouble. Hisa, tell Keiko-chan that I’ll be waiting outside.”

            He took several steps forward, but Hisa grabbed his arm.

            “What the hell? Are you just gonna take that?” she asked.

            Haru answered, “I took it for my entire.”

            “Then why don’t you stand up for yourself?” Hisa wondered.

            “Because it doesn’t matter. I’ll just get my ass kicked without doing anything. If I’m going to get momentary satisfaction, I should at least do it stealthily.”

            The kitsune smiled, “Oh, I think I get what you’re saying.”

            She stepped out of the water. Haru uttered some powerful words under his breath. Ice formed around the men and the woman in the pool.

            “What the hell? Where did this ice come from?” she said.

            One of the men exclaimed, “Fuck! I can’t move.”

            “It’s freezing in here.”

            “Holy crap! You have a freezing spell!” Hisa’s eyes widened.

            Haru replied, “I don’t. It’s a spell for solidifying liquids.”

            “Huh?”

            “Ice is the solid form of water,” he explained. “I can’t make things colder with magic, so this is a bit of a loophole.”

Keiko and Hisa stepped outside of the pool where Haru was waiting for them.

            “This was a bust,” Hisa groaned.

            “It was,” Haru sighed. “We’ll have to do things where no one can see us.”

            A person on the road said, “Just what are you kids getting up to, especially you, asshole?”

            Haru’s teeth ground so hard everyone on the street could hear it. Keiko handed him his hot dog, grabbed his arm, and pulled him and Hisa away.

            “I knew it was bad for you,” Keiko stated. “But not this bad.”

            He replied, “I let my guard down since I’ve been around you and the others a lot, Keiko-chan. We need to be more careful.”

            “Don’t worry, you two! The next time someone tries to pick a fight, I’ll hit them with a hella drop kick!” Hisa gave them a thumbs up.

            “But Hisa, you’re not strong enough to pull one of those off,” Keiko pointed out.

            She scoffed, “When I’m up against things with super strength, I’m not, but I should be fine against humans.”

            “Saburo’s a human and your drop kick didn’t do much to him,” Haru pointed out.

            Hisa lied as naturally as she breathed, “That’s because I was going easy on him! If I were going all out, I’d have turned his head to jelly in a single hit.”

            “Let me handle the drop kicks next time,” Keiko said. “Actually, your technique’s pretty good, Hisa. You’re just not very strong. If you worked out a bit…”

            “Working out? You mean, like pushups?”

            “I don’t think pushups will help all that much with your…”

            “Well, I already do pushups,” Hisa smiled. “So, I’ll keep doing those.”

            Keiko sighed while Haru gave her a sympathetic look. As good a friend as Hisa was, kitsune were quite troublesome.

Sanda Yuko’s eyes were fixed on a book in the library. Hera walked up to her in her disguise and sat down on the table.

            She said, “There you are, Yuko! I was looking for you!”

            “Why?” Yuko asked.

            Hera answered, “Well, I wanted to do some more sports with you.”

            “Can that wait, Mamoru? I need to study.”

            “Is that all you do?” the goddess wondered.

            “Almost all,” Yuko said without emotion. “If I’m going to be at my full potential, I can’t do anything other than study and exercise.”

            “Do you now?” an idea started to form in Hera’s head.

            She nodded, “Yes. I have no free time, but free time is useless. No one has it as adults anyway, so I might as well get used to it.”

            “People come to talk to you all the time,” the goddess pointed out. “Hell, I’m doing it right now.”

            Yuko replied, “Yes, it’s annoying. Go away.”

            Hera said, “Hey, that’s a bit harsh. I can show you a place where you could study without anyone bothering you.”

            “No. That’s suspicious. Go away,” she remembered Hideyoshi’s warning. “I don’t believe that a goddess is after me, but that doesn’t mean that someone else isn’t.”

            “Oh, don’t you value the lives of your classmates?” the goddess smirked.

            “I’m calling the police,” Yuko pulled out her cellphone.

            “Oh, come on!” Hera objected. “Demigods aren’t supposed to call the police!”

            “Demigod?”

            Yuko’s expression contained dull surprise.

            “Yes!” the goddess was tired of the façade. “Now, face your first challenge! Come on out, beast of Japan, amanojaku!”

            A man appeared. His body was red to the core, claws at the end of his fingers, and there was a horn growing out of his head.

            “Now, show me what this daughter of Zeus can do!” Hera waved her arm in a dramatic fashion.

            Yuko bolted, making her way to the library door. Hera was shocked.

            She shouted, “No, no! You’re not supposed to run! Get back here and face this horrifying monster that could disembowel you with a single strike!”

            “Where did that guy come from?” another student noticed.

            A girl said, “He’s creepy. What’s with his weird getup?”

            “Hey, shouldn’t they be running too?” the amanojaku wondered.

            “They should,” Hera was confused. “I mean, a daughter of Zeus ran from you.”

            Several students walked over.

            “That’s some awesome cosplay,” one stated. “Can we get a picture of you?”

            Another added, “We’re big fans of horror. What are you supposed to be, an oni?”

            “I’m not an oni, I’m an amanojaku!” the creature’s eye twitched.

            “There’s no need to get so defensive. Your cosplay’s great.”

            “This is wasting time. Go after Yuko,” Hera pointed.

            The amanojaku ran as fast as he could into the halls. He looked around and…Yuko was nowhere in sight.

            “It’s big brain time,” he said. “If Yuko isn’t this hallway, she has to be in one of the rooms. So, I’m going to barge in every one of them and find her!”

Ten minutes later, the amanojaku was handcuffed and being forced into a police vehicle.

            One officer was on his radio, “We got the guy. He’s really creepy. It’s no wonder five people called us here.”

            Hera’s telepathic voice entered the yokai’s head, “What are you doing? Why are you letting the police catch you?”

            “Hey, I don’t have any supernatural powers! These claws can’t even beat a guy with a sword, and these guys have guns!”

            “No, we haven’t found his accomplice,” the cop spoke into his radio. “A student suddenly showing up without parents or anything, just some records…I wonder how she pulled that off.”

            “Boss, you should probably get out of here. They’re on to you,” the amanojaku called out.

            “Why should I?” Hera scoffed. “I’m a goddess. I could brush off a tank blast to the face. Why should I worry about police?”

            “Don’t you have to worry about other gods? They’d probably notice if you fucked up a bunch of cops, and you were pretty worried that that Thor guy’s in the school.”

            “Shit. You’re right. I’ve got to get out of here.”

Yuko breathed a sigh of relief in the police station.

            The police officer in front of her said, “You don’t have to worry. We’ll get those two.”

            “Excuse me,” a man wearing a suit stepped into the room. “We’d like a word with you, officer.”

            He asked, “Just who are you?”

            This newcomer pulled out an insignia that was on hanafuda paper. The officer turned pale.

            “Shit. This is out of our pay grade,” he stated.

            “What do you mean?” Yuko’s voice had no emotion.

            “You won’t have to worry about that guy anymore or his boss when these guys find her,” the officer assured her before muttering. “If the onmyoji are here, then we didn’t just catch some creepy guy.”

            “Onmyoji, what does he mean by that?” she wondered before realizing something. “That woman called me a demigod, and she summoned a monster. Hideyoshi was telling the truth, and I alienated him. After what I said, he won’t help me. I need to handle this on my own.”

            Then she realized something else.

            “Why am I thinking that? He knows how ridiculous what he said was. I should speak to him, talk things out like reasonable people.”

Cool evening air hit Hideyoshi as he walked to his home. Yuko stepped out in front of him.

            He said, “A lot of people have been stepping in front of other people.

            “Yes,” her voice was ice and her face had a blank expression. “I’m sorry.”

            “If you’re going to be sorry, you should actually look like it,” Hideyoshi stated.

            Yuko pulled back her cheeks into a frown, “I’m sorry. Is that better?”

            “No, it isn’t. Go back to showing no emotion,” he groaned.

            She stopped pulling her cheeks, “Also, you aren’t useless. I’m saying that now because I’d probably forget otherwise.”

            “Dammit,” Hideyoshi said. “Are you really that stupid?”

            “I’m not stupid. I just forget things I don’t need to remember,” Yuko replied.

            “That doesn’t help your case. So, why are you apologizing to me?”

            “Because you’re right,” she admitted. “Hera came after me. I called the police on her, but I don’t think that was a good idea.”

            Hideyoshi replied, “You’re damn right it wasn’t! Dammit, Hera’s relentless. She’ll come after you no matter what.”

            Yuko asked, “Can you help me? You know about mythology.”

            “Why can’t you just learn about mythology?” he wondered.

            “No. To reach my full potential at everything I do, I ignore everything that I don’t do. If it isn’t something I need to know, I learn nothing about it. I don’t have the time to.”

            “I don’t want to piss off a goddess,” Hideyoshi sighed. “But after you admitted something like that, there’s no way I can abandon you.”

            “What should we do first?” Yuko said.

            He replied, “I’ll need to think about that. If Hera’s mad at you, you don’t have many options. But you always have a few.”

            “Alright. I’m staying at your place.”

            “What?” Hideyoshi stepped back. “No damn way!”

            She stated without emotion, “I don’t want to put my family in danger.”

            “But that’ll put my family in danger!” he pointed out.

            “Oh, right. Sorry,” Yuko was stoic. “I should have thought about that.”

            “Good grief. That’s it. I’ll only help you on one condition.”

            “What is that?” she asked.

            Hideyoshi answered, “That you keep calling me useless. I won’t feel right calling you an idiot if you don’t.”

            “I can do that,” a slight smile crossed Yuko’s face as she realized she hadn’t gone too far with him.

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.”

Hera sat disguised in class with a smirk on her face.

            “My revenge plan is working perfectly, and I have my next step figured out,” she thought. “There is one person who must hate Yuko more than anyone else. And all I needed to do was look at the exams.”

            Her gaze turned to Oda Hideyoshi, who was sitting next to her.

            “You were overthrown, humiliated by that girl. I know you were hiding it back then, how you’re trying to be nice when you’re filled with resentment. Even now you must be plotting against her, how to crush her, how to make her know that you’re the superior one.”

            Hideyoshi’s thoughts were different, “This is a biology class, so why are we spending most of it talking about cells? I’ve learned too much about cells already. Why can’t we just learn about animals?”

After school, Hera stayed in the room. Hideyoshi stayed as well to play on his laptop. She sat on his table, leaning over in front of his computer and looking him in the eyes.

            “Oda Hideyoshi, I know what happened to you,” she said.

            He asked, “What happened to me?”

            Hera answered, “You used to be the number one student in the school, but then Sanda Yuko took your place. She surpassed you at everything and took what was rightfully yours.”

            “I wouldn’t put it that way,” Hideyoshi shrugged.

            “But you want revenge, don’t you? You want to prove that you’re better than her, to beat her at something and take back your rightful place. Well, I can help you with that.”

            “No thanks,” he told her. “I’d have to do a lot of work to beat her, and I don’t want to bother.”

            Hera groaned, “Fuck it. I’ll just do this the normal way.”

            Clouds formed around her as light flashed. The teenage girl was gone and the goddess stood in her place, covered in heraldry and symbols of power.

            “I am not Mamoru Mizuki, but the goddess Hera! The woman known as Sanda Yuko is a daughter of Zeus, and I’m going to make her pay for it!” she declared.

            Hideyoshi said, “Nice special effects. How did you pull them off?”

            “These aren’t special effects!” Hera snapped. “I’m actually a goddess!”

            “Suuuure you are,” he rolled his eyes.

            She asked, “Why don’t you believe me?”

            “Well, gods don’t actually exist for one thing,” Hideyoshi answered.

            Hera waved her hand. Hideyoshi was turned into a snake, a dung beetle, an owl, and then back into a human.

            He took frantic breaths as shock flowed through him, “Okay, I stand corrected. Gods do exist.”

            “Then help me crush Yuko!” she smiled. “Do this, and I will make you king of all of Asia!”

            Hideyoshi put on his most diplomatic voice, “Sorry, but no thanks. I don’t want to be king.”

            “Huh? What kind of mortal doesn’t want to be king?” Hera’s eyes widened in shock.

            “Well, being king sounds like a lot of work. I mean, it isn’t like kings just do nothing all day. I’d also have to worry about invasions, being assassinated, people betraying me.  I just don’t want that kind of stress in my life,” he said.

            The goddess sighed, “Those are pretty good points. I’ll accept that. So, what do you want for helping me fight Yuko?”

            “Let’s see…” Hideyoshi came up with something. “My face on the 1,000 yen note.”

            Hera objected, “I can’t put you on yen unless you are a member of government.”

            “That’s what I want. If I don’t get it, then I’m not going against Yuko,” he stated.

            “Dammit, why are you so useless?” she groaned. “I’ll just do it myself.”

            The goddess left the room. When she was gone, Hideyoshi burst out into shaking fits and took ragged breaths.

            He said, “That was close. I was sure Hera would crush me for refusing her. I…I need to tell Yuko.”

            Hideyoshi got up and started running; however, a realization came to him.

            I can’t tell Yuko Hera’s after her. She’d never believe me, and she might try to confront Hera on her own if I tell her it’s another student. What I need to do is get as much information as I can and find a way to tell Yuko.

He found her running through the tennis area of the school grounds. Yuko was playing against four other girls and winning. Hideyoshi’s jaw dropped.

            “She’s that good? There’s no way she isn’t a daughter of Zeus.”

            The boy walked over and said, “Hey, Yuko, do you have a moment to talk?”

            “I do,” she spoke without emotion as she kept playing.

            “Is that moment right now or later?” he asked.

            Yuko answered, “I can talk and play tennis.”

            “Alright,” Hideyoshi said. “Can you tell me anything about your father?”

            “Yes, he’s a good person who supports me,” her voice remained stoic.

            “Oh, then he’s in your life?”

            “He is. Why do you ask?”

            Hideyoshi chose his words with care, “I heard a rumor that your father was missing.”

            Yuko’s hand slipped and the tennis ball flew past her. It hit a wall and bounced off, hitting Yuko in her back.

            “Ow.” Somehow, even this pain didn’t remove her stoic voice.

            “Are you alright?” Hideyoshi asked.

            She nodded, “Yes, and the rumor is true. I’m talking about my stepfather. I never met my real father. Mom says that he was the best lay she ever had.”

            His eyes widened in shock, “Your mother told you that? Isn’t that inappropriate?”

            “It is,” Yuko said.

            She picked up the ball, threw it in the air, and hit it as hard as she could with her racket. It blasted past the other girls before hitting the wall behind them. Ricocheting off it, the ball slammed into Hideyoshi’s face, knocking him to the ground.

            She knelt over him, “Sorry. Are you okay?”

            “I’m fine,” he stated. “As long as that wasn’t intentional.”

            “It was an accident. I got mad and hit the ball too hard, but I didn’t want to hurt you,” there was still no emotion in Yuko’s voice.

            Hideyoshi breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s good. Now, another question. Has anyone done anything suspicious around you recently?”

            “Suspicious?” She thought for a moment. “Our new coach is a bit weird. Hideyoshi, do you want to play with my balls?”

            “What?” he jumped up in shock.

            Yuko held out a tennis ball, “We can play volleyball if you like it better.”

            “We’re not playing with balls right now,” Hideyoshi grabbed her arm. “Come on! I need to tell you something.”

He dragged her to the side and made sure they were out of earshot of everyone.

            “Is this the part where you violate me?” Yuko asked.

            Hideyoshi replied, “Why would I violate someone as ugly as you?”

            “That was good,” she said. “You’re getting less useless than before.”

            “But you’re still the same idiot. Can’t you see I’m trying to tell you something important?”

            “Sorry, I shouldn’t joke around if you’re serious. What is it?” she wondered.

            He told her, “This is hard to believe, but the goddess Hera is going after you because your real father is Zeus.”

            Yuko’s voice was ice, “Are you insane? Are you making fun of me? Did I go too far and drive you to this?”

            “You didn’t go too far. I’m telling the truth,” Hideyoshi insisted.

            “No, I don’t believe you,” she remained stoic. “You offered to help me and I’ve treated you with nothing but disdain. Yes, I’ve gone too far from the start and now you’ve gone too far too. Goodbye now. Don’t worry about me. I’ll handle myself.”

            The girl walked away while a sinking feeling went into Hideyoshi’s stomach. He shouldn’t have told her that so soon, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say. And now, he might have doomed Yuko.

Blasts of magic echoed through the canyon as blood stained the ground. Sadako looked on, seeing her army being cut to pieces. The onmyoji was the biggest threat; however, the vampires were keeping the draugr off of him. Erik was handling five draugr.

            Sadako said, “Dammit! We can’t keep going like this! Quick, use the guns!”

            A kappa objected, “But boss, that might alert the humans!”

            “If we don’t use them, we could all get killed! Focus fire on the onmyoji!” she ordered.

            They did so, pointing their guns at him. Keiko jumped down, ready to slam her weapon into them. The kappa ignored her and fired at Saburo.

            Haru sent wind blasting out as they did. Their bullets were sent haywire, curved, and slammed into the kappa. Their shells negated most of the impact; however, they didn’t help against the fireballs and hanafuda paper that came down next.

            Keiko ran over to Erik and slammed her kanabo into one of the draugr’s legs. It snapped in two. Erik took that opportunity to swing his axe in a wide arc, forcing another draugr to step in to block it. He pulled his axe back and hooked on the dragur’s sword. This sent the sword flying as the vampire parried several blows from other draugr.

            His axe turned around, cutting off one of his enemies’ heads as Keiko slammed her kanabo into the back of another. The snap of its spine hit their ears. Another draugr swung her sword at Keiko. She pulled up her kanabo to block it, the force of impact sending her backwards; however, not as far as she expected to be pushed back.

            Erik swung his axe. The draugr that attacked Keiko’s head flew from its body. Then the draugr that had been disarmed made a leap for his sword. Keiko jumped for it too; however, she wasn’t fast enough. He grabbed the weapon and lunged at her. Haru sent a lance of fire at the draugr that cut his arm and leg off.

            Keiko smashed the draugr’s head in with her kanabo, and struck again and again until it was nothing more than pulp. Erik had finished off the rest of the draugr.

            “Good job, Keiko,” said Eric. “I see you’ve activated your supernatural form.”

            “How did you know it was me?” she asked. “Was the kanabo enough?”

            “Not really. I smelled that it was you right away. Now, let’s finish this…”

            “Master, help!” Beauregard ran over to him.

            Erik asked, “Is one of them too powerful for you?”

            “I don’t know.”

            “How can you not know, aren’t you…” the head vampire groaned. “This is something stupid, isn’t it?”

            He looked in the direction Beauregard came from. A group of female yokai were charging them.

            Beauregard said, “I can’t hurt a woman! You have to do something, Erik!”

            “Alright, I will.”

            Erik grabbed Beauregard, spun him in a circle over and over, and threw him into the female yokai. They went flying back with Beauregard’s sword sticking out of one of them.

            “Keiko,” he called out. “Our next step is to kill their leader. They’re maintaining a defensive formation, but they’re getting pelted by magic. I estimate that we have less than a minute before they start running.”

Sadako looked out as her soldiers were decimated. The line in front of her burned. She stepped back, ready to run at a moment’s notice.

            “It’s okay, Sadako,” she thought. “They don’t know you’re their leader.”

            Saburo called out, “The nure onna’s their leader!”

            “Fuck!” Sadako shouted.

            She turned and slithered as fast as he could. Several of the remaining kappa took a defensive formation while other yokai turned and fled too.

            Erik saw this and smirked, “I’ve got you now!”

            Bloodlust raged through him as he charged forward, taking advantage of the route where numbers would have overwhelmed him otherwise. Keiko could see him move better, but he was still quick as a flash. Erik burst through the kappa with raw physical force and swung his axe as he did. Their heads flew into the air.

            He closed in on Sadako; however, more kappa came in. They pointed spears at him, intending to keep him away. Erik threw his axe. It spun through the air. The spears were knocked aside and Erik bobbed and weaved through their ranks.

            The viking vampire drew his sword with vicious vigor. Sadako dived for a crevice. Erik was faster, and he swung his sword as he passed her. The blow split her in half.

            “Master!” Beauregard ran over. “I say, are you alright?”

            “Why aren’t you fighting?” Erik asked.

            He answered. “The wizards are dealin’ with the route. But you’ve been hurt, boss!”

            “What do you mean?”

            Erik reached around his body and felt a long pole on his back. He yanked it out, bringing it to his front. The object was a spear. It had gotten stuck in his armor without causing him any harm.

            “Cool, a free spear!” he smiled. “Beauregard, where’s that fox girl? Does she need a new weapon?”

Hisa was still hitting that same kappa over and over. It had sat down and grabbed a magazine. Keiko walked over.

            She asked, “Why are you still attacking him?”

            “He’s tougher than he…oh my god! They have an oni with them!” the kitsune jumped back.

            “It’s me, Keiko!”

            “Ooohhh…you do look like her,” Hisa nodded.

            “Can we get this over with?” the kappa said. “This is taking too long.”

            Keiko replied, “Okay.”

            She swung her kanabo at that the kappa.

            “No wait, I meant that I was surrender…” he started; however, he didn’t finish before his head was splattered.

            “Wow, you weren’t useful,” the raccoon dog smiled. “But at least your friend can do something.”

            Hisa shouted, “Go eat a caltrop!”

            “Hey…” Keiko took a step. “I’m feeling…tired.”

            Her muscles receded back to their normal state, the blue left her skin, and her horns disappeared. Keiko sat down on a rock and leaned back.

            “Tanuki, can you heal people?” she asked.

            Itsuki answered, “No, but Saburo can. Though, he’s not good enough to do any better than a first aid kit yet.”

            “It’s better than nothing. Get him to Haru. He’s pretty badly hurt,” Keiko said.

            The raccoon dog nodded and went to his onmyoji.

            She breathed a sigh of relief, “I’m glad that transformation wasn’t permanent. I couldn’t have gone around looking like that.”

            “Yeah, it would have been hella bad,” Hisa replied. “So, you’re an oni?”

            Keiko nodded, “It looks like that. At least, I have some oni blood. I’m not a full oni.”

            “That’s awesome, sis! Maybe you can kick that butthole’s ass for me?”

            “Later, Hisa. I’m…really tired.”

            She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.