YOUKAI MOKUSHI
BY L. MOONLIGHT
6TH NIGHTMARE: UNIVERSITY, MY DEAR SATOU

Niijigoku-shi, Japan, 2121 AD…
As I walked the bustling streets of Niijigoku, I couldn’t help but stare at the various youkai going about their daily lives. I figured it was around time that the university students would be heading home, supposing they didn’t live on campus. With that in mind, I made note of which direction the largest crowd was coming from and traced their footsteps until I found myself standing by the university’s entrance. Several small friend groups stood in their own circles all over the campus. But no sign of…
“You-san?” a voice called out before I found myself tackled by a familiar turquoise-haired girl. “What are you doing here?”
“Rie-chan,” I smiled, “Uh… Ibarra-san asked me to tell you to meet her outside the mayoral building.” I looked around. Many humans and youkai were gathered in small friend circles, but Rie was all by herself. “Um, Rie-chan?”
Rie stared at me blankly, before closing her eyes and smiling. “Aheh… Not many people want to be friends with someone who can read their minds…” she blushed.
“Huh?” I sighed, “But what about Ibarra-san?”
“Kii-kun’s an oni, remember? She doesn’t have anything to hide!” Rie giggled.
That made a lot of sense. As kind as Rie was, I did feel a little uneasy about the fact that she could read my mind. The fact that said mind-reading was outside of her control… Meanwhile, Kii had no plausible reason to be concerned. She couldn’t lie, so trying to keep secrets was futile in her case, anyway. I looked over at Rie. She was frowning. Of course, I thought, Rie “heard” everything about how her mind-reading makes me uncomfortable. “It’s ok,” I smiled, “you can’t help it. So, please, don’t worry about it.” I paused as Rie’s smile returned. Good, I thought, she wasn’t offended. “So, uh… Rie-chan, what are you studying?”
“Psychology; if I can’t stop reading people’s minds, I may as well put that ability to good use!” she beamed.
I smiled. So Rie wanted to be a therapist. I could easily imagine her comforting some upset human or youkai and making them feel better as she easily got to the root of all of their problems. Although, at the same, time I worried that perhaps mind-reading would be a bit intrusive for a therapist. I shrugged and turned to Rie.
“I’m sure you’ll be an excellent therapist!”
“T-Thanks,” Rie blushed as she scratched her head. “What about your own studies, You-san? How is your thesis coming along?” Rie asked, grabbing my hand as we walked back to the Mayor’s office.
“Well,” I sighed, “I’m making steady progress, just taking it one step at a time. Every youkai I see is a huge step in the right direction.” I paused. “…Which is why I’m going to be helping you and Ibarra-san with protecting the city!”
Rie stared at me blankly. “Don’t you think that’s a bit dangerous, You-san? What if you get hurt? Or worse… you could get…”
“Don’t worry,” I reassured the satori, “you saw how Ibarra-san dealt with that fish guy before, didn’t you? I’m sure she can cover for both of us!” I looked up at the mayoral building. “Oh, we’re here!”
“Oi, ningen,” Kii called out, “what took you so long?!”
“Aheh… It was my fault,” Rie bowed, “we were talking about our studies!” The satori stared her best-friend directly in the eye. “Is it true that You-san will be helping us protect Niijigoku?”
Kii folded her arms. “It was all his idea,” she chuckled, “don’t pin the blame on me! Apparently, he wants to take notes for his thesis or something!”
I bowed. “I promise I won’t get in either of your ways, Ibarra-san, Rie-chan!”
“You’d better hope not!” the oni huffed, placing her hands on her hips as she leaned her face in next to mine and scowled. Kii turned her back to Rie and I as she started walking away from the Mayor’s headquarters. “Keep up you two,” she barked back to us, “and Rie-chan, tell me if you sense anyone thinking criminal thoughts!”
“Roger!” the satori saluted with a wink.
———
As night fell and I walked back to my hotel I breathed a sigh of relief. Although I hadn’t made any progress with my research, my feet were killing me from walking every street in the city twice over, so I was looking forward to resting. Kii had told me to get used to the pain. Apparently this was what I signed up for. I guess that incident with the fish guy was the exception, rather than the rule, I thought, Niijigoku is pretty peaceful after-all. As I crawled into my capsule and changed into my pajamas, I had no idea how unprepared I truly was. The blisters on my feet were one thing, but they seemed insignificant compared to the next day’s horrors…

6TH NIGHTMARE OVER