YOUKAI MOKUSHI
BY L. MOONLIGHT
7TH NIGHTMARE: DOUBLE TROUBLE (PART 2)
Niijigoku-shi, Japan, 2121 AD…
The irate barber flung her head around as she heard a scratching sound coming from behind her back. She watched as the surface-tension of the fountain water broke and a girl emerged.
“Okiku?!” Kii stammered, jumping back, expecting the figure to come out of the water. Wait, no. That was a well, not a fountain, she thought.
“No, no,” the mysterious girl cackled, “I am Kashima Reiko. What’s your name?”
“You can call me Ibarra Kii, that’s written with the chara--”
“Yes, but what is your NAME?” Reiko asked, grabbing the side of the fountain and pulling herself out of the water, revealing the top of a sailor fuku, below which she lacked a lower body.
Kii stared blankly at Reiko, before folding her arms. “I don’t have to answer that, do I?”
“Ok, then, I have another question… Where are my legs?”
“How should I know?!” the oni grunted.
Reiko chuckled, hopping onto the plaza asphalt and walking (for lack of a better word) closer to Kii as if her arms were legs. “Alright then,” she said, “where is the Sun Arrow?”
“The Sun Arrow, eh? Lemme guess…” Kii groaned, “You’re with Yamata no Orochi?”
———
Having finished our ice-cream, Rie and I began heading in the direction that Kii had taken.
“Do you really think Ibarra-san will still be waiting for us?” I asked.
“Did you say something just now, You-san? I’m sorry, it’s a little hard to hear you over all these youkai’s thoughts…”
“Yeah, it sure did get busy real quick!” I chuckled.
Suddenly Rie hopped back and wrapped her arms tightly around me as a man I didn’t recognize tapped her on the shoulder.
“O-oh, h-hi Gojou-san…” Rie stammered.
I certainly didn’t need to have mind-reading abilities to tell that Rie was afraid of that guy.
“I don’t believe we’ve met? I’m Gojou Kaiji, Rie-chan’s most-beloved--”
“And I’M Tachibana You, her boyfriend,” I said, as Rie turned bright red. “Get lost.”
Kaiji turned around and grumbled to himself as he left our sight. I breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to a still-blushing Rie.
“B-Boyfriend?” she trembled, letting go of my arm. “Y-You-san, I-I…”
“Don’t worry about it,” I smiled, “I just said that so he’d go away. Who was that guy, anyways?”
As Rie told me about Kaiji Gojou, his impure thoughts and how he always pestered her to marry him, she suddenly paused as a blank expression swept over her face. “Kii-kun?”
“Huh, Ibarra-san?”
“She’s in danger,” Rie said.
Speak of the Devil, Kii ran past us. As the oni ran down the street, Reiko tailed her, weaving in-between buildings and bouncing off the sides of them like a rabid pinball, all the while holding a giant scythe in her right hand.
“That’s weird,” I said, “I thought I heard two people running just now.”
“Didn’t you see that other girl chasing Kii-kun?” Rie started, as she began running after Kii.
“Well, yeah, but she wasn’t wearing shoes!” I stammered, following Rie. “I don’t think she even had feet! Did anyone else pass us just now?”
“I don’t know! There are too many people around for me to tell!”
Although we tried to catch up with Kii and Reiko, they were both much faster than us. Kii found herself falling over as if she had just been tripped.
“A ranged attack?” Kii stared at Reiko as the enemy youkai just smiled menacingly. “Or did you lay some sort of trap here anticipating I’d come this way?”
“No and no,” Reiko said, jumping in front of Kii and swinging her scythe as the hairdresser pushed herself off the pavement.
“Well, I know that I didn’t just lose my footing! You must’ve done something!”
“I didn’t do anything,” Reiko sneered as she slowly inched towards Kii.
TEKE TEKE.
“Alright, Kashima. I’m done running.”
“Ibarra-san… If I catch you, it’s game over. This scythe isn’t just for show,” Reiko boasted.
“Hmph. You may be faster than me, but I am stronger than you.”
Kii fell over once again as Reiko laughed.
“A little dizzy?” Reiko taunted. “Was it all that running? Or perhaps you’re drunk like the oni that you are?”
“I’m not dizzy and I’m not drunk,” Kii grunted. “How’d you do it, then? Are your legs hiding around here somewhere to trip me up?”
“I told you, I didn’t do anything,” Reiko said. “If you can’t lie, then it’s only fair that I tell the truth, too.”
Reaching Kii’s location, Rie and I watched as Reiko once again stepped closer to the oni, balancing on one hand and lifting her scythe with the other.
“Ibarra-san,” I called-out, “she’s a teketeke! If she catches you, she’ll cut you in two!”
“I figured as such, ningen,” Kii, grunted, pushing herself off the ground and jumping back as Reiko slashed at her again. “Tell me something that I don’t know!”
I watched carefully as Kii lost her footing once more and hit the asphalt. Eureka! I knew what was really happening!
“Ibarra-san, run! Run to a quieter area!”
“Seriously?! Tachibana-san, I can’t outrun a freaking teketeke!”
Reiko turned to look at Rie and I, as did a few passerby who had noticed the commotion. “And who might you be?” the teketeke asked.
“I’m Tachibana You, and I’m going to help Ibarra-san protect Niijigoku.”
“A-And I’m S-Satou Rie. I’m Kii-kun’s best-friend a-and di-diversion.”
“Diversion?!” Reiko swung her head around as Kii absconded at a breakneck pace. “Oh, give me a fucking break! C’mon, Akira-chan, let’s go!”
I watched as Reiko darted off in Kii’s direction; listened as the sound of running boots making contact with the road got ever fainter as Reiko left my sight.
“I knew it.” I turned to Rie. “Let’s go find Ibarra-san. I know what we have to do.”
———
Kii skidded to a halt, reaching a dead-end in an alleyway. Empty buildings surrounded her on either side.
“You better be right about this, ningen…”
Kii’s face dropped as Reiko appeared at the alley’s entrance.
“Hello, Ibarra-san…”
“Ok, we’re all alone, like Tachibana-san asked. What now?”
Reiko cackled to herself. “You of all people should know better than to trust a human, right? Considering what happened to Shino-san…”
“…Don’t speak her name.” Kii angrily pointed toward the teketeke. “Listen here, Kashima! I am Ibarra Kii, and I--”
As Kii spoke, a projectile fired from the palm of her robotic hand, catching both Kii and Reiko by surprise. Kii stared down at her hand and grinned.
“I guess Gojou must’ve upgraded it? Well, then… If you want to approach me, Kashima… just try it!”
Once again the oni fell over.
TEKE TEKE.
Reiko lifted her scythe above her head as she backed Kii to the wall. Luckily, Rie and I arrived just before Reiko could deliver the finishing blow.
“Ok, Rie-chan! Is this quiet enough?”
Rie nodded, before looking at me with a familiar blank stare. “You were right, You-san.”
“Ibarra-san,” I called out, “behind you!”
Kii kicked backwards, feeling an impact as she heard a thud against the dead-end wall.
“A-Akira-chan!” Reiko blurted out.
“What was that?!” Kii asked, pushing herself of the ground and dusting off her skirt.
“There’s two of them,” I said, “you were being tripped up by a betobeto1Betobeto – An invisible youkai that is said to follow behind people on night roads.”
Behind Kii, a man suddenly appeared. “You’re good,” he grunted, before turning invisible once again.
“There’s no point in hiding, Akira!” I called out, “Rie can still detect you!”
Reiko turned around and raised her scythe again. “You! You’re ruining everything!”
The teketeke bolted towards Rie and I. As we braced ourselves, Kii shot her with another blast from her arm!
“Behind you,” Rie said, as the barber turned around and fired another shot.
Seconds later, the betobeto’s form appeared again, lying unconscious on the ground. Kii looked down at the enemy in disgust, before delivering a powerful kick to his groin.
“Good job, Ibarra-san!” I called out, walking over to Kii.
Kii remained silent as the betobeto came to.
“Akira, I presume?”
“W-What’s it to ya?” the man grumbled, rubbing his head.
“You’re with Yamata no Orochi, too, right?”
“Jouga-jou told me all about you…” Akira coughed, as he began to stand up.
Kii wrapped her metal fingers around the man’s throat.
“That’s all I needed to hear,” she calmly said, as her grip tightened.
“Wait, Kii-kun,” Rie cried out, “you can’t!”
CRACK!
Rie buried her face in my chest as Kii dropped Akira’s lifeless corpse to the road. Kii stomped over to where Reiko was lying before slapping her awake.
“And this is for Yui-chan,” the oni said, pinning the teketeke against the alley wall and shoving her robotic fist in Reiko’s mouth.
With another blast of energy from Kii’s palm, the battle was over. Rie cautiously turned back to her best-friend, as she could no longer hear Reiko or Akira’s thoughts.
“Y-You didn’t have to kill them!” I protested, as Kii began to walk away.
“Ningen, you’re dismissed for the day. Go back to your hotel.”
“But… but…!” I stammered.
Kii’s usual frown returned, as she put her face in her blood-soaked palm. “Tachibana-san, can we talk about this tomorrow? I’m tired.”
And so Kii walked off, leaving myself and Rie to stand awkwardly in the alley where we had both witnessed the end of our enemies’ lives. I thanked the satori for the ice-cream, before making my way back to the capsule hotel.
7TH NIGHTMARE OVER
