Paul and the Oni Tatsuo started to head up the passage-way… Tatsuo following Paul, but pointing out the way. They’d almost reached the first bend in the rocky passage when Paul had a strange prickling sensation, like the hairs on the back of his neck standing up.

“Tatsuo… you said the rest of your clan were down here?”

“Ah.. yes, Paul-sama..”

“Right. I don’t suppose you gave them orders in case you were defeated?”

“Ahhh… yes, Paul-sama, although I didn’t….”

“I understand. You didn’t imagine this outcome. Still, I don’t suppose those orders were of a ‘decapitate now and ask questions later’ nature, were they?”

Tatsuo’s expression was answer enough, as he scuffed the ground with his hoof-soled geta. Paul sighed, shaking his head.

“Tatsuo, you’re as subtle as that sword of yours. I am going to assume the rest of your clan are probably somewhere between here and the exit, waiting to jump out at me from behind a corner, and probably would ignore you if you called out to them to show themselves, believing that I was somehow coercing you.”

Judging by Tatsuo’s reaction, he didn’t seem to have thought of that, but Paul wasn’t about to take the chance that whoever was lurking in ambush also hadn’t. Paul looked thoughtful for a minute, then shrugged.

“Ok, new plan. Lets head back down thataway, I need a bit more space to do what I’m thinking of.”

Returning to the small chamber he’d fought Tatsuo in, Paul studied the walls, and picked a flatish spot. Taking out the chalk he’d been using to mark his passage, he drew a door-like rectangle, and then started to carefully chalk in a series of symbols in each corner.

Inari had been talking about the mirror Aimi-chan was bound to, yesterday, and had mentioned that the Lord that had commissioned its creation had done so in order to bind his wife’s spirit to the Earthly plane. Inari had also mentioned there was a way to summon the bound spirit out of the mirror. It was a fairly simple procedure, but then as Paul had dryly remarked, if you were a horny feudal lord summoning your lover to your bedchamber, you wouldn’t make it a complex and lengthy spell.

The summoning spell complete, Paul look a step back, and dimmed the lantern almost to the point of extinguishing it. He took a breath, and chanted.

“Aimi-chan, Aimi-chan, Aimi-chan. I summon thee, I summon thee, I summon thee.”

Paul clapped his hands twice, and waited. Inari had said that as long as it was dark where he was, it didn’t matter what the time was or whether or not the sun was still in the sky. On the other hand, the mirror was damaged, and it had been several centuries since she’d learned about it.

“Ah.. Paul-san.. what are you..”

Tatsuo went abruptly silent as the chalk marks flickered and glowed an eerie blue/green colour. The light strengthened, deepening in hue until it was a shimmering blue doorway of light, the symbols and edges of which glowed a verdant green.

The light rippled, like the surface of a pond someone had thrown a stone into, and Aimi-chan emerged though it, looking around in surprise.

“Paul-sama! How did you..?”

“Inari told me how.”

“Oh! Where are we? And who’s he?”

“Hm, oh, in the old iron mine and that’s Tatsuo, an Oni and potential friend. But I’m in a bit of trouble here. His clan aren’t too friendly towards humans, and I need something from Inari to get safe passage, but I can’t get out of here, to get it. If I recall correctly, you said the other day you can take small objects with you, as long as you’re not returning through the mirror?”

“Oh! Yes, I see Paul-sama! I’ll go ask Inari right away!”

Aimi started to leave, but Paul held up a hand.

“Wait! It would help if you knew what I wanted you to fetch, wouldn’t it?”

Aimi-chan blushed hard, and nodded.

“Ah, yes Paul-sama.. sorry! My enthusiasm got ahead of me.”

“Ok… Inari is somewhere on the path outside the mine, probably near the entrance, possibly with Shoko-san. I’m not exactly sure what it is, but I need a token, or badge or something like that, to indicate that I’m acting as her Herald. Apparently, as such, I’d have something like diplomatic immunity and a guarantee of safe passage.”

Aimi looked thoughtful, nodding slowly.

“Ah, yes.. Paul-sama. I read about that in school. Heralds of the Gods couldn’t be interfered with and could go anywhere. Umm... although, in all the stories I heard, they were spirits.”

Paul shrugged.

“Well, am I not a spirit currently inhabiting a living body?”

Aimi blinked, tilting her head sideways, and then nodded vigorously.

“That’s true Paul-sama! Very true! I never thought of it like that, but yes, all living beings are also spirits!”

“Ok then… I’ll wait here while you go find Inari.”

“Yes! I’ll see you soon!”

Aimi-chan vanished, fading out like an image on an old cathode-ray television being turned off. Paul turned up the lantern a fraction, and sat down tailor fashion. He glanced behind him at Tatsuo, who was staring open mouthed at the wall where Aimi-chan’s ‘door’ shimmered faintly still.

“You know, you keep leaving your mouth open like that and something could fly in.”

Tatsuo closed his mouth with a snap.

“It appears I have greatly underestimated you Lord Paul-sama.”

“Just Paul, or Paul-sama if you must. And why do you say that?”

Tatsuo raised an eyebrow, an expression which, Paul had to admit, on Tatsuo probably looked better than when he did it.

“Ah… that was a yūrei?”

“Technically, she was a Yūrei-onryō called Hanako-san, or she was. I befriended her a couple of days ago. Nice girl under all the creepiness as it turns out. Quite friendly once you get to know her… and you are giving me exactly the same look that Shoko-san gave me when I told her. Really, I didn’t do anything special! Just treated her like I would anyone else. I mean, what else was I going to do?”

“Most people would be afraid...”

“Most people are afraid of anything they don’t understand. But to me, whether someone is a Goddess, Yōkai, kitsune, Oni or whatever… it doesn’t matter. They’re still all just people, with more in common than is different, and I’m a writer. It’s literally part of my job to understand people. So I run into someone who’s different, I want to understand them and usually end up trying to get to know them better.”

Tatsuo blinked, then shook his head.

“Paul-sama, are you sure you’re not...”

“A priest? No. Although I do keep getting asked that.”

“Ah. Understandable.”

Paul sighed… at this rate he’d have to add to his business cards the words; ‘Not a Priest’ under his occupation.

“Anyway, while we wait, tell me a little about yourself maybe? Like, why are you and your clan living in an abandoned mine? I mean, that can’t be convenient, surely?”

Tatsuo shrugged.

“Oni have always lived in abandoned, forgotten or hidden places. We avoid humans, even other Yōkai. No-one likes us and we don’t like them.”

Paul tilted his head slightly.

“Huh, ok. I get it, persecuted minority, blamed for everything that goes wrong. After a while you start thinking; ‘What the hell… going to be blamed anyway, might as well be as bad as they say’, right? So, you become the stereotype of the big bad Oni, and so it goes on.”

Tatsuo blinked at Paul in surprise, then hung his head.

“It, is shameful… but yes. I have thought that sometimes. Others have gone further. But my father used to say we should be better than what they think of us. That we should not become the monsters they say we are.”

“Smart guy, and sound advice. I’m sorry for your loss.”

Tatsuo nodded, unwilling to speak for a moment. Then he took a deep breath.

“I...I miss his wisdom everyday. I try but… I fear I am not the leader he was. I have not ever admitted that to anyone else.”

“Your secret is safe with me. Wait, what...you’re your clan’s leader?”

“I am for now, until my sister is old enough... and I should not have said that to you!”

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that, shall I? Let me guess, your Master would have something to say about the tactical advisability of telling someone that, who you’ve only just met, and who may not be a friend.”

Tatsuo nodded, with a sheepish smile that was more of a wince at the thought.

“I, would consider it a personal favour if you did not mention that lapse Paul-sama.”

“Mention what now?”

Tatsuo smiled.

“Thank you Paul-sama.”

“You’re welcome. So… how did your clan end up here anyway?”

“Ah… yes. That is a long story, in full. But, to give you the short version, we have been chased from place to place, until we came to Japan about fifty years ago. Most recently we used to live further North of here, near Tokyo, in a theme park that was built but never quite finished or opened. The buildings were copies of ones from the height of the Shogunate, although much more fantastical, than any built then. We were very comfortable there for many years, we had a castle. We thought we would be safe. Our only magi put wards around the place, to keep out unwanted intruders and to make people forget it existed. It was a peaceful life… and it ended when the men in yellow vests came with their machines. We resisted at first, but in the end we had to flee. Many were lost, some died, others… scattered.”

“Oh… well that explains why you’re upset about someone sneaking around carrying out a survey. But truthfully, I’ve no intention of giving them one damn inch of this land, and I’ll fight them anyway I can.”

“We too tried fighting them at first...”

“Yeah, but did you use lawyers?”

“Ah.. no. That’s not something we can do. We Oni have lost the art of disguising our appearance.”

“Yeah, I’d imagine a bunch of Oni turning up in court would cause a riot. I suppose that’s where I come in then. Not only as a ‘front man’ but because I’ve an actual legal claim to these lands. The prior owner left them to me in his will. They’re my inheritance, because my father saved his life, he deeded the place to my father’s ‘youngest son’. I gather younger sons traditionally became priests, which would mean me.”

“That is so, yes. So, you inherited here in payment of a life debt to your father?”

“Yes. My father was a very good heart surgeon, and the old priest didn’t have any direct family left when he died; he’d outlived them all. So I guess he figured he’d repay my father by making sure his youngest son would be set up for life. I gather he felt since he’d been given a second chance at life, and the opportunity to heal the breach with his remaining family and carry on the family tradition by becoming a priest, he’d return the favour by giving someone else the same chance in life, literally.”

“Ah… I see. In the days of my grandfather, no-one would dare contest that claim. A life-debt, a debt of honour as well as a dying man’s last wish. Those are the three greatest obligations, combining them should be iron-clad...but...”

Paul nodded and sighed.

“Yeah, I get it. Everything seems to have gotten far more complicated nowadays, even us short lived humans have noticed that. Well, some of us have. Once lawyers get involved it ends up.. messy. But like you say, it’s a pretty iron-clad claim, and I’ve a trick or two I’ve thought of as contingency plans. As my teacher used to say, it’s always best to have more than one plan, and to be ready to improvise just in case, because no plan survives meeting the enemy.”

“That sounds like something my Master would say.”

Paul shared a look with Tatsuo.

“You don’t suppose there’s some secret hand-book of wisdom they all get when they become Masters?”

Tatsuo shrugged.

“Possibly… although my Master is very fond of fortune cookies.”

“Hmm, maybe that’s how they distribute it, secretly.”

“You have a very strange imagination Paul-sama.”

“You ought to be grateful for that… if all this is a figment of my imagination.”

Tatsuo laughed slightly, a rusty sounding chuckle. Paul somehow got the feeling he didn’t do that very often, despite his apparent youthfulness.

A ripple of light from the ‘doorway’ announced Aimi-chan’s return, Paul stood up as she came through, head and shoulders first as she leant through before stepping all the way into the rocky underground cavern.

“Inari says, only an Englishman would describe being trapped in a cave full of angry Oni as a ‘bit of trouble’. She also says if you don’t get out of here alive she will bring you back from the dead just so she can kill you herself.”

Paul laughed,

“I think I’m going to be cooking pizza tonight by way of apology. Did she give you anything for me?”

Aimi-chan held out what looked like a brass or gold triangular plate on a circlet of gold chain. The plate itself was carved with a design that Paul thought looked familiar from somewhere, and had a set of kenji characters spelling out Inari’s full name.

“She says to wear this, it’s a sign of her protection.”

Paul took the necklace and slid it over his head, settling the plate over his chest, so that it stretched from one collarbone to the other, and the point of the inverted triangle reached the mid-point of his sternum. It was quite heavy, and with more than just physical weight. Paul tapped it with a finger tip.

“Hmm, seems like it might turn aside a sword blade as well. Aimi-chan, could I ask a favour of you?”

“Of course Paul-sama! Anything!”

“Could you scout ahead for me, make sure we’re not about to get pounced on.”

Aimi-chan grinned, rather disturbingly widely, and with teeth that bore a striking resemblance to Tatsuo’s shark-like maw.

“It would be my pleasure, Paul-sama.”

Paul eyed her a bit dubiously and remarked.

“I’d rather you didn’t kill anyone Aimi-chan, although giving them a bit of a fright would be ok. Not too much though. I don’t need a bunch of Oni running into me in a blind panic and chopping my head off before they’ve even realised I’m here.”

Aimi-chan’s eyes widened in alarm, and she nodded furiously.

“Yes! That would be very bad! I don’t want Inari cross at me!!”

Paul dryly remarked.

“Yeah, me neither. I don’t think she was joking about bringing me back so she could kill me again.”

Turning Paul addressed Tatsuo, who looked as if he was trying to decide if they were joking or not.

“Tatsuo-san, a question, no two questions.”

“Yes?”

“Do you have some way you can call in those of your clan skulking around looking for me? And is there anywhere I can talk to your clan all in one go, to save time?”

Tatsuo nodded, once.

“Yes, to both. There is a large cavern two levels down from here, which we’ve made our Great Hall. There is a large iron temple bell there I can use to summon everyone.”

“Ok, then lets head there. It’ll be quicker if I can explain the situation to everyone at the same time, and then, if possible, I’d like to enlist your clans aid, in order to save Inari, your clan and every ‘Other’ on the mountain.”

Tatsuo looked dubiously at Paul, but nodded.

“Very well Paul-sama, this way.”

Tatsuo indicated one of the passages, and Aimi-chan, at a look from Paul, faded out until she was nothing more than a shadow among the others, and went that way ahead of them. Paul paused just long enough to scuff out the summoning spell, leaving it as chalk smudges on the wall, before following Tatsuo.

They’d gone some distance before he spoke.

“You said, to save my clan, from what? We are safe here. If we need to we can defend this place. This is no wood and plaster castle after all.”

Paul shook his head.

“I hate to say it, but you are dead wrong. Modern mining techniques involve basically turning the entire mountain into rubble, level by level, using explosives. You could wall yourselves up in here and it wouldn’t matter. They’d just bring the place down around your ears. If you tried attacking.. well, swords are no match for guns, and it’s not like you have any legal existence so they’d have no reason to use restraint.”

Tatsuo sighed, and nodded glumly.

“That is as I feared. To my clan I show a brave face, but quietly, I have made sure there are plans to hold out as long as we can, should it come to fighting. We have done this many times before, but humans always win. There are so many of them, it is like fighting the ocean. The best we can do is hold them back long enough to allow some of us to escape, usually.”

Paul nodded.

“I don’t need to ask how many times your clan has done this, the answer is too many. Well, this time, I hope, it will go differently. Or I shall die trying at least.”

Tatsuo looked at him sideways at him.

“Why, Paul-sama? You would pledge your life in our defence?”

Paul shrugged.

“Not just you. But every Other who lives here, even the magic itself if it comes to that. Because it’s the right thing to do… and because as I was talking to you I realised something very important. For the first time in my life, I feel as if I actually belong, that this is a place I can call home. And who wouldn’t give their life to defend their true home? So, thank you Tatsuo-san. For helping me realise that.”

Tatsuo stopped in his tracks, turning to stare at Paul, his fire-coloured eyes searching for something in Paul’s blue/grey ones.

“Yes… I believe you mean that Paul-sama. That until now, nowhere has been your home. Well then, I offer you my hand, and shall call you my brother, for we are comrades.”

Tatsuo took Paul’s arm, clasping his slender fingers around Paul’s wrist in a warriors handshake. Paul smiled slightly.

“If you mean that literally, it’ll get confusing.. I mean, imagine introducing you as my brother to someone!”

“Ha! No, brother-in-arms I suppose would be more accurate. But still, now I see why you understood me, and how we feel.”

“Uh-huh, and now you get why I’m ready to help you. I know what it’s like to wander and have no place you can call home.”

Tatsuo nodded.

“Well, strange met, but still, perhaps in a former life you were one of us.”

Paul laughed.

“It’s possible, who knows!? Inari seems to think I’m a reincarnated priest perhaps. I don’t know. Any Oni who were also priests in your history?”

Tatsuo shrugged.

“Maybe… long ago. We’ve lost a lot of what we knew over the years. I should ask my Master, if anyone knows, it would be him.”

Paul nodded.

“Ok, another day though. Meantime, lead on!”

Their walk wasn’t long, although there were several hoarse shouts, and one rather girlish scream, further off in the mine, as Aimi-chan cleared the way for them. Tatsuo’s frown deepened at each of those punctuations… and the last scream caused him to utter a word that Paul didn’t need to know the meaning of, to understand.

“I thought I left warriors guarding my clan!”

“Peace, brother. Aimi-chan terrorised her murderers into committing suicide to avoid her haunting them further. I’d say she’s going lightly on them.”

Tatsuo glanced sideways at Paul, a look of shocked respect on his face.

“How did you bind such a fearsome spirit to you?”

“Apparently by asking if she’d like an ice-pop when she tried to scare me. It rather threw her off her stride, after that it was just a matter of treating her like any other teenage girl. She was lonely mostly, and angry at a world that had treated her harshly. All it took was bit of kindness and common courtesy.”

Tatsuo studied him for moment, then sighed.

“I never stood a chance against you, did I?”

Paul raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, you had a chance. You could’ve been too angry, stubborn or prideful to listen even after I stopped your attack.”

Tatsuo grunted, but didn’t say anything. Aimi-chan faded into existence out of the abundant shadows.

“Paul-sama, there are some Oni up ahead I tried to scare away, but they won’t budge. They’re guarding the way into a big open space. What should I do?”

Paul looked at Tatsuo.

“Let me guess, last line of defence?”

“Not quite, but almost. Please, let me go ahead and talk to them, reassure them.”

“Sure, your turf, your people Tatsuo-san. Give me a shout when it’s safe. Aimi-chan, guard our six will you please?”

Aimi-chan grinned and snapped off a salute.

“Roger that!”

She stepped back into the shadows, fading from sight, while Paul chuckled.

“That girl has watched too much tv… still, if you’re trapped in supermarket every night, I suppose there’s not much else to do.”

“Supermarket?”

“It used to be an all-girls school before it was rebuilt I gather. That’s where she was haunting when I found her.”

“Ah! Ok, off I go!”

Tatsuo set off, while Paul looked around, then sat down on a bolder to wait. He wasn’t discounting the possibility that Tatsuo was a masterful liar, and he was about to walk into a trap, he just couldn’t see what else he could do.

Besides, he might not be lying. In fact, Paul considered it probable he wasn’t. In which case, the Oni needed someone’s help if they were going to survive, and could potentially be helpful themselves.

As he waited Paul mused… he hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d said that until now nowhere felt like home. That had been why he left to go travelling around Europe during his gap year after his first academic year at university, and spent nearly twenty years bumming around pretty nearly the entire Western hemisphere and parts of the East. He’d always meant to come to Japan, but until now had never gotten around to it… but still, it had always tugged at him, and perhaps this was why.

That restlessness he’d thought was because he was so unlike his parents, and the rest of his boringly conventional and staunchly middle-class family. But it seemed not… something in his soul perhaps, had recognised this place as where he belonged from the moment he’d seen it, in the grainy photocopied images that had been sent by the real estate agent.

It had taken this long to recognise the feeling because he was just that unused to it.

He had come home.

Now all he had to do was stop it from being destroyed.