Paul nodded at the guards at the gateway in the rough stone wall surrounding the plateau on three sides and let himself in though the temporary bamboo gate.

He found Tatsuo staring morosely at the remains of what looked like a large bonfire. The young oni looked better than Paul remembered seeing him. He’d put on muscle, but he was also dressed neatly in a traditional slate grey kimono with a matching heavy felted wool hakama and in deference to the cold a rather nice light blue and snowflake pattern haori overcoat in heavy cotton. Evidently Katsu was taking good care of him, or at least, telling him to take care of himself.

“Hoi, Tatsuo.”

Tatsuo answered without looking away from the smouldering embers and half-burnt timber.

“Morning Paul-san, what are you doing here today?”

Paul shrugged.

“Oh… just checking on how things are progressing, and I thought you’d like to know your little sister got off to school safely.”

“Jiao is a competent girl, why would I doubt she would?”

Paul grinned slightly.

“Didn’t think you did… but what the mind knows and what the heart believes are two different things.”

Tatsuo nodded in agreement with snort of laughter and then joked.

“Hoi, Paul-san. You been eating fortune cookies again?”

Paul laughed and then, because Tatsuo was still looking glumly at the pile of wood ash and burnt sticks, asked.

“Ok, so changing the subject, how are things going?”

Tatsuo heaved a sigh, and turned to look at Paul finally.

“Badly. You see that?”

Tatsuo waved at the heap of ash and smoking charcoal. Paul nodded slowly…

“Yeah… what was that?”

Tatsuo sighed again.

“That..” he said, kicking a burnt end of what looked like a timber beam. “Was supposed to be the timber for this weeks construction.”

Paul blinked, and then asked.

“What the hell happened?”

“What indeed! I don’t know. I mean.. I know what, I just don’t know how. Somehow, a propane heater that was being used to dry plaster in one house, ended up over here, far too close to the stacked timber. So it caught fire last night.”

Paul frowned.

“So... sabotage. Right?”

Tatsuo nodded, and then turned and gestured Paul to follow him. Paul walked behind the gloomy Oni in silence, until they reached the wall that ringed the village and most of the plateau it nestled upon.

“Tell me Paul-san. Could you climb that?”

Paul tilted his head, wondering where Tatsuo was going with this conversation, but given that the serious young oni wasn’t given to idle chit-chat and pointless questions, he studied the wall for a moment.

“Possibly, I presume you mean without being seen?”

Tatsuo nodded, and then sighed.

“There is a trip wire that runs along the top of it, tied to tin cans. We have guards patrolling at random intervals. You see the knee high grass along the base of the wall? That’s hiding caltrops scattered all about there. It shouldn’t be possible for someone to get in, and out, without leaving a trace.”

Paul regarded the head high wall, with the four foot wide strip of longer grass at it’s base. Slowly he nodded. Anyone jumping down would leave tracks in the grass at the very least, assuming they avoided the spiked caltrops

“Yeah… I used to be pretty good at getting into and out of places myself, but that would be a tough nut to crack. Of course, the obvious way would be to walk in through the gate, past the guards.”

Tatsuo blinked and looked at Paul in surprise.

“How? Oh… you mean someone they know, yes?”

“Yup… a tenuki bringing supplies, an oni they recognise. Heck, even someone dressed in a stolen JSDF uniform. Then of course there are tengu or the like, who could fly in.”

Tatsuo shook his head.

“Someone flying in would have to get past Inari’s wards without setting them off. The gates were shut, no-one came in or out last night. The only way they could come in is over the wall...and we as a clan have gotten quite good at building defenses. But we’ve had things happening overnight for a couple of weeks now. Tools going missing, that later turn up in odd places. Material scattered, or broken. We thought it was Kodama at first, but…”

Paul nodded.

“Yeah, the little guys are mischievous not malicious. I could believe it if it was just tools being hidden, but they wouldn’t break stuff and certainly they wouldn’t turn to arson. Forest spirits hate fire almost as much as they fear it.”

Tatsuo nodded in agreement then, somehow without changing his expression, looked hopefully at Paul. Paul laughed shaking his head.

“...and you want me to go talk to whoever or whatever is around and ask them if they know anything about this. Ok, ok, enough with the puppy-dog eyes!”

Tatsuo nodded slowly, gravely, before breaking into a grin, making Paul laugh again.

“You’re a goof-ball Tatsuo, in your own way.”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

“Yeah, sure… never should have taught you about body language. You’re getting way to good at saying stuff without saying it and you use it against me knowing damn well that I can’t help reading it.”

Tatsuo held his face stiffly, as he remarked.

“You might think that, but I couldn’t possibly comment.”

Paul bent double laughing, wagging his finger at the grave-faced Oni.

“Francis Urquhart you are not! I never should’ve lent you those DVDs.”

Tatsuo just grinned at him in return.

It was short while and something of a walk later that Paul found a gnarled old black walnut tree in the surrounding forest. It’s girth was encircled by a shimenawa rope made of plaited rice straw.. or at least, Paul thought it might be, it could be hemp. It was hard to tell under the moss that colonised every inch of the rope giving it a velvety texture in verdant green. Still, he thought as he found a spot to sit among the tree’s twisted roots, it was pretty much a sure thing that kodama inhabited the tree. Shimenawa ropes around a tree meant it was sacred, and that usually meant a kodama at least lived there.

Taking out a bamboo flute he’d borrowed from the village on his way out, he took a breath, and started to play. The melody was tuneless, wandering like a lazy stream sending notes darting among trees, bright in the frosty air.

It wasn’t long before he heard the faint echoing sound of the forest spirits, a ko ko k-k-k-ka.. noise similar to wood knocking against wood. Minutes afterwards he had an enthralled ring of onlookers. The kodama were instantly recognisable to anyone who watched a certain popular animated movie. They stood roughly a foot high, pale white to the point of being translucent in the sparkling stray sunbeams under the tree canopy, their faces featureless save for three cartoonish black holes for a mouth and eyes.

Kodama don’t speak, although Paul was uncertain if that because they couldn’t or just didn’t, but he’d had some success ‘talking’ to them before. He had no idea how, but somehow he just… knew what they were trying to convey. Apparently one of the quirks or perks of being Inari’s Herald, at least so he guessed. Or perhaps it was a gift from the Kirin he’d met one winters evening. He’d always had a facility for languages, and for reading what was unspoken. However since that snowy evening, it seemed like his ability was turned up to eleven. Provided he was actually paying attention that is.

So, he sat and talked, asking questions, as he watched the kodama for responses. It was bit like trying to guess what cards someone was holding, without them saying. The kodama weren’t hiding anything deliberately, but they weren’t being verbally forthcoming either. Their expressions however, were eloquent.

After half an hour Paul was fairly certain he’d gotten the gist of it. Someone had been sneaking into the village. They hadn’t been climbing in over the wall however, but instead had been climbing, or possibly abseiling, down the cliff face where the plateau met the mountain’s shoulder.

It made sense, the wall enclosed the village on three sides. The side facing away from the mountain was a steep cliff down, not far but difficult to climb due to rocky overhangs. The mountain rose slightly to the west, a continuation of the ridge that plateau was part of, opposite that was the slope down, running diagonally across the mountain face. But at the back of the Oni’s village fastness, was a sheer rock face springing vertically upwards for about a hundred feet, where the ancient miners had quarried away the mountain, widening the natural plateau.

Somehow, someone was descending that, bypassing the Oni’s defences. It was a route that gave them easy access to the lean-to shed that backed onto the cliff face, where the tools were kept. That is, if one didn’t mind a hundred foot drop, in the dark, into a village full of not particularly welcoming oni.

Paul would be the first to admit he’d done some crazy things in his day, including sneaking into the encampment of a rather nasty warlord and freeing several hostages who were friends of Paul. However, whoever was doing this was crazy enough that Paul was impressed by their courage at least. The oni probably wouldn’t have killed the intruder if they’d caught them, at least Paul thought not. They’d reformed somewhat in recent weeks. But whomever was doing this, wouldn’t know that. Whoever was sneaking in of a night either had some serious confidence in their abilities or were almost suicidaly reckless… or both.

Paul sighed, realising that he’d have to inspect the top of the cliff… which either meant a long walk spiraling around the shoulder of the mountain, or a somewhat shorter but harder climb. Standing up, as the kodama faded away going back to whatever it was they did, Paul decided to head back to the oni village. He’d need supplies, a packed lunch, and of course he’d need to tell someone at least where he was going, just in case. Upon consideration, he would see if Yuko or Yuri were available to come with him. Having one or two strapping and heavily armed Oni as body guards sounded like a sensible precaution. That, and he could almost hear Inari’s scolding already if he didn’t!

It was around midday that Paul paused, they’d been walking a winding path up the mountain, taking advantage of the natural ridge line that Oni village’s plateau was a part of. Paul was feeling a bit winded, ruefully he thought he hadn’t been getting as much exercise as he ought. But still, it was more of a hike than a climb.

He looked back over his shoulder at the pair of Oni sisters, and blinked in surprise. Neither of them had said anything, but now he looked he could see they were suffering. Both were sheened with sweat, despite the cool spring breeze. Yuri had fallen back from taking point sometime earlier and now had her track suit top tied around her waist. Her ruby red eyes were glazed and she was breathing hard as she held her axe over her shoulder. Some way behind her, Yuri’s sister Yuko was in a worse state, her jade green eyes were unfocused and she was panting like a greyhound at the end of race. Her iron club trailed limply on the ground, loosely held in one hand by what Paul suspected was sheer ingrained reflex only.

Glancing round he spied a mossy bank next to one of the many natural springs. Placing two fingers in his mouth, he whistled piercingly and the waved at the Oni trailing behind him.

“Hoi! Rest break!”

The pair of exhausted Oni needed no second urging, even walking a bit faster than their tried trudging pace of before.

As he walked slowly towards the bubbling spring, Paul watched the pair, somewhat perplexed. Sure it had been a hard hike so far, and yes he was rather out of practice… but they were in a state of near collapse from exhaustion. Which seemed rather unwarranted under the circumstances.

Once they reached the mossy area, both sisters just fell to the ground like runners at the end of marathon. Paul dug out the canteen from his loaned backpack, and filling it directly from the upwelling, passed it to them with words of caution to drink slowly so the cold water wouldn’t give them stomach cramps.

After a couple of energy bars and onigri rice balls each, Yuri at least looked alert enough to hold a conversation. Yuko was flat on her back, eyes closed, her moss-green hair merging with the verdant ground under her. If it hadn’t been for the steady rise and fall of her crop-top clad chest she could’ve been mistaken for a corpse she was so still.

Paul sighed, and broke the silence.

“Yuri…”

“Paul-sama, I apologise for our sorry state. I am ashamed to say we are so unfit, as to be incapable of protecting you. I…”

“Do not say you’ll atone for it. It was as much my fault for not noticing you and your sisters distress and setting the pace accordingly.”

Yuri blinked, and then shook her head, sending the sweat-soaked strands of her flaming red hair whipping across her face. Wiping them away she sighed.

“Very well Paul-sama. I haven’t the strength to argue with you anyway.”

Paul smiled, albeit a bit crookedly.

“Well, that was the quickest I’ve ever won an argument with an oni, I should’ve thought of this before. Just wait until they’re dropping from exhaustion and they’ll roll over.”

Yuri snorted.

“I don’t think I have the energy to even do that.”

Paul chuckled. Then sobering he quietly asked.

“I would however like an explanation. You pair are probably the strongest oni in your clan.. so what gives? How come that couple of hours hike up a not all that steep path wiped you out?”

Yuri didn’t answer straight away, she crawled over to the spring, dunked her head, then vigorously shook it sending water droplets flying. Yuko didn’t even stir as the cold water sprinkled over her where she lay.

Moving to sit with her back to a tree, Yuri sighed and looked back up at Paul.

“I am not entirely sure. I mean, I can guess at the causes, but I’m not sure which if any is more responsible. But to start with, we rose at 5 this morning, before dawn, to do weight training at Silverman’s gym in town. Then before you came, on the way back we jogged from the bus stop at the foot of the mountain to the village.”

Paul blinked, that climb left him winded, the idea of jogging it after a weights session made his limbs ache just at the thought!

“Okayyy.. you two had already burned though most of your stamina already, that makes sense.”

Yuri shook her head.

“No… because we’d normally do combat practice in the afternoon. This shouldn’t have left us like this!”

Paul stared at the Oni girl for a moment, then shook his head slowly.

“You two are gluttons for punishment. Alright, I’ll take your word that you should’ve been able to manage. So what’s the reason for your state of exhaustion now?”

“I… don’t know. I and my sister have both been ill with something lately. Unable to catch our breath, headaches and lack of strength. Not all the time, it comes and goes. But this feels like that only much, much worse.”

Paul frowned, the symptoms she was describing sounded familiar, but if it was what he thought it was, it was an even greater mystery why the rest of the Oni were unaffected. Seeking to confirm his suspicion, Paul asked Yuri.

“When you go into town, do the symptoms go away?”

Yuri blinked, then nodded.

“Yes Paul-sama, although I hadn’t noticed the pattern before, you’re right.”

Paul nodded slowly, then as a thought struck him asked.

“No-one else in the village is sick like you two, right?”

Yuri nodded, looking puzzled at Paul. Paul sighed and lay down flat, and after a moment spoke.

“I should’ve realised… the clue is in the names. My Mandarin is spotty, but Rìchūshān means something like sunrise mountains, and every other family name in the clan is something or other shān, meaning mountain. Pretty sure that they were originally a mountain dwelling tribe.”

Yuri if anything, was looking more bewildered by Paul’s explanation. Paul lifted his head, and seeing her expression shrugged.

“That plateau sits at about a thousand meters, a third higher up than the temple and much, much higher than the mine you’ve been living in recently. We’re currently about half that much higher again, not high enough to affect a human. Also it’s not hitting the rest of the clan, because they have genes that allow them to cope, but you two are adopted. In fact, I would hazard a guess your parents came from a low land tribe of Oni. You two even look physically different, more bulky with muscle rather than lean and wiry like the others.. um... for Oni that is.”

Yuri slowly nodded…

“I… understand that part of your reasoning, but what is wrong with us? Why are my sister and I ill? Is it some disease that mountain oni are immune to?”

Paul nodded.

“In a manner of speaking, yes. You and Yuko have altitude sickness. We’re up high enough that there’s a bit less oxygen in the air. Which given Oni physique, I suspect that it’s probably something all Oni are more susceptible to than humans. All that muscle and high burn metabolism would have a high oxygen demand… It’s just that the rest of your clan have latent adaptations that allow them to cope better than you two, who don’t.”

Yuri flopped back down flat with a groan.

“So… another thing that marks us out as different, not really of the clan.”

Paul sat up and shook Yuri’s shoulder, or tried to, as he might as well been trying to shove a bolder aside.

“Hey, stop that! Ok you two were adopted rather than born into the clan. But that just means they chose you instead. After all, given that at the time they barely had enough to feed all of themselves, taking on an extra pair says they really wanted you.”

Yuri huffed, rolling her head to look at Paul through one eye.

“You think so?”

“I know so. Tatsuo trusts you to look after Jiao after all, above all of the others.”

“That is so. That’s why we’re trying to get stronger, so we’re worthy of his trust.”

Paul grinned slightly.

“Plus, I gather Silverman’s gym is only a couple of streets over from the school.”

Yuri chuckled nodding. Sobering she frowned at Paul.

“Hoi, Paul-sama… do you know how to fix this?”

Slowly Paul nodded, then reluctantly spoke.

“I do… but you’re not going to like it. The only way to overcome altitude sickness in the long term is to train at altitude. You’ll have to work out in the village, or maybe lower down a bit, and work your way up so you body adapts.”

Yuri groaned.

“I thought it might be that, I hoped not. But as you said, we’re training at Silverman’s so we’re near the school…”

Paul was silent for a minute, then spoke thoughtfully.

“The diving training centre is only a short walk from the school. They have a pressure chamber there. I don’t know if it works as a hypo rather than hyper bariatric chamber, but it might be worth asking. Or come to think of it, I could try asking Major Yagi. Pretty sure the JSDF probably has to deal with the same problem, maybe they’ll have a better idea.”

Paul stood, and looked down at the two wiped out Oni.

“Look, I’m not sure how much use you two are in your current state.”

Yuri started to protest, only to be shushed by Paul.

“Think Yuri, your sister is out cold more or less, you’re like a wet noodle… be realistic.”

Yuri sighed, and reluctantly nodded.

“I hate it Paul-sama, but yes. We… we should head back down. I mean all three of us, since it might not be safe for you to go on ahead alone.”

Paul grinned ruefully.

“Now who’s reading minds? Ok… compromise? You two head back down, and send someone back up to take your place. I’m reluctant to leave as whomever is doing this is clearly escalating their behavior, and I don’t want to lose an entire day to this.”

Yuri grimaced, but reluctantly nodded.

“Alright… but you stay here. No forging ahead, or ‘just exploring a bit’ . You stay here, in this glade.”

Paul sighed, thinking they were getting far too used to him.

“Ok, ok… I’ll behave, because if I don’t you’ll tell Inari, right?”

Yuri nodded slowly, with a grim expression on her face.

Parts of Traditional Japanese Men’s Wear

Tatsuo’s Kimono and Hakama

Tatsuo’s haori overcoat