Oh.

Unlike the tightly packed city and tunnels they had just left, the place they now looked out on was vast, the few buildings present scattered and low, decaying under a steel-grey sky that felt like a heavy weight ready to fall and crush them all flat.

Mou led the way out onto the wide dirt streets, where the darkness crawled upwards towards the grey sky. “Lady Eitsubyou?”

Eitsu had not moved.

The fur all down her back and neck stood upright, her lips curling to show long, sharp teeth and black gums. She wanted to retch, maybe, to run, the sky claustrophobic on her face.

“Lady Eitsubyou?”

How could that shinigami stand there so unaffected? With her belly almost to the ground, Eitsu crawled out into that open, oppressive space.

Mou resumed walking, steadily heading out across the dust.

Her breath coming in shallow, panting gasps, Eitsu followed.

There was no-one else there, aside from the two of them.

No one.

Right?

So why did Eitsu feel like she was being watched?

The broad street they were walking down was strewn with fabrics, torn rags of hemp, ragged skeins of silk tumbling through the dust, scraps of ramie hanging limp in gaping windows and doorways.

Something wrapped around one of Eitsu's ankles, and she shook it absently as she crawled after Mou.

The something did not dislodge.

Eitsu kicked her foot harder, thinking it was a piece of fabric. When it still failed to let go, she looked around.

It was hair.

Long strands of black hair crept out from the darkened ground, wrapping tightly around her limb. More were reaching for another of her feet; she hissed and scratched at them, her sharp claws slicing through, but the severed hairs were quickly replaced with more.

“Eitsu-chan? Eitsu-chan?” a voice sang out to her, one that sounded somewhat familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. It sounded a little distorted and raspy, as if the speaker had a sore throat.

“Eitsu-chan... Come back... I'll be good to you... I promise... I won't be so needy anymore... I'm so lonely...”

On all fours, a woman crept after the hair. Her face was distorted, purpled and swollen, with blackened spots speckling her cheeks and chin. A long, dried tongue protruded from her cracked lips.

“Eitsu-chan...”

The bulging, bloodshot eyes rolled madly before settling on Eitsu's face. As the woman crept nearer, Eitsu could see a livid red welt that ran across her throat.

Eitsu crawled backwards. The woman crawled forwards.

“I didn't mean to get upset,” the woman sang wheedlingly. “I made you angry, didn't I? I'm sorry... I'm sorry...”

Eitsu squinted all of her golden eyes, trying to discern familiar features on the woman's bloated face and coming up with nothing.

Mou stood nearby, waiting patiently. She neither moved to help Eitsu, nor actively encouraged the ghost woman. Feeling that she couldn't expect any help from the shinigami, Eitsu turned back to the onryou, whose hair was now entangled around two of her feet.

“... Ino?”

“No.”

“Okiku?”

“NO.”

“... Yoshino-chan¹A bit of history, Yoshino was the working name of one of the earliest tayu/courtesans whose name has been documented..”

“NO! WHO ARE ALL THESE WOMEN?” the ghost shrieked. Her hair shot out and grabbed more and more of Eitsu, pulling the kaibyou into a tangled embrace. The bloodshot eyes rolled.

“... Mitsui... Toi?”

The effect was immediate. The onryou recoiled, her hair receding with her.

“No... No... I'm not... It's not... Eitsu-chan... Why did you leave? … I'm sorry... Please come back...”

Under Eitsu's many eyes, she retreated slowly back into the darkness, whimpering. Within moments, she had disappeared into shadow once more.

Eitsu stood shakily on humanoid legs. Vivid red marks laced her ankles and wrists, a gross mimicry of the red patterns she had worn on her skin at the Hyakki Yagyo. She stared at them with a dark expression, then shook herself, and a coat of black fur sprouted up to cover them.

She stumbled over to Mou, who immediately returned to walking.

They proceeded in silence for a space of five incense.

“She hanged herself five moons after you left.”

“Did I ask?”

“She searched for you obsessively. Her businesses quickly-”

“Now you're just making this up. Did I bed your father or something? You don't seem to like me.”

“Shinigami can see the deaths of all those who dwell in Yomi. As well as a certain amount of the lead-up to those deaths.”

“Can you see mine, then?”

“You're not a resident of Yomi.”

“Convenient for you.”

The scattered buildings and crumbling walls fell behind them and they were now walking across the dark emptiness towards an indistinct shape on the horizon. So far away was the object that for a while, the two tiny figures of the kaibyou and the shinigami seemed to be frozen in place, until at last the shape began to grow in size, resolving itself to be an enormous monolith of a rock.

“She died quickly. The cloth cut her circulation-”

“Shut. Up.”

“There was a name you said earlier... Ino, was it? Ueki no Ino?”

No.

“Hm... Let's see...”

And now, the scenery changed. An abandoned courtyard, filled with dead shrubs and dry grass. They walked past the skeleton of a large camellia, where a small stone kitsune statue lay on its side, broken at the neck.

“What are you doing?” Eitsu demanded, stopping in her tracks. “Take me to Izanami no Mikoto.”

“I am. But I did tell you, Lady Eitsubyou, that you might find this difficult.”

“You're the one making this difficult.”

Mou sighed. “I suppose? But... this must be faced, Lady.”

“I'll find my own way.”

“You're a living being. You will wander through Yomi until you fade to a shadow, and be lost forever. You must follow me.”

Eitsu clenched and unclenched her fingers.

There was a mist here that baffled the senses, even ones as sharp as Eitsu's. It parted briefly, and she caught a glimpse of a house, so familiar that her heart leapt, so decaying and fallen that her heart fell. She followed Mou helplessly to the long steps that led up to the old Ueki house.

Framed by the doorway, a young woman sat alone within, staring at the ceiling. The wooden floorboards were dusty, the tatami mats scattered and ruined.

“... Ino?” Eitsu called.

It was hard to recognise the little girl in the face of the woman who turned to look at her. She was still young, but her eyes were ringed with dark circles, her face thin and yellowed with exhaustion. Her legs were swollen, and so was her belly.

Eitsu closed her eyes. “So?”

“She was married young to the heir of the Yamada clan. She died in childbirth,” Mou explained.

“And how I this my fault?”

“What do you mean, Lady-”

“Don't bullshit me. I know what your job is. Well, you've got me. I feel guilty, congratulations. Can we keep going now?”

Mou's black eyes were flat and impassive, and she said not a single thing.

“Shika?” The young woman, the pregnant girl, looked up into Eitsu's face with eyes that grew bright in spite of their tiredness. “Shika, is that you?”

“Hello, Ino-chan.”

Hands were held out, met, clasped, and Ino was crying in Eitsu's arms. The kaibyou cradled the girl she had once known.

“Shika... I'm so glad you're here... I've been so lonely.”

The words were almost the same as those that Mitsui Toi had whimpered. But in Eitsu's thoughts there was no revulsion, only a deep, wordless sadness.

“We buried you under the camellia tree,” Ino was saying. “And then someone dug up your body and took you away... I missed you.”

“I'm here now.”

“Thank you.”

“I'm sorry.”

Ino scrubbed her eyes and frowned. “Why?”

“This... is my fault.”

“How is it your fault? I was lonely without you, Shika, but that's not your fault.” Ino rubbed her distended stomach. “Everything dies. You don't get to choose when or where. And it wasn't such a bad life. It would have been nicer if you were there, though.”

“Not bad... Is that so?”

“My husband was very good to me. He treated me well, and I lived comfortably, for that short time. I was content.”

“But now... you're here.”

“And so are you.” Ino smiled. “I'm so glad I got to see you before it was my time to pass back into the mortal world. While I still remember you. I'm so glad... Shika, you were my best friend. I've always wanted to say... Thank you.”

“But I didn't do anything,” Eitsu protested, holding Ino tight. “Every time, I don't do anything, I just bring suffering-”

“Suffering? No, you brought me so much joy. I was so happy playing with you. When you died, I was sad, but that was because of how much happiness you had brought me in the first place.” Ino leaned against Eitsu with a peaceful sigh. “I feel so lucky to have known you, Shika. And anyone who understands you would also feel the same way. I would chose to meet you again... Promise me, you'll come and find me again one day?”

“Is that what you want?”

“More than anything.”

“Then... I will.”

“Thank you.”

Did time pass? It felt as though they were holding each other forever.

“You have to go, don't you?”

“... Yeah.”

“Who are you looking for? Or... no... who are you doing this for?”

Eitsu's eyes briefly skimmed over Mou, who stood in place without a change in expression. Her mouth barely moved. “Tsubaki.”

“Ah, that amazing dancer,” Ino breathed back. “That's wonderful. You're going to save her, are you?”

“I'm going to try.”

“You'll do it.”

“How do you have such blind faith in me?”

“You walked into Yomi and found me before I left. I think that's enough.”

“But you died before I... I didn't even remember you.”

“That's okay. You remember me now.” Ino turned her face to Eitsu's chest. “You won't forget me again, I know. Now, you should go.”

“I can't leave you here!”

“Yes, you can, Shika. I'm okay. I'll be lonely, and I'll miss you, but that's what happens when someone is dear to you. But there is someone very important waiting for you, isn't there?” Ino sat back. Her hands drifted to her stomach once more. “Besides, I'm not entirely alone. Go now. Don't look back.”

Eitsu planted her lips to the middle of Ino's forehead. A red mark flashed briefly there before disappearing. “I'll find you.”

“I know.”

They squeezed hands, and Eitsu stood, and walked from the falling house. As she left the doorway, the structure pitched sideways and crumbled into the shadow.

Without a word, Mou began to walk again, heading for the monolithic rock on the horizon, until it was no longer an abstract shape in the distance, but a real object, with weight, with presence. They walked until Eitsu could reach out and touch the grey roughness of its surface.

There was a crack in the rock, large enough for an average-sized human to squeeze through. Mou stopped her, and bowed to Eitsu. “Through here please, Lady Eitsubyou.”

Eitsu looked at the dark crevice. “Izanami no Mikoto is in here?”

“Indeed, Lady Eitsubyou. Please do not try to look at Her Divine Majesty too closely.”

Having heard this cryptic advice, Eitsu stepped up to the gap. A dry scent of age was all that came from within.

And then, a voice.

“Welcome, Ane-san²姉さん - 'big sister'. Often used by yakuza/gangsters to refer to a woman above them in hierarchy. It suggests a more rough/fierce/violent undertone..”

Cold and delicate, ancient and merciless. Eitsu's claws scraped on the rock.

What was she doing here?

Who was she here for?

Remember.

If it meant that she had to lie, cheat, act, steal, fuck, cry, grovel, or pluck her own eyes out -

- She would get Tsubaki back.

She slipped into the dark.