Masaru snorted. “As I said earlier, I’m the brains, and you’re the brawn, Koichi. We have a good system. It would be terrible to mess it up.”

Brains that couldn’t think ahead to get a rope . . .

He kept that thought to himself, as this wasn’t the time to start a fight. “What about you, Keiko?”

She licked her paw daintily. “It’s inelegant. Besides, one of you might look up my kimono.”

Koichi let out a disgusted sigh. Kitsune. If only he could trade one of them for an oni or something more useful . . . like a head injury.

Of course, the oni would probably eat the kid, and then where would they be?

Well, only slightly worse off than they currently were. That was the saddest part of all.

Yeah, his life really stank.

No sooner had that thought gone through his head than he noticed something . . .

The shadows were moving.

Coming closer. Manifesting weapons and growling.

“Hey, Masaru . . .”

“I see it.”

“You planning on doing something, or just taking notes?”

Masaru vanished.

Koichi was aghast. “Well, that’s just fine and dandy.” He passed an irritated smirk at Keiko as she skittered back toward the ground where they waited.

What had he expected? Masaru to stand and fight? When had Masaru ever been reliable?

Ryuichi manifested a sword out of the shadows. “I’ve got this. Stand aside. I can protect you.”

Great time for the dark yōkai to abandon them, and for Ryuichi to suddenly become noble again. All the kid could do was die against a horde of evil. “You’re not trained to battle them.”

Those words had barely left his lips before Ryuichi caught the first shadow and flung it back. The next one he actually grabbed and held on to.

Koichi’s jaw went slack as he turned toward Keiko. “Did you know he had those powers?”

She shook her fox head.

Ryuichi stood in the center of the shadows as they drew up short, now respectful of their prince.

Until something came out of the dark to tackle the boy. Koichi barely had time to register the attack as Ryuichi was tumbled several feet away from him.

He rushed after the two of them, trying to figure out what had happened. Who had grabbed the kid.

Whatever it was, it allowed the shadows to rejoin the fray. They rushed in to attack him and his companion.

“Keiko?”

“I don’t know what to do either.” She stood by helplessly.

Koichi closed his eyes, trying to use what little magic he still had from his training, but it failed him miserably. It’d been too many years and too many failures.

Not even his sword wanted to absorb the shadows now.

C’mon. You can’t fail this kid.

He’s depending on you. And if he didn’t do something fast, Ryuichi would be killed.