Zaniel is not listening. Rather than follow his protector, or worry about this new-found urgency, Zaniel has stopped in his tracks. Under the floor beneath him, he sees the Yokai, swimming after him. He holds in a gasp. She seems trapped, until she waves up at him. Zaniel snaps his head up. Akki is far away, already past the koi pond at the entrance. “Kid, you listenin’? I said, you got it?”

“Yes, Akki-sama.”

“Well, come on, then! Let’s get you outta here, before they put you on the menu.”

Akki watches the young man reluctantly follow. He cannot put his finger on Zaniel. The boy is actin’ strange. Stranger than usual, which coming from a yokai is saying something. What is he doing here, during “oni only” of all times? Another yokai could not have brought him. Who would be that foolish? He watches Zaniel now as the young man crosses the stone bridge, looking back over his shoulder as if pining for something. Perhaps Hino had the right notion — maybe Zaniel came here trying to prove something to himself. In the end, Akki decides not to drag out a lecture tonight. Whatever his reasoning, he believes Zaniel has learned his lesson. This new ultimatum will suffice.

Akki ducks his head through the sliding doors into the pitch darkness that will take him back out onto the streets of Osaka. He does not see Zaniel look over his shoulder one last time at the Yokai, now peeking above the surface of the koi pond. She watches him longingly, unable to follow, for the fish are tugging at her long white robe.

“Come, child,” says one of the koi. “Let’s go eat some more and dance until dawn!”

“You don’t want to mess with that one, child,” says another. “That boar god is dangerous. And that human will only draw his ire to you. You don’t want that.”

“Boar god?” the Yokai asks the fish.

“Yes, join us!” They ignore her query. “Show us what else you can eat, little one.”

“I’m not little!” But the Yokai is laughing. She has already forgotten about the man with the grey eyes and his samurai protector. She wades neck-deep through the water, then lets the water close over her head as the demons dance above the surface, wading up to their knees from the restaurant shore. The demons dance and dance until the eventual arrival of the dawn. Meanwhile, the Yokai sleeps at the bottom of her ocean, underneath all their antics and mayhem, warm and satiated, content and complete.

PART II

seven

A VERY IMPORTANT DATE

七転び八起き

Fall down seven times, get up eight

It hurts to open my eyes. The curtains of my apartment are drawn, but it still feels like there’s a flashlight on my face. It’s boiling in here, and the room smells of … what the heck is that?