Zaniel falls into another dream. He is back in Akki’s house, or somewhere just like it, standing in a corridor. The sound of running feet crescendos into a crash against the wall. A ghostly figure hurtles toward him, cradling a bundle of something in its arms. The figure looks left and right, not seeing him. With a panicked look it reaches out, long fingers brushing the wall. A window appears where one did not exist before. The figure lifts the bundle — a baby — to the window. Zaniel hears the Yokai’s voice as her figure takes shape.

“Go on, kid, get out of here!”

Without hesitation, the baby scrambles up to the window and flings itself over the side. A split second later the Yokai is snatched and dragged away by a teeming mass of tentacles. They, too, slowly take shape. The four demons have her. The fight continues to play out as it did before.

“Hey,” says the Yokai, now standing behind Zaniel. “That’s me.”

“Yeah.” Zaniel turns to her. He clears his throat, ignoring her confused look. This is, after all, finally his chance to talk to her. “I’m glad you’re here, you know. I owe you for what you did for me the other night. I never got the chance to thank you. No one has ever stood up for me in front of other yokai except for … well …” Now that he thinks about it, he does not really know what to call Akki. They are not friends, but he feels silly admitting he needs a protector — at least, to her. “Anyway. I’m glad I found you here. I never know when I’ll see you again.”

The Yokai looks taken aback. “Oh. You’re welcome. I guess.” She looks down, uncomfortable. “This is so weird …”

“Is it?” Now that is something Zaniel has never heard a yokai utter before. He looks down, noticing for the first time that he is still touching her, sharing her robe between them. His blush deepens. He snatches his hand away. “Sorry. I don’t usually … I mean, I didn’t mean to … I’m sorry.”

The gardens and the violet-red sky return. It is as if Zaniel has stumbled into another terrible dream. A hundred pairs of eyes stare back at him, most of them sharply shaped, glowing with the fading moon’s reflection. He is safe here, on the hill still within Akki’s domain, but the shock of their number and assortment makes beads of sweat form on his forehead.

“What happened here, boy?” A tanuki waves its paws in the air. “What did the boar god do to those squids?”