Zaniel is gaping at her. That’s it. A normal person. His mind races to the past. Akki had said something along those lines himself. He had smelled her. Human-looking … Perhaps he was not far off. After all, she had grabbed that nightmare from the bowl with her bare hands and — and eaten it.

A human-looking yokai. There is only one way to be sure of any of this.

He walks back over to the Yokai and kisses her.

A dream within a dream in which a dark room awaits. It would be pitch-black were it not for the large patch of sunlight inching its way in through the hole in one wall. Most of the tables in the room are flipped over, chairs thrown helter-skelter here and there. One table remains upright, its top covered in empty dishes, bottles, and casks. And somewhere in the disorder of it all, the bowl of kitsune udon the Yokai left uneaten, save for the one tofu pocket nightmare she managed to gulp down.

That is her singular desire.

I can read her. She is part human.

He pulls away but keeps his hands pressed against her hooded face. “Wake up. Do you understand me? You’re dreaming. You need to wake up.”

The Yokai opens her eyes. Fear glosses over her face. Then a slow, steady smile spreads across her lips. She laughs. “What are you, an alarm clock? We’re fine. I don’t think that dude is coming back. And get your hands off my face, they’re freezing.”

She gently pulls at his hands. Her skin is warmer than anything he has ever felt. He can feel himself seeping into another dream, so he wrenches his hands away. The Yokai steps back, startled. “Geez, you are scared. It’s okay. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“You don’t have that choice, here.” Zaniel stares at her, hard. He must make her understand, somehow. “You have to listen to me. For once. I want you to focus. Focus on what I’m telling you, now.”

“Ugh. Fine. Okay.”

“Close your eyes.” He does his best to keep his voice steady when she obeys. The fear inside him makes his body tremble, or perhaps it is the cold chill of the lake water pooling at their feet. “Now, feel around yourself. No, don’t move your hands. Feel where you are. Your bed. Your pillow. The horizontality of your body. You can feel it all, can’t you?”

“I do feel something.”

“Then you know what I’m telling you is true. You’re asleep. You’re dreaming, right now. And if you don’t wake up, that man you just saved me from will come and get you. We need to wake up before that happens.”