Akki quickly shifts his enclosed fist behind his back. In his fervour it had not occurred to him that Hino might show concern. “What are you?” he says. “A cop? Ain’t none of your business what I do with my eyes. I mean, their eyes — I mean … uh … Whatever, man, it’s the only way I can sleep!” He backs away toward the house, his burning green eyes shifting. “You’re not gonna tell the kid, are ya?”

“Tell the kid what?”

Akki relaxes. “That’s my girl! … Or, whatever y’are. I’ll see ya ’round, Hino-chan.”

Hino watches him turn and head back into the house with a blank stare. “Yes,” she shakes her head at the closing front door. “I suppose I will.”

Elsewhere, on the other side of the forest, the Yokai wakes up. She looks around, bewildered. A sliver of moonlight reveals a large clearing again. Perhaps it is the same one as before; she cannot tell. She only knows that she is all alone. The faceless people are gone.

“What …?” the Yokai says out loud. She struggles to remember how she got here. Half-remembering, the Yokai sees, in her mind, a group of children that passed by, chasing one another. Or, being chased. A vague image of an old, gawking woman floats through her memories, as well. She remembers a child left behind, screaming, swallowed up by a wall of darkness. She does not remember walking about the woods after that, but here is where she must have ended up.

“I’ve gone in circles, I guess,” she says, deciding it is best not to think about it too much. The Yokai figures it is better to preoccupy herself with how to get out of here.

Slowly, the clouds part above her, exposing a blanket of stars in a sea of violet darkness. One at a time, the stars descend on her; like fireflies, they blink as they approach. They come close, so close she can reach out and touch them. Twinkling like gold, they float down, down, down like falling leaves, then bounce along an invisible horizon above her head.

“How pretty,” she whispers.

“Wish I could say the same for you!” Someone blows a raspberry in her ear.

“Hey!” The Yokai leaps to her feet. She finds herself surrounded by blinking lights, will-o’-the-wisps of gold that now float around her. She hears laughter, but not the kind that she would want to join. Mean, threatening laughter. “Who said that?! Who’s there?!”

The laughter grows louder and more intense. “Well, well, look who it is? The freak everyone’s so scared of. What’s wrong, freak? You lost again?”

“Don’t bother explaining, freak,” one of the lights barks at her. “You ain’t welcome here. You’re the futakuchi-onna or whatever who ate Akki out of house and home. You better beat it!”