"If you don't want to get hurt, then get out of my way."
The man sized up Youko and the sword. He chortled, "You even know how to use that thing?"
Wordlessly Youko raised the sword, aligning the tip with the man's throat. This was a dangerous weapon she'd been given, this claw of hers, this talon. "Move it. Go back to the restaurant. Your friends are waiting for you."
Nearby somebody shouted. Youko did not avert her gaze. Raising a sword in the middle of the street like this would no doubt cause a disturbance, but now was not the time to second-guess herself. The man's eyes flicked back and fro between Youko and the tip of the sword. Slowly he retreated. Just as he seemed ready to turn and run back into the restaurant, a scream reverberated across the street.
"That girl! Somebody grab that girl!"
Youko looked in the direction of the voice. Takki was standing in the door of the restaurant yelling at her. An awful anger engulfed her, an awful thing like what she had seen in her dreams, like a blood-red tide engulfing the sea.
"She's running away. Get her!"
The disgust that Youko felt welling up inside her almost made her sick. It was directed as much at herself as it was at that woman, who had deceived her with a beatific smile on her face.
People were flooding out of the restaurant and gathering in from the adjacent streets. Youko didn't let down her guard. She flipped the hilt of the sword over in her hand, brandishing the wide blade. Whether or not anybody ended up dead, that was up to Jouyuu. And if it went as far as somebody trying to arrest her again, well, there was a small part of her that wouldn't be too averse to a bit of killing, either.
Nobody will have you as an ally in this world.
She thought Takki was going to help her. She was so thankful to her. Over and over she had thanked her lucky stars. She'd really believed, that's what made it so sickening.
She made note of the men rushing towards her. Jouyuu's tendrils crawled through the arms and down her legs. Her body moved with an extraordinarily natural grace. Every obstruction before her she shut out of her mind.
"Get her! Get her! She cost me a fortune!"
At the sound of Takki's hysterical voice Youko glanced back over her shoulder. For a moment the deceived and the deceiver locked eyes. With a frightened expression Takki retreated two, three steps. Youko stared her down with cold eyes, steeled herself against the rush of men. She dodged the first and second, smacked the third with the blade.
Almost before she knew it the men had gathered in a human wall around her. Youko clucked softly to herself. Cutting her way through without killing anybody wasn't going to be easy.
Takki stamped her feet on the ground. "Catch her and there's a reward in it for you!"
From the back of the crowd came a scream. The crowd turned as one, and in that same instant the grating, noisy shrieks were that much closer.
"What's going on?".
"She'll get away."
"No, over there."
The human wall swayed to and fro. Youko surveyed the street beyond them. A wave of people bore down on them. The people cried out as they ran away from something, scrambling frantically not to be left behind.
"Youma."
Youko's arm responded in a flash.
"A youma … . "
"A bafuku!"
"Get out of here!"
The human wall crumbled and scattered. Within it, Youko set off at a run. From behind her echoed a scream. She saw a beast mowing down everyone in front of it as it galloped along. It was a huge tiger. The tiger had a human face stained with splotches of red. Youko ran down the street, dancing out of the way of people diving for cover in the surrounding shops and stores.
The tiger quickly closed the distance between them. She had no choice but to stop and make her stand.
She faced the tiger's disconcertingly human expression, regripped the hilt of the sword and settled into her stance. The tiger charged at her in a gust of wind. She pivoted to the side and brought the sword down with all her might. A spray of blood accompanied the sound of impact and she knew she could have avoided the blood if she hadn't closed her eyes in the moment that the blow landed.
She slashed at the striped limbs, skipping out of the way as it toppled over, and took off at a run. The beast roused itself, chased after her. She parried with the sword, feinted with her feet, raced down an alleyway.
She emerged into the main thoroughfare and found there a crowd of people who hadn't grasped exactly what was going on. "Get out of the way!"
At the sound of Youko's voice and the sight of the beast chasing after her, the crowd scattered.
And then … .
"What?"
There in the distance, a flash of gold. It was beyond the crowd, too far away to make out any facial features. She didn't have the time to take a good, long look, but she knew that kind of golden hair was out of the ordinary.
"Keiki!"
Without thinking, she set off after him. In the next moment the golden glow was swallowed up in the stampede of human beings.
"Keiki?"
A shadow fell suddenly across the sun. The huge tiger sailed over Youko's head. The youma landed amongst the fleeing throng. People screamed, trampled beneath the huge paws. Youko checked her forward motion and ducked out of the way.
Keiki? Who else could it have been?
She didn't have time to think about it. She slammed another blow into the pursuing beast. Then, taking advantage of the confusion all around her, slipped away through the streets of Kasai.
3-8
The monkey said, "I told you so."
It was the middle of the night. The monkey's head floated above the stone marker standing at the side of the road. After leaving Kasai and wandering about for a while, Youko had continued on down the highway.
She was on her own again. In the process she'd ended up with Takki's rucksack. In the bag was a change of clothes and Takki's purse. There was enough money in her purse that if she ate and slept in cheap dives along the way she could make it last a bit. The theft didn't bother her conscience a bit.
"I warned you, silly girl."
Youko ignored him. The glowing blue head tagged along, as if skating next to her as she walked along silently. Youko zoned out the monkey and its screeching laughter. She knew she'd been a fool to let herself be fooled so badly. She didn't need to hear it from the monkey as well.
Besides, she had more pressing things on her mind than the monkey, such as the gold-haired man she'd seen in Kasai, and the appearance of the youma in the middle of the city.
Youma are never supposed to go where people live.
Takki had said as much, said that it was rare that such a thing should happen.
Youma never show up in the middle of the day.
The tiger in Kasai, the dog-like creatures that attacked the wagon, the kochou that had shown up at her school, they had shown up during the day or in the early evening. But they were the exceptions.
Was it because Keiki was there?"
The monkey's piercing laughter interrupted her mid-thought. "Little girl, it's because you're such an easy mark!"
This was impossible for her to ignore. "It's not!"
"Oh, but it is. Think about it carefully, little girl. Even you find it most strange, do you not?"
Youko bit her lip. She was determined to believe in Keiki. If she couldn't believe in him, she would have nothing to fall back on. Nevertheless, her doubts continued to grow.
"He pulled the wool over your eyes, little girl. He gave you the shaft, he did."
"No, he didn't."
"I simply cannot comprehend this stubbornness of yours." The monkey said, laughing, "Unless it's your way of refusing to see what a fine fix you really are in."