Relwing

  1.60: Break a LegWe moved through a narrow one-way street lined with evenly spaced trees, their shadows stretching along the pavement like long, watchful fingers. The road opened up into a broader boulevard ahead, where a convenience store glowed like a tiny lighthouse. Towering skyscrapers rose around us like silent giants as we approached the corner.

  Rui pointed sharply to the right.“The tower is in that direction… At the end of this block. There may be people around, so maybe he’ll restrain himself. Being seen using whatever powers he has would destroy his reputation instantly.”

  She reached into her purse and produced a small digital camera like it was a concealed weapon.“This is backup pn two. If he’s foolish enough to use his abilities, I’ll snap a picture. Photographic evidence will have him in handcuffs before sunrise.” Rui cackled with gremlin delight.

  “It’s a clever pn,” Natalia-sama nodded warmly. “But let us not assume defeat. We have my masterwork right here!” She patted my shoulder proudly. “We will win this.”

  I gaped at the sudden spotlight being on me.Why was I her masterwork…? Why did that make my stomach flutter…?

  Akuchi suddenly leapt ahead with dramatic energy, puffing indignantly. “Why did no one comment on my genius performance earlier?!”

  “It was brilliant,” Rui said with a teasing smile. “You did far better than expected. Honestly… you may have done an even better job than Reiko-chan herself.”

  “Was it authentic?” Akuchi turned toward my noh-mask helmet, gazing up at me with wide hopeful eyes.

  I tilted my head and let out a soft ugh. “I cried a little. You disturbed me… by saying things she really would have said… even though you never met her. They weren’t things she ever would have said to me. She never could love me. Now I know why. It wasn’t my face. She loved women. She might’ve pretended with that Mitsuhiko bastard for the sake of her work and maybe for Rui, but I don’t think she would have done that to me. She was always sincere with me.”

  “I accept you, Susumu-sama!” Akuchi said, beaming as she closed the distance to hug me.

  But Rui darted in quickly, catching Akuchi’s movement and blurring in between us, grabbing me around the middle. “I accept you too.”

  I blinked.

  “YOU LIAR!” Akuchi fumed, gring at Rui.

  Rui stuck out her tongue and smiled.

  Natalia-sama and Ume-chan exchanged a warm, knowing smile… and then they rushed in on either side to join the growing group embrace. Ume squeezed me gently.“You’re one of us, a yokai. Even if you got your humanity back, you’ll always be one. We all accept you, Susu.”

  Natalia-sama’s smile could have lit the entire street.“I accept you as well. And you’re welcome to model my fashion anytime. I’ll even pay you! If you don’t mind using that fine butt for billboards again, I’ll design all-new advertising angles.”

  “K-Kami…” My knees weakened. My face heated inside my mask. I didn’t know whether to ugh or cry or just fall over.

  This was like a sports team huddle before making a py… but far more emotional.

  Everyone chuckled. Then Akuchi sprinted the remaining few steps to throw herself into the group hug.“Yay! Best friends forever!” she giggled, bouncing like a bubbly version of Reiko-chan that had never existed in reality.

  “Alright, enough of all this cuddliness!” Rui wriggled free from the pile. “We can’t pause too long. Akuchi needs to get into position.”

  We all nodded and split apart, hurrying along the boulevard. My heart hammered as Rui pointed ahead to a rge vehicle parked along the street. More trees lined the sidewalk, offering cover. We crouched behind the vehicle.

  Akuchi took a deep breath. “Wish me luck,” she whispered.

  “Break a leg!” Rui called.

  I watched Akuchi turn back toward us, her grin wide and bright… and then she dashed toward the front of the building, full of nervous determination.

  Rui scooted deeper behind cover, clutching her camera. Ume squeezed in beside her… both of them were far easier to conceal. Natalia-sama and I crouched lower behind the vehicle.

  Akuchi halted on the decorative cobblestone edging the street near a manhole. She fidgeted, embodying docility and anxiety so convincingly it made me feel nervous. We all held our breath, staring from the shadows, waiting.

  Seconds passed.Nothing.

  Akuchi’s fidgeting intensified.The moon above shone brilliantly, washing the street in cold silver.

  I opened my mouth to whisper—

  —and then Akuchi vanished.

  I gaped, my eyes bulging so hard they nearly popped out of my mask. One moment Akuchi was fidgeting nervously…… and the next she was simply gone.Erased from existence.

  Rui sucked in a sharp breath. “T-Traitor!”

  “Don’t be hasty to judge.” Natalia-sama caught Rui’s shoulder firmly. “A concealment spell was cast. We have no choice but to move closer. This Mitsuhiko… he’s extremely cautious. He must wield sorcery of some sort. We need to approach the building… quietly and quickly. Do not be seen.”

  Rui nodded once, her expression hardening.Ume smiled faintly at Natalia-sama. “You really are perceptive…”

  We slipped around the back of the vehicle, pressing ourselves low to the ground as we crept along the building’s exterior. Shrubs and pnters lined the foundation, offering patchy, precious cover. As soon as we crossed what must’ve been the edge of the concealment spell…

  …a strange sensation washed over me.

  And then I saw them.

  Mitsuhiko stood before Akuchi, as clear as day.

  Akuchi’s posture was anxious, her shoulders trembling slightly.The man before her wore an immacute, expensive suit… completely pristine, as if he’d just stepped out of a boardroom meeting rather than attending a cndestine supernatural rendezvous.

  “I’m so sorry… can you forgive me for leaving?” Akuchi whispered, her voice small.

  “Of course, my dear. Your sins are forgiven.”Mitsuhiko pced a hand gently atop her head.

  My heartrate stuttered, a chill creeping through my body.

  Something was wrong.Very wrong.

  He said he’d have a car waiting… yet there was no vehicle in sight. No headlights. No engine. No driver. Nothing.

  My hand tightened reflexively on Rui’s shoulder. “It’s a trap! We have to save her!”

  Rui jumped at my sudden urgency. The others gnced toward me, brows raised.

  “I… I don’t think so,” Rui whispered. “It still seems genuine…”

  But my instincts screamed otherwise.

  “Kami… no.” I grit my teeth and unched myself toward Akuchi.

  She stiffened immediately, terror exploding across her expression. Her eyes widened… huge, shining with fear… as she reached toward me.

  “MASTER!!”

  Mitsuhiko’s fingers twisted harshly into her hair and yanked her backward. Pain fshed across her face…

  … Right before she burst into a cloud of dust.

  “AKUCHI—!!”I skidded to a halt directly before him, my breath hitching as the dust swirled around us. I snapped into a fighting stance, fists trembling.

  When the cloud finally dispersed…

  … His arctic eyes were fixed on me, cold and unwavering.

  “Ah… so this was meant to be a trap,” he mused. He rexed his posture with unsettling calm. “I expected as much.” Then he ughed… soft, amused, condescending. “Who orchestrated all this? How outrageous. Tell me—who are you? You must know Reiko, that much is clear, of course. And you know of me. To find a foolish tanuki who could mimic her so convincingly… yes. You must have known her very well.”

  “You—! How did you know?” I shouted, rage flooding me. “Her performance was fwless!”

  Mitsuhiko chuckled again, folding his hands with smug composure.“Fwless, you say? Shall I expin my genius?” He tilted his head, a derisive smile spreading. “Firstly… Reiko’s breasts were never that rge. That was the tanuki’s first mistake. Did none of you notice that?”

  I choked. How intimately did he know her body?!My mind recoiled from imagining them together.I knew they’d slept together but… Kami, hearing it like this…

  “The second mistake,” he continued casually, “was behavior. Reiko would never bow her head. Not ever. I admired that about her, although it was very frustrating. Oh, she might have broken after what I put her through, but judging from how she behaved the st time I saw her… I simply couldn’t believe it. This tanuki clearly didn’t know her.” His eyes narrowed with disdain. “And no matter how close you got to her, boy… you never knew her heart or mind either.”

  His dismissive ughter burned under my skin, igniting a violent desire to smash his smug face in.

  “Enough of the tanuki,” Mitsuhiko said smoothly, flicking imaginary dust from his sleeve. “Let’s discuss your mistakes.”

  His eyes cut toward me… sharp, knowing.

  “I sensed you the moment you crossed the boundary of my spell. And I knew instantly you weren’t alone.” He smiled, thin and cruel. “The moment I was notified, my suspicions of treachery were confirmed.”

  He chuckled, low and chilling.“I actually considered humoring that foolish tanuki tonight. We would go on a delightful date, as she put it.”The ughter sharpened… icy.“Hahahaha… but you forced my hand. What happened to that pitiful yokai is on your head.”

  His arm lifted.

  Something glinted in his hand. It was aimed directly at me.

  “Oh, it’s time for a little conversation,” he purred. “Shall I tell you the sad tale of Reiko? It’s quite tragic, truly. I regret it deeply. All those sins she committed… I simply couldn’t bear them any longer. She fought like a little demon, but it was futile. In the end—”

  KRA-BOOOM—!!

  The nearest manhole exploded.

  A huge metal cover bsted into the air like a unched saucer, spinning wildly above our heads. A fsh of brilliant light surged upward as a getinous, glowing mass erupted from the sewer.

  A familiar, wobbling body—the amorphous silhouette—the shimmering gel…

  My heart leapt.

  “RICKEY!! GET HIM!!” I screamed, my voice cracking in sheer relief and excitement.

  Rickey let out a wet, furious snarl… a sound a slime absolutely should not be capable of making… and shot forward like a liquid missile.

  He enveloped Mitsuhiko in a single blink.

  SHLORP—!!

  The man didn’t even have time to gasp before the glowing mass swallowed him whole.But I saw it—That flicker of fearThat fsh of real panic… right before he disappeared into Rickey’s getinous embrace.

  “RICKEY!! GOOD BOY—!!” I shouted, bouncing on my toes like my soul had burst into glitter.

  Behind me, the girls rushed over.

  Rui stumbled to my side, ughing softly… through sniffles. “He… he really did it. He killed her…” Her voice cracked.

  Then her expression twisted… no, darkened… into something far sharper than grief.

  Hatred.Pure, seething hatred.Bloodlust so sharp it made my breath hitch.

  Her eyes glowed with it as she hissed:

  “Devour him, Rickey.”