Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It started as a shotgun plan late one afternoon; “Hey let’s go up to the mountains tonight! We’ve all graduated, let’s go celebrate! My cousin just opened a hot springs place up there, she says she’ll give us a discount!”

There was a resounding agreement, and then a debate started over who should drive. It boiled down to either Maki, Shima or Rikuo. Shima’s car wasn’t big enough. Maki could’ve borrowed her aunt’s minivan, but eventually admitted that Rikuo was a better large vehicle driver than her (despite his terrifying inclination to see road rules as mere suggestions). 

She’d get him one day, she said. Just wait until they went off-roading.

And so Rikuo rolled up in his stupid rich kid Kia Carnival, bags were crammed into every conceivable space, and they set off for the mountains.

Kiyotsugu sat in the passenger seat and navigated. Kana, Maki and Torii sat in the second row of seats. In the last row sat Shima, Tsurara and Yura. 

They took a break at a rest stop at the foot of the mountains. It wasn’t well attended—the shop windows were stained, the bins hadn’t been emptied in a while, but it still provided a place to sit and watch the sun go down. Tsurara struck up a conversation with the sole attendant.

Dark blue-grey clouds were rolling over the city by now, thunder and wind bringing the promise of rain. When the first drops began to fall, they piled back into the car, and set off up the mountains.

They’d expected this part of the drive to be monotonous, but the excitement was still going. Shima and Tsurara were hanging over the back of the seats to play MarioKart with the second row; Kiyotsugu was singing along with the radio; Yura could’ve been dissociating while she waited for her turn in MarioKart, or she could’ve been sleeping with her eyes open. 

Rikuo was focusing on the road, veiled by both the rain and the oncoming night. The car was loud, filled with the sounds of the radio and Torii yelling angrily as Kana hit her with yet another red shell. Shima was hacking up a lung in the backseat while Maki cackled, not taking her eyes off the racetrack.

“You said these were Thai sweet chilli!” He accused, “These are Thai third-degree burns! What crazy—uh?”

The car had stopped. 

Rikuo was leaning over the wheel, squinting at something on the road ahead. 

A…person? They were standing quite still, shoulders slumped and head hanging low.

“Hey, Yura.” Rikuo raised his voice a little, shutting off the radio, “Yura!”

“ What do you want .”

Ah, so Yura had been sleeping with her eyes open after all.

“What’s in front of us?”

There came rustling noises, an oof from Shima, and Yura’s dark head appeared over the back of the seats to peer angrily at the person on the road.

“Human.” she announced after a moment.

Rikuo laid on the horn.

The road wasn’t exactly narrow, but this crazy was standing right in the middle of it. He couldn’t get around unless he wanted to hit the person, the cliff face, or drive the car off the mountain.

“Oh, for the—” Rikuo started to unbuckle his seatbelt, taking off his glasses and putting them on the dashboard, “They must be drunk.”

“Wait, don’t go out.” Maki said, suddenly awake, “This is too weird. What if it’s a trap?”

“Why…would it be a trap?”

“This is the most common way to get up to the mountain towns. Lots of younger people come through here on the way back from the city. People disappear up here, Nura.”

“It’ll be fine.” He assured her, “Trust me.”

“No, Rikuo, she’s right.” Kana said urgently, “This doesn’t feel right.”

Something in her tone of voice must’ve convinced him.

“Alright, I’ll take something, if it makes you guys feel better.”

A fumble for any sort of weapon ensued.

“There’s a tire iron somewhere, isn’t there?” Shima piped up from the backseat.

“It’s in the boot.” Maki dismissed, “Probably buried under luggage.”

“Oh. Toolkit? For, like, a spanner or something?”

“That’s…yeah, that might work. Check the floor back there.”

It turned out that the toolkit was also in the boot.

In the end, Rikuo left the car with a can of Skin Guard Extra.

He left the car running. As he approached the person, one hand was hovering just above his waist.

“Hey!” he called, “Hey, can you hear me?”

No response.

Slowly, he circled around. The…something about the way he moved was unsettling. It was difficult to tell who was in danger here. 

In the front seat, Kiyotsugu suddenly scrambled upright, staring out the passenger side window in horror.

“Did anyone see th—” There was a thud of knee on glovebox, “OW! DAMNIT!”

Out on the road, the person shot upright.

Rikuo let out a brief yell of surprise as they lunged at him, throwing him down onto the road. They rolled around for a few seconds before he delivered a burst of Skin Guard Extra straight to the person’s face. They shrieked, high and ululating.

Yura threw open the car door, a talisman already crackling in her hand. It lit the road up in pure white, an ear-splitting BANG echoing over the mountains.

Rikuo scrambled upright and dashed back to the car.

“THAT IS NOT A HUMAN PERSON, YURA!” he shouted, slamming the car into reverse.

“Huh?” Yura said, confusion crossing her face, “What do you mean, not human?”

“Didn’t you see its face??” he asked, taking a corner in reverse at 80 kilometres an hour, There was an emergency phone station about thirty metres down the hill — Rikuo used the parking bay to execute the fastest three-point turn of his life and took off down the mountain, doing over twice the speed limit.

The back seats were a general clamour of confusion, everyone yelling at once.

“SHUT UP, LET HIM TALK!” Maki roared.

“Its face split.” he said into the silence, “When it grabbed me, I looked into its face and it split in half . I could see its skull. Kiyo, Yura, do either of you know what kind of youkai it could be?”

“Kind of youkai ?!” Torii demanded.

“Hey, uh, Tsurara?” Shima asked. There was a sound of rustling cloth, and a soft thump. 

“Tsurara?!”

“Oikawa?” 

Oh no, Yura sounded worried. That was never good.

“What’s wrong with her?” Shima asked. The second row twisted to take a look.

“Uh, someone tell me that’s the lighting.” Maki said.

“What’s happening?!” Rikuo asked, “What’s wrong with her?!”

Even his terrifying driving skills required two eyes on the road, especially at this speed.

“She’s, uh.”

“She’s just white .” Maki said in disbelief, lifting Tsurara’s hand to compare it to her own, “I mean…I’m talking paper whi— KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD!”

“Um, I don’t mean to scare you guys.” Shima said.

He was twisted fully around, one arm hooked over his headrest as he squinted out the foggy back window.

“Nura, can you turn the back wipers on?”

“Hm? Uh, yeah, just a sec.” 

Rubber squeaked over the misted window.

Shima made a noise like a dying mouse, and plopped back down into his seat.

“Uh…”

“Is that…” Torii, whose eyesight was second only to Rikuo’s, leaned so far over the back of her seat that she nearly fell over, “You’re joking.”

“WHAT IS GOING ON?!” Rikuo shouted, “I don’t have eyes in the back of my head!!”

He was afraid. They’d never seen him afraid before. Even in the midst of haunted buildings, he’d always sported a smile and offered a comforting hand.

“I think…I think we’re being chased.” Shima managed.

There was absolute silence.

“Yura, how many talismans do you have?” Rikuo asked, fear disappearing instantly.

Yura rustled through her coin purse.

“Three, four…lotteria coupon…eight….twelve...thirteen. I’ve got thirteen, and my Shikigami summons.”

“Can you send one back?” 

“I…suppose so, yes.”

“Please do. I don’t want that thing to catch up to us. Kiyotsugu, open my phone. The passcode’s two-three-oh-nine-oh-two.”

“Uh…two-three-oh-nine-oh-two. Got it.”

“Go into my contacts. Click on ‘Karasu’, and call. I’ll need you to hold the phone to my ear.”

The car was suddenly deathly silent, the dial tone sounding louder than a fire alarm.

It rang. 

And rang.

Then—

The person you are calling is not available. Please leave a message after the tone.

“…That’s weird. Try again.”

The person you are calling is not available. Please leave a message after the tone.

Rikuo slammed a hand on the side of the wheel. Kiyotsugu actually startled backwards, nearly dropping the phone.

“Uh, okay okay. Sorry. Lower in the contacts list, there’s ‘Kejou and Kubi’. Try them.”

The person you are calling is not available. Please leave a message after the tone.

“Is there a signal??”

“Three bars.”

“ Damn it. What’s going on?!”

They were nearly to the bottom of the mountains by now, the lights of the city were in sight.

“Try calling my mother.”

The person you are calling is not available. Please leave a message after the tone.

“Try my grandfather.”

The person you are calling is not available. Please leave a message after the tone.

Panic was beginning to creep across his face again.

“Yura, can you reach into the boot?”

“I think so, yes.”

“There’s a pocket on the side of my bag.”

“Which side?”

“The side with the writing on it.”

Undoing her belt, Yura hooked one arm around the headrest and began rummaging around in the back.

They were out of the mountains, onto the flat ground.

Once they passed the train tracks, there was a clear run though—

The crossing lights began to flash.

“WHAT?!” Rikuo screeched.

There was no way they’d make it over the tracks without getting hit. 

Or was there?

Rikuo might’ve taken the chance if he was alone, but with a car full of humans…

He hit the brakes.

“Yura, have you found it?”

“No.”

“Get Shima to. Keep your talismans out.”

The forty-seven seconds it took for the train to pass was the longest forty-seven seconds in the world.

When the boom gates rose, there was a figure standing in the middle of the road.

Everyone swore, some more colourfully than others.

“Shima, did you find it?!”

“Is this a sword — ”

“Give it here!”

The sword, sheathed in plain wood, was hurriedly passed to the driver’s seat.

Rikuo flicked the high beams up.

In the middle of the road stood the third lord of pandemonium, blood-red eyes locked onto the car.

“What?!” Yura yelled.

Rikuo had gone completely still, staring in horror.

“Oh…” he breathed. 

“That…that’s a problem .”

Chapter Text

Yura raised her talisman, eyes fixed on Rikuo.

“The night you met my brother. What was I doing, what did you give me?”

“You were using shikigami-human fusion and shooting at targets blindfolded. I gave you a chocolate bar…snickers, I think?”

“Correct. Who is that.”

“I don’t know. Kiyotsugu, take the wheel.”

He got out of the car, shoving the sword through his belt. That odd positioning of his hand when he’d first confronted the perso - the creature made sense now. He took a few steps away from the car and stood, simply watching. 

The third lord of pandemonium watched him right back, unblinking.

“Yura, what should we do?!” Maki asked. She’d produced a pocketknife from somewhere, and was holding it tightly.

“You all have bracelets, they’ll give you a chance to run if you get caught. But stay in the car. Get ready to drive.”

Kana started.

“You want to leave Rikuo here?!” she whisper-shouted.

Yura nodded firmly.

“I trust Nura to handle himself.”

“I…”

Kana shut her mouth, and turned back to the confrontation. 

Rikuo had moved closer to the third lord of pandemonium now, standing level with the boom gates.

“What do you want?”

No response.

“I’m asking you a question. Answer me.”

No response.

Rikuo shifted his stance, visibly irritated, before calling out again.

“Last chance. Tell me what you want.”

The third lord of pandemonium smiled. He lifted a hand. A limp (dead?) crow hung from it, swinging gently.

Rikuo’s sword glinted in the high beams.

“BASTARD!” he screamed. The lord of pandemonium danced backwards, but not before Rikuo sliced an angry red line up his arm. The crow fell, Rikuo diving to catch it.

The lord of pandemonium continued to smile. 

“Are you—” Rikuo glanced back at the car, “I don’t know who you think you are, but you’re not getting away with this.”

That smile stayed right in place.

“I know that you’re not the lord of pandemonium.”

That smile stayed right in place.

“Kyou, ka, sui, getsu. Mirror, flower, water, moon. His power comes from the moon.”

That smile stayed right in place.

“There’s no moon tonight. What are you. Who are you.”

That smile stayed rig—

“STOP SMILING !” 

Laughing now, the not-lord of pandemonium danced away into the shadows. 

The laugh was wrong. Too low, too high, not matching the motion of that perpetual smile, sounding from everywhere.

Rikuo got back into the car. His face was set like stone. The limp crow was cradled oh-so-gently in his left arm.

“Get us to the city limits.”

Kiyotsugu nodded mutely, accelerating the car over the tracks.

“Is that crow—”

“She’s alive. Not for much longer.”

There was silence for approximately thirty seconds, until Yura climbed over the second row of seats. Torii shifted aside to give her room, squishing Kana against the window.

“What are you…what are we going to do?” Yura asked, “If you can’t… change , then-“

“I lied.” Rikuo said, methodically stroking the dying crow, “It…darkness, or the moon works. Doesn’t have to be both.”

“Okay. What are we going to do?”

“I’m going to run past the cats, and then go home. How’s Tsurara going? Any change?”

“Nothing.” Shima said, “She feels kinda warm, though.”

“Warm?” Rikuo repeated, moving to climb into the back, but stopping as the crow let out a weak caw.

“Give me the crow.” Torii said impulsively, “I’ve worked part-time at a vet clinic.”

She settled it into her arms, gently stroking its beak. Rikuo climbed awkwardly into the backseat, somehow without whacking anyone in the head with the freaking sword that he was still carrying.

Tsurara was warm. Flushed, even.

There was a clattering noise as Rikuo felt around in the boot for the cooler, followed by a rattling of metal.

He pulled a metal bottle loose, shaking it to the sound of ice clattering.

“I really hope she doesn’t punch me for this.” he said sincerely.

“Punch you for wha—” Shima started.

Rikuo opened the bottle and dumped the contents over Tsurara’s head.

Nothing happened.

“That’s...not good.”

“Nura, we’ve got another problem!” Yura hissed.

“Wha — oh, hell . I thought we’d have more time...”

The thing wearing the lord of pandemonium’s face had returned, this time keeping pace with the car.

“Are you dealing with this, or am I?” Yura asked.

“...you handle this one.” Rikuo replied.

Nodding, Yura shuffled through her remaining talismans. She wasn’t quite sure what would work on this creature — a true Nurarihyon was a slippery little bastard, but this one was just a copycat, so…

She selected a fire talisman. Very few things liked having their eyeballs lit on fire, and she was willing to bet that this one was no exception.

Thirty seconds later she found out how wrong that was.

The thing kept running , now with its eyes on fire. Not the most pleasant sight.

Someone in the car was crying. Was that Kana? Yep, that was Kana. 

Yura muttered several words that she’d been informed were unbefitting for a lady of her status, drawing another talisman free. This one was a localised flashbang, and did a much better job of throwing off the creature. It stumbled to a halt, hands pressed over its ears and bleeding eyes squeezed shut.

Kiyotsugu floored it, breaking the speed limit several times over. Some part of his mind was wondering what they’d tell the police if they got pulled over. 

In the back row of seats, Tsurara still wasn’t waking up. Rikuo couldn’t feel her Fear.

She couldn’t be dead , could she? No no no no no, Tsurara couldn’t die, not here, not now, not for hundreds of years. 

She was his invaluable right-hand woman, his aide...he didn’t know what he’d do if he lost her.

“Uh...we’re in the city limits.” Kiyotsugu offered.

“Stop the car.”

“ What ?!”

“Stop the car, I’m getting out.”

“Nura, you’re going to get yourself killed!”

“I’m not. You need to get out of here.”

Very unhappily, Kiyotsugu pulled the car to the side of the road. Rikuo slid open the back door, carried Tsurara out with his noodle arms, awkwardly hooked the door shut with his foot, and let out a piercing whistle.

“What’s he—”

Two pale shadows flitted over the road. With all the events of that night, shrieking and panicked scrambling was perfectly reasonable. The giant snakes glided to a halt. 

“Take Tsurara back to her mother.” Rikuo told the slightly larger one, hefting the unconscious Tsurara into his arms with surprising ease, “There’s...something running around with the lord of pandemonium’s face. Keep away from it, I don’t know what it is.”

The snake inclined its head, and allowed Tsurara to be placed onto the back of its neck.

“If you see any of the crows, get them to pass around the warning that there’s some kind of shapeshifter causing trouble. Serious trouble.”

Another nod, Tsurara slid alarmingly, and the snake turned around and flew away.

“What in the hell .” Maki whispered, clutching her knife progressively tighter.

Yura had climbed into the front seat, and was still trying to persuade Kiyotsugu to leave.

“He. Will. Be. Fine.” she ground out, “ You will not be fine when it comes back. There are multiple onmyouji safehouses across Tokyo. I am going to direct you to one. Let’s go. ”

“But...Nura—”

“She’s right, I’ll be fine.” 

And because apparently he was a dramatic little bastard at heart, Rikuo jumped onto the other giant snake and it flew away.

“Uh…”

“Were those...shikigami?” Kana guessed.

Yura pulled a face, and turned to Kiyotsugu, “Turn left at the end of the road.”

He didn’t move, still staring in numb shock.

“If you’re not going to drive, get into the backseat.”

“He...if those snakes weren’t shikigami, then were they—”

“Are you going to drive or not?”

“I...”

“Maki, can you drive?”

The blonde nodded.

Kiyotsugu was firmly installed into the back row of seats, still muttering to himself. Torii hummed a little, still lightly stroking the crow in her arms.

Maki checked the levers on either side of the wheel, clicking the left one up. The windscreen wipers turned on.

“Huh.” she muttered, putting her seatbelt on, “I’m used to a more powerful car.”

They soon found out that Maki was the most aggressive driver in all of Tokyo. This gave them a vital headstart when the creature returned.

“Up here! Go, go!”

Yura bundled them all through the door of the safehouse, slamming the door and reactivating the barrier just in time. There was the sound of a dozen bell-strikes all at once, and light flared through the window as the creature collided with the barrier.

A woman shot out into the hallway, talisman at the ready and sleep-heavy eyes flitting over all of them. She frowned.

“I’m Keikain Yura from the Keikain Main House.” Yura said hurriedly, “These civilians are under my protection. We need to get a message to-”

“Oi, lazy!” the woman yelled, “Did you hear the door open?”

A man staggered downstairs, looking just as tired as the woman did. A grandmother clock hung proudly on the wall, proudly displaying the time as half past one in the morning.

Oops.

The crow in her arms croaked weakly.

“Whassa attackin’ us?” the man asked, walking straight past them to pull back the curtains, “Uh...have I finally cracked, or is that the Third Lord of Pandemonium?”

“Eh?” the woman also didn’t spare a glance for the group of young adults crowding the entry hall, “Can’t be. That thing’s charging headlong into the barrier over and over. That brat’s dumb, but he’s not that dumb.”

“ Excuse me!” Yura said, raising her voice.

No response.

“Right, right.” the man agreed, nodding, “Plus, isn’t he a hanyou? With that much human blood, he could get through that barrier easily.”

Wow, tonight was just one shocking reveal after another. Someone should start keeping score.

“Yeah, probably. Come look at this thing’s aura, would you? I can’t see well through the barrier.”

“EXCUSE ME!” Yura shouted, fully abandoning the ‘dignified young heir’ persona .

Still no response.

Her dignity was already in shreds, so Yura wasted no time in walking right up to the man and yelling in his face.

He gave no inclination that he’d heard them at all.

Yura swore viciously.

“We’re trapped.” she said, “Whatever that thing is, it’s sealed us off from the rest of the world.”

Chapter Text

Everyone started shouting at once. This confirmed Yura’s statement quite well, as they still drew no attention.

“Wait.” Kana said, suddenly snapping back to reality, “If we’re all sealed off...that means Rikuo’s sealed off too, right?”

“I can safely assume so.” Yura said.

Although there’s the possibility that this sealing will only render us invisible to humans...maybe he can still be seen by youkai?

Yes, he can. Those snakes saw him.

Should we go find him?

No, not yet.

There’s still the chance that he might bring backup.

~oOo~

Rikuo was not bringing backup. Rikuo had run into something of an issue.

He’d called two of the white snakes that had served his clan for centuries. They obeyed him not only as subordinates, but as friends.

So, why were they refusing to take Tsurara?

He’d barely made it two blocks before he looked back and saw Uroko, the younger of the pair, resolutely following him, very definitely not heading in the direction of the Main House.

“What are you doing?!” he yelled, “Take her to her mother!”

Uroko tipped his head inquisitively, and Rikuo’s heart lurched as Tsurara slid.

“Down! Down!”

They landed on a rooftop. Rikuo nearly fell over as he jumped down, half-expecting himself to be in his taller night form.

“What’s gotten into you?!” He scolded, “She’s unconscious! You know how to carry an unconscious person!”

Uroko tilted his head again, looking as confused as a snake could.

This time, Tsurara did slide off. Rikuo lunged forwards to catch her.

“See! You tipped her off! Uroko, you’re better than this!”

Uroko radiated more confusion.

Rikuo turned to the second snake, Yuurin.

She somehow looked even more confused.

“What?!” He tried to remember if either of these two were blind. 

Nope, the blind snakes tended to hang around the far southern suburbs.

“You can see her, why are you doing this?”

Continuing looks of confusion from both snakes.

“... can you see her?” 

Slow head shaking.

“Well…she’s there.” Rikuo said lamely, “Stop giving me that look, I’m not drunk.”

Damn, this complicated things.

If they couldn’t see her, why could they see him?

Oh, when he got his hands on that copycat…

He froze.

Back on the road, the copycat had been in the form of a human. It’d been wearing the uniform of the rest stop at the foot of the mountains.

Rikuo tried to recall the face of the man who Tsurara had spoken to at the station.

So...it gets you through conversation, perhaps? Tsurara had a conversation with it, I know. I spoke to it too, but it didn’t exactly speak back. Maybe that’s why I’m still visible, and she isn’t? Could it be my human blood? My Fear?

Damnit, I don’t know!

“Uroko, you stay here.” he instructed Uroko.

He took off his jacket and laid it over Tsurara.

“You can see my jacket, yes?”

Uroko nodded.

“Good. Nothing gets to that jacket, you understand?”

Another nod.

“I’m counting on you. Yuurin, let’s go. We still need to get back to the Main House.”

If he was lucky, he’d run into some of the lower-ranking Tengu family en route, and get them to start raising the alarm.

The world had dealt him enough awful cards for that night, so he almost immediately ran into a whole flock of crows, all screeching their panic.

“Young master! Young master!”

“Safe! Safe!”

“Whoah, whoah! What are you talking about?”

“Shapeshifter! Face-stealer!”

Yes, I noticed .

“It got Tsurara.” he said, “She’s back that way with one of the snakes. I need some of you to fetch her mother. Are the Sanba Garasu around?”

“Yes! Yes!”

“Young master!”

Ah, there was Sasami. Rikuo didn’t think he’d ever been happier to see her.

“Young master, there are reports coming in of a shapeshifter copying your face!”

“Yes, that’s right. Shouldn't you be asking me to prove that I’m me?”

“It can copy your face, but it can’t copy your Fear.” she dismissed, “Do you have its motive?”

“No, nothing yet. It got Tsurara, she won’t wake up. I’ve tried sending her to her mother, but the snakes couldn’t see her.”

“As we feared. It’s a reality warper — it can seal people off from the outside world.”

“...why didn’t it work on me?”

Sasami was too proud to shrug, and instead bulldozed straight over the question.

“As far as we know, the only way to break the seal is to kill the caster.”

…I was hoping that she wasn’t going to say that.

“Everyone’s been on high alert since it crossed into the city, so far we’ve lost five scouts. We cannot ignore the possibility that there may be more than one of them.”

“I’m sorry.” Rikuo told her, “We’ll hold proper burial rites after we kill this thing. Tsurara’s back that way, I need her to be protected. If she wakes and recovers, send her after me. Keep a focused watch on the Bakeneko clan, it specifically threatened them.”

“Yes, young master” Sasami bowed her head, before taking off in Tsurara’s direction.

Rikuo let his youkai blood come forth, surveying the area with heightened senses.

Nothing.

He felt for Yura’s spiritual energy, finding her within a few kilometres of where he’d left them.

“Let’s go kill this thing.”

~oOo~

“Yura, what are we going to do?” Shima asked.

“We wait.” Yura said, eyeing the creature still slamming up against the wards “It can’t get through those wards. These safehouses have been running for over a century, nothing’s broken through them yet.”

There were some sentences that Yura should just stay away from.

The clanging of a hundred purified bells fell silent.

At the window, the sounds of the two onmyouji guards arguing ceased.

Another beat of horrified silence, and then the door crashed off its hinges.

The creature’s form seemed to be slipping by now, giving it the horrifying appearance of half-melted wax. Maybe it couldn’t hold a stolen form without energy? She’d think about that later.

“GO! GO!” Yura screamed, shoving everyone down the hall.

Did this house have a panic room? No, urban houses rarely did, due to the cost of lugging the necessary materials in without raising suspicion.

She’d have words with the designers after this.

Judging from the amount of cursing, the two onmyouji on duty were keeping the creature very occupied.

For want of anything better, they piled back into the car. The creature burst out of the house just as Maki laid the accelerator flat.

Even with the amount of road rules that she broke, they couldn’t outrun the creature here. Maki couldn’t drive through blocks of buildings, but the creature could simply leap over them.

Far too soon, the figure stood in the middle of the road once more.

Maki slammed into reverse.

The engine sputtered out. 

Weighed down by six teenagers and their luggage, the car began to roll almost ponderously down the slight decline. Kiyotsugu came back to his senses long enough to lunge over the centre console and jam the park brake on.

Yura fumbled for her wallet.

“ TANROU !” she shouted, flinging forth the familiar talisman.

Smoke shimmered in the air, coiling to form a white wolf lunging forth, teeth bared in a snarl - 

And fizzled out. Yura grasped desperately at the strands of her power, but they slipped through her fingers.

“ Damn it!” she yelled.

It can block an onmyouji’s attacks!

But why now? It didn’t block my power when I set it on fire...maybe it’s the act of “calling” my shikigami?

We couldn’t make phone calls earlier...did it cause that, too?

Out on the road, the figure seemed content to watch them panic.

“Yura, what do we do?” Shima yelled.

“I DON’T KNOW!” Yura fired back, “I DON’T KNOW! ”

“Can you put up a barrier?” someone suggested.

For lack of any better plans, Yura did. To her relief, the barrier went up with no hesitation.

Though it had torn through the far stronger wards around the safehouse, this hastily erected barrier might buy them a few more minutes.

A pale shadow flitted overhead. Kana spotted it, crying out and drawing everyone’s attention.

The great white snake made a low pass over the street, the creature’s head turned to watch it.

A second Lord of Pandemonium dropped lightly to the ground.

Chapter Text

“About time you showed up.” Yura muttered angrily, breaking everyone out of their frozen shock.

The lord of pandemonium wasn’t looking at them, choosing instead to survey his melting-wax copy, radiating disdain.

“Is that…” Maki began.

“Not now.” Yura cut her off, “Maki, DRIVE!”

She didn’t move.

“ GO! ”

“That’s Nura .” Maki breathed.

“ What ?” Kana demanded, almost climbing over the centre console to get a better look.

“The sword, the snake...it...they...”

Several things that Yura had said earlier clicked into place

“If you can’t...change, then-”

“I lied. It…dark, or the moon works. Doesn’t have to be both.”

Had he been talking about...this?

No, no, no. There had to be a logical explanation for this. Nura couldn’t...Rikuo wouldn’t have…

“That’s silly, everyone knows that youkai aren’t real!”

“Nura, your house is really creepy!”

“I don’t think I’d want to meet a youkai. It’d be scary.”

Ah.

Out on the street, the lord of pandemonium was speaking.

“Don’t play games with me. My clan would never lose to someone as weak as you.”

The creature smiled impossibly wider, cheeks splitting open.

Something thudded onto the roof of their car.

Yura threw open a door.

“NURA, WATCH OUT!”

The lord of - Rikuo whipped around, crimson eyes wide in surprise, as a second creature launched itself off the roof at him. His sword was out in a flash, and the second creature fell back with a yelp of pain. Yura made to jump out of the car, but Rikuo shouted.

“Save your talismans! I can handle this!”

It quickly became evident that he could not handle this.

The creatures were fast, darting close and leaping back in perfect synchronisation, never giving him the chance to strike.

One creature struck him across the face and took the form of a golden-eyed man with black hair.

Kana drew in a sharp breath.

“What? Who’s that?” Yura demanded. She didn’t recognise the face that the creature had taken, but Rikuo sure did. 

He froze for a brief second, and stumbled.

Blood spilled onto the bitumen.

And now the hunter became the hunted.

The creatures were toying with him, Yura realised. They flitted just out of his reach, laughing, and took turns darting forth to scratch at him.

Enough was enough. 

Yura lunged, drawing her last few fire talismans out of her purse.

“NURA, DUCK!”

The creatures shrieked, scrambling away from the flames.

“Talisman!” Rikuo gasped, pressing a hand to his wound, “Give me one!”

“What?”

“Give me one!”

Tonight was a good night for doing first and asking questions later. She tossed one over.

Rikuo flung it upwards, and it burst into a plume of blindingly blue fire.

Within literal seconds , backup arrived.

“COULD YOU HAVE DONE THAT EARLIER?!” 

“I WAS BUSY !” 

Yura recognised the four youkai- the buddhist monk looking one, the hulking one with white hair, the woman who didn’t seem to know how to close the front of her kimono, and the one with the red string and the floating head. She couldn’t remember any of their names.

All four looked equally floored by the face that the second creature had stolen.

“Second...Head?” The woman managed.

Oh.

Floating-head snapped out of it first.

“HOW DARE YOU !” he screamed, lunging forward. The creature laughed, even as strings wrapped around its throat. The hulking youkai was surprisingly fast as he chased the melted-wax copy of Rikuo around the street.

The female youkai came to Rikuo, pushing his hands away from the wound to see it.

“Lousy shot.” She soon declared, “Zen’s on his way, keep pressure on it until then. Where did your human friends go?”

“They’re right there.” Rikuo said, waving a hand in the direction of the parked car. Yura glanced over, and saw a wall of scared and confused faces peering out. 

The female youkai glanced in that direction, raising her eyebrows.

“Young master, there’s nothing there.”

“Those things are reality-warpers. They got Tsurara earlier. I couldn’t get her to wake up.”

“They got Yuki-Onna? Where is she now?”

“Safe, for now.”

“That’s good . KUBINASHI, WHAT’S TAKING YOU SO LONG?! CHOP ITS HEAD OFF!”

“I’M TRYING !” 

Something tugged on Yura’s sleeve, and she nearly backhanded Ienaga Kana into the next dimension on sheer reflex.

“Yura, what’s going on?”

“Get back in the car. It’s not safe.”

“But-”

“Ienaga. Get back in the car.”

“How are we any safer in there?!”

“You can escape.”

“Please, Kana.” Rikuo said, softly. He didn’t look up, didn’t dare turn to face her.

“Just...get back in the car.”

“...alright.”

Kubinashi’s increasingly inventive profanities echoed down the street.

The youkai woman turned to look, and brightened.

“I think Aotabou got one!” she said.

Rikuo tried to lean forward to get a better look.  

With a massive gust of wind, a youkai carriage landed behind the car. The instant it touched down, two figures jumped out: the bird youkai, Zen, and — oddly — Rikuo’s mother.

Zen immediately crouched down and began checking over Rikuo’s wound, while Wakana simply stood and stared at the creature wearing the face of the black-haired man.

“Who is that?” Yura asked, “Uh...whose face is that?”

“My husband’s.” Wakana said, voice devoid of any emotion, “Kubinashi, is it immobilised?”

“Huh? Oh — uh, yes, Lady Wakana.”

“Good.”

Carrying herself like the matriarch of a powerful clan that she was, Wakana walked towards the creature suspended in a web of red thread and stared it straight in the face. She had one hand inside the collar of her kimono.

“How dare you.” she said, so softly that Yura almost didn’t catch it, “How dare you dishonour his memory like this.”

She drew forth an ornately carved pistol, and set it against the creature’s forehead.

“...mother?” Rikuo called.

“Don’t look, sweetie.”

Yura had never heard the sound of a gun firing directly into something’s skull before. She hoped that she never had to hear it again.

The casing clattered to the ground, oddly small to have caused such destruction.

Wakana took in a shaky breath.

“Burn the remains.” she ordered, turning away and making swiftly for the carriage. The female youkai rose to follow.

“I’d like a moment alone, Kejourou.”

“...of course, my lady.”

~oOo~

Back in the car, silence reigned.

The creature was dying, the features of a half-familiar face melting away into what looked like bloodied candle-wax.

There was everything to say, and no one wanted to say it. No one had moved an inch since that blue flare had gone up, frozen in some paradigm of realisation and terror. The chill of the night was seeping into the car.

Kiyotsugu might’ve actually passed out. The crow in Torii’s arms was cold. Rikuo’s mother, who’d just shot a demon , approached. Her eyes were reddened. She spared them a glance, and slowed. 

Maki reached for the button to lower the window, jiggled it a few times, and simply opened the door.

“Are…”

“Are you okay?” seemed too empty. Who’d be okay after...whatever had just gone down?

She fell silent, watching the older woman.

“If you say or do anything to hurt my son...” Wakana began, “You have no idea how much he’s done for you, don’t you dare throw that back in his face.”

Words of wisdom imparted, she continued to the...flying carriage thing that she’d arrived in. No one had the mental capacity left to question that.

The car stayed silent for a few more seconds.

“It makes sense.” Kiyotsugu said suddenly, “Everything lines up. Things he knew, things he said...they were never in the same place, were they? He lived in a haunted mansion . He told us that his grandfather was the supreme commander of youkai.”

“Kids say weird things.” Shima reasoned weakly, “We all played make-believe as kids, remember?”

“Are you stupid ? All the evidence is right in front of you!”

“I’m going back out there.” Kana said.

“What? Don’t—”

It was warm outside the car. Her shoes slipped on the wet bitumen.

She drew level with Yura, whose straight hair was starting to curl in the faint mist of rain.

“You’re not in the car.” the onmyouji said.

Kana shrugged.

“Is he okay?” she asked.

The man crouched beside her oldest friend snorted, glancing up at her. His eyes were red.

“ Is he okay .” He said scathingly, “He’s been stabbed , girl. Of course he’s not okay. Would you be okay if you were stabbed?”

“Zen.” Rikuo warned, cracking one eye open to glare. His eyes were red, too. This was going to take some getting used to.

‘Zen’ rolled his eyes, lowering his head.

“So,” Kana tried, “this was…unexpected.”

Rikuo laughed shakily.

“Yeah, not exactly how I pictured this weekend getaway going.”

There was a crash from further down the street, followed by a shriek of “WATCH WHAT YOU’RE PUNCHING!”

“Sounds like they’re doing well over there.” Rikuo said. He still wouldn’t look at her.

“Oi oi oi, don’t even try to sit up.” Zen snapped, “Quit your laughing, too. You tear these stitches and you can redo them yourself.”

“HEY, ONMYOUJI GIRL!” someone shouted, “GOT ANY SEALING TALISMANS?”

Yura whipped her talismans free and stalked down the street. Oh, she was going to enjoy this.

Kana watched her go, and then her gaze fell back down to her childhood friend.

His eyes were closed again, face twisted with pain. The half-familiar face of a youkai lord. Who was her childhood friend. 

Yep. Nope. What. It still wasn’t sitting right. Her mind was desperately trying to keep “Nura Rikuo” and “the Third Lord of Pandemonium” as far apart as possible.

She wanted answers, oh she wanted answers.

But the rain that fell now was the same rain that had fallen on the windshield barely an hour earlier, as they squinted out at a figure in the middle of the road.

Her answers could wait.

Chapter Text

The rain picked up strength. It would fall all night. 

Yura had been soaked by the time she stood next to the open car door, trying to convince everyone that they could go home, both of the creatures had been exterminated, they were safe.

She’d quickly given up on convincing Kana. The brunette had gotten a grip on Rikuo’s sleeve and refused every effort to pry her loose, even when it came time for the youkai to return to his house. For someone who’d just found out that her closest childhood friend was a youkai lord, she was doing remarkably well.

The rest of the paranormal squad…not so much. There’d been yelling. There’d been tears. At some point, they’d made enough noise that the police had turned up, taken one look at the melted-wax corpse thing, and refused to have anything to do with it until a specific division turned up.

When that division turned up, the argument was briefly paused in order to watch a guy in a Forensics jacket stumble off into the bushes of a nearby house, followed hurriedly by an officer, and then started right back up again.

There’d been…betrayal on their faces, and it hurt Yura. She hadn’t expected these reactions. All she’d wanted to do was keep them safe.

Would she ever be able to speak to them again, after this?

She supposed that she could always go back to Kyoto, go back to her family. She was the heir, she could easily make someone take her place in Ukiyoe.

But...she’d miss it here. She’d miss the sparrows that had nested on her windowsill. She’d miss the way that the sunset caught the glass on the office buildings across the river from her apartment. She’d miss the koto player who busked outside the corner store on Saturdays. She’d even miss that stupid seagull that had once taken an entire pie straight out of her hand.

“We’re not going home after that !” Maki yelled.

“FINE!” Yura shouted, throwing up her hands, “Get into the back!”

There was another safehouse a few prefectures over. The ride was tense.

“Did you...know?” Kiyotsugu finally said, as they waited for a stoplight to change.

“Yes.” Yura replied.

“How long?”

“A few years.”

“How?”

“My brother.”

Silence. Damnit, they wanted her to elaborate.

Well, Yura wasn’t going to. Why? Because she didn’t bloody feel like it. She was tired, stressed, and overall felt like a wrung-out rag.

“Is...is he...dangerous?”

Yura thought for a minute.

“Yes.” she answered honestly, “But not to you. Never to you. Neither he, nor any youkai under his command will ever harm an innocent.”

“I see.”

Trying to park this stupid car was a hindrance that Yura had not foreseen. Her attempts to manoeuvre the car into the driveway had left it with several scratches down the passenger-side doors, and only now did she realise that she didn’t have the garage keys. They were on her secondary keyring. Next to her bed.

Groaning, she flung open the door and climbed out. The world swayed ominously around her.

She rang the doorbell several times, until the safehouse door was whipped open and a confused onmyouji glared at her. Glared at her . They could see her .

“Garage.” Yura said, not trusting her ability to form words, “Open. Please.”

The onmyouji stared at her for a few more seconds, before blindly slapping at the wall behind the door a few times. 

With a groan, the garage door began to slowly open.

Somehow, there were no more casualties of Yura’s botched parking job.

“Rooms are up there.” The onmyouji said, pointing to the stairs.

~oOo~

Yura came to at about noon, and staggered down the hall to check on everyone else. Maki and Torii were in the first room on the left, clinging to each other for comfort even in sleep. In the next room, Shima was out cold on top of the bedcovers, with Kiyotsugu leaning over him trying to plug in his phone. He offered Yura a wave and a weak sort of smile. Yura nodded in return, and made for the kitchen. She was starving .

Onmyouji safehouses weren’t known for having good food, a fact that Yura remembered the instant she opened the pantry door and was confronted by a solid wall of instant noodles.

...whatever, she didn’t care, she was just hungry .

Two packets of beef noodles later, Maki stumbled down the stairs.

“Do you...car keys? Please?”

“Why?”

“I want my toothbrush.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Yura lobbed the keys. Maki caught them without blinking, and moved off down the hall.

About thirty seconds later, Yura heard a shriek, and a crash.

Next thing she knew, she was standing just behind Maki with a talisman out, staring at the sad crumpled figure of a youkai lord who had just fallen out of the back of a car after being smacked between the eyes with a spanner.

“How’d you manage to hit him?” Yura demanded, “I’ve been wanting to do that forever .”

“I just kinda...chucked it.” Maki said.

“ Ow .” Rikuo complained, still lying on the floor. This was a mistake, as it drew Maki’s attention to him.

“ You. ” she hissed, “What were you thinking ?”

“Um—”

“Shut up. I’m mad at you.”

Rikuo shut up.

Footsteps in the hall. Yura leaned back past the door to see that Torii had made it down the stairs.

“Whassa yellin’?” she asked, squinting blearily at Yura.

Yura shrugged. She wasn’t sure how to explain this.

“...mmkay. Is there food here?”

Maki ducked into the garage, seized Rikuo by the upper arm, and dragged him out after them. She steered him to the kitchen bench, pushed him at a chair, and made a sit-stay sort of gesture. Yura trailed in after them.

“Natsumi, you want chicken or beef?” Maki asked, surveying the wall of instant noodles with a critical eye.

“Ah, chicken, please.” Torii said.

The kitchen stayed in awkward silence as the kettle boiled. Maki poured the boiling water over the noodles and left it to sit as she looked for chopsticks. Kiyotsugu appeared in the stairwell, summoned by the smell of chicken noodles.

“Any more of those?” he asked eagerly. 

Maki pointed at the cupboard.

“Cool, thanks. I don’t think we’ll be seeing Shima this morning, I hit him with a pillow four times and he didn’t even mo — oh, when did...you...get here?”

“Found him in the garage.” Maki said, before bolting upright with a glare, “Wait, what were you doing in there?” 

Rikuo sank down in his seat.

“Left my glasses.” he mumbled.

Yura glanced up just in time to see Maki’s Calculating Face™ slide into place.

“Do you actually need those glasses?” she asked, leaning over the table.

“Saori…” Torii said softly, warningly.

Tension hung thick in the air, undisturbed by the silence. Yura found herself almost unconsciously reaching for her talismans.

Across the kitchen, the electric kettle popped. Kiyotusugu startled and fumbled, spilling dried chicken noodles all over the floor.

“Here, let me—” Rikuo said, automatically moving to help. Kiyotsugu flinched back, and they both froze.

Every time Yura thought that the tension couldn’t get any worse, someone proved her wrong.

“Nura, sit back down.” she called, “Kiyotsugu, there’s a dustpan under the sink.”

“I should go.” Rikuo said, not looking at anyone, “My mother will worry if I’m gone too long.”

Yura started to speak, but Maki beat her to it.

“What are we to you?” 

And yep, there went the tension, skyrocketing into the stratosphere again.

“ What are we to you? Are we just some...what does someone like you have to gain from hanging around us?”

“I…” Rikuo faltered, “What...what are you trying to get at?”

“ Are we your friends ?” Maki all but hissed.

“Of course we’re friends! Well, I consider you my friends, at least.”

“Then why would you hide something like this ?”

“I…”

“Why did you lie to us?”

A mumbled response.

“What?” 

“You guys are scared of youkai. I didn’t wanna...I didn’t want you to be afraid of me.”

“You what ? Do you have ears? Have you not been in the same room as this curly-haired wimp for any extended period of time?”

She pointed empathetically at Kiyotsugu, who froze like a deer in the headlights.

“Do you know the effort that it takes to make him shut up about youkai! He thinks you lot are the best thing since sliced bread! It’s — why are you shaking your head?”

“That’s not what I meant.” Rikuo said, “I don’t want him to like me just because he thinks youkai are cool. If...if I’m going to remain friends with you all, I want it to be because you like me as a person.”

“Of course I like you as a person!” Kiyotsugu burst out, “I just…it’s a little…”

“A little what ?” Rikuo asked sharply.

“... embarrassing , kinda. I can’t believe that I went on so much about youkai — you in particular —  and never figured it out .”

Silence. Somewhere upstairs, a tap started running.

Rikuo blinked. And promptly laughed so hard that he had to lean against a chair to keep himself upright. 

“Oh, man, that’s what you were worried about?” he asked, “I’ve had clan ambassadors take weeks to put two and two together and figure it out!”

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.” Kiyotsugu grumbled. He looked a little happier.

Upstairs, the tap shut off with a resounding clunk , almost covering up the ping of a text notification.

Rikuo pulled out his phone, read the text, and glanced towards the front room.

“I’ll just be a minute.” he said, “Someone wants to talk to me.”

Yura stepped aside to let him leave. He made very little noise as he walked, even in human form. 

A sneaky little bastard indeed.

“...is anyone going to use the hot water?” Torii asked, gesturing to the kettle.

“Uh.” Maki glanced down at Kiyotsugu.

“Just a second.” he said, finally taking the dustpan out from under the sink, “It’s still hot enough, right? Oh, morning, Shima!”

“Hey.” Shima greeted, wobbling into the kitchen with all the grace of a beached whale, “...coffee?”

“Yura?”

“If there’s a coffee machine, it’ll be in the cupboard beside the stove. On the left. Your other left. Shima, your other left .”

“Ha!” Shima said victoriously, producing the coffee machine from the depths of the cupboard “That’s more like it! Anyone else want some?”

“Yes.” Kiyotsugu and Maki replied in perfect tandem.

“I’ll stick with tea.” Torii said when they looked at her, “...assuming that there is tea here. Yura?”

“Yes, there’s tea. I’ll get it out.”

Yura handed her the bag of tea leaves, and Torii looked at it for a moment.

“Do you think Rikuo would want some, too?” she asked quietly.

Yura blinked. 

“...yeah, I think he prefers tea over coffee.” she said.

Torii smiled at her. 

“Okay.”

The atmosphere in the kitchen moved to something far more comfortable as everyone started moving around, searching for cups and fighting over the teaspoons.

Rikuo entered a few minutes later, talking on his phone in an older dialect than Yura was used to. 

“Everything okay?” Yura asked as he hung up.

“Yeah.” Rikuo said.

“Kana?”

“She was still asleep when I left. My mother’s going to stay with her.”

“Mm. And the Yuki-Onna?”

“She woke up a little after the last creature died. Her mother’s given her strict orders to not get out of an ice bath for at least a week, but she’s going to be fine.”

He glanced across the kitchen to where Shima and Kiyotsugu were about two seconds off battling to the death over the last of the nicaragua coffee pods, completely oblivious to the fact that Maki had taken and used it while they were distracted.

“I think everything’s going to be fine.”