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The sun rose in Gensokyo, the land where fantasy is real and reality is a fantasy…
“Koto! Wake up Koto!” The imori bursted into Kotonaru’s room with a newspaper.
Kotonaru rubbed her eyes, put on her glasses, and stepped out of bed. “Good morning Tokage,” she said. “That better be the Kakashi Spirit.”
“Yup!” Tokage assured her, then handed her the paper. Kotonaru began reading.
Kotonaru Hatsumei is a satori youkai, which means that she can read minds with her third eye, which is attached to her body by several cords. She never liked being able to read the minds of others, because people around her tend to hate her for it. So she spends most of her time away from any form of direct contact with people. She is a very smart youkai, being an inventor and programmer. She resides underground in her base that she built herself, her only company is her robots (which she can’t read the minds of because there is no mind there), and Tokage, her best friend.
Tokage Chuujitsu is an imori, or gecko spirit. She doesn’t like to be ignored, and will not hesitate to fight if she needs to. She’s not the smartest, but she makes up for that in loyalty. Tokage and Kotonaru met a long time ago when they were both young, and have been inseparable since. Tokage can be awkward in conversations, but Kotonaru can understand her easily with her third eye, which is part of the reason their friendship is so strong.
In terms of appearances, Tokage has orange hair and green eyes. She wears a sea-green shirt, an orange dress with geometric depictions of mountains on it, and green shoes. She also has a long scaly tail and sharp claws on her hands.
Kotonaru has silvery-gray hair, and both her regular eyes and her third eye are a deep blue, although she has her third eye tied by its cords behind her back. She has glasses, and wears a bright blue shirt, a labcoat, long black pants, and gray shoes. While most of her third eye and its cords are hidden under her labcoat, a few cords are visibly wrapped around her wrists and neck, as the compression keeps her calm.
Kotonaru finished reading the paper and began talking with Tokage about it. “Another shrine maiden dead? This is so odd!” she said, confused.
“Yeah. Second one this week,” Tokage replied. “I’ve been making notes about it in all the recent Bunbunmaru papers, but I still can’t find any leads. I’m hoping I can figure this out so that I can alert someone,” she continued. “Why won’t you help, Koto? Your third eye would really come in handy here.”
Kotonaru tugged on one of her cords. “No, I won’t go to the surface,” she said.
Tokage put a hand on Kotonaru’s shoulder. “I promise, people up there aren’t gonna hate you as much as you think they will. People are very friendly up there.”
Kotonaru looked down. “If they’re so friendly, then why are two shrine maidens dead?” she said.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to ruin the mood,” Tokage replied. “You just need to get working on your big project, that always cheers you up!” she continued with a smile.
Kotonaru cracked a smile. “Let me grab my labcoat, and I’ll be workin’ in no time!”
A few minutes later, and Kotonaru was hard at work in her lab with her many robotic assistants, with Tokage close by at her table analyzing the Bunbunmaru papers. Kotonaru was operating her machines with primarily her right hand.
“Are you close to finishing?” Tokage asked.
“Almost! I can’t wait!” Kotonaru enthusiastically replied. “I’m excited to get to software coding for this bot. I want to try giving it a sentient personality! How about you, are you close to finishing?”
“I’m trying,” Tokage replied. “Some of the wording here is a bit weird, but I can still make it out.”
Kotonaru smirked. “And that is why Kakashi Spirit is better than Bunbunmaru! Face the facts!” she jested.
“Nuh uh!” Tokage retaliated. “Bunbunmaru always includes the important stuff, even if it’s hard to understand.”
“Even if it’s out of proportion,” Kotonaru muttered under her breath.
“I heard that!” Tokage playfully snapped back.
“We’re distracting ourselves,” Kotonaru said, laughing. “I love joking about our newspaper tastes.”
“Yeah, me too,” Tokage replied. Then her smile faded. “I’m just so close, yet so far! Both of the murders have been humans with immense magical power, which suggests a possible motive, but I have no leads on a suspect or anywhere to find them--”
“Wait!” Kotonaru shouted. “Be quiet for a second!”
“What is it?” Tokage asked softly.
Kotonaru tugged on her cords again. “My third eye. I can sense someone else’s presence, someone besides you.”
Tokage looked confused. “What could that mean?”
Just like that, an explosion erupted from Kotonaru’s project, sending her flying into the wall. She watched with blurry vision as her other robots frantically scrambled around to put out the fire. Tokage ran over to her, waving her hands wildly and saying something, although Kotonaru heard nothing. Acknowledging that she was getting no response from her friend, Tokage picked Kotonaru up off the ground and slung one of her arms over her shoulders. The pair slowly made their way out of the danger zone, and Kotonaru closed her eyes and passed into deep sleep.
Kotonaru came to in her bed. As her vision cleared up, she saw Tokage next to the bed, along with an unfamiliar face.
“You’re OK!” Tokage cheered.
“Yeah… What happened?” Kotonaru asked.
“Do you mind if I take over now?” said the unfamiliar person.
“Sure, go ahead, Dr. Abder,” Tokage replied.
The person Tokage addressed as Dr. Abder approached Kotonaru. He is a half-human, half-inu. In other words, he’s a human with dog ears and a dog tail. He has gray hair and blue eyes, and is in his doctor’s uniform.
“According to your friend here, there was an explosion, what do you recall of that?” Abder asked.
“I don’t remember anything about it,” Kotonaru replied.
Abder stoked his chin and muttered something that Kotonaru couldn’t make out. Then he continued. “Well, for someone who’s just taken a hit like that, your body is all in moderately good shape. You just have a few bad bruises, but nothing broken. Yes indeed, you are just fine, all except for your third eye.”
“My third eye…” Kotonaru said without emotion. She looked at her cords, and she saw bandages and special splints in various places holding them together.
“The eye itself is fine, I have it laying on the pillow beside you,” Abder said. “It’s just the cords, most of the connections are messed up and need time to heal before you can read minds again.”
“That’s not so bad,” Kotonaru said.
Tokage approached again. “Is that everything, Dr. Abder?” she asked.
Abder adjusted his coat. “Yes ma’am, that is everything,” he replied. “Now remind me. You know about me through my ads in the newspaper, right?”
“That’s right, Dr. Abder,” Tokage replied. “The ones for Abder Fumo in the Bunbunmaru paper.”
“Yes, yes, Abder Fumo--” he started. ‘Wait, did you say Bunbunmaru?”
“I did, and I’m a proud supporter!” Tokage said triumphantly.
“That idiot bird!” Abder yelled. “I never gave her permission to put my ads in her paper! Oh I’m going to be having a little chat with that reporter after this…” he trailed off as he exited the room.
Tokage waved silently. “Don’t even say it,” she said to Kotonaru, who was trying not to laugh. “I still need to show him the way out, excuse me.”
Tokage returned a few minutes later with a serious expression on her face. She then began energetically talking, while walking around Kotonaru’s bed and making expressive hand gestures. “Listen Koto, I’ve been thinking. So, the explosion, right? Well, you might not remember this, but before that happened, you said that you could sense a third person in the room with us. That’s got me thinking, and this is going to sound very stupid, but what if that third person was the person who killed the two shrine maidens--”
“You’re paranoid,” Kotonaru interrupted her.
“Let me finish,” Tokage said. “What if that was our culprit, and they caused the explosion on purpose, because I know you’re too good of an inventor for it to happen on accident, which also makes me think that I was the intended target of that attack, since I’m studying the case. But that also begs the question of how they know I’m studying the case in the first place…”
Kotonaru processed for a minute as Tokage trailed off. “That’s actually a plausible theory,” she said. “How do we prove or disprove it?”
“I was worried you’d ask that, I don’t think you’re gonna like my answer.” Tokage replied.
“Why?” Kotonaru asked. “What would I not like about it?”
Tokage took a deep breath in. “We need to go to the surface and investigate. Yes, we. Me and you. Us.”
Kotonaru instinctively reached to tug on her cords, but stopped herself upon seeing the bandages again. “Are you sure I’m in an OK condition for that? I can’t sit this one out?”
“Unless you want to risk getting blown up again if my theory is wrong, you’ll be safest if you come with me to the surface,” Tokage said sternly.
“Fine,” Kotonaru said, again showing no emotion.
“I’ll let you rest for the rest of today,” Tokage said. “But tomorrow at dawn, we’ll be off! Sounds like a plan?”
Kotonaru hesitated. “Sounds good.”
“Awesome!” Tokage said. “Now get some sleep, you need to recover and you need to prepare.”
Kotonaru nodded and she began to tuck herself in, making sure to not squish her cords in any weird angles. She then fell back asleep.
“Wakey wakey, sleepyhead!” Tokage entered Kotonaru’s room the next morning ready to head to the surface, she had all of her Bunbunmaru papers with her to take her research on the go.
“…Hmmm, it’s morning already…?” Kotonaru asked as she woke up.
“That’s right!” Tokage said energetically. “Now come on, we have a case to investigate!”
Kotonaru put on her glasses and stepped out of bed, following Tokage to the lab, where the robots had successfully cleaned up the previous day’s mess. She then went to her computer and began to input commands for the robots.
“What are you doing?” Tokage asked.
“I’m telling the robots how to monitor the place while we’re gone.” Kotonaru replied.
“You don’t want to bring one?” Tokage asked. “We could use the security.”
Kotonaru looked down and grabbed one of her cords, but didn’t tug. “No, I feel weird enough going to the surface as I currently am, not only a satori, but a broken one. I don’t need a robot with me to make more people question me.”
Tokage put down her papers and walked over to her friend. “No need to think so negatively, Koto. You’re with me, when have I ever intentionally steered you wrong?”
Kotonaru looked up. “I guess you’re right.”
“Exactly,” Tokage said. “Plus, I know my way around a bit up there, I have some connections who could be of help. You’re gonna be A-OK!”
“If you say so,” Kotonaru replied. “I just need to finish a few more commands, and we can leave.”
After a few minutes, Kotonaru had finished her commands and was ready to go. “So, we ready to go?” she asked Tokage.
Tokage grabbed her papers. “Let’s get outta here!” she said energetically.
The pair went to the exit door, opened it, and closed it behind them. They proceeded onward through the short cave that connects the lab entrance to the outside world. Kotonaru was nervous.
“So, uhhh, I’ve never seen the surface in person, but I know a bit about its geography,” she said. “Where does this cave put us out at?”
“A little over halfway to the top of Youkai Mountain, near the main tengu village.” Tokage answered.
Kotonaru began muttering to herself. “Alright, tengu village, cool, nothing too bad happens there…”
As she was talking to herself, she accidentally strayed away from Tokage without looking where she was going, and she bumped into a fairy.
“Hey! Watch it, ya klutz!” the fairy yelled at her, then continued the other way.
“Sorry…” Kotonaru said softly. She looked around for Tokage, found her, and caught back up to her.
“Well, you met Anakesshou,” Tokage said to Kotonaru. “She’s new to the cave, and she’s pretty cranky.”
“You run into her often?” Kotonaru asked.
Tokage sighed. “Yup, yup I do. She complains about me every time I pass by here, says I’m trespassing in her cave, stupid stuff like that. She complains that I read the newspaper out loud on my walks back, but that’s how I remember it better. Just ignore her.”
Kotonaru said nothing.
“Let’s think about something else, shall we?” Tokage said, trying to cheer her up. “We’re right at the exit of the cave, so take a look at this amazing view!”
Kotonaru reached the opening of the cave, and her jaw dropped.
“I know, it’s a lot,” Tokage said. “Take it all in.”
She looked around at the view from the side of the mountain in awe. Below her, vibrant shades of red, orange, and yellow as the leaves of the trees change color for the fall. Above her, a clear blue sunny sky. To her right, a waterfall ran down to a lake below. And to her left…
“This little trail here leads to the tengu village,” Tokage said, snapping Kotonaru out of her little daze. “You ready to go?”
Kotonaru smiled, feeling comforted by the view. “Let’s do it!”
The two walked along the short path and arrived at the gates of the tengu village. As they walked, Tokage sang to herself while Kotonaru continued gazing off at the view in the distance. After a few minutes, they were at the village gates. Tokage began to speak with the guard as Kotonaru kept looking out upon the view.
“Hello!” Tokage greeted the guard warmly. “I’ve come to stay here for a few days, and I brought a friend with me if that’s alright.”
The guard looked around him, as if to make sure he wasn’t being watched. Then he bent down and whispered to Tokage, “Listen, I don’t think it was you, but you better be careful in there, because many tengu do think it was you.”
Tokage was confused by this. “Huh?” was all she could manage in response.
“Just, be careful you two,” the guard replied. “You know where guest housing is?”
Tokage hesitated. “We’ll get there, I’m sure,” she answered.
“Excellent, you may enter,” the guard said as he opened the gate.
“Alright, Koto!” Tokage started as they walked into the village. “Now you get to see where I get our papers from--” she immediately stopped upon seeing a poster on the wall. “What is this?”
Kotonaru took the poster off of the wall and read it aloud. “Wanted: Tokage Chuujitsu, suspected of murder?! What?!”
Tokage took the wanted poster from Kotonaru and stared at it in disbelief. “There’s even a sketch of me! What is going on?!”
As if on cue, a tengu flew by overhead with the daily paper, tossing a few copies down to anyone on the ground willing to read it. “Extra! Extra! Three shrine maidens in one week! Sanae Kochiya murdered last night! Possible suspect confirmed!”
As Tokage did her best to not attract any attention, Kotonaru ran to pick up a copy of the paper. She brought it back to Tokage and they read it together out loud as quietly as they could.
“This is the Kakashi Spirit,” Kotonaru said. “But it seems like someone is framing you.”
Tokage’s eyes became the size of dinner plates as she read the paper. “…An imori was seen exiting the Moriya Shrine last night. Upon entering the shrine after seeing the imori leave, Sanae was found dead. The gods of this shrine say that they were awoken by a scream, and that they saw Sanae in her room dead, covered in deep slash marks. They also say that they saw for a split second as the culprit left the scene, and that they made out a long tail, as well as orange hair and clothes, which match the description of an imori named Tokage Chuujitsu…? Koto, how can you trust this newspaper?! They don’t even have photographic evidence that it was me at the scene!”
Kotonaru struggled to get her words together. “Uhhh, I don’t know what’s going on.” She squeezed her cords. “We should get somewhere safe before--”
“There she is!” A tengu saw Tokage and pointed at her. Other tengu stopped in their tracks and looked at her. “Get her! Protect the other shrine maidens!” they yelled, and began to fly towards Tokage and Kotonaru.
“Trust me,” Tokage said. She grabbed Kotonaru by the wrist and ran behind some of the nearby buildings as fast as she could. “I know where I’m going, I just hope this works.”
“You hope?!” Kotonaru almost shouted. “You are about to be falsely convicted of murder and you hope?!”
Tokage shushed Kotonaru as they continued down the back alleyway. She abruptly turned and ran through the backdoor of one of the buildings, entering a small storage closet. They closed it behind them and Tokage sat down with her back against the door. The room had no windows and a light hanging from the ceiling, but also had a second door that led into the main building.
“I think we lost ‘em,” she said.
Kotonaru sat down as well, out of breath. “So, what’s your plan? What’s so special about this specific building?”
The second door opened, and a tengu walked through it. She was whistling to herself and carrying newspapers, but she dropped them when she saw the two friends on the ground together.
“Don’t freak out,” Tokage said, partially to herself.
The tengu smiled from ear to ear. “Tokage! My most loyal customer! What are you doing--”
“Shut up, Aya!” Tokage whisper-yelled.
“Oh, sorry,” Aya said quietly. “Why are you in my closet? Who’s the new face?”
Kotonaru stood up. “Kotonaru Hatsumei, nice to meet you.”
Aya grabbed her hand and shook it firmly. “Aya Shameimaru of Bunbunmaru News at your service!”
Kotonaru frowned upon hearing the word “Bunbunmaru,” but said nothing.
Tokage got off the floor and dusted herself off, then she spoke up. “Aya, I’m sure you’ve seen that in the Kakashi Spirit, and all over the village, I am being suspected as the murderer of these shrine maidens. And I just need to know if you believe that or not.”
Aya almost laughed. “You? A criminal? Nonsense! Fake news! That horrible, horrible murderer is a crafty one for sure! But if they think framing you will fool the quick and watchful eye and camera of Aya Shameimaru, oh they’re wrong! Dead wrong!”
Tokage smirked at Kotonaru. “Bunbunmaru News saves the day again.”
Kotonaru facepalmed. “Now’s not the time for this,” she replied.
“Remind me why you’re in my closet, Tokage,” Aya interjected. “Do you need a favor of me?”
“Oh right,” Tokage said. “If it isn’t too much trouble, can my friend and I hide out here with you until the murderer is brought to justice?”
Aya smiled once more. “Of course you can stay! It’s a dangerous place out there for you, you need all the help you can get! Heck, I’ll even give you today’s paper for free because I’m feeling generous!”
“Awesome!” Tokage said as Aya tossed her the paper. She began skimming over it.
Aya walked over to the backdoor and locked it. “There. Now people won’t accidentally find you in here. I can get you two some food as well, do you need anything else from me?”
Tokage looked at Kotonaru, then back at Aya. “Nothing that I can think of.”
“Excellent!” Aya said, and turned to leave. “I will keep you hidden until you’re ready to leave.”
“Wait!” Tokage softly yelled, noticing something in the paper. “Did you interview the gods of the Moriya Shrine too?”
“I did,” Aya said. “They said they saw imori footprints leading to a nearby treeline, then stopping, but I left out the imori part for you. You’re welcome!”
Tokage blushed. “Oh Aya, you flatter me!”
“I feel uncomfortable here,” Kotonaru said to herself.
“Sorry,” Tokage said. “It isn’t every day you get to solve a mystery with your favorite reporter.”
“I’ll leave you two be now, good luck on your endeavors!” Aya said, and left the room, closing the door behind her. “Now I need to get back to work…” she trailed off as she left.
Tokage got out all of her Bunbunmaru papers and spread them out on the floor. “Alright, Koto. You haven’t read most of these papers, but the information covered should be similar enough to the Kakashi Spirit for you to understand.” Tokage pulled out her pen. “You ready to help me with this?”
“I guess,” Kotonaru said.
Tokage wasted no time catching Kotonaru up on the case, pointing everything out in the papers and circling details. “Alright, so exactly a week ago now, the first murder was reported. It was a shrine maiden killed, as you know. And then two days ago, the second murder was reported. Finally, the third one was reported today. The most obvious connection to me here is that all of the deaths were shrine maidens, humans in possession of great magical powers. This makes me think that our murderer is not only a youkai, but a youkai that wants to get rid of powerful humans for some reason. You trackin’ so far?”
Kotonaru nodded, then spoke up. “You know, if this murderer is a youkai like you say, but is somehow going around looking exactly like you, we might be dealing with a nue or a tanuki.”
“Oh no, you’re right!” Tokage said. “This is gonna be so much harder to figure out if our culprit can change forms!”
“Do you mind?” Kotonaru asked, and took the pen from Tokage. She added her notes next to Tokage’s, writing with her left hand.
Tokage then continued explaining the case. “Everyone knows Sanae, right? Very famous shrine maiden. Her shrine is at the top of Youkai Mountain. But what I didn’t know initially, and have just recently figured out while you were recovering from the explosion, is that the other two shrine maidens also have shrines in Youkai Mountain, both towards the bottom of the mountain.”
Kotonaru nodded. “OK, OK, so the killer likely resides on the mountain somewhere.”
“Exactly!” Tokage said triumphantly. “Why go into all that work if you don’t have a hideout on the mountain?”
“Yeah, it would be almost impossible to pull off like that,” Kotonaru said.
Tokage thought to herself for a bit, jotted some notes down, and then spoke. “Where could the hideout be though? Assuming your theory is right, and this is a nue or tanuki, well those two types of youkai don’t have specific territories, they could quite literally be anywhere.”
Kotonaru lit up with an idea. “Well, if I was killing humans, it would be out of a distaste of some sort, so I’d want to hide in a place where humans are generally not welcome.”
“True!” Tokage almost yelled. “That means the most plausible hideout locations are the Secret Heaven Cliff because the yamawaro don’t like any humans around, or the Forest of Sanctuaries because pretty much everyone there is extremely territorial.”
Kotonaru thought to herself, then spoke. “Well, hiding in the Secret Heaven Cliff means impersonating a yamawaro, and unless you know how to be an engineer exactly like them, they’ll sniff you out and figure out that you’re a fake. I don’t think that would work.”
“Interesting, interesting…” Tokage said. “So, our culprit is probably either a nue or tanuki, and they hide out in the Forest of Sanctuaries somewhere! Yes! This is excellent progress!” She added some more notes.
“So… now what?” Kotonaru asked, a little confused. “We have our leads, but because of the whole situation, you can’t go out to investigate. And I don’t want to go alone.”
“How about this?” Tokage started. “I’ll check through my papers here for any recent events in the Forest of Sanctuaries that could be useful, and while I do that, you can ask Aya if she knows anything about it.”
Kotonaru thought for a little bit. “OK,” she answered.
As Tokage began flipping through her papers, Kotonaru discreetly opened the closet door, went through, and closed it behind her. She approached Aya, who was hard at work writing at her desk.
“Excuse me--”
“Hello!” Aya said, swiftly turning around to face Kotonaru. “How can I help?”
“We were wondering,” Kotonaru said nervously, “if you know about anything in the Forest of Sanctuaries that may have happened recently.”
Aya thought for a little bit. “Hmmm, I feel like I remember something from a few weeks ago, lemme check my old paper copies.”
She rushed into another room, causing a lot of noise as she flipped through her old papers. A few minutes later, she returned with one.
“Due to an agreement with the residents there, my information is limited, but here you go!” she said. “See the part about a new sanctuary popping up there.”
“Awesome! This is exactly what we need,” Kotonaru said. “When is this from, exactly?”
“Twelve days ago,” Aya replied.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Kotonaru cheered as quietly as she could. “Thank you, Aya!”
“No problem!” Aya said back.
Kotonaru took the paper back to the closet and handed it to Tokage.
“Look at this!” she said. “New sanctuary spotted at the edge of the Forest of Sanctuaries, does not seem to be owned by any yamanba. This is from twelve days ago! This is the hideout!”
“Amazing!” Tokage said. “We have a location!”
Kotonaru grabbed one of her cords. “So, when do we investigate it?”
“How about this,” Tokage said. “We’ll rest for today, since it’s been a bit of a hectic one, and tomorrow, me, you, and Aya will all go down together to investigate.”
“Sounds like a plan, I guess,” Kotnaru replied.
“Y’know Koto,” Tokage said, “for someone who’s never seen the surface until today, you sure know a lot about it. A lot more than I do.”
“Oh, yeah,” Kotonaru replied. “When I get bored or lose motivation on my projects, I do research on it on my computer. It’s such an interesting place, I just never wanted to be around the people.”
“I have an idea, Koto,” Tokage suggested. “Sometime this evening, you should go out and take a short walk. It’ll help you destress, you’ll get to feel more comfortable around people, and you’ll get to see some more pretty views. That’s a win-win times three!”
Kotonaru smiled. “That sounds like a great idea, I’ll do it!”
“That’s the spirit, Koto!” Tokage said. “Now let’s just rest a little. We’ve done a lot, and we’ve still got a lot to do.”
“Alrighty then,” Kotonaru said as she turned off the light. The two friends sat down against the wall and passed out almost instantaneously.
The two were awoken by Aya bringing them food for dinner. “Oh, sorry! Did I wake you?”
Kotonaru stretched out her arms and yawned. “It’s fine.”
“What did you bring us, Aya?” Tokage asked.
Aya smiled. “Well, I don’t know y’all’s tastes, so I flew down to Mystia’s and got you food from there. Everyone loves Mystia’s!”
“Mystia’s, huh?” Kotonaru said quizzically. “Isn’t that really far away from here?”
“Oh, I’m really fast!” Aya said, half-bragging. “I can manipulate wind, and use it to propel myself wherever I wanna go!”
“That’s pretty cool,” Kotonaru said.
“Thanks for the dinner run, Aya.” Tokage said as she took the food. She handed half of it to Kotonaru and they began eating.
“Not a problem at all!” Aya said. “It was the least I could do.”
“Quick question,” Tokage asked while chewing her food. “We think we’ve found the place where the murderer is hiding out. Can you come and investigate with us tomorrow?”
Aya stroked her chin. “Depends. Where are you going?”
“Forest of Sanctuaries,” Tokage said.
Aya flinched dramatically. “Ooh! Sorry! No can do! The yamanba there and the tengu here have an agreement to not enter each other’s territory. I’d help if I could, but I can’t do business in the Forest of Sanctuaries.”
“Oh…” Tokage said, disappointed.
“I can get you a disguise though, so people won’t recognize you while you investigate,” Aya suggested. “If I do, it’ll be ready by tomorrow.”
“Yeah, that’ll work,” Tokage said. “Thanks.”
Kotonaru finished her food, stretched again, and stood up. “I enjoyed the meal, thanks. I’m gonna go on my walk now. I’ll be back soon.” She started for the door.
“Don’t go too far away, and stay safe Koto!” Tokage called from the closet.
Kotonaru gave a thumbs up and nervously exited the building.
Upon exiting, Kotonaru was immediately met with a deep pink sky, calming her down. The sun was setting. She walked around the village a little, contemplating recent events. There weren’t that many tengu out at this time of day, but the ones that were would all point at Kotonaru and say things like “Wasn’t she with that murderer?” or “That poor girl, she doesn’t realize the evil in her friend’s heart.” Kotonaru would just squeeze her cords and continue on silently. She exited the village and sat with her feet dangling over the cliffside right by the gate.
She began to think to herself as she gazed off into the distance. (Should I have helped Tokage with this sooner? It feels like we figured it out almost instantly as soon as we worked together. It almost felt too easy. What if we messed it up somewhere? And Aya, I’m glad she’s helping us, but I still don’t one hundred percent trust her. There’s just so much going on…)
Kotonaru just sat at the edge of the cliff for around fifteen more minutes, watching in silence. The view really calmed her down, made her feel at ease. She watched as the sun slowly disappeared over the horizon. The sky got even darker, and stars began to appear. “It’s getting late,” she said to herself. “I should probably go back.”
She got up and went to the gate. The guard let her in and she eventually found her way back to Aya’s place, not a tengu in sight. But before she got to the door…
“Psst! Hey! Over here!” It was the voice of Tokage calling from behind a nearby building. Kotonaru looked behind the building, and there she was.
“Tokage?” she asked, confused. “What are you doing? I thought you didn’t want to leave so people wouldn’t--”
“Shush!” Tokage whispered. “This is important, let’s walk and talk.”
They walked down the back alleyway behind the various buildings of the village. Kotonaru began to squeeze her cords. “What are you doing?” she said nervously.
“This is huge!” Tokage whisper-yelled. “I was researching after dinner, and I found out who the killer is!”
Kotonaru became interested. “You did? Who is it?”
“You are not going to believe this, but…” Tokage stopped walking, and grinned. “It’s me.”
Kotonaru stopped in her tracks. She said nothing.
“Don’t act so surprised, Koto.” Tokage said. “It was me on the wanted posters, after all.”
Sweat began to roll down Kotonaru’s forehead. Her legs began to feel like jelly. “Listen, I don’t know who you are, or what you did to Tokage,” Kotonaru said, her voice shaking, “but my friend is not a murderer.”
“Oh, haven’t you seen the paper?” Tokage asked. “It was so urgent that the Kakashi Spirit had to release an article early. Read it and weep.”
Tokage handed Kotonaru a copy, and there, on the front page, plain as day, was a picture of Tokage standing over the slashed-up body of Abder.
Kotonaru began to cry.
“What…?” she barely managed to say.
Tokage said nothing.
“That’s not Tokage!” Kotonaru cried. “You’re a trickster!”
Kotonaru collapsed to the ground and sobbed. “Why Dr. Abder?! What did he do to you?!”
Tokage put a foot on Kotonaru’s back, pinning her to the ground. “He was really close to figuring out who I am, he might’ve even alerted the higher-ups, so I had to get rid of him.”
“So now what?” Kotonaru said between sobs. “Are you gonna kill me now?”
“Actually, no I’m not,” Tokage answered. “I’ve seen the work you can do, you’re too talented and smart for anyone to just let you go like that, so instead…” Tokage grabbed the cords wrapped around Kotonaru’s neck and pulled, strangling her. “I’ll have you work for me.”
Kotonaru did her best to put up a fight, but to no avail. She went unconscious. Tokage let go of the cords and checked Kotonaru’s pulse. “Good, she’s still alive.”
Then, her appearance changed. No longer did she resemble Tokage, but standing there now was a figure with racoon ears and a racoon tail, dressed in all black. A tanuki.
“Now then,” she said, picking up Kotonaru over her shoulder, “let’s get to work and take care of that friend of yours.” She cracked a smirk. “You and I are going to have so much fun together!”
Back in Aya’s closet, Tokage was beginning to worry about her friend, for it had been almost an hour and she still hadn’t returned.
“What’s going on?” Tokage said to herself. “It’s been a while, and she’s still out there. Is she OK?”
Tokage began thinking to herself. (Maybe Koto just couldn’t handle the pressure of the drastic change of scene, and she went back to the lab. Or maybe she doesn’t like being around Aya? Or worse, what if that killer got her while she was out? Oh poor Koto…)
Tokage sniffled and shed a single tear at that thought, but then her thoughts were interrupted by Aya coming through the door.
“Are you doing OK back here?” she asked.
“I’m fine,” Tokage answered. “I just don’t know if Koto is.”
Aya sighed. “Do you want to be left alone?”
“I think I’m gonna go to sleep now, yeah,” Tokage answered. “It’ll make the morning come faster.”
“Alright,” Aya said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
She closed the closet door and Tokage sat down and went to sleep for the night.
Aya bursted through the closet door early the next morning. “Tokage! Tokage! It’s a letter from your friend!”
Tokage was awake in an instant. “From Koto! Is she alright?”
Aya handed her the letter. Tokage read it aloud.
“Tokage Chuujitsu. I am being held against my will in the new sanctuary by the edge of the forest, please help! Kotonaru Hatsumei.”
Both Aya and Tokage were speechless for a brief moment.
“Get me there as fast as you can Aya!” Tokage yelled.
“Whoa, whoa, slow your roll,” Aya said. “If she’s captured, then how did she send a letter?”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a fake letter!” Tokage said. “Either way, she’s in trouble!”
“That’s actually true, now that I think about it,” Aya said.
“Can we stop thinking and start doing?” Tokage yelled. “I need to save my friend!”
“Right, right,” Aya replied. “Come outside, and I’ll fly you to the edge of the forest!”
They went outside, and Aya held Tokage tight in her arms. “You ready to take off?”
Tokage was getting impatient. “Of course I am! Go!”
Aya took off the ground, zooming as fast as she could while carrying a passenger. Within seconds, Aya had landed at the edge of the forest.
“Are you alright?” Aya asked as Tokage felt the aftermath of the speeds she just travelled at.
It took her a second to find her footing again, but once she did, she was back in action mode. “Yes, I’m fine, thank you Aya.”
“I’ll wait for your return!” Aya called as Tokage rushed into the forest. “Please stay safe!”
Tokage had been running through the forest for just a few minutes, when she came upon a small, run-down house. “This must be the place,” she said, and went up to the front door.
She opened the door. “That’s odd, I thought it would be locked,” she said. Feeling a little uneasy, she entered the house.
Tokage walked around, finding her way around the dark wooden halls. “Koto? You here?” she asked nervously upon entering a new room. She received no response, and continued looking. She did the same thing for the next room she entered, and still received no response.
Upon entering a hallway, Tokage came across a door and attempted to open it, but it was locked. So she called out again, “Koto? You in there?” A soft whine on the other side of the door answered her question. “Oh my goodness she’s in there,” Tokage said.
She tried to pull at the door to force it open, and when that didn’t work, she got annoyed and just used her claws to get rid of the wood around the hinges, as it was beginning to fall apart slightly. She successfully got the door open, and was met with Kotonaru tied up and gagged on the floor of a small closet.
“Koto!” Togake shouted as she reached down to help Kotonaru out. But when she got close, Kotonaru began to thrash around and attempt to scream.
“Whoa, calm down now Koto.” Tokage said, getting herself together. “It’s me, I’m not gonna hurt you. Just hold still a little.”
Tokage got Kotonaru’s gag off, and as soon as she did, Kotonaru began yelling.
“You! You fiend! You disgusting creature! I will never work for you!”
Tokage took a step back. “I don’t know what happened to you while you were away, but I’m not gonna force you to do anything. I’m Tokage, your friend. I’m trying to save you.”
Kotonaru started crying. “The last time I trusted someone claiming to be Tokage, I was kidnapped! If I make the same mistake again, it’ll get worse! And I don’t even know how it could possibly get worse!”
Kotonaru kept rambling and eventually all her words became incomprehensible as she cried. Tokage, out of ideas, got down on the ground and hugged Kotonaru. She stopped crying.
“I’m going to save you, OK? Aya’s waiting for us right outside the forest. You’re going to be alright, Koto. Just calm down. Deep breaths. In and out.”
Kotonaru started her deep breaths as Tokage carefully used her claws to cut the ropes binding her. Once she was both free and calm, Tokage helped her off the ground.
“There you go, Koto. Are you feeling better?”
Kotonatu sniffed and wiped her eyes. “I’ll get there.”
Tokage patted her on the back. “You’re OK now. I’ll show you the way out, and Aya will take us back to-- What the heck?!”
Upon turning the corner into the foyer, another Kotonaru was standing by the exit.
“Oh no…” Kotonaru said.
“It’s the murderer!” yelled the new Kotonaru, pointing at the other Kotonaru. “The shapeshifter! Get her, Tokage!”
Tokage mustered up all her courage. “No, I won’t. This Koto was locked in the closet and showing genuine distress, explain how that was an act!”
“Quite an elaborate setup! And an incredible fake of emotions!” said the new Kotonaru. “This killer is a crafty little devil!”
“OK hold on,” Tokage said. “Before we continue with anything, we need to find out who the real Koto is.”
Tokage pulled out a spare scrap of a Bunbunmaru paper and ripped it in half. Then she pulled out her pen. “I only have one pen, but we’re going to have an invent-off!”
“Huh?” the two Kotonarus asked.
“Whichever Koto draws and can explain the best invention, is the real Koto!” Tokage said.
“That’s clever,” the Kotonaru next to Tokage said. “Let’s do it.”
“Oh would you look at that,” Tokage said. “There’s another pen laying on a table in the foyer too. Now you can both draw at the same time.”
Tokage handed each Kotonaru a paper and a pencil, and they both got to drawing. But almost instantly…
“Hey! Wait!” yelled the Kotonaru next to Tokage. “She’s using her right hand! I write with my left hand!”
The new Kotonaru said nothing, but began sweating profusely.
“It’s true,” Tokage said. “She does write with her left hand.”
“Reveal yourself!” Kotonaru yelled.
“OK, you got me,” said the tanuki as she transformed into her normal all-black state. “I’ll accept that fair and square.”
“First order of business!” Kotonaru demanded. “Who are you?”
“My name is Itazura Hensou,” the tanuki said. “I will answer any and all questions you have for me. I accept defeat.”
“Why did you kill all those shrine maidens?” Tokage asked.
“That’s an easy one,” Itazura said. “I used to lead a rebellion that believed humans have too much power, most of my colleagues chickened out because they didn’t think we’d actually be killing. So I had to do mostly everything myself, had to make a statement somehow.”
“By killing shrine maidens?” Kotonaru asked.
“Exactly. They are very powerful. They could easily kill any youkai like me or you. But they are humans, they are inferior and just won’t accept it.”
“OK,” Tokage said. “How did you find out about us if we’re just fellow youkai?”
Itazura thought for a bit. “That’s a tough one, y’all are something else, that’s for sure. But I did it like this. Remember Anakesshou?”
“Are you kidding me?” Tokage said, annoyed.
“Yeah, she was one of my disguises.” Itazura confirmed. “You really shouldn’t read the paper out loud, Tokage. That’s how I found out that you were even trying to stop me in the first place.”
“Wow,” Tokage said exaggeratedly.
“What about the explosion?” Kotonaru asked. “My project was almost done!”
“Ah, that,” Itazura said. “My apologies, you were not the intended target of that little attack. Whatever, while watching your friend, I saw your robots greet her upon opening the door to your admittedly very cool laboratory. So one day, I snuck into the lab, disguised as one of your robots, and while you were working, I ever so carefully placed a bomb inside your project while you weren’t looking, nobody noticed.”
“My claws are itching to feel your blood,” Tokage said, getting upset.
“I’m mad too, but don’t say anything dumb,” Kotonaru said.
Tokage took a deep breath. “Alright, next question, what did you do with Koto?”
Itazura laughed. “I think she can tell you that herself.”
Kotonaru tugged her cords. “She was gonna force me to invent stuff for her. When she kidnapped me, she did so disguised as you, Tokage. That’s why I was so upset when you opened the door.”
“Ah, I see,” Tokage said.
“Speaking of which,” Kotonaru said. “Itazura, how did you find out about Dr. Abder?”
“A certain cave fairy overheard your chatty friend getting him interested in the case when she showed him to the door,” Itazura said. “And he figured it out much faster than you two. Unfortunately for him, I watched him figure the whole thing out, and I made sure he didn’t see the end of it. Your tengu buddy was a bit too busy caring for you two for her to find out about the death.”
“What?!” Tokage shouted. “I didn’t even know you killed Dr. Abder! Koto, how did you find out about this?”
“It was in the Kakashi Spirit,” she replied. “There were pictures, it was awful!”
“Poor guy,” Tokage said.
“Last question,” Kotonaru said. “Of all things, how did my left-handedness cause you to fail? You’ve been stalking us, and you’re clearly not stupid enough to just slip up like that. Did you want to get caught?”
“Well, that was a major oversight on my part,” Itazura said. “When I was disguised as one of your robots, I saw you working your machinery with primarily your right hand. I assumed you were right-handed.”
“That’s kinda funny actually,” Kotonaru said. “I’ve never figured it out myself, but yeah, I operate machinery with my right hand, but write with my left hand.”
“Yeah…” Itazura said. “Funny…”
“Actually, wait,” Tokage interjected. “I have one more question. Why did you lure me here instead of just killing me while I was back at the tengu village?”
“Oh,” Itazura said. “That was so I could get rid of you without the general public noticing. I would’ve been waiting right at the door disguised as your satori friend here, but somehow, you got here way faster than I predicted. Another miscalculation on my part.”
“So now what?” Tokage asked. “Are you gonna let us take you to the authorities or something?”
Itazura chuckled and pulled out a knife. “I can’t have y’all snitching on me now. So I’m going to end this right here. I’ve been found out and defeated, but that doesn’t mean you get to win.”
Tokage’s eyes began to narrow. “Koto, run!” she said, and she charged for Itazura.
Kotonaru began to panic. She didn’t know where to go, so she just ran back to the closet where she had been trapped.
Tokage tried to slash Itazura’s neck with her claws, but the tanuki quickly dodged the attack. While she dodged, she managed to catch her blade on Tokage’s upper arm, leaving a deep scratch. Tokage howled in pain, and was now even more enraged. She turned and jumped on top of Itazura, sending both of them crashing to the ground. Itazura tried to swing her knife at Tokage, but she grabbed her wrist and forced the knife out of her hand. Itazura began to show signs that she was scared.
“I got her, Koto!” Tokage shouted. “Run! Run straight out of the house and through the forest until you meet Aya!”
Kotonaru peeked her head out of the closet. Upon seeing that Itazura was both disarmed and unable to move, Kotonaru bolted for the door, panting heavily. “Please don’t die Tokage!” she screamed upon exiting the house.
She ran through the forest as fast as she could, her heart pounding in her ears. She heard a blood-curdling scream, but couldn’t tell if it came from Tokage or Itazura. “Aya, where are you?!” Kotonaru screamed, and she began running faster. About a minute later, she had exited the forest.
Aya was waiting at the edge as Tokage had said. She smiled upon seeing Kotonaru exit the forest. “You’re alright!” she cheered.
Kotonaru was in no mood, however. She collapsed to the ground, trembling. “Somebody screamed.”
“What do you mean?” Aya asked.
“I don’t know if it was Tokage or Itazura, but somebody died,” Kotonaru said, her voice shaking.
“Itazura?” Aya asked. “Who is that?”
“The murderer,” Kotonaru said angrily. “Her name is Itazura Hensou.”
“You mean ‘was,’ right?” came a voice from the forest.
Kotonaru and Aya looked at the treeline to see the figure of Tokage slowly walking towards them, her hands and clothes covered in blood.
“Tokage!” Aya cheered once more. “You’re OK! But what happened to you?”
Tokage sighed. “Something I hope I never do again.”
Kotonaru began to sweat. “What if it isn’t her?”
“No, I’m Tokage,” Tokage said. “I can assure both of you I am Tokage.”
“But what if you’re not?!” Kotonaru yelled in fear. “What if it’s another disguise?!”
Tokage thought for a second. “I can take you to the house and show you--”
“No!” Kotonaru screamed.
Tokage began to approach Kotonaru. “Listen Koto, I--”
“Stay back!” Kotonaru yelled.
“Your third eye will heal soon,” Tokage said. “Then you’ll be able to see it’s me.”
“Third eye?” Aya asked. “She’s a satori?”
Kotonaru shivered. “Yes. I’m a satori.”
“Huh,” Aya said. “I didn’t even notice.”
“You’re not upset?” Kotonaru asked.
“Of course not, silly!” Aya said. “I know a few satoris!”
“Hey Aya,” Tokage casually interjected, “can you take Koto back to your place and then take me to the hot springs? I need to wash up.”
“Sure thing!” Aya said. “I’m going to hold you tight, OK Koto?”
Kotonaru nodded.
“I’ll be back for you, Tokage. Just wait here for a second,” Aya said. Then she took Kotonaru back to her place within seconds.
Upon landing, she showed Kotonaru inside, and let her rest in the closet again.
“I’ll be back with Tokage after she finishes cleaning herself and her stuff,” Aya said.
Kotonaru passed out in the closet.
“Oh,” Aya said. She turned off the light and closed the door, then she took off to transport Tokage.
Aya and Tokage returned around half an hour later. They opened the closet door, and were met with Kotonaru, still asleep, breathing heavily.
Tokage approached her friend. “Psst. Koto. Wake up.”
Kotonaru began to twitch in her sleep.
“I think she’s having a nightmare,” Tokage said. She began to shake her awake. “Koto! Wake up!”
Kotonaru sat up in a cold sweat, her breathing not slowing.
“You’re safe, Koto,” Tokage said. “You were just dreaming.”
Kotonaru withdrew to the corner of the closet, a worried expression on her face. She said nothing.
“Come on, Koto.” Tokage said softly. “Let’s go back to the lab.”
Kotonaru shook her head no.
Tokage sighed. “Would you prefer to go alone?”
Kotonaru nodded.
“Alright, I’ll see you soo--”
Kotonaru got up and ran out of the room in a flash. Before Tokage could finish her sentence, she was out of the building and gone.
“So, Aya,” Tokage said. “When you write this article, I’m sure you know what details to leave out, right?”
“Don’t worry!” Aya said. “Your reputation will be just like your clothes. Spotless!”
“Good,” Tokage said. “Now I’m gonna stay here for a while. I’ll rent guest housing after the public is fine with my existence again. I just can't bear to see Koto in such a distressed state. I’ll go back in a week or so, her third eye will probably have healed by then and she’ll see that I am still the Tokage she knows and trusts.”
“Sounds like a plan!” Aya said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get to work on clearing your name.”
One month later…
Tokage was awoken by the sound of machinery outside of her room. She checked her bedside clock. It read 3:47.
“She must be working to take her mind off a nightmare,” she said, and exited her room. Upon entering the lab, she saw Kotonaru hard at work. She jumped and let out a small cry upon seeing Tokage.
“Are you OK?” Tokage asked. “Do you wanna talk about it?”
“I was hoping I wouldn’t wake you…” Kotonaru said.
“It’s alright,” Tokage said.
Kotonaru stopped working. “Well, in the dream, I was up on the surface, with you. And it was beautiful, all the trees and ground were covered in snow. And then as we were walking, you turned into Itazura! I tried to run, b-b-but she caught up to me and…”
Tokage put a hand on Kotonaru’s shoulder. “Look Koto. You know I’m your friend, your third eye has been better for a few weeks now. And there have been no new cases of murder in the papers. Itazura is gone. You’re safe.”
“Yeah, I know…” Kotonaru said emotionlessly.
“I know these nightmares are hard for you, Koto,” Tokage said. “I have some too, dreams where I’m the one doing the killing. They’re not fun.”
“I know…” Kotonaru said again. “I see it with my third eye.”
“Would you prefer I leave you to your work?” Tokage asked.
“I would, if you don’t mind,” Kotonaru replied. “I’m finally caught back up to where I was before the explosion, and that feels nice.”
“That’s awesome!” Tokage said, walking back to her room. “Well, I’ll leave you be now. I’m going back to sleep.”
Kotonaru cracked a smile. “Goodnight, Tokage. And thank you.”