stopped to look at the blonde girl, who was staring down at her feet, but decided that her demeanor could mean trouble. Something I wanted to avoid in my currently weakened state. Turning away, I walked after Suika and Riguru, who were already going ahead with no regard as to whether I was following or not. Just as I wanted to call out to the fact that they were treating me so coldly, I felt a shiver running down my spine.

Spinning around on the spot and readying myself for an attack, I was surprised to see that the blonde Yôkai had stood up straight from her leaning position and was facing me with a glare from her eerily glowing green eyes. They reminded me of someone, but for the love of it, I simply could not recall of whom.

Our eyes met and I could see an inherent hatred, embedded deep within the green gates to her soul, as she looked upon the world and the people in it as if she had been wronged by each and every one. However, rather than feeling fear, the only thought that filled my otherwise temperate emotional state was pity. The instant I peered into her eyes, all feeling of danger and hostility was gone from her, and I only felt an aura of weakness emanating from the girl. Even though she was a Yôkai who could doubtlessly kill a human with little difficulty and remorse, to me she appeared like a kitten that had been left alone in the rain after a bright and warm future had been promised to it.

She appeared to have felt the change in my perception of her, as her hateful green eyes immediately displayed shock. Averting them, she built up a guard around herself, but it was too late; I had already perceived the weakness behind her façade of loathing. I noticed that I seemed to be wearing an expression of pity on my face, and quickly wiped it off; however, I, too, had already been seen through, so there was no point in hiding my thoughts any longer.

“Hey, Kyôma, are you coming?” Suika shouted back from the other side of the bridge, compelling me to turn for a glance. Riguru was standing next to her, wearing her casual nondescript expression. I turned back around to face the ash blonde, who was now facing away to lean on the red lacquered railings. She was looking at the river, but I could see that her eyes were restlessly trying to avoid glancing in my direction. The glowing green aura around her had all but faded, as panic was governing her emotions.

While only moments earlier I had thought of her as a potential threat - after all the Yôkai I had met outside the human village up until now, this was no wonder, especially considering the name of the place we were in – glimpsing such a human emotion in a supernatural being I had at first considered possibly as dangerous as the one I had met on my way down here left me unable to do so any longer.

“Leave her, she’s harmless. Let’s go to the village already,” The little Oni urged me on.

Finally turning away to cross the bridge, I glanced back one more time, to find that the ash blonde was looking at me. She spun her head around quickly when she noticed that I had caught her staring. Shrugging, I finally left her behind and caught up with my companions.

"That's just a Yôkai of jealousy. Nothing good will come out of becoming involved with her, Kyôma," Suika commented when we started walking again. "She's jealous of everything, even of those who are worse off than herself. You can't have a proper conversation with somebody so unreasonable." I understood what the little Oni meant, and stopped myself from turning around to catch another look.

The village was brightly lit with paper lanterns, but unlike the colorful ones on the bridge, these were all white or red. I would have felt transported back to the human village, if it was not for the fact that the villagers were not human. Almost all of them were humanoid, and while I saw the odd multi-legged creature, the majority would have appeared human to me if I had not been aware of what this place was. I saw various types of Yôkai and Oni, some more obviously such than others; from the second floor of a building that looked like an establishment for men to relieve stress in, a group of Rokurokubi extended their necks down to street level to have a conversation with some young men with their backs to us. I guessed that they were not human either. As if to affirm my suspicion, one turned to look around and revealed that he only had one eye, right above the bridge of the nose.

"What exactly will the training here be like? I mean, you don't expect me to fight the whole village, do you?" I asked curiously, dismissing the possibility that Suika was that much of a demon with an unhealthy amount of optimism. She was the type to teach a man swimming by emptying a bucket of blood over his head and throwing him into a pool of starved sharks.

"Well, for starters, we'll find a place to stay. Your training starts after that," Suika answered, without giving away anything regarding in what way I would train. "And you, cockroach, will accompany him." Riguru, who had been following us, was surprised to be addressed so suddenly, that she forgot her catchphrase rebuttal at being called a cockroach. "Say that he's your man or something, when things get dangerous. Even in Former Hell, folks are reasonable enough to not touch each other's prey." For a moment I thought Suika meant for Riguru to play house with me, but of course that was not the case.

Sighing, I followed the little Oni through the streets, feeling the prickling of a multitude of eyes fixed on me. While I was in the company of these two girls, nobody would attack me, but they were surely aware of the fact that I was a human, no matter how much I had progressed in the past few months and how much I had exceeded what a human body was capable of.

We soon came upon a building that seemed to radiate the word "inn". Like in video games, where people could instinctively find the inn in a village they visited for the first time, I could tell that this establishment was one, even without reading the big sign on it, which displayed a name typical for such a business. "Goraku-in" was the name that radiated as much irony as an establishment calling itself Heaven in a place called Former Hell could. I hoped that the owners were, with such a sense of humor, agreeable folks. Then I realized that the name could hold another meaning that I temporarily overlooked due to its initial ironic nature.

"This is an inn, right? It's not one of those establishments, is it?" I asked. Suika seemed to be wondering as well, although her concerns lay elsewhere.

"Who would open an inn in a place that has no tourists?" She asked, and seemed to rack her brain regarding the possible owner of the place. Regardless, she decided to give the place a chance and opened the front door, yelling "Excuse me!" into its depths.

"Yes, coming!" Was the response, the voice belonging to a female I assumed would be around the age that Byakuren's appearance suggested. From that, I noticed that for some inexplicable reason or another, I basically had only encounters with females since I came to Gensôkyô, causing me to wonder what the male-female ratio in this world was. Before I could try and recall the number of males in the human village, the sound of geta echoed through the hallways and an orange-blonde woman, with a bright red horn on her forehead that sported a yellow star on its underside, as if carved into it, rounded the corner to approach us. She wore a turquoise kimono which exposed her shoulders and a good portion of her excessively large cleavage. "I'm sorry, dear customer, have you been waiting for long?" Her demeanor was that of a businesswoman starving for money to balance out the red numbers in the accounting book.

"Gross!" Suika commented with a genuinely disgusted expression. The woman realized who it was that had come into her establishment, and changed her behavior accordingly.

"Oh, if it isn't the fun-sized public bike, Suika," She responded in kind. I had to question her knowledge about bikes, but I guessed that it was not important in the context of this undoubtedly not very peaceful reunion. They certainly knew each other, and their relationship did not seem overly friendly, considering the first words they threw at each other were not greetings, but rather insults.

"At least I don't sodomize my partners when -" Suika started, but I shut my brain off to stop hearing such words from a girl who looked too young to be throwing around phrases even adults would be reluctant to speak. This went on for a few moments, in which I was unable to hear anything, but when the woman with the single red horn turned her attention to me, to greet me in a much more amiable manner, my brain reactivated.

"Hello sir, who might you be?" She said, apparently content with raining down insults onto Suika's tiny stature. "If you're with this shrimp, you must have learned the convenience of those handlebar horns of hers." She exposed her white teeth and especially the sharp canines in a radiant smile full of mixed vibes, especially the one of professionalism in an attempt to dilute the malice in her voice. Only when she looked down on me did I realize that she was taller than I, and even though she was standing one step above the street level, she would still be several centimeters taller when on even ground. From close up, I noticed that the wide Kimono did a great job in hiding her strong and exceptionally muscular frame. Only her exposed neck and shoulders indicated that her body was like that of an athlete’s. In fact, her presence emanated raw power, even more than Suika's usually nonchalant displays of strength did. The horn was already a sign, but I was convinced that this was an Oni.

"I'm Kagami Kyôma. Nice to make your acquaintance," I responded, ignoring the remark about Suika's handlebars.

"My, you're a charming and respectful fellow. My name is Hoshiguma Yûgi, the owner of this inn," The woman introduced herself, sounding much friendlier all of a sudden.

"You must have run into various sorts of troubles, especially in your head, if you would establish an inn in a place with as many travelers as there are humans," Suika commented, earning a false smile and a knuckle to the top of her head. The impact sent her face first into the floor with an impact as if a meteor had fallen from the sky. I would be lying if my mind was not trying to post-process away the cracks that had formed around where the little Oni's face met the hard rock of the street that extended into the entrance area of the inn. This was the last piece of evidence regarding Yûgi's nature; she was an Oni indeed, possessing superhuman strength that rivaled Suika's.

"You came here to stay in a room, right? I don't really care about your taste in children, and I'm not one to judge your approach to relationships, especially the number thereof, but please don't be so loud to bother our other guests," Yûgi said as she proceeded to show me the way inside. She was, of course, commenting on the fact that it appeared like I was here with the two girls for not so respectable reasons.

"There are other guests?" Suika, despite still face-first on the floor where we left her, threw in another cynical remark. Since she made no attempt to clear up the misunderstanding, I decided that it was up to me to do so.

"It may look like that, Hoshiguma-san-" I started, but was interrupted.

"Just call me Yûgi," She interjected.

"Uhm, Yûgi-san. It may look like that, but you're wrong. Suika brought me here to train me," I said, instantly realizing that this wording could be taken the wrong way, too. From Yûgi's silent smile, I gathered that she was aware of that fact as well, but I did not try to explain myself further; anything more would look like poor excuses. "Either way, give us separate rooms, please."

"And you can pay for that much? This establishment is not cheap, you know," The horned lady stated, glancing at me from head to toe in a gauging manner. I still wore my torn and bloodied rags, looking like a beggar who had just been robbed of his last and only coin in a violent struggle. I had no money, but I hoped that Suika had planned ahead for this matter; I could not see the relationship between her and Yûgi being so good for the latter to be so kind as to allow us to stay for free.

"We'll take one room, the biggest one, and I'll pay you with this," Suika suddenly appeared between the much taller Oni and I, holding out her purple Sake gourd. I thought it was a prized item she would never give away, but I had guessed her intentions wrongly. "I'll fill up some bottles for you with this." Despite the stinginess of her offer, considering the treasure gourd was an everflowing chalice of blessed alcohol, Yûgi seemed content with it.

I was alright with sharing a room with Suika, considering I had done so for the past few months, but I could not take the one-horned woman's glances, which suggested stifled but certainly not hidden interest and amusement in the fact that I seemed to be the little Oni's plaything. Heaving a long sigh, I followed the owner of the establishment, as she led our group of three into the depths of the inn, past the inner Zen garden featuring a dead white tree. I guessed that since this place was hell, it was hard to grow things, and harder to keep them alive.

"This is it," Yûgi announced, when she opened the sliding door to a room into which my student home in the outside world could have fit three times with space to spare. The large windows granted a view of the shallow river, of which the bridge we crossed only earlier, granting a feeling as if I was in a home at the riverbank of the Kamo river in Kyôto. If it was not for the darkness on the other side, which was only broken by the occasional wisp lighting up in the distance, it would have been a great view.

"Try not to go overboard, dear guests," The one-horned Oni commented, with a sarcastic undertone, most likely directed at Suika, and left us to ourselves. I sighed, the third time since entering the village, and put down the little luggage I had. It was surprising that I had still been holding onto it, considering all the things that happened on the way. More surprising was the fact that I actually held onto it so dearly, even though there were few things of significance in the bag. Most of my clothes had been ripped to shreds within the first few weeks of training under Suika, and the remaining wearable clothes were not looking much better than that. At least they were better than nothing, at this point, even though the weather was warm enough to go shirtless all day long.

I realized that my nature had been influenced by Suika a lot, especially my way of talking and my reckless behavior around beings of unknown strength. While the little Oni was certainly powerful enough to do so, I was not, which is why I retained a modicum of modesty. Even so, being with her for the past few months resulted in a most welcome change to my mental state regarding unforeseen circumstances and exceptional adversity. I could deal with anything that came along, especially dangers that would normally exceed human understanding. I reconsidered the possibility that having only half a soul allowed for the void left behind by the other half could be filled by the nature of the people I associated with the most. Of course, this was still only a theory, with barely any basis other than how my mind was coping with previously shocking situations; which could be the result of the gathering of experience and the building of self-confidence under such an unpredictable but strong master.

I looked at the Oni in question, who produced the little luggage she had from an unknown location, and placed it on the floor. She noticed my glance and gave me a toothy grin.

"Are you interested, boy?" Suika's question was regarding Yûgi's indelicate remarks regarding our relationship. Of course, she retained a level of sarcasm herself, but I could understand that she would not mind if I said I was.

"Come back in a few years, brat," I answered, earning me an outstretched tongue. I was always happy to engage in banter with her. Suika was in no way uncomfortable with her tiny size, and having lived for so long, she was surely experienced in regard of relationships. Therefore, I could make such remarks with only reaping some playful anger.

"So, what do you want to do, Kyôma?" The little Oni finally inquired. She was asking whether I needed time to rest or would be comfortable with beginning the training right away. It was most likely morning on the surface, but I had not been able to enjoy a proper sleep at night, and was sore all over.

"Let me rest for a while. This journey hasn't been good on my body," I decided after some contemplation. I expected that Suika would consider my choice a display of weakness, but in light of my recent achievements, she only shrugged and opened the door to call for Yûgi. Apparently she had something specific in mind, and when the Oni in question arrived, I learned what it was.

"We indeed have a private hot spring in this establishment. Would you like to take a bath, dear customers?" The one-horned woman answered in a businesslike tone and proceeded to offer us to enter the hot spring. I was delighted at the prospect, considering my baths ever since leaving the Hieda estate had to be taken in the freezing cold creeks that originated on Yôkai Mountain, the only mountain in Gensôkyô that was snow-capped year-round. It appeared that Suika was looking forward to a hot bath as well, but Riguru was not particularly interested. I assumed that as an insect Yôkai, she did not perspire and only needed to groom herself, but the little Oni would have nothing of that and dragged her along.

"This is a shared bath, so please do not let yourselves go in there." This line was delivered with a less than professional grin, but Suika simply ignored it, prompting me to do the same. Taking the lack of reaction with a shrug, Yûgi left us to our own devices to tend to other customers, if there were any. The Oni at my side shot me a glance that seemed to suggest that doubtlessly there were none.

"Well then, I'll let you two go in first. I'll go after you're done," I said and motioned to go back to our room to rest lying around. Grabbing my arm and holding it in a vise-like grip, Suika, now with one person on each hand, cut my escape short. In the recent months I had lost a lot of my reservations, but there were still some I retained from my relatively conservative Japanese upbringing. I knew that shame originates in teachings and social norms, but knowing that and actively acting against it were two different things.

In the end, my protests went unheard, and I soon found myself sitting in the pool of hot water, awaiting the two girls to join me. Apparently Riguru was trying her best to avoid taking a dip, so Suika told me to go ahead, as she would deal with the pesky bug. Soon after, I heard the wooden sliding door opening, resulting in my head reflexively turning around to the noise. The little Oni, in her entire naked glory, with a towel hanging over her shoulder, even though it would have seen better application wrapped around her body, and Riguru in the exact same fashion, entered. There was little steam since the air was quite warm itself, so everything was laid bare before me. Unexpectedly, I felt as much shame as they seemed to do, as they did not see any need to hide themselves when they noticed my staring.

The reason I was looking so closely was that, aside from Suika's expectedly disappointing body, Riguru's had some interesting areas. For one, her small but supple chest was half-covered by the same black chitin-like skin as her hands and feet. The same applied to her hips, but a patch of exceptionally white, almost translucent skin, showing bulbous inner organs, extended from around her belly-button down to her crotch. I assumed those were the organs that produced her firefly glow. Then I noticed that she was still wearing her black cape, only to realize, when she came closer, that it appeared to be directly attached to her shoulder blades. She looked quite bizarre, but fascinatingly so, that I could not tear my eyes from her, until Suika, once again broke the magical moment.

"You seem to be falling for her more and more, Kyôma. I'd have said that your eyes are undressing her, but there is nothing to undress, so what else can that look mean?" She said with noticeable sadistic pleasure. Riguru, who had to be force into the water, instantly gained an absentminded look on her face, as the warmth seemed to soak in. However, she made sure that the upper half of her body stayed above the water, as if fearing she might be unable to breathe through her skin properly. Whether that was an unfounded fear, a remnant of her insect-base, or a true concern would remain unexplored, as I began to relax when I realized that there was no tension in the atmosphere. If this had been with girls in the outside world, I would have surely felt differently, but with these two supernatural beings, reservation was unnecessary.

I lowered myself deeper into the water, and felt the warmth entering my body and washing away the fatigue that had been accumulating for a long time now. Glancing over to Suika, I noticed that she had produced her purple gourd from somewhere, and was merrily enjoying Sake in the bath. If she had been human, I would have shown concern for her health, but knowing her nature, there was no need for me to fear for her safety. Riguru, on the other hand, appeared to be getting dizzy already, as the absentminded look had been replaced by one of drowsiness. She had not had any Sake, so I assumed that the heat was getting to her. The rapidly developing red flush of her skin was another major indicator, reminding me of a lobster getting boiled in hot water to a beautiful crimson. Apparently she knew about her condition and lifted herself out of the spring to sit at the side of the pool, with only her feet dipping into the water, cooling her body in the light breeze that played through the underground at all times.

"Hey, Kyôma! You have me already, so where the hell are you looking?" A voice from nowhere suddenly proclaimed, before I felt arms around my neck and a pair of breasts on my back. Jerking up in surprise, I stood up from the water and lifted the assailant along with me, who, in response, held firmly onto my neck to not fall off my back. This motion not only gloriously cut off my air and blood supply, but also sent me toppling backwards. I noticed the arms disappearing the moment I hit the shallow water and my head met the rocks underneath with an audible sound that came out unexpectedly hollow. Of course, instead of wondering about whether half my brain had gone with half of my soul, I struggled to get out of the water again, only to feel something pressing down on my stomach. Luckily, the water was shallow enough for me to stretch my neck to get at least my head above the surface. Spitting out the water I had very nearly swallowed into my lungs, I took deep, almost painful breaths.

The sudden assailant was right above me, looking down at me with eerily empty and wide open glowing green eyes. Koishi, naked except for her hat, sat on my stomach and smiled a smile that was as empty as her gaze. I pushed myself up, trying to throw her off, at which she responded by pushing me back down. Apparently she wanted me to stay this way, as she opened her mouth to talk.

"You only need to look at me. I'm there to still all your lust," She said. I responded with a blank expression in a fashion that radiated how little I wanted to go along with her game. It was one of Koishi's random trips into her own world, so I did not want to get dragged into it by responding with a proper reaction. Even then, there was, once again, a nagging feeling in the back of my head, which was not the result of having banged it against the rocks underwater. I felt like there was something very important that I had forgotten, but the girl's next action presented an opening for me to take action, which in turn caused me to abandon my fruitless train of thoughts.

She stood up and looked out into nowhere, upon which I took the opportunity to sit back up properly. The act of having the blood supply to the brain getting cut temporarily, in combination with the heat, had caused the blood to rush back into my head. My heart was pumping quickly to respond to the demand of oxygen from the increased activity. When I calmed down slightly, I looked up at Koishi, who was standing still like a statue, or like a robot whose battery had run out. Without warning, she moved again and plopped down into my lap, into a very dangerous position, with no care in the world. Suika looked over at me with a knowing grin, while Riguru was too dizzy to see beyond her own nose.

"Hey, you should go meet my sister. She's always so lonely, she would want some company," She suddenly said, causing me to forget the precarious situation I found myself in. This was the first time I heard Koishi mention her sister; Mamizô had given me a little insight into their past during the dinner at the temple, so I at least knew she had one. Koishi leaned back, humming a melody apparently having concluded the discussion before it began, or simply forgotten that she had started one, but I was left thinking. I had asked Suika for a break, so I assumed that we would not be training anymore for the day. Maybe I could take the opportunity to go and meet Koishi's sister to learn more about this interesting girl who was sitting on my lap and taking the opportunity to guide my hands around to her front-

"Koishi-chan, you should be more aware of yourself," I stated and lifted her off my lap, dropping her down next to me. "I'm a man, too, you know."

"And I'm a Yôkai, what about it?" She stated with a straight but empty smile. I had gotten used to dealing with her random trainwrecks of thoughts, so I was not easily disturbed by them. Over the past few months, she had frequently visited the makeshift training camp Suika and I had erected, and brought chaos with her every time. During that time I learned that there was no method to her madness and she really acted on instinct alone.

"Yes, you're a Yôkai, but you're also a girl. You should take more care of yourself, You're lucky it’s me," I said, heaving a sigh and beginning to relax again. Koishi leaned against me and responded with her usual nonsense. "Like I said, I will take all your pent up carnal desires!" Bringing a hand up, I let my knuckles crash onto her head audibly, causing her to cringe and hold her hat. "You're too young for talk like that. Come back in a few years."

"You're so mean, Kyôma! But that's why I like you," Koishi said when she recovered. I didn't remember doing anything to warrant her affection. "I know what you're thinking, but I've been watching you ever since you stripped down for that horny girl over there." She pointed at Suika as if referring to a rock on the roadside. The horny person in question looked over with a frown. "Every single day, no matter where you went, I was there, watching you." Her empty eyes, as they stared up into mine, coupled with her wide, emotionless grin, gave me the impression I was talking with someone who no longer had any sanity to lose. But I knew this was Koishi, and that when she said these words, she was simply reporting what she had been doing without any emotions or ulterior motives attached.

"I'm sure it was boring, watching me go through my training routines, getting beaten up by Suika and running away from Yôkai in the forest, every single day," I said, realizing the contradiction in those words. Every day had been so much fun, despite the dangers to my life, so much that the time had passed by faster than I would have imagined possible. Koishi looked at me and smiled, for the first time causing me to feel like it was something coming from her completely sealed off heart.

As if to counteract that display of emotion, she turned away from me and looked at nothing in particular, before sinking deeper into the water. I could only watch, dumbfounded by the randomness in her behavior, as she disappeared, leaving only the hat floating on the surface. It suddenly began to move, making a beeline towards Suika, who watched the disembodied hat approaching with a raised eyebrow. As it reached her, instead of Koishi reappearing, the Oni just vanished into the water without causing much of a ripple. The hat moved away and Suika jumped out of the hot water, inhaling air as if she had been close to drowning. Apparently the sudden pull had caused her to exhale all the air in her lungs before even going under. Staring in the direction of Koishi's hat while gasping, her expression was that of a person ready to kill out of annoyance. The black headwear approached Riguru, who was still out of it. I foresaw an unfortunate accident and quickly moved to stop the submarine-girl's random rampage. Before the hat reached Riguru's feet, I thrust my hands somewhere underneath it, got hold of Koishi's armpits and lifted her out of the water as she struggled like a freshly caught trout. When she noticed who it was, she stopped her pointless endeavor, so I let her down again.

"Koishi-chan, that's dangerous. I know Riguru-chan is a Yôkai, but if you had pulled her down there she would have hit her head against the edge of the pool," I reprimanded the green-eyed girl. Her expression did not betray any form of remorse, much like rebuking a cat which had made a mess out of the house by setting off unintentional Rube Goldberg machines everywhere. In fact, she didn't even seem to listen, as she was staring at my exposed lower body intently; I had lost my towel when I had quickly moved to save Riguru from a possible concussion or worse, so there I was, standing in front of a girl, dressed in my birthday suit.

"Hmm," Was the only response to the unintended flashing, as Koishi looked up at me with her usual indiscernible, emotionless smile. Without another word, she scurried away, jumped out of the pool and left through the door, into the inn, without closing it behind her. Left standing in the water, I in turn stared at her exposed backside until it disappeared, mulling over what her response was supposed to mean, and whether I should just disregard it or feel hurt for some reason or another. As I turned to look at Suika, who was staring in my direction with a lecherous grin, I realized the state I was in and sat down into the water. Even if there was no need to be ashamed, I felt the danger that this story would come to an untimely end if I let this go on.

Sighing, I felt even more exhausted than I had been before the bath.

As if in a mocking display of a tradition often observed in young women of the outside world, who wished for growth in certain areas of their bodies, Suika and Riguru both downed a small bottle of something I, by cultural references, assumed must have been milk. Upon closer inspection of the containers, the Oni had gotten herself a bottle of Sake, and Riguru was drinking honeydew. The former was not something I had to consciously comment on, but I was wondering where the latter got her unusual drink from. I had assumed that the firefly Yôkai was a carnivore, considering she had tried to eat me on our first encounter, and had readily drunk my blood in the tunnel, but I guessed that, just like with so-called carnivores in the animal kingdom, their diet did not only consist of meat either.

I had no need or desire for either of the two drinks, and gratefully declined when they both produced a second bottle to present them to me. Suika shrugged, but Riguru, for some reason, showed a dejected expression, causing me to extend a hand and pat her head. "Maybe later." This was all it took to brighten her mood visibly.

Unlike a ryôkan, a mountain guesthouse with its own hot springs, this was an inn inside a village, so the bustle on the streets was audible. And unlike those of the outside world, this one obviously lacked the obligatory table tennis room with vending machines and arcade games. Therefore, the only entertainment after a hot bath was whatever we managed to get by ourselves.

"Don't you want to go visit Koishi's sister?" Suika suddenly mentioned.

"Who is..." Before I could finish the question, something seemed to click in my mind. I had forgotten about Koishi and the conversation with her completely, but once I remembered, it felt like it had never slipped my mind in the first place. Therefore, like a machine automatically correcting itself, I disregarded the question I had begun to ask, and simply continued the conversation like normal. "I guess I could do that today. Yeah. Do you know where she lives?"

"Komeiji Satori, her name suggesting exactly what she is, is the owner of Chireiden, the Palace of the Earth Spirits. It's on the other end of the village, a little distance away," Suika began to explain. "She lives with a lot of pet animals, but the Yôkai, Oni and even the vengeful spirits of the underground stay away from her. If you want to go, I won't be going with you. I can't deal with her kind. What will you do?" She would be waiting here and enjoy herself with fighting Yûgi, most likely verbally as well as physically.

I have moved to China and things are a little difficult here. I'll try to get updates out whenever I can, but I won't be able to post one every day, I fear.