“Of course! I’m a genius!” Rui put her hand up to her face and booped her own nose as she laughed haughtily. “Ohohohoho! Fine, I’ll drag this sorry deadweight across Tokyo.” She extended her arms as she leapt up. “We’ll find Noh-face, and I’ll vanquish it.”

“Take care, you two!” Ume waved. “I hope you get your horrible face back! You’ve piqued my interest. If it’s really so bad, I want to see it. I would like to add your face to my collection.” I hoped she was joking.

“Noooooo!” I yelled and bolted out of that bright girly room right into the horror show.

“Here, RuiRui, you’ll need this. I think you aren’t..." I heard Ume’s voice fade into the distance.

I leapt through Ume’s store, flinching. Dolls twitched and while my memory wasn’t great, I was fairly sure that things had changed places. That explained why many of the objects had seals pasted onto them. I screamed and exited, slamming the door behind me as I left the building for good measure.

Rui joined me a bit after I reached the safety of the street. Having a few people around made me feel a bit better. The loli-oni hit me with an insult right off. “Drama queen,” she muttered. “I’m glad you didn’t wet yourself.” She eyed me skeptically, but gestured as she moved up the lane. “We’re going this way.”

I checked my phone to mark the time shortly after I started chasing after her. Fifteen and forty o’clock. Seven point five hours remained.

She led me down the way she’d called a ‘Yokai Street’. There was no obvious evidence that it deserved the label. The people around me seemed completely normal. They rode bicycles and cars like anyone else. We passed vending machines which sold the usual brands. As we neared a main boulevard again, the roar of the crowd became louder, accompanied by the rumbling of vehicles.

She led me to a building alongside it and downstairs to a basement-level office. The office had no signs or decals on the windows and thus it was blank, and the glass was tinted black. There was a unique decoration by the door, it was a curious statue. A strange monstrosity which looked like something that might fit on the grounds of a Shinto shrine, except it was clearly a depiction of a yokai of some variety.

She knocked on the door, looking a little uncomfortable. “Look, Susumu. When you see this, ehrm, guy, just don’t freak out. Be quiet. Turn down your drama, or else just stay outside if you don't think you can handle it. I swear, I don’t like coming here, myself.” She shook her head. “The clientele Rickey works with pass on information of a less savory nature. It’s very useful, and oftentimes is worth the trouble.”

Rui held a bag in one hand she’d received from Ume. A gift, probably. Maybe for this Rickey fellow. The knocking continued in an intricate pattern. It didn’t sound like a song I knew. Finally the door clicked numerous times as heavy locks tumbled. She opened the door and gave me a meaningful glance. “Hold your ground. Don’t run from Rickey. You’ll trigger his instincts. And don’t attack him under any circumstances.”

She led me into pitch blackness, walking confidently. The door closed behind us.

*DUMMMM*