After spending some time walking through the horrible destruction of Atomic City, I began to realize how easily some human would be able to take out a live just like that. It's very scary knowing that someone somewhere has that kind of power possibly even to this day. That also reminds me of something else. Yumiko was with me. I voluntarily asked her to come and join me search for Ethereal and White. If I'm not the stupidest person of all, I would have severed my ties especially with someone who has literally murdered me for about six times now.

I would have done that to be honest, but there was one thing that keeps making me think twice about it and that was White's trust toward Yumiko. I couldn't quite grasp on what kind of sick relationship does White and Yumiko has. From the outside, White despises her so much that he can now tell when she's lying or not. Yumiko love to pester around him just for her own amusement and not out of spite. There wasn't any sort of romantic tension between those two but if they are then...I might have to do something about that. Why? Because it doesn't sound healthy.

And so, I asked her, "Hey, Yumiko..."

"What is it twerp?" Her response sounded lazy. She was probably tired of me or something.

"What do you think of...White?"

"That guy?" Yumiko chuckled a little and said, "He's another toy that I can play with. I love playing around with boys who are easily annoyed with me. It is simply fantastic whenever I get to see that annoyed look on him. As far as I'm concerned about him, I wouldn't really care of what kind of situation he might be in. Whether if he's in a good situation...or in a bad one."

"So you don't have any sort of feelings toward him? Even after pestering him for like...ever?"

"Feelings?" Yumiko looked at me and gave a look that makes me think that something was going on between her and White. "You don't have to worry about me at all, shorty. I have no feelings at all toward that time trickling trickster. Besides, I'm already popular enough that I can even make my own choice without even trying to look for one." She said that confidently without a single stutter at all. She was being serious and a bit...egotistic.

I let out a sigh of relief and said, "Well...if that's the case then..." I stopped momentarily and retracted my sentences, "Never mind."

Yumiko raised one of her eyebrows as I looked away from her and trying my best to get out of that conversation.

"Don't get so tense, shorty. I thought you were the one who dragged me into this."

Recordia then flies next to us after her excursion around the city was done, "Is something wrong? Recordia is concerned about Yumiko and Zenith as Recordia asked that."

Yumiko then rubs her head with her finger and told her, "Everything is fine, little fairy. Now, tell me if you see anything that we should avoid."

Recordia nodded her head and said, "There's a couple of Yokai a few blocks away from our current position. We might be able to avoid them if we take a different route, suggested Recordia."

"Can you tell what kind of Yokai was it?"

"Recordia tries to remember what it was and figured that...The Yokai that Recordia saw was a group of Tsukumogami."

"Suku-what?" I failed to pronounce whatever that Yokai was.

Yumiko then corrected me and explained, "Tsukumogami. It's a type of Yokai. Tsukumogami are inanimate objects that once they have served their owner/s for 100 years, they receive a soul and therefore become alive and self-aware."

"Household items, huh...are they as dangerous as some other demonic ones like the Oni?"

Yumiko answered my question, "They are usually harmless, though they tend to play small pranks. Still, they have the capacity to get angry and can group up to take revenge against those who threw them away or didn't treat them well. For this reason, ceremonies were performed in Nihon to console broken and/or unusable objects."

"Recordia also added by saying some examples, The Karasaka-Obake is one of them. It is an umbrella that has one eye and a leg and sometimes it would have arms and a tongue sticking out of a mouth. Another example is The Bakezori, it's a sandal that has limbs and only one eye."

Yumiko then continued, "There's also The Ittan-momen which is a possessed roll of cotton that flies around at night. Then there is The Kameosa which is a possessed old jar that usually contains sake or water that sometimes can take up humanoid features. Let's also not forget about The Chochin-obake, that one is a possessed lantern that usually has one eye and a long tongue protruding from a hole in the lantern acting as the spirit's mouth."

I was in awe but only for that moment, "These are all fascinating Yokai...I really want to know more about them but we really need to get to the graveyard now..."

"Precisely." Yumiko agreed. "That is why I asked the fairy to fly first. Lead the way, little fairy."

Recordia does a salute and leads to a better route that will avoid us from those living furniture.

-

After several minutes have passed, we have finally got out of Atomic City which means that we are already stepping on the area of the burial grounds of the dead. The Yokai Graveyard is a sacred resting place for the souls on Nihon. It pays homage and respects the fallen, Human and Yokai alike. Yes, it isn't just exclusively for Yokai even though they are basically a spirit to begin with.

"Woah..." I was in awe of what I was seeing. "This place is huge...tombstones everywhere as far as my eyes could see. How big is this place anyway?"

Then all of sudden a mysterious voice spoken to us, "Just a couple of acres..."

I jumped a little and took on a cautious move. However, Yumiko doesn't seem to be surprised by the mysterious voice at all. It was as if she knows it was there.

"What was that, Yumiko?"

Yumiko sighed and said, "A very annoying Yokai..."

"My, my...Yumiko...I haven't seen you for quite a while. It is so nice of you to come and visit me." A cat with two tails suddenly appeared behind one of the tombstones.

"Nekomata..." Yumiko was displeased of the cat's presence.

"You know that thing?" I asked Yumiko

But then the Yokai clears its throat and said, "This thing is not a thing. It is a 'her'. My name is Nekomata and welcome to the biggest graveyard in Nihon."

"Is this place your home?"

"No it is not, young lady. I am actually stationed here on behalf of your blond friend here."

"What is she talking about, Yumiko?" I turned to Yumiko looking for the answer.

But then Yumiko simply ignored me and talked to Nekomata, "Ferocious feline...always bothering me during the important time."

"It's not like you have a choice, Yumiko." The cat was talking in a very creepy tone.

It was very suspicious but since she is someone that Yumiko knows then I can trust her enough. Yumiko on the other hand made a squint on her face as she listens to what the cat was saying to her. She looked like she had a face of remorse or something. I couldn't really tell what it was as I was continuously distracted by Recordia who was pulling me and showed me the names of the deceased people written on their tombstones. Then as I turned my head around, I saw a big wooden house standing beside the graveyard.

"What is that?"

Nekomata answered for me, "That's a place for people to take a rest once they have arrived her. It's like a shelter of some sort."

"It's a really huge shelter..."

"Don't worry about that, young lady. You can go on and see it for yourself." The cat smiled.

Then suddenly Yumiko alerted me, "Zen!"

That was probably the first time she ever used that nickname that White always use on me. It caught off guard when I heard her shouted at me with that.

"What...?"

"I think we should back...It doesn't seem that White or your sister is over here." Yumiko was talking slowly to me.

"White, you say? Is that a boy?" Nekomata interrupted us and said, "I believe I saw a boy together with a lady carrying a huge rifle on her back just an hour ago."

Yumiko was observing Nekomata with full caution. But I didn't see her facial changed because I was focused on Nekomata at the time.

"We're you trying to trick me again, Yumiko? The cat says she saw them recently..."

She then whispered from where she was standing, "But I'm telling the truth..." Her eyes were filled with all sorts of fears.

Even after that, I was too blind to even notice that her truth because of how much she had done to me and White previously. I quickly made my way to the huge wooden 'shelter' and what I found there was an empty building.

"White? Ethereal? Are you guys over here?"

Then, I heard a creaking noise that was coming from the old wooden floor. Someone was behind me. I thought it was White or my sister but once I turned my back I saw a person...but it wasn't just any person...It was a person that doesn't even has a face. I quickly fainted out of being too shocked on what I have seen and my vision begins to fade out as I saw the person getting close to me...Did I just made a grave mistake for believing that cat? I can't really tell because what follows next was something I truly never expected.

TO BE CONTINUED