Chapter 4: The Lady of Kashikobuchi

Chapter 4:
The Lady of Kashikobuchi

 

THE FLAMES ROARED.

Even from this distance, the heat burned my skin, as though I stood in the flames that punished sinners in hell. Someone reached out for me, their face contorted with agony. When I was young, I had wanted to help at times like these—they had looked so pained, so pitiful. But Shinonome-san told me these souls were atoning for their sins and that a new life awaited them once they had done so.

“This way, even if you make a mistake, you can make good on it eventually,” he said. “It’s nice to know that there’s always a way to find forgiveness.”

I knew he was right, but I spoke up anyway. “Isn’t it awful that you can’t find forgiveness until after you die? Why not forgive someone when they’re still alive? Is this really salvation?”

“Then why not look at it this way? Whenever you think that you can’t forgive someone, or whenever you learn that someone is worried over not being able to forgive another, consider how you can attain that forgiveness. There’s no need to forgive everyone, of course. You can forgive them when you can or find another resolution when possible. As long as you keep that in mind, I think that at least a few more people will be able to reach the salvation they need.”

 

***

“Hmm, Inugami?” The red oni looked thoughtful. “Can’t say he’s been seen around here.”

“I see…” Suimei’s expression grew heavy, and he turned for the exit.

It’d already been a few weeks since we started looking for Suimei’s partner. Recently, he’d been searching every day, scouring the spirit realm, even calling upon our old acquaintances, but all to no avail. Maybe Inugami wasn’t in the spirit realm at all.

I shook my head to banish the thought. I couldn’t say that to Suimei, not with how hard he was looking.

“I’m going to the beach next,” he said. “He hates water, so I don’t think we’ll find him there, but let’s give it a shot anyway.”

“I understand, but…don’t you think you should rest a bit?” I asked.

“Sorry, but I don’t have that kind of time right now.” Dark circles hung under Suimei’s eyes. He hurried to the next location, refusing to rest even after days and days of frustration.

“Dammit…” he muttered.

I couldn’t stand watching him biting his thumb in frustration. I wanted to help somehow, but the whole situation dragged on no matter what we tried.

We finally arrived at the door connecting hell and the spirit realm. When I pushed, the old door creaked in protest, but it opened. The air of the spirit realm, especially cool after traversing the fires of hell, sent goosebumps rippling over my skin.

The familiar sights of the spirit realm greeted us. It seemed it must have rained while we were gone because the ground was wet and a fresh scent rose from the damp earth.

“Huh?”

Someone was waiting for us. As I looked closer, I realized it was Kinme, soaked through by the gentle rain.

“What’s wrong?!” I asked, rushing over.

“You can’t go anywhere else today,” he said shortly. “Go home.”

“What do you mean?”

“Just listen, okay?!”

I stammered an apology, completely taken aback. Kinme was always so calm… What could have riled him up like this?

Suimei stepped past me and yanked Kinme close by his collar. “You know I’m running out of time. If you want me to go home, you better explain.”

Kinme glared at Suimei for a moment before his anger softened into pain. “Ginme was attacked.”

 

***

“Ouch, ouch! Cut it out, Noname!”

“Be patient. And stop moving!”

Ginme thrashed as Noname attempted to tend to him.

We’d rushed back to the bookstore after Kinme’s dire pronouncement but found things mostly under control by the time we got there. It looked like Noname was taking care of Ginme and he’d be fine.

“Welcome back, you two. Did you get caught in the rain?” Ginme wore a massive grin, as though nothing at all had happened.

“I came back because I heard you were attacked!” I gestured at his injuries.

“Hmm? Oh, that’s right. I’m a bit absentminded right now.” He scratched at his head before showing us the bandage on his neck.

He had been assaulted while he was off on his own, visiting a friend in the human world. Just as he opened the door in the spirit realm to take a shortcut through hell, someone had jumped him.

“Suddenly, a strange thread unspooled from the darkness. Before I knew what was happening, my neck was wrapped up tight!”

“Could you possibly be any more careless?” Kinme scolded. “We’re always telling you to be careful, especially in the summer when all these new spirits come to town.”

“I get it, I get it. I let my guard down right when I was going through the door.”

“Well, don’t!”

Ginme cackled at his indignant brother.

Kinme grabbed Ginme by the collar and snarled at him. “Try to be a little more reliable,” Kinme snapped. “What would I do if you were gone? You’re my only brother.”

Ginme gently stroked his twin’s head and despite himself, Kinme deflated.

“Listen, I’m sorry. I won’t let my guard down anymore,” Ginme assured him.

“You better promise me, you idiot.”

“It’s a promise.”

Shinonome-san, who was smoking his pipe in the corner of the room, watched this tender display with wide eyes. For once, Kinme got to be comforted by his suddenly mature brother.

“It looks like some hooligan crept in during the hustle and bustle of summer,” Noname said as she started cleaning her tools. “A number of children have been attacked in the past few days by a spirit who uses thread to carry away their victims. They strike from the darkness and try to drag the victim off somewhere. I wonder if it plans on eating them…”

“You mean like a predator?” I asked.

Noname shrugged. “They do seem pretty hungry. A lot of spirits come to town around this time of year. I guess it’s not that surprising.”

“Yes, but…do you think everyone will be okay?”

Plenty of the spirits in town were more or less powerless. I feared any of them becoming this creature’s next target.

“They’re okay,” Noname assured me. “This person seems to only target spirits who are alone.”

Ginme nodded. “Yeah. I was attacked when I was alone. As long as the weaker spirits stick together, they’ll be fine.”

“In that case, I guess it’ll be okay…”

“I’ve issued a notice to the townspeople not to go out alone,” Noname explained. “That should limit the damage this fiend can do.”

I was relieved to hear measures had already been taken. Once summer ended, the number of people in town would drop almost overnight and whatever spirit was out there would probably wander away. It seemed like a long wait at the moment, though.

However, while I’d relaxed, Suimei was clenching his fists, his face even whiter than usual as he stared at the floor. What was up? Just as I was about to say something, Suimei stomped toward the front door.

“Where are you going?!” I grabbed his shoulder to stop him. It was too dangerous for him to walk around alone under normal circumstances. And now?

Suimei pushed me aside and muttered in a low, angry voice, “I’m going to look for him.”

“Where?! We still don’t have any clues!”

“You think I don’t know that?” His hands trembled as he brought them to his face. “I have a bad feeling. I need to find him as soon as possible. If he’s here in the spirit realm, he’ll certainly be alone.”

All the blood drained from my face. But I couldn’t let him go by himself. “If you’re that worried, that’s even worse. You need to stay calm.”

“Let me go. I’m going to bring the fight to them!”

“It’ll do Inugami no good if something bad happens to you. Let’s gather some information first. We’ll go around to the people I introduced you to again. Many of the people here operate at their own speed, so they could have easily seen Inugami and forgotten to contact you.”

“Do you really think we have the time to leisurely stroll through town?!” He glared, hazel eyes bright, but I had to keep my cool.

“Please, listen to me. I’m sure the spirits will help you.”

“Do you really trust them?”

“Huh?” For a moment, I had no idea what Suimei was saying. I wanted to believe I’d misheard him, but the incensed look on his face said different.

“Can you trust spirits?” he repeated.

“Stop it…”

“They’re all spirits at the end of the day. Even if they pretend to be good people, they’re ultimately after flesh and blood. Is there any guarantee that they haven’t eaten my partner? Can you say with any certainty that they aren’t all laughing at me as I search this town?!”

“Stop it!” I threw my hands over my ears and stared hard at the ground instead of at him. Suimei’s words swirled in my head. Sure, there were a number spirits who had a taste for flesh. Some even ate live prey like animals, but—

But they weren’t the only spirits out there!

I jerked my head back up and grabbed Suimei’s arm. We stared straight into each other’s eyes, and I clenched my jaw, refusing to back down from his glare.

Finally, his gaze wavered.

I took a deep breath. “You’ve spent a long time as an exorcist. It’s what you spent most of your life doing. So it’s understandable that your experiences taught you not to trust spirits. After all, exorcists and spirits are natural enemies. You don’t even think about it. However, much like you, I’ve lived most of my life in one context—in the spirit realm. Spirits have watched over me since I was little, even at times being overprotective. So yes, I can say this with confidence: They will help you.”

Everyone was watching our back and forth in silence.

Please, everyone, trust me and leave Suimei to me. I smiled, just a little. “Give them some credit. Remember all the time you’ve spent here. Has anyone lied to you? If you still can’t find it in your heart to trust them, then trust me, the ‘human.’ I believe in the spirits here, and I’d never betray you. I promise.”

Tears slipped out as the rush of emotion overwhelmed me. Suimei had only spent a short amount of time with the spirits. However, I truly hoped that would had been enough to warm his heart.

The tension in Suimei’s body eased. The next time he spoke, his voice hardly rose above a bashful whisper. “I’m sorry. I kinda let the stress get the best of me.”

“Well, then…”

“I believe you. Thinking about it, that’s the only reason why I’d still be here.”

“Exactly!” I was so overjoyed that I pulled Suimei into a tight embrace.

“Hey, wait, stop it!” He yelped in surprise and tried to tear himself away, but I was taller and easily held him against me.

Someone cleared their throat behind us.

“Ah, uh, Noname?” I smiled bashfully.

“Well, well, it looks like things are nicely wrapped up here,” she said. “Anyway, don’t overdo it or your father might get jealous.”

I quickly released Suimei and caught a glimpse of Shinonome-san glaring. I’d never seen an expression quite like that on him. I stepped away from Suimei and smoothed down my clothes. I hadn’t done anything wrong, yet I still somehow felt guilty.

“Meeow.” Nyaa-san curled around my feet. I scooped her up in an attempt to hide my embarrassment.

“Customers are here,” Nyaa-san said.

I rushed to open the sliding door connecting our home to the store. “H-hi,” I greeted them. “Oh, it’s been a while.”

Standing there in the shop were none other than Goblin and Yamajiji of Oboke. Goblin shuffled shyly from foot to foot.

“Uh, so…” Goblin said. “We heard you might need our help.”

 

***

“Don’t lose sight of me. There are a lot of dangerous spirits living out here,” Nyaa-san said.

“All right, got it,” I promised.

We followed Nyaa-san through the hovels located on the outskirts of town. She was currently the size of a tiger and had flames licking around her feet as she kept a keen eye on her surroundings.

This area was home to spirits who couldn’t settle in the town proper. Of course, due to the nature of the area, it wasn’t exactly the safest. However, everyone, even the more hostile spirits, ducked out of the way at the sight of Nyaa-san.

“Kuro! Kuro, where are you?!” Suimei yelled, heedless of the stares he drew. He was truly desperate to find his companion.

Goblin and Yamajiji had given us the information that led us to this place. After hearing that the family living in the bookstore was looking for Inugami, they came all the way out here to tell us about their sighting.

“It’s really a pretty small detail, but I hope it helps,” Goblin had said. “I recently saw an unfamiliar spirit who looked pretty beat up. Maybe you should check it out?”

The news left us all stunned. Goblin’s sources were Karakasa-niisan and Toochika-san. It seemed they’d used their network to spread the word about the missing Inugami. The fact that word had even reached Yamajiji, who usually lived deep in the mountains and rarely came to town, said a great deal about how far the story had traveled.

Suimei had taken in the information with a blank expression, then bowed and thanked them. I could only hope that this helped change his perception of spirits.

I scanned the decrepit buildings around us. A familiar face appeared at the corner of my eye.

“Nene-san!” I said, rushing over.

“Oh, Kaori-chan! It’s been a long time. How have you been?” Nene-san wore a simple teal short-sleeved kosode with her sash tied at her stomach rather than her back. Underneath her hood, powder covered her face. She had neither eyes nor a nose, just a blank face.

“Well, I’m looking for a spirit,” I said. “Actually, I’m searching for one that looks like a dog, but with a longer body and covered in black and red spots. Have you seen him?”

“Hmm, I’ve heard rumors of a spirit like that lately…” Nene-san’s mouth, the sole feature on her face, curved upward in a smile, baring her black-stained teeth. “Come to think of it, I think I saw it just a little while ago, stumbling around on the road opposite this one. Maybe you should go check.”

“Thank you!”

I bowed my head to Nene-san, one of the Ohaguro-Bettari spirits known for their stained black teeth, before taking Suimei’s hand.

Nene-san called after us as we ran. “I’ll let everyone know, okay? If you get lost, just stop a spirit and ask for help!”

“Thank you, Nene-san!”

“Anything for my sweet Kaori-chan.”

I waved over my shoulder as I continued to dash in the direction she’d indicated. Smoke curled up from the homes lining the street as dinnertime neared. I called out to each spirit I found to keep us on the right path, but when we reached the area of the sighting, we stopped short in a dead-end alley.

Then it started to rain again.

The lukewarm summer rain drenched us, but we no longer cared. The sight that lay before us was too shocking for us to worry about such things. The neglected alley was cloaked in darkness. It was so remote that even the glow of the streetlights didn’t reach it. Even in the gloom, I could make out the blood painting the walls and ground.

“No!” Suimei’s face went white and he dropped to his knees.

The coppery scent of blood hit me. It dripped down the walls and pooled on the ground. Black hair littered the scene. Deep gouges rent the earth in places. Whatever had happened here, it was clear it had involved a fierce battle.

I took a few steps back, nauseated from the smell of blood.

Just then, I saw something stuck in the fence of a nearby house: a silver thread smeared with bright red blood. The torn thread swayed in the wind.

“That’s spider silk,” I said. “And…hmm, what’s that?”

Nyaa-san tilted her head and sniffed the silver thread. “It smells like calligraphy ink.”

Suimei remained on his knees, staring blankly at the ground, at the trail where something had been dragged away.

 

***

We followed the trail of blood on the ground, but it quickly tapered off as the rain washed it away. Suimei was increasingly frantic, desperate to believe the blood wasn’t Kuro’s. I asked the nearby spirits for information, but they had seen neither the spirit who was responsible for this nor Inugami. We were at an impasse.

“Where could they have gone?” I frowned.

“It’s too soon to give up,” Suimei insisted. “There’s…there’s got to be something we can do.”

First, we had to figure out just what kind of spirit we were dealing with here. Nyaa-san and I put together all the information we’d gathered. First, we knew they attacked in darkness and only when a spirit was alone. We had also found silver thread smeared with blood and a trail indicating the victim had been dragged away.

“The culprit must be a spider spirit,” I concluded.

Nyaa-san nodded. “I agree.”

“They’re also the type who would use thread to catch their prey. But even when they catch something, they take it back to their home rather than eating it right there on the spot. We need to find their nest.”

What spider spirits did I know of? Tsuchigumo, Jorogumo, Ogumo… Which one hurt Kuro?

Left with no other leads, we headed back to the store. Perhaps Noname or Shinonome-san knew something that could build on these new clues.

As soon as we got back, we passed through the store and into the main building, where Noname and Shinonome-san waited with grave expressions.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked worriedly.

Shinonome-san wore a grim look as he offered me a book. It was the first volume of Toriyama Sekien’s—The Illustrated Demon Horde’s Night Parade. “We’ve got trouble,” he said.

“Huh?”

“After you left, a customer came to return this book. Then he mentioned something strange. Some of the pages are blank.”

I flipped through the book and, just as Shinonome-san said, some pages were totally blank. Where there should have been a picture and name, now there was nothing. I started reading from the last remaining passage.

“A type of Tsukumogami, Jorogumo: A shape-shifting spider spirit that can take the form of an attractive woman. This spirit believes it is truly the thing it has taken the form of and, in some cases, may eat people.”

Another entry. As I read it, my blood ran cold.

“Tsukumogami: First introduced in the Tsukumogami Emaki scrolls drawn in the Muromachi period, these are items that have become spirits over the course of one hundred years, and they find joy in deceiving the hearts of man. They are known collectively as Tsukumogami.”

Suimei scowled. “What does this have to do with Kuro?”

“In ancient Japan, it was believed that things that had been around for a long time gained mysterious powers. Some of our books are more than one hundred years old, and they’re also considered Tsukumogami.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Every year, I do a thorough cleaning to ensure that no Tsukumogami are born, but…I guess I wasn’t thorough enough last year.” I turned to Suimei with a stricken expression. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”

We cleaned the many antiques in our home once a year as a measure against Tsukumogami. How could this have happened? I didn’t know how to apologize properly for having caused so much trouble.

Suimei shook his head. “Don’t worry. The Tsukumogami is the one who decided to attack Kuro, not you. It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.” He was trying to sound calm, but I could tell his voice was shot through with anxiety.

 

***

When we went out to search for the Tsukumogami, the sun had set on the human world, its light little more than a faint reminder off in the western sky. We stood watch on the banks of the Hirose River, a popular landmark in the city of Sendai, located in Miyagi Prefecture. This was the largest tributary of the Natori River, famous for the ayu fish that swam upstream through the city.

Untamed nature surrounded us. The river sat lower than usual thanks to construction farther upstream at the Okurakura Dam—streets evolve with the times, and so do rivers. Our hiding place was situated beside Kashikobuchi, one of the many deep pools along the river’s course. These tranquil pools, which ran deep and calm, provided an ideal environment for fish…and many more mysterious creatures.

For ages, people had spoken of the terrifying things that lurked in the depths of these bright yet ominous blue-green pools. Rumor and folklore abounded. Naturally, Kashikobuchi had its own specific legends.

According to one, a man had gone fishing when a spider suddenly wrapped a thread around his leg. The man removed the thread from his ankle and secured it to the root of a nearby willow tree. A moment later, he heard a powerful roar, and the willow tree was dragged straight into the abyss. The man stood there, stunned, as the spider said: “How clever…”

That was how this place had come by its name—it literally translated to “clever abyss.”

“Are they really going to come here?” I asked.

Shinonome-san nodded. “There was a door leading to Hariyama Hell in the area where Inugami was last seen. This shortcut leads to Tohoku, which makes the Kashikobuchi Jorogumo a sure bet. Besides, we found a black hair at the shortcut’s exit. I’m positive.” He set a hand on Suimei’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, we’ll get your companion back. I intend to take full responsibility for what my book has done.”

Suimei stared at Kashikobuchi, his eyes fixed on the silver thread spanning the river. It was almost beautiful as it caught and reflected the dim moonlight.

Nyaa-san suddenly popped out of a bush. “Noname, Kinme, and Ginme are waiting on the other side of the river. I also asked a spirit who lives nearby, and he said that the spirit who inhabited this place died a long time ago. That thread was definitely made by a Tsukumogami. That means we’re in the right place.”

“Hmm, so that means that the Tsukumogami probably also thinks that she’s the true spirit of this spot. A fake pretending to be the real thing… What an awful spirit, harming Suimei’s friend like that.”

Shinonome-san’s eyes narrowed as he examined the water, foot tapping. While I understood his anger, I’d rarely seen such rage in the eyes of my easy-going father. A mere glimpse of his exposed teeth as he growled sent an unfamiliar surge of fear through me.

“A fake will never be the real thing, and I’ll make sure she knows that,” he snarled.

A chill ran down my spine. I hated it.

“Shinonome-san, don’t forget why we’re here.” I strained to keep my voice flat and even.

He finally regarded me, a wry smile smoothing away some of the anger. “I know. We’re here to get Suimei’s partner back. You don’t need to remind me.” He shrugged and stared off into the distance. “What I’d give for a smoke…”

I sighed with relief. Now that was more like the man I knew.

We settled down to wait. There was little else we could do at the moment.

Despite the light from the nearby homes, the riverside was cloaked in darkness. Everything past a certain distance disappeared into the gloom. Not exactly the ideal environment for waiting for a spider known to eat humans.

“How much longer, do you think?” I whispered over to Suimei in an attempt to lessen my anxiety. “I bet you’re looking forward to being reunited with Kuro.”

A deep look of sadness washed over his face. “Honestly, I’m not really sure.”

“Huh?” Surprise made me speak louder than I intended. “What do you mean?”

“I’m still not sure if it’s really okay for me to see him again.”

“But you were so fixated on finding him just to be reunited again, weren’t you?”

He shook his head and gazed out at the lights from the homes on the other side of the river. “Hey, Kaori, could you forgive someone who ate your parents?”

“What?” I sat there, mute. I was too shocked to even process what he’d said. I attempted to speak, but…but I just couldn’t get the words out.

Suddenly, I was suffocating as something bit into my neck, instantly blocking the blood flow to my brain. The world around me dimmed to black. I struggled in vain to remove the thing from my neck, but the world only grew darker.

“Kaori!”

Hot air blasted against my cheeks, singing my skin as Nyaa-san burnt away whatever was tied around me. I coughed and gagged as I heaved in fresh air.

“Are you okay?!” Nyaa-san asked.

I gasped for breath. “Haah…yeah…I’m fine.”

Through my tear-streaked vision, I picked out the remains of something still burning: a sticky, silver thread emitting a dull glow.

As soon as I realized what I was looking at, something heavy dropped onto my back.

“Aww, the sweet fragrance of a young girl.”

The voice seemed to belong to a woman—one who was pressing me down into the riverbank. Drops of cold water poured off her clothes, drenching me. Fear combined with the chill to leach away my body heat.

“I bet your meat will be quite tender,” she cooed. “All I need to do is thrust in my fangs to wet my throat with that beautiful blood of yours, like a sweet drink of fine sake.” The gravelly tone of an old woman intertwined with the sultry notes of a seductress. She patted my cheeks, neck, collarbones, and elsewhere, robbing me of yet more heat.

“N-no!” I let out a shrill scream and tried to crawl away, though I had little hope of actually escaping her clutches. Goosebumps covered my body. My hands and feet refused to respond properly. Even still, I struggled, desperate to escape the cold death that awaited me. More and more soil was forced up under my fingernails each time I scratched my hands into the ground for purchase, but I got no farther.

The woman cackled. “Ah, I see we have a lively one.”

She seemed overjoyed to watch me struggle. Something wrapped tightly around my left leg and all my forward movement came to a stop: another silver thread.

“Hnngh!” It was only a matter of time until she caught up to me. I scratched at my leg to release the thread, but it held firm, biting into my skin and refusing to break. Then something soft pressed down on me.

“Oh, can’t run away anymore?” the woman smirked as all eight of her legs straddled me. The moonlight grew just a little bit brighter, as though the spider were glowing. Her skin was as pale as a corpse. Wet, black hair clung to her face and body. She wore a scarlet kimono that may once have been a prized piece but was now tattered and dirt-stained. With no obi to hold the kimono closed at her waist, or undershirt to cover her body, her round breasts and navel were completely exposed. Around her hips, she changed from a woman to a spider with a striped abdomen and eight long legs covered with fine hairs.

This was Jorogumo. This was the same figure drawn by Toriyama Sekien, the figure of the Tsukumogami who’d come to life.

Jorogumo gave her head a playful shake and curled her blood-red lips into a smile. A strange clicking sound came from somewhere; it took me several seconds to realize that it was the sound of my own teeth chattering. Caged by her eight legs, caught in the grip and pinned by the gaze of this pale, half-naked woman, I quaked with terror.

Jorogumo’s black eyes widened, as if she were basking in my fear. “What a beautiful little child you are. And now I shall eat you. That’s great news, isn’t it?”

Her cackling stopped just as suddenly as it started. In the next moment, she was baring her sharp fangs, thick liquid dripping from the points.

It was all over for me.

Just as I resigned myself to my fate, someone dove in and kicked Jorogumo. They slammed her back and cast some kind of spell, throwing an ofuda-like paper talisman right at Jorogumo’s exposed stomach. On contact, the paper disintegrated like ash, eliciting a pained scream from the Tsukumogami.

“Kaori, are you okay?” Suimei was looking down at me, his face pale. He turned his back on Jorogumo, who was still writhing in agony, and cut the silver thread around my leg with a knife. Then he hefted me up and took off running.

“Whoa, so you’re going to carry me off like a princess now?” I gasped “Where are we going?”

“We’re running away. Unfortunately, my attack was only strong enough to slow her down. Like I told you, I’m not an exorcist right now, so we’ll have to leave the rest up to your family.”

Suimei ran along the river with Jorogumo fast on our heels. Spiders poured out of the wound in her torn belly. “I won’t forgive you!” she shrieked. “I won’t forgive you, filthy humans!”

“Gah, just shut up, lady…”

Someone appeared right in Jorogumo’s path. It was the spirit who had watched over me my whole life, the “peculiar” man who was the most reliable and caring person I knew, the one who’d taken me in when I was at my most vulnerable. Shinonome-san cracked his neck and rolled up his sleeves.

“Don’t think I’m just going to overlook what you’ve done, you Tsukumogami impostor!” he roared.

The scales covering Shinonome-san’s cheeks flared. More scales fanned out over his entire body, and he started to glow turquoise. His nails extended into fierce claws, his exposed canines grew razor sharp, and his bluish-gray eyes let off a golden light as he fixed them on Jorogumo.

Shinonome-san launched toward his opponent.

Jorogumo merely smiled. “Interesting—I suppose I’ll eat you instead.”

“Heh, just try it!”

The Hirose River glimmered in the moonlight, the shadows of the two combatants reflecting on its surface. Columns of water shot high up into the air, raining down over the surrounding area as Shinonome-san and Jorogumo clashed atop the river. More explosions roared in the distance as the raven twins jumped into the fray.

I just wanted everyone to come out of this safely. Suimei set me down, and I sat there watching the flurry of violence from a distance, helpless.

Suddenly, Noname grabbed my arm. “Kaori, we don’t have time to watch this. Let’s go!”

“S-sorry,” I stammered.

“Nyaa-san, take us to that thing’s nest,” said Noname.

“Got it!”

I hurried after Noname as Nyaa-san led us to a grassy spot right next to the deep pool in the river. Countless silver threads wrapped around a dead tree, forming a large nest. Noname inspected the threads until she found something rolling around in the deepest part of it. From there, she extracted something just large enough to hold in her arms. The legs of some kind of black beast protruded from gaps in the silver thread bound around it.

“Kuro?!” Suimei rushed over and tore away the threads.

Noname and I leapt in to help. It took some time, but we finally got him out.

A spirit that looked like a cross between a dog and a weasel emerged from the tangle. Red spots marked his black fur. He was exactly as Suimei had described him.

Even freed from the thread, Kuro just lay there, eyes closed. Foam collected at the corners of his mouth. Could it be—

“He’s been weakened by the spider’s venom,” Noname confirmed. “We can’t treat him here. Let’s take him home.”

“But what about Shinonome-san and the others?” I asked anxiously.

“You can leave the dirty work to them. We have to do what we can.” Noname turned to Suimei. “Well, Suimei-chan? This is your partner, isn’t it? I’ll take care of the healing, but it’s your job to be there by his side when he finally awakens.”

Suimei blanched. “But I…”

“I don’t know what you’re so uncertain about, but is it really more important than his life?” Noname scolded.

Suimei hesitated before finally shaking his head and picking up Kuro. “Let’s go, then. Please help him.”

“Of course.” Noname smiled. “Just leave it to me.”

Suimei studied his friend with melancholy eyes.

Noname set a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. I’m sure we’ve made it in time. Anyway, aren’t they going a little overboard over there?”

Fwoosh!

Another large column of water shot up out of the river. Noname averted her gaze and muttered something about how there would be a big to-do about this the following morning, but that had little to do with us. And with that, she hurried us all away.

 

***

Upon returning to the spirit realm, we immediately headed for Noname’s shop. Suimei laid Kuro on a bed so Noname could wipe his blood-drenched fur clean with a towel. Fortunately, Kuro hadn’t suffered many deep wounds. Rather, it seemed that he had mostly just been weakened by the venom injected into his body.

“Luckily, I have an antidote. The rest is all just physical trauma, so we’ll need some ointment for that. Now, the ingredients…Suimei?” Noname began to request various items only for her eyes to widen as Suimei headed her off by handing her everything she needed.

“I have some knowledge of Chinese medicines,” he said. “Let me help.”

Noname smiled. “Then we’ll also need some—”

“Got it.”

I had no idea what those two were doing, so I stood in the corner and tried to stay out of the way. I hated feeling so useless, but there was nothing more I could do. They were the experts here.

Finally, Noname remembered me and pointed at the kitchen. “Can you make some rice and throw together a bunch of onigiri? Those boys will be starving after that big fight.”

“Right!” I leapt to the task, eager to be helpful.

Two hours and some very intense work on Kuro later, everyone slumped down, exhausted.

We took a break for tea and snacks. The sweetness of the treats dissolved the exhaustion weighing down my limbs. Nyaa-san, who’d dozed off while we were all hard at work, sat on my lap eating dried sardines. Oh, to live as carefree as a cat.

Kuro snored gently in the bed. It seemed he’d finally stabilized after his ordeal.

Noname sighed with relief. “I’m so relieved it worked out. Spiders inject venom into their prey to prevent them from moving, then they inject digestive juices to dissolve their prey’s innards into a slush to eat. It was almost too late.”

“Wow, now I’m scared of spiders.” I shivered.

Noname shrugged. “It’s just their way. In any case, Kuro should wake up soon. I’m going to put on some more tea; just wait a bit.”

While Noname headed to the kitchen with the empty teapot, I turned my attention to the sleeping Kuro. Even ignoring his injuries, Kuro was quite thin. His ribs protruded alarmingly at his sides.

“Kuro…” Suimei said, frowning at his companion.

Just as Suimei reached out to touch the animal, Kuro’s eyes blinked open. He looked around in confusion “Sui…mei?” His expression changed in a flash; Kuro bared his fangs and growled. “Don’t touch me.”

Kuro staggered to his feet. He glared at Suimei with bloodshot eyes. However, the effect of the venom hadn’t entirely worn off, and he wavered where he stood.

“Can’t I at least worry about you?” Suimei pleaded.

“No!” Kuro drew back farther, right off the edge of the bed. He let out a startled cry as he hit the floor.

“Kuro!”

Suimei rushed to Kuro and pulled him close, cradling his friend’s light body in his arms.

“No, stop it!” Kuro thrashed in his hold. “I don’t need you anymore! Don’t look at me…don’t touch me…don’t hold me!”

“Calm down, you’re going to make yourself sick.” Suimei scratched behind Kuro’s ears as he whispered to him.

“No, stop…oh, oh! There…oh, oh! That feels good!” Kuro moaned, tail wagging.

“That was a bit too easy, wasn’t it?” I mused.

“No, it wasn’t!” Kuro snarled. “Just stop it, don’t be so kind to me. Don’t you hate me?”

No matter how Kuro protested, Suimei just went on gazing at him softly. Whatever had happened in their past, it seemed they could never truly hate each other.

I stroked Nyaa-san on my lap, enjoying the rumble of her purring. It seemed to me that Suimei and Kuro probably had a similar relationship. It’d be a real tragedy if they didn’t get past this disagreement.

As I thought that, I recalled Suimei’s words from earlier: Can you forgive someone who ate your parents? Had Kuro really done something like that? Feeling my curious gaze, Kuro’s ears perked up to sharp points.

“Hey, did something happen to make you get all stubborn and reject Suimei?” I asked. “Can you tell me about it?”

Kuro cast his gaze downward.

“I can explain,” Suimei offered.

“Are you sure?” Kuro asked.

“It’s fine. After all, you’ve done a lot for me.” Suimei continued to stroke Kuro’s back as he spoke: “Kuro and I have been together ever since I was little. Considering I always had to suppress my emotions, having Kuro around was a huge boon to me. He was the only one with whom I could escape my daily life and just relax. It’s thanks to Kuro that I’ve been an exorcist this long. We weren’t just partners—we were friends.”

Kuro remained silent, curled up in Suimei’s arms.

Suimei’s eyes took on a distant look as he continued. “One day, Kuro suddenly disappeared. Under normal circumstances, an Inugami can’t stay separated very long from the partner they’ve bonded with, but he destroyed my mother’s tombstone in order to gain his freedom. What’s more…he ate her bones.”

My eyes widened. “He did what?”

“Do you know how Inugami are made, Kaori?”

They and other tsukimono could be created in a variety of different ways. For generations, Suimei’s family had done it like this: They buried a dog in the ground up to its neck. Then, when the animal was on the verge of starvation, they threw its favorite treat toward it. The moment the dog craned its neck toward the treat, they lopped its head off with a sword, which they burned so that they could then carry the newly forged Inugami’s skull as a sign of its binding. It was all terribly cruel.

“Kuro is an Inugami created by the first generation of my clan,” Suimei said. “In the past, we used to have other Inugami as well, but now only Kuro remains. When an Inugami is attached to a tsukimono clan, his spirit is anchored to their bones. The only way he could break the binding would be to eat the bones of someone from the line that created him—my family’s line. Though even I didn’t know that until recently.”

His expression grew complicated. “I have a poor relationship with my father. My mother is the only person in my family I’d ever try to forgive. …And Kuro ate her bones. Even though she was such an important person to me.”

In the Shirai household, Suimei had had no other allies but Kuro, not since he lost the one relative he held dear—his mother. All in the same horrible day, Suimei found his best friend missing and his mother’s grave desecrated. In one fell swoop, he lost the two things that were most important to him.

Suimei stared at nothing as he continued in a mumble. “Listen, Kuro, if you had to eat someone, then it should have been me. Not only would that have left my mother alone, but it would have been quite the curse to place on my family. If you wanted to be free, I would have accepted that. I’d gladly sacrifice myself for you.”

Kuro stared at Suimei as he spoke but said nothing.

Nyaa-san, who’d been silent up until that moment, finally raised her head. “Hey, Kaori. What’s everyone so worked up over?”

She truly had the social graces of a cat.

Suimei jerked his head up. “What do you mean, cat?”

“You really don’t know?” Nyaa-san asked. Suddenly, a bright red flame erupted from her body. The fire shimmered and wrapped around me, since she was still in my arms. I didn’t get burned, though. Nyaa-san ensured I felt no more than a tickle. “I’m a Kasha, you know. I wonder if I ever told you that. It’s a type of spirit who takes both the living and the dead to hell. My favorite food is human corpses.”

Nyaa-san smiled as she licked her front paws clean. “Fish is good, too, but there’s something to be said about the taste of a human. It’s hard to express in words.”

Suimei narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying Kuro ate my mother’s bones because they tasted good?! Don’t be ridiculous. Kuro doesn’t eat people!”

I startled at the sudden surge of emotion from him. Nyaa-san had really hit a sore spot.

“Wait until I’m done talking or you’ll misunderstand what I’m trying to say,” Nyaa-san sniffed. “There are two reasons why I eat humans. One is that they’re delicious. The other is…”

Nyaa-san leaped through the air to land on Suimei’s shoulder. She leaned in close to Kuro, who flattened his ears and drew his tail between his legs.

“You liked her, didn’t you?” Nyaa-san asked.

“Eep!” Kuro buried his nose in Suimei’s armpit, shaking head to tail.

“Well, you’ve got a cute voice, at least. Teasing you could be fun.” Nyaa-san deliberately stomped on Kuro as she stepped down from Suimei’s shoulder. She didn’t even bother to look back as Kuro let out a yelp of pain, and she returned to my lap.

“The more I like a person, the more I want to eat them, especially after they die,” Nyaa-san said. “I gobble down their intestines, gnaw on their bones, lap up their blood. It helps me keep the memory of them in my heart. Of course, that all goes out the window when I’m hungry.” Nyaa-san stood up on my lap and rubbed her face against mine. “I’m supposed to get Kaori’s corpse when she dies.”

“What?!” Suimei stared.

“That’s right,” I said, stroking Nyaa-san. “Eat it clean and don’t let anything go to waste.”

“Sure thing!” Nyaa-san purred. “I’ll take my time to savor every last bite. You know, kind of like a memorial service.”

Suimei stared at me, stunned, as I smiled at the prospect of being eaten by my closest companion.

“Eating bones might seem like a betrayal among humans, but it has the exact opposite meaning for spirits,” I said. “Suimei, did you and Kuro ever have a proper discussion about this?”

Suimei narrowed his eyes and did not respond.

I brought my cheek down to rub against Nyaa-san’s purring head. “Of course, even if spirits like to eat the corpse of someone they love, it’s different if they don’t have permission. Mutual consent makes the act more meaningful. There must be a reason for that. The time that humans and spirits can spend together may seem long to us, but it’s actually quite short to them. It’d be a waste to spend your limited time together misunderstanding each other.”

In this vast world, getting to meet a person you think is important is so incredibly valuable. If that person is a spirit, you should spare no effort trying to work things out with them.

“Hey, Suimei,” I went on, “Let’s sit down and talk this through. If you just keep holding it in, nothing will change. If you keep your eyes closed, you’ll miss something important.”

I hugged Nyaa-san against me, smiling at the feel of her warm fur. “Humans and spirits really can get along, I promise. You just have to talk things through.”

While Suimei hesitated, Nyaa-san thrashed in my hold.

“Auuugh! Kaori, you’re squeezing me too tight!”

“Oh, sorry!”

“I’m always telling you to ease up! When I want to be held, I’ll come to you, okay? So try to not be so aggressive.”

“You’re a real handful, you know that?”

Nyaa-san slipped through my arms and dashed off. Well, so much for my hands-on demonstration. I worried the lesson might have been ruined, but then I heard laughter bubbling up. Suimei’s shoulders shook, and his face scrunched up into a smile. This was the first time I’d ever seen him look so carefree.

Kuro looked up at him and snorted. “It seems like you’ve changed, my friend. Or, rather, maybe someone has changed you. Now you can get angry. You can even laugh…” Kuro rolled out of Suimei’s arms and landed on the floor. He gazed right into my eyes. “All right, I suppose I should talk. About why I left my partner’s side and the stupid choices I made.”

Kuro’s tail swished in irritation. “My oldest memory is of a man staring at me, mocking me as I lie on the ground.” He glanced up at Suimei. “That was your ancestor, the original head of the Shirai family.”

A tsukimono can bring immense wealth to its clan. After acquiring vast wealth thanks to their Inugami, the first generation of the Shirai family started working as exorcists to hunt spirits. Kuro’s owner continued to hunt spirits in exchange for vast sums of money, all the while continuing to abuse Kuro.

“There were a lot of Inugami besides myself at the time, but…well, they all died,” Kuro said. “A consequence of working with exorcists. I managed to push on, and before I knew it, I was the only one left. Then I got a new master…”

That master was a young girl with curious eyes who wore a peony-patterned kimono. Midori—Suimei’s mother.

“Midori beamed the moment we met,” Kuro said, “though she was quickly scolded for that. Her smile was like a ray of sunshine. I can still see it even now.”

She had treated Kuro with incredible kindness. Whereas Kuro’s prior masters had treated him like a disposable tool, she treated him like family. She especially liked his black fur and would often run her hands through it. The simple pleasure of the touch had shocked Kuro after years of overwork—but it had brought him great relief.

“Up until that time, I’d loathed the Shirai family for turning me into an Inugami, but her kindness helped me move past my bitterness.” Kuro’s tail went on wagging, but no longer in irritation. “And unlike the previous heads of the family, Midori had no interest in making any more Inugami. She was far too kind, and she hated the cruel practice. Though she was under a lot of pressure from the rest of the clan, she stubbornly refused.”

Kuro saw the rest of the Shirai family as nothing but parasites who wanted more of the wealth an Inugami would bring. “They worked Midori and me to the bone, all the while despising me. However, Midori had the strength to resist them.”

Then, when she was grown, she had a baby.

“An adorable, round little baby boy who cried with such vigor,” Kuro said fondly. “He really was the cutest.”

Yet Suimei bowed his head with some silent feeling.

“Once Suimei was born, Midori’s health took a turn for the worse,” Kuro went on. “The once strong young woman was now completely bedridden, her days as an exorcist over. She had never much cared for the job, however. Near the end, all she wanted was to spend her time with me and Suimei.”

Then one day, she spoke to Kuro while they watched over her sleeping baby: Being born into this clan, one bound to a tsukimono, means I must suppress all of my emotions. I suppose that’s just my fate. Envy will only lead to disaster, after all. But I don’t want to see this child’s smile snuffed out like mine was. I want him to grow up healthy and full of emotion. What mother wouldn’t want that for her child?

“Midori didn’t look like a girl anymore as she said this… In that moment, she truly had the face of a mother. It was so beautiful. I may have fallen in love in that moment. I swore to myself that I would never forget what she said to me that day.” Kuro sighed. “Then, when Suimei turned three, the Shirai family began his education—mostly led by his father.”

Just like his mother, he was forced to learn how to suppress his emotions and kill spirits.

“I hated it,” Kuro said. “I hated that he couldn’t live like a normal boy. Suimei was a very kind child, just like Midori. And that only made it all the more unbearable to watch that family try to break him. Suimei had to suppress his emotions because of me. Then again, I also wanted him to grow up into a strong, functional adult. The mere existence of the Inugami had cursed his bloodline; whether I wanted to or not was irrelevant. I felt conflicted about the whole thing.”

The power that bound a tsukimono to their clan was irrevocable.

Kuro shook his head. “I thought about it for a long time, but what could I do? Then one day, a visitor came to see Midori. A human man with a disconcerting gaze. He claimed there was a way to release me. But I would have to eat the bones of my master. I shuddered at the very idea. How could I eat Midori?

“That man, he just smiled at my horror and said, ‘Well, she need not be alive. After she dies, then you can eat her bones. Even if it won’t set your current master free, at least the next generation will be saved. Don’t you want that boy to be able to smile again?”

I couldn’t really argue with that, but it still sounded odd.

“The strange man just kept going, though. ‘It’s perfectly normal for a spirit to want to eat the bones of someone they like,’ he said. ‘It’s just like a memorial service. A perfectly normal memorial service. Nothing wrong with it at all.’”

Kuro sniffed. “Of course, I wasn’t just going to accept something like that. When pushed, the man said I couldn’t just eat the bones of her predecessor. I had to eat the bones of someone I truly loved. …Naturally, I was suspicious of all this, so I asked the man what he wanted, why he’d come here and offered this information. He just smiled and said, ‘I love watching old things break.’”

Kuro shuddered at the memory before he continued. “Everything about it was so strange that I just figured that he was lying to us or something. But when Midori passed on and the Shirai family put even more pressure on Suimei, I couldn’t help remembering his words.”

Any time the young Suimei showed emotion back then, his family would shove him into a dark, cramped room without enough space to even stand. If he cried or got sick, they would only scold him even more. It got so excessive that his dark hair, inherited from his mother, turned silvery gray.

“There is no limit to human greed,” Kuro said. “I don’t think I could ever put a little child through such torture in the name of discipline. I was so scared of them, but I wanted to rescue Suimei.”

Kuro fretted for a long time over what to do.

“If I ate Midori’s bones, Suimei would be released from the tsukimono possession. But it would mean we would have to part ways. And there was no chance he’d forgive me for eating his mother’s bones. I didn’t even think I could forgive myself.”

Worse, by then Suimei had seemed so dependent on Kuro. The life had almost completely drained from his eyes. He cried any time Kuro left, even if he only went a short distance. He worried that Suimei would shatter completely.

But he remained, watching over Suimei until he was old enough to stand on his own two feet. Once he believed Suimei could make it on his own, he would release them both from that horrible life.

One night, after Suimei turned seventeen, Kuro finally put his plan into action. He cried as he dug up Midori-san’s grave and ate her bones, apologizing the whole time. But there was no one to hear. He was alone, crunching on the bones of the woman he’d loved so much, locking the hurt away deep inside himself.

“Midori’s bones…they were delicious. I was full of pain, sorrow, and regret as I did it, but I was also glad that she could become part of me.” Kuro paused and looked up at Suimei with his round, dog-like eyes. Tears rolled down his face. “I’m sorry. I really am. I ran away because I just couldn’t face you after that. But I don’t regret it. That smile on your face, it reminds me of the smile I saw on Midori’s so many years ago. It turns out the man was telling the truth. What I did that night truly did release you from me. I’m glad, I really am. Now I can tell Midori the good news.”

“Tell…her?” Suimei said.

Suddenly, Kuro spun around and dashed out of the shop.

“Kuro!” Suimei called.

“Wait!” I called after.

We rushed out of the shop and found Kuro in the middle of the road, where he’d apparently run out of strength. Glimmerflies swept in when Suimei and I stumbled out, brightening the perpetual gloom.

“Where were you going?” Suimei demanded.

Kuro gaped at the glimmerflies. “These insects…are they glimmerflies? I only just learned of them, after having lived in the human world for so long…but I feel like I can relate. I don’t really feel all that close to other spirits. But I find myself drawn to humans, just like them.”

A veritable swarm had gathered by this point, probably because Suimei and I were there together. The beat of their fluttering wings whispered around us while they illuminated the patch of road where we stood, like the moon shone down only on us.

Kuro smiled faintly. “You know, humans really belong in a world of brightness, never far from light. Spirits are much more suited to aimlessly wriggling around in this darkness.”

He looked more relaxed now as he sat down.

“Hey, Suimei,” he said. “You know, I’ve lived my whole life under human protection. But I realized something when we were apart. I can’t live alone, I just can’t. Look at how thin I’ve gotten. I don’t even know how to make a living for myself so I can eat. Pretty pathetic, isn’t it? So anyway, I decided to stop fighting it and just wait patiently for my end to come. I have no regrets, though. I’m going to die and finally achieve my sweet release. With that, Suimei will be able to live in a bright, happy world. You can laugh when you want and cry as you please. And someday…I hope you can forgive me.”

Kuro glanced over his shoulder at us. “It really does hurt for you to keep on hating me, Suimei. So…please…”

Once more, Kuro started away, leaving a stunned Suimei behind.

I burst from the swarm of glimmerflies and chased after Kuro. I grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and gave him a shake, then tossed him in Suimei’s direction.

“Hyaugh?!” he cried.

“Kuro!”

Kuro flipped through the air and landed easily in Suimei’s arms. Pretty good throw, if I did say so myself—though my hands were still trembling despite my bravado.

“Hey, what’s this about?!” Kuro demanded. “You’re going to hurt my back, whipping my long body around like that! Be more careful!”

I just planted my feet and crossed my arms under my chest. “Shut up, you!”

“Huh?!”

I jabbed a finger at Kuro as he trembled with fear and burrowed his nose into Suimei’s armpit.

“You’re acting like the victim here, but you don’t deserve any pity.”

Kuro tensed.

“C’mon, it’s painfully obvious that you still want to stay with him,” I said. “If that’s what you want, then do it. If you want to live together with Suimei, then just say it!”

“But!” He hesitated, fumbling for words. “Spirits and humans are naturally different, absolutely incompatible. Could we really tolerate one another? If you were bound to something so different from yourself, you’d only end up exhausted. It would be challenging, frustrating—painful, even.” Kuro shook his head, expression conflicted. Then he looked curiously at me. “Hey, why are you crying?”

I sniffled.

No matter how much I wiped my eyes, the tears just kept coming. I’d worked so hard to get Suimei to admit I was an adult, and now I was standing there bawling like a baby. But Kuro’s words were just too heart-wrenching for me to bear.

“Don’t speak in absolutes,” I insisted. “I don’t believe humans and spirits are so incompatible.”

Kuro didn’t know it, but his words essentially rejected my whole life up until this point. I loved and cherished all the spirits I lived with. Maybe I caused them a lot of trouble, but they’d helped raise me, and I adored them for that. I was glad that I’d been lost in this strange world, even if I did sometimes feel out of place.

A giant, unknown spirit had left me petrified. The spirits around me had been fine while I was terrified, and it had been overwhelming to realize just how different human and spirit sensibilities could be.

On the other hand, there were the small spirits, those with minuscule life spans. I just couldn’t quite bring myself to reconcile with the idea that they would return with their fragile bodies fading away in my arms.

And then there was me. I didn’t want to make the spirits who cared about me sad. I was destined to die one day. To leave them. It would be so painful. Was it really okay for me to impose on them? I was human, after all. There was no helping that, no matter what I wanted.

The glimmerflies that had temporarily fluttered off returned. I wanted to hide in the darkness like everyone else—but they wouldn’t allow it. I’d always be a misfit here. The glimmerflies trailed me everywhere, marking me out as a tumor, a foreign body who didn’t belong.

That’s why I had to say these things to the confused and frightened Kuro. I wanted to dispel the anxiety that swirled within him. If neither humans nor spirits were “absolute” then neither could be incompatible with the other.

“It’s going to be okay,” I said. “We can still understand one another. That’s what I believe.”

I was still crying, my chest clenching around the flow of tears. I wished I could run away and not have to face this conflict I’d contended with for my entire life, but if I remained silent, Kuro might make a horrible mistake. I pushed on, yelling now.

“If you think you’ve done something unforgivable, then don’t give up until you’re forgiven! It doesn’t matter if you’re a human or spirit, that’s true for everyone. Being together, that’s the most important thing. But it’s not everything…”

I wanted to be with Shinonome-san, even knowing that I would someday become an old woman. I wanted to be his daughter forever. I wanted to live here in this world until the end of my days. The tears clogged my throat, preventing me from continuing. I hid my face in my hands, wishing I could let it all out somehow, but no matter how hard I cried, more tears kept coming. I wanted to force down all my built-up emotions into the tears that kept pouring down my cheeks—to get them all out of me. Even if I knew they would just build up all over again. This was no true solution.

Then someone gently wiped the dampness off my cheek.

“Thank you.” It was Suimei.

He then stepped away from me to lift Kuro into his arms, holding him at eye level. “This is the first time I’ve ever heard about what my mother said to you. I had no idea that eating her was a mourning practice for spirits. I was so angry with you because I thought you had defiled her.”

“Had I said anything to you, you would have been conflicted,” Kuro said. “I didn’t want to be a burden.”

“But I wanted to know these things. I wish I’d known sooner. Dammit.” Anger washed across Suimei’s face. He pressed his forehead against Kuro’s, tears tracking down his cheeks and soaking into Kuro’s fur. “I don’t forgive you.”

“What?”

“You want me to forgive you, don’t you? Well, I can’t do that right away. I still haven’t had a chance to come to terms with the fact that you ate my mother. I want you to stay with me, so when the day comes that I can forgive you, we’ll be together. I’m going to try really hard to do that, so please, stay with me.” Suimei sniffled, voice trembling. “Maybe I’ve grown bigger, but I’m still a good-for-nothing kid who can’t do anything without you. Just as you can’t live alone, neither can I.”

The overt show of emotion almost made him look like a child again. After so long suppressing his feelings, he was clumsy, and his face scrunched up terribly, and it was clear that to Kuro, this display came as a shock. For the first time since coming here, Suimei was being completely honest as he laid his feelings bare.

Kuro trembled before he let out a delighted cry. He leaned in and licked Suimei’s nose, nuzzling against his face. Suimei smiled back, eyes wet with tears.

“Hey, maybe we can stay together forever, then,” Kuro said.

Suimei blinked for a moment before he broke out into laughter. “Of course we can! We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Kuro excitedly licked Suimei’s face, tail wagging frantically. Suimei, his face now sticky and covered in drool, protested that it tickled.

I felt warm just watching them. From now on, Suimei would be able to live with his emotions, just as Midori-san had wished.

I turned, wanting to give them some privacy for their reunion, only to find someone charging toward me.

“Kaori, something bad’s happened!” Shinonome-san shouted. He was covered in sweat and threw me under his arm the moment he reached me.

“Aaack! What are you doing?!” I yelped.

“No time to talk! Nyaa, where are you? I need you to carry Kaori so we can get going!” Nyaa-san, who had a bright red, sniffly nose for some strange reason, stepped out of the apothecary with Noname beside her.

“What’s wrong?” Noname frowned. “You need to calm down this instant.”

“Oh, no…wh-wh-what happened?!” Nyaa-san demanded.

As soon as Noname saw Shinonome-san’s face, she went pale as a sheet. “You didn’t let Jorogumo get away, did you?!”

Shinonome-san shook his head. “No, no, I’ve got her cornered well enough, but we haven’t been able to defeat her.”

“Hey!” Noname scolded. “That spider becomes fixated on its prey the moment it sets its eyes on it! You don’t think it’s coming here, do you?! Kill it, you idiot!”

“I’m just a bookstore owner!”

Noname groaned and headed back into her shop to find a weapon. Shinonome-san refocused on the enlarged Nyaa-san.

“Run away as far as you can,” he instructed. “If this place gets destroyed, then I fear for the rest of us.”

“I’m pretty sure Noname is the one you’d have to worry about if you got the whole town destroyed,” Nyaa-san said.

“True enough. When she gets really angry, she’s scarier than King Enma on a power trip.”

“Killing spiders, huh?” Suimei asked. “I’d like to join.”

I turned to him in shock. “Suimei?! What are you talking about?!”

“Killing spiders is no easy task,” Shinonome-san warned. “Leave it to us professionals.”

“Don’t push yourself,” I said to Suimei. “Kuro is still weak, you know.”

“Thank you for your concern,” Kuro said. “But with my partner back at my side, I’ve got the strength of one hundred spirits. Right, Suimei?”

Suimei grinned. “That’s right, Kuro.”

The pair nodded at each other. Despite a slight limp, Kuro looked sturdy and determined, his tail tall.

Suimei dug in a pouch at his waist and pulled out a medicine bottle, from which he poured a white object that he presented to his friend. “Kuro, this is yours.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Kuro sniffed. “Without that, I won’t be of any use to you.”

“And that’s why I’m giving it to you. We are no longer master and tsukimono. Like I said, we’re friends.”

Kuro smiled, even as a fresh tear tracked down his cheek. “Thank you.”

Suimei was presenting Kuro with the skull that had created him. Kuro accepted it and swallowed it whole. A moment later, his hair stood on end. His body shifted, filling out, fur thickening. It was like this one missing piece of himself had added some sort of crucial vitality to his whole body. He shuddered excitedly and snuggled up to Suimei, who gave a satisfied nod at the sight of the change.

“Suimei!” I called after him. “Please, be careful.”

“It’s okay,” he assured me. “I won’t let Jorogumo go, not after what she did to Kuro. Oh, and…” Suimei’s eyes crinkled as he smiled brightly in my direction. “Thank you so much. You really helped a lot.”

That gentle smile…it was so unfamiliar on him. Seeing it from so close made my heart race.

“I’ll be back!” he said, rushing off with Kuro.

I slumped on Nyaa-san’s back as the light of the glimmerflies faded away.

“Feels like spring,” Nyaa-san remarked. But I could read the undercurrent of her words, the suggestion behind her teasing tone. Spring was the season in which love bloomed.

She dashed away down the streets. Even pursued by spiders, I couldn’t help but grin. Somehow, I just felt that everything would turn out okay.

Two hours later, news reached us where we were hiding out in the mountains that Suimei and the others had successfully captured Jorogumo and saved our home.