"Thanks… please, keep an eye on her. If Mio doesn't want to see right now, then giving her space is the best I can do," I said.
My call with Yumi ended, and I tossed the phone onto the futon.
"How is she?" Kana asked.
"At Yumi's penthouse, neck-deep in a 20-person gangbang," I answered dejectedly.
"And how are you?"
"Like trash. Every fiber in my body is telling I should have sided with Mio, but… It's my mom. I don't want to take anyone's side." I sighed.
At the door, my mom was speaking with the furious landlord about the hole in the wall. Well, mom was speaking. The landlord was yelling. I had a feeling I was going to have to look for a new place to live. Which didn't bode well, given that I didn't have much money to begin with and relied on Mio to split rent with.
Going back to live at my parents' house would only make the situation with Mio worse, too. So that wasn't an option. Not that I wanted to go back anyway.
The landlord's voice lowered to a calr volu, and my mom bid him goodbye before shutting the door and returning to us.
"You will not be losing your apartnt. Workers will be arriving in the coming days to repair the hole at no cost," Delilah said.
"What?" I blinked absentmindedly. "How did you convince the landlord of all that? You chard him, right?"
"I see, despite being queen, you are still naive in being a succubus. Of course, the logic limit of our charm posed a problem if I simply asked the landlord to look the other way. I needed only convince him the hole wasn't your fault. By first deceiving him into naturally believing his apartnt complex was in disrepair, charming him beca much easier," she explained like reading from a manual.
Wait… That was actually genius. I never considered changing the way soone thought before charming them. Maybe that was how Beatrice convinced Hatsumi to fight against at first, when she normally wouldn't ever lay a hand on .
"Are you sure you want to help ? I figured you wanted to fail and co crawling back ho?" I asked.
My mom flashed a troubled look.
"No parent would ever want their child to fail. I only want you to stop with this succubus nonsense. That I have yet to give up on. However, my presence here has stirred an undesirable past. Change back into a human, and I shall be on my way," Delilah said.
"I, uh… I can't…" I answered reluctantly.
"You can't?" She raised a brow.
"Changing you into a succubus took a lot of energy, and the sword's all pooped out."
Delilah folded her arms and leaned against the wall.
"Go on," Delilah urged.
"Eh?" Kana and I uttered.
"You two have sex right now and recharge. I can wait," she said.
"WE'RE NOT HAVING SEX IN FRONT OF YOU!" we yelled.
Especially not after Mio left in tears like that. I doubted Kana could get it up at a ti like this either.
"Mom, just go ho for now. I'll call y… Hatsumi to tell you when the sword is charged," I said.
Delilah froze for a second, then inhaled deeply as though she had forgotten to breathe.
"Very well." She stood up and began to leave.
I caught up to her at the door, head spinning with so many things I still wanted to ask her. Instead, while Mio was at the forefront of my mind, a different question slipped out.
"Do you regret it?" I asked.
"Regret what, Saeko?" Delilah turned to face .
Leaving ?
I swallowed that question.
"Following Beatrice's orders to drown Mio's family and friends?" I asked.
"We were at war. You have no doubt made difficult decisions of your own as queen," Delilah said, then flew off into the skies.
"Your family is a lot more ssed up than I thought." Kana pulled up a chair in which one of the legs had been broken, pushed it off to the side, and settled on sitting on the floor.
"You're telling … I still haven't ntioned to her that I'm technically married to the son of Amaterasu…"
With Mio gone, that added to the list of problems I had to deal with. Particularly…
"Hm? What are you looking at for?" Kana asked after noticing that I was staring.
I had only one person in mind to bring Kana to, so that he wouldn't be in danger. As soon as we got there, I started getting second thoughts.
"I'll keep him right as rain! Leave it to your old pal!" Hana said, patting Kana on the back.
"You're leaving with the biggest troublemaker in our school?!" Kana cried.
"Just for now, okay? You still have that onryo, and who knows what it'll make you do. Hana will make sure you stay safe. She won't hurt you. Too much…" I hesitantly added.
"He'll be peachy fine. While you're gone, we'll just test drive my new Insta-Bond 20,000." She pulled out from under the counter another baton, but this one had coils of rope all along the rod.
I was 100% sure Hana had skipped a few thousands since the last one.
Flying back into the city, I followed the address one of my succubus subjects had sent to a busy market street. Apparently, there was soone who might be able to exorcise Kana, but they weren't the usual kind of holy person.
When I landed in the streets, people snapped pictures and stared for a few seconds, then went on their way.
"Excuse ! Can I get a selfie with you in your succubus form?" a woman asked, throwing an arm around .
The cara flash blinded before I could even give an answer. She skipped back to her group of friends to show off the photo.
Aside from the occasional personal space invaders like her or playboys thinking I wanted sex 24/7, people were beginning to treat succubi as a sowhat occurence. Even as I cast my gaze to the sky, I occasionally spot a succubus flying across the city.
We were about as publicly known as could be now. I still preferred not having attention drawn to , so I transford to my human form to roam the streets.
"Now, let's see…" I walked along the sidewalk until I stood in front of the shop nad nagerie in which a flashing neon open sign blinked at . Underneath it was a 'HELP WANTED' sign that had a sharpie underline both words for extra emphasis.
Pushing open the door sucked out all the stale, air conditioned musk. The store was packed full of antique furniture to form a narrow entryway, odds and ends that were likely fake jewelry, and occult-ish items like an Ouija board, racks of dallions, and so dreamcatchers.
A low counter, laid with a purple mat of starry patterns, was all that separated from an open door into the back room. Upon that counter was a strange crystal ball on a tattered cushion.
"Excuse ? Is anyone here?" I called into the room.
"A custor? Oh, hello! Sorry— I was in the back!" soone shouted frantically and knocked over sothing tallic on the way up.
Out stumbled a young, red-headed woman. She was dressed in black robes with a feathered masquerade mask covering the upper half of her face.
"Welco to my nagerie! I am Mikami. How may I be of service to you? Could it be that you have co seeking answers only the cosmic beyond can grant? Perhaps you're dying to learn about your love life. Or… are you being haunted by supernatural forces?"
The eager-to-help posture wasn't inspiring any confidence. Mikami could just as easily be a fraud like the others. She looked to be in her mid-20s and possessed a carefree voice that carried more passion than experience. But this was the only other thread I had of curing Kana so far.
"I think all three are applicable to , but I need help with exorcising a yokai. I'm Saeko, and my boyfriend's been possessed by an onryo. I was told you might be able to do sothing," I said.
"Eh… Ehhh… Another yokai problem? Just what is happening to this town?" Mikami groaned, falling limp over the counter and almost knocking the crystal ball away.
"You know about yokai in Tsukiji?"
"Know? They're everywhere! I'm being haunted by perverted old spirits that creep on when I shower and sleep!" She thumbed over her shoulder.
"Mikami… Ehehe… Mikami…"
Half a dozen pairs of ghostly hands gripped the edges of the door fra. One pair in particular made groping and squeezing motions, presumably at a pair of breasts. Mikami shuddered, clutching her body tightly.
I wouldn't put it past there to exist yokai with nothing better to do than to sexually harass people in the afterlife…
"I'm sure one of them is my uncle who used to touch when I was a kid, too." Mikami sighed.
"Wait, if you haven't gotten rid of those ghosts, then does that an you can't exorcise an onryo?" I asked.
The occult lady shook her head. "Every yokai, spirit, ghost, or what have you cos with their own set of rules. It takes a lot of ti and research. I have to learn about what type of yokai they are, and find out about their past in order to help them naturally pass on and exorcise them. No way in hell am I going to dive into the mind of a man who molested won on trains for a living! You creepy bastards!"
"I only have eyes for you, Mikami…"
"Your butt looks nice and shapely today…"
If I was human, they would probably give the creeps. The perverted side of was curious about getting it on with ghosts. However, this was a good sign. It sounded like Mikami had experience with yokai and could see them. She was the real deal and not so poser out for easy money.
"You sure have it tough." I hid a laugh behind the back of my hand.
"Guh… I hate them so much… Anyway, I could probably solve your onryo problem. Thing is, I have a queue of people who need help. Sa as you," Mikami explained.
"Help… I noticed you had a help wanted sign on your window. I can actually see yokai like you. How about I help? Do you pay, too?"
"R-Really? Yes, I pay! Minimum wage though, I'm not operating a fortune 500 company. You can start right away. I was just about to head to my first client for the day until you dropped in. Would you like to co with ?" she asked.
I accepted.
The faster we ran down the list, the sooner Mikami could get to Kana. With yokai invading Japan, there should be no shortage of work, and I could make a living off correcting my mistakes even though it felt dirty.
Mikami slid a mask similar to the one she was wearing to .
"Don't tell you want to wear that," I said.
"Of course, Acolyte! It makes us feel more mysterious, doesn't it? Besides, we'd be shielding our identities from yokai. Wouldn't want them to hold a grudge against you on their way back to the afterlife. Now, hurry. Our Uber is almost here." Mikami forcibly pressed the mask into my hands.
Left with no other choice, I put the mask on.
"Wait a minute… Uber?"
Mikami led out of the occult store just as a dingy car, sputtering from the exhaust, pulled up to the side of the curb. The driver rolled down his passenger seat window.
"You Mikami?" he asked.
"Yes, that's !" Mikami bumbled over after locking the door.
Our bumpy ride took us to the outskirts of Tsukiji to a shrine in disrepair much smaller than Kon's. A young priest girl, who was possibly middle school age, sweeping the front of a torii gate waved to us as we exited the car.
"Just let do all the talking." Mikami smiled, walking a head to the shrine maiden. "We're from nagerie, at your service! I got your voicemail about the strange occurrences. Can you tell more about what's been going on?"
"I'm not sure how else to explain it other than there's sothing weird going on. My father and I are the only ones who take care of the shrine, but lately it feels like we're not alone. Sotis, I'd find belongings that I've never seen before lying around, then they would disappear. Even the trees around us give goosebumps… it's like they're alive. Visitors have stopped coming entirely, and we rely on their donations to keep the shrine running," the girl explained.
"Hmmm. Sounds like an obake," my new boss said.
"Obake?" I repeated.
"Obake can take the form of objects, animals, and even vegetation. Would explain seeing weird items," she said.
We only just got here a minute ago, and Mikami already identified the ghost from one person's vague description? Maybe I really could trust her. She was human though. I could tell as much. How exactly she got into the supernatural phenonon business was the real mystery.
The shrine maiden led us into the stone courtyard frad by trees and fallen leaves swept to the edges. The largest building was the worship shrine itself with its donation box in the front. Behind it to the left, following a dirt walkway, led to a small house. A sure sign that they were a family of priests.
"This place is cozy. Have you managed it all your life here?" I asked.
"Well, only recently. My father's beco a little lazy ever since my mother passed away a year ago," she said.
Nothing seed out of the ordinary to , but Mikami nodded thoughtfully to herself and set down a briefcase to get started. Unfortunately, her preparations were interrupted by an irate man, erging from the back of the house.
"Shiina! I told you not to call anyone. The ghosts are just your imagination!" he shouted, speech slurring from a morning of drinking.
"Dad, just let them take a look. Please!" the girl nad Shiina exclaid.
"This is all nonsense and you—"
"I can't take it anymore!" she scread. "I haven't slept in a week, weird things keep showing up, and I'm always hearing strange whispers like soone is right next to . It doesn't help that you're leaving to do all the work around here!"
The man fell silent. Shiina tossed the broom aside and ran back into the house.
"Shiina, wait!" He followed after her back inside.
Mikami ignored the commotion, pulling out incense sticks and arranging them in a circle around us.
"What's the plan? Are we exorcising them?" I asked.
"First, we smoke out the obake from their hiding places. When that happens, stay frosty. They can beco pretty violent. Hopefully, they will lead us to their anchor. We just need to destroy that to cast them away from this world. In the anti, help light the sticks," Mikami said, still buried in the briefcase.
I snapped my fingers to light them all at once. When Mikami glanced up, she did a double take at the lit incense sticks.
"Wow, Acolyte! You sure work fast!"
The trees all around us creaked and groaned, and a strong wind blew in. I thought it would blow out the incense, but they were much more resilient and continued to smolder.
Mikami brought out a thick bundle of dried sticks. They weren't incense. Maybe from so kind of tree?
"Light this for , too!" she shouted over the growing gale.
I pointed a finger at the sticks and ignited them to Mikami's surprise.
"What the… How did you—"
Sothing started cracking. Mikami and I turned to a stone lantern as it split in half, billowing out a wispy white fog that morphed into an angry face.
"No, leave us alone!" it shrieked, hanging onto the stone lantern for dear life.
"Holy shit… whatever you're doing, it's working!" I exclaid.
"Obviously! This is we're talking about!" Mikami proudly declared. She waved the burning sticks high above her head, letting the strong winds carry smoke all over the shrine grounds.
Wherever the smoke touched, it kicked spirits from their hiding places. The obake were losing their forms.
Shiina's broom shuddered. Mikami didn't notice, but I watched as it cracked into a splintered edge and fired right at her.
"Mikami, watch out!" I shot a magic blast, reducing it to harmless splinters.
"A-Acolyte… How did you do that?" Mikami asked.
"I guess I should have told you earlier… I'm a—"
A high-pitched shriek not from a ghost caused the hair on the back of their necks to stand. It ca from the house.
We ran for the family house and threw open the door. Shiina was hunched over, clutching her right shoulder that stained the white top of the shrine maiden robes red. A cutting knife, splattered with her blood, had plunged into the wall. Her father stood over, shielding her from more cutlery and tools that were poised to hurt them.
"Aoi, stop! You're hurting our daughter!" the father shouted.
Whoever he called out to didn't listen. The household projectiles flew right for them.
I was about to cast a spell when Mikami tossed a paper talisman to their feet, erecting sothing like a barrier that stopped the projectiles from hitting their mark.
"You're not the only one with tricks of her own, Acolyte." Mikami grinned.
"This is my fault… I have to do sothing before it gets worse!" Shiina's father gritted his teeth and raced down the corridor to the back of the house.
"Dad!" Shiina cried.
Mikami and I held her back.
"You have to stay here!" Mikami urged. "Who knows what else might try to hurt you. Let us handle it, okay?"
Shiina nodded.
We chased after her father out back and into a toolshed. He prostrated himself inside a circle of candles and in front of a statue effigy of a shinto god.
"Aoi, can you hear ? I'm sorry! If you're angry, take instead. Don't hurt Shiina!"
The winds sohow picked up inside the toolshed, throwing things like hamrs and wrenches around. I ducked from a nail flying at my head and watched it stick into the side of the wall.
"We have to find the anchor, right?" I asked over the winds.
"There! I'm sure of it!" Mikami pointed to a pair of clattering and glowing earrings held in the palms of the statue. "We have to burn it! You got more of that hoodoo?"
"Leave it to—"
"Wait, not that! You can't! That's all I have left of Aoi!" Shiina's father stood up to stand between and the statue.
Aoi, Shiina… earlier he ntioned 'our daughter'. Did that an Aoi was Shiina's mother?
My aura acted up. I turned around in ti to see a hoe shooting toward , so I summoned the Blade to deflect it. More tools in the shed ca alive. Ghostly appendages snatched my arms and legs, making it difficult to move.
I could get out of this easily, but the others were going to get hurt. If I had no other choice, then charming Shiina's father might be the only way to get him to move.
However, tightening my aura around him as I might, the hold snapped imdiately. No amount of forcing a charm on him worked. He was too desperate to let go of his wife's only possession.
Sothing missed my head, but it wasn't aid for .
"Mikami!" I warned too late.
Mikami blocked a flying nail aid at the father's head with her own arm. With the hand of that now bleeding arm, she clasped the top of his shoulder.
"It's hard being a parent, isn't it? I know. My auntie raised alone when my parents died. She didn't have to, but that woman gave all the love in the world and more. You just want to see Aoi again, don't you?" Mikami asked.
"Aoi was the love of my life… I gave her those earrings on our ten year anniversary…" he said tearfully.
"You aren't the only one hurting, and you still have sothing left of your wife. Her na is Shiina. Aoi would want you to let go," she urged him.
The resistance in his mind weakened. I seized the chance to charm Shiina's father a second ti, making him move away from the statue.
"Do it, Mikami!" I yelled.
Mikami reached into her briefcase, slapped a talisman onto the head of a hamr, then smashed the earrings and statue outright. Everything that should have been inanimate in the toolshed returned to being actually inanimate, clattering to the ground.
I released my hold on Shiina's father just as the girl rushed in.
"Dad!" Shiina tackled her father with a hug, weeping into his chest.
As he ca to his senses, anger briefly flashed in his eyes from seeing the broken earrings, but his deanor softened to the embrace of his daughter. He wrapped his arms around her and cried, apologizing quietly.
Mikami picked up the broken piece of jewelry and returned to . I was glad that the mask didn't cover the bottom half of her face, because she had a big and beautiful smile behind that aloof deanor of hers.
"You did sothing to make him move, didn't you?" Mikami asked, playfully waving the hamr at .
"Wasn't all . It was only thanks to you wearing him down," I said.
And thanks to my mother for teaching about getting around the logic limit.
We spent the entire day clearing Mikami's list of clients. The rest of the ghosts weren't as violent as the first one, and we exorcised them without a hitch. We went back to nagerie at sundown after a job well done.
"Whew!" Mikami carelessly tossed her briefcase over the counter. "I think I hit jackpot with you, Saeko. Never thought I'd be able to find soone so capable in handling the supernatural like myself."
"Glad you think so, but I hope you haven't forgotten that this is so that you can help exorcise my boyfriend," I reminded her.
"I haven't forgotten. I'll get straight to researching onryo," she said, handing an envelope of money.
Finally, paynt.
I thought of heading ho, then rembered the car-sized hole in my apartnt.
"What's wrong?" Mikami asked.
"Well… construction is being done on my apartnt for the next few days. I doubt I can get any sleep with them banging away… I got to look for another place to stay for the ti being," I said.
"Why don't you stay here!" she offered enthusiastically "I have an office in the back that I use as a room. I'll pull up an extra futon for you. I'm also dying to know more about you! It's not often you et another who can see yokai!"
Staying at my workplace would be really inconvenient, but…
"That's nice of you to offer, but I think I need to properly introduce myself first. I'm actually a succubus," I said, dropping my human form to reveal the succubus features and outfit underneath.
Mikami's smile flipped over. She turned bright red and hiccuped at the sight of as her eyes traveled up and down my body.
"As in… one of those succubus?" Mikami gulped.
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