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(Warning. 'tis long. 2900 words. )

Hikari walked through the halls of her school, humming softly. It was a beautiful day out, with the cherry trees blossoming outside the school walls. The sight caused her to slow down and look out the window, admiring the soft pink petals as they were pulled off the branches and taken along the path of the wind. Students passed by in their own little cliques, murmuring this or that to each other. A group of girls walked by and giggled to themselves. Hikari’s attention was taken from the window as the girls started squealing down the hall.

Oh. There he was. The school’s resident ‘bad boy’, Zaine. He had pitch black hair that fell down in front of intense blue eyes and the body of a troublemaker. Rumor had it that he was in part of a gang. There were actually many rumors about him. Some of them were believable, like the gang member ones. Others were downright ridiculous, saying that he was in a super secret organization that trained kids from a young age to be undercover agents.

Whatever the truth was, he was the handsomest guy at the school. He was a rebel, not even wearing the school uniform. At least, most of it. He wore the uniform’s white button-up shirt, but he left the collar undone and didn’t wear a tie, and he wore jeans instead of the clean black slacks that everyone else had to wear. He wasn’t by any means exempt from the rules, but the teachers were just rather scared to try and confront him about it. He seemed to almost exude an aura of danger. He was very cold and blunt to anyone who approached him. But despite this, all the girls in the school fawned over him.

Hikari, however, found him attractive, but not near enough to approach him. He was just some punk kid. So when he approached her that early afternoon, she had no idea what he wanted. “Kimia.” he called, addressing her by her last name. Hikari heard the whispers of everyone in the hall as they were all astonished that he had spoken to her. “Um…yes?” she said, looking up at him with a little bit of nervousness. “You want to come to a café with me today?”

Hikari could practically feel the cold breeze blowing from the girls that were as still as statues. Had Zaine just…asked her on a date?! Hikari found her cheeks turning a bright red. “Huh?” She couldn’t even get out the words, she was so surprised. “Café or not?” he repeated. “Y-yeah! Sure!” Hikari blurted. Zaine reached over and took her hand, scribbling on it with a pen. “Five o’clock. See you.” He then sauntered off, making his way to class.

The girls immediately surrounded Hikari and squealed. “What was that all about?” “You are totally going to need protection!” The girls all paused, looked at each other, and then squealed again. “PROTECTION!” They all burst into giggles and swoons. Hikari just blushed and smiled a little. “Guys, come on, stop it! He probably just wants to copy off my homework or something.” One of the girls sighed dreamily. “I’d let him copy off of my homework any day.” she said.

Hikari just smiled and shook her head, going off to class. But even she had to wonder why he wanted to meet up with her. Despite her curiosities, she did feel that what she said was true. She was in the top ten best grades for their school, and so she felt like the only reason someone like him would want to talk to her would be to get her notes. She hadn’t checked his name yet on the scores, but she felt like he was probably close to failing, so he was taking desperate measures.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur. By the time five o’clock came around, Hikari was standing in front of the café shop that had been written down on her hand. The address matched, so she knew it was the right one. She pushed open the door, a bell jingling to let the arrival of a customer be known. “Welcome, miss!” a waitress greeted. Hikari stared in surprise at the waitress’s outfit. She had on a very frilly maid outfit and wore cat ears and a tail! Each waitress had on some animal ears and tail, in fact. Was this the kind of thing that Zaine liked??

Without even saying anything, Hikari was ushered to a table in the corner. “Master Zaine is waiting for you, miss!” the waitress said with a smile. Hikari was astonished. Sitting there at the table was Zaine, but he was dressed in a rather fancy black suit! He was sipping at a cup of coffee and looking over various papers spread out on the table. Hikari sat down quietly, rather stunned by it all. “Would you like some tea?” the kitty waitress offered. “Yes, thank you…” Hikari said.

Only after the waitress had left did Zaine bother looking up at her. “Hey.” he said bluntly. Hikari looked around for a moment, then back to him. “Um…hey? What are we doing here? Didn’t you just want to copy off my notes…?” Zaine scoffed. “Copy off you? You could probably copy off me. Anyways no, that’s not why I asked you here.” He leaned back in his seat and laced his fingers together in front of him. “Then why did you ask me here?” Hikari was a little wary, but if he was going to try and do something, she knew there were too many witnesses for him to get away with it.

“You ever find times when you….don’t feel like other girls?” Hikari looked at him oddly. “…what do you mean?” Zaine shrugged. “Well….you ever feel like you’re just different? Like nobody understands you?” Hikari chuckled a little bit. “Zaine, we’re in high school. Everyone feels that way.” He fixed her with a firm stare. “You know what I mean.” Hikari’s heart skipped a beat. She did know. “…How did you know about that? I’ve never even told my mom that.” Her hands gripped into fists. Something felt wrong about this.

“Because I went through the same thing. Seems you’re a little of a late bloomer, and had the nasty bad luck of not being found. You and I….we’re special. Hikari. We’re what they call Ultimas.” Hikari lifted up a hand as she listened to him. “Wait, wait. Who’s ‘they’?” She didn’t have a good feeling about this at all. “Those who made us. Hikari, have you ever thought about why you don’t remember your early childhood?” Hikari looked away. “…sometimes.” she said softly. She didn’t want to admit that she often wondered about her past.

“Listen. I know this is hard to believe, but we were made. Kind of. Our parents lent the organization their bodies and DNA so that the scientists could make humans with special traits. Superhumans, really. We were made, then released out into the real world through adoption. We were supposed to be found before our powers came to light. I was found when I was nine. Somehow, the radars missed you. You never showed any signs. You must have hid it well. It was luck that I noticed you. Have you never felt anything around me, Hikari? Us Ultimas…we have a connection with each other. I could feel your presence as soon as you stepped into the room.”

Hikari’s response was interrupted as the kitty waitress brought her tea. When the waitress left, she spoke. “I…felt something weird about you. Sometimes when I look at you…and not just you, bother other people as well…I think I see shadows. Faint colored shadows around people. I had heard some rare people can see auras. So I figured that’s just what it was. But it’s not, is it?” Zaine got a very solemn look on his face. “Do you see any in this room, Hikari?”

She looked around the room, squinting her eyes carefully to inspect each patron. “…no. I don’t see any at all.” She turned back to Zaine. “Good. You can see evil spirits, Hikari. Sometimes not so evil, I guess. But the shadows you see are beings. Creatures that are, more than often, here to hurt us.” Hikari swallowed nervously. “What? For real?” He nodded.

“Listen. I’m coming to you because your guardian that was supposed to find you is dead. I did some digging into your history and background when I felt your presence, and that’s how I found out you were one of us. My guardian told me your guardian got killed by an evil spirit. We think you might be in trouble. And if you got attacked now, while you didn’t have a handle on your abilities yet, then that would be bad.”

Hikari shook her head a little. “Wait, I don’t understand. Why does it matter if they attack or not, aside from me probably dying of course.” Zaine chuckled. “You’re so naïve it’s almost cute. Almost. You’re alive for a reason, idiot. We Ultimas were made to protect humans from these evil creatures. We’re the only ones that can see them. And even some of us can’t see the others. We’re all different, so we see different creatures sometimes. But our job is to protect the people, the normal humans. So if we start dying off one by one, the world is screwed.”

Hikari couldn’t believe it. Suddenly, just like that, the world’s fate was on her shoulders. “We’ve all got each other’s backs, though, so stop freaking out. I can see it in your eyes.” Zaine shook his head a little. “Don’t worry. I can protect you.” Hikari couldn’t help but frown a little at that. “What? Protect me? And how can you do that?” Zaine sighed and shook his head, leaning forward. “You’re lucky you’re pretty. Otherwise your doubt would be annoying.” He pointed his finger at the cup of tea that she had yet to start drinking. She watched in amazement as the cup stated shaking a little, then lifted up and hovered in the air. “I could move this whole building if I wanted to. Don’t worry, you’re safe.” He smirked. “Nothing can get past me.”

Suddenly, to the surprise of every occupant in the café, the back wall was smashed down by some large, unknown force! Zaine and Hikari were knocked away and tumbled through the chaos of tables and chairs and fleeing patrons. When she was finally oriented enough, Hikari sat up. What she saw terrified her. It was a large, gruesome beast with black, scarred skin and large, sharp horns. He must have been the size of the entire building, with clawed hands and a foul stench. Standing atop the monster’s shoulder was a strange, purple-skinned woman. She could only be described as beautiful, with a curved body, long shimmering black hair, and a pair of black wings sprouting from her back.

Hikari couldn’t believe what she was seeing. A demon? A demon and a monster? The demon woman seemed to be looking around, and as soon as she spotted Hikari, she grinned. “There!” the demoness shouted. “Crush her!” Hikari looked around frantically. “Zaine!” she cried out. Zaine pushed himself up from the rubble of the wall, grunting in pain. “Yep.” He stood up and thrust his hand at the monster as it reached for Hikari. The monster was sent flying back ten feet, crashing into another building. However, the demoness jumped from its shoulder and landed gracefully near the two Ultimas.

“You can’t stop me, Zaine. You know you can’t.” she said. Zaine glared at her. “Well I’m sure as hell going to try! I’m not letting you take another one, Nausia.” The demoness laughed lightly and took a step forward. That single step brought her right up to his side, her finger pressing against his neck. “Nice try, Zaine. But after our last little battle, I’ve figured out all your ticks.” She pulled her hand away and Zaine collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Hikari stared in horror. “Wh…what did you do to him?!” she asked, stepping away from Nausia. “Oh, don’t worry. He’s just knocked out for now. I can’t take my time killing him like I want, so I have to destroy you first.” By then, the monster had managed to pull itself from the building and lumber back towards its master. Nausia smiled at Hikari. A dark, evil smile. “Too bad. I would have liked to see your abilities.”

The monster lifted it’s clawed hand and brought it down swiftly. Hikari screamed, holding up her arms though she knew that would do nothing. Eyes shut tight, she waited for her death to come. But it didn’t. She peeked her eyes open to find herself surrounded by a glowing veil. A forcefield! Nausia’s smile had promptly left, and the beast was pushing down against the forcefield, trying to get it to relent.

Hikari took in a deep breath. She could do this. She shoved her hands up at the beast’s palm and it jerked away, as if she’d knocked it back. The glowing veil diminished, but Hikari felt…different. She felt powerful. “No!” Nausia shouted. “This can’t be! Her powers weren’t supposed to come out yet!” Cursing, Nausia took her place on the monster’s shoulder again. “Kill her! Kill her quickly!!”

The monster lifted its foot to try stomping on her this time. Hikari jumped aside, finding her body moved lighter and faster than she remembered. As the beast tried again and again to crush her, only to fail over and over, Nausia got a better idea. “Surrender, girl! Or else your friend dies!” Hikari looked over from her latest jump and found Zaine held tightly in the hand of the monster.

Hikari’s face paled. “No! Don’t!” she cried out. Nausia smirked. “Then surrender. And I’ll let him live.” Hikari put her hands down and bowed her head. “Okay. I surrender.” With it’s other hand, the beast grabbed her and lifted her up in a tight, unrelenting grip. Nausia laughed. “Wonderful! Now I get to kill both of you!” Hikari gasped. “But you said—“ Nausia interrupted and rolled her eyes. “I’m a demon, honey. I don’t keep my promises.” She smirked. “It will be so nice to kill you. After all, I killed your father too. Your little ‘guardian’. I couldn’t have him protecting you.”

Hikari stared in astonishment. Her father had been her guardian? “But…my mother said he died in a car accident…” Nausia laughed again. “Oh, honey. You really think that was the truth? You didn’t ever wonder why there was no body at the funeral? I killed him, you stupid girl! I killed him and let Garbros here eat him up for dinner.”

Hikari felt something stirring inside her as she heard Nausia’s laughter. Power. Strength. Her body started shaking as power built up inside her. “Let me go.” she said. Nausia smirked. “No chance. We’re going to crush you like a bug. Goodnight, precious Ultima.” When Garbros didn’t squash her in his hand, Nausia glared at the beast. “You stupid monster! Crush her!” Only then did Nausia realize that Garbros’ hand was…shaking. He was TRYING to crush Hikari….but he couldn’t.

“You’re the stupid one, Nausia. You underestimate the power of Ultimas!” Hikari shouted. Power burst forth from her, shattering the monster’s hand completely. Instead of dropping to the ground, though, Hikari floated in the air. She pointed at Garbros’ other wrist, a bolt of white light shooting forth and ripping through skin and bone, releasing Zaine. Hikari flew over quickly and caught him, lowering him gently to the ground.

Garbros was screaming in pain, horrifying guttural noises. Nausia was shouting. “No! No! KILL HER!!” Hikari stood on the ground, power gathering in her hands. “You won’t kill anyone else! Ever!” With one final push of power, she held both hands out towards the monster and Nausia. White light burst from her, engulfing the beast and demoness. Both screamed in pain, and then instantly dissipated in the white light. As the light faded, Hikari could see something. A shadow.

The shadow turned into a figure, and turned towards her. She gasped. “…dad.” she said softly. The figure smiled at her. “Good job, Hikari. I’m proud of you.” Hikari started moving towards the figure. “Dad…” The figure started disappearing. “Dad, wait! No!” As the figure vanished entirely, only his voice was heard. “Keep up the good work, kiddo.”

Hikari stared at the spot where the figure had been. Tears threatened to fall down her cheeks, but she wouldn’t let them. A hand touched her shoulder and she turned. “Zaine!” she said. Zaine smiled wearily at her. “Hey. You okay?” Hikari nodded slightly. “Yeah. I’m alright.” He smiled and ruffled her hair. “Good. Because now that you’ve kicked butt, we need to report this. I guess I’m not so much of a help though, huh?”

Hikari giggled. “Don’t worry. I’m sure you had good intentions.” Zaine frowned at her. “Hey! Come on, give me at least a little credit.” Hikari smiled at him and kissed his cheek. “I do. Come on…we have to get out of here.” Zaine nodded. “The police won’t be too happy about this mess. Come on.”

And as Zaine took her hand and started off with her, Hikari looked over her shoulder. She could almost see him in the sunlight. Her father, smiling and waving at her. Hikari smiled and waved back at him. “Who are you waving at?” Zaine asked. Hikari smiled secretly to herself and turned back to face the path. “Oh...No one.”

-Yukari Koiheiwa-

I was in a pink bedroom, plush with lots and lots of pillows on the bed. My mom- she’s a human- was sitting on the bed with my dad- he’s a demon. My mom looks just like me, except with brown hair and I have my dad’s green hair and big green cat ears with a long tail.

Anyway, so I was in the bedroom with them, right? But suddenly, they disappeared! I kept looking for them everywhere, but soon the room even faded away and I was left… in total darkness. Scared. Alone. Until a voice came up.

“Hello again, half-breed.”

I gasped! “You!”

A pale girl appeared before me, with raven-black hair and a long, ripped dress. Her aquamarine orbs gazed into my violet oculars with a happy look to them. But soon, her eyes took on a blood red color and grew sadistic.

“You remember my name, don’t you, half-breed?” she asked with her cold finger under my chin. “Say my name…”

I stayed silent.

“SAY MY NAME, HALF-BREED!” she shouted.

I shook where I stood. “R…Ren…”

“Yes…?”

“Ren… Mura…kami…”

I woke up in tears, then curled up into a little ball. I held my tail close to me as I shivered as I remembered…

My parents are dead.

They couldn’t have been in the bedroom with me.

Ren Murakami, the youkai of nightmares… She did that. My auds twitched as a sound echoed through the room, a shoe hitting the tatami floor.

“Get up, half-breed,” a female voice rang out. Ren! “Or die.”

I jumped up and then Ren pointed her katana toward my own.

“Take your weapon, half-breed.”

“I have a name, you know,” I mumbled as I walked over to the katana my dad left me before he died. As I took it out of the sheath, it doubled in size and curved sharply. To protect humans, that’s what this katana is used for.

I flashed back to when I got it…

Ren was there then, too.

She wanted this sword. But… when she tried to use it, it zapped her! That’s because the legends say you have to like humans to use it! You have to want to protect them and like them!

Otherwise, it’s just scrap metal.

So…

When I got it, she got really angry.

So, back to the fight, right?

Ren glared at me with evil lamps. Her razors showed as she snarled and her dial was tilted a little.

She waited there with her sword, but so did I. I remembered she liked to wait for me to charge and then counter that way. We stared each other down, her look angry and mine angry and kinda scared.

Then she smiled.

“You’re learning, half-breed.”

“Say my name, Ren.”

Ren’s look grew curious. “Oh? Maybe if you beat me.”

She swung her katana, but I threw a bunch of kunai until she was stuck to the wall.

“I win, Ren.”

Ren smirked. “It’s not so easy, half-breed.” She disappeared from the wall and the kunai all fell. Then she cut my face and appeared in front of me. She pushed me down with one clawed finger, and then scoffed.

Her plain shoes tapped against the tatami floor in a musical rhythm. Her special attack!?

“Sweet dreams, half-breed,” Ren said as a dark mist surrounded her and she disappeared… again.

I lost.

Again.

It figures. She always wins.

I went back to sleep.

The next morning, I went to school without getting breakfast. I go to a mixed school, with humans and youkai all together. Some of my friends are humans and others are youkai…

But Ren is in some of my classes.

She makes an illusion around her that makes her look younger, but I know she’s Ren. Her illusion has purple hair and pink rabbit ears and a pink rabbit tail. She’s always in my English class…

And that’s my first hour class. So, when I sleep, she’s there. When I wake up, she’s there. She just keeps following me. Why does she do this?

Why does she hate me? I don’t understand. I’m like her, too. I mean, she’s my cousin…

I couldn’t listen to the teacher, just looking out at the cars outside passing by… Until a loud SLAP sounded against my desk. I expected to see the teacher, but it was Ren.

“Yukari,” she said so sweetly, “Good luck on the test today…” Then she went back to her seat on the other side of the room.

TEST!? Oh no, nobody informed me about any tests today!

It was a really easy test, though, so I didn’t fail even though I was sleepy.

Next class was Math. I was really really really good at math. Then it was P.E. and I wasn’t very good at that…

I kept hitting my teammates in the head with the volleyball…

And then I had to shower and then it was lunch time.

And then I was tapped on the shoulder. Ren.

I followed her, even though I knew she was probably going to fight me again, and then I saw a human girl getting beat up by a bunch of youkai.

Ren cleared her throat. “Kiki.” The leader of the group looked up at Ren as she made her illusion disappear.

The leader, called Kiki, had a red dog tail and really long claws.
Ren looked to me. “Maybe you can learn how to fight, half-breed. Even if they are weak youkai.”

I just looked at her, confused.

Ren scoffed. “Stop acting like an idiot, little cousin. You’ll be worthless to me until you can beat me, you hear?” She tapped her feet rhythmically and disappeared in a dark purple mist.

I cleared my throat and said, “You better stop messing with the human, because… That means you’re messing with me!”

They stopped beating up the human and came after me. I waited for them this time, like Ren does. When they charged at me, I made shots toward their lower bellies, making them throw up. They ran away after that and I reached a hand toward the human.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

She nodded. “M-my name’s Hikari.” She took my hand and stood shakily. Hikari had long, blonde hair and blue eyes. And… she was beautiful.

It turned out we had a lot of the same classes, and she started to sit next to me in them! After some weeks…

Ren came to my house again, ready to fight and I said no.

“Why not, half-breed?”

“Because I know you’ll beat me. I give up.”

She frowned and put her katana away. “You’re weak, half-breed.”

“I know.”

She looked… sad. “Good night, Yukari.” She just… left.

That morning was a Saturday, so I slept in to the sound of cars driving past. Then the doorbell rang.

It was Hikari.

She was blushing and… and then she…

Our kiss could have lasted forever in my mind. And… At that moment… I knew… Everything would be perfect for the rest of my life. Because Hikari was there and because Ren was just my cousin again and not someone who kept trying to kill me all the time.

Yeah. It was going to be great.

THE END.

It finally happened. Madison had known for years - ever since she had watched her first anime that her place was in Japan. And now finally, after years of begging her parents, doing chores and saving money, she had finally made it. It was just like she imagined, but better. She looked out the window of the clean train - hearing schoolgirls chatter away in the most beautiful language on earth. Alongside the tracks you could see the occasional woman working in her field, her old wooden house snug against the small pointed mountains. Madison knew she wanted to stay here forever.

Her host family - the Kameoka family - lived in the middle of the country. They had their own rice field, a greenhouse full of vegetables and a few chickens pecking around in the shrubbery. She would be going to a rural school, eating Japanese food, she was probably the only gaikokujin in miles (that’s what Japanese people call foreigners. She learnt this while playing Persona in the original Japanese!)

The mother of the family was a warm, round woman who spent most of her day pottering around the house, cleaning and cooking and making sure everything was just so. The father was scarcely seen - he left before the rest of the family, and got home late after work and socialising at the bar.

It was their only son, Kosuke who got her attention. He was a year older than Madison, and busy studying to pass the college entrance exams. At a glance, he looked like any other studious, introverted Japanese boy - but Madison knew there was something about him.

All the Japanese students were so amazed to see the foreigner. The girls gasped as she entered the room, their eyes fixated on her blonde hair, neatly tied back. “Her eyes are blue!” she could hear a girl exclaim in the front row. “I wonder if she speaks Japanese?” her friend replied. The teacher made her stand up in front of the class and introduce herself.

“Hello,” she started nervously before switching to Japanese. “My name is Madison Hunter, and I’m from America,” she could hear the class gasp at her perfect use of Japanese. “I’m 14 years old and I’m staying with the Kameokas for three months.” She took her seat and began her lessons.

At lunchtime, one of the girls finally gathered the nerves to approach her. Her friends giggled and teased her, pushing her towards the foreigner.

“HALLO HOW ARE YOU?” she said in awkwardly accented English.

“I’m fine, thanks.” Madison replied in Japanese, raising a condescending eyebrow. All the girls giggled. The three girls introduced themselves as Miho, Ai and Yuriko.

“Are you really staying with the Kameokas?” Miho asked. Her friend... Yuriko perhaps... gave her a hard slap on the back. “What?!” Miho cried back. “Everybody knows what they say about Kosuke.”

“What do they say about him?” she asked nervously, biting into her onigiri.

“He’s possessed. Everybody knows so.”

“Don’t be silly! There’s no such thing as ghosts.” The girls just giggled and started chattering away in Japanese. Madison was good - but not that good. She couldn’t keep up with the pace of the conversation.

“Well, have you ever seen him eat?”

“Uuhh,” Madison thought about it for the moment. “No. He always eats in his room. He’s studying for the entrance exam.”

“And it is known, he will never go into a shrine because he is unable to pass under a torii gate.”

“That’s crazy!”

“It’s not! Everybody goes to Fukukawasaki shrine for good luck on their exams, but not Kosuke.”

Madison growled to herself. She knew they were just trying to scare her because she was a foreigner, but as lessons progressed during the day she couldn’t push it out of her mind. She remembered the way she felt about him when they first met... and she had always considered herself a good judge of character.

After the final bell, she met with Kosuke for the walk home. It wasn’t a long walk, 10 minutes or so, around the base of a mountain. On the way, they passed by a stone with five characters painted on it in thick black ink - ‘Fukukawasaki shrine’. A path ran up the hill, with dozen of fox statues flanking both sides. “Kosuke,” Madison sheepishly looked up at the taller boy. “I was wondering if you could show me the shrine. All the girls at school said it was really impressive.”

“It’s not,” He replied bluntly. “It’s small and old.”

“I kinda want to see it anyway. And we can wish for good luck on your exams.”

“It’s a waste of time. I could be at home studying.” Madison pouted, but didn’t press the topic any further. As she passed by, she took one last look at the nearest fox statue. For a moment she could’ve sworn it was real and was watching her back. She wanted to get closer, to feel the true spirits of Japan, but if she went to the shrine alone, she would be walking home alone, after dark. This didn’t prove anything, but it was unusual...

That night, Kosuke didn’t come down for dinner again. “He’ll eat when he’s hungry,” Mrs. Kameoka said apologetically. “Don’t worry about him.” I went to my room and flicked on the TV. Some Japanese comedy show was on, with overweight man with a thick Kansai accent running through the streets, embarrassing all the people he came across. Madison could hardly pay attention. Her mind kept drifting back to Kosuke, up in his room. Of course he wasn’t possessed, that was insane - but it wasn’t normal for a kid to be cooped up in his room studying for every waking hour. She would go talk to him.

“Kosuke,” she muttered as she pushed open the sliding door leading to his room. It was dark inside - much too dark to study. He turned in his chair, his eyes glowing red in the darkness.

“What are you doing in here,” he growled... his voice wasn’t human. It was like many voices layered on top of each other. Madison fumbled for the lights. He screeched as the darkness vanished from his room. Madison could now see that his study books were filled with only a single character. He had written ‘demon’ over and over. Hundreds of times, on every page, in every book. Madison backed away. “What is wrong with you?”

“Isn’t it obvious,” he said - an inhuman smile spreading across his face - far too wide and full of thin, pointed teeth. “It’s a shame. I quite liked you,” he raised a hand - she could see it bulge and mutate in front of her very eyes - his fingers becoming longer and pointed. “But I’m afraid I can’t let you return to America - not after what you’ve seen today.” He approached her, clawed hand outstretched. “Make this easy for yourself, stand still.”

Madison backed into the hallway, “No! Kosuke, no!” she plead. “Stop!” She knew she could do nothing about him. She closed her eyes and waited. And waited. She opened one eye, then the other. A fox was standing between her and Kosuke.

“Out of the way spirit,” he snarled. “You know this is for the greater good.” The fox cocked its head, and said nothing. Nothing she could hear - at least. “Very well,” Kosuke said to the fox, “it shall be your funeral too.”

The fox stepped back - the floor where it stepped glowed a deep orange - the same colour as a torii gate. It jumped up, vanishing into a ball of orange energy. It circled the room once and - Madison ducked. It was coming right at her. She felt the spirit of the fox fill her body. Two orange ears tipped with black sprouted from her head. She was more aware - she could see into every dark corner of the room. Her new ears twitched she could hear her host mother cleaning downstairs, oblivious to the commotion above her. She could see the black aura around her host-brother and instantly she knew he wasn’t always like this.

She would save him.

He dived at her, clawed hand tearing at her clothes. She held him back but he was stronger than her. She fell backward, he scratched at her clothes and face. She could feel her blood trickling onto the tatami mats. She kicked and struggled but there was no way she could overwhelm the demon-fueled boy.

Suddenly, she remembered how he screamed when she had turned the lights on. She knew how to injure him. She drew the energy of the fox spirit inside her, and with her spare hand wrote a kanji on his skin. Six strokes. Light.

It took affect immediately. He screamed and clasped at his face. It was burning his skin. “Leave,” she commanded the demon. The fox spoke through her, and with his power the spirit had no choice to obey. There was a gush of black wind, it circled around the room several times, before finding a crack it could escape through. It vanished into the night.

“Well done,” the fox said. “From now on your name shall be ‘Hikaru’.” It meant ‘Light’. She fell to her knees as the fox left her body, leaving the house in a gust of energy - the same way as the demon. She felt the top of her head - her fox ears had vanished.

Kosuke lay face-down on the floor. Madison knelt by him. “Kosuke...” she whispered. “Are you okay? Please, be okay.” For a long moment, he did not move. Madison couldn’t help herself. She hadn’t known him very long - but she knew he was a good boy. She sniffed, hardly keeping back her tears.

“Uugh,” he moved, struggling to his knees. “What happened,” he groaned loudly. “I’m so hungry.”

“Oh thank God you’re alright,” Madison wiped the tears from her face. “Let’s go and get something to eat.”