A Brief Return to the Spirit Realm

 I decided to talk to Hakutaku. He knows everything. To talk to him, I needed to return to the spirit realm for a little while. Since I was going there anyway, I decided to give my parents and yōkai friends a bit of an update on how I was doing. Finding the whereabouts of Hakutaku was pretty easy, for the older dragons knew where he was. Hakutaku was incredibly beautiful.

“I have questions for you,” I said.

“I know,” said Hakutaku.

First I asked him about Junichi’s sister, and then I asked him about Ms. Nishi.

“The answer to the second question is simple,” Hakutaku said. “Mika Nishi is embarrassed about being a yōkai. Futakuchi-onna were once human after all. Those of us who were born yōkai have a different understanding of what it means to be a yōkai than those who became yōkai. Call her out on her embarrassment, and she might tell you the truth.”

“Do cats get embarrassed when they become bakeneko or nekomata?” (Most of the cat yōkai I knew have told me their life was funner as a yōkai then as a normal cat.)

“Some of them.”

“And dogs get embarrassed when they become inugami?”

“Again, some of them. Nothing is guaranteed. Dogs, cats, humans, even objects. Some will be embarrassed about becoming yōkai, and others will be relieved.” Hakutaku paused. “As for your first question, have you considered asking Lord Enma if the girl’s with him?”

“I have, but I thought I’d talk to you first. They say, you know everything, Hakutaku, so I thought you would know her whereabouts.” (Besides, he did know Ms. Nishi’s first name, despite the fact that I didn’t tell him.)

“I am not in charge of the dead, Ao. That is the job of Lord Enma or Lady Izunami. It is true that I know possibilities of what happened to Eriko Takimoto” (again with a full name!) “but I know not which one she chose.”

“Do you think she stayed in the human realm?”

“It’s a possibility. Ask the Kinko High School softball team if they had any hauntings. Her most likely reason to haunt in the human realm is her grudge against them.”

“You think she’s an onryō!!”

“No, I don’t. Your friend would know if his sister were an onryō. I just think her most likely reason to stay in the human realm would be to haunt the one she has a grudge against.” He seemed to contradict himself. A ghost that haunts the one she has a grudge against is the very definition of onryō.

“I’ll talk to Lord Enma,” I said. After a pause, I added, “How did you know Ms. Nishi’s and Ms. Takimoto’s full names? And the name of Ms. Takimoto’s school for that matter?”

“You told me.”

“How could I? I didn’t know Junichi’s older sister was named Eriko, or that…”

“I know, but you still managed to tell me. Just as you have powers I lack, I, too, have powers you lack.”

Of course he does. He’s not a dragon. He was a mystery. Even among yōkai, Hakutaku seems mysterious. I’ve met many yōkai who were afraid of him. Nurarihyon is especially afraid of Hakutaku.

To talk to Lord Enma, I needed to enter his real, which is a busy place. It goes by many names: Yomi, Jigoku, Hell. There are two ways to enter it. One way is through the human realm and involves crossing the Sanzo River, and the other way is through the spirit realm and involves talking to Ox-Head and Horse-Face. Only the deceased can cross the Sanzo River, which meant I had to ask Ox-Head and Horse-Face to open their gate for me. They’re kinda picky on who they let in.

“I would like to enter,” I said.

“Why,” asked Ox-Head. “Would a dragon wish to pass through the gates of Hell?”

“I wish to speak to Lord Enma,” I said.

“Lord Enma is busy with trials,” said Horse-Face. “Come back later.”

“What about Lady Izunami?” I asked. “May I speak with her?”

Ox-Head looked like he was about to say, “No,” but Horse-Face stopped him. “What exactly is your inquiry?” Horse-Face asked.

“I wish to know the whereabouts of a girl who died a year ago.”

“I recommend you speak with someone from the records department,” said Horse-Face. “You may pass.” As soon as Horse-Face said this, Ox-Head slid the gate open. I went inside, and the gate closed behind me. I looked around. I saw oni, shinigami, and ghosts. I saw a massive courthouse on one side of me, the Sanzo River on the other, and in front of me, was actually a nice beautiful field. In the middle of the field stood a tall circular wall. I knew the inside of the wall was Proper Hell.

On the other side of the River, there were ghosts taking off their cloths and oni weighing the cloths. After weighing the cloths, the oni gave them back and told the ghosts to cross the river. Some swam across, some took a boat, and others crossed the bridge depending on how much their cloths weighed. I felt bad for the ones who had to swim, for I knew that they would be in Hell the longest. The ones who crossed the bridge simply gave their name to a shinigami on the near end and disappeared. The ones that swam or rode a boat, were lead by an oni to the massive courthouse when they managed to cross.

I asked the shinigami at the bridge, “Why are they disappearing as soon as you write down their names?”

“They’re being reincarnated. We just need them to pass through so we know who they were and when they died.”

“I see. Where is the records department?”

“Ground floor, to the left. Door says ‘Records Department.’”

“Thank you.”

There were both oni and shinigami working in the records department. They had lots of scrolls and hand-bond books. “I’d like to make an inquiry about a girl who died a year ago.”

“Her name?” asked a shinigami.

“Eriko Takimoto.” (Glad I spoke to Hakutaku first!)

“Let’s see.” The shinigami flipped through the pages of a few books. “Ah, here she is. Eriko Takimoto, instantly reincarnated. What do you you wish to know?”

“Who is she now?”

“Soul currently resides in a lioness named Harmony. Anything else?”

“No, that’s all I need to know.”

“Really? You came solely to ask who she was reincarnated as.”

“Yup.”

When I returned to the human realm, I told Junichi the news.

“Harmony,” he said. “She’s at the zoo.”

“Huh?”

“A pair of sister lion cubs were born at the zoo named Harmony and Melody. I believe they’re ten months old now.”

We were silent for a moment. Then I said, “Can you tell the teacher that I’m at the nurse’s office? I have something … to take care of.”

“Sure.”

Junichi went to class, and I headed to the nurse’s office. Aunt and Uncle told the school I was sick, so I could miss a day to visit Lord Enma’s realm. The teacher can think I’m still a little sick. Fortunately, Ms. Nishi was alone in her office.

“What can I do for you?” she asked.

“Are you embarrassed?” I asked.

“About what?”

“The fact that you’re a futakuchi-onna.”

“Why bring this up now!?”

She didn’t really answer my question, but I continued. “Did you kill your own step-children?”

“What? No. I haven’t married yet. Let alone to someone with children.”

“Then you have nothing to be ashamed about.”

Ms. Nishi took a deep breath. “Have you ever been in love?” she asked.

Love? “Ew,” I said.

“Of course you haven’t. You're still a child. The first time I feel in love was when I was in my first year of middle school. The boy I loved was a second year, but it took me a while to become brave enough to confess my feelings to him. I finally did in my second year, just before his graduation. He got into an all-boys high school, so I knew it was my last chance. I confessed my feelings and he rejected me. I couldn’t process his rejection and stopped eating for a while. After a few weeks of barely eating, the second mouth grew on the back of my head. It wanted to eat anything and everything it could. It even went as far as eating a full bag of uncooked rice, and I could do nothing to stop it. Although, I eat normally now, my second mouth sometimes still wants to eat in the middle of the night.”

“I don’t eat uncooked rice anymore,” muttered the second mouth.

“I told you not the speak while we’re at work,” Ms. Nishi said.

“The kid knows,” said the second mouth. “I see no issue with speaking in front of him.”

I laughed.

“Can I ask you something?” Ms. Nishi said. “Why does Principal Fujimaki keep snacks in her office? Is she also…a futakuchi-onna?” She’s bringing this up now!!

“No,” I said. “Or if she is, then she’s good at masking her scent. Is it unusual for school principals to keep snacks in their office?”

“No.”

“I see.”