Futakuchi-onna

“That is the whole story.” Kawaguchi Fumi, the agent from PUPA, concluded.

Me, Tsutomu, and Izayoi sat cowering behind the owner of the bathhouse. We were in the ping pong room, which was not damaged by the car crash.

To summarize what Kawaguchi said:

Kawaguchi Fumi is a Futakuchi-onna, a youkai that has two mouths, one regular mouth and another functional one at the back of her head. Her hair could function as hands for bringing food to her second mouth.

She was here to inspect the Ningyo no Hone bathhouse for two reasons. One, there were reports of an employee violating PUPA regulations, whatever those are. Two, they suspected Hyakuya Lain, the bathhouse’s current owner, of holding illegal youkai gatherings.

Who would’ve thought? My sister was one such youkai, and now there’s suddenly a whole organization regulating them.

“I’m going home.” I said.

“At least you could return my ID? Else, I’ll resort to force!”

“If you do, I will be the one reporting you.” Hyakuya Lain said with a straight face. “Moreover, you owe me the reparation for my damaged bathhouse.”

“I-I still can’t let him leave! He is Kazakiri Kuuga’s son!”

“What business do you have with my mother? She’s been dead for years!”

“What if I say that she’s still alive?” Fumi stared at me, and I felt cornered.

Tsutomu and Izayoi gulped. They knew me well. They knew I’d flip.

“...Don’t say such nonsense. You weren’t there. I saw my mother die with my own two eyes! I was right next to her throughout the whole funeral! What do you even know?!”

“Wait, I didn’t mean to…”

“What do I care about your PUPA business?! Having a bunch of youkai in the house is already more than enough!”

“Kazakiri-san…” The owner reached out, but I left anyway.

As I walked away from the bathhouse, I could hear footsteps following me.

“What do you want?”

“I need to ask you one question. Do you know the reason why your father, Kazakiri Daiya, uses his wife’s surname?” Fumi asked, her voice soft.

“Why do I care?”

“There was a report… Somebody saw Kazakiri Kuuga near Mt. Tsukuba in Ibaraki. That was just last week. I came here to find your family, aside from investigating Hyakuya Lain, that is.”

“Didn’t you just explain that?”

My heartbeat quickened. Somebody saw my mother at Ibaraki? She kept her promise? She didn’t abandon me for real, right?

“Will you stay with me forever?”

“I’ll be with you until your day of flight.”

I saw her die right in front of my own eyes, but I held on to that promise. I kept waiting, and I pushed Yakou Kaname and Yakou Akame away, hoping that my mother would return and find that her place was always open for her.

“Somebody else is already keeping watch on your family, but considering you have been pulled into this by me, I will do you a favor by explaining the situation to you. I owe you that much.”

I didn’t fully believe her, but I let her continue.

“A few years ago, the snow youkai faction led by Yukihimegami were arrested by PUPA. A strong faction in the youkai world disappeared as a result, and so the other snow youkai tried to fill in that void. Not only did the Tsurara-onna clan make their move, the other unrelated large youkai clans did as well.”

“What?” I couldn’t follow.

“Think of it as me telling you the plot of an anime or manga where a bunch of youkai gangs are fighting each other. To put it simply, the Yukionna lost their power, so other youkai clans tried to fight over their territory. Something like that.”

“What does that have to do with me or my mother?”

“We suspect Kazakiri Kuuga… the late head of the Kazakiri clan… of trying to form the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons.”