Back at the inn Oku was pouting. On the other side of the couch Mark was switching through channels on the T.V.  and Seph was polishing his sword. As she sat there Mark prodded her.

“Wonder when they’re getting back.”

“Why do you think I care about that?”

“Well you’re pouting over there. Because Lawrence is gone right?”

“Why care so much about that loser huh?”

“I don’t care about him that much idiot. The real question is why you decided to come live with us.”

“I can keep a close eye on Mark this way! The old man told me to protect him, not that I care, but I’m gonna follow every job I get to the bitter end.”

Suddenly Koichi came in and sat down on the floor, bored. He looked at all three of them then settled on Oku.

“If I said I’ve got a license to look into your memories-”

“Nope.”

“Oh come on, after the other day I need to see how far you’ve gone.”

“What’s Mr. Detective talkin’ about girly?”

“Oku… did you umm… with Lawrence?”

“What! No! No no no. I didn’t do anything.”

“According to my little helpers you aren’t the only one hes… been near. Anyways, you should probably give up on that route. Do you know at all what happens to Youkai that have… unwarranted relations with humans?”

“I’m not an idiot.”

“And?”

She sighed, looking at her lap.

“Usually after the human dies… The Youkai goes into a fit of rage and turns into an evil spirit.”

“That we are forced to kill, yes. Listen, I don’t want you nor Hato to turn into an evil spirit, I’m simply not an evil man. So get over this little thing, fair?”

With a smile he stood up and went into the kitchen. For ordering them around so much he was a pretty damn big freeloader. So he had little drones around? Oku quickly scanned the area but couldn’t see anything. She always forgot that he was a detective, they weren’t weak. Though this one always seemed useless, he at least had the power to do half the job he was given. Lawrence wasn’t a little thing, he was… he was a big thing. As much as she hated to admit it, she remembered the other night, and wanted to avoid doing that again. Even though she didn’t want to listen to that stupid detective, there was one thing he got right. Once he died… What would she do?

Seph looked up from his sword again and peered over into the kitchen, where Koichi was. Looking back towards Oku, he put his sword out in front of him.

“Some say that king Arthur was actually the son of a Youkai and a man, did you know that? In fact, some believe that the lady of the lake is his mother. And to be honest, not once in the ancient tales does the lady ever show herself in a frenzy, she never seems to be going insane after the death of Uther Pendragon. So if you want to believe that every single Youkai will always go insane once their partner dies, that’s your problem.”

Seph got up with a yawn and walked to the door, sheathing his sword.

“I’ve got a job, so tell Elaine I won’t be back for a few days. Hey newbie wanna come?”

“And you were being so cool Seph…”

“C’mon Mark, I don’t need the help but Reinhardt really wants you in the business!”

“Maybe next time, not today.”

“Damn, you’re just a weakling anyways, ciao all!”

He walked out with a curt wave and once again the room was silent. Mark continued to flick through channels, and the only change in the other room was the sound of Koichi leaving through the front door as well. Which meant that Oku, Mark, Hato, and their two employers were the only ones in the house and Hato was resting after being in the void for so long.

“So have you talked to him? I mean you two must really be getting close after all.”

“Shut it Mark.”

“I’m asking if you’ve had a talk with him, what’s the harm in that?”

“Because of what you implied on the end?”

“Well let’s talk as if I didn’t imply it. Have you told him about the war?”

“Yes… somewhat. It would take a long time to tell him every detail.”

“I don’t think you should tell him every detail, just the problems that came with it. Does that not make sense?”

“It does obviously but-”

“You know, if I found the person that I wanted to spend a lifetime with, I wouldn’t be as stubborn as you’re being. I can’t believe I’m saying this but Seph is smarter than you on this subject. You’re being scared of imaginary problems and it is not only angering Seph, but you are also pissing me off everytime I see you dance around the issue.”

“You know I’m not the only one that has put moves on him right? Were you not there when Hato kissed him?”

“I’m fairly certain that Youkai don’t feel bad about sharing a lover…”

“Then what about Inari? She might not say it, but I’m sure that she has feelings for him too.”

“Yeah I bet you’re right. But maybe you should start caring about yourself rather than others.”

“But if I do that I’ll turn out like Seph…”

“Whoah now he’s a narcissist. I just mean care about yourself more than not at all, ok?”

“You know Mark, sometimes you scare me and sometimes you’re almost exactly like Lawrence.”

“Yeah that scary me is the old version. Lawrence is really rubbing off on me, I think it’s cooties…”

“Haha, well you’re going to try and avoid changing into him completely aren’t you?”

As they were talking, Elaine walked down the stairs with mop and duster in hand. Once she saw them she smiled and walked up.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Hey it looks like you’re the only ones around! Man 105 and 109 are really dirty, and my poor old back is acting up! You two are looking pretty lazy today, mind giving an old woman some help?”

“You aren’t that old-”

“Oooo the pain!!!”

She winked and threw the cleaning supplies down on the table. Mark took his hand off his chin and looked at the drudgery he would soon be working in. Cleaning rooms for a living and meals was too good a deal to pass up however…

“Welp. We were the ones that didn’t go out and do something. For having no friends we deserve to clean.”

He pushed the duster towards Oku, who looked at him in horror. Before she could stop herself, she had put her hand out, and Elaine gently closed it around the duster. The pact was sealed. She would be cleaning today.

And Lawrence was having the time of his life.

With Inari.

“So you need to get that energy back Inari? Didn’t want to just come visit your poor old gramps I see…”

“No I wanted to come see you but I was also sort of depleted… I came for both reasons.”

“Great! So you’ll stay the night then!”

“W-what?”

“Yeah! Go out and show your boyfriend the shops around and we’ll be ready to re-energize you in a little while. Don’t be shy! I’ll call you alright?”

Granny Istuki pushed them out of the apartment, and shut the door. Behind it Lawrence and Inari could hear giggles, accompanied by loud whispering.

“Well. You want to go look around?”

“Sounds like that’s the only option doesn’t it…”

“C’mon your grandparents seem like really nice people!”

“Oh they are, they’re just… eccentric.”

Once they made it down to the road they found that it had turned into quite a lively place. People were walking around in ceremonial dress, and were walking towards the side of town.

“There’s a festival today?”

“So that’s why gramps wanted me to bring you so bad…”

“What was that?”

“Nothing! But yeah it looks like there’s a little festival. Want to check it out?”

“Sure! The Youkai seem to be going there too, so it can’t hurt.”

Indeed Youkai were pouring out of the forest nearby to check out the happenings around the town. They came in all sizes and found seats anywhere they could. Of course they had brought drinks with them…

Lawrence just smiled as he was led to the stalls with Inari. Quickly he noticed that something was abnormal about the festival. On most of the stalls were heart shaped signs, even the food was heart shaped.

“What’s the festival for Inari?”

“Yeah I think this is the festival for love…”

“Oh! Well, maybe that means the candy will be sweeter right?”

Once they’d loosened up Lawrence gave a few of the games a shot and won some candy. It was good, in fact it was homemade. Just another thing he liked about small towns, small festivals. Yeah the big ones were sometimes nice, but honestly he liked festivals where people who all knew each other could come together and have fun for a night. After walking around the stalls for a few more minutes they found a sign which told them there would be fireworks soon. They hadn’t gotten a call yet, so they decided to stay and watch.

“Hey there’s a nice spot right down there.”

There was a small opening right by the town’s river, and they quickly took it. Once they sat down, Inari took a few drinks of a bag from the festival. She didn’t believe in purses, too much to carry around.

“Rarely do I get to talk to you Inari, I’ve kind of regretted that.”

“Whoa where did this come from?”

“No it’s just a fact, you seem to be comfortable with everyone after so little time, but I don’t get to talk to you all that much. I even sit down with Koichi from time to time, but you? Rarely.”

“Well I guess I’m just not all that talkative.”

“Oh please, you love talking, is it something about me? You scared of me?”

“Not at all.”

“Well you know you can talk to me then, right?”

“Yes I do, I suppose I’m just getting used to the whole having friends thing.”

She took a sip.

“What do you mean? You didn’t have friends?”

“Not really until now.”

“Well then you’re really with your kind. Me and Mark never had friends before we found each other, and Hato and Oku, as Youkai, didn’t have friends either. Heck, I’d wager that even Seph doesn’t have anyone besides us. That’s probably why he decided to stay.”

“Yeah you’re right, I know that, but I used to try to stay away from people for a very different reason.”

“Stay away?”

“Yeah. You know, I’ve got prophetic dreams or whatever, right? When I was in elementary school… I had a few friends, but we weren’t all that close. I still cared about them and all, but one night I had a dream that one of them… died.”

“Y-you saw their death?”

“That isn’t the worst part…”

“Wait…”

“Yeah, I saw her die in my dreams, then I saw her die in real life. The only problem? I caused it. My dreams are not wrong. In it, she was in the middle of the street, and there was a car. For some reason she turned back towards what I could see, and smiled. Later I learned that it was me. I was myself in that dream. I called out to her, because I thought it would hit her, and she stopped. Then it did. Since then I kind of try to stay away from getting too close to people because it’s usually people I know well that this stuff happens to…”

“This happens often with people you know?”

“Nothing on that scale! The second worst thing I saw was a divorce, but nobody died or anything.”

“Who was that?”

“Well… my parents but it’s fine. They’re still nice and everything.”

Suddenly Lawrence started laughing.

“You really forced yourself to be alone because of something that had a chance of happening?”

“It happened twice obviously, don’t be stupid.”

“Yet you trust us enough to think something like that wouldn’t happen?”

“I think it’s more that I can’t stay away.”

“Ah I see well it’s hard to stay away from you as well-”

BOOM!!

Suddenly the fireworks started, kicking it off with one that filled the entire sky. Inari looked up at them with a smile, but Lawrence looked over at her. Sometimes she could be difficult, sometimes she didn’t listen and sometimes she was plain old stubborn. But she was definitely a good friend. He didn’t mind the downside though, so what if he found out someday how he was going to die? He couldn’t change it anyways. Besides, she was human. If he ever did have to choose… wait what? He thought for a second and realized that this was not something he should think about right now. This moment was all about the fireworks.

As soon as they ended, Inari got a call on her phone. It looks like the old fogies had waited till the show ended.

“Hey you better have watched the fireworks!”

“Yeah we did gramps… they were nice.”

“Then get back right now! We’re all set up, and granny made some divinity!”

“Holy crap, alright we’re on our way.”

She put her phone away and took Lawrence’s hand.

“Granny made her most famous snack, I think we need to get back pronto.”

“Why’s that?”

“This is the one time that gramps goes back into his body. He can’t say away from granny’s divinity.”

If it was good enough to bring the dead back to life, Lawrence would have to try some. Maybe it would give him the insight he needed.

Once back Inari’s grandfather was indeed in his body, and was stretching out his joints. He slapped Lawrence on the back and mentioned the festival to him.

“Oh it was fun yeah, the fireworks were amazing!”

“Pretty romantic wasn’t it heh!”

“Oh gramps they don’t need a festival to show their love!”

“Gram!”

“Divinities ready!”

Granny brought a tray out of the refrigerator and laid it on the table. On it were dozens of white round balls.

“Mostly cream cheese, but trust me they’re delicious!”

Lawrence picked one up and eyed it. Once he looked up he realized that the entire family was watching him. Mentally shrugging his shoulders, he popped it in his mouth and bit down.

“It’s…”

“Yes? What is it boy!”

“It’s… It’’s…”

Inari’s grandfather got up from his chair and took Lawrence by the collar. Shaking him, he then slapped him across the face and he finally came back to them.

“It’s… delicious!”

“Oh my, thank you!”

“Now that’s my grandson-in-law!”

While they celebrated his first taste of granny’s greatest dish, Inari thought to herself. She’d asked him to come here, but had barely thought about the ritual itself. In fact, he might see some things that she wanted to keep hidden…

“C’mon Inari, eat!”

“Oh, right!”

But for now, the divinity was enough.