"Akihabara... Akihabara..."

We were back at Akihabara again, but this time I was too nervous to daydream. With his big frame, Nakamura-san easily cleared a path through the crowded train for Abe-san and me.

After stepping outside of the station, I was hit with a chilly wind, and pulled my jacket tighter around myself, internally wishing that Hoshi had fire powers. Well, even if she did, I'd cause mass panic if I started a sudden fire in the crowded station.

Speaking of which, that troublemaker was messing with the nearby passerby. Hoshi kept floating through people, and drawing circles around them with the mysterious ink. Well, at least she's having fun...?

Returning my focus to the mission, I followed Nakamura-san up the escalator, with Abe-san behind me, and watched the posters slowly drift by. Posters... Wait, that one time...

While I was sure at the time that I was seeing things, nothing's out of the realm of possibilities now.

"Nakamura-san."

"Yes?"

"Don't laugh, but... the last time I came here, I felt like I saw one of the posters move."

Nakamura-san suddenly turned back to look at me. "Do you mean that the image in the poster moved?"

After watching me nod in response, he stroked his short beard with one hand.

"Hmmm... It's most likely that you saw two Youkai that day. Some Youkai can possess inanimate objects, which results in that strange phenomenon you witnessed. I don't think the one that moved the poster is particularly dangerous, but it'd be good if we can exorcize that one too."

Well, if I remember correctly, part of our mission was to hunt any other Youkai that we ran into anyway.

We reached the top of the elevator, and my stomach rumbled.

Gah! I should've eaten dinner before the mission. Hopefully, no one heard that.

...Well, the cold isn't much of a problem anymore...

We walked down the familiar street full of advertisements and bright lights. Unlike the daytime, Akihabara had considerably fewer people going about, and some of the stores were closed. But it was still reasonably lively, and the restaurants only tempted me more.

"Hmmm... Let's go to that restaurant over there." Nakamura-san spoke my thoughts out loud.

"Sensei now's not the time for gyudon. We need to find the two Youkai."

"We can ask if anyone's seen anything strange in there. Maybe we'll get some leads."

Abe-san sighed. "You just want to eat."

"Bahahaha! That too!"

Nakamura-san grinned at me, and I silently worshiped him. He strode into the nearby gyudon chain, and after consulting the rest of us, he ordered our food from a machine. We took the three tickets that popped out of the vending machine and sat down at a booth.

Once the food came, I had to do everything in my power to control myself.

Sorry, the food just smelled too good.

I momentarily stopped thinking about Youkai, and just focused on eating. Abe-san gave in and started eating too, and Nakamura-san ate like a sumo wrestler. He quickly finished all of his food and went up to a young staff member at the counter.

"Excuse me, may I ask you a question?"

"Of course. What can I help you with?"

"Have you seen anything strange in Akihabara lately?"

The restaurant chain was empty, but I still felt extreme secondhand embarrassment from this odd question. Nakamura-san on the other hand was unfazed by the confused look the staff member gave him.

"I'm sorry, what do you mean?"

"Mmmm... How do I put this? Have you seen anything that doesn't seem possible?"

The staff member stared at Nakamura-san for a good couple of seconds, and even Abe-san started fidgeting with his hands.

"Well, when I was taking out the trash in the nearby alleyway the other day, I swear I saw a cardboard cutout move on its own."

Huh? He answered just like that? And doesn't that sound like the poster I saw?

"A-ahem, I'm kidding. It was dark, and I was pretty tired that night. Don't take it too seriously."

Nakamura-san looked him dead in the eyes and said "No, I believe you. It must've been a spirit."

"Eh? No, really, I swear I was just seeing things-"

"Bahaha! Just messing with you. It was probably the wind."

Nakamura-san laughed and started to drag Abe-san and me out of the restaurant.

"Thank you very much!"

"Er... No problem...?"

The young staff member was left with a face just as confused as before. Poor guy. I feel like even Abe-san isn't used to this living whirlwind either.

Nakamura-san led us out of the building around the corner, and next to the building. There was nothing of note, except a large dumpster surrounded by numerous trash bags.

I guess the man from the restaurant chain really was seeing things.

"Nakamura-san, I don't think there's anything here."

He looked deep in thought. "No, there is."

"Eh? How do you know?"

He looked over at me with a wide grin.

"Intuition."

He walked over to the dumpster, and Fujin materialized next to him.

Whoosh!

With a strong gale, he flipped open the dumpster's lid, revealing... more bags.

"Nakamura-san... There really isn't anything there-"

Bang!

With stupidly comedic timing, the dumpster tipped over and a large red object toppled out of it. What even is that?

I squinted my eyes to look closer at the strange object and realized that it was a giant costume of a red cat mascot with two tails. Eh? It's kinda cute.

"Gah!"

I couldn't stop a yelp from coming out of my mouth when the costume suddenly stood up on its own

Nakamura-san bent over from laughter.

"Bahaha! It's possessed by a Youkai! It looks hilarious!"

Abe-san wasted no time summoning Raijin, who raised his spear, charging it with crackling electricity. Abe-senpai's eyes glowed an orangish yellow, and his eyebrows furrowed as he concentrated.

Just as he was about to bring it down, Nakamura-san called out, "Hold on, Yusuke. We should let Miyake-san and Hoshi get some practice."

Raijin lowered his spear and looked at Abe-sai, who nodded. Suddenly...

"Hey! Nakamura-san, it just got away!"

How did such a round mascot with legs that short run so darn fast?

Despite my sudden panic, Nakamura-san didn't seem too concerned.

"Don't worry, I scanned it with the app, so we'll be able to track it. We also don't have to worry about it. It seems pretty weak."

"You're way too laid back about this mission, sensei."

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"Lies. Anyway, let's follow the Youkai!"

We quickly broke into a run, following the dot on Nakamura-san's map. We ended up on a rather crowded street, given how late it was.

"Won't... people... see... the Youkai?"

Running sucks. I was already almost out of breath and was barely able to talk. Yet Abe-san was able to laugh, which honestly made me feel a bit pathetic.

"Miyake-san, you know we're in Akihabara right? Mascots running all over the place is far from the weirdest thing you'll see here."

True...

Nakamura-san's tracker led us to a dark alleyway. Thankfully, this one was different from the one in my traumatic experience. Regardless, I still felt a bit of dread.

At the end of the alleyway was the mascot. It was blocked by a wall, and it couldn't escape.

Abe-san took out his phone, and after glancing at it for a bit, looked up with a bit of a smile.

"It's D rank, so this is perfect. Miyake-san, why don't you try fighting it without Hoshi? Use your naginata."

What. No. I can't do that. I'd die.

"What's wrong, Miyake-san?"

"B-but... it's so cute..."

"Miyake-san, would you rather it get away again?"

Never mind. Looks like you'll have to die, cute Youkai. I don't want to have to run some more.

I drew my naginata out of a long bag provided by Hasegawa-san ("It's best that you don't attract unwanted attention, carrying a weapon in public."), and pointed it at the Youkai, taking a battle stance.

"Okay, so usually I wouldn't be able to hit this thing, but since it's possessing an object I'm assuming I can now?" I really hoped this was the case, at least.

"Correct, Miyake-san. But it can't hurt to try and figure out how to imbue your weapon anyway."

The Youkai hissed at me, before lunging through the air. I quickly thrust my naginata forward with all my strength and pierced the face of the mascot. I'm so sorry...

The mascot fell apart into pieces and rolled across the ground. Legs, torso, arms... only the head remained speared on my naginata. That was... surprisingly easy.

Almost as if waiting for me to think I won, the pieces of the costume started to shake, and floated through the air to connect back together. Except the head had a massive hole with glowing red eyes, and this time the mascot had freakishly long limbs.

The arms and legs were strung together by black threads, resulting in what looked like a puppet from a horror movie. I definitely didn't think this thing was cute anymore.

Actually, this thing terrifies me now.

"Uhhhhhhhhhh-"

"Miyake-san, don't forget that we're both here to help you if you're ever actually in danger. Don't worry." Raijin didn't put away his spear, which reassured me a little.

Looks like I have no choice. I swallowed my reluctance and charged the Youkai, this time taking the offensive. While I was aiming at its red eyes (video games have made me assume that's always a weak spot), the Youkai blocked my naginata with its arm.

That's fine, maybe it won't be able to use that arm anymore. Wait, what? Why is it so much harder now?

I shouted at Nakamura-san and Abe-san. "Why is it getting stronger?"

Nakamura-san laughed. Can't he see I'm struggling here?

"That's what imbuement looks like. Youkai are naturals at it. Hoshi will be able to do it too, but right now you should be the one learning it right now. This is good practice for you. Good luck!"

Noticing an opening, the Youkai used its arm as a whip and swiped at my side, which didn't break anything, but it really really hurt.

Ow.

My eyes started tearing up, and I got a bit annoyed. When the Youkai whipped its arm at me again, I cut in between the pieces of its arm and slashed through the part that looked like a black thread.

Looks like that did the trick. This time my naginata easily sliced through the Youkai's arm, and-

Ow, ow ow ow! What? How'd it still hit me?

This time it was Abe-san that explained.

"Miyake-san, it looks like your blade will just pass through that part. It's a bit much to explain at the moment, but just keep in mind that you'll have to imbue your weapon to hit its weak spots."

"How in the world do I do that?!"

"Try and remember how you felt when your Kami awoke. Concentrate your will into your blade, and put your entire being into your attack."

That's much easier said than done.

I struck the Youkai's side, but my blade just passed through its thin waist.

Oh god, how do I even start on such an abstract concept? Uhhhhh...

The Youkai wasn't making things easier either. While I was trying to think about how to imbue my weapon, the stupid thing kept attacking without slowing down. It felt like I was playing a really tiring game of jump rope.

Can Youkai even feel tired? Where do they even get their energy from? Eating humans? Wait, I'm getting distracted.

If only Nakamura-san and Abe-san would let Hoshi help. This thing would be dead in a few seconds. Then my thoughts started to drift even more, and I struggled to keep them in line. But then, a specific memory popped into my mind, almost like Hoshi herself reminded me.

When Hoshi tried that feint during the fight with Fujin, she left that weird trail. The strange ink didn't do anything. A bit disappointing, but how did she accomplish that in the first place? What if...?

The Youkai swung at my head, and I barely reacted in time to duck underneath the attack. But that didn't matter to me right now.

If Hoshi truly managed to leave that trail with imbuement, then I just have to remember how we felt when that happened. I couldn't tell if it was from the adrenaline or if Hoshi was trying to help, but my heart kept beating faster and faster.

I took a deep breath and calmly waited for the Youkai's next attack. I honestly had no clue whether or not I'd be able to succeed, but I could tell that this is where the fight ends. It almost felt like the air was charged with electricity.

It seems that the Youkai sensed this too. In a last-ditch effort, it stretched out its leg and swept the ground with a low kick. But I was in a trance and wasn't even fazed by the dirty move.

I jumped above the attack, much much higher than what would have been humanly possible.

It felt like energy was surging through my legs and pouring down to my feet, where I wore the shoes that Hasegawa-san had given me. Usually, I would've panicked, given how high up I was.

And yet only one thing remained in my mind.

Strike it down.

With a loud shout, I put the entire force of my fall into the naginata, and the Youkai raised both arms to protect its face. But it didn't matter. I shattered both of its arms and sliced right through terrified Youkai's exposed face. This time, the weapon didn't simply pass through. I could feel the slightest bit of resistance against the blade, but it easily cut into the Youkai's weak point.

With a loud clang, the blade of my naginata hit the ground behind the Youkai, but even the ground couldn't damage it.

In a silent scream, the Youkai began to dissolve, and the pieces of the torn costume once again fell apart. Nothing was left except for scattered remains. I almost felt sorry for it.

It was only after the fact that I realized how much I was panting. Hold on, didn't I just do some crazy things?

A loud noise rang into my ears, and I jumped.

Oh wait, it's just Nakamura-san applauding.

"Good job, Miyake-san! You learned how to imbue much faster than I did. I think it took me a good couple of months, bahahaha!"

Ow!

Hoshi appeared next to me and slapped my back. I was so sore and exhausted that she nearly knocked me over. Is she trying to fill in for Mika?

Abe-san was smiling.

"You did very well, Miyake-san. But let's celebrate more later. The mission's still going. You can leave it to Sensei and I."

He's right. I can think more about things after we finish. But I really did grow a lot today, didn't I?

I think I did a good job. It looks like Hoshi wants in on the action though.

Sorry, maybe next time.

Nakamura-san led the way again and started to walk back the way we came from. I took one last look at the sad costume and turned to follow him, with Abe-san behind me.

Except... we were met with a wall. A wall that wasn't there before.

After a couple seconds of stunned silence, Nakamura-san asked "Miyake-san, "You encountered Kumo in an abandoned alleyway, right?"

Dread started to creep up through the back of my mind.

"...Yes."

"Mmmm... I think we've fallen into its trap."

Oh god. This is really bad. What do we do?

"It's like a spider's web!" Nakamura-san chuckled. Not that I'm surprised anymore.

"Don't worry, Miyake-san. You have Yusuke and I here, remember? Just stick close to us. Let's go find this Youkai."

We turned back away from the wall and walked deeper into the dark alleyway. The wall on this end was no longer there.

The darkness felt like it was penetrating through me. It was utterly terrifying.

Hoshi smiled at me and began to glow with an even brighter intensity. Nakamura-san and Abe-san smiled too, and in unison Fujin and Raijin both appeared, illuminating our path.

That's right. I'm not fighting the Youkai alone anymore. It really is nice to have people you can depend on.

When we reached what used to be the end of the alleyway, I gasped.

The alleyway led into a much larger road, but it somehow carried the same eerie aura. Abandoned buildings littered the sides of the road. The area was dimly lit by scarce street lamps, which were battered and some were even bent in half. No human could have done that.

"What... is this place?"

Abe-san looked around. "I think... this is the den of Kumo."

"What?"

"You know how Hasegawa-san said that the world had two layers? Well, the Youkai you've seen so far have actually been in the world of the living. You haven't seen the world of the Youkai... until now. It seems that we've wandered into the land of spirits."

Nakamura-san patted my back. "We'll protect you. You're our priority. Everything else comes second."

We slowly walked down the empty road, doing our best not to make too much sound. It became apparent to me just how loud my breathing sounded. Every single shadow stretched across the ground, forming monsters.

Every time I thought I saw movement in the corners of my eyes, I was met with the sight of total darkness. The only consolation was Hoshi next to me, whose glow beat back the shadows.

I don't know how much time passed. It felt like the road stretched on forever. But we reached a part of the road that branched out into another alleyway. Nakamura-san, Abe-san, and I turned our heads around the corner in case something was there. I couldn't see what was deeper within the alleyway, as it was completely shrouded in darkness. Oh god. What if it's hiding somewhere in there?

Nakamura-san and Fujin silently went out from the corner and prepared to go into the alleyway.

"Stay here. I'll go check what's down there. Yusuke, guard her in case something happens."

I watched Fujin's glow slowly disappear into the distance and silently prayed for Nakamura-san's safety. After a few tense minutes, I could hear his voice calling from deep within the alleyway.

"Miyake-san?"

"Yes, Nakamura-san?"

"Don't come here. I'll be back soon."

What? Is there something there? After waiting for several more minutes, Nakamura-san and Fujin returned from the alleyway.

"Did you find something?"

"..."

I haven't known him for long, but I've never seen Nakamura-san with such a serious face.

"...Nakamura-san...?"

But he quickly broke into a smile.

"Nah, I didn't find anything. Was just pulling your leg. Bahaha!"

...Was it just me, or were his eyes still dead serious? Hoshi made eye contact with me, and I knew that she could tell too.

"Anyways, it looks like that alleyway is sealed off too, like the one that trapped us here. I have a theory, but first, what do you remember about the alleyway where you first met Kumo, Miyake-san?"

Oh boy. Looks like I'm going to have to dig up those memories again, although I'm pretty sure the atmosphere has already made me do that several times already.

"Well... it was pretty empty, except maybe a vending machine? Oh, and it was super dark at the end of the alleyway. So much so that I was too scared to stay there for long. When I escaped Kumo, the alleyway looked different."

Nakamura-san looked deep in thought. "Mmmm... I think the alleyway you were in that day was actually connected to here. What I believe is that this realm connects to different alleyways in Akihabara. Kumo waits until people wander into its den, and then pounces on them. In fact, I saw a vending machine down there. I think it could possibly be the same alleyway that you were at."

"Then... had I wandered deeper into the alleyway... I could be..."

"Hey, hey, don't think like that. Maybe you would have awoken Hoshi even earlier, and we wouldn't have to go on this mission, bahaha! Anyway, Let's keep going. Make sure to stick close."

"Sensei."

"Hm? What is it, Yusuke?"

Abe-san's eyes were narrowed as he stared behind me.

"It's here."