Ch 3
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Chapter Four
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Kauri slowly emerged into the light.
The cramped underground room beneath the military complex felt like an entirely different structure, the concrete walls and floor stained brown and caked with decay along the seams. Blankets, coats, and various cloths were hooked to the walls, covered the floor in orderly lines, and whenever possible, lay beneath the sick and the wounded, some huddled in groups, looking as one towards Kauri and his long, bladed mask.
The woman who called him from the storage closet turned back to face him, hesitating to verbally rebuke him for lagging behind and letting the burning question in the minds of all those present enter her eyes for a moment. Kauri responded in turn by flinching away from the outstretched hand of a child at his heel and reeling back to fake a strike in reply.
“You’re not him,” the woman sighed, her voice caught between miserable dissatisfaction at his failure to meet the implied standard and the bitter aspersion she had the potential to sling. “What does that mask do besides run into things?”
The word mask triggered a curious sound to emerge from the farthest corner of the room, and as the woman turned around to face it, a shrouded shape standing by an extremely rudimentary sink crafted from a wheelbarrow with a hole in the bottom gave a violent start and immediately shut off the cold water. The woman angrily stomped across the hard concrete floor, spooking the denizens of the blankets as those who could scrambled out of the way.
“Here you are!” she hissed, spinning the broom in her hand as she weighed which end to use. “Where are the sheets I wanted? I told you to fold them an hour ago; where are they?”
The creature looked with frightened eyes, two small black dots peeking out from a face like bramble, with long, thin branches stretched outwards nearly to the degree of Kauri’s mask. The face was neatly framed beneath a square head scarf, and the branches shifted in place as incomprehensible shuffling of the branches served as a reply. The spindly body of the creature wore a plain puffy shirt and a long skirt with a dark apron haphazardly tied around the front.
The woman responded by swatting the creature repeatedly with the brush of the broom, pausing as the spared one hand from trying to cover the pointed branches extending from the inhuman face to delicately protect a noticeable bulge at the hip of the apron. Smacking the bark-covered hand out of the way, the woman reached behind it and pulled out a small blue jar filled with the cold water.
“I told you what would happen if you did this, Kiki!” she snarled, threatening the yokai with the bottle. “Keep her here. And make sure she sees me.”
Kauri backpedaled slightly as the woman stormed past him, rounding a corner to enter the only visible exit to the room being a long, wide hallway. Kiki slowly pushed herself up to her full height, actively avoiding eye contact with Kauri until with a shrill squeal her eyes landed on the entrance to the hallway.
“You’re never cleaning this again!” The woman, who had reemerged at the mouth of the hall, held a plain ceramic plate in one hand, which she dramatically threw to the ground, scowling as the creature gave out a horrified cry and pushed hard against Kauri’s arm, eventually worming past him and scrambling nearly on all fours to the impact site, shakily scraping the largest pieces of the plate together.
Kauri softly approached, his hands in his pockets, as the whimpering Kiki pushed the pieces of the plate together in a vain attempt to repair it. The woman held her breath for a moment, not daring to allow air to escape and let something slip she would regret, but the cathartic lashing out had cooled her temper and she wearily extended a hand to Kauri.
“Yasuko Asanuma,” she sighed, her extremely limp-wristed handshake retaining a surprising amount of strength. “Get the cart to her before that ‘uncle’ gets back from the toilet.” She turned away for a moment before instinctively feeling Kauri’s confused stare aimed at the blubbering yokai. “Not her. In there. Just leave it by the door and don’t go in.”
Beyond the entrance to the hall was a heavy door, set partially into the wall. With an impatient gesture from Yasuko, Kauri was ushered along, pushing a flimsy metal cart in its direction which produced an abominable sound as it traveled. Leaving it by the door, Kauri turned enough to see the weary Yasuko had returned to berating the yokai, giving him ample opportunity to turn the handle and push his way inside.
The room was dark, save the streak of light that shone through the partially open doorway. The huddled figure inside turned two frightened eyes towards him, nestled in the corner and leaning heavily against the farthest wall. Where most of the building interior had shown signs of decay and neglect, the side room was almost incomparable with its visible cleanliness.
None of that registered in Kauri’s mind, however. From the moment he opened the door, and even as the perceptive eyes of the young woman hiding in the dark registered the object of his focus and made a minimal effort to shrink even further in reply, the light that fell upon her legs shone back into Kauri’s eyes with blinding intensity.
From the calf down, both of her legs were made of gold. They scraped against the floor as she tried to move them, impossibly heavy and completely inflexible. Where the gold ended Kauri could see the edge of living skin was red and calloused from her attempts to pick away the metal. His mind was so absorbed by the situation that Kōhiwi rattling his heart did nothing to alert him until the heavy hand that reached across his shoulder pulled him away.
The force he was moved at would have been enough to throw him into the opposite wall, but a quick application of his mask brought him to a sliding stop and gave him a clear view of his assailant. He was a bulky man, his muscles overlaid with odd patches of fat that helped to explain the occasional wrinkle of loose skin that hung from his neck. What remained of his silver hair was combed back and tied into a poor facsimile of a topknot, echoing the ornamental cut to his moustache, and his face, while still corpulent, possessed an inexplicable gaunt aspect that sunk his cheeks and hollowed out his eyes. And yet, none of this made his look any less ferocious as he swiftly shut the door and turned to face Kauri.
One arm was kept in a rudimentary sling formed from the ornamental Japanese robe he wore, the attached hand resting inside the garment on the opposite side and leaving his arm and shoulder bare, giving Kauri a clear view of the twisting, grey wounds that ate down into his joint and left grand cavities in his muscle. A samurai sword was sheathed at his hip, and his functioning hand twitched as he greatly desired to use it.
“I told you not to look!” Yasuko snarled, stomping up and swiping a backhand at Kauri’s elbow to produce a flinch in response. “Why do they keep sending the idiots down here? Kiki won’t stop trying to wash that same dish over and over, and you can’t be trusted not to poke around! Useless!”
“If I’m useless,” Kauri growled, lowering his bladed mask and towering over the little Yasuko with no attention paid to the visibly furious man at the door, "then send me back up. I’d prefer all that military prancing about than tending to the dregs."
An unfamiliar light entered Yasuko’s eyes for a moment, one closely mimicking the burning fire in the eyes that bore into Kauri’s skull from behind. However, her weariness prevailed over her temper, and she resorted to a tired scowl that her face seemed very familiar with.
“Get him out of here, Goshiki.” She waved him away, directing the man by the door to escort him off. “And don’t ask for a replacement for him; I would rather deal with a hundred Kikimoras than put up with a bratty child.”
Kauri declined the invitation to retort, quietly heading down the hall with the scowling Goshiki at his heels. A quiet smile crept under his mask as he entered the service elevator at the end of the hall, confident the ease at which he ascended levels and escaped the confines of his point of arrival made evident the ease at which he would get where he was headed.
The wooden heart beneath his chest beat twice, the labored breathing of Goshiki matching its timing.
—
“Hey, there she is now!” Uchū pointed enthusiastically. “Wait here, I’ll go bring her up to speed.”
Corey’s eyes flitted to where Uchū had gestured, watching as Ado was escorted into the building. The soldiers around her dramatically disbanded upon her arrival, leaving her standing alone at the imposing shuttered door she exited. Slowly scanning the room, she could not restrain the slight smile that broke through her stoic expression at the sight of Uchū’s malleable form bouncing along as he rapidly approached.
“How are you holding up?” she asked, rubbing Uchū’s soft head as he stood in front of her.
“We need to talk!” His eyes widened with enthusiasm, and he shot his arms into the air as he spoke, but the mannerisms felt uncomfortable and fake. “Keep smiling, we’re being watched! It won’t take long to get back there.”
“Good to see you too,” she awkwardly replied, her smile turning artificial as she proceeded. “What is it you wanted to talk about?”
“When I shifted into the kid, I got abruptly forced out, remember?” Uchū’s voice kept up its positive tone without any consideration for the words he spoke. “That’s 'cuz there’s something else inside of him. Something that, on a yokai level, is gigantic. I didn’t get to stick around long enough to see what it was, but it has a lot of power. Like, a lot a lot.”
“Why do you think it’s there?” Ado inquired, shifting her focus from the little yokai to observe a procession of soldiers marching in formation from yet another shutter door.
“Don’t know, but I don’t think he knows it’s there.” Uchū waved to Relic cheerily, who returned the wave with an unenthused raising of his hand. “It’s a problem, though. Either it’s using him or it just likes the real estate. Could be his being a kid makes him above suspicion for that sort of thing.”
“But the kid’s real.” Ado’s eyes looked out from under her glasses, staring deep into Uchū’s pupils. “Right?”
“A hundred percent.” Uchū rubbed his opposite bicep nervously. “I’ve seen him from the inside. He’s real. Hey! Now we’re all together again!”
“Did you ask her if she knows Rook?” Relic inquired, kneeling down momentarily to bring his faceless visage closer to the pair. “I get the impression he has some great familiarity with masks and yokai extending far beyond the one he wears.”
“Corey knows Rook, though.” Uchū folded his arms. “Clearly we’ve got enough of a lead to run there.”
“His memory does not cover events over the last two years.” Relic’s massive hand rested behind Corey, gently gesturing at his existence while remaining oblivious to Corey flinching at its sudden approach. “It is possible some interaction has occurred during that time, some connection that-”
“Okay, people, we’re out of time,” Rook called out, flying over at high speed and gently descending to the ground. “I thought I could get those evaluations postponed, but, uh, folks at the top said no. So we’re doing them in a little bit.”
“We’re still missing one of our number.” Relic slowly rose to his feet, towering above nearly everyone in the facility. “Kauri, our ringleader, was lost some time ago. We may be able to help locate him.”
“I’ll do what I can, but our resources are spread out trying to save everyone.” Rook’s eyes landed an uncomfortable number of times on the shipping container door, prompting Relic to cast an eyeless glance at it. “For now, though, our efforts are primarily focused on apprehending Red Scare, and any information regarding his whereabouts are most appreciated.”
“I don’t…” Corey murmured, looking back and forth between Relic and Ado. “Who’s that? Is that a person or a group?”
“I’ll fill you in later. Right now the three of you can head to the door over there,” Rook gestured with two fingers to a sleek set of black metal doors, which bore a significantly more elegant appearance than the rough, industrial look of the rest of the facility, “While I take Corey here to the military people I answer to. Former Wild Mask, after all, and they’ll be very happy to hear from him.”
Clapping a hand onto Corey’s shoulder, Rook walked along with the smallest Wild Mask at his side, eyeing behind him until Relic, appearing satisfied with his departure, turned and followed his comrades to the doors. No sooner did Relic step away from the shipping container than Rook and Corey abruptly appeared inside.
“He’s in here somewhere,” Rook murmured, turning aside the makeshift curtain and pushing the furniture away from the walls. “See if you can find where they’re keeping him.”
“Who?” Corey blinked, his dark eyes adjusting to the much dimmer light.
“Wait, there he is.” Rook’s gaze landed on the cot inset beneath the shelves. Brushing aside the pillow and covers, he peeled back the mattress to reveal the pale body of Ren tucked inside. Corey stared wide-eyed at it for a moment, struggling to find the words to address what he saw as he softly stepped forwards.
“Is he dead?” Corey whispered.
“Technically no.” Rook partially replaced the narrow mattress with no visible reverence for the figure inside. “You weren’t around for what he did, who he hurt. You dying the way you did tipped him over the edge, I think, although maybe he got there before that happened. Either way, he’s not really there now.”
Corey’s ebony eyes traveled towards the floor, water building up beneath his cold lids. “I thought I did. I wasn’t sure.”
“You died, and Ren tried to bring you back.” Rook’s eyes searched the cabinets, pausing for a brief moment before abruptly returning to face Corey. “Maybe it worked. But you have to not talk to Tone about it for a little while. He’s not taking everything very well.”
“Tone’s alive?” Corey blinked away the water. “But, what about Race, and Kohaku, and Oisim, and… and Fred, and Shou, and Bekko, and Goshiki-”
“Slow down.” Rook put forward a restraining palm. “I’ll tell you more about it later. But right now we need to get Ren downstairs without people here realizing he exists.”
“Why would…” Corey began, his eyes traveling back and forth between Rook and Ren. “Why would these guys kidnap Ren?”
“I’m sure we’ll find that out soon.” Rook knelt down, resting his hand once again on Corey’s shoulder. “But right now you need to be careful who you trust. There are people who want to hurt Tone that will go through you if they know you’re connected. Don’t let them find out.”
Corey said nothing in reply, leaning despondently against Rook’s shoulder as the latter pulled him into a hug, the silence inside the shipping container reigning supreme.
The eye watched.
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Ch 5
