Kumiko still couldn't come to terms with what she was doing as she adjusted the driver's seat and the rear-view mirror before inserting the key into the ignition. She was about to drive her landlord's car to the house of someone she'd never met, while the man himself sat beside her as a hostage.

There were crazier situations that one could be in, but after how mundane the past two years had been, this one was positively thrilling. Kumiko prepared to start the car's engine, only to pause at Mr. Kimura's voice.

"Something doesn't add up here," he grumbled with a cross of his arms. "You said that you created him, but Madame Ether told me that he'd been dead for centuries."

"Yes. And?" Kumiko said in reply, gripping the keys a little tighter while wondering what he found so confusing.

"If you ask me, one of you is lying."

"So, you think our stories can't both be true?"

She turned the keys out of a desire not to waste any more time. The car roared into life, and she slowly left the parking space, turning on the headlights as she did so.

"That's right."

A sigh left her lips, and she pressed her foot lightly against the gas. Now wasn't the best time to fill him in on her past, so she gave a concise answer instead. "I'm older than you think, Mr. Kimura."

She noticed a perplexed expression form on his face and sought to change the subject by assigning him the task of navigation.

"I don't know where your friend lives, so I'll need you to tell me the way."

Mr. Kimura frowned and made a noise that sounded almost like what one would expect to hear from a petulant toddler. "This is why you should have let me drive."

She remained patient by reminding herself that she wasn't exactly being fair to him at the moment. "Not when you're supposed to be my hostage. That's how it works, isn't it?"

He made no further protest and opened up the glove compartment to take out his street directory. Flipping to a page somewhere in the middle, he traced his finger to a specific point and gave his first instruction. "Turn left now."

She turned the steering wheel as fast as she could, for the street corner was right up ahead. Mr. Kimura let out a gasp, and once they were traveling in a straight line again, he took it upon himself to scold her. "That was dangerous. Do you even have a license?!"

"I do," she said smugly while speeding up. "And I bet it's more real than yours, Mr. Tanuki."

Mr. Kimura clicked his tongue in disapproval. "When did you get such a mouth?"

"From the day I learned to talk, in case you were wondering."

"Your parents must have found you a handful."

She opened her mouth, intending to fire off another comeback, only to be reminded of how she had once regarded Ichiro's mother and father as surrogate parents of sorts. They were now lost forever to time, and with Ichiro's unknown whereabouts, it seemed unlikely that she would ever have something resembling a family again.

Without asking for permission, she turned on the car's radio, hoping to distract herself from such a depressing thought. The sound of static filled the vehicle before the clear and sweet voice of Seiko Matsuda leaped out of the chaos to put her at ease. She found it easier to focus from there on, and with each time Mr. Kimura asked her to make a turn, she did so with increased proficiency.

She thought it wasn't too bad for someone who had only ever driven a car to prepare for an exam. Mr. Kimura was just bitter that she had taken charge, and she figured it was something he'd have to deal with until they reached their destination.

She realized that a cover story would be necessary to mask their real purpose, so she asked him for some input. "So, any ideas of what we'll tell her? Or should I do all the talking?"

"She already knows that you're my tenant. I'll just tell her we want to conduct some research."

"I see. Sounds convincing," Kumiko replied to show her approval of such a plan before she came upon a surprising revelation: they were about to visit Madame Ether herself.

Mr. Kimura instructed her to take one last turn and let her know which number to stop by. She followed his directions, and as she turned off the ignition, hoped that he would continue to cooperate for his own best interests.

She didn't want to be the one to destroy him, even with his sleaziness and idiocy being her chief sources of frustration.

Nevertheless, as they got out of the car to make their way to the front door, she flexed both hands to ready herself for such a possibility. This is it. The moment of truth...

She came to a stop beside Mr. Kimura and watched him extend his arm to ring the doorbell. It chimed four times before a man who appeared to be in his forties answered.

"Who are you two? Why are you here?"

A hand jabbed into her side, and she remembered that it was time to bow. She did so while allowing Mr. Kimura to make the introductions.

"My name is Futoshi, and I'm a friend of Chikako Matsui. Is it all right if I talk to her at this hour?"

The man frowned before turning his head. "Mother! That old man is here to see you again!"

Loud chatter sounded from further in the house, and soon enough, a short but dignified-looking old woman was taking hurried steps towards the door. The man who was supposedly her son moved aside and disappeared to rejoin the rest of the family, allowing them to speak together in private.

"Well, Futoshi, I guess this is our next meeting..." Chikako greeted with a knowing smile, tossing two pairs of slippers out for them. "Did you look forward to it as much as I did?"

"Stop it, Chikako," Mr. Kimura grumbled, his tone of voice now reminding Kumiko of an angsty teenager.

Chikako turned to look at her in amusement. "And who is this lovely young lady?"

"My tenant. Her name's Kumiko."

"Nice to meet you," Chikako replied with a nod. "So, what brings the two of you here?"

"We're looking for books on the supernatural and occult."

"I see. Something's happened that goes beyond my expertise?"

"Yes. Yes, it has..." Mr. Kimura answered through clenched teeth, apparently just as uncomfortable with the situation.

"Well, come on in. Ignore my family..."

Chikako retreated inside, and Mr. Kimura turned toward her expectantly.

"Aren't you going to-"

"No. You first," Kumiko said firmly, knowing that walking ahead would allow Mr. Kimura a chance to flee.

"Fine." He entered the house, and she followed him while trying to avoid staring at the middle-aged couple watching the news from the living room couch. Chikako stopped and gestured at the large bookshelf situated at the far side of the room.

"Take your pick, but don't make too much noise."

She nodded in understanding and kneeled down to start at the bottom while Mr. Kimura browsed the top shelves. Her fingers brushed against each book's spine until she caught sight of a title that gave her a sense of both excitement and dread.

It was none other than The Illustrated Demon Horde's Night Parade by Toriyama Sekien, and further observation allowed her to realize that Chikako also owned the rest of the tetralogy.

Unwilling to overlook such a trove of information, she pulled all four books off the shelf as carefully as possible before gazing up at Mr. Kimura.

It turned out that he was engrossed in a book of his own, so she called out to him in a hushed voice. "Mr. Kimura, look what I've found here..."

"Huh?" He looked down at the collection in her hands before beaming. "Good work. Are you done?"

"I would say that I am."

"Me too. Shall we go?"

"Sure..." She rose, upon turning around, saw the couple on the couch staring at her in suspicion. An adolescent girl with chin-length bobbed hair had also magically joined them. During the ensuing awkward silence, she noticed that the teenager very much resembled the woman beside her.

"Who the hell let you two in?" the teenager asked rudely, prompting both of her parents to gasp in horror.

Kumiko opened her mouth to explain, only for Chikako to reenter the room and speak instead.

"Child, mind your language. I let them in because they're my clients..."

"Well, I don't trust-"

"Shush. Go back upstairs

Chikako hurried the girl out of the room with a nudge on the back, and she gave a final pout before disappearing from view. Attention fell back on Kumiko and Mr. Kimura, the latter of whom spoke up to ease the tense atmosphere.

"Thank you for your help. We'd best be going now..."

"Right," Chikako said with a slight jolt as if she'd just remembered their reason for visiting. "You may take those books, but if they aren't returned within a week, I'm hiring a hitman to eliminate you both."

Mr. Kimura laughed nervously. "Surely you don't mean that, Chikako?"

"I'm serious. Those books cost a fortune," Chikako stated with a steely expression that made even Kumiko uncomfortable. "Now, off you go..."

The two of them soon stumbled out into the night and clumsily tried to step back into their shoes. Mr. Kimura succeeded first, so Kumiko settled for limping after him back to the car.

She slipped on her other shoe once they were inside and started the car once more, leaving the sidewalk and doing a U-turn to return the way they came. Mr. Kimura grunted as he was thrust toward the window. She apologized, and after straightening the steering wheel, asked him about his find.

He held the book up while reading its title out loud. "An Illustrated Guide to Monsters Around the World."

Kumiko felt a little amused and, without taking her eyes off the road, said exactly what was on her mind. "Who wrote that? An American?"

"It sure looks like it. His name's John Blake," Mr. Kimura replied. They reached an intersection, and she tapped her fingers against the steering wheel with a smile, only to remember the very thing that had been cause for them to go out. Ichiro, or perhaps Tsutomu, was still on the loose somewhere, and she didn't know for the life of her whether he was causing trouble or lying low like a sane person.

She gripped the wheel tighter while trying to convince herself without avail that everything would turn out fine. She bit her lip, and it became clear that Mr. Kimura had noticed her anxious state when he spoke up with some helpful advice. "Switch to a news station. If something unusual happens, we're bound to hear about it."

Despite their supposed enemy relationship, she had to acknowledge that he had a valid point. Journalists could be insatiable in their quest for a compelling story, and if anything remotely supernatural ever occurred, they would never quit.

It was unfortunate that her secret would likely become public knowledge in such a situation. Therefore, she clung to the hope that in one of the books they'd borrowed tonight lay the answer to locating her husband and bringing him back home.

******

Tsutomu wasn't sure if the other passengers on the bus had looked at him strangely because of his handsome face, inappropriately long hair, or the fact that he was wearing house slippers.

However, none of that mattered now that he was safely inside his former house. Everything was just how he remembered it, and even better, the electricity and gas were still on.

After a simple dinner, he headed to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Tired from the day's events, he figured that showering could wait until the following day and opted for merely brushing his teeth then washing his face.

Later, he sat upon his bed in the dim light and set his alarm to ring in about seven hours. He removed his socks with care because of his sore feet, then rubbed them together to ease the pain. That was when he noticed the chafing between his big and index toes, which must have resulted from the thongs of his slippers rubbing against his skin as he ran.

He would need to apply some ointment as treatment, so he stood up slowly to shuffle back toward the bathroom. However, as soon as he was back on his feet, something happened, which confused him beyond belief.

It began with a hiss that prompted him to look downwards and gasp in confusion at the wisps of steam drifting from between his toes.

He wiggled them, and to his further bewilderment, the cracks in his skin sealed themselves shut before the redness itself faded. What's going on? Am I dreaming? he could only think to himself as exhaustion swept over him, and he collapsed upon the soft mattress, giving in to slumber.

******

Notes:

- The Illustrated Demon Horde's Night Parade, or Gazu Hyakki Yagyō, was written and illustrated by artist and poet Toriyama Sekien and published in 1776. While it was initially intended to be a parody of popular reference works at the time, this book and the rest of the tetralogy eventually came to be seen as a definitive guide to Japanese mythical beings.