Instead, a shadow appeared in front of her closed eyelids. It was so bright in the warehouse—the electricity of the beast illuminated everything like midsummer daylight. Someone was standing in front of her.
Akari opened her eyes, gasping.
He was standing protectively between her and the Raiju, his black hair flowing, his three-piece suit as crisp as ever. It was impossible, and yet it was really him.
“Tomohito?!”
He turned to her as she yelled out his name.
His face…his face was horribly burned. From the lightning?
His hair was black, not gold, so he wasn’t in his most powerful form. He was stronger than any human, but it was clear he was no match for the Raiju like this.
Even so, Tomohito smiled reassuringly at her.
“Mistress Akari, are you hurt?”
“Never mind me, look at you! You’ve been burned!”
“Ah yes, I see that you are unharmed. Good. I made it in time.”
“Tomohito, your face!”
Forgetting the danger they were in, all Akari could focus on were his burns. But Tomohito smiled, his voice as calm as ever.
“I made up my mind long ago to protect you. No matter what happens.”
He turned around again, and the Raiju stopped rushing and leaped back in alarm.
Almost as if it was afraid of him…
Akari blinked, unable to believe her eyes.
Tomohito was standing there badly burned and wounded, but the Raiju was cowering before him.
Mitsuko was staring with disbelief too.
“Who is that man? A Kotogami? What is it doing here?!”
“I am Mistress Akari’s servant, her guardian spirit. I am here to protect her, no matter the danger.”
“Idiot! This isn’t the time!”
As Akari yelled at him, his lower lip jutted out dejectedly. Wasn’t he supposed to be gravely injured?
“But I have a plan, Mistress Akari. I took the liberty of sneaking my Kotogatari into your work satchel this morning.”
Akari thought back to the start of the day, when Tomohito had thrust her bag into her hands at the door. His Kotogatari was surprisingly thin and light, and Akari often needed to carry a lot of heavy papers home from the office. There was a good chance she’d never have noticed his book in her satchel.
Meanwhile, Mitsuko was standing around, looking furious and confused.
“The male employees are outside waiting, you know!”
“Well, they were. But I put them to sleep.”
Mitsuko gaped at him, stunned, as Tomohito shrugged.
Akari was rooted to the spot as Tomohito eased his amber-colored Kotogatari out of her bag and placed it into her hands.
“Here. Please hold it open until this is over. Just like how we did it back at your dorm fire. That way I can keep my power going until the end.”
“Tomohito, what are you planning to do?”
“I shall protect you, Mistress. Just as I have promised.”
Akari felt a shiver run through her as the Kotogami avoided answering her question.
Then he smiled at her—the most beautiful smile she had ever seen.
“Mistress Akari, this is going to be a sight to behold.”
Taking her hands in his, Tomohito helped her open the book.
Gold letters instantly sprang from the pages, shooting over to envelop the Kotogami.
Akari watched in wonder. The flowing gold letters seemed stronger, brighter than they had during the dorm fire incident. They flowed in circles around Tomohito’s form as he began to transform.
His body was swelling, growing bigger and bigger. Sharp claws burst from his fingertips and toes. His black hair turned a shimmering gold, and two mighty horns sprouted from his forehead, parting his golden locks.
Filled with awe, Akari and Mitsuko looked on.
The beast standing before them now was known to every man, woman, and child in the Yamato Empire. It was the villain of countless folktales, a beast whose tyranny brought fury and pain down upon the ancient capital. Both feared and revered in equal measure, it was worshipped by the people as a deity—a god of destruction.
The Aratama.
“Demon…”
Akari’s voice quivered. Her body was trembling.
It was beautiful and terrible at the same time. Standing in its presence filled Akari with a deep, visceral dread.
It was monstrous. Demonic. Akari wanted to run away.
She took a step back. Then she remembered what she was holding in her hands.
That’s right: the Kotogatari.
The golden-haired demon turned and looked over its hulking shoulder at Akari.
Its eyes were red, like burning coals. As they found Akari’s, she felt as if she’d been struck with a hammer. I know those eyes.
Her heart was hammering against her rib cage, but she fought against her fear, trying to think clearly. She realized Mitsuko had snapped out of her funk as well and was holding her hardcover book aloft.
“I heard the Kotogami were as strong as the famous legends say. You truly are amazing, Akari, manifesting a demon so infamous even I’ve heard of it. But I…I have this!”
Face twisting, Mitsuko roughly scrabbled through the pages of her Pseudogatari.
“Raiju! Destroy the Kotogami!”
The Raiju roared as Mitsuko yelled out an order, her voice quavering. Purple lightning streaked from the beast’s body.
As the thunderbolt ripped through the air, Akari cowered. But the demon simply stood there and took it.
Then it rushed, charging at the Raiju.
Face stiff, Mitsuko watched as the two yokai began a furious skirmish.
She may have been able to command the Raiju, but she knew nothing of battle. She was completely out of her depth.
There was a chance she would lose. Mitsuko knew it; it was clear in her frightened expression.
The golden demon swept its mighty fist again.
It should have dealt the Raiju a crushing blow, but for some reason its swing missed.
Instead, the Raiju sunk its fangs into the demon’s flesh.
Immediately, the demon shook the Raiju off, but a fang remained stuck in its arm. As the two women watched, the arm turned into golden particles that blew away into nothingness. Mitsuko whooped and jeered triumphantly.
“Oh dear, it looks like your Kotogami is already crumbling into dust! Just like what happens to the Pseudogatari once they’re worn out. The pages disintegrate and the spine collapses, and the spirit is lost forever. How long has it been since you gave that Kotogami a rereading?”
“A rereading? I haven’t… I’ve never…”
Akari had never read Tomohito’s Kotogatari. Not even once. Mitsuko curled her lip, giving the panicked Akari a disgusted look.
“Don’t try to fool me. Obviously you’ve read that thing’s Kotogatari, or you wouldn’t have been able to manifest it.”
It was too bad—Mitsuko had almost let herself believe she was stronger than Akari in battle.
But Akari wasn’t listening to the woman anymore.
The only Kotogatari she’d ever properly narrated out loud was Kansuke’s, and that was just the one time. She wasn’t even sure if you could call that a narration. It was more like a retelling of historical facts.
She was still reeling from the effects of direct eye contact with the demon’s burning-coal eyes.
Could it be true? They had met like this before, but only once. Unless you counted all the times she’d seen it in her nightmares…
Akari knew the golden demon from long ago.