“Not really,” I admitted. “Don’t think my mom told me that one.” I plucked the tiny weasel charm from my hand and shoved the other two charms back in my pocket.“Maji, kamaitachi,”I orderedit.
The familiar swirling blue glow appeared by my elbow, solidifying into a ferret-sized creature. It had dark brown fur and glowing yellow eyes, and instead of forelegs, it sported sickle-like blades that jutted out of its elbow joints. On any other kind of animal, I would have found those incredibly intimidating. But thekamaitachi’swhole body was shivering with delight, its eyes glowing and its nose twitching like crazy. It was so freaking adorable I knew I would have tried to pet him if Raiden wasn’tdying.
“I haven’t been summoned in ages,”he chittered in a high, squeaky voice that instantly reminded me of Alvin and the Chipmunks. The weasel-likeyokaiturned around in a circle, completely unafraid of the otheryokaiin the room as it took everything in. But he froze the moment he laid eyes on Raiden, lying prone on the mat. “Did you summon me here to healhim?”
“Y-yes,” I managed to choke out. “Do you think youcan?”
“Of course. It’ll take just aminute.”
Quick as a flash, thekamaitachidarted over to Raiden. He raised one of his sickle arms, and before I could so much as blink, slashed Raiden’scheek.
“What the hell are you doing?” I screeched, horror-spiked adrenaline rushing through me. I made a grab for the evil little weasel, but thefuripushed me back against thewall.
“It’s all right, Aika! Let thekamaitachido itsjob.”
“What are you talking about?” I cried as thekamaitachileaned over Raiden’s bleeding face. My stomach turned as it began lapping up the blood trickling down Raiden’s cheek. “Are you crazy? That thing is freaking eatinghim!”
“No, it is not,”one of the crabs said, startling me. I’d totally forgotten they were here, and now that I was paying attention, I noticed three of them were in the room with us. The rest were standing out in the hallway, which thekyuubiwas guarding. “This is how thekamaitachiheals. Sit andwatch.”
“He heals by injuring people?” I asked incredulously, unable to believe what I was hearing. But then I reminded myself that nothing about this situation was normal. I’d just spent six hours underwater without breathing. Who was to say that a weasel couldn’t heal someone by cutting themopen?
Sucking in a shaky breath, I turned to watch thekamaitachi. It was still licking Raiden’s cheek, but to my amazement, the wound had completely disappeared. With each stroke of the weasel’s tongue, a little bit more color oozed back into Raiden’s face, until his pain-pinched features finally relaxed. Thefurireleased his hold on me, and I dropped to my knees beside Raiden again, picking up his hand. The pulse in his wrist was steady and strong, and after a moment, he opened hiseyes.
“Aika?” he asked, staring up at me dreamily. The softness in his gaze made my heart soften, but the reaction was eclipsed by relief. “Where arewe?”
“We’re on Sarushima,” I said, a little breathlessly. “You got knocked out when we crashed into the surf. How are youfeeling?”
“Good,” Raiden said, sounding surprised. He sat up easily. “Fantastic, actually.” He turned, then jolted as he came face to face with thekamaitachi. “Whoa!”
“Whoa!” thekamaitachisqueaked back. His nose twitched, and he leaned back. “You smell like you need abath.”
Thefurilaughed at that, and the crabs clinked their pincers together in a way that sounded amused instead of angry. Even thekyuubichuckled.
“Well, excuse me,” Raiden said, his mouth curving a little. “I haven’t had time to take a bath since I crawled out of the ocean. Are you the one who saved me?” Thekamaitachinodded, and Raiden ran his big hand down the creature’s spine, petting him. “Thanks. I owe youone.”
“I found him in your pocket,” I said, feeling strangely left out. “Were you planning on summoning himyourself?”
Raiden shook his head. “I’m ayureishaman—I can’t summonyokai, remember? But I figured we might be able to use a few of these, so I grabbed them as a precaution.” He gave me a crooked smile that made my heart do backflips in my chest. “Guess the hunch paidoff.”
“Yeah.” A sudden flood of emotion hit me, and I threw my arms around him. “I’m so glad you did,” I whispered in his ear as tears threatened to choke me for what seemed like the millionth time in the last twenty-four hours. “I really thought you were going todie.”
Raiden’s arms tightened around me. “Never,” he said fiercely, burying his face in my hair. My heart sang with joy as his lips pressed against my ear. “I’ve learned from my mistakes, Aika. I’ll never leave youagain.”
Something about the way he said that set an alarm bell off in my head, and I leaned back. “What do you mean, again?” I searched his face, but his gaze went blank, as if someone had grabbed a pair of blinds and yanked themdown.
“Excuse me,” one of the crabs said, interrupting the moment. Blushing, Raiden and I broke apart. We’d completely forgotten about our captive audience. “I hate to intrude, but my people would like to know what it is you are doing on Sarushima. Have you come for thepersimmons?”
Raiden and I exchanged looks of confusion. “Persimmons?” he asked the crabs. “I didn’t know there were persimmons on thisisland.”
“Ah.”The crab shifted a little. “Then you are here for the monkey livers.” Was it just my imagination, or did they soundrelieved?
“Yeah. Ryujin sent us to get one for him.” Remembering my manners, I bowed to the crabs. “Thank you so much for saving us from the monkeys. I don’t know what I would have done withoutyou.”
“Think nothing of it,” the crab said. “If we hadn’t come along, I’m sure youryokaiwould have protected you.” The crab’s eyes swiveled to look at thekyuubi. “You have some very strongfriends.”
I cracked a smile. “Even so, we are very grateful.” I hesitated, then added, “Is there something that you want from us in exchange for your help?” I didn’t think we had time for yet another quest, but it seemed rude not to offer something. Despite what the crab had said about me and my powerfulyokaifriends, it was highly likely Raiden still might have died, or at least been severely injured. Their interference had bought me enough time to summon thekyuubiand merge with her so I could beat the monkeysback.
“As a matter of fact, we were hoping you might be willing to help us drive the monkeys off the island,” the crab said. “In exchange, we will help you procure the liver youseek.”
