At least no one was paying any attention to them as they entered the small, out-of-the-way village. Something he found remarkable given the spectacle they made. Masaru looking all evil in his leather armor. Keiko being her beautiful warrior self, and Koichi in his shoddy armor, carrying a bag that was obviously alive and protesting a kidnapping—both in action and by shrieking.
Yet the townsfolk were too busy looking over merchants’ wares or watching acrobats and players to notice three odd newcomers.
For once, they didn’t stand out.
Which he deeply appreciated, since it avoided a fight and any unwanted and awkward questions. Made him glad he’d discovered this little place by sheer accident while chasing a spirit with his students. If not for the involvement of the supernatural, he would have never known it existed. Which was fortunate, given that only the exceptionally desperate bothered to pay their respects to Amaterasu’s lesser-known sibling and husband.
Fewer still bothered to show respect openly, as they didn’t want to incur the wrath of the sun goddess.
To have found an entire village willing to run that risk...
It was a miracle. And one they needed. Just as he’d needed one when he’d been chasing down the demon he’d cornered here.
But the town’s devotion to the moon and Tsukuyomi cost them in so many ways.
Such as the fact that it was high morning, yet the sun was nowhere to be seen. Lanterns flickered all around, and everyone’s shadows moved unnaturally, taunting and beckoning as those shadows sought their freedom to escape in the waiting darkness.
The veil between worlds was thin in this place.
And it was growing thinner by the heartbeat.
That was why the demon had made a run for it and led him here.
As Masaru, Keiko, Koichi—and Ryuichi—proceeded, the sounds of familiar ceremonial drums echoed through the crowd like a second heartbeat.
Masaru picked up his pace. “It’s starting. They’re summoning the gods.” He passed a wicked grin toward Koichi. “We don’t want to miss the good part.”
Those words and their evil intent sent a chill down Koichi’s spine. “I really wish you’d let me skin that fox.”
Keiko tsked. “Now, now. What good would that do us?”
“Could use the fur? Make an extra blanket?”
She shook her head with amusement.
Ryuichi went still as if he sensed something in the air, and that, too, added to his apprehension as he made his way through the thronging crowd. While Masaru and Keiko might have been used to moon festivals and their preternatural weirdness, Koichi was mortal.
Unlike them, he was a creature of light. He needed the warm embrace of Amaterasu’s sun. And that was nowhere to be felt.
The dark left him cold. Abandoned.
Koichi had a rare moment of doubt. “Are we sure about this?” he asked quietly.
Masaru laughed in that mocking, sinister way. “Your idea, buddy. You didn’t likemyplan.” Turning around, he walked backward through the crowd with a taunting grin.
Never had Koichi wanted to slug him more.
Keiko was far kinder. “It’s the only way.”
Koichi nodded and steeled himself, but not before giving Ryuichi a solid smack for good measure.
“Ow!”
It didn’t help, but smacking the shadow brat who had caused this mess did wonders for his mood.
They neared the painted taiko drums, which grew louder and louder until their thunder was deafening. The drummers seemed possessed and frenzied as they frenetically beat out their rhythms to the gods. It was a furious sound, at war with the beauty and pageantry of the drummers’ elegant movements.
Yet their frantic beat wasn’t the odd part.
