A Man of the Underworld

14

"So...this your treehouse?" I asked in curiosity as I looked around.

The structure was tall and larger than the Mononokean.

"Yeah, Aoi made it for me." "Cool...wait. How could she go into the Sea of Trees if she's a Yokai?" I asked in confusion. "The parasite shrub didn't used to be all over the forest. The shrub actually used to be rare and unheard of. But as time passed it's victims grew drastically." He said looking out the window at nothing.

"..."

We stood in awkward silence.

"I-" "So-"

We both said at the same time.

"You talk first." We said in unison. There was more silence until one of us decided to talk.

"Well last time I saw you. I sort of poured my heart and soul out to you." Itsuki said timidly. "Yeah..." I looked at the ground. "That's all?" He sounded a bit upset. "Huh?" "Just 'yeah'?" "What do you want me to do-" He appeared in front of me and grabbed my hand. "Maybe..." he pulled me close. So close our noses were practically touching. "Something along the lines of this~" He leaned forward brushing our lips softly together. He smiled at my flustered face.

"You're still a cute five-year-old, Hanae." "If I'm a five-year-old, that makes you a pedophile-" "Five-year-olds aren't supposed to call me out on stuff. Shut up.-" "Make me~"I cooed. "I would if I wasn't preoccupied with trying to figure out our situation." He pulled away.

"We can't use the Mononokean to get home. The gateway to the Mundane world is surrounded by Yokai. And we can't just leave. There is no organized government..." Itsuki said to himself.

"Okay, got it." He said.

"We find the one possessing everyone; stop them. Get the underworld's government up and running again. And send you home." "Okay, let's do that-" I opened the door of the treehouse. Light from outside hit my face, immediately making me headache worse."Starting tomorrow."

————————

"No, we are not dressing up as Yokai."

"Why not? You got any better ideas?"

The golden haired boy stood in silence.
He began to growl.

"At least disguises."

"Ugh, fine. We can do it. I guess we have no other choice." He gave in with a small smile. "Yes!"

The treehouse apparently had a ton of old clothes in it and the two of us decided to put them to use. Itsuki temporary said goodbye to his Mononokean master robe and kimono.

Now it was time to slip in.