Detective Yuki

11. Sanshin

1. Sanshin

Morning revealed the sake driven festivities and hangovers resulting from the human victory in repelling the attacking dwarves the previous night. Charred buildings dotted the neighborhoods of Naha, spears and weapons left behind by the dwarves were strewn across the city streets, but the city residents were mellow and mystified by what happened the night before. Some saw it off as a very long dream, but most believed what they saw as they bared wounds and scars from the attack. Aibo, for one, had a habit for drinking slightly too much sake at a time. Soon enough, he waddled and trod his way up the hills back to the blackened remains of Shuri castle, where he could see Yuki from across the courtyard. 

"hey Yuki. What are you doing over there?. I feel great" he burped as he continued to walk toward Yuki. As his hangover began to clear, he stood beside Yuki, puzzling over something she had found in the ruins.

"after our battle in town, I came back up here to search for any clues as to where Senbi has gone now. He had probably left us here for dead, but as back in Tokyo, he probably left something behind for us to find" She pondered while moving logs of charcoal wood. 

She walked over to the devastated inner sanctum of the castle past blown out huts and ash covered walls to the antique throne room, with red lacquer walkways and columns soiled by black ash. In front of the intact central throne, Yuki stared down to the floor, and found the word Keijo etched into the ash covered pavement. This gave Yuki a singular opportunity. 

"Aibo, we have to go to the Korean colony!!" Yuki rushed out of the castle, taking Aibo by the hand like a child and guiding him down the hills to the port.

 "Korea?, why Korea?" Aibo baffled over Yuki's sudden choice to leave. As they approached the dockyard to catch the next steamship off the island, Yuki explained to Aibo that Senbi had left the word Keijo written in the ash of the castle, meaning he was going to Keijo, the capital of the Japanese colony in Korea.

The vast ship scoured across the water for the better part of two days in a straight line north to Korea. On the black galleon, three decks gave way to a main bridge hall, where the passengers coerced on wooden dining tables in fancy dress for supper below a crystal chandelier. It was late evening, and while most of the passengers had returned to their sleeping quarters, Yuki was assisting several crew members in repairing the radio on deck. Aibo was out on the deck looking over the ocean not far off the Korean fjords near Incheon. He stared out onto the dark waters, until he felt his back being pushed. Turning around to the lit interior of the ship, he found no one present, only a door leading into the ship left open and wafting in the wind.

Aibo walked back slowly into the room to find security in the numbers repairing the radio. He was about to inquire with his friend about its condition, when he heard a growl and a couple of the crew were thrown across the room, smashing the windows. The perpetrator was an invisible being that forced Yuki, Aibo and the crew to seek shelter. The being caught sight of Yuki, hiding behind the bulk of the ship's radio as the crew threw deck chairs anywhere they thought the being was hiding. Yuki ducked for cover while the creature smashed the radio, generating electric sparks and a loud wiry sound from the destroyed dials, loud enough to crack the glass and force the being to howl its way out of the window, off the ship and down into the water, its splash seen by several crew. 

"Aibo, did you see that?. The thing that attacked us ran away when the radio was smashed" Yuki reunited with Aibo. 

"what does that mean for us now?." Aibo questioned before the crew began to clean up the mess in the hall.

"it means that some of the monsters we have recently encountered could be vulnerable to the certain frequencies of sound. I will explain the details later, but first, we have to disembark" Yuki elaborated, the ship bellowing its foghorns as it docked in the well-lit dockyards of Keijo, a bustling city that seemed to rival only Tokyo in its activity and nightlife, illuminated for miles around, with well-maintained institutions and villages melded into a large urban utopia where the old has met the new.

 On the other side of town, Senbi had been settled in the city for over a day, taking advantage of the open scenery of public parks and temples with Namida at his side.

"You are the community now. Be a lamp for yourselves. Be your own refuge. Seek for no other. All things must pass. Strive on diligently. Do not give up." Namida smiled to his counterpart with a small number of Senbi's minions scouring the roofs of adjacent houses beside the restaurants and family businesses in Keijo.

 "too right, Namida. We should get moving, I see an opportunity in this new land, but we have to wait in order to take advantage of it in full bloom" Senbi's mask walked off down the street deeper into the city. 

Down one of the wide carriage roads, the demon envoy observed Koreans, sporting bandanas and blue uniforms, standing off at gunpoint against imperial Japanese colonial police in military wears. Only when the standoff was out of view did the bullets start to fly, setting the stage for the next stage of the journey.