Yokai by Dave Ferraro Page B

“Do you have a preference?”
    Shou grinned, flashing perfect, white
teeth her way. “I always did fancy nurses.”
    The door beside the counter opened
with a creak and Reina poked her head out, grinning. “I thought I
heard your voice. Twice in one night, huh?”
    Yumiko scowled. “Just get me the key
to the nurse’s office.”
    Reina looked Shou up and down with
interest. “Who’s your friend?”
    Shou smiled brilliantly at her. “Shou
Fujiwara. And you would be?”
    “ Reina Arai.”
    “ She’s single,” Yumiko
helped, wincing at the glare Reina sent her way.
    “ Recently single,” Reina amended. “You caught me at a good
time.”
    “ Pleased to meet you, Miss
Arai,” Shou said politely. “You’ve probably handed me dozens of
keys here in the past, and I’ve never had the chance to behold your
beauty.” He bowed, and Yumiko was impressed with the smooth way he
turned Reina down, making it appear to be Reina’s decision by
suggesting that he was a player.
    Reina nodded slowly. “Let me guess –
host?”
    “ Guilty.”
    Reina sighed, then retrieved the key
for them, handing it to Yumiko. “Have fun, you two.” She narrowed
her eyes at Shou. “And Mr. Fujiwara, if you lay a finger on her,
you have me to deal with.”
    Shou looked amused by the comment, but
bowed before turning to follow Yumiko up the hall.
    As they waited for the elevator, Shou
looked back at the lobby. “Interesting setup you have here,” he
commented.
    “ It works,” Yumiko mumbled.
She tilted her head, noting that Tanuki was trotting up the hall
after them. She raised an eyebrow at him.
    “ Something about this guy
rubs me the wrong way,” Tanuki explained, entering the elevator
behind them. “He’s a slick one.”
    Yumiko agreed that he was clever, but
she wasn’t sure that he had ill intentions. He just seemed to know
what he wanted. And he did not want Yumiko involved in this. He’d
wanted Mori. Why was that?
    She decided on the direct approach.
“Why did you want Madame Mori to rid this yokai for
you?”
    Shou shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to
me who does it.”
    “ He’s lying,” Tanuki said,
frowning.
    “ You’re lying,” Yumiko
agreed. She crossed her arms as she took him in. “You wanted to
impress her.”
    He glared at her. “So what if I
did?”
    Yumiko blinked. “But, why?”
    He snorted. “Are you kidding me? I
just found out that yokai exist. I’ve studied them my whole life,
and when I come to see the expert after this experience I have, I
come to find that she has an apprentice.” The elevator stopped on
the third floor and he quickly exited. “What makes you so
special?”
    Yumiko was a little baffled as she
followed him into the hallway. “You’re jealous of me?”
    Shou stopped in his tracks and turned
to look at her. “My father trained me with a sword. I’m good. When
he died, I lost everything. The only reason I’m at that stupid host
club is because it’s easy money. What I really want to do…” He
shook his head. “Yes, I want what you have. I want to be an
honorable man, not this...” He struggled to find a word, but threw
his arms up in the end. “Just…forget it. You wouldn’t
understand.”
    But the thing was, she sort of did.
And she kind of admired the passion that he’d just demonstrated.
However, he’d only discovered that yokai were real less than two
hours ago. It was a fresh discovery, exciting and enticing. Once
the novelty wore off, he would probably gladly go back to his host
club, and make plenty of money doing it. It probably wouldn’t be
much of a stretch for him to attract a cougar, and marry into a
rich lifestyle.
    “ Here we are,” Yumiko said,
gesturing toward a white door with a red plus symbol painted on
it.
    Shou took a deep breath and looked at
the door, then turned to Yumiko with a grin. “Are you ready for
this, little yokai hunter?”
    “ Always,” Yumiko told him,
tossing him the key.
    He unlocked the door and stepped
inside,