Chain Yokai: Book 1. The Hunter

The Shikigami Club

Laura always seemed to have the strangest dreams. There was the one about how she dreamed that Neko turned into a flying tiger that decided to join the NBA . There was the dream that everybody evolved so quickly that every yokai and human on Earth transcended into psychic jellyfish made of pure energy. Then of course there was that same dream she had ever since she was little.

She was walking through the park, a little toddler, wearing the beret that she had just gotten for a present from her father. The leather hat was something she had seen in a clothing store previously and absolutely begged her parents to buy. At the moment, Yuki was holding Laura's tiny hand, instructing her to stay close as Laura's mother had asked Yuki to look after her daughter while she went to purchase a new dress for her little angel.

Soon, the two stopped next to a park bench and Yuki sat there with little Laura on her lap, pointing out different yokai who would pass by in the park and Laura would cheerfully name them all.. at least that's how the dream would go..till it got weird.

Before Laura knew it, the park was filled with a dense fog. One by one, humans and yokai all around fell to the ground and began to sleep. Even Yuki's head slumped onto her own shoulder as she began breathe slower in the bliss of dreamland.

"Yuki? Yuki!" little Laura nudged the sleeping Yuki-Onna. "Please wake up, I'm scared!"

Laura suddenly felt strange..like something was watching her. Laura turned slowly to see that seven strange figures with old cloaks and large obscuring bamboo hats and hoods were standing before the bench, watching her silently.

"She is still too young." Whispered one. "Shall we wait a year before we tell her the truth?"

"No.." whispered another. "She would still be too young. Let us wait longer still, out of respect for her species of course."

"Kayabe Riswaldo's daughter is a strange one." said a stranger on the far right. "She has the eyes of her yokai heritage..but her hair is as black as night.."

"We will return for her." said the first stranger. "When it is time for us to reclaim Japan. But for now, wait."

 "She must remember nothing of this meeting." said the second stranger. "She too must sleep."

Laura woke with a start. For a moment she didn't know where she was. She looked around the small but comfortable bedroom. She was lying in a nice twin sized mattress. Next to her bed, was another bed which already had been vacated and made. A poster of Mitsu Matsume, a famous Bakoneko singer was on the wall along with some dart boards. there was a door that was open next to the end of Laura's bed with a light streaming out of it. From the steam that was coming out and the humming, she guessed somebody was taking a shower.

"Oh right.." Laura mumbled. "I got accepted..and I'm in the dorm right now..and Azami is taking a shower. Weird, I thought people around here usually showered before they went to bed."

Laura checked the digital clock on her bedside table. It read 6:30. From what she remembered, classes weren't scheduled to start until 8:00.

Laura reached under her pillow and pulled out her little Misaka doll. She squeezed it a little. It had been 2 years since she last had that dream. She thought that it had finally all stopped, but now she was beginning to think that it might mean something.

Laura got up and stretched just as Azami exited the bathroom wearing a bathrobe. "Hey, the shower's all free if you need it. You'll find early morning showers are gonna be the best times to take one after your first year here."

"I..don't really like showers.." muttered Laura.

"Eh?! Why not?!"

"It's not that I mind warm water." said Laura. "but for some reason soap really irritates me. Yuki says it's my yokai nature, and so did the doctors. But I have no idea what kind of yokai hates soap."