“You can’t fool me kid,” said Jiro. “You’re a yokai, aren’t you?”

“Let go!” The child tried to wriggle out from Jiro’s grip, but he was not very strong. Jiro lifted him up so that his feet dangled in the air.

“That will teach you to play games with humans,” he said.

“I’m not a yokai.”

“Yes you are. I’ve read about you in books. You’re a zashiki-warashi aren’t you? One of those kid yokai that runs around pranking innocent humans. Well, I’m not going to let you prank me. It’s time you learned that there are people who you can mess with and people you c—”

“Hey look! A naked woman!” the kid suddenly shouted, pointing behind Jiro.

“Kid, if you think that’s going to fool me …”

“Jiro what are you doing?! Bullying a child like that!” Jiro turned. Aya was awake, woken up by the kid’s struggles. Now she was looking at him with her arms crossed under her breasts, still naked from head to toe.

“No Aya this— OW!”

Taking advantage of Jiro’s distraction, the kid slammed down the back of the lounge chair on Jiro’s hand. He howled in pain and dropped the child. The child scrambled over to the jungle gym, hid behind a slide, and stuck his tongue out at the two of them.

“Why you little!”

Aya snatched her shorts back from Jiro and began to dress back into her clothes. “Jiro, what the hell is going on?”

Jiro shook his fingers to chase away the pain. They didn’t seem broken, but they hurt like hell. “He’s a yokai.”

“A yokai?”

Aya looked at the kid behind the slide, scratching a naked breast casually with one finger. “Oh, now that you mention it, he is dressed kind of funny.”

Jiro raised an eyebrow. “You don’t think … I’m lying?”

She smiled at the kid and waved. “You work at the bathhouse, don’t you? You guys are experts in stuff like this. Besides, he does look kind of weird. Nobody wears clothes like that in the middle of summer.”

Jiro paused. Wasn’t it weird that Aya could see the yokai too? He had thought only people with spiritual blood could see yokai and other monsters. Did she have some ability that he was unaware of?

Aya was beckoning to the boy. He peeked out from the slide and hesitated. “Come on,” she called out to him. “We won’t hurt you.” She beckoned again. Cautiously, the boy stepped out and walked slowly towards them. “Come to think of it,” said Aya, whispering so that the boy could not hear, “Kaori said it might be a yokai, right? That stole the Hinomaru?”

“I don’t think a kid that small could have left a footprint that big … but maybe he knows something about the other yokai.”

“So let’s try and ask him …” Aya trailed off. The boy, keeping a wary eye on Jiro, ran over to Aya and hugged her legs from behind.

“The big man scared me,” said the kid.

“Oh you poor thing,” said Aya, reaching down to stroke his hair. “Did the big man bully you?”

“Yes, he picked me up and it was so scary.” The kid hugged Aya’s legs. He stroked her calves with his hand. He pressed his face between her legs until his head was sandwiched between her thighs. Then the boy looked Jiro directly in the face … and sneered.

That brat … he’s taking advantage of her!

“Come on Aya, let’s go. We don’t have time for this nonsense.”

“Wait, Jiro. Maybe he has something to tell us.” Aya sat down on the chair and hoisted the kid onto her lap. The boy grinned and leaned his face against Aya’s breasts.

“You’re very comfortable, miss. Soft like a pillow!” Out of Aya’s sight, he shot Jiro another dirty look.

“What’s your name?”

The boy was thoughtful. “Um … Yuto.”

He totally just made that up.

“Okay, Yuto. We’re looking for a biiiiig yokai,” said Aya, patting his head affectionately. “Do you know anything about that?”

Yuto shrugged. “Maybe I do, maybe I don’t.”

“What about a ship called the Hinomaru? That’s the name of my boat. It disappeared and we’re trying to find it.”

Yuto shrugged again. “I only tell secrets to my friends.”

“Well …” said Aya. “Can we be your friends?”

The boy slid his head under Aya’s breasts so they, through the fabric of her spaghetti top, rested on his head like two enormous top hats. “Maybe I’ll let you be my friend … but only if you play a game with me.” He made a silly face at Jiro. “Only you though, not the big man.”

“Aya, we don’t really have time for this. He’s bluffing. He doesn’t know anything …”

“It’s okay Jiro, just for a little while. Besides, I’ve always wanted a little brother.” She turned to the yokai. “What shall we play?”

Yuto wriggled around thoughtfully on Aya’s thighs. Then he pointed an accusatory finger at Jiro. “I wanted to flip skirts. But that man doesn’t want to play.”

“You mean flip other peoples’ skirts?” Aya asked, raising an eyebrow.

The boy nodded.

“Hmm …” said Aya. “That could get us into a lot of trouble. Tell you what. I have an even better idea.”

“You do?”

Aya nodded. Uh oh, thought Jiro, She’s getting that look in her eyes again.

“Instead of flipping other skirts,” said Aya. “Let’s flip my skirt. I don’t have a skirt right now, but we can buy one from a shop. Then the two of you can lead me around the mall, flipping my skirt in different places.”

The boy slid his head out from under Aya’s cleavage and looked up at her. “But how will we decide who wins?”

“That’s easy …” said Aya, her voice husky. “The winner is the one who gets me the most excited.”