Akira guided her through a tunnel. Most of it was boarded up or blocked by piles of rubble, but there was a small hidden way through. When they emerged on the other side, Erina immediately saw the immensely reassuring presence of regular people going about their regular business.

  The ice cream shop was just past the barricade. It was warm, with calm music gently playing over the speakers as the light rainfall continued outside. Only a few customers were in the shop with them, but the sight of anyone else at all helped put Erina at ease.

  "Thank you for your patience." The waitress placed a large bowl in front of Erina. "Please enjoy your food!"

  It was a multi-layered monster, stacked high and filled with all sorts of flavors. Several scoops were drizzled in chocolate and topped with a cherry. A handful of wafer sticks stuck out near the top. Strawberries, bananas, and other fruits decorated the base. Could Erina really eat all of this?

  She began, "I can't pay you back—"

  "'Cause it looks like I expect you to?" Akira didn't order anything, sitting opposite to Erina and leaning back with her arms behind her head. "Just answer a few easy questions and we'll call it even."

  "Oh. I see. Thank you, um…" Erina waited for her proper name.

  "Akanaga Akira," she said. "That's what I go by these days."

  "Akanaga-san."

  "Akira," she corrected her.

  Erina blinked. "Okay… Akira."

  A tiny lopsided smirk flashed across her face. "Better." Akira seemed content to leave it at that, staring at Erina in silence as she ate.

  "I… I'm Emisane Erina," she eventually offered.

  "Interesting name," said Akira. "Erina, huh?"

  She fought the urge to squirm in discomfort. Were they really that close? But somehow, Erina got the feeling she wasn't in any position to correct her.

  "So what were you doing out there?" Akira looked out the window towards the derelict sector. "Where'd you come from? Nobody just up and wanders out there."

  Erina didn't answer. Rather, she didn't know the proper answer herself. "…Please excuse me. I have a question for you."

  Akira raised an eyebrow. "Well? Don't keep me on the hook, let's hear it."

  "Those men back there… did you kill them?"

  "…I can tell you're a mage," said Akira in a low voice. "You don't even know about youkai?"

  Erina tried not to back down. She knew what the word meant, but not how it was relevant at that very moment. "…No. Would you please explain to me?"

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Fantastic education you got," muttered Akira under her breath. Aloud, "They're youkai. You at least know about the three core spells, right?"

  "Strength, leap, and shield," Erina recited immediately. Before using magic to manipulate the environment, before casting the tiniest fireball, everyone learned to focus the mana in their own body to bolster their physical abilities and protect them from harm.

  "Your ice cream's gonna melt." Akira watched her get back to eating as she continued, "Well anyway, youkai don't need any of those spells. We're what you humans call supernatural phenomena—the things that go bump in the night and the scary stories moms tell their kids to make them behave. Some are born to youkai parents, some are born by coalescing into a form on the Reverse."

  "I see," said Erina slowly, drinking in the information. "You're saying that those men from before were youkai?"

  "Bingo. No mana shields, but they walk it off on their own. Blow 'em up, chop their heads off, pull out their guts, all they need is some time and they'll pull themselves together eventually. Granted, that could be a minute, an hour, or a hundred years depending on how much you mulch 'em. Pulling yourself together gets real hard real fast."

  And it looked like Akira was able to stunt their healing early. A thought occurred to Erina. "Then, are you also…?"

  Akira jerked her head up. "Got a problem with it?"

  Erina lowered hers. "No."

  "Figures. Where was I? Right—we're made of more mana than real meat, so youkai can take all sorts of forms. The physical body is constructed from mana in most cases. It's not just stronger, it's disposable. It even grows back unless you wipe out the source mana. That all make sense?"

  Erina nodded. "Earlier, I tried to defend myself, but couldn't. Do you know why that might be the case?"

  Akira stared at her for a long time. "We're on the Surface, not the Reverse," she said slowly. "Mana flow is hindered here."

  "What is the Reverse?"

  "…Who the hell taught you?" She sighed and shook her head. "Whatever. The Reverse side of the world. The other plane where the era of myths faded to when humanity chose to progress without them. It's the side of reality where the supernatural is natural. The Reverse and the Surface are… well, I want to just call them the fourth dimensional overlay of the same three dimensional plane, but that's not gonna make any sense to you."

  "That makes sense to me."

  Akira had to do a double take.

  "That makes sense to me," repeated Erina. If anything, she was surprised to hear someone like Akira suddenly start spouting concepts like that. "Then would that mean there's a boundary between them? But can certain events on one side influence the other? If they occupy the same three dimensional space… does physicality carry over?"

  "…Yeah," muttered Akira. "That's all right. Physical infrastructure and the collective unconscious give the Reverse tangible form. Youkai messing around create supernatural events on the Surface."

  "I see."

  "I think you've had enough fun." Akira stopped kicking back and leaned forward. "Did you forget I'm the one asking questions here?"

  A chill ran down Erina's spine. It took everything she had to keep her face straight and her gaze meeting those piercing gold eyes.

  "'Cause lucky you. I already got all the answers I need." Akira propped up her chin on one hand with an easy smile. "You're surprised to hear about the Reverse and the Surface, never mind the flow of mana slowing on the Surface. I'll bet you've never been to the Surface before, for that matter… but you're not a youkai. Hell, you don't even know what youkai are." A cunning light glimmered behind her eyes. "You're from the laboratory we dug up last week, and I'll bet you hardly know who you are, never mind the rest of the world. My men down there can't do a damn thing right, can they?"

  Now, Erina had to look away.

  Akira's smile turned into a smug grin plastered all over her face. "Dead on the money."

  "What are you going to do to me?" Erina's heart pounded in her throat. It was a miracle it didn't shake her voice.

  "Hmmm. What, indeed?" Akira tilted her head, lopsided grin still there. "One way or another, you're my property now. Why don't we both go and find out what I do with you?"

  e-mi-sa-ne / えみさね.