Yokai Read Online Free Page A

with
a hand, Yumiko considered the woman, and decided that she looked
harmless enough. She was just a kind lady returning her chalk to
her. “I’m Yumiko,” she replied, walking up to her and accepting the
chalk from her outstretched hand.
    “ What a beautiful name,”
Ame-Onna told her, leaning down so that she was face-to-face with
her. “I love beautiful colors. Do you want to see more beautiful
colors, Yumiko?”
    Yumiko looked down at the red chalk in
her hand, then back up at the woman. “My mommy will be looking for
me.”
    “ It will only take a
moment,” Ame-Onna assured her. She held out a hand for Yumiko, and
the little girl took it instinctively. “That’s my girl. You’re
going to see wonders that few have seen. You are one lucky
girl.”
    Seven-year-old Yumiko
smiled.
    And seventeen-year-old Yumiko woke
with a start.
    “ That dream again?” an old
woman’s voice inquired.
    Yumiko blinked as she oriented
herself. She was sitting at a table, lifting her head from its
maple finish. Bookshelves lined the perimeter of the room, while
mats were rolled out over the hardwood in the large open space at
the middle of the room. Stands held katana and sword, sai and bo,
silently waiting to be picked up so that they could flash through
the air and do what they were made to do. She eyed a bow that hung
over a short bookcase. Yumiko knew that a quiver of arrows could be
found in a drawer at the bottom of that same bookcase. It was kept
locked, but she’d seen her teacher open it before practice
once.
    Then she swiveled her head back to
look at a woman stooped over one of three desks in the room, her
face lit up by a small lamp. Her white hair was tied back in a
tight bun, her face lined with deep wrinkles that foretold a long
life. She wore a beautiful silk kimono with a floral pattern, in
vibrant pinks and oranges.
    Yumiko sighed and stretched. “Yes. The
same one. Although, I didn’t get to the bad part this
time.”
    “ Being kidnapped by a yokai
as a child isn’t the bad part?” the old woman raised an eyebrow at
her.
    Yumiko scowled. “You know what I mean.
Ame-Onna was hardly the most frightening part of that experience.”
Not wishing to speak about it anymore, she stood and changed the
subject, gesturing toward the thick book open in front of the
woman. “What are you looking at, sensei?”
    “ Nothing you need concern
yourself with,” the woman replied. “Why don’t you warm up with the
bo?”
    Yumiko was till groggy, but she
complied. She felt the sturdy wood of the bo beneath her fingertips
and couldn’t help but begin to whip it through the air, test its
weight, and apply the attack and defense moves she’d used thousands
of times before. It felt natural in her hands, and made her feel
strong, like she could take on the world with that slim piece of
wood.
    Her sensei, Madame Mori, drove her
hard because she knew that Yumiko had an uphill battle ahead of
her, and would willingly endure any training put before her if it
made her a stronger warrior. When her aunt had died and Yumiko had
had nowhere else to go, Mori, whom she’d been training with for
years, had offered to take her in, and Yumiko couldn’t have been
happier. It meant that she could concentrate on her training every
day for long stretches at a time, without the interruptions living
with her aunt had included. Not that Yumiko was ungrateful for her
aunt, but she’d been difficult to live with at times, and hadn’t
really understood Yumiko or her priorities.
    Before long, Yumiko felt sweat
accumulate on her brow, and paused to look over at Mori. “Have you
had dinner, sensei?”
    Madame Mori waved the question away.
“I’m busy at the moment. Go have dinner, if you’d like. I will
wait.”
    “ Then I’ll wait
too.”
    Mori looked up, then scowled. “Very
well. Tell Mr. Wada that we will partake in some rice tonight. And
look sharp.”
    Yumiko bowed, then slipped from the
room, wiping her forehead casually with her