#:texts

Our wisdom flows so sweet. Taste and see...

TRANSMIT - initiate the infernal signal - RECEIVE - initiate the nine-way cadence - THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS - observe the house banners - WITNESS - the Hierarchy of Oni.

There are ten Oni Houses currently active in this part of Tokyo.

Top Row: House of Sworn Revenge, House-in-Chains, House of the Howling Dog, House-in-Exile, House of Caged Birds Bottom Row: House of the Red Road, House in the Void, House of Snakes and Smoke, House of the Unwritten Talisman, House of the Bloodied Silks

One of them, the House-in-Exile, are as close to native as demons can get, having owned and operated the Jigoku no Yu Bathhouse for at least the few decades. They’re mercenaries and assassins, but generally no more trouble than any human-run operation and are left to their business. For the most part. Gozen has made very clear she’d like them gone too, but the other Houses are the more immediate concern.

And if it wasn’t clear by their choice in mark, they’re affiliated with my employers.  My boss has already encouraged me to touch base with their leader, Inbeda. ...And to touch absolutely nothing else.

The other nine Houses showed up sometime around the bomb going off, though Gozen doesn’t know whether it was before or after - whether they were involved or were attracted by the human suffering in the aftermath. She claims the whys and hows aren’t her clan’s concern, only that the threat is eliminated.

Probably to no one’s surprise, haha...

i’m alive, akemi! they say bomb. was it a dirty bomb? we need help. what should we do? we should run.

On a slightly more positive note

I’ve located Susanoo’s Diner and the Jingu clan.

Our wisdom flows so sweet. Taste and see...

TRANSMIT - initiate the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi signal - RECEIVE - initiate the Kurosawa cadence - THIS IS THE NATURE OF WAR -initiate the Kami-no-Michi - BY PROTECTING OTHERS YOU SAVE YOURSELVES - wash the face of Izanagi - WITNESS - The Jingu Clan

They’ve been busy.

Initiate scan. Subject: lost warriors.

In his mind, the swords flash. In the Tokyo subway, a man fills a train seat with his grimace. His suit is heavy enough. The grip of his suitcase handle feels wrong.

In her mind, the swords flash. The classroom walls close in on a teacher. With a battle cry, she yanks a smartphone out of a student's hands, dashing it on the floor. How did she move so fast?

In her mind, the swords flash. A young lady walks an unfortunate specimen of Canis lupus, bred such ridiculous, lap-sized proportions that mother nature loathes it, gifts it with a weak heart and a muzzle too stunted to breathe - if only it would have the decency to go extinct. The young lady scrunches her face. The city smells are all wrong. They should have more of blood, smoke, and steel. "Is this life real?" she asks the impossible mutant wolf. The beast knows her pain, feels phantom memories of the necks of prey breaking in a properly-sized maw. But it cannot tell her, only wheeze and slowly asphyxiate on its own absurdity.

In their minds, the swords flash. Nostalgia cuts them deep, as though they feel homesick for a place they've never been. They starve for a nutrient they have never had.

And then, the bomb.

Phone found by one of the subway entrances

Don’t know how many are left. Message back if you see this. Who is alive? Dangerous. Everyone stay inside, track each other with GPS. Help will come.