2.24: What Dreams May Come?It wasn’t long before the growth of bamboo and trees blocked access. There was no way that our rge hovercraft could rumble on through the dense growth. Many stalks rose like green pilrs around us, their tops whispering together high overhead. Silver mist swirled between their roots like drifting, slow-moving ghosts communing.

  Akuchi slowed to a stable hover and chirped twice almost impatiently before gracefully lowering herself to the forest floor.

  THUMP

  “We walk from here,” Natalia-sama murmured.

  We grudgingly climbed off, the sand had given way to soft loam. Fallen leaves muffled every step. The moment we touched the ground, Akuchi POOFED in a puff of smoke, going back into her female form with her tail swishing proudly and her tanuki ears perked high with excitement.

  Her tail thrashed behind her as she lifted a hand dramatically.

  “That was fun! I’d love to go dune hopping anytime again! Adventure awaits!” she decred, far too loudly for a forest this quiet, and plunged into the nearest footpath, dodging bamboo with theatrical zigzags.

  Rui deadpanned. “Why does she insist on acting like a middle schooler on a field trip?”

  I hugged my stomach, another cramp pulsing low, and muttered, “Is she even heading in the right direction?”

  Natalia-sama lifted a sleeve to her lips and ughed softly, her lovely blue eyes glowing faintly in the mist. “Don’t worry. All paths through this forest lead to one pce… Baku’s pce.”

  I stopped mid-step.

  “What? B–Baku?” My eyes widened. “The dream eater?”

  “The same.” Natalia-sama winked, her nine tails flicking behind her like golden brushstrokes. “Don’t worry. It won’t eat your mind until you’re empty, especially not with me watching him.”

  “That’s not exactly comforting,” I whispered, rubbing my stomach again.“Why are we going to see a dream eater of all things?” I asked after a beat, feeling perplexed.

  Natalia-sama drew a thin branch aside so we could pass, the bamboo cttering softly overhead like wooden wind chimes.

  “Baku are most known for eating nightmares,” she expined. “As you know, humans call on them to devour bad dreams before sleeping—if they dare risk it.”

  “Risk?” I squeaked.

  Rui snorted. “Because sometimes they eat your good dreams too, genius. Or your memories, rather than your mind, itself.”

  Natalia-sama tilted her head in amused agreement. “True. But in reality, they are masters of consciousness. In dream worlds, their power is tremendous. Outside of dreams, however, they possess none at all.”

  “That’s so cool…” Ume murmured, her eyes sparkling as she glided up beside me. “I’ve never met a Baku. Are they really little elephants?”

  “Sort of.” Natalia-sama ughed. “However, my friend prefers a more human-like appearance. He’s stuck in the Yōkai world, not unlike Ushi, unless humans pray for him to visit. His kind are only allowed brief trips into the human world, and they must take precautions not to be seen.”

  Ume leaned forward eagerly. “So he does have a trunk? And tusks? And a cute little tail?”

  “Oh yes,” Natalia-sama giggled. “He has a trunk, tusks, and a tufted tail when he chooses to show it to others.”

  “How tall is he?” Ume pressed.

  “About as tall as Akuchi,” Natalia-sama answered.

  Akuchi was several paces ahead but definitely eavesdropping. She puffed out her cheeks and muttered, “Perhaps I should make myself a little taller then…”

  Natalia-sama continued, ignoring Akuchi, “His species, cking a human transformation, tend to be around the size of a dog. He’s sensitive about it. I used to sip tea and py shogi with him when I lived in the Yōkai world. This was back when I was on the Yōkai Council. We haven’t seen each other for around a century.”

  Ume gasped softly, delighted. She whispered, “A tiny elephant yōkai … I wonder if he might make for good merchandise. Or I could sell parts of him in my shop.” She said thoughtfully. I gasped, staring at Ume in horror.

  She blushed and giggled while waving a hand.

  “I won’t do anything to him. But I do wonder if I found any Baku body parts lying around if they would be worth something.” Ume’s expression was far away.

  Bamboo rustled gently around us, the mist thickening as if the forest were breathing.

  We didn’t encounter many yōkai .

  They were mostly small… soft silhouettes darting between bamboo trunks or skittering over roots. Their shapes shifted in the mist: a rabbit with too-long ears; a woodnd creature made of drifting mist. There was also a cluster of tiny beings with umbrel-shaped heads that bobbed like nterns as they ran away.

  Whenever we drew close enough to make out their forms clearly, they froze……blinked……and then scattered with soft squeaks or fluttering steps, disappearing deeper into the haze.

  Even Rui softened a little at the cute sight.

  “It’s not as scary as I thought,” she muttered.

  Ume smiled faintly, brushing her fingers over my arm. “They can sense Natalia-sama. That’s why they flee instead of approaching us.”

  The silver mist curled around our ankles as we followed the ke’s edge. The water rippled in slow, dreamlike patterns, as though stirred not by wind but by something moving beneath the surface.

  As we walked, a massive silhouette slowly materialized ahead of us.

  At first, there was a dark lump, then an outline, then distinct shapes could be made out on it.

  I thought it was just an interesting-looking cliff.

  But as we drew closer, the shape sharpened, took form… and grew detailed. An instinct pricked along the back of my neck. My steps slowed, my breath catching, the ache in my stomach momentarily forgotten.

  When we were close enough to see all of it clearly…

  I stopped dead in my tracks.

  It wasn’t a cliff.

  It wasn’t even exactly a building.

  It was a giant head.

  A giant sculpted elephantine head carved from stone, half fused into the earth as though it had emerged from the dream-mist just to watch us.

  I gasped loudly, my voice cracking into the stillness.

  The creature’s tusks curled downward like ivory moons. Its eyes were carved with uncanny intricacy, angled toward the ground, gazing at any who dared approach. Moss grew along its ridges like aged fur. The ledge above us wasn’t just an overhang, it was the roof of its sculpted muzzle, jutting outward like a jaw poised to snap shut. A massive trunk extended outward.

  For half a heartbeat, my mind supplied the worst possible conclusion.

  “Did he grow some in the st century?” I panicked.

  My knees locked up. Rui stepped automatically in front of me, as if ready to punch the head for me if it chomped down.

  Ume leaned close. “It looks very hungry~,” she whispered in awe.

  Then I noticed something…

  It was a small, rectangur indentation hidden deep inside the creature’s carved mouth.

  There’s a door!

  A literal doorway hid behind the stone tusks, recessed beneath the enormous sculpted tongue.

  I exhaled shakily, my shoulders dropping in relief.

  Natalia-sama stepped forward, her tails fanning slightly as if greeting her old friend. Her voice was warm… confident… tinged with nostalgia.

  “Don’t worry, Sumire-chan. This is his ‘cavern.’ It’s dug into a rge rock on the keside, sculpted to resemble his head,” she said with a reassuring smile. “I hope he’s home.”

  The mist swirled around the carved head as though reacting to our presence.And the immense stone Baku seemed to watch us all the more closely… its carved pupils catching the faint light like something alive.

  Natalia-sama stepped forward without hesitation, her footsteps soft against the stone tongue. She strode fully into the giant Baku’s mouth and…

  KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!

  Her knuckles echoed inside the stone maw.“I give this dream to the Baku-san,” Natalia-sama said, her voice melodic, almost ceremonial.

  We crowded into Baku's mouth after her.The air felt different inside… denser, as though the dream-like mist pressed in from every direction. The carved tusks loomed overhead in pale crescents.

  For a heartbeat, nothing happened.

  …

  THUD

  The tusks smmed inward like closing gates.

  “Kya—!” I yelped, grabbing everyone around me.

  The entrance behind us dissolved.It didn’t close. It completely vanished.

  We were suspended in utter darkness, the kind of dark that wasn’t just the absence of light. There was a presence in the darkness. It was aware of us.

  A breath, slow and heavy, exhaled through the dark.The hairs on the back of my neck rose.

  “Don’t py such tricks on me, my friend.” Natalia-sama warned sharply.

  At her words, she released a soft fre of foxfire that surrounded us.

  Blue-gold light blossomed around her like a floating halo, illuminating the space in shifting ripples.

  A giant Baku head materialized out of the gloom, looking much more alive than the structure outside. Its trunk curled around, its tusks curved wickedly downward. It wasn’t the stone sculpture outside. Its immense eyes blinked once, glowing faintly.

  It studied us for a long, unsettling moment before visibly sweating, little droplets beading on its furry head and rolling down its massive cheeks.

  POOF

  The shadow shattered into drifting mist, filling the chamber in soft ribbons that brushed past our legs and swirled overhead.

  A silhouette stepped forward through the haze.

  It was human-shaped. It walked upright on two legs.It carried a cane with an ivory handle.It wore a dapper suit, impeccably tailored.It had a matching top hat perched on its head at a jaunty angle.

  As he emerged fully, he removed the hat in a florid bow, his trunk curling with courtly elegance, his tusks gleaming. His eyes were rge, deep, and surprisingly gentle, fastened immediately onto Natalia-sama.

  “It has been a very long time, Natalia-sama,” he said, his voice warm and faintly resonant, like someone speaking from inside a dream. “I thought that you were a dangerous yōkai paying me a visit. A weak yōkai such as I must take every precaution.”

  He smiled urbanely and straightened, adjusting his pels with a little flourish.

  Natalia-sama’s expression softened, but there was a foxlike edge to her gaze.

  “Would a predator have called on you as I did?” she challenged, tilting her head.

  The Baku paused, his trunk swaying thoughtfully.

  “I suppose not,” he conceded, tapping the end of his cane lightly against the stone floor. “But my enemies are wily. You never know.” Then his eyes glimmered with warmth, the stiffness in his posture easing. “What pleasure do I owe your visit? Cups of tea and a game of shogi between you and I? I must admit that I have been rather bored without your presence to brighten my days.”

  He bowed again, deeper this time… very respectful, but also charming, as though greeting an old friend he’d missed more than he cared to admit.

  “I come to collect on your debt to me,” Natalia-sama said, smiling warmly.

  Baku’s ears twitched. He frowned, tilting his rge, elephantine head with an oddly human grace.“Right to business, I take it. So you’ve suddenly come to collect for many years of protection? How very much like you to appear centuries ter. I see that you have brought friends.” His eyes flicked toward us, studying each of us with casual scrutiny. “Does this favor concern them?”

  Natalia-sama nodded once.

  “I wish you to make a dream world for this girl.” She gestured toward me. “We are on a tight schedule. We only have a week to train her in martial arts. Regretfully, without such measures, I think it would be impossible for her to pass the spiritual detective exam this year.”

  Baku blinked, his trunk curling inward thoughtfully.“This girl wishes to be a spiritual detective? A very dangerous trade.”

  He leaned forward slightly, scrutinizing me with an intensity that made my skin prickle. His gaze wasn’t unkind, but it weighed things about me… my potential, fragility.

  I blushed, rubbing my stomach as another cramp twisted through me.

  “She looks entirely unsuited to the task. I would suggest finding a better candidate to throw your support behind.” Baku shook his head slowly. “I hate seeing pretty ones like her getting hurt. The Yōkai world is very dangerous when you take a single wrong step.”

  His words weren’t insulting. They were more of a resigned truth spoken by someone who’d watched too many bright, foolish humans crumble under pressure. But his eyes lingered on me longer than they should have.

  “Hey! Don’t judge a book by its cover!” Rui snarled. “Don’t judge Sumire so harshly. She kicked an Ushi-Oni’s ass recently.”

  Baku’s eyes widened sharply. Then he inhaled, his trunk’s nostrils fring.

  “Curious,” he murmured. “Is she injured? I smell blood in the air.”

  I blushed harder. His nose was way too sensitive for my comfort.

  He chuckled under his breath, amused and vaguely pitying me… until I straightened and forced the words out.

  “Don’t dismiss me like that. I will pass that Spiritual Detective exam no matter what I have to do.” I clenched a fist, trying not to wince from the cramps.

  The amusement faded from his posture. He regarded me again, longer this time, something unreadable glinting behind his gaze. A kind of consideration that bordered on calcution.

  “…Well then.” The Baku bowed. “If you insist, I will accede to your request, Natalia-sama.”

  “Don’t leave me out of this. It sounds fun.” Rui grinned, cracking her knuckles. “I’ll thrash you if you dare to exclude me, Baku!”

  Baku winced dramatically, his shoulders tensing under his elegant suit.

  Ume giggled softly. “I’ll bite you if you think to leave me out of this.” Her fangies fshed in Natalia-sama’s foxfire.

  Baku tilted his head, resigned. “Why is it always the pretty ones who are first to threaten violence…?”

  “And I’ll turn into a bucket full of excrement and dump myself all over you if you dare leave me out of it.”

  Akuchi grinned viciously and promptly transformed into said bucket of crap.

  Everyone scattered instantly as a horrifying wave of odor bsted outward.

  Baku turned visibly green, his trunk recoiling like a startled snake.

  “Very well! You may join! I suppose Natalia-sama would like to experience a delightful dream vacation as well.” He kinked up his trunk in a fist. “Please change into something much nicer smelling immediately!”

  With a POOF, the stench dissipated. When the smoke cleared, Akuchi had become a basket of fragrant flowers… unnecessarily smug ones cackling, flinging petals dramatically in all directions.

  “Not for myself.” Natalia-sama giggled. “You and I can enjoy some games of shogi and cups of tea while they sleep. We will require several beds for them if you don’t mind,” Natalia-sama said firmly.

  “Ah! Excellent!”Baku rubbed his human hands together, delighted. His trunk lifted slightly, a gesture halfway between pride and anticipation.

  Up close, he was… different than I expected.Examining him now, I realized he was very close to attaining a fully human form… closer than most yōkai ever managed. Certainly closer than Ushi had gotten. His suit fit him perfectly. His shoulders were proportioned like a man’s. His stance was practiced, elegant, and deliberately cultivated.

  Only his head remained distinctly Baku.

  Apparently he’d made a few strides since they st saw each other.

  There was something in how he looked at us.

  Relwing