Onihunter Yuna 2

26 Before the Wake (Past)

Yuna sat in her chair and stared into the little mirror that Ayumi had given to her. She had lifted her right eyelid and studied the object in her eye socket. When she closed her left eye, she had the impression that she could still see. It was only a shading, but apparently this thing would actually grow into a functioning eye.

Sighing, she let go of her eyelid and grabbed the eye patch on the table. She lifted it up, pushed it over her head and set it right. Yui had made a suggestion, and Ayumi had also talked to Yuna to forget the tick with the bandages, since it was much too time consuming to wrap her face up every day.

She had looked at several pieces while shopping, but in the end she had opted for a simple black. She didn't need a girly pink, or any ornaments. Probably she wouldn't need this thing all too long anyway. Hopefully.

There was a knock at her room door. As the high-school girl turned her head, she replied, "Yes?"

The door was opened and Ayumi shove her head in. "Are you ready?"

"I think so." The girl nodded and rose from her chair. Slowly she came to her roommate, who opened the door and entered.

"Wait." The redhead reached for the eye patch and straightened it. "This looks better." She inspected the blue hair, which was high-staked.

"Okay." Yuna eyed the black kimono of her roommate, of which she also wore one. Both were also wearing white Tabi, and a pair of Zōri were on each side of the front door waiting for them.

"The limousine is here. We have to go."

"Good, Ayumi-san."

The older one patted the girl's left cheek. "I know it's a funeral, but you don't need to look so bitter." She smiled at the blue-haired.

"I'm sorry. I would prefer to not go."

"Oh, Blue. You have to go through this."

The younger one narrowed her eye. "There will be so many people I don't know. And cameras. And reporters." She felt queasy while thinking of these things.

"I'll be with you. They won't have a chance to enter. They will not know who you are."

"Hopefully. Nevertheless. There will be businessmen at the reception. Narusegawa-san has informed me about this."

Ayumi grabbed the high-school girl's hand and led her out of the room into the corridor. "Don't worry. They will express their condolences and then forget about you. They are only concerned about preserving their faces. Your uncle was an important man."

"Yes."

They descended the stairs. At the bottom they slipped into their Zōri and left the house. Kenji leaned against the side of a black limousine and smoked a cigarette. Apparently, he was their driver because he was wearing a uniform for taxi drivers. Even with white gloves. When he noticed the two women, he pulled a small metal case from the inner pocket of his jacket, shoved in the tip of the cigarette and let it disappear again.

"Hey, Yuna-chan. Ayumi-chan." He grinned broadly.

"Hey, Kenji-san." Yuna peered over at Ayumi, who didn't dare to look at the Oni.

"Hi, Kenji-kun," the redhead whispered.

"Oh come, Ayumi-chan. No reason to be shy."

The high-school girl looked at the furry face of the Oni, who apparently only had eyes for her older companion. Since Ayumi knew he was an Oni, she tried to avoid him, but this endeavor seemed to have finally failed.