"Are you planning to stay like that all night?" Takashi asks.

"Like what?"

"Like a human."

Yukiko glares at him. "Well, I'm sorry if it offends you, Mr. Human."

"That's not what I meant."

"Oh really now?"

"You're having difficulties, aren't you? Staying in that form during the day is one thing for a Shadow Spirit, but staying like that at night is near impossible. The amount of mental focus it takes is going to turn unfavorable for you."

Is he worried about me?

"I'm just fine, thank you very much. What if we run across other humans anyway? I'll most definitely stand out."

"We won't be seeing any humans from this point on."

"And why is that?"

"Take in your environment for a moment."

She looks around. They're walking through a field towards the woods barely outside of the town. Even though she can see, she's aware it must be pitch black. The moon provided very little light tonight, so humans could only see out here if they had a lantern like Takashi is using.

"Because it's dark?"

"That's partially correct. We're currently in a place that people generally won't come to this late."

"'Generally' doesn't apply to everyone though. There are some that would come out to a place like this even at this kind of time."

"Perhaps. However, even those types are now warded off by another reason."

"I'm not following."

"Why are we here?"

When Takashi says that, everything finally clicks together in Yukiko's mind.

"I see." She replies simply.

They think they'll be spirited away.

"I'll ask again. Are you going to stay that way all night?"

"None of your business."

"I believe it is, since you are my aid on my mission."

Yukiko narrows her eyes.

"First of all, I reject being called yours in any way. Second, it's difficult, but I like to remain in my human form as much as possible."

"Why go through such efforts? A human form is only disadvantageous for you, isn't it?"

"I don't see it that way."

"Then how do you see it?"

She stays silent.

Understanding he wouldn't hear any more than that, Takashi drops the topic. They continue walking until they reach the edge of the forest.

"Since this is a country area, forest paths like this one are often used as shortcuts. Recently though, everybody who has gone in hasn't returned. It's very distressing upon the people here." Takashi explains.

"Sounds like something from our world."

"Yes... Let's go."

They step into the dark cluster of trees in silence, watching and listening for anything unusual. All of a sudden, Takashi stretches out his arm as a signal to Yukiko to stop.

A faint ruffling of leaves and snapping twigs continues to be heard even though they aren't moving anymore.

With a glance at each other, Takashi puts out the lantern then jumps behind a bush along with Yukiko. 

Yukiko looks at Takashi, who is now blind in their pitch surroundings. She pulls out a pair of night vision goggles from her bag and hands them to him. As he feels them to identify what they are, he blinks in surprise.

As a Shadow Spirit, she could no doubt see everything in the dark, yet she went through the efforts of bringing something like night vision goggles...

His expression softens a bit as he realizes the things in her bag were prepared with his needs in mind as well.

After putting on the goggles, they watch and wait for the source of the sound.

Eventually, a shape comes into view.

"A human?" Yukiko whispers.

"No..." Takashi breathes.

She looks at the figure again closely. Although the figure is humanoid, the body is entirely black with no definite shapes to it and the face is covered by a mask with two large black circles for eyes and a black oval for a mouth.

"Is this... a Kodama?" she whispers.

"Yes."

"It's so big! I though they were supposed to be tiny?"

"They are. The fact this one is big means  it's enraged and dangerous. This is most likely our culprit for the missing people."

"What?"

Without answering, Takashi materializes a crossbow in his hand without arrows.

"Don't you need..."

Before Yukiko could finish her question, he aims at the creature as a light in the shape of an arrow forms inside the weapon. With just a few seconds of aiming, he shoots off the arrow perfectly. 

It will hit...

At least, that's what Yukiko thought.

With the arrow only inches away, the creature catches it in midair and smashes it. Takashi's usual poker-face wavers with tension and probably irritation.

"Incredible. To think it could actually catch one of your arrows like that..."

"If I had expected my missions to ever go that smoothly, I would not inquire for your assistance. Be more prepared. You are not a spectator," Takashi, already impatient with her, snaps.

She mimics his annoyingly irritated tone, "I know that! It is unnecessary to tell me!"

Takashi lets the conversation go, so he can focus on the mission again.

"It's located us," he says.

Takashi rushes out from behind the tree, materializing a sword, in attack-mode. The kodama is rather light on its feet, nimbly dodging Takashi's efforts of landing a blow. 

For a minute, Yukiko is in awe of Takashi speed and skill. Eventually, she snaps out of it.

"My turn."

She switches into her Shadow Spirit form, changing her hair from midnight to silver and her modern clothes to a white kimono with black trim and abstract designs.

She hovers above the over-sized kodama and examines the situation, searching for a chance to attack. Over and over again, she watches as Takashi charges and fails to land an attack upon the creature until one brief moment when a swipe makes it slight lose its balance.

There!

Taking full advantage of that, she immediately activates her magic.

"Kagete!"

In the next second, the invisible force of her magic knocks the creature down and Takashi charges once again. Just as she thought he'd land a hit this time, the kodama disappears altogether.

Confused, she asks aloud, "Huh? Where did it-"

However, she's cut off when she senses a dangerous presence from behind. No time to move, she crashes to the ground under the forceful weight of its body. As she struggles helplessly to get out from underneath the creature, Yukiko feels her consciousness drifting elsewhere.

Running....

"I have to hurry. What everyone's been saying... It can't be true. It just can't be! Sugi... Please tell me it was just nonsense gossip... Please... Sugi!"

I come out into a clearing.

"A clearing? I should still be in the forest. There were lots of trees and vegetation here yesterday when I came.... Sugi! Where's Sugi?"

I look around and see a faint, ghostly figure of a kodama: one I know all too well.

"Sugi!"

I rush to my fading Kodama friend.

"The humans are clearing this area out for something. Why the look? You're not going to cry, right? It's fine. A kodama only lives in one place as long as their tree does, and trees die one way or another all the time. Hey, you know, some say that kodama never die, they just go someplace else. So see? I'm just moving, so don't be sad. I wish I could have stayed here a little longer though."

"Sugi..."

"I've got to go now, okay? Take care of everyone..."

With that, the kodama in front of me vanished right before my eyes.

"Sugi!"

......

The vision ends there. As Yukiko returns to awareness, she realizes she had stopped struggling at some point, and there's water in her eyes threatening to overflow. Her attention is recalled to her surroundings when she hears Takashi's shouting. She looks up to see the kodama, still weighing her down, preparing to kill her with a crude dagger-shaped stone. She uses all her strength to push him off, but to no avail. Moments later, Takashi shoves him off by force with a bo staff. He takes a stance like he's trying to protect her.

He must be doing that without thought. After all, Takashi is not one to think bold, heroic thoughts such as protecting something or someone, especially not one he does not even like.

"You're quite carefree, aren't you?" Takashi criticizes, "Come. This fight will be a tough one. We should fall back for now, and return after we've devised a strategy."

Yukiko nods silently, staring at the enemy.

Indeed... this is a tough fight. However, it is not a battle between a rogue kodama and us. This battle is between an understandable thirst for vengeance and a mission that defends the cause behind his despair.

She stands up slowly, watching their opponent. They stare at him while he stares back, each side trying to determine whether the other will attack or not. Takashi and Yukiko move back slowly without looking away, as if they are dealing with a wild beast. Eventually, once they had put some distance between themselves and the kodama, they turn around and disappear in a flash with the use of a speed spell.