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I screamed at Yuki but she didn’t do her magic on the box. Maybe she didn’t have time. I didn’t know how it worked. But I did my part by screaming and waving my arms around.
Smashed glass covered the floor and two men rushed toward the box. They wore robes and freaky horse head masks.
Shun plowed into one of them, knocking him to the floor.
They can’t lift the box, I thought. They aren’t strong enough. But even if they couldn’t lift it, having two intruders smash through the glass doors freaked me the heck out.
I picked up a cushion off the floor and threw it. That barely slowed the intruders down but it was all I had at hand. I looked around for something better to use as a weapon. Nothing. Not even a heavy ornament.
One of them reached the box. Even if Yuki made it appear to disappear now, it wouldn’t matter. He could feel it. He knew it was there.
Shun grappled the invader and had him around the neck but the loose robe the attacker wore made him hard to hold. I rushed for the second one. I couldn’t fight well but I had to do something.
“What’s going on?” the kami asked. “Your mind’s gone all fuzzy and weird.”
I didn’t have time to explain.
I threw a punch at the intruder but he ducked. Then he threw me to the floor. My hip slammed into the floor boards. Damn, that hurt. Before I could get up, Yuki rushed him. She slammed her forearm into the guy’s neck.
Nice move.
I stumbled to my feet and tried to get a grip on him. If I could hold him while Yuki hit him, we’d take him down in no time.
All I could manage to clutch was a handful of his robes. Yuki came at him again, this time knocking him to the floor. I almost whelped in victory, then I saw the box!
A cold sweat broke out over my body.
That couldn’t be happening.
The box had risen off the coffee table and floated in the air.
I screamed. “Yuki, do something!”
The other intruder obviously controlled it. He’d made it to his feet and reached out his hand toward the box like some kind of damn magician. His hecking hand even glowed.
I turned to Yuki for confirmation.
The dude could float the box? No way.
Shun tried to tackle him but that dude had like a super glowy protection around him. Shun’s punches didn’t even touch him. Was he Harry freakin’ Potter or something?
If he got the box through the smashed doors, we’d be totally screwed. He could take it anywhere.
The other intruder groaned, still on the ground, and Yuki kicked him for good measure. This whole not wearing shoes indoors thing made her kick a lot less effective than it could’ve been. Even with one down, we had no way of stopping them. Not with them magicking the box.
Shun couldn’t do a thing and the situation had gone way beyond Yuki’s powers. And me, I had nothing.
Wait.
I had something.
It was a long shot but...
“Kami, stop them. Stop the box moving,” I screamed, not caring if they all thought I was crazy.
Could he stop them, though? I had no idea what he could do.
“I’ll give you chocolate,” I added. A bribe never hurt.
The box wavered as though it’d become much heavier.
Was this working?
The guy screwed up his face and his glow faded a little. He needed to concentrate to keep it levitating. That was clear.
“More, kami, more.”
The box jerked around. I backed away. If that box jerked in my direction, it’d wipe me out.
“Delicious chocolate,” I added.
The box dipped, dropping lower to the ground.
The guy’s glow had almost gone out. Shun moved behind him. I lowered my eyes, not wanting to look at Shun and give the game away. When I looked up again, Shun kicked out, knocking the intruder off his feet.
Bingo!
The intruder hit the ground. Then the box crashed to the floor. The whole building shook from the weight of it. I inhaled, balancing my hand on the wall.
The two intruders jumped to their feet and rushed out the broken doors, scaling the wall outside like monkeys, not even their robes slowing them down.
Yuki and Shun rushed to the box. They knelt on the ground beside it. I squatted down near them.
“Is he okay?” Yuki asked, trying to get the lid off the box.
“How would I know?” Shun replied. “Even if we open the box, we won’t know.”
They exchanged looks.
“If we’ve hurt him, Yamaguchi will kill us.” From the way Yuki said that, I knew she wasn’t kidding.
“Where’s my chocolate?” the kami yelled.
I sat back on my heels. “He’s fine.”
Both Yuki and Shun turned to me, raising their eyebrows.
“He wants chocolate,” I said. “Do you have any?”
“How did you do that?” Shun asked.
“I told the kami not to let them take him. I promised him chocolate.” Hadn’t they heard all that?
“Yeah, but I just thought you were being crazy,” Yuki said. “Then the box fell. You actually talked to him?”
She believed me now? She stared at me all wide eyed.
“Yes, but he’s going to be really shitty if you don’t get him chocolate.”
“Chocolate?” she said.
“He loves it.”
She shook her head as though she didn’t believe me.
“Yes, chocolate,” the kami said. “Now.”
I laughed. That guy sure had a taste for chocolate.
“Why aren’t we chasing those guys anyway?” I asked. “They wanted to steal the kami. They’re dangerous.”
“Protecting the kami is the most important thing,” Shun said. “Yuki, do you have any chocolate? Let’s try this.”
Yuki went into the kitchen and returned with a block of chocolate while Shun and I pried the lid off the box as carefully as we could.
I broke off a tiny corner of the chocolate. Even that seemed too much so I got a crumb off the wrapper.
The little kami stuck his hand out of the box. I put the tiniest chocolate crumb on his finger. Then he made that weird sucking sound. That noise kind of disgusted me but there was nothing I could do about it.
Both of them leaned forward, watching what I did.
“The chocolate disappeared,” Yuki said in an awed whisper. “It disappeared.”
She stared at me, not her usual hostile stare but like she was almost afraid of me.
“I know why Yamaguchi was so insistent about you working with us now,” Shun said. “The only way you can talk directly to a kami is if you’re a god yourself.”
I laughed so much that I fell back onto Yuki’s futon. Right. I was a god. That explained so much. Like why my life was so awesome, filled with riches and people worshiping me.
“He’s right,” the kami said. “Karasu-sama.”
“What does karasu-sama mean anyway?”
“Crow?” Shun stared at me. “You’re a crow god?”
I sat up. “There’s a logical explanation for this, right? I’m still drunk and you’re all in on a stupid joke.”