[h2]Tanikawa Ayumi[/h2]

"... I'm Tanikawa Ayumi."

With that, the black-haired girl was quick to leave. She wasn't sure what to do about... well, any of this, but one thing stuck out in her mind. She had to show her parents. Maybe... maybe they would know what to do. It was really the only thing she could think of doing right now. And so, she rushed home. Her mind was still reeling from everything that had been revealed to her so shortly ago, so it was only natural for her to return to somewhere that was more safe and understandable to attempt to work out just what she could do next.

When Ayumi arrived, kicking off her shoes, she called to her parents.

"I'm home!" she declared, hurrying further inside. When she spotted the dark-haired form of [url=http://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=2126406]her mother[/url], she was preparing the New Year's meal.

"Oh, Welcome home, Ayumi-cha-What happened?!" concern palpable in her mother's voice, the woman swiftly rushed to her daughters side. "Your hair is a mess, and your clothing is singed... are... are you alright, Ayumi?"

Ayumi could see the concern in her mother's eyes. She felt a bit guilty for making her so upset, looking down at herself. She really was a mess, scorch marks all over her clothing, especially her sleeve. Would what she was about to do make it worse? She was worried it would. She didn't want to scare her mother, but she didn't know what else to do. Inside, Ayumi felt like the situation was a bit of a joke. She normally prided herself on being confident and independent, but...

"I'm fine, mom," she said, quickly, before raising her right hand. "... Don't... don't freak out, okay?"

She focused, and electricity crackled in her palm. For a moment, her mother's eyes widened in surprise... but then her gaze softened and she let out a somewhat relieved sigh.

Carefully, guiding Ayumi by her shoulders(and leaving her quite confused), her mother pulled her to the side.

"I was a little worried about thinking of how to tell you about this, Ayumi-chan," she began, taking a deep breath, "but now is as good a time as any."

"Mom...?"

"You're a hanyo, Ayumi-chan," continued her mother. For a few moments, Ayumi stared blankly, eyes wide. A hanyo? Didn't that mean she was a half-yokai? But... that meant... "And I'm your yokai parent."

Ayumi watched, bewildered, as her mother raised a finger. Electricity crackled around it.

"... Y... you're..."

"A raiju, specifically, which is why you can use electricity like that. I... I know we should have told you sooner..." the black-haired woman who was her mother let out a remorseful sigh, "But we weren't sure how to. We wanted to wait until you were a little older."

"What... what about dad?!" Ayumi burst out. She had to ask. If her mother was a yokai, did that mean that her father was... was...

"Your father is human, a perfectly wonderful but perfectly normal human," Ayumi's mother said, quickly, "... Are you sure you're alright?"

"... Y-yeah, but... but this is a lot to take in..." Ayumi trailed off.

"... Can you explain why your clothes are burned like this? You said you're fine, but I can't help but worry," her mother added, running a hand through Ayumi's messy hair.

"Ah, I..." Ayumi trailed off. She didn't want to lie to her mother... but then, her parents had concealed her nature from her, so it was only fair that she got to as well, wasn't it? "... I got angry and my elecricity acted up, it caught my bokken on fire and made it sort of explode."

"..." Ayumi could feel her mother's eyes on her. It looked like she wasn't certain that was the whole truth, but at the same time didn't see any evidence of lies. "... I'm just glad you're alright, in any case. We have to talk to your father, too, but I'm sure you need to eat. Go upstairs and change and we'll have a talk over dinner."

Ayumi nodded, weakly. As strange as everything had been, a little normalcy would be welcome.

She was pretty hungry, too.

[hr]

The black-haired hanyo had gotten an early start that morning. It had been sort of a strange numbness she went to bed with, all the strangeness overtaking her. Especially the revelation of her nature... a hanyo? Something that isn't fully human? But... regardless, she felt like there was something she needed to do. She couldn't remain idly by while something threatened so many people, the entire city. Some kind of evil disease raging in the other world.

The blade gleamed on the wall. Raigekimaru. Her family's sword.

Ayumi had been trained in her family's techniques for a while. And... if she was going to go back to that other world... she [i]was[/i] going to go back to that other world, she needed something that could cut.

The katana was sheathed and wrapped in a sheet carefully, and then placed inside a black duffel bag. There. No-one would see it. And she could pull it out pretty easily when she needed it.

To avoid any questions, Ayumi left her home quickly. It wasn't that she didn't trust her parents, but she didn't want them stopping her. She wanted to go back to that shrine.

On the way there, her phone's text tone(Infinite Record's single [i]Raid of Sky[/i]). When she pulled it up, it wasn't too surprising to see who it was.

"Junko-chan?" she asked, opening her text.

'[i]this is really scary[/i]'

Ayumi quickly responded.

'[i]what????[/i]'

'[i]satonaka-chan got kidnapped last night!!! her parents are freaking out!!!!![/i]'

For a few moments, Ayumi stared. Satonaka Kotomi was a classmate. A fairly cute girl with a knack for technology... and she'd been kidnapped? ... Last night...

Ayumi broke into a sprint, bursting into the shrine on arrival.

"I need to get through the portal immediately!" she declared, unzipping the duffel bag and drawing out the sheet-covered Raigekimaru immediately, "It can't wait!"