Chapter 40: 40. How to Drink a Milkshake

Yui’s surprise attack didn’t kill Jiro, but it did knock him unconscious. He woke up the following morning, tucked into his futon. Kaori and Yui were already dressed and packing their things.

 “So you’re finally awake, sleepyhead.” Kaori fished a pair of lacy panties out from under her futon. She gave it a quick sniff and grimaced. “I can’t wait to get back to the bathhouse. Two days of dirty laundry is stinking everything up.”

Yui sidled up next to Kaori and sniffed her panties. She wrinkled her nose and nodded. “Bad smell,” she said. Then she looked at Jiro and said, “Sleepyhead.”

“You’re being rather talkative today, Yui.” Jiro sat up and rubbed his neck. It hurt from where Yui had clamped down the night before. “What happened?”

“She’s in a good mood.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well, it turned out kissing her wasn’t enough to chase out the spirit.” Kaori twirled the panties around her finger. “So I had to resort to other … methods.”

Yui smiled shyly. “Aggressive methods.”

Jiro held up his hands. “Don’t say any more. I don’t want to know. I’ll feel even worse about passing out and missing it.” He rubbed his hands and looked at the clock. It was still early morning. “So when are we leaving?”

“Right now.” Kaori tossed the panties. They hit Jiro in the face, filling his lungs with Kaori’s fetid musk. “Now get up and help us pack.”

They decided to drive all day instead of camping out again. All three of them were eager to be home. Barring traffic, they would make it back to the bathhouse by early evening. After a few hours on the road, Kaori pulled her car into a burger drive-thru for a late breakfast.

“What would you like, Jiro?”

“I’ll have a cheeseburger and a milkshake.”

Kaori turned back and smiled slyly at him.

“What?”

“Would you like a side of legs and feet with your milkshake?”

“N-no thank you!” Jiro spluttered and looked away.

Kaori let out a sultry laugh. “And Yui?”

Yui whispered something into Kaori’s ear. She nodded.

Kaori rolled down the window. “Excuse me, I’d like two cheeseburgers. A milkshake. Ten cartons of chicken nuggets. An orange chicken salad. Four things of jumbo French fries, and …” Yui whispered something again. “An entire two-liter bottle of lemonade. No cups.”

“Can I get you anything else?” said a bored voice from the intercom.

“Yes, you can,” said Kaori. Her eyes crinkled up. “Instead of a cup, could the milkshake possibly be served from between a woman’s legs?”

“Kaori!”

After the food came (along with several raised eyebrows), they ate on the road. Jiro watched with renewed fascination as Yui swallowed nugget after nugget, only stopping to take occasional swigs directly from the lemonade bottle.

“She gets hungry after a possession,” said Kaori, taking a bite from her cheeseburger.

“I sure do hope Sheena lends us that money,” said Jiro. “Or we really are going to go bankrupt.”

Yui stuck out her tongue and Jiro, revealing a mouthful of half-chewed chicken nuggets.

Kaori laughed. “So what are you going to do boss? Once you have your money. How are you going to restore our establishment to greatness?”

Jiro scratched his chin. “Well, I don’t know much about kaiju or yokai … but I suppose we should fix up the baths and the guest rooms first. And we’ll need to advertise somehow, to attract customers. Do kaiju read magazines?”

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Kaori eyed Jiro through the rearview mirror. “Looks like you’ve been giving this some thought.”

“Yea well … it is my responsibility.”

Kaori smiled. “Look at how much you’ve changed in just a few days.”

Jiro looked out the window. Had it only been a few days? He felt like so much had happened. The adventure in the mall, Aya’s confession, the tears on the mountainside … Not to mention Sheena and Tae and all the strange kaiju he had seen in Koko Town. He hadn’t realized it himself. But he had changed. Just a few days ago, he had resented his grandfather for putting him in charge of the bathhouse. But now … how did he feel now? Excited? Yes, that was part of it. But also … somehow … he felt like he belonged.

“Jiro.”

He blinked. Yui was turned back in the passenger’s seat, looking at him innocently. Her pale, doll-like cheeks were covered with nugget crumbs and potato fragments. This is the first time she’s ever said my name!

“What is it, Yui?”

She pointed at the unwrapped cheeseburger sitting on his lap.

“What, my cheeseburger?”

She nodded.

“You’re still hungry?”

She nodded again.

Jiro smiled. “Alright Yui, you’re lucky I’m not hungry.” Jiro handed the burger to Yui. He was actually pretty hungry. But he didn’t care. Jiro looked out the car window at the coast and the ocean beyond. Sun and rock and sparkling water. Pine trees flashing past in blurs of green and brow. It was a good day.

They pulled into the bathhouse parking lot just as the sun was setting. The snow-capped mountains were a blaze of pink and purple twilight. Tired as they were, the three of them trudged silently up the winding bath, to the place they called home.

When they came around the final bend, Jiro noticed someone sitting on the steps. It was an older man, dressed in black sweats. The man had his head in his hands so that Jiro could not see his face. The clothes were decorated in Japanese patterns, with dragons and flowers. Those patterns, somehow they look familiar …

“Hi …” said Jiro, approaching the man. “Can we help you?”

The man looked up. A scar ran from the man’s ear to his mouth.

Jiro let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, it’s you Ken. What are you doing here? Did you hear about the boat? Aya said she—”

Ken stood up. Dragging his bad leg behind him, he began to limp toward Jiro.

“Ken, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Ken grabbed Jiro by his shirt and pulled him close. Jiro could smell the alcohol and stink on the man’s breath.

“Ken?”

The veins in Ken’s neck bulged. The scar on his face deepened to the color purple. For a moment, Jiro felt his feet come up off the floor. Then Ken threw him onto the dirt, right at the feet of Kaori and Yui.

“Sir I don’t know who you are,” said Kaori, “but please stop this at once.”

“You stay out of this, woman!”

Ken took another limping step toward Jiro. He pointed a finger down at him in the dirt.

“E-explain … explain to me …” Ken was so enraged that he was having trouble speaking. “Explain to me why my daughter … is in jail for attempted murder?!”

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