21 September 2023

One shot with Mei from Hanako. I found her quite fascinating, so included this bonus chapter following the previous arc.

Mei sighed, ignoring the rumbling of her stomach. That young man really was a fine specimen; he really would have made a wonderful husband, and father for her brood. Not to mention a delightful snack. But there was no use bemoaning what could have been.

She tasted the air around her, looking for something to allay her ever-present hunger for a time. Maybe a deer; even a rabbit or two would do at this point.

To her surprise, she tasted several oni. Not the refined scent like the lovely girl she’d met yesterday, but the more typical bloody stench she associated with the wild ones. Only moments later and she could hear them, too, crashing through the forest as though the Great King Enma himself hounded their shadows.

Curious, she scurried through the treetops to investigate. While they wouldn’t be husband material, they should certainly make for a delectable meal. She found three of them; two blues and an ebony. She frowned at that last one; it was always a struggle to get her fangs into an ebony, and they always made such a fuss about it while she tried.

A minute or two later, the trio finally slowed down. “I think we should be far enough,” one of the blues said, a short, stocky fellow with a single horn. His hair had been pulled back into a topknot.

“I agree.” The other blue was female, with roughly cut black hair about jaw length. One of her two horns had been broken off at some point. “We should set up camp.” 

Mei would have to be careful hunting her; it was generally much harder to seduce women than men, and blues were already far more cautious than most oni. At least, when they were sober.

The ebony, a tall, muscular specimen with a notable underbite, nodded once and began setting up their campsite. Soon the trio had a fire going, and the stocky blue started to whine.

“Ah, dammit! I’m starving! Why couldn’t we have grabbed one or two of those leftover villagers on the way?”

The female snorted. “If you want to go back for them, be my guest. I’m not going anywhere near that devil girl.”

The stocky man shuddered. “Even if that girl is dead, there’s no way. Not with the commander dead, too. He was the only one who could keep those two monstrosities under control.”

“Yeah.” The female flumped backward. “Still, what the hell was with that chick? And how the f*** did a red get that f***ing powerful?”

So the girl did arrive in time. Mei wasn’t sure if she could do anything with that information, but it warmed her heart. The girl seemed to be quite the character.

The oni chatted amongst themselves for an hour or two–or the blues did, the ebony didn’t seem to be able to speak–then drew straws to determine who would take which watch. The stocky man cheered when he drew the first watch, and the other two went to bed, though the female grumbled under her breath.

Mei grinned. She couldn’t have set things up better for herself if she’d tried. She waited another two hours, then climbed out of the trees and moved a hundred yeards or so away and transformed to resemble a helpless young woman. She called out, just loud enough for the stocky blue oni to hear, “H-hello? Is someone there? I… I need help!”

She could taste the blue coming closer, and she turned so she wasn’t looking at him. Let him think he had the surprise, and he’d be far less wary of her trap. “Hello?”

The blue stepped into the clearing and chuckled. “Hello, little lady. Are you lost?”

Mei resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. Instead, she squeaked and bolted deeper into the forest. Relative to human speeds, at least; for Mei, it felt like a brisk jog at best.

The blue didn’t rush her, however. Based on the smile on his face, he intended to enjoy the hunt a little. He must have eaten well before the girl had attacked his camp; if he was as hungry as he had claimed, there’s no way he’d be this casual about a potential meal.

Once Mei broke his line of sight, she jumped into a tree and returned to her natural form. She watched the blue saunter through the forest, with his tetsubo tapping against his shoulder.

“Come now, little lady, no need to fret. Come on out, and I’ll make it nice and painless.” He sniffed the air, and froze when he couldn’t smell his prey anymore. “What the–!? Where did she go!?”

Mei crept around behind him, then drove her fangs into his neck. He screamed and tried to smash her with his tetsubo, but she danced out of the way, a smile on her bloodied lips. He pushed his free hand to his neck and took a shaky step towards her, but he collapsed before he could do anything else.

With practiced efficiency, Mei webbed him up and hoisted him into the treetops. Then she darted over to see if the oni’s screams had woken either of the other two; to her delight, both still slept soundly. She webbed them up, too, and sighed contentedly to herself. She would eat well tonight. And if many other oni had fled the battle into her woods, well… She would probably eat quite well for weeks to come.