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world from the demons who threatened to come through the demon gate.
    She had tried several times to sleep, but each time she did, she awoke with a start.   She would see the oni as it glared upon Nanashi.   Each time in the dream, it would turn its baleful gaze onto her.   Its slavering mouth drooled in anticipation of Neko meat.
    She forced herself awake each time.   This last time, she had woken in a cold sweat and gripped her knees tightly to her chest.   Was this dream a warning from the gods?   Did the demon know she had seen it.   Could it now be pursuing her?   Was she truly in danger?
    Kasumi couldn’t answer the questions.   Oni were very tricky at best.   She couldn’t be sure if the oni had seen her or whether her dream were just the work of her overactive imagination.   Feeling frustrated and tired, she rose and dressed, tying the wakizashi and the katana to her belt as she finished.   Keiko would speak to the Guardian, she reminded herself.   Keiko was wise; she would find out what course of action the Neko could take.   Kasumi would be discharged from her duty, and wiser and greater Neko than she would take on the task of gathering allies.
    And yet she wondered what the Neko could do.
    Kasumi stepped lightly across the floorboards and opened her door carefully.   As she did, she felt a presence close by.   It was like a shadow flickering in the oil lamp’s light as she turned and looked but saw nothing as she scrutinized the window and shades.   She snuffed the air and caught a scent that smelled like, but not entirely like, demon.
    She froze.   Had it followed her here?   Her hand strayed to the katana’s hilt, and she waited, taking slow, measured breaths.   Her senses were on high alert as she tried to listen for movement or smell anything in the air.   And yet even as she did get a whiff of something, the scent soon vanished.   She frowned.   Had she imagined it?
    You know you smelled of demon when you came back, she reminded herself.   A part of her agreed with the assessment, but another part remained on edge.   The fact that Nanashi had summoned even one demon here on Kyotori-jima, Imperial Island, was disconcerting.   The demon could be seeking out its old enemy, the Neko, that were on the island, or the demon could be seeking out her.   Either way, she was in danger.   But then, Nanashi might be using the demon to spy on his samurai or do some other errands.   That, too, left her uneasy.
    “It must be my imagination,” she whispered to herself.   That had to be it.   She was edgy after seeing the oni.   It would be natural for anyone who had seen a demon to be wary and frightened.   Still, she remained unconvinced.
    Kasumi stepped slowly toward the window and drew her sword, holding it in a guard position parallel to the ground, slightly behind her body.   It would be least noticed there, she thought.   She moved one hand to the shades and slid them across.
    The moon glowed softly over the horizon as she looked out across the city streets.   Shadows moved in the pale light as she shifted her gaze from one street to the next.   She drew in a slow breath, letting her cat senses study the smells carefully.   There it was again: a whiff of demon.
    Kasumi drew back instinctively but saw nothing beyond the shadows in the alleyways.   She tried to convince herself that she had carried the demon stench back from Nanashi’s, but she knew better.   The smell had already dissipated, but Kasumi knew the truth.   There was a demon still out there, somewhere.
    There was a chance that the demon knew she had been there.   If it did, why did it let her go free?   She couldn’t fathom the demon’s reasoning.   She closed the shades again and said a quick prayer to Maneki Neko, hoping that the cat of good fortune would keep away the demon.

Chapter Eight
     
    Akira had just entered the hallway when Ikumi, his mother, peered around the corner.   She was a lovely woman