Chapter 9

Story 2: The Oni in the Painting, Part 5: Portrait of Reiko (第二章「絵に棲む鬼」, 其ノ五 礼子像, Dainishō: Eni sumu oni, Sonogo: Reiko-zō) is 9th chapter in the series.

Characters

 * Oni
 * Ushio Aotsuki
 * Masaki
 * Reiko Hanyuu
 * Tora
 * Michio Hanyuu

Summary
Ushio jumped out of the window to fight the Oni, he split his head, but it just turned to 2 heads. Tora told him that this is not his real body and that he must stab the item he posses in order to defeat him, but refused to tell him which is that item. Reiko then ran towards the painting and Masaki followed. As she told that her father poured all of his hatred while painting it, Masaki took a chair and tried to smash it, but was repelled.

Outside, Ushio was angry for her father taking Reiko's happiness and smile, as he was beating the Oni, the Oni realized that he can't win because of the spear. So he went inside the house and took Reiko, Masaki grabbed her and the Oni pulled both of them towards the painting. Ushio was hitting the painting while the Oni was pulling Reiko and Masaki inside, he got annoyed and grabbed Ushio to pull him too. Tora was watching what was happening and knew that if they get pulled inside it's all over. He told Ushio to ask for his help and he will help him, but Ushio didn't say anything and was pulled along with the rest inside of the painting. It took a few seconds for Tora to get really angry and he grabbed Ushio and pulled him out, asking him why he wants to be eaten by other youkai besides him, then continued to pull him out, telling him that he will eat him now. He saw that Ushio was still holding Masaki and Reiko and told him to let them go, but Ushio refused. Then Tora went inside of the painting, where he saw the Oni, who told him to go away. Tora told him that humans call this opportunity and grabbed his head and using his claws sliced it to pieces. He quickly came out and told Ushio to stab the painting. As Ushio went to stab the painting, Reiko got in his way wanting to protect his father and got pierced in the heart, but since the spear was made to hurt only youkai, it went through her and stabbed the painting. The Oni started to scream and the painting fly out of the house. The spirit of Reiko's father showed up, he told her to live happily and then bowed, before descending towards the sky.

Masaki asked Ushio about his hair and spear, but in that moment Tora tried to attack Ushio, seeing it as opportunity since he was tired, but Ushio was able to dodge and hit him. He told Masaki he will explain later and went after Tora and they continued to fight. A brighter version of the painting fell down from the sky and Ushio again asked Reiko to be his model, and this time she agreed.